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| Scroll Six: Redemption for the Damned | ||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | ||||||||||||
| Markys and the ambitious wizard she had lured there hesitantly backed away as they found themselves in the shadow of the mage-god Chaos. | ||||||||||||
| "You are a big one - but I have faced bigger," the confident wizard stated as he began casting his most powerful spells at the larger enemy. Markys hesitantly backed away - hoping to not get killed by some rogue spell. | ||||||||||||
| Nearby - Enchantress popped up from where she was hiding and looked up and saw the towering mage that was called Chaos. Nothing she had read about or heard about prepared her for what she was seeing. | ||||||||||||
| She looked over and saw Markys. As she looked at her - in her mind she could see herself holding the child - playing with her and talking to her. She shook her head as a comet exploded into the ground. | ||||||||||||
| Enchantress looked over and saw that the blast had knocked Markys out cold. She then looked over and saw that the two wizards were so enthralled with what they were doing that they had no notion as to the damage they were causing - of if they did - they simply did not care. | ||||||||||||
| She wanted to run over to protect the child - but much to her surprise - Markys stirred and began to get up. she blinked as she realized she was being watched. Her eyes darted over and locked onto the timid looking Enchantress. | ||||||||||||
| "She saw me," Enchantress muttered. Markys shook her head as she returned her attention to the fight at hand. She could allow herself to worry about some peeping spy after she was safe from the menace of Chaos. | ||||||||||||
| Enchantress watched as Markys did her best to cast any spell she could at the towering mage. But in her youthful state - it was too much for her to handle. Enchantress closed her eyes and concentrated. Markys began to cast another spell. | ||||||||||||
| This time a powerful spell bolt erupted from the child. The blast shocked her wizard ally and even the god-mage Chaos. Both mages looked over at the child that had been thrown back by the sheer recoil of casting such a spell. | ||||||||||||
| "You did that girl?" the wizard asked. | ||||||||||||
| "Odd - I thought you couldn't cast spells in your fragile state," Chaos echoed. The wound caused by the potent spell blast healed before their eyes. | ||||||||||||
| "How did I do that?" Markys muttered in sheer disbelief - looking at her smoking hands. | ||||||||||||
| "It seems as though as I have learned some new tricks - so too did you," Chaos remarked. The wizard smirked as he returned his attention to Chaos. | ||||||||||||
| "Forget the girl you towering beast! I am the one you have to get passed!" he reminded. Chaos blinked as he returned his attention to the foolish mage that believed on some cosmic level that he was in the same league as him. | ||||||||||||
| "I have spent - centuries learning the secrets of the powers I master. I have traveled and learned potent strikes and mastered beasts. Behold a rather common spell I picked up a decade past," Chaos remarked. | ||||||||||||
| Markys watched as the giant took on a familiar stance. | ||||||||||||
| "Wake of Dragons," she muttered. The wizard watched as a whirlwind of wind and flames began to spiral around the giant god-mage. As the flames neared the sky - drakes - dozens of them began to fly around the tornado. | ||||||||||||
| "What are those things?" the wizard asked. | ||||||||||||
| "Drakes - they fly and breathe fire," Markys muttered. The wizard smirked as he looked at the dozens of drakes that now darkened the sky. It was then - like a foreboding wave - that they dived down as one. | ||||||||||||
| "They can only breathe fire if they live," he replied confidently. Markys watched as black mana began to swirl around the wizard. An all too familiar circle began to appear around him. The drakes arched their necks to prepare to rain down a rain of fire on them. The wizard then unleashed the power of pestilence. Everyone heard as the drakes belches out as disease struck them all from the sky. The tornado faded away. "If that was your best - you are in serious trouble," he mocked. | ||||||||||||
| "Lad - I have yet to begun," Chaos remarked as he raised his mammoth sword up and began to bring it down. The wizard concentrated and then cast a pillar of night at the descending weapon. As soon as the two powers touched - the wizard felt as though the weight of the world was being pushed down on him. "I like it when they have some fight in them," he taunted. | ||||||||||||
| "I will not be bested by some lumbering giant!" the wizard retorted - but in spite of his protests - he could feel the power of his enemy forcing his spell. He relented the spell and dodged out of the way. The giant blade stabbed into the ground where he had been. "I may not be able to match strength with you - but I control monsters that can!" he reassured. Chaos watched as black mana flowed into the wizard. | ||||||||||||
| He watched as the wizard cast dark rituals - summoned small insignificant creatures - using mana he had used to sacrifice them to gain even more mana. He watched as dark portals opened up. Vampires flew out and stood before their master. Lesser demons rose up from the ground. He then cast an enchantment that turned the sky to night. Chaos looked around and smirked at the small army of creatures he had summoned. | ||||||||||||
| "You seek to stop me with them?" Chaos mused as he shrunk down to human size and hovered over the surface of the water. "This fight no longer amuses me," he remarked. | ||||||||||||
| "Coming from one about to be vanquished - you seem pretty calm. Legions! Attack!" he screamed. Chaos laughed mockingly as the flying creatures headed his way. The lesser demons used their abilities to target him for some dark purpose. | ||||||||||||
| Chaos raised his hands up. A thick fog rose up. the wizard could hear sounds of conflict - but knew that with a fog spell in play that his minions could not hurt him that way. | ||||||||||||
| "Fall back," he called out. His vampires flew back to the shore and hovered before him. The fog faded and much to the disgust of the wizard - Chaos was completely unscathed. | ||||||||||||
| "Are you sure you have done this sort of thing before?" Chaos taunted. | ||||||||||||
| "A lucky spell does not a duel win," the wizard rebutted. | ||||||||||||
| "Luck has absolutely nothing to do with it. As you seem to be at a loss for an action to take - allow me to teach you another spell that I picked up when I first came to this - unique place," Chaos began as he raised his hands to the sky. "I must confess - I sure am glad that you summoned so many strong minions - it will make this spell all the more potent," he added. | ||||||||||||
| The wizard watched as the night sky began to glow bright red. Markys looked up and then at the small horde of creatures that were protecting the wizard. | ||||||||||||
| "Creature fire," Markys muttered knowing the spell he was about to use. "You have to make your things go away!" she warned. The wizard shook his head as he motioned for his monsters to attack. She looked at the dim orange aura that was pulsing around the summoned creatures - around the wizard and herself. "No - not like this," she timidly muttered as she fell to her knees and covered her eyes. | ||||||||||||
| The wizard noticed the aura and then hesitantly looked up. the heavens opened up as a waterfall of molten lava poured down on top of all of them. He screamed out as a power more potent than anything he had encountered disintegrated him. | ||||||||||||
| Chaos laughed as the lava washed harmlessly over him. | ||||||||||||
| "So ends the," he began but stopped. He looked over to where Markys would have been - where she should have perished - but - there was nothing there - no sign that a mage of her power and status had died. "That little wench - escaped?" he screamed out. | ||||||||||||
| He took a few moments to regain his composure | ||||||||||||
| He quietly laughed and shook his head. | ||||||||||||
| "No matter - there is precious little you can do to stop me now. You need time to regain your strength - and I promise you - you little manipulative whore - time will be a luxury - you will not have!" he hissed as he vanished into thin air. | ||||||||||||
| To Be Continued... | ||||||||||||