But sometimes... the stars foretell of a harsh contrast to the appearance of a hero. Sometimes, the stars usher in a dark presence. And beneath its blood-red twinkle, terrible deeds are done.
Fate had set it so that now was just such a time. Black-hearted death was about to fall upon the innocent. It would be up to me to stop the disaster foretold in the heavens above. I knew it was true.
I knew... for I am the Arbiter of Fate. I hold the threads; I watch the stars move. I am a Seer of epic legend.
And for fuck's sake, I'm not Leknaat. Quit egging my house!
"The time has come..."
******
Arana Cane Clan - 100 years ago
"The time has come!" the young man said, "Today is the day I enter the Cloister of Trials to compete for the Wizarding Championship of Arana Cane Village! Once completed, I will be fully recognized by all in this village as a true wizard... and a man."
Sarah cast an embarrassed look at their houseguest, a young man with shoulder-length, caramel-colored hair that he currently had draped around his face because he thought it more wizardlike. He had hazel eyes and a tan complexion that made him look almost Karayan. His style of dress changed dramatically all the time, honestly, but as for this day, he was clad in flowing robes of azure and sandals, and he wielded a gnarled staff he'd been carving for two months.
"Arrow, we don't have any ritual like that here," Sarah said gently to him, setting out a plate of hot rolls on the table for breakfast. He gave her a grin.
"Your pessimism won't discourage me this time, Sarah," Arrow replied, "I always say: Believe in yourself, and freedom will come calling! From land! From sea! From air!" He swung his staff dramatically, nearly knocking over a vase full of flowers.
"Be careful with that...!" Sarah cautioned, sighing. She tried to be nice to everyone, she really did, but Arrow tended to try her patience more than most.
Sarah lived with her parents, Sarlus and Elzona, in the village of Arana Cane. Arana Cane happened to be a clan in Grassland comprised mostly of magic-users and runemasters, and they had always thought it was rather secluded. Sarah, for one, enjoyed their tight-knit community.
Arrow, of course, had surprised them all two months earlier by showing up in the middle of town, dressed like a mime, and announcing louder than any mime should that he was throwing off the shackles of the past to become a spiritual healer.
...Once he realized the village was devoted to magic, he then withdrew his statement, threw off the shackles again, and became something of an instant wizard. Wannabe.
Of course, Sarah's family had offered him lodgings until he got his bearings. Which is why the odd fellow was acting like some kind of ancient sorceror in her living room.
"Rolls are ready, Arrow." Sarah said with a smile. He grinned and jumped over to the table, wolfing some down eagerly.
Sarah's mother, Elzona, entered the room. She looked essentially like an older version of Sarah herself---Elzona often joked that they could be sisters, rather than mother and daughter. She was clad in a simple-patterned green and white dress, and her hair, which was longer than Sarah's, went a small ways down her back.
"Good morning, Sarah, Arrow," Elzona greeted.
"I put out some hot rolls if you want some." Sarah said.
"Oh, thank you, dear." Elzona said. She looked thoughtful. "You know, if you really want to do me a favor, Sarah, I've been thinking of baking a pie. Would you mind picking some berries for me?"
"When I was a master farmer," Arrow said between bites, "I grew the biggest tomato. It was record-breaking! I won blue ribbons and everything." Elzona and her daughter exchanged a glance.
"Just what haven't you been, Arrow...?"
"There's always something." Arrow said with a relish. "I'll never stop until I've tried everything." He jumped up on the table dramatically, and then jumped back off.
"Why don't you take him with you, Sarah? You'll pick more berries that way." Elzona suggested, looking slightly nervous.
"Of course. Let's go find Crowley, too, Arrow." Sarah suggested gently. Sometimes, dealing with Arrow was like trying to defuse a bomb. He just didn't quit.
The mage-wannabe leapt eagerly right beside where Sarah was standing, tipping over a potted plant without much concern.
"When I was a master botanist, I could fix that really well, but it's been a while, I apologize." Arrow declared. Elzona bent to sweep up the spilled dirt and waved her daughter and houseguest out.
******
Sarah knew where to find her best friend, Crowley. As most of Arana Cane's inhabitants made their actual livings through farming, that's what most people were working at. Sarlus, Sarah's father, had hired Crowley to help him out in the fields.
Unfortunately for Crowley, he thought he'd be having a little easier time at it. It turns out he ended up doing a lot of the work the hard way. Sarlus, you see, had a Blinking Rune, which he used to quickly transport the goods and materials, whereas Crowley did not.
She and Arrow came upon the purple-robed wizard hauling a bushel of something towards the village's mill. His sleeves were rolled up (flowing robes and farming didn't generally mix well, but Crowley tended to be stubborn about it), and sweat was dripping down his face.
"Hi, Crowley!" Sarah said, waving. He looked up and saw her, and almost immediately set down his load on the ground.
"Hey, Sarah... what's going on?" Crowley said cheerfully.
"We are going berry-picking!" Arrow announced, "With some practice I can master the art of being a berry picker, but I'd really rather perfect my being a wizard first. Why won't you ever accept my challenge to duel, Crowley?"
Sarah could tell from the look on Crowley's face that his mood had been slightly dampened. He was not a big fan of Arrow.
"Because we don't really do that kind of thing here very much, Arrow." he sighed. "Besides. Just because you say you're a mage doesn't make you one."
"I am an avid learner of the Dark Arts!" Arrow protested, "I planned to take the trials and be fitted with a rune THIS VERY DAY!"
It should be noted that magic was something of a way of life in Arana Cane, and it was most certainly not considered a 'Dark Art'. Luckily before a huge argument could break out, there was a flash of light next to Crowley, and Sarlus appeared.
He was a man of fairly average stature, with fair-colored hair and blue eyes, dressed in mostly off-white colored clothing, with a blue vest to set off all the monotony. He chuckled.
"Taking a break, Crowley?" he joked. Crowley opened his mouth to protest, but Sarlus continued. "Ah, Sarah, what brings you over here?"
"I was wondering... if you wouldn't mind, Daddy, we could use Crowley to help pick some berries." Sarah said. After a moment, she smiled slightly and added, "Mother said she'd bake a pie."
"Well, I can hardly say no, now, can I?" Sarlus quipped. "Very well, Crowley. I'll handle the rest for now. Go take a break." The red-headed mage grinned from ear-to-ear.
"Thanks."
"I expect a lot of berries." Sarlus said seriously, as the three of them walked away.
"You know, I could get used to life here," Arrow said as they walked, swinging his staff around like some kind of swashbuckling pirate, "It's a great thing, knowing magic."
"You don't have to live here to use magic, just so you know..." Crowley pointed out with a frown.
"But it's more exciting here! And I won't settle for anything but the best... and for magic, this is the best!" he replied.
"We just don't want you to..." Sarah said, stopping herself to think of a good way to end that. What didn't they want him to do? Well, Crowley would say 'live here', but that would be mean.
"Yes?"
"Overdo it..." Sarah finished gently. "Magic can be dangerous for amateurs."
"That's why I aim to train and be the best!" Arrow said confidently.
What happened next just went to prove that for all his words and costumes, Arrow was still a newbie in the village. Sarah and Crowley sidestepped a nasty dip in the ground that they'd always known was there. Arrow, on the other hand, was busy gesticulating wildly, and tripped, falling hard.
"Oh, gracious!" Sarah exclaimed, kneeling to help him. "Are you all right?? There's..."
"A real big dip right there." Crowley said wickedly, enjoying his own pun. Sarah ignored it, and Arrow didn't even notice, however.
"I skinned my elbow." he whimpered. "But I must persevere."
"Um, you will, just hold still for a moment..." Sarah said, putting her hand on the scrape. "Healing Wind..." After a few moments, the pain was eased by her magic.
"Onward, to the berries!" the jack-of-all-trades shouted after a moment, jumping to his feet and pretending no one noticed how much he was wincing, or that his eyes were all watery.
"Sure..." Crowley said, holding his more sarcastic comments in.
******
The berries Elzona had been referring to grew in a patch a short distance outside the village. The grass out there was taller and unkempt, but Sarah and Crowley knew their way around. It didn't take long to get there, even carrying large baskets.
"I haven't had one of your mother's pies. Are they good?" Arrow asked conversationally while he picked.
"They're wonderful," Sarah gushed, "She's been making them forever. You'll love it."
"I wonder if they measure up to mine," Arrow suddenly said. "You know, when I worked as a professional restaurant chef, and then worked in a bakery soon after, I certainly learned a thing or two about piemaking."
"Why do you always have to go off on what you've done before like that?" Crowley said. "No one could have all the jobs you say you do."
"I work hard." Arrow insisted, "I always say: Believe in yourself, and freedom will come calling! From land! From sea! From air!" He did a cartwheel.
"Man... you're crazy, Arrow," Crowley said, but he wasn't entirely annoyed. Most of the time he found the guy just...amusing.
"Crazy like a fox! If you'll excuse me, my bladder is full. Do you guys have a good place around here where I can empty it?" the jack-of-all-trades replied without scarcely pausing.
"Um..." Sarah said, blushing.
"That tree. Wayyy over there." Crowley offered. Arrow nodded gratefully and walked across the field to the tree indicated.
"I don't know how you can stand him living with you, Sarah. There's something about him that's just ...off."
"Be nice, Crowley. He gets carried away sometimes, but there's something about his enthusiasm to learn that's just... I don't know, inspiring." Sarah said. Crowley stared at his friend.
"...You don't have a thing for him, do you?" he asked, incredulous.
"Don't be silly. I'm just saying, he has good qualities too." Sarah amended.
"Suit yourself." Crowley replied, going back to picking berries.
"...What? Are you jealous?" Sarah giggled.
"Of what?" Crowley said. Before they could debate further, Arrow returned, looking satisfied.
"All finished?" Crowley asked him jokingly.
"Absolutely! I wasn't even bothered by the group of people over at the other tree. I would have offered them mine, but they seemed to be busy talking, or maybe peeing. I wasn't sure. So I left them alone." he replied cheerfully.
"Group of people?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Sure. I think they looked like wizards to me, so they must be your friends, right? Right." Arrow concluded.
"Ah...oh. I guess if they were from the village, then." Sarah said.
They picked berries in silence for a few more minutes, then packed their full baskets back to the village. The mention of the group at the tree slipped Sarah's mind completely.
She would live to wish that it hadn't.
******
Urination, in fact, was not the subject matter of the meeting being held between a tree in the plains near the village that looked, at first glance, like any other tree.
Beneath the tree stood a man and a woman. The woman was tall and had an elegant look to her, as well as a cold one. She wore a long, lavender dress that changed to blue as it hit her feet. Draped over her shoulders was a thick cape that was lime green and blue, with a frilly white collar. She had brown hair that was done up in a fancy ponytail that was banded at several places as it ran down past her waist. She stood in the shade of the tree, with a look of calm upon her face.
The man, on the other hand, was more antsy. He was even taller than she, but was sitting on a large rock, tapping his foot. He had long blond hair that was done in a braid reaching to his waist. He might have been considered handsome, even, but it was hard to concentrate on that aspect of him when one saw his eyes---the left was silver, the right was red---and his positively mad grin. He was clad in mostly black, save for some white at the ends of his sleeves and the upside-down 'V' on his coat. He wore black boots, black gloves, and a black bowler hat.
"Windy, why even bother with this guy?" the man in the hat said, stretching out, "He's slooow. Come on, let me burn down the village now and it'll be done with. None of this stupid waiting around!" He grinned at her. She returned the grin with a rather annoyed look.
"You know as well as I do that he has his uses, Yuber. Just because he lacks your powers does not make him useless." Windy replied. She ran her fingers through some of her hair in an attempt to keep it smooth in the heat. "Besides, I would've thought you'd have known better than to charge in alone by now."
"Yeah, yeah. The more, the merrier." Yuber said, half-pouting, "Ffft, working alone suits me just as well. But if you insist..."
There was a few more moments of silence before the aforementioned third party crested the knoll. It was a boy of about seventeen who seemed a sharp contrast to the likes of Windy and Yuber. He wore loose robes of pale green, with white clothes underneath. He himself was pale, and had blond hair that looked like it had taken ages to arrange just right. It was almost perfectly combed back, with a few choice bangs hanging down in his face. With everything so light on the boy, it made him look like some kind of pathetic ghost or something (though he'd tell you in a second he did it on purpose to look 'angelic').
He trudged up to the tree, looking expectantly at Windy. Judging from his look, he clearly thought he was the first one to get there after her.
"Lady Windy! I'm here on time as always! Unlike that fanciful louse---" he said, but at this, he did a double-take, seeing Yuber sitting smugly on the rock. He scowled in a pouty way. "Why do you always let him come along?"
"You know as well as I do that Yuber has his uses," she said coldly, practically repeating herself. She felt like a babysitter sometimes, she really did. "Need I remind you that personal feelings are not to get in the way of our mission?"
Yuber grinned and waved at the boy.
"Hi Craggy!" he greeted. The boy did not seemed pleased, and actually stomped his foot forcefully on the ground.
"Don't call me that," he snapped, "It's CRADAGAR. C-R-A-D-A-G-A-R! Jerk." He resisted his urge to stick out his tongue, as Windy was watching him closely. He turned to her. "My fair Lady, what are your plans? I'm sure they are beyond compare, as usual!"
"Naturally. In any case, we know this much." Windy said simply, explaining, "There are a sizeable amount of people in Arana Cane, and to the best of our knowledge, all of them are magicians. This could very well cause problems; however, I did anticipate this, and if necessary, I have a countermeasure, but I'd prefer if it didn't come to that."
She paused, letting this sink in. Cradagar was gazing raptly at her as if she was God. Yuber, on the other hand, was burning handfuls of grass and dancing them in the air with his hand, not paying much attention to the conversation.
"Our goal is the shrine in the center of the village." Windy continued, "Do not kill unless you must... especially you, Yuber. Once we make it to the shrine and obtain the Rune, we can teleport out."
Cradagar swelled up.
"You heard her, Yuber. No killing unless necessary!" he proclaimed haughtily. Hearing his name, finally, Yuber looked up. "That's why I'M here, with my special talents, isn't it, Windy?" The pale boy gave her doe-eyes.
"You're just saying that because you're no good at killing!" Yuber said, snickering.
"Of course," Windy said, as usual, taking Yuber's antics in stride, "I have no desire to completely destroy this village, as foolish as its inhabitants must be." Cradagar sighed dreamily.
"You're so kind and benevolent, Lady Windy. We have so much in common, unlike SOME people around here." he said snidely. Instead of being supremely insulted as Cradagar might have hoped, Yuber merely teleported behind the teen, crept up, and shouted, "BOO!"
Cradagar jumped a foot. Windy gave Yuber a cold look, but said nothing.
"S-see, Lady Windy? He's nothing like us! We should run away, alone, and make beautiful magic together!" He caught himself, blushing suddenly, "Er, um, I meant... experiment with magic." He sputtered until finally giving up and glaring daggers at Yuber.
Yuber just grinned.
"What can I say?" he said, splitting into three different aspects of himself---three identical copies, standing side by side, "I'm three of a kind." They all spoke in unison.
Cradagar seemed very out of sorts because of this, and couldn't stop staring distractedly.
"Yuber, put yourself...er...back together, now!" he cried, "You know I hate that!" He neglected to mention for the sake of keeping the peace that he hated everything Yuber did. All three Yubers continued smiling and talking in unison.
"No." they cooed, "I don't feel like it."
"Yuber, merge yourself back together now." Windy snapped, "That foolish display of magic could have gotten someone's attention. You should know that by now!"
All three aspects continued speaking in unison but were now pouting.
"Aww, fine..." The three copies all merged back into one. Windy turned her attention to Cradagar.
"Cradagar. I don't know what you have in mind, but whatever it is will have to wait. We're here to get the Rune." she said firmly.
"O-of course, Lady Windy. Your wish is my command." Cradagar said meekly. He paused, then added, "A-anything at all. Don't ever be afraid to ask me anything. Er, not that I think you're some kind of wishy-washy-afraid-of-a-teenager type of person. Well, more like young man..." He trailed off nervously until he couldn't be heard at all anymore. Windy raised her eyebrows slightly.
"I'll keep that in mind. We ought to be on our way now, though." she replied. Yuber seized the opportunity to teleport behind Windy and use his height advantage to stick his tongue out at Cradagar.
The young magician shook his fist at Yuber. Of course, Windy took this the wrong way.
"Cradagar, what do you think you're doing?" she said, blinking. Yuber stifled a laugh from behind his gloved hands.
"N-no!" Cradagar cried, letting out an 'eep', "It...it was Yuber, he's behind you, he..."
Of course, by the time Windy looked, Yuber was back where he was standing before, leaving Cradagar to protest the entire way down the knoll, and beyond, as they walked on towards the village.
******
Cradagar had noted on his only previous visit to Arana Cane Village, in which he had scouted out the location of the Rune, that the residents enjoyed keeping to themselves. As in, they weren't big fans of outsiders. Sure enough, this time was no different, as there was a lone man patrolling the edge of the village as the trio approached.
He was somewhat skinny and looked to be somewhere in his thirties. He had a surly expression so surly that it in fact looked rather funny. This would be easy.
"Excuse me, sir, may I have a word with you?" Windy addressed, walking right up to the man. He quirked a surly eyebrow at her.
"What do you need, ma'am?"
"I would like you to deliver a message to the elder of this village." she replied calmly.
"Is he expecting you for something?" the man asked, "I don't recall having ever seen you around here before." Windy looked down at him with a proud look on her face.
"Tell him I expect he'll be giving me the Mindspring Rune." she said grandly.
The guard gave Windy a blank stare, then burst out laughing.
"That's a good one! Hahaha! Seriously, are you the elder's mistress or something? I can send for him if---" he started. Cradagar kicked the man hard in the shin.
"Quiet, you idiot! No one dares mock Lady Windy! She's here for the Rune!" he shouted angrily. That would teach him. Er, ouchies. Cradagar winced, not wanting to admit he had likely just hurt his own foot more than the man's shin.
"Thank you, Cradagar." Windy said, smirking. She turned to the guard, her expression turning stern again. "I want that Rune. If he doesn't give it to me, this village will be destroyed. Nothing more than a lost memory."
Yuber giggled in a high-pitched voice at that.
"You are outta your mind, lady!" the guard protested. "That Rune belongs to the people of this clan, and we're not going to just drop it in the palm of whoever shows up to ask for it!" He gave her an ugly sneer. Cradagar could see the fear in his eyes as Windy returned his sneer with a nasty smirk.
"Do I have to make an example out of you?" she asked. The guard's lip quivered, clearly thinking. But he made his decision. Not answering, he went straight for his staff.
"Wind Rune, show your pow----gaaaahhh!!" he cried, as Yuber teleported behind him in a split-second, pulled twin swords from nowhere, and cut the man's arm clean off at the shoulder. He howled in agony and shriveled into a ball, clutching at where his arm once was.
Yuber stepped right in front of him, and without so much as a word, stabbed him in the throat.
Cradagar silently cursed Yuber's flashiness. HE could have done that, had he wanted to. Really. He wasn't fooling himself at all with that notion. Plus, the idiot would surely attract attention with the hard-to-miss bloody kill he had just made.
Sure enough, two wizards came running over, shocked. One was fair-haired and wore off-white clothes and a blue vest, the other graying and clad in yellow robes.
"By the gods!" exclaimed the fair-haired man. "What is the meaning of this?!" Windy stepped back, but Cradagar could tell just from her expression that she was preparing to unleash hell at a moment's notice on these people. Yuber turned to face the two wizards, grinning dementedly.
"The meaning of this? Your friend here died for his defiance!" he said cheerfully, "And you're about to meet the same fate!" He rushed at them, swords flying.
The fair-haired man suddenly vanished in a flash of light----A Blinking Rune, Cradagar noted. The yellow-robed man, on the other hand, was nearly cleaved in half, and fell in a mess of blood to Yuber's swords. The fair-haired man reappeared a ways back from where he had stood before, a look of horror on his face.
"W-what on earth do you want?! What's going on?" he gasped, "You just killed two innocent people!"
Windy stepped towards him, almost literally glowing from the power she'd put into her Front Gate Rune.
"We wished to negotiate for the Rune. Your friend laughed at our generous offer." she snarled, "He paid quite dearly for it, as you can see." Yuber tossed his head back, laughing.
"You... you're..." the fair-haired man stammered, backing up, stunned. He suddenly vanished again, teleporting out of there.
Yuber giggled wildly, doing an airy little dance.
"They died and died and died... ooh!" he cried, crouching over the yellow-robed wizard's body and drinking the blood from the corpse, in a way that, frighteningly enough, resembled a kitten drinking from a saucer of milk.
"They'll be sending reinforcements in any moment now." Windy said, glancing at Cradagar, "Are you prepared?"
"Nonsense, Lady Windy! You have them running scared! ...For goodness sake, Yuber, what's wrong with you?!" Cradagar responded.
"You should not underestimate them." Windy said, scowling and ignoring Yuber, "After all, there has to be a reason why they've been entrusted with this Rune. Now let's go."
Yuber didn't appear to hear Cradagar or Windy, but stood back up, his face smeared with a bit of blood. He licked his lips.
"Er, what I meant to say was, now that they'll surely send reinforcements any second, we should go on the offensive and strike while they're still underprepared!" Cradagar amended, "Ready when you are, my Lady!" He was thoroughly creeped out by Yuber, but ignored him and followed Windy into the village.
"Of course. I was just saying to be prepared for resistance." Windy said while walking. Yuber hurried to catch up with them.
"You're never wrong, my Lady!" Cradagar cooed, giving her more doe-eyes.
******
Sarah, Crowley, and Arrow had long since delivered their berry load, and now she and Crowley were outside, talking to their mentor (Arrow was busy bothering Elzona while she made the pie). He was a large man, garbed in elegant robes of deep mauve and green, with an emerald green cape. He had black hair that went to where his neck met his shoulders, and a mustache and beard.
"Did you hear that scream just now??" Crowley said suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck bristling. Sarlus, Sarah's father, appeared in a flash of light. He was paler than usual.
"Daddy! What's going on?" Sarah asked, startled.
"M-Mazus," Sarlus addressed their mentor directly, ignoring Sarah. "Get every competent wizard in the village out here right away! We're under attack, and it's serious! The Rune---"
"Slow down." Mazus said seriously. "Who's attacking??" Sarah's heart skipped a beat. Her village... under attack?
"A woman, a boy, and a man in a black hat who just cut up Arcix and Laman like lunchmeat." Sarlus puffed. Mazus's eyes widened like grapefruits.
"Oh no..." he murmured.
"Master Mazus, what's the matter? Do you know something we don't??" Sarah asked, worried.
Before they could answer, a body flew through the air and landed in a neat little pile at their feet. Sarah screamed and Crowley jumped backwards.
"H-here they come now!" he cried, looking up and pointing. Sarah glanced over to see an elegantly garbed woman with a long ponytail and a blond, green-robed boy walking up to them. There was no sign of their black-hatted counterpart, but she saw smoke coming from a house across the village, so she had a good idea of what he was up to. Mazus spoke first, to Sarah's surprise.
"Well, well, well. What did we do to deserve the honor, Windy? I don't recall this village ever owning one of the 27 True Runes within recent memory." His voice took on an insulting tone. "Or did you get lost looking for Souleater?"
"So. You've heard of me." the woman called Windy sneered, "Then you obviously know what I came here for." Mazus stared evenly at her.
"What, perhaps, but not why. The Mindspring Rune should hardly be worth your time." He scoffed. "Don't you have enough power?"
"It's no concern of yours." Windy said with hate in her eyes. She paused, and before she spoke again, her associate in black returned to her side. He made Sarah feel chilly. "I want that Rune. There's still time to call off my friend, here," She tossed her friend in the man with the hat's direction, "after all. Just give it to me, and needless deaths shall be prevented."
"You can't expect us to take this lying down, Windy." Mazus made clear, his eyes narrowing. The tense confrontation was suddenly interrupted from a cry on the rooftop.
Arrow had appeared, his caramel hair windswept, his robe flapping in the breeze, part of his tanned chest exposed to the wind, clasping his staff in defiance. Sarah had to admit, he knew how to make things look good, but that thought was chased quickly out of her mind. What was he DOING? His appearance had prompted more wizards to gather, including Crowley's father, Blaine.
"You thought you could take me, Wendy?" he announced, "Arrow, the most versatile magician in all of Grassland? Begone!" There was a collective gasp from the wizards of the village.
"Arrow, you idiot, stay out of this!" Blaine shouted, appalled.
"Don't discourage me!" he said. "I always say: Believe in yourself, and freedom will come calling! From land! From sea! From air!"
"Don't!" Sarah screamed. But Arrow didn't listen. The attention was making his adrenaline shoot sky high, she already knew. He was in his element, and backing down was not his fort�.
"Hiyah, Wendy!" he shouted, raising his palm. "Black Shadow!" As he pointed his finger, dark energy burst out of the ground and enveloped Windy completely for a moment. As the spell faded, Sarah saw that Windy had been knocked to the ground by the force of the magic, but she easily climbed to her feet again, unfortunately for them.
"You worthless little fool!" she spat, fuming.
"Windy!" the mage in green with her cried, flipping out. The sorceress didn't even notice his cries. She really was glowing, and suddenly, it stopped. She released with a fury the power she had been building up.
From nowhere, an unholy demon appeared on the rooftop right in front of Arrow. It was at least twice his size, and a terrible sight to behold. A monstrous beast; it didn't even seem to notice or care that its own bones jutted at awful angles from its own body. Its eyes were slits of red, and its teeth were dripping with ichor and blood. An earsplitting roar escaped its gaping maw.
"From land, from sea, from air..." Arrow chanted, holding up his staff. The beast inhaled, and fired a barrage of dark, purple-colored energy beams upon the young man.
His body toppled backwards off the roof, and the demon vanished. Arrow was gone. Sarah didn't even hear herself screaming until she stopped. The rest of the mages were in shock. Even Mazus seemed shaken by this display of the Front Gate Rune's power.
They wasted no time, however, activating their own respective runes and attacking Windy with a virtual wave of magic. Mazus activated his Blue Gate Rune.
"Pale Palace!" A shadow fell over the village as a ghostly ship with a giant demonic skull mounted on its bow appeared and began to fire its cannons on Windy and her cohorts.
Amidst the confusion, Sarlus addressed his daughter.
"Protect the Rune, Sarah! You, Crowley, and Master Mazus, go now! The rest of us will handle her! Go, go!" he cried.
"But---" Sarah protested.
"C'mon, Sarah! We aren't good enough to last long out here. Let's go!" Crowley put in. She wanted to protest further; to fight beside her father, but she knew it was impossible. So she ran with Crowley and Mazus away from the furor surrounding Windy.
******
"This way's faster, Sarah!" Crowley insisted, going around a different way than their mentor. Sarah merely followed. She was still too worried about her friends and family to really concentrate on which particular way to the shrine they were taking. And poor Arrow! He'd never had a chance...
Yuber, meanwhile, had been elsewhere after the rune-fighting started, causing terrible pain and suffering as usual. But he thought it high-time to get back to work, so he began trekking back across the village.
Sarah and Crowley, in fact, found their way barred by him. Looking up, the nightmare spread out before them. He had large smears of blood covering his face, even his eyes----oh, gods, his eyes were the worst part... the silver and red orbs of pure insanity---and he was grinning madly, holding two reddened swords.
"Sooo... where do you think you're going?" he said. Even his breath smelled of blood. Sarah's eyes met his and she screamed horribly. Crowley was frozen in terror.
Yuber put both swords in one hand and slowly reached out for Sarah's shoulder with the other, grinning.
"Were you trying to run away?" he asked cheerfully. Sarah still screamed, shrinking away from his touch.
Elzona suddenly dashed up angrily and hit Yuber's hand away with her staff.
"S-stay the hell away from her, you beast!" she cried, glaring gravely at the nightmareish man. Sarah and Crowley didn't even give running away a second thought, and sprinted off around the corner. Yuber watched them go, and once they were gone, looked at Elzona out of the corner of his eye. He spoke with almost a thoughtful, somber tone.
"You're brave. Did you know that?"
She didn't reply right away, but gripped her staff tightly, standing defensively.
"I don't know who you are, but stay away from my daughter. Get out of this village." she said defiantly. Suddenly, she realized---too late---that the powerful, pulsating energy she was feeling, the static in the air, a feeling only one of the original 27 runes could create---it wasn't coming from Windy, across the village. It was coming from him. Her eyes widened.
"You're very brave indeed." Yuber said in the same tone. He paused for a moment, then tossed one of his swords back into his empty hand. He looked straight at her. "And very stupid!" Quicker than lightning, he cut her down.
Nothing would ever be the same in this village again. Yuber was sure of it. Yuber made sure of it. Homes burnt to the ground, and the blood of children stained the ground. Death was occasionally said to be the fairest thing in the world, since everyone has to die eventually; nothing could be further from the truth when it was Yuber delivering death.
If he had a stronger memory, he would have found the situation familiar. She told him this. He hated her with every ounce of hate he had. She made everything so damned hard! But she cried at situations like this. She cried now even. He ignored her and continued his slaughter.
He truly enjoyed this. Yuber loved the feel of blood against his skin, the smell, the taste. No one could hurt him, he was invincible...they did not necessarily deserve death, at least he didn't think so, but they really needed to die. Windy said not to kill, but he didn't care, because they all had a date with death anyway.
A young man ran from him. He couldn't let the fool escape! He teleported right in front of him, then ran him through with both swords, skewering him messily.
"Oops," Yuber said, giggling. He planted his foot into the man's chest while pulling out his swords; the to-be corpse flopped to the ground. "Too bad. He tripped and fell. On my swords!" He broke into a high-pitched frenzied laugh.
The crowd really had thinned out. But bodies covered the ground. Flames flickered, licking the buildings and the trees. So...so much...
The village was chaos.
And it was perfect.
******
Sarah was trembling with fear as they burst into the shrine. Mazus was already there, waiting expectantly. The deep blue glow of the Mindspring Rune usually had a calming effect on her, but she couldn't stop being nervous.
"There you are, my children." Mazus said, relieved. "I wasn't sure what had happened to you." Sarah sat down on a soft, comfortable bench against the wall. The shrine itself was somewhat dark and had no windows for protection. A dark blue glow emanating from the Rune in the center-back part of it lit most of the shrine in an eerie light. Sarah said nothing to her mentor, but glanced over at her friend. Crowley was shaking, she could see it.
"C-come sit by me, okay, Crowley?" she prompted. Nodding, he came over and sat beside her on the bench. Mazus raised an eyebrow.
"Did you two run into something??" he asked, concerned.
"Something is right. It was awful..." Crowley said, shuddering. "That man with the hat tried to grab us."
"He was covered in blood..." Sarah murmured, trembling.
"I feared as much..." Mazus said softly. "That man possesses terrible power---from where it comes, I know not. But he knows no bounds..." Their mentor trailed off, leaving them sitting in silence.
"I'm scared, Sarah..." Crowley admitted, staring at nothing in particular. "Scared for us, scared for our families. What if they don't...don't make it?"
"I don't want to think about that..." Sarah said. "We...we just have to hope for the best."
"Damn it, I should've planned better for this. We shouldn't have been caught off-guard as we were." Mazus said suddenly. "At first I thought that making most of the mages gather here to fend them off would be a bad idea---leading her straight to the Rune. But on second thought, she'd know where it was anyway... it would have been a better plan. Our magic will be most enhanced nearest the Rune."
Sarah nodded to her mentor, then put her arm around Crowley. They had to stay strong, for everyone's sake. They would fight to the death for the village if it came down to that.
She closed her eyes, and prayed with all her heart it wouldn't come down to that.
******
Elsewhere, the battle was still raging on, as Windy got battered with magic spells from all sides. She reeled in pain from the blows, but honestly wasn't getting damaged as much as the mages were hoping she was. Cradagar, on the other hand, wasn't as advanced when it came to magic defense.
"L-lady Windy, stay strong!" he moaned. "If I don't make it, always remember me as your most faithful---and closest---companion!" His eyes widened. "Ack, my sleeve is burning!" He hopped around frantically.
"Quit your whining and help me!" Windy sneered at him. She turned to cast Breath of Ice on a group of mages with her Flowing Rune. Cradagar's heart took a leap at that. He loved the thought of her using a Flowing Rune. They were so... soothing, so gentle. And her hands, lethal as well. It turned him on like nobody's business.
"All right! My time to shine has come at last!" Cradagar said grandly. He pointed a finger at a magician, and suddenly the woman doubled over in agony, screaming about the pain in her chest. He was not using a rune, and seemed proud of it, smirking.
This was all well and good until a bolt of lightning from an ACTUAL rune narrowly missed him. Cradagar yelped and wrapped his arms around Windy's waist, hiding.
Oh, glory... within the protection of the heavenly curves of Windy's ass...this is bliss... Unfortunately, Windy interrupted his intimate meeting with her rear by prying his hands off and shoving him on the ground.
"You'll pay for that!" she cried, using her Rune to cast Pale Palace on another group of magicians. Many more of them fell victim to this high-powered spell, including Crowley's father Blaine, who drew his last breath before he was hit with it.
Making more headway, Windy and Cradagar began fighting their way towards the shrine.
******
In another part of the village, there was a lot less resistance, and that was because Yuber had been cleaning house. Corpses were littered everywhere. Yuber himself was holding a little girl by her neck. Strangely enough, he was singing "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain" as he closed his grip around her throat.
Suddenly, a tiny blue light no bigger than a firefly began to coalesce near Yuber.
Dash it all, I had to take the wrong exit. Arana Cane, Arlus, they all SOUND the same, and it cost me dearly. I am the Arbiter! Evil-smashing is what I'm supposed to do! Thank goodness for kind, direction-giving hobos. thought the light as it expanded with an ominous humming sound. Yuber glanced quizzically at the light, pausing in his child-strangling.
The light shined brightly, and a silhouetted figure materialized in its center. Only it seemed awfully short for an Arbiter of Fate. Short, and feathery. It was a duck, dressed in flowing robes (flowing for a duck), holding a staff and looking generally agitated.
"Oh, isn't that nice? I see I'm just in time to be completely late. Well, fuck." the duck said, looking around. "But I'm guessing you must be the man of the hour, yes? The dark being? Creature of the night? Ringing any bells here, sweetie?" She tapped her webbed foot impatiently.
Yuber pouted visibly, then tossed the girl over his shoulder by her hair. She ran away as fast as she could, crying hysterically.
"Hey, you interrupted my fun!" he whined, glaring at the duck.
"That's not my problem, sweetcheeks." she replied bluntly. "The heavens tell me you need an ass-kicking----that is, if you're the right guy." She looked around at the flaming destruction everywhere and frowned. "On second thought, there's no way you're not."
"Fine, fine. If you want to fight me." Yuber shrugged, pulling his swords out of nowhere. "So, who do I have the honor of killing?" He grinned wickedly.
The staff the duck held suddenly extended to twice its size, making her look even more ridiculous.
"I am Ducknaat the Seer, Arbiter of Fate. I hold the threads, etc." she introduced. "I suppose you're going to tell me who you are, as well, before I send your ass packing to the nether realms?" She would have grinned as well, but...y'know...she was bitchy.
"Just call me... Yuber. That's really all that needs to be said." He smiled an insane smile.
"Let's get this over with, then." Ducknaat said, raising her wing to the sky. "Deletia Rune---powerrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuppp~!" She quacked, as her body was surrounded by a glowing aura.
Yuber shrugged again at this, and charged at her, ready to slice her up like everyone else. Ducknaat, however, was ready for this, and used supersonic overpowered rune speed to sidestep and trip him. She cackled.
Teleporting back on his feet, Yuber tried again, not willing to give up. The duck seer blocked the blow with her staff, which was sturdier than it looked, though she was pushed back a few feet from the force of the attack. He slashed at her again, not letting up, trying to back her into a corner.
Ducknaat suddenly slid between Yuber's legs, then jumped up and grabbed onto his braid with her beak, swinging herself around his head and landing on his hat, where she plunged her mighty staff into his skull, as hard as she could.
"Special attaaaack!" she quacked triumphantly.
Yuber suddenly countered as his swords vanished, and he pulled a large bowl out of nowhere and caught her in it.
"Tonight I dine on...uh, duck." he giggled madly. He seemed pleased with himself, and though it had caught her thoroughly off-guard, Ducknaat was less than impressed.
"You call that a special attack?" she scoffed, "That's nothing any old overly-fresh-slash-cannibalistic boyfriend hasn't already tried to pull! You can't get the best of me!" She stuck the staff upright into the bottom of the bowl, hopped to the top, and jumped out of the bowl pogo-stick style onto the ground. Her feathers glowed as she suddenly fired off an energy attack.
"Taste a bit of the Deletia Rune instead, Yuber!" she cackled.
Yuber teleported out of the way of the rune attack, the bowl disappearing and being replaced immediately by his swords once more. He extended one towards Ducknaat, and activated his Thunder Rune, hitting her hard with a Berserk Blow. Unfortunately, her metallic staff made for a wonderful conductor.
Nicely electrocuted, Ducknaat stumbled backwards, and fell on her ass. She cackled again.
"My, my." she said appraisingly. "We may actually be an even match, for once. And here I was, used to thinking that all Dark Beings were pussies." Ducknaat was down, but not out. She knew how to get to these evil insane types.
"Look, look!" she cried suddenly, wildly pointing, "Evil flames of destruction!" Yuber looked for a half-second, then gave his full attention back to Ducknaat.
"Aww, I see that wherever I go." he said, disappointed.
No go? Ah, well, there was always...
"OMIGOD IS THAT COTTON CANDY????" Ducknaat burst out suddenly.
"Where? Where?!" Yuber cried, perking up.
"Over there, over theeeeerrre!" she shouted, pointing wildly again. Yuber looked frantically in the direction she was pointing in.
"Where is it? I don't see it!" he said desperately.
Bingo.
Ducknaat opened her purse and pulled out a two-by-four with a jagged piece of metal piping glued to the top, as well as a baseball bat with a nail through it. Brandishing both, she leapt into the air amidst colorful scrolling background, and flashed a peace sign, shouting "Finishing Blow!" just before coming down on Yuber's turned head with them.
The impact was jarring, to both Yuber and Ducknaat, but unfortunately for her, he didn't fall unconscious or disintegrate into a fabulous array of energy particles as she had hoped. He whirled on her.
"...hey! What'd you do that for?!" he said, irritated but certainly not dead. Ducknaat certainly was put out by him not being unconscious and/or bleeding cranially, but was quick to cover up.
"I was showing you the way to the cotton candy stand." she said, her eyes shifting.
"By hitting me over the head with a blunt object?" Yuber said, looking suspiciously at her.
"Picky, picky." Ducknaat said, spinning a good yarn. "You've never heard of...... S&M cotton candy?" More shifty eyes.
"...S&M cotton candy?" Yuber said, his eyes wide and blinky.
"...Yes." she replied.
"...oh." he said, seeming satisfied but mystified at the same time.
They both sat in awkward silence for a few moments. That is, until they suddenly launched simultaneous mid-air attacks at one another.
"HIIIIIIYYYAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Ducknaat shrieked, spinning her staff like a helicopter rotor as she flew through the air at Yuber.
"SHOOOO-RYU-KEN!" Yuber shouted as he flew at her with his swords.
They met in the middle and bounced off of each other just like a real kung-fu movie, landing a few feet apart. Yuber grinned, and then split into three copies again. The one standing in his place had the same expression as he did, however, the one on his left had a nasty scowl on his face, and the one on the right an adorable huge smile. Despite those differences, however, they all attacked within moments of splitting.
"Shit. He would be one of those." Ducknaat muttered. "DELETIA RUNE, MAGIC POWER SHIELD~!!" An oval of pure light appeared in front of the duck seer just as the three Yubers struck. The sound of the swords hitting the shield produced a high-pitched, ear-splitting sound. Nearby windows shattered.
Ducknaat was thrown backward, as the shield broke into tiny shards of light that vanished. There was another large cracking sound, and two blackened spheres rolled away from her.
"What th--! You sick fuck! What are you, anyway? You broke my rune!" Ducknaat cursed, "Well, isn't this just great. How am I supposed to banish evil, pray tell, without my rune? You owe me a new one, buddy!" She shook her fist at him.
"I'm Yuber, of course." the three copies said in unison, all of them stalking towards Ducknaat. "I thought I told you that." The duck scowled and quickly jumped to her feet, backing away. She pointed at the two spheres, now two seperate runes, and they lit up briefly before vanishing at her command.
"Hmph. I don't need cretins like you finding more powerful runes in addition to the shit you're already using. Looks like you won this round, Yuber." she said sourly. "Goodbye, and good riddance! Ducknaat shall return---for ROUND TWO~!" She flashed a peace sign, and ran off, seeking momentary sanctuary somewhere else in the village.
Yuber shrugged at this, merging back into one. With that, he trudged towards the general area of the shrine, hoping to find more fun people to slaughter along the way.
******
Crowley was sobbing hysterically as Sarah did her best to comfort him. It wasn't easy. She didn't know about anyone else, but Crowley had apparently seen his mother, Circe, get killed, while standing at the door of the shrine on watch. Sarah didn't wish that on anyone, and it only made her fear for everyone else even more. Could no one stand up to these... these monsters?
Aside from how sad it made her, she was also very concerned. If Circe had died so close to the shrine, and now there was very little noise coming from anywhere that they could hear clearly, it was possible that the villains were just about to make their entrance.
She couldn't have been more right.
"S-someone's here!" she gasped, as the unmistakable sihouette of Windy appeared in the doorway. Crowley hiccuped, and his tears turned off like a faucet. He jumped up, grabbing his staff tightly, and stood his ground next to the pedestal of the Rune. Sarah did likewise, and Mazus was already standing in front of it, ready.
The time had come.
Windy strolled into the shrine, with Cradagar following her like a faithful puppy as always. She saw the Rune and made to get closer to it.
"Not a step closer, Windy." Mazus warned severely.
"I told you. That Rune is MINE." Windy said, taking another step closer, charging up her Front Gate Rune.
"W-why are you doing this??" Sarah cried, trying to keep from breaking down completely. "What kind of magic-user are you, using your powers for this kind of thing?"
"I'm not fond of killing." Windy said, giving her a hard stare. "I wanted to negotiate. This was brought upon you entirely by yourselves."
"That's a lie!" Crowley shouted, his eyes filled with fire. "You came here, and you started all of this!!" He made to step forward, but was stopped by Mazus.
"You stupid wizards should learn to submit to a more powerful one. It's a simple law of nature." Cradagar put in. "Isn't that right, Lady Windy?" He sneered at them.
"Indeed. Then we wouldn't have to go to such extremes." She said, pausing. "I said I would destroy this village if your elder didn't hand over the Rune. I was laughed at. Your pride has caused your downfall."
"It's a two-way road, Windy." Mazus said darkly. "You have some pride issues yourself!" He snapped his hand up and blasted her with Charm Arrow. She stumbled, but stood her ground. Windy suddenly activated another rune---judging from its energy, it wasn't the Gate Rune, but it was likely just as dangerous. Sarah gasped as the air vibrated visibly. She and the others winced as the rune attacked them, but.... for some reason, it wasn't really hurting them.
"Why isn't it working?" Windy remarked with a scowl. "Conqueror Rune, hear my commands and obey!"
Sarah was covering her ears, though the Conqueror Rune wasn't emitting any sounds.
"I don't understand!" she cried. "The Conqueror Rune---we should be crushed by it!" Mazus gave them a grim look of satisfaction.
"The Mindspring Rune doesn't just attune our minds to better magic use, Sarah. As long as we're near it, she can't use her rune on us." he explained.
"P-puny ants!" Cradagar whined. "This isn't fair!"
"Thank you for that interesting lesson." Windy smirked. "I suppose I'll just have to kill you the old-fashioned way!" She began charging up another Gate Rune spell.
"My Lady!" Cradagar interrupted her. "Allow me." He grinned conspiratorially. She looked back at him, and then halted her spell.
"Very well."
Cradagar pointed his finger at Mazus and began to concentrate as hard as he could. The effect was stunning. Starting at his feet, Mazus's body and clothing began turning into cold, hard stone. The spell effect creeped up his body to his waist scarcely before he realized what was going on.
"What in the name of the gods?!" Mazus exclaimed, frantically trying to cast a spell with any of his runes.
"M-Master Mazus!" Sarah screamed. Windy thought quickly and fired off a Silent Lake, nullifying any spells Mazus may have been trying to cast.
"Quit it, quit it!!" Crowley shouted. He lunged forward and punched Cradagar smack in the face.
"Aaah! He hit me, Windy!" the mage whined, but soon changed his tune. "But...it's too late! Your master is petrified completely, now! Hahaha...ow..."
The spell had completely enveloped Mazus's body, rendering him no more useful than a park statue. Sarah jumped in front of her mentor's prone form, holding her arms out desperately.
"P-please, don't do this! Go away! We've done nothing!" she begged. Windy took another step closer, an icy, unemotional look on her face.
"You resisted. That's reason enough." she said bluntly.
"But why?" Sarah said tearfully. "Why come here in the first place?? Y-you should only use magic to help people, as much as possible! You wouldn't like it if someone came and did this to you, would you?"
Windy almost hesitated. But she instead gave Sarah a venomous glare.
"Don't presume to know what I would feel." she snapped.
"I thought you'd listen.... I hoped you'd see...." Sarah whimpered. She shook her head. "I can't, I can't let you!" She charged forward with her staff.
Before she could even get close to Windy, Cradagar thrust his hand outward, and without so much as uttering a word, Sarah fell to the floor.
"That was close, Lady Windy." Cradagar said. "She won't wake up for a long time, now."
"Very good." Windy said, smirking. "But what about the other one?"
Crowley trembled, scared, but still very angry.
"Wh-what did you do to her?! Sarah!! Bring her back, now!" he shouted.
"I have special talents that no one else has, wimp!" Cradagar made clear, grinning, "I said she won't wake up for a long time, and I meant it. As for you, I think I'll do the same thing, only... I feel like adding some pain to the spell. I owe you for bloodying my lip."
An explosion of blue light suddenly collapsed the wall to the left of the Rune, and Ducknaat burst through.
"Rescue~!" she quacked triumphantly.
"Are you here to rescue them? It's too late now!" Windy said, giving Ducknaat an icy glare. Ducknaat was about to argue (triumphantly) about how she couldn't lose when she noticed the ball of light intended for Crowley coming from Cradagar's fingers straight at her.
"Oh, well. I can see I've timed my attack impeccably, as usual. Shit on me." she said sourly, before being blasted head on with the ball of sleeping-spell-slash-pain. Simultaneously, however, she pulled a full-fledged portal out of her purse (Yes, a portal. From her purse.) and fell through it, escaping.
Cradagar turned his attention back to Crowley, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he was quite fatigued.
"You're all that's left, and lucky for me." He started wiggling his fingers.
Windy shook her head sadly.
"I gave you all fair warning. As I said, you brought this entirely upon yourselves." she proclaimed, approaching the Rune slowly. "I don't know why you even bothered with your pathetic resistance. You were doomed from the beginning." She reached the pedestal. "See? Your village fought in vain." She took the Rune with a note of finality and a look of satisfaction upon her face.
Crowley was overcome with drowsiness as he stumbled forward.
"I swear I'll...I'll kill you...." he snarled. The spell overtook him and he fell right at Windy's feet, futilely clutching at her robes.
"Unhand me this instant!" Windy cried, glaring at him in disgust.
"He's asleep, my Lady." Cradagar announced, kicking Crowley off of her, "There's nothing to worry about! You have the Rune. We're finally..." He turned to her, doe-eyed, "alone at last..."
Windy opened her mouth to say something, and of course, Yuber teleported in. He took a quick look around, and grinned.
"Well! Looks like you've taken care of the rest of the lot!" His swords vanished into thin air.
"Dammit. Never a moment's peace." Cradagar muttered to himself. He turned to Yuber. "Yuber, you---disgusting! You're all covered in...uggh." Even Windy raised an eyebrow at his appearance, for though she was used to it by now, she still found it disturbing.
"You noticed!" Yuber said, smiling at Cradagar. "Thanks, buddy! I missed you too!" He teleported closer to Cradagar and suddenly gave him a big, squishy hug, splotching the young mage with all the blood he had on his person.
"I-I'm not your buddy, you crazed homicidal maniac...!" Cradagar cried, freaking, "Windyyyy, get him off meee!"
"Aww, you're too kind!" Yuber cooed, not letting go of the young mage. He grinned madly.
Windy put away the Rune and approached her two cohorts, using her most stern tone.
"Yuber. Let go of him this instant." she commanded.
"Fine, fine." Yuber said, letting go of Cradagar and leaving big bloodstains on his skin and clothing. The mage shuddered.
"I don't know why I put up with you, Yuber!" Yuber merely smiled cheerfully at that.
"We have what we came here for." Windy announced. "We're leaving."
"I certainly hope you didn't kill unecessarily, you barbarian." Cradagar sneered as the three of them walked for the door. As Windy neared the door, her hair and clothing began fluttering in a most windswept, dramatic way, which Cradagar found extremely distracting.
"Naaah." Yuber said with a grin. "Hey, wanna see something neat?"
"No." Cradagar returned flatly. Yuber smiled brightly and reached to pull something out of nowhere as they walked anyway, ignoring the answer he received. He removed a bloodied human skull from empty space and waved it in the air.
"Look what I got!"
"G-g-ggh!" Cradagar sputtered, fainting dead away on the ground outside the shrine. Windy, still walking, sighed.
"Yuber, you really ought to stop doing that." she said quietly.
"Wow, he passed out. Humans are so silly." Yuber marveled. Windy stopped walking and turned to face him.
"Wake him up." she said of the mage.
Yuber kneeled and faintly nudged the teen, holding the skull behind his back. Cradagar awakened.
"Uhh?" Cradagar murmured. Yuber grinned a positively sick grin, then took the skull out from behind his back, holding it behind its jaw; he moved the jaw to mimic the words he said in a high-pitched voice.
"Yuber, who IS that human?"
"Oh, that's just Craggy." Yuber replied to himself in his normal voice. An evil smirk crept onto his face. "You look starved and skinny," he said to the skull, "Would you like to take a bite?"
"Would I ever!" Yuber said in the high-pitched voice, still moving the skull's jaw in sync. He glided the skull over to Cradagar's arm, chomping the teeth a little. The mage let out a strangled cry and fainted again. Yuber then danced around his prone form, and laughed.
"Well, what do you know? I think he liked you!" he said to the skull, grinning wildly as he put it back into nowhere land. With that, he skipped off after Windy, leaving the unconscious Cradagar behind.
It would be nearly fifteen minutes before Windy realized Cradagar was still gone, and annoyedly send Yuber back to fetch him for real.
Until then, he slumbered. As for Sarah and Crowley, within the Mindspring Shrine, they too slumbered... but for much longer.
One hundred years would pass before that fateful day when the kiss of a duck and a winger brought them both back to life. One hundred years, while the whole world shifted around them, changing while they remained ever the same.
Until then, they slumbered... running endlessly in their dreams, as the eyes that never blinked watched them and laughed.
