ULTRAMagic Prelude - Chapter 1
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“Where… Where am I?”
“Hey!”
“Who am…” He then noticed the person addressing him. “Uh, me?”
“Yes, you. Hello there, what’s your name, stranger?” A woman with long, dark hair and green eyes in a slightly beat up trench coat asked.
“Oh…um… Blood-Wraith, I think?”
The woman slightly tilted her head. “Blood? Quite an odd name given that you don’t seem particularly bloody. All of this fire kind of goes against that, ha. I’d say you’re more of a ‘Fire-Wraith.’”
Blood-Wraith looked at himself as the woman circled and visually inspected him, jotting down notes as she did. His body was shiny gray, sleek, and simple. In regards to his left arm, it was made of fire that glowed calmly and radiated a comfortable heat. And lastly, his torso seemed to emerge from a stream of fire emanating from a point on the ground. “Who are you?” he inquired of the woman.
“Oops, my bad. Ahem, my name is Dragoslava Raynot. I’m an explorer.” She then held out her hand.
Blood-Wraith took a second to figure out what the gesture was, but eventually his instincts led him to shake hands. The woman seemed to have quite the grip, but was gentle. “So where are we?”
“Well that depends. We’re close to where I live, The Iron City; but as a whole, we’re in The Unlight. A truly strange realm if you ask me, but one I call home.” Dragoslava pointed all around at the dusty landscape as she spoke.
While that knowledge answered his question, it was not that valuable as he had no idea what those locations were. Blood-Wraith decided to ask a different question as something had caught his interest. “What’s this?” He was holding an object he had picked up off of the ground. The feeling of the substance covering it was rough and dry, which made him think he would need to clean his hands later.
“That’s a rock,” Dragoslava replied. “They’re everywhere around here.”
“What does it do?”
“It depends on what you want it to do. It can be a tool, a weapon, an ornament, a decoration, et cetera.”
Blood-Wraith then looked over at a bigger rock. “What if I threw this at that thing?” he asked as he pointed at it.
“The boulder? Why not see for yourself? Go ahead and chuck it!”
With a deep breath, the rock was hurled at the boulder, shattering upon impact. “WHAT?! What was that!?” Blood-Wraith was quite startled by this outcome.
“Well shoot, you’ve got quite the arm! You could easily give my big sister a run for her money.” Dragoslava then knelt down, retrieving some sparkly objects from the mess and put them in her pockets. “A couple of things happened here…” she said as she stood up, dusting her hands off. “The wind up was potential energy, the rock soaring through the air was kinetic energy, and it ended up shattering because it could not stand the stress of hitting the boulder.”
Blood-Wraith nodded… he was still not sure what was going on. It was then that he heard a random noise accompanied by a strange, cold sensation brushing up against his body, completely invisible to him. Both of the resulting feelings made him shudder a little. “Wh-What was that?”
Dragoslava looked around, spotting something in the distance that gave her pause for concern. “Um, perhaps we should head to my place, if that’s okay with you?”
“Uh, sure…” Blood-Wraith replied as he looked around nervously.
The two left the area and entered the city, with Dragoslava leading the way. She took this opportunity to explain some of her background and where they were heading. Her quite noteworthy people were mages, warriors, explorers, scientists, and alchemists. In the past, they had settled down in the magnificent Iron City. This sprawling, gothic city made of iron was ancient and had signs of previous inhabitants from truly bygone eras. Sadly the city was abandoned again due to an attack from an ancient creature known as The Beast of Old. Dragoslava’s people knew something was not right and chased after it once it had fled. The intrepid explorer had left her people and the chase upon reaching proper adulthood to explore The Unlight and hopefully learn more about the beast.
The Iron City was both haunting and majestic. Pointed towers, huge spires, and cathedral-like buildings stood tall against the partially-cloudy, starry sky. Some buildings had a shine to them while others had succumbed to rust and weathering over the timeless eons of The Unlight. A clock tower chimed in the distance as thunder could be heard from the dark clouds nearby. Entering the city revealed the colossal height of the buildings, dwarfing anything that beheld them. The mix of all of that, combined with strange statues all over the place, and the emptiness made the city feel very intimidating for Blood-Wraith. Dragoslava on the other hand was just happy to be home once again.
“And now we just take a lift to the tower above us” Dragoslava announced as they entered a station of sorts at the center of the city. “As for what I was doing out past the walls, well I was coming home from a trip to The Valley of Eons. It is a very ancient, important place to my people.”
The two boarded a rickety, iron cage that served as a lift. Once the lever was pulled, it rattled and jolted upwards. The gears turned and grinded, lifting them up smoothly once they were out of the station. Seeing the vast city from the air was a breathtaking experience, especially for Blood-Wraith. Eventually they entered what Dragoslava introduced as The Singing Storm Tower. This golden, stone tower floated above the city, protected by a perpetual thunderstorm surrounding it. It had a similar feel to the Iron City with its own gothic architecture, but the key difference was that it was slightly more alien when compared to the rest of the city.
After a bit of walking, the two had arrived at what appeared to be Dragoslava’s office. It was fairly big, the room being decorated with ornate wood carvings, beautiful paintings on the walls above majestic book cases, and all of it lit with candle light. The office had all the furnishings to be expected including a fine desk, two sofas, a large coffee table, the aforementioned bookcases lining the walls, and several lounge chairs here and there. Behind the desk was a massive wall of windows, allowing one to view the city through the clouds. Of course, Dragoslava had to sift through and organize some of her mess before they could sit down. Interestingly it felt as if the office was not actually hers…
“Feel free to look around, just try to stay in my office until I finish with my journal entry.”
“What are all of these things?” Blood-Wraith asked, looking at the bookshelves.
“Books. You can read them… if you know how to. We might have to work on that one…”
Blood-Wraith then took out a book called ‘Advanced Alchemical Formula, 5th edition.’ He was incredibly confused by what he was reading. “Well I can read, but I have no idea what any of this means…”
Dragoslava was caught off guard by his choice and quickly put it back. “Um, maybe don’t read that one, hehe. I’m an alchemist and I don't even fully understand the stuff in that book yet… how about… try the books near the windows. They have a lot of basics, and need-to-know knowledge inside of them.”
Blood-Wraith went over to the books in question. Dragoslava was right, they were a lot easier to understand. He picked out a fairly thick science book and went over to a couch to read it. The book was about basic science and chemistry, which was definitely an interesting read for someone who had just come into existence mere hours ago. It did not take him long to find out about the rock and the boulder from earlier (with it becoming obvious that Dragoslava had referenced the book). Surprisingly he read quite fast and eventually moved onto the second volume in the series. Blood-Wraith quickly lost track of time, utterly engrossed with what was on the pages. Midway through the third volume, he was startled by Dragoslava, who had tapped his shoulder.
“Hey, Bookworm, you got so wrapped up in your book that you didn’t even notice that I brought us something to eat.”
“Oh, ha, well… Is that food? Like in the biology book?”
Dragoslava nodded as she sat down beside him, the sofa creaking a little bit. “Not sure how you’re going to eat it given that you don’t have a mouth, but…” Blood-Wraith took a sandwich and put it up to where his mouth should be. It vanished like it was being eaten. “...never mind.”
“Where did all of these books come from?”
“I’m not sure, truth be told. I mean some of them come from us, but my theory is that this tower was a repository for the original residents of the city,” Dragoslava answered. “On a side note, sometimes I pick up a book and get blasted with must because it's something that predated us.”
Blood-Wraith chuckled, even though he was not sure what ‘must’ was. “Have you read these books?” he asked further.
“Some of them. Mostly the ones with the stuff I don’t know in them. There is a lot to learn here.”
The two continued to sit there, reading for a while. It was mostly Blood-Wraith asking questions, however. As this went on, Dragoslava was noticing some of the odder traits of her newfound friend. He had six eyes, his body appeared to be segmented, and his fire did not burn anything. Just what was Blood-Wraith? And what was with that name? The Unlight was truly a bizarre place at times. On the contrary, Dragoslava would be lying if she said did not expect something like this to happen eventually. After the sixth volume, Blood-Wraith got up and put the book back.
“Alright, I think I’ve read enough for now… still don’t know what I am though.”
“Aw, no big deal, buddy. We’ll figure it out in time. Want me to show you around? Get you a little more familiar with the tower?”
Blood-Wraith was ready to go, looking around inquisitively. “Sure. So what else is there to this place?”
Dragoslava led Blood-Wraith down corridors and hallways while filling him in on the tower and who used it, soon arriving at the observatory. It was another beautiful, candle-lit room with a gigantic telescope in the center. The golden, ornate device was surrounded by tables with instruments and bookcases all around. Parts of the ceiling that did not host the telescope had been adorned with a truly fantastic and awesome painting of the cosmos. After cautioning Blood-Wraith to be careful of the delicate devices, Dragoslava showed him over to the seat of the telescope.
“Pretty impressive, isn’t it? I use this bad boy to help me find stuff, be it in the sky or on the horizon.”
“How, though? It looks fairly stationary…” Blood-Wraith pointed out.
“See that control panel? This room is on the outside, and that allows it to rotate around the tower.” Dragoslava then gave a quick demonstration. The room lightly shook, then moved at a steady pace. “We can’t exit unless the room is in the right position.”
Blood-Wraith nodded and sat down to look through the telescope. He moved it around a bit until stopping and taking a second to study a specific spot. “Hmm… oh hey! I found a planet!” he exclaimed.
“Ooh, ooh! Let me see!” Dragoslava hurried him out so she could look. “Nice catch, that’s one I haven’t seen yet…” She quickly noted its coordinates.
Blood-Wraith nodded once again, happy with his accomplishment. “Can I use this freely?”
“Sure, just let me teach you how to use it first. This has a lot of quirks that can easily confuse a first timer.”
“Fair enough…” Blood-Wraith yawned. “Dragoslava, am I tired?”
“Well, I don’t know. Are you?” she replied with a chuckle. “Either way, it’s close to dinner time, follow me.”
Dragoslava took Blood-Wraith to the dining hall. It was an amazing, grand room, with gorgeous and magnificent paintings all over the walls. The smell of a delectable, beef stew wafted through the air from the kitchen, which was also accompanied by the smell of fresh bread. The two took a seat at a huge dining table of high quality and detail. Blood-Wraith looked around, studying the decor and observing the grand chandeliers hanging above them. All of it filled him with a sense that the tower was truly important to Dragoslava’s people. Blood-Wraith’s eyes continued to wander, eventually landing on a tall man emerging from the kitchen. He was not fully a man though, having the lower half of a goat, which surprised Blood-Wraith.
The cook smiled upon entering the room. “Dragoslava! You’re… oh, you’ve brought company?” He timidly noted.
“Oh jeez, sorry Desislav. Blood-Wraith, this is Desislav Robles, my cook you could say and a close friend. Desislav, this is Blood-Wraith. I sort of just found him out there, with no idea who he is.”
Desislav observed the strange entity before him for a moment. “Well hello, Blood-Wraith. It’s a pleasure… to meet you, ha.” He was a little nervous.
Blood-Wraith looked at the man whose hair was brown and slightly long for a second. He was tall and imposing, but also looked fairly gentle and kind, his soft-brown eyes indicating someone who had oddly been through a lot. “What are you?” He asked out of curiosity.
“Oh, I’m a Satyr. A relatively big Satyr, or so I’ve been told.”
Dragoslava chuckled. “Relatively? Most Satyrs are often on the short side…”
“Okay, seven feet is pretty tall. Blood, do you like beef stew and buttered bread?” Desislav inquired.
“I don’t know, but it all smells good.”
With that, Desislav went and retrieved the food trolley with the stew, bread, bowls, plates, and cutlery. The scents became even more pronounced as the food was served, and Blood-Wraith did not know what to think at first. With Desislav’s encouragement, he tried the stew. It was fantastic, delighting Blood-Wraith’s senses to no end. It was warm and savory, with the buttered bread going along nicely with it. The three then talked as they ate their meal. Desislav did a fantastic job with the food, as always.
After dinner, Dragoslava took Blood-Wraith to a huge bedroom. It was meant to house multiple people and she slept there regularly. Blood-Wraith was able to figure out where she slept and where Desislav slept. After picking his bed, Dragoslava tucked him in. The bed was very comfortable as he felt himself sink into the mattress and pillow. Dragoslava then promised to take Blood-Wraith on an adventure the next day. It had been quite a day for him, no two ways about it. One minute he did not exist and now he was full and in a comfy bed. He could not wait for what was going to happen tomorrow.
Next: Chapter 2
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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