ULTRAMagic Prelude - Chapter 9
The feast that Sigmund had planned had to be delayed on account of Blood-Wraith still recovering from the battle with the Lich. Some of the cooks were also having trouble with some of the food that they were preparing. This was fine for the group as it gave them an excuse to stay in the village a little longer. Dragoslava spoke to more of the Tree People while Desislav talked with Sigmund about relocating his people to the forest. As for Blood-Wraith, he was being looked after by Tusk and Auda.
The next day Auda seemed to be doing a little dance around the bed Blood-Wraith was laying in. “Ooh Ooh Ooh, Ah Ah Ah! Get better fire, get better fire, GET BETTER, MR. FIRE!” Auda chanted as she danced around. “Feel better yet?”
Blood-Wraith groaned in discomfort. “No…” It was noon and he was still in bed.
“I think the problem is that you did too much after receiving my fragment,” Tusk deduced.
“You don’t think this will happen again, do you?”
“It’s hard to say. You are incredibly young… which in hindsight I should’ve accounted for, but your body may also adjust to future fragments.”
Blood-Wraith rolled over to face the two. “Tusk? Are we friends now? The thought crossed my mind last night.”
“Well I don’t see why not…” he then noticed his new friend’s face, or rather lack thereof. “Uh, Blood!? Where’s your face?!”
“What?” Blood-Wraith lacked the black faceplate he usually had. What was there instead was a six-eyed face made of fire. “Oh, that… It’s just the mask I was born with.” He then reached over to the night stand.
Auda was utterly amazed, having never truly seen anything like him before. “Whoa… What about the rest of you, Mr. Fire?”
“I’m not sure. I think it’s just the mask.”
Tusk watched Blood-Wraith put the mask back on, then spoke. “Do you want to try and walk around? See if you end up feeling better?”
“Sure…”
“Come on, Mr. Fire, let’s go get some air!” Auda meant to say ‘fresh air.’
Assuming his memory was correct, Tusk took Blood-Wraith on a tour around the village. This time the other villagers were not giving the mage displeased looks, thankfully. Sigmund had been spreading the word that Tusk would be setting out on a great journey soon. Blood-Wraith was still out of it for a bit, but Tusk had an idea. His old doctor had treated him in the past, even during his mage training. He most likely had a remedy for Blood-Wraith’s issue. Naturally the doctor immediately recognized the problem and whipped up a treatment in the form of potion. This caused Blood-Wraith to perk up and made him more eager to explore the village.
Things were busy with the Tree People, as usual. In particular, another tribe of The Unending Forest was visiting. These were the Sunset Wolves, who had heard word of what had recently transpired. They were naturally concerned for their allies and it was also trading time. Given the upright posture of the wolves, it was not unreasonable to assume they were werewolves. In reality, they were no more than wolf-people of the nomadic variety. Some were also more human looking than others.
The leader of the Sunset Wolves, Chief Magnus Scully, was thrilled to meet the group. His son, Razor, was also intrigued. Of note was that Magnus had been trying to convince Tusk to train Razor for the longest time. Given Tusk’s attitude in the past, these requests were declined. To his chagrin, Sigmund promised that his son would train Razor. Considering recent circumstances and the situation with Blood-Wraith, it was only fair. This would have to wait until Tusk was done with his current student, however. Razor also still had some maturing to do, as he was quite a rambunctious late-teenager.
“Hey, Blood!” Dragoslava called out, moving over to him from across the way. “Glad to see you out of bed. How do you feel?”
“Great. Tusk’s doctor apparently knew exactly what was wrong with me.” Blood-Wraith then paused and buckled a bit. “Argh, what the…?”
“Whoa, easy Blood…” Dragoslava said as she readied to catch him. “Don’t push yourself.”
“No, it’s not that. I sensed… I think I sensed something. Some kind of strife. I hope whoever it is is alright…”
Dragoslava shook her head. “Well there’s not much we can do if you don’t know who it is.”
“Agreed. Plus it felt so far off and brief…”
“You know? It’s interesting that you had that feeling, Blood. That would imply that you have family directly related to you, somewhere out there. My people experience a similar phenomenon. Who knows? Maybe we’ll meet this mystery person someday.”
Unable to discern any more details, the two returned to their business. Dragoslava had been interviewing various Tree People and taking notes all day. The Tree People had a lot to say, all of it worth writing down. She was also able to sneak in some chats with the Sunset Wolves. Eventually Desislav rejoined them and the group was back together. Of course by this time the feast was starting. While everyone ate, Sigmund spoke proudly of the group and proclaimed his son’s mission. Annoyingly the strange feeling from earlier was still on Blood-Wraith’s mind. Auda noticed this, but she was not sure what to say.
After the amazing feast, Dragoslava rounded everyone up and got ready to leave. Sigmund was a bit surprised, but she explained that now she was sensing something back at the city. There was also the fact that her report was overdue. While unfortunate, the chief wished them the best. Before they left, he presented them with a collection of books. Of note were books about the shrine scrolls and alchemical manuscripts. Lastly, Auda gave Blood-Wraith a shiny black gem with red sparkles, as something to remember her by. It was naive to assume Mr. Fire would be gone forever, but was appreciated nonetheless.
Leif was pleased to meet Tusk and welcomed him to the family (so-to-speak). What came as a shock to the group was how close The Iron City was now. The Forest had been talking to Leif and decided to relocate to the vicinity of the city. It felt safer there given what the group had gone through to help it. Since the trip was going to be short, Dragoslava decided to forego flying. They were a couple of miles out, but Tusk did not mind. Plus Dragoslava was eager to show him some of the sights. Upon reaching the outskirts, everyone was greeted by a new sight: a man and a 12 foot tall, mechanical knight.
“There shall be no foul Earth Spirits desecrating this majestic creation!” The man declared. “War Machine!?”
Opposite from the duo was a batch of sludge covered entities, gurgling and oozing. Four of them were quadrupedal, but the fifth was human looking. This one in particular was decrepit and shouting all sorts of vulgarities and obscene language. The mechanical knight, adorned in armor that resembled a military uniform, readied its sword. As its eyes lit up with a red glow, it charged forward. Shaking the ground as it ran, the Earth Spirits had no hope of outrunning it.
Stomping on one of the spirits, the knight swung its giant sword. The human one was cleaved right in two, cursing as it faded away. It was unclear if it had any idea what had happened or was in denial (most likely the latter). The others tried to flee, but to no avail. The knight clenched its fist, causing red lightning to strike the stragglers. Once the malignant entities had all turned to dust, the man and the knight turned to their spectators and gave a bow. Everyone except Dragoslava and Leif clapped.
“And with that, we bid our unwelcome guests adieu.”
Dragoslava crossed her arms and groaned. “Corentin the Mad…”
“Dragoslava! Oh my goodness, it’s been too long. How have you been?”
“Fine. Not blowing myself up, not studying forbidden knowledge, and not short circuiting the power grid every Wednesday!”
“Oh come now, my experiments aren’t that dreadful…” Corentin was an odd fellow. He was devilishly handsome in a manic sort of way with soft pink hair and indigo eyes. He also had a bit of a reputation, no thanks to his past escapades. Parts of his body also appeared stitched up, but not out of injury.
“Corentin, what is that?” Leif asked, sounding very frustrated.
“This? It is my magnum opus! The rebuilt Warmachine of Old…”
“No, it’s not.”
Corentin was caught off guard. “I beg your pardon, but I assure you this is the War Machine.” He was genuinely hurt by that comment.
“This is an inferior facsimile. The original deactivated itself when its duty was finished.”
“Well, did you just expect me to dismantle the entire city?”
“I expected you to leave well enough alone…” Leif shot back.
While the two argued, Blood-Wraith turned to Dragoslava. “Sister, I’m confused. What are they talking about?”
Dragoslava sighed. “Legends say that The Iron City is the corpse of an ancient War Machine. When the hunters of yore finished their mission, The War Machine laid itself down to rest so they could have somewhere to live. I suppose this means that this city was once a primordial…”
“It certainly does feel like one,” Tusk added.
“Despite being made of iron, this place has never felt truly dead to me” Desislav concluded.
Seeing the argument between Leif and Corentin continue, Dragoslava chuckled. “Let’s sneak away while they’re busy.” She was content to let the dragon roast the mad scientist until the cows came home.
The others would have questioned this had they not been so tired. The ride up to the tower felt longer than usual, but this was most likely due to the exhaustion. Kresimira was there to welcome them back. She also warmly greeted Tusk. In hindsight, the group probably should have stayed another night in the forest. Either way, they were just happy to be safe and sound again. As the others got into bed and fell asleep, Blood-Wraith was restless. He could not sleep no matter what he did. Eventually he wandered off to the observatory, spending the night looking through the telescope.
“Can’t sleep?” Someone asked.
“Kresimira?” Blood-Wraith yawned. “No, not really. The anomalous feeling won’t leave my head… shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“I’m a bit of a night owl. What’s on your mind?”
Blood-Wraith went back to his task. “I’m trying to find where this feeling is coming from. It feels like my insides are all knotted up now. I hate this feeling…”
“Ooh, yeah, that’s called anxiety. It’s a rather unpleasant feeling…” Kresimira had brought a kettle and some cups with her. “Here, have some tea. It’ll calm your nerves.”
“Thanks…” The warm, aromatic drink was quite soothing. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Not really, unless you know where the issue is. It seems as though this trouble isn’t our concern, however.”
“That doesn’t exactly help…”
Kresimira sipped some of her tea. “Such is life, sadly. If it was of our concern, we would have dealt with it by now. The unfortunate truth is that we can’t help everyone, nor can we prevent every tragedy. If we could, there would be no reason to exist. The best we can do is stomp out evil where and whenever we see it, be it through might or mind.”
“...but what is evil?”
“Evil is the end result of fear. It’s unchecked ignorance. When one is ignorant, they become fearful. This leads to desperation. That desperation begets complacency. Arrogance comes next. And then that turns into an irreverent disregard for life and the light. These individuals are so far gone that they don’t care about anyone but themselves. Everyone else is just an obstacle to be eliminated.”
“That’s so… barbaric” Blood-wraith pointed out. “Why is it like that?”
“God gave us life, but not Nous. That is for us to seek out, as it is our responsibility to do so. Remember this, Blood-Wraith: As long as we embrace the light and seek Gnosis, we can never be felled. It doesn’t matter how much evil pushes against us.”
That ending statement from Kresimira made Blood-Wraith feel a lot better. After returning to bed, he pondered those words for a bit before finally falling asleep. Thinking back to what Leif and Proteus had said, he wondered if the Lich was afraid. What could cause a primordial to be that scared? Would such a thing ever affect himself? Well of course not! Blood-Wraith bore no contempt nor was he fearful. Life was confusing, but he embraced it. He had so many new friends after all. Despite all of the assurance, he still felt bad for the source of his anxiety. He would have to seek out whomever that was and give them a hug someday.
Next: Chapter 10
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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