ULTRAMagic Prelude - Chapter 11
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“Every now and then, groups of outsider angels try to challenge Adonai for his throne,” Valentina explained. “Other times it’s interlopers and-or aberrations. Currently it’s the former… the challengers, not the other two.” She seemed a bit uneasy. Her armor could be heard lightly rattling as she sipped her tea.
Kresimira noticed the dark angel’s anxiety. “I can’t help but notice that you’re… a bit on edge at the moment, dear. Did something happen before you departed?”
“Well I did run into a little trouble while crossing the gap, but it was nothing too serious…”
“Is this your first conflict?” Corentin inquired.
Valentina nodded. “I joined the armies of Heaven, the Warrior Angel Army, so I could explore the Cosmos freely. I didn’t expect a war to pop up any time soon, however.”
“Pardon my asking, but I’m confused; Who’s Adonai again?” Dragoslava asked.
“Adonai is God’s emanation, an entity for the denizens of the Cosmos proper to comprehend,” Corentin answered. “It’s also so he can understand what his children are going through, or so I’ve heard. Also there seems to be multiple Adonai’s throughout the Cosmos proper, interestingly enough.”
Valentina nodded once more. “Something along those lines.” She paused. “Quick question: Does Blood-Wraith have permission to fly to that one planetoid?”
“He did what now?” Dragoslava already had a rough idea of what had just happened.
“He’s already made his way to that stormy planet to the northeast of the tower…”
Dragoslava was already dragging Tusk out the door with Leif following. “Come on you two, before Blood gets hurt.”
“Should I go with them?” Valentina wondered.
“Don’t worry, they should be fine,” Kresimira replied. “Leif is accompanying them after all.”
The flight to the new planetoid went without a problem. Getting close revealed that it was covered in storms, with swirling clouds and giant vortexes moving all over the surface. At first Dragoslava thought this could be a gas giant, a reasonable assessment. The colors of the clouds and the size of the planetoid changed her mind, however. It became clear that it was just a standard planetoid with extreme weather conditions. Once they were in close proximity to the atmosphere, Dragoslava began looking. Leif and Tusk also kept their eyes open as they flew. Eventually they spotted Blood-Wraith, who looked confused and lost.
“Blood!” Dragoslava called out. “There you are!”
“Oh hey, Sister. Don’t mind me, just trying to figure out how to explore this…”
“How are you doing, Blood-Wraith?” Tusk asked. “Hanging in there?” It was clear what he was referencing.
“Um, yeah… I think. So how do I get down to the surface?”
Dragoslava facepalmed. “Blood? How about we head back to the tower instead? That sounds like a better idea.” Normally she would have been up for this adventure, but even she had to admit the storms looked fairly dangerous.
“Oh, Alright… let’s go back home” Blood-Wraith conceded.
“Wait, let’s not jump the gun here” Leif cut in. “There should be a calm spot for us to slip into, eyes of the storms if you will. We just have to wait for the right one.”
“What if there’s nothing special on the surface though?” Tusk asked.
“Well we won’t know until we go down there, won’t we?” Tyrant pointed out.
Everyone scanned the storms that came into view until Dragoslava spotted a potential candidate. “If you insist on us going for it, that one over there looks fair enough to fly into.”
“Well spotted” Leif commended. “Alright everyone, here we go. It’ll be rough flying and we need to stay with the eye at all times. Keep sightseeing to a minimum and only pick up what you plan to carry home” he instructed.
The sound of howling wind, roaring thunder, and pounding rain became more and more intense as they descended into the atmosphere of the planetoid. These conditions were scaring Blood-Wraith a bit, but he pressed on. The surface was fairly unremarkable, save for some mountains and canyons. As they moved steadily with the eye, groups of winged lifeforms were spotted. They appeared bipedal and were clearly adapted to living in the consistently stormy weather. They did not speak outside of screeches, but were very interested in the outsiders regardless.
As the group explored, Tusk picked up a few shiny rocks from the muddy ground. “Hey! I think we got unique ores here!”
Dragoslava inspected one of the rocks. “Fascinating. Let’s take some home… None of us brought backpacks…”
“I shouldn’t mess around like this, but I did push for us to come here” Leif said with a chuckle. His eyes lit up, causing Dragoslava’s backpack to appear.
“Thanks, Leif. Why don’t you do this more often?”
“I’m worried that my manipulations of time and space could damage the Cosmos. Paranoia? Maybe, but I do not want to anger the Time Watchers…”
“Those guys are the last people you want to cross,” Tyrant added. “Just ask The Conspirator of Old.” Leif shuddered, then nodded.
Dragoslava had heard of such a group of entities before. “Even primordials know the Time Watchers? Huh… Try to grab as many rocks as you can, Tusk.”
Leif continued his tangent about manipulation. “Primordials are very unstable entities in this era, especially rogues like me. It’s the reason I haven’t dealt with the Lich myself yet; we could actually end up severely damaging the Cosmos… my existence is a nightmare right now.”
“Don’t worry, Leif,” Blood-Wraith put in. “We got your back on this issue just like how you got ours… but is it really that hazardous for you to intervene to that degree? Surely it can’t be all that bad…”
“It is. I’ve looked ahead into alternate futures. It always ends badly…”
Dragoslava zipped up her backpack, which was now full. “Well shucks, my dragon pal. My apologies for doubting you. As for Cyclone World, I think we’ve seen enough… Seriously, my boots are full of water.”
Blood-Wraith chuckled. “Cyclone World?”
“Yup, that’s what I’m calling it” Dragoslava replied as she and Tusk climbed up onto Leif’s back.
“I’m surprised you didn’t call it Wind World,” Leif replied in jest.
“Ha ha, very funny.”
Blood-Wraith was feeling pretty accomplished during the trip back home. He had set out on his own journey and made his own discovery. Of course he did feel a bit of dread given that he had worried Dragoslava, however. He thought about what would have happened had he gotten hurt, but it also occurred to him that he would have to take these risks in the future. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He also could not expect his sister to look after him forever. Plus the thrill was pretty fun. Bringing help with him was on the table now though, given how dangerous Cyclone World was. As Blood-Wraith mused and pondered, he failed to realize that everyone was warning him that he was about to fly right into a wall… and then he collided with said wall with a thud.
“Blood, you klutz!” Dragoslava scolded as he fell to the balcony floor. “You have to be careful of this stuff!”
“Ow…”
Tusk helped him up. “Don’t worry, champ. Everyone stumbles on their first step… Well flight, in your case.”
“Thanks, Tusk…” Blood-Wraith reverted back to normal. He also noticed Leif starting to leave. “Where are you going, Leif?”
“Oh, just off to talk to the War Machine some more. I’ll be back later.”
“For someone who wasn’t thrilled to see one of his kin resurrected, he certainly is interested in talking to him” Dragoslava observed.
Making their way back to their guest, the three found the room vacant. They immediately noticed a note stating that Kresimira had taken Valentina to see some more of the tower. There was no problem there. Blood-Wraith wanting his book prompted them to go looking around. After a basic search, Dragoslava realized something: They had been gone for a while… And Kresimira was the type to show off her family. It then occurred to her where they probably were.
“... She’s not very organized, but she works very hard regardless” Kresimira stated as she organized some papers on the desk.
“I see,” Valentina replied. “Also this is a gorgeous desk.”
“It was made by Guthrie Kerre,” Corentin pointed out. “He’s a good friend of my father, Barna Schindewolf, who also helped make it. Uncle bugged both of them for ages for it.”
“SISTER! Why did you let HIM into my office!?” Dragoslava exclaimed, rushing over to inspect the desk. “I swear, if you touched my stash of cookies…”
“Your office, dear?” Kresimira corrected, with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, Drago. He’s not going to break anything, right?”
“I wouldn’t even dream of it,” Corentin promptly responded.
Dragoslava checked several drawers before giving Corentin the ‘I’m watching you’ look. “Alright, everything checks out.”
“Hey, Valentina!” Blood-Wraith cheerfully welcomed. “How are you doing?”
“Ah, Blood-Wraith. Just the fellow I wanted to see. I’m doing fine for the most part…” Valentina reached into her wing and retrieved a wrapped up object and handed it to him. “Here you go, sweetie. One Alchemy book based on my notes.”
Blood-Wraith glowed brightly with glee. “Yes yes yes! Thank you thank you thank you!” He then unwrapped it, revealing the cover. It was black with purple Alchemical patterns all over both covers. The text for the title was gold, reading ‘VALENTINA’S ALCHEMY, For Blood-Wraith.’
“I decided to get a little artsy and transmuted some gold into the cover”
“All that for a simple notes compilation though?” Corentin asked. “Impressive regardless.”
“Why not? Plus I had some extra Alchemical Gold laying around.”
“Ooh, I can’t wait to start reading this…” Blood-Wraith set the book down on the table, next to his usual spot on the couch. “I didn’t cause you too much trouble, did I?”
“Oh no, definitely not,” Valentina reassured. “It was actually quite interesting and fun to go through my old notes. A lot of it was stuff that comes naturally now, but was crucial to write down back then. Also I did omit some of my notes, primarily a lot of my trial and error from back then. Most of it was fairly useless, even for a beginner. I did include some of my more noteworthy mishaps, however.” The last part prompted a laugh from both of them.
Kresimira took note of that last comment, given what Dragoslava had been pulling with her studies as of late. “Oh, I see… went overboard on the ratios, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, something I feel most alchemists do when they are first starting out.”
Tusk tapped the boy’s shoulder. “Hey, Blood-Wraith? I also have some notes you can look through, if you want.”
“Oh? Thanks, Tusk. Assuming your father doesn’t mind you heading back early to retrieve them?”
“He won’t mind, especially if it’s for my mission.”
Corentin looked out the window. “It shouldn’t be too difficult considering the forest is now just a hop, skip, and a jump away…”
“Do you want to go there?” Tusk asked.
“Yes! I’ve been dying to get my hands on the knowledge of the forest. At the moment in particular, I wish to make some modifications to the War Machine.”
Tusk thought about this for a moment. “And that’s all you want to do?”
“That, and see if I can’t learn something new.”
Kresimira put her hand on Corentin’s shoulder. “Shall we make it a date then?”
Corentin chuckled nervously. “Haha, sure thing, my sweet…”
“Don’t worry Tusk, I’ll make sure he behaves.”
Blood-Wraith then remembered his little friend. “Be careful of Auda, she likes to pounce. Don’t ask how I found that one out, haha.”
“Auda?” Kresimira asked.
“Yeah, she’s my niece,” Tusk answered. “A feisty little sapling if you ask me. Also incredibly persistent…”
Valentina would end up spending the night at the tower. Partially because she needed to relax, and the other reason being she wanted to give Blood-Wraith a little guidance on his new book. Dragoslava also wanted to get to know her more. They actually really wanted her to move into the tower. Valentina was a fascinating individual and fun to have around. Sadly the dark angel had duties that required her attention back in her universe. She had to go back home the following day, with Desislav giving her a basket of bread and cookies to enjoy.
Something that caught everyone’s interest was an individual that Valentina had mentioned in regards to her home. One of her friends (the aforementioned individual) had heard of Dragoslava and Blood-Wraith’s escapades from the former’s field reports. Sensing that they were heading face first into trouble, this friend began crafting special weapons for the two. Kresimira was a bit apprehensive while Corentin was intrigued. Perhaps this was foreshadowing events about to happen. Either way, it was a bit of relief knowing that angels were taking interest in the explorers. It meant that other realms were fully aware of the conflict surrounding the primordials, The Iron City, and the neighboring kingdom of Shadowland. Was this a reason for concern? It was too soon to say.
Next: Chapter 12
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
“Every now and then, groups of outsider angels try to challenge Adonai for his throne,” Valentina explained. “Other times it’s interlopers and-or aberrations. Currently it’s the former… the challengers, not the other two.” She seemed a bit uneasy. Her armor could be heard lightly rattling as she sipped her tea.
Kresimira noticed the dark angel’s anxiety. “I can’t help but notice that you’re… a bit on edge at the moment, dear. Did something happen before you departed?”
“Well I did run into a little trouble while crossing the gap, but it was nothing too serious…”
“Is this your first conflict?” Corentin inquired.
Valentina nodded. “I joined the armies of Heaven, the Warrior Angel Army, so I could explore the Cosmos freely. I didn’t expect a war to pop up any time soon, however.”
“Pardon my asking, but I’m confused; Who’s Adonai again?” Dragoslava asked.
“Adonai is God’s emanation, an entity for the denizens of the Cosmos proper to comprehend,” Corentin answered. “It’s also so he can understand what his children are going through, or so I’ve heard. Also there seems to be multiple Adonai’s throughout the Cosmos proper, interestingly enough.”
Valentina nodded once more. “Something along those lines.” She paused. “Quick question: Does Blood-Wraith have permission to fly to that one planetoid?”
“He did what now?” Dragoslava already had a rough idea of what had just happened.
“He’s already made his way to that stormy planet to the northeast of the tower…”
Dragoslava was already dragging Tusk out the door with Leif following. “Come on you two, before Blood gets hurt.”
“Should I go with them?” Valentina wondered.
“Don’t worry, they should be fine,” Kresimira replied. “Leif is accompanying them after all.”
The flight to the new planetoid went without a problem. Getting close revealed that it was covered in storms, with swirling clouds and giant vortexes moving all over the surface. At first Dragoslava thought this could be a gas giant, a reasonable assessment. The colors of the clouds and the size of the planetoid changed her mind, however. It became clear that it was just a standard planetoid with extreme weather conditions. Once they were in close proximity to the atmosphere, Dragoslava began looking. Leif and Tusk also kept their eyes open as they flew. Eventually they spotted Blood-Wraith, who looked confused and lost.
“Blood!” Dragoslava called out. “There you are!”
“Oh hey, Sister. Don’t mind me, just trying to figure out how to explore this…”
“How are you doing, Blood-Wraith?” Tusk asked. “Hanging in there?” It was clear what he was referencing.
“Um, yeah… I think. So how do I get down to the surface?”
Dragoslava facepalmed. “Blood? How about we head back to the tower instead? That sounds like a better idea.” Normally she would have been up for this adventure, but even she had to admit the storms looked fairly dangerous.
“Oh, Alright… let’s go back home” Blood-Wraith conceded.
“Wait, let’s not jump the gun here” Leif cut in. “There should be a calm spot for us to slip into, eyes of the storms if you will. We just have to wait for the right one.”
“What if there’s nothing special on the surface though?” Tusk asked.
“Well we won’t know until we go down there, won’t we?” Tyrant pointed out.
Everyone scanned the storms that came into view until Dragoslava spotted a potential candidate. “If you insist on us going for it, that one over there looks fair enough to fly into.”
“Well spotted” Leif commended. “Alright everyone, here we go. It’ll be rough flying and we need to stay with the eye at all times. Keep sightseeing to a minimum and only pick up what you plan to carry home” he instructed.
The sound of howling wind, roaring thunder, and pounding rain became more and more intense as they descended into the atmosphere of the planetoid. These conditions were scaring Blood-Wraith a bit, but he pressed on. The surface was fairly unremarkable, save for some mountains and canyons. As they moved steadily with the eye, groups of winged lifeforms were spotted. They appeared bipedal and were clearly adapted to living in the consistently stormy weather. They did not speak outside of screeches, but were very interested in the outsiders regardless.
As the group explored, Tusk picked up a few shiny rocks from the muddy ground. “Hey! I think we got unique ores here!”
Dragoslava inspected one of the rocks. “Fascinating. Let’s take some home… None of us brought backpacks…”
“I shouldn’t mess around like this, but I did push for us to come here” Leif said with a chuckle. His eyes lit up, causing Dragoslava’s backpack to appear.
“Thanks, Leif. Why don’t you do this more often?”
“I’m worried that my manipulations of time and space could damage the Cosmos. Paranoia? Maybe, but I do not want to anger the Time Watchers…”
“Those guys are the last people you want to cross,” Tyrant added. “Just ask The Conspirator of Old.” Leif shuddered, then nodded.
Dragoslava had heard of such a group of entities before. “Even primordials know the Time Watchers? Huh… Try to grab as many rocks as you can, Tusk.”
Leif continued his tangent about manipulation. “Primordials are very unstable entities in this era, especially rogues like me. It’s the reason I haven’t dealt with the Lich myself yet; we could actually end up severely damaging the Cosmos… my existence is a nightmare right now.”
“Don’t worry, Leif,” Blood-Wraith put in. “We got your back on this issue just like how you got ours… but is it really that hazardous for you to intervene to that degree? Surely it can’t be all that bad…”
“It is. I’ve looked ahead into alternate futures. It always ends badly…”
Dragoslava zipped up her backpack, which was now full. “Well shucks, my dragon pal. My apologies for doubting you. As for Cyclone World, I think we’ve seen enough… Seriously, my boots are full of water.”
Blood-Wraith chuckled. “Cyclone World?”
“Yup, that’s what I’m calling it” Dragoslava replied as she and Tusk climbed up onto Leif’s back.
“I’m surprised you didn’t call it Wind World,” Leif replied in jest.
“Ha ha, very funny.”
Blood-Wraith was feeling pretty accomplished during the trip back home. He had set out on his own journey and made his own discovery. Of course he did feel a bit of dread given that he had worried Dragoslava, however. He thought about what would have happened had he gotten hurt, but it also occurred to him that he would have to take these risks in the future. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He also could not expect his sister to look after him forever. Plus the thrill was pretty fun. Bringing help with him was on the table now though, given how dangerous Cyclone World was. As Blood-Wraith mused and pondered, he failed to realize that everyone was warning him that he was about to fly right into a wall… and then he collided with said wall with a thud.
“Blood, you klutz!” Dragoslava scolded as he fell to the balcony floor. “You have to be careful of this stuff!”
“Ow…”
Tusk helped him up. “Don’t worry, champ. Everyone stumbles on their first step… Well flight, in your case.”
“Thanks, Tusk…” Blood-Wraith reverted back to normal. He also noticed Leif starting to leave. “Where are you going, Leif?”
“Oh, just off to talk to the War Machine some more. I’ll be back later.”
“For someone who wasn’t thrilled to see one of his kin resurrected, he certainly is interested in talking to him” Dragoslava observed.
Making their way back to their guest, the three found the room vacant. They immediately noticed a note stating that Kresimira had taken Valentina to see some more of the tower. There was no problem there. Blood-Wraith wanting his book prompted them to go looking around. After a basic search, Dragoslava realized something: They had been gone for a while… And Kresimira was the type to show off her family. It then occurred to her where they probably were.
“... She’s not very organized, but she works very hard regardless” Kresimira stated as she organized some papers on the desk.
“I see,” Valentina replied. “Also this is a gorgeous desk.”
“It was made by Guthrie Kerre,” Corentin pointed out. “He’s a good friend of my father, Barna Schindewolf, who also helped make it. Uncle bugged both of them for ages for it.”
“SISTER! Why did you let HIM into my office!?” Dragoslava exclaimed, rushing over to inspect the desk. “I swear, if you touched my stash of cookies…”
“Your office, dear?” Kresimira corrected, with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, Drago. He’s not going to break anything, right?”
“I wouldn’t even dream of it,” Corentin promptly responded.
Dragoslava checked several drawers before giving Corentin the ‘I’m watching you’ look. “Alright, everything checks out.”
“Hey, Valentina!” Blood-Wraith cheerfully welcomed. “How are you doing?”
“Ah, Blood-Wraith. Just the fellow I wanted to see. I’m doing fine for the most part…” Valentina reached into her wing and retrieved a wrapped up object and handed it to him. “Here you go, sweetie. One Alchemy book based on my notes.”
Blood-Wraith glowed brightly with glee. “Yes yes yes! Thank you thank you thank you!” He then unwrapped it, revealing the cover. It was black with purple Alchemical patterns all over both covers. The text for the title was gold, reading ‘VALENTINA’S ALCHEMY, For Blood-Wraith.’
“I decided to get a little artsy and transmuted some gold into the cover”
“All that for a simple notes compilation though?” Corentin asked. “Impressive regardless.”
“Why not? Plus I had some extra Alchemical Gold laying around.”
“Ooh, I can’t wait to start reading this…” Blood-Wraith set the book down on the table, next to his usual spot on the couch. “I didn’t cause you too much trouble, did I?”
“Oh no, definitely not,” Valentina reassured. “It was actually quite interesting and fun to go through my old notes. A lot of it was stuff that comes naturally now, but was crucial to write down back then. Also I did omit some of my notes, primarily a lot of my trial and error from back then. Most of it was fairly useless, even for a beginner. I did include some of my more noteworthy mishaps, however.” The last part prompted a laugh from both of them.
Kresimira took note of that last comment, given what Dragoslava had been pulling with her studies as of late. “Oh, I see… went overboard on the ratios, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, something I feel most alchemists do when they are first starting out.”
Tusk tapped the boy’s shoulder. “Hey, Blood-Wraith? I also have some notes you can look through, if you want.”
“Oh? Thanks, Tusk. Assuming your father doesn’t mind you heading back early to retrieve them?”
“He won’t mind, especially if it’s for my mission.”
Corentin looked out the window. “It shouldn’t be too difficult considering the forest is now just a hop, skip, and a jump away…”
“Do you want to go there?” Tusk asked.
“Yes! I’ve been dying to get my hands on the knowledge of the forest. At the moment in particular, I wish to make some modifications to the War Machine.”
Tusk thought about this for a moment. “And that’s all you want to do?”
“That, and see if I can’t learn something new.”
Kresimira put her hand on Corentin’s shoulder. “Shall we make it a date then?”
Corentin chuckled nervously. “Haha, sure thing, my sweet…”
“Don’t worry Tusk, I’ll make sure he behaves.”
Blood-Wraith then remembered his little friend. “Be careful of Auda, she likes to pounce. Don’t ask how I found that one out, haha.”
“Auda?” Kresimira asked.
“Yeah, she’s my niece,” Tusk answered. “A feisty little sapling if you ask me. Also incredibly persistent…”
Valentina would end up spending the night at the tower. Partially because she needed to relax, and the other reason being she wanted to give Blood-Wraith a little guidance on his new book. Dragoslava also wanted to get to know her more. They actually really wanted her to move into the tower. Valentina was a fascinating individual and fun to have around. Sadly the dark angel had duties that required her attention back in her universe. She had to go back home the following day, with Desislav giving her a basket of bread and cookies to enjoy.
Something that caught everyone’s interest was an individual that Valentina had mentioned in regards to her home. One of her friends (the aforementioned individual) had heard of Dragoslava and Blood-Wraith’s escapades from the former’s field reports. Sensing that they were heading face first into trouble, this friend began crafting special weapons for the two. Kresimira was a bit apprehensive while Corentin was intrigued. Perhaps this was foreshadowing events about to happen. Either way, it was a bit of relief knowing that angels were taking interest in the explorers. It meant that other realms were fully aware of the conflict surrounding the primordials, The Iron City, and the neighboring kingdom of Shadowland. Was this a reason for concern? It was too soon to say.
Next: Chapter 12
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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