ULTRAMagic Prelude - Chapter 22
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While making their way back to the beach, Blood-Wraith and Deimos ran into Dragoslava… who was eating fruit and angrily muttering to herself. “...Damn it, freaking soul fragments… stupid Lich… CAN I CATCH A BREAK FOR TWO SECONDS?!”
“Sister? I thought you were going to go check on Leif…”
“Blood? Er, yeah…” She replied with a mouth full of food.
“I take it that things are a bit complicated?” Deimos observed.
Dragoslava swallowed and burped. “That’s about right. I suppose I should probably tell you all about this issue I have…” she said with a sigh. “It's been weighing on me for a while. Did you know I used to have a crush before the great hunt? Ethor Kovarik. He was a cute dork I was flirting with. It didn’t help that the hunt kept us distracted, but we managed to become friends. Then I left to go explore and find out what the Beast’s deal was…”
“Did something happen?”
“He died while I was gone.”
Blood-Wraith was devastated. “Sister, I had no idea…”
Dragoslava held her hand up. “Stop. It’s in the past. There’s nothing you can do about it…” She then shattered a rock in her metal hand.
“Sister?”
She sighed again. “We’re not supposed to die, the Descendants. When we do, we reincarnate, but where we end up is anyone’s guess. I didn’t know him that well, but it still stings. Sometimes I even think he’s coming around the corner, but it’s just Desislav. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear Ethor reincarnated as him.”
“Sister… Do you need a hug?”
“Right now? No. What I need is to work off this fruit, ha.”
“Hmm… Alright, but I’m still going to give you a hug eventually” Blood-Wraith stated with certainty.
Leif was watching the waves as the others exited the forest. “Back already? I figured you would have been… BROTHER?”
Deimos looked Leif in the eye. “It’s been a while…”
Naturally the 20 foot tall dragon leapt for joy, shaking the island. “HA, I KNEW YOU WEREN’T ACTUALLY GONE!”
“That’s not what your paranoia was saying…” Tyrant pointed out.
“Tyrant, shush. Ahem, Deimos… What happened to you?!”
“Honestly I have no idea. Pride, fear, arrogance… I really should have stayed as The Mage of Old. Thankfully I’ve matured a great deal since then… I think.”
“So what’s your plan? How are we going to stop your other half?”
“Always asking even though you can discern the answers… It’s simple: I’m taking back what’s mine and reincarnating. I’ve already begun the process.” Deimos pulled away his robes, revealing a chaotic mass of energy in his ribcage.
Leif was shocked. “Deimos! Is that… that’s ANTIMagic! What are you even doing?”
“I know, I know, I’m not happy about it either. I don’t want to lose my progress, which is what got me into this mess in the first place, but this will work out for everyone. There’s always more than one way to peel a fruit.”
Blood-Wraith inspected Deimos. “Looks incredibly unorthodox. What is ANTIMagic?”
“Ditto.” Dragoslava was also curious. “Is it a type of ULTRAMagic or something?”
“Not quite, allow me to explain,” Deimos replied. “ANTIMagic occurs when there is a great upheaval with one’s magic. The mage can be changed or they can spawn an all new entity. The term ‘ANTIMagic’ is not meant to be literal. It’s chaotic, unpredictable magic. In my case, I am pursuing ULTRAMagic, but the state of my being will end up corrupting it in a sense. An utter calamity that could have been averted if I had just listened to Leif and Tiberius way back when…”
“Uncle?” Blood-Wraith put his hand on his shoulder. “Can you promise that you won’t go crazy?”
“I can’t make any guarantees, unfortunately. This is all incredibly new territory for me… I miss the Epoch.”
“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, brother,” Leif pointed out. “...but if you feel this is the right thing to do, I’ll support you.”
Deimos chuckled. “I wouldn’t be going through with this if I truly doubted it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, however.”
“So I guess we’re finally going for it then?”
“Indeed Leif. This is our grand finale. Once we leave this world, we either win and reincarnate or die trying.” Deimos stepped towards the water. “So what about that loose end of yours?”
This gave a Tyrant a chill. “Um, Leif? What are you doing?”
“Blood-Wraith? Dragoslava? A word before we go tidy up and head off” Leif announced. “We haven’t known each other for long and that saddens me. It saddens me because I can say with the utmost certainty that my time is here and you are some of the best friends I have ever had. I will not be returning home with you from the Unspeaker’s realm. With that being said, allow me to explain why Tyrant exists. In hindsight, I had the same crisis that plagued The Mage of Old. I even considered burying my doubt and fear, but ultimately I refused. Instead, I manifested those feelings as a double. This double would never let me forget them no matter how hard I tried. In hindsight, Tyrant was not the best name, but it stuck regardless.”
“Hey, hey, I thought it was a cool…” Tyrant interjected… it then occurred to him what Leif had been getting at. “WAIT A SECOND! You’re… You’re not getting rid of me, are you?” He looked horrified.
“No, I’m passing you on.”
“What? Explain, please?”
“Tyrant, I no longer fear my mortality. It is something that must happen. I also don’t want to leave without having left my mark on the Cosmos, so I wish to bequeath you to Blood-Wraith. Blood? Do you accept this piece of myself?”
Blood-Wraith was speechless. “I…I… I accept? I… Leif?!”
“Good enough,” Leif said with a chuckle.
Tyrant hesitated, but accepted his fate. As he left Leif’s side, the dragon’s scales went from black to sterling white. The cloud of shadows then plunged into Blood-Wraith, causing him to convulse a bit. This forced him into his dragon form, with the difference being that he now resembled Leif in form and size.
Blood-Wraith flew up into the air and let out a mighty roar. “Don’t worry, Leif! I won’t let you down!”
“Haha! Most excellent. Now Deimos, shall we take care of your housekeeping?”
Aqua World (coined by Dragoslava) had an issue in that a spaceship from an unknown universe had wound up lost in the Unlight. The crew was a collection of humans and machines who were transporting their people across space and time. Currently the problem was that the machines had gone rogue and were messing things up planetside. Deimos had tried to assist the humans before, but they had formed a religion worshiping the machines and labeled him as a trickster god of death. And since he was in a weakened state, the most he could do was sneak onto the ship to repair it so it did not plunge into the planet below.
Deimos explained all of this as they traveled to the island closest to the spaceship. He rode atop Leif while Dragoslava sat on Blood-Wraith’s back. The two dragons studied the strange structure. Calling it a spacecraft at this point was being generous. It looked more like a malformed tree looming in the atmosphere, with metal and strange growths jutting out all over it. The sad state of the ship elicited a sense of dread, like it was a tomb more than anything else. Even Dragoslava was unsettled by it, openly admitting her refusal to explore it. Fortunately they did not have to go anywhere near it.
“Just like the good old days, aye Leif?” Deimos asked as they landed.
“How do I miss those times, traveling the Cosmos with Mal and the others without a care…”
“Alright, where are the bolt brains?” Dragoslava asked as she hopped off of Blood-Wraith. He then reverted back to normal.
“Close, but first things first: Blood, focus on the fragment of the Colossus, like you would if you were transforming” Deimos instructed.
Blood-Wraith was slightly confused, but did as he was told. “Okay…” a green flash of light appeared and left an eight foot tall humanoid standing there. He was muscular in build and evoked a demon-like appearance. “Well now…” Blood-Wraith marveled at his new form.
“And there you go! This is what I’m going to call your Might Form. You are vastly stronger at the cost of your magic being weaker. Fortunately your angelic weapon should be able to compensate for that though.”
“Looking good, Blood!” Dragoslava complimented.
He wanted to comment further, but a mechanical hound leapt out of the bushes. Blood-Wraith caught it and threw it against a tree. This sent it running. Summoning Voidborne’s blade, Blood-Wraith dashed into the forest with the others following. The trees soon opened up into a clearing full of machines trying to set up a base on the island. Deimos barely had a moment to catch his breath before Blood-Wraith began fighting them. Dragoslava metalized her skin and immediately joined him.
Deimos groaned as he really needed his old body back. “Geeze…phew… guys, not that one! The other one! Blood! Watch…out…”
“Deimos, have you tried reasoning with the machines?” Leif questioned.
He nodded. “Uh-huh… It went poorly. Apparently I don’t compute to them.”
After a bit of fierce brawling, Blood-Wraith was flung into a deep and large spring. This angered him. It reminded him of the battle at the Metal Oasis. With his rage ignited, an orange light erupted from the pool. A moment of silence was then interrupted by a giant serpent emerging from the water. Given that it had six eyes and her brother’s general appearance, Dragoslava assumed it was Blood-Wraith. The serpent was metallic black, with orange flames emanating from its body. He let out a roar that was more like a snake hiss and rammed his head into a specific machine.
“Alright, you're good!” Deimos called out as he ran over to a banged up terminal. “Don’t wreck the machines anymore! That was the head machine, Blood! Now I can change their directives.”
Dragoslava walked over to the device and was confused by what she saw. “What the… what kind of magic is this?” Blood-Wraith let out a low grumble, echoing his sister’s lack of knowledge.
Leif laughed. “That, my friends, is a computer. It is a combination of various metals and electricity that executes complex tasks. It’s not your fault for not knowing as the Descendants are old fashioned.”
“They made the right choice,” Deimos complained. “Coding is a pain in the soul to learn…”
“Oh, right, now I remember,” Dragoslava recalled. “Sorry, I haven’t had much exposure to them, like Leif said. Odo and his younger brother have, though”
Blood-Wraith reverted back to normal once again. He was slightly woozy, but quickly recovered. “That looks really cool! How do I get my hands on one of these… computers?”
“The Market District, I’d imagine,” Dragoslava put forth.
“…and there we go!” Deimos stepped back as the terminal hummed and beeped, the screens lighting up and flashing. “Now the machines will prioritize keeping the humans safe, within reason. Finally I can leave without having to worry. I definitely want to come back when all of this is said and done though.”
Deimos returned to the temple afterwards, collected his possessions, and quickly made his way back to the beach. The next course of action was to head back to the Iron City and make preparations to pursue the Lich. Desislav and Tusk would be brought along for support, who also most likely wanted to get back at the Lich for all the trouble he had caused. Flying back to the Unlight proper hit Deimos with nostalgia. It felt great to see that everything was mostly the same as when he left. He was also relieved to hear that the Iron City was safe.
“I remember back when the War Machine laid down to rest,” Deimos recalled as they flew. “I was stunned by the beauty of the city he had formed”
“It’s kind of surreal knowing that my home is a giant corpse, if I’m being honest” Dragoslava commented back.
“Just as a heads up brother; the War Machine has been reborn” Leif added.
Deimos was surprised. “Really now?”
“Indeed. Corentin Schindewolf did so as his magnum opus.”
“And my big sis even gave him a name: Maximus” Dragoslava continued.
Deimos liked that. “Maximus… I’d say that’s quite a fitting name. He was quite mighty in his prime.”
A thought then occurred to Dragoslava. “Hey, Blood? Do you think Tusk will be okay with Deimos?”
“Hmm… Well I think he’ll be more concerned about Leif’s appearance, the fact that Tyrant is gone, and that I’m now a full sized dragon.”
Dragoslava laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Next: Chapter 23
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
While making their way back to the beach, Blood-Wraith and Deimos ran into Dragoslava… who was eating fruit and angrily muttering to herself. “...Damn it, freaking soul fragments… stupid Lich… CAN I CATCH A BREAK FOR TWO SECONDS?!”
“Sister? I thought you were going to go check on Leif…”
“Blood? Er, yeah…” She replied with a mouth full of food.
“I take it that things are a bit complicated?” Deimos observed.
Dragoslava swallowed and burped. “That’s about right. I suppose I should probably tell you all about this issue I have…” she said with a sigh. “It's been weighing on me for a while. Did you know I used to have a crush before the great hunt? Ethor Kovarik. He was a cute dork I was flirting with. It didn’t help that the hunt kept us distracted, but we managed to become friends. Then I left to go explore and find out what the Beast’s deal was…”
“Did something happen?”
“He died while I was gone.”
Blood-Wraith was devastated. “Sister, I had no idea…”
Dragoslava held her hand up. “Stop. It’s in the past. There’s nothing you can do about it…” She then shattered a rock in her metal hand.
“Sister?”
She sighed again. “We’re not supposed to die, the Descendants. When we do, we reincarnate, but where we end up is anyone’s guess. I didn’t know him that well, but it still stings. Sometimes I even think he’s coming around the corner, but it’s just Desislav. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear Ethor reincarnated as him.”
“Sister… Do you need a hug?”
“Right now? No. What I need is to work off this fruit, ha.”
“Hmm… Alright, but I’m still going to give you a hug eventually” Blood-Wraith stated with certainty.
Leif was watching the waves as the others exited the forest. “Back already? I figured you would have been… BROTHER?”
Deimos looked Leif in the eye. “It’s been a while…”
Naturally the 20 foot tall dragon leapt for joy, shaking the island. “HA, I KNEW YOU WEREN’T ACTUALLY GONE!”
“That’s not what your paranoia was saying…” Tyrant pointed out.
“Tyrant, shush. Ahem, Deimos… What happened to you?!”
“Honestly I have no idea. Pride, fear, arrogance… I really should have stayed as The Mage of Old. Thankfully I’ve matured a great deal since then… I think.”
“So what’s your plan? How are we going to stop your other half?”
“Always asking even though you can discern the answers… It’s simple: I’m taking back what’s mine and reincarnating. I’ve already begun the process.” Deimos pulled away his robes, revealing a chaotic mass of energy in his ribcage.
Leif was shocked. “Deimos! Is that… that’s ANTIMagic! What are you even doing?”
“I know, I know, I’m not happy about it either. I don’t want to lose my progress, which is what got me into this mess in the first place, but this will work out for everyone. There’s always more than one way to peel a fruit.”
Blood-Wraith inspected Deimos. “Looks incredibly unorthodox. What is ANTIMagic?”
“Ditto.” Dragoslava was also curious. “Is it a type of ULTRAMagic or something?”
“Not quite, allow me to explain,” Deimos replied. “ANTIMagic occurs when there is a great upheaval with one’s magic. The mage can be changed or they can spawn an all new entity. The term ‘ANTIMagic’ is not meant to be literal. It’s chaotic, unpredictable magic. In my case, I am pursuing ULTRAMagic, but the state of my being will end up corrupting it in a sense. An utter calamity that could have been averted if I had just listened to Leif and Tiberius way back when…”
“Uncle?” Blood-Wraith put his hand on his shoulder. “Can you promise that you won’t go crazy?”
“I can’t make any guarantees, unfortunately. This is all incredibly new territory for me… I miss the Epoch.”
“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, brother,” Leif pointed out. “...but if you feel this is the right thing to do, I’ll support you.”
Deimos chuckled. “I wouldn’t be going through with this if I truly doubted it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, however.”
“So I guess we’re finally going for it then?”
“Indeed Leif. This is our grand finale. Once we leave this world, we either win and reincarnate or die trying.” Deimos stepped towards the water. “So what about that loose end of yours?”
This gave a Tyrant a chill. “Um, Leif? What are you doing?”
“Blood-Wraith? Dragoslava? A word before we go tidy up and head off” Leif announced. “We haven’t known each other for long and that saddens me. It saddens me because I can say with the utmost certainty that my time is here and you are some of the best friends I have ever had. I will not be returning home with you from the Unspeaker’s realm. With that being said, allow me to explain why Tyrant exists. In hindsight, I had the same crisis that plagued The Mage of Old. I even considered burying my doubt and fear, but ultimately I refused. Instead, I manifested those feelings as a double. This double would never let me forget them no matter how hard I tried. In hindsight, Tyrant was not the best name, but it stuck regardless.”
“Hey, hey, I thought it was a cool…” Tyrant interjected… it then occurred to him what Leif had been getting at. “WAIT A SECOND! You’re… You’re not getting rid of me, are you?” He looked horrified.
“No, I’m passing you on.”
“What? Explain, please?”
“Tyrant, I no longer fear my mortality. It is something that must happen. I also don’t want to leave without having left my mark on the Cosmos, so I wish to bequeath you to Blood-Wraith. Blood? Do you accept this piece of myself?”
Blood-Wraith was speechless. “I…I… I accept? I… Leif?!”
“Good enough,” Leif said with a chuckle.
Tyrant hesitated, but accepted his fate. As he left Leif’s side, the dragon’s scales went from black to sterling white. The cloud of shadows then plunged into Blood-Wraith, causing him to convulse a bit. This forced him into his dragon form, with the difference being that he now resembled Leif in form and size.
Blood-Wraith flew up into the air and let out a mighty roar. “Don’t worry, Leif! I won’t let you down!”
“Haha! Most excellent. Now Deimos, shall we take care of your housekeeping?”
Aqua World (coined by Dragoslava) had an issue in that a spaceship from an unknown universe had wound up lost in the Unlight. The crew was a collection of humans and machines who were transporting their people across space and time. Currently the problem was that the machines had gone rogue and were messing things up planetside. Deimos had tried to assist the humans before, but they had formed a religion worshiping the machines and labeled him as a trickster god of death. And since he was in a weakened state, the most he could do was sneak onto the ship to repair it so it did not plunge into the planet below.
Deimos explained all of this as they traveled to the island closest to the spaceship. He rode atop Leif while Dragoslava sat on Blood-Wraith’s back. The two dragons studied the strange structure. Calling it a spacecraft at this point was being generous. It looked more like a malformed tree looming in the atmosphere, with metal and strange growths jutting out all over it. The sad state of the ship elicited a sense of dread, like it was a tomb more than anything else. Even Dragoslava was unsettled by it, openly admitting her refusal to explore it. Fortunately they did not have to go anywhere near it.
“Just like the good old days, aye Leif?” Deimos asked as they landed.
“How do I miss those times, traveling the Cosmos with Mal and the others without a care…”
“Alright, where are the bolt brains?” Dragoslava asked as she hopped off of Blood-Wraith. He then reverted back to normal.
“Close, but first things first: Blood, focus on the fragment of the Colossus, like you would if you were transforming” Deimos instructed.
Blood-Wraith was slightly confused, but did as he was told. “Okay…” a green flash of light appeared and left an eight foot tall humanoid standing there. He was muscular in build and evoked a demon-like appearance. “Well now…” Blood-Wraith marveled at his new form.
“And there you go! This is what I’m going to call your Might Form. You are vastly stronger at the cost of your magic being weaker. Fortunately your angelic weapon should be able to compensate for that though.”
“Looking good, Blood!” Dragoslava complimented.
He wanted to comment further, but a mechanical hound leapt out of the bushes. Blood-Wraith caught it and threw it against a tree. This sent it running. Summoning Voidborne’s blade, Blood-Wraith dashed into the forest with the others following. The trees soon opened up into a clearing full of machines trying to set up a base on the island. Deimos barely had a moment to catch his breath before Blood-Wraith began fighting them. Dragoslava metalized her skin and immediately joined him.
Deimos groaned as he really needed his old body back. “Geeze…phew… guys, not that one! The other one! Blood! Watch…out…”
“Deimos, have you tried reasoning with the machines?” Leif questioned.
He nodded. “Uh-huh… It went poorly. Apparently I don’t compute to them.”
After a bit of fierce brawling, Blood-Wraith was flung into a deep and large spring. This angered him. It reminded him of the battle at the Metal Oasis. With his rage ignited, an orange light erupted from the pool. A moment of silence was then interrupted by a giant serpent emerging from the water. Given that it had six eyes and her brother’s general appearance, Dragoslava assumed it was Blood-Wraith. The serpent was metallic black, with orange flames emanating from its body. He let out a roar that was more like a snake hiss and rammed his head into a specific machine.
“Alright, you're good!” Deimos called out as he ran over to a banged up terminal. “Don’t wreck the machines anymore! That was the head machine, Blood! Now I can change their directives.”
Dragoslava walked over to the device and was confused by what she saw. “What the… what kind of magic is this?” Blood-Wraith let out a low grumble, echoing his sister’s lack of knowledge.
Leif laughed. “That, my friends, is a computer. It is a combination of various metals and electricity that executes complex tasks. It’s not your fault for not knowing as the Descendants are old fashioned.”
“They made the right choice,” Deimos complained. “Coding is a pain in the soul to learn…”
“Oh, right, now I remember,” Dragoslava recalled. “Sorry, I haven’t had much exposure to them, like Leif said. Odo and his younger brother have, though”
Blood-Wraith reverted back to normal once again. He was slightly woozy, but quickly recovered. “That looks really cool! How do I get my hands on one of these… computers?”
“The Market District, I’d imagine,” Dragoslava put forth.
“…and there we go!” Deimos stepped back as the terminal hummed and beeped, the screens lighting up and flashing. “Now the machines will prioritize keeping the humans safe, within reason. Finally I can leave without having to worry. I definitely want to come back when all of this is said and done though.”
Deimos returned to the temple afterwards, collected his possessions, and quickly made his way back to the beach. The next course of action was to head back to the Iron City and make preparations to pursue the Lich. Desislav and Tusk would be brought along for support, who also most likely wanted to get back at the Lich for all the trouble he had caused. Flying back to the Unlight proper hit Deimos with nostalgia. It felt great to see that everything was mostly the same as when he left. He was also relieved to hear that the Iron City was safe.
“I remember back when the War Machine laid down to rest,” Deimos recalled as they flew. “I was stunned by the beauty of the city he had formed”
“It’s kind of surreal knowing that my home is a giant corpse, if I’m being honest” Dragoslava commented back.
“Just as a heads up brother; the War Machine has been reborn” Leif added.
Deimos was surprised. “Really now?”
“Indeed. Corentin Schindewolf did so as his magnum opus.”
“And my big sis even gave him a name: Maximus” Dragoslava continued.
Deimos liked that. “Maximus… I’d say that’s quite a fitting name. He was quite mighty in his prime.”
A thought then occurred to Dragoslava. “Hey, Blood? Do you think Tusk will be okay with Deimos?”
“Hmm… Well I think he’ll be more concerned about Leif’s appearance, the fact that Tyrant is gone, and that I’m now a full sized dragon.”
Dragoslava laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Next: Chapter 23
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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