ULTRAMagic Shadowland - Chapter 11
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“Where to start with you, Aureolus…” Dunja wondered as the other mages waited patiently. “Hum… oh! I know: Pyromancy.”
“Pyromancy? What’s that?” Aureolus asked. He had a rough idea from past conversations, but was not quite sure.
A red-hooded mage patted him on the shoulder. “Fire magic and divination. Easy to cast and usable by any school of magic. I started out with it when I was young.”
“Ah, I see. That sounds handy… albeit a bit dangerous, given what we’re working with.”
“Zhu!” A fireball appeared in Dunja’s hand, crackling away. “Don’t worry. You’re casting the fire, not the other way around.”
Aureolus inspected the flame, nodding once he had a grasp on it. “Alright. I see the fire, but how do I do that exactly?”
Dunja paused. “Well, you see, you… Um… er, just focus on your… no, wait… Give me a second…” It was confusing given that Aureolus was a being of darkness. Some void callers called upon entities like him, so she was at a loss on how to instruct one.
“Your majesty?” A blue-hooded mage spoke. “Why not ask the void patron you’re partnered with for advice?”
“I could, Dorothea, but The Grass God can be a bit devilish at times. I’m not sure if he’d be serious or would try to mess with us…”
Aureolus then had an epiphany. “OH, I got it! Do you think it would be like Alchemy? You know, where we refine base matter into something more complex?”
“You could try that,” a green-hooded mage replied. “I’d imagine such beings use similar processes to us. Alchemy and necromancy are what I’d argue to be the foundation of all other forms of magic. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but it’s worth a shot. The worst case scenario is that nothing happens.”
“Good point, Bardon. Let’s see then…” Aureolus focused and put himself in the mindset of performing a transmutation. He held out his hand and a fireball appeared. “Hey! I did it! Just, is it supposed to be this weird?”
The red-hooded mage inspected the orb. It was a ghostly blue with hints of light purple. “Huh, that’s pretty interesting. Try messing around with it. Either way, I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Yeah, Devin had pretty weird flames when he first started out” Dorothea commented as she nudged the red-hooded mage (who was a little embarrassed).
Aureolus observed the properties of his fire. It was more like a blob than a flame, yet it was still searing hot. Throwing it to the ground made it bounce back to him. This was quite fun to do. Then it was discovered that it could be molded and shaped, like a sort of clay. The mages were impressed while Dunja thought about it further. In hindsight, she figured this was possible. Other void callers she had met in the past had quirks that accompanied their own spells. Dunja was not exempt from this, remembering the lilac color her flames took.
Bardon was about to speak, but Claudius called for him. “Shoot. Pardon me, guys. Duty calls.”
“Best of luck to you” Aureolus wished. “You know? I’m actually a bit jealous of Blood. He’s got all these cool forms and what do I get? A dang bouncy ball…” This made everyone chuckle.
Devin then had an idea. “Ooh, you should try adding stuff to the spell!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Like, try adding other elements and see what happens…”
Aureolus thought about that for a moment, his mind wandering over to thunderstorms. “What about lightning?” He focused again and turned the fireball into a plasma-like substance. It shone brightly and hummed with electricity.
“Hey, that’s pretty good…”
Unfortunately the orb promptly fizzled out. “Aw… I’ll have to work on that one” Aureolus concluded.
“Well if I had to guess, I’d say you’re dealing with a bit of a trade off” Dunja put forth. “It looks like you can do more than standard alchemy, but it also appears to be more unstable… Source, this is so strange. You see, all the void callers I’ve ever met were people like me or beings of light. I’m not sure how all of this is supposed to work with beings of darkness.”
“I want to explain it to you, Aunt Dunja. It’s just that I’m not quite sure what I’m doing in the first place. I’ve got a vague idea, but I'd need time to put it into words.”
“What have you got so far, Aureolus?” Dorothea asked.
“Hmm… It’s like Alchemy, but different. Imagine the Prima Materia is in a box… and you guys are doing it normally. Me? I’m working with the box itself and it’s not what we’re expecting… That’s all I got so far.”
Dunja wanted to give further thoughts on that, but a bell sounded off in the distance. This was the signal that the last cultist was down and that all hands were needed in the warehouse. The two mages bid farewell and reported for duty. Albrecht came walking over, looking slightly worn out. As he sat down, Dunja handed him a mug of water and Aureolus looked at him with enthusiasm. He could tell the boy was going to ask some questions.
“Not going to lie, Dunja, it’s very weird hearing people refer to me as ‘your royal highness,’” Albrecht remarked.
“I know how you feel, Albrecht. It took time for me to get used to ‘your majesty’ and ‘your royal highness’ after I married your father and took the throne. I was so used to being a nobody for a good portion of my life.”
“So, how’d it go, Albrecht?” Aureolus inquired.
He was not sure how to answer that. “Um, it went? I mean, things were fairly tame on my end. I had to report a few burns and concussions from people who ended up scrapping with the cultists and I had to stop a few from going after citizens, but that was about it.”
“Sounds a bit tedious… How do you think things went for Torunn?”
“I heard her shouting ‘GET’ EM!’ a few times and then I heard some crashing. I assume it was a real party over there, heh. Also someone told me that Ma was being fired upon, so she had several knights raise their shields and guide her over to a column. She then took it out with her hammer, causing the platform with the gun-happy cultist to fall. Furthermore, she grabbed his gun and snapped it over her leg somehow. The knights showed me the remains of the weapon after all was said and done, ha.”
Aureolus was utterly impressed. “Awesome…”
Dunja looked over to the warehouse and saw Torunn shaking Saul’s hand. This made her smile. “Sounds like she had a great time.” The good mood was interrupted by something in the distance. All three of them could sense it as it got closer.
Lo and behold; it was Barna, kicking Milosh down the street. Dunja stared at the spectacle in disbelief. It was surreal to witness given all that had happened to her. The worm of man that had caused all of them so much trouble was getting booted down the way like a piece of trash. Very fitting, given who he was. Dunja then realized something important: Milosh never went out in public alone. He was always with her or one of the blades. This made Dunja grin as she clenched her fist, getting ready for a greeting of her own.
Barna was clearly having too much fun. “...And here we finally are, at the lovely corner of Howler and Bolt! I must say, sending The Beast of Old and The Chaos Wasps after us was quite the play, but you forgot that it would arouse suspicion. Close but no cigar!” he boasted as he continued to kick Milosh forward.
“DAMN IT ALL!” Milosh growled as he tried to get up. “HOW!? HOW DID YOU ALL FIND OUT?!”
Barna kicked him again out of spite for the man’s arrogance. “Well firstly, you can’t keep your blithering mouth shut. Secondly, we had a bit of divine intervention you could say. And The Lich of Old? Really now? You placed your bets on a dying primordial who had a target on his back from another primordial? I know you're an utter nutcase, but just how dense are you?!”
“THE LICH IS NOT DEAD!” Milosh screeched. This outburst caused the knights and others to gather around Barna, weapons at the ready.
Barna raised his hand to halt Saul’s men. He was not done yet. “Boy, I know six people who have a bone to pick with you on that one…”
Milosh began cackling. “You’ll see… haha, YOU’LL ALL SEE!”
“SILENCE, WORM!” Dunja shouted as her fist collided with his head, sending him flying into a pile of trash. Many knights laughed relentlessly at Milosh while others cheered Dunja on.
“Argh… Dunja… come crawling back I see…” he struggled to say as he shakily picked himself up.
Dunja’s anger shot up into her throat, the jab thoroughly offending her. “Come crawling back, I see…” she mocked. “SHUT UP, YOU SLIME! Stay down with the trash where you belong!” The queen was sounding like her old villainous self, but it was cathartic to hear her using that fervor against Milosh. “Let me clue you in on a little something: All those times I joked about beheading you? I WASN’T JOKING. God, if only Gratiana was here right now…”
Milosh recoiled, realizing he was being cornered. Then something distracted him: Aureolus. “How queer, I had no idea the first experiments produced such a magnificent specimen…”
“DAD!?” Aureolus panicked as he readied his fireballs at the bruised and bloodied man approaching him.
Barna lurched forward and seized Milosh, holding him up in the air. “STAY AWAY FROM MY SON, YOU INFERNAL MAGGOT!” He roared as hurled him at a wall with all his might, nearly incapacitating him.
Milosh spit some blood out, picked himself up, and limped away. “You’ll all see… ASCENSION IS NIGH!” He tried to exclaim as he vanished out of sight. The knights and mages scorned and shunned him until he was truly gone.
“AND DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT!” Albrecht called out. Everybody then applauded Barna and Dunja, but primarily Dunja.
“Guys, it’s no big deal…” Dunja said as she blushed.
Torunn laughed. “No big deal!? Girl, that meant everything to us!”
Saul turned to his brother. “See? I told you so…”
Logan shook his head in acceptance. “Aye, right you are, brother…” He approached Dunja. “Your majesty? I’d like to apologize for doubting your convictions. I was skeptical, but that was some true grit right there.”
She shook his hand. “It’s alright, I doubted them myself a month ago.”
“I know this may seem a bit gauche, so pardon me, but I have to ask: You wouldn’t happen to have a solution for the voices some of us keep hearing, would you?”
Dunja winced in regret. “I know, dear. I know. Trust me, I’m going to go find Andelin as soon as I can and fix this entire issue.”
“You mean the source of the voices?” Saul asked, hopeful to get an answer.
She exhaled. “Right, guess I better spill the beans then… Everyone? Listen up: The fear you’ve felt and the voices you’ve heard are not natural. All of that was the result of a primordial known as The Fear of Old.”
“Officer, you’re writing this down, right?” Saul inquired.
“Yes sir!” an officer replied as he quickly got out his notebook. “Your majesty? Do you know where this primordial is? And if he is allied with Milosh or the cult?”
“To answer your second question, no. Milosh tricked him into doing his bidding. As for the first question, I have no idea. Only Andelin and Milosh know. And even then, I’m pretty sure the former moved him around after the fact.”
The officer nodded as he continued to jot down notes. “Alright then. Before I go report this to his royal highness, is it possible for any of us to find this primordial?”
“Probably not, unless you know reality errors and the exact one to look in.”
“Well shoot,” he replied as he closed his notebook. “Either way, thank you for the help, your majesty. Feel free to swing by the station with anything else you’d like to share.”
As the officer left and the knights returned to dealing with the warehouse, Torunn nudged Dunja. “Careful, they might put you in the pillory in jest…” Both of them laughed.
“Well that was quite the hullabaloo…” Saul remarked. “Barna? Your royal highness? Thanks for the help today. We’ll handle the rest from here. The only thing we need is Claudius for a bit longer, as there were more injuries than we thought there would be. Other than that, you’re all free to go.”
“I see,” Barna observed. “Saul, my boy, don’t hesitate to call on us if something else comes up. Take care.”
“You too.” With that, the captain returned to his post.
The walk back to Claudius’ mansion was a bit quiet. There was a lot to take in and everyone was still on edge. Aureolus was weirded out by Milosh’s actions and could not shake the concern he had. Just what was that coward planning, let alone thinking? Barna noticed his son was uneasy and pulled him in for a hug. He remembered that despite being in Milosh’s basement for far too long, that was his first true encounter with him.
“Hey, don’t worry, Kiddo,” Barna consoled. “It’ll be alright. I’ll make sure that cretin doesn’t lay a single finger on you. Want to go get some ice cream later?”
Aureolus chuckled. “Sure. Thanks, dad. Um, so how are we going to find Andelin? Also do we know where Weaver and Gabriella are?”
As soon as they were inside, Barna kicked a chair in frustration. “Blast! Forgot all about them…”
Dunja sighed. “I have a sneaking suspicion we’re going to need to find Andelin first.”
Torunn laughed. “Oh Andelin? You wouldn’t happen to know where our friends are?”
“I know, she probably has them…” she muttered to herself.
“We still don’t know what’s going on with those two, do we?” Aureolus inquired.
Albrecht shook his head. “Outside of hearsay, nope.”
Barna thought about it for a second. “Hmm… alright, we’ll pause my plans for the moment while we get a beat on Weaver and Gabriella. Then we’ll find Andelin and The Fear… but first comes the ice cream, no two ways about it.”
Next: Chapter 12
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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“Where to start with you, Aureolus…” Dunja wondered as the other mages waited patiently. “Hum… oh! I know: Pyromancy.”
“Pyromancy? What’s that?” Aureolus asked. He had a rough idea from past conversations, but was not quite sure.
A red-hooded mage patted him on the shoulder. “Fire magic and divination. Easy to cast and usable by any school of magic. I started out with it when I was young.”
“Ah, I see. That sounds handy… albeit a bit dangerous, given what we’re working with.”
“Zhu!” A fireball appeared in Dunja’s hand, crackling away. “Don’t worry. You’re casting the fire, not the other way around.”
Aureolus inspected the flame, nodding once he had a grasp on it. “Alright. I see the fire, but how do I do that exactly?”
Dunja paused. “Well, you see, you… Um… er, just focus on your… no, wait… Give me a second…” It was confusing given that Aureolus was a being of darkness. Some void callers called upon entities like him, so she was at a loss on how to instruct one.
“Your majesty?” A blue-hooded mage spoke. “Why not ask the void patron you’re partnered with for advice?”
“I could, Dorothea, but The Grass God can be a bit devilish at times. I’m not sure if he’d be serious or would try to mess with us…”
Aureolus then had an epiphany. “OH, I got it! Do you think it would be like Alchemy? You know, where we refine base matter into something more complex?”
“You could try that,” a green-hooded mage replied. “I’d imagine such beings use similar processes to us. Alchemy and necromancy are what I’d argue to be the foundation of all other forms of magic. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but it’s worth a shot. The worst case scenario is that nothing happens.”
“Good point, Bardon. Let’s see then…” Aureolus focused and put himself in the mindset of performing a transmutation. He held out his hand and a fireball appeared. “Hey! I did it! Just, is it supposed to be this weird?”
The red-hooded mage inspected the orb. It was a ghostly blue with hints of light purple. “Huh, that’s pretty interesting. Try messing around with it. Either way, I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Yeah, Devin had pretty weird flames when he first started out” Dorothea commented as she nudged the red-hooded mage (who was a little embarrassed).
Aureolus observed the properties of his fire. It was more like a blob than a flame, yet it was still searing hot. Throwing it to the ground made it bounce back to him. This was quite fun to do. Then it was discovered that it could be molded and shaped, like a sort of clay. The mages were impressed while Dunja thought about it further. In hindsight, she figured this was possible. Other void callers she had met in the past had quirks that accompanied their own spells. Dunja was not exempt from this, remembering the lilac color her flames took.
Bardon was about to speak, but Claudius called for him. “Shoot. Pardon me, guys. Duty calls.”
“Best of luck to you” Aureolus wished. “You know? I’m actually a bit jealous of Blood. He’s got all these cool forms and what do I get? A dang bouncy ball…” This made everyone chuckle.
Devin then had an idea. “Ooh, you should try adding stuff to the spell!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Like, try adding other elements and see what happens…”
Aureolus thought about that for a moment, his mind wandering over to thunderstorms. “What about lightning?” He focused again and turned the fireball into a plasma-like substance. It shone brightly and hummed with electricity.
“Hey, that’s pretty good…”
Unfortunately the orb promptly fizzled out. “Aw… I’ll have to work on that one” Aureolus concluded.
“Well if I had to guess, I’d say you’re dealing with a bit of a trade off” Dunja put forth. “It looks like you can do more than standard alchemy, but it also appears to be more unstable… Source, this is so strange. You see, all the void callers I’ve ever met were people like me or beings of light. I’m not sure how all of this is supposed to work with beings of darkness.”
“I want to explain it to you, Aunt Dunja. It’s just that I’m not quite sure what I’m doing in the first place. I’ve got a vague idea, but I'd need time to put it into words.”
“What have you got so far, Aureolus?” Dorothea asked.
“Hmm… It’s like Alchemy, but different. Imagine the Prima Materia is in a box… and you guys are doing it normally. Me? I’m working with the box itself and it’s not what we’re expecting… That’s all I got so far.”
Dunja wanted to give further thoughts on that, but a bell sounded off in the distance. This was the signal that the last cultist was down and that all hands were needed in the warehouse. The two mages bid farewell and reported for duty. Albrecht came walking over, looking slightly worn out. As he sat down, Dunja handed him a mug of water and Aureolus looked at him with enthusiasm. He could tell the boy was going to ask some questions.
“Not going to lie, Dunja, it’s very weird hearing people refer to me as ‘your royal highness,’” Albrecht remarked.
“I know how you feel, Albrecht. It took time for me to get used to ‘your majesty’ and ‘your royal highness’ after I married your father and took the throne. I was so used to being a nobody for a good portion of my life.”
“So, how’d it go, Albrecht?” Aureolus inquired.
He was not sure how to answer that. “Um, it went? I mean, things were fairly tame on my end. I had to report a few burns and concussions from people who ended up scrapping with the cultists and I had to stop a few from going after citizens, but that was about it.”
“Sounds a bit tedious… How do you think things went for Torunn?”
“I heard her shouting ‘GET’ EM!’ a few times and then I heard some crashing. I assume it was a real party over there, heh. Also someone told me that Ma was being fired upon, so she had several knights raise their shields and guide her over to a column. She then took it out with her hammer, causing the platform with the gun-happy cultist to fall. Furthermore, she grabbed his gun and snapped it over her leg somehow. The knights showed me the remains of the weapon after all was said and done, ha.”
Aureolus was utterly impressed. “Awesome…”
Dunja looked over to the warehouse and saw Torunn shaking Saul’s hand. This made her smile. “Sounds like she had a great time.” The good mood was interrupted by something in the distance. All three of them could sense it as it got closer.
Lo and behold; it was Barna, kicking Milosh down the street. Dunja stared at the spectacle in disbelief. It was surreal to witness given all that had happened to her. The worm of man that had caused all of them so much trouble was getting booted down the way like a piece of trash. Very fitting, given who he was. Dunja then realized something important: Milosh never went out in public alone. He was always with her or one of the blades. This made Dunja grin as she clenched her fist, getting ready for a greeting of her own.
Barna was clearly having too much fun. “...And here we finally are, at the lovely corner of Howler and Bolt! I must say, sending The Beast of Old and The Chaos Wasps after us was quite the play, but you forgot that it would arouse suspicion. Close but no cigar!” he boasted as he continued to kick Milosh forward.
“DAMN IT ALL!” Milosh growled as he tried to get up. “HOW!? HOW DID YOU ALL FIND OUT?!”
Barna kicked him again out of spite for the man’s arrogance. “Well firstly, you can’t keep your blithering mouth shut. Secondly, we had a bit of divine intervention you could say. And The Lich of Old? Really now? You placed your bets on a dying primordial who had a target on his back from another primordial? I know you're an utter nutcase, but just how dense are you?!”
“THE LICH IS NOT DEAD!” Milosh screeched. This outburst caused the knights and others to gather around Barna, weapons at the ready.
Barna raised his hand to halt Saul’s men. He was not done yet. “Boy, I know six people who have a bone to pick with you on that one…”
Milosh began cackling. “You’ll see… haha, YOU’LL ALL SEE!”
“SILENCE, WORM!” Dunja shouted as her fist collided with his head, sending him flying into a pile of trash. Many knights laughed relentlessly at Milosh while others cheered Dunja on.
“Argh… Dunja… come crawling back I see…” he struggled to say as he shakily picked himself up.
Dunja’s anger shot up into her throat, the jab thoroughly offending her. “Come crawling back, I see…” she mocked. “SHUT UP, YOU SLIME! Stay down with the trash where you belong!” The queen was sounding like her old villainous self, but it was cathartic to hear her using that fervor against Milosh. “Let me clue you in on a little something: All those times I joked about beheading you? I WASN’T JOKING. God, if only Gratiana was here right now…”
Milosh recoiled, realizing he was being cornered. Then something distracted him: Aureolus. “How queer, I had no idea the first experiments produced such a magnificent specimen…”
“DAD!?” Aureolus panicked as he readied his fireballs at the bruised and bloodied man approaching him.
Barna lurched forward and seized Milosh, holding him up in the air. “STAY AWAY FROM MY SON, YOU INFERNAL MAGGOT!” He roared as hurled him at a wall with all his might, nearly incapacitating him.
Milosh spit some blood out, picked himself up, and limped away. “You’ll all see… ASCENSION IS NIGH!” He tried to exclaim as he vanished out of sight. The knights and mages scorned and shunned him until he was truly gone.
“AND DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT!” Albrecht called out. Everybody then applauded Barna and Dunja, but primarily Dunja.
“Guys, it’s no big deal…” Dunja said as she blushed.
Torunn laughed. “No big deal!? Girl, that meant everything to us!”
Saul turned to his brother. “See? I told you so…”
Logan shook his head in acceptance. “Aye, right you are, brother…” He approached Dunja. “Your majesty? I’d like to apologize for doubting your convictions. I was skeptical, but that was some true grit right there.”
She shook his hand. “It’s alright, I doubted them myself a month ago.”
“I know this may seem a bit gauche, so pardon me, but I have to ask: You wouldn’t happen to have a solution for the voices some of us keep hearing, would you?”
Dunja winced in regret. “I know, dear. I know. Trust me, I’m going to go find Andelin as soon as I can and fix this entire issue.”
“You mean the source of the voices?” Saul asked, hopeful to get an answer.
She exhaled. “Right, guess I better spill the beans then… Everyone? Listen up: The fear you’ve felt and the voices you’ve heard are not natural. All of that was the result of a primordial known as The Fear of Old.”
“Officer, you’re writing this down, right?” Saul inquired.
“Yes sir!” an officer replied as he quickly got out his notebook. “Your majesty? Do you know where this primordial is? And if he is allied with Milosh or the cult?”
“To answer your second question, no. Milosh tricked him into doing his bidding. As for the first question, I have no idea. Only Andelin and Milosh know. And even then, I’m pretty sure the former moved him around after the fact.”
The officer nodded as he continued to jot down notes. “Alright then. Before I go report this to his royal highness, is it possible for any of us to find this primordial?”
“Probably not, unless you know reality errors and the exact one to look in.”
“Well shoot,” he replied as he closed his notebook. “Either way, thank you for the help, your majesty. Feel free to swing by the station with anything else you’d like to share.”
As the officer left and the knights returned to dealing with the warehouse, Torunn nudged Dunja. “Careful, they might put you in the pillory in jest…” Both of them laughed.
“Well that was quite the hullabaloo…” Saul remarked. “Barna? Your royal highness? Thanks for the help today. We’ll handle the rest from here. The only thing we need is Claudius for a bit longer, as there were more injuries than we thought there would be. Other than that, you’re all free to go.”
“I see,” Barna observed. “Saul, my boy, don’t hesitate to call on us if something else comes up. Take care.”
“You too.” With that, the captain returned to his post.
The walk back to Claudius’ mansion was a bit quiet. There was a lot to take in and everyone was still on edge. Aureolus was weirded out by Milosh’s actions and could not shake the concern he had. Just what was that coward planning, let alone thinking? Barna noticed his son was uneasy and pulled him in for a hug. He remembered that despite being in Milosh’s basement for far too long, that was his first true encounter with him.
“Hey, don’t worry, Kiddo,” Barna consoled. “It’ll be alright. I’ll make sure that cretin doesn’t lay a single finger on you. Want to go get some ice cream later?”
Aureolus chuckled. “Sure. Thanks, dad. Um, so how are we going to find Andelin? Also do we know where Weaver and Gabriella are?”
As soon as they were inside, Barna kicked a chair in frustration. “Blast! Forgot all about them…”
Dunja sighed. “I have a sneaking suspicion we’re going to need to find Andelin first.”
Torunn laughed. “Oh Andelin? You wouldn’t happen to know where our friends are?”
“I know, she probably has them…” she muttered to herself.
“We still don’t know what’s going on with those two, do we?” Aureolus inquired.
Albrecht shook his head. “Outside of hearsay, nope.”
Barna thought about it for a second. “Hmm… alright, we’ll pause my plans for the moment while we get a beat on Weaver and Gabriella. Then we’ll find Andelin and The Fear… but first comes the ice cream, no two ways about it.”
Next: Chapter 12
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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