ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 28
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“ARGH!” Blood-Wraith recoiled, falling backwards out of the salt circle. “What was that!?”
Vexation composed himself and set the focusing orb down. “What’s wrong, Blood?” he asked as he helped him up.
“I… I saw something. Give me a second…” After pacing around, Blood-Wraith was able to put his thoughts together. “It was big, but not big. It stood there, except, it was… It was warping everything around it. It stood on the horizon yet it was right there next to me. I felt wrong and weird, so I tried to ignore it and get away, but that only made it more persistent.”
“And that’s what led to you losing your focus. Do you know what the entity wanted?”
Blood-Wraith sat down and put his head in his hand. “I think it wanted to help, but my instincts kept saying no. And now I feel bad…”
“Interesting,” Vexation commented, pondering what it could have been. “That sounds fairly familiar to me. Take a break for now while I see what I can dig up.”
“Alright then.” Going down stairs, Blood-Wraith ran into Valentina talking to Radovan. “Oh, hey, dad.”
“Ah, there you are, Blood. You didn’t hurt yourself just now, did you?”
“You heard that? Um no, just encountered something weird is all.”
Valentina looked fairly concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay, sweetie?”
Blood-Wraith nodded. “So what’s up dad?”
“Vlastimir’s parents are here and they’d like to meet you. Would you like to come over to the mansion for a bit?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
In truth, Blood-Wraith was still shook up by what he had encountered. Perhaps a trip over to the mansion would take his mind off of it. Radovan handed the boy off to Rose as he headed back out to track down Dragoslava. Entering the backyard, Blood-Wraith quickly spotted Vlastimir’s parents. They immediately gave him a weird feeling. The two appeared normal enough, but it seemed like they had more to tell than what could be gleaned on a first encounter. As for everyone else, Vlastimir, Ekaterina, Desislav, Corentin, Kresimira, and even Deimos were present. All of them were having a good time and did not appear to be phased like Blood-Wraith was.
Vlastimir promptly noticed Blood-Wraith and quickly brought him over. “Blood! You have to meet my parents!” He quickly dusted him off even though it was not necessary. “Mom, Dad? This is Sir Blood-Wraith, my newest best friend.”
“Sir?” Zoltan inquired. “He’s knighted?” Vlastimir nodded. “Well then, it’s an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Sir Blood-Wraith.” He said, holding out his hand.
Blood-Wraith hesitated, but accepted. “Nice to meet you too, Zoltan.”
Morana held out her hand next. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear. I’m Morana, Vlastimir’s mother.”
“Likewise. Huh, you kind of remind me of Leif.”
Vlastimir chuckled. “It’s the dragon sealed inside my mom that gave me my blood.”
“Wow, neat. Hey, could I have a second?”
“Sure,” Zoltan replied. “Go ahead, Blood-Wraith.”
He turned to Deimos and gave him a hug. “Hey, Deimos. How’s it going?”
“Good to see you again, Blood. Captain Dusan and his crew made it back safe and sound. Currently they’re waiting for the Shadowland situation to resolve before we set up the next voyage. Since there’s down time, I figured I’d stop by and meet our new faces.”
“That’s great.” He looked around. “I imagine Drago’s around, but where’s Tusk?”
Desislav lightly cleared his throat. “Well Deimos tried to get a hold of him, but I guess he’s busy at the moment…”
Just then, a portal opened up and out stepped Tusk. He was a bit roughed up, but no worse for wear. “Don’t worry, Randalph, I’ll be back in a moment… Hey everyone, did someone call for me?”
After a round of greetings from the group, Blood-Wraith addressed him. “Tusk, what have you been up to?”
He laughed. “Things are a bit hectic right now, but I have got quite the story to tell you when I’m done, Blood.”
Vlastimir got to work introducing Tusk to his parents. They were amazed to meet him as they had never seen a Tree Person before. After a quick rundown about Tusk’s stone arm-hullabaloo, Dragoslava finally showed up. She had not accounted for the Dracul’s showing up early, hence why she was late. Dragoslava introduced herself and recognized Morana. She had run into her during her second trip to the Valley of Eons, where the two had worked together to map out a recently discovered section of the valley at the time.
“Ha, well ain’t this quite the reunion?” Dragoslava remarked.
Tusk chuckled. “Kind of feels like Auda should be here…”
“We can send a letter to Sigmund if you want, Tusk,” Radovan offered.
He thought about it, but nixed the idea. “We could, but I got a feeling she sensed me re-enter The Unlight… did it just get dark all of a sudden?”
Behind Tusk was a tree, except it had not been there before. “BOO!” It exclaimed, starling him. Everyone else laughed.
“Auda!” Tusk cried. “Don’t do that!”
She laughed as she turned back to normal. She had not changed much since the last time everyone had seen her, barring the fact that her horns had grown a bit. “Got you, Uncle Tusk!”
Blood-Wraith was amazed. “Wow, Auda, how’d you get here so fast?”
Auda gave him a hug in greeting. “Grandpa taught me some new magic, Mr. Fire.”
“Wait, if you used what I thought you used…” Tusk looked around. “That only works in the forest.”
“Yeah. Isn’t this a part of the forest?” she inquired.
Tusk turned to the trees in the distance, then to Rose. “Your Grace?”
She nodded. “Some of the trees I planted were saplings from The Unending Forest.”
“Ah, okay then. I was wondering why this place felt so familiar. So anyways; Zoltan, Morana, this is my niece, Auda. She helped get me out of the ground, for Blood’s sake.”
Zoltan and Morana were pleased to meet Auda, as she was simply a doll to them. Once everything had settled, the group went back to talking. The conversation went back and forth between Earth and The Unlight, fascinating everyone. Of particular interest to Blood-Wraith and the others were Vlastimir’s friends from Earth. They all sounded quite charming, prompting the group to want to meet them at some point in the future. As the late afternoon approached, Radovan got up to present an invitation to the Dracul’s.
“Zoltan, Morana? Would you two be interested in staying the night? I just figured it would be nice to rest up and not have to rush right out again.”
“Plus it will be a clear night,” Rose added. “We should be able to spot Leif’s constellation.”
Zoltan liked this idea. “That would be fine with me. Morana?”
“Oh absolutely. Truthfully I’ve been wanting to revisit The Unlight for some time now.”
“Fantastic. Vlastimir, Ekaterina?”
“I don’t mind,” he replied.
“Neither do I,” Ekaterina agreed.
“Very good.” Radovan turned to Blood-Wraith. “Son? Could you go inform Vex and Val of our plans? It’d be great to have them over for dinner.”
Blood-Wraith got up and stretched. “Sure… ah, hey, Deimos? You uh… want to come with me and say hi to Vex? You know, before everything gets going?”
Deimos had a guilty look on his face. He took a deep breath and got up, having a feeling as to what was going to happen. “Sure…”
After a quick walk, the two were back at Blood-Wraith’s house. “It’s a shame we couldn’t get Aureolus here” Blood-Wraith commented as he opened the door.
“True, but he is quite busy in Shadowland after all.”
“Yeah. Val? Vex? Dad wants to invite you over to dinner at the mansion. Vlastimir’s parents are staying the night.”
“Dinner? Well that sounds lovely” Valentina responded as she walked into the living room. “Oh, Deimos…”
“Hello, Valentina. Is Vexation…?”
“Eustorgio.”
Deimos looked up at the stairs. “It’s… It’s been a while, Ermenrich.”
Vexation walked over and looked his old friend in the eye. There was a bit of a pause, followed by a smile. “Water under the bridge…” He then gave Deimos a hug.
“Aw, how wonderful,” Valentina complimented.
“Thanks, Ermenrich.”
“Just one thing, Eustorgio…”
“What’s that?”
Vexation sucker punched him in the gut. “That’s for stabbing me in the back!”
Valentina was offended by this. “Vexation!”
“No, no, I deserved that…” Deimos said as he steadied himself.
Vexation helped him stand upright. “No hard feelings?”
“No hard…” Deimos was interrupted by a cream pie to the face. He then took a taste of it. “Banana?” The two mages burst out laughing, leaving Blood-Wraith and Valentina bemused. “Even after all that nonsense I put you through?” Deimos asked as he wiped off his face.
“Yeah, come here, brother!” The two hugged for real this time.
Blood-Wraith looked at Valentina. “I had the weirdest feeling before coming over here…”
“Good call, dear.”
“You’ll be happy to know that I managed to track down Tiberius, Ermenrich,” Deimos stated.
“Really now?” Vexation was surprised. “How’s he doing?”
“Reincarnated, but he retained his memories. He even has ULTRAMagic now, so I invited him to the guild…”
Now Blood-Wraith was surprised. “Wait, really? I mean, what’s he like?”
“Don’t fret, Blood, my boy,” Deimos said as he patted him on the back. “Tiberius is a stellar mage and will make sure the guild goes off without a hitch.”
Vexation nodded. “He’s no joke. I can’t even begin to recall all the times he’s gotten on our cases for being unorganized.”
Blood-Wraith thought about it and chuckled. “Well that’s cool then. That eases some of my worries.”
“It’s a shame we don’t have Leif or Mal though,” Deimos pointed out. “You’d like Mal, Blood.”
“Leif will pop back up soon, I’m sure of it,” Vexation asserted. “Can’t say I’ve seen Mal recently, however.”
“Who’s Mal?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“She was a forlorn primordial we looked after back in the day,” Vexation answered. “Leif found her out in the open and took her in. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t show up here while Leif was still around.”
Deimos pondered that for a moment. “Well if anyone can find her, it’d be Tiberius. I’ll bring it up with him next time I talk to him.”
“Well I certainly hope Milosh or The Lich didn’t get to her” Valentina put forth.
Deimos laughed, albeit regretfully. “Don’t worry, she avoided me like the plague when I became The Lich of Old, doubly so when I split myself. Furthermore, I’m sure she’d attack Milosh on sight. She may not look it, but she is incredibly powerful.”
Blood-Wraith sighed. “I have a feeling that Leif went to see her before we left for The Dark Grand Desert…”
“Of course…” Deimos said with a facepalm. “There were so many things I needed to ask him…”
“No use dwelling on the past, Eustorgio,” Vexation replied.
“Unfortunately” Blood-Wraith remarked. “So you all want to head over to the mansion then?”
“Certainly, let’s go.”
“Yeah, that pie made me hungry,” Deimos commented.
“I trust that there will be no more shenanigans, Vexation?” Valentina questioned.
He nodded with a chuckle. “It’s all good now.”
“Careful, he was the jokester of our group,” Deimos cautioned.
This made Blood-Wraith giggle. “I take it there were a lot of pranks back then?”
“Yup, especially when Ermenrich started talking with Mal. They had a lot of fun making Tiberius lose his mind.”
Valentina laughed. “Well then, I’d love to meet Mal as soon as possible. And Tiberius given his disposition.”
“Duly noted, Val,” Deimos said as he shut the door behind them.
Next: Chapter 29
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
“ARGH!” Blood-Wraith recoiled, falling backwards out of the salt circle. “What was that!?”
Vexation composed himself and set the focusing orb down. “What’s wrong, Blood?” he asked as he helped him up.
“I… I saw something. Give me a second…” After pacing around, Blood-Wraith was able to put his thoughts together. “It was big, but not big. It stood there, except, it was… It was warping everything around it. It stood on the horizon yet it was right there next to me. I felt wrong and weird, so I tried to ignore it and get away, but that only made it more persistent.”
“And that’s what led to you losing your focus. Do you know what the entity wanted?”
Blood-Wraith sat down and put his head in his hand. “I think it wanted to help, but my instincts kept saying no. And now I feel bad…”
“Interesting,” Vexation commented, pondering what it could have been. “That sounds fairly familiar to me. Take a break for now while I see what I can dig up.”
“Alright then.” Going down stairs, Blood-Wraith ran into Valentina talking to Radovan. “Oh, hey, dad.”
“Ah, there you are, Blood. You didn’t hurt yourself just now, did you?”
“You heard that? Um no, just encountered something weird is all.”
Valentina looked fairly concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay, sweetie?”
Blood-Wraith nodded. “So what’s up dad?”
“Vlastimir’s parents are here and they’d like to meet you. Would you like to come over to the mansion for a bit?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
In truth, Blood-Wraith was still shook up by what he had encountered. Perhaps a trip over to the mansion would take his mind off of it. Radovan handed the boy off to Rose as he headed back out to track down Dragoslava. Entering the backyard, Blood-Wraith quickly spotted Vlastimir’s parents. They immediately gave him a weird feeling. The two appeared normal enough, but it seemed like they had more to tell than what could be gleaned on a first encounter. As for everyone else, Vlastimir, Ekaterina, Desislav, Corentin, Kresimira, and even Deimos were present. All of them were having a good time and did not appear to be phased like Blood-Wraith was.
Vlastimir promptly noticed Blood-Wraith and quickly brought him over. “Blood! You have to meet my parents!” He quickly dusted him off even though it was not necessary. “Mom, Dad? This is Sir Blood-Wraith, my newest best friend.”
“Sir?” Zoltan inquired. “He’s knighted?” Vlastimir nodded. “Well then, it’s an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Sir Blood-Wraith.” He said, holding out his hand.
Blood-Wraith hesitated, but accepted. “Nice to meet you too, Zoltan.”
Morana held out her hand next. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear. I’m Morana, Vlastimir’s mother.”
“Likewise. Huh, you kind of remind me of Leif.”
Vlastimir chuckled. “It’s the dragon sealed inside my mom that gave me my blood.”
“Wow, neat. Hey, could I have a second?”
“Sure,” Zoltan replied. “Go ahead, Blood-Wraith.”
He turned to Deimos and gave him a hug. “Hey, Deimos. How’s it going?”
“Good to see you again, Blood. Captain Dusan and his crew made it back safe and sound. Currently they’re waiting for the Shadowland situation to resolve before we set up the next voyage. Since there’s down time, I figured I’d stop by and meet our new faces.”
“That’s great.” He looked around. “I imagine Drago’s around, but where’s Tusk?”
Desislav lightly cleared his throat. “Well Deimos tried to get a hold of him, but I guess he’s busy at the moment…”
Just then, a portal opened up and out stepped Tusk. He was a bit roughed up, but no worse for wear. “Don’t worry, Randalph, I’ll be back in a moment… Hey everyone, did someone call for me?”
After a round of greetings from the group, Blood-Wraith addressed him. “Tusk, what have you been up to?”
He laughed. “Things are a bit hectic right now, but I have got quite the story to tell you when I’m done, Blood.”
Vlastimir got to work introducing Tusk to his parents. They were amazed to meet him as they had never seen a Tree Person before. After a quick rundown about Tusk’s stone arm-hullabaloo, Dragoslava finally showed up. She had not accounted for the Dracul’s showing up early, hence why she was late. Dragoslava introduced herself and recognized Morana. She had run into her during her second trip to the Valley of Eons, where the two had worked together to map out a recently discovered section of the valley at the time.
“Ha, well ain’t this quite the reunion?” Dragoslava remarked.
Tusk chuckled. “Kind of feels like Auda should be here…”
“We can send a letter to Sigmund if you want, Tusk,” Radovan offered.
He thought about it, but nixed the idea. “We could, but I got a feeling she sensed me re-enter The Unlight… did it just get dark all of a sudden?”
Behind Tusk was a tree, except it had not been there before. “BOO!” It exclaimed, starling him. Everyone else laughed.
“Auda!” Tusk cried. “Don’t do that!”
She laughed as she turned back to normal. She had not changed much since the last time everyone had seen her, barring the fact that her horns had grown a bit. “Got you, Uncle Tusk!”
Blood-Wraith was amazed. “Wow, Auda, how’d you get here so fast?”
Auda gave him a hug in greeting. “Grandpa taught me some new magic, Mr. Fire.”
“Wait, if you used what I thought you used…” Tusk looked around. “That only works in the forest.”
“Yeah. Isn’t this a part of the forest?” she inquired.
Tusk turned to the trees in the distance, then to Rose. “Your Grace?”
She nodded. “Some of the trees I planted were saplings from The Unending Forest.”
“Ah, okay then. I was wondering why this place felt so familiar. So anyways; Zoltan, Morana, this is my niece, Auda. She helped get me out of the ground, for Blood’s sake.”
Zoltan and Morana were pleased to meet Auda, as she was simply a doll to them. Once everything had settled, the group went back to talking. The conversation went back and forth between Earth and The Unlight, fascinating everyone. Of particular interest to Blood-Wraith and the others were Vlastimir’s friends from Earth. They all sounded quite charming, prompting the group to want to meet them at some point in the future. As the late afternoon approached, Radovan got up to present an invitation to the Dracul’s.
“Zoltan, Morana? Would you two be interested in staying the night? I just figured it would be nice to rest up and not have to rush right out again.”
“Plus it will be a clear night,” Rose added. “We should be able to spot Leif’s constellation.”
Zoltan liked this idea. “That would be fine with me. Morana?”
“Oh absolutely. Truthfully I’ve been wanting to revisit The Unlight for some time now.”
“Fantastic. Vlastimir, Ekaterina?”
“I don’t mind,” he replied.
“Neither do I,” Ekaterina agreed.
“Very good.” Radovan turned to Blood-Wraith. “Son? Could you go inform Vex and Val of our plans? It’d be great to have them over for dinner.”
Blood-Wraith got up and stretched. “Sure… ah, hey, Deimos? You uh… want to come with me and say hi to Vex? You know, before everything gets going?”
Deimos had a guilty look on his face. He took a deep breath and got up, having a feeling as to what was going to happen. “Sure…”
After a quick walk, the two were back at Blood-Wraith’s house. “It’s a shame we couldn’t get Aureolus here” Blood-Wraith commented as he opened the door.
“True, but he is quite busy in Shadowland after all.”
“Yeah. Val? Vex? Dad wants to invite you over to dinner at the mansion. Vlastimir’s parents are staying the night.”
“Dinner? Well that sounds lovely” Valentina responded as she walked into the living room. “Oh, Deimos…”
“Hello, Valentina. Is Vexation…?”
“Eustorgio.”
Deimos looked up at the stairs. “It’s… It’s been a while, Ermenrich.”
Vexation walked over and looked his old friend in the eye. There was a bit of a pause, followed by a smile. “Water under the bridge…” He then gave Deimos a hug.
“Aw, how wonderful,” Valentina complimented.
“Thanks, Ermenrich.”
“Just one thing, Eustorgio…”
“What’s that?”
Vexation sucker punched him in the gut. “That’s for stabbing me in the back!”
Valentina was offended by this. “Vexation!”
“No, no, I deserved that…” Deimos said as he steadied himself.
Vexation helped him stand upright. “No hard feelings?”
“No hard…” Deimos was interrupted by a cream pie to the face. He then took a taste of it. “Banana?” The two mages burst out laughing, leaving Blood-Wraith and Valentina bemused. “Even after all that nonsense I put you through?” Deimos asked as he wiped off his face.
“Yeah, come here, brother!” The two hugged for real this time.
Blood-Wraith looked at Valentina. “I had the weirdest feeling before coming over here…”
“Good call, dear.”
“You’ll be happy to know that I managed to track down Tiberius, Ermenrich,” Deimos stated.
“Really now?” Vexation was surprised. “How’s he doing?”
“Reincarnated, but he retained his memories. He even has ULTRAMagic now, so I invited him to the guild…”
Now Blood-Wraith was surprised. “Wait, really? I mean, what’s he like?”
“Don’t fret, Blood, my boy,” Deimos said as he patted him on the back. “Tiberius is a stellar mage and will make sure the guild goes off without a hitch.”
Vexation nodded. “He’s no joke. I can’t even begin to recall all the times he’s gotten on our cases for being unorganized.”
Blood-Wraith thought about it and chuckled. “Well that’s cool then. That eases some of my worries.”
“It’s a shame we don’t have Leif or Mal though,” Deimos pointed out. “You’d like Mal, Blood.”
“Leif will pop back up soon, I’m sure of it,” Vexation asserted. “Can’t say I’ve seen Mal recently, however.”
“Who’s Mal?” Blood-Wraith asked.
“She was a forlorn primordial we looked after back in the day,” Vexation answered. “Leif found her out in the open and took her in. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t show up here while Leif was still around.”
Deimos pondered that for a moment. “Well if anyone can find her, it’d be Tiberius. I’ll bring it up with him next time I talk to him.”
“Well I certainly hope Milosh or The Lich didn’t get to her” Valentina put forth.
Deimos laughed, albeit regretfully. “Don’t worry, she avoided me like the plague when I became The Lich of Old, doubly so when I split myself. Furthermore, I’m sure she’d attack Milosh on sight. She may not look it, but she is incredibly powerful.”
Blood-Wraith sighed. “I have a feeling that Leif went to see her before we left for The Dark Grand Desert…”
“Of course…” Deimos said with a facepalm. “There were so many things I needed to ask him…”
“No use dwelling on the past, Eustorgio,” Vexation replied.
“Unfortunately” Blood-Wraith remarked. “So you all want to head over to the mansion then?”
“Certainly, let’s go.”
“Yeah, that pie made me hungry,” Deimos commented.
“I trust that there will be no more shenanigans, Vexation?” Valentina questioned.
He nodded with a chuckle. “It’s all good now.”
“Careful, he was the jokester of our group,” Deimos cautioned.
This made Blood-Wraith giggle. “I take it there were a lot of pranks back then?”
“Yup, especially when Ermenrich started talking with Mal. They had a lot of fun making Tiberius lose his mind.”
Valentina laughed. “Well then, I’d love to meet Mal as soon as possible. And Tiberius given his disposition.”
“Duly noted, Val,” Deimos said as he shut the door behind them.
Next: Chapter 29
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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