ULTRAMagic (Before) Prelude - Chapter 1
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Scotty Cottonwood woke up slowly that morning, not wanting to get out of bed. He had a relatively comfortable sleep, but at the same time his teeth felt uncomfortable and he was a tad overheated from the warmth of his thick, piled up blankets. There was an underlying feeling of anxiety as he had work to do that day. He unburied himself from the mound of bedding, brushed his messy blonde hair out of his face (he was in need of a haircut), and trudged his way across his bedroom in The Dark Divers Guild Hall. The floorboards creaked as he walked and the door swung up with the hinges being quite noisy (he would have to oil them at some point in the near future) as light flooded into the dimly lit room.
In the past he would have said hello and good morning to his Ma and Pa as he passed by them to head for the shower, but Scotty was not back home on his wide open ranch in Alabama. Rather he was maneuvering past strange entities of all shapes and sizes down ornate wooden hallways, some even resembling humans such as himself. They were all fellow members of The Dark Divers Guild and said hello to Scotty, receiving a drowsy ‘hey’ in return. A quick shower followed by some breakfast would help wake him up, as that day he was scheduled for a patrol of the outskirts of the vast swathes of land the guild owned to make sure no one was planning to attack them or cause trouble.
Breakfast was pleasant enough, despite having to occasionally pull some of his beard hairs from between his lips as he ate his cereal, eggs, and toast with a side of bacon. He may not have been on Earth, but his fellow guildmates working the kitchens always got so close to that delicious sensation food made on his homeworld had, one that made him yearn for the good old days when he was not dealing with the fall out from a series of wars with an evil, megalomaniacal mage that nearly destroyed his Earth. Despite what was weighing on his shoulders, Scotty laughed as he cheerfully conversed with his guildmates, cracking jokes about what he might find on that day’s patrol.
With the belt around his beat up blue jeans secured in place, his beige leather jacket straightened out, and his cowboy boots nice and comfy on his feet, Scotty put on his cowboy hat and departed from the main building, stepping outside to the chilly breeze of the open air. The Dark Void was a strange place, being the shadow of the Cosmos that held the expanse the Dark Divers called home. It was a nice, sunny morning, except the sky lacked any blue coloration. Looking up one could see the stars, but they bore no constellations Scotty recognized. The stones that crunched beneath his boots gave him the impression he was on Earth, but the strange plants, impossible mountains, and the starry sky reminded him he was a long way from home.
Standing at the entrance of the gates to the guild hall was a woman with wild, dark crimson hair and two cleavers sheathed on her belt, rusted on the blunt sides. She looked a bit impatient, wearing red, leather pants with gray chaps, a black tank top, and had what looked like magical, black and scarlet armor manifesting on parts of her body. She noticed Scotty approach after a sigh and subtly perked up. “Scotty, there you are! Forget to let the rooster out this morning?” she chided in a joking tone.
Scotty smiled and shook his head. “And here I thought you also grew up as a farm hand, Zara, as you know just as well as I do that those infernal birds are darn right annoying…”
Zara shrugged as she began to follow him down the dirt path leaving the guild hall. “I’m feeling a bit nostalgic.”
“Aren’t we all? And you finally decided to wear a tank top for once?”
There was a slight incredulous scoff from Zara. “Scotty, I don’t always head out with my chest wrapped in bandages… despite how easy it makes it to summon my armor…”
Scotty kicked a stone off the path that looked as if someone would trip over it. “Easy, sure, but it’s all fun and games until a stray blade cuts them…”
Zara stopped and looked at Scotty with an unamused look. “I wear a top no matter what.”
“Then why not also wear a tank top? Pretty sure it’s less effort. Like my Grandpa Joe always says; Work smarter, not harder.”
It was annoying to admit, but Scotty had a very good point. “I mean, points for style?”
Now it was Scotty’s turn to playfully scoff as they approached a rusted sign post with indicators pointed towards multiple paths. “Style? Zara, you’re running out into battle like you're heading to some photoshoot at one of those confound it comicbook conventions or whatever they’re called. What next, are you going to go out encased in rubber like you're a giant mud boot or one of those stuck up fashion models?”
As the two began walking down a more rougher path that was leading to a fairly rocky valley, Zara chuckled to herself with a snickering glee. “Excuse me, but I don’t recall ever adding clothes like that to my wardrobe… and here I thought you were all about modesty…”
Scotty paused and went a little red in the face… “Well, um, my criticism still stands…”
“Well look at your skeletons in the closet… shiny skeletons in the closet… care to tell me what you're not telling your family?”
Scotty paused for a second, then laughed. “I’m going to be honest, Zara-I hate the internet, ha! All it does is platform any foolish opinion from whatever Tom, Dick, or Larry that opens their mouths…”
“Uh-huh…” Zara encouraged as they moved past some large, ancient boulders that lined the path they walked.
“...is a nightmare for traditional family values, and… well, those city slickers have some weird sense of fashion, I tell you what.”
Zara laughed and pushed on Scotty’s arm. “You like rubber fashion, don’t you?”
“I mean, kind of… it’s just that… argh, how did we even get on this topic?”
“Ha, I don’t know, you were the one who was getting on my case about modesty again!”
He nodded and accepted his gaffe. “Fair enough…”
“So, um, why are we out here again? I was out the door before I could receive today’s instructions.”
As the two crested the hill, Scotty scoped out the vast valleys of dust and jagged rocks of the Great Ironstone Canyon. “Audoan knights. We have to make sure Audoin and his lackeys are not out here causing trouble, as Barry and The Highway Knight think they spotted some activity in this vicinity…”
“Right, loud and clear,” Zara said as she tapped the hilt of one of her blades, causing it to pulse with eerie, red electricity.
The two were careful as they descended the hill, as it was very steep on that end, and the loose soil could easily allow them to slip and tumble all the way down. Ironstone Canyon was a strange place as it once had great deposits of iron ore, except it never actually had them, always being the dusty, barren canyon the Dark Divers had known it for. Locations in the Dark Void were strange like that, as while the realm was vastly more stable and concrete than a realm like The Unlight or The Realm of Chaos, it had its own fair share of bizarre properties. For instance, Ironstone Canyon’s lack of ore was indicative of a narrative that the area existed with rather than it being a reality. Anomalies like this did not bother Zara given that she grew up in The Unlight, but Scotty was always unnerved and it was something he would never get used to.
There was a lot of ground to cover, but time flowed strangely in the Dark Void, which meant Scotty and Zara could spend days exploring the canyon, yet be back in time for lunch at the guild hall. The only snag was that it was not like The Unlight where an impossible voyage became like a walk in the park due to learning the way they needed to go. Scotty was not looking forward to potentially having to spend a week searching the canyon for signs of the Audoan Knights, but something caught his sharp ears as he came to stop, the crunch of the dirt and stones beneath his boots ceasing. He held up a hand to Zara to stop moving, as the noise was the faintest pitter patter of feet, what could have easily been a small animal. Still, Scotty needed to see what it was.
“Wait here for a second…” Scotty said softly. Carefully he walked up to a large, jagged boulder that was tall enough for someone to hide behind. When he came round to the far side, he saw the strangest creature he had ever laid eyes upon… “What in tarnation!?”
“Scotty? You okay?” Zara said as she put her hand on the hilt of one of her blades. While normally a rambunctious swordsman, even she was a little concerned over Scotty’s outburst.
Out from behind the rock ran a… boy? Zara wanted to assume it was a boy, but it appeared to be a series of black, metal shells being levitated by an invisible force in the shape of a young lad. Whatever it was was startled and ran around the rocks frantically. “DON’T HURT ME!” it cried as the nimble little thing rounded the stones with surprising ease.
“Come back!” Scotty called out as he tried to run after it, cursing himself for not stretching when he woke up that morning, as it was hard to get his legs in a running mood on the rough, rocky ground. “I’m not going to hurt you, lad!”
“What in Abaddon even is that!?” Zara demanded to know, unsure what to do as she let go of her sword hilt.
“I don’t know, but help me catch it!”
After a couple more laps around the rocks, which Zara hated to admit were starting to make her laugh, she waited until the small entity rounded a big stone where it would not see her coming and grabbed it! “GOT IT! HAHA!” she celebrated as it squirmed in her grip.
“LET ME GO!” the entity protested. “LET ME GO!”
“Lad, lad…” Scotty said as he came to a stop, needing a second to catch his breath as he fanned himself with his hat. “Lad, it’s alright, we’re not going to hurt you.” Once he was sure the entity was not going to make a run for it, he indicated for Zara to set him down. “My boy, who are you and what are you doing out here? It’s dangerous right now…”
Looking around nervously, the entity turned to Scotty. Notably it sounded like a young boy. “Um, I… I don’t really know who I am… um, other than… Blo…Blood-Wraith, I think?”
Scotty was amazed by what he was seeing with the boy, given that his head was more of a mask with six eyes, except they were hollow and were filled with black void that was not visible on the other side. He also only had one arm, but the way he gestured in his nervousness indicated that the left arm was invisible. “You don’t know who you are? Well ain’t that the darndest thing…”
“Well, I think we can safely say he’s not an Audoan Knight…” Zara concluded with a chuckle.
Feeling like he thought he had heard or sensed something else, Scotty glanced around, then turned his attention back to Blood-Wraith. “We should probably get out of Dodge before one shows up… Argh, they’ll have to have someone else do the patrol…”
“Who’s they?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Who are you people?”
Scotty then realized the obvious and gave a hearty laugh that caused Blood-Wraith to step back a little. “Where are my manners? It’s a pleasure to meet you, Blood. The name’s Cottonwood, Scott Rowan Cottonwood, but you can call me ‘Scotty,’” he introduced as he held out his hand which was coarse to the touch from hard work and calluses.
“Hello, Scotty,” Blood-Wraith replied as he shook, surprisingly picking up on the gesture pretty quickly.
“And this here is Zara Teagann,” he continued. “A little rough around the edges, but a fine swordsman and a good friend of mine.”
Blood-Wraith was a little nervous as he sensed something strange and foreboding deep within her, but he shook her hand regardless, which was softer to the touch, but still had some coarseness to it. “Hello, Zara.”
“Heya, Blood… jeez, just what are you? Scotty, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s a… oh, what are they called… Ar’ton! That’s right-an ar’ton without his element!”
Scotty crossed his arms and thought about that prospect for a second. It was not an impossibility given all of the strange stuff he had encountered with the Dark Divers, but what would such an advanced entity be doing there with them in such a sorry state of affairs? “Well either way I think we should head back to the guild, as I’m getting the heebeegeebees… Come with us, Blood.”
Blood-Wraith hesitated at first, but followed as he sensed no ill will from the couple. In fact they felt like… parents? An Aunt and Uncle? Either way, following them was a must. “A guild? What’s that?”
Scotty clapped with a smile on his face. “The Dark Divers Guild, my boy! Haha, let me tell you all about them while we walk…”
Next: Chapter 2
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Scotty Cottonwood woke up slowly that morning, not wanting to get out of bed. He had a relatively comfortable sleep, but at the same time his teeth felt uncomfortable and he was a tad overheated from the warmth of his thick, piled up blankets. There was an underlying feeling of anxiety as he had work to do that day. He unburied himself from the mound of bedding, brushed his messy blonde hair out of his face (he was in need of a haircut), and trudged his way across his bedroom in The Dark Divers Guild Hall. The floorboards creaked as he walked and the door swung up with the hinges being quite noisy (he would have to oil them at some point in the near future) as light flooded into the dimly lit room.
In the past he would have said hello and good morning to his Ma and Pa as he passed by them to head for the shower, but Scotty was not back home on his wide open ranch in Alabama. Rather he was maneuvering past strange entities of all shapes and sizes down ornate wooden hallways, some even resembling humans such as himself. They were all fellow members of The Dark Divers Guild and said hello to Scotty, receiving a drowsy ‘hey’ in return. A quick shower followed by some breakfast would help wake him up, as that day he was scheduled for a patrol of the outskirts of the vast swathes of land the guild owned to make sure no one was planning to attack them or cause trouble.
Breakfast was pleasant enough, despite having to occasionally pull some of his beard hairs from between his lips as he ate his cereal, eggs, and toast with a side of bacon. He may not have been on Earth, but his fellow guildmates working the kitchens always got so close to that delicious sensation food made on his homeworld had, one that made him yearn for the good old days when he was not dealing with the fall out from a series of wars with an evil, megalomaniacal mage that nearly destroyed his Earth. Despite what was weighing on his shoulders, Scotty laughed as he cheerfully conversed with his guildmates, cracking jokes about what he might find on that day’s patrol.
With the belt around his beat up blue jeans secured in place, his beige leather jacket straightened out, and his cowboy boots nice and comfy on his feet, Scotty put on his cowboy hat and departed from the main building, stepping outside to the chilly breeze of the open air. The Dark Void was a strange place, being the shadow of the Cosmos that held the expanse the Dark Divers called home. It was a nice, sunny morning, except the sky lacked any blue coloration. Looking up one could see the stars, but they bore no constellations Scotty recognized. The stones that crunched beneath his boots gave him the impression he was on Earth, but the strange plants, impossible mountains, and the starry sky reminded him he was a long way from home.
Standing at the entrance of the gates to the guild hall was a woman with wild, dark crimson hair and two cleavers sheathed on her belt, rusted on the blunt sides. She looked a bit impatient, wearing red, leather pants with gray chaps, a black tank top, and had what looked like magical, black and scarlet armor manifesting on parts of her body. She noticed Scotty approach after a sigh and subtly perked up. “Scotty, there you are! Forget to let the rooster out this morning?” she chided in a joking tone.
Scotty smiled and shook his head. “And here I thought you also grew up as a farm hand, Zara, as you know just as well as I do that those infernal birds are darn right annoying…”
Zara shrugged as she began to follow him down the dirt path leaving the guild hall. “I’m feeling a bit nostalgic.”
“Aren’t we all? And you finally decided to wear a tank top for once?”
There was a slight incredulous scoff from Zara. “Scotty, I don’t always head out with my chest wrapped in bandages… despite how easy it makes it to summon my armor…”
Scotty kicked a stone off the path that looked as if someone would trip over it. “Easy, sure, but it’s all fun and games until a stray blade cuts them…”
Zara stopped and looked at Scotty with an unamused look. “I wear a top no matter what.”
“Then why not also wear a tank top? Pretty sure it’s less effort. Like my Grandpa Joe always says; Work smarter, not harder.”
It was annoying to admit, but Scotty had a very good point. “I mean, points for style?”
Now it was Scotty’s turn to playfully scoff as they approached a rusted sign post with indicators pointed towards multiple paths. “Style? Zara, you’re running out into battle like you're heading to some photoshoot at one of those confound it comicbook conventions or whatever they’re called. What next, are you going to go out encased in rubber like you're a giant mud boot or one of those stuck up fashion models?”
As the two began walking down a more rougher path that was leading to a fairly rocky valley, Zara chuckled to herself with a snickering glee. “Excuse me, but I don’t recall ever adding clothes like that to my wardrobe… and here I thought you were all about modesty…”
Scotty paused and went a little red in the face… “Well, um, my criticism still stands…”
“Well look at your skeletons in the closet… shiny skeletons in the closet… care to tell me what you're not telling your family?”
Scotty paused for a second, then laughed. “I’m going to be honest, Zara-I hate the internet, ha! All it does is platform any foolish opinion from whatever Tom, Dick, or Larry that opens their mouths…”
“Uh-huh…” Zara encouraged as they moved past some large, ancient boulders that lined the path they walked.
“...is a nightmare for traditional family values, and… well, those city slickers have some weird sense of fashion, I tell you what.”
Zara laughed and pushed on Scotty’s arm. “You like rubber fashion, don’t you?”
“I mean, kind of… it’s just that… argh, how did we even get on this topic?”
“Ha, I don’t know, you were the one who was getting on my case about modesty again!”
He nodded and accepted his gaffe. “Fair enough…”
“So, um, why are we out here again? I was out the door before I could receive today’s instructions.”
As the two crested the hill, Scotty scoped out the vast valleys of dust and jagged rocks of the Great Ironstone Canyon. “Audoan knights. We have to make sure Audoin and his lackeys are not out here causing trouble, as Barry and The Highway Knight think they spotted some activity in this vicinity…”
“Right, loud and clear,” Zara said as she tapped the hilt of one of her blades, causing it to pulse with eerie, red electricity.
The two were careful as they descended the hill, as it was very steep on that end, and the loose soil could easily allow them to slip and tumble all the way down. Ironstone Canyon was a strange place as it once had great deposits of iron ore, except it never actually had them, always being the dusty, barren canyon the Dark Divers had known it for. Locations in the Dark Void were strange like that, as while the realm was vastly more stable and concrete than a realm like The Unlight or The Realm of Chaos, it had its own fair share of bizarre properties. For instance, Ironstone Canyon’s lack of ore was indicative of a narrative that the area existed with rather than it being a reality. Anomalies like this did not bother Zara given that she grew up in The Unlight, but Scotty was always unnerved and it was something he would never get used to.
There was a lot of ground to cover, but time flowed strangely in the Dark Void, which meant Scotty and Zara could spend days exploring the canyon, yet be back in time for lunch at the guild hall. The only snag was that it was not like The Unlight where an impossible voyage became like a walk in the park due to learning the way they needed to go. Scotty was not looking forward to potentially having to spend a week searching the canyon for signs of the Audoan Knights, but something caught his sharp ears as he came to stop, the crunch of the dirt and stones beneath his boots ceasing. He held up a hand to Zara to stop moving, as the noise was the faintest pitter patter of feet, what could have easily been a small animal. Still, Scotty needed to see what it was.
“Wait here for a second…” Scotty said softly. Carefully he walked up to a large, jagged boulder that was tall enough for someone to hide behind. When he came round to the far side, he saw the strangest creature he had ever laid eyes upon… “What in tarnation!?”
“Scotty? You okay?” Zara said as she put her hand on the hilt of one of her blades. While normally a rambunctious swordsman, even she was a little concerned over Scotty’s outburst.
Out from behind the rock ran a… boy? Zara wanted to assume it was a boy, but it appeared to be a series of black, metal shells being levitated by an invisible force in the shape of a young lad. Whatever it was was startled and ran around the rocks frantically. “DON’T HURT ME!” it cried as the nimble little thing rounded the stones with surprising ease.
“Come back!” Scotty called out as he tried to run after it, cursing himself for not stretching when he woke up that morning, as it was hard to get his legs in a running mood on the rough, rocky ground. “I’m not going to hurt you, lad!”
“What in Abaddon even is that!?” Zara demanded to know, unsure what to do as she let go of her sword hilt.
“I don’t know, but help me catch it!”
After a couple more laps around the rocks, which Zara hated to admit were starting to make her laugh, she waited until the small entity rounded a big stone where it would not see her coming and grabbed it! “GOT IT! HAHA!” she celebrated as it squirmed in her grip.
“LET ME GO!” the entity protested. “LET ME GO!”
“Lad, lad…” Scotty said as he came to a stop, needing a second to catch his breath as he fanned himself with his hat. “Lad, it’s alright, we’re not going to hurt you.” Once he was sure the entity was not going to make a run for it, he indicated for Zara to set him down. “My boy, who are you and what are you doing out here? It’s dangerous right now…”
Looking around nervously, the entity turned to Scotty. Notably it sounded like a young boy. “Um, I… I don’t really know who I am… um, other than… Blo…Blood-Wraith, I think?”
Scotty was amazed by what he was seeing with the boy, given that his head was more of a mask with six eyes, except they were hollow and were filled with black void that was not visible on the other side. He also only had one arm, but the way he gestured in his nervousness indicated that the left arm was invisible. “You don’t know who you are? Well ain’t that the darndest thing…”
“Well, I think we can safely say he’s not an Audoan Knight…” Zara concluded with a chuckle.
Feeling like he thought he had heard or sensed something else, Scotty glanced around, then turned his attention back to Blood-Wraith. “We should probably get out of Dodge before one shows up… Argh, they’ll have to have someone else do the patrol…”
“Who’s they?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Who are you people?”
Scotty then realized the obvious and gave a hearty laugh that caused Blood-Wraith to step back a little. “Where are my manners? It’s a pleasure to meet you, Blood. The name’s Cottonwood, Scott Rowan Cottonwood, but you can call me ‘Scotty,’” he introduced as he held out his hand which was coarse to the touch from hard work and calluses.
“Hello, Scotty,” Blood-Wraith replied as he shook, surprisingly picking up on the gesture pretty quickly.
“And this here is Zara Teagann,” he continued. “A little rough around the edges, but a fine swordsman and a good friend of mine.”
Blood-Wraith was a little nervous as he sensed something strange and foreboding deep within her, but he shook her hand regardless, which was softer to the touch, but still had some coarseness to it. “Hello, Zara.”
“Heya, Blood… jeez, just what are you? Scotty, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s a… oh, what are they called… Ar’ton! That’s right-an ar’ton without his element!”
Scotty crossed his arms and thought about that prospect for a second. It was not an impossibility given all of the strange stuff he had encountered with the Dark Divers, but what would such an advanced entity be doing there with them in such a sorry state of affairs? “Well either way I think we should head back to the guild, as I’m getting the heebeegeebees… Come with us, Blood.”
Blood-Wraith hesitated at first, but followed as he sensed no ill will from the couple. In fact they felt like… parents? An Aunt and Uncle? Either way, following them was a must. “A guild? What’s that?”
Scotty clapped with a smile on his face. “The Dark Divers Guild, my boy! Haha, let me tell you all about them while we walk…”
Next: Chapter 2
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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