Morgur breathed in deeply through his nostrils, taking in the scent of his surroundings. He’d found himself in a small deserted lumber village with no pray in sight, at least for now. It seemed the former inhabitants were wise enough to leave this perilous place, so dangerously close to the ever expanding demon territory. Now all that was left behind was a bunch of empty wooden shacks and cottages, placed a moderate distance apart in a seemingly random pattern and surrounded by a five-foot-tall wooden wall.
But just when he was about to conclude that there was no prey for him here, he noticed something. The smell of a human, or at least something close to it. A crossbreed perhaps. He didn't know where exactly it was but he knew it was near. That meant there was only one thing left to do: find it and hunt it down. He unsheathed his ax from the holster on his back and began prowling his way through the seemingly empty village in search for his prey.
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I'm interested if the offer still stands. Check your inbox, i messaged you.
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Persistant world multiverse battles, all power levels allowed!
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12 yrs ago
Forum: Arena Interest Checks
You already know i'm interested, but i'll state it anyways for good measure.
Post 36 is also retconned. Everyone is advised to re-read it. Some minor changes were made to post 42, not really important.
ALERT: As an effort to make Aegar a more interesting character, i have altered his CS (personality, history, powers) and retconned his conversation with Dunkelheit (page 25). I encourage everyone to check it out. More shall be retconned tomorrow, so not everything is completely in sinc right now.
42
The rest of dinner went by slowly as Calixta's mind was focused elsewhere. She listened in on the various conversations, thinking to herself that it had been a terrible sixty-fourth birthday so far. Or maybe not so terrible just because of Summer and Ostel. She smiled to herself, finishing her meal of fruits and nuts, then gazed off into the distance before politely excusing herself to her tower. Even a nod was given to Aegar, and she brought extra fruits just in case she got hungry later that night. No matter how slim she was, the girl could eat.
When the nymph got to the tower, she freshened up, changed into a simple shirt and night shorts, and then proceeded to finally inspect her room. It was fairly simple for the most part, with a large bed on the far side of the room, a table up against one wall and a small fountain against the other. The walls were painted the same off-white color as her door, and the accents and decor were a golden hue that matched her circlet. It was all reminiscent of home, and she smiled at all of it-- the water of Nymphe, the dresser that held all of her clothing and cosmetic desires... she could only imagine what everyone else's rooms looked like. But right now, Calixta wanted to relax. It had been a long day, and she still had other business to attend to-- business that seemed out of place at the University. Returning to the living room area, she sat in front of the low-burning fireplace and thought of Acheron, speaking in a hushed tone as if he himself could hear her from the heavens. It wasn't long before tears started to flow steadily down the girl's cheeks.
She stopped suddenly when she heard the door to their tower being opened. Ah, that was probably Aegar. "Did you have a fun time at dinner?" she asked, half turning around so she could look at him. He looked the same as when she spoke to him earlier, but there was an aggressiveness she couldn't place... Did he speak with someone after dinner? Calixta turned all the way around then, the firelight making the trails of wetness glisten in the near-darkness. "You didn't speak much. Well, except to Summer. But then again, you were looking at other...things." She knew she had to be careful with what she said now. Although Aegar was a demon, he wasn't the one who killed Acheron, and she would have to remember that... But it was hard to cage in a sadness and cold anger that she had kept inside for 14 years.
Once his conversation with Summer was finished, Aegar ate his diner mostly in silence. There was a wide variety of foods on the table, most of which he’d never even seen before, but for now he stuck with what he knew, a meal of roasted meat, bread, blood figs and ghost grass. While he ate, he listened in on the other Sages’ conversations and thoroughly eyed the other students and the school staff just to see if he could uncover anything useful, though there was little out of the ordinary to be heard or seen.
Once Aegar had finished his dinner and his brief conversation with Ostel, a large part of the other students had left the dining hall already. He simply followed their example and made his way back to the tower of water and darkness, which Calixta had assumably already returned to. Once there, he found her sitting in front of the fireplace in the dimly lit room, with what seemed like tears running down her cheeks.
“As much fun as one can have in a room full of strangers.” He sat down on the couch across from her once again, making sure to give her some personal space. “I’m not used to being around so many people.” He doubted for a moment whether he should say something, but eventually decided he would. “Something is clearly troubling you. It has since we first met. Can you talk about it?”
"I don't know," Calixta replied rather icily, which was so far off from her own personality that it surprised even herself. "I guess it is troubling to lose a loved one, isn't it? To none other than your kin, your blood... I have absolutely no idea why Amalia would place me here with you." The tone of her voice didn't indicate hostility, but more of a heavy bluntness that reflected how she felt inside. "And you had no problem watching that demoness-- yes I saw that. You obviously know how to pick out people from a crowded room." It was hard to tell exactly what she was feeling, as the little singsong voice of hers sounded amusing even when she was upset, sad, or even worried.
Aegar too had wondered why the sages were paired the way they were, but hadn’t sought any special meaning behind it so far. Just as he was about to reply, Calixta continued and pretty much changed the subject. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Is that a crime now? I doubt I was the only one looking.” It wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of being a pervert and at this point he hardly cared anymore. Humans, elves and whoever else always seemed surprised at how open demons are about their carnal desires. He shook the thought from him head and returned to the topic at hand. “But hey, I don’t know what reasons Amalia has for these pairings, but we’re gonna have to live together if we wanna get anything done. You’re not the only one who’s lost people, you know.”
"Yeah? And who was that, mate number 42?"
An awkward pause filled the air, and Calixta hung her head in shame and embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Aegar, I don't know where that came from... That was very insensitive of me." Her sea foam green eyes flicked upward to meet his pale pair, and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. "You must understand then, how hard it is to sit here in this very room with you when my... fiancé was slain by a demon on this continent. It wasn't... nice." There were a few choice words she could have put there, but she opted not to use them. After all, letting this out to a demon after so much time had made most of the anger just melt away, and all that was left was a broken emptiness that weighed heavy on her heart.
Aegar frowned in response to her rude reply. He was ready to be rude to her in return, but when she continued speaking and explained her situation, his expression softened up. He averted his pale eyes from her for a while, not sure of what to say. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. There’s a reason few outsiders visit Tenebra, it’s a cruel place. I too have suffered from it.” He felt a tide of suppressed emotion coming up from deep inside him, but he interrupted it by quickly rising to his feet. He had vowed to himself never to return to that memory. “It’s best if we both get some rest now. Our training will be starting tomorrow.”
"Yes-- yes," Calixta replied, standing up as well. "It was a nice talking to you... And please, call me Calla." She smiled then, a bright thing that contrasted with her previous emotions. She noted his own reactions, but decided to let it go; it would be too much emotion for one night. "And just for the record... there were prettier women in the room besides the demoness." The nymph smiled innocently and let out an infectious giggle, wiping the remnants of tears away. She air-kissed the demon as was the custom of her people then went to her room to retire for the night.
“Well, it’s pretty rude to stare at someone in their face.” he replied with a smile, a slightly more sincere one this time. He stayed behind in the dimly lit room for a few more minutes, simply thinking over the events of the past day. Little was left of the fire in the fireplace but smoldering embers when he too got up and went to his bedroom for a night’s rest.
The rest of dinner went by slowly as Calixta's mind was focused elsewhere. She listened in on the various conversations, thinking to herself that it had been a terrible sixty-fourth birthday so far. Or maybe not so terrible just because of Summer and Ostel. She smiled to herself, finishing her meal of fruits and nuts, then gazed off into the distance before politely excusing herself to her tower. Even a nod was given to Aegar, and she brought extra fruits just in case she got hungry later that night. No matter how slim she was, the girl could eat.
When the nymph got to the tower, she freshened up, changed into a simple shirt and night shorts, and then proceeded to finally inspect her room. It was fairly simple for the most part, with a large bed on the far side of the room, a table up against one wall and a small fountain against the other. The walls were painted the same off-white color as her door, and the accents and decor were a golden hue that matched her circlet. It was all reminiscent of home, and she smiled at all of it-- the water of Nymphe, the dresser that held all of her clothing and cosmetic desires... she could only imagine what everyone else's rooms looked like. But right now, Calixta wanted to relax. It had been a long day, and she still had other business to attend to-- business that seemed out of place at the University. Returning to the living room area, she sat in front of the low-burning fireplace and thought of Acheron, speaking in a hushed tone as if he himself could hear her from the heavens. It wasn't long before tears started to flow steadily down the girl's cheeks.
She stopped suddenly when she heard the door to their tower being opened. Ah, that was probably Aegar. "Did you have a fun time at dinner?" she asked, half turning around so she could look at him. He looked the same as when she spoke to him earlier, but there was an aggressiveness she couldn't place... Did he speak with someone after dinner? Calixta turned all the way around then, the firelight making the trails of wetness glisten in the near-darkness. "You didn't speak much. Well, except to Summer. But then again, you were looking at other...things." She knew she had to be careful with what she said now. Although Aegar was a demon, he wasn't the one who killed Acheron, and she would have to remember that... But it was hard to cage in a sadness and cold anger that she had kept inside for 14 years.
Once his conversation with Summer was finished, Aegar ate his diner mostly in silence. There was a wide variety of foods on the table, most of which he’d never even seen before, but for now he stuck with what he knew, a meal of roasted meat, bread, blood figs and ghost grass. While he ate, he listened in on the other Sages’ conversations and thoroughly eyed the other students and the school staff just to see if he could uncover anything useful, though there was little out of the ordinary to be heard or seen.
Once Aegar had finished his dinner and his brief conversation with Ostel, a large part of the other students had left the dining hall already. He simply followed their example and made his way back to the tower of water and darkness, which Calixta had assumably already returned to. Once there, he found her sitting in front of the fireplace in the dimly lit room, with what seemed like tears running down her cheeks.
“As much fun as one can have in a room full of strangers.” He sat down on the couch across from her once again, making sure to give her some personal space. “I’m not used to being around so many people.” He doubted for a moment whether he should say something, but eventually decided he would. “Something is clearly troubling you. It has since we first met. Can you talk about it?”
"I don't know," Calixta replied rather icily, which was so far off from her own personality that it surprised even herself. "I guess it is troubling to lose a loved one, isn't it? To none other than your kin, your blood... I have absolutely no idea why Amalia would place me here with you." The tone of her voice didn't indicate hostility, but more of a heavy bluntness that reflected how she felt inside. "And you had no problem watching that demoness-- yes I saw that. You obviously know how to pick out people from a crowded room." It was hard to tell exactly what she was feeling, as the little singsong voice of hers sounded amusing even when she was upset, sad, or even worried.
Aegar too had wondered why the sages were paired the way they were, but hadn’t sought any special meaning behind it so far. Just as he was about to reply, Calixta continued and pretty much changed the subject. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Is that a crime now? I doubt I was the only one looking.” It wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of being a pervert and at this point he hardly cared anymore. Humans, elves and whoever else always seemed surprised at how open demons are about their carnal desires. He shook the thought from him head and returned to the topic at hand. “But hey, I don’t know what reasons Amalia has for these pairings, but we’re gonna have to live together if we wanna get anything done. You’re not the only one who’s lost people, you know.”
"Yeah? And who was that, mate number 42?"
An awkward pause filled the air, and Calixta hung her head in shame and embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Aegar, I don't know where that came from... That was very insensitive of me." Her sea foam green eyes flicked upward to meet his pale pair, and fresh tears ran down her cheeks. "You must understand then, how hard it is to sit here in this very room with you when my... fiancé was slain by a demon on this continent. It wasn't... nice." There were a few choice words she could have put there, but she opted not to use them. After all, letting this out to a demon after so much time had made most of the anger just melt away, and all that was left was a broken emptiness that weighed heavy on her heart.
Aegar frowned in response to her rude reply. He was ready to be rude to her in return, but when she continued speaking and explained her situation, his expression softened up. He averted his pale eyes from her for a while, not sure of what to say. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. There’s a reason few outsiders visit Tenebra, it’s a cruel place. I too have suffered from it.” He felt a tide of suppressed emotion coming up from deep inside him, but he interrupted it by quickly rising to his feet. He had vowed to himself never to return to that memory. “It’s best if we both get some rest now. Our training will be starting tomorrow.”
"Yes-- yes," Calixta replied, standing up as well. "It was a nice talking to you... And please, call me Calla." She smiled then, a bright thing that contrasted with her previous emotions. She noted his own reactions, but decided to let it go; it would be too much emotion for one night. "And just for the record... there were prettier women in the room besides the demoness." The nymph smiled innocently and let out an infectious giggle, wiping the remnants of tears away. She air-kissed the demon as was the custom of her people then went to her room to retire for the night.
“Well, it’s pretty rude to stare at someone in their face.” he replied with a smile, a slightly more sincere one this time. He stayed behind in the dimly lit room for a few more minutes, simply thinking over the events of the past day. Little was left of the fire in the fireplace but smoldering embers when he too got up and went to his bedroom for a night’s rest.
36
Aegar sighed once the nymph had left the room. He already felt like a fish in the desert here, or like a demon in the sunlight. If he was to stay here, sooner or later he would have to integrate with the others, which frankly seemed like a recipe for disaster. It’d been a long time since he’d cooperated with anyone on anything; he simply never needed the help. Allies were nothing but a liability to him most of the time, but now he had no choice. The nymph already held something against him it seemed and he had little doubt the human would too; such was the nature of most humans. The Jade Fist might end up being a troublesome ally to cooperate with depending on which of the stories about him were actually true. The other two didn’t seem troublesome at first sight, but he recalled Dunkelheit mentioning similarities between all six sages, which served only to worry him further.
He frowned at the thought of it all while he got up and made his way to the entrance of his own bedroom, closed off by a door of gnarly black wood. The inside of his room was dimly lit, as he liked it, with walls of grey marble and furniture of the same dark wood, probably made of the native shadow birch. Near the large and luxurious bed was a wooden wardrobe, full of leather armor and cotton clothing in various shades of black, grey and brown. Most were plain and simple, but some of the armor was trimmed with a dark grey metal and studded with what appeared to be small chunks of onyx. It was as if they’d known his preferences up front and did their best to try to please him.
He sat down on the thick fluffy mattress and sank into thought for a bit. Being treated in this almost royal manner was… interesting. While becoming a Sage may have been many a man’s dream, it also felt strange and suspicious to him, as if it was all still some huge prank. He pulled his right hand sword out of its sheath and stared at the black diamond at the center of the cross guard. The half-skull was an ominous sight as it absorbed the dim lighting of the room like some kind of bottomless pit. “This better be worth it.” he said, as if speaking to Dunkelheit. “Every moment I spend here, the Brotherhood is slipping further away from me.” Though he was just thinking out loud, somehow he thought Dunkelheit might be able to hear him. The black gem remained quiet and motionless, simply staring back at him with its single empty eye socket.
The voice of the vampire calling from downstairs pulled him back into reality. Aegar took a deep breath and hoped he could manage to act at least somewhat sociable, before getting up and making his way down the stairs. Downstairs at the entrance to the towers, Evelynn was waiting for them, enjoying a glass of unambiguous red liquid. “Spoiling your appetite for demon blood already, I see. Or was that not the part of me you wanted to taste?” he commented with a sly smile, equaling the suggestive tone she gave him earlier.
Aegar sighed once the nymph had left the room. He already felt like a fish in the desert here, or like a demon in the sunlight. If he was to stay here, sooner or later he would have to integrate with the others, which frankly seemed like a recipe for disaster. It’d been a long time since he’d cooperated with anyone on anything; he simply never needed the help. Allies were nothing but a liability to him most of the time, but now he had no choice. The nymph already held something against him it seemed and he had little doubt the human would too; such was the nature of most humans. The Jade Fist might end up being a troublesome ally to cooperate with depending on which of the stories about him were actually true. The other two didn’t seem troublesome at first sight, but he recalled Dunkelheit mentioning similarities between all six sages, which served only to worry him further.
He frowned at the thought of it all while he got up and made his way to the entrance of his own bedroom, closed off by a door of gnarly black wood. The inside of his room was dimly lit, as he liked it, with walls of grey marble and furniture of the same dark wood, probably made of the native shadow birch. Near the large and luxurious bed was a wooden wardrobe, full of leather armor and cotton clothing in various shades of black, grey and brown. Most were plain and simple, but some of the armor was trimmed with a dark grey metal and studded with what appeared to be small chunks of onyx. It was as if they’d known his preferences up front and did their best to try to please him.
He sat down on the thick fluffy mattress and sank into thought for a bit. Being treated in this almost royal manner was… interesting. While becoming a Sage may have been many a man’s dream, it also felt strange and suspicious to him, as if it was all still some huge prank. He pulled his right hand sword out of its sheath and stared at the black diamond at the center of the cross guard. The half-skull was an ominous sight as it absorbed the dim lighting of the room like some kind of bottomless pit. “This better be worth it.” he said, as if speaking to Dunkelheit. “Every moment I spend here, the Brotherhood is slipping further away from me.” Though he was just thinking out loud, somehow he thought Dunkelheit might be able to hear him. The black gem remained quiet and motionless, simply staring back at him with its single empty eye socket.
The voice of the vampire calling from downstairs pulled him back into reality. Aegar took a deep breath and hoped he could manage to act at least somewhat sociable, before getting up and making his way down the stairs. Downstairs at the entrance to the towers, Evelynn was waiting for them, enjoying a glass of unambiguous red liquid. “Spoiling your appetite for demon blood already, I see. Or was that not the part of me you wanted to taste?” he commented with a sly smile, equaling the suggestive tone she gave him earlier.
32
Aegar wasn't sure what to think of the enhancements made to his twin swords. He wasn't a big fan of using jeweled weaponry, as most jeweled weapons were made for beauty over practicality, but at least most of the blade was unaltered. He sheathed his weapons and groped around the back of his belt to find that his daggers had miraculously returned to their sheaths too, however those were unchanged. Once he’d made certain he was fully armed once more, he looked around at the other mages, who all appeared to have received a similar augmentation. One of the girls now even held an extraordinary staff that he was certain wasn't there before. Why would they all receive such a thing? Was there some kind of magic tied to the gems?
He shook the thought out of his head, figuring he’d get an answer sooner or later, and for the first time really inspected the five others. The first to catch his eye was the unmistakable stone-armor-clad figure. The stories about the mysterious Jade Fist reached far and wide, even all the way to Tenebra even though he had no business here. The stories were none the less diverse for it too. For all Aegar knew, he could be a slaver-fighting superhero, an anarchist intent on destroying the human nobility or an undead who kidnaps and sacrifices innocent children. Aegar had never truly believed the latter story, but then again he’d never even to Lucerna before, so who knows.
The second to catch his eye was the shortest of them all, so short he might’ve overlooked her if she wasn’t so blindingly beautiful. Black wavy hair and a flawless feminine face gave her an aura of beauty that even the succubi of Tenebra had trouble keeping up with. She might’ve been an exceptionally attractive elf, but more likely she was a Nymph. Aegar had never seen one in person, as they were said to rarely leave their homeland, but there are few men in all of Divus who hadn’t heard the stories. A sly smile crept across his face as he contemplated how his stay here might end up even better than anticipated.
Then his eyes landed on the human. He didn’t look too important at first sight. Pale, broad-shouldered and clad in chainmail and fur, could’ve been anyone. But that hammer looked far too valuable and royal, even without the newly added jewels, to belong to some lowborn hunter, and he didn’t seem like the thieving type. That marked him as some kind of noble. Aegar frowned upon the thought of having to work not only with a human, but with a noble one. Humans and demons, being of opposing elements after all, were notorious for clashing wherever they met.
The other two were less eye-catching, at least for now. The one near the volcano was probably a lycanthrope - considering the furry ears atop his head - and the other a shifter if her color pallet was any indicator. He had no beef with lycanthropes and shifters, having never been to the native continent of either, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep an eye on them just in case.
Once he’d quietly followed the group through the portal, he was surprised, to say the least, with the surroundings they ended up in. Sunny and green, an environment so unlike Tenebra that it almost made him feel out of place being there. Aegar quietly went along with the group, not having swapped words with any of the other mages yet, as they were transferred from one guide to another, one who was almost unmistakably a vampire. The vampire, Evelynn, was slender, pale and rather attractive, but also rude and seemingly uninterested. He furrowed his brow in surprise when she spoke directly to him, unsure of whether he should feel threatened or aroused. Before he could think of a suitable reply, she was already gone, leaving the six Sages to explore their towers by themselves. Aegar had been assigned to the same tower as the Nymph, Calixta. For the first time in a long time he felt nervous, for he was to get along with someone he knew nothing about; even her race was unknown territory to him. He looked around to see the other mages fortunately caught up with each other, allowing him to split off from the group unnoticed and follow the Nymph through the door and up the spiraling staircase, still unsure of what he would say to her once they were both inside.
Aegar wasn't sure what to think of the enhancements made to his twin swords. He wasn't a big fan of using jeweled weaponry, as most jeweled weapons were made for beauty over practicality, but at least most of the blade was unaltered. He sheathed his weapons and groped around the back of his belt to find that his daggers had miraculously returned to their sheaths too, however those were unchanged. Once he’d made certain he was fully armed once more, he looked around at the other mages, who all appeared to have received a similar augmentation. One of the girls now even held an extraordinary staff that he was certain wasn't there before. Why would they all receive such a thing? Was there some kind of magic tied to the gems?
He shook the thought out of his head, figuring he’d get an answer sooner or later, and for the first time really inspected the five others. The first to catch his eye was the unmistakable stone-armor-clad figure. The stories about the mysterious Jade Fist reached far and wide, even all the way to Tenebra even though he had no business here. The stories were none the less diverse for it too. For all Aegar knew, he could be a slaver-fighting superhero, an anarchist intent on destroying the human nobility or an undead who kidnaps and sacrifices innocent children. Aegar had never truly believed the latter story, but then again he’d never even to Lucerna before, so who knows.
The second to catch his eye was the shortest of them all, so short he might’ve overlooked her if she wasn’t so blindingly beautiful. Black wavy hair and a flawless feminine face gave her an aura of beauty that even the succubi of Tenebra had trouble keeping up with. She might’ve been an exceptionally attractive elf, but more likely she was a Nymph. Aegar had never seen one in person, as they were said to rarely leave their homeland, but there are few men in all of Divus who hadn’t heard the stories. A sly smile crept across his face as he contemplated how his stay here might end up even better than anticipated.
Then his eyes landed on the human. He didn’t look too important at first sight. Pale, broad-shouldered and clad in chainmail and fur, could’ve been anyone. But that hammer looked far too valuable and royal, even without the newly added jewels, to belong to some lowborn hunter, and he didn’t seem like the thieving type. That marked him as some kind of noble. Aegar frowned upon the thought of having to work not only with a human, but with a noble one. Humans and demons, being of opposing elements after all, were notorious for clashing wherever they met.
The other two were less eye-catching, at least for now. The one near the volcano was probably a lycanthrope - considering the furry ears atop his head - and the other a shifter if her color pallet was any indicator. He had no beef with lycanthropes and shifters, having never been to the native continent of either, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep an eye on them just in case.
Once he’d quietly followed the group through the portal, he was surprised, to say the least, with the surroundings they ended up in. Sunny and green, an environment so unlike Tenebra that it almost made him feel out of place being there. Aegar quietly went along with the group, not having swapped words with any of the other mages yet, as they were transferred from one guide to another, one who was almost unmistakably a vampire. The vampire, Evelynn, was slender, pale and rather attractive, but also rude and seemingly uninterested. He furrowed his brow in surprise when she spoke directly to him, unsure of whether he should feel threatened or aroused. Before he could think of a suitable reply, she was already gone, leaving the six Sages to explore their towers by themselves. Aegar had been assigned to the same tower as the Nymph, Calixta. For the first time in a long time he felt nervous, for he was to get along with someone he knew nothing about; even her race was unknown territory to him. He looked around to see the other mages fortunately caught up with each other, allowing him to split off from the group unnoticed and follow the Nymph through the door and up the spiraling staircase, still unsure of what he would say to her once they were both inside.
25
The red-skinned demon’s growl of pain was drowned out by the sound of splintering wood as he unceremoniously crashed into the pile of empty crates, causing the dry brittle wood to loudly collapse in on itself. Aegar remained silent while he slowly walked over to the collapsed mess of wood and kicked against the black-steel battle axe lying near the pile, sending it skittering into the other corner of the rooftop. “You coal-skinned bastard.” The voice of the demon growled from below. By the time Aegar was close enough to make eye-contact with his opponent once again, a fist was already coming his way, though not unexpectedly. He sidestepped, grabbed the man by his arm, then his collar and used the momentum of the punch to hoist him out of the pile of shattered wood. The man was as tall as him and broader in the shoulders, but physical strength alone hadn’t won him the battle.
He roughly pushed the demon up against one of the merlons surrounding the roof of the tower. “You know why I’m here and you’re wasting both our time. I need fucking answers. Tell me who and where your superior is and we can end this the peaceful way.” The demon simply stared back at him with his pitch-black eyes and showed off his crooked teeth in a smug grin. Aegar, still holding the man by his collar, pulled him to the side to one of the crenels between the merlons, where the wall was less than waist height. “I dare you to call a bluff on me.” The anger in his voice was growing more apparent.
The demon’s smile remained. “You’re wasting your time, pal. We do not fear death, for our death shall be in the name of the greater good. One more body among many makes no matter in the end.”
Aegar pushed him back further, dangerously leaning the demon backwards over the edge of the wall. “Talk some sense, you madman!” he roared out in frustration. After all these years, he had finally discovered the trail that could lead him back to the very men he’d been hunting for so long, the very tip of the iceberg known only as the Brotherhood of Nox. But despite finally being one step closer to getting his revenge, he felt as far from his goal as ever. This was the second of their zealots that he managed to track down, an extremely difficult and time-consuming thing to do, but he already knew that this one was going to give him just as little as the previous. He’d tried to beat information out of the previous zealot for what felt like an hour, to no avail; it seemed like he simply didn’t care. And this one had the same smug grin and infuriatingly strong nerves as the previous.
“I’ll give you three seconds.” Aegar said, not expecting anything helpful to sprout from this.
The red-skinned demon only laughed. “Bite me, demon boy.”
With a loud growl of frustration, Aegar pushed him over the edge, sending the man tumbling down the height of the tall granite tower. He didn’t wait around to watch the landing, though he did hear the loud crash of a man-sized object plummeting into something like a wooden cart or a stack of barrels down below. Instead, he immediately turned around and started making his way down the tower, before anyone would come up here to find out what happened.
That’s when, for the first time in months, Aegar was caught off-guard. Out of nowhere, the previously dark staircase was lit up by two strings of bright luminescent orbs lining the walls, that he was almost certain weren’t there yet when he went up the stairs mere minutes ago. He flinched when the lights first turned on and reflexively covered his hands with his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded. His night eyes weren’t adjusted to seeing in such bright light and frankly, neither were his day eyes. He franticly blinked and looked around trying to see anything besides multicolored smudges of light, but once his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the bright environment, it was already too late.
In front of him was a blurry humanoid figure, with a pale yellow and green color pallet. When Aegar spun around, a similar figure turned out to be behind him. He was already instinctively reaching for the swords at his belt, but something was stopping him. Some kind of green tendrils had sprouted from the walls and were wrapping themselves around his wrists, blocking his access to his sword belt. Earth magic, of course. He trashed violently trying to resist the grasp of the vines, desperately launching volatile bolts of dark magic in all directions, but most would dissolve due to the bright lighting before even hitting anything. It didn’t take long from that point until nothing was left of his vision but green.
The next thing he remembered was finding himself inside some kind of plant-like cocoon, with his entire body wrapped in vines except for his face. He didn’t know how long he’d been out, but the tower he was ambushed at was nowhere in sight anymore. He looked around, as far as he could turn his head, to find himself in front of a large decorated gate, surrounded by a mixed group of humans and elves, presumably the ones the ambushed him earlier. Before he could finish processing the scene, he felt the nearest elf tapping her finger against his forehead. “Wake up sleepy, we’ve arrived.” she said with the smile of a person who was enjoying this a little too much.
“Mind explaining?” Aegar growled in annoyance. He squirmed around a bit inside the vine cocoon, but the tough and pliant material had him firmly entangled.
A short human man in his late forties stepped forward. “You must excuse us for abducting you so rudely, but it was a necessary evil, for there is not much time to waste.” he said in the soft-spoken voice of a priest of light. “We’ve brought you to the entrance of the school of Sages.” The surprise was visible on Aegar’s face. “I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of the Dark Lord and the six Sages, no? It is believed we’ll have need of their successors soon and my superior believes you are the new Sage of Darkness. Or well, she believes you might be. Prophecies aren’t always as accurate as we’d like them to be.”
Aegar shook his head in confusion. “What do you mean, might be? And besides, I have my own business to sort out.”
“The interest of the world precedes that of the individual, my son. If fate decides you are the one, you must do your duty.”
“There’s no more time to explain.” the elf girl interrupted. “We’re running out of time. Will you comply or not?”
“Do I have a choice?” Aegar answered. “Yes, I’ll freaking comply.”
“Good.” The same smile as before returned to her face while she snapped her fingers, causing the vines to loosen up and release Aegar from his cocoon. He wiggled free from the leafy tendrils and instinctively brought his hands to the hilts of his swords just in case, only to find out that all his weapons had been removed from his belt. Before he could even bother to ask it, the elf answered his question. “Just a safety measure, you’ll get them back soon enough.” Meanwhile, one of the other elves had opened the large gate just enough to let a single person enter through the crack. “Now c’mon, go in there.” she said while she physically pushed him towards the door. She gave him a gentle slap against his rear and giggled while she gave him the final push through the opening and closed the door behind him.
Once inside, he was just in time to see a black flame devour the form of a man, and leave nothing but ash. As he watched this, more confused than ever, a figure in a black cloak came to him and motioned to be followed. Not seeing much of a choice, Aegar did as he was told and followed the figure to the same exact spot where the other man had been burned to ash.
“Just in time. I trust you’ve been told why you’re here.” a female voice said from inside the cloak. “You must speak to your ancestor, like the others. Only he can tell if you are truly the one we need. Please, do not run from your destiny, Dunkelheit has no patience for that, as you saw when you came in. It seems poor Aravan just... wasn't meant to be. Anyway... when you are ready, please touch the onyx to communicate with the Sage of Darkness. When you’re done, please hold out your hand like the others and wait."
Aegar warily looked around at the other mages, each in their own corner of the courtyard, before turning his attention to the demonic figure inside the onyx pillar. He may have gotten out of his cocoon, but the possibility of being burned to ash wasn’t much better. “You’re all crazy bastards.” he sighed, while he reached out and touched the palm of his hand to the smooth, cold stone, not expecting anything in particular to happen.
As he made contact with the pillar, the world around him seemed to fade and become engulfed in shadows approaching from all sides, until the courtyard was so dark that even Aegar with his darkvision could see nothing but blackness around him and the onyx pillar. Even the dim Tenebran sun seemed to have disappeared from the sky. There was no reaction from the cloaked woman or any of the other individuals though, as if the darkness that now cloaked the world was merely in his head.
For a moment, there was silence, like the silence of a man contemplating what to say next. But then a deep voice sounded, not in the form of a sound, but directly inside his head. “Yes, you are the one, the Sage of Darkness, the one we’ve been searching for. I can feel the threads of fate rippling around you as we speak. Aegar is your name, yes? You have a dark and troubling past I see, as would befit my successor.”
Aegar raised his eyebrows in surprise upon realizing it actually worked. “So you’re truly the Sage of Darkness, from the stories?” he thought, somehow knowing that the voice would be able to hear him. “How do I know this isn’t just a big prank? If you’re 5000 years old, how can you be talking to me?”
“Our bodies and with it our consciousnesses were preserved exactly for this purpose. How they did it is not important. What’s important is your destiny. You must accompany your fellow mages on their journey to stop the Dark Lord from rising once more.”
Aegar shook his head at the surrealism of this situation. “You must be kidding. With so many dark mages in the world, what difference would I make? And what would it earn me, anyways? Why would I comply? I have my own unfinished business to settle.”
Dunkelheit let out a short laugh. “Yes, I know about your quest. I know a lot about you now that I’m in your head. But if you don’t fulfil your destiny, there might not be a world left for you to pursue that quest in. Besides, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. You have a lot to gain from this endeavor.”
Aegar frowned. “Continue.”
“Martial prowess, for one. The school of Sages can teach you things no other school in all of Divus can. And as a little bonus, it makes you one of the most politically important individuals in the world. That kind of power can get you a long way in getting the revenge you want.”
“I’ll admit I’m tempted. But why me? Why out of all the demons in Tenebra would I be the chosen one?”
“Who knows? Destiny works in mysterious ways. But if you really look, you might find some similarities between you and the other Sages.”
Aegar remained quiet in thought for a while, before saying: “Fine, I’ll go along. I doubt you’d give me much of a choice anyways.”
“Good, that settles it. One more thing though. I will not tell you to cage your inner rage like the other Sages are probably being told right now. We demons know that anger is a mighty weapon and are not as afraid to use it as the others. Harness the power of your anger, wear it like armor and sword, but do not forget who your enemy is. That is the key to fulfilling your destiny, Shadowborn.”
With that, Dunkelheit fell silent and the once so vivid mental connection faded away. With the disappearance of Dunkelheit’s presence, light and color returned to the world, once again revealing the colorful courtyard, the five other mages and the cloaked woman. While he slowly took his hand off the crystal, still in the middle of processing what he’d just been told, she looked at him as if to remind him what to do next. Being way too far in to start having doubts now, Aegar did as he was told and held his hand out in front of him, awaiting whatever would happen next.
The red-skinned demon’s growl of pain was drowned out by the sound of splintering wood as he unceremoniously crashed into the pile of empty crates, causing the dry brittle wood to loudly collapse in on itself. Aegar remained silent while he slowly walked over to the collapsed mess of wood and kicked against the black-steel battle axe lying near the pile, sending it skittering into the other corner of the rooftop. “You coal-skinned bastard.” The voice of the demon growled from below. By the time Aegar was close enough to make eye-contact with his opponent once again, a fist was already coming his way, though not unexpectedly. He sidestepped, grabbed the man by his arm, then his collar and used the momentum of the punch to hoist him out of the pile of shattered wood. The man was as tall as him and broader in the shoulders, but physical strength alone hadn’t won him the battle.
He roughly pushed the demon up against one of the merlons surrounding the roof of the tower. “You know why I’m here and you’re wasting both our time. I need fucking answers. Tell me who and where your superior is and we can end this the peaceful way.” The demon simply stared back at him with his pitch-black eyes and showed off his crooked teeth in a smug grin. Aegar, still holding the man by his collar, pulled him to the side to one of the crenels between the merlons, where the wall was less than waist height. “I dare you to call a bluff on me.” The anger in his voice was growing more apparent.
The demon’s smile remained. “You’re wasting your time, pal. We do not fear death, for our death shall be in the name of the greater good. One more body among many makes no matter in the end.”
Aegar pushed him back further, dangerously leaning the demon backwards over the edge of the wall. “Talk some sense, you madman!” he roared out in frustration. After all these years, he had finally discovered the trail that could lead him back to the very men he’d been hunting for so long, the very tip of the iceberg known only as the Brotherhood of Nox. But despite finally being one step closer to getting his revenge, he felt as far from his goal as ever. This was the second of their zealots that he managed to track down, an extremely difficult and time-consuming thing to do, but he already knew that this one was going to give him just as little as the previous. He’d tried to beat information out of the previous zealot for what felt like an hour, to no avail; it seemed like he simply didn’t care. And this one had the same smug grin and infuriatingly strong nerves as the previous.
“I’ll give you three seconds.” Aegar said, not expecting anything helpful to sprout from this.
The red-skinned demon only laughed. “Bite me, demon boy.”
With a loud growl of frustration, Aegar pushed him over the edge, sending the man tumbling down the height of the tall granite tower. He didn’t wait around to watch the landing, though he did hear the loud crash of a man-sized object plummeting into something like a wooden cart or a stack of barrels down below. Instead, he immediately turned around and started making his way down the tower, before anyone would come up here to find out what happened.
That’s when, for the first time in months, Aegar was caught off-guard. Out of nowhere, the previously dark staircase was lit up by two strings of bright luminescent orbs lining the walls, that he was almost certain weren’t there yet when he went up the stairs mere minutes ago. He flinched when the lights first turned on and reflexively covered his hands with his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded. His night eyes weren’t adjusted to seeing in such bright light and frankly, neither were his day eyes. He franticly blinked and looked around trying to see anything besides multicolored smudges of light, but once his eyes had somewhat adjusted to the bright environment, it was already too late.
In front of him was a blurry humanoid figure, with a pale yellow and green color pallet. When Aegar spun around, a similar figure turned out to be behind him. He was already instinctively reaching for the swords at his belt, but something was stopping him. Some kind of green tendrils had sprouted from the walls and were wrapping themselves around his wrists, blocking his access to his sword belt. Earth magic, of course. He trashed violently trying to resist the grasp of the vines, desperately launching volatile bolts of dark magic in all directions, but most would dissolve due to the bright lighting before even hitting anything. It didn’t take long from that point until nothing was left of his vision but green.
The next thing he remembered was finding himself inside some kind of plant-like cocoon, with his entire body wrapped in vines except for his face. He didn’t know how long he’d been out, but the tower he was ambushed at was nowhere in sight anymore. He looked around, as far as he could turn his head, to find himself in front of a large decorated gate, surrounded by a mixed group of humans and elves, presumably the ones the ambushed him earlier. Before he could finish processing the scene, he felt the nearest elf tapping her finger against his forehead. “Wake up sleepy, we’ve arrived.” she said with the smile of a person who was enjoying this a little too much.
“Mind explaining?” Aegar growled in annoyance. He squirmed around a bit inside the vine cocoon, but the tough and pliant material had him firmly entangled.
A short human man in his late forties stepped forward. “You must excuse us for abducting you so rudely, but it was a necessary evil, for there is not much time to waste.” he said in the soft-spoken voice of a priest of light. “We’ve brought you to the entrance of the school of Sages.” The surprise was visible on Aegar’s face. “I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of the Dark Lord and the six Sages, no? It is believed we’ll have need of their successors soon and my superior believes you are the new Sage of Darkness. Or well, she believes you might be. Prophecies aren’t always as accurate as we’d like them to be.”
Aegar shook his head in confusion. “What do you mean, might be? And besides, I have my own business to sort out.”
“The interest of the world precedes that of the individual, my son. If fate decides you are the one, you must do your duty.”
“There’s no more time to explain.” the elf girl interrupted. “We’re running out of time. Will you comply or not?”
“Do I have a choice?” Aegar answered. “Yes, I’ll freaking comply.”
“Good.” The same smile as before returned to her face while she snapped her fingers, causing the vines to loosen up and release Aegar from his cocoon. He wiggled free from the leafy tendrils and instinctively brought his hands to the hilts of his swords just in case, only to find out that all his weapons had been removed from his belt. Before he could even bother to ask it, the elf answered his question. “Just a safety measure, you’ll get them back soon enough.” Meanwhile, one of the other elves had opened the large gate just enough to let a single person enter through the crack. “Now c’mon, go in there.” she said while she physically pushed him towards the door. She gave him a gentle slap against his rear and giggled while she gave him the final push through the opening and closed the door behind him.
Once inside, he was just in time to see a black flame devour the form of a man, and leave nothing but ash. As he watched this, more confused than ever, a figure in a black cloak came to him and motioned to be followed. Not seeing much of a choice, Aegar did as he was told and followed the figure to the same exact spot where the other man had been burned to ash.
“Just in time. I trust you’ve been told why you’re here.” a female voice said from inside the cloak. “You must speak to your ancestor, like the others. Only he can tell if you are truly the one we need. Please, do not run from your destiny, Dunkelheit has no patience for that, as you saw when you came in. It seems poor Aravan just... wasn't meant to be. Anyway... when you are ready, please touch the onyx to communicate with the Sage of Darkness. When you’re done, please hold out your hand like the others and wait."
Aegar warily looked around at the other mages, each in their own corner of the courtyard, before turning his attention to the demonic figure inside the onyx pillar. He may have gotten out of his cocoon, but the possibility of being burned to ash wasn’t much better. “You’re all crazy bastards.” he sighed, while he reached out and touched the palm of his hand to the smooth, cold stone, not expecting anything in particular to happen.
As he made contact with the pillar, the world around him seemed to fade and become engulfed in shadows approaching from all sides, until the courtyard was so dark that even Aegar with his darkvision could see nothing but blackness around him and the onyx pillar. Even the dim Tenebran sun seemed to have disappeared from the sky. There was no reaction from the cloaked woman or any of the other individuals though, as if the darkness that now cloaked the world was merely in his head.
For a moment, there was silence, like the silence of a man contemplating what to say next. But then a deep voice sounded, not in the form of a sound, but directly inside his head. “Yes, you are the one, the Sage of Darkness, the one we’ve been searching for. I can feel the threads of fate rippling around you as we speak. Aegar is your name, yes? You have a dark and troubling past I see, as would befit my successor.”
Aegar raised his eyebrows in surprise upon realizing it actually worked. “So you’re truly the Sage of Darkness, from the stories?” he thought, somehow knowing that the voice would be able to hear him. “How do I know this isn’t just a big prank? If you’re 5000 years old, how can you be talking to me?”
“Our bodies and with it our consciousnesses were preserved exactly for this purpose. How they did it is not important. What’s important is your destiny. You must accompany your fellow mages on their journey to stop the Dark Lord from rising once more.”
Aegar shook his head at the surrealism of this situation. “You must be kidding. With so many dark mages in the world, what difference would I make? And what would it earn me, anyways? Why would I comply? I have my own unfinished business to settle.”
Dunkelheit let out a short laugh. “Yes, I know about your quest. I know a lot about you now that I’m in your head. But if you don’t fulfil your destiny, there might not be a world left for you to pursue that quest in. Besides, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. You have a lot to gain from this endeavor.”
Aegar frowned. “Continue.”
“Martial prowess, for one. The school of Sages can teach you things no other school in all of Divus can. And as a little bonus, it makes you one of the most politically important individuals in the world. That kind of power can get you a long way in getting the revenge you want.”
“I’ll admit I’m tempted. But why me? Why out of all the demons in Tenebra would I be the chosen one?”
“Who knows? Destiny works in mysterious ways. But if you really look, you might find some similarities between you and the other Sages.”
Aegar remained quiet in thought for a while, before saying: “Fine, I’ll go along. I doubt you’d give me much of a choice anyways.”
“Good, that settles it. One more thing though. I will not tell you to cage your inner rage like the other Sages are probably being told right now. We demons know that anger is a mighty weapon and are not as afraid to use it as the others. Harness the power of your anger, wear it like armor and sword, but do not forget who your enemy is. That is the key to fulfilling your destiny, Shadowborn.”
With that, Dunkelheit fell silent and the once so vivid mental connection faded away. With the disappearance of Dunkelheit’s presence, light and color returned to the world, once again revealing the colorful courtyard, the five other mages and the cloaked woman. While he slowly took his hand off the crystal, still in the middle of processing what he’d just been told, she looked at him as if to remind him what to do next. Being way too far in to start having doubts now, Aegar did as he was told and held his hand out in front of him, awaiting whatever would happen next.
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