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The Final Mage

A new beginning

They came. They left. They left a trail of destruction behind them, sparing no one. I was one of the lucky ones. My father left me, he said he would be back, but he never came. The city was ablaze, people were dying. It was horrible. I was lucky. I stood there for what must have been hours, blocking out the tortured screams and cries for help. I didnât know what was happening. The next moment was more terrifying than anything I had ever experienced. Imagine it, burning homes and dead bodies to the left and right, not all being humanâs. I was three years old, and a huge, seven foot greenish-blue skinned orc, fully plated for battle, with a four foot platinum scimitar, and a seven hundred twenty pound shield stood but a few feet away from me. It turned toward me. I couldnât move. The monstrosity had no eyes. In their place were two bloody eye sockets, their former residents gorged out by unknown claws. It sniffed the air and took a step toward me. I held my breath, waiting to be killed by the orc, a long knife to shoot through my abdomen. I was so utterly scared and confused that my own body wouldnât even do my bidding. At that moment, my father thrust a spear through the orcâs waist. As the creature fell, it let out a blood-curdling scream. As my dad came closer to me, he tensed suddenly. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped. A monster wrenched a sword out of the back of my deceased fatherâs head. It glared at me.
âAAAA!!â
âCalm down Garr, it was just a dream.â
âA dreamâ I repeated. It was that horrific vision again. Twenty years a go, the orcs of the west raided my village, I was one of four survivors. Jorge, Luke, Aranna, and I were those four. âWhy does this keep happening to me?â
âThat doesnât matter now.â said Jorge, coming up the stairs into my room. He was carrying something, I didnât know what yet, but--âIâll explain later, letâs go!â
âWhat could be so-â
âGO!â
His eyes met mine, Luke looked at me, Aranna was tending to my wounds from the fight last night. I didnât care. The urgency on his face was real. As I stood up, I felt a piercing pain. âWe have to go, NOW!â
âGarr, wait.â cried Aranna âYou wouldnât even make it a mile with a leg like that!â
She was right, I hated it when she was right, but she was.
âHe wonât make it anywhere if we donât go now!â Jorge snapped, âAnd only a fool would use the front door.â
âThere is no other way out of this deathtrap!â Aranna cried.
âThe tunnel.â murmured Luke. This startled everyone, for Luke never speaks. He is more of an âIâll keep to myselfâ kind of person. âI never wanted to have to use it, but it leads from under the kitchen directly to the sewers.â
We ran for our lives to the secret gate to the sewers that only Luke, after twenty years, knew about. I had to be carried. The difficulty was getting the arrow that was still embedded in my leg into the hatch without removing it forcefully and painfully. The moment that we sealed the hatch, the front door burst open.
âFind the humans!â growled what must have been a chieftain orc-like being, it could be a goblin, but I donât really want to find that out for myself. âLeave none alive.â Not with the ruthlessness and deepness in the voice. It couldnât be any ordinary orc either, it had to be a Youl.
The dreaded half-orc, half living death, referred to as Youl, were hardly mentioned. They did not fear death, they did not feel pain. They only wanted blood. Nobody who met with one ever lived to tell the tale; most were thought to be a myth. But no, this was all too real.
We listened as they tore through our cottage. After five minutes we fled down the hall. We ran trough rat infested corridors and puddles of infested slimes and sewage, but none of us paid attention to that. On the way, we came across a small band of kobold scouts, a rather small, goblin-like creature of the Underdark. We dispatched of them quickly, along with some large rat-men. About three miles further trough the vile filth, we climbed onto a fairly dry landing. We slept a while peacefully, undisturbed for hours, but were suddenly awoken by a strange rattling sound. We looked around the room. Everything seemed normalâ¦
âWasnât that skeleton over there?â asked Jorge, fitting an arrow onto his bowstring. Luke and I drew our swords, Aranna her staff. I should explain a little. I learned from Luke how to fight with a blade. His best friend Jorge is a ranger, and my girlfriend, Aranna has amazing healing powers which she can channel through staves.
âGarr,â Aranna warned me âwhat are you doing? You are nowhere near fighting condition!â
âI feel fineâ
The heap of bones moved again. It formed itself into a life-size walking human skeleton, a mere minion of the Lord of the Dead. It raised a small dagger and one word left its fleshless jaw. âDIE!â
The battle raged. Orbs of light were flying around from Arannaâs staff, healing everyone. Arrows were tearing through the windless air of the tunnel toward the shambling dead man. Luke and I were slashing, stabbing, lunging, and everything else we could to keep the monster back from the rest of the party. The skeleton merely laughed at our efforts as another arrow zipped through his ribcage.
âYour efforts are worthless, fools. Zarn will rule ALL!â it growled.
âAAAGGH!â
âLuke!â I yelled
He dropped to his knees. There was a huge gash where his stomach was supposed to be. He was bleeding heavily and you could see the torn artery. It was sliced finely into two halves. We all knew that he, for one, couldnât fight, and he would die within hours without severe medical attention. Fortunately, Aranna was already on his case. My hearing was deserting me. I couldnât move. I knew that everyone was screaming, but I couldnât hear them. I kept having flashbacks of my fatherâs death.
âGet outâ I murmured âGet OUT!â
The monster laughed, and swung one last time. Itâs final time.
There was a huge explosion. No not an explosion, an spark from within me. Next thing I knew, I felt enflamed and could shoot bursts of light from my fingertips. This wasnât normal. I had just realized my one true meaning of my life. Iâm a mage. Thatâs right, a mage.





Questions

The skeleton collapsed before me, bones sinking into the sludge of the sewers. I almost collapsed myself after the fight. Luke was with Aranna now. She was looking him over for other wounds. I wandered over to the rest of the party, wondering if I would help with anything.
Aranna turned to look at me as I approached âGarr, what happened to you?â I had expected this, but still did not how to answer her.
âI donât know.â I told her bluntly.
âWe need to get out of here; anyone and everyone could have heard that blast. The Youl will be here within the hour.â Jorge said.
âJorge is rightâ Luke stated, attempting to stand, but falling not half way to his feet âAhhh, but I will surely be an issueâ¦â he trailed off, caressing his abdomen.
âYou wonât be any trouble at all, Luke.â Aranna said soothingly âBetween Garr and Jorge, you will surely be able to escape this hell-hole.â
As Jorge and I began to lift Luke, we all began to hear noises down the tunnel that we had just come. We all stopped momentarily in our fear. âYoul⦠RUN!!!â I cried.
We ran down the tunnel, hoping that there would be an end to it. Luke unfortunately was slowing us down, and generally Youl tend to be faster than humans anyway, although most monsters are. We could hear them splashing through the sludge, thundering down the metal, straight toward us. They knew that we were there, they just didnât know how to find us, they just follow your scent until they find your flesh, and when they do find it, they sink their teeth right into it, not killing their prey unless necessary. No reason to waste time swinging, right?
Suddenly, it all went dark. This was the end of us. They had to have shot me down, I could hear the blood-curdling screams of all of my companions and the footsteps of our pursuers stopped.
ïïï

âI am consciousâ I told myself âI am not deadâ âWhere are the Youl?â âAre my friends near me?â âHow am I still alive?â All of these questions started spinning through my mind. I had no idea where I was, and hardly knew who I was. It was so strange⦠I could sense the presence of others, yet could not hear, see, smell, or even feel anyone or anything⦠I opened my eyes, but could not see. I opened my mouth but could not speak. I tried to move my arms and legs, but did not have the strength to do so. âWhat is wrong with me?â I thought
âSir Garr, are you there?â
âSir? Who was this who addressed me so formally?â
âSir?â The man asked again âRealand, he is awake, but cannot function yet, I thought he might be able to overcome the paralysis much quicker and easier.â
âDo not worry, Alendor, he will awaken soon enoughâ¦â A voice thundered from another room, apparently belonging to this Realand character.
âNyuuhhâ¦â I moaned eventually. âSo I am not dead, but paralyzed. But why?â
âSir Garr! Realand! He is speaking!â
âWhere am I?â All was still black, but I was at least able to speak.
âAlendor, fetch the othersâ
âWhere am I?!?â I moaned
âYou are safeâ














Answers

âWhy can I not see?â I asked frantically
âYou are âcursedâ so to speak.â Realand answered.
âWho are you?â
âI am the one who will train you. You will become âThe Oneâ soon enough.â
âWhat do you mean? How will you train me? How did I explode? Why---â
âHush⦠Hush⦠All will be explained once I dispel this curse from you. The Youl are powerful spellcasters, their curses can be quite tricky to remove. Only a few more moments will be all that I require.â
Suddenly I could see again. The chamber that I was in was lit by torches, with three long corridors leading from it. The room was filled with stacks of books, some labeled âFireâ, âDarknessâ, âCursingâ, âEarthâ, âHolyâ, âEmpowermentâ, and âYoulâ, which was being held in the hand of Realand. He had it open in his hand, and it was as if small, black wisps seeping from it, disintegrating on the floor. I could now see Realand also, much unlike I had expected. He was very tall and in a long, blue robe that flowed behind him. I had expected a big pointy hat to go along with it, but there was only his snow white hair, exploding in all directions. Alendor was in the corner, in awe of whatever Realand had just done to me.
âNow then, to start with your training. We will begin at dawn.â
âAlready? I havenât even seen my fri-â before I was done speaking, each of them entered from a different corridor. Luke was walking normally now, only a long scar where he had been sliced open by the skeleton.
âWhere would you like to start, young master?â Alendor said eagerly, holding out four books. They were labeled âFireâ, âWeakenâ, âEmpowerâ, and âConjureâ. I grabbed at the fire one immediately, feeling a slight connection to it.
As Alendor began to put the other three books away, I began to flip through the pages. Unlike commonly known magic however, these spells were not cast through words. I actually saw very few words in the book, other than the headings for the spells. Every now and then there would be a blank page with only the heading of a spell on it, but no pictures were drawn; there was no instruction anywhere on them.
âWhy arenât these pages used? Why waste the pages?â
âAhh⦠I havenât yet managed to study these spells yet, but I have heard of them. Any spell in particular that you noticed?â
âUhhhmmm⦠Yes. This one called âInner Fireââ I turned the book toward him, pointing at the spell.
âYes, that is the spell that you accidentally cast against the undead being in the drain pipes I believe. Do you know how you did it?â
âI do not⦠I apologiseâ
âThat is fine. Most newcomers do not know anything at all, most even havenât cast a spell, but just lit a torch by accidentâ He glanced at Alendor.
âWhat are these strange markings?â as I looked at another page. It read: ï¹ï¯ïµï¬ï ï¢ï¬ï¯ï¯ï¤ï¬ï ï®ï¥ï·ï´ï³ï ï¥ï¹ï¥ï³ï¬ï ï¡ï®ï¤ï ï¤ï²ï¡ï§ï¯ï®ï ï¦ï¬ï¡ï­ï¥ï³ï®ï I had never seen this type of script before. âWhat does this mean?â
Realand stared at it for a few moments, and looked at me. âThis is the language of the ancients. You must memorise this if you would like to become a true mage, to craft the runes to become a Master.
âI will Realand, But I believe we all will need to learn to craft them, if possibleâ
âAnyone can craft, as you will soon experienceâ
âWill this be difficult to master?â
âEven the training can kill you, Garrâ¦â He trailed off and walked away.


TO BE CONTINUED!!!

*Hopes this works*