I awoke that morning with an uncanny feeling of foreboding. I was
quick, in all likelihood too quick, to brush it off as an unrestful night
in the wilderness. The sun was just rising in the west, casting a
warm hue across the golden-spired Castle of Medievia. Its beauty almost
overcame me, as I gazed at the swirling towers that seemed to be
reaching for the heavens. Although I sneered derisively I refrained from
spitting.
On this particular morning, both my mind and body still seemed to be
exhausted from the prior night's labors. With some amount of difficulty,
I eventually managed to shake myself completely awake, if resentfully,
to face the challenges the day would present. I uttered the words of a
familiar spell and my surroundings faded from sight.
The world faded back into view, and I found myself in the all-too
familiar Castle Square. Directly in front of me stood the grotesquely
beautiful steps leading up to the Castle. For nothing more then the sake of
obtaining a little humor I conjured up several fireballs, and hurled
them up the stairs. I watched them hit the drawbridge of the castle and
burst into a spectacular show of flames. It was directly after casting
my third blast that I saw him: my arch-nemesis Dreppen.
Reacting out of pure animal-like rage and hatred, I altered the course
of my last fireball and sent it hurling with incredible accuracy at him
but to no avail. The gods protected him from my onslaught as they do
all people too cowardly to enter into specified dueling areas. While I
realized that my attacks would do no damage to this deviant, I still
attacked with a hatred fueled by his constant mockery of my existence.
He stood calmly as the fire sprayed around his body, and even had the
temerity not to flinch when I ran at him with my flaming dagger
outstretched.
He watched me with a scornful smile as I wasted my energies and this
only served to make my mood worse. Within a few moments my rage subsided
and I paused before him, waiting for his reaction. He turned to walk
away as if I were nothing and I stared at his retreating back with
shock. I decided on the only course of action I knew he would react to.
"Have you enough honor to face me in a duel to the death?" I called to
his retreating back. He span on his heels and smiled broadly.
"Gladly, Milord Orkan... I welcome the chance to loot your valuables
once again. You have lost before and will lose this time as well."
"Much has changed since our last skirmish. You will find that your
superior knowledge of the arena will no longer do you any good
whatsoever." I had taken every chance I had since our last encounter to
challenge opponents in the dueling arena and had made sure I took note
of its layout.
"Dost thou think that is the reason behind thy loss? Thou art a bigger
fool then I once suspected, Milord," he replied with a mocking smile.
His last comment enraged me, and once again, I hurled a flaming ball of
fire in his direction. This response caused Dreppen to begin laughing.
"The simple fact that you continue to attack me in this area is enough
to prove my point"
"We shall see," was my barely controlled reply.
"Let it be done," Dreppen stated. With that, he focused his energies
and flashed into the realm of the mind known as Medlink. I was quick to
follow, and once again the world surrounding me became blurred. The
area I found myself in now was as familiar to me as the dueling arena
itself, for I had visited often. I quickly made my way along the well
trodden path to the dark, bleak room that was the entrance to the duel
area. Dreppen was waiting for me and was even so bold as to appear
slightly bored.
I formally imposed the challenge upon him. It was readily accepted and
the battle started.
Adrenaline coursed through my body as I began to move through the
arena, searching for Dreppen; attempting to find which door, around which
corner he was hiding. I focused my powers and remained still for a few
seconds, peering into the distance. Seeing him just west of me, I
sneaked up and plunged my flaming dagger into his back. It made an awful
grating sound as it slid against the hole in his steel armor as I withdrew
it for another strike, but Dreppen fled off like a hare. I could hear
spidery language of magic being chanted in the distance and knew he
would be repairing his wounds. I ran down the corridor after him, but
before I found him once more I felt the force of his strongest spells. He
had been waiting for me to chase and was ready. Within the space of a
few short seconds I was battered severely as Dreppen threw everything
he had at me. Spell after spell continued to roll from his tongue as I
feebly attempted to counter with my few weak spells and slashes of my
dagger. I had never before witnessed such such incredible power as this
Arch Mage nearly overcame me.
Panic overtook me and I fled from the area - I traveled quickly through
the maze of darkness to seek refuge. At last, I found it... the only
room in this desolate realm that would offer some slight protection.
Within this room the effects of magic were absorbed by some
unseen force, and returned in a magnificent display of sparks. Leaning
heavily on a nearby wall, nearly out of breath, I began to rest and
heal myself. Within only a short time, I was near fully regenerated and
stood up, again ready to face my foe. I began scouring the arena for
traces of his passage and, after some minutes, I found it. An almost
invisible footprint, impressed in the silty layer of sand that covered the
floor, indicating that he had traveled along it.
I was quick to pursue him. Upon rounding a corner, I saw him leaning
against a wall, waiting patiently for me to arrive as if he had been
expecting my arrival for some time. Enraged at his derisory attitude
towards the threat I posed, I began to ferociously attack with a vicious
combination of spells and slashes with my sword. In-between the casts,
thrusts, and dodges of his pathetic attempts to mangle me with his own
weapon, I managed to sweep his legs from under him a time or two, disabling
him to the point that he only had time to cast a few spells as he
struggled to regain his composure.
The spells he did manage to cast, however, were more than enough to
make me regret the attack, and we both emerged from the brief skirmish
near death. My mind, so overcome with eagerness to do what I had thought
before as near impossible, was slightly clouded and I decided to
pursue Dreppen without taking time to heal myself. If I could manage to
sneak up behind him and again plant my dagger into his back, I would be
able to accomplish my goal: to kill him. Staying to the shadows I began
following his tracks leading to the west.
Rounding a corner I came face to face with Dreppen who was grinning
wickedly. Fear struck my heart like a spear as I saw the pure black aura
surrounding him; an aura which could mean only one thing. He had cast
the spell of malediction. He had but to release it at me, and I would
be killed instantly as his bolt of pure magic would near tear my body
into two.
As a last desperate defense, I cast the best, and possibly only, spell
which would be able to save me from his spell. "Vas Flam Hur!" I
chanted, and with my last energy surrounded me in a burning shield of pure
magical fire. The dread that shone like light in Dreppen's eyes was
painfully obvious as he realized too late that in killing me, he himself
would be destroyed. The bolt of magical black energy enveloped me and I
felt myself sinking into the void of hell. As my legs fell out from
underneath me, the last thing I heard was Dreppen screaming in anguish as
he was burned in my shield of fire which had reflected his attack back
upon him.
This battle, as it happened by either fate or a cruel, twisted god
playing with the lives of mortals, ended up as a draw. With my last few
conscious moments before slipping into the black void of death, I formed a
prayer in my mind, begging for life once again. My prayers were
answered in a cruel way. The gods, as is their wont, sent a
necromancer to turn me into the living dead. Grim resolve set within my
undead mind that if someday I again had the chance to breathe, Dreppen would
die.
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