A King, And His Tools
By Daniel Ray
Magus's long, blue hair whipped about his
face and into his eyes. He brushed it back, and pulled his cape tighter around
his tall
frame.
The cold winds ripped at his face, cutting
into his skin. But he paid it no heed. The cold did not bother him. He felt
it, yes. It hurt. He simply felt it wasn't worth his attention to show any
real concern over.
He could probably still stop these winds with
only a gesture if he tried. Even make it so the cold did not affect him.
All of this was within his power, but he chose not to do it.
He had to conserve the strength he had
remaining.
The winds still biting into his face, Magus
looked down at the weapon in his right hand: a blue bladed scythe. It was
over six and a half feet in length, and constructed entirely out of an enchanted
metal, few even knew existed. The blade of the weapon was covered in blood,
as were his gloved hands. Blood was also splattered on his face and clothing.
He put his right hand up to his face, making
a small gesture, and the blood disappeared. Another gesture removed the blood
from his clothing. But he left it on his scythe. In a dark way, he liked
the blood on his weapon. It showed that he had won.
Behind him, on the snow covered ground, in
a pool of blood, lie a spawn. A spawn of "it". Magus walked over to the remains,
his expression cold, and stretched out his right hand. A blast of fire erupted
from his palm, destroying what remained of the creature.
During the battle with the spawn, he remembered
the frog had used the word 'invulnerable' to describe it. Magus had chuckled
at this, as he stepped forward and drove his scythe into the creature's orifice.
The frog stood behind him now, along with
the blond girl. Magus turned and walked up the frog, his red eyes glowing
faintly.
"Not so invulnerable now, is it?" he said
coldly.
The frog made no reply and walked away. The
girl looked at him for a moment, as if wanting to say something, then ran
on ahead.
The creature now dead, Magus continued his
ascent, and returned to his thoughts.
He kept asking himself why he was doing this:
aiding these who he considered weak. That was what they were, weak; fighting
against something they didn't understand.
Continuing up the path, he looked ahead, toward
the girl in the lead. Since the beginning of this trek, she had insisted
on being in the lead. She was the most determined out of all of them; he
knew that, trying to save someone who was already dead.
She had in her hand, clutched close to her
heart, the egg, the thing that could possibly restore the one she cared for.
She was just now beginning to understand pain, loss, and death; which was
good. They were things Magus knew all too well.
But she still knew nothing about what they
were facing; about "it". Although she thought she did. In reality though,
she just fought against it blindly, saying: "It was the right thing to
do."
How
stupid, how very stupid,
he thought. You
have to understand your enemy, and despite everything the girl
thought she knew, she truly didn't understand
"it."
Not like he did.
Magus sighed, and continued his ascent up
the mountain.
___________________________________________________________________________
Wiping a smear of blood from his face, Magus
stared down at the remains of another spawn. Killing it had been even easier
this time, and he had used his scythe again. He remembered the sound it made
as he plunged it deep into the spawn's mouth, or eye, or whatever it was;
there was a wet sound first, as the blade initially entered, followed by
the sound of metal scraping bone, as the scythe cut through the exterior
of the creature.
He wondered why he had used only the scythe,
and none of his magic. But he knew. There was a certain pleasure he got out
of killing with his weapon; watching the initial spill of blood, seeing the
thing squirm for a moment, then die.
As he did
before, he removed any blood from his face and clothing, although this time
he also removed the blood from his weapon as well.
Even he could
only withstand a bloodied weapon for so long.
He incinerated
the remains and walked on ahead, the girl in the lead, and the frog behind
him.
He peered
over his shoulder towards the frog. The frog's sword was drawn. It was always
drawn when Magus was around. The frog didn't trust him, in fact, he wanted
him dead. Magus chuckled at the thought. If the fool ever challenged him,
Magus would kill him; show him who was superior, who was
king.
But now would
not be a good time for that.
Magus was
weakened, his powers partially drained. In his confrontation with "it", his
powers had been temporarily drained. They would return to their peak levels
in time, he knew that; they already were returning. And when they did, he
would make sure all of them, these weaklings, and "it", would
see.
As he scaled
a rock wall, climbing ever higher, a sudden flurry of snow blinded him for
a moment. He wiped his eyes with the back of his gloved hand, hoping to clear
his vision. When his vision returned he saw the outline of a girl, standing
above him. He knew it was the blond girl, but for a moment, he thought of
his sister.
His thoughts
drifted to her.
He knew he
had done more of the things in his life because of her, more than anything.
She and his hate were his driving force. She was the only one he loved, cared
for, other than himself.
He would find
her when this was over. Dead or alive, he would find her.
As he reached
the top of the cliff, the girl already running ahead again, his thoughts
drifted again, this time to his mother.
Maybe, he
thought, maybe at one time he loved her. A long time ago, when he was young.
When he was another person. When he was innocent.
But those
days were gone, long dead. All he knew now is that he would stop her, kill
her if he had to. She was no longer the woman she once was; she was a shell.
She had fallen into the hands of "it". Maybe it wasn't her fault, but that
didn't matter now. When the time comes when he does finally confront her,
he will not help her back up; he will knock her back down all that much harder.
So she will never get up again.
He would let
her rest.
Stepping over
a mound of snow, Magus' thoughts left his mother, and returned to the present.
He was growing annoyed. He would have preferred flying to their destination,
instead of walking. But he knew he still didn't have the strength for that
yet. But it wouldn't be long before that changed.
His thoughts
were suddenly interrupted though, as a group of things--he wasn't sure what
they were--attacked him and the others.
The girl was
knocked to the ground almost immediately, her weapon falling from her hand.
The frog immediately stepped in front of her and dispatched two of the creatures
that were closest to her. Magus smiled; although he had no care at all for
the frog's life, at least he knew how to fight.
Magus threw
his scythe to the ground, growing more annoyed, as more creatures--a dozen
at least--leapt down from the cliffs above them. They had only barely hit
the ground, as Magus, drawing upon his inner energies, incinerated all of
them in a wave of superheated fire.
The small
threat now gone, he turned and gazed at the other two.
The frog,
as always, with his sword unsheathed, stared back at Magus, his look the
mix of hatred and distrust he always gave him.
Magus walked
over and looked down at the girl on the ground. She looked back up at him,
tired, cold, and reached out her hand; a gesture of help.
Magus looked
at her hand, then her, and walked past her, leaving her on the ground. He
heard her say something as he passed, but didn't bother to pay attention.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the frog help her to her feet.
His back still
turned to them, he heard her steps, crunching in the snow, as she ran up
to him, and grabbed him by the arm.
He turned
to face her.
Her face was
red, a combination of the cold, and her anger. Magus had never seen her this
angry before; her jaw clenched, and her eyes fierce. He found it amusing.
For a moment
anyway.
Then he returned
the look, tenfold, saying nothing, and pushed her hand off
him.
After a few
moments, he spoke. His voice like ice.
"What?" he asked, his eyes glowing brighter. "What will you do
little girl?"
She didn't
answer, and couldn't meet his gaze for long, and ran on ahead,
defeated.
Magus looked
back at the frog for moment, his expression as cold as ever. The frog returned
the look, just for an instant, than shook his head, and walked past
him.
Magus managed
a small smile, and followed.
Walking on,
now behind the frog, Magus's thoughts turned to them.
How pathetic,
he thought. How weak they were. They, like the girl, were all so foolish,
fighting against something they couldn't possibly defeat. They would probably
die, if not for him, if not for his aid. They knew nothing of power. His,
or "it's."
Climbing up
yet another rock wall, he asked himself for the dozenth time, why he was
doing this, helping them, helping the weak.
But he knew
the answer. He always did.
For himself,
that was why. He did it for himself. That was always why. True, a small part
of him also did it for his sister. But more than anything he did it for himself.
To quench
his own thirst for blood.
And
as far as the others were concerned, they were nothing. They were simply
tools, his tools. He would use
them, and then discard them.
Just like
the Mystics, they were tools.
His thoughts
were interrupted once again though, as they reached the summit.
The winds
had weakened, and the snow had ceased. A tree stood several feet in front
of them, at the edge of a cliff, old and frail, with no leaves, looking dead,
but somehow still alive. Magus thought for a moment how it could have ever
survived here at all.
The thought
left him though, as the girl stepped forward with the egg. He and the frog
stood back, as she sat it on the ground in front of the tree.
They waited.
Magus felt
a sudden movement in the air; a wisp of energy, and the egg began to rise,
slowly. After only a moment it stopped, hovering in mid air, and then, it
suddenly shattered. The girl and the frog gasped, crying out. Magus just
sighed. They are truly stupid. He
knew it wasn't over.
They hadn't
come all this way for nothing.
He watched
along with them, as the sky suddenly grew dark; the sun, eclipsed by the
moon. Time stopped, and reality began to shift. Magus felt a pull--a strangely
gentle pull--and moments later, he and the others were someplace else.
Even Magus
couldn't help being a bit surprised about where they were: in a moment, a
singular moment, that was frozen in time.
A moment he
hated almost more than any other.
All around
him were statues--that's what they seemed like--of himself, of his sister,
of his mother, of the others, and "it".
Magus left
the others to do what they had come to do, and walked over to himself, who
lie beaten, and face down on the ground. He kneeled down, shaking his head.
He had
failed.
Years of training,
and preparation. Years of pushing himself beyond the limits of his body and
mind. He had developed his powers;
powers those in Zeal said he lacked. He had mastered them. He knew more about
magic, could do more, destroy more, than any and all, of those pathetic weaklings
in Zeal, combined. Armies had fallen before him, countless men slain. He
had no equal. In any
time.
And he had
failed.
Still……despite
his failure……despite his defeat, he could see on his twins face--and
knew in his own mind--that he had not truly been beaten. Not completely.
The look of determination was still there; the fire, in both his twin’s,
and his own red eyes.
He gazed at
himself for a few more moments, contemplating, both what had gone wrong in
that battle, and ways to insure it did not happen again. If there was anything
Magus had learned over the years, it was how to adapt to any circumstance,
any difficulty, thrown in his way. And use it to his advantage.
He would always
persevere. Always survive. Because if he did not, he would
die.
But as always,
his thoughts were interrupted, and he stood, noticing his sister. She lay
only a few paces away, in much the same condition as his twin. He moved over
to her, kneeled, and touched her small pale hand.
It chilled
him more than the cold of the mountain ever could.
He looked
down at her face. She looked so sad, so weak, a look of defeat on her face
that he hadn't had.
Nor
ever will,
he reminded himself.
Magus lowered
his head, vowing silently once again, that he would find her, and that the
thing that took her, would die. He wasn't sure how many times he had made
this same vow, but it didn't matter. He would continue to make it again,
and again, until it was completed.
Raising his
head, Magus stood, and looked back toward the others. They had finished,
replacing the dead boy with the fake one. An instant later reality shifted
once again. Magus looked back at his sister for one more moment, before time
returned to normal, and they were back at the tree.
The wind already
beginning to pick up again, Magus took a step back and turned, no longer
facing the others. The girl was embracing the boy, and the frog was greeting
him warmly. All three were smiling and talking.
Already beginning
his descent down the mountain, Magus looked back once.
Let them enjoy this time for now. This
small time of happiness. It will fade, and then they will have to face reality
once again. They are going to be facing an enemy none of them but I
understand. I truly hope they are ready.
Because there will be no second chances. Not like
today.
Walking farther and farther away, disappearing
into the white haze of newly falling snow, Magus could feel himself growing
stronger. His powers were returning now, by the minute. And his meeting with
his "sister" seemed to add to that returning strength.
He knew he
would destroy "it", that, he had no doubt. And if he had to use the rest
of these fools, these weaklings, as cannon fodder to achieve that, so be
it.
After all,
they were simply tools.
Authors notes: I love Magus, what can I say? He was simply a sweet character. Cold, cruel, and manipulative; he used people, and I liked that about him. There are very few characters in RPG’s who you have the opportunity of actually of using, who are like Magus; which is in a way, good.
I always saw him as a character with
a lot of potential. And it was truly a shame they didn’t tap into that
potential
Anyway,
feedback is always nice. And my inspiration for writing this (besides Magus
himself), was Pepysuavy’s excellect fic, Dark Heaven (although good
luck finding it).
Later.