Malacai was slowing climbing the side of the dragon lord’s tower. It was a difficult climb, due to the spells that were being cast at him from below to slow his ascent. It wasn’t working. Until one of the spells hit a patch of wall above him, destroying it completely.
“Well, that sure messed up my plans.” He said. He grimaced in pain as a bolt of lightning struck his spinal cord, paralyzing him for a few moment. A few moments too long, his hands slipped off the side of the tower, he started to fall towards what would be his death, if it wasn’t for the black dragon that swooped in and caught him. That was the last thing he saw before blacking out.
A great black dragon flew towards the top of the tower, his prey in his jaws. He landed with and audible thump of the tower. He quickly opened his jaws and let his victim fall to the ground. The great dragon looked up and began to radiate a black aura around himself. He shapeshifted into a figure dressed in dark robes. He bent onto one knee and addressed the man in front of him.
“Master, I have captured the intruder. It seems that your brother, Solaris, sent him to kill you. What do you want me to do with him? Throw him into the dungeons? Send him to the torture chambers? Make him work in the mines until he dies from exhaustion?” The robed figure asked.
“No, I have plans for this one.” He said crouching down to stare at the unconscious figure. “Neceron, go fetch me the shackles. I think he deserves a fate worse than death.”
Neceron just nodded and flew off of the building. Shooting a great black flame into the air. He was really interested for the plans his master, N’lyr, had for the intruder. He hoped whatever he had planned, it would be slow and excruciating. He turned into his human form once again, and made his way into the torture chamber.
“Kanin, master wants a pair of shackles for the intruder we have captured. He wants to have some ‘fun’ with him before his death.” Neceron said.
Kanin, an enslaved dwarf, nodded and handed over a pair of shackles. Neceron thanked him and flew back to the tower, he didn’t want to keep his master waiting.
Malacai opened his eyes, he tried moving his limbs, but they were refrained from any sort of movement. That could only mean one thing: he had been captured by Dragon Lord N’lyr. He attempted to observe his surroundings, but the room that he was in was pitch black.
“So, I see that you’re finally awake? I hope that you find your current ‘situation’ more than comfortable.” A voice said from the darkness in front of him. He had begun to recognize that voice too well.
“N’lyr! What is the meaning of this? All the other captives have never been treated this way! I should know, i’ve been given the task of keeping a close eye on you.” Malacai said. Struggling to get free from his bonds, just so he could go down fighting.
“Oh, I don’t think struggling would be a good idea, Malacai. With a snap of my fingers, I could kill you, but that wouldn’t be fun, now would it?” N’lyr said chuckling maniacally. He snapped his fingers and the room was abruptly lit up with torches. “Ah, that’s better.” He sighed contently, before turning to Malacai. “Now tell me? What do you know of my plans?” He asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Malacai shouted, hoping that it would give him courage, it didn’t. He was still struggling against his imprisonment.
“Now Malacai, I wouldn’t want to lie to a Dragon Lord, I could summon an entire undead army just to feast on your body. But, that would ruin my 'human’ skin rugs.” He grinned pointing towards a rug. Malacai was utterly shocked. Not because it was made from a human’s skin, but the fact that the skin wasn’t completely removed from the body, also the fact that the human was still alive. Desperately trying to get free and escape from this madman’s clutches. Malacai realized the danger he was in, he needed to escape, and fast. Luckily, Malacai was a pyromancer, he knew a few spells that would work in a situation like this. He remembered a certain one that would get him free from his bonds. He just needed to distract N’lyr.
Malacai was still racking his brain for options, when the door to the room was busted open by a figure in black robes. “Master! Lord Solaris has gotten news of the fate of his soldier. He’s sending a rescue team our way. What should we do?” The mysterious man asked.
“Neceron! Can’t you see that our ‘guest’ is awake?! I’ll deal with them later, just send a battalion of our soldiers to take care of this minor nuisance. Now leave!” He shouted before slamming the door closed. As he turned towards Malacai his eyes widened in shock. Malacai had made his move.
While Dragon Lord N’lyr was speaking to his ‘friend’ Malacai chanted a spell that melted his shackles, and he got ready to attack his captor. “Flagelli-excandescunt!” He shouted, whipping his arm around and striking his enemy with a whip of fire.
“How? You’re a magic-user?! I should have known! Only my brother would send a magi to deal with me, this just became a little more than a ‘minor nuisance’.” He said. “Tenaci Mors.” He chanted. All the shadows around the room began to slither towards Malacai. Malacai had never seen such dark magic before. He tried everything he knew: Wall of Fire, Whip-flare, Summon Hell Hound. That last spell, crippled his abilities as a magi.
“Ugh!” He screamed as the writhing mass of shadows engulfed him, sending him into a deep, deep slumber. N’lyr smiled to himself, his plan was coming along nicely. He had forseen Malacai’s plan, so, he had commanded Neceron to fake a distraction while Malacai escaped from his shackles. All he needed to do now, was get him to the cellar, where his greatest, most powerful spell-book was kept.
Translations:
Flagelli-excandescunt - Whip-flare
Tenaci Mors - Grip of Death
“My lord, we have gotten the prisoner ready, we have made sure that his bonds are fire-proofed. Is there anything else you wish us to do?” One of N’lyr’s servants asked.
“No, not at this moment, but make sure that my army is ready, after we banish him from this realm, there will be a great battle, and I will finally take over the kingdom as it’s sole ruler!” He laughed maniacally. His servant flinched away from his master and exited the room, people who were caught in the room with him for too long were rumored to go crazy. He still had a family to look after, he couldn’t risk that yet. N’lyr turned back to the tome in front of him. He had been studying the same spell for hours on end. He wanted to make sure that absolutely nothing got in his way. “Nothing could ruin this now.” He said chuckling softly.
He heard a shuffling noise from behind him. He turned around and saw his prisoner coming to. “Ugh...Where am I?” Malacai asked, before opening his eyes. When he saw N’lyr, he remembered everything that had happened. “N’lyr! What did you do to me? I’ve never seen such black magic before...” He said cringing as the Dragon Lord walked towards him.
“I only sent you into a deep sleep, filled with your worst nightmares.” He stated laughing. He turned back to the tome and studied it one last time. “Well, I have the spell for you ready. I guess we shall start then...” He said slamming the book closed and turning towards Malacai.
“W-what spell? What are you going to do to me?” Malacai stuttered. He was very afraid of N’lyr at this point. He didn’t want to imagine what he had in store for him.
“Oh, nothing big. And don’t worry, I won’t kill you.” He said giving a wide smile to Malacai.
Malacai released a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. “So, what are you going to do to me?” He asked.
“Oh, i’m so glad that you said that, Malacai. You see, when you were brought to me by my dragon, Neceron. I think you’ve met him before. Well, you only saw him in his human form.”
“You mean, that the man in the black robes, was a dragon?” Malacai asked.
N’lyr started clapping. “Well done, you catch on fast.” He said.
Malacai shook his head violently. “No, I need to focus.” He whispered. He looked up at N’lyr. “What will the spell do to me? I want to know.” He demanded.
“Fine, i’ll tell you. It will banish you from our realm and into another realm. The chance of you getting back here after I banish you, is very, very slim. If you do get back, I will personally hunt you down, and make you my slave. That is saying that wherever you end up, doesn’t get you killed first. Now, enough of that. Shall we gat started?” He asked. “Great, we all agree then.” He said. He turned and pointed his staff at a blank wall and started chanting an ancient chant. “Dominus Lightning, Domine tonitrui. Aperite porta ad mitto te mortale abstulit. Mutare suam formam, figuram suam mutari. Sculpere eorum figura, ex Odii. Praecipio tibi Dominus nox ducere animam eorum. ” He said. His staffed adopted a black aura and shot a beam at the wall. A purple portal opened up and started to suck Malacai inside. Right before he blacked out, he saw N’lyr grinning evilly at him.
All Malacai was aware of, was the pain. Oh, god the excruciating pain he felt. He didn’t want to open his eyes, he was utterly afraid of where N’lyr had sent him. But he knew that if he stayed there any longer, he might become some creature’s snack. Making his decision, he opened his eyes slowly. It seemed that he was somewhere in a dense forest, it was darker than any forest he had seen in his entire life. He was about to move his head to look around when he heard a shuffling noise behind him. He jolted upright and immediately groaned in pain.
After the pain died down, he looked towards the noise. He sighed in relief as he saw that it was just a simple rabbit. It was then that he noticed something was...off. He tried to pinpoint what was bothering him, when it hit him. He couldn’t feel his fingers anymore, and it felt like there was something stuck to his back. He decided that he should check his fingers out first. When he looked down he gasped in shock.
In place of his hands, were a pain of silver hooves. “I-I have hooves?” He said silently. He then remembered the weird feeling on his back. He looked behind him and nearly fainted in surprise. On his back, was a pair of feathery wings. They were the same color as his hooves. He decided that it would be best if he looked over the rest of his body. He spotted a small pond and moved to it. After looking himself over for a few minutes, he came to one conclusion. He was an equine. A grey equine with a silver mane and tail, and a long scar running over his left eye. Just like the one back in his realm. He tried to calm himself down, but unfortunately, that didn’t seem to work.
“Okay, get a hold of yourself, Malacai. This couldn’t get any worse, could it? Let’s go over the situation, i’m in a new realm, as an equine, stuck in a dark forest with no sense of direction. Furthermore, I seem to be a pegasus, at least, that’s what I can gather from my reflection in the pond.” He said, trying to calm down his rapid breathing. “Okay, now that we know our situation, we should think of a plan. One: get out of forest, working on it. Two: find civilization, preferably friendly. Three: get back to my realm and stop N’lyr before he takes over the country, nearly impossible. Four: DO NOT die!” His breathing had slowed down enough to take notice of his surroundings. When he looked into the forest, he could see a thin ray of light shining through the tree’s.
“Well, look’s like I found my way out.” He said attempting to walk on his new hooves. Eventually, he got the hang of it, but just barely. He slowly started to walk out of the forest. Meanwhile, a prophecy had just been set in motion. A prophecy from both realms.
Translations:
Dominus Lightning, Domine tonitrui. Aperite porta ad mitto te mortale abstulit. Mutare suam formam, figuram suam mutari. Sculpere eorum figura, ex Odii. Praecipio tibi Dominus nox ducere animam eorum. - Lord of Lightning, Lord of Thunder. Open the portal to send thee mortal away. Change their form, change their shape. Carve their figure, out of hate. I command thee Lord of Darkness, to guide my soul in their destruction..
