The Beast of Extrarius =Vrasta's Ring= [PG]

[DARKPLANT RISING]

The Vrasta's Ring is written by me. Inspired by previous writings of mine that had the current main character as prime antagonist.
Well, very mild gore, I might say. A fantasy/mystery/war story. Enjoy. Has no relationship with Yugioh at all. At all.


[spoiler=I]
Some months ago, I was god.

A flick of my finger would crumble mountains till they become valleys; several hundreds of Spellcasters would collapse before my eyes like domino pins within a second; enemy generals would frantically swing their quills and start on a long letter of apology upon hearing news of my approaching. All schemes of assassination only succeeded in showing that I was absolutely invincible against even the cleverest ambushes performed by the most ruthless and deadly killers. My name would send pure terror through the spines of all who oppose me, and all missions of mine ended in complete success, too perfect to be real.

Notice how all this was told in past tense.

The situation I was in now was wholly different from what I was expecting. The task I was assigned from My Master was a simple one – it was to strike and take down an army camp of mediocre size of the Knivestabs. Considering that I had already took over thirty small camps, eleven large bases, seven water troops, and three spell troops of those filthy enemy forces, I imagined that it was quite easy.

In fact, it would have been if not for how two dozen opposing generals heard news of our progress in war and moved their deployment rapidly, unleashing all of their hundred thousand warriors and Spellcasters upon a tiny patch of land where I was going for head-first. The typical sort of an easy battle. Yeah, right.

Needless to say, despite my fierce resistance against those hideous idiots, all my men were slaughtered violently, I was trapped and captured due to decreasing stamina, and I was sent into a jail to be soon taken over to the king of the Knivestabs himself so he can watch me be tortured by mortals. I was always imagining that the first encounter with that beard-man would start off with me exploding the walls of his hunching castle and pinning him to his throne, readying for the kill, so in comparison, the truth looming towards me was way too horrible to be real.

Badly ashamed, could explain it. Or it could be humiliated. Or disgraced. Well, all those three mean the same thing so it doesn’t really matter which one I choose to describe this current condition, but you get the point, right?

Me! Das Pleto XI, one of the most favored subjects of Extrarius Reign, be captured like a beetle and dishonored in all means! Unbearable. Unthinkable! If those enemies moved as in our plan, and I prevailed easily, Master Extrarius would raise my place even more… possibly to Prime General, the second greatest seat in his entire nation. And if this was some tiny country the Reigns was leading it wouldn’t mean much, but no. The Extrarius Alliance he led was one of the most major forces on the planet, and its Prime General was a seat of major authority and infinite wealth. I would have to get out of this friggin cell right now, before those hairy, smelly guards come and escort me over to their even more hairy and smelly king. Once I survive this incident, another legend will be added to my list of achievements.

Since I can’t just daydream until I’m taken away, I did the most ingenious thing possible in this situation: I looked around and surveyed what the cell I was in right now was like. Due to always being a Warlock of pure awesomeness since birth, I was never even close to being actually beaten up and trapped; so this was my first time inhabiting this sort of place, and it was somewhat very disgusting.

My new home was located in a vast chamber filled with other prisoners, and the only radiance that could help us was the large, circular window in the ceiling where spellcast energy flashed so no one can hope go through (unless they want to become aflame). The bars around me were made of pure metal, glinting dimly. Although this information is completely irrelevant to how I’m going to escape, some moss was growing on the ground. The cages were stuck against the nearest ones, sort of like a ship’s square cargo, so that the old prisoners have no chance of escape at all. Mine was cornered in two sides, but two were open – probably one side for the next hostage, another left open so that the guards can take me out as show-off. At least I’m not blocked on all sides, which was good. But my magical powers were badly undermined, and I can barely live. I’m a Spellenoid, a special type of magical creature. My life depends on its body’s supernatural power. I can use no magic now; it would completely sap me of energy and make me die. And while I can automatically regenerate most of the time, there must be some charm cast upon the chamber – in short, I can’t. The only way out is to use physical powers to get out of this place quickly. Problem was, Spellenoids are made for Spells, and my strength is that of an average mortal.

I tried to concentrate, but my extremely clever thinking was interrupted often by the stench of waste coming from other cells (you can’t really study inside a porta potty, right?) and the moans and groans that flew about from the inmates just as much as the buzzing flies (you can’t really study while haunting music and bugs are all around you, right?), so it was hard to accomplish anything. I would have just screamed “Shut up”, but these people were probably the other members of the Alliance, once working beneath the same manner. Master Extrarius told us to never be rude against allies – that would only make civil war – and while I was completely sure that “Shut up” wouldn’t exactly trigger the insurgency button in those men, it wasn’t a good idea to break his rules. I was favored, and so it wouldn’t mean much to my stock (probably), but you never know. Besides, I could still think with those. When it’s me using the brain, it doesn’t have to be all cleared up.

Not much later, the guards came back. Frankly, I still hadn’t thought up a valid idea.

The men could have been described as masses of muscle and fat and hair; their tiny black eyes like beans; beef-colored meat bulging out of their round, stupidly grinning faces that had a short, screwed-up black beard. What a shame to think that I would fall prey to these werewalruses. I don’t know if “werewalruses” is a word, but since “werewolves” is one, I believe that there’s no evidence they don’t exist.

Two of them marched front, wearing their red-and-black Halloween costumes (almost all the same. The only thing different is that they’re real), banged their sharp, dark-gray, abnormally soaring spears three times on the ground for no apparent reason except trying to look cool and elite (which sadly failed due to their faces), grunted like angry pigs, and opened the way. Four other uglies strode forward, and I was a bit relieved. Oh, just for assurance, I wasn’t relieved upon seeing the ugly faces. I was relieved when I saw that they were dragging another cell similar to mine, which probably meant that they had nothing to do with me, at least for now. Inside of the cell, there was a pale, badly wounded man looking as thin and tall as those guards’ weapons, wearing nothing but a pair of black jeans and a same colored shirt with the flag of the Alliance printed on it. He was limping in the opposite direction from me, folding his legs and arms, and so I didn’t really see his face, but somehow I simply knew he was a being of some authority, captured in a way too dishonorable for his power. Just like me.

The guards violently pushed his cell right next to mine, grunted again, and marched away. One of them burped, which completely wrecked the scene. Another did “something” that was necessary for mortals to live, yet not something that you would exactly want to do in front of other people because it holds a nasty stench. Now do you see why I said smelly?

The first two guards opened the heavy wooden gate, and let the other four out. Then they followed outside and proceeded to shut the gate firm with several metal bars. I could hear some laughter. The sort of laughter drunk men make.

On topic: I wasn’t exactly sure on whom this man brought in was, but I decided that he was a better person to talk to than the seemingly insane other inhabitants of this chamber. Yeah, his eyes were black and pale, and his face had several bloodstains, probably both of his and his enemy’s, which meant that he must have had a hard time. To both warm him up and warm myself up, I came to a decision to chat.

“Hey,” I opened my mouth and managed a smile. “Hi.”

The man didn’t move. Was he sleeping? Or was he unconscious? I was sure he wasn’t in another world, either heaven or dreamland, and so it was most likely that he was just ignoring me due to stress that came from the tragedy he had assumingly just encountered.

“Hey,” I waved a bony hand. “Hello? Anybody in there? I’m Das Pleto XI. Tertiary General of the Extrarius Alliance. Nice to meet ya.”

The man’s eyebrows twitched. The man finally moved his head a little. His long, black hair turned with it. “Das Pleto…?” A soothing voice. Cold and silky.

“Duh. I see no reason why to lie here.” I said the obvious. “Who are you?”

“Dominus,” the man sighed. “Dominus Dexignarz IV.”

I had heard this name before. I guessed this was some guy of the top ranks. And one thing for sure: Dominus wasn’t exactly talkative, at least for now. “Your position?”

Dominus raised his head. “The New Secondary General. Same nation as yours.”

Well, quite a surprise! So this guy was stronger than me! No wonder I failed at getting past the Knivestabs. Since I didn’t want to get depressed, I asked him one last question. “How should we get out? My powers over the Spells are weakened.”

The Secondary General looked at me. I looked back. For a second, there was an uneasy feeling that my mind was being read; then he blinked once, managed a smile. He clapped his hands once, and rang his hand’s joints.

“Watch.”[/spoiler][spoiler=II]
I’ve gone through many surprises throughout the last years, and so I didn’t expect Dominus Dexignarz to be having powers any stronger than I of right now. But it seemed different.

Said short: When Dominus placed his hands on the metal bars, they bent like butter. He proceeded on mine, and we hopped out casually. We would have helped out the others, but we figured that could be saved for later because they would be burden.

“Why didn’t you use that strength when you were captured?” I asked.

“I sensed great power near,” Dominus panted as we ran towards the gate. “And so I decided that it was a better idea to get him on my side so my chances of escaping get improved.”

I frowned. “Sounds like I’m nothing but a device of evasion.”

Dominus glanced at me with thin eyes. “I never said so. I did save your life.”

“……Sorry.”

We ended this quick conversation just as we halted at the gate, and another started.

“Think you can move those bars on the other side too?”

“If I have psychokinesis. But there’s a better way.”

“What?”

You know, most of the time gates are to be opened after unlocking them. But in Dominus’s case, he chose a simpler method: after tapping the walls on some places, checking where the bars are located, he punched his way through all the wood that had no bars on the other side in a second. Then, as the guards yelped and held their spears, he grabbed hold of one bar and twisted it in half. Hopping out of the crevice he made, he kicked the heads of the two guards there in mid-air and hovered down to the ground. He looked around, and beckoned me with a hand.

I didn’t really feel like commenting, so I wriggled out of the same fissure and yelped as I fell on the ground on my butt. Grumbling, I patted the dust off my black robes and stood up.

Ah, so I was in a long, dark hallway of stone. The only light was the torches hanging here and there. Not exactly a bright place, but still I was beaming. My power was coming back. I can feel my energy coursing through my veins, throbbing into my heart, melting into my organs. I was back to full force. The two guards Dominus knocked out weren’t a sight that the Knivestabs would like to see, so I pushed them into a corner and whistled a quick charm, making them melt into the wall. Only several lines remained.

“That’s that,” I grinned.

Out of the corridor’s edges sprang out several other men. These seemed slightly more threatening, but it was like the difference between a walrus and a walrus with more hair. I made a swiping motion, and they were flung away into the stretching darkness. They crashed into the further side of the walkway, and fell limp.

“As thought,” Dominus clapped. “Great! I’ll work on Master Extrarius so you can come to become Secondary General.”

“What about you?” I asked. I half-knew the answer.

“I’m going to be promoted to Prime.”

“I knew it.”


We were a perfect combination, all right. While I finished off the ones that were far away, Dominus would just twist and throw away the men that dared to come near. It seemed quite impossible that Dominus was skinny – his strength was that of a horde of rhinos. He would smile as he dodges three spears thrown at him, then go on with punching the guards’ heads, cracking them open, and wiping the blood on his shirt. Gory, one may say, but I’ve seen worse. I yawned as I chopped up several other werewalruses that stumbled ahead. We came about a hundred meters away from the cells.

I blasted away a guard near me. Blood spurted.

And, I realized something that gleamed on the guard’s right arm. By pure curiosity, I picked it up.

A ring. A ring with gold covering that mismatched its original owner’s smelly body, complete with delicately thin swirling lines drawn here and there as though flames were imprisoned. Embedded in its center was a black, oval stone the size of a pea, gleaming mystically.

Well, I had done a good job today. As a personal trophy, I guess I’ll just take it. I placed it on my left hand’s ring finger (I wasn’t married, but since I would never be anyways, I didn’t see a reason why not to place it in the place it appears best. Don’t be mistaken that the man I just killed was my fiancé). Looks cool, especially on me.

Then, I came to a perfect idea.

There was little chance that I would get anymore cool prizes. So why not just wreck everything?

I snapped my finger twice; one was meant to shield us and the chamber that the prisoners were in. The other sent a green beam into the sky, piercing the stone overhead. It exploded in a dazzling ray of pure destruction that reflected my awesomeness. We shielded and closed our eyes, and everything became thick crimson. Dominus cursed. I stayed firm. The light died along with the Knivestabs’ subjects.

When I opened my eyes, we were standing a wreck of gray marble and barren rock. Flames erupted sporadically. The only thing that was a sign of life was the large, square room that the jailbirds were in, and since even that was gray and all, it overall looked like a barren wasteland where a giant bomb had exploded. The sky was covered in black clouds, and rain dropped onto our heads. A chill of death hung in the air. Well, the Curse of Flames that Incendia (a former apprentice of Master Extrarius who died in an accident some years ago) found was pretty untidy, but it was useful. This wasn’t the Main Base of the Knivestabs. It was probably the small army camp I was assigned. I can’t be so happy.

Oh, and on the note of my conscience:

I don’t have one.

So, forget it. If you’re mortal and didn’t agree with what I just did… well, that’s that.

“You’re not an ordinary Spellcaster,” Dominus hummed as we strolled along to the room. “I’ve never seen anyone except Master Extrarius use such powers.”

“I’m a Warlock,” I sneered as I snapped my fingers again, and the flames around us disappeared. “Warlocks rely on destruction, chaos, and the Holy Element of Darkness. Incendia was a Pyromancer, all right, and since I use his Spells, I might be classified a Spellcaster who excels at all Elements. But anyhow, my main road stays in the Darkness. The powers that Dark Matter holds are unthinkably great.”

“I’m not talking on whether you’re a Pyromancer or a Warlock,” Dominus grumbled. “Are you a Spellenoid?”

I twitched. “Proof?”

“A normal Pyromancer, or a Warlock, or otherwise any sort of Spellcaster, can use all magic he holds and unleash it, yet stay alive. I still sensed power from you when I was stuck in that room. If you were an ordinary man of the Spells, you would have just broke open such a puny cell easily – the only flaw normal Spellenoids have. Another is how you have XI in your name. Das Pleto X should exist, right? But I found that name in a particular top-secret vault… in the list of Prototype Spellenoids that failed to move properly, and went berserk. Your current body was created after ten tragic experiments that all ended in malfunctions. Am I wrong?”

I glanced in his dark, mysterious eyes. “Okay. I give up. I am a Spellenoid, after all. And why are you asking me this?”

“Because,” Dominus folded his arms over his head, “I’m a Spellenoid, too.”

I must have misheard, I would have said, but I’ve never actually misheard anything in my whole life so far, so I settled that this was true. “You’re one of us? A man composed of invisible muscle and no amount of magic at all? Pah! Impossible!”

“I can use [i]some[/i] magic,” Dominus snickered silently. “Well, of course, it’s not much compared to you. And haven’t you ever heard of Master Extrarius’s new plans? A Spellenoid with perfect resistance against all Holy Elements, perfected in all means in defense against Spells, with almost invincible physical energy that never gets near being exhausted. A Spellenoid who can walk through Waves of Habb’al which would normally slice all mortal and immortal flesh, a Spellenoid who can slap and crush the faces of ablaze Master Pyromancers that can swallow anything with its infernos. The final result of that experiment is me. Dominus Dexignarz IV, the Third Spellenoid.”

“Cool,” I hummed. “No wonder why no one was able to beat you… oh, wait.”

“What?”

“I’m the Second Spellenoid,” I went on. “The Third is you. And I know of the Fourth – he’s scheduled to come out soon, and his codename is the Eye of Incendia. His Shell is Incendia’s left eye, the only part left of his body that was hideously deformed after his failed experiment, I heard. But on topic… have you ever heard of the First Spellenoid?”

“The First Spellenoid,” Dominus twitched his eyebrows – I think that’s a habit of him that comes out when he’s in a state of uneasiness. “Never heard. I believe that it’s Master Extrarius’s really top-secret experiment result. Don’t get your head into it, I advice you. Our Master doesn’t like having anyone pushing their heads into clandestine matters.”

“What the hell does clandestine mean?” I felt somewhat stupid.

“Top-secret things, especially when they’re against law or otherwise morals. You’re a Spellenoid, right? You should have the brains to know that.”

“I’m a Spellenoid, but I was created for the sole purpose of attacking. They call me the Cannon. A cannon doesn’t need to think, right?” You might realize here that I was lying somewhere in this story. Now, where was that miss located…

We froze.

We had come to the cell. Just near it, there was a trembling heap; one of the two beefs I kicked into the room’s walls. He had luckily escaped the destruction due to being sealed inside a hard stone. His pal was dead by his side – he had failed to live, and the guard that had survived was weeping and snuffling, calling out his friend’s old name. Tears were pouring down his fat cheeks, and he was screaming, banging his fists on the rocks scattered around him not caring that he was wounding his own hands. Dominus and I stood there blankly. The man looked up, his face a messed-up mound of meat.

Dominus pointed the man with his chin, with heartless and cold eyes. I sighed, and snapped my fingers. The man was scoured off the earth without a sound.

We blasted away the door, and went on with the rescue everyone was waiting for. At least two hundred men of the Alliance were saved. They thanked us. We patted their jagged backs.

Well, yeah. I was a rightful winner. I had demolished all enemies, and had saved my allies.

Right?[/spoiler][spoiler=III] Not much days had passed when we, the two hundred or so former inmates, were rescued by allies. Not aliens. They look similar, but they’re wholly different.

We were in the Great Dunes that stretched for thousands of miles from around the ruined army camp. It was night, and freezing.

Lucky enough, an army with Extrarius’s Banner, two crossed scythes, came marching across – at least ten thousand in number. As they approached, I sent a Light Signal into the air, and used a Voice Enhancer to show them that I was alive by singing a very loud anthem of our country. Having tons of leftover food, they welcomed us and improved our health.

“Do you need to eat, Dominus?” I asked to my comrade as we rested on a hammock the army lent for us, placed between four thin trees. The full moon shone above like a spotlight of nature. The sand sparkled dark silver. A campfire was lit near, and there the sand seemed golden. I had never thought that a desert night was so beautiful. Dull, but beautiful. “Well, I don’t have to, but I don’t know your powers. Do you have auto-spell generating set up?”

“I’ve never ate,” Dominus hummed. “And I have auto-spell generators. But I drink human blood.”

“Human blood?”

“Yes. My body transfers the blood that I took into physical energy, and gives me this absolute power. I’m not a Vampire, but close to it.”

“Can you turn into bats? Does sunlight weaken you?”

“Why would sunlight do such a thing? Master Extrarius can change the negatives of the bodies he creates to positives at will – there’s no reason why he should add such a meaningless function. Oh, and on the note of the bats, I can shapeshift at will, just like you or all the other Spellenoids. This is my preferred form, since it seems rather unintimidating, and can give the opponent a sense of false security.”

Spellenoids can shapeshift at will to any sort of animate structure, and I wasn’t an anomaly. My current form was similar to Dominus’s: I was taking the humane form, with bony, white skin, and a black, long robe that’s the trend fashion of the Warlocks of now. My irises were red, which was pretty much the only inhuman part that could be seen in my body. I could add some horns and bat wings, but I didn’t need them for now. Horns are useless since I rarely head butt. Bat wings are hard to fold, and its membranes are too thin for my liking: if an opponent cuts through, it can easily be tore apart. I only use bat wings when necessary, like when I’m on a flight mission. The thing was, I would rather just turn into a mighty dragon or something and fly away. Add some invisibility for more awesomeness, though it does drain some power.

“Same here. I look less intimidating than a muscle man, right?” I smiled. Dominus grinned back, and I realized his teeth weren’t as sharp as that of mortals. True, he wasn’t all-around Vamp.

Dominus chuckled. “Yeah... If you were mortal, you would be near starving to death with such a bony body. Well, same with me now.”

The campfire’s warmth welcomed me. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.


I was awoken by the sound of clapping, and someone shouting my name.

“Das Pleto! Wake up! It’s morning!”

“Who are you?” I yawned. I hadn’t slept as much as I wished to.

“Dominus. Dominus Dexignarz IV. Did you get some major brain damage and/or amnesias recently?”

“Oh, Domdom. Morning.” I fell into the hammock again.

“Don’t call me Domdom!” Before I knew it, the hammock was twisted around; I yelped and fell onto the sand, which was much more blazing than when I had last felt it. Some of it was shoved into my mouth with the force. I stood up; spat the sand out with a disgraced look on my face. A bitter taste – how could have I welcomed this scene possibly last night?

“I apologize for calling you Domdom, Domdom.”

Dominus was about to reply, but someone came suddenly dashing across the sand at this very perfect timing. Panting, sweating was a man wearing only a pair of black jeans, holding a wrapped-up, brown scroll in one hand. I realized sand was on my whole robe, and I frantically patted them off before the servant would come and see this Tertiary General that just came up from a sand bath. Luckily, I managed to swipe them all off before the man arrived.

“Sir Das Pleto! Sir Das Pleto!”

“You don’t really have to call my name twice, in case you didn’t realize.” I was about to yawn.

“Sir…” the man stopped panting, and stood up straight. “A message from Master Extrarius.”

“From Master!?” The yawn stopped in my throat like a cork, and I choked on it a little. That weird, unpleasant feeling. “What does it say?”

“Master Extrarius has ordered specifically to have you read it, sir.”

“Here,” I said, “I beg you. Would you be kind as to stop calling me ‘sir’? I just hate it when people get too tightened up against me. It’s just the difference of birth, right? If I were you, I wouldn’t really want to call this stupid Warlock ‘sir’ when you’ve never even met him before for once.”

The man nodded with a look of puzzlement on his face. “S… This is the letter from Master Extrarius.”
“Lemme see,” I took it from his tanned hands. “Hum hum…”


[i]To Das Pleto XI, my faithful servant and Third Spellenoid
Congratulations. I have heard news of your victory at the Knivestab Army Camp Grade 3-H. I praise the nimble wit of you and your friend Dominus that were excellent enough to get through an army of two hundred men, with the minimum number of deaths of the hostages they kept. My eyes that calculated your true potential were not yet old.
I also thank you two for being kind enough to our allies to save them all despite the number of enemies that stood in the way. In addition, upon hearing of the fact that you used Incendia’s Curse of Flame, I was impressed that you were able to make use of such great Spells easily, and had the skill and sheer power of a great General deemed to change the course of the history of this Continent of Barathrum. Upon this note, I promote you to the Secondary General of the Extrarius Alliance. The official ceremony will be held today morning, after breakfast.
NOTE-The former Prime General, Faldementis Zoe Crux, was recently killed in another mission against an Army Base of the enemy. To take his place, Dominus Dexignarz IV, your noble friend, has been elected. His ceremony takes place at the same place as that of you. Tell him of this news, and his great success.
Sincerely, Extrarius Reign[/i]


“Looks like someone’s becoming the Prime General,” I grinned sarcastically. “Good news, huh?”

“You took Secondary,” Dominus was looking over my head. “Good for you. Remove an O. God for me.”

“Your sense of jokes is surprisingly lame.” I frowned. “Good and god? Seriously, there are much better options. If it was that lame, I wouldn’t even use it.”

“You don’t need to be good at jokes to become Prime General,” Dominus seemed a bit embarrassed. “And you don’t have much vocabulary, do you?”

“Clandes… what was it again? Isn’t really a word needed in real life.”

“Clandestine.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyhow, Das Pleto, well… breakfast is in five minutes, which was the reason I awoke you just now. You obviously don’t need to eat it, but you’d have to get to the tent sooner or later, before the ceremony starts. You’ll look like an idiot.”

“Oh.”


We mustered in a tent of abnormal size, a long, wooden table going vertically across in a straight line of brown. We were at the seats nearest to the entrance to the tent. We scanned the things on the plates. Fried chicken wasn’t really in my liking; I gave it to the nearest soldier, who gladly engulfed it down. Vegetables – I didn’t have a need for nutrients, so I thought of giving them to others as well, but I figured most people would mistake me for a mighty General who can’t eat salad, I swallowed them down in one giant gulp. To fasten this part up, I morphed my head so the mouth became humongous to the point of gross. Dominus frowned in disapproval. The other servants pretended to not look.

I wouldn’t have eaten anything else that morning, or drank anything either, if not for a certain thing I saw on my platter: fried potatoes. I don’t know why, but for some reason, I’ve always just simply loved those things – I ate them bit by bit while Dominus drank some red liquid from a crystal wine glass, and I was sure that it wasn’t something I would call wine.

“Disgusting,” I grimaced. “How do you ever get to drink those things? And why did Master Extrarius select blood as your source of energy?”

“If I knew, I would talk it to you,” Dominus grumbled, wiping some blood off his lips. “But I don’t know. And it’s not a good idea to ask Our Master of the reasons for his selections. He has some ideas no one of our ranks can know.”

“Oh. Well, then.”

Almost everyone had finished their meals already. I yawned and buried my head into the wooden table. I was about to fall into sleep again, but something interrupted me. Thump.

Someone had banged his fist on something hard.

Every single warrior or Spellcaster, Warlock or Spellenoid, whatever animate being in the room looked to the source of the sound. Including me and Dominus.

A man was standing on a seat at the far end of the table, the furthest from us. A black hood. Black hair that could have been silk made two streams from both sides of his face, were two eyes burned bright green.

No, not the “green eyes” sort. The sort of green of the leaves of trees. Complete green. Flames of that bright color danced and spiraled in the eyes of the being. An aura of absolute wisdom radiated out of them like torches.

The man raised its head fully. Fully strained, deathly white skin covered his bony fingers that tapped on the table, its polished, long nails gleaming in the light.

The Field Marshal and Ultimate Monarch of the Alliance. Extrarius Reign. A great Necromancer possessing powers that surpass any Spellenoid or animate being was standing in front of us.

Master Extrarius’s icy eyes scanned the men he had complete control over, not blinking for a second. The green flames spat out miniature fireworks menacingly (and I mean, in the case you weren’t sure, literally). Then he sat down on his chair deeply and crossed his arms before him. The flames vanished from his eyes.

“Several days ago,” Master Extrarius spoke. A voice deep, cold, and somewhat neutral to the point of robotic. “Two of my beloved Generals were captured while on a mission against the Knivestabs. However, they had managed to escape despite the chances – and proved to all of us of their great ability and unmatched potential. And, while they may not know, they have managed to get rid of a very important being in the process of escaping –

“One of my spies gave me this interesting piece of information: the former king of the Knivestabs, Kibraj Ve’zilva, was found headed for the Knivestab Army Camp Grade 3-H, where our Tertiary General, Das Pleto, had later released Incendia’s Curse of Flame. It has been reported that remains of him were found near, while contact went haywire instantly.”

The soldiers around us looked at each other – then their eyes darted forward me and Dominus. We both stood rigid, completely dazed. I had always thought that Kibraj would just wait in their capital, Argentum, while the others just bring me there. But no, that worthless idiot had ventured from himself into my awaiting hands of destruction! I whooped and hoorayed silently.

“Behold, my men, these wonderful Spellenoids: ‘The Cannon’, Das Pleto Code-DPXI, and ‘The Force’, Dominus Dexignarz Code-DDIV.”

A shower of claps that comprehended approval rang all around us. I waved an arm like some celebrity, while Dominus just stood there doing nothing but blink in utter shock.

“And the former Prime General, Faldementis Zoe Crux, has recently been involved in a tragedy – his troops were ambushed while going towards the Knivestabs’ headquarters, the Castle of Argentum.” The claps died down. “To take his place, our Dominus has been selected as the new Prime.” Claps were revived. “And Das Pleto would be promoted into his former place of Secondary. As for his throne of Tertiary…”

The men looked around.

“Inferus Nex would be selected. Come over, those three.”

We stepped forward, and the soldiers darted around. We looked at the faces of each other, and stood near our Master.

That was when I realized with an electric jolt: a man was walking right after us. He was so silent, so utterly transparent, that neither of us had realized, even with our well-honed senses. I jolted when we saw him stepping behind. Dominus raised an ominous arm, and started on a curse just before stopping.

The man called Inferus was a tall, bony figure, and if his silver hair was re-colored black, it would have exactly matched our Master’s. His body was strikingly similar to mine; the same black robes, the same bony, long fingers. Maybe it’s a trend fashion. But one thing was different.

His whole face was covered by a mask. An oval-shaped mask with no indents or bumps, a beautifully drawn crescent. Its right side white, its left side black. Two round marks were above where his eyes would have been if he had took the mask off, both of them colored in the indented color of its background. Several lines or triangular shapes were drawn beneath and around them in a mystical pattern. And on its quantum was the mark of a third eye, this one much more similar to a real humane one. In its pupils was an Omega mark, placed in the perfect place that enhanced this mask’s mysteriousness, and inevitably, coolness as well.

Inferus Nex… I had never heard that name before. Was he some newcomer with amazing powers? Or was he some new creation of Master Extrarius?

The robed man walked towards us, and stood right next to me. A chill went down my spine – half because he looked even more intimidating from near, half because his body was radiating pure coldness. I hack-shooed once, twice, covering my mouth with a bowl made from my hands.

“Come forward, Dominus Dexignarz IV,” Master Extrarius beckoned with a hand. Dominus hesitated, and then stepped out. Master gave him a rolled-up parchment, and Dominus gave a bow. Claps.

“Das Pleto XI,” the Necromancer’s voice rang. I skipped over (which didn’t really match with my outfit), and I bowed, trying to look as obedient as possible. More claps.

While my ceremony was a noble and important-on-a-world-scale scene where some bold music or national anthem would fit in nicely, Inferus’s had all the excitement and high tension of a dark funeral where three people assembled. When it was over and I sent a gaze back, the soldiers’ hands were red with long, meaningless clapping that was all completely hollow. At last, Master Extrarius sent out the long-awaited decree that signaled something of extreme weight to those soldiers: stop clapping.

“Now that our new Generals have been reelected,” Master Extrarius tapped his fingers upon the table, “I will assign them to new missions.”

Here it comes. Master Extrarius always suddenly starts on assigning without any foreboding. He beckoned over all the Three Generals, Twenty Brigadiers, Colonels and Majors. The four upmost ranks of the Alliance Military (well, to be exact there are many other lesser ones like the Captains, Lieutenants, Officers and Sergeants, each of which can be classified into more minute ranks, but at this time only the ones mentioned first were called over. Only those were in this tent). He gave each of us a scroll that looked disappointingly similar to the ones that showed our new thrones. I opened it. “…Knivestab Base Grade A-1…” (Oh, and if you’re not sure on this, Generals don’t really command the other major ranks like in the case with the Knivestabs, where Generals sit on a couch in their private cozy fortresses. Instead, here, we are given larger troops to control than the others as a reward, since Master Extrarius believes that the way of the Knivestabs sap them of spirit. He, with the other 2 Marshals who I’ve never met, rule over the Generals, Brigadiers, etc… to give them more specific orders in times of trouble, and also command their own armies. Confusing? Well, yeah. I’ve never saw a single dynasty with an army easy to explain.)

“We will return to our H.Q. – the Zapaliti Fortress – first,” Master Extrarius went on, “and then collect the men needed for the missions each of you have been assigned. Later, we will go on with the final battle… once all of you succeed, the Generals and Field Marshals will finish off the Castle of Argentum.”

I looked around. Generals? What does he mean? Am I supposed to take down Argentum?

I looked down at my parchment again. Knivestab Base Grade A-1. Of course. The greatest rank. Since A is the first of the alphabet, and 1 is the smallest positive integer, it was fairly obvious that this was either the worst one out there, or the best.

Dominus shrugged, and showed me his paper as well. The same words, the same number. Inferus was standing near blankly. Don’t tell me how, but he seemed to be able to stare and breathe out of his completely solid mask that had not a single hole – in his hands was the same code. He made a short, high rasping sound that could have been his laugh, and tucked the paper into a pocket knitted in his robe. Eerie. Why does he have to be so mysteriously cool at everything? At least give a bright laugh like mine. The “hahaha” sort.

Master Extrarius finally gave out all the parchments, and returned to his seat. “Go back to your tents now. The trip back to Zapaliti will start in exactly one hour.”[/spoiler]

[DARKPLANT RISING]

Bumped.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

Bumped.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

Bumped yet again.

[Erinyes]

Right. The story was well written, perhaps a bit wordy, but nonetheless, well written. I didn't spot any errors in grammar or spelling, so that's good. The major problem I had with the story was that it wasn't very exciting. Although the first sentence really drew me into the story, and the first part was pretty good, the rest was boring IMO. I had to struggle through to read the rest; there wasn't a whole lot of twists in the story to keep me reading. And although I liked how the ending was pretty open-ended, it just seemed like everything worked out okay, and that's boring. In terms of the main character, the way he narrates the story makes him sound like a teenager half of the time and less like a Warlock general or whatever. Although he really connects with the reader, the voice doesn't match the character. That's really it.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

[quote name='Erinyes' timestamp='1285794343' post='4667028']
Right. The story was well written, perhaps a bit wordy, but nonetheless, well written. I didn't spot any errors in grammar or spelling, so that's good. The major problem I had with the story was that it wasn't very exciting. Although the first sentence really drew me into the story, and the first part was pretty good, the rest was boring IMO. I had to struggle through to read the rest; there wasn't a whole lot of twists in the story to keep me reading. And although I liked how the ending was pretty open-ended, it just seemed like everything worked out okay, and that's boring. In terms of the main character, the way he narrates the story makes him sound like a teenager half of the time and less like a Warlock general or whatever. Although he really connects with the reader, the voice doesn't match the character. That's really it.
[/quote]
k, thanks.
I'll think of that too...

[DARKPLANT RISING]

Bumped.

[dratinimew2]

a well written story that had me on the edge of the seat and really into it. I recommend you continue along this arc of stories as it is something many people would enjoy reading.

[-:=Brandon=:-]

I love a good old book about magic/fantasy =D a great job so far end!

[DARKPLANT RISING]

[quote name='dratinimew2' timestamp='1286336181' post='4683039']
a well written story that had me on the edge of the seat and really into it. I recommend you continue along this arc of stories as it is something many people would enjoy reading.
[/quote][quote name='-:=Brandon=:-' timestamp='1286664078' post='4691903']
I love a good old book about magic/fantasy =D a great job so far end!
[/quote]
Thanks ^^

[-:=Brandon=:-]

I vwonder vwen it zwill continue?

[superandrew99]

I certainly enjoyed it, and i look forward to the rest.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

[quote name='-:=Brandon=:-' timestamp='1288034655' post='4735907']
I vwonder vwen it zwill continue?
[/quote]
Making it right now.

[Makο]

Ok. This is a great story. Far better than the one I'm doing right now, I'm embarrassed to say. Its pretty interesting, although kinda hard to follow. Especially during the last 2 chapters. No errors in spelling and grammar, which is good. Quite a comedic element, which pleases me. Its action scenes are decent, and its dialogue is semi-fun to read. You should continue this story. Its really good.

[DARKPLANT RISING]

[quote name='Mako109' timestamp='1288109696' post='4739099']
Ok. This is a great story. Far better than the one I'm doing right now, I'm embarrassed to say. Its pretty interesting, although kinda hard to follow. Especially during the last 2 chapters. No errors in spelling and grammar, which is good. Quite a comedic element, which pleases me. Its action scenes are decent, and its dialogue is semi-fun to read. You should continue this story. Its really good.
[/quote]
Thanks plus bump.