#is it weed or is it an ancient blood cult? who knows | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

corinthbayrpg · 3 years

Photo

NAME. Deucalion Laskaris AGE & BIRTH DATE. 3000+ & Unknown GENDER & PRONOUNS. He/Him SPECIES. Vampire OCCUPATION. Unemployed FACE CLAIM. Calahan Skogman

BIOGRAPHY

( tw: child soldier, death, and murder ) The son of a powerful Spartan family, Deukalion was born with a set of expectations, the trajectory of his life already planned out ahead of him. His years with his birth family have long since faded, and if asked, he can’t recall a single name, much less a face. In his mind, his life did not truly begin until the age of seven, when he had been given over to the city-state to train as an agoge, as was mandatory for all young boys. It was a brutal world, used to train those of fortitude into soldiers, and weed out the weak that would be incapable of serving Sparta, and many did not survive. But Deukalion was always a clever sort, with a tenacious will that kept him alive through the rigorous years.

Not even royalty were spared from the experience, a Spartan prince amongst the agoge when he joined, only a few years older. The boys were taught to fight, to compete, and encouraged to steal for their survival — but punished severely if caught. He still bears the scars across his back from the whip of the mastigophoroi to this day, but it only served as motivation for him to be quicker, more cunning and vigilant to survive his youth. Deukalion’s nimble fingers became as much an asset as his mind for strategy, and he was only ever caught twice. The prince Hykinthos became his closest friend and companion, and while those around them fell to starvation, disease or injury, as their numbers dwindled down into only a handful, the pair were always considered the most promising of the agoge.

No longer boys but young men, of the few that remained to age out of the paidiskoi into hebontes, only Deukalion and Hykinthos were selected to become members of the Crypteia. He had made a favorable impression upon the elders, who saw him more fit for potential leadership than the average soldier. They were charged with maintaining a unified and prosperous Sparta, quashing any rebellion and keeping the helots in line. It was during his time with the kryptai that he became truly adept at killing, serving as a merciless executioner for Mother Sparta, the blood on his hands red enough to stain entire cities. And yet Deukalion felt no remorse, no sympathy, his loyalty to Sparta second to none else. It was a role he served with pride, and a young man’s arrogance that his will was the correct one.

Such will carried him straight into the military, after his time in the Crypteia came to an end. Still a companion of the prince, he followed along his brother in arms in campaigns all across the Greek world, reveling in one victory after another. But it was then that Hykinthos caught the attention of a god — more than one, and that ended up becoming his doom. Jealousy led to the end of the promising young man’s life, from two gods who refused to be denied. But even so, life continued on for the Spartans.

Grieving over the loss of his closest friend, it was then that Deukalion was approached by cryptic and mysterious man, on the eve before another battle in their endless campaigning. Though he had no magic of his own, it was plain to see that the stranger was no mortal man, and with him he came with an offer: that he could make Deukalion into one of the most fearsome creatures on the planet, strong enough to rip apart his foes with his bare hands. The temptation proved too great for him to resist, in the end. Though an excellent warrior, cutting his way through one bloody battlefield after another, he was still just a human, and therefore fragile. So he took the stranger’s deal, and did not flinch when made to drink his blood, not really knowing what agreement he just made.

When dawn came and the soldiers set out, Deukalion expected the effects to be instantaneous. Perhaps it made him reckless, or maybe that was just his grief, but the end result was the same regardless. When the battle hit a stalemate and both sides retreated, he had been left behind on the ground, along with all the other dying soldiers. It was only then that the man from before approached him again, looking down on him like one might a bug under their foot. It was the last sight that Deukalion saw of his mortal life, before the cold iron grasp of death took him. Then his second life began.

Hektor, that was the name of the man that turned him, then told him the truth of what he had become. A vrykolakas, a creature of the night that feeds on the blood of other species for sustenance. And above all, he was servant of Persephone, for it was through her that they were created. His life as a Spartan was over — now all that mattered was to carry out the goddess’s will. Deukalion was stubborn at first, a lifetime loyalty to Sparta not so easily discarded. It was only when his bloodlust had him ripping into his own men that he realized he could no longer continue with his old way of life. It seemed like the best choice, at the time, to join Hektor and leave the lands which he called his home. Looking back today, he wonders if he would not have been better off to make his way on his own.

Traveling with his sire was both an interesting and dangerous experience, but Deukalion had always thrived at adapting. He learned quick and learned well, how to not only survive in his new life, but to become an adept at it. Becoming a member of Persephone’s Cult was an inevitability, and for awhile, he was truly dedicated to fulfilling the purpose he was given as a vrykolakas. He turned a great number of people in his early years, with little care for how they turned out, and killed a great many more. But eventually, the shine of all fanaticism fades, and the longer Deukalion had on this earth, the more disillusioned he became with the idea of everything. Still, trying to leave would be a fool’s decision, as surely Hektor would not let him walk away so freely. So even while his dedication waned, he remained in the cult, carefully stepping back from the intensity of his involvement.

It was after this time that Deukalion truly came into more of his own. The world was his to explore, anything he wanted ripe for the taking. He still turned others into vrykolakas as well, but only those who asked for the gift, and did his best to keep them out of the knowledge of the cult, that they wouldn’t fall into the same snare he once had. And with the changing of the times, so did he, in order to keep up with the world. Deukalion became Deucalion Laskaris, and then eventually Cal. He traveled with Hektor infrequently, keeping in contact with the cult enough to not be wholly disconnected, before continuing on with his own existence after they parted ways again. But it was during one such time that his life once again pivoted course.

A group of them had gathered in France, after the death of the Louis XIV in the eighteenth century. While he held little interest in most of the congregants, content to linger off to the side while the others partook in worship of the goddess, there was one in particular that caught his eye. He was still young, by Cal’s own standards at least, and yet he held the ancient Spartan’s attention when they spoke. So much so, that when it came time to leave, he invited the other vampire along with him. It wasn’t the first time he found such interest in another person; over the thousands of years of his life, Cal had found a number of companions, both lovers and friends alike. But none that affected him so much as this one. His name was Eliseo, and for perhaps the first time since his human life, Cal found something to care about rather than himself.

From then on the two vampires were hardly separable, wherever they went had always been together. There was a great deal of the world Ig had not known outside the limited views of the cult, and Cal intended to show it to him. They returned to France to witness the fall of a monarchy, a king’s head removed from his shoulders, then later in Greece as it declared it’s independence from the Ottoman Empire, the first country to successfully do so. There was much to see in the ever evolving world, and for once, he had someone by his side that he truly wanted to experience it with.

It was for his beloved that they ended up settling on a ranch in Texas, for a time. The old owners were a disagreeable sort, but little match for the vampire that had set sight on their land. There were rumors about the seemingly young men who moved in, of course. A low whisper that perhaps something dark occurred on the vast acreage, but the locals of the town who had questions were soon put at ease by a vampire’s charm, compelled to think little of the matter. He even ended up with another progeny, a young man that had been working as a ranch hand before he was beset by unfortunate events, welcomed into their small sort-of family as he adjusted to life of the undead. It was a homely setup, one Cal wouldn’t have minded residing in further, had fate not stepped in the way.

It started with the fall of the veil. All three vampires died inside their home, only to return two weeks later when time had been reset. Though he had managed to avoid getting wrapped up in the cult’s activities in Greece thus far, only hearing about strange events from secondhand sources, it became too much to ignore after his second death. It was Cal’s choice to ultimately travel to the city, with Eli and his progeny coming along as well, unaware of what exactly they would find inside.

PERSONALITY

+ adaptable, composed, calculating - selfish, remorseless, apathetic

PLAYED BY Abby. CDT. She/Her.

#vampire #male #deucalion laskaris #calahan skogman

4 notes · View notes

mirkwoodshewolf · 4 years

Text

Guardians of the Creatures; AU! Queen x reader Prologue

*Author’s note*

Hey gang I know this year has been INSANE but I am here to tell you all that I’ve now got my next upcoming Halloween FIC series ready at the helm. Now it’ll be slightly similar to my last Hallowqueen fic series (it being in 2nd person POV after this chapter), with some differences.

Now then I wish to give credit to @kinole009x for allowing me to use the same physical appearance that they made for our beloved Deacy in their fabulous series “NEVERMORE” (which you ALL should check out if you haven’t read it. Trust me, you will LOVE IT!!).

Now Idk when the next chapter will be up cause work is REALLY starting to pile up on me now. But I promise this fic series WILL go on, I won’t abandon it after this. I’ve got plans for this series. Enjoy my lovelies and I hope you all enjoy this new HALLOWQUEEN series :)

Warnings: Blood, dark magic, evil witches and wizards, close-to-death experience.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@queensdivas

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@dancingcoolcat

@kinole009x

@queendeakyy

@geek-and-proud

@klausidiot

___________________________________________________________

I……Am the eyes of the world. I can see the past—and the future. Chaos, and darkness. The end of the world, and the rebirth of it. My people have been around since the beginning of time itself. But with the birth of so many creatures, my kind couldn’t survive. Except for me. Who am I you might ask? It is I—Freddie Mercury, who witnessed the rise of creatures, and men.

I’ve seen the world continuously trying to survive with the rise of each new species of the world. And it is here that I have seen a darkness of which no one would ever see before.

Look into my eyes—and trust in me.

There are many dangerous creatures that live within our world. For a certain time period there were were-creatures, Elves, faes, goblins, dragons, mer-people, and all those creatures you would believe to be in your fairy tales and mythologies. But the most dangerous creature of the time wasn’t man.

But Witches. Warlocks. And Sorcerers.

I’ve seen generations of these creatures slaughtering and imprisoning other creatures. And breaking the mythical creatures ancient laws.

And then—one fateful night. I saw our world place our hopes into the hands of two people, the like of which—no one would ever suspect.

*3rd Person POV*

Flying through the dark midnight sky was a cloaked figure and in his arms he held a young woman close to his chest. He dove down as fast as he could to the ground knowing full well that he couldn’t continue flying anymore, not with the woman now starting to cough out blood.

When he finally reached the ground, he picked up the woman and gently set her down on the ground.

“Lumos.” He softly whispered. His hand soon made a light, about the size of a star, appear in his hand. His pale skin could only be compared to the white glow of the moon, while his long jet black hair framed his face and his black eyebrows arched with both fear and concerned for the woman that lay beneath him.

As he shined the light upon the young woman he could now see that blood had now stained her once pink lips. Her sclera was now starting to bleed red and she was coughing out even more blood.

“Serafina. Oh my darling Serafina please hold on.” He pleaded softly as he cupped the side of her cheek. Piercing through the air was a maniacal female laugh. Thinking quickly he made the light from his hand vanish and he covered both himself and Serafina with his black cloak.

High above the air riding on their own brooms a swarm of witches were flying over the air. One of them in particular had curly madded hair (that almost resembled a lion’s mane), she wore a long black dress that was a mix of fabric but also leather that made a corset-like shape around her midriff. She took the lead alongside five witches and four wizards.

All of them wearing black and baring a snake tattoo along their necks.

“They’re not here cousin!” hissed a ginger haired witch.

“Keep searching for them. They’re around here somewhere. That spell I gave her will buy us some time to catch up to them. There’s no way he’d leave her behind.” She cackled softly before flying on ahead with the eight other witches and wizards following her.

Once the coast was clear, the young wizard removed his cloak from the two of them and he slowly picked up Serafina.

“We’re gonna have to travel by foot. I’m sorry my love.”

“John.” She croaked out before suddenly coughing out more blood.

“Shh, shh, shh. Save your strength my love.” He soothed her as he rested her head against his shoulder so that he could press his head against hers. He trudged on through the thick forest, all the while his love continuously coughing out more blood.

He knew that if he didn’t at least find a way to slow down the curse that had been bestowed upon her, she would continue to bleed out internally until she died.

After walking for god knows how long, he set her down in a decent sized thicket. He gave her his cloak and lay down some twigs, grass and leaves before muttering out a quick spell to make them into a pillow. He lay her head on the pillow and stroked her dark hair out of her face.

“I’ll be back my love, I’m going to find some ingredients to slowdown her curse.” He went to stand up but Serafina grabbed his hand and weakly said.

“Don’t…….go……John.” he looked down at her with sympathy and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll be careful. I promise.” He covered her up more with his cloak then casted a protection charm around her, in case either the witches or anything else dangerous were to come by.

John raced through the woods hoping to find some familiar herbs that could hopefully be brewed up. He searched and searched but he wasn’t having any luck, and he could hear every now and then the haunting piercing manically laugh of the head witch leading the hunt for them.

It wasn’t until finally when he arrived by a small creek and he had found the perfect healing herb for his love. To some it was known as Athelas plant but in the common tongue it was called Kingsfoil. A weed but it had healing properties.

He took out his wand and shifted it into a small knife and went to cut the root, when he heard a strange sound coming from the creek. A hypnotic, siren-like song soon began to echo through the air. John turned towards the creek and was shocked to suddenly see a hand burst out from the water.

Slowly a body began to rise up over the water. The body was pure water at first until it finally dissolved and morph into an actual human skin. The man that now stood before John was handsome. Beyond handsome actually.

Almost as if he had been carved by the Gods himself. His wild, untamed blonde hair shone under the full moon’s light, and his hypnotic deep blue eyes stared right at John curiously. But when John took a closer look and saw the long claw-like nails, the gills along his neck (that almost looked like deep scars), and the fact that his eyes were inhuman with how they were just pure blue and white, he realized just what this man was.

This was a Nokk. A water spirit said to be a handsome man that is known to lure women and children to their deaths by either singing or playing a sweet song before drowning them. They are also known to be shapeshifters going between a handsome man, or a beautiful white horse. Tempting all that see him in his horse form to ride him before sending them to a watery grave.

Little did he know that while staring at the Nokk, he soon felt a long sword blade slide right down his neck. Thankfully it wasn’t the actual blade of the sword itself, it lay flat against his neck but it still sent fear through him.

“What do we have here? A wizard caught off his guard?” a soft, honey-like voice spoke with a sternness to it.

“Please, I mean no harm. My Serafina needs help.” At hearing that name, the Nokk’s eyes went from defensive and anger to concern and worry.

“Serafina you said?” the voice behind John spoke.

“Yes. Please I don’t have much time, I need to get this Athelas to her. She’ll die without it!” John then whipped out his wand and turned the sword blade into a stick.

He quickly turned around and held his wand at the attack only to soon find out that his ‘attacker’ wasn’t who he thought it was.

This man had curly hair that resembled an animal of some kind, but unlike the witch they were hiding from, his hair was tamed and well kept. John also took notice of the man’s attire and the ears that stuck out from his hair. It was then he realized just who this person was.

“You—you’re an Elf.” the Elf closed his eyes and did a faint nod as he hummed, a hum that sounded like the faint wind.

“Brian May. High Elf Lord of the West. We were also told of your arrival by a friend of ours. He can help her.”

“Just who is your friend?”

“I can sense your hesitance.” Brian spoke.

“Of course I’m hesitant! We’re being hunted by our own cult! My love is dying and I’m sitting here in the dark forest with an Elf and a Nokk!” the Nokk lowly growled that’s when Brian lifted his hand and said.

“Quilda Roger, quilda.” The Nokk named Roger softened his growls but continued to glare at John. “As you’ve said we don’t have much time. Please allow us to help you heal her. And take her to our friend who is a healer.”

“I thought Elves were known to be the best healers?” John asked.

“We are. But by the time we would reach my kingdom it’ll be too late to save her. Our friend is the closest for he lives in the Black forest.” Not being given much choice, John agreed and led both Brian and Roger to where his love was.

Serafina continued to wheeze out her breaths and occasionally coughing up more blood. And either it must’ve been the curse having a side effect, or due to the pressure on her brain, she saw this blinding light coming up towards her.

She turned and there she saw a horse running up towards her and the glowing figure rode on top of the magnificent creature. Skillfully it unmounted from the horse before walking towards her. Finally she could see a man who was too ethereal to look upon.

His tall lean frame, the pale skin, and the halo of curls almost made him look like an angel. His piercing blue eyes stared right down at her, almost as if they were piercing her very soul. He knelt down before her and whispered with what sounded like the sweetest honey-like voice she had heard (that could only be compared to her love John’s voice).

“Serafina. im Brian. Telin le thaed. Lasto beth nîn, tolo dan nan galad.” After hearing this beautiful language coming out of this man’s mouth, Serafina turned her head back upwards to the sky as she softly began coughing again.

John soon came in with a small brewing bowl and was currently stirring up the brew. Brian knelt down beside Serafina softly calling out her name once again as he touched her head.

“This curse is strong.” John finished stirring up the brew and gently took his love’s head and lifted it up, with Brian’s help, and he gently poured the Athelas brew down her throat. “She won’t last for much longer. We need to get her to Freddie now.”

John picked her up bridal style and the two of them walked towards Roger as Brian said.

“The five witches are still out there searching for you both further in the woods. The four wizards however, I do not know where they have gone.” John gently placed her on top of Roger’s back and steadied her.

“Thank you for your help. But I can take it from here.”

“Roger and I are the fastest together, I’ll take her.” Brian said.

“No. I won’t leave her!”

“You will take the safest road down the river. Once you reach the end, you will go East and soon you will arrive at our friend’s hut.” Brian explained to John the fastest route he could take.

“But what if they find you? Or worse what if this Nokk betrays you and takes my beloved away? I know of what his kind does to women and children!”

“I understand your concern for her. But she is in the safest of hands John Deacon. Roger will ensure that they can’t reach us.” Roger turned to face John. His ears bent back slightly and he gave the young wizard a bow of his head. “A Nokk’s name is powerful. He will not harm her.”

John faces Roger and in his horse form he gave the young wizard a small huff before lightly nodding his head.

“As you wish.” Brian softly smiled and hopped onto Roger’s back, sitting behind Serafina so that she now had support to lie back on. “I’m trusting you both with my heart. Ride hard and run swift. Do not let them catch her.”

“Noro lim mellon, Noro lim!” Brian spoke to Roger in Elvish tongue, soon Roger took off running deeper into the forest.

As he watched with a heavy heart, John prayed to Merlin above that Serafina would be safe and healed in time.

Running with the speed of mercury, Roger ran across the woods in almost a blur. Brian holding tightly to his friend’s long white mane while keeping an arm wrapped around Serafina so that she wouldn’t fall out. But soon he heard a whooshing sound and through the trees and when he turned right he soon saw one of the four male wizards flying just a few feet beside them.

He looked to the left and he saw that a blonde witch was also flying beside them, the two of them flying closer and closer to Roger’s body hoping to pin him so they could claim their prize. But never doubt the speed of a Nokk in horse form.

Roger ran faster but as he turned into a clear opening in the woods, that’s when the rest of the scouting party descended.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! WE’VE GOT THEM NOW! TEAR THE BEAST DOWN! KILL THE ELVISH FILTH! BUT LEAVE THE GIRL ALIVE. For now. HAHAHAHA!!!” the leading witch cackled manically. Brian turned to the witches and wizards behind and saw one of them take out their wands and fire an attack. He shielded Serafina with his body from the blast that sent an excruciating pain all over his body.

His bite his lip to try and hold back his screams that desperately wanted to come out. He gripped Roger’s mane tighter as his friend ran faster through the woods. But no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many times he tried to lose them through the trees, the party still kept on their tail.

When they came across an open meadow, the witch party now had them surrounded like wolves taking down their prey. Brian was almost certain that they were about to die right then and there. But when he saw the crazed woman extend her arm out towards Serafina, it was then Roger took over.

Using his long whip-like horse tail, he whipped the woman across the face and sent her back several feet right off her broom. He repeated the technic with the other wizards and witches that were too close for comfort, allowing him to take off even faster than he had ever ran before in his life.

Two of the witches flew back towards their sister witch and helped her up.

“That filthy mongrel. HE COULD’VE KILLED ME!! I’ll get him. I will kill him and wear his skin like a coat!” the woman cried out as she got back on her broom and took off flying with her sisters following behind her.

Roger soon got them into a thicker part of the woods where the trees were lower and more condensed together. He swiftly turned around every other tree to try and confuse the party that followed behind him and it worked. For some they had to regroup high above the trees just to get out of the condensed area, and others they ended up flying off their brooms cause of the low hanging branches.

Roger leapt over a log and ran down a hill which led to a small river-like creek. He ran across the water till he came onto the other side of the creek. He stopped and turned around to face the witches as he huffed and panted heavily.

“Well done Roger, well done.” Brian praised his friend as he too looked at the incoming party. However once they came to the shoreline of the creek, they found that they couldn’t cross it.

Almost as if there was higher magic blocking them from coming any closer to their targets.

“Give up the traitors, filthy Elf and mindless brute!” the leading witch snarled. Roger let out a loud roar as he reared high into the air while Brian revealed his sword and held it in the air.

“If you want her, come and claim her!” he challenged the party. All nine of them soon took out their wands and all together they fired at the forcefield that kept them from getting any closer.

The forcefield held for as long as it could but it was starting to break. When they noticed the forcefield beginning to break, the party slowly moved forward across the water.

Unbeknownst to them, Brian’s eyes shifted as he stared at the water while softly began to chant in Elvish a spell that had been put up for only him and Freddie to speak out since they were both ancient creatures of old.

Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer;

Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Kuruni!

Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer;

Rimmo nîn Bruinen dan in Kuruni!

The water slowly began to rise and once Brian finished the chant, the wizards stopped their attack as they suddenly heard a rush of water. Soon storming down from further up river was a tsunami-like wave.

Fearing for their lives, the witches and wizards hopped on their broomsticks and took off flying, but the rushing water was right on their tail. If you would look closely, you would notice that the shapes that were forming in the water were dozens of snakes, all slithering outward towards the witches.

Just before any of them thought they were in the clear, one by one they were each swallowed by the raging waters and taken downstream.

Brian and Roger stood satisfied over the boulder but that’s when they heard the fain wheezing coming out of Serafina’s mouth. Brian took Serafina off of Roger’s back and lay her down on the ground. Her face now almost completely red from bleeding internally, tear streams of blood stained around her eyes, and her eyes were almost devoid of any life.

“Serafina, no! Serafina don’t give in. Not now!” pleaded Brian as he gently shook her. But with one last croak out of her mouth, she went still.

Roger threw his head back and whinnied out a desperate neigh for help as Brian held her in his arms.

‘What grace has given me. Let it pass to her, let her be spared. Save her.’ Brian prayed in his head.

“Someone call my name?” a voice echoed through the air. Both Brian and Roger looked around when the voice spoke again, “You two honestly call yourselves the fastest team? Even I have ran across the world at least three times faster than that.”

“Freddie.” Brian said.

“How quaint to see you again Brian. It’s been—what 200 years since we last met?”

“187 actually.”

“And Roger, my big strong, handsome Nokk how’s the clan doing?” Roger huffed softly and a soft chuckle rang through the air. “That’s good. Don’t want those nasty other wannabes to let them reign supreme over you. Other than me of course.”

“Please Freddie, we need your help. She’s dying.”

“I know. Which is why I’ve already brewed up the proper counter curse for her. Give her to me now, her partner is running himself ragged wanting to see her already.” Appearing from the bottom of the boulder was a large snake tail.

Brian picked Serafina up and placed her body down along the snakes coils. Slowly they wrapped around her until almost her whole body was covered.

“Go now, make sure those nasty witches are dead. I won’t have them interfere any longer.” Then almost as quick as lightning, the snake coils disappeared deep within the forest. Brian looked towards the forest and prayed.

“By the light of the Valor, please let her be saved.”

“She will be.” A soft, raspy voice spoke to him. He looked up and saw that Roger was now in back in his human Nokk form. “She has to be. I’ll be dammed if after we ran all the way here just for her to die like this.”

“And you’re sure it’s not because of your feelings for her?”

“It’s not like that and you know it! The first women to not fall for my charm even when so many married women have fallen for me, Serafina she—she’s special.” Roger said. “Now c’mon. You heard the naga, we have to see whether that crazed bitch and her lackies are dead or if they somehow survived the spell.” Brian nodded and soon the two of them took off running downstream.

In a quaint little hut, the snake coils soon lifted Serafina into the hut and they set her down along the floor.

“Serafina. Oh Merlin’s beard she’s—she can’t be…..” John pleaded.

“Not yet John dear, now quiet I need to concentrate on the spell.” Freddie’s voice soon spoke up. Soon coming down from the ceiling was a man with long pitch black hair, his dark tanned skin glistened amongst the candle light, but what would catch your eyes were the dark green and yellow scales all over his arms, chest, neck and even dotting around his face.

His lower half would be twice as shocking for there wasn’t human legs, no his lower half was pure snake. Dark green with hidden yellow scales. He also had deep brown eyes with the traditional snake pupil.

Slowly he lowered himself down before the witch, his snake-like tongue flickering out so he could get a read on her. She was practically knocking on death’s doorstep. He soon stood face to face over the young witch. His tongue flicked across her bloodstained lips as he hummed gravely.

“The world still has big plans for you my dear. You and your darling lover.” He then raised his hand and forced her mouth open before hissing out in a language that was unknown to John.

It sounded pure snake-like and it was terrifying to listen to. It sent a cold shiver up John’s spine. Freddie’s voice turned almost ghostly as he continued to chant out this unknown spell and soon he let out a low, threatening hiss as he opened his mouth wider and wider revealing not only the overbite, but the other rows of snake teeth in his mouth.

At first John thought his love was about to be swallowed alive by this monster, but just before he could grab his wand, a red smoke shot out of his love’s mouth and entered inside Freddie. The naga was actually swallowing the curse!

John watched with both terror yet fascination as the naga devoured the very curse that had poisoned his love. Freddie placed his hands beside Serafina’s head as he continued to swallow the curse. Once the last bit of it was swallowed, Freddie lurched back and with a gasp, Serafina woke up.

“My love?” John asked.

“My heart.” She whispered. John happily smiled and the two young lovers embraced each other.

“I thought I had lost you.” John whispered in her ear as he stroked his fingers through her hair.

“I thought I was gone too. But you saved me my love.”

“I didn’t do it alone though.” That’s when he turned towards Freddie and once Serafina got a good look at her savior, she jumped back. “It’s alright my love, it’s okay. He won’t hurt us.”

“It’s you.” she whispered in awe. John looked at Serafina confused. Freddie hummed with interest at the young witch.

“So you remember me?”

“Remember him? My love what does he mean?”

“All will be explained young John. Just know that you have a special witch by your side.” John leaned his forehead against his love’s and whispered to her.

“I know. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Their noses gently brushed up against each other’s lovingly.

“Since you recall our first encounter, I’m sure you’ll also remember Serafina that the world needs you. Both of you. Now more than ever.” The young witch and wizard looked at each other perplexed.

“That’s always puzzled me. What do you mean the world needs us?” Serafina asked. Freddie looked out of his hut and said.

“I have seen the world shift, burn and rebuild itself time and time again. But with what your people are doing, I fear the world may finally burn and not rebuild itself in a peaceful light.”

“We know. That’s why we left. We couldn’t stand along with what they believed in. Now we’re marked for death.” John said grimly as he took his love’s hand in his. She placed her hand on top of his and the two stared at each other solemnly.

“Which is why I have seen a potential future for all of us. But for that to happen, it needs you two as the star attractions.”

“What do you mean?” asked Serafina.

Thus…….I began to tell them of a future that I had seen. A world where all creatures and deities large and small alike could be free, equal, and at peace. But in order for that world to come to pass, we were gonna need one more star.

And that my darlings, is where you come in.

27 notes · View notes

doomedandstoned · 5 years

Text

Iron Crown Bears Tales of Time ‘Before The Void’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

From the land of Acid King and High on Fire comes IRON CROWN, a trio of fellows who traffic in the mysteries of ancient days and forgotten realms, not to mention the realities of this present age. The doom metal outfit first grabbed my attention last year with the stunning album art of their extended-play, 'Iron Crown' (2018). Now they reveal more yet still in their first long-player, 'Before The Void' (2019).

His blackened axe will set the land on fire No longer human he will never tire Defend the realm, the eternal fight Against the tyrants he will wield his might

The album opens with "Watcher Of The Realm," which would make a great companion to the Clouds Taste Satanic instrumental epic, 'Your Doom Has Come' (2015). Iron Crown, of course, is a traditional band with chill vocals inheriting a certain "Dragonaut" coolness of fellow Californian, Al Cisneros. David Brunicardi's clean singing alternates with guttural death growls in the second-half of the song, creating a contrast that carries the narrative quite effectively.

The next three numbers are shorter, each with their own memorable moments. There are the fantastic scales at the two-minute mark in "Of Blood," the riffage in "Great Highway" that sounds like the continuing adventures of Black Sabbath's "Hole In The Sky" (with much darker consequences), and the joyous rhythmic romp of bassist DV Braun and drummer Don Hahn in "Dune Rider" -- perhaps the doom metal answer to Truckfighters' "Desert Cruiser." This being the shortest song of the album, it serves as a fitting introduction to the wicked little urban legend that follows, "The Clearing."

I know, what I know Live my own way On my own Never fit, in any mold This town will eat itself And pull you down below So watch it burn, watch it burn

The remaining trio of tracks delve deeper into the dankness, with some devilishly downtuned late-night rippers. "The Outsider" has a certain shoulder-shrugging nihilism about it, as society's reject expresses his rejection of the world in turn, wanting nothing more than to live on his own and "watch you burn." I can see this one being a cult favorite among doomers in the years to come, joining Electric Wizard's "We Hate You." This leads us into the album's namesake track, presented sans voix, which continues the forlorn tone of its predecessor and brings us, appropriately, into a coda: "Straight On Till Morning." It's a song about a showdown that lasts from dusk to dawn.

With that, I present the record to you to take a trip of your own. Look for its full release on Thursday, June 20th (pre-order here) and don't miss my interview with the band below!

Give ear...

Before The Void by Iron Crown

An Interview with Iron Crown

You guys dropped your eponymous debut smack dab in the middle of the summer of '18. I feel like it was such a ridiculously busy year for me, I didn't get a chance to know you properly. So let's start with some background on the band.

Iron Crown was formed in 2016 by two reunited high school friends who decided to "get the band back together." What started as occasional heavy riffing in guitarist David Brunicardi’s basement, quickly evolved into the formation of a hard-hitting stoner doom band. With drummer Don Hahn and former bassist Cardi Barsotti, the band recorded a five song, self-titled EP Iron Crown in 2017.

In 2018 Cardi moved on and the band brought on expatriated brit, DV Braun, as our bassist. With a new and heavier energy, we crafted eight new songs and booked time with the evil wizard Greg Wilkinson at revered Earhammer Studios in Oakland, California. Over a weekend in April 2019, the band recorded eight songs in a quasi-live setting for our first full-length album, Before The Void.

Sound wise, Mr. Wilkinson did a great job, as he always does in capturing this kind of sound.

In the studio, we knew we would be pressed for time because of work schedules, etcetera, so we laid down the foundation tracks live and then tried to nail any subsequent tracking in one take. We had worked with Greg before and things flowed pretty quickly. He’s really a master at what he does in the studio, as well as being an accomplished musician from his time in Brainoil and DeathGrave. He knew our sound and what we wanted to get across. Personally, we enjoyed the more live, immediate sound we went for on this album, one-take leads and all. (laughs)

Take us deeper into the music, if you will. What are the songs about?

The music for Before The Void extrapolates rock and metal riffs from an eclectic vault in Brunicardi’s head and reduces them over the fire into a united burnt offering. Lyrically, the songs cover a broad range of subject matter from mysticism, occult rituals, isolation and persecution.

The lead track, "Watcher Of The Realm," is about a young man who is chosen to undergo a metamorphosis to serve as the defender of a kingdom against various attacks. Really, it’s a metaphor for rock 'n' roll prevailing against the never ending fads in pop music.

"Of The Blood" is about a medieval female assailant dispatching tyrants and corrupt leaders. Beautiful, and black-winged, she brings death by night.

"Great Highway" is about the drag races that would occur every weekend near Ocean Beach in San Francisco, where Brunicardi and Hahn grew up. The area was pretty bleak and isolated from the rest of the city. We got away with a lot of reckless shit out there.

"Dune Rider" is an instrumental tribute to getting high in the no-man’s-land dunes behind their old school in the Outside Lands neighborhood.

"The Clearing" is about a couple who decide to go camping one weekend and stumble across a clearing in the woods where robed figures are conjuring up a demon girl and the pair consequently have to run for their lives.

"The Outsider" is about the isolation and seclusion one can feel even in familiar surroundings.

"Before The Void" is a hash and weed-filled instrumental track that should be twenty minutes long.

"Straight On Till Morning" is about a crew of men being pursued over the open ocean by an unnamed foe in a do-or-die situation.

Iron Crown by Iron Crown

Sounds like quite the adventure. Now I understand the same artist who did last year's 'Iron Crown' returned for 'Before The Void'?

Yes, the artwork for Before The Void, as well as their earlier EP, was created by the extremely talented Tuomas Valtanen at Dark Side Of Zen. We followed each other on Instagram and ultimately he and David became friends. We hit it off from the start. Tuomas is from Finland and his art spoke to the dark Nordic mythical themes we're inspired by in our music. For the album covers, we'd give him a very loose idea of concept and he would pull it all together and create this incredible package. His work is amazing.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

#D&S Debuts #Iron Crown #San Francisco #California #Doom #Fantasy #Metal #D&S Interviews #D&S Reviews #Doomed & Stoned

4 notes · View notes

imherenowarenti · 7 years

Text

Coffee with God

Of the long list of questionable things I’ve done in my short life, including the time I tried washing a part of my face with a Mr.Clean sponge (which, fortunately, only caused some dry patches of skin. And was cured with a good cream. My friends had a good laugh at me.). What I’ve done on the 8th of August in the year of 2017, might just top that list.

About a week and a half prior to that date I was approached by two Korean women. I didn’t think much of it at first, I thought they must be tourists asking for directions, which happens often. But these women have come to talk to me about God (wanting to give me directions apparently) Now, my family is Catholic, I am well aware of God, but I spared them the few minutes I could kill. Seeing I had nothing to do until I had to go meet my friend. So while sitting on the top of a terrace of a mall in Ottawa, I watched this introduction video to the World Mission Society Church of God.

The World Mission Society Church of God was first founded, although not under that name, in 1964, in South Korea, by a man who goes by the name of Ahn Sahng-Hong. He, by the way, grew up in a Buddhist family and later joined the seven-day Adventist (a church that has faced a lot of criticism for unorthodox practice) and then founded his own church, Witness of Jesus church of God. He preached that he was showing the true teachings of the Bible, that mainstream churches have strayed from the path of truth. He went further and said that the second coming of Christ (or of God) has happened and he has come in the form of himself. Yes, ladies and gentleman, he is back and he is so conveniently in the man who formed the church, quite the miracle. And after his death in 1985, God has transferred himself inside of Jang Gil-Ja. The Co-Founder, along side Kim Joo-Cheol, of what is now known today as the World Mission Society Church of God. Neat right?

The church has been said to have a very effective tactic to make you join their church: fear and a big serving of guilt, not entirely uncommon for Christianity. By chance, their guilt tactic has worked on me. Because for the light of me I don't know why I agreed to meet them again. It must have been the promise of a free cup of coffee, that or the inability to say no. Whatever the reason, during this second meeting the women brought with them their English speaking friend. He then spent two hours teaching me about the bible. Specifically, he talked about the passage concerning the wheat and the weeds. This passage, as I was informed was to let the people know that lies have been placed in religion.

The first lie he talked about was that modern Christianity has added pagan traditions, like Christmas (a holiday to worship the sun) and Easter (a holiday to worship the goddess of fertility and of the sun- ancient civilization had a thing for the sun. But who can blame them, it is the source of all life.). They no longer stay to the one celebration that should be done, which is the pass over*.

And the second lie, according to their teachings, is that the true holy day, the day on which you celebrate and worship God was not on the Sunday of every week but actually on Saturday. They called this the sabbath day, and again, the fact that it was moved to Sunday has its sources in Paganism. It was placed as a day to worship the sun, and of course, heretic.

And that was that, I left with a promise I’d meet them again for coffee and more bible talk. At this point, I decided to keep going because the information did interest me, from a historical point of view. Not to mention I’ve never had encounters with people of such groups, and I guess you can say I was curious about what they were all about.

On our third meeting, (this being the 8th of August) the same group came to meet me on a campus of a university. This time we sat down and he started talking about Daniel. Daniel was a priest during the Babylonian time that, with the help of God, interpreted the king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The king’s dream was said to be a prophecy, telling him of the rise and fall of several kingdoms.**It further said that an evil will come to lead astray God’s people. The evil that is going to lead the world astray is, according to WMSCG, is the papacy. They believe that the devil has come back in the form of the pope and the Roman Catholic church. This, admittedly, floored me. All the things about celebrations that are not originally part of Christianity didn't really come as a surprise. But saying the pope is the devil is quite the accusation. But they have proof, in Daniel’s dream he brings up four ways to recognize this evil. These being: One, he will speak against the Most High, second he will oppress his holy people, thirdly he will try to change the set times and the laws. Lastly, the holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. At the time the prophecy was explained to me, It all made great sense, although now I can’t make heads or tail of it.

And after this, it takes a strange turn, because after the big revelation that the pope is the devil. I was dropped quite a bomb of a question. “Do you want to get baptized today? because you never know what might happen.” I’m sure at that point I must have looked like a deer caught in the head lights, and they thought that to be very funny. I spent a good minute to try and figure out if they were being serious, and they were completely serious. And then I spent another minute to weight out my options. The conclusion I came to is: “well I don't have any other plans today.”. So I found myself in a car with three other people listening to dull music and seriously wondering if I should be placed in a mental institution. After a short ten minute drive, in which I started to silently laugh like a maniac, we arrived in a residential area. They haven’t found a place of worship yet, so their place of operation was an in a nice one-floor house with an open concept and finished basement.

The baptism itself wasn’t bad. I was asked to step in a bathroom, where I had to change into a robe specifically for the baptism. I then kneeled inside a bathtub where one of the men there started reciting a prayer, I only had to say Amen at the indicated time. At that point I was shaking a bit but for two reasons. The first was because the coffee I had earlier was starting to have an effect, the second because I was having a hard time from stopping myself from laughing. Right at the moment, as the water was poured on me, I realized how absurd this situation was. Here, next to me was a man praying in a dull voice, all the while the people outside the washroom were signing. I was participating in something I did not believe in along side people I barely knew. But, alas I was able to go through it and the baptism was finished with no fuss or notice of my laughing state. I was then asked to fill in this sheet, because even religion needs a signup sheet, and then went to have the pass over. With no wine, unfortunately.

And so here I was a full fledged cult member. Well maybe the word cult is too strong, the politically correct thing to say would be a religious movement. And just by looking there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this religious movement, the members all seemed nice and genuine. Although, after some research, I found out that there are reports from ex-members that the church does suspicious things. For one they constantly try to isolate their members from people on the outside. Yes they do have jobs and they can walk around town, but they are often pressured them into spending all their free time at church and studying the bible. Often families with a relative in the Church say that they don’t see that person anymore and when they do, those people tend to criticize their beliefs. Secondly, the members are encouraged to give 10-15% of their paycheque to the church. That is a lot of money if your church has over 150 000 members. Lastly, they exercise a lot of control over their members, choosing who their members marry or date. Going as far as telling a person to get an abortion if they wanted it. And of course they have to, or else you can find yourself being kicked out. It’s complete obedience and devotion or nothing. It seems just a weekend option for the casual cult goer is not available. Not to mention, they often treat the women of their church like children, myself have been more than once addressed in a condescending tone by the men I’ve had contact with.

My story with the WMSCOG ended shortly for my part, since that day I’ve never gone back to that house nor have I met with them outside. I was invited to come to worship but I ignored them, I decided it would not be worth it not even on a learning level all the while knowing I'd make my family worry. I’ve also blocked them through all ways of communications they’ve had with me. I was never worried about ever being ‘stuck’ in the Church. My motives were that of pure curiosity and not in a search for a path. But I can’t stop myself from thinking about the amount of people who have fallen in the fear of the end and have traded their life for a promise of an eternal life. About how many families have lost a son, aunt, cousin, to a cause that often tries to prey on the victims and the confused. I was lucky, but there are some that aren’t and there are some, when they leave the church find themselves feeling scared or guilty. I feel bad for those two women who first approached me, because they are so nice but so naive and how, no matter what I could tell them they wouldn't be convinced to rethink their participation in this church.

Information regarding the teachings of the WMSCG or Biblical matter Disclaimer: I am no scholar on this subject I only know what has been conveyed to me by the members I’ve met and some extra research I’ve done.

*The pass over day, in the old testament, is the day once a year where believers would paint blood on top of their front door at twilight so God would know who are his real followers. And for every house that didn’t have blood, he would punish them by killing their child (they’re first born I believe). But in the new testament, the one with Jesus, the pass over is celebrated through the last supper, and so now once a year, the people of the WMSCG have the pass over. In order to fill your soul with life. And the practice of having communion every Sunday is false.

**In the king's dream he was presented with a statue. “The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly, and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.” Daniel, Chapter 2. In the dream, each part of the body, or metal, all represented a kingdom that has come to power. In order form head to toes: the Babylonian, the Persians, the Greek, the Roman, and lastly the division of Rome into ten kingdoms.

#religion #writting #World Mission Society Church of God #Church #Personal #Journal #story #Coffee #God #experience #learning #Bible #catholic #catholiscism #theology

2 notes · View notes

planarchaosproject · 7 years

Text

Planar Chaos: Chapter Fourteen

The Race is On

Teysa felt herself break out in a cold sweat. It had been three days and she hadn't so much as caught a glance of Vilhelm. She hobbled through the Orzhov compound as fast as her cane would allow. Her breath came in desperate gasps. Guild members commented on the wild look in her eyes in hushed tones as she passed them. Her heart hammered in her chest, but not the familiar hammering she'd begun to enjoy when Vilhelm fed on her. This hammering was accompanied by an icy feeling in her stomach that wouldn't go away.

She threw open the door to Vilhelm's room in surprise. She hadn't anticipated the door to be unlocked. His bed was made, all his possessions were in order just as they always were. It seemed as though Vilhelm was still occupying the space, but there was a sealed letter on his bed with her name on it.

"Fool!" She cried. "We could have been discovered."

In fact, that was what the letter alleged.

My Dearest Teysa,

I must leave you for a brief period. Though it pains me to do so, you must know it is for your safety and mine. I believe Karlov is on the verge of discovering our secret. Even you must agree we have become bolder in recent history. Know that you will be on my mind and in my heart always.

Your Eternal Servant,

Vilhelm.

It had been written so that it would read to prying eyes as a love letter. The Ghost Council would believe something as base as Teysa taking a lover. Vilhelm was counting on their hubris to cause them to accept the most obvious answer. They believed their envoy to be completely obedient after her last failed attempt to bring them to justice, and many still remembered the cheap thrills of life.

Vilhelm himself was on a different plane entirely with Rhyne awaiting Rinok's arrival. The underground maze had many openings onto the surface of Xerex, but they had chosen this one for its relatively straightforward descent.

"He's always late," Rhyne commented.

"He didn't try to go after the dragon girl again, did he?" Vilhelm asked.

"No. I think he drank too much at the huge Thrill Kill party last night with the Cult of Rakdos. Those guys know how to party." Rhyne licked his lips, recalling the sweet taste of pig blood dripping from the chainwalker, and then later from Exava, the blood witch. "Their guild champion is a firecracker of a woman too."

"Is that all you do with your life? Torture small animals and bed women?"

Rinok appeared as Vilhelm was finishing his question. "Of course not," he answered for Rhyne. "He also tortures large animals."

Rhyne shrugged. "Are you ready to go?"

They entered the maze and for a time, the path was straight, however they soon realized that it began curving to the left and making a corkscrew path.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Vilhelm asked Rhyne.

"Look, there's another pathway right over there. We can just jump to it. It's only three feet away." Rhyne took a short hop and wound up ten feet higher than he'd intended, and also behind his companions. "What the?"

"Drop back down here, we can try again," Rinok shouted.

Rhyne took the jump, but he landed on the underside of the path he'd been trying to access the first time. Or was it the top side? He was standing firmly rooted to the ground, but now it appeared Vilhelm and Rinok were hanging off of the earth.

"This place is mad," Rhyne said.

"It certainly seems that way," Vilhelm said. Rinok nodded in agreement. "We should just turn around and try another door."

The vampire and the warrior turned around, but the way back had vanished.

"We have to complete the maze," Vilhelm breathed, terror gripping him for the first time since Mikhail had stabbed him with the moonsilver dagger.

"What do you mean?" Rhyne demanded.

"He means that if we want to get out, we have to go forward," Rinok said, crossing his arms.

The three walkers startled when a giggle echoed through the maze.

0000

"Face it, Marthel, we're lost." Kyari slouched, calling her hydra to heel. Sa'Raah and Brock slid off of the giant beast's back, but found themselves standing on the ceiling instead. Or was the hydra standing on the ceiling?

"Okay. I admit it. We're lost." Marthel rested his face in his hands. "Down isn't down, left is sometimes right, and forward seems to be two hundred seventy degrees behind us."

"It would take a madman to understand this place," Sa'Raah said, attempting to reach one of the hydra's heads so she could rejoin her comrades.

"Or a genius," Brock countered. "Urza was supposed to be the most brilliant of the ancient planeswalkers."

"Okay, a mad genius." Sa'Raah succeeded in contact with the hydra and was able to slide down its neck. "But if he got to the center I can't imagine how he got back out."

"He probably just planeswalked," Marthel said. "We could just walk off and back to the beginning and start all over at another entrance. Maybe there's only one real path and the rest are fakes like this one to weed out the undeserving."

Marthel pushed out against the walls of the plane, feeling for the blind eternities and the worlds that lay beyond. He felt for a plane, any plane he'd been before. He gripped onto the plane, but when he went to pull himself through the space between spaces, he hit a powerful wall that physically knocked the wind out of his lungs. Marthel began coughing, unable to catch his breath.

"Marthel? Marthel are you okay?" Kyari placed a hand on his back, using her magic to bring him back to stability.

"Urza you brilliant motherfucker," Marthel wheezed.

"What?" Brock asked, sliding down a different hydra neck. The beast had been trying its best to leave Brock hanging upside down off of the pathway above, but he finally caught one head.

"We can't planeswalk out of here," Marthel explained. "Once you enter the maze, you can't leave until you complete it."

"But can we summon things?" Sa'Raah said, a hint of fear creeping into her voice.

"Let me try," Marthel said. He rolled up his sleeves and flexed his fingers. He concentrated on Nadia, willing her to his side. The angel slowly materialized in front of him, but only after Marthel was visibly sweating and gasping for air did she become solid.

"Marthel?" Nadia seemed surprised. "You told me I would not be needed on this venture of yours. I'm rather happy to see you've decided I'm correct."

"Nadia, we can't planeswalk away."

The angel's face turned dark. "So we are to remain here until you either find what you're looking for or die trying?"

"That's a little grim," Kyari said. "I don't think we brought enough provisions to accommodate the hydra for more than a few days."

"The hydra?" Brock asked. "Kyari, what about us? What are we going to eat?"

"There has to be something in this maze that's edible," Sa'Raah said. "Why would Urza do something like this if everyone who tried would starve?"

"Maybe that's the point," Brock said. "What if whatever is in here is so dangerous that nobody should have it?"

"Brock, we talked about this," Kyari said, rubbing her temples.

"What if I'm right, Kyari? None of you have entertained the possibility that I might be right." Brock's voice grew louder.

"If you're right, we'll shower you with praise and help you destroy the research like we agreed to," Sa'Raah said. "A dragon never goes back on her word." Inside her, she still felt the creeping suspicion that she was not a true dragon. Niv Mizzet had guaranteed her place, but relying on others was something she'd learned from her mother. Before Dromoka, Sa'Raah had been feral, vicious, the Broodculler of Jund. Those dragons took what they wanted. They were dragons like her Aunt Atarka, savage and feared.

"I just want to make sure we're all agreed on that," Brock emphasized the word, turning his eyes to Marthel. Nadia's feathers ruffled in response.

"Brock, I told you, I'm not going to take sides in this. I just want to know what's down there." Marthel knitted his eyebrows together. He'd been almost positive that Kyari had fully restored Brock's mind after their recent visit to Innistrad, but now he wasn't so sure.

Kyari, you said you fixed him.

I did, Marthel. This is just who Brock is.

It's not who he used to be. What happened?

Responsibility. Not all of us spend our time reveling in the complexity of life and the sheer magnitude of the fact that we exist.

"You're talking about me, aren't you?" Brock asked, accusation in his voice.

"Guys, I think we have bigger things to worry about," Sa'Raah said, peering around the hydra's neck. A large mechanical being that resembled a crab now blocked their path.

They heard a giggle echo from somewhere in the maze.

0000

"Okay, everyone climb onto Maelstrom. Does everyone remember the plan?" Odom asked, giving Ashleigh a boost so she could clamber up the massive elemental's legs and onto the wide expanse of its back. Abby, who was being transported in a sling that Ashleigh could either wear in front of or behind her, made cheerful gurgling noises.

"Sverre and I each concentrate on one of the enchantments to keep Maelstrom at a manageable size, you work on the first part of navigating the maze," Ashleigh said, pulling Abby back around to the front and settling the creature in her lap. The gurgling noises turned into a birdlike squawk of delight at being able to see Ashleigh's face again.

"Excellent." Odom reached down to help Sverre for the last few feet.

"Why am I always concerned that you'll just detach your arm and leave me hanging here?" Sverre asked, a wry smile on his face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. When have I ever done something like that?" Odom returned the smile.

"Tarkir, four years ago. I fell in a pond from thirty feet," Sverre chuckled.

"That was an accident," Odom insisted.

"You told me to have fun swimming."

"Boys!" Ashleigh barked. "The maze beckons."

She was partially right. The opening into the maze Maelstrom was standing in front of had widened itself in an attempt to accommodate the giant elemental.

"Okay. Signets at the ready. There doesn't seem to be any colored mana here, so our rocks are our only means of generating it. On my mark. One. Two. Go!" Odom cried.

Maelstrom shrunk down to about a third of his normal size, just small enough to barely squeeze through the opening of the maze.

"This is exciting," Oona said from her perch on Sverre's shoulder.

"It is, dear. With this step, I'm closer to achieving that which I lost all those years ago. I'll be closer to being able to spend the rest of eternity with you as well," Sverre said. "You'll finally have a king whose power matches your beauty."

"Still keen on keeping that promise, I see." Oona kissed her king on the cheek.

"I may be a necromancer who feeds on the essences of gods in order to achieve eternal life, but I am still a man of my word."

"They're so cute," Ashleigh said, leaning against Odom.

"I know. It's kind of gross." Odom put an arm around Ashleigh and directed Maelstrom forward. "Yo Broski, let's get this party started."

Maelstrom responded with his low rumbling and descended into the maze.

They had it mostly figured out in about an hour with the combination of Ashleigh's insanity and Odom's genius. Remaining on one's path took them forward, deviating, however, had consequences.

"So if we want to keep going forward, we should jump down and land on the bottom of that pathway over there?" Odom asked.

"That seems to be the right path, dear," Ashleigh replied.

Maelstrom followed their instructions, and in time he was scuttling along what had once been the ceiling while they navigated an infinite staircase. They had gone up thirty-two flights when they found a pathway leading off of it, but they progressed on what seemed to be the underside of the pathway, or maybe the entire maze was upside down now, they couldn't be entirely sure.

Abby was having the time of its short life riding around on the big glowy thing with Mommy and Daddy. It knew they were Mommy and Daddy because they had been present from Abby's earliest memories. They fed Abby, they took care of Abby, and from what the infant abomination knew of the emotion, they loved Abby.

Mommy was the one who wore soft clothes and was always looking at Abby with such love that Abby never wanted it to stop. Daddy was kind of like the big glowy thing, but different in that Daddy was smaller and not as loud. Daddy loved Abby too, and Daddy would always protect Abby. Abby knew it had to be true, because Daddy told Abby so. Mommy and Daddy wanted Abby to grow big and strong so that Abby could show the world how amazing Abby was.

Abby leaned back against Mommy and reached out for Daddy's hand with Abby's longest tentacle, hooking it around Daddy's littlest finger. Abby made a sort of purring noise that Abby hoped Mommy and Daddy understood as Abby saying "I love you".

0 notes