The dweomer was strong, engulfing the entire area in a soft blue glow unseen to all but the magically trained. It lit the smothering blackness of night, revealing the ancient columns of the great shrine.
Drezeal stepped lightly among the fallen rubble of obsidian, his eyes darting warily about for hidden dangers. Sweat slipped along the outer contours of his face, trickling off his chin in thin rivulets. As he approached the center of the shrine, the origin of the dweomer, the light began to pulsate, throbbing to the tune of a silent heartbeat.
And It beckoned.
He was tempted to go back, to run away as far as he could from the hideous shrine. This was no shrine to the likes of good--its unholiness could be felt miles away. And when it had been destroyed by the Five Wise Men, its dark inhabitant had only fallen dormant, asleep.
And now It beckoned.
But Drezeal knew he could not run away, not from this, his destiny. No, no, It beckoned and he would answer its call. So that It could be destroyed once and for all.
A task that even the Five Wise Men could not handle.
A laugh bubbled deep within his soul, the laughter of the mad man, of the hopeless. There was no way he could succeed . . . but he had to try. Before It awakened and ravaged his kingdom, the beautiful Valayden, once again.
The rhythmic throbbing began to pound in his ears, matching the beating of his very own heart. Each step he took towards the center, the altar, became more and more sluggish, as if he was walking through molasses. The dweomer was bright here, glaring through his squinting eyes. Finally, his steps grew leaden and he stopped, three feet from the altar.
The altar that was the cage to Valayden's Curse and Amadi's Iniquity.
With a heaving effort that nearly sapped all his strength, Drezeal lifted his arms to the empty, starless sky.
"Hear me, Lords of Light!" he cried aloud, determined to finally end the Curse.
The blue light on the altar flared in anger at his defiance.
"I call upon thee to aid me to vanquish the Evil that breeds in this cesspool of darkness. Listen to me and obey my command!!"
The dweomer pulsed, tendrils of it lifting off the altar and twining along the ground as if in pain.
Lowering his arms, he held them out to the altar, in an almost supplicating gesture. He stared hard at the twisted images carved into the chipped and weed-choked obsidian, his eyes full of loathing.
"For many centuries you have plagued my land and now you wish to return once again," he ground out of his clenched teeth. "But no more. Not any more."
Closing his eyes, he gathered the powers of magic and Light within himself, chanting softly.
The dweomer seemed to roar in anger,
"Light that banishes the darkness
blue fire sparking on the altar and burning the
and gives life to those under it
weeds. The blue fire suddenly blazed, engulfing the obsidian and twisting into the sky. Flames shifted off the altar, surrounding the oblivious Drezeal and trapping
I ask you for the strength needed to banish this Evil
him in a circle of dancing unholy fire. The
so that peace may be restored
altar shifted beneath the blue blaze, the images coming
in the name of humanity, mercy and justice
to life, screaming and laughing horribly, trying to desperately break
let us crush those who stands before the glory of life"
Drezeal's chant. Suddenly, the altar exploded, pieces of black stone flying everywhere. Shards scratched Drezeal's bare hands and arms, and one embedded deep into the right side of his chest. He gasped, breaking off in mid-spell and stumbling back, right into the circle of flames.
He screamed, as the living flames tried to greedily devour his flesh. Drezeal struggling against the burning tendrils, stumbling away from the fire, beating the sparks on his clothing with one hand and clutching the shard in his chest with the other.
"No!" he cried hoarsely. "I must finish! I must . . ."
He trailed off, looking up. And up. And up.
The dweomer that had surrounded the altar condensed into an amorphous Being, towering over the remains of It's cage. It gazed down at him, seemingly laughing at his pitiful attempt to contain and destroy It.
You, of Amadi's line, who has tried to kill me, give me your name, so that I might remember how you have amused me. The voice was hard and whispering, like the winter's wind before the blizzard.
Drezeal croaked, not able to say anything before the terrifying majesty of It.
Laughter echoed in his head, chilling like a tomb. No matter then. I will Forget anyway. And now you will forget, and remember no more. It gestured.
Beckoned.
He could not run away. His destiny.
To die.
Fires giggled and danced as he approached the Being and disappeared.