David’s Grand Plan

The ground quacked with the amount of power that coursed through its outer crust. So deep did the energy stride that even the underground rivers were slowed in their ever flowing veins. The ground erupted in places that the energy couldn’t continue its flow and large swatches of earth erupted upward in an ever growing rumble of death that swallowed enter cities and left the surrounding areas in ruble. 

“Do you understand my power now?” Vethrano asked using their mental link as his meteor crumbled and the magic consumed from within him. His pool depleted only a quarter of its holdings, but the strain was visible on Vethrano’s face.

“Your power?” David Melaney giggled slightly and raised his left hand for defense, his black cloak shaking with the motion. The debris took out another twenty to fifty miles in a near perfect circle from their location and the falling rocks were anywhere between one and twenty tons. Destruction wasn’t a strong enough word for the desolation that covered the massive area. David, wasn’t phased as he simply stood there, his hand raised and the shield he projected holding firm to every rock, sand, energy, etc. that clinked and clanked off of its skin. “Your power?”

“Why do you ask this? Do you not see?” 

“Oh, I see.”

“Then do you not fear?” 

“I do not fear.”

“You lie!” Vethrano shouted as he started to chant another spell.

“Hold!” David shouted out loud, above the roar of the destruction around him. “It is my turn.”

David drew back his hand as if the falling debris were nothing more than rain drops slowly pelting his skin and then let out a slight roar that split the air around him as a sonic shield appear and the debris began pelting off of its wavering surface. He then turned and looked directly at Vethrano and smirked slightly. David’s face was pocked from some disease that he had contracted years before and his arms were covered in scabs. He was not a good looking man to say the least, but he had a presence about him that commanded respect. His short brown hair was missing in different patches atop his head and his crooked nose had cuts up and down it as if someone had tried to cut it off with three razors at once and that same pattern covered his left eye. His eyes, however, were all wrong for any being. Vethrano had faced demons that had more humanity in them than this guy and his eye told a story that spanned eons of hatred. 

“When you wish to show someone, True Power, you should always start small.” David explained as he brought his hands together and chanted a single word into the space between. There was no rush of power, no pull of magic, not even the sound of energy moving. David opened his hands and in between was a small black rose that began blooming instantly. Vethrano shielded himself from the sight and cast two defensive spells in case the rose decided to attack. The magic that drew from his pool was loud enough to hear over the last of the falling debris and sounded out of place against David’s soundless draw.

“Are you trying to kill us both?” Valthrano asked as he stepped back, watching the rose come to full bloom. “Do you not know what that thing can do to flesh?”

“Only living flesh. It deals no damage to those of my persuasion. I have been long dead for thousands of years. You may want to keep your distance, however. I do know that their kiss is quite detrimental to anyone with living flesh.” David stated as he spoke another word into his palm.

“This is just an exhibition, right?” Valthrano stepped back again, this time bringing his weapon out for defense. It was a small rod about three inches in length and black as night. It had no glowing energy or magical residue coming from it, but it did have a strange humming sound that David could hear but not discern its meaning. “We are just showing one another our power and nothing more?” 

“You just took a weapon out at me.” David stated flatly, as if a declaration of war.

“No, I took out a defensive item.”

“It looks like a weapon to me. What does it do?” 

“It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t going to use it on you. Just the Rose if you threw it at me.”

“The Rose?” David asked as he opened his hands and they were empty.

“What…What did you do with it?” Valthrano asked as David looked up with those dead eyes, directly into his. He felt the world stop, his entire thought process began to muddle and he felt as though he were underwater. He tried to turn from the look, but could not unlock his eyes to those horrid orbs that David called eyes. He couldn’t look away, couldn’t think correctly, couldn’t move correctly, couldn’t…couldn’t…couldn’t breath.

Valthrano struggled harshly to defend himself from the gaze as he felt himself slipping slowly toward the deeper end of his watery grave. He tried to retch himself away from the orbs but couldn’t pull himself out of whatever this was. He tried to strong arm, then to use his magic, then to defend with energy. In the end he realized he had nothing that could break this hypnotic stare and he was going to die soon as he could already see the darkness crowding around the edges of his eyes. Then he felt the rod in his hand begin to vibrate and his air started slowly coming back. He could feel his feet once more and his arms began to react. He was breaking out of the stare and he could feel his magic coming back to him. 

“That is an interesting piece. I think that I will have it once we are done here.” David stated as matter of fact. 

“You..you tried to kill me. I wasn’t actually trying to kill you. I thought we were friends?” Valthrano grimaced as his body finally came back to him but he could feel the effect were still slowing his movements.

“I am friend to only one person and you are not him. And, I never try to do anything. I have not out right failed at anything in a near millennia. But you are right, I am going to kill you.” David turned and started walking away. The cloud of dust had filled most of the surrounding area and only the area they currently stood in wasn’t covered so completely that they could see. There would be no witnesses. “He’s yours. The rod is mine.”

“Who are you…?” Valthrano started to ask, but then remembered the Rose. The rose was a particularly powerful plant that grew on probe one. It was one of the most feared plants because it would paralyze its host and then slowly eat them alive. This was the only plant on the probe that could actually paralyze even a god. The Black Rose, however, was even worse. When it paralyzed its victims it then infused them with a toxin that strips the very essence of magic, energy, etc. from the body. If the victim gets clear of the rose’s paralysis before the inevitable, they are still left powerless. “No..Na….!”

“Now that is power.” David stated as he watched Valthrano stop, paralyzed in his tracks. David enjoyed the look of fear and pain on his face, but wished it could last longer. He then realized he would easily be able to capture the moment using a simple spell that would cause this moment in time to be seared onto a cloth. He quickly ripped away a piece of his cloak and flattened it as best he could and then moved to Valthrano where he could easily see his grimaced face. “Hold on. I will save this moment forever. You won’t be forgotten for as long as this fabric exists. So at least a few thousand years. Isn’t that grand?”

David chanted the spell and waved his hand to the fabric. Slowly and methodically the scene was captured and carved into the fabric as if woven there from its inception. Valthrano’s face showed so clearly that it was as if he were looking directly at the man rather than a torn cloth. It was so perfectly preserved that David was amazed and would definitely use this spell in the future. 

“Now, I have some things to finish before I can go on and meet with…” David began but stopped in his tracks when he felt the other step into this reality. “Whose there?” 

“You know me, David.” Vincent’s voice squeaked through the air and made David’s stomach churn. He was wearing his usual outfit of black suit with intricate gold flowers woven into the edges of the fabric making a beautiful tapestry. The neck was collared to his throat and was plumed outward going down with white silk overlaying itself. The wrists had the same plumes which covered his wrists and part of his hands. His pants were black with the same decorations at the ankles. The vest under his jacket was decorated similarly with giant buttons that verged on the gaudy. The belt he wore was made of some black leather with intricate designs carved into its facing which used warding spells to protect Vincent’s person.

“Oh, it’s you. You are intruding on a great moment for me. Go away.” David commanded.

“Would love to, but that won’t work this time.” Vincent’s long white hair bobbed slightly as he leaned harshly on his cane, which was more of a totem than an actual cane, topped with a massive crystal ball. His demeanor told David that something was wrong, but he wasn’t certain what it might be, everything had been working so perfectly up to now. 

“What is it?” David asked as he looked back down at the cloth in his hand. He was annoyed that the little rat-faced man was in the background of the scene now and would be there forever. Those beady black eyes and pointy nose made David feel something, which was out of the ordinary, but the feeling wasn’t something he thought enjoyable or even the least bit correct. David simply wanted to kill the little man, but knew he could not for a number of reasons. 

“I was just wondering how you were doing with your little friend. I thought I would drop by and let you know that I was doing alright as well. I have completed twenty percent of the goals we set forth and I have found the scepter of Agonash the Conqueror. The scepter is actually not a scepter at all, which I was rather confused about. That is, until I broke it on a young boys head. When broken the “scepter” shattered into a thousand pieces and came back as this Totem.” Vincent explained as he exposed the totem from a bag of holding. The totem was about two feet tall with four separate faces on it. The first was that of a wolf in the middle of a howl, its eyes made of rubies and glistening in the moonlight. The second was a bear’s face that had emeralds for eyes and was in the midst of a snarl. It’s fur and that of the wolf above it mingled together so perfectly that it was nearly a single head.

The third face was that of a Minor mageworm with its Golden eyes glistening in the moon. Its tongue was out and wrapped half way around the totem as it starred directly into the eyes of any one that looked upon it. It’s thick skin with its spikes going down its back was brilliant red and slid downward into the feather of the fourth face below it. That face, an owl of sorts, was screeching and its tongue was part ways out its beak. The eyes were made of some sort of black pearl and its feathers were sharp to the touch. Everything about this totem wreaked of evil and Vincent liked its glow.

“The totem of Agonash!” David was elated as the totem was not supposed to still exist. It’s power was legendary and each of its faces made up a different hero of that legend. If even a quarter of its power was to be believed, he would wield enough power to finally take down Chris and his stupid son. He would be well on his way to take on Six Guns directly, but first he would have to deal with this rat and his conniving ways. “What do you want for it?” 

“Oh, so you truly want it?” Vincent’s very existence annoyed David and the idea of doing business with this thing made even David’s skin crawl, but he had to have that totem. Valthrano moaned behind him and turned to look at the dying Kalagrim with all his power. The man would have actually been a threat if not for being so stupid. He showed David his most powerful attack way out here in the middle of no where to ensure that the cities that fell from it were nothing more than ghost towns. In the middle of no where was exactly where David did his best work and Valthrano was reaping those rewards. The entire reason for targeting the Sorcerer was to see if he would have enough power to take on the Guardians of Agonash’s scepter. That is no longer an issue now, so David had little to no use for the fool. “You can eat him now. I have no further use of him. Oh, but leave the rod. I wish to inspect it.”

Valthrano’s moans became much more powerful and he was screaming under his breath as his very skin was being ripped away by the vines that now clung to his upper and lower body. The rose was pulling the vines this way and that causing great cuts in the skin and then using the vines to enter the cuts and rip the skin in large sections. Valthrano couldn’t even move, but everyone could hear his whimpered screams as he tried valiantly to make any real sound. 

“Such a pity, I would have…” Vincent started as a door flew open in front of Vincent and shocked the rat faced man.

“I do apologize, but I have need of such a powerful weapon. I know that you stole it and stealing is evil. Therefore you are evil and thus I am not stealing from you, since you are evil. Thanks.” The person within the door stated as he reached out and yanked the totem from Vincent’s shocked hand and slammed the door closed once again. 

“What in the hells was that!” Vincent asked as David got to the spot that the door had opened.

“Indexia.” David stated as he reached for the door, but grasped only air. He had been banished from the place long ago and was hoping the totem might help him get back to his old home. Every time he grew close, however, something was taken from him and he wasn’t unable to get back. He only remembered the name, but nothing more of the place other than it was a place of amazing power its was a place that…that…The thought was gone. Where was he thinking? What was he saying?

“What was that?” Vincent asked.

“Where is the totem?”

“Right here.” Vincent snarled as if David has asked a foolish question. He then extended his hand to reveal nothing in his palm.

“Where?”

“It was here. I just showed it to you.” Vincent was dumbfounded. He knew that he had held it only moments before. He searched his jacket, the ground, his memory. It was simply gone. “Where the hell?” 

“It was here, but now it is gone?” David asked, now more snide than questioning. “You had better get it back. That Totem is the key to finally defeating the guardians. As powerful as I am, I can’t directly take on anything over an Emerald Gargoyle and even they are nearly too powerful for me. The Silver and the Gold are out of my reach and the two things that I need to defeat Chris are defended by Melaney Gargoyles, of which I can’t even scratch. I died ten times before I realized that I couldn’t deal damage to such a beast. And you tell me that the only thing that I can use to defeat such beasts, you had and now don’t!”

“Don’t yell at me. I don’t know where it went. It was just here! I know that it was just in my hand as I was lifting it to show you and now it is gone. I felt…something in the area.. Not sure what and then it was gone.” Vincent sneered and backed away a couple steps.

Valthrano mumbled something and his magic nearly cast the spell, but it was far too late as his mana had been all but depleted and his torso was nothing but muscle and bone. He was still frozen in that lovely grimace, but the blood took from the scene of David’s enjoyment. He was done here.

“Find me that totem. Find it or you and I are going to be at odds.” David stated as he stepped over beside Valthrano and grabbed the rod from the ground. It was cold to the touch, about two inches in length and covered in interesting carvings. David turned to Vincent, gave him an evil stare and then dropped a small crystal to the ground, instantly vanishing from this plane and then back again somewhere other than the dessert.

“Oh, I will find it, you fool. I am certain that you took it when I showed it and I am positive you think yourself smarter than I. It is a foolish thing to think in such a way.” Vincent giggled to himself and then shot across the desert to stand directly next to Valthrano. “So, care to make a deal. I have an offer you can’t refuse.”

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The door slammed closed and he had the totem he had envisioned only moments before. He knew that only with it would one be able to take on a Silver Gargoyle and defeat it if they were anything less than a Mald. So he grabbed the item, mixed it with some of his own power and altered the faces slightly from their original so that evil was no longer their intent. This took massive amounts of energy and an entire fifty acre area of Indexia was simply dissolved into its making. He felt tired, but knew that he dared not stop until he had finished. 

Darting through another door, of which he was a master of these doors for a reason he did not understand, but he knew were everyone was and where they would all lead and at which time, he stepped out and into the bar. He was waiting on the arrival, knowing it wouldn’t be long and he stepped to the left of the man with the large Hat. He knew that she would be along shortly and that she would be needing help. When she had taken him out of the bag in Indexia and the crystal brought his energy to life, he somehow bonded with the whole of the machine, and knew exactly its intent. He also could feel the clock that ran it all and knew that it was yet to be set. 

“Hey there?” Karlos asked as he brought up his large sombrero hat. His accent was thick, even in just these words, but he was a powerhouse among powerhouses and he would be able to do most anything. Best that he speak with him while he waited, but he couldn’t allow himself to miss the moment, so he decided he would simply do both.

“Hey yourself. I am curious if you have a drink there that I might like?” He asked as his body split and he was at the table with Karlos and standing in the middle of the room at the same time. “I have something I need to do and was hoping that you might help.”

“Chu have a stranj way bout chu.” Karlos stated flatly, his thick accent seemingly getting even thicker. He was eyeing the new being up and down and trying to assess his place in all of this when a small creature appeared in the middle of the room, not far from where the other half of the new being was standing. 

The creature was known as a Wobax and stood only a few feet tall, which was hard to ascertain overall height since as soon as the Metophic Energy caught up with the body, the body simply splattered onto the ground. 

Marie Gwen appeared within a second of the time that the Wobax did and she was distraught over the ordeal. So much so that he couldn’t allow this to stand. He was going to have to do something to keep her from crying, a sight he did not like. 

Have obtained everything that he would need to rebuild the being so that it would be able to avoid making her cry again, He used his vast power and a liter of his own blood to create a new body for the poor creature. The creature sprang back to life before them and was now made whole from all the realities that were available. Thus he was paying Marie back for helping create him. 

“Here you are. I am sorry that your friend splattered. I have made him whole.” He stated to her and then knew that he needed to be somewhere else very shortly, but didn’t want to be rude. “I have to go, but I will see you again when I have completed a few of my tasks.”

“Oh, thank..thank you.” Marie stated as she placed hands on the new creature and then they were both ported back to the plane of existence they were supposed to be from.

He watched as they left and felt a bit sorry for not being able to see their exploits first hand, but he had other things he had to complete before the beginning. Or was it the end. He wasn’t certain. Either way, he had no time for Karlos’ stories any longer.

“Sorry, Karlos, but I have to go.” He stated to Karlos, who simply tipped his hat and then took a swig of some sort of ale. 

“One more thing, before you go.” The being in the far corner that was hiding from the other stated. “You have created a paradox. You do realize this?”

“Yes. I was supposed to. Without it, there can’t be a beginning.”

“You mean an end, right?” the being asked.

“Or that.” And with that, he brought himself back together and moved off with what he had to accomplish. He had heard Karlos and the other being call him a Indexian Primordial, but he wasn’t certain what that meant. Regardless, it would have no bearing on the tasks at hand. He had to make it out of something and to look like something, but what… the Wobax had thought of a..what did he call it..Bottle?