Such is the Way of Magic - Part IV

16:1 The Knight paced with unease. His sword was dull; the last battle had chipped it into a nigh-unusable club. Only his shield still held a glimmer of enchantment, yet... Was that enough? He nodded. The cold castle walls around him were inlaid with secrets. Enchantments.

16:2 Yet the dark energies of the enemy could already be detected. The Knight took his sword, as it was all he had, but put his shield into his right hand. It was large, covered in glyphs containing power, and held a gem holding the soul of a golem. But without a proper sword...! It did not matter. There was no longer time to question things. The enemy was here.

16:3 The young Knight walked out of the castle gates, to confront the enemy. The insidious Enemy had built a machine, a magical machination of the most insidious sort, but what was it? The Knight looked up at the sound of his Wizard's incantations. His wizard cast a spell to destroy the machine. From the sky came down fire and fury, an attempt to destroy the enemy's cursed trap.

16:4 But there was only laughter. The machine was designed to be broken, and absorbed the Wizard's fire. And thus it activated, and from the contraption came a terrible wind.

16:5 Tornado. It rushed through the fields, and at The Knight. ...His shield! He raised it, and focused: He activated the magic within the shield and the tornado was deflected harmlessly away. The Knight grinned, and shouted a challenge: "You fools underestimate our magic! Now it's time for you to pay the price.

16:6 The brave Knight ran towards the enemy, and ran and ran, and woke up in bed. In the castle. He shook his head, not understanding. Was it a dream? He looked out his window, and in panic, saw the enemy still there! The one he had rushed at, and it was gaining ground towards the castle. No. NO! A dark illusory spell had been cast on him.

16:7 He began rushing down the castle's stairs, needing to get back out to the field of battle before it was too late. The enemy wizards were casting spells of insane calibers, the very like of which should never be cast by those of benevolent blood. Not even common villains would dare approach such wickedness. Yet it had happened. The ancient spells of the darkest void were awakening, and only one Knight was able to fight thus far.

16:8 Where were the armies? Already gone. This battlefield is no place for mere mortals without magic. Thus they perished.

17:1 The Knight exited the castle once more, and saw more enemies already appearing at the gates. He must vanquish them. But one of them was false, and he had already paid the price once. A wicked spell of illusion was cast over one of their armies, and could not be approached, even with an enchanted shield, as The Knight had learned terribly. So The Knight chose to approach the enemy to the right of the enchanted illusion, and thus he attacked. He raised his sword and...! They weren't human.

17:2 Djinn. Wicked djinn. His sword dispelled them, but the bottles they came in could not be shattered. Nothing could shatter them. Nothing could contain them. But at least they were wounded and sent away. The Knight returned to his guard post at the entrance to the castle. Above him, at a castle portcullis, an enchantress joined him, and began to chant mystical words of hope and power.

17:3 But the enemy had their witches too. They summoned the Winged One. From the skies, a terrible bird came down to an enemy encampment, and offered them the secrets of the darkest winds. From the north wind, they offered a ritual of frost, and from the south, a ritual of fire.

17:4 In moments the bird was bound, and a dagger at its throat. The witches did not care for offers or trades. Instead, it was the wise bird that was made the offering, and thus, from the darkness, an Angel appeared. The bird had been sacrificed to fuel a dark summoning ritual already in progress. A trick.

17:5 The Angel was here. The Angel smiled, and pointed with her finger. Twice.

17:6 The Knight grinned, and braced his enchanted shield for the impact of the spell. It hit, and exploded, turning the shield into molten scrap. Yet he lived! He lived, and drew his sword to take the fight to this dark Angel. But he only had time for the smallest utterance as her second spell hit him. He exploded into a red mist, which evaporated into a fiery blaze. He was gone.

17:7 "Woof! Woooof!" His dog wandered onto the battlefield. An armed dog. This was a battle-wolf, prepared for battle. Over five feet tall, and armed with metal plates, fully enchanted with darkest magic. The dog rushed towards the wicked Angel of destruction and tore at her. The fight was short, her throat being torn out first, to prevent her from casting more spells, and the rest of her body dismembered and turned into meat chunks shortly after. The dog feasted, yet still shed a tear of mourning for his deceased master. Revenge was had, and it was delicious.

17:8 From the abyss of death, the Angel rose up behind the naive dog. With a flick of her finger, the poor dog burst into a fountain of entrails, without even time for a whimper. The dark Angel sneered, and began to march towards the castle of The Wizard.

18:1 From the window of the castle, the enchantress continued her spell weaving. She looked behind her, into the room, and called, "Lord Wizard, where are you? The battle has begun, and the enemy is moving towards us. Our Knights are dead. The other wizards are nowhere to be seen. It is only me at the window, and I am filled only with fear."

18:2 The dark Angel approached the castle and her finger pointed towards the gates. They exploded open, debris flying everywhere. Destructive spells of such power would tear through stone in seconds. The first gate was breached.

18:3 The enchantress at the window held tight as the castle shook, but did not give up her spell weaving. "Lord Wizard! We need you! The enemy is about to be summoned forth and will surely swarm us. There are no reinforcements!"

18:4 From deep within the castle, a sound is heard: A thick book shuts.

18:5 And from behind the enchantress, her sister appeared.
"Sister, let me go out there. I will fight."
"But you mustn't. You could die!"
"We will both die if we do not fight. That is how it is. We are gifted with magic, and I will use it to destroy their wicked Angel."
"So be it. Let me cast a spell such that you appear already in their ranks, and can attack without delay."
"So be it."

18:6 A spell was cast, and the Sister of the Enchantress was then among the enemy. With a simple word, blood splattered from the dark Angel, her limbs were ripped from her body, and her head fully inverted. Such was the way of magic.

18:7 And the way of magic was known to the Enemy. With dark spells, they banished the now twisted Angel from existence, never to return in any form. A banishment ritual. Exchange The Angel's very spirit with that of another demonic entity.

18:8 From the ashes of the Angel came forth the Void Knight. He pointed his sword at the Sister of the Enchantress.
And she was banished from existence. The grass where her feet once stood lifted up, untouched. But she was gone. Banished from reality.

19:1 The Enchantress at the window shed a single tear as she watched her sister vanish. And then she forgot. There was nothing to remember.
Banishment from existence was harsher than death. It was as if she had never lived. Who? Who never lived? Not even I can remember.

19:2 Such is the way of magic.

19:3 The Enchantress cried out again for the Wizard. "Lord Wizard, you must save us! No defender is at our gate, and the enemy is approaching. They have their Knight. The darkest Knight. The most wicked Knight, and he has the power of banishment. Only you can defeat him."

19:4 The Lord Wizard sat up. He began to slowly walk to the broken gate. He held no sword. He held no shield. He held no wand. He held only his books.

19:5 He cast a spell. The approaching Void Knight stumbled, and was instantly liquefied by the spell. His remains poured from the cracks in his armor. A victory. A Squire joined the Lord Wizard, holding a shield and sword. Too young to know better. But old enough to fight.

19:6 Was it enough? Yes! The spells woven were enough to break through, but more Djinn appeared from their unbreakable bottles.
But the Squire knew to slash them open and force them back into their bottles to recover. The squire prevailed, and cut their throats, forcing them back into their unbreakable lamps.

19:7 Weak opponents, but their magic could prove troublesome.

19:8 It mattered little to the Enemy.

20:1 The Enemy witches performed another dark ritual, laughing wickedly as the injured Djinn were sucked from their bottles and pulled into the sacrificial void. The Enemy exchanged their essence and summoned a twisted demon, a Thing with too many legs. It crawled swiftly upon the ground and leapt at the Lord Wizard, and crawled into his mouth. His brain was eaten, and he was taken over. Using his wicked powers, the entity shot lightning at the squire, but the squire was able to defend with his shield. But the shield shattered. He picked up one of the Lord Wizard's books, and opened it. The power within was immense, and the Squire learned too much. How could he go back to daily life having even seen a single letter from that ancient tome?

20:2 But it was enough. He slashed the Lord Wizard's corrupted body to pieces, weeping as he did so, his sword glowing with his rage. The Enchantress at the window watched silently, and cast another spell. It was too late to save the Lord Wizard, but at least she could have vengeance.

20:3 She vanished from the room and appeared at the side of the squire, and with another spell, summoned her magical assistant, Abitha the Ingenious. The three of them readied themselves for the next terrible attack from the Enemy.

20:4 The illusory army vanished: It was only one single wizard. He was banished by his Witches, his usefulness expired, and his essence exchanged. He screamed as he was absorbed by The Darkness. In his place stood an abomination.

20:5 An insane man with one thousand hands approached, desiring to snatch eyeballs, lungs, limbs, and anything else from his enemies. Abitha the Ingenious did not blink: She attacked, and slew him where he stood. As he fell, he turned to stone, and shattered upon the ground, blood dripping from cracks in his rock.

20:6 From the skies, a Dark Wind came forth, and lightning came down to strike them. They screamed with fear, but The Squire raised his sword and conducted the electricity, posing as a valiant sacrifice. His armor exploded, and he was gone.

20:7 But the Enchantress and Abitha were saved.

20:8 They waited. Nothing more came, and thus the battle was won for today. But there will surely be more. There is always more from the Enemy.
The future is always dark. Such is the way of magic.

To be continued...