by SlyOkami
“This one is part of my special collection, its origin is unknown other than that it was made during the second age. The Dark Age. I know not why it was made, or by who, but I know what it does.” Erik explained, as he raised his right palm open towards the object.
The walls of white marble flared golden for a moment, hidden runic inscriptions briefly appearing before fading away. The object then slowly floated down into Erik’s hands, tiny compared to the rest.
He turned around, the item in his hands.
Over one hand was a black collar of unknown leather, silver gems lining its length and a buckle of grimly dark gold. From it grew a thin chain of the same gold, taking to Erik’s other palm where the chain ended, the last hoop forged into a pitch-black ring.
Simply looking at the object filled each of them with dread.
“This was made for a sole purpose. To forcefully bind a humanoid being, to a dragon.” Erik explained, his eyes dark as he gazed down at the magical item. “Over the ages, its power has waned, no dragon or drake could be bound down by it now. But,”
He glanced at Nerick, “As it is now, I cannot do much for you. I wondered if I could bind you and Ivara, but the wyvern is too young and your magical capabilities are lacking at best.” He raised the item towards Nerick, “Do not underestimate the offer I am about to make, human. This object is the blackest of magic, curses come with that even I cannot remove. Once wielded, it cannot be undone. This will bind you and that wyvern, it will infuse you both with great power.”
Nerick stared at the ring warily, Ivara that lay around his shoulders though had a shine of curiosity about her eyes as she gazed at the golden chain swinging back and forth. “What are the downsides?” Nerick asked, looking up to meet Erik’s eyes.
“You will share pain, you will share emotions and…If one dies, so does the other.” Erik explained grimly.
“Nerick, you don’t have to do this.” Thea then said, grabbing her friend’s shoulder.
Nerick though continued to look Erik in the eye, “I have no family, I have nothing to say is mine other than my own name. I grew up on a farm where my father hammered into me the reality of human society, I trained as a soldier where my lack of magical power became very apparent. Then…before the creatures of hell I was useless. I was hopeless. I kneeled, I accepted death.”
His hands clenched, sensing his tension Ivara whined and bumped her snout into his cheek. He reached up to pet the young one, “You taught me a lot, Erik. You took me further than I ever would have made it on my own. In this world, as I am? There is nothing I can do, nothing I can change. I won’t be remembered as I am. Not on my own.”
Nerick sighed, his hand pausing over Ivara’s head, and the little wyvern whined for him to pet her more. “I want power. I want to become stronger, I want to surpass my limits. I want to leave a footprint on this world.”
“You will lose your humanity.” Erik warned, “You might not even recognise yourself after.”
Nerick smirked, “Good, I never liked the depressed drunkard soldier anyhow.” He then glanced over his shoulder, at the spoiled wyvern that lay her head down, eyes wide and whining in a low tone. The young cub was giving him the puppy eyes, she wanted to be spoiled more. “What about Ivara? What will that thing do to her?” he asked.
“Anything you want for her, you will be in complete control of her very existence. The only limitation is size, not smaller than a twig, not larger than an oak tree.” Erik explained, “The two I tore this item off of, was a human mage and a serpent changed to look like a mer. Guess my surprise when the piscine humanoid grew into my cousin.” He said jokingly.
Nerick chuckled, “Yeah.” he solemnly said. Relieved the cursed magic would only affect him negatively. He looked back down at the ring, glancing over the chain and then the collar, it seemed too large for little Ivara. “With this…I won’t have to tremble in fear of the next demon? I won’t have to sit and wait, unable to do a thing as I watch hell tear through my comrades?”
“Much more, with this, you will be able to tear through platoons of demonkin. With this, you’ll match Demon Lords in power.” Erik answered.
Nerick’s hands clenched into fists, his eyes were wide and teeth grinding with one another. In the end, he breathed out. A long sigh, “What do I do?” he then asked, “How do I put it on?”
Erik forwarded him the ring, “You’re left-handed, right? Slip this onto your second finger from the left, on the left hand.” He told him.
Nerick took the ring, the deepest black he had ever seen. He felt it in his palm, smooth like liquid, almost slipping off his skin. He raised it by his open left hand, as he neared the ring to his finger he felt a pull between them.
Black tendrils of misty energy formed out of the ring and coiled around his finger, he felt them, slithering over his skin. He sensed it, he sensed the energy touching him. The magic was cold, ancient and powerful.
Nerick faltered at the feeling, a darkness so cold permeating his skin and slowly dug up his arm.
“You feel it, don’t you? The energy forcing its way through your body, expanding you, it is preparing your body for the shock that is to come.” Erik explained, “Prepare your mind, human, once you slip that ring on…You will feel agony like you have never felt before.” He said while wrapping the collar around Ivara’s neck, the wyvern staying obediently still before the drake.
The collar suddenly shrunk down to match Ivara’s size, then buckled itself.
“You can always go back,” Erik said, “One more step, and there is no going back. You can avoid the pain, avoid the weight of power. You can go home, and live out the rest of your life knowing others are doing their best to defend this world.” Erik offered while backing away from them, gesturing for the rest to do the same.
Nerick’s eyes were narrowed as he stared at the black ring, the magic crawling under his skin as it flowed up and through his body. Just now reaching his chest.
He looked up, first glancing at Ivara who was playing around with the shiny golden chain, now that Erik had stepped away. Then at Erik, expectation clear in his eyes. Then Thea, worried as always. Glancing over Shizuka who showed great interest in the object, and Makaela who couldn’t care less.
Nerick returned to staring at the ring, pondering his very existence.
Asking himself, was he truly so vain to give up on his own humanity? Just for more power?
What did it even mean?
To give up one’s humanity?
(“This is my limit, this is as far as I can make it.”) Nerick told himself, (“Erik is telling me if I remain as I am…If I continue onwards with them…I will be killed.”) realisation going through his mind. Nerick smiled weakly, as he pulled the ring away from his finger. The tendrils of magic fading out of existence.
Thea sighed in relief, quietly as to not show it. Watching as Nerick gave the ring back to Erik, who stared at him with curiosity in his eyes. The Drake was surprised, he fully expected Nerick to give in to power.
“Why?” Erik asked, meeting Nerick’s dejected gaze.
When suddenly, Nerick lowered into a half-kneel before him. “Because although my life is worth nothing, you offer me great power. Erikathyr, I cannot choose, I’m too afraid to choose. So, I ask you to choose in my stead. My life which you saved, as a Knight of Druvia, although the practice hasn’t been used in centuries…I vow it, I kneel before you and vow, from here onwards I fight in your name!” He exclaimed, raising his left hand towards Erik. “My life is yours, do with it as you wish.”
Erik stared down at the human knight, glancing at the ring within his right hand and then at Nerick’s outstretched left hand. His eyes narrowed briefly, followed by a bellowing laughter that filled the room and corridor outside.
“Wonderful, yes you humans never change. You never do what I expect you to do, you don’t even do the opposite. I fear I’ll never come to comprehend, but then again, that is how you came to rule over the other races. You spark my curiosity, I hunge
r to know.” He smiled openly, a wicked grin as his blue eyes shimmered gold. “Very well, Sir Knight. Then I resign you of your existence, human, you shall be no more.”
Erik slipped the ring around Nerick’s finger, and the tendrils of dark magic suddenly lashed out. The darkness engulfed Nerick’s hand, the tendrils digging into his skin and flowing up to envelope his entire body.
Nerick tried to scream, but the darkness shrouded him, silencing him. He fell to the side, engulfed in shadows as he twitched and shook on the floor. Ivara had long leapt off him, she prowled around him at first, whining in confusion as she watched her master flail in agony.
The wyvern then turned to face Erik, fury in her young eyes as she hissed up at the drake.
Erik though continued to smile, even as he appeared to hold Thea back. “Nerick!” She shouted, trying to force her way through him, “Stop this!” she told him.
“No.” Erik responded coldly, “This was his choice, he gave it to me knowing what I would do. There is no going back now.” He explained, as suddenly Nerick’s body stopped flailing. He lay still on the ground briefly, before suddenly without moving a single limb, he floated up into standing.
The shadows that engulfed his body dissipated, and with them the ring, chain and collar faded out of existence.
Nerick turned around to face them, revealing his changed appearance.
His hair had grown longer, reaching his waist, and had turned into strands of black among mostly a gleaming silver. His eyes were completely gone, replaced with a pit of darkness, a silver orb glowing in the very centre as his pupil. His skin had paled also, turning mildly grey.
But the change most prominent, was the black rune-like inscriptions that ran across his skin. They were like tattoos except that they glowed a misty black. The tattoos formed two lines, each character connected in some way. They wrapped around him, each line starting out off a single character over his eyelids and then coiling down his body. They wrapped around his face, his neck and lower. Visible over his arms, even his chest as he stretched out his shirt’s collar to check.
“How do you feel?” Erik asked.
Nerick stared down at his hands, opening and closing them over and over. He felt so much energy flow through his body, more so than when Erik used him as a vessel to cast his spell. He felt it, the power surging through him, a power he had only ever seen others produce.
“Well!?” Thea exclaimed, “How do you feel!?” her anxiety getting the best of her.
Nerick looked up to gaze at them, “Like I’m back on pipe, but without the side effects!” he said with a wide grin.
Ivara lay her head on the floor and covered her eyes, whining in shame.
Ch 27 - It Begins
Nerick took a deep breath, feeling the sizzling energy flow through him with each heartbeat. A riveting feeling it was, mana flowing at his will, concentrating at his fingertips with a thought. He grinned widely.
“Enjoying the feeling are you?” Erik said, “Well don’t get used to it too soon, that’s just energy, next you’ll have to learn how to unleash it properly.”
“Y-Yeah…” Nerick said.
“And don’t falter either, knight.” Erik then said as he turned away, “If you falter, the ring will swallow you whole.”
Those words woke Nerick from his intoxicated daze, “W-What? What do you mean?” he asked, watching Erik leave the room. They followed, Nerick anxiously walking up to the drake. “What do you mean by falter?”
Erik rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Power comes with dangers, but I shall explain later. First, there’s one more stop we’ll be making.” He explained as they paused before the final room.
“Human?” Shizuka said, reading out the runes that lay carved above the large entrance.
“A pesky race, one human cannot be compared to another and as such, some humans tend to be…Different.” Erik said, leading them inside. “No race, not even the demons, thirst for power as much as some humans. Madness made these weapons, crafted by, through and with pure insanity of which their makers were sick from.”
Only three weapons lay within the room, side by side the three weapons lay engulfed in black tattered cloth, held together by crimson red chains etched with bright glowing white runes. They hovered in place like the rest, but the closer they got the easier they were to notice.
Each covered weapon was surrounded by a transparent barrier, runic inscriptions ever shifting and changing along the bubble of mana.
“The first,” Erik began as he reached through the barrier and held his hand high, the covered weapon hovering down into his grasp. “A blade like no other, crafted by Dwarven hands. Enchanted by the highest of Elven magic. Then cursed, by the human known to have begun the Dark Age.” Erik passed his palm over the chains, and they fell loose on their own. He uncovered the weapon, slowly as he turned around to face them.
Removing the cloth aside, a snow-white sword lay in his hand. Its sheathe and handle made from glimmering white reptilian skin. He unsheathed it, revealing the blackest of blades. “This is the sword of the most vile creatures to ever exist, the first human, they also once had a human name. But, we who remember call him otherwise. We call him the Underlord, and this, was his Underblade.”
As he moved the blade further from the sheathe, greenish-black shapes formed out, like a thick fog. Within the fog faces would form, deform, and reform over and over again. “What you see are the souls that were felled by this weapon, absorbed into it, contained for all eternity to empower it.”
“That’s cruel…can you not release them?” Thea asked, staring at the blade with sadness unlike the awe on everyone else’s face.
Erik smiled, “No, the curse the Underlord put upon this weapon is not one I can remove with brute force. It is said only another human, one pure of heart, can. Now I do not know what it means to be ‘Pure of heart’, but you are human, are you not?” he asked her.
Thea could only nod, following his thought.
“Millions of souls lay imprisoned within this blade, even if you fail, do you wish to at least try?” Erik asked, turning the sword by the hilt and forwarding the grip towards Thea. “To try and release them of their eternal prison?”
“Y-Yes…” Thea said, eager to help as she reached for the sword.
“Then speak with it, and do not fail its test like I had.” Erik said.
Thea grabbed the sword, and suddenly her eyes rolled back, turning white.
“T-Thea?” Nerick said, seeing her suddenly frozen in place.
“What did you do to her?” Shizuka asked, stepping away from the sword.
“I did nothing, she’s simply speaking with the sword. Now we wait, we watch.” Erik explained, letting go of the weapon and backing away himself. “Succeed or fail, she won’t be hurt.”
* * *
Thea opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by darkness, unable to see, unable to even feel the ground beneath her feet.
She felt herself float, yet felt no liquid around her.
“You who would wield us. What is it that you desire?” Asked many voices at once, almost inaudible as they echoed in unison.
“Desire?” Thea repeated in confusion.
“We are power, we are strength. Do you wish for us? Do you want power? Is it strength which you seek? We are it. Do you accept us? We can make you strong.” The voices offered.
“Strong…” Thea repeated once more, (“To not fail the test where he had…”) understanding where Erik had failed. “No, I do not want your strength.” She answered.
“Are you sure? Sure? Sure?” The voices asked once more, the timing of each voice falling apart.
Thea felt the sword’s hilt within her hands once again, “Be free.” she said, letting go of the weapon.
“Is-Is That-That your-Your desire-Desire?” The voices asked, “We-We could-Could be-Be your-Your power-Power.” they offered again. The sword appearing within the darkness, clear as day before her. Offering itself to her.
“I don’t want power, if it is at the suffering of others.” Thea responded.
Suddenly the voices laughed, a reverberating laughter that pained her ears. Thea tried to cover them, the pain resonating through her head.
Slowly the laughter merged, the voices became one.
“You, would free, these creatures?” Said the voice, “You fool, these demons are imprisoned for a reason. You have not the strength to fell them, therefore they stay within ME!”
Her vision blurred.
* * *
Thea’s eyes rolled back to normal, and she immediately backed away from the sword. She let go of it, yet it remained floating in place. She stared at it, her expression pale, her eyes wild with panic.
“You failed.” Erik said, grabbing the sword by its hilt and sheathing it.
“What…What was that?” Thea asked.
Erik chuckled, “I never said what sort of souls were imprisoned within the blade, yet you decided to free them anyway didn’t you?” Thea nodded, raising her gaze from the weapon to meet his amused eyes. “I failed the blade’s test because I did not need the power it offered, you failed too…because you are too gullible.” He said, sighing right after as he picked up the cloth and chains.
“Too bad, this would’ve been a fine weapon for you to wield. The Underblade, also known as Hell’s Devourer.” He said whilst wrapping the black cloth around the weapon once more, the chain then suddenly wrapping itself around it of its own will.
“But…I thought it was made by the vilest of creatures?” Thea asked in confusion.
“Ha!” Erik laughed as he threw the covered weapon back into its barrier, it floated back to place. “The Dark Age was full of cruel and vile creatures, a time when history was not even recorded. All we know is what older races remember. Yes this weapon was made by the cruel, but it was made to kill something crueller.” He turned to face her, “Do not judge a weapon by its wielder, it is a tool and nothing else.”