Twilightfall

by Viktor Zólyomi

  `Your careless meddling will destroy the Multiverse!'

  `Ah, it is truly flattering that you would think me powerful enough to actually destroy the Multiverse, but really, I'm not vain enough to be agreeing with you... Now, let's get back to the point, shall we? Let's talk about how you came to be in this place, in this Keep. How did you do it? Here's how you did it, you retrograde old faggot! You put the Lord of this Keep in a stasis void. In a motherfucking stasis void! The motherfucker happens to be my best motherfucking friend. He's like a brother to me. Guess what? Killing your fucking ass is just not punishment enough for what you did to him!'

  `Go ahead. It doesn't matter what you do to me.'

  `Maybe it won't matter to you, but it will make me feel better. You do know that I'm a black magician, right?'

  `You... you wouldn't dare. You wouldn't dare to do that to me...'

  `Hahahahahaha! I wouldn't dare? Hahaha! It's funny how everybody keeps saying that about me...'

  Then he steps back and raises both hands towards Voi'Shek. He stares at the frozen mage fiercely, and begins chanting some magic words. At first he speaks silently, then louder and louder. He speaks the last few words shouting. As he finishes, a purple beam of light erupts from his hands and strikes Voi'Shek. It completely envelopes him, and he begins to scream.

  It lasts roughly a minute, and slowly his screaming stops. The skin on his face has turned dry and wrinkled, he looks like a man who's been dead for years.

  `That'll teach ya!' says Zack, and then he walks towards the door on the far wall. He opens it and briefly stops.

  `I love it when a plan works!' he says to himself in satisfaction. Then he steps through the door and closes it behind himself. I try to stand up, but the weakness that's been overwhelming me for so long just keeps me down, and I realize that I can't go anywhere. I rest my head on the ground, and close my eyes...

  Endgame

  Keehmor Keep, present day (25 minutes before Twilightfall)

  I awake. I feel a burning sensation on my finger. I raise my head and glance at it. It's the finger with the ring I got from that mercenary in Port Mor'peri. It feels like it's burning. The symbol on the ring is glowing...

  I slowly stand up. I feel a bit dizzy, but other than that I'm fine, and I'm no longer weak. It seems this ring somehow revitalized me while I was unconscious.

  I look around. Zack Sands is nowhere in sight. And Voi'Shek...

  He's pinned to the wall, covered in ice. I walk close to him, and examine him. His corpse is dry... His skin is full of wrinkles and it's totally stuck to his skull, like there is no flesh between the skin and the bone... His eyes are staring stiffly forward with an empty gaze. He's dead. He seems to have died in agony.

  What the Hell did Zack do with him? How the Hell was he able to do it? This guy here is supposedly the greatest mage that ever lived in our world. Zack was so terrified of facing him...

  Until we got here, that is... He was suddenly sure of himself, of his success. I thought it was just a sudden stroke of arrogance, his recklessness showing itself. But what if he knew all along that he could easily take on Voi'Shek? Why did he bring Meliorath into it at all, if he had this kind of power? I'm not buying that bullshit about a diversion. He went to a lot of trouble to get those undead creatures. He's got to be up to something...

  That son of a bitch has some answering to do!

  Wait...

  I remember that he took the stone away from Voi'Shek, and then he left. The son of a bitch!

  Where is he?!

  Right. He left through that door in the back. I gotta go after him.

  I walk to the door, but it's locked. I step back and deliver a powerful spinning kick to the door, to break it down.

  But...

  Nothing happens...

  The doorway must be magically barred. That means I cannot get through...

  But I think there is another way...

  *

  I walk back out the door through which we came in, and head for the nearest window. I kick the glass and it shatters to pieces. I change into bat shape and fly outside.

  Examining my surroundings, I realize that there is a tall tower just above the room where Zack killed Voi'Shek. Perhaps that's where he was headed.

  I fly up to the top of the tower. It is covered by a large dome, much of it made of colored glass. I fly to the top and return to my normal form. Standing atop the dome, I glance down through the glass.

  `There he is...'

  From atop, I see Zack as he is waving his hands around, probably casting some spells. The room down there is completely empty. It reminds me of the Summoning Chamber in Re'Cas, but I see no Gateways anywhere. The floor however is delicately adorned, full of various colorful images etched in the stone. I wonder what kind of purpose this room serves. If it serves any purpose at all... This Keep is the work of a raving madman, there is no telling which part of the Keep is meant to serve what purpose, or if any of them are used for anything at all...

  No matter, my only concern is the stone of my amulet. I want it back! And that son of a bitch down there has it...

  I gather all my strength and strike the glass as hard as I can. The window shatters, and I fall down into the chamber.

  *

  I land on my feet right behind Zack, some twenty feet away from him. He finishes some spell, and then turns towards me. He's smiling.

  `Hi Flora! Did you miss me?'

  I slowly walk towards him with an angry look on my face. Still, he just smiles.

  `Where is my stone?!' I ask him.

  `Ah, that. Yes, yes. It's in my pocket.' he says, smiling.

  `Give it to me!' I tell him, and I reach out my hand with my palm opened.

  `Well, yeah. I will. But not just yet. You remember, we had a deal, right?'

  `What deal?'

  `That if I kill Voi'Shek for you, I get all the spoils of war. Everything he had, is mine. Well, he had the stone. I killed him. Now the stone is mine. Spoils of war, Flora!'

  `You son of a bitch, the stone was never his, he stole it from me! Hell, he stole it from you after you stole it from me!'

  `Yeah, like that matters. Had you had the stone with you when we were caught, he'd have taken it anyway.'

  `I don't care! Give it back! Now!'

  `Patience, Flora. You'll get it back. Just because I'm such a nice guy. But first, I'll use it for something.'

  `No. You will give it back right now!'

  `Oh will you knock it off already? Spoils of war, Flora! As per our deal, remember? Besides, I worked hard for this. I killed Voi'Shek, not you!'

  Yes, you certainly did. And how...

  `You know what, Zack? There's one thing I don't get here... What happened down there? What did you do with him?'

  `I killed him.' he says, shrugging his shoulders.

  I stare at him in astonishment upon hearing his senselessly casual reply. This guy is unbelievable...

  `How can it be, that you managed to do this? He was so much more powerful than you... How could you have defeated him so easily?'

  He stares at me confused for a while, and then he smiles, and laughs aloud. He laughs for quite some time, even patting his legs, but after a while he slowly stops.

  `He never stood a chance. I had a very useful little tool that made him fall quick, but even without it I would have eventually taken him down. He was too weak to beat me. He was doomed to die the moment he chose not to flee.'

  `The Dreamer? Doomed to die? By your hand?'

  `You don't understand, do you?'

  `No. I don't.'

  `I might as well tell you then, I guess I've got that much time to spare. You've been such a valuable part of this game after all.'

  `Game?'

  He looks up.

  `Oh, will you look at that. You made a Hell of a mess, you know. Danny Boy's gonna be pissed.'

  `Game?' I ask again.

  `Sssh...' he says. `I've got an idea.'

  He waves his right hand and th
e shards of the shattered window float up and return to their original place, as he magically forges them together. It's like it had never been broken at all.

  `Good as new!' he says. `Well, not quite, but it'll have to do... Do you think he'll notice?'

  `Enough clowning around! Just answer me! What game are you talking about?!'

  He sighs, and then smiles.

  `My game. The game I've played since you showed me your amulet. The game that has finally reached its final phase, the endgame. The game, that I am about to win.'

  `What are you talking about?'

  `You know what? I'll tell you all about it. I've got that much time to spare, I guess. Well, let me start at the beginning. Let's go back to the day when you came to Coldrock and I kicked Grenshaur's ass. Remember that?'

  `Yes.'

  `Well, then you recall how amazed I was when I discovered the Shadestone in your amulet after the battle. You must recall the effort it took me to prevent the total destruction of Coldrock after that little accident...'

  `Go on.'

  `That was a shock for me! I've read legends about the Shadestone, but I knew nothing of its true power. When I experienced it first hand, I knew that I had found my ticket into the Shadowland. As you know, there are many Spiritual Planes. Some of them are difficult to visit. None are more difficult than the Shadowland. The inhabitants of that world are quite unfriendly. They don't let any mortals into their world. I have tried opening Portals there, but I never had even the slightest of success. As far as I know, nobody ever did.

  But your stone allows for the unthinkable. All the power in that stone comes from the essence of the Shadowland itself. There is an enormous amount of this essence sealed in the stone. Compared to the world itself, it's but a fraction. But from a mage's point of view, it is enormous! So much, that it would enable me to open a planar Rift to the Shadowland. Not a Portal, but a Rift. Nonetheless, that would do fine.

  Needless to say, I've wanted it since day one. You see, I have explored nearly all of the Spiritual Planes, and I've learned so much from these journeys that I cannot put it into words. Of all those worlds, the Elemental Planes taught me the most. For those worlds are the source of the power of arcane magic! Having visited those worlds helped me understand arcane magic better than ever before. I can only imagine how much I could learn in the Shadowland, the world which powers black magic. I must see it, I must go there! I have traveled so much and learned so much, yet I know so little. The best places to learn of the Multiverse are the Spiritual Planes. I just have to see them all...

  But how? This is what I asked myself. I've seen how difficult it is to control the power of the stone. I needed to ensure that I could safely tap its power and use it to conjure the Rift, and at the same time I had to ensure that I could deal with the consequences. So, I devised my plan.

  When we left Coldrock, my chess game began. The key pieces on the board were you, Mel', Grenshaur, Ghaubel, and of course Voi'Shek. You see, I knew of his involvement all along.'

  `What?! You knew that he was the one after my amulet?!'

  `Yes, I knew. At least I assumed, and I was correct, haha! But really, it couldn't have been anyone else. I knew he was here ever since I paid a visit to the Great Library of Re'Cas shortly after Jason killed Th'Mesh. You see, Jason started an avalanche with what he did, and the consequences of his actions will be felt throughout the Planes for centuries to come.

  For example, you wouldn't guess how much the Hellish Planes have changed. The greatest Demon Lords have always struggled, fought amongst each other, for countless millennia. Th'Mesh was one of the most powerful ones. With his death, another of the most powerful Demon Lords, Sark de Haro, has risen to be the single most powerful Demon Lord in all the Hellish Planes. Sark has long styled himself as the King of Hell, and he has indeed been one of the most powerful demons for tens of thousands of years, but with the Destroyer in his way, he could never reign over all the Hellish Planes, especially after his bitter retreat from their greatest duel three thousand years ago. Well, now he can rule all the Hells, thanks to how Jason killed Th'Mesh.

  But that really doesn't interest us, now does it? What matters is that with the death of Th'Mesh, among many other things, one particular happening of great significance took place: Voi'Shek was released after five thousand years of imprisonment.

  Kurt felt this. He felt it just hours after. He told me that he had felt a powerful presence somewhere in Arghard. I did some research and eventually I concluded that it had to have been one of the members of the Draconian Brotherhood. So, I went to the Great Library to check on this. There, I found the book you've seen a few days ago. The Librarian didn't know about that, of course... Anyway, ever since then I knew that Voi'Shek was here. I kept this information to myself, I never told anyone. I figured this knowledge may come in handy. Indeed, it did.'

  `Alright, stop here. You knew all this time that he was after us? You knew, and you didn't even try to hunt him down right away?'

  `At first, I had no idea where he was. Killing him was not the only thing I wanted. That was just your desire. Mine was more than that. You'll understand at the end.

  When we left Coldrock, I told you I had a plan to catch Grenshaur, and that I needed to lure him to a plane of existence where I could set a trap for him. I lied. I never needed to go anywhere! I could have just as well set up a trap for him outside Coldrock, he'd have come back eventually. I just had to give you a reason for leaving Arghard. I had to go to Kay's world, I needed that ice dart. It was to be the weapon that would help me conserve my magical power during the eventual battle with Voi'Shek. Once I had the ice dart, all I had to do was catch Grenshaur and make him talk.'

  `What about the time when the lizardman blinded you?'

  `Yes... That was not part of my plan. But chess is such a game. You can't plan every move, you must sometimes improvise after the opponent has made an unexpected move.'

  `Whatever. Just get to the point.'

  `Yes, the point. Once I had Grenshaur, it was time to make him confess that Voi'Shek was in Draconia. Yes, by then I knew he was in Draconia. In the beginning, I had no idea of his whereabouts, but by then, I knew exactly where he was. I knew exactly where that fuckhead was! If you recall, you asked me in the tavern why I looked so troubled. I replied, that Tano had told me some bad news. Well, that was the bad news. He found out that Voi'Shek invaded Danny Boy's home, put him in a stasis void, and took over. Before I knew of this, I had a plan to lure him to Draconia and kill him there under appropriate circumstances. But when I found out about what he had done to Danny Boy.... That changed everything...

  The fact that he had invaded Danny Boy's home, and even had the nerve to put him in a stasis void, changed it all. From that point on, it was personal. Voi'Shek had to die, and he had to die brutally. I wanted to make him suffer. I wanted him to pay, and I devised just the way to do it. But let's not rush ahead...

  Point is, I knew by that evening in the tavern that Voi'Shek was in Draconia. That made me come up with a whole new plan. It started with the trap for Grenshaur. Once I had him and he spitted out what I already knew, it was time to head to Draconia. To Ghaubel.

  Ghaubel, of whom I knew from Tano that she had bowed down to Voi'Shek. In hopes of eventually being admitted into the soon-to-be revived Draconian Brotherhood. Yes, I knew that pretty well. I didn't know about that idiot Drabangar, but he was irrelevant anyway. I did know however that Ghaubel was in cahoots with Voi'Shek. She knew well who she was dealing with, and decided to kiss his feet. Little bitch...

  Anyway, I went to Ghaubel pretending that I wanted her to tell me what I pretended not knowing. I was dead sure she'd lure me into a trap, and I played the role of the unsuspecting victim. I pretended being unaware of the threat, and I let them capture us.'

  No... He can't be serious...

  `What?! You let them capture us?!'

  `Yes. It was a risk, but you don't win the prize by playing safe. You gotta take chances, and I did.' />
  `You fucking moron! They could have killed us!'

  `Yeah, well so what? No-one lives forever anyway...' he says with a smile. How he pisses me off with that... `And this was very much necessary.'

  `Was it?!'

  `Yeah. You see, it made sure that Voi'Shek would not look at me as a real threat. When they caught us, I pretended that I had no power against those magics. In truth, I could have broken free. Instead, I let them catch us. Then there was Grenshaur, whom I spared earlier because I knew he was an honorable bastard when it's not about a contract, and so he'd try to save my ass from Voi'Shek if I got caught. Which he did. Of course, I still had to make Voi'Shek believe that I wasn't such a great source of danger that he could hand me over to Grenshaur.

  So, when that cretinfaced Drabangar called him by his name, I put up a little show and pretended being afraid of him. That way, Voi'Shek believed three things: that I was far less powerful than him, that I feared him, and that I wouldn't pose any threat to him. None of that was true of course, but he believed it because I played my game well. I made him believe what I wanted him to, and that caused his demise in the end.'

  `So, it is not true that he is the greatest mage alive?'

  `He is the greatest mage that lives in this world. At least he was until a few minutes ago... Now he is the greatest that ever lived in this world... But he had no true power left. I'll explain that soon. For now, let's just carry on with what happened after Grenshaur sold us to Mel'.

  I won't bore you with the details of what happened between her and me, you heard the most interesting part from her already anyway. Point is, I broke us free, and then we went to see Ghaubel. To beat the truth out of her.'

  Here, he starts to laugh as he speaks on.

  `Let me tell you... I haven't had so much fun in years as when I demolished her stronghold and slaughtered her ridiculous servants! She had that beating coming for ages, and this was the perfect opportunity to whoop her ass and teach her a lesson she won't soon forget! To think, that I went there, perfectly knowing what she would eventually say! I went there, pretty much destroyed her fortress, even tortured her to tell me what she knows, when I knew that all along! It was just simply so much fun!'