Zereldo
AQW Class Designer
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Part 2: Destiny’s Initiation On windy days the stench of the Neverglades’ Marshes would drift into the edge of Oaklore forest. The Neverglades were not without their charm, magic, or wonder, but they were certainly more dangerous than the forest of Oaklore. Adventure waited in the Netherglades, further from home. Luan needed a challenge, and although he was not aware of it, his home on the edge of Oaklore no longer provided the challenge he needed to further hone his skills, or quench his thirst for adventure. Each day he had found himself being drawn closer and closer to the Netherglades, the urge becoming stronger and stronger. Until today, he had been able to shrug those feelings off, but now the feeling was overpowering, as if a torrent of water was pushing him forward. He took his first step into the Netherglades, and to his surprise felt no regret. Instead he felt free, relieved, and ready for more. For the moment, his thirst had been quenched. Each subsequent step took him further into the Neverglades, where the trees closed in around him, and the light of day was obscured, and instead appeared to be the dim light of late evening. He could no longer see the open greenery of Oaklore Forests, and for the moment he had no desire to return to them. Luan was no fool, he walked cautiously and quietly, well aware that there could be hidden dangers in places unknown to him. As he walked, he could see through a less densely packed line of trees that there was a path ahead and began to make his way towards it. While approaching, he noticed that walking the path ahead of him was a small band of undead being directed by a necromancer. The undead numbered six in total, one on either side of the necromancer and the other four each helping to carry a cage with a single metal lock, containing a black baby dragon. Luan recognized this immediately. It was his chance for his first truly heroic act. He hid behind the cover of trees and followed them for a distance. He waited till the cover was especially thick so that he would not be seen, before casting his light spell. There was a quick flash of light, the necromancer was blinded, and one of the four undead carrying the cage was slain. The three undead were unable to manage the weight between them and the cage fell to the ground with a loud metallic clank. “You are going to be the death of me,” muttered the necromancer under his breath, while still partly blinded by Luan’s potent light spell. He managed to open his eyes. “Pick up that cage and get a move on, that dragon has been enough trouble already. I want it delivered to the necropolis as soon as possible.” The moment Luan had been waiting for was here, as one of the necromancer’s undead guards would have to leave his side in order to take the place of the recently slain one. This left the necromancer vulnerable, with only one undead minion to protect him. As the undead bent over to lift up the cage, Luan leapt into action and effortlessly dealt with the undead minion with a swift slash of his sword. In an instant the other four undead surrounded him. The necromancer had a smug look on his face. It had been a trap. The undead were not picking up the cage, but holding their weapons at the ready. “You boy, you’ll cause me no more trouble,” he was confident as he said this, yet serious, as if his voice alone was a weapon that he held ready to attack with. “I’m standing my ground, you don’t intimidate me.” Luan was lying. His first attempt at being a hero was off to a poor start. Panic and stress were building up within him. “You have talent and power boy, and that is of value. You have a choice; you can be my apprentice or my undead minion. Either we both win, or I win alone” The thought struck Luan with a lot of force; he was seemingly frozen in place, almost directionless. He did not want his fate to be decided for him. In a moment of inspiration he did something incredibly strange, but admittedly the best thing he could have done in that situation. He blasted the cage’s lock with a fireball, and the small dragon flew out in an instant. Even without a command from their master the undead knew exactly what their task was, recapture the dragon. The four of them ran off hastily leaving Luan to face his opponent one on one. “You’ll pay for that boy, you have no idea what you’re meddling in.” At the conclusion of those words the necromancer was suddenly cloaked in an aura of darkness and shadow. This shadow quickly began to spread from the necromancer and encircled the two of them. Luan had his sword drawn and ready. The necromancer laughed, raised his staff, and in a blink of the eye was one with the shadows. The shadows began to close in, and as they did blasts of darkness were fired at Luan. He repelled them as they came, able to sense their magical energies before they hit him. The shadows were relentless; they approached Luan, coming closer and closer. In an act of desperation he encircled himself in light energy and let off as many orbs of light as he could. The shadows darted back in fear of the sudden presence of light. The necromancer re-appeared and fired a steady beam of darkness in Luan’s direction. Luan blocked the attack and held it at bay with his sword. He was locked in place, unable to counter the attack, as making an attack of his own would leave him vulnerable to the beam of darkness. They had been locked in this state of attack and defense for almost a minute when something unexpected turned the tide of battle to Luan’s favour. A blast of fire from behind the necromancer set his robes on fire, and broke the beam. Luan fired as many light blast in the necromancer’s direction as he possibly could. Had the necromancer been any less swift, he may have been badly wounded or killed, however, he was able to flee, too fast to be pursued. The blast of fire that had been Luan’s saving grace was dragon fire, the breath of a dragon raised in his defense. He looked ahead and saw the dragon standing before him, as if to say thank you for its freedom. Luan did not know how to best respond, so he simply bowed his head and put the tip of his sword in the ground before him. He was aware that dragons were not just the wild and ferocious creatures that myths spoke of. Many were intelligent, some on rare occasions were friendly, but most were creatures of great majesty and power. He stood there with his head bowed. The dragon moved slowly and gracefully towards Luan until it was standing by Luan’s side. As Luan turned to go home, the dragon turned to follow. As he began walking the young dragon walked beside him. When Luan ran, the dragon flew beside him matching his speed. The dragon and Luan were now companions and would forever remain linked to each other, seemingly by destiny, but also by choice.
< Message edited by Zereldo -- 5/17/2013 6:38:51 >
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