"When the sun becomes brittle, and the stars begin to wake; When the moon stretches forth and light begins to break- Night consumes the air, water, life, and
landscape, and creatures of the darkness come to hunt with no mistake." read the odd, but interesting poem. The stars shone throughout the night, and winds blew a
sheer, bitter cold throughout the blackness. The dusty old book, marked with black dyed leather, and a seal of a crecent moon on the frail spine closed its bounds of
poems and rittles within Luciean's numb hands. He couldn't feel the squish and puff of the leather, only the roughness along the tough hide-like bindings. His fingers,
like icicles, retreated within the embrace of his cloak. Luciean's gray eyes trembled as he allowed himself to shiver a bit. Turning around, he reached his hand into
the night sky and formed his other hand's fingers into a ring-like shape. He pressed it up against his lips and let the wind from his warming breath travel the tunnel
his fingers made, reverberating a clarion and sharp whistle. He spoke in a gentle, loving voice. "Luster, Tis time to rest your wings, friend."
Moments later, a responding "Hooo~" in the same loving gentle manor signalled the success of the call. The silhouette of a glourious and majestic owl adorned the sky
and the loud flaps of the bird's beautiful wings filled Luciean's ears. It dropped altitude, slowing down and carefully placing its cold, numb talons around Luciean's
hands. Luster tucked her wings into her sides and her gorgeous orange eyes and shiny golden beak greeted Luciean's tired face. Luster gently nuzzled Luciean's cheek,
and her feathers felt soft and warm on Luciean's face. He smiled and stroked Luster's head, down her neck and spine a few times and Luster responded with a small shake
and relaxed "Coo~". Luciean chuckled a bit and began to walk towards a small wooden hut, at the shore of the swamps. He walked across the deck and up the stairs,
opening the doors to his home. Luster's beautiful Burgandy and Ecru feathers shown in the light of a torch, slightly ruffled comfortably at the warmth of the fires.
Luciean stepped quietly over to his bookshelf, placing the black riddlebook on the top shelf, in a small gap between a green and blue book, both bearing the same
symbol. Luciean was very organized when it came to his books, he was never bothered to take his time. His staff leaned gently against a corner, and the skull's eye
sockets at the top of the staff glowed blue, symbolizing peace. Luster took off from Luciean's hand and landed on her perch, placed next to the window. A few feathers
dropped from her wings and hit the floor, and Luciean bent down to pick them up and placed the in-tact ones on his desk, next to a stack of parchment. A letter,
entitled "A Merciful Offer" lay there. Luciean looked at it and the corners of his mouth seeped. He scowled at this invitation, knowing all the hard work he had just
put into his hut would be a waste if he left. However, he decided to pick up the letter once more and read it over one last time. He gazed at the jewel adorned sides
of the letter, and red-dyed ribbons embezzling the ridges of the fine parchment. Twas a letter from the leader of the Legion. "Mortanius" from what Luciean had read on
the parchment. He didn't know if that was the name for sure, as it was slightly ripped at the name from Luster's talon when she delivered the letter to his hands.
He had been invited to join the legion, due to his "Abilities". Luciean pondered wether it was his abilities as a mage that Mortanius knew of, or if it was his "Gift"
of being a naturally powerful necromancer that had sparked the interest of Mortanius. Luciean knew that necromancy was, for obvious reasons, a death-sentencable crime.
Exhuming and controlling the dead wasn't exactly respectful the the corpses used in sacrifices, but Luciean saw necromancy as a gift, more than a curse. He was
determined to wipe the evil portrayed in necromancy away, by using it to enforce the good inside him. Luciean put down the offer and spoke to himself. "I'll decide in
the morning."
Luciean yawned and shuffled over to a bed roll. He placed his hand on the soft sleeping bag to feel the temperature of it, and feeling it as icy cold as it was, he
backed away and headed over to his staff. He picked it from the ground and shuffled back over to his bed roll. He collected a bottle of water from his storage, and
wrapped it in thin shaven wool, then heated it with a light fire spell under the bottle. Coming to a boil, the water steamed and bubbled as Luciean corked it. He made
the shaven wool several layers deep and placed it in the bed roll. Shuffling back away, he fed Luster and got a few raw fish together from his food storage container.
He had magic ice blocks in the container to keep the fish fresh and unspoiled. He got together a few coals and made a small fire outside in the cold. Gathering a few
sticks, he skewered and grilled the fish over the flame, after gutting them and cutting the tails and fins off. The blue scales began to wither into a brittle fleshy
cover, and Luciean peppered the Fish with a few ground rose petals, and garlic. Finally, having finished the feast, he ate the fish, scales, flesh, and meat, leaving
nothing but bones to give to Luster as talon and beak sharpeners. The fire seemed to gather some...unwanted attention however. A skeleton-like creature, wielding a bow
and arrow slowly crept amongst the bushes. Along-side it were a few large spiders and a zombie. Luciean heard the footsteps and immediately looked towards their
location. Spotting them, he looked back down as if he did not notice their presence and finished cleaning his fire up, taking the scraps over to the door of his home.
Hearing the drawback of the bowstring, Luciean quickly turned around, waving his hand across the air, creating a small black aegis. The aegis absorbed the arrow and
dissapated, and the zombie and spiders moved in. Luciean quickly raised both of his hands up, and black shadows started to form above him in the shape of coffins. The
coffins exploded and two shadowy skeleton-like creatures, missing their lower bodies, materealized. Their bones were ebony, and a flame-like black aura enveloped them.
They drew black swords from shadowy sheathes on the base of their spines, and their eyes began to glow and eerie red. The spiders leapt for them, but both sliced apart
by fluent slashes of the black blades. The wraiths moved in on the zombie. One cut its legs at the base, and the other decapitated it. Finally the skeleton began to
back away and draw an arrow back. The wraiths dissapated, but the skeleton didn't see Luciean anywhere. The skeleton looked to its left, and right, finally deciding to
give up chase, it turned around only to be met face to face with Luciean. Luciean grabbed the skeleton's bow, snapped it across his knee, grabbed both of the
skeleton's arms, and dislocated them at the shoulder, dismembering it. The skeleton stumbled back with no arms, only to see Luciean toss one of the skeletal arms
aside, and smash its skull with the other.
Luciean wiped the dust from his hands and shook his head. "Did they really think they would catch me off guard? I swear these undead get dumber by the day. But its
dangerous here, I think I would be wise to accept Lord Mortanius' offer and move to his fortress. After all its sure to be garrisoned and guarded, heavily fortified,
and be bolstered at every entrance with defenses. How else would they survive so far off?" Luciean spoke to himself and then stopped to think. "My God if I stay here
i'll end up lonely too and most likely go off the deep end. Well, time to pack my bags and head out."
Luciean returned inside, and removed the water bottle from his bed roll. Now sufficiently fed, and warmed up, Luciean curled up in his bed roll and rested his head on
the soft cold pillow, drifting into a dreamless, peaceful, sleep.
A loud caw sounded through the room at the break of dawn, as Luster awoke Luciean to the daylight. Luciean arose with a stretch and a yawm, then slowly arose to his
feet. He looked around the room, and decided to leave in the afternoon to head to the fortress. Luciean got a satchel on his side, washed his cloak, and prepared for
the voyage, taking tools, food, books, and all he deemed necessary for the trip. He stepped onto the swamp floor and sharply whistled, and called for Luster. Luster
took flight above Luciean and began to ascend. The voyage began.
Luciean was soon out of the swamp he had taken refuge in, and on a walking path. The sun lit his path, but he leaned towards the shadows of trees and walls whenever he
could. Luciean passed several trails, but none took him to the path he needed until near the end of the trail. It branched off farther away from the path, and
eventually the walking path dissapeared. Luciean continued, but eventually came to a hault at a snowy tundra. He couldn't pass, a blizzard blocked his path and there
was no way around it. Luster landed on his shoulder and would not enter the storm either. Luster is a great horned owl, a very brave bird of prey. Not one to back down
easily. Luciean knew this, and knew if Luster wouldn't pass, neither should he.
"There there girl, We'll wait for the storm to blow over" Luciean said in a gentle voice, as he lovingly stroked Luster's head. Luster began to survey the area, and
she took off without warning. Luciean followed her, thinking she had found something. Luster swooped down, and picked up a small rodent, tearing into the flesh and
ripping out bite-sized chunks, swallowing them down. Luciean paused to soak in, Luster was just getting herself lunch, not finding a route away from the blizzard.
"Good to know you have your priorities straight..." Luciean said sarcasticly. Luster's face was a bit bloody and once again, her head went down ripping into the poor
rodents flesh. Luciean reached down and felt the grass. Tearing a handful of grass from the ground, he ground the grass in his hand, watching the wind blow it away in
a southern direction. He had an idea. He could move with the wind, and move through the tundra very quickly, but he would have to hold up a forcefield spell long
enough to make it. Luciean waited for Luster to finish eating and rest on his shoulder, before conjuring the forcefield and moving through the tundra. The wind was
strong, and moving with it seemed to speed Luciean along. He passed the tundra within the hour and finally came to a valley. Exiting the blizzard's bounds, he fell to
one knee as the forcefield collapsed. He took deep breaths, regaining vital energy as he rested near a large stone. He took a look across the waters near the valley,
and saw thw fortress off in the distance.
After regaining his energy, Luciean continued his voyage. The veil of night crossed the sky and all grew dark.
Mortanius stand there, in front of the soon to be stables; Unaware of Lucieans arrival. He knew Luciean hadn't wrote back, so he wasn't sure weather or not Luciean would be arriving. A shadow crept by, unnoticed. At the gate of the fortress a voice spoke.
"Greetings, friend." Luciean said.
Startled, Mortanius put his hand over his sword and turned around. Luciean's face was slightly illuminated by the moonlight, but only half of it was seen. The other half, covered by shadows.
Mortanius released the grip on his sword. "Ave, Luciean." He greeted.
Luciean whistled a sharp tone, and Luster descended from the sky to land on Luciean's shoulder.
"I have come to accept your offer. My magic is at your command." Luciean spoke.
Luster gave a distinct "Hoo~" in response, almost as if she was offering her services to the legion as well. Luciean smirked in a grim manor.
"So, where do I begin?"
To be Continued
Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:49 pm by skylordconner
