I began to write this entry and I could only think back to how much the Master and I have changed. A version of the face of the Guardian Spirit that had been protecting us had been revealed to be the Mage we had seen who we had believed might have been the cause of the threats to our souls. In truth it turned out to be just the opposite for it was in reality the Guardian Spirit of the Soul Link. Its goal had been eventually revealed it had hoped to reveal how Narvada was feeding on the conflict of those within the Soul Link. I believe it had hoped to find a way to reveal to us that we were all needed and the fellowship that it had helped form was at risk of being torn asunder by the Narvada. In a way I guess it worked but the price I have paid and will continue to pay and the price paid by the Master cause me to doubt it.
Thankfully the Master has allowed me to continue my journal for while the Guardian as I now call the spirit of the Soul Link had altered reality to my benefit in the past it had chosen to revoke the blessing Hecate had bestowed upon me. It just would have to be the same time that while in meditation the Master’s most prized possession was stolen as I had failed to notice. The Master awoke and prepared to use the most powerful magics at his command and they were countered. He had ordered me to do the same and my use of the Masters magics failed as well. I had at the same moment lost my direct connection to Hecate I was no longer an Adept. Suddenly within the Master I could feel the evil within him growing he had trusted me to watch over him and I had failed.
I wish I could say that the fact that Drago had also lost items important to him had made a difference. On the other hand Kameron had actually lost nothing which I bid him to not inform the Master. It was hard to watch as all that had once been ordered and honorable within the Master burned away and was replaced by the darkness within his soul. It continued to burn with such fury that the Master opened a dimensional pocket dimension and walked inside. Once inside I could feel and see the turmoil within him my loss of power and therefore connection to Hecate, and my failure to protect that which he held most precious broke his hold on his psyche. For moments the form of the Master flashed between Armand and Amanda and several others forms he had adopted in the past but none of them gave him peace. In the end he gave up and his natural fiendish form emerged and he welcomed it.
I should perhaps move back in time and explain how the circumstances arose that led to my Master decent into his fiendish heritage. We had not returned to reality as the Master and I had hoped instead we had be returned to face the barrier and witness what could only be called an aspect of Narvada feeding on the anguish and conflict within souls of those who formed the Soul Link. It had been decided to move on and approach the Wizards Tower, what had been believed to be the root of the evil within the Megalopolis that it seemed had been formed from the very souls within the link.
As we had approached we soon found that a direct approach was inadvisable for the Zombies had been formed into units which literally surrounded every avenue toward the Tower. In truth any path we took by the surface was bound to be hazardous. The Master was willing to make a run for it but both Kameron and Draco felt more comfortable heading beneath the city. The Master at the time seemed alright with either decision as he had little fear of the Zombies. On the other had the same could not be said for Drago and Kameron who had almost fallen prey to their assaults on previous occasions.
So once a summoned Earth Elemental had surveyed what she could of the ground beneath us Draco took matters into his own hands and literally beat a path into what could only be called metal lined tunnels. We entered a maze that eventually led to a circular structure and the location of four equidistant bolts and a screw. It eventually took splitting up and manipulating them which caused them to seal off all of the other passages which seemed to offer security. Both Kameron and Drago felt it was a good time to rest and while the Master who could have pressed on instead chose to offer the others additional magical protections before setting me to watch over him. I had already laid out a few mystical bedrolls for them to and since I had not used any of my Hecate granted power I set myself to watch for any danger and even set a magical ward to warn me of any danger that approached.
The Master and the others would only need an hour to rest and to be honest the Master due to previous magics he had placed upon himself had not even needed to sleep he had only needed to meditate. Fifty minutes into the Masters rest not only did suddenly fail to be worthy of Hecate’s blessings but I failed the Master as well. Reality itself had suddenly been altered and at the same time the Master and I lost items of value to each of us. Perhaps it might have been different if the Master had not lost his cornet of intellect and mystery an item that enhanced both his intellect and his ability to alter his appearance.
The Master took it all in as he realized what he had lost and I confirmed telepathically with the others what had happened and as I have already mentioned a part of the Master that had respected law and respect for others was consumed by the darkness within him. It was within his pocket dimension that Drago, Kameron and he then finished their rest cycle and the Master restored his energies and along with the resourcefulness of Drago who aided in the configuration of the bolts and the screw which lead finally to Wizards Tower.
It was a long journey up to the roof of the Tower with gravity being altered as we made our way to the door at the top of the Tower. The others and the Master prepared magics and the Masters summoned Earth Elemental opened the door and Kameron strode forth to attack the Mage who resembled some kind of floating construct. He was brought up short by a shaped field of anti-magic and a sphere of force. The Master had confirmed with Drago that he had nothing prepared to pierce the barrier and so the Master in a rare fit of anger having used magics to enhance his physical combat abilities rushed forward. He encountered once he had passed the anti-magic field a magical trap in the form of a magical absorbing field which trapped him within a sphere of force.
It was then the Master put it together he was being held by a force with power far beyond his own and if they were going to try and trap him the so be it. He therefore summoned his own Changeling abilities and attempted to take his true Fiendish form. Of course the result was him being encased in even more bubble of force. Which of course was the point for the Masters plan was to continue to build more fields around us than the Mage Construct could take down until he found a way to pierce the barrier. There was even a moment when the Master came close to ordering me to break one of his magical staves in protest and to allow it my judge, jury and perhaps even executioner but he relented realizing he had other uses for me in the future.
Suffice to say eventually the Magi Construct proved to be an aspect of the Soul Link and it offered to return our lost items and release the Master. It even offered to remove the wards that had been hindering the Masters abilities. The Magi Construct even followed up with revealing tendrils that were akin to Narvada that were attached to each of us and seemingly set up to feed Narvada. It revealed a nearby building where all would be revealed and the Master flew off in pursuit of it. The Master had correctly surmised the identity of the Magi Construct and the story it told of not being trusted by the humans and that the Zombies were just misunderstood but he wished to hear nothing more from it. With the return of our items the Master was ready to see to the end of this trial and so was I.
I know not what the others faced for once we entered the building but there were three doors and the Master seemed to not even care about the others who it seemed had followed him. He entered his own door and was confronted with aspects of those who had stood with him and against him in the past and seemed to need to answer the question about the possibility for harmony. I realized then what had saved me it had been the Masters upbringing on the Island. While being raised there he had encountered a haven of harmony and joy that he still felt deserved to exist. I realized the Master felt that Law had failed him and Chaos was a pursuit of the weak-minded or foolhardy and only with his guidance could that harmony be spread over the world. I can only deduce that Kameron and Drago were able to face their own trials for soon I could feel the bindings of the reality begin to slip away. I felt the power of the Soul Link pulling us away to wherever it felt we needed to be to fulfill our destiny.
I realized that the Master had changed perhaps forever and would soon be in pursuit of even greater power and had ordered that I conform myself to become a Dealer of Death as well as a Harvester of Souls. With my powers diminished I had lost a great deal of power and the Master no longer heeded my words seeing them as being based on concepts of law and therefore useless restraints on his intentions for the future. I could not even tell if he felt anything for those in the Soul Link or now only saw them as tools to be used in his plans which he now kept hidden from me. I have been reduced to a true servant barely more than a slave and the Master will see to it that I am issued orders which I must obey or pay the price. Hecate I know will look over me and the Master as well for I am still her servant and I will obey my Master in all things.
Word’s from the Master
My name is Armand or if you wish Amanda Quickshar and you may call me your Master or your Mistress either will suffice. It is time that I began to speak for myself within this Journal as my bound familiar servant Morgath has proved himself unworthy to truly describe the grandeur and awe that my very presence inspires.
In the future I will still allow Morgath the honor of recording his view of my journey with Justice. After his conclusions I will then offer a few observations of my own which I assure you will set the record straight. So I shall begin with a view within my psyche.
I have seen the face of one of my current benefactors which I shall call the Soulinkar until it decides to speak in plain mind speak a more proper name. I have also witnessed the threat posed by one that may or may not be an enemy known as Narvada. Both entities I realize have an agenda only time will tell which one will prove to be most beneficial to my own goals.
It is my faith in my other benefactor Hecate which has caused me to realize I have been allowing myself to be limited by scale and my current level of power. For in truth while I have built a small economic and criminal empire of sorts called the Network University or the Network I do not by any means have an army at my disposal or control an entire country. I had been content to build my power slowly due to my immortality and continue my magical research the building of my forces until the right opportunity presented itself.
Alas it would seem that the same could not be said for the rest of the World and it would seem that Soulinkar had need of my talents and those within Justice. If Narvada and it are ancient enemies I have yet to discover but I have seen and beheld their power and I want it. Don’t let me confuse you I don’t intend to serve either of them instead I will find a way to gain the power I need from whichever one of them will prove to be the most beneficial to my own goals which for now I shall keep to myself.
Perhaps I have already said too much something which I will rectify in the future or the past one never knows. It will be up to the others who have been embraced by the Soulinkar to decide on their next move on their own if they wish. Suffice to say that Narvada it seems has already made its move and the Soulinkar has now countered and guess what. It’s my turn the next move is mine and if those around me are willing to follow my lead they are more than welcome to join me for it would only be wise for them to obey their Master.
I will conclude with a note on the philosophy of a place I call only The Island. It is a place free of strife and anguish, instead it is imbued with harmony dare I say even joy a place that truly has to be seen, no actually lived to be believed. I realize that the World as a whole can only comprehend barely a glimmer within their fondest dream of such a reality. I know such a reality exists and perhaps the World will need to be broken and rebuild from within before all its people of this broken World will see the light. No doubt that is why I embrace the evil within me for I am willing to do whatever it takes even become the villain of the story if in the end all see the light.
No comments:
Post a Comment