sanity calms
but madness is a little more interesting.
1550 Words
“I don’t much like all this hiking.”
When Darius had convinced Thana to go on this quest, it had sounded much more exciting than the trip had actually turned out to be so far. The disembodied wizard had talked up quite a game about the prize that laid at the end of the journey, but the impatient woman was quickly starting to lose interest the longer the trip took. She was exceptionally bored, and they hadn’t seen too many people along the way which meant that there had been very little to keep her occupied during the trek. Thana liked to think of herself as a woman that was easily entertained, but there was little she hated more than boredom, and she had been feeling quite irritated for some time now.
While most people would find themselves a bit nervous about the idea of being around the psychopathic woman when she wasn’t in a great mood, Darius hardly seemed intimidated. It was entirely possible that Thana could kill him by destroying the crystal which held his soul, but he knew that she was unlikely to do so. Darius was far too great a resource for her, and even she knew what a waste it would be to dispose of him. Granted, that didn’t mean he ever tried pressing his luck with her. Thana was still unpredictable even in the best of moments, and there was never any telling what she would do in a given situation. As such, he was never truly afraid of her but also refrained from being so comfortable in her presence as to step on her toes, either wittingly or not.
As such, he remained patiently encouraging. You have made it this far, he reminded her gently. I know you are growing bored, but I promise that we are almost there, and I know the reward will be worth your while.
“It had better be,” she informed him, glaring at the ravine to her right. She had never been to Dongxia before, which was part of what the appeal to the trip had been. A new country to explore meant new sights to see and new people to terrorize. However, their journey had led them through the sparse mountains, far away from the tribes that dwelt amidst the peaks. The last several hours had been nothing but forests and mountains and valleys, all of whose beauty was lost on the warlord. “I don’t even see what’s so special about this book, anyway. Surely if it was as powerful as you say it is, someone else would have found it and made good use of it by now.”
Many have tried over the decades, he informed her with a mental shrug. But there are very few people that have attempted to retrieve it and lived to tell the tale. It is closely guarded, after all.
“Well, that at least sounds more interesting. So what, there’s some nasty monster that’s been killing anyone who ever tried to get at it?”
There was a slight pause. In a manner of speaking, that is more or less correct. However, it is not a monster. It is a man. Or rather, what is left of him. He was one a wizard of unfathomable power that became consumed by his magic, and now all that remains of him is a mindless husk fueled and controlled by his lust for power. He is as dangerous as any wild animal, but with the power to rival the gods, and that power is stored in the Apocrypha. He has guarded it for centuries, and many have lost their lives attempting to steal it from him. However, I believe you have a chance.
Thana hummed thoughtfully to herself. “A fight to the death with an ancient, all powerful sorcerer does sound like fun,” she remarked, her interest in the quest already resparked. “So how much further ahead is he?”
The cave is at the peak of the mountain, and we’re almost there. I’d say perhaps another ten minutes?
“Very well. I shall continue through. However, if this Apocrypha isn’t all that you’ve cracked it up to be, I will be very… disappointed.”
The implication of her tone was obvious, but Darius elected not to react to it over much. You will not regret the trip. I promise you that.
The cave at the top of the cliff was, indeed, only another few minutes walk up the winding path that led to the mountain’s peak. The freezing wind whipped wildly about the area, tossing snow and ice all about her. She smirked at the opening in the rock wall, and took a step toward it to enter and confront the sorcerer within. Thana, before you--
An explosion cut the man off as Thana went flying, the force of the blast hurling her out into the open air over the valley. Before she could plummet, a great pair of black feathered wings sprouted from her back and caught the air, holding her aloft. She looked down at the place where she’d been standing a moment ago to find a decrepit looking man staring back at her. He wore tattered brown robes that covered him from head to ankle, and was tied in place around his waist by a hempen cord with worn tassels. A rustic looking necklace adorned his shoulders, and the cowl over his head barely clung to him through the pull of the wind. His hair was long, greasy, and ratted from what had to be eons of not caring for his personal hygiene. The same could be said for the beard he kept. His skin was pale and sunken, and his eyes seemed to have lost their irises in place of pure white orbs.
Thana grinned and hunched a bit where she hovered, ready and waiting for the sorcerer to toss another attack. Yet he merely stood there and stared at her. She frowned. “What’s his problem? I know you said he was mindless, but I wasn’t expecting him to be this bad.”
He is waiting. His last desperate act before his power consumed him was to dump the entirety of his consciousness into a powerful stone, separating his body from his spirit. And now, for the first time in centuries, the two have been reunited. He is waiting to see how we proceed.
“Reunited? What do you…” It dawned on her. Thana blinked and then a wicked grin drew itself across her face. “Oh Darius, you sly devil. You know, you could stand to take a bath, but I have to say you look pretty good for being several hundred years old and a few marbles short of a mancala set.”
Darius groaned softly in her head. Please don’t try to have sex with my body.
“No promises,” she teased, though truthfully the idea really wasn’t one she was interested in at the moment. “Alright then, what’s the plan? Did you lure me up here so you could get put back in your original form and regain your power? I wouldn’t be mad. In fact, it’s so crafty that I find myself curious. I can only imagine what kind of opponent you would be at full-”
You need to destroy my body.
“Oh. I see.” That wasn’t something she’d been expecting. “You’re quite sure that’s the path you want to take? Once I’ve dealt with it, it will be gone forever. You will never get another chance to become whole again.”
I am sure. I could no more become one with my body again than you could mend your own mind. It is time for my physical aspect to finally perish, and for my Apocrypha and my power to be passed to my chosen apprentice. Just be aware that once he realizes you are here to slay him, he will not go down without a fight.
A slow grin crept up her face. She raised a single hand, the limb twisting and warping into the decayed, sunken visage of her Hag form. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
When the battle was over, Thana stepped carelessly over Darius’ corpse where it lay lifeless, face first in the snow. Into the cave she went, the thick stone walls acting as a buffer against the wind, enough so that the temperature was noticeably several degrees warmer just from stepping in from the outside. A fire crackled in the middle of the cave, casting a bright, red-orange light about the place. There were a number of trinkets and artifacts scattered around the place, many of which looked as though they could have been of some nominal value. However, it was easy to pinpoint what they had come here for.
Sitting on a flat surfaced boulder that had been repurposed as a desk of some kind was a large, leather bound tome. It was covered in sharp metal plates around the edges of the cover and down the spine. The leather was a crimson color with black tribal like designs inked into it. Thana plucked the book into her hands and opened it up, flipping meticulously through the pages until a dark smirk broke her otherwise even expression. “Oh, Darius… I have to hand it to you.”
“This is going to be the start of something truly… phenomenal.”
When Darius had convinced Thana to go on this quest, it had sounded much more exciting than the trip had actually turned out to be so far. The disembodied wizard had talked up quite a game about the prize that laid at the end of the journey, but the impatient woman was quickly starting to lose interest the longer the trip took. She was exceptionally bored, and they hadn’t seen too many people along the way which meant that there had been very little to keep her occupied during the trek. Thana liked to think of herself as a woman that was easily entertained, but there was little she hated more than boredom, and she had been feeling quite irritated for some time now.
While most people would find themselves a bit nervous about the idea of being around the psychopathic woman when she wasn’t in a great mood, Darius hardly seemed intimidated. It was entirely possible that Thana could kill him by destroying the crystal which held his soul, but he knew that she was unlikely to do so. Darius was far too great a resource for her, and even she knew what a waste it would be to dispose of him. Granted, that didn’t mean he ever tried pressing his luck with her. Thana was still unpredictable even in the best of moments, and there was never any telling what she would do in a given situation. As such, he was never truly afraid of her but also refrained from being so comfortable in her presence as to step on her toes, either wittingly or not.
As such, he remained patiently encouraging. You have made it this far, he reminded her gently. I know you are growing bored, but I promise that we are almost there, and I know the reward will be worth your while.
“It had better be,” she informed him, glaring at the ravine to her right. She had never been to Dongxia before, which was part of what the appeal to the trip had been. A new country to explore meant new sights to see and new people to terrorize. However, their journey had led them through the sparse mountains, far away from the tribes that dwelt amidst the peaks. The last several hours had been nothing but forests and mountains and valleys, all of whose beauty was lost on the warlord. “I don’t even see what’s so special about this book, anyway. Surely if it was as powerful as you say it is, someone else would have found it and made good use of it by now.”
Many have tried over the decades, he informed her with a mental shrug. But there are very few people that have attempted to retrieve it and lived to tell the tale. It is closely guarded, after all.
“Well, that at least sounds more interesting. So what, there’s some nasty monster that’s been killing anyone who ever tried to get at it?”
There was a slight pause. In a manner of speaking, that is more or less correct. However, it is not a monster. It is a man. Or rather, what is left of him. He was one a wizard of unfathomable power that became consumed by his magic, and now all that remains of him is a mindless husk fueled and controlled by his lust for power. He is as dangerous as any wild animal, but with the power to rival the gods, and that power is stored in the Apocrypha. He has guarded it for centuries, and many have lost their lives attempting to steal it from him. However, I believe you have a chance.
Thana hummed thoughtfully to herself. “A fight to the death with an ancient, all powerful sorcerer does sound like fun,” she remarked, her interest in the quest already resparked. “So how much further ahead is he?”
The cave is at the peak of the mountain, and we’re almost there. I’d say perhaps another ten minutes?
“Very well. I shall continue through. However, if this Apocrypha isn’t all that you’ve cracked it up to be, I will be very… disappointed.”
The implication of her tone was obvious, but Darius elected not to react to it over much. You will not regret the trip. I promise you that.
The cave at the top of the cliff was, indeed, only another few minutes walk up the winding path that led to the mountain’s peak. The freezing wind whipped wildly about the area, tossing snow and ice all about her. She smirked at the opening in the rock wall, and took a step toward it to enter and confront the sorcerer within. Thana, before you--
An explosion cut the man off as Thana went flying, the force of the blast hurling her out into the open air over the valley. Before she could plummet, a great pair of black feathered wings sprouted from her back and caught the air, holding her aloft. She looked down at the place where she’d been standing a moment ago to find a decrepit looking man staring back at her. He wore tattered brown robes that covered him from head to ankle, and was tied in place around his waist by a hempen cord with worn tassels. A rustic looking necklace adorned his shoulders, and the cowl over his head barely clung to him through the pull of the wind. His hair was long, greasy, and ratted from what had to be eons of not caring for his personal hygiene. The same could be said for the beard he kept. His skin was pale and sunken, and his eyes seemed to have lost their irises in place of pure white orbs.
Thana grinned and hunched a bit where she hovered, ready and waiting for the sorcerer to toss another attack. Yet he merely stood there and stared at her. She frowned. “What’s his problem? I know you said he was mindless, but I wasn’t expecting him to be this bad.”
He is waiting. His last desperate act before his power consumed him was to dump the entirety of his consciousness into a powerful stone, separating his body from his spirit. And now, for the first time in centuries, the two have been reunited. He is waiting to see how we proceed.
“Reunited? What do you…” It dawned on her. Thana blinked and then a wicked grin drew itself across her face. “Oh Darius, you sly devil. You know, you could stand to take a bath, but I have to say you look pretty good for being several hundred years old and a few marbles short of a mancala set.”
Darius groaned softly in her head. Please don’t try to have sex with my body.
“No promises,” she teased, though truthfully the idea really wasn’t one she was interested in at the moment. “Alright then, what’s the plan? Did you lure me up here so you could get put back in your original form and regain your power? I wouldn’t be mad. In fact, it’s so crafty that I find myself curious. I can only imagine what kind of opponent you would be at full-”
You need to destroy my body.
“Oh. I see.” That wasn’t something she’d been expecting. “You’re quite sure that’s the path you want to take? Once I’ve dealt with it, it will be gone forever. You will never get another chance to become whole again.”
I am sure. I could no more become one with my body again than you could mend your own mind. It is time for my physical aspect to finally perish, and for my Apocrypha and my power to be passed to my chosen apprentice. Just be aware that once he realizes you are here to slay him, he will not go down without a fight.
A slow grin crept up her face. She raised a single hand, the limb twisting and warping into the decayed, sunken visage of her Hag form. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
When the battle was over, Thana stepped carelessly over Darius’ corpse where it lay lifeless, face first in the snow. Into the cave she went, the thick stone walls acting as a buffer against the wind, enough so that the temperature was noticeably several degrees warmer just from stepping in from the outside. A fire crackled in the middle of the cave, casting a bright, red-orange light about the place. There were a number of trinkets and artifacts scattered around the place, many of which looked as though they could have been of some nominal value. However, it was easy to pinpoint what they had come here for.
Sitting on a flat surfaced boulder that had been repurposed as a desk of some kind was a large, leather bound tome. It was covered in sharp metal plates around the edges of the cover and down the spine. The leather was a crimson color with black tribal like designs inked into it. Thana plucked the book into her hands and opened it up, flipping meticulously through the pages until a dark smirk broke her otherwise even expression. “Oh, Darius… I have to hand it to you.”
“This is going to be the start of something truly… phenomenal.”
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