Chapter 21 - Watching History In The Making

It was a dark night, the clouds had moved in blocking out the starlight. The only light that illuminated the area were the few candles burning in their candelabras. King Hector Amine thought the atmosphere was fitting for his mood. After conversing with his court mage, Reginald, he found that what his wife had told him was true. To save his only son, and heir to the throne, he must make a decision that he couldn't make. He couldn't bear to lose either, he just couldn't.

Swirling a goblet of wine in his hand, he stared out the open window. The usually sweet wine tasted bitter in his mouth. Setting the gem encrusted goblet down, the King stood, having made his decision. He couldn't bear losing his family, so he wouldn't .

…..

The trenches carved into the hard floor of the chamber had been filled with dark, red blood. The smell of iron permeated the room. Kal had let his flesh melt away, revealing his true self. Ryan was out cold, and he didn't care about the mage summoning a demon, so he had nothing to fear from exposing his lichhood.

The mysterious mage didn't waste a moment and started the ritual, reading from an ancient tome that Kal, surprisingly, didn't recognize. This filled him with some sort of excitement. He had a staggering collection of magic tomes and books, along with enchanted items, but would never say that he had seen it all. To find something new invigorated him, making him anxious to see what would be summoned.

The language he was speaking wasn't anything new to Kal, it was a long extinct language used from before the war between the three races and Undead King. After a few hard to pronounce syllables, the blood within the trenches started to glow a resplendent red. The mage continued on, seemingly urged on by the activation of the summoning circle.

A black mist could be seen coming from the blood, covering the floor, making the red light coming from the blood look darker in color. Growing thicker, the black mist started to swirl around, making a vortex form in the middle of the array. As the ancient words were spoken, the mist moved faster and faster. Soon, red streaks of lightning shot forth from the blood, striking the middle of the circle.

A rift was torn open by the red lightning, visible waves of heat could be seen radiating from it. The rift opened up past the ceiling that was ten feet high, tearing a large chunk out of the hardened rock. The mage finished his chant, the rift pulsating with energy, opening wider until it reached the boundaries of the magic array.

Kal's eye sockets burned with anticipation, the summoning had been a success, all that was left was for the demon to walk through the rift that had been opened for him. It was possible to summon specific demons, but if they chose not to appear, they wouldn't. The most efficient thing to do was just a general summoning, gambling on what demon would appear, completely at random. Of course, the quality of materials used to summon the demon would affect the outcome, rarer materials garnering stronger demons.

The circle before him was a random summoning, he couldn't read any specific names used. It was very rare to know a demon's real name, most of the time they would give out only part of it or pseudonyms that they go by. To know a demon's true name would mean to hold absolute power over the demon, forcing it to do your bidding, so they would never tell anyone their true name.

Emerging from the tear in space, a massive creature clawed its way out into the ritual chamber. Towering over fifteen feet tall, the demon had to crouch to fit inside the room. With the face of a goat and six, blood red eyes, it looked at the mage that had summoned it. It tried to stretch its massive body, its four arms, as thick as tree trunks, spreading out wide. Two legs, ending in cloven hooves, supported its body. A long, barbed tail, swung back and forth, snapping in the air.

"You who summoned me, what is your desire?" The demon said, in a deep, gravely voice.

"My desire? My desire is to have absolute power. To trample over the corpses of those that have wronged me." The mage said, getting on his hands and knees, bowing to the demon he had summoned.

The demon paused, its six eyes not betraying its thoughts. It looked over at the young boy, unconscious, and still strapped to the table. It then moved its gaze over to a dark area of the room, blinking its blood red eyes. Refocusing on the mage, it spoke.

"Humans always desire power, they never change." The demon said, almost sounding disappointed.

"Lich, what is it that you desire?" It said, looking over to the dark area of the room.

Shocked by what the demon said, the mage looked over to where the demon was staring. Out of the darkness, two wisps of red, black, and blue flames could be seen as a skeletal figure, draped in a black robe, stepped out into the dim light. Kal had no facial expressions in his true form, only dried skin remained on his skull, but you could still tell which direction he was looking.

Kal looked over at the mage for a brief moment, then back to the monstrosity in the middle of the room.

"Why bother asking me? I'm not the one that summoned you." Kal answered the demon, leaning on his black staff.

"This human is boring, they always want power, always want everlasting life, it is always the same." It said, watching as the one who summoned it trembled slightly with his head down, not daring to speak.

"Yes, he is rather trite isn't he? But I still think you should honor his request." Kal said.

"Is that what you desire?"

"I wouldn't say I desire it, no. Although it would spur this world to change, if there was something to threaten it. I've discovered that magic has stagnated greatly over the years, it's become an embarrassment. It has actually regressed since my time. I can only do so much by myself." Kal finished speaking, looking into the six eyes of the demon, letting it know he wasn't intimidated by it.

What could only be a smile appeared on the demon's face, revealing long fangs from inside its mouth. It started to laugh, its chest heaving up and down as a deep boom echoed with each breath. The demon used one of its long claws to make a deep cut on its forearm. Thick, viscous blood flowed from the cut, pooling on the ground.

"Drink my blood. Take my power for your own. Be it known, that once you do, you forfeit your soul." The demon's voice resonated throughout the room, shaking dust and debris from the ceiling.

Hearing the last part, the mage hesitated before drinking from the pool of blood. Kal didn't know why, it wasn't like one didn't know what a demon would ask for in return for any deal struck. Souls were a massive reservoir or power, coveted by demons for the ability to increase their own.

Having made up his mind, the mage cupped his hands, bringing the stinking blood to his lips. Taking large mouthfuls, he drank deep. Wiping the blood from his chin, he tried to stand, before crumpling over in pain. Kal and the demon watched on as the mage convulsed on the ground in agonizing pain, screaming. The sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing almost made Professor Kal cringe. It only lasted a few minutes before the mysterious mage lost consciousness, quieting his screams of agony.

"What sort of powers did you give him?" Kal curiously asked, poking the mage's limp body with the end of his staff.

"I made him into one of my children, a progenitor." The demon said.

Kal turned his fiery eyes to the demon, the flames burning slightly brighter as he came to a realization. "Ah, you must be Iscariot then, father of vampires."

"You know of one of my names, Lich?" The demon said, not seeming all that surprised.

"I've heard of it, yes. Back in my day, your children were running rampant. It took the Undead King several years to reign them in." Kal said, remembering his past.

"Is that what happened to my children? The Undead King killed them? Is that why I cannot feel their presence on this plane?" Iscariot asked, not angry, just curious as to why his connection to his progenitors was no more.

"Oh, no, He didn't kill them, no, something else happened, it's a long story. They're probably just trapped underground somewhere." Kal replied, walking over to the table that supported Ryan's limp body, undoing the restraints.

Iscariot looked to have fallen deep into thought, mulling over what Kal had said. Kal hoisted Ryan's unconscious body up onto his shoulder. He was in pretty rough shape, but some rest and a few potions, would fix him up good as new. Kal opened a Warp Gate, taking one last look at the demon, Iscariot, before walking through the portal.

He wasn't worried about leaving a demon alone. Once Iscariot collected the mage's soul, he would return to his own plane. It wasn't that a demon couldn't stay on this plane of existence, it was just that they would never want to. Their plane was full of fire and brimstone, constant violence and death, they reveled in the atmosphere. Our plane was much too boring for them, although souls were plentiful, they would have to form contracts in order to absorb each one.

Arriving back into the dark hallway, right outside Ryan's dorm. Professor Kal brought him inside, before forcing him to drink a potion that he brought out of his ring.

Laying Ryan in his bed, Professor Kal opened a portal back to his own room at the Royal Palace. It was almost dawn, the ritual the mage used to summon Iscariot took almost all night. Luckily Kal didn't need to rest, so he was ready to perform his own ritual, to save the First Prince, later in the day.

He made his way out onto the balcony of his room, watching as the sun crested the horizon. Many interesting things were about to happen, a new progenitor had been born, that was bound to put pressure on the three races after some time. Hopefully it would spur some magical progression, that's what he was really aiming for.

This current world had fallen too far backwards after a few millennia of relative peace. After much of the knowledge was lost in the war, and with no new enemies to force them to rediscover what was lost, the state of magic was in disarray.

He was hoping by unleashing a monster such as a progenitor vampire into the world, it would force them to innovate.. Then, with the world wholeheartedly researching magic once more, he would be able to advance his research as well, building upon other's work.