Atama's Highest IC - The Beginning of The End

Destruction guffawed, "Really? Bragging rights?" His cackle died down and he walked, "My Destroyers drove you out of the Destroyed Realm." A sadistic smile strode across his face. "I bet your soul is bitter and dark. I'm just gonna let you know here, I like my souls like I like my coffee in the morning, black." He licked his lips, and beared his serrated fangs. "I'm gonna grind you spirit into a powder, and enjoy it in a nice, warm espresso." The very thought of this made his veins bulge with enthusiasm. "Like I said, let's make this fun. Don't you want to starve me? Torture me? Keep my from my glorious reward!? Go ahead! Make your move. I'm waiting..." He laughed. An odd essence flowed around him as he strolled.

Mallis chuckled. "Destroyers? Drive Mallis out? Don't make me laugh Destruction. If anyone, ANYONE had 'driven' me out it would have been Sairei since she is of equal-ish power. The Destroyed Realm is something I will... return to in time. Is that it then? You want a Mallis Cappuccino? It might very well kill you!" He shouted from the clouds.

"Fun is it? Is that what you wish? Oh, I can make it much more than fun. I can make it the funnest night of your life dear Destruction..."

Suddenly the ground rumbled an the sky was turning pitch black save for a few places the golden and white sun was shining through making a foreboding scud in the skies. A flash of purple thunder and suddenly it began raining. But it rained a different liquid, not water. It was a black substance that killed the plants as it his the ground. Within a few moments the grass around the group was dead. Suddenly Mallis formed from a cloud of blackness that ha detached from the skies and he looked at the group with hatred. The black rain gobbed up and balled together on the ground. It began to stretch and grow and growl as it sprang into Darklings. Mallis grinned.

Thage glanced across the blackening fields at the muggy form of Mallis and felt a strange feeling. It was both fear and wonder. She was curious. Too curious.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING!" Screamed a voice from along the creek. A family of three was sitting, having a picnic on the other side of the hill. Mallis turned his head and looke at them. He held his hand out and both the mother and father creatures slid across the ground and were dragged by some invisible poltergeist force a Mallis opened his mouth. A screeching sound poured out as both creatures formed into black streaks and were devoured by Mallis. Ariana had not had the time to see what the creature really looked like.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Screamed a female child's voice.

Rather far away from the chaos laid a young creature. She had been awake for quite a while, although she had no idea how to tell time or comprehend how much time had passed. When she had first awoken she knew only a few things. She knew she was female, her name was Puck for whatever reason and she had a serious lack of music going on around her. But what was music? Did Puck really know? However this little bump in the road wasn't really a big deal for Puck since she felt absolutely wonderful.

She had woken up on a lovely bed of moss, rather soft and squishy place to wake on up, and hadn't moved since. She really didn't have any motive to get up and walk around, she was enjoying herself plenty with just laying out in the grass and watching the sky. The sky had also done some pretty neat things while she was watching it, such as changing colors and whipping around the clouds. Puck didn't know anything about the sky, so she took this as a greeting from the sky to the earth. Puck was sure to wave back whenever something cool happened. At one time a large creature flew over the sun, Puck made sure to wave as hard as she could.

"His fate is not for you to decide."

Puck wiggled her long ears towards the quick creature. She had no idea what that meant, maybe it was a greeting or word of advice. "Thanks giant flying creature!" Puck called out, her voice obviously too soft to be heard.

But something didn't feel as right as it did before. The wind, which once carried gentle and warm air had turned cold and sour. It ruffled her short hair and fur with a strength it didn't have before. Puck felt a lot less safe, thinking that the pile of moss might not be the best place for her to stay for the time being. The young faun sat up, dirt and grass clinging to her body. She stood up, facing into the wind with her eyes half shut. And for the first time since she woke up Puck frowned.

As the mother and father were dragged into Mallis mouth, a single arrow struck a nearby dead tree. This arrow, however, did not seem like any normal arrow. it was made of what appeared to be pure diamond, and glistened brightly in the light. The arrow seemed to sparkle with a sort of magical glow as it stuck in the tree. From out of another tree, a young woman leapt. She was a short elven woman, with fiery red hair bright as the sunrise and silver armor that glowed in the darkness. In her hand was a bow carved with intricate designs which glowed bright blue. She looked up at Mallis, and watched in anger as he devoured the two innocent beings. She looked at the child behind her, lost, alone, and horrified as his parents were killed. She ran towards the child, diving and rolling at the last second to take position next to him, her bow ready to fire three crystal arrows.

"Ravencloak!" she yelled out. A mighty gust of wind blew through the forest, and Ravencloak appeared between Colneth and Mallis, staff in hand and cloak strewn about him. The old elf wizard rose both of his hands into the sky, and a massive wall of intensely hot fire exploded into life between himself and Mallis, barring him from Colneth and the weeping child. Ravencloak kept his hands held high, thinking hundreds of incantations to form this wall of impenetrable magic fire and keep it intact.

"Run!" he yelled back to Colneth "I'll hold him off until you get that child to safety. This wall won't last long!" Colneth nodded and slung the bow over her torso. She scooped the child up in her arms and took off, leaping gracefully across the river and then sprinting through the forest on the other side.

"So," Ravencloak said in a deep, slightly raspy voice "We meet again, Mallis!"

Calamity let out a cackling laugh when the clouds burst with black droplets. She muttered something in an ancient draconic dialect, and magical field began to shed the dark liquid. "I remember hiding in my lair as you drained the life from my world. I used to be fixated on destroying you, but over the years I lost my desire for vengeance. My sole reason for being here is power." The dragon flew above Mallis, then circled to face him. She stopped, her wings beating in the air despite the fact that she was clearly suspended by magical means. "I see us as the biggest pieces on this battle field, all I desire is a share in the spoils." Calamity then turned to the wall of fire. "Even mortals are interfering." She reared back her head and sent a torrent of magical ice in it's direction.

Ravencloak watched as the dragon from above attacked with its breath of ice, and muttered an incantation under his breath. Just before reaching the magical wall of fire, the ice stopped dead and transformed into a cloud of thick steam. The hot steam billowed up into the air, causing a smokescreen above the wall of flame which would hopefully keep aerial attackers at bay. Just before the fog of steam expanded and thickened, Stellus Mortem figure came soaring through, his wings outspread and his scythe at the ready. He soared towards Mallis, ready to fight to the death.

"I've come for you, death-bringer!" he yelled "Your tyranny ends here!"

Destruction scoffed, "You people talk about this 'vengeance' crap..." He took a step into the air, seemingly walking on nothing, while shoving his hands down the pockets of his black jeans, "The dragon thing said something about power," he took another marching step upward, "I just want good time." He ignored the chaos, and continued up the invisible stairway. When he reached a certain height, he stopped and turned to Mallis. They were on an equal altitude by now, "This **** is all just fun and games!!" He hunched over, and slapped his right wrist with his left wrist, making a cross with his hands, (unintentionally, of course) and flicked his left arm outwards. A gland in his right forearm throbbed, and began expanding. The gland flowed up through his veins and up the side of his neck, and up into the back of his throat. It opened a tiny bit, and a bright crimson sparkle leaped out of his mouth. It illuminated the dark skies and dashed forward towards Mallis. It left a path of empty space, a nothingness that could not be filled.

Mallis laughed, it boomed throughout the valley like a thunderstorm. His entire form turned into a black cloud which soon transformed into a massive tornado and began up the hillside.

"Destruction! Help!" Thage shouted as she was separated from Ariana and Tharan by a crowd of Datkling, frothing purple vapors from their mouths.

Calamity's magical sight pierced the fog, allowing her to zero in on the mage's position. A raspy voice bellowed despite the fact the dragons jaw remained shut. "I took you for a petty magic user, due to you foolishness. I won't make that mistake again." The colossal beast circled around and dropped out of the sky, landing behind the flame barrier. The impact shook the earth violently several hundred feet in each direction, making it difficult for smaller beings to keep their footing. A purple energy could be seen manifesting through the holes in her throat. "Even an archmage can't stand up to a elder dragon sorcerer, let alone a dracolich." Upon finishing Calamity roared releasing a massive beam of raw destructive energy towards the wizard.

From the impact crater crawled a rather large rodent. The first thing he did was stick his nose in the dirt so to taste the air. His tongue told it that a rather large battle was taking place nearby. In addition he detected that somewhere amounts the chaos was the prize he sought. A cigar that appeared from midair. He took hold of it, bit off the end, then lit it with laser vision. Wedge didn't need any more motivation, it was show time.

"D'aw, ****!" Destruction cursed loudly at Thage, "You need to be more useful, you piece of ****, twat!" He decided to finish the blow that he sent to Mallis. The bright red glimmer in the sky flew at insane speeds. It soared right through Mallis's head piercing the upper left part of Mallis's face, leaving everything that it touched, including the air, an empty black space. The air did not refill the black space. That part of the world was now nonexistent. Anything that touched the emptiness, would no longer exist, though only the part it touched would become nonexistent.

Destruction screamed at Mallis, naming the power he just used, with an added curse at the end, "Banished decimation, mother****er!" The giant destroyer then decided to flip Mallis off, giving it a lot of emotion. He laughed hysterically.

Destruction slouched over and propelled his left hand down his pocket. The other hand was flung down towards Thage, causing the shining crimson light to change routes, and fly at the Darklings. It swapped it's blood red hue for a pale cyan tint. It would no longer make things nonexistent, but instead, it would spawn a thick coat on all of Mallis's minions with something that looked like honey. The honey-like substance would quickly corrode the Darklings skin, unless they had some sort of resistance.

The Darklings, having no skin boiled and began to retreat, following Mallis's vortex so that he'd heal them, but vaporizing before they got to him. Thage sat down on a log, looking at Destruction with an awkward face. She looked back over what he had said to her. She decided to cross her legs as she sat on a log--but making it look like a simple posture.

"Um..." she began. "I wouldn't talk like that to me if I were you, ever again..."

Suddenly whispers emerged from the trees and grass that only Destruction could hear. The clouds began to roll with slight thunder and waters in the creek began to emerge a fog that took the form of many beings that slipped by in matters of seconds, with glowing green eyes made of light.

Destruction yelled down at Thage, "Get used to it, buttercup! I swear when I feel like it!" He beamed at her with his dagger-like fangs. It's a known fact by all of Destruction's followers that usually curses when he's happy. It's just part of his personality that Thage had to accept.

Thage stood up and crossed her arms. Her eyes narrowed darkly and seemed to grow a dark border and silver pupils. "No... you won't" she said. Her voice seemed to have a scary echo to it. The wind around seemed to scream. Her hair suddenly turned ebony and black and began to writhe and fly up in the air around her as a black aura began to grow around her. Her mouth opened and fangs had emerged. The grass around her grew to long amounts and formed long tendrils which lifted her up to eye level with Destruction.

Ariana stepped back. "That's not normal... not for an Allure..." she told Tharan next to her. The dragon gave a concerned face. "She may not be an Allure after all you know..." he said. "A spy of Mallis more like it. Bad at keeping her cover."