"Has anyone heard from Alkadian? It's been damn near over a week, and I've yet to conclude...business with him. Nothing important. Just curious..I suppose."
The only one who reacted was Siris. He looked up from his meal and responded. "And I tell you again, no one has heard from him. Let us enjoy his absence. It is a blessing tonight."
The dwarf chuckled to himself without looking up. "Maybe he's just busy." He continued softly laughing at a joke no one else seemed to get.
"Who's Alkadian?" Chimed in Milo.
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With a snap of his fingers the spell ended. His arcane window into the tavern faded to grey smoke. He wanted to check in on his companions to make sure he would have no distractions for tonight. He was twitching with anticipation.
It had been simple to convince the farmer to let his use his property for his project, and after a week it hardly looked like a barn anymore. The viles and tools stacked on the tables around him showed hours of use. They had been expensive to rent, but the small ancient book that rested among them was worth a fortune in comparison. Tonight he would be done with it.
Eagerly returning to the task at hand, he moved to the center of the structure and pulled the large sheet off of his latest work of art. As the dirty blanket fell to the ground, it revealed the vulgar abomination. A mountain of flesh, bound together silver strings, towering over 9 feet tall, even with its hunched shoulders and spine. With arms like a huge ape and a festering sagging belly like a beached whale made of human, animal, and a few other arcane components. One emotionless eye peeked out of its puckered socket on a twisted noseless excuse of a face. And from the top of its fist like head to the bottom of its swollen trunk like feet it was covered in a million tiny glyphs. Wards and warnings scribed in the arcane language.
"So beautiful" He whispered to himself.
The final step would be the most difficult. He loved a good challenge.
Picking the book up from its resting spot he began to circle the grim trophy slowly. Turning to the final page he started the chant. It was almost silent, but the importance of the words hung heavy in the air. Alkadian focused intently on reading every syllable of text correctly. The words shifted on the page and twisted on his tongue as he struggled to maintain the chant. The very message battled his mind as he attempted to grip its meaning and sing of the power hidden in these simple words. His voice now loud and demanding. He said the words with spits of disgust. The very taste of them causing him to shudder. He couldn't take much more. This was far more difficult then he could have imagined. He was going to fail. So much work gone to waste.
"No. You are an Beldier. Stop thinking about it and finish the bloody text you simpleton" The voice in the back of his mind cut at him. "You do NOT quit, and you do NOT accept failure. I don't care if your damn wagging tongue falls out of your repulsive skull. FINISH THE WORDS."
Rheviendar'elgha'tromee- Albatier'ma'ar'kandra....
The book seemed to suddenly weigh much more than he could lift. But he couldn't let go. The weight pushed him to the ground but with white knuckles he gripped and continued reading. His robes began to dampen with sweat and his head was spinning. The words didn't even make sense anymore. This was madness. Where was he and why was he spitting out these foul words?
Fhiermatra- Vheinha'bara- Albatier'ma'ar'kanra......
At this point he was pulling himself across the floor, dragging himself with one hand. The other gripping the book tightly in front of his face. His eyes burned and saliva and bile began to trickle out of his mouth and burn his lips.
"Keep reading you weakling. It's a book. Simple words and old spells will NOT be your defeat. This is NOT beyond you. Curse your frail frame. If you die here the demons will tear you apart. You will have died a failure. DAMN YOU, READ THE WORDS!"
VHALKA-MESTRA-MA'AR'KANRA!!
Hot winds began battering the tiny barn. The rafters shook and glass viles cracked and exploded. Their shards hovered motionless in the air. All he could hear was his heartbeat. It was slow and steady, and before his burning eyes he could see the book begin to crumble like stale bread. It cracked and toppled into ashes. He grabbed frantically at them trying to save his work, but the searing wind lifted the ash and it began to spiral around him in time with the slow heartbeat. He watched the ashed drifted and danced in the air above him, gasping for breath as he fell to his side. His hand reach upward begging the book to return. The heartbeat was shaking the floor now. Then all at once, like a bellows of a huge forge the beast breathed in. It sucked in the magical ashes drifting around him, and the runes began to glow. Slowly it stood erect, and its one dead eye looked down and locked gazes with Alkadian. With his new master.
Uncompromising loyalty...Those were his last thoughts before he let the darkness take him. He didn't awaken for two more days.
Bobo!!
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