Death Returns

[Kaldryn]

The forest was hot and muggy, the birds all seemed to be happily twitting about from tree to tree though, quite delighting, it seemed, in the heat of the mid day under their canopy of dense forest with the shadows to cool them in the face of what was proving to be the warmest day of the year so far. There were deer walking along the game paths, some stopping at small nearby lakes to take a sip of the cool waters and rabbits hopping gaily about the forest floor, dashing in and out, playing the cool shade of the thick bushes that lined those game paths that twisted and turned throughout the entire forest. Suddenly the forest animals all stopped their antics about their home and all went as silent as any mute being. There was a presence in the forest and as the animals began to move again, this time, scurrying to hide amongst the foliage and trees, the sun seemed to darken, a total eclipse though, it was no where near the time of year for an ellipse, one was not even due for yet another ten years. This eclipse plunged the entire forest as well as the entire Kingdome of Karador and the world, for that matter in total darkness.

Mad laughter could be heard in the thick darkness, a laugh that chilled the animals and perhaps all other creatures that heard it to the very core of their being. The sound seemed to reverberate and echo through the trees, bouncing from one mighty Oak to the smaller fir and then down to the very ground where the bushes themselves seemed to quiver at the sound. And then, just as it had come, the laughter ceased and the forest began to lighten again as a cloaked figure began to walk into the midst of the foliage and limbs, the red orbs that graced his face gazed about in the now graying light of the solar eclipse that had slowly begun to lift and they seemed to catch a movement as they darted from left to right and then up and to the right again, as if following something that moved very quickly through the woods. The cruel lips that were set in an evil grin parted slightly and a long, thick nailed hand flew from the cover of the dark cloak that wrapped the form so neatly and an agonizing cry shot forth through the forest, its cry that of a hundred creatures all at once, screaming out in pain and suffering as the Dark Mage destroyed all life around him, every bird that had fluttered and flew about just moment before the sun had set, every rabbit that had once hopped about in playfulness and each deer that had sipped so silently of the cool waters in the forest, dead, all at once and then, and only then, did the eclipse drift away from the sun and the figure in the shadowed cloak laugh again, a laugh so intensely evil, so heatedly malicious that any who should hear it, would know that Kaldryn the Dark Mage and slayer of the General Kiara over two-thousand years ago, had returned.

“Have no fears Kalista dear, soon, you will find yourself with your beloved family once again, and I will see to it that you do it by your own hand. There will be no escape this time my dear child…” The Dark and most unemotional voice said as the man began to walk forward, the edges of his cloak billowing out behind him as he strode forward at a stately pace as well, leaving no trail behind him, not but the eclipse and the dead forest creatures would tell of his passing, and nothing more as he began to fade into the shadows of the tress and finally disappear all together, or had he?

[Ashard]

Somewhat annoyed of the interuptions wherever he attempted to have some fun, Ashard decided to take his play time into the forest, figuring that surely no one would have a problem with it there.

Cantering through the growth in the form of a gazelle, the Keeper was looking for the perfect spot to perform yet another of his heinous actions. He passed by a scarce number of woodland creatures until he came up on a clearing that had a small pond off to the one side of it where several beasts had gathered. Slowing his pace so as not to scare any prematurely, Ash took note of where each animal was so that he could figure out the best place to be in when he would commit his final action for this particular outing of the day.

In the middle of the pond near the two hippos and not too far from the girafes was probably the right emplacement since the other animals around the pond and in the rest of the clearing would still get a good view. While Ash was getting into position all the animals froze with a terified look on each of their faces and the Grave Keeper was left bewildered, not knowing what could of spooked them as he had not done anything yet. Moments later, all the animals had come back to life and bolted like their very being depended on it.

Though it was fun to watch, he did not cause it and was therefore pained by it. Curious to know what frightened all the species of the animal kingdom that had been before him moments earlier, especially since everything went pitch black and a mad laughter rang out through the woods a fair distance from them to the south, Ash bound himself to the location of the sound.

Not caring about trees or anything that would of been in the way for any living being, the Keeper made his way over rather rapidly as the light came back and the animals died all around him, he slowed to a stop just before ariving upon his destination. He moved slowly now, ever curious as to who or what could of caused all this comotion. When he saw the dark creature that was walking in the midst of the forest, Ash had no doubt that it was this one that was the root of the ruckus at hand.

Standing up on his hind legs, the Keeper put one of his front hooves on his hip and looked over almost flabergasted as the male before him spoke something or other that Ash did not care to pay much attention too even though he heard it somewhere in the back of his mind. "I should of known someone was going to steal the fun right out from under me." He shook his head in dismay. "If I don't do anything that bothers anyone with intelect, it only seems logical that it should be torn from me." He sighed deeply even though it did nothing for him.

[Kaldryn]

The dark Mage had dissolved into the darkness of the shadows cast by the surrounding forest trees, his eyes now, as black as the night as he watched the peculiar sight before him as the gazelle stood on two hind legs as if it were human, making human gestures and then, he heard the thing speak and that was enough to satisfy his curiosity as now he knew for certain this thing before him was no more an animal that it was alive.

Well, that certainly explains the reason for it’s continued existence. Kaldryn thought to himself as he continued to gaze upon the creature with his deadly stare.

The Mage decided that this might just be the time to continue his studies of the ghost, as he figured the creature must be, as it stood, perplexed as to why it had been thwarted so easily of its desired ‘fun’. He remained in the shadows, the only thing that might have even given him away would have been his thoughts, but he was sure that a ghost, no matter how tricky, would not be able to read a mind it didn’t even know was about, besides, he was inclined to keep his thoughts to himself, should any creature, ghost or not, try to delve into the darkness of what dwelled within this mind, they would without a doubt, spend the rest of their pathetic lives screaming out in horror at the things they found inside. Many had tried and they were all now about as useful creatures as the worms that wiggled about in the mud after a hard days rain.

The ghost, however soon became of lesser import to Kaldryn his mind now returning to his task at hand, and that, was to seek out the Necromancer he knew existed in the Karador realm. He would seek this man out and together, if the Necromancer was worthy, they would indeed concur Karador, and Kalista would soon be his.

Kaldryn then moved from the shadows, his feet making little to no sound as he strode forward, away from the silly ghostly creature and towards the Keep. He was a busy man and had no time for the foolhardy tricks that ghosts liked to play.

[Ashard]

Not only did this one steal Ashards pleasure, but he outright ignored him, with ease at that, blending with the shadows of the trees. He waited a little while to see if the figure would come out of the shadows, but as it did not he slowly turned back to his normal form and went invisible as is his usual habit when he has no use to be seen.

Starting his small journey back to the graveyard he mumbled to himself. "That ghost pesters me into giving up my fun. The guards get after me in their civil way. Civilians shreek with fright." He stoped mumbling a moment to snicker hapily. "Well, that last one isn't so bad, and Decimas yells at me and throws things at me even though he knows it's of no use. That's also entertaining it's it's own ways. Stupid necro. So I spose some things are good." He shruged and continued his journey. This dark creature's reaction was new for the keeper. Creatures of all kinds usually had such problems ignoring him no matter how hard they tried.

[Kaldryn]

The ghosts words, his last ones about the Necromancer hit the ears of the Mage and his feet stopped in mid step and he turned around slowly until he found the being traversing the path towards Karador again. Had that ghost just mentioned the Necromancer? So Decimas was the name, yes he had to have, Kaldryn knew his ears not to play tricks or deceive him in any way and so, before the ghost knew what was happening, a tall, dark figure stood before him not more than five feet directly in his path. A deep black mass seemed to envelope the figure of the man as he stood, it was as though one would be looking into a shadow and not a living being, the only thing telling differently would be the red beacons glowing within the darkness some where under the shadow of what seemed to be a hood. Even to the ghost, the shadow seemed so thick that to try and cross it might prove impossibility.

“Hold friend ghost, might I request a short conversation with thee for a moment?” A thick, detached voice seemed to echo in the mid-day sun, though there was no sun in the vicinity of the figure that stood there, it was almost as if the sun not dare intrude upon the darkness that rested in the otherwise sunny trail under the forest canopy, the shadowy presence seeming to undulate and move in an almost hypnotizing manner as it seeped out to cover the ground then recoiled again only to seep out over the once bright ground, over and over again. “I am terribly sorry for ruining your fun in the forest, and if you would but give me a few moments of your time, I am certain I can make it up to you.” The voice returned, an almost friendly note issuing forth in the detached tones and echoes as they seemed to reverberate through the dense trees.

Kaldryn had every intention on making this worth the ghosts time, should he cooperate, should he not… well, that would be an entirely different story and would have to wait and see the outcome of the first, in order to retrieve the would-be nasty ending to the later.

[Ashard]

First, the grave keeper's amusement was cut short, then the root of the massacre blatantly ignored him, now he was interupted on his way home. This day was not starting on a good note for Ashard and he sincerely hoped it could not get worse as the thick shadow of darkness oscillated before him while he stood there.

Just as the ghost was starting to think that the shadow was simply there to annoy him further, it spoke unto him “Hold friend ghost, might I request a short conversation with thee for a moment?” Rolling his eyes back at what apeared to be plain lunacy, Ash shook his head in disbelief. He knew very well that this was the same one that ignored him moments before. Not understanding the sudden change of mind, he decided to keep his invisible form for the moment as he did not know exactly what to expect. Staying where he was out of curiosity, he wondered what would come of the situation.

Arching an eye brow, he simply stood there and watched as the sun lacked the power to penetrate the darkness of the creature before him and words continued to come forth. “I am terribly sorry for ruining your fun in the forest, and if you would but give me a few moments of your time, I am certain I can make it up to you.”

Though the entirety of the dark figures speech did not last twenty seconds, the keeper was finding it long and hoped the point would come soon. Anticipation was often a bother to this ghost.

When the dark one finished speaking Ashard replied, “I supose I could lend you a few moments.” His form slowly flickered into sight with much static. The man before him had went for a grand aprearance, so Ash decided to take on a weird one for the heck of it.

“Do you mind if I start with a question?” He paused for a slight moment before continuing, “Are you always this wishy-washy with your actions, your decisions? First you act as though I don't exist and now I'm a pal.” He finished as he scrunched up his face, bearing a slightly disgruntled look.

[Kaldryn]

Kaldryn waited for the apparition to finish with its display of antics, doing, as ghosts will, as they always seemed to do, be annoying. When Ashard had finished with his own line of questioning, the darkness before the ghost did not move, nor did it change any whatsoever. Instead, the dark tendrils of that cloak continued to slither out and back again, undulating as if alive, refusing to allow any light through and chasing it away when its fingers stretched out, only to be sucked back in to the mass of shadows it had come from.

“Indeed, I suppose I might have deserved that retort.” Kaldryn started, admitting he had been rude to ignore the ghost at first. “Had I but known you would want to play, perhaps I would have stayed around a bit longer.” He continued, a flash of red, as bright as the sun emanating from the Darkness of his hooded frame only to be absorbed by the shadows like every other light that threatened the existence of darkness. “A pal, now that would be interesting, as I do not believe I have ever had a... ‘pal’” Kaldryn then chuckled slightly. “No, it is just you have peeked my attention ghost, you mention a Necromancer, gave him a name even, Decimas I believe you said.” He continued still, his dark voice continuing to come from everywhere. “I am seeking such a man, and was in the hopes that you might be able to point me in the direction of this Necromancer.” He finished, his voice reverberating quietly about the near-by trees and foliage, making them shake their leaves as if trying to rid themselves of something foul and dread.

[Ashard]

“Indeed, I suppose I might have deserved that retort.” Ashard listened very intently to those words, noding his head in agreement.

The Keeper rolled his eyes slightly as the man before him continued, especially when he brought up Decimas. "I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, but you don't seem like the type that likes to hang out and play." Ash looked directly into the flashy red orbs as he spoke. "I'm not holding that against you though, most don't like to play." The ghost laughed to himself recalling a few cherished moments of fun. "It's sad to hear that you don't have any pals as they are always good to have around. I hope you find a good one sometime soon but I can assure you it won't be this Decimas that you're looking for." Ash looked off slightly to the side as he frowned and sighed heavilly.

Looking back into the red orbs he concluded, "Though if you insist on locating him you can usually find his royal pompous in the graveyard that I tend to. Though at the moment he's not there."

[Kaldryn]

The darkness continued to play its game with the light, swallowing it up only to be reeled in again and start all over once more. That cloak was alive by all right and even seemed to become irritated each time it was hauled back in, undulating and quivering as if angry that it had to start all over again.

“The graveyard…” Kaldryn replied, though it was more of an outward thought than an actual reply. “It is fitting I suppose for the creature to take up residence in the place of the dead.” He continued, still more of an outward thought than anything more.

After a few moments silence, Kaldryn grinned under his dark shadowed cloak, though the ghost wouldn’t have known. “I thank you for the information ghost, and as you say he is not there at the moment, I would guess that he probably is out and about trying to create more havoc than he’s already started.” He finished, knowing well the problems that Decimas had already begun by the thoughts he was able to gain from his attack on Kalista.

“As for play time, you might be right, I really do have a habit of cheating.” He stated with a wicked laugh to end with, though the laugh only lasted a few moments before it cut off and there was silence once more.

“You don’t much care for his presence in your graveyard do you?” He then inquired, though of course, he really couldn’t care, he had to ask, and he wanted to know what he’d be dealing with as the days drew on.

[Ashard]

The Grave Keeper could hear in the tone of voice that the one before him took on that he was simply in a sort of outward reflection on things. So with that, the ghost did not bother replyin' to what was said there.

He looked about the woods in the few moments that seemed to last forever to him. Every living creature was most definately dead. No movement could be seen, no sounds could be heard. The only thing apart from the vegitation that demonstrated the slightest sign of exixtence was the cloak that continuously ate up the light and the Keeper sort of stared at it for a while.

Ash was in a daze when the man spoke of cheating instead of playing. The cloak seemed to have captured his interest for a reason only known to him.

“You don’t much care for his presence in your graveyard do you?” As the question was asked the Keeper shook his head and the trance broke.

"Well, I thought that was kind of aparent." He laughed. "He moves into my land and acts like he owns the place. He constantly destroys what I work hard on and then expects me to clean up his mess with no complaints. He claims the right to have fun at my expence and yet yells and throws things at me when I try to distract myself." He said while frowning. "That, quite frankly, serves no purpose as he can't touch me. So he only wastes his energy." Ashard shook his head in dismay. "He acts like he's the center of the universe and all should bow to him. You can't tell me that you want to worship this duffus. So why should I?" He laughed once more.

His line of sight catching once more the cloak that was still eating the light, he asked with an inquisitive look on his face, "If I turn my self all glowy like, would your cloak eat me to then spit me back out as well?"

[Kaldryn]

Kaldryn then laughed, it was a genuine laugh filled with mirth, and it was because of two of the ghost’s comments.

“First off, I worship no one save for my own Lord and second, no, I don’t suppose that he’d be able to harm you as he wouldn’t understand how, he’s not trained in that area.” Kaldryn said with a smirk on his hidden lips and only after his laughter had subsided.

The dark tendrils seemed to jump out, stretching furiously against their restraints now, as if trying to gain more ground than Kaldryn was allowing, their darkness searing the tender blades of grass that they moved over, only to retreat once again, though this time, not fully as the Dark Mage allowed them to continue to play around a bit more with the sunlight.

“I don’t know, we can see what they’d do if you would give them the opportunity.” Kaldryn then chuckled slightly. “Might be amusing to see.” He finished.

Kaldryn owed the ghost an amusement for aiding him, and if this was the amusement he wanted, Kaldryn was not going to deny him, as it would be interesting to see how the darkness would react to the energies that made up the ghostly figure that stood before him. Yes, Kaldryn was an evil soul, but he always kept his word, it was something he prided himself on.

[Ashard]

The being that stood before the ghost broke out in a joyfull laughter. Ash simply smiled. He loved it when people laughed especially happy ones.

When the hooded figure calmed down he began speaking once more and the Keeper nodded his head in agreement with what was said.

During that time the tendrils of the cloak seemed to get more agitated, almost as though they were anticipating something.

“I don’t know, we can see what they’d do if you would give them the opportunity. Might be amusing to see.” Replied the cloacked figure while he chuckled slightly.

Ashards eyes grew wide with exitement. He had permission to be a nut and for once he did not mind that someone felt they had to give it. It did not take long before the ghost had changed form to become a giant, a colossal firefly. He buzzed about and turned so's his bright rear end would face the cloak and he shook it with all he had.

"You know you want it." Ashard teased.

[Kaldryn]

Kaldryn watched the ghost, his attentions all about him, though his focus was the apparition. He could feel the ghosts energies in every shift it made from one thing to the next, this brought a smile to the Dark Mage’s features. Indeed, Karador had not changed one bit, it was the one place in the entire world that seemed to carry with it an intense source of magic amongst every living thing, plant to animal. It was as such over two thousand years ago and seemed to still remain, this would be good when he finally was able to once again unleash the mighty power of his Lord from the underworld and see, and at long last, total destruction of a planet he no longer even had use for.

The tendril of the cloak were unleashed now, the Dark Mage loosing them to do as they would, and as Ashard stood there, wiggling his hind end towards the slithering dark masses that even now sped their way over the charring ground beneath then, they seemed to even grow in mass, separating and then began to snake up and around the ghost with what could be described as only an audible sort of twisted sigh that emanated from their mass. At first, the attack was slow, though the sucking nature of the darkness was forceful, as if a vacuum had been created to simply not allow any light to escape, but then, they began to grow once more, and soon, the ghost had disappeared inside the mass of shadowed darkness. Kaldryn raised a brow. “Interesting.” She said with a hint of would-be scientific amusement over the matter, knowing full well that when the ghost was ready, he glide through the darkness, though, any light that he might had created, would no longer be there.

[Ashard]

Ashard was still wriggling his rear even as he saw the tendrills multiply and come speedily towards him. As they started to slowly engolf him he began screaming and contorting his firefly face in sheer pain even though he felt nothing. He was being sucked in deeper and deeper into the cloak till he was completely within it.

From inside, Ash could hear the mage, “Interesting.” Nothing more was said from him.

“Yeah, I'll say it is.” The Keeper laughed. “I wonder if you have any idea as to what all is in here.”

Using his telekenetics, he began 'cleaning' the interior of the cloak. Scads of Buttercups were sent flying out, no longer vibrant. Sheets of alluminum foil, flint, steel, crystals, gems, diamonds and a few other items were now strewn about in the dirt that lined the forest floor. None of the items being able to produce light as they have been dulled.

“I think it's safe to say that your cloak was hungry.” He laughed merilly as he danced his way out from the cloak.