Dark Magi: Dante's Story Book 1

The morning sun shone through barred windows. Rays of light entered into a darkened room filled with dusty shelves. Their radiant glow chased away the darkness. The sounds of birds, newly awakened, came through to fill the otherwise empty silence. The stingy air was infiltrated by the sweet and subtle scent of spring. Though, this silence was interrupted by the banging of metal doors.

The doors opened wide and then entered Dante, followed by his companions. Their steps slowed as they were not as of yet awake. They yawned, rubbed their eyes with the backs of their hands, and wallowed in their groggy state. Even Dante stood between the states of wakefulness and sleep. However, he knew much was riding on this mission, so this wasn't the time to sleep in.

"Come on, Dante." Complained Enrique. "Why do we need to be up so early?"

"Because Ogres are nocturnal." Dante replied with a yawn. "So long as the sun's up, we can go about our business undisturbed."

He searched the wall for a light switch, lighting up the room from an old ceiling light. The room was revealed to be some old storage space. Shelves upon shelves, dusty as could be, holding strange rocks and crystals.

"Is this why you woke us up?" Leo asked. "For rocks."

"Not just any rock." Dante replied as he removed a stone from its place.

"Aetherite," He explained as he showed it off to the others. "Aether condensed through low vibration till it becomes a form of mineral."

"Swell." Enrique stated with tired sarcasm. "Can we go back to sleep?"

"No!" Dante scolded him in his annoyance. "We need all the time we can get to recover the advantage in this mission."

"What makes you think we're at the disadvantage?" Asked Brian.

"Do you remember last night?" The lad started to tell. "When we came across Uulthran, I called for a retreat."

"Yeah." Replied Leo. "So?"

"Don't you find it odd how he just let us go?" Dante continued. "I mean, that ogress managed to trap us in an ambush. We were able to keep her men off of us, but we were still playing on the defensive. I had to lie and try to bluff our way out. Then Uulthran showed himself."

"Where are you going with this?" Asked Brian.

"I'm saying that we were in the position of being taken captive." Replied Dante. "Or worse, killed, considering that's what the ogress claimed she intended to do. But we were let go. We didn't escape because we were strategic. The enemy permitted us to run. And I doubt it was out of Uulthran's merciful nature. He's trying to play with us. He wants us to stew in the idea that he can do whatever he wants with us at any time he wants."

Dante's companions felt the idea chilling. They took to momentary silence as a look of shock found itself upon their faces. The three turned to each other, hoping one would be able to say something. Dante's face displayed a sense of seriousness. He knew the grave danger they were in.

"Worst part is I think he knows where we are." He continued as he began searching for something through the shelves. "We don't know the area. So I'm assuming that Uulthran thinks this camp site is the only appropriate place where we'd likely be. We have no idea where Uulthran is or how large his forces are. I'm assuming he has a small army at his command. And where as we are only six people, we are possibly out numbered. So we are basically lame ducks sitting in unknown territory, facing a predator of whom we have no intelligence on."

"So," Brian hesitated to say, "What do we do?"

Dante reached into the darkness of a top shelf.

"We use the time he so arrogantly gave us."

Out he pulled what looked to be a used journal.

"And obtain whatever advantage we can get while our enemies slumber."

He took the journal and displayed it to the others.

"Our enemy is arrogant and proud." He encouraged. "If we use our heads, they won't see it coming. We hit'em where it hurts and bring them down. And we prove the supremacy of intelligence over brute force."

"Do you think we can do that?" Asked Enrique.

"Yeah, like you said." Leo added. "We know next to nothing."

"That's the thing about knowledge." Dante said as he gave off a clever smirk. "We can always obtain it if we know where and how to look. We just need to be willing."

"Yeah, but this is Uulthran, the ogre who almost killed you as a kid." Brian stated. "Do you think you can do this?"

"I'm not the same person as I was." Danted argued. "I learned and developed my abilities. I have even fought Haegan as practice, and time and time again beat him. I admit that I'm frightened of the idea of dealing with Uulthran, but I won't let that stop me. It's all about playing smart. Ogres will always choose front to front combat. The trick to beating them is to play our game, not theirs. But first, we need to know the details of the situation. What our enemy wants, where they are, and how they intend to get it. Once we know this, we can focus on strategies to beat them."

"Will that book tell us anything?" Asked Enrique.

"I looked it over." Answered Dante. "It told me everything we need to know."

"When did you have the time to read it?" Leo inquired.

"Last night while the five of you were partying." The lad answered. "Speaking of which, where are the girls?"

"They wanted to sleep for a little bit longer." Said Brian. "So I told them they could."

"Damn it, Brian!" Dante exclaimed with a temper like a dragon's roar. "Stop giving them special treatment!"

"Dude, chill." Enrique suggested. "They're girls. They need to get their rest."

"They're members of the squad, so they need to be right here with us." The lad shouted. "Brian, I told you last night that you were responsible for them. Go wake them up. Drag them out of bed if you have to. Just get them here in this room."

"Yeah, and I agreed to take responsibility for them." Replied Brian. "So I'll fill them in later. Just tell us here what you've learned and I'll explain it to them when they wake up."

Dante gave him a furious look as if smoke was going to come out from within his ears. He was tired of Brian disobeying Dante's authority in favor of chivalry. However, for the purpose of the mission, he reluctantly accepted his friend's proposition.

"Alright, fine." The lad acknowledged. "But they need to be ready to take on whatever assignment I give to them. And you need to make sure they do it. None of this chivalry bullshit."

"Alright," Brian agreed, "I'll accept."

"Good." Dante was ready to move on. "Now, let me explain what I learned last night."

The journal gave the group the lay of the land. It described a large fortress somewhere in the distance, timeless and from a bygone era. It gave no word or sign of caves or mountains, just a wide reaching forest. So as Dante believed, Uulthran must be taking residence in the aforementioned temple. If his hunch was correct, then that would grant them an advantage in the battle. The three of them could potentially infiltrate the structure, and make note as to the amount of men in the warlord's employment. Doing so may potentially set both sides on equal terms, making up for last night's clumsy escapades.

Though, the lad held doubt to the idea a notorious warlord like Uulthran would leave his residence go unguarded. Despite what modern fiction liked to believe, ogres weren't dumb brutes. There was an intelligence to them, the same as any man. Though, it was true they preferred brute force when it was ever possible, no ogre of the title of warlord would be so foolish to be so vulnerable during the day time. And Uulthran was no fool.

By the lad's orders, Brian led a small party of three. Assigned to his side was Jasmine and Brittany. It was only mid-day as they hiked, searching for this fortress where the ogre might be residing. The sun climbed its way to the upper reaches of the bright blue sky. The heat grew more and more intense as the solar rays beat down on them, much to their dismay.

"They need to be ready to take on whatever assignment I give to them. And you need to make sure they do it." Dante's words echoed in Brian's head, like the ringing of a church bell. "None of this chivalry bullshit."

As the three continued on, the sun fulfilled its climb into the middle of the bright blue sky. The air grew warmer and warmer as time passed by. Eventually, the sun began to descend slowly from its lofty perch. The atmosphere grew cooler and cooler, bit by bit.

Though, it took some time, the three found themselves face to face with a large stone fortress out in the distance. A wall of bricks encircled the structure. Two flags waved in the breeze, each with the badly painted face of a snarling ogre. Only a valley separated the group from the fortress, stretching a good distance wide. However, not a guard was to be seen. There was an air of silence. Not a sound but the two flags floating in the gentle wind.

"Well, here we are." Brian stated as stopped his advance.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Brittany asked.

"Dante wants us to find out if Uulthran is actually keeping his men here." Answered Brian as he turned his attention to the silent fortress. "And if so, if there's a way to sneak in."

The two girls looked at the ancient fortress. It's once magnificent stonework now cracking under the weight of time. No one was there. The wind swept through the valley. Both grass and leaves waved as it blew.

"Brian…." Jasmine began to tell. "No one's here."

"We don't know that yet." Brian replied. "Dante says ogres are nocturnal. We're not seeing activity because they're probably asleep."

"So, should we get closer?" Asked Brittany.

"No, Dante told me not to reveal our presence." He disclosed. "We should probably just stick to this distance and just observe."

A moment of silence fell over them. The three watched over the mighty structure. Though nothing happened.

"Ugh! This is so boring!" Exclaimed Jasmine.

"Yeah, come on, Brian." Brittany added. "Let's go. No one's here."

"No!" Brian denied. "I promised Dante we'd follow his orders."

"F.u.c.k Dante!" Brittany stated angrily. "Why are you friends with that dork?"

"Yeah, he's such a loser!" Jasmine added to the barrage of insults.

Surprised by their comments, Brian turned to the two girls with a look of shock.

"What do you have against Dante?" He asked them.

Jasmine scoffed in disbelief.

"He's a misogynist." She derided.

"Yeah, you heard him the other night." Brittany added into the insults. "He….."

The conversation was cut short as a piercing whistle whipped through the air. The three turned their gaze to a nearby tree behind them. There, stuck inside the tree's bark, there was an arrow. Its tail still wagging. The arrow pierced into the tree's bark right at eye level. The three of them knew someone was trying to send a message; cruel one. They then turned their heads in the opposite direction, each with a look of terror.

As Brian led his scouting mission, Dante stayed back at the campsite, studying the books. He found himself hidden away in darkness, far from the light of the Summer sun; burning, blinding, and beating down on those underneath it. Dante studied under the light of candles the journals left behind. More and more his eyes darted, searching for answers.

The aetherite rock by his side, shimmering in the light of the candle flames. As the journal stated, aetherite was aether (magical energy) condensed into solid form. Because of that, it was used by some races across the nine worlds to power their arcane technologies in place of the user's own power. And of course, aetherite could be consumed by a magician simply to increase their own power. If it were anyone else, anyone at all, the motive would be clear. They may want to enhance their magic, or power some war machine. Unfortunately, Uulthran didn't care about these things.

Dante knew Uulthran well. He studied the brute for years once he got the chance. Though the lad never thought he'd see the warlord here in this simulation. Uulthran wasn't into magic, or even technology. Ogres valued physical power over intelligence, but this was more so the ideal than the standards. It isn't unusual for ogres to practice some level of magic to enhance their combative skill. Though, for Uulthran, nothing short of the ideal was acceptable. The warlord despised both magic and machines. So, what could he want with the Aetherite?

Annoyed and impatient as could be, Dante threw his head back as he grunted in his fl.u.s.tered state. The lad could not figure out the motive behind Uulthran's d.e.s.i.r.e for the aetherite. What could he want? What does he d.e.s.i.r.e?

After a brief moment as he stewed in his impatience, he turned his gaze to a quill pen and ink that sat next to a set of parchment papers he found. Dante was relieved to know a pen and paper was available. Granted, it was a limited supply. The lad could always use them for the creation of talismans. However, he's made plenty thus far, and kept them in a secret pocket hidden in his sorcerer's coat.

As he could not find possible answers on his own, he wondered if he should….ask for assistance….from those he trusted. Though, he was already indepted to them a bit. Come the end of the exam, he would need to act quickly to repay that dept. He knew how impatient his "friends" were when they were owed compensation. The more he would call on them, the more he would owe them.

It wasn't the dept that bothered him. He could repay whatever dept he owed. After all, he's done that time and time again. What made him hesitate was knowing that they wanted him to do this mission on his own, with as little requests made as possible. If it came to a straight up fight, they wouldn't mind as much, provided the opponent was overwhelming. Though solving puzzles was not what they preferred. For a mortal to call on the spirits over something so trivial (at least to them) would come off as lazy. And the spirits wouldn't like that. No, they wouldn't offer their services to someone of such low caliber. Why bother helping those who can't help themselves? It doesn't matter how easily they could be compensated. All that mattered to them was the competency and quality of the one making the request. Not the wealth or resources they could access.

The lad held up a piece of paper containing the sigil of Agares. The lad remembered how Brian and the others conjured the great duke against his will. He remembered communicating with the creature, and talking it into leaving, sparing the academy. Agares later taught Dante the act channeling the power of a willing spirit into a paper talisman. The talisman could be destroyed at any time to activate the latent magic within. A one use gift, but with so much potential. Of course, there was always a price to pay.

The sigil was written in black ink, and the lad's own blood. The blood was drawn from the fat of his thumb, carefully taken in the least destructive way possible. Still, it was always a hassle and annoyance.

No! Dante could not acc.u.mulate more dept. Above all, he couldn't earn the disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of his benefactors. He had to do what was expected of him. He had to find the answer on his own.

As Dante occupied himself with the books, Leo and Enrique were left keeping watch over the camp. They explored the site as time passed by, bored of the endless silence. The sunny skies and gentle winds grew tiresome as Enrique grew irritable. With a sigh and a grunt expressed as the hours slowly went by, it was clear in his mind that he yearned for a fight. His battle axe clutched in hand as if he waited with baited breath for the enemy to arrive. But no.

Brian was sent out with Jasmine and Brittany to locate the enemy stronghold. It was an assignment Enrique wished to be his. Moving into enemy territory would certainly mean a battle or two. And thus Enrique fl.u.s.tered with battle l.u.s.t. Even if there wasn't a foe to face, he would still be spending time with the girls. Of course, that thought brought him to another issue, Dante's treatment to them.

Enrique remembered the words that were exchanged the night before. He remembered how Dante spoke to Jasmine and Brittany so disrespectfully. And now he sent them off on a scouting mission when they should be kept safe in the camp site.

"It should've been me!" He whispered to himself. "I should've been placed on that scouting mission. Whether to be in their place or there to protect them from harm."

But no, Dante did not allow it to be. That sleaze ball! That misogynist! How dare he send them so close to the enemy! Does he not care about their safety?

The Dominican lad grew in his ire, his mighty grasp tightening around the shaft of his axe. Though the wrathful contemplation was suddenly interrupted.

"Enrique," Leo shouted, "You need to see this."

Leo should there in the burning Summer sun. His eyes fixed upon a sight he could not help but to behold. Try as hard as he might, the Caribbean lad could not contemplate such a curious sight. Strange and eerie it was, it filled the onlooker with dread. A chill ran up his spine as he passively observed the oddity.

"What?" Enrique came in with urgency. "Did an enemy sneak into the site?"

Leo answered not with words, but a slow shake of the head. His tongue tied by the nightmarish image.

"Well, what is it?" Asked Enrique as he grew impatient.

As not a sound escaped Leo's lips, he pointed a single finger to that which stood before him. Enrique turned his head to see. The axe that was clutched in his hand fell to the ground as he gave a look of horror. Like his friend, Enrique froze as he stood, staring at the nightmare before him.

"What do you make of it?" Asked Leo, as he finally recovered his voice.

"I have no idea?" Answered Enrique. "What is it?"

"This is the same spot we stood yesterday." Leo replied. "Where we discovered the painting of the ogre's face plastered upon the wall to a storage building."

"The one Dante demolished?" Enrique inquired.

"Yeah, that's the one." Leo assured. "This is that same building."

"So what happened to it?" Enrique asked in morbid curiosity. "I mean what am I looking at?"

"That's the issue." Said Leo. "I don't know."

Before them laid the remnants of the building in question. And yes, Dante demolished it on the previous day. For what reason would he do such a thing? T'was the vandalized ogre's face was the reason, for it brought back harsh memories that the lad would rather leave buried. And so he struck it down in a fit of rage.

There it lay, cast from its original state of usefulness to being a worthless pile of rubble. Even at that hour, the rubble continued to cackle softly in the flames, as wood and stone were colored black and whitish grey. The countenance of the ogre was still there, visible and legible for all to see. Though what made this site so grisly, so strange, and so frightening, was the bush of thorny vines growing from the scorched earth below. Out from the rubble and destruction they reached, grasping onto anything they could, clutching the ash covered stone and wood in their grasp. The thorns dug into anything they could in a spiteful embrace.

What should've been scorched and baron ground was instead fertile, allowing life to grow from the destruction. But it was not a form of life that invokes beauty and admiration. The life that grew from the dark scorched rubble was instead vengeful, rising out of the earth only to consume and destroy. The vines covered anything they could. This included the ogre's snarling face. T'was a living testament, before their frightened eyes, to hatefulness and spite.

"Enrique." Leo began as the fires cackled in the silent midday. "Do you remember last night, when we found the girls out there in the woods?"

"Yeah, Leo?" Enrique responded.

"When Dante volunteered to heal Brittany, and he told us to turn around to keep watch," Leo told his story. "I secretly turned around. I saw strange symbols carved in the dirt around him. I saw them glow with this blue light. Then these tendrils came from the symbols and wrapped around him."

"Do you think," Enrique began to ask, "That he's been dabbling in dark magic again?"

"I don't think he ever stopped." Leo answered sorrowfully.

Leo shook his head in heavy disappointment. Enrique, however, clutched his fists in angered regret.

"Our friend," He began, "Someone who has lived under the same roof as us, has been practicing infernal magic behind our backs."

"It seems to have influenced him." Leo added.

"I'm thinking the same thing." Enrique agreed as he was allowing suspicion into his head. "None of the rest of us would've put the girls in danger."

"He's always refused to be around Jasmine and Brittany." Stated Leo. "He doesn't even respect Serenity's feelings."

Enrique shook his head in anger and wrath. Tears descended down Leo's cheeks.

"T' Hell wit' him!" He declared as rage took over, much like the thorny plants that overcome the rubble. "We can't have him disrespecting the girls as he does."

"So what do you think we should do?" Leo asked as he wiped away the tears.

"We stand up to him, that's what." Replied Enrique. "Take him out here and show him that no one messes with our girls."