Withering Ambition

Force of Nature

A grunt of effort, runes flickering to life, before fading away. Necron had attempted the spell 5 times now, but to no avail. He may have had a gift for dark magic, but was nowhere near proficient enough to cast this spell. 

Kaeman maintained his composure throughout the ordeal, not frustrated at all with Necron's failures. 

"You must let the mana flow through you. You are trying to control it, but for a spell this powerful, it must control you as well. Let it guide you, do not resist its power."

Necron nodded his head and closed his eyes shut tight. The pages in front of him flared to life, and runes once again flickered around his hands. But this time, something felt different. He felt a warmth creeping up his arms, and as he looked down to inspect it, he saw that his forearms glowed with mana and power. 

He felt more dexterous than ever, and the runes at his fingertips began to strengthen. The only thing that the spell would accomplish was a tiny fragment in the barrier, but Kaeman had assured Necron that it would be enough. A humming began to emanate as tendrils of mana creeped upwards towards Kaeman's cage. 

Necron braced himself for the moment that they would impact the outer shell, and when it came, it came fast. A hissing sound came from the cage as the dark magic withered away its integrity. Far above, Necron noticed ripples flowing through the magical barrier. 

Chunks of metal began to cleave from the cage as Kaeman began to glow with energy, further destabilizing the barrier above. A bolt of energy arced from the edge of the cage to the barrier above, and a tiny opening formed to the open sky above. A pinhole of sunlight reached the ground, and for a small moment, peace. 

Energy burst forth from Kaeman as the hole began to widen and Necron felt the ground beneath him began to shake. Cracks appeared in the earth and after a rumbling in the island itself, a fissure opened at his feet. Alarmed, Necron lost his focus and the spell he was casting was abruptly halted. 

For a moment it looked as if the barrier would close back up, the edges of it creeping back together. But alas, it was too late. 

Summoning ethereal hands from his body, Kaeman ripped open his prison, causing holes to appear all over the barrier in the sky. Sunlight poured in, and Necron saw Kaeman in full light for the first time. He was truly a sight that would instill fear in any man, and with a flash of light, bolts of energy fired off in all directions, crumbling the rest of the barrier to pieces and destabilizing the land below. 

"Quickly! We must take our leave!" 

Necron felt magical forces pull him from the ground and towards Kaeman as wind rushed past him. Dark clouds of energy blotted out the sunlight and struck the ground with malicious bolts of lightning, scorching any life that remained straight out of the earth. 

As the two dark mages fell towards the void, Kaeman cast out massive spikes of steel, impaling the already weakened portion of the island and causing a large chunk of land to cleave from the earth, revealing a tunnel. 

Kaeman seemed to float towards this tunnel, manipulating the wind to get the pair there faster. Upon landing in the tunnel, Kaeman appeared revitalized, and his true power was put on display. He glowed with dark energy, his eyes fiery white. His faces were as expressionless as ever as he turned towards Necron before speaking out in a booming voice. 

"Welcome, to the Catacombs."

With seemingly no effort at all, Kaeman retrieved a large chunk of earth falling from above and sealed the tunnel away, leaving Necron in darkness, with only the Wither King's aura to guide him. 

Necron was awestruck. It was evident that he was not dealing with a powerful mage, but with something greater... A force of nature, capable of shaping the world to his will, with near limitless power. Truly marvelous, he thought. 

Kaeman breathed a sigh of relief, and with a flick of his head, conjured living flames to light the passage ahead. 

"You see, Necron, I have a certain affinity for detecting death. And this is the best place to find it. This is where all of the men and women who died in battle with my army lie. As well as the corpses of my army itself. A suitable place to build an empire, wouldn't you say?"

Kaeman tilted his head and smiled slightly at Necron. It was a rare occurrence to see him smile, and Necron couldn't help but return the smile back. 

"Before we proceed, there is an action that I have taken that I wish to... reverse." Kaeman exhaled slightly, almost laughing to himself. 

Kaeman recalled his memory of the event, repeating the words he had spoken out loud.

"You will have a chance to serve me.... I will make you what you are meant to be."

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This chapter is dedicated to Monkestrong and _oReally, both of whom have voted on the majority of the chapters I have written so far and have been excellent in showing their support for the series! Thank you both so much!