Darkness Comes ~ {Atherium+Alice}

[Apocalypse Alice]

Thalios' sky was dark. For nights now, the stars had been slowly dimming up in the sky, darkening the world below. The air smelled foul. It smelled of death and of fear. The world was changing, and it was not for the better. Rumors whispered from village to village that a strange power had risen up from the east, shifting the balance of the world with its hatred and fury. No one knew what that power was, or where it came from. No one knew why it was so hateful and angry. All that anyone knew was that the world was not the same now. Especially not in the Evenmire Woods. The woods, whose trees were as ancient as time itself, seemed empty now. Where once life was found at every level of the area, was only the howling of wind and that haunting stench of darkness. Here and there abandoned faerie villages could be found, abandoned animal dens, abandoned nests. The only trace of life that was left was the occasional glow from a lone wanderer, who stood only as tall as the ladybug who accompanied her. All that was left now in Evenmire was Dahlia, the autumn fae, and that ladybug companion of hers.


Had she the nerve to, Dahlia might have allowed herself to stand at any other height- just as many other fae could. Growing and shrinking in size had been an old hobby before the Darkness had come. Now, however, the tiny winged girl feared being too large, worrying that if her light was seen by anyone or anything, she might get snatched away. "Just like those other girls," she whispered under her breath as the thought crossed her mind. She'd heard rumors, before the forest had gone quiet. There were rumors that a hooded figure came in the night, stealing away anyone foolish enough to wander away at night. Some said that he was starting a collection of slaves, one of every kind of creature in the world. She didn't really believe that was true, but she did believe that the hooded figure was stealing people for some sort of nefarious reason. Her wings were growing tired from flapping- she and Bobbin had been flying since she'd gotten separated from her village.


The exodus had begun early this morning, the elder of their village announcing that the Queen of the faeries had called them all home to the Mother Pond. Unfortunately for her, Dahlia's wings were just slightly disproportionately smaller than they should have been, making it difficult to keep up with the group. She'd stopped a while back, to catch her breath, and lost track of them before she'd a chance to even start flying again. And so here she was, alone in this dark, terrifying night, the only light available being the light that glimmered from her flesh. She swallowed as she landed down on a toadstool, hoping that there weren't any owls nearby. She wasn't sure she really had the energy to outrun a bird, let alone catch up with the rest of the village.


"I just don't know what we'll do, Bobbin." The ladybug settled itself down next to her, and she rested a hand on its head, a frown forming on her lips. "I must admit... I'm scared." The last two words came as a whisper, and a little shudder went down her spine. Try as she might- Dahlia just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. She certainly hoped she was just being paranoid.

 

[Atherium]

"Volkhar, you are choosing a path that is too dangerous to walk!"


The old master told him, all while the young apprentice sat there, gazing at the horror he had just created. A lifeless spawn with many limbs and dead eyes that stared from the darkness of death. A being summoned from the Abyss, by a foul spell the apprentice learned without his tutor's approval. The old wizard knew that this demonic branch of magic was prohibited, and by the Gods, rightly so. If he wouldn't have showed up to eliminate the wretched being that his reckless apprentice has summoned, it would have killed him. If only he knew that his apprentice was going to bring darkness over all the Thalios, from one end to the other. But no one could predict the future with certainty.





The thought made Volkhar shift in his seat, that was found within the largest hall of the castle that he built during the peak of his power. A castle lain out in the wastelands that surrounded his domain. Outside, some of the most horrifying creatures, born of ashes and raised from ancient cemeteries walked about freely, guarding the realm of their master. A master that now found himself weaker by the day, his health eaten away by the vile pact he has made with the darkness. And soon, the world would sink into the last act of his life. The day would come when he will die, and along with him, the whole world will sink into a pool of shadow, coming to rest in the bowels of darkness itself. And the day when that will happen was not far. For now, Volkhar was sitting there, supervising the work of his students, men with heart as dark and cold as his, who worked ceaselessly to master the arts of spreading darkness. Of late, it has come to his knowledge that Thalios was not the only world existent, and so, before his inevitable death at the hand of the plague that was eating him, he would create a portal towards the next world, for his apprentices to invade it, and ruin it.


His body, withered, slim, almost like a bare skeleton yet lasted heroically after so long since the disease installed in him. He only wore a long, red robe that covered him, and a hood was covering his face away fully, only two pools of icy blue staring from the shadow. He wore a mask that covered his face, face that was by now rotten away almost entirely. A cough erupted from him, crooked, ominous. It was the time again. He needed to stay alive, and for that he needed more life force. Firmly gripping onto his staff, he forced it against the marble stone floor as he struggled to stand, groaning in pain as all his body was like a living wound. The price he was paying for his malevolence, and for his vicious crimes. He barely could step anymore, and only did as much as drag his feet upon the floor as he moved through the hall. He had to get to the dungeons.


The Vargoth castle was an immense, impressive structure. So great, that it was visible from tens, or thousands of miles away. Secluded on a large island in the northwest of Thalios, it was a safe place for the darkness to flow, and an assurance that the ones trapped within it had nowhere to run, even if they would manage to escape. A death trap. An expedition was sent out towards the mysterious island to investigate the clouds above it, that could mean nothing but an ill omen. Months have passed, and nobody returned. The last message received from the expedition was that the island is bathing in darkness, and foul creatures swim the tainted waters around it. Then, nothing. It would only be later on that the different races of Thalios, elves, dwarves, humans, orcs and other ones would be confronted with mysterious sights of dark cloaked travelers that appeared within different places. It was also strange that whenever one of the hooded strangers would appear, someone was always going missing. And then the darkness rose over the rest of Thalios, abominations and shadowy creatures attacking villages and causing the survivors to flee in fear and seek refuge. The races that were mostly in conflicts now banded together, figuring that warring with each another in such times was not something wise.


As soon as he reached the dungeons, Volkhar was relieved. With each struggle, his body weakened and he feared he might not be there in time to feed. The cells were locked with pads, and within them resided prisoners from almost every race that inhabited Thalios. In one of the cells, an orc sat in the corner, his facial features betraying the fact that he has long since resigned with the thought that there was no way out. The orc was the only prisoner that managed to escape the castle, avoid being eaten by the creatures outside and even reached the shores of the island, where he camped and tried desperately to build something, anything to sail away with. However, the tainted darkness has destroyed every single tree of the island, withering them and making them unusable for building anything. And so he was brought back in the dungeons by the guards that were dispatched to search for him. With ragged, panting breath, Volkhar headed towards the cell, deciding that it was time to feed himself with the orc's vitality. The prisoner did not react when the broken wizard fiddled with the padlock and opened it,


His icy gaze locked upon the prisoner, all while the other prisoners stared from their cells, watching yet another one of them ending in the same way they would all end. Volkhar's hand was encased in a weak, dark glow as he used his last remnants of willpower to begin the ritual. On the floor of the cell, a weird circle formed, made out of the same darkness that ruled the whole island. The orc did not bother to move, or even to gaze to the one who was going to end him. He was tired of fighting. The energy was soon swirling around him, strangling his body as he only let out a groan of pain, all while he shut his eyes closed, decided to not leave this world crying out from the excruciating pain that he endured as his energy was being sucked out of him and transferred to Volkhar. The process did not last too long, and soon, the orc let out a final sigh before opening his eyes, that were now empty, hollow, devoid. His carcass was all that remained behind the process, and Volkhar now felt a little better. He wondered when his field agent would return with the faerie. Through studies, he learned that faeries were nowhere as weak as the other races, and their life force was an almost endless pool. If he had one, he could exploit it and use it, not needing to be on a constant lookout for more persons to abduct and mercilessly kill.


With the thought, he returned to the castle, to take a look at what his apprentices were doing.


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Eyes watched from the shadows as the faerie were walking through the desolated woods, in silence, awaiting for the perfect moment to strike. The agent only needed to extend the limbs of darkness he has worked to master to trap the being that was already lost, as it seemed. The air grew cold, and the night darker. The mysterious figure grew impatient, and, as soon as the faerie set down to rest, admitting to slowly giving up her hopes, was when a pool of shadows opened beneath the toadstool, its cold limbs extending upwards and quickly encasing the plant, trapping the faerie and her companion. And from there, no escape would be possible, any longer. "The master will be so pleased." The hooded figure spoke as he came out of his hiding spot, picking up the now perfectly round ball of darkness and gazing upon it. He was now ready to return to Volkhar with his triumph.

 

[Apocalypse Alice]

As Dahlia sat there with her ladybug friend, that feeling of being watched only creeped into her heart more and more as time passed. She was terrified, to say the very least. As she waited there in the darkness, she began to feel her entire tiny form tremble. If she was being watched... who was it that was watching her? She could only hope that it was some stray animal, and at that, hopefully not a predatory animal of any kind. While she could definitely grow to a human size, she didn't quite have the energy to do so right this second- she hardly even had the energy to fly. She silently cursed herself under her breath for being so out of shape. If only she'd payed attention during acorn soccer, and actually played the game instead of picking flowers from the ground. And if only during flight class she'd actually applied herself, rather than preferring to make shapes in the air out of pixie dust.


It was to late to fix any of her classroom failings now however, and it was certainly too late for her to try to earn some more physical stamina. That sort of thing would take time. The very idea of time came as a sad sort of reminder. Time had been the very thing she payed the least attention to, it seemed. It felt like only a few days ago that she'd been a child, at school playing those games of soccer, and practicing her flying. She'd been out of those classes for quite a long time now, she was a total of twenty-two years, at least, in human years. Faerie years were far more complicated. She wished now, as she sat here in the cold that only got colder, that she could go back to those innocent times. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about the Great Evil that was forming out there, in the distance.


Her thoughts were interrupted when very suddenly, Bobbin began to buzz her wings as if she intended to take off without her. A groan left Dahlia's lips. Was she about to be alone now, here in the darkness of the forest? That very darkness seemed to darken even more, and the tiny light that her body emitted started to not be enough to even light an inch around her. Panic started to build up in her chest, and she felt a scream rise in her throat- yet it never emitted itself. It was as if she was completely paralyzed by fear. This fear punctuated itself as her wings suddenly expanded themselves up at full mast, displaying the patterns on them as if to warn whatever predator was watching her to stay far away.


Unfortunately for her, it didn't work. The thing that had been watching her ever so closely was no mere animal, and was of course, also not some weary traveler. She wished she could identify who this person was, but before she even had a chance to call out into the darkness, something opened up beneath her, and dragged her down into something darker still!! It was cold, it was terrifying, and it was black as black could be. She found herself being lifted up, and she realized that though she could stand, she could not escape. She was trapped inside of something. Her wings fluttered rapidly, and she banged her tiny fists against the surface of the chamber that she was stuck in, calling out to whoever it was that had her trapped. Dahlia, however, had a sinking feeling that whoever- or whatever- it was that had captured could either not hear her pleas for mercy... or simply didn't care about them.

 

[Atherium]

The stranger's free hand cut through the air with a motion, his arm extending out from under the robe with his palm pointed upwards. A foul, tainted energy began encircling his fingers as he stood there, channeling the spell he was about to unleash. The strangely glowing magic was finally unloaded into the ground with a loud crackling sound, as if it was a lightning that hit. From the darkness, pairs of red eyes began opening, and all sorts of creepy and ominous sounds echoes through the woods as the field agent left behind a group large enough of creatures to befoul the Evenmire Woods. It was only a matter of time before the beasts would move ahead and desecrate other regions as well. Then, by using the same magic, the hooded stranger opened up a portal made out of shadows, easily stepping through it before it closed. And now there he was, back in the courtyard of the Vargoth castle. Hounds broken out of nightmares and skeletal soldiers wielding all sorts of weapons, awakened from their century sleep guarded the said courtyard. The agent paced through the place as the creatures approached only to assure that he was not an intruder.


"Master, I have brought the faerie." His crooked voice resounded through the main hall as he approached under the collective gazes of apprentices and guards to Volkhar, who was again found sitting into what almost looked like a throne and supervising what his apprentices worked on. "Bring it forth..." His weakened voice spoke out to the field agent, who now stopped just mere feet before his master, and extended his arm with the hand that held the ball of darkness, prison for the little faerie that by now has given up on trying to escape. Volkhar's icy gaze fell on the black ball, and after a moment of pondering, he propped his staff against the floor to help himself stand before turning around. "Follow me." He spoke to his man, who immediately fell in step behind the leader. Volkhar had prepared a special room of containment for the faerie, as he knew it was no ordinary prisoner. Silence stretched as they walked through the dark, spooky halls of Vargoth, halls lit up only by torches that were placed conveniently here and there.


At the end of the corridor, a wooden door was now visible. Volkhar silently led his follower towards it, only stopping as he reached it, to open it with the special key he kept upon himself, hidden somewhere beneath the red robe he wore. The door was opened with a somewhat loud screech that echoed through the hall like the wail of a restless spirit. The room was plain, built out of the same black stone the castle was made of. In the middle of it was a rudimentary wooden table with chains and wristcuffs attached to it. However, Volkhar knew of the faerie's ability to shrink, therefore, he had planned more than just that table. With a somewhat haste in his gestures as he hurried, feeling that the energy gained from the orc he has sucked the life out of earlier was slowly leaving him, the broken wizard requested that the ball of darkness be handed to him, and so his loyal man did, placing the small energy prison to his master. "You may leave, now." Volkhar announced his servant, who only bowed his head forward before exiting the chamber, leaving his master and the little faerie all alone.


With due care, Volkhar held the prison of darkness within his gloved hand, before with his free hand motioning over it. A second or two after, the darkness slowly dissipated like a shadowy fog, revealing the contents. The faerie and the ladybug. However, he took care enough to encase his palm in an energy field that would not allow the faerie to take flight even after the prison of shadow was dissipated. "Well, well, well..." He muttered as he picked up the ladybug. What use would he have for it? With a dismissive movement, he simply tossed the insect away, letting it fall and lose itself somewhere on the stone cold floor. Examining the faerie for a little, he let out a satisfied grin hidden away by the mask that was meant to cover his hideous transformations. His legs were quick enough to carry him closer to the table. Careful enough, he placed the small faerie upon the wooden table, taking care that his magic would not allow her a route of escape by flying. He couldn't use her, now. Not in that form. He needed to take her to her normal, human size, and for that, he needed to inflict his twisted magic upon her.


Holding his hand with the palm down over her, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, channeling the ever so weaker energy within him into his hand, before violently transferring it into the faerie's body, causing her a pain that, inflicted upon the ordinary human, would be deadly. However, he knew precisely that faeries were not even close to being weak. They were strong and resilient, and he knew the pain would only do one thing. Struggling to keep himself up, he continued channeling the dark energy through the being's body, watching as she forcedly grew in size until she reached the average human height and weight. His staff was the only thing holding him from not falling as he moved around the table, proceeding to clasp the heavy wrist and ankle cuffs to his living subject, the faerie that was now weakened enough not to be able to put a fight against it. However, he was careful enough to imbue the restraints with a spell that would cause them to shrink along with the faerie should she try to use shrinking to get away. Triumphant, he remained silent, watching for a moment over what was going to be his source of vital energy for a long while. Or at least, until his plans were finished.

 

[Apocalypse Alice]

Dahlia watched with disdain as the world around her darkened further still. The small glow of her own light could no longer offer one last hope to the forest, for the chamber she'd been imprisoned in now was far too dark and corrupted with evil for even her tiny hope to save it. This was it, she decided, crouching low into the bubble. The ladybug pressed itself close to her side and she let out a tiny, fearful whimper. As she pulled her knees to her chest, her wings drooped down at her sides, lower than they'd been drooping so far. Tonight was just not a good night. Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the frightening pulsating sound that the orb made around her. Think of maple, she tried to convince herself over the thrum of dark magic. Think of maple tea in acorn cups, think of warm beds, think of mother, think of father. And so she did. But the only thoughts of mother and father were thoughts of mother and father being devoured by the beasts she knew might be lurking out there in the inky blackness.


Things would never be the same, she assumed. The world was over, and she was alive to see it. Such dark times... if only she knew a way of stopping it. She didn't think she had the courage to try to stop it anyways. And so, in the orb, she was carried far away from her forest home, far away from the Evenmire. Home was but a distant memory that she would never have the pleasure of seeing again, she assumed. Her self pity was quite easy to wallow in for a moment or two until the movement of the world outside seemed to slow. Her captor had apparently arrived at his destination. The sound of his voice speaking sent chills down her spine- yet she could not ignore the word 'Master'. Her head lifted from its spot on her knees, revealing eyes that had very clearly been weeping for the entirety of their journey. She could just barely make out a figure so tall and foreboding that she couldn't help but emit the tiny cry of desperate fear that left her lips. It probably went unheard- unless his hearing was keen to pick up on the shrill worry from such a tiny creature.


Again they began to move. It seemed that the Master of this... this place, this lair, even, that she now found herself in. There was a command to the Master's voice that her captor seemed to sway to easily- and that she herself cowered under. For now, as she was carried, her eyes examined the halls, trying to get a feel of the area. It wasn't working well- aside from the inky black of her orblike prison that only allowed vague shapes to be seen, her tiny little heart was pitter-pattering far too quickly for her to really take note of anything she was seeing or hearing, other than the Master's footsteps, and other than the sound of her own wings starting to flutter nervously. The door's creak sent yet another chill down her spine. Why was this place locked? Was there some horrid thing inside which even the Master wished to keep a dark secret? Instead, there was only that same pulsating sound of magic crackling around them.


As she was handed over, she detected a very different sort of aura and presence. While her captor's hands had been shaky, jostling her around in the orb for the entire journey, the Masters' hands were steady. Weak, she could feel, but steady. She was no longer being jarred around. Her heart raced faster still and she buried her face back onto her knees. The Master's aura was terrifyingly dark, as if something had seeded itself deep within his soul, and as if that something was slowly tearing him apart from the inside out- taking the world along with it. Suddenly, it was very light, and she couldn't help but look up. Now she could see the table and chairs, and a low, sinking feeling grew in her chest. Why had she been brought here? What horrible thing did the Master have planned? The fear was only punctuated as her companion was carelessly flicked away, and the tears she'd only just managed to stop crying suddenly began to flood from her eyes all over again.


Only now, as she was placed on the table, did she get a good look at him, but it was only for a moment. Horrible, shredding, ripping pain had gone through her body. While a natural shift in size would have been painless, this one was forced, and her own goodness that coursed through her veins was searing her from the insides against the evil magic that now flowed through her. The tears continued to fall down her face, and the wretched cries that escaped her mouth only grew in volume as her size grew. The shrill shriek ended with a broken sob when the transformation was complete, and she lay there, wings shuddering, at a full height of five feet. She put up no resistance- or rather, had no strength to put up a resistance, as he cuffed her into the chair. For now, she focused only on her breathing. Her eyes were blurry with her tears, and her voice wavered slightly as she finally addressed him. "Why?"