by jadewik » May 13th, 2008, 11:04 pm
Hothar:
Hoth'ar sweats in the fissure, ordering his crew to keep mining the volcanic glass that has built up on the outside since the last eruption. He glances back down the shaft at the translucent, robed figure whom the glow from the lava below somehow failed to illuminate.
How can they stand this heat?, he wondered to himself? He had always thought these unknown emissaries had been something other than human, but now he was sure of it. Hoth'ar walked nervously down to rejoin him, where a makeshift office was set up to accompany the forge they had put there to process the collected obsidian. After what seemed like an eternity, the robed figure speaks.
"Six times you have failed us."
Hoth'ar, clearly losing his patience, picks up a chair and throws it at the figure. The chair passes through the figure and falls into the magma below, burning to ash faster than it can sink through the viscous liquid. The figure repeats himself.
"Six times. Do I need to review your failures and your punishments?"
No, you don't, Hoth'ar thinks to himself, but I know you're going to anyway. The half-there, half-not one continued on as if to answer Hoth'ar's thoughts.
"Your first failure was killing the one you call Thaer. His power was far beyond yours, and would have proved useful in resurrecting Our Master, should the curse have taken him. Your life of servitude was your punishment for that."
Hoth'ar had always felt a personal stab with that one. The arrogant old man was always delaying his ascension. Thaer couldn't have led the that clutch Shadow Mages forever, as old as he was. It was all in due time.
"Your second failure was naming Our Master before his resurrection. For that, we killed all those in your clutch. Your third failure trying to turn that elf. She has little of the power we seek. For that failure, you will die when your service is no longer needed. Your fourth failure was damaging the dagger. For that, you will spend the rest of your days in this volcano."
Hoth'ar sighs. He didn't have to hear this. He was strong enough to challenge these creatures... wasn't he?
"Your fifth failure was using Light to enchant the first replacement dagger. You were instructed fully on what magic to use. Your sixth failure was letting it fall into the Mediator's hands."
Hoth'ar is rather irritated at this point, and snaps. "How dare you speak to me that way! You are but a servant of Our Master!"
Suddenly, the shadowed shape moves, an unseen arm stretching out from under the robes. Hoth'ar is thrown back against the way as raw Shadow mana courses through his body. After a few moments, when the pain subsides, the Shadow Mage stands. The robed figure speaks again.
"If I am a servant, than you are a servant of a servant. Do not forget your place. We gave you what you wanted, and in return you have failed us in everything we asked of you."
Hoth'ar mutters to himself under his breath, but the shadow is not yet finished.
"We have captured one whose turning may provide us with the power we need. Although his power comes from Air, his potential is greater than yours. One of us will return to check on your work here. Do not fail us again."
With that, the shadow dissolves into the air, leaving Hoth'ar alone with his wounds and his workers.