Defenders of Destiny Book One: Conflux

Chapter 2: The Threat

Boog tensed and raised his fists, ready for a fight. Ivory held her axe at the ready, her eyes narrowed and her jaw set. Aragol already had Dragon's End gripped at his side. To his left he saw Elmar putting aside his search for buttons and gripping a staff in two hands, his eyes set on the figure before them. There was more to him that he let off, Aragol noticed, and made sure to remember.

The dark and shadowy figure descended slowly, its eyes of white light turning to each person in turn, studying them intently. It said nothing and made no threatening motions. It could be a danger but it could also be their only way back to their respective homes therefore all everyone did was watch. Celestia hid behind one of Boog's tree trunk-like legs, her eyes wide with fear.

The figure finally set foot on land and eyed them all as they stood before it.

"You can put away your weapons," the shadowy figure said in a voice that consisted of all tones and pitches at once. "They are useless against me anyhow. I urge you to listen."

"Who are you?" Aragol asked, his grip on Dragon's End still firm.

The black face turned his way, the eyes of white light staring right through him. "I am the nether, the void, the emptiness of space, the blackness of night and I am nothing. I have brought you all here for a reason of utmost importance." The figure set its gaze on everyone else. "I have traveled the multiverses and I have noticed a corruption, a sickness, spreading throughout them all. If it is not remedied they will all be swallowed into the void and existence itself will cease. I need you to stop it."

Victoria took a step back, her head shaking wildly, causing her black hair to flip about everywhere. "This sounds way over my head, man. Seriously. This is like some super hero movie or something. I'm no hero. Can you just get me home? Seriously?"

The clouds of smoke swirling around the shadowy form receded and the figure materialized into a middle-aged man wearing a heavy black cloak. His face was shrouded within the deep hood but his defined, square jaw was noticeable and his thin lips were straight. In a deep and clear voice he said, "You all have a task to fulfill. You are here because I personally sought you out and there is no one else I deem capable of completing this task before you."

Boog crossed his huge arms over his chest and frowned at the cloaked man. "You mean to tell us that you want us to beat this sickness? Are you goddamned insane? Not everyone here is a fighter! I sure as hell am and no doubt the strongest one here but Victoria has no skills and Celestia is just a teenager with the mind of a child. She could be handicapped for all I know. You want someone like that saving the universe?"

The man raised a hand and with a flick of one finger tossed Boog to the side. He didn't fall but stumbled away a short distance, shocked and angry at being handled so unceremoniously. Celestia was now in full view and trembled, her body frozen in utter fear. The cloaked man snapped his fingers and tossed something toward her. A cloud of bright sparkling light flew through the air and cascaded over Celestia's head. She shook it and whimpered. After a few moments she patted her hands across her body, searching for injuries, and appeared to find none. She looked about, setting her eyes on everyone gathered around the cloaked figure.

"My head hurts," she said, placing a hand on her forehead. "but otherwise I feel fine. I...I don't know why I acted so childish. And I know I'm not the strongest one here by far and probably the youngest but...I didn't mean to act so foolishly. I'm...I'm really not handicapped or anything..."

"What did you do?" asked Boog defensively, his hands curling into fists.

"I cleared her mind," the cloaked man replied. "These mushrooms release a mind-altering spore that can affect certain people more than others. It is what caused Aragol to attack Ivory and because of Celestia's second nature it affected her more so than anyone else."