05/31/2023
Total Eclipse of the Heart
The Nothing feasted upon the Lair of the Dragon kind. No one cared. No one saved it. Lost in darkness, and void, the sun guttered and died. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
From the Nothing emerged a short bald man in red robes. The wisps of darkness and smoke nipped at his feet, but he kicked it away impatiently. With a snap of his fingers and a twirl of his hand he seized time and rolled it back. Back. Back…
From out of the darkness emerged first Dragonia and then her twin Lairona. The moon came into view and shot across the horizon. Finally the Sun shone again in the blackness of space.
All was well again.
Deep within the bowls of the Lair the ancient Vampire Dengali, Of the House of Style sat bolt upright in his coffin. He let out a devilish scream of pain. Time has rewound itself again! His Torpor disturbed by the destruction of the worlds. He was one of the few beings that could perceive this effect.
An insanity griped Dengali for this was now a regular torture that he could not escape. In a delirium he shouted “Ground Hog Day”! And fell sideways out of his coffin on to the dirt floor. He was parched. He was dry. Looking at his hand he gasped that it was zombie like and boney.
Dry popping and scrapping sounds could be heard as he crawled along the floor. He settled into a feral mind state, as he was a horror to see. His magical strength carried him along effortlessly.
A rat, a dog, then a human. A human! The blood surged through him! It pounded in his brain! His heart soked it up like the driest sponge. Then another human! Soon sense and understanding returned. The beating stopped, and Dengali tore his victim in half in frustration. He was struck from behind, but the blow bounced off of him like a child's toy.
Turning he effortlessly grabbed the huge man attacking him and bit down. He was dimly aware that this was a Barbarian caught up in a fit of rage. His fists striking him, and doing literally nothing to him. Slowly the attacks stopped. The barbarian grew pale, and died.
This was what he needed. A vessel with a strong connection to the positive material plane. A feast of life force. His body healed. His age fell away like dust in the wind. His golden hair regained it’s luster. He breathed a deep breath, enjoying the sensation of the long lost action.
Was this the thirtieth or thirty second time this has happened? He was not sure. What he was sure of was that the Red Guardian was near and still singing that annoying song…
“Turn around, every now and then I feel little bit lonely.”
Dengali spun around, and dashed towards him. Blurring at incredible speeds. He ran right up to the little midget, and tried to grab him with a force that could pulverize stone. He only found empty air. From behind him he heard the singing again.
“Turn around, every now and then I feel a little bit terrified, then I see the look in your eyes”!
The ancient Vampire turned around and ran forward, turning into a green glowing mist and surrounding the Dungeon Master. A moment latter he converged and reformed, standing in the same place that his intended victim was, but was now gone…
Growling in frustration he yelled “What the f**k do you want? What am I to do? Why do you torture me so? The night is mine! Forever is mine! What does it all mean?” He only heard the singing a short distance behind him.
“Forever is going to start tonight, Forever is going to start tonight! One upon a time I was falling in love, now I am only falling apart…”
Dengali fell to his knees in despair, and the Nothing ate him whole. The Nothing ate the worlds. The Nothing ate the Sun and the moon. In that Void. Dengali, somehow, heard the song still. A single tear rolled down the cheek of the Red Guardian, the Dungeon Master.
“Nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart…”
Time rewound itself again, but this time when Dengali finished feeding, he was alone in the darkness of the sewers. He tried something different. Climbing up to street level the Ancient One found that the small village he torpored in so long ago has grown into a metropolis. Looking up he beheld a magnificent Black Tower of High Sorcery.
Magic flowed through the streets in invisible streams like water upon the ground. His hearing detected thousands of heart beats. Never before had he sensed so much in one place. So much magic! So much power! So much blood!
Centering himself, he had to shut the sensory information out. It was too much. After a time, he became aware of a presence, watching him. Perhaps scrying him would be a better term. “I am the darkness, you will not hide in it from me.” Waving his hand Dengali spoke an ancient word of power, and from the shadows the magic opened to reveal a blue illusion of a cursed mage. This hologram of a Black Robed Wizard with the face of a horses ass and tail, emerged.
The ass twitched it’s tail in annoyance and spoke the ancient challenge. “Greetings Darkest one of the Blood! How may I assist the darkness of your soul?”
This gave the Ancient One pause. He had not been greeted so, in so long, that the honer slightly overwhelmed him. “Direct me to a market where I may find a seamstress to make me new clothes.”
The illusion bowed, and waived it’s hands in a grand gesture. For just down the street, where he indicated, the bricks moved and it was revealed that the city is in constant motion. Each city block drifting on a tide of invisible magic. However, that magic sang to him, in it’s inevitable way, revealing that the movements of the city were at his command and convenience. Even night and day are at his command allowing him to move in total darkness of night wherever he went, here.
Effortlessly the market presented itself to him and a seamstress store moved with up to his toes. Within, Dengali found the most drab and peasant looking clothing store he had ever seen. He glided over to the bolts of fabric openly revealing his Vampiric nature. This caused the two workers to drop to their knees and beg him to allow them to serve him.
The Ancient one disliked their accents as they reminded him of the people of the Northern Desert, a disgusting people that live in perpetual sunlight and tase like coal and ass mixed together. As if the very sand had infected their blood. The old memory stirred him and some time passed before he spoke.
The servants wisely stayed quite. “This is a peasants clothing store, I am in the wrong place.” With that he turned and glided out. Across the street the city moved to reveal a much nicer clothing store. The sign outside the location read “Brooks Brothers, Dark Town”. Dengali glided forward and stopped. Another Vampire had appeared before him and bowed in an old fashioned way quite deeply. Flashing his eyes bright red, the ancient one hissed and showed his fangs. Immediately the Vampire in front of him fell on his face and made himself as flat as he could, burying his face in the mud.
Several minuets past and Dengali finally snapped his fingers and allowed the junior Vampire to stand again. The mud fell from his face, and clothes like dust. clearly a minor magical effect. “Forgive me, most Ancient Sire, of my Sires, Sire. How may I assist the darkness of your soul”?
Dengali spoke slowly. “Do you not see the rags that rot upon my perfect form? Does it not shock you? Do you think that this is acceptable? That this is excusable? The younger Vampire replied “I do not think, I am an empty vessel for your will. I await your command.” He then froze in place and was unnaturally still.
The ancient one simply said. “Impress me”.
the younger Vampire pulled out a sealed pouch from within a hidden pocket. This bag of pure mana is priceless. He opened it and tossed a hand full of sparking dust all around the location. He cried out, arcane words of power followed by, “My shop.” The entire scene folded like an origami bird until they were standing in a completely different place. More handfuls of mana and more ancient words, and the cloth around them began to bend in spaceually unnatural ways until it formed itself into a fine suit of clothing. Black sequence fabric rippled and spun until the ancient one was immaculately clothed in custom clothing of the finest kind.
This made the ancient one happy. The magic began to dissipate, but not before it formed a very high, rigid collar denoting his station and age. Gliding over to the youth he suddenly grabbed him by his neck and hauled him up into the air. In one motion he bit his wrist and feed the younger one for just a moment. Then he put him down and blurred away.
The potent blood fell straight into the pit of his stomach. It was overwhelming. He lost control of his form and Vamped out devilishly. The Ancient Blood merged with him. He uncontrollably roared in ecstasy, and fell to the floor convulsing violently. His heart beat four times and then stopped. Quivering with power he appeared miserable, but the truth was that he felt so much pleasure that it hurt.
Feeling like himself for the first time in centuries, Dengali assumed a bat form and began hunting for more blood. Several victims later he heard a familiar voice raised in song behind him.
“And I need you now tonight,
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
Well’ be holding on forever
And we will only be making it right
‘Cause we‘ll never be wrong.”
The Nothing feasted on the world around him, and he found himself and the Dungeon Master alone in a void of nothing that was somehow spinning like a top. Mana sparks flew off the Red Guardian, and he continued to sing very loudly now over the howling wind of the Nothing. Surrounded by blackness…
“I don’t know what to do,
And I am always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg
And giving off sparks!”
Suddenly the air caught fire and the worlds were reborn in a massive mana explosion that blew Dengali’s golden hair back. He beheld the sheer magnitude of the rebirth of two supermassive worlds from a macro perspective. His eyes so wide, and his mind in shock trying to comprehend it all. “Such power”! He cried over the din of it all. “Who”? Stammering “What”? Reeling “How”?
The short little bald man just smiled and held out his hands parallel to each other. All of creation shrank, and then shrank again. The worlds revealed that they are really a part of a larger quasar, and then just one amongst many. It shrunk again, this revealed thousands quasars, then he slapped his hands together and it all flew outward until they were standing over the twin worlds in a God like perspective again.
The ancient One fell to his knees in wonder and blood tears ran down his face. He sobbed “You are more powerful than the Gods!” A look of fear invaded his face. “What am I to do?” He was only answered with more song.
“Once upon a time there was light in my life.”
The Dungeon Master’s Hands fell to his sides. He regarded the Vampire and sang.
“Now there is only love in the dark.”
The little bald man in red robes began to fade away…
“Nothing I can do,
Total eclipse of the heart…
Darkness and Nothing flooded in, drowning the ancient Vampire that doesn’t need to breathe. He rolled over and over in Nothing, eternal. In desperation and madness he tried to turn around…
Suddenly he found himself back in Darktown. He barfed some blood and kissed the ground. Standing, he was stunned to find not a mark upon himself. His new clothes were in tact, and he found himself standing in a cobble stone ally.
A flash of insight struck him. The Red Guardian is Neutral, but he always has a love for a group of do gooders, that are always fated to save the world! What a fool I am! He laughed out loud!
“I have to find the Hero’s and get them to stop this madness”!
Turning off the page, breaking the forth wall.
This NPC looks right at you.
His fangs come out, and his eyes glow red.
“Save Us”!
“All you have to do is show up and play”!
Then he fades away. Singing
“Turn around”
Fin
