The Cursed Woods of Raelm

Archive One







The stormy clouds seemed to follow Reise wherever he traveled. With every flash of lightning and rumble of thunder, he was in a new location. Finally, in a flurry of black sand and whipping winds, he appeared in the middle of what appeared to be a an empty field. It was dark out, and the black clouds blocked out the glow of the moon and stars. He smiled widely and took a deep breath of the air before looking down at the black wolf that was Eon right beside him.

"He's here. Just below our feet." he said happily, then gave a gleeful chortle, clapping his hands a little. He then looked down at the ground, humming in thought and skidding his feet through the dirt a few steps, Eon following close behind whilst also keeping his eyes and ears open for trouble. But out here in the middle of nowhere, he doubted anything would come along to give them trouble.

Finally, Reise stopped walking. The ground gave a rumble from beneath him, and he smiled widely. "There he is!" he said and then knelt on one knee. He slowly dipped his fingers into the dirt. As he did, a black sludge leaked from his fingertips and into the dry soil of this wasteland. It ate away at the dirt and anything living inside of it, and down into the chasm that held what Reise sought: Scabbar's axe. He withdrew his hand as the earth started to fall away, revealing the hole where the axe was buried, roughly a hundred feet below. He looked at Eon. "Fetch." he chuckled.

Eon instantly obeyed, jumping into the hole like it was nothing, and landing on all four paws at the bottom. He lifted the axe by the handle into his strong jaws, then leaped back out of the pit with a single bound. He moved to Reise and set the axe in his hands, watching him.

"Oh yes... Scabbar will be incredibly happy to be awoken again." Reise chuckled excitedly. "But first... we need to find a suitable host. He won't be happy to be in your body, and I certainly cannot have him in mine. I think it's time to pay a visit to the nearest town." he grinned.

With another flash of lightning, they were gone from sight and reappeared on the outskirts of a small village. He smiled and hefted the axe in his hands onto one shoulder, walking leisurely along as Eon loped behind. He went to the one place that he knew the big, bad, tough guys would be congregating: the tavern. He stepped inside, Eon staying by his side, and he moved to the bar.

"Excuse me, madame, but who is the biggest, strongest, healthiest man in this village?" he asked charmingly of the barmaid.

The young woman eyed Reise suspiciously, her green eyes studying his black ones, and his dark, greasy skin and hair. He just... felt evil. "I-I..." she stuttered, unsure what to answer.

"Who's asking?" came a gruff voice from behind him.

Reise grinned to himself, then turned slowly on the barstool to face the man that towered over him. He smirked up at him, then gave a laugh. "Oh my! You're perfect!" he said and rubbed his hands together, the axe resting against the bar beside him. This man was tall, and had broad, strong shoulders and arms... and he even LOOKED intimidating. He licked his lips a little.

"Well?!" the man bellowed down at him impatiently. "What do you want, pipsqueak?!"

Reise didn't even flinch. Instead, he laughed and shook his head. "No need to hostility, my good man! I simply wanted to bestow a gift on you... for being the strongest man in your village." he said and then lifted the axe, presenting it to him. "Please... take it."

The man eyed the axe a little warily, but he reached out to take it. It was strange, receiving a gift from a man he'd never met before. Especially a man who looked as evil as Reise did. But it was too late. His fingers wrapped around the handle, and as they did, it began to vibrate and hum with energy. A trapped soul, to be exact. Reise watched, releasing the axe for him to take, and watching pleasantly as he waited for the transformation to take place.

Scabbar had burned. And thanks to Reise, that burning had gone on for quite some time... Everyday he'd been inside that axe his soul hard burned, fizzing and spitting for freedom from this eternal hell. And finally, he felt... hands... hands reaching out for him, taking his close, firm hands. He poured his fire into those hands. The man holding the axe screamed as if he'd been burnt, twitching, flailing, but never managing to let go of the axe. His face became twisted, a screaming mask that was slowly enveloped in black smoke that serpentined from his burning hands. The smoke wrapped its way patiently around him, silencing him, his body twitching and spasming as if it was suffocating on the spot. Finally, as the man grew still, the smoke solidified to Scabbar's worn, cloth hood. "What time do you call this?" Scabbar growled, thudding the axe into the nearest table and starting to strip this man of his identity. Wedding ring first, it popped off of the man's fat finger with apparent ease. He'd either been newly wed or unfaithful often, Scabbar didn't care which.

As the man had been tortured and transformed before him, the other patrons in the tavern had screamed in horror and began to flee. Now they sat alone in the pub, with Reise leaning against the bar lazily, his hands folded in front of himself and Eon sitting obediently at his side on the floor. He watched Scabbar and grinned evily. "It's been eighteen years, dear Scabbar. Eighteen long years." he laughed a little and tilted his head. "Doesn't it feel good to stretch?"

"I had nothing to stretch." Scabbar replied gruffly, cracking the knuckles of his new body "So what do you want this time? Am I finally going to be able to kill people?" He'd tried his best last time, but it had just been too much for him. He'd injured people, but not quite managed a kill.

Reise grinned insanely. "Oh yes, Scabbar, and much more." He then motioned to the dog beside him and chuckled. "You remember Eon, don't you? And the sprites I'm sure. Well... When the time is right, you'll have your chance to kill every single one of them." he grinned. "How does that sound?"

"Sounds like you should tell me where they are." Scabbar grunted, reaching over and pulling the axe from the table, the gash where he'd embedded the axe circled with an odd black ring of decay. He looked down at Reise and cocked his head slightly "Wasn't he on the other side?"

Reise looked down at Eon and Eon turned his fire-red eyes back up at him. "He was." he grinned. "I've put a blackness spell on him that has effectively changed his mind." He laughed darkly and looked up at Scabbar. "The sprites are still back at the castle. Did you want to pay them a visit?"

Scabbar couldn't help but feel disappointed, his axe hungered to end Eon's life, but if he did then he'd probably get dropped down into that pit they had found him in. "Sure." he muttered, rolling his new shoulders as he emptied out the pockets of his vessel. "I hope they're not expecting me."

"Well, I might have hinted that you would be stopping by, but I'm very sure that they'll still be as surprised as ever!" Reise said happily with a clap and a maniacal grin. He stood up off his stool and away from the bar then, stretching and clicking his fingers at Eon. "Let's go then! We shan't keep them waiting!" he piped, heading out of the tavern. "Oh, I feel positively radiant today!" He laughed hysterically and skipped outside, turning to face the darkened Eon and Scabbar. "Back to the castle we go!"

"Give me a second." Scabbar muttered from his position bent over the bar. He grunted as he managed to reach his goal, snatching a bottle of spirits from behind the bar. He thudded back onto his feet, grabbing his axe and dragging it after him, smashing the top off the bottle as he walked through the doorway. With some careful adjusting of the hood, Scabbar had the bottle in his mouth, drinking deep as he followed Reise.

Reise had paused to watch Scabbar as he grabbed the bottle and he rolled his eyes with a grin. "Like a child to candy!" he simpered and shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. He moved to stand outside then, Eon standing beside him. Once Scabbar was close enough to him, he snapped his fingers, there was a flash of lightning, and they were all gone from sight.




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