Xeric walked down the spiral staircase into the depths below his tower. He still could not believe the wizard council forbade his research. What did those spell slingers know about the fine art of transfiguration anyways? No one in town cares about the neat trick changing mice into rats. They wanted to experience something truly breathtaking; something no one has ever seen before.
Xeric did not want to impress the townsfolk with magic. No, he wanted a transfiguration that would hold a purpose, yield something useful. When Garro brought back the rock golems pure sapphire heart, everyone couldn’t stop talking about it. What Xeric needed went beyond a pretty stone.
During his time in the mage’s college, Xeric came across a scroll on the elusive hellhounds. Few mortals ever faced one and came out victorious. Their skin hot as the blacksmiths forge, their claws sharp as the magical star iron. Xeric could only name two heroes to ever return after the defeat of a hellhound. One is still sung about in legend. The other, well who knows what happened to him. Some say a demon kidnapped him, others say he just disappeared, still others claim a pack of hellhounds came after him.
According to the scroll, both heroes spoke of the mystical hellhound pelt. They could throw it on and never get cold. They could roll it into a ball to use as a campfire. According to the legend a smith even used the pelt to smelt his steel. Imagine the implications domesticated or even transfigured hellhounds could have won the world.
“Stuipd council with their stupid rules,” Xeric mumbled to himself.
Xeric knew the world would praise him if he could just get his discovery right. He will take the heat from the council. They couldn’t condone him after seeing all the uses for the pelt. After a few more attempts, the spell will be perfect. Finally, he will be able to make hellhounds from the inexhaustible amount of rats lying around the town.
After climbing down 15 floors from his study, Xeric arrived at the dungeon. Xeric could hardly stand the smell of the rats. He opened the lid to one of the cages. The rats scattered all around trying to avoid the hand of their malevolent master. Xeric grabbed the slowest rat and hoisted it out of the cage. Sitting on the floor, laid a much bigger cage. He opened the top and placed the lone rat inside. The lid clicked shut.
Xeric backed against the opposite wall. Focusing all his energy, he spoke in the language of the elves, the magic tongue, as some called. His eyes glowed like the color of a lightning bolt. The magic sparked at his fingertips while he spoke. When the incantation finished, a ball of energy blasted from his hands at the cage. The room shook and shifted to a shade of red. The rat squealed a horrid sound as its insides became pure lava. The hair burned off making the dungeon smell worse than ever.
When the squealing died down, Xeric saw something he never imagined. In the rats place, stood another type of horror. In the cage, the rat was on fire. Xeric tilted his head. No not on fire, the rat was fire. He created some other horror. Xeric thought, could this work instead? Will this rat’s pelt act similar to the hellhounds? Maybe, just maybe, Xeric invented something better. To find out Xeric needed to murder this hellrat.
Unlike most adventures that encountered such beings, Xeric studied many spells. In the tomes back at the mage’s college, he came across spells for killing creatures from the underworld. He expected this creation to count as such. Buzzing with excitement, Xeric did not need to rest to cast the spell. The adrenaline pushed him. Saying the killing words, Xeric ended the rat’s life.
After putting on gloves of fire resistance, he grabbed the bald creature from the cage. He turned the hellrat over exposing its belly. A small gray spot appeared and spread across the body like a spilled cup of tea. Xeric witnessed the flames extinguish, and he let out a sigh. This hellrat’s pelt did not contain the properties of the hellhounds. This monster could only bring harm to the world.
Speaking to no one Xeric said, “I need to ponder where I went wrong. Maybe meditation and some rest will help.”
After feeding the rats, he started his climb back up the stairs. Xeric thought to himself how research takes time and he need not get discouraged. The great discovery of teleportation spells took nearly 300 years for the college to discover. If the college could unlock the secrets of teleportation, Xeric knew he could unlock the secrets of stronger creature transfigurations.
Xeric switched from his magic robes to his silk sleep robes. The amount of energy the spells drew from him finally caught up. He decided to meditate in the morning and sleep now, because what person could think straight in an exhausted state. He climbed into bed and sunk into a deep trance.
The vase on the dresser shattered, waking him up. The whole room vibrated. His ink spilled across his desk. The bedroom floor shimmered with an ancient language, the language of demons. A large black orb raised through the bottom of the bedroom floor. Xeric, through tired eyes, squinted to get a better view of the orb. From the orb, a muscular demon emerged. Xeric noticed the horns first and the muscles of the demon second. With pale red skin and glowing yellow eyes, the demon smiled.
“Hello Xeric, you do not know me but I know you,” the demon said. Its deep voice reverberated around the room.
“Who are you and what is it you want?” Xeric said.
“I am Belgramin, from the underworld. I’ve come to warn you. No mortal being should trifle in the affairs of the underworld. Hellhounds and hellrats are our creations, not you humans. Stop your experiments before it’s too late.”
“But I can help the world! We need this spell.”
“This is your last warning, Xeric. If I come back you will not like the results.” With that Belgramin sunk back into orb. The glow slowly faded from the room.
Now more than ever Xeric knew he was on the right path. If demons come to stop him, if the council stops him, he had to finish his experiment. If he managed to discover the right spell, he would accept any punishment from Belgramin. After his experience Xeric could not sleep. He decided to stay up and continue his study. First however, he needed some tea, both to wake him up further and to calm his nerves.
With his tea in hand Xeric walked back down into the rat dungeon. His brain now cleared of the fog, he could focus. Xeric looked down at his scroll and realized his last mistake. Fire wasn’t a living creature. Fire is just a byproduct of a reaction. His encounter with the demon made him realize the fires of hell are a special type of fire. If he changes his incantation to match those specific circumstances he can accomplish what he set out to do.
Once more, Xeric takes a rat and places it into the larger cage. With a renewed sense of purpose and hope, Xeric lets the energy flow through him. Speaking his new and improved incantation, he casts the spell at the rat. This time the rat is silent, but it grows 5 times its size. It’s bones snap and reshape to resemble the hellhound. Its fur changes colors from gray to auburn to red. The blaze starts. The dog growls at Xeric and swipes at the sides of the cage. He did it! He really transfigured a rat into a hellhound. They said it couldn’t be done. The final test is to see if the pelt gives off the same properties as a non transfigured hellhound.
Xeric takes a step closer to cast the killing spell when suddenly the room starts shaking. The ancient language appears all around him on the dungeon walls. The black orb rises once more from the ground and out steps Belgramin. Belgramin first glances at the hellhound, and then to the rats all over the dungeon. His mouth turns into a snarl.
“I warned you, human. You messed with the natural fabric of the world and for that you must be punished. You wanted a hellhound, I’ll give you one.” Belgramin snapped his fingers and the room spun in a 360. When it was done turning, Belgramin was gone. Xeric looked around and didn’t notice anything different.
He turned to the hellhound still in its cage and approached. When he got closer the Hellhound growled again and started mutating. It grew even bigger and broke open its cage. Its head split in two and then split once more. Xeric stumbled backwards towards the stairs, suddenly terrified. He now looked upon what Belgramin did. His hellhound turned into the mythical cerberus. Xeric ran up the stairs trying to get to safety. Before he went to the next floor, Xeric looked back into the dungeon. The cerberus started transfiguring all the rats into hellrats. The rats, when changed, became enraged. They started up the stairs after Xeric.
Xeric managed to sprint to his study. He slammed the door behind him. Xeric casted protection wards on the door thinking it’ll slow down the creatures. He forgot how smart rats could be. The rats tunneled through the wall and started to flood into the room. Xeric casted spell after spell but there were too many of them. Why did he keep so many rats in the dungeon?
Xeric heard a bark and his wards and the door splintered. The cerberus strode into the room followed by his army of rats. The cerberus lunged and the world went dark for Xeric.
Back in the village, a young boy looked towards the wizards tower. The boy hoped to one day become a wizard. He met Xeric on many occasions and wanted to be just like him. He dreamed of studying in the tower with the old wizard. However, the boy was mortified. The tower went up in flames. A large explosion blew apart the roof. Townsfolk ran back and forth screaming. The fire brigade grabbed pails and ran off towards the tower, but the boy knew there would be nothing for them to do. The tower will be gone in another couple of minutes. If he was to be a wizard, he would need to rebuild the tower.
That night Belgramin visited the boy while he was sleeping. On the child’s dresser Belgramin left one of Xeric’s magic amulets and the incantation to make hellhounds. Belgramin decided this boy, not Xeric, would change the world. This boy, after some studying, could make the world the perfect place for demons. Xeric wanted good. This boy, with some convincing, could be a useful pawn for the demons. No, this boy would bring about the reign of Belgramin.
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