Writetober 2019 (Complete Collection)

Good morning all! First and foremost, THANK YOU for all the love and support as I tackled Writetober.  Today I have collected all the Writetober Days into one post for easy reading. 

Just to reiterate the rules I followed:  No more than a half hour of writing per day, with a 1,000 word max per day.  Each piece of work was to have the theme of the word of the day.  There are no edits and each day is a rough draft!  

What’s next?  With Writetober over I will be setting my sights on Novel November.  My goal is to write a fantasy novel of 100,000 words, approximately 3,300 words a day.  If you loved Writetober I hope you stick around for Novel November. 

If you really loved my work and would like to support my dreams, become a Patron!  One more shameless beg, make sure to check out my Patreon!  For the month of November I will only be posting excerpts on this website, with the full daily work going to my Patrons.

Writetober Day 1

RING

                “Just put it on, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Why would you say that!  Nothing was going to happen, but now that you say that something will happen!”  The black-haired man angrily shouted as he stared at the black ring, carefully placed in the box before him.

“You’re being paranoid for no reason.  Your grandpa left you his old ring and you’re acting like it’s something cursed by the devil.”  The taller man looked over his friends’ shoulder, trying to see the ring.

“Tom, my grandpa was not a normal guy.  My mom would tell me about all these strange stories in their old house.”  The black-haired man still stared at the ring, unmoving.

“Ghosts and monsters don’t exist Kyle.  Please don’t tell me you believe in that crap.”  Smugness carried on Tom’s words.

“Oh yea? Then why don’t you put it on?”  Kyle turned around thrusting the open box toward Tom.

“Well, why would I take something your grandpa left for you?  That’s like an heirloom.”  Tom tried to hide his nervousness while taking a step back.

“Exactly…” Kyle closed the box and didn’t think of it again.

The day continued as normal, Kyle and Tom spent most of the bright and sunny day squirreled away in a dark room playing video games.  It was a tradition of theirs that seemed to have no sign of ending, and both had no issues with that.  No matter what was going in their life they would pick a day of the week to get together and lose themselves in video games.  The tradition used to bring strange looks from co-workers and family, after all, how could two grown men play video games for 12 hours a day, shirking all responsibilities.  They had it down to a science, and with a little help and understanding from Kyle’s wife, the boys had the living room to themselves for an entire day.

“Work was a damn bear today.  Rachel will not leave the reports alone.”  Tom blurted out in the middle of their session.

“She’s still saying you messed them up?  Elite on the right, need help with him.”

“Got him, grab his turret.  But yea, I am about to go over her head, she’s asking for numbers that don’t exist, so of course they won’t be on the report.”

The two continued their double conversations as they slayed enemy after enemy, mixing work talk and game talk naturally.  Every so often, Kyle’s ears seem to perk up as something else caught his attention.  He would quickly shrug it off and reinvest himself into the game.

“Do you hear that?”  Kyle finally gave into the annoyance that kept tugging at his ears.

“Nope, but what exactly am I supposed to be focusing on?”  Tom didn’t break from his lock on the tv.

“I swear I keep hearing something.”

“The boogeyman from your grandpa’s ring calling your name?”  Tom laughed as the words left his mouth.

Kyle didn’t answer, it was his name he was hearing, but it wasn’t from a voice he knew.

After some time, Kyle and Tom came to the end of their day.  After some last words about their jobs and a tentative date for the next session, Tom left Kyle alone in the house.  Kyle’s wife still had a few hours left in her day trip with her mom, so Kyle was left with nothing to do.  His focus shot to the corner of the living room.

“Just put it on…”  A whisper danced on the fringes of Kyle’s hearing.”

Turning ghost white, Kyle made for the front door of his home, but he stopped himself.

“This is just in my head.  Positive thoughts of puppies are my focus.”  He shouted out into the house.

The drawer holding the boxed ring slowly slid open in response.  Kyle’s eyes widened as he forced a laugh and ran out of his home.

“Groceries, we need groceries.”  Kyle spoke to himself as he hurriedly got into his car.  “Groceries and puppies, that’s all I’m thinking about!”  The car left the driveway.

The sun had set by the time Kyle made it home.  Pulling into the driveway, he realized the mistake he made.  He hadn’t texted Michelle about what happened.  Rushing into the house, he was greeted by his smiling wife putting away the mountain of stuff she bought with her mom.

“Hey hun.”

“Are you ok?”  Kyle rushed to give her a hug.

“Why wouldn’t I be?  Oh!  I saw your gift.  You’re the best.”  Michelle hugged Kyle tight.

“What gift?”

Pulling away, Michelle showed Kyle her hand.  A black ring snuggly rested on her middle finger.

“It fits perfectly!  How did you find out my ring size?”  Michelle’s words fell on deaf ears.

Shit.  It was the only word that came to Kyle’s mind.

Writetober Day 2

Mindless

It had been two days since Michelle put on the ring.  To Kyle, it had been two days of worry and confusion.  Michelle had been acting different, forgetting small details, mumbling in her sleep.  Kyle tried to call Tom, but he was no help, instead, Tom would reply with a joke or sarcastic statement.  Kyle was left alone, in a house with his wife, he was alone, mostly.  The voice continued, it was quiet, but Kyle could feel it there.  He was certain he could hear it laugh every time Michelle’s mind would go blank.

“Hun, can you help me really quick?”  Michelle beckoned from the kitchen.

Kyle quickly entered to see his beautiful wife ready to head out of the house.  He found that she always had the knack to match all kinds of clothing into something adorable.

“What’s up?”  Kyle cheerfully asked.  No matter what was happening, she always made him smile.

“I can’t find the keys and I have to get going.  They might be in my purse, but I can’t find that anywhere.”

Kyle was hit with a wall of worry as he stared at his wife.  Clutched in her hands were her keys.  They weren’t loosely dangling; her hands were tightly gripping the keys.  Slung across her body was her purse, as she spoke, she moved the strap to scratch her collar bone.

“Babe, you’re holding your keys.”  Kyle swore he heard the laugh again.

Shock washed across her face as she looked down to see she was in fact holding them.

“Wow, that’s weird.  I’ll look for the purse when I get home, wallet should be in the car and I’ve got to go.”  In a hurry, she kissed Kyle and left.

“The purse…”  The door slammed shut as Kyle forced the words out.

“Puppet…my puppet…”  The words were quiet, they barely made it to Kyle’s ears.

“Nothing in here is real!  She is just tired.”  Kyle tried to reassure himself.  Franticly moving around the house, he began to clean, forcing himself to take his mind off all of it.

Minutes turned into hours as Kyle feverously scrubbed the house clean.  Certain that he worked the thoughts out of his head, he decided to go for a run around the block.  Nothing like a few miles to clear the mind even more than cleaning did.

As Kyle left his house, he was ripped back to reality as he stared at his wife sitting in her car.  She had a blank look in her eyes, not even noticing Kyle.  The car running in the driveway was the only sound, no music, no words.  Fear crept into Kyle as he made his way toward the open driver window.

“Michelle, you ok?”  He spoke loudly to grab her attention.

She looked at him confused over his question.  “Yea, I’m fine.  I have to head out though or I’m gonna be late.”

“What?  You left like four hours ago.”  The fear in Kyle’s voice prepared him for the answer.

“What are you talking about, I just walked out the door.  It’s only one…”  Her words ended as she stared at the clock in the car.  Tears filled her eyes as she looked up to Kyle.  “What just happened.”  Her words were almost drowned out by the laughter in Kyle’s ears.

“Take off the ring, just take off the damn ring.  Now!”  Kyle was stern in his words.

Michelle quickly fiddled with the ring and after some struggle she removed it.  Holding out his hand, Kyle gestured for her to drop it into his palm.  He felt the ring land in his hand, but it was heavier than it should have been.  Without second thought, he threw it, not caring to see where it landed, he turned to Michelle.  Holding her tightly as she wept, the two walked into the house.

Writetober Day 3

Bait

                “So, are you possessed yet?”  Tom spoke over the clicking of the controller in his hands.

“Adds are killed, get ready for DPS.”  Kyle ignored his friends’ question and focused on the game.

“Why did you throw the ring away again?”  Tom pressed the subject.

“Top pillar needs to come down and drop the ring already.  I got rid of it that’s that.”  Kyle begged his friend as he focused on the characters before him.

“Damn, touchy subject I see.  It was just a ring, no need to freak out.”

“I am not freaking out, just telling you to drop it.”  Annoyance played on Kyle’s words.

“Sounds like freaking out to me.”  Tom poked more.

“Seriously!”  Kyle broke concentration from the screen as his character died.  “You weren’t here man.  Michelle was not the same, she was acting blank.  On top of that, I kept hearing this laughing and a voice.”  Kyle was stone faced.  “But when I reached out to you, I just got jokes and sarcasm.”

“Bro I was just playing.”

“No, you want to jab and poke, and bait me.  Here you go, I’m hooked.”  Kyle didn’t stop for Tom to speak.  “I have a great idea, let’s go find that ring.  It’s only been like three days, I am sure it’s where ever the hell I threw it!”

“Look I wasn’t trying…”

“Too late.”  Kyle cut off his friend.  “Let’s go find the ring so you can be happy.”

After some protest, Tom followed Kyle to the door, but as Tom neared the closed door he stopped in his tracks.

“Knock…knock…”  The words crept into Tom’s ears.

“Did you hear that?”  Tom asked Kyle.

“Stop messing around.  I’m not playing this game anymore, you got your wish, let’s go.”  Kyle turned to open the door.

The two men stood, frozen in horror.  Gently sitting on the doormat outside of Kyle’s home was a black ring, the black ring.  Tom and Kyle’s ear perked ever so slightly as a laugh slithered into their heads.

“Close the fucking door.”  Tom broke the silence.

Kyle’s hand shoved the door closed as the two still stood staring.

“I am so sorry; can you tell me what in the fuck that was?  I heard knock-knock when we walked to the door.”  Nervousness crept in Tom’s voice.

Kyle didn’t answer Tom, he continued to stare at the closed door, thinking.  A decision was made as he opened the door and bent down to grab the ring.  It was as heavy as he remembered it, surprisingly warm too.  Tom was frozen in curiosity and fear as he watched his friend grab the black ring.  Kyle turned and looked to his friend, certainty in his eyes.

“Here goes nothing.”  Kyle plunged his finger through the hole of the ring.  It seemed to enlarge as it conformed to his finger size.  Wrapping snug around his finger, Kyle felt a gentle vibration crawl up his arm.  For a moment, the world blurred forcing him to blink trying to regain his vision.  His eyesight returned, but it was different.  Removing his glasses, Kyle could see the world around him clearly.  No blurs, no squinting, perfect eyesight.

“Welcome.”  The voice spoke loudly in his head.

Writetober Day 4

Freeze

                “Are you okay?!”  Tom worryingly asked above the army of ironclad soldiers charging around them.

‘What the hell…’  It was all that came to Kyle’s mind.  He was lost as he tried to make sense of what was in front of him.  He wasn’t in his house, he wasn’t wearing his clothes, and he wasn’t even sure if he was in the United States.

All around him men were charging over a hill, banners splattered with blood and dirt were waving at the crest.  His mind couldn’t grasp what was happening, moments ago, he was standing in his house putting on the black ring.

“Kyle!  What’s the order?  We need to move!”  Tom’s strange words ripped Kyle to the present.

“What?”  It was the only word he could get out.

“The Ice Mages are pushing our front; the men are tired and falling.  Do we continue to take the hill?”  Tom shouted from under his steel helmet.

An unearthly roar shook the world around the men as they halted in fear.  Silence followed the roar as everyone stood, frozen, staring at Kyle, waiting to receive an order.  Before Kyle could throw any words from his mouth, a massive monstrosity climbed over the hill.  Its icy blue eyes scanned the standing army, searching.  With a devious grin, it locked eyes with Kyle.

“Welcome.”  The monster didn’t speak the words, but they played in Kyle’s mind.

With a massive inhale the demon opened its mouth and spewed blue hell down the hill.  The soldiers had no chance, in a flash they were frozen where they stood.  The freezing wave continued down the hill growling as it barreled towards Kyle.

“Kyle!”  Tom’s words pierced Kyle’s mind, forcing him to open his eyes.  “Are you okay?”  Tom’s words were softer now.

Kyle frantically looked around.  He was home, he was on the floor, but he was home.

“What the hell happened?”  Kyle grudgingly forced the words out.

“You tell me, you put the ring on, took your glasses off and then fell.”

“The ring.”  Kyle looked to his hand, the ring was gone.  “Where is it?”

“I threw it in the trash, the second you collapsed I ripped it off your finger.  It did not want to let go.”

“You were wearing armor, the was a medieval army, I think I was a commander, and there was this dragon thing that breathed ice.”  Kyle began to ramble.

“I am going to pretend I know what you are talking about.  Listen, this shit is crazy.  The voice, the ring, all of it.  We need to get rid of that thing.”  Tom helped Kyle sit up.

“Yea, you’re right.  I’ll get rid of it, but I need to rest first.”  Kyle slowly stood as his body ached, it felt as if he was truly in that battle.  “How long was I out?”  Kyle asked as he noticed the time.

The two men sat for some time and talked about the events that occurred, after a bit, they began to laugh and joke, ending the night on positive thoughts.  Later that night, Kyle thought about telling Michelle all that happened, but he chose not to and avoided worrying her.  Instead he laid in bed with her cuddled up to him.  He couldn’t sleep though, his mind kept going back to that battle, the voice, and the ring.  In that moment, Kyle made a decision, he got up from his bed and made his way into the kitchen.  Looking one last time in to the bedroom, Kyle pulled out the garbage and plucked the ring that was tucked under food and paper.

“Let’s see what this is about.”  Kyle plunged his finger through the ring.

Writetober Day 5

Build

                Kyle couldn’t focus at work, he was too busy drawing up designs for a wall.  The words from his co-workers and managers were hums in the distance as he quickly worked on structure details and points of entry for his fortification plans.

“Kyle, anything to add to Carol’s presentation?”  His director asked.

Tearing away from the paper he was aggressively drawing on, Kyle simply shook his head, barely making the word no come from his mouth.

It had been one week since Kyle had his experience when putting on the ring.  Since that first time, Kyle wore the ring every night as he slept.  Each night he was taken to that same world only to wake up with even more questions.  It was the same world as the first time, a medieval battle worn land.  The difference was, he never went back to that battlefield, or that dragon monstrosity.  By the end of the week, it was too much to keep inside.  After what Tom had gone through and being too afraid to scare Michelle, Kyle didn’t have many options on who to talk to, so he turned to the only person he thought would know about this, his mom.

“Hey Kyle, what’s going on?”  His mom’s voice over the phone was surprisingly relaxing.

“I’ve got an early day at work today, want to grab some lunch?  Vine and Table, twelve o’clock?”

“Sure, I can finish up in the garden by then.”

The rest of the morning flew by as Kyle finished his blueprints for a surrounding stone wall.  It was very detailed, with designated battlements for archers and stone dropper; special detail to the entryways and how they closed as well.

“Mom, did grandpa ever mention anything about a village?”  The two had just about finished up their lunch and had the usual catching up already done.  “Or dreams of any kind?”

His mom gently stared at him, reading her son as she always did when he was younger.  “Is that what those doodles on the napkin are about?”  She paused, seeing Kyle’s tiredness and excitement battling on his face.  “I used to think your grandpa was a very strange man.  As a child he would tell me the most amazing bedtime stories about warriors, monsters, and everyday people becoming heroes.  I never gave it much thought, and always thought they were stories from books.  Until, one day I noticed that no one else’s fairytales were like the ones he told me.”

Kyle was entranced by what his mom was telling him, he mentally begged her to continue.

“You got his ring, didn’t you?”  His mother smiled.  “Did you bring it here?”

Kyle was almost knocked to the ground as his mother smiled when she asked about the ring.  “I do have it!”  He tried not to yell.

Digging through his jacket’s pocket he pulled out the worn carved box that held the ring and opened it to show his mom.

As the box opened to reveal the ring, his mother’s face said everything he didn’t want to hear.

“It’s black, why is it black?”  The voice laughed in his ears as his mother said the words.

“What do you mean?”  Kyle felt sick as he saw his mom’s reaction.

“The ring was silver, it shined like it was just polished at all times of the day.”  Her brow furrowed inquisitively.  “Has anything else happened with the ring?”

Michelle wore it once, it made her blank, and there is a voice I hear.”  Kyle tried to quickly pass over the voice part.

“Vordmir?”  Kyle’s mother quietly asked herself.

“Who?  What did you say?”  Kyle asked.

“Nothing.  Did Michelle tell you what she saw while she wore the ring?  She was blank because she was there, like I’m assuming you have been.”  Kyle’s mother closed the ring box and focused on her son.

“No, we really didn’t talk about it, I ripped the ring off her finger and threw it away.  We moved on and didn’t talk about it.”

“That’s going to change.  I am coming over tonight and we are all talking.  I must swing by home first.”  His mother readied her stuff to leave.

“Tom knows some stuff to…”  Kyle felt ashamed, like a young boy that touched something he shouldn’t have.

“Get him over tonight as well.”  Kyle’s mom got up to leave.  “And whatever they are having you build, can wait.  I need your full attention tonight.”  With that, Kyle’s mom left.

Writetober Day 6

Husky

                It was cold around Kyle.  The breath blasted out of his mouth as the snow around him fell.  The surrounding forest was massive and dark, the moons light was barely able to reach the fallen snow.  Twigs snapped under an unknown weight, drawing Kyle’s attention to dark pockets around him.

“Who’s out there.”  Kyle spoke flat, expecting a response.

A branch cracking behind him was the only answer to his question.

“Show yourself.”  Kyle fought to keep his nerves under wrap.

Guttural growling seemed to come from every direction around the armored man.  Kyle gripped the hilt of the blade that hung from his hip, willing his fear to not surface.

A sharp blue eye pierced the dead night enveloping the forest; it studied Kyle.  Unsheathing his sword, Kyle stepped toward the beast and readied.

“The blade will do nothing, only slow your death.”  The beast emerged from the darkness of the woods, its fur lightly covered in snow.  A darker brown eye lit up to match the blue eye as it broke into the moons light.

The voice scratched into Kyle’s mind as the four-legged fiend didn’t move its mouth, it only pierced into the man’s soul.

“Who are you?”  Kyle failed at hiding his fear, the dog smelt it.

“I have gone by many names.”  The voice violated Kyle’s mind.  “None of which are important now.”

The dog lunged at Kyle, its teeth gleaming in the little light there was; Kyle was too slow to react.  The beast’s teeth sank into Kyle’s arm, piercing the metal armor with ease.    He opened his mouth to scream, but a loud honk drowned out his pain.

Kyle’s eyes widened as he realized he was stopped at a green light.  Cloudiness surrounded his mind as he noticed the ring somehow got on his finger.  Ignoring the angry driver behind him he took the left turn to head home.  A shock of pain gripped his right arm as he came out of the turn, pulling up his sleeve, his dream became reality.  Imprints of sharp teeth matched the pain radiating from his arm.  Ripping the black ring off his finger, Kyle pulled into his driveway.

Writetober Day 7

Enchanted

                Kyle sat on his couch with Michelle at his side.  Across from them, his mother and Tom waited for someone to break the silence.  In the middle of everyone, the black ring rested in its box, on the table.  Michelle’s eyes were puffy and red from the tears that Kyle’s words brought.  She was barely able to grasp what he was telling her, let alone what conversation was about to happen.  Kyle flexed his arm to test the pain that was screaming from the bite, he still couldn’t believe it.

“The ring is tainted.”  Kyle’s mother let the words hang on the air.

“What is the ring exactly, and where the hell did it come from.”  Tom blurted out as he stared at the ring.

“Think of it like a bridge to another world.”

“Yea, a world of demons.”  Tom cut off Kyle’s mother.

“Not quite.”  She continued.  “I’ve come to know the name of the world as Trunderia.  My father used to tell me stories of knights and princesses, heroes and villains all from this world.  For a long time, I used to think of these as fairytales, until one day, I put on the ring.”

“You put this ring on mom!?”  Shock leapt from Kyle’s words.

“Not that ring.”  Kyle’s mother pulled out a wooden ring box and cracked it open to reveal a blackened silver ring.

“There’s more!”  Tom’s jaw crashed to the floor.

“Kyle’s grandfather decided I was old enough to see this world for myself.  In that world, he had a ring enchanted to mirror the ring he wore.  Instead of trying to figure out the way that his ring worked, he had a mage attach the new ring to his.  This allowed me to take my steps into this wonderous world.”

“Why didn’t I know anything about this.”  Kyle focused on his mom.

“By the time you were old enough, something had happened.  Your grandfather discovered something terrible, so terrible that I had to promise him never to use my ring.  So, I kept my promise and more, I never spoke about that place again.  As the years went on and dad grew older, we agreed to get rid of the rings, locked in a box, in a bank none of us knew about.  Until his ring ended up in your mail box.”

“Wait, I’m sorry, you expect me to believe that magic, fairytales and princesses exist?  I’m just suppose to take this information and be like, yep, that’s right.”  Tom was aggravated.

“I don’t expect you to do anything.  You have heard the voice, you have seen Kyle while wearing the ring.  The ring has been corrupted, whatever my father did has changed everything I’ve known.”

“What exactly did he do mom?”  Kyle brought the conversation back.

“In Trunderia, there was a myth about some great evil beast.  You see, there is a history to this world, the people there existed before your grandfather found the ring and they continued after he died.  As your grandfather observed the world in secret, he ended up making a name of himself as something of an explorer.”

“That would explain the town that I was in, they had a statue of him.”  Michelle grabbed Kyle’s hand as he spoke.

“Yes, and I’m sure they knew about you.  Even though I promised to never return, the years until we locked away the rings, he continued to return.  But as I was saying, your grandfather decided to seek out an ancient myth about an insidious being that once corrupted the lands.  In his searching, he found that the being was not only real, but still alive and well.  Vordmir was the name he told me the day he made me never go back.”

“That’s what has been messing with Kyle?”  Tom asked, still in disbelief.

“Not only that, but that is what has corrupted and turned my father’s ring black.”  Kyle’s mom saddened at the thought of what her father would say.

“What about grandma?  Did she have a ring?”  Kyle spoke with hope.

“She did, but once grandpa died, she shut down.  Even if she knew where it was, she couldn’t have told me.”

“Then we need to find it.”  Everyone sat in shock as the words left Michelle’s mouth.  “And we need to find your ring Mrs. Advera.”

“Why the hell would we ever do any of those things?”  Tom laughed.

“Because we need to stop Vordmir.  When I put on the ring, I was in that world.  I saw what was happening to the people, the battles weren’t just killing soldiers.  There are three enchanted rings that take us to that world, what if Vordmir finds a way here?  He’s already affecting us, he must be close!”  Everyone sat in silence, staring at Michelle.

“She’s right, we have to find those.”  Kyle looked to his mom and Tom.

“Ugh…. what the hell is going on….”  Tom groaned as car keys were grabbed.

Writetober Day 8

Frail

                “Where is his home?”

“I…I don’t know.  Please I have a family.”  The peasant wept between his words.

“Lies…you reek of the outsider.”  The faceless shadow spoke as it slowly smothered the poor man.

Around the scene, the forest was quiet, the animals knew to stay away.  The closest village was hours away, there would be no intruders.

“P…p…please sir, I know nothing.”  The pail and dirty man spoke to the dark figure surrounding him.

“You’re weak.  But you already know that.”

“Sir, please….”

“I can give you strength.  I can allow you to shed your frail body.  You can have a purpose.”  The shadow seemed to caress the man.  “Tell me where the outsider calls home.  What village does he reside in?”

“Please, I do not know.  I don’t know about an outsider.”  The man wept in fear.

“The man named Kyle!”  The shadow spoke harshly.  “Tell me and I will end your pain.  All you will know is power within my ranks.”  Kindness oozed from the shadow.  “You will not worry about gold, food, or safety.”

Through tears, the malnourished peasant focused on the shadow.  “What of my family?”

“They will never know pain and suffering again.”  The shadow seemed to smile.

“His home is found in Krinkledag.”  The defeated man slumped to the dirt.

“You have done well.  Accept your reward.”  The shadow darkened and surrounded the broken man.  Smothering him, the shadow laughed as the man choked and grasped for air.  With his final thrusts the man laid, dead on the floor, his eyes open in terror.  The shadow pulled away from the dead man and took the rough shape of a faceless man.

“Rise and serve your new master.”

The dead mans eyes clouded and turned an obsidian black.  Unnaturally shifting, the body rose to face its summoner.

“Go deliver freedom to your family.  Slaughter them all, release them from their pain.”

“Yes…Lord Vordmir.”

Writetober Day 9

Swing

                “There is so much shit down here.”  Tom grunted as he lifted a heavy box.  “Why couldn’t we go to the bank and send the girls here?”

“How would that have worked?  You, not being my mom, asking to open a lockbox that is under her name.”  Kyle laughed back.

“It would beat trying to find a ring in a mountain of boxes and dust in your mom’s basemement.”

The two continued working, lifting and moving boxes to then search through them.  Not knowing what exactly to look for made the process that much harder and time consuming.

“Ha!  Look at this picture.”  Tom held an old photo in his hands.  “Looks like your grandpa and grandma, and they don’t look much older than you.”

Kyle studied the photo, he had a smile on his face looking at his younger, happier grandparents.  His grandmother was sitting on a swing, hanging from a massive oak tree.  Her husband stood behind her, stoic and proud.  Their hands were clasped and resting on his grandmothers’ shoulder.  Kyle’s eyes widened as he noticed the two were wearing rings, not wedding rings.

“They have the rings on in the picture!”  Kyle pointed for Tom to see.

“Jeeze, how long has that thing been around?  Any date on the back?”

Kyle flipped the photo over.  There was no date, but instead, a note.

“I promise to always come back to this moment.  Love, Nathaniel.”  Kyle spoke the words his grandfather wrote.

“Mom, was there a swing at grandpa and grandma’s house?”  Kyle was frantically starting his car as Tom buckled into the passenger seat.

“Yea hun, they took it down before you were born though, why?  Wait, did you guys find the ring?”  His moms voice came through the phone.

“No, but I think I know where it is.  When you are done at the bank, met us back at my house.”  Kyle hung up and sped out of his mother’s driveway.

“How exactly is this going to work?  There are people living in the house and it’s the middle of the day on Saturday.”  Tom quizzed as they pulled up to the curb across from the house.

“I am going to go to the tree and look for the ring, you’re going to distract whoever is home.  Use your improv skills.”  Kyle got out of the car and scurried across the street and around the back of the house.

“What improv skills?”  Tom asked no one.

The doorbell rang as Tom stood at the front door, unsure of what was about to happen.  Opening the door, a large, well built man stared at Tom.  If he wasn’t a professional body builder, he should have been.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, this is the wrong house.”  Tom quickly walked back to the car and quietly apologized to Kyle, who was hopefully finding the ring.

Tom’s anxiety as he waited for Kyle to get back was instantly replaced by fear as he watched Kyle turn the corner from behind the house.  The mountain of a man that greeted Tom was barreling toward Kyle as he sprinted to the car.  Fortunately, in Kyle’s dirt covered hands was a box, hopefully the box they needed.

“Start the fucking car!”  Kyle screamed through hard breathing.

Roars and profanity leapt from the man’s mouth as he chased Kyle to the car.  Tom didn’t hesitate, he unlocked the driver door and fired up the car.  Kyle was able to close and lock the car just as the man reached it.

“I’m gonna kill you two!”  The man pounded on the glass dividing him ad the two scared men inside.

“Drive, drive, drive!”  Tom shouted as Kyle slammed on the gas.

“Some distraction you were.”  Kyle finally spoke after enough distance from the house.

“What did you expect from me?  Did you see that guy?!”  Tom tried to laugh.

“At least I found what we needed.”  Kyle tossed the box to Tom.

Tom cracked the wooden box open to reveal the ring inside.

Writetober Day 10

Pattern

                “I don’t get it.”  Kyle’s mom stared at the rings resting on the kitchen table.

Kyle’s ring was black, empty of color and light.  To its left, his grandmothers ring seemed to swirl with black, its silver color was tainted with an obsidian tint.  His mother’s ring barely had silver left in it, the corruption that consumed Kyle’s ring was almost complete in his mothers.

“I don’t understand this.  This can’t be Vordmir’s doing.”  Kyle’s mother spoke softly.  “He shouldn’t have the power to do this.  We must be missing something.”

“You don’t think an evil demon monster lord has the ability to corrupt the rings?  Isn’t he the symbol of corruption or something?”  Tom tried his best to keep up.

“From what my father told me, he’s just a man.  The fact that he has the ability to interfere in our world through the ring is something else, something more powerful than him.”  Everyone listened intently to Kyle’s mother.  “We need to go in, you three need to go in.  Start in Krinkledag and find out what you can.”

“What are we supposed to do, walk up to villagers and ask them if they’ve seen the lord of corruption?”  Tom was trying his best.  “I don’t really think they will be too keen on talking to three strangers from another world.”

“They know us, well they know me.”  Kyle interrupted.  “My grandpa helped build Krinkledag, my family is known there, our ‘abilities’ are known there.  It’s the safest and best place to start searching.”

“And what exactly are we looking for?”  Tom but in.

“A pattern.”  Michelle spoke.  “Something is connecting these rings to him, rings that are attached to your family specifically.”  Michelle picked up the grandmother’s ring.  “This ring is less corrupted than the other two, but I’d assume it has been used more than Mrs. Advera’s ring.”  Everyone sat in silence as Michelle continued.  “It could be a blood connection.  Maybe this ring isn’t as corrupted because she didn’t have a blood connection to your grandpa, that Mrs. Advera had to him?  That would make the corruption slower to take effect possibly.  Not only do we need to find out about Vordmir, we need to find out more about the rings.”

“You’re amazing!”  Kyle blurted out.

“Okay, there are some dots to connect, but how do we get more info on the rings?  Isn’t this kind of everyone that knows?”  Tom asked.

“The enchanter would know more, his name was Welton.  He worked with my father to make my ring, maybe he made my mother’s.”  Mrs. Advera spoke.  “That is, if he’s still alive.  It has been a long time.”

“Alright…It looks like we are going and finding this Enchanter.”  Kyle grabbed his grandfather’s ring.

“I’m assuming I am part of that ‘we’.”  Tom grabbed Mrs. Advera’s ring.

Kyle, Michelle and Tom sat around the table.  Giving one last look, they slipped the rings around their fingers.  Kyle closed his eyes and focused on the ring, he allowed what flowed through the ring to envelope him.  The other two watched him and followed suit, in moments, the three were in another world.  They blinked from existence leaving Mrs. Advera alone in the house, at least she thought.

“The daughter…alone.”  A voice hungrily spoke.

Fear crept in Mrs. Advera.  “You have no power here!”  She shouted into the corners of the house.

“No…soon I will…. soon your world will be mine.”  The heaviness in the house disappeared, she was truly alone now.

Writetober Day 11

Snow

                “I think I know the answer to this, but if we die here, we are dead at home, right?”  Tom asked beneath his helmet.

“I’d lean toward yes.”  Kyle was adjusting the leather straps beneath the thick furs that protected him from the cold.

“I don’t know how to use this thing!”  Michelle was holding a gleaming sword.

“That’s what I thought, but something with the rings changes that.  Give it a swing.”  Kyle watched Michelle excitedly.

Michelle grabbed the sword and as she did, a confidence stiffened through her.  She brought the sword high above her head and slashed through the air across her body.  The blade stopped instantly without hesitation after cutting through the imaginary enemy.

“That felt…right.”  Michelle looked at the ring and then her sword, with a smile on her face.

“So, the rings would explain the clothes?  Last I checked, I didn’t have bear pelts on at your house.”  Tom pet the furs hanging off his shoulders.

“Yea, I haven’t really figured that all out.  I am kind of hoping the enchanter will fill in those gaps.”  Kyle finished securing his satchel and straps.

A poorly scratched wooden sign stood next to the three.  Krinkledag was written on a portion with a point facing down the smoothed dirt path.  The forest that hugged the path loomed high above Kyle, Tom and Michelle.  What sunlight made it through the thick clouds was snuffed out by the trees before it could reach the ground.  Tiny specs of white twirled on the wind that carried cold air through the land.  The three explorers headed down the path, looking to start their journey.

The village was alive with activity.  As the three entered the vicinity of the village, Michelle was in awe of the sight before her.  Underneath the darkening skies, the villagers worked to prepare for the impending storm.  Large men heaved logs of wood outside of homes, shops and the inn.  Young boys and girls waiting outside the buildings stacked the wood along the buildings.  Women worked in teams to deliver buckets of water to the same building being replenished with firewood.  A few villagers catching a quick breath noticed Kyle and his friends.  After a warm smile and wave, they were back at work.

Kyle led his friends over to the blacksmith.  An ash covered man who, thanks to his forge, was sweating in the frozen air.

“Trulsy!  How did my drawings look for the villages walls?”  Kyle cheerfully greeted the grizzled man.

“Ah!  Master Kyle!”  A cheery voice left the blacksmith, deceiving his outward appearance.  “They looked great, after this storm passes, I’ll have a few men start digging the foundations.”

“Great to hear, are you expecting a bad storm?”

“Aye, a rider from the west came covered in snow.  He said Nilgrad was covered in so much white, that the lord’s black mare wasn’t seen standing feet away from him.”

Michelle smiled at the man’s description.

“That doesn’t sound good for us.”  Tom chimed in.

“Plenty of room at the inn to wait it out.  Especially for Kyle and any of his friends!”  Warmth radiated from Trulsy.

“Unfortunately, we won’t be staying long.  We must find an enchanter named Welton.  Do you know of him?”  Kyle asked.

“I know of that name, haven’t seen him for some time.  But I wouldn’t suggest travelling in this weather, she’s a beast traveling through these lands.”

“Sadly, we don’t have time to wait, storm or not, we have to go.”

“You won’t hear me ask twice, I know that look in your eyes.”  Trulsy smiled.  “The enchanter, last I heard, is north in some hut he built.”

“Any better directions?”  Tom asked the burly man.

“No friend, the enchanter disappeared after Kyle’s grandfather stopped visiting.”

“That’s interesting.”  Michelle whispered.  “Thank you very much sir, stay warm in this snow.”

As the words left Michelle’s mouth they seemed to freeze.  A fierce wind blasted through the village, it roared and shook the structures making up Krinkledag.  The explorers turned to face the origin of the wind, they were welcomed by a wall of snow.  The village was enveloped in blistering cold and thick snow.  In an instant, Kyle was blind to his friends.

“I…found…you…”  The wind howled through the town, the words stung Kyle.

“Is this Vordmir!?”  Michelle’s yelling barely made it over the blasting wind.

“He can control fucking weather?!”  Tom screamed into the white out.

A bear paw of a hand grabbed Tom and thrusted him into the stone surrounding of the forge.  Two other bodies collided into him as the wind and snow seemed to slow down.

“This isn’t a regular storm Master Kyle.  What is this?”  Trulsy stood over the three explorers.

Kyle slowly stood to answer the blacksmith.  Before the words came out, Trulsy was answered as the earth shook beneath the weight of a massive object crashing into it.

A large blue eye peered through the thick snowstorm and stared into Kyle’s soul.

Trulsy and the three explorers unsheathed their swords as a shattering roar blasted from where the massive blue eye hovered.

Writetober Day 12

Dragon

                “Kyle, move!”  Trulsy shouted as he charged through the inn door.

A massive claw encased in scales cut through the whiteout that was the sky.  Kyle dove through the splintered opening of the inn as the monstrous arm slammed into the snow-covered ground.  The storm had arrived just moments before, but the snow piled as if it had fallen for hours.

“Hiding will do nothing.  I will turn this village to rubble!”  The voice bellowed, shaking the walls of the inn.

Michelle and Tom were already at the opposite end of the tavern looking for an escape.  “We need to keep moving!”  Michelle shouted to Trulsy and Kyle as they struggled to get up.

Behind the two men, a blue eye peered through the previously destroyed door.  A toothy grin formed on the monster’s face as it stared at Kyle.

“Far too easy…”  The black scaled dragon pulled its head back and inhaled.

The falling snow was pulled into the sucking vacuum of the inhaling dragon, it’s blue and brown eye glowed in intensity as it prepared to spew death into the tavern.  Inside, Trulsy moved with a purpose as he flipped over wooden tables and stools.  Beneath one of the tables was a latched door.

“Get down there!”  Trulsy ripped the hatch open, breaking the lock.

Kyle, Michelle and Tom threw themselves down into the hidden room, landing in mold and old ale.  Trulsy didn’t follow them, he wasn’t faster than the wall of ice that tore through the wooden slats holding up the tavern.  The hatch door slammed shut plunging Kyle and his friends in darkness, as the world around them crumbled beneath the ice breathe of the demon above.

The world was frozen and silent, Krinkledag was a crumbled shadow of its former self.  Homes were destroyed and covered in piles of snow.  Villagers laid encased in ice with fear frozen on their faces; others weren’t recognizable as once being a living being.  The monstrous black dragon studied its work as a grin played on its face, he stayed focused though, the dead body of his prey wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

Deep below the layers of crumbled tavern and sheets of ice, Kyle slowly moved in the dark.  Careful not to make a sound he ran his hand over an arm he assumed to be Michelle’s.  He could feel her shaking, no doubt tears were streaming down her face.

“Kyle.”  The smallest whisper came from Tom’s mouth.

Kyle shot his hand out to the direction of the voice.  Gripping his friend, he gave reassurance that he was alive.  The three dragged their bodies across the pungent floor to huddle together.

“Outsider…grandson to the thief.”  The dragon growled.  “I know you live…”

Michelle shook in terror as Kyle held her.  The words seemed to seep through the walls and strike all three survivors.  Kyle’s attention shot to his arm as it began to throb and burn where the wolf bite had been.

“Show yourself…or suffer.”

Kyle bit down hard on his tunic, forcing the screams to stay within.  Searing pain blinded Kyle as he struggled to hold on to his will.

“Good…”  The dragon’s words filled Kyle’s gut.  “Your friends will suffer as well…”

Through the extreme pain, Kyle felt Michelle wince and tighten, as she began fighting her own battle.  Lances of pain shot up Michelle and Tom’s arm centralized from the rings.  In the darkness, the rings glowed a violent red as pain tested their will.  Tom broke.

An anguished roar ripped from Tom’s mouth, it was all the fiend needed.

“Die!”  The word was followed by a stream of fire erupting from the dragon’s mouth, as it flew high in the sky.

Molten flame rained down destroying what was left of Krinkledag.  Balls of heat blasted into the foundation of the tavern, exploding on impact and spreading to the neighboring remains of buildings.  In quick work, Vordmir, turned the frozen landscape into a charred nightmare world.  Plumes of smoke trailed high into the sky as the dragon, content with his work, ceased the barrage of hellfire.

Writetober Day 13

Ash

                “Get up.”

The world was black.

“You must get up.”

The voice was kind in Kyle’s mind.  His senses slowly came to him, the overbearing scent of smoldering destruction hitting him first.  The suffocating rubble and dirt was the only thing Kyle could feel around him.  Michelle immediately came to his mind, he was holding her before Vordmir unleashed death on the village, but now he was only holding what used to be the tavern.

“Michelle…”  The words were swallowed by the ash and dirt as they left Kyle’s mouth.

Kyle began to struggle as he forced himself to move under the weight of Krinklebag.  Panic began to rise within Kyle as he realized he didn’t know which way was up or down.  Frantically, he began breathing harder, and thrashing faster, tiring himself out.  Ash filled his lungs as he gasped for the little air that was underneath the burnt village.  Tom and Michelle flashed in his mind, their laugh and smiles.  His mother caring for him and supporting him all through life, the memories drowned out the death that surrounded him.

“Focus…”  The familiar voice rang in Kyle’s ears.

Fighting all temptation to give in to the memories, Kyle spit the dirt out of his mouth and focused on escaping.

“The spit!”  Kyle exclaimed to himself through muffled words.

With little time left to breathe, Kyle focused on where his spit moved.  Being blind was always a fear of Kyle’s, but he had to suppress the fear and concentrate on escape.  Excitement intensified within Kyle as his spit rolled to his chin, salvation was above his head.  With his last bit of air, Kyle clawed up with his life.

Tom and Michelle were disoriented and defeated.  Confusion and pain were riddled on Tom’s face as he tried to find something of comfort among the charred remains of Krinkledag.  Michelle screamed her husband’s name beneath tears and soot.  Numb to the blood and open wounds scattered across her body, Michelle tore through piles of rubble searching for Kyle.

“Michelle, I don’t think…”

“Don’t finish that sentence!  He’s alive.”  The certainty was radiating from her body.

As if willing it into existence, Michelle watched as Kyle’s blackened and bloody hand thrust up from the ash.

“Kyle!”  Michelle roared as she scratched around the hand, revealing a barely living man.

“A…a voice…”  Kyle’s words were faint as he gasped for air.

“Vordmir!”  Horror stained Tom’s face.

“No, it was different, it woke me up.”  Kyle’s muscles shook in revolt as he tried to embrace Michelle.

“Let’s go home, we need to leave this place.  That asshole will come back, we barely made it.”  Tom pleaded.

Michelle and Kyle stared at each other, their own conversation played out through their eyes.

“No.”  Michelle faced Tom.  “We have to find the enchanter, we have stop this from happening to others.”

“Kyle, come on, we need to leave.”  Tom looked past Michelle.

“She’s right.  I can’t ask you to stay, but I can tell you I need you.  Besides, Vordmir isn’t worse than your boss.”  Kyle painfully grinned through a blood caked face.

“I hate both of you.”

The three friends stood on the outskirts of what used to be Krinkledag, giving it one last moment before they trudged north to find the enchanter.

“I’ll make this right, to all of you.”  Kyle closed his eyes for a moment.  “I am sorry.”

Kyle, Tom and Michelle forced their bodies north, away from the ash covered waste that was Krinkledag.

Writetober Day 14

Overgrown

                “Kyle, when we found you, you said you heard a voice.”  Michelle was still rubbing dirt and blood off her body.

“Yea, it was warm, it felt powerful.”

“So, there is another Vordmir?”  Tom chirped up.

“No, it reminded me of the first time I put on the ring.  Something said ‘Welcome’ when I put it on the first time, it felt right, just like when I was buried.”  Kyle played with the ring on his finger.

“Maybe it’s your grandpa.  He could have figured out how to do what Vordmir does?”  Michelle stated as she focused on the large roots covering the ground.

“Welton might know, too bad we don’t have a map to find this guy.”  Tom pointed out the obvious.  “I mean, how are we supposed to find a hermit in a shack in the middle of this overgrown jungle.  And how the hell did we go from snow and ice to the damn tropical rainforest of giant plants!”  Tom let the aggravation flow out of him.

As the anger leapt from Tom, the jungle seemed to respond.  The massive leaves that blotted out the sky shook in defiance, there was a hum in the air.

“There’s no wind…”  Michelle terrifyingly pointed out.

Tom plunged to the ground as Michelle made her observation.  Before anyone could react, his thrashing body was dragged into the thick of the jungle.  Kyle and Michelle bolted in the direction of Tom’s screams for help, but they weren’t fast enough.

“Tom!  Keep talking!”  Kyle hurdled over vines and roots that shot out to slow the chasers.

“Fuck this place!”  Tom’s words cut through the foliage as he continued to be dragged.

His profanities continued as Michelle and Kyle closed in on the origin.  Their jaws dropped as they cleared the last brush dividing them and their friend.  Tom was stuck, hanging from his feet above a massive plant.  The thick vines stretched from its base and wrapped around Tom like tentacles.  The longer Kyle looked, the more he noticed the vines and roots covering the ground all stemmed from the massive fly trap before them.  An excited hum emitted from the plant, matching the one they heard earlier, it was hungry.

“Get me out of this damn thing!”  Tom punched at the iron hard vine that constricted his body.

Michelle acted first.  She scanned the ground for a stone and grabbed the one she found suitable.  The rock sailed through the air and thudded against the overgrown plant, wrong move.  One of the hundred tendrils that laid on the ground lashed out and wrapped Michelle faster than her brain could register.  Kyle stood, staring as his wife and best friend dangled above the open jaws of the monstrous plant.

Kyle was frozen, paralyzed by fear.  He knew he had to do something but couldn’t.  He killed the villagers and now his lack of action will kill two people he loved.  Tom and Michelle’s screams drowned out in Kyle’s mind as he lost himself in guilt.

“Use the ring you fool!”  The voice cut through Kyle.

“Wha-” Kyle’s response was cut short.

“A wielder that doesn’t know how to use the ring, pathetic.”  An old man emerged from behind Kyle.  “Shadastra!”  The man shouted the word as he smashed his staff into the ground.

Waves of blue energy rippled from the impact point, as the first ripples hit the giant fly trap, it screeched in pain.  The monstrous plant released Tom and Michelle, allowing them to fall to the ground, painfully.  The earth shook as the plant uprooted and began lumbering away from the four people.

“Anything broken?”  Kyle ran to Tom and Michelle.

“Does my pride count?”  Tom lightened the mood.

“I’m sorry I froze, I almost got you guys killed.”

Michelle’s hand touched Kyle’s face, calming him.  “We are alive, none of this is your fault.  We chose to follow you here.”  No matter what, Michelle always made things make sense for Kyle.

“Then you’re eve more idiots than him!”  The old man shouted, destroying the moment.

“Thanks for saving us, but just who the hell are you.”  Tom started toward the hermit.

The old man reacted faster than anyone expected, his staff collided with Tom’s gut, dropping him to his knees.  “I am a legend boy, show some respect.”

“Are you Welton?  We are looking for the enchanter.”  Kyle helped his friend stand as he asked the stranger.

“Aye, and you three have rings I haven’t seen in years.  Both parties have questions, so unless you want to be eaten by that thing, follow me and we can get some answers.”  Welton finished his sentence with a few choice grumbles as he led off, deeper into the jungle.

Kyle, Michelle and Tom followed the unhappy man, they didn’t share anymore words, just confusion.

Writetober Day 15

Legend

                “The corruption has grown quite rapidly.”  Welton examined Kyle’s ring.

The group sat in the enchanter’s home, Tom and Michelle still hadn’t stopped staring at the wonders around them.  From the outside, Welton’s homestead looked dilapidated and abandoned but within, was a marvelous estate full of curiosities and exotics from across the land.  Glass vials were filled with varying elixirs and potions of all colors, crystals levitated above engraved stones; there was a fountain that flowed upwards.  Tom and Michelle truly were lost among the sights, smells and sounds that were kept within the enchanter’s home.

“You say you never spoke to your grandfather or grandmother?”  Welton now held three glass lenses as he continued to inspect the ring.

“No, they passed before I was born.  The ring just-” Kyle was cut off.

“He was a great man, your grandfather, and your grandmother might have been one of the most brilliant minds I had the pleasure of interacting with.”  Welton set his lenses down.  “To my success…and failure, I became the man that I am because of him.  Nathaniel was a proper friend.”  Welton traced off and looked over at Michelle.  “Don’t touch that!”  He hobbled over to her.  “This is a carefully meshed Tranteen crystal suspended over a volatile pool of Drekks blood.”  Welton continued to grumble as he shooed Michelle away.

“I wish I could have met him, especially to learn more about this ring and this world.”  Kyle smiled at the thought of talking to his grandfather.

“Yes, well, no doubt you have questions.  Your mother was just a child when she wore the ring and entered this world.”  The old mage went to sit with nothing beneath him.  As his body reached the point of falling a chair flew out from a far corner and gently caught him.  His steady hands pulled out a carved wooden pipe and brought it to his lips.  Snapping his fingers, he produced a gentle flame that danced a top the material that filled the wooden bowl.  “In a sense, I could be to blame for what has happened to your family, and now you.”  He took a slow puff from the pipe and exhaled an aromatic sent that twirled around the room.  “I sought out Nathaniel when he was a young man, just as his relationship started with your grandmother.”

Kyle was so entranced in Welton’s words, he didn’t notice Michelle and Tom sit next to him.  The natural light that was somehow shining in the house slowly dimmed as Welton continued his tale.  The smoke that hung in the air began to move unnaturally, it took shape of a man and a woman, twirling and moving in front of the old enchanter.

“When I was a much younger student of the arts, I discovered that a thin veil covered our world.  After years of research and sacrifice, I discovered that beyond that veil, was your world.  Sadly, I was not the only one that discovered this.”

“Vordmir.”  The words left Michelle’s mouth.

“Correct.”  The smoke theater quickly turned dark as it formed into a man.  “He went by a different name then, one that I care not to speak.  At the time, my magic was superior to his and I made contact first.  We needed a champion, I chose your grandfather.”  The smoke formed to show a collection of deeds and challenges that Nathaniel overcame.  “Anyone who was decent in our world was either dead or crazy from Vordmir’s corruption; that is why I needed to look to your world.  Nathaniel didn’t ask questions, he simply did the right thing.”  The old man struggled to stand as he waved the spectacle of smoke away.  “I imbued the ring with the magic to travel between worlds…but it came at a price.”  Welton began to walk away.

“What price?”  Kyle stood to follow the old man.  His face mashed into an invisible wall that blocked Kyle from leaving the room.

“I was tricked, for the first and last time.”  Welton didn’t turn to face Kyle.  “I had found a blacksmith to forge the ring, but Vordmir had his corruption spread deeper than I thought.  The blacksmith forged the ring with tainted metal.  By the time Nathaniel or I noticed, it was to late to purge the corruption.”  The old mage turned, and for the first time, looked old.  “Your grandfather was a hero.  He was and still is a legend amongst the terrible villages that scatter across these lands.”  The air was thick.  “He died alone, consumed by the corruption that he strived to eradicate.  Vordmir won.”  The enchanter disappeared into another room.

“Kyle, that’s not true.  It doesn’t make sense.”  Michelle reached out to her husband.

“The old cook is wrong!”  Tom rallied behind Michelle.

Kyle wasn’t focused on the enchanter anymore, he stared at his ring.  “I think my grandpa is part of the ring.”

Writetober Day 16

Wild

                “Vordmir didn’t win.  We are still here.”  Michelle stared at recently awoken enchanter.

“Your mind can not grasp the power that his corruption has.  All three of your rings have been tainted at their very core, the fact that Kyle is able to use that ring is absurd.  The logical explanation to him using it, is because Vordmir allows it.”

“Or because my grandpa allows it…”  Kyle quietly blurted out.

“What is this you’re on about?”  Welton stared at Kyle.

The room hadn’t changed overnight, Michelle and Tom found corners to call their bed and Kyle barely slept.

“I’ve heard a voice-”

“Yes!  That’s Vordmir.”  Welton cut him off.

“No, it spoke when I needed it to; when I needed to survive.”  Kyle was focused on his ring.  “You said it yourself, it’s absurd that my ring still works.  What if at its core, it wasn’t tainted?”

“What your inferring is that your grandfather was able to defeat the corruption.  Listen, Nathaniel was a great man, but no one is able to defeat corruption.”  Welton pondered the idea and then shook his head.

“Not defeat, but what if he pierced the core?”  Kyle locked on to the enchanter.

“It’s worth a shot.”  Michelle backed him up.

“I don’t work on hunches and shots.  You want to make this hypothesis?  You do the experiment.  Activate the rings magic.”  Welton grinned beneath his scraggy grey beard.

Kyle closed his eyes and focused.  He muted the world around him, allowing him to concentrate solely on the ring.  Michelle and Tom waited with bated breath, wishing for Kyle’s success.  He opened his eyes, defeated, but the eyes around him didn’t match his emotion.  Michelle’s eyes were wide in awe as she stared at the ring.  Matching her gaze, Kyle froze as he stared at the blackened silver ring on his finger.

“You are his grandson.”  Welton curiously stared at the ring as it slowly became fully black again.  Getting up from his chair, he began to shuffle around the house, gathering items.  “A more in-depth experiment is needed, the three of you are going into The Wild.”

“Like your backyard?  Or the jungle with that giant plant?”  Tom cut the tension.

“No, you fool!  The wild is a pocket of existence between this world and your world.  It was where I sent your grandfather for his first battle with the corruption.  If what you say is true, and some part of him is in that ring, The Wild may act as a strong resonator to active the magic shrouded by the corruption.”  Welton found the item he was looking for.

Michelle smiled at the enchanter showing excitement for the first time.  In his hands, he held a sphere that floated just above his hands.  The liquid material that made up the ball rippled and vibrated as Welton gently handled it into a pack.  To Michelle’s amazement, the liquid stayed shape and didn’t get the pack wet.

“This orb was a memento your grandfather took from The Wild.  He swore to me that it was a wonderous item imbued with insane amounts of magic.  Sadly, I have seen no such evidence, it holds no more magic than my standard quill.”  He thrust the pack into Tom’s arms.  “Don’t lose it.”

“What are supposed to do with it?”  Tom awkwardly held the bag in fear.

“Take it back.  It serves no purpose here.”  Welton made his way to the door leading outside.

“And where exactly is The Wild?”  Tom held the bag as far away from him as possible.

The old man ignored Tom.

“Kyle, you have a lot of your grandfather in you.  If he resides in that ring, The Wild will bring it out.  Go there, find your answer and return.”  The enchanter paused, a flash of sadness on his face.  “Once he passed, I lost all hope.  Return with that hope.”  Welton opened the door and ushered the three outside.

“What should we expect?”  Kyle turned back as he stepped outside.

“That is for you to find out.”  Welton grabbed his staff and slammed it into the earth.

Ripples leapt from his staff and began to form into a gash across the air in front of them.  The cut widened until it was large enough for a person to reach through.  A silver haze like mirror filled the tear in reality.

Kyle grabbed Michelle’s hand, and squeezed it tight as they locked eyes.  Like a million times before, with one look, she reassured him.  Tom clasped his hand on Kyle’s shoulder and squeezed.  The three stepped into the realm, disappearing from existence.

“Keep them safe old friend.”  Welton spoked softly.

Writetober Day 17

Ornament

                Dullness welcomed Kyle and his friends, the vibrant world they left was replaced by muted skies.  The earth was broken and scattered, large sections of land suspended in air, warped and twisted with grey.  Their footsteps echoed as if in a chamber, there was no horizon, just thick silver fog outside the reaches of land.  Large black pillars sprouted from the ground as trees would do.  Their black roots burrowed wide across the fractured land that surrounded the trees.

“Don’t go near those.”  Michelle gestured to the twisted black sprouting from the ground.  Obsidian mist oozed from the branches, reaching out into The Wild.

“Is that the corruption?”  Tom made sure to stand close to his friends.

“Which part?”  Kyle was trying to gather his bearings, figuring out where to go.

“Good point.”  Tom adjusted the pack, unbeknownst to him, it shook it return.

The air was thick, it weighed on the three explorers as they began to traverse the shattered grey realm.  With every step deeper into the unknown, the world in front of them grew from the mist.  Before them, a structure began to creep from the nothingness of the horizon.  It towered high into the sky, the single spire was lacerated with fissures of black.  At its base, a sole altar was carved into the massive obelisk.

“Uh, guys, my packs moving.”  Tom ripped the bag off his shoulders.

“Don’t drop it!”  As the words left Kyle, Tom had dropped the pack, letting it collide with the ground.

“My bad…”  Tom was more afraid than sorry.

The bag laid on the floor, rustling at random seconds.  Michelle stepped closer, figuring out her thoughts as she reached down to it.  Her hands pulled the sphere from the pack, it was vibrating and rippling as it hovered over her hands.  The orb was no longer black, it shined a polished silver, cutting the haze around it.

“Michelle, your ring…”  Kyle nodded toward her hand.

The ring that hugged her finger was shining in its silver glory.  The black haze that once tainted the metal was gone, beauty was left in its place.

“Trust me?”  Michelle looked to Kyle.

“Of course.”  His eyes told her.

Michelle steadily walked to the altar that was gracefully carved into the massive spire.  Waves formed from the ripples as Michelle neared the altar.  “Okay.”  Michelle released the orb above the smooth surface of altar.  It hovered above the altar, bouncing within itself as a shock erupted up the spire.

Michelle stepped back as she watched silver blast through the spire.  The fissures that decorated the enormous obelisk became escape routes for the silver light.  As the wave of energy reach the tip of the structure, silver had replaced the black that once lived in the spire.  Before the explorers, a sliver beacon radiated light to the world around them.

“To those that travel these lands, allow my beacons to light your way.  May these ornaments keep your hope alive, and the corruption at bay.”  The voice echoed across the shattered earth surrounding the obelisk.

“What in the fuck?”  Tom’s jaw was still on the floor.

“Kyle, that was him!  It had to have been.”  Michelle faced her husband as silver light eradicated the haze around them.

Tears filled Kyle’s eyes as he looked at the world around him.  Whatever magic erupted from the spire, created a field of peace around it, keeping the corruption at bay.

“There’s two more to find.”  Michelle spoke to the group, she held the sphere in her hands.

“What makes you say that?  Aren’t we don’t here?”  Tom was hoping to be done.

“There are three rings, if he built these, he must have made one for each ring.”  Michelle studied the spire as she spoke, the orb was calm in her hands.  “These aren’t just ornaments, they are a trail.  These spires will lead us to something he wants us to see.”

“And that orb is the key to activate the spires.”  Kyle finished Michelle’s sentence.  “We have to find the other two.”  He looked at his black ring, and then to the haze filled horizon.  The silhouette of a dragon seemed to glide behind the mist.

“We should hurry, I don’t think we are alone.”  Kyle took Michelle’s hand, her silver ring shining as the three walked toward the haze.

Writetober Day 18

Misfit

                Tom couldn’t get the thoughts out of his head, it drilled into his brain.  Why are you even here?  The three had been walking through the oppressive haze for what seemed like days.  Climbing up one torn piece of earth, only to clamor down to another floating chunk of ground became tedious; annoyance was building with in Tom.  The spire that brought hope and peace was long behind them, it’s silver light unable to cut through the corruptive mist.

“I think we are getting close; the orb is starting to ripple.”  Michelle tiredly spoke, her muscles barely strong enough to move her mouth.

Tom stared at the back of her head as she spoke.  Why do you even care about that orb?  Tom shook his head, trying to dislodge the thought.  Tom’s determination and fight was waning, the haze seemed to seep into his pores.

“You don’t belong…”  The voice was quiet in Tom’s hears.

“What?  Did you guys say something?”  No one answered Tom.  Kyle’s focus was on willing the next spire to appear.

They don’t care about what you say.  The thought beckoned Tom to join it, to understand something he was blind to.

“What purpose do you bring…”  The voice had intent with the words it spoke into Tom.

“Shut up.”  Tom forced the words out.

“What?”  Michelle tried to turn, but the pressure surrounding them was thick, it took too much effort to do anything but walk forward.

A dense ball of misery and confusion shrouded the wanderers.  Kyle’s eyes were tired, they fought to stare into the circulating muted air before them.  There was no sunset or sunrise, simply a steady drear of black and grey.  All around them, the black trees had sprouted and sunk their tendrils deep into the broken earth.  The obsidian mist oozing from their branches tracked the group as they passed by, never going too far from its source.

“You’re a hinderance to them…worthless…nothing but dead weight on their journey.”  The voice clawed at Tom, slowly tearing down his walls.

Maybe he’s right.  Tom pondered the thought as he trudged through the soup of despair that drowned everyone.

“No ring…no blood…no connection to the others.”  The voice pierced Tom, it festered within him.  “You’re nothing in this journey…a nobody…a misfit…”

Tom stopped, mid step, his blank stare focusing on nothing.  You’re right…I am pointless in all of this.  He welcomed his thought.

“Why am I here?”  Tom’s tainted words carried easily to Kyle and Michelle.

“What do you mean?”  Kyle used his might to turn through the haze.

“This is your family’s problem.  You and your wife can take care of this.”  Tom’s stare mad contact with no one.  “I am not your lackey to just follow you around.  I had a damn life!”  Tom seethed in anger.

“Tom, it’s the corruption, don’t listen to it.”  Kyle slowly walked toward his friend.

“Shut up!  I gave up a real life for this fairytale crap?  Because your grandfather needed to get his jollies off?  No thanks.”

“Tom, this isn’t you.  Listen to me.”  Panic shot through Kyle as he stared at Tom’s hand.

The ring was black, darker than the void, it dripped midnight onto Tom’s clenched fist.  Tom’s blank stare focused on Kyle, a grin stretched across his face.  He lunged to his so-called friend shoving him deeper into the haze.

“Listen to you!?  That’s all I ever do!”  Tom shoved Kyle again, making him disappear in the thick mist.  Michelle was next.  Tom turned to face her, his gaze focused on the violently rippling orb.  “Give me the ball.”  Hatred spewed from Tom’s mouth.

“Get away from her!”  Kyle’s voice cut through the mist.  “You’re right!  You are an idiot!  You followed me out here like a lost puppy!”  The words cut into Tom.

Tears obscured Tom’s view as he lunged into the mist after Kyle.  “I’ll kill you!”

Michelle couldn’t see the men, but she could hear the screams and blows that they sent to one another.  Slowly, with all her energy, she waded through the corruption, hoping to help Kyle.

“Michelle!  The spire!”  Kyle’s words struggled to escape in-between punches.  “The orb…help Tom.”  His words became muffled as Tom pressed on Kyle’s face to suffocate him.

Michelle fought the weight of despair and negativity that constricted her body, she kept moving.  The men appeared first.  Kyle was flailing, wildly attempting to grab Tom as the lack of oxygen began to steal his life.  Tears fell from Michelle, even if she made it to Kyle before he suffocated, she wasn’t strong enough to deal with Tom.  The spire was her priority.  She swallowed the knot of tears and fear and pressed on.

“I hate you!”  Tom screamed as Kyle’s clawing hands slowed and his eyes began to lose focus.  “You’re weak!”  The world darkened around Kyle as Tom yelled.

Just as death began to welcome Kyle, a brilliant silver light erupted from deep within the corruptive mist.  Tom’s grip loosened as he stared at the blast of light, Kyle took advantage.  Ripping Tom’s hands from his face, Kyle forced air into his lungs as the warm glow enveloped him and Tom.

Hard breaths had passed until the blinding light allowed vision again.  Michelle stood over Kyle, the quiet sphere in her hands, his eyes blinking into focus.  Tom was slumped over on his knees, gripped in shock as he made eye contact with his friends.

“I…I don’t know what happened.”  Tears flowed from Tom’s eyes.

Kyle embraced his friend, letting him weep into his chest.  “It was the corruption, it’s gone now.”

“Tom, look at your ring.”  Michelle whispered as she too embraced her friend.

Through salted water, Tom stared at the shining silver ring on his finger, the smallest smile showed as he cried.  The three sat together, cherishing the moment.  Their task was nowhere near done, and the corruption had shown it wasn’t going to make their goal any easier.

Writetober Day 19

Sling

                “Father!  Mother has been waiting all day for you to get home.  She said you need to feed the pigs.”  The young boy ran up to his father.

The boy was dirty, but happy.  In his right hand he held a bucket full of dried corn and grain, his left arm was near useless as a fall the previous day left it tightly wrapped and nestled in a sling hanging from his body.  He lived his days with his mother, father and baby sister, although his mother and father worried about having food on the table, the young boy had wild dreams in his head.  He was going to be a knight one day.

“Father?”  Worry grew in the boy’s voice as the usual greeting between father and son didn’t occur.

The peasant slowly walked up to his son, no expression on his face.  A black mist seemed to creep from his mouth when he breathed.  Beyond his son, the man could see his wife, balancing attention between laundry and a smaller child.  The baby, who’d just begun crawling, had been expressing her extreme interest in travelling the world.  Sleep didn’t exist in the family’s life.  It was a quiet area, just on the outskirts of the village.  Their small shack provided what they needed to live their simple lives.

“You look ill father.”  The boy didn’t know the stench of death, even as it stood in front of him.

The man slowly knelt in front of the boy, allowing his son to see the corruption within his eyes.  His blackened hands gripped the sling and slowly took the sprained arm out.

“Mother says it should be better by tomorrow night.”  Cheer and worry battled within the son.

His father didn’t respond, instead he looked past his son as he began to wind the sling that still looped around the boy’s neck.  Focusing on his wife, the man ignored the tiny scratches and fists that hit his arm in panic.  “As you demand, Lord Vordmir.”  Releasing the cloth sling from his grip, his sons body crashed to the earth, lifeless.  The man slowly shuffled toward his wife and daughter, the corruption oozing from his pores.

Writetober Day 20

Tread

                The ash covered ground crushed beneath the heavy steps of a broken man.  Smoldering wood, stone and embers jettisoned plumes of black smoke in the evening sky.  The quiet shack on the outskirts of the village was no more, in its wake, haunting screams from a terrified wife and mother.  The footsteps continued, slowly forcing their way through memories and toys.  The three bodies were left where they fell, allowing the fire to consume two of them in charred remains.

“What is your command my lord.”  The voice was harsh, the man that spoke was emotionless, oblivious to the monster he was.

“The enchanter…kill him…”  A black shadow fell on the ruined home.  “His treasure will be yours…use it to kill the mother…”  The shadow dispersed.

“Of course, Lord Vordmir.”  The man that used to be a father carried his heavy feet through the woods that wrapped his smoldering home.  The leaves and branches crushed beneath the corruptive tread of the man.

Writetober Day 21

Treasure

                The enchanter opened the small ornate box and looked at what it held inside.  He must have done it a hundred times that morning, each time breathing a sigh of relief after confirming the items existence.  It had been four days since he sent Kyle, Michelle and Tom into The Wild, four days of anxiety.  The old man was angry at himself for worrying, after all, he gave up hope long ago.  The fact that he was worrying meant he had hope, and hope was for the weak.  Had he become weak?  The mage stopped and looked at his reflection in a dish of water.

“Why couldn’t I have been born a druid.”  The enchanter pulled his skin tight to hide the wrinkles for a moment.  “Just turn into a bear and walk deep into the woods.”  He released his skin and frowned at the withered ancient man that stared back at him.

He checked the wooden box once more, Welton’s time was short, he knew that for certain.  It had ended the moment Kyle went into The Wild.  The house had changed, his exotic wares and curiosities were gone.  Most of them were gifted to villagers he’d met during his life; the small remainder were stowed away to be lost at far reaches of the land.  Welton laughed at the idea of him burying his items, like some pirate.  It was a life he could have had, had he not been gifted with the feverish curiosity for the arcane that he had.  Grabbing his staff, the enchanter took a moment to listen to the wind outside.

“The bell’s will sound your arrival.”  The words followed the old man as he headed for the door separating the outside.  He tucked the carved box into one of his robe’s numerous pockets and breathed deep.

Outside the tiny wooden hut that Welton called home, darkness loomed over, blotting out the sun’s rays.  The cold wind that kicked up was fast and harsh, violently shaking the trees.  The gloom welcomed the enchanter as he stepped outside, the frozen wind biting at his face.

“So, this is it.  All these years, all these battles.  You’ve come to end this at last.”  The old man showed the fire of one much younger.

The howling wind cut through the trees, even more violently than before.  The snapping and groaning of the forest crescendoed into an orchestra of destruction.  Then suddenly, it all stopped.  Stillness and silence enveloped everything surrounding the enchanter as a man emerged from the torn forest.  His steps were heavy, his eyes were blank, the corruption flowed from his body in a rolling fog of black.

“You don’t even come yourself Vordmir!”  The old mage shouted into the silent air.  “You send your play thing instead!”  Anger flashed across Welton’s face.  To lose to some lacky would be a bitter end to the life lived by the ancient enchanter.

Welton rose his staff with a shaky hand and smashed it into the ground, as an ancient tongue left his mouth.  The earth rattled on his command, stones and boulders ripped free from the ground and hovered around the corruption filled intruder.

“Truhro.”  The word left Welton with force as the rocks impaled the peasant, crushing the area in anger.  The enchanter stood ready, surely the battle would not be won that easily.  Welton was incorrect.

A black mist formed behind the withered wizard, it thickened as a man began to take shape.

“How…”  Blood gurgled in Welton’s mouth, blocking the sentence.

The peasant’s corrupt hand ripped away from Welton’s chest, blood pooling and falling to the earth.

“For Lord Vordmir.”  The corrupt man stared into Welton’s dying eyes, his clenched fist connecting with the enchanter’s temple.

In pure fury, the man wailed on the helpless mage, bits of brain and muscle splattering on his blank, emotionless face.  The beating didn’t stop, he was commanded not to stop.  Corruption coursed through the man as he began pulverizing what was left of the enchanter that laid at his feet.

Finally, he stopped.  There was no face left, no head, simply pummeled muscle and bone imprinted on the earth.

“The box…”  A voice danced on the wind.

At the command, the man poked through Welton’s robe.  His hands returned with a box, even splattered in blood, it’s ornate beauty still shown.  He cracked it open, revealing the treasure inside.  A quiet silver ring sat, nestled in its velvet bed within the box.

“The mother…” The voice eagerly surrounded the blood covered man.

The man slid his finger through the ring, at his touch the ring began to dull.  It’s bright shine slowly receded as black surged within the metal.  In moments, an obsidian ring replaced the treasure that Welton once held dear.

Writetober Day 22

Ghost

                The third pillar loomed high above the group.  They were beaten and tired, fear, confusion and determination splattered across their faces.  Kyle forced air out of his lungs hard as he approached the carved altar that mirrored the previous two pillars.

Tom was quiet, he had been quiet since his interaction with the corruption.  Almost killing his best friend was unforgivable in his mind.  Tom focused on the silver ring on his finger, it brought him peace and comfort.

“Last one.”  Kyle spoke to himself as he placed the orb on the altar.

The sphere began to glow in a brilliant light.  It pulsated as it reached its peak brightness; as before the rippling light coursed through the spire as it climbed to the top.  Erupting from the tip of the obelisk, the light didn’t mushroom creating a bubble around the spires area of influence.  Instead, it blasted through the haze, tunneling toward the previous spire.  They were connected, the light pierced through the corruption and created safe and peaceful passage to the previous towering structures.  In all the beauty, Kyle was filled with worry, the obsidian ring still hugged his finger.

“Why isn’t all the corruption gone?”  Tom stared outside the spire’s ring of influence.

“Because this is ground zero.”  Michelle studied what she could with her eyes.  She noticed how the silver light struggled but succeeded at keeping the corruption at bay.  “We haven’t seen this depth of corruption anywhere else, The Wild must be it’s home, its origin.  Your grandpa must have built these to have some safe travel here.”

“Your words couldn’t be more correct.”  The male voice leapt from the shimmering orb that hovered just above the altar.

“The ring is still black…it’s still corrupt.”  Kyle was too defeated to here the voice in front of him.

“Kyle, look!”  Michelle and Tom spoke in unison.

The orb rippled violently as it began to eat itself from within.  Spears of light tore holes in what was left of the decaying orb, a white mist flowed to the floor out of the holes.  The mist piled and formed into a ghastly apparition, standing feet in front of Kyle.

“You look like your mother.”  The ghost spoke, a smile seemed to form on the non-existent face.

“Are you Nathaniel?”  Michelle spoke for her shocked husband.

“What remains of him, yes.”  The essence paused, seemingly staring at the black ring.  “It’s good to finally meet you Kyle, I’m sure you have plenty of questions.”

“What is going on?  How are you here?  Why is the ring still corrupt?  Who is Vordmir?”  The questions spilled from Kyle, he couldn’t stop them.  As the last questions left his mouth, tears filled his eyes.

The apparition prepared itself to answer.  “I died in these lands long ago, my bones lost within the haze of The Wild.  It was my choice, and I wouldn’t change what I did.  As Michelle said, the corruption grows and festers here.  It oozes from the very land, strengthening to pierce the veil between worlds.  Vordmir is nothing but a pawn, he was simply the first to discover The Wild.  In doing so, it granted the man unimaginable powers.  In return he vowed to spread the corruption to his world.  Once the corruption was thick in his land, Vordmir turned his eyes to your world, the world that shared the veil to The Wild.  Luckily, Welton found us first, he recruited me, and I blindly followed.”  The ghost paused, allowing the group to take in what he said.

“But their world doesn’t look like The Wild.”  Tom didn’t know where to look on the apparition.

“Because I did my job.  For the first decade of wielding the ring, I fought the corruption and Vordmir.  Slowly, villages and towns were erected with new hope and dreams.  The corruptive mist was all but gone, but Vordmir was left.  It is true, my ring was tainted during its forging process, but that corruption was weak, easy enough for me to destroy it, but I didn’t.  I needed it to stay within my ring.  I murdered Vordmir time and time again, but the corruption kept bringing back it’s herald.  My final battle took me to The Wild, where it all started, facing Vordmir in his master’s lands.  I trapped him, I trapped his soul in my ring.  I wasn’t strong enough to defeat the corruption, but I could take away it’s slave.”

“He’s still alive.”  Kyle looked at the scar on his arm, the teeth marks still clearly visible.

“The corruption is still alive, the Vordmir you’ve encountered is the manifestation of the corruption.  Just as I am chained to these lands, he is chained to your ring.”

“What do you mean chained?”  Kyle asked.

“It’s the pillars isn’t it?”  Michelle interjected.

“You are right again.  I put so much of myself into the spires, that I have cemented my being in The Wild.  With the spires connected, I am able to take the form you see before you.”

An inhuman roar drowned the words that left Nathaniel.  Rushing air enveloped the area as a black shadow cast across the earth from high above.  The air was suddenly cold, frozen breath left Kyle’s mouth.

Writetober Day 23

Ancient

                Kyle wasn’t dead, to his left Michelle knelt, gripping her ring hand.  Tom was to his right, swearing as his clenched fist glowed beneath the battering of fire.

“Focus on the rings, let their magic surround you…focus…Kyle.”  His grandfathers voice wrapped around them, warmed them.

The world slowed around Kyle, he watched as Michelle gritted through the pain and emitted a shimmering shield around the three of them.  The pulverizing fireballs blasted into the shield and splintered into embers as her ring held steady.  Tom’s knuckles were white with tension as he fought the need to open his hands.  Kyle’s eyes followed the trail of energy that speared from Tom’s ring.  Beneath the three of them, the earth was shattered and destroyed, yet it held, preventing them from falling into the void beneath them.  Tom was holding the rubble together beneath them, his concentrating kept a thin layer of ground between life and death.  A fear inducing crack snapped Kyle’s attention to the thin bubble that surrounded him.  Heat began to jet through the fissure of Michelle’s shield, they were out of time.  Michelle and Tom were too focused to speak or think, they were doing what had to be done.; Kyle needed to act fast.  He closed his eyes, letting the world fall away, allowing the ring to be the forefront.

The shield broke.

The sound of the shattering barrier reinvigorated the beast of corruption flying high above the ground.  From deep within itself, it pulled more hatred to unleash hellish fury on the unlucky three below.

“Still alive…you can not hide…”  The dragon ceased its onslaught and scanned the area with its icy blue eye.

Kyle, Michelle and Tom weren’t there, they didn’t know where they were, but at least they weren’t with the dragon.

“Was that you?”  Michelle spoke first, exhaustion in her words.

“I think, I think I teleported us…”  Kyle’s head was split with pain.  “But I don’t know where.”  It was dark where they were, barely lit by rays of light sneaking through cracks in the cavernous ceilings high above.

“Is that Welton?”  Tom had his bearings faster than the other two.

He was pointing at a large stone statue, the man it depicted was young, easily decades younger than them man they knew as Welton.  The stone was old, it crumbled at points and had a thin layer of ash on it.  Through his headache, Kyle stared past the stature.  In the darkness he could see a flame, it danced and seemed to grow as he kept staring at it.

“What is that?”  The answer came sooner than Kyle expected.

The fire grew, doubling and tripling in size in moments.  A fireball took form as it rocketed toward the bewildered group.  The dragon found them.  The ball slammed into the ancient statue, chunks of stone and ash rained across the area.

“Fools!”  The dragon appeared, looming above Kyle, Michelle and Tom.  “You discovered the power of the rings, only too late.”  The corruption grinned through its scaly face.  “I am the beginning and end to all things!”  The dragon inhaled.  “I was here before worlds existed, I will be at their end!”

Black fire erupted from the corruptions mouth and swallowed Kyle.  A flash of silver light filled the ancient cave as death tore at Kyle.  His skin melted too fast for him to feel pain.  As his eyes began to boil, he watched Michelle and Tom be reduced to ash as the black enveloped them in searing pain.  The corruption stood, admiring its work.  Three charred ash piles bowed to the corruptions power, it had won.

Writetober Day 24

Dizzy

                The world was spinning, but there was no world to spin.  Neither darkness or light were found, just void.  There were no sensations to feel, no pain, no numbness, just emotionless nether.  He remembered feeling pain, he remembered seeing his life taken from him, but he was empty now.  The corruption took it all away, his wife, his best friend, and his hope.  He wasn’t there, there was no where to be, no body, nothing.

“There isn’t much time.”

The voice didn’t exist, it couldn’t have.  Nothing existed in death, just emptiness.

“Kyle, focus.  Focus on my voice.

He knew that voice, it called to him many times before.  It came from the ring, that damn ring that caused all of this.  He could see the ring, but there was nothing there.

“Don’t get lost, concentrate.”

Thoughts swam around, flying in and out of existence, but the ring stayed.  Its black sheen grinning in the void, it couldn’t have been there.

“Kyle!”

That was his name, the familiar voice clawed itself into existence.

“Focus on who you are, not where you are.”

“I am Kyle…”  The thought became a voice.

“Yes, keep going!”

“I was…am married.  My wife is…”  The voice struggled.  My wife is Michelle.”  The brunette appeared in his thoughts.  The ring and his wife burned within his mind.

“Reach to me, gather yourself and reach to me.”  The familiar voice sounded like a beacon in the fog.

“You…you are…”  Kyle struggled, his thoughts creating something from nothing.  “You’re not the ring…you’re not Michelle.  Tom…Tom was, is my friend…my brother.”  Tom’s image burned in Kyle’s thoughts, he stood with Michelle and the ring.

“Almost, reach out to me.”

Kyle focused on the nonexistent point in the void, blind to everything he reached for it, “Nathaniel….my grandfather.”

The white apparition formed within the void, it filled his thoughts.

“I failed…”  The words tasted bad in Kyle’s mouth.  “Am I dead?”

“Not yet, you walk a similar path as me.  We are in the corruption, slowly feeding it.”  The ghost blurred in and out of Kyle’s swirling thoughts.  “There is hope though, you can do what I never had the strength for.”

It was hard for Kyle to focus, he had no grasp of up or down, no physical body to look at, just thoughts bombarding his mind in a dizzying fury.  He had to focus, like his grandfather said, he needed to concentrate.

“What do I have to do?”  Kyle was determined, his thoughts began to align.

“I gave most of myself to make those spires, your beacons through The Wild.  I had no strength to escape the corruption once I fought it, but you do, you and my ring together can leave the hell that I travel.  You can save your family.”

The ring came to Kyle’s mind as his grandfather spoke, it became his sole focus.

“You have to use Vordmir, the ring alone cannot defeat the corruption.”  Nathaniel felt the confusion in his grandsons’ mind.  “Vordmir is trapped within that ring, his power is yours to use.  But doing so will open a door for his escape.  If you aren’t focused enough, you may not be the only one leaving the void.”

“What about Michelle and Tom?”  Kyle broke concentration on the ring.

“They too are scattered in the reaches of the void, I will use all my strength to gather their broken thoughts.  I will keep them safe, you must not worry about them right now; your priority is to defeat the corruption.  Take my ring and show that monster what the light can do.”

Kyle knew what he had to do, he understood what was at stake, he began to focus on the ring.  The door began to open, behind it, Vordmir’s influence began to seep into Kyle.  He concentrated, creating a barrier to replace the open door.  He needed Vordmir’s power, he needed to defeat the corruption, he needed to save Michelle.  Kyle’s focus broke.

“Let us go.”  Vordmir’s voice laughed.

The void tore away from Kyle, he could feel arms and legs, fingers and toes.  He felt life as breath filled his lungs, and blood coursed through his veins.  He threw up, violently splattering stomach acid all over the grass covered earth.  He was free and alive.

“I must thank you.  I thought I’d never leave that insufferable prison.”  Vordmir stood across from Kyle, a grin plastered on his face.

Writetober Day 25

Tasty

                The air was crisp as it entered Vordmir’s lungs, a smile was plastered on his face.

“I never thought I’d taste freedom again.”  The pale skinned man spoke, his skin not seeing light for decades.  He inhaled again, allowing the scents of the forest fill his nose.  The branches and trees creaked and cracked as wind funneled around the two men, autumn had arrived with welcoming arms.

Vordmir was tall, easily a head higher than Kyle.  He was frail though, years trapped within the magical confines of a ring will do that to someone.  Vordmir’s black hair was wild and scraggly, his beard was long, but braided, tightly and neatly it betrayed the weak frame that Voldmir held.  Even in the weakened state, he was clearly a very powerful man.

“It’s delicious isn’t it.”  Vordmir flexed his arms, forcing the malnourished muscles to move ever so slightly.  “This magic of ours, well my magic…but you can use it.”  His sly smile caught Kyle of guard.

Kyle was prepared for an attack, an outburst, anything aggressive.  But nothing came, that might have been more terrifying.

“You shouldn’t have escaped.”  Kyle shouted across the emerald grass covered field.

“But I did, and I thank you greatly for opening the door.”  Vordmir’s eyes were closed, he was savoring the freedom, the escape from purgatory.

Kyle didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to say.  He knew his goal, but it only involved using Vordmir’s magic, not releasing him.  And now the monster stands before him, not as a dragon or a husky, but as a man.  As he always was.  The corruption attacked Kyle and his family, Vordmir simply opened the door for it.

“Putting it together I see.”

Kyle’s thoughts must have been written on his face.

“You and I are very much alike, we’ve only just met, and I can see that.”  Vordmir’s sunken eyes sharpened as they focused on Kyle.  “In search of power I opened the way for a great evil.”  The grin came back.  “And in search of power, you opened the way for a great evil.”

“I am not like you!”  The unknown anger boiled within him.

“Oh?  You require more power than you currently possess to defeat a monster unleashed on this world.  In search of that power, you released me.  I’d say we are nearly brothers.”  Vordmir laughed through his freshly used raspy throat.

The rage built up within Kyle.  Too many lives were depending on him, Michelle, Tom, and everyone touched by the corruption.  He had no time for this shell of a man that was playing with him.

“Shut up!”  Kyle clenched his fist, focusing on the ring as it began to emit a bright silver light.  “I’ll do what my grandpa didn’t do!”  Kyle forced the ring to pulsate, in a blink he was gone.

Vordmir slowly turned, taking in the beautiful scenery that surrounded him.  He reached out an arm, opening his hand as he faced the opposite direction as moments before, a yawn forced its way out of his mouth.  Kyle tore through reality and appeared behind Vordmir, but something was wrong, the devilish grin was facing him.  Vordmir gripped Kyle’s throat with his extended hand.

“Is this the choice you make?  To die here and now, before you’re able to save anyone?  Do not rush into death, it will come.”  Vordmir released Kyle.  “And it will be by my hand.”

Fury seeped from Kyle, the monster was right, and it angered Kyle more.  He embraced the rage and attacked.  The newly freed prisoner was ready for it.  As Kyle focused on the ring, Vordmir jabbed the outsider’s wrist, forcing the muscles to tighten and immediately relax.  Before Kyle could clench his fist once more, the ring was off his finger and in Vordmir’s hand.

“How…”  Defeat weighed on his words.

“You have a choice!”  The world went silent as Vordmir shouted.  “Continue this nonsense and die or take this ring so that we may destroy your true enemy.”

We?  The word shot confusion through Kyle.  “Why are you so eager to help?”  Kyle still coursed with anger.

“The enemy of my enemy.  Assisting you is simply the easiest way for me to secure my power in this world.”  Vordmir was serious now, his age truly showing on his face.  “What is your choice?”  He held out his open palm, with the ring resting gently on it.

Kyle took the ring, he stared at Vordmir.  “You won’t win.”

Vordmir ignored his words, he closed his eyes and took one last breath of the delicious air.

Writetober Day 26 & 27

Dark & Coat

                Kyle was alone on his journey, save for one of the evilest people he’s known.  Yet, he was forced to trust him.  Without Michelle and Tom, Kyle’s only option was to defeat the corruption alongside the man that ruined his grandfather’s life.

“Where exactly are we headed?”  Kyle grunted.  He had been following the vile man through the late hours of night, not a word shared between the two.

“Your world.  Your home to be exact.”  Vordmir didn’t turn, he continued to march through the black forest.

Kyle stopped, his fist clenched, the ring pulsing in excitement.  In the short time he had the unpleasure of spending with Vordmir, Kyle grew stronger in harnessing the ring and it’s leaping ability.

“Like hell I’m going to let you into my world.”  The night was cold, his words were colder.

“Do you truly think you have any say in the matter?  Besides, you have to save your mother.”

Vordmir’s words cut into Kyle.  His mother, how could he have forgotten about his mother, but why would she be in danger.  The ring now strobed violently.

“If I were attempting to secure unfettered control of this world, I would make sure that anyone who could hinder that were dead, in this world or another.”  Vordmir created time for his words to process.  “According to the corruption, you, your grandfather and your two friends are dead.  Welton and your mother are all that are left with any possible chance of inconveniencing plans.”

“Seems like you’ve put thought into this before.”  Kyle’s anger stayed, weakened, but stayed.

“What I have thought before has no bearing or concern to what I think now.  You need to save your friends and family, and I need the corruption taken care of.  Our thoughts align, whether you like it or not.”

“We are not the same.”

“I never said that, but curious that you continue to repeat it.”  Vordmir turned to face Kyle.  Even in the black of the dark forest, his eyes shined like polished coals as they set on Kyle.  “The mage has a ring.  A cherished secret he hid from your grandfather and your family, the existence of a fourth and final ring.  The corruption wants that ring, so we must pay my old friend a visit and hope he’s still alive.”

The two didn’t speak as the continued their trek through the woods.  It was a clear night, the black tarp that hung in the sky was pin holed with millions of little white lights.  The moon sat heavy and full beaming it’s rays toward the earth below.  The lights never made it to the ground, their efforts washed away by a coating of darkness that enveloped the two men.  It was dark and seemed to only be getting darker.  Kyle took notice first, his eyes darting, fighting to find any sign of luminous life.  They were nearing Welton’s hut, the enormous roots spiderwebbed across the ground were a signal for the familiar land.  In front of him, Vordmir’s silhouette began to meld into the encroaching black, something was wrong.

Vordmir stopped.

“I need light, use the ring.”

Was that worry on Vordmir’s voice?  Kyle brushed it off as he focused on the ring.  The light didn’t pulsate, it struggled to faintly glow.  His knuckles were white with tension, but the light finally made it through the choking darkness.

“Is this corruption?”  Kyle stood next to Vordmir, illuminating the area before them with what little light he produced.

“Worse.”  Worry was on Vordmir’s word.

The light cast from the ring gingerly touched a massive plant crumpled, oozing with death.

“Shagzwella…”  Vordmir knelt, he began muttering to himself.

“That was the monster Welton saved us from…it almost ate Michelle and Tom.”  Kyle spoke, amazed by the dead monstrosity before him and the praying man next to him.

“It was no monster.  It was a guardian, ancient and powerful.  Welton befriended it ages ago when we had our trials in these woods.  A sacred beast he called it, a guardian.”  Vordmir approached the pulverized carcass of the once towering plant, he ran his hands over the cold carcass.

“It looks like it was punched to death.”

“The corruption has a host, a body for it to imbue its strength through.  If the host did this, Welton is lost to us.”

“How do you know?”  Hopelessness gripped Kyle.

“I held that power, I willingly gave myself to the corruption.  That’s why you’re here, why any of this is happening.  Welton needed someone to kill his best friend, he needed your grandfather.”

Kyle was staring at a different man, whether it was a mask or not, Kyle knew there was truth on the man’s words.  He moved to speak but couldn’t, the light from his ring grew enough to reveal Welton’s hut in the black dark.  Sickness rose in Kyle.

“Let us hope the ring is on his body.”  Vordmir started toward his once friend’s hut, starring at the beaten body lying in the clearing.

It wasn’t.

Kyle couldn’t look at the scene.  Shattered bone spackled with brain matter and blood had coated the earth where a human’s head would have been.  Vordmir was stern as he poked through Welton’s pockets, his eyes unphased during the horrific display before him.

“We should burry him.”  Kyle searched for anything around him to focus on.

“There is no time.”

“Of course there is!  My grandfather would want it!”

“He was my friend before any of you pieces of filth entered this realm!”  The anger was pure and dark within Vordmir.  “Unless you want your mother to look like this, we need to move now.”  Vordmir’s collected calm was back.  “The host has the ring, he has the tool to escape to your world.  Lucky for us, there is only one place you can enter and leave from.”

“Krinkledag.”  Kyle finished the sentence.

“It’s traveling by foot, we may have a chance to catch it.”  Vordmir pointed past Kyle and to a small stable with a skinny mare sleeping within.

“It’s destroyed.  Vordmir…I mean the corruption destroyed it when it tried to kill us.”  Kyle was helping Vordmir tighten the saddle around the pinned eared horse.

“It’s not the town itself, it’s the land.  That shitty town just happened to be on an anchor between worlds.”  Vordmir reached an arm out to Kyle to climb the horse.

“And the rings activate it.”  Kyle held onto the man he was supposed to hate as they rode hard toward the remains of Krinkledag.

Writetober Day 28

Ride

                The skinny mare was dying, her old legs barely able to keep the pace Vordmir was calling for.  They couldn’t stop, there were no options left.  If they didn’t make it to Krinkledag before the corruptions host left the realm, all would be lost, the corruption would have its influence spread in Kyle’s world with no opposition.

Kyle wanted to throw up, it was all happening too fast.  Weeks ago, he was playing video games with Tom, his biggest worry being work.  Now he’s on the back of an old horse gripping onto a man from another world who happens to be an evil mage.  The thoughts kept coming, like the damn holding it all back crumbled under the weight.  His grandfather was a champion of this world, fighting countless battles against an ancient evil set loose on the world by the same man that is helping Kyle now.  His mother, his grandmother, a whole lineage of interworld traveling people, thrown upon him over the course of a few days.

“Focus on what’s ahead.”  Vordmir shouted above the thundering hooves.

He must have sensed Kyle, the worry and anxiety radiating from him.  He couldn’t help it, in a flash the lives of billions fell on Kyle and Vordmir’s shoulders, if they didn’t defeat the host…he couldn’t think like that, he needed to be better.

“Why now?”  Kyle needed to focus on something else.

“Yah!  What are you going on about?”  Vordmir was pushing the mare past her point, he needed to.

“You’re free, you escaped the ring, why care about any of this.  Isn’t this what you wanted.”  Kyle shouted in the night as trees blurred past the riding men.

“Sixty years in a magical prison is a lot of time to reflect on your past.  I had a choice, sit there festering and plotting revenge, or altering my course.”  Vordmir was already tired of the conversation.  “My goals are still the same as before your family intervened, the execution is all that has changed.”  He paused to push the horse harder.  “I will still kill you if I must.”

Was that speech supposed to reassure Kyle?  In a way it did, Vordmir was being real, he was still a very real threat, but as he has said before, their goals aligned for the time being.  Would Kyle be strong enough to defeat Vordmir when the time came?  Could he do what his grandfather couldn’t?  The answers would have to wait, the destroyed village was coming up fast.

Writetober Day 29

Injured

                “It’s still here.”  Vordmir slowly walked the rubble of Krinkledag, his eyes scanning for the host.

The air was thick, the grey mist encompassing the town, the corruption was heavy.  They had made it, hope swelled in Kyle, he had a chance.

“The puppet returns to the master…”  The deep voice jarred their souls.  “And it brings an ally…weakness.”

“Be ready, we are all that stands between your world and death.”  Red and black coursed through Vordmir’s veins, his eyes midnight as he called the magic deep within him forward.

Kyle nodded in confirmation, his ring holding a steady light as he focused on it and the power within.

The fireball came fast, nearly masked by the thick haze.  Kyle focused and blinked out of existence, reappearing seconds after the fireball ripped past where he stood.

“Your friends are dead…why do you fight.”  The corruption seeped into Kyle’s mind.

“Ignore it!  We must find the host!”  Black tendrils ripped from Vordmir’s fingers, tracking the ground, searching.

“Futile!”  The dragon attacked, its head appearing through the mist mere feet in front of Kyle.

He was ready, to Kyle’s surprise, he was ready.  Kyle ripped away from his spot as the monster’s jaws slammed shut where he stood.  A flash of light brought Kyle back to the world where the tavern used to be.  The dragon turned, the familiar grin on its face.

“Keep it distracted while I find the host!”  Vordmir’s arms were swirling with angry obsidian.  The tendrils were scouring the land, grabbing onto to everything, searching for the host.

Kyle focused, he had his job, he needed to complete it.  Kyle grabbed a large piece of stone, he needed two hands and it barely lifted.  The ring pulsated and the stone disappeared, seconds later it ripped into reality high above the dragon’s head.  It shattered as it clocked the beast’s skull, it wasn’t painful, but it agitated it.  Kyle needed that.  Two more fireballs lashed out at Kyle, he was ready for them.  He blinked away and reappeared next to the massive blue eye that haunted him.  Clenching his fist Kyle reached back to strike the dragon’s glassy eye.  As his fist rocketed toward its target, white wrapped around his hand and hardened like steel.  The dragon’s eye erupted as Kyle’s encased fist burrowed deep into the socket.  The monster thrashed in revolt, launching Kyle into burnt stone and wood that covered the ground.

A surprised smile forced its way on Vordmir’s face.  Kyle was holding his own, but Vordmir was failing at his task, through the corruptions pain filled roars, he continued to search.  His magic struggled to cut through the thick haze of the corruption, the farther the tendrils were from Vordmir, the weaker they became.

Kyle struggled to rise, pain lancing through his legs.  He confirmed nothing was broken and set his sights on the angered corruption.  The ring strobed silver light as Kyle focused on his strength, every flash emitted unfettered magic into the air.

The dragon lunged, barreling toward the human that dared to defy him.  Its jaw unhinged and dragged the earth as it consumed everything in its path.  Kyle’s clothes began to pull into the vortex the beast was creating with its massive inhale, he was unable to move.  As the enormous mouth tunneled toward Kyle, he remembered Michelle and what she did with the ring.  Kyle opened his palm and held it to the encroaching death.

The dragon collided with a wall as Kyle’s knees buckled behind the weight of the corruption.

“You…will…not win…”  The words scattered in Kyle’s mind.

The shield began to crumble, and Kyle’s focus was scattered with the corrosive corruption that shrouded him.

“I found it-” Vordmir’s words were near silent, the rest of his sentence didn’t make it through the mist.

Kyle was too focused on the dragon bearing down on his life to notice anything else.  The pain came fast, an impact to Kyle’s side shattered his right ribs.  The second blow snapped his radius and ulna.  The host stood next to Kyle, emotionless and covered in blood, Welton’s blood.  A third strike came from the corrupt man.  Kyle’s knee and shield shattered simultaneously as the dragon blasted into the broken man.  He flew and rag dolled into a heap of broken bones and agony.  As his bleeding eyes struggled to focus, he watched as the host disappeared from the world.  The dragon laughed as it launched into the air and flew away.  Again, the corruption won.

Writetober Day 30

Catch

                Michelle’s smile warmed Kyle, the two were sitting in their living room.  Outside the crisp autumn day was setting with pink and blue skies.  Everything was right, everything was normal, they were happy.

“You have to go.”  Michelle’s words were peaceful.

“I can be late to work.”  He sat on the couch running his fingers through her hair.

“No, you need to go.”  Her smile turned serious.  “You’re not done.”

Kyle was confused, he tried to read her face, but it was serious.  There was knowledge in her eyes and Kyle couldn’t figure out what was happening.

“Tom and your mom need you.  We need you to keep going.”  Michelle was focused on her husbands’ eyes.  Outside the skies grew darker, a storm lingered on the setting sun.

Kyle stared at his wife’s slate green eyes, they always calmed him during the worst times.  His eyes filled with tears as he noticed her smile.  She was saving him, she was his biggest supporter and even in death she didn’t stop.

“I’m not strong enough…”  Kyle forced the words through a tight throat.

“I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t strong, you alone are keeping me alive.  Use that strength and save your mom.”  Her words sounded distant.

“Kyle!”  The raspy voice ripped into Kyle’s ears.

He ignored it, he continued to stare at Michelle, memorizing her face.

“We do not have time for you to die!  We must catch the host!”  The voice shook the walls of Kyle’s home.

“I can’t…”  Kyle spoke to his wife.

“Yes, you can.  Go, and remember I love you.”

Pain devoured Kyle as his eyes opened in panic.  He was alive, broken and bruised, but alive.  Vordmir stood above him, anger and despair on his face.

“Use that damn ring and get us to your world!”

Kyle went to clench his fist and yelled in agony, his shattered arm rejected the idea of movement.  “My arm, I can’t use the ring.”

“Then we are dead!  Give me the ring, so that I may do the job that is needed!”  Vordmir eye’s lit up as he stared at the ring.

Kyle screamed in anger as his body revolted against movement.  His only option couldn’t have been to give up the ring to Vordmir.  It couldn’t end that way.  He focused, he thought of his wife, his best friend, the sacrifice his grandfather made; Kyle had to be stronger.  The ring glowed as Kyle cherished his memories, he remembered his happiest moments with his wife, the hours playing games with Tom, and even the brief periods with the lovely people of Krinkledag.  He had to be strong for everyone.

Kyle’s eyes shot open, they were coated in a silver light.  Thick bands sprang from the ring and hugged the broken bones riddling Kyle’s body.  Warmth seeped beneath his skin as the vibrant wrappings of light caressed and healed the man.  He was going to be stronger.

Wonderous shock was plastered on Vordmir’s face as he watched the man he knew as weak unleash the might of the ring upon himself.  Vordmir’s eyes tracked the pattern of silver that coursed beneath Kyle’s skin as it stained his skin like a tattoo.  Their eyes met, and Vordmir smiled as he stared at the pure light that emitted from Kyle’s eyes.

“I’m impressed.  It’s time to catch up for time lost.”  Vordmir held out a hand, a sign of respect from the ancient mage.

Kyle grabbed his hand, and in a flash of brilliance, they were gone.

Writetober Day 31

Ripe

                “This world will do…”  Heavy footsteps followed the words.  “My master will devour this world…His corruption will gorge on the ripe bodies.”  The footsteps stopped outside of the door of a home.

Inside, Kyle’s mother prayed, harder than she ever has.  It wasn’t to a specific god, it was to whomever would listen.  Her interlocked fingers tightened as black nothingness seeped beneath the door and filled the house.

“Your bloodline ends here…”  The front door ripped open.

In the door way, the emotionless peasant stood, corruption pumping in his long dead veins.  His blank eyes stared into the mother’s soul.  The blood coated man stepped across the home’s threshold, staring at his victim.  The obsidian ring dripped black onto the wooden floor, the corruption scattering like rain upon impact.

Kyle’s mother knelt, helpless as death shuffled toward her, its eyes searing her.  His icy hand wrapped its fingers around her throat and lifted her.  She didn’t fight.  She couldn’t, the oppressive corruption choked her energy and will.  The man slowly squeezed the life from her eyes as her feet dangled mere inches from the hard wood floor.

Dispersing the corruptive mist that shrouded his mother’s home, Kyle erupted into existence with Vordmir at his side.  Without words, Kyle lunged from behind the corrupt man and disappeared.  He didn’t have to focus as before, he had control of the ring, it was instinctive.  Reappearing behind his mother, Kyle connect his fist to the peasant’s jaw, shattering teeth and bone.

The man barely flinched, but it was enough to loosen his grip.  Kyle’s mother dropped as Vordmir’s black tendrils caught her unconscious body, pulling her away from the evil.  Kyle and the monster squared off, their gaze focused on each other.

“He can not die in this world!”  Vordmir howled.  “You must weaken him so that I may take us to the corruptions source.  There he can be destroyed!  There you can bring back your family!”

Kyle barely had time to listen, the host lashed out with a lightning fast strike to Kyle freshly healed ribs.  Creating a small white shield, Kyle absorbed the blow as the shield shattered into silver dust from the impact.  The second attack came faster.  The man’s left hand flew toward Kyle’s face, he blinked five feet backwards to dodge the attack.

Kyle had to be faster, he wouldn’t win by just defending.  The thought was cut short as the peasant closed the gap with a knee strike to Kyle’s gut.  It connected and Kyle’s air rushed out of his body, blood spilling to the floor.  The man’s fist contacted the back of Kyle’s head as he was doubled over, the floor greeted Kyle’s face.

The world swam in Kyle’s eyes as black tendrils quickly wrapped around the peasant.  Vordmir followed his entanglement with a ball of liquid obsidian launched at the man’s chest.  Its clothes burned away as flesh boiled from the blast, but it didn’t slow him down.  Vordmir followed with a second ball of corrosive sludge, but the peasant ripped from its restraints and easily dodged the goo.  Kyle was dragged to his feet as a dead hand grabbed his hair, a fist greeted his bruised gut.  Air blasted from Kyle’s lungs once more.

Kyle was losing.  Anger filled his body as he broke free, leaving hair in the corrupted man’s clutch.  Kyle lashed out with a series of punches, but the peasant didn’t flinch, it embraced the flurry of fists.  Kyle relented, he needed to catch his breath.  The peasant sought the opportunity and attacked.  With nothing left, Kyle kicked the peasant between the legs, connecting with the soft organs.  Nothing.  Kyle swore in the man’s face as fists began to pummel him, the jarring punches shattering his hope.

The tendrils returned, they coursed with hatred as they enveloped the peasant.  It was Kyle’s only chance, he looked to Vordmir who was knelt focusing all his might into keeping the fiend trapped.  His eyes locked onto his mother, she unconscious on the floor, but breathing.  He couldn’t lose this time.

He lunged, through pain and exhaustion, he blitzed toward the tangled man.  Silver light pooled around Kyle’s clenched fist, it began to form into a spear hugging his hand.  The point pierced the man, shredding into his body, silver splashed his insides and began to burrow deeper within the corrupt man.

“Stay with him!”  Vordmir had dropped the tendrils and began shouting an incantation.

Black shrouded the three men as the world tore away.

Kyle recognized where he was, the ancient stone buildings within the enormous cave welcomed him.  They were back, deep within The Wild.  The corrupted man was shrieking in the pain and anger of defeat.

“Finish him.  Draw out the corruption.”  Vordmir was drained, barely able to stand.

Kyle’s arm was still plunged deep into the man, he focused on the ring.  Light pulsed from within the man, radiating outward.  The howls and screams grew louder as the silver light shredded flesh and bone, eradicating the corrupt dead man.  In an explosion of silver glory, Kyle stood with an outreached hand and no peasant to be seen, its ring destroyed.

“He’s free.”  Kyle spoke to an exhausted Vordmir.

“Only final task…”  Vordmir shakingly stood and faced the abyssal black before the two of them.  “One final choice for you hero.”

Kyle stared into the abyss, focusing on an eye that stared back.  “What is it?”  The corruption stared at Kyle as he spoke, it was a whimpering dog in the shadows.

“I can return your wife and friend, but the rings must be destroyed.”  Vordmir forced a smile through his weakness.

“What?  The corruption isn’t destroyed, we aren’t finished.”  His eyes were still locked onto the nightmare that cowered in the black.

“You are done, the corruption’s host has been defeated, your world is safe.”  Vordmir turned to Kyle.  “Our goals no longer align, as a sign of respect I will bring your two friends back.  In return you will destroy the device that allows you to return to my world.”

“This was your game all along.  You’re going to try and control it in it’s weakened state.”  Kyle’s gaze burned with rage.

“My plan is of no concern to you.  Take your two loved ones and leave my world, forever.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Don’t be a fool!  You can’t possibly hope to defea-” Vordmir’s thought never finished.

Kyle gripped the old man’s throat, the pulsing ring burning his pale skin.  “I will do what my grandpa couldn’t.”  White light blinded the two men.

As the brilliant light subsided, two men stood before the abyss.  An old hand clasped Kyle’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t be prouder.”  His grandfather spoke.

Kyle stared at his now pure silver ring resting on his grandfather’s finger, tears streaming from his face.  “They’re safe?”

“And ready to go home.”  His grandfather smiled.

“So, this is goodbye.  You sure you can keep the corruption locked away?”  Kyle stared at his grandfather.

“With no connection to anyone in this world, it’s too weak to manifest and leave this tomb.  You’ve done well.”  Nathaniel hugged his grandson for the first and last time.  “Get home, they’re waiting for you.”

White light surrounded Kyle as, for the last time, the world fell away.  He opened his eyes to Michelle, Tom and his mother laughing and crying in the destroyed living room.  With no ring on his finger, memories were all that tied him to a distant world.  He embraced his family in tears.