Role

Chapter 8

The two mages that ran the ship seemed to know what they were about. They
never wasted any energy or effort that they could place on someone else, and
they kept morale low with effective pain and superiority. Faeghn was always
wary when they focused attention on him, so he tried to keep his head down
and pretend to be dumber than he actually was. At times the wizards would be
joined by other mages, meeting in out of the way islands for days at a time.
On one such occasion all the crew were brought to land and told to go about
their business but return at sunrise. Faeghn knew that escape was impossible
in such a remote location and the thought didnt cross his mind. However, he
did decide to follow the mages to see what they were about. What followed
would alter the course of his life forever.

A very powerful magic created by a conclave of mages. There were at least
ten, all hooded and cloaked in black robes. He was fairly certain they knew
he was there, though he was hiding in the foliage. He felt like a fly on the
wall, insignificant as an insect. There was little discussion among the
mages, but they all seemed to be working in concert, slowly beginning to
chant in unison around some sort of pillar that Faeghn hadnt noticed until
it began to glow with a dull red light. The night sky darkened as ominous
clouds blotted the stars out of the sky. Giant flashes of lightning crashed
all around the island, their deafening booms making Faeghn hunker down a
little lower in his hiding spot. Suddenly the mages stopped chanting and
looked upwards, the air hummed with raw energy and Faeghns skin began to
itch. He followed the gazes of the mages up towards the sky, and did a double
take as he noticed a thin sliver of green cutting like a knife across the
black clouds. In its wake the clouds parted until they formed an open hole
that did not reflect the stars above, but rather an even darker absence of
light. The storm was growing furious all around the perimeter of the circle,
and Faeghn noticed entire trees being thrown about like so many toothpicks
under the force of the gale. A piercing scream that felt as if it would
shatter his brain forced him to cover his ears and drew his attention back
towards the portal. A clawed hand of giant proportions reached through, brown
scaled fingers ending in giant talons. The hand was drawn back into the
portal, and a single eye, glowing a bright orange settled its gaze on the
mages. Faeghn had never known such terror. The eye was then replaced with an
image. It was almost a direct reflection of the island below, but where there
were ten mages now, there were a thousand mages in the image. The image
changed to a vision of the great beast coming out of the now enlarged portal,
followed by hundreds of smaller similar looking creatures. Cities were shown
burning and the ten mages leading hoards of demons throughout various parts