Twilightfall

by Viktor Zólyomi

  `I never followed the details of the war much. I've been to Endarryn for a while, and then back in Delamar. But I never went anywhere near Gatestown, and I rarely spoke to anyone.'

  `You missed out on a lot. Just wait until we get to Re'Cas.'

  `Why? No, wait. Is that why we're here? We are going to Re'Cas?'

  `Yeah. We're gonna pay a visit to the Great Fucking Library of Re'Cas. We're gonna have a nice little chat with the Librarian. He was one of the Draconian Brotherhood while he lived. He should know a thing or two about Voi'Shek.'

  `While he lived?'

  `He's long dead. He's a ghost mage. He's the keeper of the Library. Not somebody to fuck with, mind you, but he's not invincible. Ghosts are impossible to harm with physical attacks, even enchanted weapons. After all, how do you kill something that's already dead, haha?

  Of course that's bullshit. Zombies are dead and they can be harmed with physical attacks. No, it's that ghosts... well, they're different. They are basically spiritual beings, creatures native to the Afterlife, and the so-called body they have is a manifestation. A powerful manifestation. It has the ability to phase in and out of reality, so to speak. It can phase between the Afterlife and the Material World where it exists. That is why they cannot be injured. They don't bleed. They don't feel pain. Nothing.

  However, certain powerful magics can sever the link between their soul and their manifestation. Fire harms them, but it can't kill them. It can however weaken them such that this link will be easier to sever. Now, I am a motherfucking black magician. Black magic can sever those links effortlessly. With arcane magic, it's much more difficult.

  Anyway, the point is, I could kill him if I wanted to. I should be able to persuade him into telling us everything he knows. But it may not even be necessary. Who knows, maybe he wouldn't like to see his old Master again, haha!'

  `I heard of ghosts, but I never knew they were so strong.'

  `They are, but they are also rare. Their manifestation is so powerful, it is next to impossible to create. Actually, it takes black magic. You know, the Librarian's ghost was brought into existence by the last few surviving members of the Draconian Brotherhood after the dragons chased them away from Arghard. They were pretty powerful, but even they needed to resort to black magic to create the ghost body for him. They did it, because they wanted someone to guard their books, the vast knowledge they had accumulated over thousands of years. So, they did what they had to do, whether they liked it or not.'

  `Whether they liked it or not? I don't picture them as mages who disliked black magic.'

  `They were a proud bunch. They were proud of their power over arcane magic. They didn't care about black magic, they largely ignored it. But when they needed it, they turned to it. They never delved deep into the Dark Arts however, they just mastered it to the level where they could create the ghost body for the Librarian with combined effort. As you can imagine, it wasn't easy.

  Conjuring a ghost body for a dead soul takes more than a sufficient skill in the Dark Arts. It also takes a lot of effort and a lot of preparation. That's why ghosts are so rare. As far as I know, there have been less than a dozen ghosts in the history of Arghard since the time magic was discovered here.'

  `And he's one of them.'

  `Yes. I don't think there are any others at the moment, but I can't be sure. Ghosts are elusive, they tend to stay hidden. Well, let's go on. The Gateway's over there. I think.'

  I head towards the place where I think the Gateway should be, and Flora follows me. A few minutes later, we arrive there. Surrounded by ruined houses that reek of destruction and decay, the old abandoned Gateway stands tall. Battered and uncared for, but still standing.

  `Is it still working?' asks Flora.

  `Yes, these things don't break so easily. Remember that big fire in Coldrock? If you recall, the fire started from the Gateway, and yet it was left completely unharmed. Well, there's soot all over it, but it still works fine. This thing should, too.'

  `What about the other side? Aren't you an outlaw in Re'Cas?'

  `I am a black magician, and while Johnny Boy is dead, nobody bothered to change his laws about black magic after his demise.'

  `So, the mages will hunt you in the city if we enter through the front gate, won't they?'

  `They would, but they won't. You see, they're all dead.'

  *

  She stares at me silently with a look that very much betrays how much she doesn't believe me.

  `What do you mean that they're all dead?' she asks finally.

  `Come, I'll show you what's left of the great city of Re'Cas. The once great city of Re'Cas, I mean.'

  I touch the sides of the Gateway and unleash my magic. With some effort, I break through the seals and the Portal opens up before us.

  We step through, and Flora can now behold the sights. What was the destruction in Gatestown compared to this?

  Gatestown, after all, was just a small village. The destruction didn't make it look much worse than it already was. But Re'Cas, the great City of Mages... It used to be magnificent. Tall, glorious structures of beautiful architecture. Clean streets paved with carefully carved stone, trees and flowers adorning the sides of the streets, and so on, and so on. Now, all its glory is gone. The city is in ruin. Destruction and decay are all you can see here. All the trees and other plant life have been burnt to ash, and most of the buildings are now neglected, many of them ruined, some of them outright collapsed.

  `What happened here...?' asks Flora in shock after a minute of silently observing the ruined cityscape.

  `I don't really know. What I know is that after the Council fell, a small army of undead appeared in the city. And they weren't just petty zombies, no. They were powerful skeleton warriors. The Enforcers were few in number here, and Eric was missing. I think he was still hiding from Johnny Boy, thinking that the old fart was still alive and wanted him dead. Anyway, without their Commander, they weren't very effective, and couldn't get reinforcements from Ess'yer. The mages pretty much had to defend themselves.

  Things didn't go too well for them. As I hear, there were between one and two hundred skeleton warriors. While the total population of Re'Cas was above five thousand, not all those mages were even moderately powerful. Hey, just because this was the City of Mages, it doesn't mean that you could find a Johnny Boy or a Sewareld Worriil around every corner...

  So, ah, many mages fell early. But they all stood back up shortly. As zombies. So, the survivors had to face both the skeleton warriors, and the ever growing number of zombies. I hear a small group of them got out through the Gateway, lead by some old guy called George, but the rest of the wizards ended up pretty fucking dead. Oh well, what can you do if you're stuck in, shall we say, the city of the dead?'

  `I never would have thought this city could fall. This, of all places...'

  `Yeah. Shit happens. Well, let's go.'

  She gives me a disapproving look, but then she just frowns.

  `Why are we here again? What makes you think that the undead didn't just kill that ghost mage you want to see?'

  `Didn't you pay attention? Physical attacks can't harm ghosts, not even with enchanted weapons. Those skeleton warriors are though sons of bitches, but they can't harm a ghost. Trust me, the motherfucker is still here, and I'll even bet you that the Great Library is the one building in this damn city that's still in a good shape. I don't think he'd let it fall into ruin.'

  We head towards the Great Library. We pass through several empty streets. Nothing but deathly silence all around, and the ruined cityscape. As we are but a few blocks from the Great Library, I hear some movement to the right of us.

  `There...' says Flora, pointing in that direction. So, she heard it, too.

  A moment later, a humanoid figure gets up from the ground, from below some rubble. A decaying human man, with rotting flesh and torn clothes. One of his eyes is missing.

  `You didn't tell me what happened to the zombies after all the wizards died.' says Flora,
as the figure approaches us, walking slowly and growling silently.

  `Well, right there you can see it. They're still here, scattered throughout the city. Mostly in a comatose state, what with no-one to feed on. If some living sucker shows up, like you and me right now, they smell it and come out of their coma, stand up, and try to feed. But don't worry, the son of a bitch is alone. No big deal.'

  Suddenly I hear some more noise from several other directions. I glance around and I see over a dozen zombies approaching us in total, albeit walking very slowly.

  `Eh, fuck it!' I exclaim, and I pull out the SMG 12000. Leaving it in pistol shape, I aim it at the nearest zombie.

  `You know what puts these rotting-ass cuntlickers down fast, Flora?'

  I pull the trigger, and the SMG 12000 fires a precise shot right to the forehead of the zombie I targeted. The zombie collapses to the ground.

  `A headshot! That's what!'

  I aim the SMG 12000 at another zombie, and take it down in similar fashion. Then a third one. Then a fourth one.

  `There's more of them coming! This looks bad!' says Flora, pointing in the direction from which we came. Indeed, there's more of them coming.

  `You're such a spoilsport, Flora... Just when I was starting to have some fun!' I tell her, and then I put the SMG 12000 back in my belt and reach my arm towards her.

  `Grab my arm! I'll teleport us to the library. I think I still remember where it is.'

  *

  We arrive just in front of the Great Library. I look around. No zombies anywhere in sight. But they'll be here soon. We were just a couple of streets away a moment ago.

  `This is unbelievable!' exclaims Flora, as she beholds the building of the library. `It's magnificent! How could it have been left so well preserved?'

  Indeed, the Great Library stands out of the ruined cityscape as the only building in sight which is unharmed, and still perfectly clean, and apparently well cared for.

  `I told you, the Librarian is a badass. He wouldn't let any zombies ruin the beauty of his place.'

  `But he didn't save the rest of the city...'

  `Yeah. He won't leave the building. He would never leave it unguarded. Well, let's go inside!'

  We step into the building and find ourselves in the main hall of the library. We walk up a set of stairs and arrive in a circular room with several corridors leading deeper into the library. Everything is totally empty.

  `So, where is he?' asks Flora.

  `Hey, old geezer!' I exclaim. `You've got guests, so get your slippery fucking ass out here!'

  Flora looks at me and puts her hand to her forehead, slightly shaking her head. A moment later, the Librarian appears before us. A bald, elderly human man in a multi-colored wizard robe. And the usual idiot expression on his face. Or should I say, eccentric? Eh, fuck it. The guy is an idiot...

  `Zack Sands! My, I haven't seen you in ages!' he says. `How did you come through the zombies?'

  `They're a bit easier to avoid than the Enforcers, you know.' I tell him, and he starts nodding. He does that for a good half minute without stopping, or saying a word.

  Dumbass...

  `Yeah, I'm glad you agree.' I tell him, and grab his chin, stopping his head from moving.

  `Ah, sorry about that. Sometimes I forget how to stop it. Ah, where are my manners, you are not alone.' he says, and he turns to Flora. `Who are you, if I may know?'

  `I'm Flora.' she tells him.

  `And I am... well, I forgot. Oh, wait! I am the Librarian! Well, that's not my name, you know, I don't remember that any more... Everybody just calls me the Librarian here. Well, they used to, while they used to talk and come in here... It's been lonely here since everyone turned into a zombie. Nobody wants to read books any more. A terrible shame what became of this world...'

  Not like he'd let the zombies in if they tried...

  `Listen, I need some information from you.' I tell him, cutting his sentimental speech short.

  He turns to me.

  `Information? Do you mean you want to rent a book?'

  `Not quite. I want you to tell me something.'

  `Well, I'm not good at that kind of thing, Zack. My books are more reliable than me, anyway.'

  `I doubt you have a book about what I want. Sure, that would do fine, but I think that what I want, is right here!' I tell him, knocking on his skull with my index finger.

  `Ah, I am afraid you will be disappointed. But very well... What do you need?'

  `I want to know what happened to Voi'Shek five thousand years ago.'

  He finally wipes the idiot-smile off his face, and instead stares at me in mild shock.

  `Why? Why would you be interested in... that?'

  `Because that motherfucker is alive. He's back, and I have to kill him! I need to know how I can do that!'

  He drops his jaw and stares at me in disbelief, with the expression of a retard on his face. After a while, he finally speaks.

  `He's back...? By the power of the Hellish Planes! How can that be? He should have stayed imprisoned forever...'

  `Imprisoned?' I ask, trying to urge him to get to the point.

  `Yes... A group of his followers arranged for that. I was among them. Yes... I, too, was one of the foolish mages that were too blind to see our own limits. The Dreamer... He knew. He knew that the Sphere of Power should not be tampered with. We paid the price in the end...'

  `Yeah, yeah, I know the story. Voi'Shek disappeared without a trace, a group of Brotherhood mages tried to increase the power of the Sphere that made them such bigshot wizards in the first place, then it blew in their ugly faces, the dragons were set free, and the Brotherhood fell. Spare me all that crap, I heard it a dozen times over. Just tell me the part I don't know. You say it was you and your buddies that made Voi'Shek disappear? How? How in the fuck did you do it?'

  He sighs deeply.

  `Wait here.' he says, and then he disappears. A few moments later, he reappears with a book in his hand. He opens it somewhere in the middle and hands it to me.

  `Take this. Go to one of the reading rooms upstairs. Read this part, starting here.' he says, pointing to a specific paragraph. `That will tell you everything you need to know. I fear I can't help you any more. My memory is not what it used to be. I do remember what we've done, but you need details, and I fear I cannot provide them. I hope that this book will help you.'

  `Thanks!' I tell him.

  `These are my personal memoirs. Do be careful as you turn the pages, please!'

  `Sure, no problem!' I tell him. He nods and disappears, and I fold the page on the left side in half to act as a bookmark, and then slam the book shut with a loud noise and smack it under my right armpit.

  `He asked you to be careful with that book...' says Flora.

  `Yeah, yeah, whatever! Let's go!'

  *

  We walk up another set of stairs, to the floor with the reading rooms. We enter the one on the left of the stairway.

  It's a fairly simple, but tidy room, and it's well cared for, just like the rest of the library. Curtains cover all the windows, making a nice cozy dark in the room.

  We go to one of the tables and I drop the book on it.

  `So, that guy was the Librarian?' asks Flora.

  `Yeah.'

  `He looks pretty lively for a ghost.'

  `What did you expect? An invisible guy covered with a white blanket?'

  `No, but I'd have thought his body would be translucent.'

  `Not at all. Creatures that have such a ghostly appearance are in fact not ghosts. They are specters, mindless undead creatures with no soul, similar to skeletons and zombies, except that they're generally more dangerous. Ghosts however do have a soul. Specters, wraiths, and other ghostly creatures are just mindless monsters created by black magic, but ghosts are dead souls brought back from the Afterlife.

  Despite being called ghosts, they don't have a ghostly appearance. No, ghosts appear like living creatures. You can't tell just by looking at them that they're ghosts.
They do have a magic aura that can be sensed through the use of certain spells. Just by looking at them, you can't tell that they're ghosts.'

  `So, he could hide among the living and no-one would ever be wiser.'

  `Yeah, if he was willing to leave this place, that is. Well, let's get to the book. I'll make us some light, so we can read.'

  I go to the window and pull the curtains open. As I glance outside, I see a large group moving down in the street, carrying some kind of large object. They don't seem like zombies, or even like skeleton warriors.

  `Well, well... Looks like more visitors have come!'

  `Grenshaur?' asks Flora.

  `Not likely. He got what he wanted. Let's see who it is!'

  I pull out the SMG 12000 and turn it into one of its alternate shapes.

  `What is that?' asks Flora.

  `This shape is called a sniper rifle. See this glassy thing on top of it? It's called a scope. It works like the farseers of sailors. You look into it, and you can see things that are far away. The idea behind this weapon is to deliver extremely powerful shots with great accuracy from a large distance. I'll tell you how it works. With the scope, you can target a guy's head. Then, you pull the trigger, and the guy's head explodes. Useful little toy! But right now, I just wanna use the scope to see who those guys are down there...'

  I open the window and aim with the sniper rifle towards the figures in the street. I look into the scope and observe them. About twenty-thirty humanoid figures in total. All of them night elves, all of them wearing the uniform of the Enforcers, except two. And one of those two carries a bow... Now there's something you don't see every day! A night elf with a bow... Is the fucking world coming to an end, or what?

  Will you look at that! The guy walking in the back... He's familiar!

  `Oh, will you look at who's there!'

  `Who is it?' asks Flora.

  `It's Eric! Who would have thought!'

  `Eric Shyrn?'

  `In the flesh!'