Bartok spat. “Who could have allowed weak humans to escape? He asked to a quivering goblin general. “I … I don’t know how they got out! There were guards posted! There’s no other way out of that cell. Please have mercy!” The general begged. “I’ll show you the same mercy that I would’ve shown those boys.” Bartok replied. With a small wave of his staff, he sent a fireball towards the goblin general. The general cried in agony. Bothersome, he shouldn’t have used fire, now this room would smell bad. Pity. Still, he wondered what abilities he now stood in risk of losing. How many people had he summoned over the years? Enough to make him the most powerful magic user in this world. The ritual for harvesting those boys’ abilities had just been completed. It was bothersome that his subordinates couldn’t keep a few children contained for a day. He’d have to go find them himself, and then all the preparation he had just put in would be wasted. Still, it would probably be worth it, considering that they could escape from an armed fortress like this one undetected, without leaving a trace of where they’d gone. He grinned in anticipation. He lacked a sufficiently powerful teleportation crystal. With a power like that, he would be able to really expand his kingdom. Bartok remembered when he was just a weak goblin like the rest of them. That was until he discovered the crystals. They allowed him to manipulate nature in ways that most people only dreamed of. It took energy from his staff to use them, but he had enough stored up enough energy there to shake the world. He just needed a few more crystals, and he would be ready. Bartok didn’t like leaving anything to chance, when he finally attacked, the rest of the world needed to have no way to defend. Teleportation could give him that edge. His entire army, in the middle of a city, wreaking havoc. Bartok smiled again.

The crystals were created by supernatural convergences of nature, such as summoning otherworlders here. How kind of the boys to provide them for him. It would kill them, of course, but Bartok didn’t care. They would be inside each boy, though they were hopefully still unaware. Bartok had to catch them before they did, otherwise, things would get…troublesome. Bartok wasn’t yet strong enough to launch his offensive, but this world would shake to the ground when he did. First though, he had to catch some children. Bartok approached the captain of the wall guards, Gobta. “Tell me good news, Gobta” Bartok ordered. “We just had an alarm sound in sector 12, Esteemed one.” “Good enough” Bartok responded. Those kids didn’t know just who they were dealing with.

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Bartok made his way over to sector 12, walking along the battlements, goblins bowing to him as he made his way through. He made his way over to the sector commander. “What news do you have for me, commander?” Bartok demanded. “They were spotted entering the swamp, we have every search team scouring the swamp for hem as we speak.” Incompetent fools. Clearly unable to handle little children. How old was he now? More than he cared to count. “Well I’m thoroughly disappointed with your teams being unable to find those children commander. Let me show you what happens to those who fail me.” Bartok had no need for this swamp, did he? The search teams would deserve what they got, and he could harvest the children’s abilities dead as well as alive. Bartok could use the magical power stored up in his staff, but he saw no need. He would simply harvest it from the swamp itself. He raised his staff and circled it in the air drawing power to it from the swamp. Rapidly, the swamp started to die. The marshland, rippling with life, slowly turned into a barren waste as trees shriveled in on themselves, fish fell to the bed, and birds fell from the trees. Bartok smiled. He hadn’t even unleashed the spell yet, just gathering energy for it, and he had already transformed the once vibrant swamp into a dead wasteland. The commander and the surrounding goblins looked shocked. Perhaps they had known the goblins that went searching. They wouldn’t be coming back anymore. The boys though, were a different matter, with their magical abilities and life force, Bartok wasn’t sure that this would kill them. He unleashed the spell.

Descending from the sky came a massive pillar of fire, burning the swamp away. This white-hot column of destruction obliterated away everything in its path, leaving nothing left but a patch of blackened earth, all the water evaporating away in an instant. Not even a magic user would be able to withstand that. There crystals would survive, though, and Bartok would be able to merge them with his own. He scanned the area, sensing for any indication of magical power, which should be possible now that the hosts were dead, and all other life was gone. He sensed nothing. Bartok was in disbelief. No one could have survived that. Had the boys escaped? Not possible, he would be able to sense them outside the swamp. Bartok screamed in rage.