Soral had no time to celebrate his successful return as Lala filled him in on everything that had happened, along with a couple bad rumors about the Black Wolf. He quickly came to the conclusion that they needed to rescue Howler immediately, before he was gone forever. Unfortunately Lala had no idea where Densooth or Howler were, so he had to turn to another source of information.
He pulled the reddish brown wolf charm from his pocket. He twisted the tooth, not even waiting for Oasis to answer.
“Where is he?” he demanded.
“Soral?” Oasis asked in surprise, “When did you come back? Where are you?”
“That’s not important. Where is he?” Soral pressed, “Where did the Black Wolf take him?”
Oasis finally caught up to Soral’s intentions. “Is this about Howler? He is paying the price for endangering the world.”
“Then tell me where the Black Wolf is,” Soral demanded. It seemed that talking to Oasis wouldn’t get him anywhere.
“Go to the secret room,” Oasis directed, “My master will be more than happy to meet you there.”
Soral immediately headed through the ever familiar secret passage into the room. He had half expected the Black Wolf to be waiting there, but no one was there yet when he arrived. The room had drastically changed to resemble one that Soral had just left in the past.
Just as he started to get an uncomfortable suspicion, the passage opened again and Densooth entered. It was definitely Densooth, but time had made him colder and far more intimidating. His appearance hadn’t changed one bit, though, as if he hadn’t aged a single hour. Soral had no idea just how far back into the past he had gone, but he knew it had been more than long enough to finish the crumbling of the old castle.
“So it really was you,” Densooth commented, locking eyes with Soral.
“What have you done to Howler?” Soral demanded, getting straight to the point.
“Be patient,” Densooth told him, pulling out a chair and sitting down, “First, why don’t we discuss what happened.”
“First, why don’t we discuss what you have done to Howler,” Soral repeated. He wasn’t going to back down on this.
“He is safe. I have merely tasked him with some labor for now. His fate in the future depends on you. Are you ready to talk now?” Densooth asked.
So this was going to be a hostage situation? Soral plopped down on another chair with a huff. “You know what happened. I just met you in the past.”
“Yes, but more than that happened. You met someone else who guided you.”
“I met her in the dream realm,” Soral said dismissively, “And I don't think that has anything to do with you.”
“You would be surprised. Everything about you is important to me. You are the only one who can achieve my dream,” Densooth told him.
Soral grimaced. “Do you still want to die then?”
Densooth was surprised for the first time during their conversation. “You already know?”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“I listened to your thoughts,” Soral told him. He figured it was best to get as much of this over with as he could.
“That makes things easier, then,” Densooth replied, “You hate me, and I want to die. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for you? I am the only villain on your path to becoming a hero that will aid you in my defeat.”
“Those prophecies must have scrambled your brains,” Soral scoffed, “Heroes don’t kill people just because they want to die.”
The man did not lose confidence. “I will wait until you are ready,” he assured, “But for now, I need something else from you. A deal, in exchange for Howler’s freedom.”
“What kind of deal?” Soral asked.
“There are two things I need from you. First of all, you must promise never to drink any form of alcohol again.”
Again? So that must mean that awful drink that had caused this whole mess was alcohol. Soral didn’t need to be told twice, but just agreeing with Densooth felt wrong. So instead, he pushed the issue.
“Why shouldn’t I?” he demanded with a crooked smirk, “If I did, what could you even do to stop me?”
“I can’t,” Densooth admitted, “But I can and will take measures to ensure you never see alcohol again. Is my oppression what you want?”
“You couldn’t even if you tried,” Soral challenged.
“And you will not listen to reason?” Densooth checked.
Soral had a bad feeling about Densooth’s confidence in the matter, and he couldn’t make countless amounts of people suffer because of stubborn pride.
“What reasons are there?” he asked instead.
“Surely you felt the effects,” Densooth told him, “You are immune to poison, as far as the fact that it does not harm you physically. However, whenever you consume it, it directly channels into your magic. I have studied you since you made that mushroom stew that nearly killed your companions at the time.”
“Since then?” Soral asked. That had been a few years ago, not long after he had left Vona’s village, “How come I never noticed?”
“You are incredibly dense,” Densooth told him.
Soral couldn’t argue with that. Until just recently, he had not been able to sense the magic of himself and others. Now it came to him as easily as eavesdropping on people’s thoughts.
“If you knew where I was this whole time, why did you send Ruena looking for me? You could have just told her where I was.”
“I gave her hints, but it was important that she find you on her own,” Densooth replied, “When I meddle too much with fate it can have adverse consequences.”
“Adverse consequences?” Soral asked.
Densooth closed his eyes. “Yes. The world has a way of fighting back when it is too closely controlled. If I bring too much order, it breeds chaos. If I had guided Ruena to you, perhaps her fate at your side would have been lost.”
None of that made any sense to Soral so he decided to push back to a topic he actually needed answers to. “You said poison effects my magic, but I was totally fine until I had the alcohol.”
“You were lucky. All poisons will give you a boost of power, but they mess with your magic in other ways,” Densooth explained, “Deadly poisons will strengthen your attack magic, but any magic that helps or heals are lost in return. Poisons that bring pain or discomfort will heighten your magic’s connection to your senses, but limit the amount you can use at once. And, of course, poisons that would impair your mind in any way will break the connection your mind has with magic, making it uncontrollable.”
“Which is how I accidentally went to the past,” Soral guessed, “But none of the effects are permanent, because I can control everything fine now.”
“They are temporary,” Densooth confirmed, “But rather than risk further incidents I will do what I must to prevent them.”
“What was the other thing you wanted from me?” Soral asked.
“I wish to give you my mark so that I can track you if such a situation occurs again,” Densooth told him.
His mark? That sounded unpleasant. “I’ll pass.”
“Really? Then I shall give Howler the full punishment he deserves.”
Drats. He forgot about the hostage. “What does your mark entail?” Soral asked begrudgingly.
“My mark simply allows me to always know where you are,” Densooth told him, “All of my apprentices have been marked in the same manner.”
“And you will leave both me and Howler alone if I let you do this?” Soral asked.
“I will,” Densooth promised.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
Before Soral could change his mind, Densooth stepped forward and grabbed his wrist. An intense cold flowed through him from the place Densooth touched. It wasn’t painful, but he felt chilled despite the natural heat of the desert.
When Densooth released his wrist the cold feeling slowly settled, but a black mark was left instead. It looked very similar to the wolf charm, but in the form of a vague outline. As Soral stared at it, the mark disappeared. Even though he couldn’t see it, he could still feel the slight chill it left behind.
Soral took a couple deep breaths to steady himself. “I did what you wanted. Take me to Howler.”
“Before I do, I have a question for you. What do you intend to do once you see him? You have no place to take him, and he has no intention of staying here.”
Soral thought quickly. “I need land, and Howler is going to help me manage it. I can’t grow strong enough to kill you without proper nourishment, and for that I need faerutil,” Soral told him. It wasn’t a lie, but he hadn’t planned anything until just now.
“Very well. If Howler agrees to your plan, return to me with more specific needs and I will grant you the land you desire.”
He was glad it got Densooth to help him, but Soral had no desire to kill him, or anyone. Soral quickly followed Densooth’s instructions to where Howler was. Now that he had thought of the idea, he really hoped Howler would agree. He didn’t have the slightest clue how to grow a rare magical tree, and he only had the one seed.