Dead Rainbow

Wings

Kwartz was fast. The endless stamina potion gave her limitless agility. They bounded over the landscape at breakneck speed. It didn't take Redwing long to realize his own body would be the delay. He needed a saddle or he'd be so sore he wouldn't be able to walk. They changed direction on a pivot and headed back to the tent.

There in the trunk waiting for him, like it knew his desires before he had them was a saddle. A small platform with a soft cushion atop of bowlegged stools with wooden legs. It was a camel saddle but would work perfectly on the boney ridges of an undead dinosaur's back. In the trunk under the saddle was a thick metal bit the likes of which Redwing had never seen. It too would be perfect for Kwartz's massive jaw full of teeth. She already bit through the whip twice on their journey to the tent. 

Saddled up propper and with the aid of a minor levitation potion, Redwing could handle the jarring ride with ease. They spent the next three days rampaging through the mountains. The night's spent in the wild where the darkest Redwing ever experienced. The cold was bitter and the blackness absolute; his fire the only light on the planet. No stars, no moon, nothing penetrated the massive cloud cover. Kwartz paced around the campfire all night on guard against no one.

On the fourth day, he found what he was looking for, a cavern big enough to ride right in. It was deep and dark and sheltered from the cold wet of nuclear winter. He gathered what petrified wood he could find and started a fire in the back of the cave. He spread his books and notes on the ground and began.

"With this charcoal, I draw the circle you once tempted me with." 

He drew the demon's circle exactly as he remembered it. Then he took out a dinosaur tooth. 

"With this bone, I trace the gate to call you."

He took out his dagger and pricked his arm, dripping the blood into the center.

"With my blood, I bring you to me. Mazlovado."

Upon the last statement his fire went out and the cave became pitch black. Redwing heard his breathing and his heartbeat pounded over the silence in his ears. He began to see a soft glow. It gradually got brighter and turned from orange to red. The circle and the ancient runes burst forth with flame and there in the forgotten cave of a dead world appeared the demon. 

"Who dares call forth the soul of the Neuromancer?" hissed the black shadow.

"I am the one who knows your name, Mazlovado, and I will have your power. Payback for what you did to my mother." 

The demon looked at the boy with a confused expression, having never seen him before. Redwing not understanding his father transported him far into the past proceeded to cast the vampire spell on the demon again, for the first time.

In a flash of red light, Redwing began to drain its spirit. He just started to feel the power when pain ripped through his body knocking him down and disrupting his vampiric touch. The demon was gone and in his place, a green glow took over the portal. It rose out of the runes in a murky mist and from the mist appeared a man. 

He wore black robes and iron gauntlets, a spectacular red pendant, and a silver intricately designed elven helmet. His face was like a skull and his thin skin nearly white. His eyes were all black and when he spoke a forked tongue flashed behind pointed teeth. 

"You're but a boy. Did no one warn you not to play with dark magic?" said the man. 

Redwing stood there stunned with fear as if his body was frozen. The evil-looking man noticed Kwartz standing tall behind him taking up an aggressive posture. 

"Did you create this beast?" 

Redwing stood up from the floor. "I did. I call on Mazlovado only." 

"You have spirit." The man put long fingers of two bony hands together. "You don't know who I am, do you?"  

"Are you the Necromancer?" said Redwing.

"Smart too. I may have use for someone like you. What's your name?" 

"Redwing." 

"Such fearlessness. Such arrogance. Marvelous. Mazlovado is mine. If you disturb him again I will kill you! ...However, since you came looking for evil power, I'll grant you wings, young master Redwing. So that you may learn to fly." And he vanished in a puff of rancid smoke. 

The cave returned to darkness. Orange embers of the fire drew Redwing across the darkness. He fanned the coals, added fresh material, and got the fire going again. Kwartz backed off and stood between the fire and the exit of the cave. 

"Wings? What did he mean by...." 

No sooner had he spoke the word than large black wings ripped through the skin of his back and stretched out behind him like a bat. The pain of it was intense and Redwing fell to his knees. He was able to move them like they were part of his body. They were dragon wings; powerful, slick, clawed, and reptilian. 

He flapped them hard and it lifted him off the ground. 

"Ha-ha!" he laughed and landed on his feet. 

"The Necromancer," he said with reverence.

"But how do I make them go away?" He spoke to himself but he already knew the answer as if the Necromancer had planted a seed in his mind that now grew. "Retract." 

The wings shrunk down until the slits in his back closed up as if nothing ever happened. His shirt was ripped up but that was no matter. 

"Kwartz, stay here and keep guard. If anyone should come here, kill them." 

He walked to the mouth of the cave. 

"Wings!"