Dead Rainbow

Kulju

All through the night, the pack tore across the forest at a full-on sprint. They never run so far, so fast, and for so long without tiring. Even for the mighty lycanthrope species, this was no small achievement. They were beasts of incredible stamina, to begin with, but under Redwing's magical influence, they were unstoppable. 

Redwing road the lead wolf with a wicked grin on his face and tears streaking back from his watery eyes. The newborn road in his lap with her long tongue hanging over razor-sharp puppy teeth, flapping strands of drool into the air. 

The vast forest spanned the continent and provided a massive physical barrier between kingdoms. Seldom did traders nor travelers leave the main roads to take the route through. 

By dawn, they completed the crossing and entered the ancient burial ground of the east. The tombs were old and made of a heavy limestone. The pack stopped before a crumbling mausoleum with an open entrance. 

"We are the first to arrive," said the gray wolf. "You must face the wizard who calls us. If you best him, then we will accept you as our new leader." 

Redwing looked into the dark crypt. 

"Then that is my fate."

He walked inside and the wolves followed but stayed in the antechamber. Redwing looked down a black stone stairwell at the back and looked questioning to the wolves.

"You must do this alone. We will be here." The wolves stretched and sniffed and slowly found places to rest in piles on the floor. 

Redwing cast his night-vision spell again, took a sip from his protection from evil potion, loaded a bolt with a potion poisoned tip, and walked down the shadowy stairwell. At the bottom, he passed through a series of stale smelling catacombs. Skulls and bones lined the walls; carved rectangles meant to hold single bodies were filled with hundreds. 

Ahead, he saw an eerie green light. Inside the next room sat a hunched little man sitting at a writing desk illuminated by a green-shaded oil lamp. He looked up from his manuscript and grinned with blackened teeth. 

"What have we here then? You aren't the one I would have expected to arrive first. Who might you be?" 

"I am Redwing." 

"Oh, are you, now? And I suppose you're some ranger with that heavy bow? Come adventuring from the forest?" 

"No, I am here to see the wizard. I've come with a wolf pack that waits above." 

"Oh, you're an animal lover then? Kulju won't like that much I'm afraid."

"Is Kulju the wizard the wolves speak of?" asked Redwing aiming his crossbow at the little man.

"Kulju is a conjurer and one you should be respecting. There's no point threatening me. He's right through there. I'm not stopping you." 

The small bent man waved his writing quill toward the next doorway. Redwing sized him up as harmless and walked into the next room. It was lit with four torches, one in each corner of what was once the main ossuary of this burial site. In the center of the square space was a massive crystal ball that created light of its own. Standing above the sphere was a man in black hooded robes. He turned his attention to Redwing when he entered. 

Bloodshot sunken eyes peered out from under the hood. His head was a bald blackened skull with ashen skin and he wiggled boney fingers above the glowing sphere. Hanging around his neck was a golden amulet with a dark purple stone at its center. Redwing immediately recognized it as a source of magic. 

When he spoke, his skin pulled tight over his pointed cheekbones and exposed rotten crooked teeth. 

"So you are Redwing." 

"I am."

"What do you want?" he sneered.

"I came hunting the animals that were robbing farms on the opposite side of the western wood."

"You're a long way from home."

"I killed two wolves and delivered the pup of the dying mother. The pack brought me here to you as they heard your call."

"Oh?" 

"I come to claim both the pup and the pack as my own. I have bested their leader."

"And you say you're no ranger, no druid of the forest?" 

"Do not be fooled by this bow. I am a sorcerer." 

Kulju laughed. 

"Well, Redwing the Sorcerer, slayer of my wolves, you shall pay for that." 

Kulju raised his hands and black mist shot from them across the room and burst around Redwing in a puff of smoke causing no harm. Redwing raised his crossbow and fired a bolt right into Kulju. White light lit out of his side where the arrow struck and he groaned in pain as he pulled it out and threw it to the side. 

Redwing loaded another fast and fired at his head. This time Kulju swatted it aside like it was nothing. 

"You say you are Redwing. What is your real name? ...Identity."

Before he knew what he was doing he said, "Nicholas, Nicholas Redwing Melock." 

The second the words escaped his lips he knew the wizard was tapping into his mind. He focused to block any further influences. 

"Melock!" The glowing ball swirled with fire and Kulju's eye took on the same flame. 

"So you're his new protégé. I know your father. All too well." His hands began to take on the fire.

"I send you back to him. It was a pleasure meeting you, Nicholas Redwing Melock!" 

He slapped his hands together and the room filled with flames.