16 February 2012
Gandymeade the sorcerer stood upon the parapet of his castle and sighed as he beheld the approaching angry mob winding its way in the twilight up the mountain trail. They carried torches and pitchforks; it did not bode well.
"The villagers come against us again, Bane," muttered Gandymeade to a gray cat sleeping on a pile of straw. "But prepare a reception for them we shall!," he said with a dark smile.
The sorcerer lifted his hands to the heavens and uttered a spell in a long-forgotten language. In response a hail of stones fell from the skies upon the approaching mob. They cursed and covered their heads but continued to advance.
Bane the cat rolled onto his back as the sorcerer gestured at the skies and caused spirits to form from the air and fly at the villagers. They scattered but brandished charms at the spirits to dispel them. Regrouping, the villagers continued their advance to the castle gate where they began to apply a battering ram to an oaken door that Gandymeade had hastily closed. The heavy door shuddered in its frame and began to splinter under the relentless pounding.
As the door was driven from its frame, sparks flew from Gandymeade's fingertips as he afflicted the villagers with loathesome boils. They groaned but brandished their clubs and pitchforks at the wizard, who cornered cowered back and raised his hands in submission.
Bane the cat then sat up and opened his eyes, which blazed crimson. "Who dares disturb my slumber?," thundered a deep voice that emanated from within the small feline. A blue aura surrounded the cat as it underwent a startling transformation into a saber-toothed tiger.
The screams and roars which followed and reverberated within the stone walls were terrible to hear as Bane tore flesh asunder and gained revenge upon all who had disturbed his rest. His grim work at last done, the powerful spirit reassumed the form of a small gray cat and again took to his pile of straw. "Never trust a novice to do your work for you," mused the cat as he rested his head, leaving Gandymeade to clean up the carnage.
For in the world of magic, you see, it can be hard at times to determine who is the master, and who is the disciple...
Master And Disciple • Opuss № I