Snowfall Island's Dark Secret

After receiving word of a strange and powerful magical presence emanating from the arctic Snowfall Island, Zar set out to investigate these rumors to see if they held any merit with their claims. There hadn't been any strange occurrence on the island he was aware of aside from the one where a grieving ice wizard changed the once luscious island resort into a frozen wasteland for his own benefit. His rented boat arrived on the northern shores of the island, the cold air already nipping at any exposed openings in his armor, sending shivers down his spine. Cold wasn't Zar's favorite type of weather in the slightest, but he would brave any discomfort for the chance at discovering a previously undiscovered magical source of power. He pulled out the note he had been given by the informant as headed north, near the base of the largest mountain, where the magic was said to be the strongest and lead to the source. The winds only grew stronger as he neared the base of the mountain, kicking up snow and obscuring his vision of anything farther than 10 ft in front of him. It was an uphill struggle just to make it through the intensifying blizzard without relying on any of his magic reserves, but he finally managed to make it to the rocky surface of the mountain. The wind began to die down, allowing Zar to look up and gaze in wonder at the monstrous mountain of ice and rock that reached out to the sky, going beyond his line of sight but making it clear that it was the largest mountain on the island.

Once Zar had made it closer to the mountain, he started to feel what the informant had described to him in the letter; a strong, overpowering, magical presence resided within or around this island. Its presence on the island grew stronger the closer he got to the mountain face and peaked once he was able to touch the mountain. The feeling he was getting from this presence made his magical blood surge with rejuvenated energies from the arcane anomaly located here and as he reached out to feel around the surface of the mountain, a large blue glyph suddenly lit up and began shaking the mountain. At first, Zar thought he had triggered an avalanche and was preparing to run but then noticed that the rock face was shifting upwards, revealing a concealed entrance into the mountain.The cold winds quickly rushed into the opening, tugging Zar forward and into the mountain. There was no natural light so he was forced to provide himself with some via the torches he had stashed in his backpack. Once the torch was lit with a few matches and some oil, he began his descent into the mountain's secret cavern.

As Zar made his trek into the dark cave by torchlight, he started to hear footsteps approaching from behind him, but there had been no mention of others living on the island in the note he had received for this location. He was about to turn himself around to face this friend or foe, only to be met by the sound of someone's battle cry and bluish white flames engulfing the hallway as well as whatever had been stalking Zar through the cave opening. The smell of burning sulfur filled the air, a rank odor that overwhelmed Zar's senses and forced him to shove a rag up his helmet. The fire began to die down and through the flames, a tall muscular male figure appeared. He was extremely pale in complexion, white as the snow that covered the island. His blue hair hung down low, just scraping against his collar bone, and dark red eyes met is gaze, giving Zar the feeling this wasn't someone you should mess with on any given day. It took him a moment to realize who was standing before him, and properly bow to him. "Master Wilhelm, I wasn't expecting any company on this journey when I was given this letter. The informant who passed this letter off to me neglected to mention I'd be sharing this cavern with Demons. Incredibly cunning creatures and adaptable to boot, but from the looks of it, they're no match for a good ole fashion surprise attack from a skilled mage." Zar made the best of the information he had to give a good first impression to their new guild master. If things worked out well today, he'd be spending greater time in his company when it came to guild matters of import.

"If you would follow me, I've gotten a good feeling of the energy of the object and can lead us directly to it thanks to the rapid expulsion of magical energy it's been producing the last fifteen minutes." Zar led Master Wilhelm down through the cave, taking multiple detours throughout the tunnel system that had been carved into the mountain, constantly growing closer to the source of the energy spikes and the object producing them. With no other unwanted company in sight, he decided to quietly chat the guild master up in an attempt to learn more about him. "You're an extremely powerful wizard, Master Wilhelm, I was wondering what kind of spell that was you used to obliterate that think with a single blow. There was nothing left after it like you had acquired that things weakness from somewhere unknown. It's quite the curious magical presence you have surrounding yourself." He blurted out his intentions quite clearly as his growing excitement from the massive amounts of magical energy pouring around him making him unable to contain his curiosity on any arcane subject. He had to know what made everything tick that he came across, and if that meant prodding their newly acquired Guild Master on his magical abilities, then he would chat him up enough to learn what he could. He was about to inquire more into his background before joining the guild as he began to hear another voice and silenced his own, bringing his foot steps down to that of a mouse to not draw attention to himself. As they came around the final corner, they hid behind one of the many large ice pillars that connected the ceiling and the ground as they observed a thing, its species and gender were undiscernable under the large black robes it wore, chanting to a giant glowing white-blue orb of magical energy, constantly rotating and shooting out massive amounts of magic. At this close range, the power was like the purest drug being slowly pumped into Zar's veins, filling him with energy that he hadn't felt from the outside of the mountain, overflowing his reserves. From the observations he could make without giving himself away, and the massive amounts of magic emanating from the orb, he knew exactly what this artifact of world renown was; the Eye of Magnus. It was an artifact said to have been lost for ages, and now, for Zar to find it in such a place was a dream come true for a seeker of the arcane. Making sure not to lose himself and forget the situation at hand, he signaled to the Guild master, asking him what the plan was for dealing with the mysterious figure working with the Eye.

With his new ordered firmly implanted into his memory, Zar quickly dashed away for the foray and set out into the cave, looking for anything that might be providing a link between their enemy and the Eye. If the link wasn't severed in time, there would most likely be need of yet another Sabertooth guild master before long. The cavern seemed to run in every direction imaginable for an uncalculatable distance each way he looked or traversed, leading him into dead ends, cave-ins, and the occasional skeleton. It was a dreary feeling that he may never find what he was looking for, and fail Kite in the process. He had begun to lose hope that he wouldn't find the hidden link between the eye and their foe, until he felt a faint magical ping in the distance. It was faint and masked, unlike the overwhelming presence of the Eye's magic that filled every corner of the cave.

It had kept its location hidden by the sheer amount of energy the Eye produced, but now that Zar was close enough, he could track and eliminate it. He made his way through the corridor and into the room only to quickly reel back into the cover of shadows. Within the room were two large demons not unlike those he had fought on a previous job with his fellow mage, Roy. Their attention seemed to be focused on the slab of meat they were eating rather than guarding the centerpiece of the room, a large-skulled staff faintly channeling a connective link out from the room and between the eye and man trying to kill Kite. With their attention drawn elsewhere, Zar melded himself into the shadows, becoming a living shadow, moving silently along the surface of the room and up behind the demons, slicing them in half with his greatsword quicker than they had time to react. Now the matter of the staff was in order. He was given the order to take care of the source, but he hadn't been told how he was to take care of it. It would be a shame to destroy a precious artifact such as this, Zar thought, and with that in mind, he opened the realm of shadows under the artifact, swallowing it into its depths to join the other treasures he had stored away. With it being far enough away from those it had linked together, the connection would be severed and now would be the time to end the dark wizard's life.

Zar swiftly made his way back to the room of The Eye to find the wizard had collapsed,and the Eye's magical tremors halted from severing the connection. The only problem was the mage hadn't had enough it seems, as he began to rise up immediately, sending Kite out of eyesight and bringing his attention to Zar. He felt the cold gaze of death encompass his entire body, the dark soulless eyes stared into him. His attack his with the speed and force of a lightning bolt, sending him flying into the wall and pain shooting all throughout his body. He didn't have a moment to recover before the mage was on him, getting a solid foot stomp into his chest, if he wasn't an immaterial being as of that moment. His foot went directly through him and gave Zar the chance to grapple him, planting a shadow bomb growth into his chest and blast him away with a barrage of shadows. He hit the ground as the shadow bomb pulsated rapidly and he tried to remove it from his persons to no avail. As it was made of shadow and magic, his hands slipped right through in his panicked and stunned state from the blast leading to the explosion that came next. The shadow magic that came from the bomb hit the mage directly as well as everything within a 30m radius around him. Not wishing to give the enemy a chance to recover, Zar slowly and painfully rose from the ground, clutching at his chest where the bolt hit him, sparks continuing to dance across his armor and skin as he glided forward. The mage desperately clutched at the ground, attempting to get up as he saw the dark shadow closing in on him. He had just about made it up before the pommel of a greatsword smacked into his temple, knocking him out cold and subduing him. Zar's breathing was heavy and raspy, the energy from the Eye having increased the dark mage's power immeasurably in his last attack on him enough that it almost brought an end to his life. With the threat averted, all that was left was to finish off the mage as all Dark mages were subject to death on sight as ordered by the Magic council.

However, Zar had other plans in mind. He turned to Kite and thanked him. "Thank you, Master-,"Zar started to say, before correcting himself, "Thank you, Kite. Without your impeccable timing, I would have perished long before discovering the Eye in your company. It is a great moment in history with this discovery, and I cannot wait to delve into its secrets. You need not worry about its safety or the well-being of this troublesome mage, Kite. I will take care of him myself." With that, Zar opened up the shadows beneath the Eye and the man, thrusting them both into its gaping maw and closing shortly after their entry. He gave Kite a formal bow, wincing hard from the pain, before departing through the shadows that covered the cave, on his way back to the guild hall after another successful endeavor for Sabertooth.