Tomes Of Forbidden Magic
by Richard B. Sampson Jr.

I couldn't believe all the searching we had done over the past days. In the search for a spell to defeat the horseman known as Famine, we had not found anything on the Fill spell I had heard about. We had exhausted all the libraries in the Guardian Base, and we were no closer to finding it than we were when we met with Radr. Then, my grandmother, Vet, mentioned about a great Library in the world that the Monster's set up town. All of a sudden, we had to venture out into enemy territory and find this Library. We had just reached the exit into what used to be the Guardian Base Town, when my grandmother stopped and said, "Alright, we are about to venture into the outskirts of the Crystoid's realms. We still don't know how much of the old Guardian town was absorbed, nor do we know if any horsemen are out there. All we do know is that the Crystoids used War and Pestilence to attack the underground areas. We have an idea that Death and Famine are above ground."

I heard my mother ask, "What do we do if we encounter one of the horsemen, mother?" My mother always said to treat my grandmother with more respect than anyone should get, and I did so.

I then heard Jack say, "Simple, we pray we don't encounter one. We are lucky that we know how to counter most of them, but others are still a risk like Death." I knew what he meant. We watched our friend die due to Death's touch.

I then looked at my mother and said, "Mom, why can't we travel directly to the former Monster world?"

It was my grandmother who answered, "Hope, back when your mother turned eighteen, we travelled to all the places your grandfather and I had been. The monster world wasn't very friendly long ago, and when they made a town it got worse. They refused to help the guardians."

I then heard my mother say, "Do you think they survived?" Something inside me had said the answer was no, but I didn't want to say it.

My grandmother just said, "Listen, we should just stay together. Worst case, we use the Door I brought with us. Now, let's go. There is no telling how difficult this journey will be." My grandmother was right. This was going to be difficult. We headed out into what used to be the guardian base town. The exit still exited out into the ruins of one of the buildings, and it looked like nothing tried to inhabit it. However, when we looked out one of the windows, we saw the activity of at least a hundred Crystoids.

I heard my mother say, "What are they doing out there?" I looked and saw that at least half of the Crystoids looked like they had hoses of some sort on them.

I then heard my grandmother say, "I've heard from Radr that this is how they finish their absorbtion. Once it is laced with the gem and metal, these special Crystoids lurk about drenching items in their weird liquid. A few years ago, he was able to get a spy camera in there to witness the task."

I then noticed movement and glanced in it's direction. I was almost in fear when I saw the horseman known as Famine, with the Queen of the Crystoids, and the one they called Portal. I just said, "The Horseman is here, with the two lead Crystoids."

I heard my mother say, "Open the window, Hope. They look like they are talking."

I did so, and soon I heard the hollow voice of Famine say, "The monsters are conquered. Many fell to me." I then noticed that the rune stone on his armor was glowing. That was not a good sign.

Then the leader said, "Good. Once all the ruins are ready, and all the gems are found, Portal will fulfill her perpose. Was the one who has the last gem in that world?"

I head Portal answer the question. "He would not be there. The monster's never got along with the guardians." I then saw that Portal flinched, as if she was in pain.

I heard my mother say, "It's awful what they did to Lena."

My grandmother was quick to say, "I don't know if they have her totally, JaNa. Crystoids don't flinch like that. She might still be resisting their control, but can't break free."

I was about to ask why when the leader of the Crystoids said, "Do you need another bath, our sacred one?" I watched as Portal nodded. The leader then said, "Crystoids, our sacred one is in need of a bath. Prepare for it." Soon, all of the Crystoids headed in the direction of the mountains, but away from the Pillar of Sky we had been told about.

I heard my mother say, "Maybe Lena is still fighting, but why is she so compliant?"

Then my grandmother said, "Maybe the ruler has some influence over her. If we could, we would attempt a rescue, but I think we must use this oppertunity to head to the pillar. We will run when the Horseman is not looking in our direction."

I watched as Jack openned the window farther and said, "Then let's go. The horsemen is going with the Crystoids. Once we can defeat him and the others. We can try to rescue Lena." Soon we had all jumped out the window, and were making a mad dash for the Pillar of sky. As we ran, I glanced back, to make sure we were still not seen. So far, it was clear. As we started to acsend into the sky, I noticed that the horseman was looking straight at us. He might have seen us.

Before I could say anything, we were in what used to the be the Celestrial world. Now it was nothing more than a horrid extenstion of the Crystoid's home. As I looked out, my grandmother said, "Alright, we might not have much time to head to what used to be the monsters world. The Crystoids might be aware of our existance here."

My mother then said, "I doubt it. We don't have far to go, and we can get there very fast." My mother lead us through the formal beautiful world to the pillar that lead to the Monster's world.

When we finally entered their world, I was appauled by what I saw. All the land had withered corpses, like they had starved to death. I almost wanted to throw up, but I kept my cool. I looked at the town and said, "Ok, where do we go in there."

My grandmother pointed at a huge building and said, "Right over there. That library has every book that has ever been writen. We will definatly find something in there on this fill magic." As we made our way there, we were careful not to touch any of the corpses. Thankfully, the library doors were open.

Once inside, my mother said, "Ok, lets split up, but stay close. If Crystoids or any of the horsemen attack, we will need to make a fast escape." We nodded and started to search. As we searched, I found a book with odd spells in it. I could tell they were magic, but I couldn't tell what kind. One had a good title for use on Famine. It was called Terminal Fulfillment. As I commited some of the spells to memory, I heard Jack say, "Vet, JaNa, Hope. Come here. I found something on the `Fill' spell."

I ran over, still carrying the book, but saw the grim look on Jack's face. I looked at the spell and saw what he had seen. "It say's the spell must be writen on the item when it was created and bless when the item was created." It wasn't good. Then I held up the book and said, "But I found some spells in here that could work."

I noticed the grim look on my grandmother's face. My mother then said, "Mom, what is it?"

My grandmother just said, "JaNa. That is a tome of the forbidden magic. Back before the peace Isis helped bring, men and women fought for supremecy. Some even developed lethal spells to kill their enemies but bring a smile to their foes face as well."

I then heard Jack say, "So whose side was that book from?" I then noticed how he looked at it. He seemed to have trouble understanding it.

My grandmother looked at it and said, "Probably was a tome full of magic from the women's side of the war. Hope, how many spells did you read in there?"

I had a feeling that this was a very serious matter, but before I could answer her, we heard a loud crash. It was followed by the hollow voice of Famine. "I know you are in here. You cannot escape. You shall die at my hands."

I noticed my mother look towards the back, and I saw a small hallway there. My mother then said, "We can make it down there and use the door. We don't have a spell that will work."

My grandmother just said, "I think we might have a spell that will work, but you two must get out of here. Hope and I will say."

I heard Jack say, "Vet, we will stay with you. You can't fight Famine alone."

My grandmother only replied, "Jack, I think Hope read a spell that will destroy Famine, but if you are here, if may kill you too. Right now, I don't want to take that chance. Now, you and JaNa, run for the back. If you want, wait five minutes before using the door. If you see Famine coming your way, use the door, regardless."

They turned and headed for the hall. I saw my mother turn back and say, "Good luck you two." Soon, they rounded a corner and were out of sight.

I was scared now. I looked at my grandmother and said, "Now what. I don't know how this spell works." I had read about the spell, and it felt like it was engraved in my head.

My grandmother just said, "From looking at the book, I think all you have to do is stare and chant the incantation. That might be all it needs. Now, we must move fast. Famine is getting closer." She was right. I could heard the movement of the Horseman as he moved towards our position.

I nodded and stepped out into the aisle. Famine was a distance away, but he saw me. "There you are. You are mine." He started advance, and I felt my eyes start to glow. I could even hear myself starting to chant. Soon, I saw Famine had stopped moving and had a strange look on his face. He just looked at me and said, "What are you doing to me?" I didn't know, but I think I was killing him.

Soon, I heard a bubbling, like something was boiling. When I heard that, my grandmother said, "Keep staring, and I'll lead you to the hall." I did so and the boiling sound got louder. Soon enough, I saw Famine start to explode in a mass of glowing yellow goo. The shock made me stop chanting, and I watched as the Rune shoot through the roof. I could guess it was heading to the Crystoid base. Then I noticed the flood of unnatural goop that use to be the horseman of Famine coming towards us. I ran with my grandmother and we noticed that Jack and my mother had the door open.

As we ran through, Jack slammed the door shut, and we were back at the Guardian Base. He then said, "Did you stop him?" When I nodded, he said, "How?"

I just shook my head and said, "You don't want to know, but the Crystoids have one of their runes fully charged. We have to defeat the others before the runes are all charged." It was not a tall order, but I had a feeling that our last one would be close to the worst possible place."

Not over yet...

Killer cure