Rise Of The Mage King

Chapter 6

The Great Hall of the Vargus Estate was a place of impossible light and endless wealth.

High above the marble floor, massive chandeliers floated in the air. There were no candles or ropes holding them up. They were made of pure, shaped fire magic, burning brightly to show everyone the power of the Vargus family. The light made the gold on the walls shine like the sun.

Long wooden tables filled the room. The tables groaned under the weight of too much food. There were whole pigs roasted with sweet apples in their mouths. There were bowls of silver filled with purple grapes from the southern islands. There were fountains made of glass that poured red wine instead of water.

Lord Vargus sat at the head of the largest table. He wore a brand-new jacket made of deep red velvet. Gold threads were woven into the collar. He looked handsome, powerful, and very happy. He held a cup of wine in his left hand. His right hand was wrapped in clean, white silk.

"More wine!" Vargus shouted, laughing loudly.

A servant boy, dressed in simple gray clothes, rushed forward holding a heavy silver jug. The boy was shaking. He knew that if he spilled even one drop of wine on the Lord's red jacket, he would be beaten or killed. The boy poured the wine carefully and ran away to hide in the shadows.

Next to Vargus sat Lady Sylas, a beautiful woman with pale skin and blue hair. She was a powerful Ice Mage. She looked at Vargus's wrapped hand and smiled.

"Tell us again, Vargus," Lady Sylas purred, taking a small bite of a sweet cake. "How did a dirty little street rat manage to hurt a high noble? Did you forget how to use your fire?"

The other nobles at the table laughed. They wore fine dresses and shiny rings. They were all powerful mages. They thought the world belonged to them.

Vargus did not look angry. He just smiled and took a drink of his wine. "The rat was crazy, Sylas. Completely crazy. I pumped him full of my Mana Slag. It was a very heavy cleansing. I felt completely fresh afterward. But the boy’s brain must have broken from the poison. He jumped at me like a wild dog and bit my hand!"

The nobles gasped, but then they laughed even harder.

"A Null biting a mage!" said Lord Kael, a fat man with a beard made of actual, growing green leaves. "What a joke. What did you do with the broken toy?"

"I had Felix throw him into the Chasm of Forgotten Gods," Vargus said simply. He waved his hand, acting like a man who had just thrown away a bad apple. "He is falling in the dark right now, or he is already dead at the bottom. The garbage goes with the garbage."

"Good," Lady Sylas said, wiping her mouth with a cloth. "Nulls are disgusting. They are empty. It makes me sick to even look at them."

"He was not completely useless," Vargus said. His eyes shined with a cruel, dark light. "Before I threw him away, my men found out about his family. He has a little sister living in the slums. A ten-year-old girl with silver hair."

The table grew quiet as Vargus leaned forward.

"I am sending my guards to collect her tomorrow morning," Vargus continued. "She has a spark of magic. She is too pretty to live in the mud. I am going to put her in a nice dress. I will teach her how to sing, how to pour my wine, and how to kneel when I enter a room. She will be a very nice little pet. And the best part? Every time she looks at me, she will know I threw her brother into the endless pit."

Lord Kael slammed his hand on the table, laughing. "Brilliant! You are a cruel man, Vargus. I love it."

Vargus stood up. He raised his wine cup high in the air. "To power!" he shouted to the room. "To the strong who rule, and the weak who serve!"

"To power!" the hundreds of nobles shouted back. They raised their cups. The floating fire chandeliers burned even brighter.

Outside the Great Hall, two massive iron doors stood closed. They were twenty feet tall and thicker than a man’s body. Four elite guards wearing heavy silver armor stood in front of the doors. One of them was Felix, the man who had kicked Drogo and dragged him to the Chasm.

The music in the hall was loud. People were dancing.

But suddenly, the temperature in the room began to drop.

It did not happen slowly. It happened fast. The warm, happy air turned freezing cold. The breath of the nobles started to turn into white steam. The sweet smell of roasted pig and wine disappeared. A new smell filled the room. It smelled like old rust, wet dirt, and dead things.

Lady Sylas frowned. She looked at her hands. "Did I lose control of my ice magic?" she whispered.

"No," Vargus said. He looked around the room, confused. The floating fire chandeliers were flickering. They were struggling to stay bright.

Hiss...

A strange sound came from the entrance. It was very quiet at first. Everyone stopped talking. The musicians stopped playing their violins. The Great Hall became completely silent.

Hiss... Crack...

All eyes turned to the massive iron doors.

Felix stepped forward, putting his hand on the handle of his sword. "Who is out there?" he shouted. "This is a private banquet! Go away!"

No one answered.

Instead, a spot in the center of the heavy iron doors began to change color. The shiny black iron turned dull gray. The gray spot grew larger and larger. It spread across the metal like a fast disease. The iron was rotting.

"What is happening?" Lord Kael asked, his voice shaking. "Is it an attack? Is it acid?"