Joseph Stephens and the Hallows End part 4 of 4

    Joseph Stephens, Jaye Williams, Bob the skeleton and Lynara the magic user all stood staring up at Gujia Ironspine, the boss of the Devil’s casino in Hallows End. Gujia held his giant iron club out, ready to strike the group. Lynara was preparing her next spell and Joseph was trying to come up with a plan on the spot.

    Jaye began to chug his bottle of maple syrup. He then pulled out his claw hammer and stood ready to fight. Jaye eyed the situation and Gujia. The large skeleton boss was so big that the four friends were child sized in comparison. Any melee attacks would only reach Gujia’s hip at best. Jaye decided to act first and charged forward.

    Gujia was preparing to swing his large club. He moved into a sweeping motion, hoping to take out the whole group in one shot. Jaye jumped over the giant club and tumbled forward, closing the gap between them. Joseph jumped backward, barely missing the end of the club. Lynara grabbed Bob the skeleton and floated up above the strike. “Bob, go get help. We are outmatched. We both know a fight in the streets won't get much attention in this town unless we give them a reason to care” Lynara said then launched Bob with her magic. Bob went soaring down the road and crashed through the eye window of the Grinning Jack Inn.

    Lynara dropped from the air and launched shadowy fireballs at Gujia. Each flame burst into smaller flames upon impact. Gujia took a step back as he tried to pat out the flames. Jaye took this opportunity to attack. He swung his claw hammer and struck Gujia’s bulky kneecap on his right leg. Joseph Moved quickly towards Gujia as he recoiled from the attacks. Joseph brough his sword up and went in for the strike but before he could blue energy erupted from Gujia’s body.

    The bluish green aura exploded outward, which pushed Joseph backwards and threw Jaye several feet. Gujia charged forward and slammed his club down at Joseph. Joseph narrowly rolled out of the way as the giant iron kanabo club struck the earth. Gujia then stomped his giant foot down at Jaye. Jaye had enough time to stand up then swung his claw hammer at the giant foot. The hammer struck and knocked off a chunk of Gujia’s middle toe. The large oni skeleton reared back in pain. His anger surged causing flames to spring up from all around him.

    “I think we are a little out of our depths with this one” Said Joseph as he pumpkin sword transformed into steel armor with a pumpkin look to it. Jaye pulled out a handful of autumn leaves and looked down at them with nostalgia then put them back into his ratty, green hooded sweatshirt. Jaye then took his claw hammer and chucked it. The hammer went soaring through the air and lodged itself into Gujia’s eyehole.

    The giant skeleton recoiled in pain as he tried to unhook the clawed hammer from his eye socket. Lynara used the opportunity to caste her biggest and most exhausting spell to use. She closed her eyes and stretched out her arms. In her left hand she held a wand with a pumpkin on the bottom and her right hand was stretched into an open palm. She moved her right hand through the air, drawing invisible symbols with each strike of her palm. The end of the pumpkin wand bounced up and down in a playful manner. Once the spell was finished, Lynara’s eyes shot open then changed shadowy purple and black. A dark portal to another world opened up in the ground by Gujia’s feet. Long purple tentacles sprung out from the shadows. Each tentacle hooked into the ground and a large spherical creature pulled itself from the depths. This all took place in a matter of moments and by the time Gujia realized what was happening, it was already too late.

    The orb like tentacle monster grappled onto Gujia and attempted to wrestle the club from his hands. The two monsters wrestled for control of the weapon as Joseph and his friends were given a slight reprieve. “How did you do that?!” Joseph shouted in amazement. Lynara couldn’t move or respond, she was frozen in place as the shadow monster fought with the giant skeleton boss. “New plan we run and let the monsters deal with their crap” Jaye said clearly tired of cleaning up after others. “No, we promised Bob we would stay” Joseph retorted. “Bob is gone just like we should be. This skeleton guy is no joke” Jaye replied.

    Bob could be seen running back towards the battle just as the two friends conversation became more and more heightened. “I am back, my friends!” Bob replied. He ran clumsily along the road then tripped over a rock in his path, causing him to fall on his face. When he stood back up his mustache was stuck to the road. He quickly picked it up and stuck it back on, luckily for him no one had even noticed his arrival or his de-mustaching.

    Joseph and Jaye turned to see Bob standing ten feet away petting his mustache and whispering. Behind Bob was a whole group of monsters from town. Pumpkin Jack lead the charge of angry townsfolk. Each monster from town had weapons drawn, teeth bared and claws out.
    Lynara began to struggle with her magic as her shadowy avatar pried the Kanabo club away from the mad skeleton boss. The shadow monster began to flicker like static as Lynara’s legs began to tremble. Gujia was pushed back and separated from his weapon just as the shadowy tentacle monster blinked from reality. Lynara regained consciousness as he eyes returned to normal. She stumbled and fell backwards completely out of strength.

Once the shadow beast vanished Gujia was free to reclaim his weapon. Lynara had stalled the skeleton boss just long enough for  half of the town to show up to the fight. The angry mob arrived right before Gujia could claim his precious kanabo club shaped like a spine.
“Gujia! You have some crimes to answer for! Bob here told us all about your plans. Then we were able to extract a similar story out of a skeleton henchman who works for you” Pumpkin Jack shouted. The scarred man was brandishing a long, jagged cutlass. The sword that had slain the Necromancer of the Haunted forest.  Next to him were the Czars of Halloween, two humans from the Autumn Forest who loved Halloween so much that they fight the dangerous Lich to save the town and then moved into the town as heroes. These heroes were backed by werewolves, ogres, ghosts, trolls, zombies, banshees, witches, grizzled veterans of the Haunted Forest and worst of all Bob the skeleton. Bob was still singing a sweet, soft lullaby to his mustache.
Gujia turned to the group. “This is personal business. I am not involving the town” Gujia lied. “You are trying to take over the town with an army of skeletons. We arent dumb” Rebuked The deadly Pumpkin Jack. “You corrupted skeletons with greed and false promises!” Lynara added as she slowly gathered her strength.
Gujia stopped walking towards his weapon and put his hands in the air. “Alright, so now what? Is this a fight to the death?” Gujia asked, a threating challenge in his tone. “No, because we would clearly win. You need to leave Hallows End and cause no trouble. Your casino goes to Bob the skeleton. It will be converted into a club hall and community center” Jack shouted back.
One of the Czars whispered something into Jack’s ear. “We will keep the black jack and poker tables” Jack added. The town cheered.

    Gujia was forced from town. He claimed his weapon and headed off into the densest part of the Haunted Forest. The town cheered then dispersed to get drunk.

Lynara smiled at a job well done then turned to leave. “Wait, aren’t you going to say goodbye?” Joseph called out as he ran to catch up with her. “I think you are incredible and I know you probably aren’t interested in me but if you are, I’d really like to go out for coffee or something” Joseph said, immediately nervous about how she would reply. Lynara chuckled. “I am interested, at least a little” She said with a wink. “But you barely know me. I’m also not even human” She explained. “I figured you were some kind of witch or something. But I don't mind. And we can get to know each other over coffee” Joseph replied. Lynara let out a long drawn out sigh. Then snapped her fingers. Her human form changed in a puff of violet smoke. A second later the true form of Lynara stood before Joseph. She was a female, magic user, skeleton in black robes. “I’m a skeleton who can use magic and illusions. I didn’t mean to trick you but I was worried that whoever was changing skeletons bad would go after me. So I hid my identity. I assumed you would have figured it out though, why else would I want to help skeleton kind so much?” Lynara explained.

Joseph’s expression never changed. “I am still very interested in coffee, regardless if you are a human, a witch, skeleton warrior or even a skeleton magic user” He told her as he grasped his hand gently over her skeletal hand. “You really are persistent” Lynara said with a laugh that echoed into her skull.

“Well since we saved the day, maybe we can collect that reward and do a little sight seeing!” Jaye said. Then looked at Bob. “OH! Yes of course. I have your rewards. Magical potions that the old hag of the forest made. They let you transport to any realm of your choosing! Just drink the stuff and you will have the power to realm jump. Also the Czars of Halloween have agreed to show you around town” Bob explained as he handed Jaye the two bottles of realm jump potion.
The two friends had once again saved the day and were rewarded with new powers and a wonderful Halloween. The whole group celebrated at Hallows End through the rest of October.
The town slowly returned to normal. Bob was put in charge of the newly remodeled casino/skeleton club center/town community center. He was truly an expert organizer and the community center was the best run organization in Hallows End.

Joseph and Jaye eventually returned to their normal lives and decided to give the adventuring a break for a little while. Joseph and Lynara started a relationship together, whether she was a skeleton or was in human form, he loved and cherished their time together.

The moon hung up high in the night sky. Peace drifted over the land and ever so faintly the sound of laughing could be heard. The sound of the laughing pumpkin echoed over Joseph’s quiet home.

Assault on the Dark Spire part 2

         The Necromancer stood up as blood gushed from his wounds. The Ancient dark magic staff had expended all of its energy, but the evil staff had a mind of its own and was determined to retake as much energy as it could. The staff began to absorb the dark power of the Haunted forest, the cursed clearing, the undead minions and the Necromancer himself. Dark energy swirled around the Necromancer but he refused to give up the staff even though it was killing him. He held it tight against his body as the dark energy stripped the flesh and organs from his bones. The undead minions all collapsed to the ground and their souls were released into the air. The demons of the Haunted forest fled from this realm as they feared their energy would be drained from the mad Staff’s power.

            The Mayor could barely stand and had to watch the madness unfold as he struggled to his feet. When the energy and flashing light faded the Necromancer stood before the Mayor as a skeleton. The Skeleton was fused with the power of the staff. The Staff held his magic, his life force and his soul and the Necromancer held the Staff. It was even more important to him now than it had ever been.

            The mayor couldn’t fight and even if he could he didn’t know how to kill a skeleton wizard with so much power. The Mayor stood up defiantly. He didn’t think he could win, but he had to try. He had to fight, even with his last breath. “Foolish Mortal. I have been reborn. I am the most powerful undead wizard of all time. I have been reborn as a Lich and my power surpasses all. I have power over death itself!!” The Lich Shouted. At that moment Death appeared. The Grim reaper wore a black cloak and carried a scythe, he floated in front of the Lich and his cloak seemed to fade into the shadows. “As a mortal you tried to bend the laws of life and death to your will, you twisted the laws of reality to match your selfish desires. I cannot take mortals before their time so I had to sit and watch as you sinned against nature. But you are no longer mortal, you are an abomination that claims to have powers over me. Alright then Abomination, do your worst” Death said, its voice came from the air and not its skeletal mouth. Each word that Death spoke echoed and sent chills down The Mayor’s spine.

            The Lich wasted no time and held out his staff sending his strongest spell at the Grim Reaper “Lord of Death, you shall bow to me!” Shouted the Lich as the magic of the staff blasted the Grim Reaper and surrounded him. Death spun his scythe through the air and the magic spell dissipated. “Fool” Death said then in a blink was next to the Lich, then in another blink the Grim Reaper had slashed his Scythe through the Lich.

            The Lich was thrown back and damaged but was not destroyed. His life force was safe within the Staff. The Lich was quite possibly immortal, but he was not stronger than Death itself. The Grim Reaper summoned a dark portal below the Lich. Shadowy hands rose up from the portal and grabbed onto the Lich, dragging him down into the ground. The Lich screamed as the shadow hands pulled him into his dark prison deep down into the earth. The ground shook and the Lich slowly disappeared underground.

            “Thank so much” the Mayor said as his voice quaked with fear. He knew Death was a natural force and not a villain like the Lich, but it was still terrifying to be in its presence. Death nodded to the Mayor “You have also contributed to this victory young Mayor. You and John Baines” Said Death. “What will happen to the Necromancer? Or the Lich or whatever he calls himself” Asked the Mayor “He will be sealed underground for eternity. But I fear he will regain his power one day and return. He will return but will need to use all of his energy to do so. Only then will he be able to be destroyed once and for all. So I hope that there will be mortals as brave as you when that happens” Death explained.

            “I want to be there when he comes back. I will do anything to make sure the Necromancer doesn’t come back to destroy the world” The Mayor said. The Grim Reaper was surprised “it is within my power to do this but there is a price. You will be immortal, free from dying of old age, but you can still be killed by other means. Also you will only be immortal while standing on these Hallowed grounds. You may leave the forest to see your family, but as you reach the end of your life you must never leave the forest or you will die the second your foot touches the outside world” Death explained.

            The Mayor was overjoyed to have a chance to protect his people and the people of the world. “Thank you so much for this chance, I will not let it go to waste. I promise. But these grounds are not hallowed or holy, are they?” Asked the Mayor. “Yes, this was once the burial site of many heroes of the ages. This was the site for the heroes of not just the Autumn Forest but of many lands as well. The Necromancer corrupted that energy and turned it to dark energy. The land and forest will be forever scarred, the Haunted forest will be free from demons but the spirits and creatures of the night still lurk within. The land will remain blackened and twisted but the dark energy has been removed and sealed within the staff. This land is once again a holy land, the burial site of heroes and many dead who lost their lives to the Necromancer” Death Explained.

            “Speaking of Heroes” Death said. Then appeared next to John’s body. “Arise John Baines, you have not left his world yet” Death said. The mayor watched a ghost of John appear and step back into his body. John’s eyes opened and he slowly stood up. “John you have done well. I know you have heard what the Mayor has asked of me. I ask you now, do you wish to join him in guarding this land or will you move on to the afterlife?” Asked Death.

            “I wanted to be free for so long. Now I am free from the Necromancer’s curse and I feel as though a weight has been lifted. I would very much like to go to the afterlife, but I cannot rest as long as the threat of the Lich is still present” John said. “Very well John. I will make you immortal as long as you stay within this land. Magical weapons and spells can still kill you but you have nothing to fear from mortal weapons. Since you have already used up your lifespan you cannot ever leave this forest and if you do, you will die. When you and the Mayor die you will go to afterlife and welcomed as heroes” Death explained. John and the Mayor nodded to show they understood.

            “Before I leave, I will bestow one more gift” Said Death. The Grim Reaper floated over to the ground where the Lich was buried and stuck his finger into the ground, pulled it out then dropped a small seed into the earth and buried it. “This plant will sap the Lich’s power, delaying his return and making him more vulnerable. The plant will grow over the years and it will transform the dark magic of the Lich and the land into the holy energy this land once had. After a time the land might actually recover and become a place of beauty again. What the plant grows into is entirely up to you. It will take any form you wish. But protect it with your lives” Death said. Then before John or the Mayor could say anything, the Grim Reaper vanished.

            John walked over to the seed and looked down at it. “It can grow to anything? What should we grow it into?” Asked John. “I have always been fond of Halloween, the people in the Autumn forest never get into it as much as I do. Maybe we can grow it into a symbol of our victor, a symbol of a new holy land of the dead, a symbol for Halloween. What do you think, John?” The Mayor asked. “It sounds like you want to grow a Jack-o-lantern” John said with a sigh then smiled. His smile was determined but a little frightening “If we are going to live in this hallowed end of the world and grow a Jack-o-lantern as a symbol, then I guess you can call me Jack” Said Jack, his broad smile and wide eyes combined with the scars on his face really did make him look like a pumpkin that was carved on Halloween.

“Alright Jack, consider this your new life. And if we are going to start a new life and actually have to live here, we might as well make it more comfortable” the Mayor said. “What like build a house?” Asked Jack. “No, we build a town” Replied the Mayor.