“The plan. It never goes according to it, but you make do. You have to be as flexible as you are resolute. Adaptability is everything.“ – Arch Mage Arinelle

Green and black acid sprayed, narrowly missing the mage as he blinked out of existence to appear behind the dragon. He muttered an incantation and a red streak of pure energy pierced the monster's shoulder, leaving a small hole as it exited and subsequently exploded on the cave wall.

ROAR! The dragon cried out in a combination of pain and anger, flicking his tail at the Lich as he spun around, simultaneously casting a spell.

Arinelle reacted by conjuring a transparent blue shield out of nowhere, blocking the physical attack. The magic from the beast compressed the air around him as it assaulted his mind. It was a powerful spell, but one he was ready for. The mage willed it to break, rendering the dragon’s effort useless.

Chauris expected this, already following it up with an attempt to chomp the ancient wizard. The same shimmering shield blocked his bite, but the mage was slowing.

Sweat dripping from his brow, Arinelle retaliated with a powerful fireball straight into the mouth of the dragon. It was impossible to dodge, with the flames licking his own hands and face. He stepped back. Though it was only a step, he was already ten paces away, leaving only a mist in front of Chauris.

The dragon took more than a few moments to recover his bearing. He lunged toward Arinelle once he located the humanoid, the last desperate attack of a wounded animal about to die.

“I will have your soul,” the Mage replied calmly, despite being anything but. The dragon proved to be more difficult than expected to defeat. Perhaps because I am out of practice. He reached out with a skeletal hand, spoke a word and clenched his fist. He was not sure if it would work, but determined the effort was favorable.

Chauris collapsed, skidding across the cavern floor and narrowly missed Arinelle, only stopping as he crashed into the wall.

The Lich approached with his staff in one hand. The wood was splintered, almost all of its power dissipated; the dragon had cracked it early in the fight.

The ancient beast did not breathe.

Arinelle pulled a box from his small bag, as well as his most powerful healing potion. He gulped down the yellow liquid and opened the empty magical trinket.

As he reached down to the dragon, a voice echoed through the large chamber.

“You cannot have it!”

He spun around, looking everywhere for the source. Then he sensed a presence. It was familiar, but he could not place it.

There was a mild vibration, like the aftershock of an earthquake. Then, he felt something behind him. Cold, cruel, and eternal.

“It is not yours to take…”

As Arinelle looked back at Chauris. The air around the dragon became blurry. The mage reached out, trying to make contact with the dead beast.

The body disappeared before his eyes as the atmosphere returned to normal.

“Leave, Lich…” The voice echoed as it faded.

It was etched in his mind. “Where? Where have I heard it?” He racked his considerable memory, searching.

He could think of nothing else. After a few minutes, a connection he had not foreseen was realized. “Ahh. So you have managed to persist? Is that it?”

There was no response, but the presence evaporated as quickly as it came. It was a confirmation, of sorts.

“Alive. But in what form? Surely not physical… I wonder if he could use his son’s body… Rare. Exceptionally rare.” It rarely happened that he was surprised. In a way, it was refreshing.

Arinelle contemplated for hours, not realizing the time passing him by. Once he snapped out of his thoughts, he began making new plans. He leaned on his staff the entire time. “Ah, this has cost me much.” He felt weak, weaker than he had in a millennia.

The mage limped over to the pile of treasure, “This can help make up for it and pay for what I need.”

Talking to himself had become a habit. It was not necessarily a bad one, but doing it at the wrong time could be problematic. “The loneliness of immortality…”

He was too sapped from the battle and would have to return for the treasure another day, rather than send it back to his lighthouse now.

The Lich fished another healing potion out of his Bag of Holding, downing it.

Chauris had made things exceedingly difficult. Both Arinelle’s plan and his backup were out thanks to his father’s intervention. Fortunately, he had a third.

The mage also had a fourth and fifth, but there was less than a one in ten thousand chance either would have been necessary. They were not fully fleshed out, so now he would have to consider them further, as well as more alternatives.

His first contingency hinged on retrieving the dragon’s soul, but it was not meant to be. Regardless, a soul was what he needed, now that he was weakened from the battle.

He glanced once more at the treasure, “I will return for this.”

Arinelle pulled a scroll from the bag. He did not use them often and would now have to make more. After speaking the words written, they glowed white and blue on the parchment, and he vanished.

-

The Lich left his lighthouse a short time later, a fresh wand in hand. “New, yet ancient. Been a while since I have used you, old friend.” He held it up, inspecting the unnaturally smooth stick in the moonlight. It was predominantly composed of hickory, an extremely durable wood. Inside, however, were various fibers pulled directly from a dragon.

“Perhaps I only selected this one because of my recent encounter… Oh well, it is the most suitable.” The loss of the staff was troubling. Fortunately, most spells did not require the use of one, and the wand would be a satisfactory replacement for now. He murmured into the night, flexed his fingers, and disappeared from sight.

As he strolled invisibly down the street, the mage wondered what could have been had he been able to utilize Chauris fully. He would have made powerful wands, potions, armor… the possibilities! Most valuable would have been the dragon’s soul. It could have powered him for decades… “No sense in dwelling on what could have been.”

Ahead of him a human started, looking about as she heard words spoken. She frantically glanced around, then accelerated to nearly a jogging pace finding no source for the voice.

Arinelle watched her trot off, resolving to think more to himself for the rest of the evening. He proceeded to the shanty town on the northwest side of the city, where he had previously identified a family no one would be missing, at least for a while.

The house was old, at least for a structure of the materials that went into it. Over three decades for cheap wood and nails meant there would need to be a lot of patch work done, which was quite apparent. Once he was up to the house and sure no one was observing, he ended his invisibility spell and knocked on the door.

A human male responded to the knock. “What is this about?” His voice was gruff and he was disheveled.

“Ah sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you and your wife for a moment?”

“Why?”

The Lich entwined magic into his next statement as he gestured widely with his hands, “Oh, just an incredible opportunity to make some coin.”

The spell had an immediate effect on the weak-minded man. His eyes grew wide and a smile shone through his short beard. “Marie, get up here!”

“What do you want!? I swear, I have had enough of… Oh, um who might you be?”

“This man is offering us some coin for something!”

Again, he laced magic with his words, “That is certainly the case. I can see you are the type of smart folks that know a fine opportunity when you see one.”

The woman fell under the same effect. “Yes! Please, come in! Could we get you anything? Anything at all?”

“No, that will not be necessary, thank you.”

“Sit, please, sit!” The female was still fussing over the guest, but took a seat on a decrepit couch.

The other man sat down next to the woman. “Sir, what is it you had in mind?”

The room was lit by several candles, which flickered as they lit the small main room.

Not wanting to hear any more from the two, the mage brandished his wand, flicking it and causing both humans to slump over on the sofa. They both began snoring immediately, with the woman slightly louder than the man.

Arinelle procured the small box from his Bag of Holding and placed it open between the two. He pulled the necessary, but expensive, bits of material from his ingredients pouch. He then performed an immensely complicated bit of magic, muttering and waving his wand with gems and the powder held out in the palm of his other hand.

The lights dimmed while the room cooled. A small breeze began flowing through the shack, its origin indeterminable. The air around the two snoring humans began to blur. They awoke simultaneously, in silent screams. Both clutched their own chests for a moment before collapsing, no longer breathing.

The atmosphere returned to normal and the flame on the candles surged briefly before fading to their standard size.

The simple box was now closed. Arinelle collected it, returning it to the bag. A few beads of sweat dripped from his brow. Ordinarily even this magic would not require much effort, but the lingering effects of the battle were weighing on him.

“Are they… dead?”

The Lich spun around, finding a young girl staring at the corpses. “Ah yes, the daughter... I am sorry my dear, but I am afraid they are.” He raised his wand again. Though he rarely harmed children, loose ends at this stage could be catastrophic.

She continued to look upon her parents, responding, “I’m glad they’re dead.”

Arinelle’s hand stayed. The young girl had not once even looked at him yet. Her words surprised him. “Oh? Why might that be?”

The girl was inscrutable, revealing no emotion, facial tics, or gestures. Her wavy brown hair fell just below her shoulders and her green eyes were still focused on the bodies. “They were… troublesome. Everything they did caused me misery.”

The mage lowered his hands as he straightened up. He tilted his head in continued observation.

The girl finally turned her head to look at him. “How did you do it?”

“Magic, of course.”

“Ok. Then why?”

“For many reasons that I do not care to get into at this time. My sincerest apologies, but I am afraid I cannot let this information get out.” He raised both hands toward her a final time.

“I understand.”

Intriguing. Arinelle stood there, frozen in thought. The young human was still watching him, but he could glean no information from her mannerisms. Should I? I have never… and for good reason! But who could deny these unusual circumstances… After a minute, he made up his mind.

“Aren’t you going to kill me?”

He smiled, “No dear, I do not think I am.” The Lich reached out his free hand, palm up. “Join me.”

This time, it was her turn to tilt her head in curiosity. “What for?”

“To save the world.”