Chapter Four
How dare that little mongrel try to kill him! He was going to pay! If only he knew how to utilize these accursed starstones better. Polaris placed them each back onto their respective stands with his magic and sighed. At least that short little being wouldn't find him here, these tunnels were a maze designed to prevent those searching for the starstones to really happen upon them just by chance.
He was regretting every action he had taken since he had usurped control of the very thing he had been tasked with guarding. He shouldn't have crossed into that other world; he shouldn't have brought that insufferable being back with him. He wasn't even sure how he did it. He just thought it, and the stones took him there. So why were they refusing to be more compliant to him? This was infuriating!
He looked over the chamber and saw the rubble that he remembered Starswirl falling under. Of course that coward would flee; he didn't need him; He didn't need anypony. He just needed time to sort this out. Time to learn exactly how to use the starstones in other acts than ripping apart the world. Maybe that was the only thing they were good for? No, no.. there had to be more. That couldn't be the only thing these things could do!
He began pacing around the stands, desperate to find someway to create a plausible thesis regarding the stones and their unwillingness to subject to his command. He was going to go mad if he kept this up.. but maybe he already was.
He had given up a lot to take this risk. To not be forgotten behind a plethora of other names that were just the subject of matter in a dusty old book. He wanted to be in everypony's mind, in their words, in their very way of life. He wanted to be influential and it seemed that a negative influence would be the only way to get him there.
Then came the voices. Never before had they echoed through his conscious, whispering to him like they knew what to do; like they were the solution.
Don't be afraid of the power. Use it to its fullest extent. Only then will you be able to fulfill what you had promised to set out and do.
“What?” He spoke out aloud, spinning around and looking for any source as to where the voices may have come from.
Concentrate your mind on each stone. Let it become a part of you. That is the way to truly use these stones. Gods tremble at their power, mortals worship them. The answer is clear: use them and have them become an extension of yourself.
He was mad. He was hearing things that shouldn't have been there! Were they speaking lies, or were they trying to aid him? Was it a mechanism within his mind to help solve problems? If he did do something like that, let the stones become a part of him (so to say), would their be negative repercussions? He knew a merging spell that did just that, but he had always known that there was always something bad to come out of it when used such a spell.
Hesitation will be the death of you. Your pursuer will find you. It is time to do what you were always meant to do.
“But.. I don't want to..”
Then die. The choice is yours.
Polaris' horn began to glow as he brought the stones once more off their stands. Being much more tender with their treatment this time, unlike during the bout with Starswirl. He looked at each one separately, the runes glowing along with his red magic.
He took a deep breath in anticipation. Was this the only way to make these stones work the way they were meant too? Was this even a possible way to utilize them? He was taking the word of voices within his head like the pathetic unstable washout he was.
That was it. No more thinking, it was time to act. He was going to lose it all if he stopped now. He remembered the merging spell he had taught himself so many years back. He closed his eyes as the stones began to circle around him.
As the incantation grew further and further into maturity, the stones moved closer and closer towards Polaris. They orbited his body, closing in with each second, the red magic began to form around him and the stones amongst one common perimeter, no longer by their own separate jurisdiction.
He could feel the power becoming a part of him. Like they were simply an augmentation rather than a tool to him. This was the way he would go about his plans, he just knew it.
The stones spun faster and faster until they began to touch his body, cutting through his robes and burying themselves into his fur and halfway into his skin. It didn't hurt, in fact, it felt slightly invigorating. It was to be expected when the stones were full of raw energy.
One buried itself right below him horn, in between eyes. He wasn't sure, but it felt like a warm liquid began to run down snout and too the floor. He couldn't look now, though, he was concentrating too hard on a spell that was primarily for alchemy and not for merging things within living tissue.
Then came the overwhelming surge of energy that made him lose balance and fell over. The voices were no longer whispering as well, they were speaking downright to him. Whatever he had done, he had strengthened whatever was speaking to him.
"Well done. Perhaps now you will be able to achieve what you've set out to do."
He looked at the ground in front of him, and found that, in fact, blood had been dripping from his forehead. The blood was still fresh, but something about it was festering and causing it to bubble softly on the stone ground. What could that mean? If it was something serious, he wasn't sure he could truly grasp the notion due to the fact that he had not tested his abilities yet.
He stood up off the ground and looked around the chamber. Nothing had changed since he had begun the spell. The rubble still stood there from where he had fought Starswirl, and the stands that had held the stones were still centered around him.
He walked out to the path leading out of the chamber and gave one last look back. He brought a hoof up to his forehead where the stone had implanted itself and felt surface of the rune. It was warm to the touch and he knew it was just dying to be used.
He gave one last nod to the chamber that had housed the stones and began to form another spell. His horn glowed the usual red, but sparks could be seen accompanying the aura this time. This was going to be earthshaking, he just knew it.
Without even thinking it through, he short forth the beam from his horn, the kickback from the velocity at which it fired sent him flying back down the tunnel he had been planning on traveling through.
The chamber he had directed the spell towards was soon gone behind a plethora of dust and crashing stone that had come flooding down the tunnel after him from where the enclosure had once stood.
Polaris hacked and coughed as the dust sprayed over him, his eyes struggling to see the damage he had caused with his newly amplified abilities. But he didn't get a chance too, for the entire tunnel soon shook as a shock wave riveted in succession with the destroyed chamber.
“I did this...” He whispered to himself, fighting against the dust and his lack of sight. “I did this.. I really did this...” The tunnel continued to shake even more violently than before, if he did not stop this, it may just collapse upon him.
He thought of a stasis spell and quickly began to channel it through his horn, unsure about where exactly he was going to be aiming. He simply brought the amplitude to as far as he could go and set it loose. The red shot forth from his horn, sinking through the tunnel's sides and cracks.
Eventually the rumbling and shaking began to stop, causing Polaris to sigh in relief. He didn't even know his own strength. If he didn't keep it in check, he would only end up killing himself. He had no desire to end his conquest before it had even begun.
He stood up, the dust around him sitting in the air as it too had been affected by the stasis spell. He had never seen the particles in the air be affected by his spells before, the power that swirled within him was truly a marvel to behold. With this, he could easily take whatever he so pleased, and with an unbelievable ease.
There was one loose end he had to take care of first, and that was the rather short being he had brought over from the world with him. He had already roasted himself over his insensibility regarding the trip he had made, and he was determined to fix what he had wronged.
“We'll see who's chasing who now, you little nuisance.”
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At this point, it seemed like a practice in futility. After wandering through these tunnels for what seemed like days, Finem was beginning to lose interest in exacting the punishment his would be captor so surely deserved.
One thing he found out during this boundless pursuit was that his Death Gate was useless in this dungeon. He had tried to see if he could return back to Acherus, but find himself unable to form the gate properly, it did not materialize and simply fell apart before him.
The unicorn must have been using some sort of ward upon this place to keep any from escaping. Just another reason to end his life once he came across him. Wherever the hell that beast was, he was going to pay ten fold for each second that this delayed him.
Then again, what was he being delayed from exactly? Where was he going before this? He didn't know. Here he had a clear goal, but out there he had nothing. Just the cold winds of Northrend were the only gift he received out there.
The tunnels suddenly began to shake with reckless abandon, nearly throwing the gnome off his feet. He brought his hand to the wall he had been walking by for support and saw debris crumbling from the top of the tunnel. What had happened? Some sort of seismic activity or something had just begun, and he was caught in the middle of it.
This was basically a deathtrap for anyone underground at this point, but there was no way up for him, so he kept down the path he had been trekking down, keeping his eyes near the top of the tunnel.
The vibrations suddenly stopped and the Death Knight's knees wobbled and buckled from the sudden stillness that was created. Something wasn't right here. The stillness that had just taken form had an unnatural feeling to it.
“Looking for me?”
From what seemed like nowhere, a magical and electrically charged tendril short forth, nearly engulfing him right there. He managed to dodge it with a roll and pull his runeblade out, looking around cautiously.
“Don't bother, I'm not hiding.”
The gnome staggered back as somehow the unicorn he had been searching for suddenly appeared right before him, his face cool and pragmatic. “I may have underestimated you before, but trust me, I won't do the same again.”
The air around the unicorn seemed to ignite from sheer energy and Finem noticed that the unicorn was a bit different from what he remembered. Blood was caked across his face and his robes were torn as if something had went right through them. Underneath his horn was a runed stone that surged with power.
It figured that the unicorn would need something to enhance his abilities. Mutilating himself though was a tactic he wasn't use to seeing anymore, but he had seen it enough back in the days of being under the influence of Arthas not to be moved by the sight before him. Instead, he simply took the opportunity to make a charge at the unicorn.
The air around him seemed to be on the verge of exploding as he swung his blade towards the unicorn. It only collided with an unseen force and sent a jolt up his arms and to his skull. He staggered back as he struggled to recover from jarring himself.
What was this? The unicorn had not been this hermetic in their previous encounter. Perhaps the stone was doing more than he had initially thought. At least it was more of a challenge this time. He attacked again, but this time it wasn't a charge or any physical attack. A dark tendril stretched forth from his open palm, intent on going straight through whatever barrier the unicorn had summoned.
The air seemed to vibrate in a visible wave as the tendril did its job and broke through the barrier like a person diving smoothly into a pool of water. It grabbed the unicorn not by the throat or by the horn, but by the front hoof and forced him to fall over.
The beast yelped and hit the ground hard and the shield he had been maintaining was gone. He screamed in agony as he was dragged across the ground rather forcibly towards the gnome. The unicorn was able to fight through the pain and aim his horn above the Death Knight, firing a magical projectile upon the top of the tunnel.
This caused the tunnel to cave in and as the rocks fell down, one broke the connection Finem had with his would be victim. They were soon separated completely by the fallout from the cave in and Finem sat down in silent contemplation.
He had lost his chance again. The beast was crafty, he would give it that, but that power.. it wasn't something that the unicorn had possessed before this skirmish. He wasn't going to keep getting chances like that, not if the unicorn kept up this sudden jump in magical energy.
A hissing sound could suddenly be heard from behind the rocks that had blocked off the tunnel. Instinct took over and Finem ran down the tunnel away from the rubble. He was right to run, for the rubble suddenly disintegrated within a violent red light that shot down the tunnel at an uncanny speed.
The gnome rounded a corner just in time to dodge the beam that continued down its current direction. It did not let up for several moments and the gnome was beginning debate upon just continuing his way down another path.
It suddenly stopped and Finem looked down the tunnel he had come from. The entire perimeter of the passageway had been broadened dramatically after the blast. Whatever that unicorn had done, it was enough to devastate even a steadfast tauren.
The unicorn was still there, looking down the tunnel for him. Luckily, it didn't seem like he had seen him. The tables had changed slightly, it was a game of hide and seek for both sides now. Whoever got the jump on each other would most likely come out victorious.
Finem was smart to recognize that he would now have to wait further to get his opportunity to strike. So he walked down the passageway he had cut the corner to. He wasn't one for games, but now he was forced to play one. He gave a distasteful sigh as he went further into the intricate system of tunnels, hoping that eventually a juncture would allow him to finally achieve his goal.