Maximilian Wolf entered the meeting. He didn‘t want to participate. He never liked the old farts, which called themselves the Council of Elders. But it was important, so he decided to waste his time with them -- if only for the sake of keeping up appearances.
“How great of you to join us, Master Mage, Maximilian Wolf. It wouldn’t be the same without you,“ said Arminas Anwamanë, the head of the council and the elvish elder with the stern face and the brown shoulder long hair, to the brown haired and blue eyed human. Still, Arminas Amemanë was the oldest member of the council with 1546 years. He stood before them in official elvish custom with decorated cloth above his with leafs garnishing his white shirt.
“Oh, don‘t you lie to me. I know all of you would love that the stupid human wouldn‘t come to the meeting, especially you elves. Now could we get this done?“ Maximilian snapped with annoyance.
Tesur Firestaff, the dwarven representative of the council, stood up and explained the situation. “The dragonics have requested the support of the Mage’s Guild. They are currently at war with the nymphs on their planet.“ The short dwarf just reached up to Maximilian’s chest. He had three long beards, which were white like the rest of his hair. Maximilian could tell his age from appearence, which was eight-hundred and sixty-seven years, since dwarfs were not as used to life-spells than elves or humans. Still, Tesur was covered in shoulder and arm armour, with a purple coat coming from his pauldrons. His green robe covered the rest of his body.
“So where is the problem? We granted them the support.“ Maximilian scoffed with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“The dragonic have proven themselves not as loyal as they promised us during the second great war.“ Prinai Gokar, the orcish elder proclaimed, a disdainful edge to his voice. He looked like many orcs Maximilian encountered, brutish and unclean. As the youngest member of the council with six-hundred and thirty-seven years, the orc provided Maximilian with the most problems, since he thought his position as the youngest meant that he was entitled to annoy the Master Mage as much as possible. But in his brownish torn cloak, Prinai looked like someone who just came from the battlefield, which wouldn‘t be something new, since orcs tend to beat eachother up.
“During the last great war not even the elven have given us support.“ Maximilian pointed out.
“That is not true. The elven had problems of their own at the time of the great war.“ Arminas said in defence of his race.
“Oh, so when my mentor called on your help, you weren‘t busy washing your hair, as I remember?“ Maximilian sarcastically responded.
“And the humans didn‘t answer the call as well,“ said Moth Cornfly, the elder of the fairies and second oldest of the council with one-thousand three-hundred and eighty-six years. She always looked beautiful, like the elvish; it was their unique magical aura. It just made them like this, which always pissed Maximilian off, but he learned to ignore the gleam and see the real her. Even without the gleam, Moth Cornfly look stunning in her green dress with her transpired wings. The long white hair around her shoulder would have made every man fall, but Maximilian had grown used to it. It wasn‘t like the first time when he had attempted a meeting with the council.
“Most of the human race can‘t even use magic. How would they be any help in a magical war? The decision is made. We are sending them support.“ Maximilian said. He hardly got angered, but in his three-hundred and sixty-five years, also being the youngest of the group, he never heard an insult like this towards his race. Maximilian himself was dressed in blue jeans and a yellow t-shirt, because he was heading to teach his student, as he was called by the council.
“But we as the council of elders veto your decision.“ Arminas answered.
The human stared with barely veiled contempt at the elf for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. “Fine by me. I will send them my personal Wolfguard; they should be enough.” And with that, he got up to leave without even bothering to make the usual signs of courtesy, to the shocked murmurs of a few and a grunt of admiration from the orc.
As Maximilian stepped out of the meeting room, he sent a telepathic message to the head of his guards with instructions. Just as he was finished with the message, Maximilian disappeared.
Celestia and Luna were going to try out an old spell, which they found in a book about an old legend. A legend that was already ancient, when they were young. They didn‘t know what the spell did, but from what they read, it was supposed to summon a powerful creature which would help them defeat an old evil, like the demonic overlord Lanhanre, who had recently risen from the underworld to take over Equestria and spread terror.
So far the spell was going well, so they decided to put a little more power into it. Suddenly a wave of magic exploded from the centre of the summoning area, creating a large smoke cloud and pushing Celestia and Luna against the wall. A second after that they heard some words, which they couldn‘t make out. As the words finished, chains appeared, which then shackled Celestia and Luna, making them unable to move. They tried to use magic, but it appeared the chains sealed that as well. As the smoke left, they could see a being, which stood on two hooves and which held one hoof out front. The being seemed to be slightly bigger as Celestia was.
Celestia was the first to speak. “Who are you and where did you come from?“
The being began to laugh and said, “Whoa, you summoned me to this world and didn‘t even know that. Foolish alicorns. I am the Master Mage Maximilian Wolf, the fourteenth head of the Mage’s Guild and I‘m the one asking questions. Why was I summoned?“
Luna then replied, “We are not pleased with the way thou speak with us. We are the rulers of this country.”
Maximilian interrupted her to say, “And I am the one with the binding spell. I don‘t care who or what you are. You‘ll answer my question or you‘ll die.“ After this, Maximilian made the chains around Luna‘s body narrow themselves, making it harder for her to breathe.
Celestia now spoke up, trying to get the attention away from her sister, “We summoned you, because there is a great evil threatening our country and the most powerful magical tool, as well as my sister and I are too weak to slay it. So we hoped to summon a kind hearted and powerful creature that could defeat this evil.“
“Your problems are not mine.“ He released Celestia and Luna from their chains, then continued “I hope you find some other being, but you summoned the wrong person. I have problems of my own, which I need to take care of. Goodbye.“ Maximilian turned around, then said, ”I summon thee, branch of Yggdrasil.“ a staff appeared in front of him, then he began to chant a spell.
”Magic coursing through my vein,
power, that through you I gain,
bring me home, where I should be,
from this place, that I now see.“
Nothing happened. Maximilian leaned on the staff for a moment in thought. “That‘s strange. That normally works... Maybe this one...“
”From the home, I was taken by foreign spell,
Which I will now repel,
Back I now go from this plane,
Breaking free it‘s bane.“
Again nothing happened.
Maximilian now says “That should have worked. Why is it not working?“
“Maybe because you‘re not as good as you think you are.“ Luna said mockingly, which she immediately regretted, as Maximilian just waved with his staff and ice spikes appeared, just a centimetre away from Luna‘s neck.
“Maybe the summoning spell, Luna and I used, is interfering with yours. So it won‘t work until you finish what you were brought here for.“ Celestia suggest.
Maximilian just sighed and said, “Where is this so-called evil?“
“Towards the south of this castle in which we now stand, is a place called the Everfree Forest. The evil is there, coming towards Canterlot as we speak. The name of the demon is Lanhanre, the Terror-Bringer.“ Celestia explains.
“An arch-demon, or lower? I have never heard of this ‘Lanhanre.’“ Maximilian asked simply.
“We believe the rank of this particular demon to be at least equal to an Overlord.“ Luna answered.
“Give me half an hour, and the demon is gone. This is a problem for lesser mages...“ Max muttered as if it were nothing, to the surprise of the two alicorns. He then headed towards the balcony and said, ”I summon thee, Frostwing.“ On the balcony, a gigantic dragon with dark-blue scales appeared, turning it‘s head towards Maximilian and roared.
“I know, I wasn‘t supposed to summon you, but it won‘t take long.“ Maximilian said to the dragon. Celestia and Luna stared in disbelief, that this being just summoned an ice dragon like that and was now speaking to it like a friend.
“Ok, Frostwing, let‘s head south. Some demon needs a beating.“ Maximilian says, as he climbs on the dragon‘s back.
About ten minutes later, Frostwing and Maximilian reach the Everfree Forest. They now began looking for the demon and his army. After a short time, Frostwing found them and flew toward the group. They were just about to reach the group, as Maximilian said to Frostwing, “I will go on alone. You can go back to your world now. I can take them myself.“ Frostwing give a annoyed grunt, because Maximilian summoned him only so he could ride him.
“Ok, next time I summon you, we go fight and kill something. Agreed?“ Maximilian suggested conversationally. Frostwing nodded slightly and Maximilian released him from his summoning in midair, sending the dragon back to its home plane.
While Maximilian fell, he summoned Kōri no Musume, his weapons of choice; twin katanas imbued with the powers of ice and frost. As he was heading towards the ground, he prepared himself for landing by summoning a shield that would soften the crash. As he hit the ground, the shield did it‘s purpose, though the crash landing still created a sizable cloud of dust. Maximilian himself was unharmed, though the two demon soldiers which he landed on weren‘t. Both of them had one of his blades stuck in their heads, instantly killing them.
Lanhanre turned around to see what had crashed into his army. Though unable to see through the thick dust cloud, he decided to speak to the intruder.
“Who are you and what is your business with me, Lanhanre, the Bringer of Terror?“
“Before I answer your questions, my dear Lanhanre, do you think you‘re able to slay an arch-demon?“ the intruder asked simply.
“Of course not; I am just a higher demon, still a long way from being a arch-demon.“ Lanhanre answered.
As the dust cleared up, the intruder called out; “Then run now or fall in the will of Grinning Face!“
Maximilian had a lot of secrets. One of them was that his bloodline, which existed since the first human mage, was mixed with demonic and angelic blood; so every now and then a Wolf is born who can become a demon or an angel, though in some special cases both, like Maximilian. Even though Maximilian himself was a special case, in a lot of ways for a Wolf; since not only he was a powerful mage, but an arch-demon and arch-angel as well, which had a lot of downsides to it. Both the demon and angel had their own unique personality, which was nice when there was no one to talk to, but extremely annoying, especially when in battle like at this very moment. Against Maximilian‘s will did Grinning Face, the demon part of him, force himself to the surface and took control. Maximilian didn‘t really have a problem with it, he just felt sorry for his enemy.
Lanhanre was speechless. This monster just wiped out his entire five-hundred strong demon army with a few attacks. The clearing where his army was was now covered in a thick ice, painted red with the blood of his soldiers. For the first time, Lanhanre was scared. He, a demon overlord, was sacred, because the monster he faced was undoubtedly an arch-demon. He heard they were powerful, but he couldn‘t imagine, that they were this powerful. The arch-demon now walked towards him, raising his blade, ready to give the killing blow.
Maximilian didn‘t want to kill him. So he took his body over again, forcing Grinning Face back into Maximilian‘s mind. He slowly walked towards the demon, raising his blade. As he stood before Lanhanre, Maximilian says “I will spare your life, if you never return to this world. Do you understand?“ The demon nodded frantically.
“You will promise this with your life.“ Maximilian continued; the demon was still nodding.
“If you break your promise, I, Maximilian Wolf, will find you; and I banish you back to the hell whence you came. Do you understand?“ The demon nodded.
“Now go!“ Maximilian commanded, and the demon disappeared in a plume of smoke and swirling chaotic energies. Maximilian sighed as he turned around to look at the mess Grinning Face had made.
”You know, you could have gone easy on them, Grin?“ Maximilian thought.
Grinning Face responded gutturally ”Where is the fun in that?” Maximilian sighed again, then teleported himself to Canterlot.
Back in Canterlot, Maximilian teleported himself into the room, where he first was summoned to. Celestia and Luna were surprised as the mage just appeared in the middle of the room.
Celestia spoke first and greeted Maximilian, “Hello again, I see you are unharmed. Did you slay the demon?“
Maximilian answered “I did not slay him.“
Luna blinked at him in surprise. “What do you mean? Did you fail in your task?“
The human smirked in response. “Fail? No. Recall that the terms of your contract were merely to drive off the demon, not slay him.”
The lunar alicorn’s eyes narrowed dangerously, yet she sighed in resignation. “So you banished him, then? Why not simply end his miserable existence? A threat is all he is and all he will ever be.”
“As a matter of fact, he wasn‘t. He and his tiny army would never be able to overrun a trained squadron of mages. I believe this proves that your race is too weak and too secured in it‘s position in this world.“ Maximilian calmly explained to the shocked Diarchs before him.
“I will now go, as I have met the summoning agreement. I wish you a good day, and suggest you start training a proper army.“ The master mage said with finality, as he started muttering the incantation for his Planar Travel spell.
Back in the mage guild, Maximilian first went to meet with his student. As he was walking, he checked with his guard captain to see if his orders were fulfilled. True to his instructions, his entire elite guard had been dispatched to the aid of the Dragon country. Still, Maximilian wondered just why he had been summoned today. There were a lot of powerful mages out there, though he was one of the most powerful. He couldn‘t get rid of the feeling that there was more behind this then just some weak demon. But he ignored it as he reached his student‘s chamber, preparing himself to teach her.