Before I begin, I'd like to say two things. First, I'd like to make another apology, this time to Dragonman. He mentioned this is his chapter branching off of one of the beginning of Tales of the Arcane, but I'd still like to apologize. I stated "Alt chapter by original author", and it wasn't quite the right wording. I should have said "Alt chapter by Tales of the Arcane author." It was a simple case of bad wording. Everything is okay now, and his new chapter/storyline is excellent! (That was thing number two). I love his work, and would highly recommend it. With that in mind, here is the continuation of Tales of the Arcane.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I understand. Now, the main reason why I called you here is simple." The Archdemon started. "There is something I would like you to have that will aid you and your familiar greatly." Your and Rowan's eyes lit up. A gift from the Archdemon was not something to take lightly. Last time this happened, Rowan got his Dark Magic ring, one so powerful that there is still a strong essence left in it. During your reading, you learned that rings, when worn continuously, have their power slowly absorbed by the wearer. You also learned that rings usually take about 5 years for this to happen. This dark ring has lasted 26 years. That is how powerful this ring was. "Come forward Lord Tyrell. You too Gannoth." The two of you walked forward slowly, showing utmost respect for the Archdemon. Once you were at the foot of his throne, you stopped. As you looked up at the Archdemon, you could feel the power radiating off of him. It made your master's seem minuscule. Just how powerful was he? You then saw Zebulon open his hand. In it were two identical rings. They were both completely black, but you could tell there were many intricate patterns and symbols on the rings. "I myself spent 5 years crafting these rings for my loyal followers in the Mortal Plane." Zebulon started. "They make the power of the ring I gave you 26 years ago seem minute. These are masterpieces of Demonic craftsmanship. I call them the Demonic Rings." He started to chuckle. "Not a very creative name, I know, but the name is as descriptive as possible. They give the wearer the power of demons. Demons like myself, not lowly servants." The rings floated gently towards you and Rowan, until landing in your hands. "Rowan, you are destined to become far more powerful than any God or Demon, like myself. There is no point in denying it. Rather than bask in my own pride, I'd like to speed this process up. Destiny cannot wait."
"Thank you, Your Grace." Rowan smiled, bowing his head. "When the fated time comes, I will remember this gift."
"Of course Lord Tyrell." Zebulon boomed with a smile. "You, Gannoth." You turned towards the demon. "As Lord Tyrell's familiar, you will serve him well. I gave you a ring too, so that you may aid him further."
"Thank you, Your Grace." You said, bowing your head as well. "I will not fail you, Your Grace, or my Master."
"Now, put them on. I'd like to see what happens." Zebulon insisted. You changed into your dragon form, and slipped the ring onto your claw. To your amazement, it resized itself to fit on your claw perfectly. As soon as it was on snugly, so it wouldn't fall off, you felt a surge of power. It was a feeling unlike any other. Power and energy flowed into you like a river whose dam was just broken. Torrents of power flooded your body. It was almost euphoric. Once it was over, you felt amazing. Full of energy and power. However, unlike Rowan, you didn't seem to change appearance at all. Rowan, on the other hand, had a much different experience. You could see him getting visibly larger. His muscles swelled slightly, not getting huge, but still larger than before. He also got slightly taller, growing to a taller 6'2. The biggest difference was in his head. His ears began to point slightly, his canine teeth began to sharpen, and his chocolate brown hair started to change. It straightened even more, and started to pick up a redder hue. Once that change finished, it lengthened a little, reaching his shoulder blades. Finally, the changes finished with his hair gaining white highlights. His hair was almost identical to Zebulon's, but with a deeper, browner hue. With the changes complete, Rowan fell to his knees, panting.
"Master!" You yelled, running over to Rowan. "Are you okay?"
"Yes Gannoth." Rowan panted. "I feel fantastic! Just winded. That was a lot to handle at once."
"Yes it was." Zebulon commented. "These rings are far more powerful than any other rings in existence. While my first ring only has about one more year until it is fully absorbed by you, this one has close to 150 years. By then, I am sure you will find yourself much more powerful than now."
"Thank you, Your Grace." Rowan said, still panting.
"Before you go, I'd like to say one more thing." Zebulon started. "Gannoth." Just hearing your name made you worried. Did you do something wrong? Are you about to face the wrath of a being of Godly power? "The care you have shown to your master is outstanding. I know you will never leave his side, and never stray from your path. For that reason, I'd like to bestow some information to you concerning Kevin's home plane." The small bit of Kevin left in you was shocked to hear this. "When you were transported here to become Lord Tyrell's familiar, you were seemingly erased from existence there. Nobody has any memory of you even existing there. There is no need to worry about your friends and family, as it is like you never were there to begin with."
"Thank you very much, Your Grace." You smiled, knowing that there was no reason to be worried about your past life.
"We shall meet again soon, Tyrells. Until then though, safe travels. You are dismissed from my court." Zebulon boomed. You both bowed, and walked out of the castle. Once you were out of the gate, Rowan was able to transport you back to his castle. Despite spending what seemed like about half an hour in the plane of the demons, it was almost nighttime back home. Time seemed to distort itself in the demon world. Due to this fact, you decided to call it a day there. Tomorrow will be spent seeing just what these rings did.
Before you went to sleep, you decided to do a little more reading. This time, it was to learn the language of Demons. You spent about one hour reading before you walked back into the bedroom and went to sleep.
The Next Day:
Your morning routine was always the same. Wake up, wait for Rowan, eat breakfast. It was after breakfast that things usually got interesting. Not so today. When you woke up, you noticed that the ring was still on your claw. You decided to try something, and noticed that when you changed into your human form, it had the same demonic features as Rowan. The ears and teeth. However, everything else was identical. You didn't have the muscle or height boost like he did. You also noticed the black ring on your right ring finger. To see something else, you changed into the Angel of Death, and noticed that the ears and eyes changed into those of a normal human. The ring was still on your finger, but nothing else changed cosmetically. Rowan awoke to these experiments. Waking up to seeing the Angel of Death is always a frightening experience, even for someone with as much power at their disposal as Rowan. He made a slight jump, and laughed it off. You did have to admit one thing. The ring certainly made Rowan look great. His handsome features were only accentuated, while his build was something quite impressive. To put it bluntly, Rowan was absolutely ripped, and sexy as a model. If you were human, and gay, you would have loved to be his boyfriend. However, neither of those things were true. (They are for me, the writer though...) You commented on how Rowan looked amazing, and he thanked you for it. He always strived for good looks, but this ring made it too easy. The hair was beautiful, and the body was too. Moving on though, you changed back into your human form, if you could even call it that with the demonic features, and went downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Master?" You asked while cutting your sausage. "What exactly are we going to do to see what these rings are capable of?"
"I'm not exactly sure Gannoth." Rowan responded. "I have a lot of ideas, but I can't decide on one. I too want to see what I am now capable of."
"When I put it on, I felt a crazy surge of power." You started. "It was beyond intense. Yet, it was oddly satisfying."
"That's what power surges feel like. When you first put on a ring, you feel the power of it flow into you. I've never experienced a flow quite that intense from a ring though." Rowan said, his face starting to turn more glum. "The only time I've felt a power surge like that was on my 24th birthday, when my powers awoke and I murdered my whole family. Despite the amount of deaths I've caused, deep down, I still feel guilty about the deaths of my family."
"I understand Master." You said, trying to cheer Rowan up. "Just imagine what it would be like for them to witness what you've caused. If anything, you killing them now was merciful!"
"I know." Rowan said, agreeing with you. "I just wish that it wasn't on my birthday! My dad had just given me these, and I wanted to show my gratitude." Rowan chuckled, clutching his short swords. "Instead, I killed him. But that's in the past. There's no changing that. Not even magic can do that!"
"Only Gods can do that." You smiled.
"Soon, Gannoth. Soon." Rowan smiled. He was destined to have power surpassing the Gods. Maybe then, he'd be able to fix his regrets. The rest of the meal was discussing which of Rowan's ideas you would use for testing out the power of the rings. Eventually, you settled on a plan, and you set out to see what you could now do.
End of Chapter
Llamas2000
You decide how You and Rowan will test the power of the rings! Again, if you have any questions, feel free to Private Message me here on CYOC. I'd be more than happy to answer anything! Thank you for reading, and enjoy the rest of Tales of the Arcane!