Contest Entries

Jarkin and Immortality

Contest: "October Novel Prep Challenge" 
Prompt: Plot background story

Jarkin the evil overlord settled back in his chair. His hair ran rampant amongst his white skinned face. His arms and hands were as dark as night though, he didn't know why. Out of his people, he was the only one. He wanted to live, live to see his only son grow up. Not die. Not this summer. He was still evil, and he was still an overlord. But he had Kara, along with Wolf, his newborn son. He had grand plans. At what cost he didn't care. He wanted to wreak havoc upon others. His own betrayals had hurt so much. He didn't care. He wanted them back safe and sound. They were kidnapped.

There was something missing. He wanted lightning to strike to force others to do his bidding freely. And his target was Arbor Lake, far from where he lived. He wanted to control spirits so that he could control the environment as he pleased. He despised the stories about how spirits mattered and life would cease to exist without them. He believed life could be controlled if they were under his control.

He also wanted immortality and would love to gain that. 100 innocent souls needed to be sacrificed. He didn't care about its side effects. He wanted to live forever. He had his heart in it. He didn't believe it would drive him insane. Shatah was his target. He had heard of her from the Omahians. Words traveled fast across the continent. Though it became just a legend in his territory, he believed in it. No way would he give up. Lightning was the perfect excuse. Now all he needed to do was to execute it. This could be done by casting a spell. He knew it would take a few days to make it happen, but it could be done.

First, he needed to mix the ingredients into a large pot. That will do he thought as he poured the last of the corn flour into the boiling water. Then he chanted as he stirred and through it all thought about his wife and his son. Would his son recognize him he didn't know. But they had been kidnapped far too long in his mind's eye.
He wanted them back. To love them again as a loving father deserved. He wanted his son to grow old. The water boiled over and the next day he knew the potion was ready for the next step.

Making a circle out of rocks, sticks, and hide, he knew it wouldn't be long before the sun set. Already dark out when he started enchanting, hoping to draw out the power of undead lightning.