Mage Devourer

Mage devourer -
"His mind had been downcast the entire day, a sense of doom hanging over him. Beneath the balcony the sprawling city was abuzz with activity. "Stupid peasants and greedy merchants going about their business", he thought. They have it so easy. He pulled the silk curtains over the decadent windows.

As he did so, there was a loud crash somewhere inside the tower, beyond his office. Shouting, clanging. The doors flung open as the creature flowed inside. Body of a snake, its head adorned by a single giant eye, at least a dozen arms, the hands twisting and gesticulating arcane gestures.

Two of the the guards within his quarters stepped forward in between the sorcerer and this creature. The fingers on each of its hands contracted, twisted and one of the guards in a flash was compacted into an oozing sphere no larger than a marble, falling onto the floor with an immense crack, like a heavy rock.

The sorcerer emptied his mind and tried to focus his mind to draw power from the Nether, but with just a flick of its hands the creature filled his mind with terrible and confusions visions. He felt nauseous and sick. As he opened his eyes he was filled with anger and terror. Terror since the creature had already passed the guards, anger because the other guard was just standing by, apparently overcome by terror and unwilling to throw their own life on the line for him. Words filled his head

" Your ability to conjure our power was freely given to you by those with no authority to do so. Just as easily it was given, I shall take it from you."

From the viewpoint of the guard standing there just a few feet away from them, they vanished in an instant to the Nether. Like a bolt of lightning he could see their after image in his field of vision for a few seconds until they completely dissipated.

Next time this creature would be seen, it would have another pair of arms, and harbor even more power than before."

This creature alongside several others will appear in the upcoming book, Alluvia: Monsters and Horrors. Learn more about it here and sign up for the mailing list to be alerted when it is released: https://bsky.app/profile/themefinland.bsky.social/post/3mt2htz5e4s25