V. Bad Moon Rising

I see a bad moon arisin'
I see troubles on the way
I see earthquakes and Lightning
I see bad times today
***

Arisen noticed the three men following him. They underestimated him. Thinking he would be helpless against three men. This happened quite often. Arisen had the reputation of being unbeatable, a thing that made most men very jealous. Of course he wasn't. But he was strong and possessed some knowledge of magic. And he was intelligent, unlike most of his challengers.
He looked up at the sky and noticed the moon being just above the horizon, he had about 2 hours left to get to the rendezvous point. He also noticed dark clouds gathering in the west. It was winter and the air was alive with the howling of the wind. A storm was brewing. He might as well have some fun with these three nitwits.
Arisen, pretending to worry about the weather, entered a bar and waited for the men to follow him. They always did, thinking their so called unbeatable victim wasn't that good at all for not knowing they were there. He observed them. This trio had actually been quite inventive. The mage of the trio, a tall and dark man of 30 years with long black hair and a beard, carried a powerful wand, and not an imitation, so he would have to assume the owner knew how to use it. Then there were 2 fighters. Both big and muscled with long hair and a weird look in their eyes that needed to pass for fierceness but looked more like insanity. They wouldn't be the problem. More than likely they were only hired help.
There were only two options open for the mage, who was obviously the leader, he would attack first and use his bodyguards as last resort, or he would let them charge first. Behind his casual and uncaring face, Arisen's brain worked full speed. How would he best take them on? Eventually he got up and decided he would just be blunt about it.

Well don't go round tonight, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
***

"Excuse me Gentlemen." Arisen asked.
"Yes?" Plevinon tried to hide his surprise when the blonde man almost magically appeared at their table. It looked like his bright appearance was born out of the lightning that had just flashed. Then he got himself under control. There was no such thing possible. This man was an impostor of the vilest kind. He'd know how to use the storm for dramatic effect. 
"Might I ask why you were following me?"
It wasn't at all unimaginable that the man knew he was being followed, but Plevinon had been careful. He thought he too could be blunt.
"I followed you to see if you are truly what they say."
"And what do they say about me?" The impolite fool waved back his blonde hair and smiled as if to little children or retards.
"They say that you tricked Master Mage Aridwen of the order of Luxior into giving you his most prised possession, his enchanted amulet! And I have come to reclaim it."
"You have been misinformed, I am no thief. Maybe you should verify your sources?"
The nerve of this...this rat! No-one needed to verify Master mage Aridwin himself!
"You are a liar, and for that you shall pay. Name your place and time and we'll duel!"
"I'm on a time schedule, I need to leave in 2 hours, so I'll have to pass."
"Over my corpse! We shall do it now! When I'm done with you, you'll be forever mocked by our guild and I'll be rewarded for my courage!"
The man seemed to sigh, "Let's go outside shall we. To where I need to be in 2 hours."
Plevinon agreed.

I hear hurricanes a blowin'
I know the end is coming soon
I feel rivers over flowing
I hear the voice of rage & ruin
***

This was just his luck. The fool thought he had stolen a powerful amulet. Arisen remembered Master Mage Aridwen. A babbling old mage that most probably had lost the amulet himself. He watched as the three man left with his Self. Of course, that wasn't really him, they could have fun with his double while he teleported out before things really heated up. The moon would only be right 5 seconds and if he didn't jump then....he'd need to redo all the calculations and wait for the next conjunction.
The real Arisen waited another 5 minutes before he stood up and followed the three men out. The storm was really raging now. Wind blew all around him, trying to find a way into his jacket. Arisen carefully crossed the sewer next to the pavement and started walking. Although the rain was pouring down, diminishing the sight to a minimum, some people did notice that this young man did not get wet. He had learned this weather spell on another planet, and fully understood it's usefulness at that moment.
It didn't take long for him to gain on the three men and his double. They were already near the cemetery where the gate to the other dimension would open. Arisen watched as they entered through the main gate. He himself knew better ways to get in. He ran off and finally emerged back inside the cemetery walls behind a giant monument. The monument rested on a child's grave and would be the focus point of energy that evening. For a moment Arisen thought about the oddness of it all. There he was on a cemetery, the child's grave a grim reminder of his own childhood filled with illnesses. Where his double was now fighting a duel to the death and he himself was casting a dangerous trans-dimension spell. Fate has it's weird quirks.

Well don't go round tonight, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
***

"How nice a scene for your last hours." Plevinon snided. "Are you sure this is where you want to duel?"
"Yes, and don't worry about me, I will be going, but not to the afterworld."
"Confident, that will make it all the more enjoyable for me when I beat you!"
"We'll see." the double threw down his coat and drew his sword.
"That's not the way of fighting I had in mind. But it will do."
Plevinon opened his mantle and drew his own sword. A fine handmade sword, forged in the fires of the order of Luxior and almost unbreakable. He was not unskilled in the fine art of fencing, but his magical skills surpassed those.
The battle started and took about one hour when both men, one real, one double, paraded around each other and attacked. At the end of the half hour the double could strike the first blood with a very thought out manoeuvre. Plevinon hadn't seen it coming and felt the stinging pain in his arm indicating he was hit. The double stopped and leaned on his sword smiling.
"What if we call it a day, before something really bad happens? Everyone agrees?"
That was the moment Plevinon lost all his self control. That b****** still treated him like a child. He focused, his eyes on the ground and then trust forward, part out of time, part between time. A lethal blow. Or it should have been, but this rat just kept standing there and smiling.
Then Plevinon noticed the twitching of the fingers. The thing, whatever it had been was death, it just couldn't go until it's master summoned it.
Plevinon, outraged, cried into the night and added his own power to the thunderstorm. The sky cleared, and yet it seemed to grow darker as the mage searched for Arisen.

Hope you got your things together
Hope you are quite well prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is takin' for an eye
***

Arisen wasn't fully aware of how his double was doing, he was too busy with the spell to open the gate, when the tidal wave hit him. He checked and found his double dead, but not fallen. He had been so close. There was no escaping now, and only 15 minutes remained for the portal to open.
"oh joy! You were close enough to watch the whole thing!"
Plevinon's voice didn't sound like before, it had gotten deeper and darker, but who else could it have been? Arisen slowly got up.
"I didn't watch, as my double told you, I needed to get somewhere on time."
"I can see, a dimensional warp. Spiffy!" Plevinon laughed. "Too bad you won't be able to make your deadline."
Even more laughter resounded at the unintended pun. Then the mage got serious again.
"Let's start."
Arisen couldn't deny the challenge. Not if he didn't want a sword in his back. He turned and more felt than saw Plevinon's sword coming in from the side. He jumped up and rolled back to avoid it, cutting his hands and face as he hit the thorns of a rosebush. He reached for his sword and noticed it was gone. He looked up in terror and saw Plevinon waving it at him.
"I'll give it back to you, but only if you beg."
Arisen wasn't intending on begging, certainly because more time was being wasted. He checked the moon, conveniently visible because of Plevinon's rage. 5 more minutes. Not enough time to fight. He would have to run and avoid being attacked.
Arisen jumped to his feet, ignoring new cuts this was causing. He ran, knowing Plevinon had the advantage. He couldn't hide, Plevinon was mage enough to find him. Running wasn't exactly an option too. he would have to attack in some way. Then he saw it! An open grave.
He fell to the ground and screamed. Plevinon laughing behind him. He stood just in front of the grave.
"We'll have fun now! Come on! Beg."
Arisen shivered and got to his knees. His head down and with bleeding hands, he knew he didn't have much power left in him. Suddenly he burst forward and pushed Plevinon of the edge. The mage fell back, surprised. Arisen took this moment to grab a sword and run back to the monument. He looked up. Only seconds left. He broke the flask containing the spell and ducked as a cloud of smoke materialised into a portal.
He jumped.
At that same monument the laughter of Plevinon resounded. His plan had worked
"Good bye mister Arisen! I hope you like Hell!"

Arisen tried to relax, but he couldn't. Something bothered him. He hadn't paid close enough attention to a single detail. What was it? His mind brought back the image of the flask. The fluid inside had been brown.
Panic took over Arisen as he realised he had been tricked. There was only one solution now. He had to jump the warp at a slow crossroads. He took out the second flask he had created and poured the blue liquid into the warp, creating a small window to the outside. Most of the time what he saw was blurry, when the warp went too fast. But then he saw a soft green patch. Only one go...He jumped.

Well don't go round tonite, it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise
***

"Who are you?"
"Arisen...where am I?"
"You are at Ryslen. You gave us all quite a scare when you tumbled out of the sky like that."
"That was an accident."
Arisen tried to get up. That didn't go well.
"You won't be dancing anytime soon. Walking, maybe by the time Dusky's eggs hatch."
"Who's Dusky?"
The question wasn't really intended, just a reflex to gather information. He was busy establishing what he had lost in the warp. He seemed to be relatively unharmed. Maybe he had indeed just fallen out of the sky.
"Dusky is the queensized black that has a clutch on the sands right now. You'll be meeting her."
That last part got his attention.
"Why?" The look on his face must have given him away.
"Nothing to worry about, but everyone agreed that anyone who came falling out of the sky, the exact moment she clutched was brought here to stand for it."
"Stand?"
"Yes, to impress one of her children."

Follow Arisen to the hatching
Part 6c: Storm Continued

Lantessama Isle
Lyrics taken from Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival.