The Potion Of Mutation:
Book One: Journey Through The Overworld
Prologue
The Transformation
It was a dark and stormy night, and Zac and Mark were enjoying a hearty dinner in their luxurious home.
They were brothers, several years apart. Mark was the oldest, just over twenty, and Zac was a few years behind at the age of seventeen. They were about as different as brothers could be. Zac was tall and thin, while Mark was big and bulky. Zac had an unruly mop of dark hair, while Mark’s hair, beard, and moustache were blonde—so blonde they were almost white. Zac had a quick and smart brain, while Mark’s brain was slow and (never say it to his face) almost dumb.
Although they were very different, they enjoyed each other’s company and rarely got annoyed with each other. They also worked together with whatever they did, using each other’s skills to the advantage of both. Zac would use his brain to solve various problems around the house, while Mark would use his brute strength to get things done, and when one thing didn’t work, the other would accomplish it.
Together they shared a house; farmed wheat, carrots, pumpkins, melons, potatoes, and beetroots; mined ores in their mine; killed mobs underground, at their monster farm, and in the dark of night. Together they went to the Nether and fought a Wither; defeated the Ender Dragon; and had many more adventures not to be told in this book.
Mark was just removing the roast chicken from the furnace when there was a knock on the door. Zac went to open it.
Outside was a small slouching figure in a dark brown cloak. He had a hood pulled down well over his face, casting a dark shadow onto it.
The only part of the person’s facial appearance that Zac could see well enough to distinguish it was his bright red eyes that seemed to glow within. To Zac they felt as if they pierced right through him into his brain like he could see what Zac was thinking.
As Zac stood there, the cracked voice of an old man floated up to his ears, the croak so indistinguishable that Zac could hardly tell what he was saying.
“Does anyone have a small crust of bread and a glass of water to spare for a poor old man?”
Zac hesitated, thinking.
How do I know that this guy is really a poor, homeless, old man? He could just be trying to get food for free!
Zac was about to shut the door in the man’s face when suddenly a thought entered his mind, but strangely enough, it felt like someone had added the thought into his brain, completely changing his mind.
Seriously, would he really come here in the middle of a nightly thunderstorm to get a bit of food if he really wasn’t a starving, homeless old man?
As Zac sighed, the man looked up at him again.
“Please?” He croaked.
Zac sighed again, but nodded.
“Actually, we’ve got a whole roast chicken, two loaves of bread, and a full bucket of milk. Do you want some?”
As the two walked into the dining room, Mark looked up from a half-eaten loaf of bread, hurriedly swallowing the contents of his mouth.
“Who’s this?” Mark asked, staring nervously at the man whose eyes were now glowing even brighter with anticipation as he looked at the feast spread on the table in front of him.
Giving Mark a warning glance, Zac shrugged his shoulders and and shook his head as his brother looked at him questioningly.
Sitting down at the table, the three men dug in.
As the three ate, the brothers felt like they were eating in slow motion as the man, whose name was still unknown, ate so fast that the brothers, who were quick eaters themselves, didn’t end up getting much to eat. In less than five minutes the table was empty, the plates that lay on its surface now cleansed of their contents. The two brothers gaped at the amount of food the man had eaten, and related later that the he must have been very hungry, for he ate three-quarters of the roast chicken, a whole loaf of bread, and over half the bucket of milk.
When he had finished he stood up and bowed to them, pulling his cloak further around his body.
“That was a very enjoyable meal, thank you.” He said, “but before I leave I will give you these potions as a token of my gratitude.”
As he spoke, he pulled out two potions, their crimson contents bubbling furiously inside. Stepping forward, he held them out for the brothers to take.
As Zac reached out to take the potion, he made contact briefly with the man’s hand, and pulled his hand away in shock. His hand felt cold—deadly cold. In that brief touch, he had felt all the man’s hatred and malice, as if it was seeping into Zac’s body, and for a quick second it felt as if an overwhelming sensation of evil was trying to take control of his body. Quickly he pulled his hand away, and the feeling disappeared, leaving a tiny sliver of the man’s icy hatred inside his own body.
Stepping back, he looked at the man with different eyes. Rather than seeing him as a poor old man, he now saw him as a violent creature who hated all life, one who had an evil power within him. He now knew that this—creature had deceived both of the brothers, letting him into their home, wasting their food on him, and now he was trying to give them something; something unknown; something dangerous. Zac was sure that this potion was not a gift, but an experiment; an experiment on them.
Suddenly his hand throbbed painfully, the frosty feeling in his hand increasing more and more until it was nearly unbearable. He was just about to say something angrily to the man when he felt a thought enter his mind, but again it felt like it wasn’t one of his thoughts, but a thought from somewhere else.
As the pain died away, Zac began to feel as if he hadn’t really felt anything strange when he touched the man’s hand, as if the man was just an ordinary old man, and quickly his suspicious thoughts about the man disappeared.
Looking around, he saw that Mark had taken both of the potions in his hands and was holding one out for Zac to take.
Reaching forward, he took the potion out of his brother’s hand.
“Thanks,” He said, turning to the man. He felt his hand start to vibrate, and looking down, he saw the potion was beginning to froth and bubble, its colour changing from crimson red to a deep black, then back to crimson again.
Looking up from the potion, he asked, “what exactly is…” He stopped mid-sentence. The man had disappeared. Looking around, the two searched for him, but he had completely vanished. All that remained were several weird-looking purple particles floating around in the air, but they too soon evaporated.
“I’ll just check outside,” Zac said, walking towards the front door. Opening the door, he looked out into the darkness. The lightning had stopped, but the rain was still pouring down on the grassy plains outside.
Shutting the door, Zac walked back into the dining room and sat down at the table. Pulling out his potion, he turned it around in his hand, looking at the bubbling liquid inside. Looking up, he saw Mark staring at his own bottle with the same longingness that he felt.
“I…I just want to to know what it does,” he exclaimed, letting off a sigh as Zac nodded his head in agreement.
“Yeah, me too. You know what?” He said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “Why don’t we just drink it now?”
Picking up the flask with his stubby fingers, Zac pulled out the cork, and giving Mark one final nod, they drained their bottles together.
<Not Included>
As Zac put down the bottle, he felt an electronic spark pulse on his back, then another on his foot, then the back of his head. They were all over his body now, crackling and snapping, but he was in so much pain that he didn’t even really notice. Looking down, he could vaguely see a sickly-green coating beginning to spread across his body, quickly stopping any movement.
He began to feel dizzy, waves of nausea spreading through his body, and closed his eyes. Moments later he lost consciousness, falling to the ground with a thump.
Mark looked at Zac and saw a wave of sickly-green and purple particles spreading over his body, his skin quickly turning the same colour. Before he could react, he felt a tingling in his back and arms. He looked down to see a row of grey scales on his legs, another set quickly beginning to form above them.
He could feel himself growing bigger and bigger, his muscles starting to ripple with strength. Looking down, he saw Zac lying on the floor where he had fallen. He tried to reach for him, but couldn’t control his own body. He felt his eyes beginning to close and struggled to keep himself awake, but he too slowly succumbed to it.
Suddenly several purple teleportation particles began to form around a certain spot in the room. A moment later the hooded man materialised on that spot, looking around at the two unconscious brothers on the floor. Chuckling evilly, he shouted something in an unrecognisable language and the two piles on the floor stood up, the now-hideous monsters looking around at their surroundings.
“Project Mutation is now complete!” He shouted, his hate-filled eyes now glowing so bright that the monsters had to look away. “Soon, all the world of Zargoth will bow at my feet, or they will pay!”
Stepping forward, he laid a hand on each of the monster’s shoulders, and gathering a field of teleportation particles around them, he disappeared, taking the two hideous creatures with him.