James Tanner opened the doors to his fortress the way he usually did: by willing them to. He sighed. Once upon a more ignorant time, he would've taken abilities like this for granted, or even, in moments of oh-so-false self-fulfillment, with pride. After all, he was barely rounding on twenty, and mages his age all around the world had trouble barely unlocking a window, let alone force open 700-pound doors. Today, however, James felt disgusted for being able to manage the feat.

His staff lay across the hall from where he was. A magnificent, seven-foot silver rod, it had been his most prized possession since he bought it a decade ago from a stolen-goods salesman. He raised his left hand, and the staff flew toward it in the matter of a blink. James smiled grimly. So many people have feared and revered Azrael's Staff for years now, what with what James, as his alter ego, showing them what a real sorcerer could do if only he embraced the darkness within...

The darkness within. James let out a bark of a laugh that sounded more like a whimper than a legitimate sign of amusement. Why should it sound amused? After all, if James was amused at anything right now, it'd be the notion a young boy had about pushing the limits of the world's most restricted source of magic toward achieving some good. And look what it got me; look what it got them. Twirling his staff, James said, to no one in particular as there was no one on sight: "Well, finally it'll do some good."

Taking a deep breath, he started chanting the necessary words for summoning humankind's most feared demon. The excercise kept his mind off the fact that, having not only pushed but overcast the limits of Dark Magic, he alone, a mere twenty-year-old, could do what no dark sorcerers before him could ever achieve, and without breaking a sweat at it.

When he was done, Thanatos was standing in front of him. The epitome of mankind's darkness wasn't that far removed from James himself, a side effect of the latter's experiments that didn't excape his notice. Tall, pale, slightly slanted gray eyes, Thanatos could have passed as a Paladin if he weren't wearing black robes and if horns didn't protude from his shoulder plates. Right now, his eyes were narrowed and pointing towards James himself. In a soft, velvet voice, he asked: "You...conjured me?"

James nodded, bringing his staff back into place. "I did. Who else would?"

Thanatos' eyes widened now. "Impossible" he whispered. "How did you manage?"

James shrugged. "A decade of practice, you might say. Decided to wait until I was powerful enough to take matters into my own hands if things got messy. As a fellow sorcerer," he bowed towards Thanatos; "you'd understand."

"You're...a sorcerer? How did you manage to get the magic for summoning?"

"As I said, practice. And besides, it only means that, in case a summons goes badly, I still have my magic resources to tap."

Thanatos' eyes narrowed again. "Like, for example, if I proved rebellious."

James' smile didn't reach his eyes. He was determined. "Actually, I expect you to be rebellious. After all, I'm only twenty years old, but believe me, I can take you with my staff hand tied behind my back."

Thanatos' steel eyes glowed at the challenge. "Is that so?" James nodded. Without warning, an army of creatures stormed against James, who, with a wave of his staff, dissipated them.

James shook his head. "Tsk tsk. Apparently you don't know the basic rule of being summoned: attack your summoner, and you leave yourself vulnerable to his wrath." With his staff, he summoned a sword, which wasted no time in going through Thanatos' chest.

Thanatos screeched. "You summoned me just to kill me?"

James held Thanatos' stare, green on gray. "Not quite you. After all, you were already dead. Rather, I'm ridding the world of another...nuisance." With that, he absorbed Thanatos' remaining powers and upgraded his sword with them. And now, he thought, my grand finale: a chance at redemption. With those last thoughts, he pushed the sword towards his own chest, falling on it instantly.