by BlaQQuill
Intriguing, however from what you've previously laid out about magic in this world, I sincerely hope there is an explanation of how the uncle is able to achieve such magic without training.
Should be an interesting battle .
For Mr Duncan below . Chapter 16 clearly explained your inquiry .
" His father had found this cave and that mysterious staff on one of his hunts. He had brought the staff home as he thought that given the ornate carvings throughout the staff, not to mention the large jewel at its head, it had to be worth a lot. When the next morning, he had woken up saying that he had communed with some hidden deity, the young man had been sure that his father had lost his mind. Years of abuse, however, made it so that the young man wasn't willing to garner his father's ire, as such, he hadn't said anything. When a few weeks later his father brought him to this cave and showed him all the abilities that the entity had granted him, he was left with no choice but to believe his father. The young man had, of course, also noticed the gradual deterioration of his father's health. The lines on his father's face had grown deeper, his hair had started greying with some of it falling off. The robust frame of his father had started to wither away and morph into the thin one he now had. The failed ritual that killed his father's brother and almost did the same to the son of his father's brother had only made things far worse for his father, giving him the haggard look he now had. The young man, however, didn't care in the least. The man might have been his father, but all love for the man had long since been beaten out of him. The only thing that had been on the young man's mind was this new power that his father seemed to have gained access to. Whatever it took, the young man planned to gain the same for himself as well "
It would seem that the Uncle has made some form of pact, with the aid of the staff, with a dark entity capable of conjuring horrible creatures, among other magics, in return for pain, suffering and death. The sacrifice must be the ultimate goal of his master, some rite of ascension or perhaps a way to increase their influence on the world.
Rokha is going to need everything he has to even survive these things.
Good entry, but a lot of tense disagreement when describing the bison characteristics...
Now we know what uncle's surprise is. Will Roka (a.k.a. Greg) rise to the challenge.