Of Gods and Warriors ✓

Chapter 23

Ryffin Wellis may have been a genius-- but alchemy was not his true passion. The second half of the Potion Brewer's Guide To Alchemical Theories stood as proof of the fact, for it had gradually turned into a guide for Ancient Sorcery, and how its principles could be applied in the practice of necromancy.

"There," Linder found the right page at last, and the word he'd been seeking. "Vasaeni, plural for Vasaen-- origin: a dialect of ancient Drisian spoken in Glasswolf. Roughly translates to 'corpse vessel.'"

He raised his eyes from the book. “That's what they named the ships carrying back corpses from a battlefield. To necromancers, the shipments of dead bodies served as a valuable resource.”

“Gods,” muttered Klo. “This is the stuff of nightmares.”

Linder turned the page. “Drisian necromancy has come a long way since then, but the word has remained, though with some changes in its meaning. The corpses themselves are now referred to as carriers or vessels.”

"Vessels for what?" asked Farren.

"For the souls that are brought back from the Realm of the Dead," said Linder. "The souls enter and reanimate the bodies."

Farren did not like where this was going.

In the dying light of dusk, the words stared back at Farren. The concept of the Vasaen felt... wrong, and oddly familiar.

From the side table, she picked up the crystal dagger, which she had plunged into the heart of the Drisian undead mere hours ago. As always, it responded with a feeling of familiarity, as though the blade knew her well-- down to her very soul. 

That's the bit that's worrying me.

How much does it know?

The warm feeling left by the healing magic waned with the chill that settled with nightfall. Minutes later, Klo got up and lit a lamp-- though the long, flickering shadows they cast upon the wall did not help.

Beneath the page was a small footnote citing the source of the information: the writings of A. Loneblight, apprentice sorceress.

"Well, then. That's the secret behind Drisia's undefeated armies during the Great War?" said Klo, inspecting the lines with a squint, "raising the dead?"

"That seems to be the case, yes,” said Linder.

The flickering light danced in his grey eyes. Rough shadows outlined his sharp features, the firelight contrasting them with an eerie allure as he flipped through the pages brimming with forbidden sorcery. His gaze was focused and intense, one that Farren found difficult to look away from.

When he spoke without taking his eyes off the book, his voice was low and husky. "If you're done admiring me, dear Corporal, do spare some of your precious attention to the book."

With a start, Farren dropped her gaze and stared hard at the page number in the corner as though trying to decipher some deep philosophical ideas from it. Klo pressed her lips together to hide a grin.

He leafed through a few more pages and stopped at a diagram showing a necromancer standing beside a corpse upon a table. The dim light glimmered on the spidery lines of the drawing, revealing runes drawn on the floor encircling the table.

"This is a form of necromancy, yes. Yet this technique is more than just commanding a reanimated skeleton. Creating a Vasaen is essentially dragging a soul back from Draedona's own realm-- reversing the natural process of death."

Farren ran a finger down the lines. Ryffin had described where the Vasaeni came from, yet not a step by step guide of the whole procedure to create them-- the reason for which was rather obvious.