Maria had set up the circle for the spell needed to talk to Varna's spirit. She hoped that this worked, otherwise they were going to have a hard time getting anything done.
Maria: Are you ready?
Zenkoh: As ready as I'm going to be.
Maria begins to channel her magic into the circle. As she does this the circle begins to glow until a flash of light happens.
Maria: Now we wait a minute.
After several minutes Varna's translucent spirit fades into view. She looks around and see's Maria and then sees Zenkoh. Her face changes from neutral to angry.
Varna: What do you want!
Zenkoh: As much as I hate it, we need your help. There is someone that has an army of Witherlings and we need to know how to deal with them.
Varna: Ha! If I remember correctly when I tried to teach you about them you said you wanted nothing to do with such abominations.
Varna grinned.
Varna: Sounds to me like someone is eating their words!
Zenkoh's attitude was only getting worse and before she said something that could cost them Varna's help Maria spoke.
Maria: Whoever is controlling the Witherlings managed to bring Leiko back.
At that Varna's grin disappeared and the room was silent,
Maria: They are also forcing him to murder people and using his mercenary name while doing it.
At this point Varna had a frown on her face.
Varna: What?
Zenkoh: It's true, he was used to assault Fort Stoneholde. According to Maria he appears to be bound to whoever is controlling the Witherlings.
Varna looked like she wanted to cry.
Maria: We were hoping that you might know how to end this person's control over him or the Witherlings.
Zenkoh: That would require her to care about someone other than herself.
Varna shifted from upset back to angry.
Varna: I loved your father!
Hearing her shout that startled the both of them, Maria because it was loud. It startled Zenkoh because she never expected to hear Varna ever say she cared about someone other than herself.
Varna: I loved him and I will be damned if I am going to allow someone to puppet him around!
Maria: Then you'll help us?
Varna: I will, under one condition.
Zenkoh: And what condition is that?
Varna: When this is all said and done your father and I are to be properly buried together.
Zenkoh: Fine.
Maria: So how do we deal with breaking this person's control?
Varna: The easiest and most direct way would be to kill whoever it is. When they die any spells they are maintaining will end.
Zenkoh: That requires we know where they are.
Varna: Another way would be to try to force control away from them. This is dangerous since it opens whoever is doing it up to being taken over if they aren't stronger than who they are trying to force control away from.
Maria blanched at the thought of that.
Varna: A third choice would be to force them to lose concentration since it is required to maintain spells over long periods of time. Doing this becomes more difficult the stronger they are though.
Zenkoh: And that's it? Those are the only options?
Varna: The only other thing that could help would be if his emotions run high it can make it harder to keep control of him. Which would mean him becoming upset or angry makes him harder to control.
After a few minutes of silence Varna spoke up again.
Varna: After touching the hammer that is sealed away here I learned that there is a safe way to use it.
Maria: What?
Zenkoh: Is this some kind of sick joke?
Varna shook her head.
Varna: No. I am serious.
Maria had a skeptical look on her face.
Maria: How can we trust that you're not lying?
Varna: You can't.
After a moment of hesitation Zenkoh spoke.
Zenkoh: How would we use it?
Maria: Zenkoh!
Zenkoh: If she is telling the truth we need everything we can use.
There was silence for several moments.
Varna: It requires that a cleric purify it of its corrupting energy, it is dangerous of course since if the cleric isn't strong enough they will succumb to the weapon.
Varna gave a sigh and shook her head.
Varna: That is all the help I can give you, what you do with it is up to you.
With that Varna faded away and the circle dimmed to nothing.
After several minutes of contemplation Zenkoh looked at Maria.
Zenkoh: Do you think you can purify the hammer?
Maria was quiet for a moment.
Maria: I don't know.
Zenkoh: If you can't then we will just have to find another way to deal with the situation, I won't force you to try when it could cost you your life.
Maria knew that the hammer was a powerful artifact and could make a huge difference with what they were dealing with, but would it be worth what it could do to her? And then there was the fact the only one that could try to force control away from whoever this was would likely be another shaman, which meant they could lose Purth if anything goes wrong if they try to go that route.
Looking back to Zenkoh, Maria could see the worry and uncertainty written all over her face. She was likely thinking about the same things.
Back at Fort Stoneholde Riya was watching Leon and Rose spar. She could see that Rose was enjoying the time she was getting with her father. Suddenly she could have sworn she heard something but dismissed it as her imagination.
Quickly Rose grabbed Leon and jumped away just as a skeletal claw erupted from the ground, followed by several Witherlings. After the Witherlings had finished pulling themselves from the ground Leiko pulled himself from the hole.
He could see Leon and Rose standing next to each other and was able to deduce from Rose's crest that Leon was likely her father, and that meant that he was sent here to do the same thing that those Gnolls all those years ago did to him. He was going to be made to kill Rose's father right in front of her.
YOU ARE READING
Leon and Riya: How to Raise a Gnoll
FantasyIt's been 8 years since the Gnoll Rose Ashmaw was born. A lot can change in that time. One major thing that has changed is that Azur has managed to find someone new to train Foxpine's guards and as such didn't need Leon doing it anymore. Not wanting...
