by Eric Vall
The frosted grass crunched under my boots as I stood before Morrigan and Rana’s still form. Then I bent down, my face solemn, and took Rana’s limp body in my arms before I turned back to Ansel and the rest of his dumbfounded army. Morrigan stood too and grabbed onto my forearm for support, and I noticed her hands trembled with exhaustion.
Ansel’s face was pale, and his sword hung limply by his side, unused. Then the eyes of Annalise’s brother and his men wandered through the still bodies and the white wisps that lifted from them painstakingly slowly. I tightened my grip on Rana in my arms and pressed her head against my chest. She was alive, and if any of these men had taken her life or Morrigan’s, I wouldn’t have shown mercy on them by merely snatching away their souls.
The elf walked next to me and pressed in close to avoid touching any of the lifeless forms held in place.
“Master …” Morrigan breathed as her dark eyes drifted through the ranks, “…what is this? Is this not soul exorcism?”
“No, my love,” I answered gravely as I kept my eyes focused on the path ahead of me, “this is a much more powerful ritual than a mere soul exorcism.”
“What is it then?” the white-haired woman asked in wonder as her hands held onto me with desperation.
I finally turned my head and gave her a meaningful look. “Wait, and I will show you.” She gulped and nodded as her expression cleared and then returned to her usual cold disinterest.
I walked purposefully, my eyes straightforward as I watched Annalise and Amos emerge from the darkness. My high queen’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open as she took in the sight before her. Bloodscale dropped from her hands as tears sprung at the corners of her eyes, and then she reached out for Rana, but I held the fox-woman tighter, not allowing anyone else to touch my beloved minion in this state.
As we passed the Tamarisch men, Ansel dropped to his knee and bowed his head. All of his soldiers followed suit and bowed down to me out of respect. He had asked if I were a god, and I had shown him.
Annalise broke away from the group and Carmedy followed as I carried Rana off to one of the remaining tents.
Once inside one of the barracks, I laid the fox-woman down on a cot and sat beside her as Carmedy knelt on the ground and began to work on healing some of her small cuts and bruises. The cat’s black paws moved deftly as they mixed up a potion in a wooden bowl similar to the one we used before. Morrigan stood at the end of the bed and stared down at the fox’s quiet form, her black eyes intense and full of worry. Meanwhile Annalise paced back and forth in the tight canvas space, one arm folded across her chest and the other gripping her chin, her pointer finger pressed against her lips thoughtfully.
“When will she wake?” I asked in a whisper as I stroked the redhead's cheek gently.
Carmedy raised her head with a small smile. “Pretty soon, looks like she just got a pretty nasty bump on the noggin’.” She mimed getting hit on the head before she placed her paw in Rana’s wild curls and felt around. Then Carmedy grabbed my hand and placed it where her paw had been in the thick hair. Indeed, amid the curls was a large lump, and I tentatively ran my fingers over it.
“Morrigan,” I uttered in a whisper as I raised my head to look at the pale woman, “what happened?”
“Some asshole hit me over the head with a shield, that’s what happened,” a groggy voice said from below me, and I whipped my head to look at Rana as her bright blue eyes fluttered open and she gave me a lopsided smirk.
“Rana! You’re alive!” Carmedy squealed and threw her arms around the fox’s shoulders.
“Duh, you just said I was going to wake soon. Did you lie?” The fox laughed loudly as she patted Carmedy’s back soothingly,
“If you were awake, you should have alerted us immediately,” Morrigan said as she leveled her bored eyes at the fox.
“Well, I hoped that you guys would think I was on my deathbed and say some nice stuff about me.” The redhead chuckled as she ran a paw through her hair and then winced as she touched the goose egg hidden there.
“Nice stuff, there, I said it, so no one else has to,” Morrigan muttered emotionlessly as she raised her white eyebrows.
“Wow, uh, your sense of humor is turning out … not how I expected.” The fox-woman let out another chuckle as she sat up and rubbed at her face.
“Well, I like it.” Carmedy nodded approvingly to Morrigan with a toothy grin, and the elf inclined her head as she accepted the compliment.
“Rana, can you tell us what happened?” I asked as I cupped her cheek, and she nuzzled into my touch.
It was funny to me that a few months ago, she wouldn’t even allow me to step near her, let alone accept to call me Master, and now, we touched and loved each other so openly it was like she was a completely different person. Carmedy was the first to accept me with open arms, Annalise second, though I had taken her virginity last, Morrigan third, and finally, my stubborn and tenacious Rana.
“Morrigan and I were getting ready for bed but I wanted to go for a stroll and better familiarize myself with the encampment. Morrigan tagged along, thankfully,” the fox said with a smirk as she nodded her head towards my white-haired lover. “We went through the whole camp, not much to see besides a whole bunch of tents and lots of shiny weapons. But we made it out onto the battlefield and that’s where we saw all these Tintagal bastards trying to sneak up on us! We held them off pretty well, if I do say so myself, but they kept on coming in droves. I turned around to slash some asshole in the throat with my knife but I miscalculated my footing and he hit me over the head with his shield. Knocked me out cold.”
“That’s when we heard you scream,” the cat-woman said and gestured between her and me.
I nodded gravely before I pushed back Rana’s bangs and laid a kiss on her forehead. Then I stood quietly, thankful that my most spirited minion was fine and had no severe injuries.
“Rest now. You need to build your strength,” I said softly into her ear, and she gave me a steely grin,
“I have enough strength left to wrestle all those rowdy Decathmor boys at once!” the fox-woman cried as she lifted her arms into the air and flexed them for emphasis. I chuckled, shook my head, and pressed her shoulder down until she lay flat on the bed.
“Rest, please,” I murmured gently, and she nodded, obeying my word as she snuggled deeper into the cot.
I looked pointedly at Morrigan, motioned towards the tent flap, and then she followed after me obediently. We walked together in silence as the cold air blew her snow-white hair back, and it fluttered in the wind like a butterfly’s wings. I led her towards the battlefield and the lifeless bodies I had left in my wake earlier. When we arrived at the edge of the tents, she looked up into the sky where the souls of the soldiers still hung like a thick fog.
Then my High Elf looked at me expectantly, and I stepped out underneath the dense layer of white. I studied it with my head leaned back, and I could almost see the stars in the clear sky through it. The elf tilted her head and listened to the soft whispering that came from the clouds, the disembodied voices of the men I killed. I knew Morrigan was the only one who would appreciate this moment, who could listen to the low tones and grumblings of each dead man.
“Master,” she whispered softly as if she didn’t want to disturb the souls floating above our heads, “you said this wasn’t soul exorcism, then what is it?”
“There is no term for this,” I told her as I motioned with my hand, and she watched its movement with interested eyes. “You see, my dear, I come from a time where there were no terms for each ritual or power used. Some I have named myself and some I picked up along the way, but this … this is a rite so old it has never known a name but is instead known for the name of the object it creates. Would you like me to show you?”
Morrigan didn’t answer, she only gave me a slow nod, and when I lifted my hands above me, her eyes were bright with concentration as if she were memorizing my every movement. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply as I sensed
each soul that swam in the inky sky. Fifty souls in total, I could feel all the memories each soul held inside of it, and I was overcome with differing emotions from each man. Men wracked with depression and sadness, men filled with joy and love, and lastly, men who felt nothing.
I exhaled all the air in my lungs and let all the emotions and feelings wash over me in great crashing waves. Then I brought my hands closer together as I opened my eyes. The mass above our heads was slowly circling tighter together, and the cloud became thicker even as the white color of it brightened. I clenched my hands together and felt the air between them harden and solidify. A weak wail cut through the night as all fifty souls pressed together, condensed, and became a solid white orb. It hung midair and then slowly descended, shrunken in size. I plucked it up before it could fall to the frozen grass and offered it to my pale companion.
She took it between her pointer finger and thumb and examined it. Inside the small ball, milky pearlescent fluid spun, fifty souls compressed into one. Her dark eyes were wide as she held it up and it reflected off a far torch’s light, revealing baby blues, soft pinks, and mint greens within the glossy white. She slipped it into her palm, and it was a bit smaller than a robin’s egg.
“What is it?” Morrigan asked with curiosity apparent in her tone.
“A Soul Stone,” I stated as I cupped her smaller hands in mine and stared down at the small orb.
“What does it do?” she inquired as she lifted her eyes to mine.
“It's not very exciting, but it can be useful. We both know not all human souls are clean, in fact, we’ve encountered many souls that were evil. One human soul doesn’t amount to much, but fifty souls combined into one makes the purest of souls. Here, hold it in your closed palm,” I instructed, and she did as she was told and looked at me expectantly after. “Now, tell a lie.”
“I do not tell lies, it is against my beliefs,” she honestly said as she blinked at me once.
“Here.” I held out my hand for the soul stone, and she placed it into my palm. Then I clenched my hand into a fist, and the hard orb pressed into my flesh. “Ask me a question, any question.”
“Do you love Carmedy?” she asked as she tilted her head and gave me one of her signature detached expressions,
“No,” I lied, and as soon as the words left my lips, the soul stone sprang to life and burned into my flesh. I let it rest in the middle of my palm despite the sizzling coming from the orb, and then I moved the stone and showed the pale-skinned elf the red mark where the soul stone had burned me.
“Soul stones detect lies and mistruths?” she questioned with raised eyebrows.
“Yes, amongst other things,” I confirmed as I bent down and picked up the discarded stone. Its surface was cool to the touch once more. “Would you like to try it again?”
“No, I do not enjoy my Master being hurt, but I would like to see it again,” she said plainly as she held out her hand for the stone, and I gave it back to her. “It may be useful in the future and it might not, but it is still beautiful to look at.”
“Soul stones are very rare since the magic that creates them has been lost to time. I believe there are a total of ten in existence, eleven now.” I stroked the orb in her hand, and it rolled like a marble. “Every time a new soul is added, the stronger the stone is, and it doesn’t matter who holds it, if the soul stone detects a lie, it will heat up and glow. Maybe they are useless, but I too find them to be very beautiful. They remind me of the iridescent pearls found in cold water oysters.”
“Then keep it,” Morrigan stated in her cold manner of speaking, and then she placed it gently back in my hand and curled my fingers over it. If I were any other man, I would have thought she had slighted me, but this was just how my elven woman was, and I knew she meant no harm behind it. I tucked the soul stone into my void pocket, an idea in mind for its use later.
“Morrigan?” I inquired as I stepped even farther into the empty battlefield, and she diligently followed after.
“Yes, Master?”
“What was that magic you were using earlier? The green one while you protected Rana?” I asked as she walked beside me.
“I am unsure, Master, I have never used it before,” Morrigan admitted without embarrassment, and our hands bumped together in the still, freezing air. “I came upon Rana’s unconscious body and became enraged. It was like a second being took control of my body.”
“Do you think you can replicate it now?” I asked her earnestly, and she didn’t shy away from my probing eyes.
“I do not think I can,” the elf answered honestly.
I stopped in my tracks, and she stood beside me, her head cocked in interest,
“Can you try?” I questioned, and she unsurprisingly nodded and stepped away from me, always the dutiful student. “Think about the emotions you felt coming upon Rana’s body. Relive it, use it and it will come to you.”
Morrigan pressed her hands together palm to palm across her chest and breathed in deeply. Her face contorted with emotions as she remembered how she felt before, and then she thrust out her right arm with a loud yell. As I expected, nothing happened, though I had hoped it would. The elf stared down at her hands with disappointment and then tried with the left arm, but again nothing happened.
“That’s quite alright,” I comforted her as I brought her in for a warm embrace. She breathed softly into my ear, and I pulled away to look in her fascinating black pupils. “But there is something else we can try if you’re up for it.”
We stood in the middle of the battlefield, and I had dragged over three of the corpses and placed them directly in front of her. She glared down at their frozen expressions of shock and horror with little interest, and then her eyes flicked to me as she waited for my instruction.
“Do you know what body resurgence is?” I questioned, and she shook her head, her white hair shifting around her waist softly as she moved. “Body resurgence is when you reanimate a once lifeless form and use it for your bidding. Hold out your hand over the body you would like and follow my every word.”
She did as she was told, stepped forward, and held out her slender right hand over the middle corpse. Her eyes were hard on his face, and I could see the malice burning in her eyes as she wished to kill the Tintagal soldiers all over again.
“Close your eyes.” I nodded as she did so. “Good. I want you to imagine the soldier’s brain. First imagine electrical charges surging through his brain stem, slowly at first like sparks from a flint. Watch it catch fire and surge up to the cerebellum.” My voice was a whisper in her ear as I placed my finger first at the base of her neck and then higher up on the rounded lower part of her head where the neck and skull met.
“Now, feel the energy move farther into the brain, feel it flow and rush through every artery and capillary. Can you feel it?”
“Yes.” Morrigan nodded slowly.
“Good girl. Now, using the power you’ve transferred to the once dead brain, I want you to flex it, push all of your magic into it. Feed it, bring it to life.”
Morrigan kept her eyes tightly closed, but her plump, pale lips were pressed into a thin line as she concentrated hard on the task at hand. I watched eagerly, and before I knew it, the foot of the corpse in the middle twitched, then twice, and before I knew it, the dead body was rising to its feet. Its eyes were clouded white, and its mouth hung slightly ajar as it stared into nothing, but she had done it, and on her first try.
“Now, open your eyes,” I commanded, and she did.
As Morrigan beheld the fruits of her necromantic power, she smiled widely and grabbed onto my hands excitedly. I was so proud of her. My pupil was getting better and better each time I taught her something new. As she told me before, she was an excellent student and caught on quickly to everything I taught her.
“Master!” she breathed in disbelief as she stepped forward and circled the reanimated corpse. She touched it with one pointed finger, and it wobbled unsteadily on its feet but stayed upright.
&
nbsp; “Now make it walk,” I commanded, and she nodded keenly. Her eyes narrowed on the body, and her brow tensed as she struggled, but then the corpse took one unsteady step and then another. Before I could give her further commands, the body bent down, picked up a stray sword by the blade, and carried it nonchalantly as it continued to walk around on stiff legs.
“Very good,” I praised. “Now, Morrigan, I want you to try and reanimate the other two while keeping control of that one.”
She didn’t speak or nod, only closed her eyes and concentrated on the other two bodies laid out on the ground. It took longer this time, but that was to be expected with the larger task of awakening two more corpses. The hand of the body on the right flopped over palm up, and then suddenly, as if waking from a dream, it shot up into a sitting position. I laughed loudly as she made the first corpse rush over and help its comrade to its feet.
I waited and watched the third dead body and just as suddenly, its eyelids slammed open and its milky white eyes swiveled around and stared at the sky. It struggled to sit up, and I saw the struggle on Morrigan’s face as she fought hard to get the third corpse to move like the other two. The third moved in jerks, and I knew what was coming next before she did, so I strode to her right as she let go and all three bodies crumpled to the ground.
She fell into my already open arms and held onto me as she panted for air, exhausted, but when she looked up into my face, she was elated. She threw her arms around me and held me to her chest, and I could feel her heart beating wildly beneath her rib cage. She was growing stronger each time we worked on her powers, and I knew soon she would be able to control three or more without breaking a sweat.