Chapter 26 - Histories and Darkness (Patreon)

The woman on the frozen throne gripped a chalice from a nearby pedestal, sipping a dark, black liquid.

"My Queen, I have brought the two from the surface. Travelers, I present White Rose, the Lich Queen of Kaad." Cristoff floated to the side as Echo strode forward, Fumi at his side.

The two stopped when The Queen held up a hand. At this closer distance, Echo could make out a white scepter sitting on the throne next to her, an intricately carved stone spell tool that looked ancient and esoteric.

What struck out the most was that she didn't look anything like the undead outside. She looked…normal.

A tall, elegant woman who easily stood several heads taller than Echo. Her skin was a pale, snow-white color, and her purple eyes vividly stood out against her light-blue hair.

"You are the two that tore through the horde above and turned my ziggurat into a pyramid. Impressive, and annoying." Her voice was honeyed and a delight to hear, expressing interest and starkly contrasting the environment around her, but cold and distant like that of a judge examining a witness.

Fumi put her hand on her katana, preparing to draw it if necessary.

Echo bowed at his waist, "I'm Echo, and this is Fumi."

The Queen stood up and slowly descended the dais with her scepter in her hand. Fumi slowly moved a hand towards her katana, but Echo stood there expectantly.

"Why are you in my city?"

"We are looking for something called Deathvine. We're on a quest."

She leaned in towards Echo and grabbed his chin gently, lifting his gaze to hers. She let Echo's face go and walked to Fumi, leaning over the shorter woman, and frowned slightly, "You shouldn't ready a weapon in the presence of royalty." The Queen snapped her fingers and several wraiths appeared around them: floating up from the ground.

Fumi glanced around and, seeing Echo's slight hand signal to stand down, relaxed her stance and let her blade hilt go.

"Smart woman." She went up to her dais and sat on the throne once more, the wraiths fading into the ground. The Queen tapped her fingers on the arm rest as she contemplated the two. She explained how Deathvine was effectively a substitute for many medicinal herbs and could be used to make the equivalent of healing potions for them. “We farm it deep below. But we cannot reach it right now.”

“Why not?”

She gripped the armrest and the icy exterior cracked. “Tiberius.”

Echo and Fumi glanced at each other. “He’s here?” Fumi asked as her voice filled with hatred.

“No. He was here. He left something in the tunnels below. The undead that have gone down have not returned. And none of my citizens wish to risk death.”

“Are undead afraid of dying?” Echo asked.

The Queen laughed, a melodic sound that seemed devoid of any actual emotion - as if she was forcing the action instead of authentically experiencing humor. "Who is not? Even undead fear final death. No one wants to wait in the endless cycle of stars to be reborn. That is why we all stay here, in Kaad.”

"When I died, I didn’t see anything about a cycle of stars."

The Queen's eyes narrowed, "-Explain." Her tone was demanding and left ice in Echo's veins.

Echo quickly described his death, his experience in Last Light Temple, and his reincarnation.

"...A new Arbiter?" Echo nodded as The Queen sat back in her seat with a look of ponderous thinking upon her face, "This bodes well."

"Oh, and there was an Arch God named Vythin Goldenscales."

The Queen looked up, "-Wait…That’s a dragon's name" She waved a hand and Cristoff floated down from the ceiling.

"Yes, your unholiness?" He asked.

"There was a dragon who resided in the Duskfall Range. It may be the same one. Go check."

Cristoff nodded, "I will go grab the report." He vanished into the ceiling once more as the queen gestured for Echo and Fumi to follow her to a side chamber.

A table was set up with several chairs. She took the head-most chair and the two monsters seated themselves together on the opposite end.

Cristoff floated down from the ceiling with a translucent piece of paper. "Here it is, your unholiness. You are correct, a dragon did reside there, but it was black - Old Ironsides. However, in 640 A.R. a golden dragon flew out of the same cave. The same year that The Aether Throne was shattered."

The Queen smiled, “Intriguing." She looked at Echo, "Do you remember any other details about this deity?”

Echo scratched his head, "Vythin said something about Haven?"

The Queen's jaw went slack, "They reconquered Haven? Destroyed The Void?!"

Echo shrugged, "I don't know what this Void thing is. Or where Haven is."

The Queen sat back and composed herself, "Care for a small history lesson?"

Fumi shook her head, "No thanks."

Echo put a hand on Fumi's shoulder, "Fumi is a woman of action. I like learning things though." Fumi leaned against Echo's shoulder and staring at this Lich Queen.

The Queen stood up, "I'll keep it short." She pulled a ring from her finger. Both Echo and Fumi instinctively recoiled. Rather than the gorgeous woman they were speaking with, an ancient, desiccated corpse stood in her place.

The same voice came out but was raspy instead of smooth. "I am a Prime Human, killed during The Void Invasion. One of the first undead." She put the ring back on and her appearance resumed its regal state. She explained the history rapidly – The Void invaded Heimfold and killed or corrupted all it touched. The Artificial Gods fought it off.

"Is The Void still out there?" She asked.

Echo shook his head, "People talked about it like it was in the past."

"It was around when I was captured by The Empire," Fumi added.

The Queen glanced at Fumi with a raised eyebrow, "So, in the past few hundred years, The Void was defeated, and old worlds reclaimed." She leaned back, "I need to learn more, and now that The Void is gone, with an Arbiter of Souls at Last Light…there is no need for those who fear the waiting of the stars to stay."

She looked at Cristoff, "Extinguish the pyre. Those who wish to remain may do so."

The wraith bowed and grinned, "It has been an honor to serve you, White Rose.” He floated through the ceiling and vanished.

The Queen looked at the two and smiled, "You've brought good news. Let me offer a proposal; I'll take you down to where the Deathvine grows. You kill whatever is down there; you get all the Deathvine you want. In exchange you let me accompany the two of you to the surface and join you in your travels."

Echo looked at Fumi, "It's your choice."

Fumi stared at the Lich Queen in silence before looking back at Echo, "See how useful she is…If she is strong, she can come."

Echo nodded and looked back at the imposing, regal figure. "Well, you heard her. You're welcome to come with us and we'll see what you can do."

The Queen smiled, "Perfect. Let us depart. And please, call me Rose. White Rose if you want to be formal.”

Tiberius was irritated.

No, not irritated. Frustrated.

White Rose taking an interest in joining his creations was not something he had even thought remotely possible.

She knew him. Knew how he planned. How he plotted.

He ceased concentrating on his spell and let it lapse as a small patrol passed by his cave.

Time to begin.

He slinked out into the darkness, quickly paralyzing the Gori berserkers, and placed the Mimic Cube on their chests one at a time.

The start of my new army.

Rose led the two down the stairs of the citadel. The glow at the top of the spire had gone out and the braziers no longer glowed with blue flames, sitting dormant. The guards who were standing at attention previously were naught but piles of bones.

"Why were they all afraid to move on?" Echo asked as Rose led them through a series of tunnels that slowly sloped downwards.

She provided a lengthy explanation.

In the beginning, every soul was judged by a Prime God known as The Arbiter of Souls. Seven Prime Gods existed: one for each of the six Prime Elements and one to be Arbiter. The Prime Gods vanished after making the Arch Gods. The light at the front of Last Light Temple acted like a beacon for souls. Without it, they would just float above the world they died upon.

The Void came. It began corrupting worlds. Gods were immune to corruption, but due to infighting and wars between worlds, they were weakened and fell. Caelum, the Arch God of Heimfold, hid away underground and made the Artificial Gods. They pushed back The Void and established their Afterlives. Celestial bodies that acted as both physical barriers and Afterlives.

She looked at Echo and he could hear sorrow in her voice for the first time. "That is why we remained undead. We did not wish to wait as stars for a chance to be reborn. And we could not go out on the surface – to gain access to an afterlife, one must serve that God or Goddess. But how could we ever learn what we would need to do? We can't become devout if we can't learn what that God requires.”

Her voice lightened, “But now that a new Arbiter of Souls is in residence at Last Light Temple, we don't have to fear being trapped waiting for rebirth. We can be judged."

Echo nodded as he took all this new lore in. "It makes sense. You want a fair chance at whatever comes next, whether it's rebirth, reincarnation, or these Afterlives."

He glanced at Fumi who nodded in agreement with his general statement.

Fumi continued a line of questioning, seemingly having kept up with the conversation despite her dislike for lengthy, long-winded explanations. "How are new undead made?”

"Ah, well. I can make them. Both intelligent and mindless.”

“You could make us an army,” Fumi mused with some delight in her voice.

They continued their traversal across a large bridge that expanded over a chasm. There was silence as Echo ruminated on all of the new learning he had just absorbed.

The whole Universe was covered by this Void stuff. He wondered what it was. More than that, he wanted to know how it was beaten.

After boring hours of walking Rose turned to Echo. "Tell me, did the world you came from advance through technology or magic?"

"Technology.”

"What a world that must have been."

"Why isn't technology advancing here? People are innovative, surely someone is working on new concepts. They can't be stuck in the same spot forever."

"Technology is limited and won't ever advance past a certain point as long as Ignis is around."

“It’s almost the same as when I was captured,” Fumi added.

Rose looked at Fumi and nodded, "Ignis was instructed by Caelum to prevent technological advancement past a certain point. But that was a secondary function. His primary goal was to hold back The Void. With that task done, I can only imagine his meddling with technology on Heimfold has become more pronounced.”

More time passed. The darkness seemed to go on forever.

To amuse himself, Echo pulled a torch out of the pocket dimension and practiced his fire-Affinity by channeling Quintessence to light it, then extinguishing it with sound spells.

This is more difficult than I thought it would be.

Alternating between Affinities was a challenge; sort of like working on a math problem before switching to a history question. Changing mindsets in between Affinities was a mental challenge that he resolved to master.

After all, there was nothing better to do in the dark tunnel.

"Why don't you move on to be judged?" Fumi asked.

Rose stifled a giggle, "Why would I? I love learning, and there are thousands of years of history I missed out on." She gave a sly glance and a wink at Echo, "I am attracted to intelligence. And I'm curious about the world you came from."

Echo nodded and looked at Fumi who stared with murderous intent as she gripped the hilt of her blade.

Rose read the body language, "Don't worry, Fumi. I'm not interested in him physically or emotionally; I don't feel that anymore. Just his mind and intelligent conversation."

Fumi let her katana go, "Fine. But he’s mine.”

Rickard returned once more to Heimfold in a blinding ray of holy power.

He stood in front of an enormous pyramid. Lux’s servants had caught wind Echo traveling to The Dead Scar, and there was only one place they would go. Kaad. Nothing else was out here worth traveling to. And if he was cavorting with undead…he deserved death all the more.

The undead hordes descended upon him.

“Behold my Goddess!” He raised his hands and channeled the Heat she had granted him. The undead swarmed around him and he shrugged off their blows, his radiant golden armor fully protecting him.

“Shatter upon thy bastion! Holy Nova!”

A shockwave of golden light emanated outwards. The undead struck turned to ash instantly.

Within seconds, the whole horde was decimated.

He strode towards the pyramid, his footsteps leaving a divine blaze in his wake.

I’m coming for you.

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