2E 445
The sun was low in the sky, stretching Lia’s shadow out
along the floor of the temple gardens. She stood in front of the massive
bonfire that rose high above her reanimated body. It had been constructed by
her hoard of undead thralls while she underwent the transformation from human
to lich. This bonfire was a sacrificial pyre, with the hearts of all that had
been slaughtered by Lia’s undead thralls scattered throughout. Around one to
two-hundred souls were usually housed within the temple, between the healers,
monks, nuns, the sick and injured as well as their families. Even on the low
end, this would be a worthy offering to the Deity of the dead.
Lia attempted to smile to herself but found that she lacked any lips. That was
a strange sensation. She would have to get used to this new body. The corpse of
her brother was still following her, ever loyal to his little sister in his
undeath.
“Anton, bring me a torch.” The command was silent, more of a thought, although
Lia found herself instinctively trying to form the words with lips and a tongue
she no longer had. Another example of her struggling with the changes to her
physical self. It didn’t really matter; in time she would figure out a means of
vocalising herself. After all, she now had the rest of time itself as she
didn’t have to worry about dying. It wasn’t as though the lack of any sound
bothered Anton’s corpse as he was able to understand her commands due to the
magic that bound him to her.
The zombie shuffled off, into the temple to retrieve her torch. Lia was left
alone with the rest of her undead servants in the dying light of the evening.
Although it was impossible to tell due to the lack of any skin, Lia was very
much smiling to herself. She had finally achieved her immortality. Death was no
longer a mystery to be feared, now it was little more than a new beginning. She
had granted herself what Vita promised without evidence. Before long Anton’s
corpse returned with the requested torch. Lia handed the two hearts she had
carried from the morgue over to her brother’s zombie.
“Hold these for me.” The words once again came out silent despite Lia’s natural
attempt to say them out loud. This irked her enough that she snatched the torch
from Anton as he took both the hearts from her. He was literally holding his
heart in his hands. This thought amused Lia enough that her momentary
aggravation faded away. She turned to face the bonfire and threw the torch onto
the kindling at the bottom of the pyre. The fire started to spread quickly,
igniting the larger pieces of wood that had once been the furniture within the
temple.
In no time at all the bonfire was ablaze, easily consuming the many hearts that
rested throughout. As the flames grew brighter, they caused the shadows of the
many loitering zombies to extend in every direction away from the fire. As the
flames consumed the furniture and sacrificial hearts, they caused the many
elongated shadows to dance. The bonfire burned so bright that Lia almost didn’t
notice how dark her surroundings had gotten as the sun vanished below the
horizon.
It was time.
“Trux, Deity of the dead, I request an audience with you. I offer these hearts,
that once beat within the chests of those devoted to Vita, Goddess of life, to
you in exchange for my immortal existence upon this physical plane.” At first
nothing happened, but then Lia felt a presence emerge behind her. She turned only
to find nothing besides her shadow that stretched all the way to the temple walls.
As the flames jumped around her shadow danced against the stonework.
Had she imagined the presence?
“Trux, I demand my audience!” It was then that she noticed that her shadow
wasn’t behaving in the same way as those of the zombies around the fire. Her shade
was darker and swayed back and forth out of time with the movements of the fire.
It was moving of its own accord. As she noticed it, the thing that occupied her
shadow pulled down its hood. She was able to make out the silhouette of her own
skull. Trux had obviously possessed her shadow to use as their form in this
physical realm.
“Trux, it’s a pleasure to finally meet in person.” The shadow bowed to her.
That felt good, a God bowing to her. She then turned and pulled the
hearts free from her zombie brother’s hands and returned to her meeting with the
shadow.
“I offer you my heart as payment, so that I may watch my brother’s soul pass
from this physical realm, to whatever comes after.” She held up her own heart,
offering it to the shadow of Death. Lia then held up Anton’s heart. “I have
bound my brother’s soul to his heart so that I may witness his journey from
this life to the next. I feel I’m owed the chance to say goodbye to his mortal
soul.” The shadow reached out one of its arms and pointed towards the flames
behind Lia. The command was apparent. She turned around and one after the other
threw the hearts onto the roaring flames of the bonfire. The shadow was waiting
for her when she returned to face it. The shade held its hands together for a
moment and when it pulled them apart a portal formed between them.
Lia gazed into the portal.
One moment Anton was screaming in agony as his deranged
sister cut his heart from his chest, then he was trapped, unable to sense
anything around him, held within a prison of darkness. Just as soon as he found
himself held within this nowhere prison, he found himself waking up on the
floor of a jungle. At least he thought this was a jungle, the truth was that he
had never seen a real jungle in his life, but this seemed to fit the
descriptions he had read in books. There were so many trees that their canopy
hid the sky from view, while hundreds of vines tied each of the tree trunks
together. Strange animals climbed along this network of vines. As he got to his
feet, Anton was able to see that the floor of this forest was just as full of
life as the area above him. Moss, bushes, and various flowers that were
completely foreign to him bristled with life everywhere he looked. It must have
been raining recently as all the flora around him was dripping with water. The
sounds of birds singing rang out all around him.
He had no idea how he had gotten here, but it was beautiful.
“I’m glad that you like it, Anton.” The voice was just as magnificent as the
land around him. He turned to face the source of the voice. There was a woman,
she wasn’t human, but she wasn’t like any of the species of Honosreach that he
was aware of either. She had the size and rough form of a human, with the
beauty and ears of an elf, the wings of a giant moth, while her skin was made
from the same bark as the trees around her. The more Anton looked at her, the
more he noticed. Her hands had six digits instead of the more standard five
like his own. It was as if she was comprised of every sentient species that
made up the rich world of Honosreach.
“My lady, is it you I have to thank for saving me from my sister?” Anton was
unsure who this woman was, or what her station was, so he fell back on
formalities as much as possible.
“Please, you may speak plainly around me. As for your sister, I fear I owe you
an apology, as I was unable to save you from your fate.” Her words sounded
marvellous at first, but as their meaning sunk in, the more they lost their
lustre.
“Unable to save me? Then, you mean, I’m…” Anton let the word go unspoken.
“Dead. Yes, I’m afraid I do.” Anton stumbled to his knees, the reality of his
situation hitting him hard. Then he looked up at the strange woman and the
realisation of who she was dawned on him.
“Vita?” She giggled at the sound of her name.
“Yes, it’s true, I am Vita and you’re my child, as are all that live within the
mortal realm. I have watched your life; it’s been one filled with devotion for
me; for which I’m beyond honoured. I only hope that you’ve enjoyed the gift of
life I was able to grant you.” Her smile lifted his spirits, but he couldn’t
help reflecting on his seventy-two years of life and wishing that he had done
more with them. He could have travelled the world, or married a beautiful woman
and raised a family, or really anything.
“Did I waste my life?” Vita smiled back at him and held a hand to his cheek, her
bark felt warm.
“Bless you, sweet child. You spent your life healing others in my name. Because
of your actions there are families that would never have been without you,
adventurer’s able to continue their stories, and knights helping the other Gods
and Goddesses. That doesn’t sound like a wasted life to me. I’m so very proud
of you.” Anton felt a little better.
“Thank you.” It wasn’t enough but it was all he could think to say as he smiled
back at her. Suddenly something caught Vita’s attention, her smile faltered for
a second, before she looked at him with sad eyes.
“I’m afraid our time together is at an end, he has called for your soul and
it’s his by divine right.”
“He?”
“Tywyll.”
Lia watched on, through the open portal, as her brother’s
soul was plucked by Tywyll from Vita’s realm and dragged into his own. It was
hard to really make out what she was seeing as all around her brother’s soul
was nothing, just a void. This was a nothing so empty, that it didn’t even
contain darkness, it wasn’t black, it was just a hole, a void in reality that
held her brother’s soul. No, that wasn’t completely true, there was a presence
in the void. It wasn’t a form that took up space, it was more like the sense of
pressure where something should have been, a nothing within the nothing in the
form of a man. This presence turned eyes that didn’t exist onto Anton. Lia
could feel the fear that radiated from not just Anton but Trux too. Then
Anton’s soul was torn apart, stretched into infinity, pulled in every direction
at once until there was nothing left.
No more thought, no more consciousness, no more soul, no more Anton.
Trux closed their hands and the portal into Tywyll’s realm vanished.
All that awaited those that died was oblivion. A fate she had now escaped.
As Lia lifted her eyes, she found Anton’s undead eyes looking towards her. Even
through she now had no heart, she couldn’t help but feel a weight within her
chest.
“Goodbye Anton.” As she spoke the silent words, the corpse of her brother
understood their meaning and climbed up onto the pyre.
Both Lia and Anton had died during this night.
Where Lia died, Thanistra rose into undeath.
