Harry in love was just like the Harry of the past. That endeared him to Edwin even more. The healer didn’t know what he would do if his best friend suddenly began doting on him more than usual.
The children took up the chant of before as soon as the two made it back to the caravan site. Edwin tugged each of the boys’ ears gently, smiling fondly all the while.
This stability would be good for them, Edwin figured. They were small, with Ben being just ten years old. Speaking of Ben, his birthday was merely a month from now. They couldn’t spend it on the road.
Fortunately, the guides Hadrian had hired had brought extra sleds and had waited for them. They made the journey towards Wandermere, and they were halfway there when Sebastian reminded Edwin that he didn’t have an Alanqian passport.
“But, I bring the herbs. Surely Podger Miz will let me in the town?” Sebastian shook his head at that.
“The guards shouldn’t have let you out, Eddy. They won’t be letting you back in. But, I suppose someone can go to the Alanqian embassy and start the passport process. It will take longer than if you were in the empire, but at least they don’t need you to be there,” Sebastian pulled out a piece of paper and coated it with mana. Then, he touched a pencil to Edwin’s face and placed the pencil down on the paper.
Much to Edwin’s amazement, the pencil lifted itself up and began to draw. Edwin reached out to poke it, but Sebastian caught his finger in the air.
“It will stop drawing if you touch it. I’ll teach you the trick behind this later, if you wish. It is easy,” Sebastian released Edwin’s finger and Edwin watched the paper transfixed.
“For what price?” Edwin had no illusions that Sebastian would ask something of him.
“Free, for once. It is an easy trick, and you already give me blood. Besides, you and I are friends, are we not?” Edwin regarded Sebastian and nodded slowly, searching the red-head’s face for any trap. He seemed earnest enough, and that made the healer smile.
“Eddy, I can teach you stuff too!” Piped in Hadrian from his right. “Like, how to make hollow darts for sedatives!”
Edwin blinked. Why use darts when there were syringes available in every herbal shop?
“Um, Harry, I use syringes,” Harry raised a finger in the air and spoke.
“Yes, but can you put a syringe in a tube and the shoot it at a raging animal or humanoid? Granted, there is the risk of swallowing the dart, but it is a small one, I swear,” Edwin imagined how painful a dark in the trachea could be and shook his head.
“I’ll stick to poison daggers. I don’t see why can't I put the sedatives there,” Hadrian seemed to wilt, and then he got an aha moment.
“Then, how about I teach you how to use blood to stave off the heat of the sun? It requires meditation, but…wait, how does it not bother you? I mean, I know you are a sire killer, but your blood should be boiling in the sun. Even here, in the cold desert,” Edwin swallowed nervously.
“Promise you won’t get mad?” That came off more as a question than a plea, but Edwin felt nervous now. What he had done was the highest sin possible. He had disturbed a dead person’s spirit, and he had done so out of a selfish reason.
“I didn’t get mad when I found out about Fernand, did I?” Sebastian looked on in amusement between them. He pillowed his head on his hands and relaxed in the sled amidst the various cushions.
“I ate corpse dirt,” Edwin attempted to smile, but then Hadrian looked close to cursing up a storm.
“That is what a Lich would do!” Snapped Hadrian, and Edwin winced.
“Well, about that…” Sebastian was just about to add fuel to the fire, when Edwin shook his head at him.
“I’ll tell him,” Edwin chewed on his bottom lip and Hadrian’s eyes were transfixed at the action. He was mad at Edwin for getting himself cursed, but those rosy lips were taking his mind off the matter at hand.
“I am a Lich. Have been for, well, I have no idea how long. But maybe before we even met,” Hadrian was silent. When they had met, Edwin’s necromantic mana had been barely contained. There was a hungry feeling to it.
Edwin hadn’t been eating souls at that point, so it made sense now that the mana was turning toxic without the needed nourishment. Hadrian exhaled. It could have been worse. He didn’t know how, for Liches were nasty critters, but it could always be worse.
“Can it be fixed?” Edwin shook his head.
“I have no idea how it even happened. I don’t have a phylactery. Nor have I ever heard of such a thing. I’d understand if you want to go your separate way,” Hadrian knew that while Edwin spoke the words, he hoped Hadrian won’t pick up his things and leave. Still, this easy dismissal grated on the white-haired vampire’s nerves.
“What you are doesn’t change who you are,” said Hadrian sternly. Edwin’s red eyes shone with hope. By Harika, did Hadrian miss their former ember color. The color of the last rays of light before a day died.
Still, these crimson orbs were filled with just as much kindness and compassion as their ember equivalent. And Hadrian found that now, with Edwin being guaranteed immortality twice over, their future together seemed almost set in stone. Hadrian just needed to overlook the flaws in the pretty picture.
“Ok, so you are a Lich. It doesn’t matter. I am speaking as your personal healer when I say this: From now on, you will eat an animal’s soul once a day. To keep your mana stable enough that you can touch others. A world where you can’t heal is a bleak one,” Edwin embraced Hadrian and began to pepper his cheek with kisses. Sebastian watched on in amusement as Hadrian returned the laughter and exited the sled. Some things were done in private.
