Chapter 19

Ritual of Darkness

The Blinding light retreated, leaving June in darkness. Darkness, again with the goddamned darkness. But she wasn't alone in it this time, "Nothing. I felt nothing. No sadness or anger. No joy. No pain. No pleasure. I was free." she thought. The thoughts flowed like water, crystalizing in her mind's eye like ice.

From within the growing orb of ice, June could see through the shade. In this limbo between life and death, June felt more and more emotions flowing into her new, silent prison. Within the silence, time itself had fallen away as well. Time, like all other things, relinquished its grip on her consciousness. Her mind reached out, pressed against the hardening mirror of ice and cold, but the hardened wall of silence persisted.

“Wake,” echoed a booming voice, trailing through the darkness. The voice banged against the glass-like prison like a hammer, cracking the icy tomb. Like repeating blast waves, the voice of some unseen, powerful entity blasted apart her prison, bit by bit.

When the cell of the soul shattered, June fell, dropping down into an ichorous black embrace. She fell further from the unknown void, falling down at an increasing pace before even the ichor fell away from her awareness.

With a creeping feeling, the sense of touch came back to June, and other senses followed along. June could feel again, and resting on a hard stone surface was becoming all too familiar. Right away, she knew where she was. A scent of rot and dust dominated the cramped space. She tried to jolt up, slamming her head into something hard in the process. Panic set in once again, as she knew right away where she was.

Desperate, June beat her fists against the stone. June didn’t even register that her hands had returned to bones. The clack against the stones grew more rapid as the seconds ticked by. She wanted to cry and scream, but no tears or sounds came. Nothing moved around her for what felt like an eternity. Only the cloud of dust that shifted when the stone mercifully moved out of her path.

“Gave us quite a scare, June,” Bullin said, as he smiled down at the newly revived undead.

But he wasn’t the only one staring down at her. The twinkling and jangling bones of Varren Ebonwood also leered into the coffin. The mask of rotten mana was back again. They looked like a vision of pure horror looming over June.

“Get me the hell out of here,” said June, her voice terse and hollow. As she grasped the edges of the stone coffin, June hefted herself up and out of the container. Graceless, she lurched over the precipice of the burial container. With a clatter, a pile of tired bones tumbled to the floor. Vacant, barely glimmering violet orbs stared up at the rough-hewn stone ceiling of the chamber June knew all too well.

A meaty mitt reached down, grasped her arm, and hefted her to uneasy feet. “Come on, gettup,” echoed the voice of the dwarf.

June swayed back and forth on unsteady feet, staring at nothing.

“Come with me. We have things to discuss,” Varren said. Without another word, Varren set off, and with a wave of their ring-laden hand, ushered Bullin along behind. Bullin had to practically pull the smaller of the three along beside him.

As the trio walked, June lagged, her bones scrapping against the dusty stones. Her mind raced, despite her outward appearance. Visions still clung to the edges of her awareness, a rotting face here, a sourceless scream there. Lost in her own world, June gave no noticeable reaction to the storm inside her.

The trio ended up back in the curio-stuffed quarters of Varren, although this time Bullin didn’t have to wait outside. On a table in the center of the room sat June’s gear, neatly arranged. Her dagger, sword and armor sat, waiting for her. Like meeting an old friend, she rushed over to don it. Until that moment, the nakedness of being unarmed hadn’t been as obvious to her. It was biting at her heels like an icy breeze.

Varren watched with a cold indifference as the younger undead gathered her trinkets and donned her leather armor.

With a wave of the hand, the regal summoner commanded their charges to sit in front of her desk.

On the polished black wood, scrolls and books sat open. Tiny trinkets whirred as if propelled by unseen hands. A small brass toy, looking remarkably like a robotic man, paced back and forth across the wooden surface.

Seated across from Varren, June and Bullin sat waiting for Varren to discuss whatever it was they wanted.

As the group settled into the upholstered chairs, a pregnant pause passed between them. It was Varren who broke the silence. “So, what did you see?” They asked. It seemed they wanted to waste no time, and dove right in.

“How—” June questioned, before Varren cut her off.

“You think you’re the only one that’s died multiple times?” Varren inquired, “how do you think I got this glorious body?” The elder undead finished with a flourish.

June tensed, unsure how to answer. Visions danced in her mind like those ominous shadows, teasing her.

“Whatever it was, forget it. Prophecy and visions can’t be trusted,” Varren scoffed, leaning in towards June. “All too often, some fool chases greatness because he saw it in a dream, only to find a waking nightmare.”

“Well, that sounds about right,” June said, slumping.

Varren’s gaze turned down, looming over the slumping skeleton.

“Magic is a messy thing. Sometimes, dark and dangerous forces struggle for control.” Varren said, their voice taking on a softer tone. “The truly bitter pill to swallow is how we are all the playthings of greater forces and must remain content to dance on their strings.”

June didn’t respond, sinking further into the cushy seat. They could feel the wood beneath the cushion, hard and uncomfortable against her bare bones. Beside her, Bullin sat straight and statue-like, not wilting under Varren’s withering gaze.

A loud rap on the closed door of the quarters interrupted the quiet, tense moment.

“Ah, finally,” Varren said, as they rose from the chair and sauntered over to the door. With a flick of their wrist, the heavy skull-bearing door swung open. After only a few seconds, Varren returned carrying a small purple gem in their hand. “This is something for you,” Varren said as they placed the glittering gem onto the desk in between them and June.

“This is something you might enjoy,” Varren stated nonchalantly, pushing the gem towards June. The enchanted mineral glimmered with a barely restrained glow, like a wild campfire. “This item will help you adjust to your new body, in time.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that,” June pressed, perking up at the mention of new information. "Just what the hell is going on? I wake up here, after whatever the hell you did to give me this new body, and now I'm just going right back to work?"

With a huff, Varren responded, "Yes, you don't need to know more than that. I won’t be coy,” Varren said with a raspy chuckle. “You must absorb the power within this helpful invention of mine, but that shouldn’t be too hard for you. It just means you have some work to do,” Varren finished with a whisper, their voice a guttural growl.

“So I have yet another quest to deal with,” June gruffed internally.

Momentarily, the pause allowed June to try out her new ability. June flared her Mana Vision to check over this new item.

 

 

The moment June turned on her ability to scan the item, both of the other undead in the room fixed her under their gazes. The attention suddenly made June very uncomfortable, something like being an animal stuck behind glass at a zoo.

Varren’s mask of magic twisted, pulsing with a light green glow around their mouth and eyes. Their violet eye sockets blazed with even more light, burning brighter than June had even seen. Varren’s blazing orbs bored into June’s empty sockets.

June tried to turn her Vision towards Varren, but something she hadn’t expected blocked her. A brilliant flash passed invisibly between them, as if June had just stared directly into the sun, but only she could see it. The lesser undead broke her Mana Vision to stare awkwardly at the floor.

Bullin didn’t budge, even as June cast a sideways glance at him, trying to figure out why he was so stoic. Had he even seen that at all? Had she seen it? Bewilderment blew into June’s mind like a freezing breeze, chilling her curiosity.

“So, how are you finding this fine new form?” Varren pressed, then leaned forward to rest their skull on tented hands. “I see you’ve already learned about Mana Vision, I’m curious what else you managed to learn.”

“Um...well, I haven’t even had time to relax.” That much was true. June couldn’t begin to understand what she had gone through. “So really, I can’t even explain it,” June said, casting nervous glances between Varren and the desk itself.

Sensing her unease, Varren pushed the conversation forward with more subdued tones. Less a command and more a guiding hand. The skeletal mage directed June to focus her attention elsewhere. “Look into your Class Gem, you might see something new.”

When June did just that, what she saw nearly made her leap out of her chair in excitement. Aside from the power boost she'd just seen, it seems something had allocated her points for her.

Absolutely gobsmacked, June’s jaw hung open. In death, she had gained seven levels. Somehow, taking this new body had seemingly conferred some of its power. Her knowledge of Mana and Cores was still superficial, so maybe there was something going on here that she hadn’t seen mentioned. The texts she had seen so far hadn’t gone into Necromancy unless they were deriding the practice. The most surprising thing about this was that it was the exact opposite of how any RPG ever handled death. XP penalties were the norm. Whoever, or whatever, was making decisions in this world was setting up some insane power imbalances in the future, as far as June could see.

“Wait, how did that happen?” June asked, turning a hopeful eye to Varren.

With a turn of the head, exuding sympathy, Varren responded. “You gained a powerful boon. You’ll learn more in time, but for now, you should be thankful that you did as well as you did in that kerfuffle.”

June thought through the implications, wondering if it was possible to repeat this power boost, consequences and trauma be damned. The tantalizing allure of power was just too great for her to ignore. “Could I do this again?” Secretly, June hoped she wouldn’t have to, but a path to a stronger body might eventually lead her out of these cursed tombs.

“You would have to get a more powerful corpse each time,” Varren said, pouring water on June’s plan.

“So that’s that,” thought June.

“I still don’t know what happened before I...died.” June admitted, hoping to find some answers.

“Your little imp sacrificed themselves, it was quite the stupendous show,” Varren dismissively stated, their contempt for Kotor plain in their tone. “Even though it’s incredibly weak for an imp, it managed to eliminate one of the other Shard Carriers.”

June had to restrain herself from the outburst to defend the imp from Varren’s insults. She knew this was not the time to get uppity.

“You’re still rather green. The smell of the grave lingers on you. In these glorious tombs, all must earn their place. Since you failed in the task Bullin assigned to you, you must offer some recompense.” Varren leaned back in their chair, surveying the faces across from them with icy contempt. “I’ve directed Bullin to put you to a new test. For your sake, I hope you do better this time.”

As Varren spoke, the room around the group seemed to come alive. Light and shadow danced in the edges of the heavily decorated chamber. Even June’s inexperienced awareness of magic could feel glimpses of power floating around the room.

“What—”

Varren didn’t even respond to the attempted question, simply holding up a hand to stop June’s inquiry. And with that, Varren simply shooed the pair away. Like yesterday’s trash, they threw June out of the room

 

---

 

June and Bullin walked solemnly back toward the forges. A surprising spike of loneliness buried itself in June’s consciousness. Not having Kotor around left a hole in her that she hadn’t seen coming.

“So what’s this task that the old codger wants done?” June asked, the irritation naked in her tone.

“I’ll make it plain, you’re going back to the arena. She wants to see how you do against a single, stronger opponent.”

Without Kotor backing her up and taking the heat off her, that was going to be hard. She missed the chaotic ball of fire in more ways than one. “Does she expect me to die again, because that’s what’s going to happen.”

“If ya think like that all the time, you’re never going to get any better.” Bullin interrupted her self-defeating attitude.

June could see what Bullin was trying to do, psyche her up, but things weren’t that easy. She may be immortal here, but she really didn’t want to go through that reincarnation again soon. June simply nodded a hollow affirmation, silently praying for a merciful end to these prying conversations.

Arriving back in Bullin’s personal forge chamber, he immediately began rummaging for supplies, stuffing random bits and bobs into a satchel.

Bullin again began making small talk as they left the forge, headed for the teleportation room on this floor. “But you got that new ability, right? How’d that happen?” Bullin inquired. “I haven’t seen anything like that before.”

A new fear crept into the back of June’s mind. Varren and Bullin had always been too cryptic for her tastes, and June was once again reminded that she had to keep things close to the chest. With a little delay, June tried to respond in a way that pushed more uncertainty into her tone.

“It’s something I just did,” June said, letting the best lie she could tell stand on a partial truth. How successful her lie had been would depend on how Bullin responded. By now, June liked to think she had a pretty good read on the zombified dwarf.

“Hmmm…“ the rotund undead murmured. Bullin stroked his haggard facial hair before continuing, “Well, ya have a knack for finding creative ways to make magic work for you. Keep that up.” Bullin punctuated the sentence with a small smile.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have some dead freak trying to eat you,” June bitterly thought.

June’s mental footing in the conversation was as uneasy as the sand she was standing on, and desperation seeped into her thoughts. June broke the conversation from the uncomfortable topic by being more direct. “What are we doing here?”

“June, you may have failed to complete that quest, but you put in a solid effort. And you even faced danger head on.” Bullin’s eyes narrowed before he spoke again. “You fought well, but you hesitated. Look where it got you,” said Bullin, a distant look on his face. “Anyone else would have simply avoided them, but you seem driven by the fury of the Hells to take on bigger game,” finished the dwarf, a slight smile playing at his decayed lips.

June didn’t respond for a few seconds, choosing to stare at the wall to her left.

“I made mistakes,” she whispered. “Should’ve let the N—other undead—handle it.”

Bullin stared at the side of the skeleton’s skull for a moment, his eyes softened with concern. “Everyone does, trick’s ya gotta learn from ‘em.”

There was a point buried in his platitude. June knew she had treated this too much like a game. This was no longer something to be so casual about. Her memories of that rotten face made sure of that.

“About those mistakes. I can help with that,” Bullin said as he closed the distance between the pair, placing a gloved hand on June’s shoulder. He commanded her to follow him, after he explained she was heading for some new training.

“We can’t have you losing control of your mana during battle, and new bodies tend to do that if you’re not prepared.”

“That’s a thing?” June blurted out before she could stop herself.

“Yeah, it is, bloody sucks, too,” Bullin admitted with a shrug.

The revelation opened up yet another realm of the unknown for June. Maybe she needed to pay better attention to those around her if she was going to succeed here. June wondered if Mana Vision was the key to that, as far as she had seen, there were no mentions of it in the tomes on magic she had uncovered.

She couldn’t help but wonder if magic trapped other people in the same nightmarish cycle of confusion that she was. Possibly, there was a way to use Mana Vision to find other players? That possibility could be useful later, June thought.

The revelation that Bullin had apparently experienced the resurrection ritual as well forced a question into her mind. “What’s it like, really?” The dwarf’s pace slowed a fair bit and his shoulders slumped as if he was about to collapse under his immense weight. “Painful...Someone should really have warned you about it. Hell, I didn’t get a warning either...” trailed his softened voice.

They spent the rest of the short walk to the teleporter room in silence.

As the pair walked toward their destination, June saw her chance. At that moment, June seized the opportunity. She didn’t want Bullin to know that she was checking him with Mana Vision, so she fired it when he was busy yammering on. Sadly for her curiosity, though, nothing new could be seen on his status window. Everything she remembered from the last time she’d seen his character sheet was there.

The pair transported through the teleporter system once again to another level. They arrived back in the arena, complete with its gargoyle audience and packed sands stained with buckets of blood.

The dwarf turned to face June and began explaining what they were doing there. His tone turned serious and his face stern. “I want to see what you can do against a tougher foe, all on your own,” Bullin said as he stood like a statue amid the sandy pit.

As June surveyed the surrounding area, she channeled mana, anticipating combat to come. And sure enough, she was proven correct. The booming steps of something new interrupted the pair’s interaction. With guttural moans and painful grunts, a hulking creature stepped out of the shadows.

A rotten mass of bubbling and blood-soaked flesh lumbered into the middle of the pit, dragging a humongous stone axe behind it. Its giant tusks and yellow claws added to the visage of gore and horror exuded by the beastly undead.

June flared her Mana Vision to scan the threat. Pedaling back a step, June backed right into the bulking form of Bullin, who placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

 

“Listen up. This won’t ever get easier. But ya have to do these kinds of things, even if you hate ‘em or feel like they’re not important.”

June heard the words being spoken, but wanted to ignore them and run away. “No matter what I do, things keep going wrong,” June said, staring deeper into the sand.

Once again, the dwarf closed the distance between them. Bullin pulled June’s gaze up to match his own in a very fatherly way. “I will not let you die here, if that makes it any better. I know it feels like it’s hard to care about this stuff, being undead and all, but it’s important.” The dwarf’s tone had dropped, barely above a whisper. “The battles we’ve gotta fight will be hard, but you have to fight ‘em. You’ve got to care.”

“I think we’re moving a little fast, though, don’t you?” June asked, pleading for a reprieve from the constant pressure of expectation that Varren and Bullin were placing on her.

“Not really, combat’s the best way to test out a new body. Now get to work.“ And with that, he removed his hand from her shoulder and shoved her toward the undead troll.

June made her decision. She did care about things, but that list didn’t include Varren or the rest of these weirdos. They had a plan for her, but she was going to do her best to overcome it. The rules these things knew weren’t her rules. She had power to gain. With grim determination, June launched into the battle, firing spells as fast as she could muster them.