While even a layman has heard of mad wizards transferring their souls into phylacteries, becoming demi-liches in their unbridled search for power, even rarer is the true lich.

 

Little is known about true liches beyond legends and myth however some themes and concepts seem to transcend specific storytellers. Unanimous is the notion that they are avatars of the Primordial of Death who are sent into the world to balance the scales. While divine meddling isn’t unheard of, see Succubus, the theorized existence of liches should be assumed to be disastrous to life itself.

 

My research indicates that liches take the feats of modern Necromancers to another level. Creating new undead life, which yes I’m aware of how it sounds, rather than simply animating corpses temporarily. How such a feat could be done I have yet to see more than far-fetched theories. Yet undead do exist and despite our best efforts to continue to do so, liches in my opinion could be possible progenitors.

 

While scholars theorize on the specifics of a lich I would ponder another theory. That they do not have phylacteries at all. I would suggest that that notion is simply our best attempt at mimicking what is utterly natural to them. I would wager that their soul is itself their phylactery, that they have discovered or naturally developed a method to keep themselves from dying even without physical forms.

 

Of course, if my hypothesis is true then only those able to destroy souls, figures of myth themselves, would be able to truly destroy a lich. This is the major flaw of my idea, If that truly is the case then the only question is where are the liches, if they are truly as immortal as I imagine then why do they only exist in ancient myth? To that, I have no answer.

 

• An entry from Calvin’s Compendium of Calamitus Creatures.

 

I read over the entry until the words began to blur on the page. That was me, a creature of myth and legend, an avatar of the Primordial of Death who was “disastrous to life itself.” I didn’t know much about this world but none of that sounded good. Cleo had no idea how valuable I was and if anyone ever found out I would be hunted to the ends of the earth.

 

Worse, Calvin might have been for some while. My soul was bound to my body but I was still far harder to kill than I imagined. That sent a chill down my spine. Where were the other liches? I didn’t know how I felt about being the direct response to divine meddling. At least that explained how I ended up here a little bit. What was I missing?

 

“We should get going,” I said, snapping the book closed and tucking it in my bag as I left the office. Tiss was still on the desk and Jackal was saying something but I wasn't listening. Ignorance had been a bliss that had been viciously ripped away from me. My minions were milling about having decided to put anything they decided was valuable on one of the tables. Most of it seemed like junk but there did seem to be some money, not that I really cared at the moment.

 

With the use of [Call of the Mistress], they all fell into line behind me. The basement felt too crowded and I needed to get outside.

 

“Morgan!” Jackal called after me as I shoved the trapdoor open and stormed into the Whale’s Rest. “What's wrong?” he asked rushing after me.

 

I forced myself to stop, realizing I was running from the two people I had promised to protect. “I just… I just need some air,” I sighed before commanding my zombies to stay put and stepping through the door onto the street.

 

“Disastrous to life itself,” I muttered to myself. So far after not even three days in this world, all I had done was kill. Hell, I had become a cannibal and an eager one at that. This world hadn't changed me but it sure had encouraged the worse in me. Yet was it really the worst if it led to freeing Tiss and Jackal, was it really the worst if Humphry could never hurt anyone again? Maybe this world just brought out my potential now that I could do things I never could on earth.

 

Yet I didn't want to be disastrous to life itself. There had to be a balance. My own twisted golden rule. Treat people how they deserve to be treated.

 

At that conclusion, something touched my consciousness. Something vast and incomprehensible approved. The tickle across my mind, not words but the feelings themselves which I could only translate as approval The knowledge that Death itself was reaching out to me was only made absurd by the fact it seemed proud of me.

 

The only way this could have been more absurd was if a grim reaper showed up, patted me on the back and said “Clever girl, I knew I chose well.”

 

Death wanted me to find balance, maybe that's what the others had failed to do.

 

Again that feeling glided through me. It was all well and good to know I needed to find balance but how the hell did I do that? Wasn't that what I was already doing? Finding a line between those who deserved to suffer and those who deserved to be spared?

 

The lack of approval was enough for me to know I was missing something and I hated it. But of course, if something just told me the answer then I wasn't really finding balance now was I? Still I felt better than I had a minute ago. I had survived this long after all and I still had filth to tidy up.

 

When I entered the Whale’s Rest I found Jackal lugging the chest up the stairs with Tiss’ help. I felt bad about rushing out on them. I commanded my minions to help them with the chest.

 

“Oh, now they decide to help,” Jackal said as two of my zombies hoisted the chest the rest of the way up.

 

“Sorry,” I chuckled.

 

“We're loaded now by the way. Your zombies collected even more gold,” Jackal said, quickly perking back up.

 

Tiss on the other hand was watching me with those piercing purple eyes again. As much as I liked her eyes I didn't like it when they seemed to see through me. Granted it could all be in my head, but I still hadn't entirely managed to figure her out.

 

“Where to now then?” Jackal asked, adjusting the battle axe he now wore on his back. Of course, he had kept it.

 

The answer to that I wasn't sure. We couldn't lug the chest everywhere with us, we needed some kind of base of operations. I also had to find balance, unfortunately, I had yet to have an epiphany on that front yet. My thirst for blood was quenched by this morning’s violence and it was well into the afternoon now. Tiss and Jackal could probably use some food and rest and we really needed to have a serious conversation. I was going to war and I either needed to get them ready for it or find them somewhere safe. After all, there would be few survivors.

“Three rooms please,” I told the clerk at the inn Jackal had pointed out.

 

Tiss stepped closer to me and shook her head. I opened my mouth to her voice as if she was whispering right in my ear.

 

“I… I would rather stay with you.”

 

“Actually just two rooms,” I corrected.

 

Tiss handed the clerk the money and collected our keys. I helped Jackal carry the chest upstairs and having a far easier time than him. I had left the zombies outside in an alley, telling them to come find me if something was wrong. I had managed to make sure they were passable in their disguises but if anyone took any time to inspect them they would see that they were undead. Considering the curious looks I kept getting I was in a similar boat, I did still look far better than the zombies thank you very much.

 

“Get some rest, Jackal, I’ll come get you for dinner when it’s time,” I told the weaver.

 

He nodded through a yawn, took one of the keys and scampered into his room. I dragged the chest over to the other one and entered with Tiss. I didn’t know why she had wanted to stay with me but maybe I could encourage her to talk a little.

 

The room was far nicer than the one at the Whale’s Rest. The room was properly furnished, the bed was practically double the size and most impressively the room was bigger than a walk-in closet.

 

“It’s a foolish quest,” Tiss said, catching me by surprise. “What you said to Jackal earlier. You should reconsider.”

 

I looked over at the kobold who wore a look of determination on her face. She was full of surprises today. I wasn’t sure I liked it.

 

“Sloffanil will not fall without taking all of us with them.”

 

“Tiss, I’m level four. I have grand ambitions that will probably never come about,” I sighed, not really wanting to discuss this right now.

 

“If you truly are a lich then they are not so grand. Have you already forgotten what you’ve done? You’ve killed a lord of the city, you destroyed an outpost of the Venomthorn, and you consume the dead to survive impossible injuries and walk away as if nothing happened.”

 

Any frustrations were quickly overshadowed by the fact Tiss knew about liches and it seemed had recognized that symbol on the ledgers. “You lied,” I snorted.

 

“Jackal is a child, there are some things that are better left unknown to him and you certainly should not be dragging him into this,” she replied.

 

“So that’s why you wanted to share a room? So you could yell at me,” I chuckled. Apparently, I had significantly misjudged Tiss as well. 

 

“For those who survive your war, what is left for them?”

 

“Life finds a way, people will rebuild or leave for better pastures,” I replied. I was doing my best to remain impartial but I could feel my defenses coming up. 

 

“If all you do is hurt people, how are you any better than the people you so despise? I can’t believe your promise to protect me when all you do is destroy. You are not so different from my former master,” she hissed.

 

Anger flared within me. How dare she. I was the reason she was in this inn with more money than she could ever need rather than the pet of some nobleman. I took a deep breath, anger would get me nowhere here. Tiss was scared, even though I could see that, that didn’t mean her words didn’t hurt.

 

“If you think that of me then leave, take whatever gold you want and move on. Do what you wish, I am not your enslaver,” I growled.

 

“Where would I even go?” Tiss replied. “Shall I walk across the kingdom while branded a slave? Or March to my death in the Wildlands? There are no options for people like me, and if you burn these lands to the ground I won’t be the only one without choices.”

 

It was strange to have someone yelling at me, it wasn’t something that really ever happened on earth. And Tiss had been an empty shell when I found her. It seemed I had helped her enough to realize she was backed into a corner.

 

Her words hurt more than I expected them to because they were true. But my job wasn’t to help those in need, it was to punish the wicked. I had proven as much when I failed Anne so, I didn’t know anything other than vengeance. My heart only wanted to make people hurt.

 

“I don’t know, Tiss, I’m sorry,” I sighed, sitting in the bed. This was why I had intended to bring her to Cleo, I couldn't give Tiss what she needed. I had promised to protect her, that had been a mistake. I had let my guilt get to me and forgotten who I was.

 

Tiss and Jackal had not chosen to stay with me, they simply had no other option. Tiss was worried about innocents but was anyone in this place innocent or had some just drawn the short stick? Would they be any different if they had the power?

 

Jackal was a naive child and Tiss was severely damaged, they would not survive without me. Yet I had been foolish enough to make a promise and now I had an obligation to them.

 

I stood, needing to do anything but dwell in this room. “I’m going out, I’ll be back by morning,” I said, not even looking at Tiss. I was out the door before she had a chance to say anything.