For some, death only makes us stronger.

~Baron Samedi, Lwa of the Dead

A necropolis did not exist under this town, of that he was sure. But he was equally sure Nadia wasn’t lying. The only other option was a hidden realm.

“How long has this been here?” Kafe asked.

“No one knows for sure, longer than any of the recent settlers. The inn over there is supposedly the oldest building here. The town has a plaque that can’t be removed, and on it is the town’s name—Ouidah. More disturbing is the Door of No Return. If you are curious, that’s in the inn and leads you down into the necropolis.”

“Who owns the place?”

“No one. Well, I guess the town owns it, as they are the ones that take the money. The building is used for a shelter during massive storms, and they used the courtyard here in front for market day and various events. It is a lively town for having a lighter population.”

“You know a lot about this place.”

“Frontier living, lover. You’ll learn. Everyone does their part, and most time, gold and other currency have no value. Labor has value, so expect to work for your food sometimes.”

Kafele didn’t initially plan on staying here long, but seeing the markings of his people, he couldn’t ignore this place. The Door of No Return was a common thing put on gateways into necropolises and cemeteries. It was a Vodou curse that was meant to keep the dead interred there.

The thing that caught most of his attention was Ouidah. It could be a coincidence, but that was supposedly the name of where the Vodun people originated. Back then, there was no Hex, just Vodun who practiced Vodou. Further, if that was this place, then there should be a guardian Lwa here. Ouidah had a weak barrier into the realm of the dead, and the Door of No Return was on a beach. The sea was said to lead to the underworld, and since the barrier was weak, it required a guardian to protect it.

After the first few days, Kafe met several elders, but no one offered their name or showed their Shield. But they were willing to give him all the basics he needed to know about the tower. Mostly, he gathered that it was a place where rules were garbage against absolute power.

He and Nadia stopped the pretense of renting a second room. After the third night, he woke to her in his room straddling his manhood without clothes. Lately, his cold impassiveness that could forsake earthly desires started to fail him when his cock penetrated her wet hole. Desire was eating at his resolve, and every time he tried to resist it, a subtle mental shift made him forget.

During the day, he tried to discover a way into the necropolis, and at night she would arrive with the dark. She never was in his bed when he awoke, but the townspeople smiled at him endlessly. Even he found it creepy as fuck. Nadia continued to look incredibly bright and cheerful. Still, after a few weeks, he noticed he no longer felt satiated no matter how many times he ejaculated into her. Like a drug addict, he knew he lied to himself about what he could take. He succumbed to her every night and wanted more. That passion had long turned to need, and now he felt possessive of her.

Nadia didn’t even notice the changes in both of them. Or maybe she did but didn’t care. Kafe was not delusional and knew something was off with her from the first day. Nighttime, she turned into a demoness and rode him like there was no tomorrow. Her screams and moans echoed out, and there was no way the village didn’t know what they got up to at night.

Today was different than previous days because he’d stopped needing to cycle mana for his arm to get it up to his new one. During sex, he felt it. A slight tug, almost unnoticeable, pulled a sliver of his essence away and sent it along with his ejaculation into the woman’s tainted hole.

It was no wonder she always looked so vibrant—she was stealing his vitality. He might not have noticed on any other day. Feeding his energy into his healing left him depleted, which made a slight loss of essence all the more noticeable. A few more days, and he’d have lost too much to even have the mental acuity to sense it.

Strangely, he wasn’t sure if Nadia even knew what she was doing.

“Kaf? Do you love me?” Nadia whispered into his ear, and he nodded reflexively.

But did he really? He wasn’t sure. Another week went by, but he prevented the loss of more of his vitality. Kafe wasn’t sure what to do as he’d never had problems like this before. No one could look at her without setting him off, and they were all staring at him with knowing eyes.

It’d been almost four months since he’d acquired his Shield, and he toiled away in this village, even if he had a good reason for doing so. The necropolis was important—he felt it in his bones. However, this place had a dangerous vibe, and he wasn’t sure if he should stay. Most vital of all, he needed to find Crow and get the Python’s Tongue.

It was during a hunt that everything changed. He had gone with a few cultivators roughly equivalent in strength to him. They followed some gulches and valleys where the most abundant game was, but Kafe didn’t know much about hunting animals, just people. All of them ended getting stuck on the side of a cliff due to a flash flood. Several days went by, and Nadia’s tenuous hold on his mind had loosened.

While those villagers huddled together, trying to keep warm, he sensed their hostile intent. He wasn’t sure why they were targeting him, but during the night, he released his Hex, and the black cloud subtly entered their lungs until oxygen barely reached their brains. As they each fainted, Kafe’s cold grin was the last thing they saw.

Using a Corpse Piton, he carved Hex Runes into their chest, and each tapped into the Source of his victim, which was even more potent if they had a Shield. A drop of his blood activated the rune, and one by one, the villagers died while the runes continued to light up. After each was filled, the corpses stood up, and their gray dead eyes stared at the master without much sentience.

These were the simplest of corpse puppets because they lacked intelligence. Their souls weren’t strong enough to give the puppet sentience or awareness. Using them as his personal army and guards, he slept soundly until the storm abated two days later. A day later, he returned to the village but left the puppets hidden away for future needs.

That night, Nadia appeared once more. Knowing what to expect, he blocked the mind control and held her close to his body. Once more, she let her guard down as she threw herself into the passion of their lovemaking. Her breasts undulated slowly as she slid up and down his manhood. Sitting up, he placed his mouth over one of her nipples as his hands wrapped around her.

Kafele hugged the woman tighter and tighter. By the time she realized what he was doing, her ribs had already started cracking. His fingers expertly guided one such rib so that it tore her heart. The pain and surprise left her completely vulnerable and not able to activate her Shield. Kafe’s Shield lit up the room as the thrum of his power came into existence.

Nadia knew she was dying, and blood poured out of her eyes, nose, and ears.

“Don’t cry, please,” Kafe whispered to her. “I do love you, and I’ll protect you forever.”

Even after she died, he didn’t stop until his lust was completely sated. It was essential to a ritual he could only perform once in his lifetime. After he finished, he cleaned up her body and laid her out on a formation he’d drawn on the floor.

Using the utmost care, he brought out a silver Corpse Piton that could only be used once and carved a rune passed down in his family. It could only be used on a cultivator with a Shield and each loose line connected to it. After he finished, it lit up in a flash of red before Nadia’s Shield shifted and transformed until it filled in every part of the Hex formed on her chest.

Once he was sure her soul was protected within the rune, he pulled out tons of resources. The predominant one was a block of Black Iron which could be used to temper the bones of a corpse puppet but was a waste on anything weaker than an Iron Shield. A Corpse Puppet Bride was different because she would be able to continue to grow and cultivate.

Kafe spent a lot of his mana refining the materials so they could seep into the rune and move to the appropriate parts of her body. After all the Black Iron entered Nadia’s body, her bones started cracking and reforming. Broken ribs mended, and impurities were purged, but he wasn’t done and put a lifetime’s fortune worth of resources into her. Her flesh became paler and purer. Her hair was shiny and more luxurious. Her body lost some of its baby fat to be replaced with toned muscles. Her breasts and butt firmed up but remained curvy and plump.

Once he was satisfied, he took a blue crystal vial out of his Shield. Inside was a thick pearlescent liquid, and to an untrained eye, its appearance was similar to semen. This was something his family manufactured, but Kafe never asked how it was made. He knew knowing would only cause him to question his beliefs.

Three drops went into Nadia’s mouth, and he waited.

An hour passed, and she remained unmoving, but a milky-white tear rolled down the side of her face.

Thump! Thump!

In the silence of the room, he finally heard her heartbeat. Color returned to her bluish-white flesh, and the corpse-like state faded, but she was still very much a corpse puppet. Only she was his bride and something of a hybrid. The semen he unloaded into her was part of the ritual, which was why he could only form one of these in his lifetime. In his eyes, this woman was perfect, but he wondered how much of that was because she was the woman that took his virginity.

Nadia’s eyes opened, and their original coloring disappeared. Now they were an ice-gray color. Kafe felt they were more beautiful than before. Everything about her beauty was enhanced, which was only fitting considering how many materials he used to temper her body. The only subtle difference was that her carefree spirit seemed to have been tempered.

“Master?” Nadia asked, and inwardly she tried to resist, not sure what was happening to her.

“Good, you are still there, my little princess. Are you ready for your mission?”

Unable to resist his words or commands, milky-white tears kept flowing down her cheeks. In the end, no matter how much she fought, she could only nod to his question.

“First, let me explain because I owe you that much. A Corpse Bride Puppet is better than the original version of you. Your body is stronger, faster, and more resilient, but it is still your flesh and blood body. Understand?”

Nadia nodded, refusing to speak. It was her only way of defying him.

“Good. The second thing you need to know… Should you try to betray me, the Hex Rune on your chest will know and endlessly torture you physically, mentally, and spiritually. The length and duration will be determined by your defiance. And lastly, you cannot commit suicide, but you’ll try. You are now my woman for all eternity.”

She tried to retort, say anything in defiance and felt the ‘punishment’ from her chest. A gasp escaped her as the pain became unbearable and her body convulsed. The pain caused her nipples to turn hard, and moments later, an indescribable pleasure filled her.

Kafele chuckled, but there was still some shock deep in his soul.

“That side effect wasn’t part of my ritual. That is something innate to you. Do you know what you are?”

Nadia looked at him, and he could see the confusion in her eyes.

“Interesting, you don’t know. Did you know when you fucked me, you were stealing my vitality and essence?”

Nadia shook her head.

“You were. Had I not found out, you might have even killed me by riding me to death. I believe that is some kind of bloodline power you have—I’m not even sure if you are human.”

“What does master wish me to do?” Nadia sighed, knowing her fate was sealed. Whatever Kafe did to her, the one benefit she experienced immediately was her mind was more precise. Her thoughts and memories flowed easier. She just felt smarter. In the end, she knew Kafe wasn’t wrong. Thinking about her past lovers, they really did seem to weaken unnaturally.

“I want you to find a man named Crow, a Druid. His talents with a bow are exceptional, but I’m not fully sure what his other abilities are. But I sense he is very dangerous, so he is bound to be powerful. Become his lover and confidant, and don’t leave his side. You decide how to do that, but once you find him, report to me.”

“How do I report to you, master?” She grit her teeth on the last word, but this bond they had forced her to call him master.

“There are Adenvture Guilds located at the central portal of each floor. They have an extensive messaging network. Leave me a message at any of them.”

“Yes, Master. Anything else?” Nadia asked through grit teeth. Her love soured, and now her cold eyes stared at this monster before her with hate.

“Yes… let us continue where we left off,” Kafele smiled and pushed her back down onto the bed.