Chapter 8: Chained Spirits and Blackened Bones

Jogging at a brisk pace, Kaz disappeared from the view of the Citadel’s sentries as he ran into the forest. Making his way off of the worn forest path, Kaz briskly travelled deeper into the heart of the woods. The bright moonlight streaked through the openings in the leaves, resulting in an ethereal illumination of the forest’s interior. His breath condensing into little puffs of white air in front of him, Kaz stopped moving and hid behind a tree.

“Pagan, no Zhakar wouldn’t give up so easily. I expect his forward scouts will find me before dawn.” Kaz’s eyes narrowed as he went deep into thought.

{You know, an ambush might be the best way out of this. Soften them up with some with a hex or two, then run them through with a Frozen Spear. I have no idea why you didn’t remember to grab a weapon from all those soldiers that you blasted during the escape.} Ever the advocate for flaunting one’s powers, Ahriman’s voice hinted at his excitement to live vicariously through Kaz’s spellcasting.

“It’s really not that simple. I don’t have that much combat experience, nor do I have the means to continuously cast if I miss a spell.”

{Well then, don’t miss. Just wait until you can see the...whites of their eyes or something}

Sighing, Kaz glanced around his current position looking for any signs of a pursuit.

“They’re going to be sending a hunter-killer squad after me. I’m lucky that there was no Arcane Inquisitor stationed at the Citadel. The Inquisitor Magi on standby were due for their rotation back to the capital. But still, a group of six experienced scout-assassins just might be the end of me.” Feeling a bit more rested, Kaz turned around and started to walk deeper into the woods.

{What’s an Arcane Inquisitor? I’ve never even heard of that.} Ahriman’s confused voice confirmed Kaz’s suspicions that the dead necromancer was far older than previously thought.

“They’re a type of battle magus trained at the Arcane Library in the Klavan capitol. They specialize in finding and capturing criminals that the ordinary military police cannot handle. They’re allowed extreme prejudice in carrying out their duties. More often than not, capturing the criminal dead or alive just results in a dead criminal.” Kaz broke out into a cold sweat as he thought about the possibility of being hunted by an Inquisitor.

*WHIZZZ….THOWK*

“Urg…” Kaz grunted as an unexpected arrow slammed into his thigh. Falling down to try and avoid other arrows, Kaz started to crawl towards a large tree. Hearing no other arrows, Kaz used his good leg to help himself lean against the tree. Less than a second after Kaz had propped himself into a standing position, a dark shadow leapt out of the bushes.

Swinging his metal mace in an arc, the hunter had his sights squarely on bashing Kaz’s face inside out.

“Gah!” Instantly dropping down into a sitting position from a standing one, Kaz was barely able to avoid having his face caved in.

*THUNK* His mace lodged squarely into the tree trunk, the hunter let go of his weapon just as a Frozen Spear shot through the space directly above Kaz. Horrified at having missed his first spell, Kaz casted as his opponent drew the tomahawk strapped to his thigh. Before Kaz had a chance to do anything else, a javelin whizzed towards him.

Using his good leg to quickly dodge the javelin, Kaz was confronted by another hunter clad in dark green leather armor. Before Kaz could do anything, the hunter slammed his metal mace into Kaz’s stomach. The wind knocked out of him, Kaz landed in a bush. Wheezing, Kaz tried to desperately catch his breath as the six hunters approached him.

“So it’s confirmed, then?” The hunter who threw the javelin at Kaz had already retrieved his weapon, and was watching his quarry intently. Straining his neck, Kaz saw three other similarly dressed warriors seem to materialize out of the woods.

“Without a doubt. If you had not thrown your javelin there, I might have died.” Evidently feeling extremely relieved, the hunter that had attacked Kaz first came into sight.

“Lars’ missed shot alerted him to our presence.” Moving to tie Kaz’s hands together, the hunter viciously kicked at Kaz’s unprotected stomach. That kick knocked the wind out of Kaz’s sails a second time. Tasting blood, Kaz could do nothing but curl into the fetal position as he was being bound.

I guess that makes two separate instances of broken ribs within a day. I really, really wish I could stop getting injured so often.

{Alright, kid. I’ve got a way for you out of this, but it’ll require you to really concentrate. Also, you might have to use up the three souls that you’ve collected so far.} Sensing the impending danger that would result due to this capture, Ahriman quickly sent two incantations through the shared mental link.

“AAAUUGH” Kaz screamed as lightning shot through his mind. The mental burden of two spells being forced into his memory was indescribably painful.

Startled, all of the hunters leapt backwards and pointed their weapons at Kaz. Even though he was surrounded by two bows, three javelins, and a iron mace, Kaz was too lost in his own mind to notice.

Eyes burning blue with mana, Kaz raised his bound hands to the moon, and a primal roar ripped out of his throat. The moment that was cast, two of Kaz’s enslaved souls roared. Faster than the eye could see, two indistinct foggy ghosts materialized around Kaz. One in front, and one behind.

As expected of a veteran hunter-killer squad, the six warriors did not panic at this point, but rather unloaded their projectiles skillfully onto the ghosts while avoiding hitting Kaz. Under strict orders to capture Kaz alive, the discipline of the squad would not allow them to disobey orders. Unfortunately for them, this decision to spare Kaz would cost them everything.

All of the projectiles unleashed went straight through the ghosts, disrupting their immaterial bodies a bit. However, these conventional weapons did not prove particularly effective at destroying ghostly bodies.

“OOOOAOOAOOOOO!!”

Wailing miserably but without explicit orders, the ghosts could no nothing but stare discontentedly at the six. Finally completing his second incantation, Kaz’s mind felt numb as he released his power for the second time.

*TZZZKSSHHHHH*

Unable to prevent it’s destruction, a violent electrical explosion annihilated everything in a five meter radius around Kaz as finished. Four of the six hunters who were too close to the initial explosion were assaulted with a monstrous amount of lightning. No matter how steeled a soldier a person could be, these veteran soldiers had never seen the true destructive power of magic before. Their already shaky confidence had been shattered, and the two remaining hunters started to retreat.

Snarling like a wild animal, Kaz’s eyes fell on the retreating hunters. With a single blistering mental command, Kaz sent his remaining materialized spirit flying towards the quickly disappearing forms of the rangers.

“AOOOOOOOOOOO”

With wailing not unlike that of a wolf, the remaining spirit quickly caught up the panicking hunters.

Without the need to go around obstacles and the ability to bypass any physical terrain, ghosts do make extremely good hunters themselves. Kaz mused to himself as his spirit managed to put itself between the running hunters.

Closing his fist in a harsh manner, Kaz unleashed the death energy that he had collected from some of the very recently deceased soldiers. was casted again, and a second deafening explosion pierced the night. With the immediate danger out of the way, Kaz slumped against a nearby boulder.

Scanning his nearby surroundings, Kaz saw that the boulder that he was leaning against was one of the few objects that had survived the explosion from the Rupture Spirit spell. Everything else that was even remotely fragile had been utterly destroyed. The ground was burnt black, with pieces of dirt fused together in unnatural patterns. Small sparks remained from the initial lightning that was released from the spirit upon its demise. What remained of the most trees were the blackened trunks and the ashes of disintegrated leaves.

{Do you now realize the awe inspiring power of magic? This is the reason that magi are respected across the world. These particular spells are the reason why Necromancy should be regarded as the most powerful branch of magic.} Ahriman’s voice contained his unyielding pride for the art of Necromancy.

Seeing the results of his handiwork, Kaz could only numbly nod his head. Looking around, nothing remained of the hunters sent to apprehend Kaz besides their crisp, blackened corpses. Somehow, one of the men’s tomahawks remained mostly undamaged.

I guess I could consider the iron maces to be undamaged too, but I have no idea of how to properly wield one. In addition to my inexperience, these weapons would be too heavy and inconspicuous for a wandering youth to carry around. Special forces issue weapons do tend to attract the wrong type of attention.

Kaz carefully sent out his magical sense to check his surroundings. After being absolutely sure that nobody else was near, Kaz collected and enslaved the souls of the newly deceased.

“Ahriman, why did you force two spells simultaneously through the mental link. The mental burden of have to forcibly absorb so much information at the same time nearly cost me my life.” Kaz frowned as he limped away from the site of battle. Although normal could not see them, the six newly enslaved souls joined Ranik’s soul in creating a silently wailing cloud. Paying his ghosts no heed, Kaz gingerly leaned back against a undamaged tree, attempting to remove the arrow that was lodged deep inside his right thigh.

{It...was a bit of a last ditch effort. Ever since my death I have been leaking magical energy. Without a physical body, there is really no way for me to permanently store mana. It took nearly all of my concentration to try and slow down the leakage of mana from my incorporeal form.} Ahriman sounded even more tired than before.

{Transmitting the incantation’s information through the mental link that you and I share isn’t a free process. Nothing in this world is free, and you should do well to remember that. I was slowly running out of mana, and I almost did not have enough to send both spells to you. I did not want to send both spells at once, but the situation warranted it.}

“So, what this means is that you cannot send me any more spells through the mental link?” Kaz frowned. Although he had a variety of spells to choose from at the moment, having more choices would offer him a tactical advantage.

{That’s not entirely the case. If we find a Soul Stone, which is a magical artifact that stores mana in a form that is easily used by a magus, I could use the energy stored in that to transmit new information. Other than that, I would have to concentrate for an extremely long time in order to gather the necessary ambient energy. Oh, one other thing, an equivalent amount of Soul Power may be substituted for an amount of mana. Just something to keep in mind since your innate mana pool is so...small}

If Ahriman had a face, there would possibly the largest smirk in existence on it. His words carried an unspoken implication: that Kaz was nothing without his help!

While that may be true right now, I only have room to improve and you know it.

Pretending that he did not hear Kaz’s thoughts, Ahriman stopped talking and fell silent.

Concentrating intently with a pained expression on his face, Kaz ripped the arrow out of his thigh in a single motion. Never expecting that the arrow would be barbed, Kaz nearly blacked out from the pain as a small chunk of his flesh was removed along with the arrow. Gritting his teeth, Kaz quickly used some Soul Energy to cast . A portion of Kaz’s blood exploded out of his veins, materializing into the air. Forming a bloody Sigil, it dispersed and entered Kaz’s body.

That was the ancient Klavan Sigil for Debt. Actually, its origins might actually predate Venta Klavan’s invasion of the Plains. In that case, where would its true origins lie?

As Kaz’s mind descended deep into thought, the Blood Magic applied its effect. Feeling better, though he still had a slight limp, Kaz stood up and started to walk through the forest. Using a damaged javelin as a walking stick, Kaz cut a sorry figure as he travelled. Yet at this moment, the air around Kaz was slightly colder than normal.

With a silent cloud of ghosts whose wailing only the dead could hear, the new necromancer walks ever onward...

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