"The Heart of Darkness," Ravana began eagerly once he saw she wanted him to continue speaking. "Is a technique that I had thought long lost to the universe. One could only hope to find one such as myself who knew how to use it to safely train in its use. You see," he continued with an odd look on his face as if recalling some sort of memory from long ago, "the first person that I ever heard speak of using it for any purpose other than its intended reason died because he did not know what he was doing or even where it came from in the first place. He used it as a weapon rather than learning its true potential."

He looked up at Serena and smiled at her reassuringly though there seemed to be no real joy behind his expression. It was more like a mask, concealing what lay beneath which was probably just as disturbing, but also very sad and lonely looking too.

"It is a method of acquiring power and can theoretically be harnessed by anyone capable of channeling mana into their body." Ravana's eyes gleamed brightly and excitedly when she nodded her head eagerly at this revelation. "It allows one to synchronize with the heartbeat, soul, or magical energy within another being to gain their experience, knowledge, and abilities. It works easiest on someone or something that is heavily weakened or on the verge of death. Once taken, the being that was sacrificed will die and lose all magical energy and possibly its soul if it had any."

Ravana paused here for several long moments before continuing again with an almost dreamy look on his face. "The Heart of Darkness has many uses beyond merely gaining new powers or skills. The most important use that I have discovered so far," he said finally after he had regained his composure somewhat and looked back down at Serena once more, "is that it grants you access to memories from those who are sacrificed or synchronized with."

Serena looked away for a moment in thought as he continued talking about his discovery. She wasn't sure why but she didn't want him to tell her more than necessary. Something deep inside told her that there would be consequences should she learn too much too soon. As such, she decided to keep her mouth shut until she knew what to do next rather than risk learning too quickly from Ravana's lips alone.

"As the predicament with the Divine Message scam is interfering with the usual ways of handling this, I will be in charge of handling this for the foreseeable future. Normally, you would need to purify and engrave the abilities into your mind and soul, along with your body, to be able to use any of the acquired benefits consciously. I have an ability of my own, I would be happy to purify and then engrave to your soul. It is a transformation ability that only works more for humanoid forms. It would be of use when needing to disguise one's self, I am certain of that at least." He paused here for a few moments before continuing. "Outside of that, I would likely be able to lend some aid in the worst outcome. That being said though it may not always work as planned." His eyes narrowed slightly at her as he spoke before he continued once more after a brief pause. "I am also willing to help train you if needed."

Serena nodded her head slowly as she stared back up at him silently as he continued speaking. She wasn't sure how she felt about his offer or what exactly she wanted right now. What she did know was that she didn't want to waste time arguing with him over her lack of knowledge.

"I appreciate the offers of assistance and humbly accept," Serena finally answered aloud as Ravana smiled happily and gave her a nod of approval. There were no words exchanged between them beyond this point but they both knew there wouldn't need to be any either way. They had come together because of their mutual desire for power and survival. With any luck, the two of them might even wind up working out and becoming friends, though such a thing would likely never happen for very long considering the circumstances.

"Then I will now go forward with sharing this information. For now, it would be just enough to alter your appearance and body slightly but with experience, you will grow to use it in different ways."

Serena smiled lightly at the explanation and was about to ask more when horrific pain shot through her body, making it impossible for her to speak or move at all anymore. It felt like she'd been stabbed repeatedly by knives until she could feel nothing else except blinding white light and searing heat that threatened to consume everything in its wake. Her vision started blurring into darkness before it was suddenly cut off entirely from her sight completely.

She tried desperately not to scream as she heard Ravana's voice coming closer once again as he spoke. "I am sorry that my methods are somewhat...unpleasant. However, I hope that after some time has passed that we can talk further on other matters if you wish so," Ravana said softly as his eyes seemed to glow a fearsome ghostly blue as they stared down upon Serena who lay there motionless. He paused here for several long moments before speaking up one last time. "I look forward to talking with you soon," he added as the world around them faded away altogether.

***

Solday, 13th Solar Death, 832 3rd Era

There was a slight chill in the air as the sound of rain hitting the coverings of the wagon could be faintly heard throughout the area. Skully the Risen Horse was quiet but alert as Serena sat up straight at the reins and kept an eye out for anything unusual as the undead horse sprinted down the worn road. There were times she had been worried about the wheels of the wagon breaking under the strain of keeping pace with a tireless mount, but they were also infused with some magic so that worry had vanished after a few hours.

Earlier this morning, while they had a light breakfast, Serena decided to have them share the position of driving the wagon. Fion would drive it after breakfast (which had been about seven am) to one pm where they would have lunch. From there Serena would take over to drive it until late at night when she would find someplace to camp and ward the wagon to make it safer for them to travel.

Fion knew how to drive and ride a living horse, along with how to manage carriages and wagons. Serena on the other hand only knew how to ride mounts and usually more monstrous ones than a mere horse. However, she did have a large boon that Fion lacked when it came to Skully.

She could sense the Risen Horse at the edge of her awareness.

Serena could feel its limited thoughts, feelings, desires, and concerns but they floated over her like a leaf floating atop a fast-moving river. There one moment and gone the next.

Ravana mentioned that this was something that tended to manifest for more experienced Necromancers and Summoners so they are aware of their creations and summons location, physical status, and so on. In time, she could directly commune and give orders to them with her thoughts. Of course, he warned her, that some beings had a limit to the complexity of a task. Animals like Skully were good only as mounts, farming tools, and other methods of quality of life and transportation since they were tireless and relentless. Humanoids tended to retain some amount of adaptability and capability to perform difficult tasks, though that was largely based on how they were created, their creator's potential and power, and the materials used in their creation among other factors. However, even the most basic of Skeletons and Decaying Dead an aspiring necromancer could piece together can perform guard duty.

It was something she would be looking forward to experimenting with shortly. She wondered if it might not prove useful later when it came to defending herself from others who may wish ill upon her.

As she thought about this Serena noticed there wasn't anything unusual happening around her so far today but she still kept a watchful eye out for any trouble.