Raz woke to a soft clink of metal against stone as the winged man adjusted his armor. It wasn’t particularly comfortable to sleep in armor, so Raz wasn’t too surprised it needed to be adjusted after the man had passed out on the floor, even though Raz had customized the room to put a bed under him.

Raz tucked his hand inside the pouch that held Aki. He’d reviewed events with her before he slept, since she couldn’t see anything in the storage bag.

What do you think of him?

:He’s trusting, to use Skills that cause exhaustion in front of strangers without backup.:

You don’t approve?

:I do not. That sort of Skill is to be avoided. The downsides are simply too large for anything but a truly impressive Skill.:

He was pretty impressive.

:Perhaps.:

You’re really scolding me, aren’t you?

:Do you deserve scolding?:

Raz sighed. Aki was back to her old self. He knew she cared, but would it hurt her to find a better way to express it?

Raz jumped when the other man spoke. “So, where did the beds come from? I’m pretty sure I’d have remembered them.” The winged man paused. “Wasn’t there a throne here?” The man faced Raz, but seemed to be looking past him, at the rest of the dungeon.

“The Dungeon offered customization, I figured a bed would be more comfortable than the floor, and the throne was in the way.” Raz kept his hand in the pouch, letting Aki see and hear through him. They weren’t Bonded yet, but his Path still allowed that much. “Thanks for the help, I was trying to run but Iva kept blocking me in. I’m Raz of - uh. I guess just Raz, now.”

“Serenity,” the man replied. The name had an odd echo, almost like Raz was hearing something in another language at the same time. He shook his head. He must be hearing things. “No problem. I was looking for people and when I saw there were fewer people in here than camped outside last night, I figured I’d check. I shouldn’t have, it was claimed and you never know what you’re getting with an Unrated Special.”

Raz heard Aki keen in the back of his mind as he gasped. “This was an Unrated Special? Why did-”

He stopped himself. It was obvious why Garrett had brought them here. He wanted something from here; he’d claimed he found it before he attacked Greyvine. Garrett must have thought that having a couple of people he didn’t care about along to “find traps” would be enough to make the dungeon safe. It might have worked if he hadn’t been taken over by whatever had controlled the shadows.

Now what was he going to do? Garrett was dead and the only treasure from the dungeon was a trap. His hand was damaged and the only people he knew on the planet would probably blame him for stealing the treasure that wasn’t here. He wasn’t sure he could get back to them, and even if he did, they-

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice. “You didn’t know?”

Raz shook his head violently.

Serenity’s voice sounded harsh. “Idiots. Not you, whoever brought you here. Entering a Possessive dungeon, much less an Unrated Special Possessive, without warning people?” He shook his head. “What were they thinking?”

Garrett had definitely known something, but Raz didn’t think he’d known the dungeon would possess people. “If he’d known, we wouldn’t have been surprised. The guy Iva threw down the stairs. His body vanished and they didn’t know why. I don’t think they knew. They didn’t let me check the door, and none of them were Dungeon specialists, so I don’t think they saw it unless it was the first characteristic.”

“It was the third.” Serenity definitely wasn’t looking at Raz. It was hard to tell if he was paying attention or not, even though he responded quickly. “Wait, they threw someone down the stairs?”

“When he wouldn’t go in. I think it was a threat to me as much as anything.”

Raz found himself telling Serenity everything that had happened to him on Tzintkra. He’d started with reaching the dungeon, but had to go back to when he came through the portal and met Gustav before Serenity stopped asking questions.

When Raz got to the end of the story and mentioned the Heart and his hand, Serenity hopped off the bed he’d been sitting on and to look at Raz’s left hand. “Where does the sensation stop? Does it fade out or is it a line?”

The numbness went a bit farther up his arm than it had when he went to bed.

Raz started as Serenity’s eyes filled with a blue-white fire that was all too similar to the eyes of the undead he’d seen on his two long flights on Tzintkra. “Your eyes, they’re glowing.”

“Yeah, they do that. I should have warned you.” Serenity ran his hand over Raz’s wrist near the spot where sensation stopped. “Hmm. Yeah, this works. I can see where it’s trying to spread. Aggressive thing. Probably a curse, but definitely Death magic.” Serenity walked over to the Heart, still sitting where Raz left it. “Do you want the Heart? It’s yours if you want it.”

As Serenity reached over to pick it up, Raz yelled, “No - don’t touch that! You saw what it did to me!”

“I can protect myself from it. I’m worried about other people if we leave it here, so one of us is going to have to take it, or we’ll have to destroy it.” Serenity was watching the Heart instead of Raz. Somehow, that made him easier to talk to. Raz wasn't sure if the problem was the glowing eyes or the fact that he never quite looked at Raz. Both?

“Shouldn’t we destroy it? Why would anyone want to be undead?” Raz certainly wasn’t enjoying what was happening to his hand. “Wouldn’t it just make you weaker?”

“Only if the undead is raised by a very poor necromancer or by a weak concentration of Death energy. That’s probably all you’ve seen, good necromancers aren’t that common are they?” Serenity pulled himself up onto his bed and faced Raz. “The most common reasons are power and immortality. For some values of immortality. There are still limits, but they’re easier to evade for someone who is undead. Undead have fewer weaknesses than the living, and different concerns, so people who are focused on those things can find it easier to grow in power. It’s also useful for anyone who works exclusively with Death magic; Death mana moves much more easily in an undead body. Other mana may have problems.”

Death magic’s weakness was common knowledge on Asihanya. Perhaps the common knowledge was incomplete; this certainly hadn’t been weak. The Path of the Dead really was symmetrical with the Path of the Paladin.

Raz looked at his hand. The hand that couldn’t feel anything. “Undead give up things too, don’t they?”

Serenity’s laugh sounded bitter. Raz wondered who he’d lost to an undead existence. “Oh yes. If it’s a pleasure of the flesh, it’s gone. Food, drink, and sex are all obvious, but there are others. The joy of sleeping, stretching out sore muscles, or exercising. The warmth of sun on your skin or the smell of a crisp fall day. It’s simply not the same.”

That was an awfully specific list.

“I don’t want to be undead. That doesn’t sound worth it. Do you know where I can find help to fix my hand?”

Serenity nodded. “Do you have a way to heal yourself?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t do anything to my hand.” Raz had tried his healing Skill on his hand. Repeatedly.

“That’s fine, I can take care of the infection. I don’t know how much damage it will leave, and I can’t heal anyone but myself, so-” Serenity stopped in the middle of the sentence. It was still clear what he was trying to say.

“I can heal myself,” Raz asserted. “As long as it isn’t too much at once. I only have Quick Heal, and I only have so much mana.”

Serenity nodded. “We’ll take it slow then. This will probably take more than one attempt. Tell me when you’re low on mana. You ready?”

Raz blinked. He hadn’t expected to start immediately. He did have a full mana pool, though, so why not. “Yeah.”

Serenity stared at Raz’s hand, holding it up with his own. Raz didn’t feel anything at first, but after a moment there was a feeling like pins and needles, as if hit wrist had been asleep - only it quickly grew to burning and freezing at the same time. Raz cast Quick Heal as he wished he had an actual diagnosis spell; he was going to have to guess when to cast to maximize the healing.

The sensation settled back to pins and needles, but quickly escalated back to actual pain. Raz found himself casting Quick Heal over and over. It seemed quick, but after the fourth spell he realized it was taking longer between casts. “Are you going slower?”

Serenity didn’t look up as he answered. “Yes. It’s not as hard as I’d expected, and you had to cast too often at the beginning. How’s your mana holding up?”

“About half.”

It was painful and slow, but when they were done, Raz could feel sensation for about two more inches - the line was barely on his hand instead of past his wrist. Rubbing his hand and wrist felt really strange; it felt normal when he rubbed his wrist, but when he got to his numb left hand, he could feel his left hand with his right, but his left hand felt nothing.

It was weird and unpleasant.

[Path Rejected: Path of the Dead]

The only Path Choice Raz had left was the Path of the Dungeon. That was fine; it was the only one he cared about.

“So what’s next? I don’t have anywhere to go, other than back to those mercs, and I don’t think they’ll be very happy with me. Not without treasure. I guess I can take the Heart of the Deathless to them, that might be enough.” Raz hoped Serenity would have a place to go. He didn’t want to go back to the mercenaries.

Serenity snorted. “I want to give those mercenaries a piece of my mind, the way they recruited you is borderline at best. Unfortunately I don’t have the power to enforce that. We can decide where we’re going when we’re out of here; the problem right now is Deathless’s Heart.” Serenity’s eyes stopped glowing as he closed them. “Order’s Voice seems to be interested in what we’re going to do with it, I have a Path Choice Quest.”

Raz blinked in confusion. ”Why did you get a Path Choice Quest? I got a normal one, shouldn’t we have the same Quest? Or if it’s a Path Choice, shouldn’t it have been only you?”

Serenity shrugged. “You got yours first, and the situations are different. It looks like I got the quest when I decided to help you out. We’ll probably get different rewards.”

:Give him the Heart:

Aki? I forgot you were listening. Why?

:He says he can handle it safely. You can’t unless you want to be undead. I’d rather not be an undead dungeon.:

Raz smiled. Aki had finally accepted him, even if she still wouldn’t admit it.

He clenched his damaged hand, still unable to feel it. “It’s up to you, then. I can’t handle that thing safely, and I don’t want it. It’s probably not a good idea to give it away anyway.”

[Quest Complete: Dealing with the Heart]

[You have ceded the Heart of the Deathless to Serenity along with its power and problems. As the only living person still touched by the Heart, it still has an interest in you, but if it is properly dealt with that will not matter]

[Reward: Reduced spread of the undeath stemming from the Heart of the Deathless. As long as you are within the 'A Rest from Death' dungeon or Serenity’s aura, the undeath will not spread, and its speed has been reduced under most other conditions]

That was a reward Raz could be happy about. It meant they’d be able to clear the undeath off of him in only a few more sessions. Raz wasn’t sure why location mattered, but at least the requirements weren’t onerous.