A month before Braiten leaves for Aermagh…

Two massive beings clashed deep within the inner forest. The sound of the impacts reverberated throughout the area, sending nearby beasts and monsters scurrying in fear and trepidation.

On one side, the massive being was a long earthen-colored reptile. It had four sturdy legs, each with deadly claws attached to the ends. Razor sharp scales covered its entire body. The head of this reptile was draconic. This beast was an earth drake. Its tailed swung powerfully as its opponent tried to take the earth drake’s back, slamming the gigantic body against the ruins in the deepest part of the inner forest.

The other being shrugged off the impact and quickly got up in an upright position. Heavy wings made of stone-like material used for defense rather than flight encased the being, blocking the charge of the earth drake. The being dug its clawed hands into the ground to prevent itself from being blown backwards. A cruel, sinister smile distorted its already ugly, grey face. This being was a gargoyle.

Both monster and beast fought intensely and smashed the ruins apart. Tiny humanoid creatures and floating entities scurried away from the increasingly violent battlefield. The floating entities flew through the flying debris without problem, but the explosions caused by demonic and bestial qi caused them their humanoid shapes to blur. It was as if they were as fragile as mist and could be blown away any second.

Deep within the ruins, walls crumbled and ceilings fell. A particularly large rock smashed into a pedestal, breaking it apart. Within the pedestal lay a small casket. It was without any adornments and had a plain wooden exterior. It is unknown how long the casket lay within, but there were no signs of degradation of the material. The casket glowed with magical enchantments, making it sturdier than normal and allowing it to stand the test of time.

Soon, the scuffle from above brought more debris from the upper levels. The buffeting bestial and demonic qi, combined with the rock fall, caused the enchantments to pulse each time. With each pulse, the enchantments started disappearing one by one.

Half an hour later, the last enchantment winked out of existence. With it, a terrifying roar resounded from within the casket as it was blasted apart. A Human burst out from the interior of the casket.

However, this was no regular Human. His eyes were pitch black. Souls of the dead whirled in the abyss of the man’s eyes. A myriad of sorrowful, pained, desperate expressions were on those souls.

The man closed his eyes while feeling triumphant from regaining his freedom. He did not know how long he had stayed trapped within his wooden confines, but it was not long enough to force him to give up trying to escape. Stretching his senses outwards, he felt the two strong life forces smashing into each other above.

Frowning, the man felt that they were too strong for him to attempt draining into his body. Instead, the backlash of attempting to pull such strong lives would result in dispersing the souls within him.

Instead of looking above, the man extended his senses below him and felt several familiar life forces.

“Daemons…” the man whispered to himself as a smile crept onto his face.

A falling debris landed upon the man as he whispered. A large crack resounded in the room. Contrary to expectations, the man’s head was not the one that was smashed. Instead, the rock that fell broke apart.

The man smiled as he noted what had happened. The last thing he remembered before being sealed away was finishing up the ritual of changing from a Lich to a Draugr. The loss of magical ability was a small price to pay for immunity to any physical harm. Furthermore, he will still be able to maintain several supernatural elemental abilities.

An insane expression filled the Draugr’s countenance as he let some of a Draugr’s instincts corrode his logical mind. The corrosion was accompanied by the understanding of a Draugr’s natural abilities.

The man looked downwards and whispered gently, “here I come, my prey…”

The Draugr dispersed into mist and that very mist seeped through the cracks into the ground.

***

In the darkness of the caverns that held the many colonies of Daemons, the Draugr cautiously swept through the tunnels in its mist form. While he could not hear or see a thing in that form, his ability to sense life force was still strong.

There were several strong life forces in front of him. Inwardly, the Draugr frowned. The Daemons had such strong life forces here. It was not so in the past. Compared to his outdated knowledge, the life force of the Daemons that he was used to seeing was but a drop in the ocean compared to the present.

It had been several days since the Draugr had tried to make a decent meal out of the Daemons. However, to his dismay, there was nothing he could do. The only way for an undead to devour other life forces was to restrain them and drain it while they were at full strength. The shattering of their prey’s souls would only occur should they weaken their prey too much. It was a natural defense mechanism that all beings possessed.

‘Damn. I need to find food… and fast,’ the Draugr thought desperately as he caught himself starting to physically drift towards a lone Daemon.

His natural instinct was slowly corroding his mind. As a Lich, he had studied the Draugr’s natural disposition and when unchecked, a Draugr could go half-crazed from hunger. Furthermore, that half-crazed state would linger forever even after that hunger was sated. This was something this recently turned Draugr wanted to avoid at all costs.

The remnants of the mindset of a knowledge-thirsty, logical Lich sent numerous warning bells throughout the Draugr’s mind. He knew that his days would be numbered should succumb and go on a rampage.

Just as the Draugr was about to float away in frustration, he sensed a weaker life force leaving two stronger ones. He began to actively track that single life force.

Soon, the Draugr was elated at the isolation of this smaller life force. He would soon be able to feast. Sensing the area about him with his lesser elemental abilities, the Draugr carefully and silently dug a small alcove in the secluded area that the Daemon was in. The alcove was hidden and could easily fit the Draugr’s physical form.

The mist slowly gathered through the walls of the caverns in that alcove and the naked figure of a man formed. The man looked out from his hiding place to find a young Daemon boy who was playing around in what looked like a playground. However, the boy slipped from a higher platform and landed heavily on the ground. The boy felt a sharp pain and started crying. There were deep gashes on the boy’s arms and legs from the impact on the rough floor.

The faint scent of blood diffused throughout the room. It would have been normally undetectable. However, the Draugr’s sharp sense of smell regarding that certain metallic scent picked it up. Almost immediately, the instinctual side of the Draugr roared within the man’s mind. The Draugr poised to pounce out from the hidden alcove.

Just as he was about to do so, however, the Draugr stiffened his body to prevent himself from jumping out. The sane portion of his mind forced his body to dissipate into mist as he desperately tried to regain his sanity and suppress the half-crazed side that a Draugr usually showed.

Helpless to this situation, the Draugr could only flow back into the walls of the caverns while watching the life force of the Daemon boy slowly slip away.

***

A week passed since the Draugr tried to feed on the little boy. The Draugr had not yet fed. He struggled desperately against his instinctual side. However, it just kept raging within him and trying to force him to materialize in his humanoid form to feast.

The Draugr waited patiently within the outer walls of one of the Daemon colonies. Somehow, just as he finished fighting off his instincts, his mind suddenly became clear. There was a feeling from his depths that made him extend just a tiny wisp of himself into one of the Daemon houses.

Presently, it was deep within the night. Apart from a few patrolling Daemons, the rest had fallen asleep. The Draugr let that faint wisp of mist travel towards one of the sleeping female Daemons and the mist entered the sleeping woman’s body.

The moment the mist entered the woman’s body, the Draugr suddenly found himself with all of his senses. However, it was not reality that he found himself in. He was within the sleeping woman’s dreams. Letting the clear instincts guide him, the Draugr possessed the male figure that the woman was flirting with. Soon, the male figure and the woman were having sweaty fun. Small traces of life force were drawn into the Draugr from the coupling, sating his needs.

The amount was definitely pitiful compared to devouring a soul outright, but it was enough for the Draugr to regain the composure he had when he was a Lich. Regaining his composure allowed the Draugr to think with much more clarity than before.

As the Draugr withdrew from the satisfied woman’s mind, he began muttering to himself inwardly with some desperation as if he was an amnesiac who had suddenly regained his memories.

‘I am Affiq. First disciple of Gwydion. Protector of the Elves. Keeper of their historical records and sacred ground. I vowed not to take lives of those who did no harm.’

Affiq gathered himself into a secluded passage and returned to his humanoid form. A gentle smile appeared on his lips. He was glad that he was able to retain his sanity and had not broken his vow. As an afterthought, he was pleasantly surprised at the newfound joys of copulation, albeit one that was in the land of dreams.

===

Author’s notes:

I guess you guys could say that the Lich is pretty boned about not being able to understanding reproductive instinct in the past... No? Okay, I'll hide away in my hobo corner.

Going to move from my birth country to America soon, so it’s back to being busy, busy, busy. Thanks for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

EDIT(June 17 2016): Indefinite Hiatus