I had just pulled the cleric’s soul from her body. I hated that I needed to do this to win. I would rather that she had told me what I needed to know. However, I didn’t have time to wait on the usual questioning methods. Instead, I had to work with what I had. It didn’t make it much better, but it was needed right now.

I was about to pull the woman’s wraith out when Kasidy asked. “What did you do?”

I sighed. I was tired; my right leg was missing my left eye, and foot gone. I had been on the move and just needed rest. What I didn’t need was for Kasidy to be worried that I was evil. I was doing most of this for her to help save her from what the blade did.

I looked over at Kasidy and said. “I anchored her soul to the throne. It made her into a wraith. Which means that she is now in torment until I let her go. It also means that she has to obey me. So she can’t lie if I tell her never to lie, so I will get my answers from her.”

Kasidy gulped and nodded. “Did you have to do that to her?”

I snapped and yelled. “Yes! I did! We don’t have the time to deal with people not helping. I have to get the gate or portal or whatever the hell it is closed and then figure out how to keep you alive. She just wanted to yell and not be helpful. I gave her a chance to help, which was more than they gave us. Remember, these are the people who abducted you and Iris! While the lich was bad, they were the ones that were using him and his magic to make those flesh golems. I didn’t want to trap her soul, but I didn’t have another way, alright!”

Kasidy took a half step back in shock at me yelling, and then she nodded. “I know. It’s just that it was scary. Even more than dying, that was… to have your soul ripped out. I don’t… I understand. Thank you.”

Kasidy quickly moved over, gave me a hug, and started to sob again. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into a deeper hug. I didn’t need to be angry with her. I got it; the soul anchor scared me too. It was something that I would say only the most evil would do, but here I was, using it. Worse yet, I planned to keep using it if this one didn’t know how to close the portal.

After a few breaths, Kasidy stopped crying, and I whispered. “If you don’t want to be here when I question her, you don’t have to.”

Kasidy shook her head and said. “No, I want to be near you. I don’t feel safe when I am away.”

I nodded slowly to her. Then I activated the throne’s power and released the wraith. From out of the same mouth, an inky black blob came out. As the blob pooled on the ground, it slowly took the form of the woman I had just captured.

As I studied her, I started to understand what I was looking at. Her wraith form was mostly black with a few hints of gray. Then there were streaks of red around her hands, and her eyes were both slate gray. I slowly shook my head. I understood somehow that the black was because of how her heart was, and the red was the lives she had taken. However, her gray eyes showed she wasn’t even sure what she was doing was right.

The cleric’s wraith was writhing in pain as it stood where I called it forth. Since I hadn’t given it a command, she couldn’t move from her spot, but the torment and pain were evident even on her ghastly face.

I shook my head and said. “Never lie to me. Now tell me, how do I turn off the portal.”

The tormented soul of the cleric shook her head, even now trying to refuse. “Answer me now!” I shouted.

Her voice had changed from life into death. In life, it had been a light, almost singing voice; it now sounded strained like a smoker with a cold. I could practically hear phlegm when she answered, even though she couldn’t have any now.

Her form convulsed as she answered. “You must… no… push mana into the pedestal that controls it. The gate will close then.”

I nodded. “How do I lock it so they can’t open it?”

Once again, she fought the answer and said. “Remove the crystal from the pedestal and put the black one in.”

I smiled. “Is the other side ready for the undead?”

She fought for a good minute before gasping out. “No. Only the response team was.”

“How many guards are over there?”

She didn’t even fight that answer. “Hundreds more than you could hope to beat!”

“What city does it connect to?”

She fought with me for a while before answering. “None; it’s our trade hub.”

I smiled with a glint of anger and hunger. “Renfry, you will take the guard through and lock down the other side. I don’t know everything you will face, so take the lich with you. Have him pull up more minions on that side as you move.”

Renfry took a deep breath and nodded. “Should I expect reinforcements from this side?”

I thought for a moment and then nodded. “It will take me a while to get you some more, but we can start with a rush through with the animal undead. I have to get down to where I found the higher-level ones. All the ones I am sending with you are around level 50, so that should help you walk over everything. I am worried that there are more slaves there, so don’t just kill everyone.”

Renfry nodded and then smiled. “I’ll avoid killing where I don’t have to.”

I turned to my wraith and asked. “Is the operation to shut down the portals on the other side the same?”

The wraith screeched and fought but then answered. “Nooo.”

I pushed my will at the wraith and asked. “How do you shut down the other side of the portal?”

She tried hard not to answer me, but the pain kept ratcheting until she spoke. “Only the Manager knows how to do that.”

I glared at my wraith. My anger and frustration were ratcheting up. “Where can I find the Manager? What’s their name, and what do they look like?”

The pain and torment that the wraiths are usually in just by being was nothing compared to what she went through for the next couple of minutes. By not answering, she was disobeying, so the nature of being anchored here caused her pain. The only solution to the increased pain was to obey. I couldn’t even lessen it if I had wanted to. It was just part of what wraiths were. I knew that if I commanded the wraith not to feel pain, it would feel it all the more.

Finally, she answered in her creepy voice. “MASTER, the Manager is a dark elf. A priest of Pramsu, the great and mighty king of all the gods. If you beg for mercy before him, perhaps the Manager will spare you.”

At the mention of Pramsu, my whole body felt like it was on fire. A loathing that I didn’t know had welled inside me. I didn’t know who this god was, but I already knew that he wasn’t a friend. His name alone was enough to make me know that he was untrustworthy. More than that, however, I felt I needed to make an example out of this priest. It was like my whole life depended on this.

I gave a tight smile. “What’s the priest’s name, and where can I find them?”

My wraith didn’t even pause before answering this time. “I don’t know the Manager’s name, but if they aren’t in the hub, they could be at any of the ones it connects to.”

I nodded slowly and watched as my wraith fought with not giving me the whole answer. Finally, after a few moments, she screamed out. “He normally goes through the portal to Essex. The temple he worships at is there, and so is his home. That’s all I know!”

I looked over at Renfry. “Change of plans, we’re all going. If I can’t lock the gates in the hub, we’ll see about putting a dungeon there to secure the whole place. I don’t want you to get overrun.”

Renfry nodded and pointed to the passed-out Irwin. “What about him?”

“I’ll have him carried so that when he wakes up, he’s not alone.”

My champion smiled and then, as he was turning to go, paused and asked. “What about this place? Are you going to finish claiming it before we head through?”

I looked over at the throne in the middle of the room. “Let’s see if I can from the throne. If I have to look for it too long, then no.”

With that, I had my throne carried next to the dais in the room. Then the skeletons and Renfry lifted me out of it and placed me on the much larger throne. As I sat down, I got the pop-up that I was expecting.

Throne of Castle Westiral and the city of Leb’on’e

Solidify Claim?

Yes No

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