Lich Lord, Chapter 157

When I came back to myself, I was surprised that I was still standing, having assumed I would’ve fallen down. The big raven on my arm cawed at me again, then flapped its wings, leaping into the air. The big raven circled once and flew towards the city.

I turned and followed. Abimelech took notice but I waved her off. “I will be fine, have Tola and Izban render down that pile of corpses into component parts, they’ll know what I mean.”

“Of course, my lord.” I felt Abimelech’s eyes on me and was pretty certain she would send one of the Terhaim nonetheless to follow me in the shadows. Probably Ehud.

“What’s going on?” Maxwell asked. “You got awfully still there for a moment.”

I explained to Maxwell what happened and he got a contemplative look on his face. “I actually recognize that name,” Maxwell said.

“Right, you did run in the underworld of Valdor,” I said. “I guess if there was anyone following a death god here, that’s where you they would be known.”

The raven flew over the city before it dipped down and landed on the jailhouse attached to the garrison barracks. When we approached, it flew down to the door where it pecked at it. We opened the door and followed it in. It did a half hop and flap of its wings to move around the inside. The raven quickly made its way to the cells where we were holding the temple staff that had surrendered.

We’d brought them here because I didn’t know what else to do with them. My hope was that when I eventually connected with Friar Brown, I could just transfer them to him. I didn’t know if they would agree with the friar, but he would know what to do with them.

“What is it doing?” Maxwell asked as the raven moved down the row of cells, stopping in front of each, staring at the prisoners within, and then moving on.

Finally, it stopped and cawed at a cell. The man within was transfixed by the raven. From the information we’d gathered we knew that he hadn’t been a high-ranking member of the temple, if anything he was more of an attendant, not even a full acolyte.

His eyes were what stopped me. The pupils had fully dilated until his irises were barely visible. The raven dissolved into what looked like thousands upon thousands of miniature shadowy ravens. They flew through the bars of the cell and entered the man’s eyes and mouth. He gasped and fell back.

His back arched as power flooded through him. “What is going on?” Maxwell asked. “Did that raven just go inside that man?”

“Not quite so simple,” I said. He was changing, becoming a living dead, but not by any means I understood. The power of the raven was coursing through his body, changing it. The power had a familiar feel, and it took me a moment to recognize it—divine power. The man’s mouth was open in a silent scream.

“This is messed up,” Maxwell protested. “I understand we’re not the good guys, but he was a prisoner, and not even a vile one, we can’t just… Just…”

“That’s not what happened,” I said. “I’m pretty certain we’re witnessing the anointing of a priest to Shad’edki.”

“You’re certain it’s not a possession?”

“Pretty certain indeed.” I shrugged. “But I can’t be a hundred percent certain. What I am certain of though, is that the raven was looking for someone willing. Either way, this is not something forced.”

The process completed and the man went limp without a sound, he lay there for several moments before he stood. First thing I noticed was his eyes were exactly like the eyes of the raven. “Hi, my name is Ulricus.” He winced. “No, that was my living name. My name now is Dagian.”

“Dagian,” I said. “I’m assuming you follow Shad’edki now.”

“Yes,” Dagian’s voice cracked. “I am now one of only a handful that follow the raven god. I have been instructed to first claim the temple, then help you with a task in creating messengers to spread the raven gods, and yours, message.”

“Then let us take you to your new temple,” I said, undoing the magical lock I had placed on the gate.

We left and headed for the temple. The population of the city understandably steered very clear of the place, as the energy and magic there was dangerous to any living.

“Why did the raven pick you?” Maxwell asked.

“That’s hard to say,” Dagian said. “I never felt right in Olattee’s church, but knew I was called to the divine. Evidently, I was simply walking the wrong path.”

When we were half a block away from the temple Maxwell stopped, knowing better than to approach too close. Though he was strong enough to survive it would still be rough.

“Want me to cast a protection spell on you so you can come with us?”

“Nah, I’m good waiting here,” Maxwell assured me. “Besides, I will be a good litmus test to see if the living can approach the temple when you’re done.”

Walking into the temple with Dagian beside me I saw the small horde of specters. They sensed our approach and had all turned towards us, while the revenant on the altar released a wail that tore at the air. It did not affect me, though I could feel its power trying and failing to pull at my soul.

I raised my hand to cast a spell, because while I might be immune to their power,  but Dagian would not be even as a living dead. A hand on my arm stopped me. I looked over to see the raven priest walking past me with confidence. An aura surrounded him, and even as the specters bore down on him, whenever they touched the aura they stopped. Not vanished, not recoiled, the maliciousness in their nature was simply subdued to the point where they forgot to continue their attacks.

It surged towards the raven priest only to be halted by Dagian’s words. “Restless soul, your pain in this life has passed, what remains behind shall serve a new purpose. Be still.”

Dagian reached the altar and knelt. I trailed behind him, inspecting the specters and finally the revenant. The revenant turned towards me and I could feel the malicious hate. It remembered me. It also remembered it could not hurt me.

Dagian remained kneeling at the altar for a long time. I stood near to protect him against anything that might interfere, though I doubted anything would try to.

There came a stirring, the aura of death emitted by the temple began to shift and change. An unseen wind blew through the temple, catching the specters and the revenant in its current. They became a stream of flickering etheric lights that channeled into the altar and though the revenant tried to resist, its form struggling to pull free it struggled in vain.

When the last tendrils of the energy were pulled into the altar there was an unseen pulse as another energy flooded out of the altar once again. The power emitted had shifted and though it wasn’t a large shift, as there was still an aura of death, it did still change to not carry with it the same malicious and insidious nature it once held. Instead, replacing that was a new feeling of inevitability.

When Dagian stood, I could tell he was mentally tired and had also grown quite a bit in power. I guessed he had gained quite a bit of experience from capturing the temple. The revenant reappeared above the altar, having been transformed into a phantom. Phantoms and revenants both can evolve from spirits, but they are different evolutionary paths. The phantom could interact with the world in a more physical nature versus the revenant’s spiritual nature.

Out of the altar, several poltergeists emerged, the specters gone. Poltergeists were what phantoms evolved from, and these would likely serve as the attendants and guardians of the temple, at least until other living or unliving attendants could be recruited.

Maxwell walked in, showing it was safe to approach now. “This is definitely a different feel.”

I was already dead, and as such the inevitability had a different weight to me. It reminded me that there was a final death, but that hopefully would never come for me. The power from the altar was beginning to change things throughout the temple. Symbols depicting ravens and flight replaced where the symbols of Olattee had once been. The poltergeists began to collect the destroyed statues of Olattee, tidying up the temple.

“How does it feel to be the high priest of the temple?” I asked Dagian.

“High priest only in title,” Dagian corrected me. “I am a long ways away from the previous high priest in terms of power, but I still have enough to accomplish my next task. I can leave this place now, though I should come back.”

By the time we made it back to where this tangent with the raven had begun it was already dark. Torches had been lit to illuminate the area, despite the general lack of need for everyone involved, I still appreciated the warm light. Raven sat with the others of the Terhaim. I noticed Ehud rejoining them.

The pile of what had once been corpses had been reduced to four different piles of materials, flesh, bones, skin, hearts, and brains. I looked in surprise when I noticed a fifth pile, which was full of black feathers.

“What is that?” I asked.

“As Tola and Izban were casting an unkindness of dozens of ravens dove into the spell,” Raven said. “I take back everything I said about raven’s being smart.”

“The raven god knew you would need the materials they provided,” Dagian corrected her. “They were following the commands of the raven god.”

“Why would I need material from ravens?” I asked.

“We are here to create messengers,” Dagian explained. “The ravens that sacrifice themselves will allow us to create their counterparts of the dead which can become divine messengers.”

“I’m assuming you have a spell for this? I don’t know how to create living dead ravens. I can create other flying creatures but not specifically death ravens.” I eyed the new raven priest.

Dagian nodded and began to cast a spell. As I studied what he was casting, I found out that it was very similar to spells I used, but there was an unfamiliar aspect added to it. I was certain I was supposed to help. After I understood his spell, I began to build my own using pure death magic and death energy like the raven priest. The part of his spell I could not help with was the divine magic he was weaving into it, but I didn’t need to.

It didn’t take long for the two of us to finish building the combined spell. I had quite a bit more death magic and death energy available than he did, so my power supported the potent divine energy he was pouring in. The spell collapsed in on itself before expanding back out into a completely black orb.

Materials were pulled into it from all of the piles, but only in small amounts from the four regular piles with the difference being that all of the feathers were taken. Nothing happened at first until a raven flew out of the circle, soaring high up into the sky where it circled above us, then they began pouring out of the circle. When I finally managed to get a read on one, I wasn’t really surprised.

Death Raven

The only real difference between a regular raven and a death raven is that the death raven feeds off the loose death energy and not the flesh of the fallen, though it does still consume it, making them virtually indistinguishable. They are also adapted for living in death biomes, though they can live in either.

By the time the spell ended, an unkindness of ravens soared in the night sky. They divided themselves into three groups and flew out into the night.

“They will deliver the message that Shad’edki welcomes all, and that the lich Ezekiel brings with him new order, and freedom from the shackles of Olattee.” Dagian headed back towards the city.

When he was gone, Raven looked at me. “Well, that was very dramatic.”

“It was a little,” I agreed.

“Let’s get to work,” Maxwell said. “It’s going to be a long night.” His band had come out with him and had been waiting for us to start before I got distracted by the raven god.

I nodded in agreement and began to draw out a ritual in the packed dirt. Tola, Izban, Othniel, and Shamgar all began to help, understanding the runes we were working with. I was trying to teach Jair when I had the time, but she was learning slower than expected.

Maxwell’s music sped up the process along with helping us keep clear minds and steady hands. It still took us several hours to complete. Mana crystals we got from Vito were used to store the required power for the two rituals. I debated making a third ritual to create my own controllers but decided against it. Vito was right, I could not integrate them into my army, not correctly at least, and I was certain I would be receiving more from him along the way.

We activated the two rituals. The material was consumed, with far more of the bone going into one than the other. That one was by far the most complex, but that was to be expected.

We had in total the bodies of nearly six hundred soldiers. The ones that had become zombies we had left alone, and there had been hundreds that surrendered. Despite that it still amounted to a decent amount of material.

I crushed a bag full of death cores as I flooded death energy into both of the rituals simultaneously. The rituals pulled the death energy in, more than I had used for the same constructs in the past, even accounting for the fact that we were making several of each. That was on purpose, as the excess energy would naturally mix with the creation process to enhance the final product.

The ritual which took the vast majority of the flesh was the first to spit out a creature. A flesh golem stepped out, smaller than Chompy had been, even at his creation, but the power contained within was greater anyway. I pulled up its description.

Flesh Golem

Undead Construct

Level: 92

Created by: Ezekiel Vernizac

This is a flesh golem. Highly resistant to bludgeoning damage, and in general just hard to kill. Anything it devours will be added to its bulk, further increasing its strength. It has a poisonous bite and its claws leave behind deadly poisons that will raise anything that dies. The zombies will be bound to it and serve it.

I had debated about giving it the ability to absorb material to increase its strength, remembering what happened with Chompy and deciding it was worth it in the end. I was certain I could maintain control, and they were significantly weaker in comparison to me than Chompy had been back then. It would take them a while to overtake my strength. The addition of the ability to control the zombies it created was Tola’s idea. As it turned out, it was relatively easy to work in.

By the time I was done reading, the bone ritual was producing its first. I pulled up the description.

Mobile Eldritch Death Bone Cannon

Advanced Undead Construct

Level: 92

Created by: Ezekiel Vernizac

This is a powerful undead construct created and designed by Ezekiel the lich. The cannon mounted at the top releases a combination of eldritch and death magic in a devastating blast. Its powerful legs and numerous eyes give this creation incredible accuracy.

I had not made any changes, there was no need to improve on the design. Unfortunately, the ritual only created two of the constructs. I’d hoped for more, but two of the mobile cannons would have to suffice.

When I looked at the amount of bone involved, I guess it made sense. After all, I had slaughtered an entire floor of the lizards and only got one the last time, I should be thankful I got two.

The flesh golems were a different story. In total I got ten, due to them being generally smaller than the flesh golem I had created from the lizards as I had cut down on the amount of excess flesh added. I had added it last time to use up my materials and now I made it more efficient instead. The eldritch cannons would be added to the ranged battalion and the flesh golems would augment the bone guard platoons.

We headed back to the city, the new constructs already being shepherded away by the bone guard.