Life of a Lich

This is great! thanks for continuing the story; it's a very interesting read.

Because I'm slow and some recent developments among my family (grandma died and my mom's brothers and sisters are practically at each others throats for the inheritance), I haven't finished Chapter 10 yet (for some reason I'm finding it very hard...). I was hoping to be writing Chapter 13 at least by now but meh... Anyways! Chapter 9 for your viewing pleasure.

Chapter Nine

Zasalamel continued searching for the conference of the gods. Soon, he found himself in a corridor with deem torches poorly lighting the way. All signs pointed to leave, or that this wasn’t the area in which the gods were. But he could tell. Zasalamel didn’t know why, he just knew, and he continued down.

Soft voices grew louder, and louder, as Zasalamel moved on down the corridor, walking slowly and silently. Soon, he found his pace quicken, as if the gods were calling on him to move faster. He couldn’t stop, and was now able to make out the voices.

“If we punish him so unjustly, we’d be no better than Dhuum!” A large echoing voice finished as Zasalamel was finally able to stop at a giant doorway. Peering into the room, he saw six large figures, each distinct from the others, it had to be the gods themselves! Zasalamel – the first mortal to view all six gods at once – was able to hide his presence from them.

A female with wings and a tree-like body began gesturing. “Then how about putting him into service to the gods? Not just Grenth, but all of us, until we see it fit. And perhaps weaken him a bit as well.”

“We cannot just strip him of his power though, Konig would surely rebel against us if we tried to do that, and with his power, he could easily wreck havoc across Tyria before we catch him!” The figure with the skull said in protest to Melandru’s idea.

“If we cannot make him weaker, then why not make everyone else stronger?” The dark shadowy figure who must be Abaddon spoke.

“Stronger? What do you mean Abaddon, explain yourself.” A bright figures with folded wings demanded.

This is very interesting… I bet anyone would sell their souls to be where I am now. I wonder what money I could get for this information.

“A simple idea, really, but even the worst beings which magic has been given too haven’t been that hard to handle when fighting others with magic. So why not give magic more… spread out? Give magic to everyone, those who would do evil, would be countered by those who would do good, keeping a balance there, and in the mean time make Konig weaker, without actually weakening him.” Abaddon said as the other gods thought about his idea.

“Very well, however, we cannot make them as strong as Konig. Except for this one…” Dwayna said as she gestured her hand towards the door where Zasalamel was.

Zasalamel was lifted into the air and flung forward. “Woooaah!” Picking himself up, the realization hit him, not once was he able to hide from the gods.

“Did you enjoy listening in, Zasalamel Rofocale?” Dwayna said, smiling at his dumbfounded look. “You’ll be our little warrior to keep Konig in check for now on.”
****
“Another dark corridor… How annoying.” The dark hooded figure, Zasalamel, continued walking down to the depths of the dungeons in the Catacombs. “Why was he put all the way down here?”

“The gods’ orders. ‘Put him in the furthest place from society, guards.’ That’s what they said.” A darkly cloaked guard said as he moved in front of the newest so called prophet of the gods. A bloody Margonite gets chosen to be the gods’ strongest warrior just because he was an eavesdropper. How pathetic.

Zasalamel and his three escorts continued moving, deeper into the catacombs underneath Arah. The further they went, the less the structures look Orrian. Soon, they were walking in stone caverns which had no distinctness to the structures except unusual pillars. The engravings and serpents around the pillars with their gems for eyes made the dungeon all the more creepier when the torch light passed over them.

“We’re almost there sir.” The guard to Zasalamel’s left said as he looked around. “This place always gives me the creeps… I sometimes feel like there’s some ancient being wanting to swallow me whole down here…”

“That’s just an urban legend, quit peeing your pants over nothing.” The guard in front pushed through a door on the side, “We’re here. Hey! Monster! Looks like you’re in luck.”

“I told you, if you ever called me monster, I’d kill you.” A dark, bound, figure spoke in a rash voice, “I take it I’m finally free after all this time? Good, now I can kill you basta-“

“Not quite, Konig.” Zasalamel took his new scythe – which Konig stole from Byleth – and cut the lich’s bindings apart. “I’ve been put in charge of making sure you don’t get out of hand. You’re released on two conditions – I stay with you, and you serve the gods till they deem your service enough and you are let go.”

Konig stood up and stretched his arms and legs, staring Zasalamel in the eyes the whole time. “I guess I don’t have much say in the matter. As long as I don’t have to go kissing babies for charity, I can survive I suppose.”

“Good, then let’s go.” Zasalamel turned to head out, stopping when he heard some mumbling. Seconds later, his three guards were scattered across the room, blood covering the walls, floor, and even the ceiling.

“You’re lucky that you stopped, that spell targets moving creatures in my eyesight only. Word of advice, even if I am forced to serve the gods, I will not subject myself to a weaker being. Every chance I get, I will try to kill yo-“ Konig ended abrubtly as his throat was cut and a hole appeared in his chest.

“Weaker? All six gods blessed me and granted their own magic to me. I am far stronger than you. Now that you cannot talk, let’s go find a cleric to heal that hole of yours. Although I do think it looks good on you.” Zasalamel walked away as Konig tried to shout, but found no sound coming out.

I meant to put this up last week, but missed it. I'm currently working on chapter 11, should have it done for next week. If not, I think I'll just update monthly instead of weekly. I got up to chapter 19 planned out in events, and just need to write it out. Figure this will finish up by chapter 23-ish.

Chapter Ten

A broad and tall man pushes his small boat off of the shore into the sparkling Crystal Sea. He rowed as fast as he could, not bothering to enjoy the view as many do. Those blasted serpents accuse him and his now-dead crew of slaughtering some of their highest order. Jadoth rowed on for countless days into the Crystal Sea until he came upon a small oasis of an island. Hiding his boat, he waited for days, fearing when the Forgotten will find him.

Over a month and a half have passed since Jadoth fled to his little sanctuary of an island, no Forgotten has appeared, no life at all has passed aside from the occasional school of fish or turtle. The wait… not knowing if it is safe to leave… all of it was unbearable, driving Jadoth insane – Is it safe to go out? Are they still after me? If I leave, can I escape from them? Will they find me if I stay?

Jadoth laid down as the sun set, he eases his mind from the questions and worries and drifts off to sleep. For once in a long while, he has a calm and peaceful rest.



Laughter and singing filled the tavern of the city of Amnoon. Tankards of ale were picked up full and placed down empty as Jadoth laughed and enjoyed the evening with his crew, the crew listened to the first mate as he bragged about their captain’s exploits – how courageous it was for Jadoth to dive into the sea and fight with the sea monster, and how he was able to out swim the boat – all of which were exaggerated more and more as they were told.

The doors of the tavern suddenly burst open and the laughter silence almost instantly as the upright serpents slithered in and surrounded the crew. “We have found you at lassst. You should have known that you wouldn’t get away with your crimesss!”

“Crimes? What crimes are you talking about! We’ve done nothing wrong!” One of the crewmen shouted, and in response a serpent brought a blade through his chest.

“How dare you! If my men did anything wrong, I shall be the one to take responsibility! Tell me the crimes and keep your own men under control, snake!” Jadoth stood in fury as his crewman’s last breath wisped out of his body.

“The crime of your band of criminals was the slaughter of our elders! And all of you were seen at the scene of the crime!” The leader of the serpents stated as he gave a signal Jadoth barely noticed.

“Move men!” Jadoth gave the order as he drew his spear, his favorite of all weapons, and put it to the throat of the serpents’ leader. His men scattered as blades of all kinds were placed at where they were seconds before. “We did no such thing, we have been either on the dock or in this tavern all day celebrating yesterday’s successful run.”

Chaos erupted in the tavern and blood was spilt – human and serpent alike.



A jolt was sent through Jadoth’s body as he woke from the beloved dream turned nightmare. Walking to the coast to wash up, Jadoth peered into the seemingly endless waves and froze in horror at the sight he saw upon the waves: a fleet of warships of the Forgotten heading towards the island.

Falling to his knees, Jadoth wept in sorrow that they have found him at last. Knowing it was his last hope, he prayed to the god of water for salvation.
****

Here you go, enjoy those who still read but never comment. Despite my busy life, I might be able to hasten my writing of this to once every two weeks, instead of once a month.

Chapter Eleven

“A month ago, Abaddon had done his job. He gave out magic to the races, it took time for the races to realize they had this new power, and I doubt all do even now. At first, magic was used to heal the sick and strengthen defenses. Only peaceful means were known, and six schools of the gods have been formed or expanded. Sadly, many wars have broken out since that revelation was made.” A man in a hood said to himself, not caring for those who heard him.

“’Sadly?’ What is so sad about death? It’s just a part of life.” The dark figure in a cloak said as he grabbed a cup of ale to drink.

“If death is a part of life, why are you so afraid of it you sold your soul to Dhuum to prevent it?” The first hooded man asked his companion.

“I never asked for the prevention of death. But that doesn’t matter right now, why did we have to come back to Orr anyways? You know I hate this place.” Konig said as he pulled the cloak back over his exposed arm.

“The events have surely put the gods in a bind. Abaddon has fled to the Crystal Sea after his two acts. Ironic though, that the Crystal Sea is now filled with crystals. Anyways, the gods are sure to need our help. They may be gods, but they are only five.”

“I’d rather wait for them to summon us. I hate that place.” Konig eyed those who passed by the two with lifeless eyes. “Besides, I still don’t feel like I’m at my best yet. Over two decades of doing nothing and you guys expect me to move around like nothing happened.”

A bunch of people who looked like mercenaries stepped out of a nearby tavern as Zasalamel scrapped some animal feces off of his shoes. “The caravan heading to Arah should arrive any moment. I’m going to look around for it, try to stay out of trouble, will you?”

“Can’t promise anything. Have fun.” Konig said as Zasalamel got up and moved toward where the caravan was said to meet the two.

“Are you the one called Konig Des Todes?” One of the men from the tavern had snuck up on Konig while he wasn’t paying attention.

“Depends on why you want to know.” Konig replied without even glancing and started muttering under his breath.

“That means you are!” The man quickly whipped out a dagger and lunged toward Konig. The blade snapped in half as Konig stopped muttering and the man jumped back to the rest of his group.

The tallest man muttered a few words, the ground and walls around Konig began icing over then the ice reached out for Konig, ensnaring his arms and legs instantly.

“An ice prison? Is this really all you have?”

Like on queue, the shortest man softly spoke as Konig finished his question “Indistino Colpo.” His fingertips seemed to extend in the darkness until they reached the light and a shadowy skeletal hand became visible. The shade shot towards Konig and pierces his chest with all ten fingers.

“Bored now… Let me show you how it is done: Geistlich Angst.” Silence rang through the street as the group of men just stared at each other and shrugged. A thud echoed through the silent street, then another and another, until every man fell down, all that remained was the shouts of agony only heard by a select few. “That was fun while it lasted.”

“I thought I said not to get into trouble…” Zasalamel said as he returned. “The caravan is just around the bend over there, let’s go.

“Do you think I asked to be frozen? Actually, I think I would rather be frozen than going back to Arah… Do you think resurrecting these guys to kill them would be mean?” A corpse rocked back and forth as Konig gently kicked it, pondering ways to remove his boredom.

“Not going to answer, just come on.” Zasalamel grabbed Konig’s cloak and started to drag him to the caravan.
****