Chapter 68: Ch 67 “Preventing Catastrophe”

"Daemons possess unsatiable hunger no matter the variety of the chaotic beast in question. The low-tier daemons leave devastated landscapes in their wake as they consume everything from meat to tree bark not even sparring single green blades of grass if given enough time.

Higher-level daemons with their superior intelligence rarely if ever succumb to such basic lows of their most significant desire but rather seek out the most flavourful meals they can find, which almost always is a meal made from a soul from a member of an intelligent race.

We do not know if their foul diet causes a daemon to become more powerful but many renowned adventurers noticed a well-fed daemon either become more intelligent or is sent into a blind cannibalistic rage in which it devourers souls of its once kin before its inflated form burst from the souls swirling inside."

Exert from "On Magic and their Spawns"

 

 

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"..."

 

"Death."

 

"Being a traitor?"

 

"Mmmm...entombment in an unconsecrated tomb."

 

"Not following a mandate?"

 

"Death."

 

  In the corner of the room, Iris sat hunched backed on the padded chair. Between her hands, a thin metal rod used for writing on clay tablets with one end of the tool coming to a sharp point while its opposite came to a smooth rounded end. The elf absentmindedly twirled the antique tool in her hands as she vigilantly watched the two undead in front of her.

 

  Kia sat on an armchair with a pillow under her. She waggled her pointing finger in the air as she answered another of Umbria's inquiries. 

In the beginning, the girl only quietly mumbled her answers, so quiet were her answers Iris could only make sense of a few words in each sentence but the vampire looked unbothered by the barely audible answers, diligently writing each mumbled word in gorgeous cursive writing on equally beautiful made paper. A small mountain of notes slowly grew beside the happy-looking vampire as she once again changed the subject. The subject of penalties arbitrarily sparked an unusual flame in the bored girl resembling the passionate tone she would gain when talking about magic to the elf.

The previously adorably flustered girl who no one with a properly working mind would expect to be fouling her innocent soul with a mere thought of violence, went into a flurry of brutal rulings which surprised the elf and awed Umbria.

 

"Should your faithful have a limit on the use of the winds of magic?" 

 

"What are winds of magic?" Iris asked in a fancy of curiosity, hearing a new word.

 

"I was referring to the elements which inhabit the winds, Harbinger." Iris never heard anyone refer to aspects in such a way.

 

"Yes." Kia answered.

 

"Which of the elements should be prohibited, Master?"

 

"Mixing of opposite elements is punishable by DEATH." The mage hissed accompanied by a feeling of dread quickly filling the room.

 

"Y-yes of course my Dark Master." Umbria struggled to transcribe Kia's words making many unremovable mistakes. 

 

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* 

 

  A sudden knocking sounded from the direction of the door causing Umbria to stop writing as she lifted the black feather dipped in ink from the paper.

 

"Enter," The Vampire commanded to a person behind the door. "Be quick."

 

  A young maid entered the room holding a sealed letter in her hands, she gave Umbria a deep bow and handed the letter to her mistress. Her unfocused eyes stared reverently at the lady of the house.

 

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"Is she even here?" Iris muttered under her nose.

 

"They tend to do that after a couple of years." Umbria responded to the elf, leaning forward to pick up the letter from the human maid.

 

"I do not follow."

 

"Servants do tend to... how could I describe this degrade would be an appropriate word for this. They tend to degrade after a couple of years in their service, turning into perfectly obedient servants. Servants start fairly free mentally with the exception of unwavering loyalty to their Masters and over the course of years that yearning to serve is the cause of their eventual degradation. Concerning themselves exclusively with their Master's desires." Umbria casually explained while opening the latter.

 

"That's horrible."

 

"Harbinger," The woman turned to look at the risen. "Their affliction does not harm them in conducting their duties. Actually, it would be a matter of great shame if a vampire's servant did not become obsessed with its master, being regarded as a weakling and prey by the others. This one's mind is so preoccupied with thoughts about how to serve me and only me with nothing else matters that she ended up like this, some other servants become more independent if their duties allow them to. Trying to find their Master's greatest pursuits and fulfil them. Regardless, I wouldn't worry about servants. They are universally glad to be able to serve and be useful tools."

 

"That's wrong. She is a prisoner of her own body watching as she is puppeteered until her last breath." Iris said.

 

"I do not know what your race is but for me a vampire, this is the natural order of things. She has my protection and I give her purpose for a small price. She had offered herself to me at a time where painful death would be the most merciful option compared to the faith of a fifth daughter of a minor house whose debts drove its previous patriarch into voluntary disappearance." The woman spoke. "Those worthy, become vassals, those less worthy become servants and those who are useful only as a quick drink become mindless braying cattle. Simple really." Umbria finished, pulling a piece of white paper from the envelope. Her gaze drifted to the paper and on its rushed writing.

 

"Bored." Kia declared, she tried to balance her chair on its two back legs but the oversized chair was too heavy for her light frame to tip over.

 

"One second, Master." The vampire quickly tried to stop the mage from leaving. "It's just that vagrants from the rebelling mercenary army were seen attacking villages on the border and digging up old graves and I am trying to understand why?"

 

"Kia?" 

 

"Master?" 

 

  The two undead looked at the suddenly petrified girl sitting on a chair. 

 

"no." A single word sufficed with sorrow and anguish echoed through the room. A feeling of alien disgust radiated from the girl before it erupted into a wave of anger. "That's horrible, atrocious, unnatural. The dead deserve their rest, who do they think they are to even dare rouse a single spector from their rightful right! They are to be punished. Death is no longer an option they are to be tortured, their soul rip to shreds and then mended back!" A tear ran down Kia's pale cheek, her glowing eyes hazed with a dark fog. "What is their race!? Such an ugly, foul and immoral race capable of even thinking of such things should not be allowed to exi-" The girl began to transform for the second time before something snatched her from her throne.

 

"You know it hurts me seeing you like this?" Iris pushed the frost-radiating body of the necromancer closer to her own. The cold lashed out at the elf from the light and delicate body of the short girl but she didn't let go. Rather she gritted her teeth and tightened her embrace around Kia. 

 

*Sniff* 

 

  The piercing cold eventually settled down, returning to its previous calming state as Kia's body stopped fighting Iris. The girl looked up, her tear-stained eyes glanced at Iris before she hid her eyes from the pair of purple eyes.

 

"I'm sorry." 

 

"Don't be. It was not your fault." The elf said in a soothing voice while gently stroking the confused girl's back. The bloodsucking woman's smile quickly disappeared as a pair of amethyst jewels stared poison-tipped daggers stared at her. "Let us go back to our room, shall we?"

 

"Mmmm." The girl weakly bobbed her head in agreement with the caring risen.

 

"Master I shall escort y-. U-unfortunately Master, I have a sudden meeting to attend to." Umbria jumped from her chair before being subtly persuaded.

 

"Now where was our room?" Iris muttered quickly. "Could you show us the way?" She asked the maid standing ready beside the door. Her young, delicate and emotionless face was stained with tears. "Lead us." She changed her tone, causing the living statue to suddenly and obediently move.

 

  A faraway bell rang from outside as Iris entered their room. The almost weightless girl limply swayed in her arms as she stepped inside. The undead mage did not purr nor did her slender arms cling to Iris's body, her petite body descended into a complete state of torpor due to the emotions still cursing through her. Iris guessed as she lay the girl flat onto the soft cushion.