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Dead promises
Ch 34: An Altered Soul

Ch 34: An Altered Soul

As the world is returning to its normal state after Raeknar and Malekanivors clash there remains one area steeped in death, the Kolakinta Mountain fortress where Yorun remains on the floor of its courtyard with death emanating from his body, grass across the mountain range continues to die while Yorun is unable to move not from pain or anything of the sort but the panic is has with this new power coming from him. Raeknar appears next to him their scythe in their hand and Yorun looks up at them.

"W-what is happening!?" Yorun shouted confused and horrified by the situation

Raeknar doesn't react but all of a sudden the area of pure death coming from Yorun seems to just disappear and the grass across the mountains seem to get revitalized before Raeknar extends a hand which Yorun goes to take with his left hand having gotten used to having one once more in the undead body but then he realises he doesn't have it anymore and takes Raeknars hand with his right being helped up by Raeknar as if he weighed nothing.

"Listen Yorun you are my chosen mortal and with that you have said the words for me to act directly a few times, do you remember what Ikteran said about the words? or better yet do you remember him or even Forina saying any such words to have their god take their place in this world?" Raeknar asked and it gave Yorun pause for a moment

"No I don't remember them saying anything of the sort, Ikteran did say 'Oh you still need to say the words, you came here far too early' right?" Yorun said

"Correct, as a chosen you have a connection to the god whom you are the chosen of and the words which we have you say to act the way we do through you are a temporary measure. By design your bodies and souls are not meant to have a god residing in or alongside them even for a temporary time, the words as a result are to stall for time while we modify your body and soul a little so you don't get any adverse effects. This is a large commitment after all and as such you much be sure which is why what we get you to say is a bit long too, you'll have noticed the more you have called for my aid the easier it has been to hear and see what was done when you weren't in control" Raeknar said

"Y-you aren't wrong" Yorun said as he looked to his right hand still basically afraid of what he had unleashed moments prior

"That is a result of my tampering with you but a bonus of such a thing and your commitment is the way we alter you, your soul has acted and resided within the same body as mine own and with the alterations it understands my soul even if you do not and has replicated a portion of my power, a gift we bestow upon our chosen is this. A far weaker version of some of our power, in this case as you primarily saw the ability to control death" Raeknar said

"Ok I get how I have it but how the do I control it!? I-i'm beyond afraid that if I don't I will just kill everyone I go near including eventually my family when they're brought so how do I control it!?" Yorun shouted the fear more than evident in his voice

"It is rather simple and the reason I denied death to all of this nature around us, look to the grass, your albeit weaker ability to control death is limited to those weaker than you but alongside this ability to have the ability to sense death, if you calm down I am more than certain you'll sense the war taking place elsewhere in the Feirnian Empire but you will also sense life as they are connected" Raeknar said

"I could already do that, sensing souls became pretty easy once I learned more about magic" Yorun said

"I never said souls, I said life, there are things throughout the realms which live yet have no souls, nature for example as do the demons of Kragrum so calm down Yorun and feel the life around you" Raeknar said

"Easier said than done Raeknar" Yorun said

Raeknar looks at Yorun and they turn the scythe in their hands so the long curved edge of it is pointed towards themself while the blunt bottom end of the scythe is made to touch Yoruns chest, within an instant Yoruns mind clears and the panic he had is gone as a warmth spreads through his body from the point in which the scythe touched him yet it feels like something is gone aswell.

"I have temporarily removed the emotion of fear from you that way your panic derived from it cannot interfere" Raeknar said

"R-right" Yorun said as he does indeed feel the panic and fear is gone, things he previously feared he feels he could go face at that moment

"Now feel the life coming from the plants, they'll be brimming with it more than usual given their inability to die" Raeknar said

Yorun looks to the grass in the courtyard and he closes his eyes trying to sense the life from the grass and it takes no time at all to sense something from the grass.

"I sense it... its like a odd malleable object undulating at a slow pace and with a tinge of magic from ages past within" Yorun said

"Correct, that tinge of magic comes from Teirna while it is only a speck of magic she is the originator of life so it does come from her. Anyway now that you sense the life coming from the grass I'll let some of it die again tell me what you sense" Raeknar said before the grass in the courtyard begins to rapidly die once more

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"I can feel them dying, it's like the malleable substance has been shaped into a wall that normally would be eroded with time like with water and walls but with what I'm doing its like a tsunami crashing into and past the wall destroying it" Yorun asked

"That so called 'tsunami' is indeed coming from you, your soul is accessing that divine magic and releasing that pure death directly from it and all you need to do is calm the waves and as the waves settle life can continue" Raeknar said

"While I try to figure that out can I ask one question?" Yorun asked

"Go on" Raeknar said

"Malekanivor was taunting you about your last chosen which from what I heard was 500 million years ago, who were they and why did their entire race follow them to Faelerm?" Yorun asked

"That is something I actually will not answer, despite being a chosen he was at the end of the day mortal and mortal matters should be discovered by mortal means, I do not doubt you will discover something about him in the near future" Raeknar said getting only a nod from Yorun who is obviously dissatisfied with the response but goes with it

Yorun closes his eyes and tries to feel where in the depths of his soul the new divine magic is coming from but he focuses first and foremost one the death magic surrounding the grass and feeling out it comes back to his body he then notices it is coming from every part of him exuding from him however there is one point where it seems to concentrate.

"My hand... I feel this concentrating in my hand" Yorun said as he looks at it

"You can create an area of death and aura of it coming from yourself it will kill those weaker than yourself which isn't many currently but as you grow stronger it will become far more impressive however if you concentrate it in a single point such as the hand as a result of me having done that when I first took over your body you will be able to kill those stronger than you however as they will be stronger that will be hard to do" Raeknar said

"That makes sense and it is useful if I can think of ways around it, maybe with teleporting if they don't react quick enough" Yorun said as thoughts on how it could be used swarm his mind

"Yorun, focus now" Raeknar said snapping Yorun out of it as he closes his eyes once more

Yorun now being more familiar with how this new magic feels he looks into his own soul and finds where it is originating and like his other magics he calms it making a metaphorical flood gate on this tidal wave of death waiting to open it when he needs it. It takes much time to do this as it is something naturally done not something one needs to think of however this magic is fundamentally different and Yorun could tell that even if he didn't know its origins.

"Is this what it feels like? For you or for anyone who is granted magic?" Yorun asked

"To me if feels like nothing but those granted magic? Yes it is more like that, their soul doesn't recognise the normal process at first but don't worry you will be used to it soon and at that point you wont need to think about it but do keep the others around you who are alive at a safe enough distance until then in case you accidentally 'open the flood gates' so to speak" Raeknar said

Raeknar touched the bottom end of the scythe to Yoruns chest once more and Yoruns emotion of fear returns to his eyes but lessened than before it was taken.

"Gods I don't want to imagine if my family were here right now what I could do to them, t-that would haunt me" Yorun said with slight panic in his voice

"Then keep it under control until your soul gets used to it and by the time you get them back you will be fine" Raeknar said

"Right" Yorun said calming more and more

"Return to Joaralta, in person this time as separating your soul while keeping that under control is not recommended, get the others up to speed with what has happened and capture Ikteran so that when you can, you can take his soul" Raeknar said

"Won't that anger Malekanivor?" Yorun asked

"No, Malekanivor has already abandoned him, it happens when the god you follow is the god of chaos and injustice, basically Ikteran is no longer fun" Raeknar said before disappearing

Yorun sighs and puts his hand on his own chest feeling his heart beat before teleporting to Joaralta, Sunhale senses him and teleports next to him.

"Yorun wha-" Sunhale said before Yorun quickly backed away from him

"Don't get close Sunhale, as a result of Raeknar I can now kill people with a touch or those weaker than me around me if I don't control it so keep back for now alright?" Yorun said quickly

"Ooookay? That was unexpected" Sunhale said

"I'll talk about it more later but for now we need to secure Ikteran, know where he is at?" Yorun asked but as he asked that he could feel the many injustices of souls nearby some he knows as he feels his connection to them but one he doesn't share the connection with

"Nevermind" Yorun said before teleporting over to Golanier and Ikteran

Yorun notices upon teleporting there that first off Golanier has Ikteran under his boot clearly enjoying being over this still living now ex chosen, the next thing Yorun notices is that much like Forina Ikterans body has not returned to normal even though he still lives, his featureless head with his face on his chest, the demonic wings, animal parts and weird hands.

"Why did his body not return to normal, Forina I get but he still lives so why?" Yorun asked

"My guess? Malekanivor doesn't care, were we not going to take this fuckers soul and raise the body him living out his life like this would be cruel" Golanier said with a smirk

"Well whatever, take him back to the fortress and ignore the dead grass, put him in a cell and make sure he can't use his magic, we need him but I can't take his soul right now its suffice to say unstable" Yorun said

"Point made I can feel that shit through our connection so can the others I imagine" Golanier said as he took his foot off Ikteran and then picked him up

"This day did not turn out how I expected" Yorun said

"Got a lot more undead now though and more on the way, your magic may not be in the mages right now but mine is and they are working" Golanier said before teleporting away with the unconscious Ikteran

Yorun looks over at where the battle between himself and Ikteran started, the place is wrecked but he can still identify it even through the damaged buildings, blood and other pieces of rubble around and Malekanivors words echo through his head.

"He said 'every single member of his tiny little race were led into Faelerm right after him', just what in all the realms happened?" Yorun asked himself before teleporting back to the fortress

Yorun heads to his room and rests but even when sleeping he keeps a firm focus on his soul an advantage brought on from the training around it and with the undead using his magic, this night is peaceful for him no nightmares or anything of the sort just those words echoing through his mind as he wonders what happened to the last chosen and his people...