In the dark, cold, death filled empire of Necra Mazoul sits the throne of Den’nishash Gahlor, the lich of creeping frost and the undead emperor. Most of his closest friends actually call him Dennis.
Beneath his throne lies a secret underground chamber where five individuals stood. It was a dark chamber filled with wet brick, cages, shelves with books of untold power, and treasures haphazardly thrown around. The five individuals were surrounding a complex ritual circle readying it for something big. Or at least one of them is while the other four were doing nothing of substantial value to said ritual.
A bronze-skinned woman with long red hair sat on a simple wooden chair smoking a pipe with a jug of spirit wine in her hand. She was wearing an elegantly patterned red sari depicting blooming lotuses and scripts of prayer. She had an angular form exuding power and royal blood. She did not need jewelry to show her status, because her sheer presence was enough to bend others to her will.
She was Judith, the burning lotus and the red rakshasi of the hateful star. And she was being a pain in the ass.
“Dennis are you done yet?”
She poked her finger through the stone bricks, melting it and filling it back up. She also kept stomping her foot and sighed every few seconds, making it abundantly known that she was bored. She kept groaning in agony, like a dying moose who got shot in the liver with an arrow.
“Not yet, and would you quit doing that! You’re gonna break the enchantments in this place!”
Dennis said, totally annoyed at the woman. He was doing all the work for the ritual, again. Dennis was black-furred ratkin, an emperor, an undead powerhouse, and he was the only one scribbling chalk in the floor again. He wore a black robe trimmed with gold and magical markings. Despite being loose, it showed off his muscles every time it stuck to his skin, emphasizing his attractive features. He exuded an aura befitting of royalty, one that allowed him to dominate and command any situation he was in. He had a broad back and a tail covered in gem encrusted gold bands.
Normally people would fear him, they would give their sons and daughters to his service and bend the knee for the chance of being spared from the terror he could inflict. But he was currently surrounded by the only people in the many planes of existence who wouldn’t give a damn about that.
Another individual was busy drawing in one of the walls using colored chalk. A slimekin, amorphous and able to shapeshift into any form. They were La Hire, the one who is all and the grand alchemist of the formless mind. They have a green translucent body covered in bands of flowing cloth-like silver metal. They had an emerald necklace inlaid with different gems forming a multi-colored tablet.
La Hire transmuted a piece of air and made it into a stick of colored chalk. They were busy drawing an ‘S’ that connected to itself, a sort of cool ‘S’. They were also drawing images of penises and poop, totally unbecoming of the alchemist responsible for pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
Dennis just rolled his eyes and continued scribbling his ritual circle.
A roach kin was busy scarfing down pasta. He was an insect man with dark chitin speckled with yellow and orange marks. His wings folded in his back, making it look like a natural cape. Multiple thin arms compressed and hidden behind his form was covered in enchanted bangles and rings of ominous design. He wore a white priest robe and a necklace that showed he was a follower of the malevolent Goddess of life.
His face and robes were utterly covered in red sauce, filthy beyond measure. He stuffed his face in meatballs and several pies. He was Charles, the head of the church of rot and a living immortal saint. He was spilling flecks of food in Dennis’ general direction.
And the last one was a small cream-furred batkin. He had a skinny waste and a cute pink nose. He had short fangs, big bat ears, and gentle eyes that betrayed his mischievous nature. He wore a simple black tunic with belts made of silk and woven gold. He had a small window that showed his chest. It would have looked manly if anyone else wore it, but to him it was like he was overcompensating for a trait he did not posses. He was shifting through papers, writing down figures that denoted the monthly grain surplus and the average monthly influx of immigration.
He was leaning in a table and sitting in a simple wooden chair. He was Wyattezvahan, the bloody hand of Necra Mazoul and the greatest space mage in history, or more commonly known by Wyatt by his friend group. He was also Dennis’ first friend, his best friend of a hundred thousand years, his roommate in the castle. They were basically a couple, a couple of besties. Heck, they even regularly see each other nude when no one else is around simply because Dennis finds clothes to be a prison for his flesh.
He saw Wyatt scratch his head and scrunching his face while looking at the sheaves of paper.
“What’s wrong? Is the great Wyattezvahan suddenly having a problem? Should I stop my etching and assist one of such noble birth?” Dennis playfully said, bowing his head at the batkin.
Wyatt heard this and rolled his eyes and mimicked Dennis, bowing. “This lowly one would dare not ask such a thing from the great Emperor. I thank the venerable, magnanimous, and benevolent ruler of the lands his kind gesture all the same. This lowly one does not deserve such a thing.”
Dennis gasped mockingly and stood next to the bat. “It is unbecoming of a subject to deny the actions of the Emperor. You do know that could lead to grave consequences, I wouldn’t think that a loyal subject would want to be impaled in a spike.”
Wyatt’s voice changed slightly. “I’d like to see you impale me if you can, heh.”
Dennis tried matching his friendly tone and leaned closer to the bat kin. “Well who knows? Maybe I’ll do it publicly in front of everyone.” He grinned as he understood the joke.
“Haha, you’re such an idiot. Just finish your ritual already so we can get out of this chamber. I still have a lot of stuff to do out there.” Wyatt said with his signature side grin.
“Would you guys stop flirting and finish the thing already. Are you guys gay or something?” Judith said groaning in her seat.
Dennis rolled his eyes, while Wyatt raised his voice in a higher pitch.
“Shut up Judith!”
Dennis smiled at the exchange and returned to what he was doing.
Despite having his emotions dulled by undeath, Wyatt was a big part of his life and he was now his grand advisor. They were bros among bros bound with platonic friendship.
The ritual he was completing was designed to give him back the things he lost, like his ability to taste, to touch, to feel certain emotions, and to experienced the joys in life. He wants to experience the things he missed for thousands of years. He’s still going to be an undead per say, able to revive whenever he pleases, but now he’s gonna have a pulse doing it.
After filling in the last markings Dennis smiled at the view of his work.
“Alright guys it’s all done.”
“Finally” La Hire said with a gurgling voice. The slimekin took out a caged man wearing blue armor. They found him just outside his empire unconscious. He had an unusually big soul, not as big as theirs, but it’s still big by normal standards. Dennis peered into the man’s very being, at the center of his soul. He read a single word CALAMITY.
Dennis smiled, an unconscious soul carrying a conceptual word that just so happened to drop by his doorstep. If it wasn’t a sign to use the man as a power source for the ritual he’s always wanted to do, he doesn’t know what is.
La Hire put the cage at one of the ritual circles connecting to the main one. Dennis quickly conjured a bone altar and placed it smack dab in the center and he laid flat above it.
“All clear!”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Judith went to one side and stabbed the still unconscious man with a finger. She BLED the energy out of the man and into the groves of the symbols etched in the floor. The man was fortunately still asleep, well he’s been asleep for a few days now so Dennis thinks he’s in a coma. Judith BLED just enough to sap some power, but not enough to outright kill the man, after all they could use the guy as a reliable battery.
Charles was still gulping down food when he heard Dennis. Charles touched the symbols on the ground and imbued it with LIFE. Like literally made it alive. The lines on the ground were sapient now, fully aware of what their purpose is and were circulating energy around the bone altar.
La Hire TRANSMUTED the air around Dennis and made it into high grade philosopher stone. With this and the power source, he’ll have the chance to rejuvenate the cells in his body and link it to his soul whenever he tries to revive himself.
The air was pulsing with power.
Inside the coffin made of philosopher stone, Dennis was starting to have his body break down to a fundamental level. His bones were slowly getting back their marrows. His blood was regaining the functions it had way back when he was still alive. His organs were restarting from their long slumber.
Actually it doesn’t feel so ba-
Ow!
Suddenly he felt a small sting, a sensation he has long forgotten pain. First he felt small pins and needles fill his capillaries and veins. He felt the pang of hunger he has never fully satisfied and thirst that he has never fully quenched quenched. He felt the painful beating of his heart, the motions it was forced to obey without sufficient blood.
Ow, okay maybe it’s a little painful.
Dead tissue was slowly and painfully digested and destroyed as new cells replaced them. The nerves at the tips of his hands were reforming and being destroyed. The dullness that differentiated somatic pressure now felt like numbing jabs at his very mind. It was painful, very painful. His ears and toes were being recreated from scratch.
Ow ow ow ow ow!
The material and energy needs of cellular reproduction and destruction was supplanted by the coffin and the living ritual lines. With the ritual that Dennis designed, the transformation will surely be fast. Unfortunately it was also going to be extremely painful.
His bones were being stripped of its deposits and replaced with fortified minerals. The enamel of his teeth stripped exposing the vulnerable bundle of nerves below it. His ears were combusting to alchemical fire and reforming back to rejuvenated cells, this made him lose balance despite being in a stationary position.
His lungs stung as it regained it’s connection to the circulatory system. The brain, while incapable of pain, pulsed and burst into a conflagration of biological-alchemical fire making the sensation of pain everywhere else intensify to such a maddening degree.
Stop! Stop! Let me out of here.
He screamed at the incredible pain he subjected himself to. He banged the coffin, but his hands melted to liquid, goopy and runny like an egg yolk. The musculature that held his form wasn’t strong enough. His body was like a flailing newborn. He tried to scream but the stream of liquid skin entering his throat, the underdeveloped windpipe, and the coffin that acted like a pressure cooker made it so that nothing but a wisp of sound escaped his grotesque cocoon of metamorphosis.
Dear Gods it’s so painful!
And it was only going to get worse. Aside from the biological pain he feels now, his soul was losing it’s cohesion and bound itself to his amorphous fleshy structure. Pain beyond pain assaulted his soul as every part was restitched and warped to resonate with one another. He couldn’t even have the mercy of unconsciousness, as the very ritual prevented him from doing so. He was well and fully aware of everything that he was going through. He had no mouth, but he must scream.
----------------------------------
Outside the philosopher stone coffin
“So how long is this gonna take?” Judith said, tapping the coffin in the middle of the circle.
“I dunno, Dennis said between 30 minutes to an hour.” Wyatt said while writing his notes on the proposed yearly budget. He should probably get Dennis’ approval tonight and maybe boil some bathwater afterwards since his friend wanted to experience a hot bath again.
Wyatt smiled and kept making notes.
La Hire was currently stripping the blue armored man of his armor and pilfering any artifact they could get. They were taking out the left boot and saw a small ivory ring drop.
“Hey guys look! I found a cool ring!” They said, voice gurgling and squelching from their slime made esophagus. They tried prodding it and sending a sliver of magic inside to see what it did.
The ring thrummed and glowed red hot.
“Youch!” La Hire threw it in Charles’ general direction. It hit Charles’ eyeball while he was gulping another bowl of pasta. The sound of sizzling and the smell of burning chitin filled the room. The bright glowing metal burned a ring in his eyes.
“oh..ow”
Charles calmly gouged the eye out and pulled it from the optic nerve. It only took a moment for it to regrow into a fully functional eye again.
“La Hire remember what we told you about giving the potentially harmful artifacts to the only one of us who has a system?” Charles said, his limbs still primed for shoving food in his throat.
“I forgor..” La Hire said.
He forgor
Charles threw the ring to Judith as she caught it with her hand, the ring still sizzling and hot. Judith observed it and wore it in her finger, apparently not getting affected by the heat. La Hire went back to stripping the caged man and Charles went back to inhaling the copious amounts of food.
Judith opened her system and used one of it’s functions.
“Greater Identify”
Unicorn’s Virginity Detector Ring
Ring, Rare
Allows one to sense the ‘virgin energy’ present in a certain area by showing the user a green aura in the general direction. Can only be worn by virgins and harms all non-virgin entities attempting to touch it.
“Damn this guy is a freak. Apparently they were carrying a virginity detector ring.”
“Really? A virginity detector ring pfffft...... But like out of curiosity how does it work?” Wyatt asked.
“It works like a compass. Also says only virgins can wear it and it harms everyone who isn’t one HAH.” Judith said.
Wyatt immediately saw the hand of Judith wearing the ring. “You’re a virgin?”
“Um..uh..no. NO! For your information I’ve did it before! I’ve done it with a lot of guys! Shut up my gosh! Why are you suddenly prying in my business!” Judith took it out and threw it in the ground and stormed out of the ritual chamber. “Take the damned ring it’s probably broken anyway!”
The ring was now in the ground beside Wyatt. He noticed that Charles and La Hire were still distracted.
He slowly reached down, took the ring and pocketed it,
Score!
-----------------------------
After an hour of indescribable pain the philosopher stone covering Dennis slowly lost it’s luster and cracked. Pieces of the stone broke away revealing a slimy goop that seeped out unto the floor.
Dennis hatched from his prison filled with pain and agony. He shed his dead self behind and reached his hand outside of the broken coffin that he laid in. His hand that were wet and shaking grabbed the sides and pulled himself out.
He breathed. He truly breathed and filled his lungs with air. His heart beat, pumping blood to his hands, lungs, and tongue. For the first time in a long time he wasn’t just a spirit puppeteering a corpse, but a person who felt life within his body.
He opened his eyes and saw his four friends around him. He was gasping for sweet air as he tasted the saliva in his mouth.
Oh what joy it is to be alive!
“Dennis are you alright?” Judith and Charles supported him. La Hire transmuted the spills and body waste into air, cleaning the area of any filth.
“Yeah it’s just so different somehow.” Dennis smiled and shivered as he felt the cold and damp air. “Oh wow I feel cold again haha”
The nude rat man looked at Wyatt and smiled. “Wyatt look, I feel cold again!” He showed his shivering hand with glee. Right now even the sensation of pain felt like a blessing.
“Okay buddy, I think you might wanna wear something right now.” Wyatt handed him a black bath robe.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and rested first. We can get you some food tomorrow how does that sound?”
“Sounds good!” Dennis had a smile plastered on his face.
After they exited the chamber, the other three left Wyatt and Dennis in the castle, promising to come back later in the day.
As they were walking to his chambers Dennis thought of a wonderful idea, it’s been a while since they did anything besides paperwork. Maybe they could play some chess or some cards.
“Sooo Mr. Wyattezvahan, this Emperor might have some trouble doing things normally for the foreseeable future. It would be a shame if the Emperor would fail his subjects just because he isn’t assisted.”
Wyatt smiled. “That would be a terrible thing your highness, if this lowly servant could endeavor to assist someone as high as yourself if would be an honor.”
Pfft
“I was thinking that it would be best if the Emperor had someone to accompany him for the night and do some stimulating activities and maybe protect him from potential assassinations.”
“Exactly your highness, assassinations are rampant this day and age. Who would you like me to send to assist you your highness.”
Dennis made a thinking motion, exaggerating it as much as he could. “Well I would need the fiercest and most loyal servant to assist me, and who better to do that than the one I’m speaking to right now.
“I would be honored” Wyatt was smiling. He bowed, slightly showing his bare chest inside his robes.
Huh, they were pink.
Something stirred inside Dennis, something he’s never felt before. It was mysterious.
“So what do you say? Maybe I’ll get lonely for tonight, care to keep me company?” Dennis winked.
It’s been so long since they played cards, he misses those. Maybe he could get one of those fun board games and de-stress from the constant politics.
Wyatt grew silent, as if time stopped as his friend held his breath.
“What’s wrong?” Dennis asked in genuine concern.
“Umm..look down” Wyatt was blushing, trying and failing to look away.
“What’s wrong?” He looked down and saw it. It was standing up. And poked Wyatt at his belly. Suddenly his heart started beating again. He felt excitement, embarrassment, and deep deep shame.
Dennis quickly covered himself with his robe.
“I..i’m sorry”
“Haha, don’t umm don’t worry it’s nothing. It’s probably just because it’s cold. So uh let’s get you to your room first, haha” Wyatt hid his face while speaking to the rat man.
“...Okay” Dennis just nodded and followed his friend, this time walking just two paces behind him.
Uuuuuugh! I’m gonna die of embarrassment at this rate.