Time passed without meaning as Zalia knelt before the suspended remnant, only half conscious of her surroundings. Her mind melded between present and not, the only focus that of the undulating wave of power building in the loop of her magic. The slow build of the magic only grew stronger as she pushed it through yet another circuit. Herbs, god, Zalia. Herbs, god, Zalia.
She was broken from her reverie as the built up power was vacuumed out from the air in a silent torrent. She felt it enter the god as the cycle was disrupted at that point, the sudden interruption of the rote push and pull startling and disorienting.
She opened her eyes and looked to Boreal who was asleep at her left. Delphi was nowhere to be seen but she could feel them in the hallway outside inspecting the walls. Ro-ak was staring intently at the suspended body in front of him.
“Boreal,” Zalia croaked.
She cleared her throat, surprised at the dryness she felt.
“Boreal,” she repeated, clearer this time.
Boreal opened her eyes and blinked at Zalia.
“Zalia awake!” Boreal exclaimed in her mind.
Zalia winced at the volume that Boreal managed to direct into her head.
“I wasn’t out that long was I?” she asked.
“A cycle and a half,” Delphi mentally informed her.
“That can’t be right,” Zalia muttered, frowning.
A glint caught her eye and she turned to the god remnant before her. It was now looking at her with its silver eyes, the two large wings twitching in an attempt to take flight.
“Hello,” she greeted nervously.
“It has been long since I felt the presence of one with faith. Too long… I was dormant for… how many,” the god said confusedly.
Its voice was an exact replica of the one Ro-ak spoke with, in fact it was the voice that Ro-ak spoke with. This was definitely the god she had spoken with in the past.
She felt drained, hollow like the water had been pulled from her body. She summoned a Water Lily stem and chewed it before trying to speak once more.
“How did you come to be down here?” she asked.
“Here… where is here?” it asked.
‘You’re in Cormaine, land of the dead or something. Do you have a name?” she tried asking instead.
Coming back from the dead was probably a disorienting experience.
“Cormaine… dead… a name, I had a name once,” it replied, its gaze leaving Zalia as it oh so slowly turned to inspect the room around it.
Zalia frowned. This was a much different conversation to the one she had with the starlight wolf. That god had seemed powerful and in control, wise and ancient. This one seemed… lost.
“Do you remember calling me to find the piece?” Zalia asked.
“A piece… a small, tiny piece of what once was. Even now so, so small,” it said mournfully.
Seeing the conversation going nowhere, she stood and stretched her pained legs and began gently pushing her healing into the god. A likely centuries long death sleep wouldn’t be shaken off so easily it seemed.
“Might want to come in here,” Zalia said to Delphi mentally.
As she said it though, she realised that Delphi was already sitting calmly on the floor by the door. Definitely not one to miss such a unique memory.
Zalia could see the god gaining strength by the minute and resigned herself to waiting just a little bit longer. Despite the thirty six hours she had just spent gathering enough faith, mana and energy to wake the god, it was more like a shot of coffee than a shot of morphine for the deity.
Personally though, she was feeling the effects of it and checking her status page could see that reflected there.
Profile - Zalia Taori
Health - Excellent
Mana - Near empty
Stamina - Half
Twenty one gold Three silver and Ninety copper.
Class one - Hunter - Iron 11
Linked attributes - Strength, Dexterity
Active skills
Kill shot - Iron 15
Hunter's mark - Iron 16
Fight or Flight - Iron 14
Passive skills
Hunter's Sight - Iron 11
Survivalist - Bronze 1
Stolen novel; please report.
Class two - Herbalist - Iron 9
Linked attributes - Vitality, Resilience
Active skills
Flora identification - Iron 9
Preparation - Iron 10
Stasis - Iron 9
Passive skills
Harvester - Iron 10
Herbal magic - Bronze 1
Unity class - Druid - Iron 12
Linked attributes - Wisdom, Intellect
Active skills
Nature’s wrath - Iron 14
Protection of the wilds - Iron 12
Passive skills
Healing presence - Bronze 1
General Passives
Heat resistance - Bronze 1
Cold resistance - Bronze 1
Aura observation - Iron 2
Low light vision - Iron 5
Poison resistance - Iron 7
Mobility - Bronze 1
Stealth - Bronze 1
Trapper - Bronze 1
Teaching - Iron 7
Flight - Tin 6
Physical resistance - Bronze 1
Mental resistance - Bronze 1
Weapon proficiencies
Bow - Bronze 1
Sword - Iron 18
Throwing Knives - Tin 17
Bonded Items
Druidic bow, Blessed by Starlight (Blessed Heirloom) - Deeply bonded Iron rank.
Duskwraith Armour (Heirloom) - Bonded Iron rank.
The bonded items section was a neat little addition she had received upon bonding her second heirloom.
She watched the god a little apprehensively, hoping that what she had done was actually enough to keep it alive and she hadn’t just temporarily jumped a body soon to be dead once more. Even that thought just passing through her mind had a visible effect on the god as it drooped once more.
Scolding herself, Zalia cut that line of thinking and focused all her attention on having faith in its survival. This god was entirely dependent on her dedication to it at this moment, a thought scary enough in itself.
The god slowly recovered from Zalia’s lapse in faith, leaning back straight once more. She breathed a sigh of relief and tried to keep her mind focused this time.
“Hey Boreal, you believe in this god right?” Zalia asked.
“Friend?” Boreal asked.
“Uh yeah, friend. Friend that really needs you to believe in them right now,” Zalia replied.
Boreal looked thoughtful with a slight head tilt before walking up to the god and purring loudly. Then she sat next to it and continued doing so and Zalia swore the purring had a visible effect on the god.
“What about you Delphi, believe in the god?” Zalia asked,
“The collective believes in the memories it keeps. This will be one such memory,” Delphi said.
“Alright, that’s good. Hear that god, it’s not just me that believes in you. There’s your little buddy here Ro-ak as well, he has more faith in you than the rest of us combined,” Zalia explained emphatically.
She… wasn’t really one for this kind of thing but didn’t know what else to do. Having a god on her side would drastically improve her chances of getting the hell out of here, so, proving to a dead god that she believed in it was on the table.
“See. You’re also attached to a giant Gold rank plant that has been protecting you for an eternity. I’m sure that plant has believed in you if not kept you ali-” Zalia said, cutting herself off at a thought.
Boreal looked up at Zalia.
“Maybe you just need to eat something tasty to get your energy back,” Zalia suggested.
Boreal caught on and stood up in excitement.
“Eat!” Boreal exclaimed.
She also let out a few excited mews at the same time.
“We’re feeding the god first Boreal but if you get a chance, yes. Eat,” Zalia promised.
Boreal excitedly did a few laps of the room before zooming out through the door. With a tired sigh, Zalia followed.
She chased after the faintly glowing footprints left behind by the quick pitter patter of small feline paws. She still gave the bulb a respectful distance though it looked like Boreal hadn’t bothered, simply sprinting the fastest route out of the building. She was usually excellent at hiding her footprints and the sound of her movement but at that moment, Boreal simply didn’t care.
Zalia exited the building to find Boreal had actually climbed the wall and sat on the half collapsed ceiling held together with vines.
“What are you going to try and catch them?” Zalia asked in amusement.
“Tasty shades,” Boreal demanded.
She was beginning to wonder if Boreal had something against shades. Their first shade, the Hidden, had betrayed them so it may not be completely inaccurate.
Or, Boreal simply wanted something to eat that wasn’t the bland if not foul taste of grey creature.
Rather than rushing, Zalia laid out the herbal components required for the ritual she was about to undertake. The methodical nature of the action was calming and would help her maintain concentration by eliminating the need to summon the herbs in the moment. Three piles formed, one containing Bitterbalm and Zephyr, another containing Bitterbalm and Manifest with the last containing just Bitterbalm.
Zephyr major and Bitterbalm minor would create an element reversal ritual on Zephyr changing the resulting element to earth. Manifest major and Bitterbalm minor would have a similar effect changing the resulting element to spiritual manifestation. Those two together would form a spiritual manifestation of earth targeted as a curse by the third and final ritual using the new combination and Bitterbalm major.
It was the same ritual she had performed earlier only this time in a calm manner rather than a frustrated and expedited one.
Each of the piles dissolved as a large circle formed around Zalia depicting many runes she could not read. The glowing ritual formed from the dust remains of the herbs was lit a dull earthen brown and purple mix. Tendrils formed from the earth in the circle and as Zalia used Hunter’s mark on a few of the shades, even more sprouted. Once more, the shades were dragged unwillingly into range of the bulb's power and were crushed into small shadows before being dragged by a different power towards the bulb.
Boreal stupidly jumped over top of the bulb's large mouth to try and catch one of the shades midair and landed only a hairs width from the edge of the mouth.
“Get down from there!” Zalia yelled.
She was willing to tolerate a lot but that had been foolish of Boreal.
Boreal sulkily climbed down as the bulb digested the newly fed shades.
“I told you I would try catch one for you but we need to take care of the god first,” Zalia scolded.
She hoped… no, she knew that the shades’ power would help heal the god below.
Boreal sat down on the ground with a soft thump, still looking upset.
“What am I going to do with you,” Zalia thought.
The answer to that was probably find a way to get a shade for her to eat. With determination, Zalia began preparing a new set of herbs for the next ritual feeding. It was going to be a long day.