“How dare you do this to me!”

Reud ignored the shouts of the woman restrained to the sarcophagus as he pressed the last glowing manastone into the grooves carved into the stone floor, joining the hundreds of others already in place. The very air vibrated with the sheer mass of mana trapped within the faintly glowing crystals, the results of centuries of research, experimentation, and painstaking crafting.

This time it would work.

It had to.

Reud stepped back as the gem settled into place, sending a pulse of mana into the spiralling diagram on the floor. For a moment, nothing happened. Reud held his breath, his heart pounding in his chest, worry rising within him. What if he’d made a mistake, carved it wrong, charged it wrong, overlooked some detail.

And then the spell surged into life.

The gloom of the damp crypt was banished as the crystals erupted with iridescent light. The restrained woman let out a yelp at the sudden brightness, bucking to and fro in her desperation to get free.

“I’m a Seeker! I demand you release me this instant!” She screamed, her raven hair wild and unkempt in her desperation, her bright purple eyes wide with terror.

Her words fell on deaf ears.

Reud had no time, no sympathy, no mercy for her. She was from Lightire, and even worse, a Seeker. Besides, she was no threat to him any more, not with the pitch black magebane shackles on her wrists. With those binding her, she wouldn’t have any ability to channel mana, and therefore use her magic. And without her magic, she was nothing, simply a component in his spell.

Closing his eyes, Reud pushed his mana sense out to feel the spell building all around them, inspecting every detail for flaws. Even the slightest mistake today would set him back decades, maybe even centuries.

There was no way he was going to let that happen. He’d waited long enough.

Reud dropped to one knee, touched the carving closest to him, and poured his mana into the spell. A vast torrent, but nothing against the ocean the crystals contained, an ocean that surged free at his command.

Immediately, agony erupted in Reud’s mind as mana saturated the air around them. The woman stopped shouting too, wincing as she felt the same pain of the unnaturally mana rich environment he’d created. A sign that she had an excellent affinity for the invisible fuel that powered all magic.

Which was why she was the perfect vessel for the ritual.

“What are you doing!? You’ll kill us both!” She gasped out. “Stop, please!”

Reud didn’t bother to respond. It was far too late to change her fate anyhow, the spell had her in its inexorable grasp. Her fate was sealed. The air started to shimmer and warp as the mana twisted reality as it built and built, swirling and compressing into an iridescent shell encasing the woman.

“No, no! Noooo!” The woman’s despairing cries echoed around the crypt.

Reud simply looked on with dispassionate eyes, waiting for the spell to settle, to prepare the body for a new occupant. Carefully, he pulled a blood-red gem from his pocket, holding it in his fist. Raising it to his lips, he gave it a kiss.

Soon you will be free, my love.

Then he smashed the gem against the ground.

With a crack, the gem shattered into dust, and from within burst a presence. A soul. Reud reached out with his mana and gripped it tightly, forcing it into the maelstrom of mana, filling the gap in the ritual waiting for it.

The woman arched her back, writhing as agony lanced through her. Falling back onto the stone, she looked over at Reud, her eyes wide and pleading. “Please, please, please. Just stop this. Just let me go, I won’t say anything to…”

The words died in her mouth as she looked into Reud’s cold, calculating eyes, seeing not even the remotest hint of concern in them.

Reud stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder, ignoring her attempts to shrink away from him. Taking a deep breath, he drew some of the rampaging mana into himself, letting it infuse his body with tingling energy.

Then he blasted it into the woman.

The mana surged into her, piercing right down to her bones, severing her soul’s already weakened ties to her body. With a deft twist, Reud sheared the final connection in her mind, and her body immediately fell still, the colour fading from her irises, leaving them dull grey.

Sharp cracks sounded all through the room as the crystals shattered, drained to nothingness by the final step in the spell. The mana saturating the room rushed down into the body, dragging the other soul along with it like a whirlpool.

Reud gritted his teeth at the pain of being at the epicentre of so much rushing mana, holding himself firm as he stood vigilant for any deviation from the spell's correct path.

With one final crack, it was over.

Instantly, the room was plunged back into semi-darkness, lit only by a single dimly flickering torch on the wall. Reud slumped, exhausted, clutching a hand to his forehead. Dealing with that much mana never really got any easier. Squinting, he tried to make out the woman, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark.

Hope and fear warred within him as he waited in silence. Centuries of work to develop the ritual, to create and charge the crystals, and then the Seeker arriving at the perfect time. Pretty much delivering herself as the perfect vessel. It had felt like a sign from Vistol.

Had it finally worked? Had he finally brought her back?

The silence stretched out as Reud’s heart pounded frantically, disappointment rising with each second the woman lay still. Just as the wait became too long to bear, a sound came from the form before him.

Then a gasp of breath.

The woman arched her back, lifting her torso off the slab. She continued to gasp in air, as if she were a drowning man plucked from the water and allowed to breathe once more.

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Reud jumped forward, fumbling with the shackles binding her until they fell free with a clang, before taking one of her scrabbling hands in both of his.

Slowly, her convulsions calmed down, her body relaxing and becoming still. Leaning over her, he cupped her face, turning it towards him, and studied her eyes. Little by little, the grey blossomed into colour once more, the purple eyes of a soul with an affinity for magic. As her eyes regained life, a familiar soul studied him right back, shining with a fierceness he’d longed to see for so very long.

Joy surged within him as he finally dared to hope he’d succeeded. Reud opened his mouth to speak, but managed only a hoarse croak before coughing violently. He turned away and spluttered into his sleeve, trying to bring himself back under control. Gods, how long had it been since he’d last spoken?

“R-Reud? Is that you?” The woman murmured faintly.

Reud snapped his head back to look at her. “Lilia?”

“The battle… the spell… I was hit? I-”

“Lilia, you’re back!” Reud cried out, interrupting her. He pulled the woman into his chest, clasping her tight, burying his face into her neck to hide his tears of happiness. A few moments later, her arms encircled him right back.

“I… died?” She whispered, her mouth to his ear. “How am I here?”

Reud say back, breaking their embrace. Looking into her face, he recognized a familiar expression creasing the unfamiliar features, an expression he last saw on the woman he fell in love with so very long ago.

“I brought you back.” Reud said, turning to rest on the slab as the weakness from the spell hit him. “Thank Vistol, I finally brought you back.”

“But… Wait… Full resurrection. You said it was merely a theory, the power alone would take…” Her eyes narrowed as her mind churned through the implications.

“A long time.” Reud finished for her. “A very long time.”

Suddenly, Lilia’s eyes widened, and she looked at him in confusion. “Wait, how long was I dead?”

Reud reached up and stroked a hand down her cheek. “Far too long.”

“So what happened? With the war and…”

Reud shrugged. “We lost the war, not long after I lost you. In fact, we all lost, and Lightire won. They’ve ruled for centuries.”

“Centuries? Then how are you…”

“Still alive? That, my dear, is a very long story too. A story that can wait. More importantly, do you want to see the sky again?”

Reud quickly stood and grabbed her hand, pulling her up off the slab. Smiling, she acquiesced to the prompting, seemingly satisfied for the time being.

As Lilia slowly stood, Reud walked over to the wall, lifting the torch from its sconce. Turning back to Lilia, he watched her tentatively testing her weight on each leg, before taking a few wobbly steps.

“Woah.” Lilia said as she stumbled to one side.

“Take it slow, it’s a new body.” Reud said. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”

“I’m alright, I just need to…” Lilia said, her brow furrowed in concentration. She took another step, then another, her balance improving with each one. And then he was striding towards him with a smile on her face.

Stopping in front of him with a slight playful skip, she took his hand and pulled him in close, her face tilting until her lips met his. The world melted away in that kiss, his weariness forgotten, the only thing that mattered was how soft and warm she felt against him.

After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled away, leaving him gasping for breath.

“Lead on, husband.” Lilia said with a smile.

Reud smiled right back at her. “Let’s go, wife.”

—

It was bright outside the crypt, the glaring sunlight causing them both to raise a hand to shield their eyes. The moss covered stairs exited into a clearing in the middle of a dense forest. Warm sunlight filtered down through emerald leaves, bathing the earth in a rich glow. A blue sky stretched overhead, puffs of cloud wandering lazily from horizon to horizon. Behind them rose moss-covered stones that marked the ancient crypt they just emerged from, the remains of the vast stone portal that once sealed it lying scattered across the surrounding grass. The twittering of birds mixed with the rustle of the gentle breeze through the trees.

Reud looked over at Lilia. Her eyes were open wide with wonder, taking in the sights around them. Slowly, she extracted herself from this grip and walked out into the grass, raising her hands and face towards the sun, luxuriating in the warmth.

Suddenly, she sprung up into the air, throwing her hands high. With a silvery peal of laughter, she danced through the long grass, spinning and twirling, hands outstretched and head thrown back. Reud watched her antics with a smile on his face, her joy infectious.

Panting, she finally stopped before him. “It’s beautiful here! I haven’t seen grass since that Lightire spell killed it all years ago!” She paused a moment. “I guess that should be centuries ago. How did you find this place?” She brushed an errant strand of hair out of her face.

“You’ll be surprised at how much has regrown. Believe it or not, this is Srinaber, what remains of it anyway.” Reud pointed out over the trees to a moss-covered tower poking above the treeline. “See there? That’s the tower of the Anchorite.”

Reud walked over and sat on a nearby rock. “It took over one hundred years for the magic to fade and plants to start regrowing. Once the magic was gone, however, it took a mere decade or two for all this greenery to overtake the land again.”

Lilia walked over and sat down beside him, her face serious. “So tell me, what happened after… You know… After I died.”

“We lost the war.” Reud said, face twisting sourly as he remembered the distant past. “Lightire completely overran us. Their mages scorched all of Rudase from coast to coast. The academies are gone, our families are gone.”

Reud paused for a moment, the memories of this lost brothers still a raw wound, no matter how long had passed since their deaths.

Clamping down on his emotions, he continued. “A puppet government now rules Rudase, filled with the noble families willing to serve Lightire. The Holy Lightire Empire rules the entire continent in all but name. Their servants, who call themselves Seekers, roam the land, kidnapping any commoner child with even a hint of magic to be shipped back off to Lightire, never to return. Only nobles are allowed to practise magic now.”

Lilia’s eyes widened. “But how do they…”

Reud nodded sadly. “Yes, with no one to cull them, chimeras ravage the commonfolk with impunity. Sadly, this is not the Rudase you remember. Not any more.”

Lilia put her arm around him, pulling him in close. “And how about you, how are you doing? You don’t seem much older, but you look all pale and tired.” She poked his arm playfully. “And shrivelled. Have you been eating properly?”

Reud smiled and leaned into her. “I survived, the only way I knew how. It’s been a very long time without you.”

They stayed like that for a few moments, before the silence was interrupted by a rumble from Lilia’s stomach.

“Well, someone sounds hungry.” Reud said with a smile.

“Apparently, I haven’t eaten for centuries.” Lilia said. “I think I'm due a meal.”

“You sure are.” Reud said, standing. “Come this way, I think that woman had some food in her pack.”

Lilia quickly sprung forward to walk beside him. “So this woman, who was she?”

Reud took her hand in his, weaving their fingers together.

“She was a Seeker that tried to capture me.” Reud smiled at Lilia. “Unsuccessfully, of course. Once I realized how powerful her affinity was, I thought she would make a perfect candidate to attempt your resurrection. Thank Vistol, I was right.”

“These Seekers, you said they capture children?” Lilia asked. “What for?”

Reud shrugged. “I have no idea, I’ve never investigated. I had much bigger concerns.”

“Bigger concerns?” Lilia asked, cocking her head.

“You.” Reud said, pointing at her.

“Oh.”

They walked together for a few minutes longer, before Lilia squeezed his hand.

“Thank you, for bringing me back.” She said.

“Any time. Just please, don’t die again.”

She leaned into his shoulder. “I’ll do my best.”