(xxx.)

Lazarus sucked up the Dryad's pure green soul like it was some kind of super drug. In actuality, that wasn’t far from the truth. The immense energy gain that he received from that act alone made him feel like his phylactery was going to explode. His stats, which he used to have to call up, were omnipresent in his mind now that he didn’t have a body. He watched as, by the second, his health dropped a considerable percentage off of it.

Panicking slightly, and unsure why he even had health to begin with, he regurgitated the soul back out where it was summarily absorbed by the tree. The pressure immediately lessened, however, that didn’t reassure him as just the brief time he had held onto it had reduced his health nearly by half.

The soul he spat out had undergone major changes as well. What was once a green, pure soul came out as mottled gray and black. Corrupted. Evil. Even Lazarus could tell the difference with his new and unfamiliar senses.

There was something wrong with what he had inadvertently created.

Corrupted Elemental Spirit Created

“Ah, the red text speaks! It always brings me the best of news. Well… almost always. It begs to wonder, however, just what a corrupted elemental spirit is,” he wondered to himself.

A dark hand, covered in lace emerged from the tree. The body that followed was stunning, a near perfect approximation of the Dryad herself if she had been turned into some kind of dark elf. Jet black skin covered her body as she leaned out of the tree, throwing the platinum hair that framed her stunning purple eyes behind her as she arced her back.

The spirit leaned forward and scooped up his phylactery and, with no warning, absorbed it into the tree.

Lazarus was interested to see what would happen now. If this new being was a friend… or if it was foe. Spreading his senses out, he could tell that the roots of the tree went deep. Very, very deep.

“Yes, Father,” spoke the woman, cradling his phylactery to her chest gently. “I am spread under and through the majority of the city. My roots know no bounds, and I could expand them should I wish… or be directed to do so.”

“Interesting, it seems you have some kind of telepathic link with me?” wondered the Lich. “You can hear and parse my thoughts. Fascinating.”

“Yes Father! I can hear you. I would never… I would never not want to hear you. You made me who I am. You freed me from the… from the disgusting need to serve nature as a slave,” she spat.

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“Well, that answers a lot. So, tell me what you can do,” the Lich ordered, fascinated by this unlikely turn of events.

“I can travel quickly between my trees. As long as my heart remains, I cannot die. And I am wholly devoted to you Father,” she purred, stroking the amulet.

“Whoa, hey now. Easy. We will have, ahem, plenty of time later for experimentation. However, currently I want to check on a few things. Perform a few tasks. Burn this city to the ground and convert it to the undead,” Lazarus said, diverting her attention. “Do you have a name? I can hardly call you… yeah. Corrupted Elemental Spirit is a mouthful.”

“Call me Ces, Father,” she giggled. “If you wish to destroy this city, then I will help you! I will give you my everything!” she said, eyes going a bit crazy.

“Hey now, why don’t we ahhhhhhhhhh-” the lich was cut off as the duo suddenly plunged far, far into the earth descending so fast that if Lazarus had eyeballs they would have certainly been pressed into the back of his skull.

The descent was wild, taking twists and turns, loops, corkscrews, and sometimes even just freefalling through various caverns and empty spaces. After what seemed to be hours, they finally arrived at a location so deep it made Hell seem close to the surface by comparison.

“That… where…” Lazarus paused, getting his mental faculties in order. His ability to see and interact with his surroundings had played against him heavily during their travels, resulting in a kind of motion sickness he couldn’t put into words. Actually… he could.

If he had a body, he would be throwing up right now.

“We have arrived, Father,” purred Ces.

The Lich took his attention from himself and, after calming down for a few moments, expanded his awareness around them. What he saw stunned him.

A green, pulsating jewel lay before him. Massive, it must have been the size of a fully inflated beachball. It dimmed and then grew bright with a deep thrumming, as if a heart was beating in front of him with no body around it.

“Silly Father, we are deep within my body. And yes, this is my heart. I give it fully to you!” she cried, pushing the phylactery into the massive crystalline organ.

The reaction was immediate… and violent. Much like attempting to absorb the Dryad's soul before, the amount of energy rushing into the phylactery was too much. Only this was worse. The soul had been a drop in an endless ocean compared to this.

Lazarus went into full panic mode as his health plummeted, even as he soaked up more and more energy. Screaming out in pain and rage at the apparent betrayal, Ces only smiled in joy as after a few seconds his health smashed into zero… then plummeted into the negatives.

The pain was exquisite, even as Lazarus began to lose consciousness. The last thing he saw was the soothing expression of Ces as she slowly stroked the amulet, receiving deep burns from the heat exuding from the phylactery. Existence faded into nothing around the Lich, and his final thought before nothingness claimed him was that he hoped the explosion would be large enough to level the city somewhere far, far above them. Then nothingness slammed into the Lich, casting him into oblivion.

Yet the energy continued to flow.