Necromantic magic surged into the large stone room that had been Keir's tomb for three centuries. His new eyes took in the scene, the guards had raised their weapons. Six of them had drawn swords that glowed a purifying blue, raising them defensively against the ghostly hands which filled the room, while the remaining two pointed their arquebus-like weapons at his chest.
Von Asger, the mage who had awakened him from death, calmly watched him. Somehow the mage was not showing even the slightest worry at facing the greatest necromancer who had ever lived, and was even now preparing to tear his soul to shreds.
Keir expected the mage to shout some order or cast a spell. The tattoos the mage had placed on the body he now inhabited, allowed the mage to control him with a single word. The necromancer mentally recoiled in disgust at the thought of being controlled by anyone. He had been Emperor of the Erebu continent, tens of millions had bowed to him and cheered his name, he had planned on conquering the rest of the world before being assassinated. He would not be controlled.
He willed the ethereal hands to rip the guards and Von to shreds. He'd capture their souls as they fled their bodies and turn them into the first soldiers of his new army. They'd keep their minds, remembering everything they had been, weeping as they slayed his enemies, but they would obey his commands, unable to even think of disobeying him.
The hands didn't move.
What had they done to him?
Opening his mouth, Keir tried to order the hands to slaughter his enemies. The air refused to leave his lungs.
Von smirked. “Stop it,” the Blue Scholar said.
The magic holding the ghostly hands in place snapped. The tomb grew brighter as the magic faded away, taking the hands with them. The anger that filled Keir turned to sheer rage. He forced himself to keep it under control, focusing it to help him concentrate on the problem at hand. “You've put a geas on me. I should be able to break it, but you've somehow bound it into my very soul. Congratulations, I'm extremely impressed,” he growled
“We've studied your spirit and your 'Heart' for centuries. Only a handful of people in history have had your level of power. Finding a way to prevent another would-be tyrant from attempting to conquer the world was considered a priority, you made a good test subject,” Von said.
“May I ask what I'm allowed to do?”
Von nodded. “Of course. It's not too onerous, we want you as an ally, not an enemy after all. You are unable to willingly harm a human being, through your own actions, spells, or by ordering one of your creations to do so. Telling an army of zombies to burn a town, while the citizens are still in it, would fall under willingly harming a human.”
“Of course. And I suppose I have to obey your every command?”
“You must obey the command of any Blue level mage or higher. If given two commands, the higher ranking mage will take priority.”
“So if you ordered me to kill the guards, would I be forced to obey?”
“If I ordered it, yes,” Von said. “You are going to be our weapon, using your knowledge and power to protect what's left of humanity on Erebu and ultimately the world. If you follow orders, you will be well rewarded, and I'll only order you to obey me if you give me no other choice. We are desperate, but we don't want to be needlessly cruel. Having you willingly working with us is best for everyone.”
He nodded, understanding their concern. It didn't mean he liked what had happened, but at least he wasn't dealing with idiots. He'd still find a way to break the geas eventually and murder Von anyways, some insults couldn't be forgiven. Still he'd consider letting the mages soul depart to the afterlife unharmed. He felt his rage recede, it was still there, simmering in chest, but there were more important things to deal with.
Getting off the cold stone bed, he realized that his new body was short, over a head shorter than Von. That would take some getting used to, possibly longer then getting over the fact that he had breasts and lacked male genitalia.
Looking down he saw that his breasts were quite small, he wondered how old his body was. Shaking his head, he took his attention away from his body, he could study it later.
“Do you have some clothes for me to wear, or am I supposed to earn them as we go along?” he asked, speaking from his belly trying to make his voice a little deeper, which had only limited success.
“There's a robe over there,” Von said, pointing at a simple brown robe that was folded on a small chest. “We have a carriage waiting for us. Once we get to the keep, you'll have a chance to rest and change into something more appropriate. We'll be leaving at dawn tomorrow for Hanged Mans Pass.”
Sneering at the cheap robe that wasn't fit for one of his lowest house servants, Keir snapped his fingers, wondering how such thin and fragile things didn't break. A magical construct in the form of a translucent pretty, young maid rose from the stone floor. The construct went to the corner of the room where the shadows were darkest. Gripping the darkness, there was a ripping sound, and the construct was holding a robe made of pure darkness. It walked over to Keir, who held out his arms so she could dress him. The dark robe sealed at the front turning it into a shapeless dress.
“This won't do,” Keir said. He'd always been one to show off, why do something calmly and quietly when you could make it big and show the world your power? The clothes would have to be fixed before he made his appearance.
The cool, ethereal fabric, which was lighter than silk and felt like a second skin, shifted, turning into a pair of tight pants, and a loose billowy shirt, similar in style to what he'd worn as Emperor. It wasn't nearly as ornate, but he'd generally left tailoring to his army of servants, keeping things basic was good enough. For now.
“Are you done?” Von asked, clearly not amused.
Taking a moment to adjust his collar, Keir motioned to the exit. “Lead on.”
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The guards fell in behind them, looking almost like an honour guard. For his own amusement, Keir kept his construct, directing the ghostly girl to follow a three steps behind as if she were a real servant. He hid his smile at the guards discomfort while they made their way through the maze that had protected Keir's tomb. Someone had taken the time to mark out the correct passage, painting the traps a glowing red, he wondered how many people had died finding his Heart.
It took over half an hour to reach daylight. What had been a small crack in the cliff wall concealed by trees and bushes, was now a large fort. A heavy metal gate, enchanted with several protective spells blocked the exit. A lone guard came to attention as they exited.
Keir openly studied the fort, the walls and buildings were made from rune etched stones, thick and well designed to survive cannon fire. There was a large parade ground that could easily hold five hundred men. He grinned with pleasure, thinking of how fearful he had been even in death, for them to build a fortress in this desolate area just to protect his tomb. But something struck him as odd, despite the size there were only a few dozen soldiers and a similar number of servants, women and children to be seen.
“Where are the rest of the men?” he asked, scowling at his airy voice.
“Defending the pass, or keeping order at Desolation Fort and the refugee camp,” Von said. “Now that you're alive, the remaining soldiers will march to the front lines, and the fort will be opened up to provide shelter for those fleeing the demons.”
A coach was waiting for them. The driver, who had the bearing of a well trained servant, but was wearing the stained clothes of a peasant farmer, held the door open for them. “Sir, my lady,” he said.
The driver noticed the construct, who had become almost invisible in the bright light of day. He jumped back, making a warding sign with his hands.
Laughing, Keir made his construct float into the carriage and closed the door. Von scowled at him, but didn't say anything. With the ghostly construct out of sight, the driver hurriedly climbed onto the carriage and cracked his whip. A dozen horsemen took position in front and behind the carriage.
“At least I have an honour guard,” Keir said. “I remember when it would number in the hundreds, but this will do for now.”
“You seem to be taking this all rather calmly,” Von said.
“I am, aren't I,” he replied, smiling. He'd found out at a young age that panicking, or at least showing panic would only lead to more problems. Accepting what was happening and trying to deal with it as best he could was always the better way. That attitude had allowed him to salvage the situation at the Battle of Ashes, when half his army had been caught in a magical fire that had signalled the start of a surprise attack.
Coming back to life, finding himself as a woman, learning that he was supposed to be a weapon in what sounded like a losing war, if he had ever needed a clear mind, this was it.
“Tell me about these demons that I'm suppose to fight, where did they come from?” he asked.
“Eleven years ago, reports came from the Lost River Bad Lands of monstrous creatures attacking herders and merchants. Several mercenary free companies sent to the area disappeared. The Magic Council sent their own group, they met the first Demon army. The survivors scattered, using magic to help escape the monstrous scouts and warned the nearby countries.” Von paused, his eyes distant.
“They claimed an army of monsters were coming, using magic and weapons that had never been seen before. The reports were insane, but the Eldritch Council isn't known for deceiving people or crying wolf. Scouts were sent out, militias were raised and the nearby nations prepared their soldiers.”
Keir could see where this was going. When he'd first raised his army of the dead, few had believed he could raise so many undead. They'd prepared for a conventional battle, and then he'd buried them in skeletons and zombies, while ghosts, ghouls, and worse attacked them from the rear and assassinated their leaders. It had taken over a year for his more intelligent enemies to learn how to defeat his raw numbers, and by then he had many other tricks to use.
Von continued. “The Kingdom of Asti was hit first, they fought alone, having no time to call for help from their allies. The survivors talked of flying creatures blotting out the sun, monstrosities that could shoot explosive fire from their mouths, and an endless sea of smaller demons that shredded armoured men with their claws and teeth. They slaughtered the main army sent against them, then spread out destroying farms, towns, and cities. The walled cities held out for two or three weeks, the capital survived a month before being overwhelmed. The only survivors were the ones who fled early, seeking refuge as far from the slaughter as they could.
“They sat on the ruined land for half a year after the fall of the capital. Across the continent militia and soldiers were called up, nations pledged their support, the largest army since the War of the Dead was raised. They scouted the demons lines, fought some battles trying to learn more about them, and the Council used its powers to spy far behind their lines, to learn where they had come from. More soldiers were sent to the Lost River Bad Lands, trying to learn the Demons plans. Again none returned.”
The mage closed his eyes, shuddering as he spoke. “I was there for the first campaign of the Coalition. We had scouted the Demons lines, fought with them, and thought we had a plan to strike the first real blow that would force them back. For a week, the Grand Army of Humanity advanced into demon held land, slaughtering thousands of the creatures. We took casualties. For every demon we killed, we lost two men, but we were winning, learning their weaknesses and strengths, and more reinforcements were coming. Then they fell on us from all sides, giant worms dug holes behind our hastily formed lines, unleashing hordes of imps and hell hounds. Screechers came from the sky, snatching up soldiers, biting out their throats and dropping the bodies on our men.
“I was trained as a healer then, a mere yellow novice who was supposed to assist the true healers. I was near the rear, where the fewest demons were attacking. Somehow I found myself in a large group of soldiers who cut their way free, we fled for our lives while the Grand Army, a 150,000 strong, was slaughtered virtually to a man,” Von said, his eyes distant and his voice nearly a whisper.
Keir had known decades of war, he knew what the horrors of it could do to a person, he'd purposefully used terror many times to his advantage. Von had either been in the thick of it, or he was the greatest actor of all time.
“They've been expanding ever since?” he asked.
“Yes. We learned how to slow them down, even pushed them back a few times, but there is always more of them and fewer of us. We're split up now. West of the Shield Mountains there are a few million humans, beaten, hungry, knowing we're going to die, fighting our individual battles, defending mountain valleys, a few peninsula's and islands. East of the mountains there is growing hunger and lawlessness from the hordes of refugees. It's been over a year since we've heard of a ship arriving from the other continents, and the last ones arrived merely to take those who were willing to pay a fortune for refuge. They're building up their own defenses, as well as preparing fleets to keep the demons from their shores. We've been abandoned, many are just waiting to die.”
Rubbing his chin, wishing he had a beard instead of the smooth, sensitive skin he had now, Keir thought about the situation. Returning to his tomb and slitting his throat to wait for a more opportune time to be resurrected was looking fairly appealing at the moment.
He shook his head, he couldn't think that way. He had never been one to back down from a challenge, and if he wanted to regain his power, what better way than saving the world? If he couldn't figure out how to make himself the most powerful ma- woman, on the continent, and possibly the world, by the time this was done, he didn't deserve to survive. A savage grin slowly formed.
Von saw the grin and didn't look pleased. “I don't see how this is a happy occasion.”
“I'm just thinking of all the material I have to work with. There are quite a few ideas I'm just dying to try.” Seeing the look of disgust on the mages face, he began to laugh.