Norman felt exposed without his clothing, but there was no way in hell he was putting those filthy things back on. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to retrieve anything from inside the clothes let alone even touch the nasty things again but Grobert convinced him otherwise.
Norman used the strings from two of his necklaces to form a crude loincloth out of the wide-leafed plants in the area. It wasn’t much but it at least got Grobert to stop complaining about having to see his ‘dangly bits’ flopping about in the wind.
It was a compromise Norman only agreed to after Grobert agreed to take his health potion to get rid of the smell of rotting meat that accompanied his decaying form.
“Better, princess?”
“Hey, you’re the one who started complaining.”
“We have a lot of ground to cover, let's get moving. And before I tell you what I learned, tell me what you learned. It’ll save time.”
“Alright.” Norman launched into his story from his arrival at the city. He even included his observations of the people and his run-in with Apolon.
“Hmm. I wasn’t able to interact with the people, for obvious reasons, so hadn’t noticed their malnutrition. It helps explain a few things I heard rumors of. As for this Pedro fellow, it sounds like he could be an ally if we could get to him.”
Norman was glad to hear Grobert was on the same page. “I thought the same thing. But it appears they keep him locked away somewhere inside their temple until he becomes disobedient. Then they toss him in those same cells you found me at. I can’t imagine they don’t leave guards nearby to keep an eye on him though.”
“No, they do. It’s one of the reasons I had to wait to rescue you. Once he was gone, most of the guards went with him, leaving only one on duty. And that guy was sleeping at his post when I arrived. It seems time has dulled our enemy's caution. It’s a good thing for us. In any case, that man will likely be a key component to victory over the Brotherhood.”
Norman decided not to comment on Grobert’s last statement. He knew if they could get Pedro away from the Brotherhood it would make their jobs a thousand times easier. But if that wasn’t an option, he knew they would have to ensure the Brotherhood couldn’t have him either. It was a harsh fact of war.
Norman asked another question to change the subject. “So, what did you learn?” Norman was eager to find out since he had first learned Grobert was down here collecting information.
Grobert’s expression soured. “Rumors and hearsay mostly, but I was able to confirm one important detail.”
“Oh?”
“The Brotherhood is run by a Priestess.”
“Really? That seems a bit odd given their name, but who am I to judge? Any idea who this Priestess is?”
Grobert stopped and looked at Norman. “…”
“What?”
“A Priestess…”
“…Um, ok? Is that supposed to mean something to me?” Norman looked at Grobert in confusion.
The man gave a tired sigh. “It’s fucking Noorani! She betrayed us.”
“What? How do you get that from rumors that a Priestess controls the Brotherhood? It’s probably just a coincidence.”
Grobert shook his head and kept walking. “I knew you weren’t going to believe me. But all the signs point to it being her.”
“What signs?” Norman demanded. He knew Grobert and Noorani didn’t see eye to eye, but he didn’t think Grobert would accuse her of something like this without good reason.
“The village for one. It was awfully convenient that her village was wiped out just before you were going to ask her some more pointed questions.”
That was convenient, but it wasn’t enough to convince Norman that the ooraki woman had betrayed them.
“Then there was the teleporter.”
“Wait, what about the teleporter?”
“You don’t know? The enemy found the teleporter near her village and used it to bypass the walls into Ashvale. There is no way they could have found it without her or her people’s help.”
Norman had wondered how the enemy had gotten inside the city so quickly. “Ok, but they could have tortured that information out of her or any of the other ooraki they captured.”
Grobert gave Norman a skeptical look. “You were undead for a bit, right?”
Norman nodded.
“How much pain did you feel?”
“…Uh, not much.”
“Exactly. They could have cut off her limbs, stripped her of all her skin, pulled out her insides, and she would have barely felt a thing. Besides, did she seem like the type of person that would give her torturers information?”
“No,” Norman muttered, “she was as stubborn as a mule. But what reason would she have to betray us?” Norman didn’t want to believe the woman had betrayed all of the greykin but the evidence was clearly pointing in that direction.
“I don’t know,” Grobert added with a tired sigh. “But I know she did. Obviously, she managed to take advantage of her situation to secure control of the Brotherhood for herself. I heard other rumors that the High Priest hadn’t been seen in over a year. Some say he took ill. Nobody was really sure, not that they seemed all that worried about their former leader's disappearance. If anything the Brotherhood has grown richer and more powerful under this Priestess’ leadership.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would the Brotherhood wipe out all the greykin, just to turn around and have one lead them?” Norman was trying to wrap his head around what was going on. Then something he had found odd finally clicked into place and he groaned in understanding. “They took my grimoire… She took my grimoire. That means she has the spell to restore herself to life.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Well, that explains that little missing piece of the puzzle,” Grobert replied. “But it doesn’t answer the question of why she did what she did. Not that it matters to us. We now know who the real enemy is. We have information on their headquarters, and now we have a tactical advantage as well. The enemy thinks we are dead and gone and no longer a threat. We will make them regret that oversight, I can assure you.”
Norman really wanted to hit or kick something right about now, he was pissed. No, he was furious. When people fucked with him, it didn’t bother Norman all that much, he was so used to it, that he unconsciously ignored it most of the time. But when people fucked with those he cared about, that’s when he got upset. If he had the means, he would have turned around right now and laid waste to the entire city of Beskara and not hesitated for one moment.
Fortunately for Noorani, he didn’t currently have the means to do that.
“What do we do?” Norman forced out through clenched teeth.
“We rebuild Ashvale, we rebuild our forces, we bide our time, and then we strike. We eliminate all their priests and followers from the outer cities. Then we craft the narrative, one that will leave them scrambling to figure out who is attacking them.”
Norman smiled at that. “A taste of their own medicine. But wouldn’t it be better to just attack their capital city and be done with it?”
Grobert shook his head. “The Brotherhood has already gone through one change of leadership without breaking. If we cut off the head, another one would just grow in its place. We need to have them afraid. Get them to seek shelter within the high walls of their capital. Make them worry and wonder when their unknown enemy is going to strike. And just as they start to relax, thinking they are safe, we descend on them like a tide of retribution.”
Norman turned to stare in open-mouthed shock at Grobert. “Fucking hell, dude, that’s brutal. Remind me never to piss you off.”
Grobert chuckled at that. “Wise words, Norman, wise words.”
“Alright. So that’s a good start. Let's get back to Ashvale and start making that a reality.”
The rest of the trip out of the wasteland zone was uneventful. And thanks to Pedro’s spell, Norman didn’t die from heat stroke before they were able to confiscate yet another set of clothing for him.
Returning to Ashvale and seeing the state it was in made Norman’s anger flare up again. But he was able to repress it for now. Norman knew they would get their revenge soon enough, but he didn’t want to focus on his rage while reviving his people.
They headed to the castle where Norman had stored the spell anchor. Grobert didn’t even need to move the stone slab that hid the spell anchor, He just teleported the spell anchor out of the ground and handed it to Norman. Not protecting the hiding spot from magic was an oversight Norman would need to fix. He couldn’t have some random mage come in and steal stuff out from under him like that.
Norman sighed. “Still no sign of Eugene.”
“No, but I suspect some of the guards might be able to help with that. If they know where he patrolled, I should be able to locate the sphere.”
Norman perked up at that. “Really?”
“Yeah, I can sense things around me in a small area. It’s what allows me to teleport stuff.”
“What about people?”
Grobert shook his head. “I can’t teleport living things. Only myself or other objects.”
“What about undead?” Norman asked the obvious question.
“…huh. I guess I never tried.”
“Well, we can test that later. Just be sure not to touch the sphere if you do find it. Take it near one of those large grazers, that should be enough to power it and allow Eugene to return. Oh, you might also want to bring some clothes for him, he won’t be too happy about being nude.”
The pair exited the castle and stepped onto the open hilltop. The spell anchor contained the entirety of the city’s dead, so Norman was going to need a lot of room for them. Norman was about to break the bone with his hands, but Grobert stopped him.
“You should probably not do that with us standing right next to it.”
“Oh, yeah probably a good idea.”
Norman looked for a large rock, finding one about twenty feet away. “Can you teleport this above that rock?”
Without answering, Grobert made the spell anchor disappear. It reappeared twenty feet above the sunken boulder and clattered atop it. The large bone didn’t break the first, second, or third time it was dropped on the rock, but the fourth time must have done enough damage to the spell anchor as it exploded into dust.
Have you ever seen those fountain-style fireworks that sit on the ground? Yeah, it was like that, only with bodies. Norman wasn’t sure if he should be amazed by the scene in front of him or horrified by it. He decided to cover his bases and do both.
Norman and Grobert had to step back as the mountain of bodies grew like a volcano, causing others to tumble down the sides toward them. It was truly a surreal experience for Norman.
“Hmm… Maybe I’ll use multiple spell anchors next time,” he muttered as the last of the body volcano stopped spewing out corpses.
“Probably a good idea,” Grobert replied.
Seeing no reason to delay, Norman pulled the first body from the pile and set it on the stone walkway in front of the castle. It was large enough for the spell while being conveniently close.
He was glad he didn’t have to convert the bodies again. Although, he would have to repair most of them in some form or another just to get them to hold the souls.
While Norman was sewing the bodies up, thanks to Grobert finding some needle and thread, Grobert was mixing up a batch of healing potion.
Norman only fixed five bodies before he started drawing the spell diagram. It was much the same as the one he drew to convert Toby back into a living breathing douchebag. Only there wasn’t a blood oath attached anymore, and the second circle contained the Soul Communion spell instead of the energy transfer circle.
Norman added a drop of the corpse's blood into the Soul Communion portion before he stepped outside the spell and fed it the required energy to activate.
The spell lit up and a surprised ghost looked at Norman.
If ghosts could cry tears of joy, this one would be. “Oh thank the gods, you survived, Lord!”
Norman rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. Are you ready to come back?” He asked, trying to get out of this awkward situation.
The ghost nodded enthusiastically before it touched the magic barrier surrounding it. The barrier seemed to suck the ghost in before a flash of white light whipped around the twisted spell circle and deposited itself inside the body.
After no more than a few moments, the corpse's eyes jerked open.
“Ugh, it doesn’t get any easier a second time around.”
Norman helped the revived greykin up and Grobert handed him a small ladle filled with a healing potion.
Everything picked up after that. The revived greykin would help with sewing the bodies or handing out more healing potions.
Soon Norman ran out of mana and had to stop and rest. But that didn’t stop the process of reviving the undead. Grobert took over and since all he had to do was follow the steps by placing a body in one circle, adding a drop of blood to the second, and feeding it mana and blood powder, they were able to revive nearly ninety undead within two days.
Norman wasn’t sure why he hadn’t thought of doing it this way before. He already knew he could have others use his spells so long as they knew the proper steps, had mana, and a supply of his magic powder.
Not everything was going nearly so well though. During those two days, they had come across five unrevivable people so far. Each death hit Norman hard. But he hardened his heart and silently apologized to the specters. “I’ll find a way to bring you back, I swear.”
And that wasn’t an empty promise. Norman was pretty sure he already had a way to bring them back. He just needed to find the stone mages that had made the phylacteries in the first place. He wasn’t entirely sure but he thought there was a good chance that he could modify that spell to create a body based on just the soul’s own image. It was going to take time though.
He also needed to talk with those stone mages about creating a permanent phylactery for himself. Norman thought about having them made for everyone in town but he quickly realized that wouldn’t be feasible. It had taken an entire day just to craft six of the earlier orbs, and he suspected the new one was gonna be even more complex. There was also the issue of it being a secret that he wanted to keep quiet. The tactical advantage it gave was staggering.
He also didn’t want their enemy to figure it out. It was the one thing Norman hadn’t recorded in his grimoire. It was also the only reason Norman and the rest of the greykin were alive now.
Not that the greykin needed a phylactery anyway. So long as Norman was around, he could continue bringing them back endlessly so long as he figured out the issue with the spell.
That being said, Norman was going to have a bunch of the phylacteries crafted for the attack against the Brotherhood. Having an unending supply of undead soldiers to attack the city sounded like a perfect solution to their issue of how to overcome the enemy's numerical advantage.