So it appeared that Lucretcia was now capable of venturing far beyond her original proximity from her soul-trap. And Lilith wanted the same for herself. We combined the soul energy clone avatar with the mechanical one creating the golem I had planned to create; But we called it a sentinel, or referred to it as “The Avatar”. This construct was more suitable for temporary possession, so unfortunately unsuited for Lilith’s desire.

  Afterwards Luseal and the king arranged to meet and discuss the matter further at a later date.By the time we departed from the capital of the kingdom our M-tek steeds had been improved yet again. The high-elf’s magical gems made a considerable improvement to their speed.

  We made our way to a village that rested betwixt the city and our destination. We came across a small hamlet that reminded me much of the village I had grown up in myself. The village was very small but luckily we never required a place to stay. So we found a small place to stop for a few drinks.

  Lilith was upset about my decision to merge our two avatars into a single sentinel so we spent the night discussing ideas for her body. After exchanging several radical ideas we decided just to store some additional energy in my katana for her to put to use later.

  The next morning we learned that the location we were looking for was once the battlefield of a great battle between the 4th kingdom and the original elven kingdom of the southern forest continent. It didn’t take a genius to figure he would be utilising the remains of whatever he could.

  Before we got anywhere near the southern coastline we began to encounter zombie patrollers. During the first few encounters, I stopped checking their faces. But that didn’t matter much because before long we mostly encountered skeletons. It was clear when we were travelling in the right direction because we began to encounter larger groups of skeletons, so following their cues we soon spotted a legion of undead.

  The girls absolutely enjoyed decimating their fragile ranks. It seemed their deaths resulted in large amounts of energy being released into the surrounding environment. Dash was able to make use of dream chi, and Lilith fed off raw soul chi, my symbiote was even able to absorb miscellaneous energy, and Lucretcia seemed to collect a mysterious energy of her own.

  Finally we had tracked down the necromancers stronghold, it was protected by a standing army of undead abominations. We charged in decimating their numbers with our most powerful attacks and abilities. We began the battle fighting from horseback, but one by one we dismounted to continue the battle. I sprinted from target to target, sometimes breaking off to keep my enemies guessing. I would quickly dispatch my foes and swiftly move to the next, not bothering to confirm my kills.

  Dash did quite well with a spear she had been carrying around for the last few days, but eventually shifted to her dragon form so she could attack the largest groups of remaining enemies. I found it strange how she had grown in size, despite her human form not really changing. Although I guess I may have missed any gradual alterations in her appearance.

  Lilith was struggling with her avatar so she resorted mostly to magical attacks, and draining abilities. This was perfectly fine though, because it seemed her spells were very effective against the magically animated husks.

  Lucretcia was mostly supporting the rest of us, it appeared as if she was using restoration magics on us, but none of us had taken any serious injuries. Perhaps due to her also making use of protective magics, which should not have surprised me as much as it did.

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  Fighting alongside my companions was exhilarating. It was awesome watching them using the skills and tools they had developed in my company.

  As the battle raged on I mode my way to the heart of the defended compound. The moment I saw the bastard who had taken my precious Lady Darkrose away from me he turned to a figure accompanying him and then back to me. The figure shedded a robe revealing an evil looking Lady Darkrose. At the same time, her aura became visible to me.

  I could feel the corruption of her essence seething from her aura. And as my emotions were about to get the better of me she drew her scythe. The scythe she had crafted in our workshop, probably with the help of my father. That’s when I snapped. I ignored her presence and made a mad dash for the necromancer, I pulled Lilith from her avatar and called on her and my symbiote to empower my blade. And I lunged for my target.

  The motherfucker vanished just as a destructive wave of energy decimated his alter. And as I stood there shocked, I was attacked from behind. Luckily with her newfound powers Luseal still acted as a protective amulet. I felt a burst of her energy right before it was spent to protect myself.

  At first I refused to fight her, but knowing my companions were still fighting on my behalf I felt I had no choice. Luseal’s amulet was beijing to grow weak from blocking the onslaught of powerful attacks in its shield form. I started with a few feints to get a feel for my opponents skill. Also I was afraid of hurting an entity crafted from Lady Darkrose’s form. Finally, after passing on several perfect opportunities for a crippling blow it hit me; I could sheath my blade and simply drain her energies.

  As the tide of battle began to turn in my favour the necromancer returned. He fired his weapon, fuelled with twisted energies reminiscent of Lady Darkrose. The shot made a direct hit and it felt as if my own flesh was peeling away from the bone. My symbiote exerted a burst of energies stored from the dreamless sleep of nearby individuals over time. The energy held the flesh in place and I could feel Lucretcia’s healing magics wash over me.

  It seemed Dash had been distracted attempting to recover the lifeless remains of our sentinel avatar when I was struck. She was making her way toward the necromancer, likely attempting to prevent him from unleashing another shot. It was clear that she was not going to make it in time. Just as I could feel enough of the necromancers stolen energy source collecting for another shot something happened.

  I was too busy trying to survive the opportunity the necromancer had given the shadow version of Darkrose to notice anything other than the lack of a second, killing shot. I had been blindsided and much of my body was not responding to my attempts at movement. I had spent the last moment supporting myself on one knee, my right arm and right leg were practically useless.

  I clumsily grabbed for my katana with my left hand and pulled it from its sheath using my armpit. Once freed from its housing I concentrated my remaining energy, concentrating it into a single attack. I attempted to incapacitate the animated figure of Lady Darkrose. Although the projectile portion hit its mark dead on, the target seemed unphased.

  I had nothing left in me and I was fading at an alarming pace. I called for my steed hoping to escape to sanctuary. Before I knew what was happening Lucretcia was at my side helping to support my weight. Her bare neck called to me, I was beginning to enter a bloodlust. Fortunately her lack of scent seemed to suggest that she did not have blood, and allowed me to resist the temptation to attempt to feed on her. Likely that fact had benefited the both of us, considering her healing and protection magic were probably the only things keeping me alive at the time.

  Meanwhile, my attacker was gone. In fact both of my attackers seemed to have disappeared. Dash came to my side and took her humanoid form which was a big mistake, but perhaps an intentional one. The instant she grew close enough and the scent of her flesh reached my olfactory nerve, I could not resist the urge to drink her blood. As her warm vital fluids filled my mouth and ran down my throat I remember thinking to myself how much better than human blood it tasted as I lost consciousness like a sissy.

  In my dreamless slumber I felt the presence of the others. My symbiote, Lucretcia, Lilith, and Dash. But also I swear I could feel Lady Darkrose’s clean essence. I reached out to communicate with her but could only establish a weak soul-link with my symbiote. It kept sending images of muscle tissue and scorched flesh. It was like a fever dream, I would try to reassemble the mangled images before another Image would appear.