Grandpa’s name turned out to be Shin, he wasn’t Sara’s biological grandpa –having taken her in during the siege– since her parents were long gone. They had left their home one day and never returned, having died or abandoned Sara. Ashera knew the distinction did not matter, she knew better than most how far survivors would go to endure a siege. What normally unthinkable things became daily musings, how corpses started looking. How no one would know if you took one bite. Just enough to survive another day.
“Aaya, you look scary again.” Sara said, while Ashera had properly introduced herself she did not have the heart to correct Sara’s cuteness.
Ashera started, sitting up straighter. “Sorry, I, ahem, was thinking about Takioomi, before it fell.”
She summoned a rainbow of iridescent sparkles into her hand, a mesmerizing array of color and varying lumination that stole Sara’s breath and made her clap with delight. Distracting the girl from her next words.
“My illusions got us out a few months before it fell… I heard one of the Princes broke the gates, walked right through them.”
Shin nodded sagely, as if the ancient battlemage understood the illusions of a Trickster's champion. “You must be a far stronger mage than I ever was. I heard they started eating each other a few weeks into Takioomi’s final siege. And didn’t stop, not even after the city fell.”
A frown entrenched itself on Ashera’s face. True as his words might be, he should watch his mouth in front of his granddaughter.
“People find a way to survive sieges. I was fortunate enough to get contracted as a mercenary mage at the tail end of the second siege. That gave us the will to go hungry during harvests of plenty. When the demons returned during the third siege my company had plenty of provisions. Besides, those who… -” she mouthed the word ‘cannibals’ “always seemed to end up in trouble. They wouldn’t come back from their patrols, or their next watch would be their last.”
Shin’s face closed in a way that Ashera couldn’t understand.
“My apologies, I shouldn’t have mentioned the ugliest thing first. I served under Inquisitor Gaheris during the first and second sieges of Takioomi.” Shin shook his head, recalling the city before the demons. “We thought there was a chance after the first siege. Replanted the gardens, covered the city in food ivy and vines. When they retreated to the capital we thought it was our victory. Gaheris knew better, he imported a few hundred reserves and passed them out to every mage, he even kept a few to pass around the soldiers every night so we had the mana to resist during the second siege. A fine turd of a man, he never failed to do right, but… Well, lets just say some of his deplorable orders follow me to this day.”
He looked down, eyes landing on the reserve within his hand. Ashera’s eyes told her what her human eyes could never understand, the reserve was three fourths full, within its crystal lattice lingered seven months of accumulated mana. A trove of power that she desperately needed.
Take his soul. I am a better reserve than that shiny rock. Collect his soul-
“How did he die?” Ashera asked.
“Haha! As if he was dumb enough to get caught. Oh no, Gaheris is a Seraph, a cunning bastard too. Never entered a battle without six plans for victory. He’s got the eyes of foresight, not as strong as the Seraphim, but I saw him dodge an arrow without looking on more than one occasion. Eyes on the back of your head ain't half as good as eyes ten minutes into the future.” Said Shin, getting a giggle from Sara.
She waved her hand through Ashera’s illusion, scattering the lights into a column of fireworks and howling with glee at the show. Ashera’s silver eye watched the mana disperse, fading from visible illusions into primordial energy that dispersed on the breeze, lost to the wind. Her fascination with her own spell caught Shin’s eye.
“Speaking of eyes, I’ve never seen a fancy one like that.” Said Shin, pointing at her face with his chin.
“Neither have I.” Ashera said, winking at Sara.
“A Seraph, no, a Seraphim put it in my skull. Took a silver coin and squished it into my eye. Hopefully it's as pretty as my last pair of eyes. I don’t think I'll get a third pair. They are a little more difficult to swap out than socks.” Said Ashera, trying to lift the mood with all her guile.
Sara’s laughter did the heavy lifting, bringing smiles to Shin and Kai’s faces. Ashera’s silver eye witnessed the crimson mist fading as they laughed, their good natures combatting Lorelai’s influence.
When was she here? What did she leave behind? Shin and Sara are good people.
“Dinner is ready. Come get it while it’s hot.” Shin called, passing out plates with the freshly cooked hind quarter.
What happens when an undead eats… Crap! If I can’t digest it then I’ll try throwing it up after they go to sleep… Gross, but I can’t exactly turn them down now! That would be too rude, and Sara looks like she is really enjoying the meat…
Crimson mist darkened around them as Ashera took her first bite, the meat had been cooked in a familiar way with a seasoned crust and juicy interior. Familiar spices greeted Ashera’s tongue, she jerked in surprise, knowing she had tasted this mix somewhere else. It was delicious. After her death she had never expected to find enjoyment in food, how had these refugees fed her something suitable for an undead pallet?
She swallowed.
“Shin, this is great. What seasoning did you use? I feel like I've had this somewhere before but I can’t place it.”
Shin laughed heartily. “Oh a little bit of this and that. We used to only use salt and one or two other spices, but we ran into a band of refugees who had a cook by the name of…” Shin stroked his chin stubble, “Valerian… Bearian? No. bah, I can’t remember. Strange man but he sure could cook! Showed us how to use the seeds we found in this oasis and grind them into a fine paste. We have some purple chili peppers, worryweed seeds, a root that he called noseburn, and a few others.”
“Any chance his name was Balorian?” Asked Ashera, already feeling sick.
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Shin pounded his fist into his open palm. “Eureka! That’s it! Balorian fancy-pants Lysandro. Ah, if you know his name have you encountered him before?”
Balorian Lysandro taught them how to cook. That spoon licking backstabbing son of a bitch taught them how to cook while I died on the cross!
I’ll kill her.
He has Aleyander’s body, I need to find him before… before…
Ashera didn’t dare think the words, refusing to conceive the thought. If she ignored that possibility, so might Balorian. Shin sat on a stump, watching her think.
“You look conflicted, was he an ex lover of yours?”
Ashera couldn’t help herself, she howled with laughter, making full use of her repaired tongue. Tears lubricated her synthetic eyes, she cleared them by blinking them away. Crimson mist collected around Shin and Sara, pooling strongest near their stomachs. Raising her fingerless hand Ashera spoke.
“He is a companion of mine. Damn chef was lucky enough to go on a trading run the day before this happen-” Ashera froze.
Stunned by her fingers extending as she spoke. Her silver eye showed her the flow of magic, and her Sphere eye confirmed it, but she had not channeled any mana, neither had Shin. Crimson mist collected around her fingers, drawing something from within Ashera to repair her lost digits. She blinked, realizing it was more than her hand, her eyelids had been shredded when her eyes were taken –by Balorian– yet here they were, intact and functioning.
Undead healing without magic… Ashera looked from her fingers to the plate, crimson mist swirling through the air into her hand, her mind raced.
What kind of undead was she? Lorelai and Lily had called her a revenant, but she had never heard of those. Vampires could heal if they drank blood, but she couldn’t be a vampire, they only drank blood and hunted during the night, where Ashera had endured the sun for weeks without a hint of spontaneous sparkling. Liches were casters who had accepted undeath willingly, that was close to what she was, except she seemed to have no innate power. Though Ellin’s leeching might have siphoned off that portion of her undeath.
Ghouls and Ghasts could heal from consuming human flesh… Ashera looked at the plate, then to the crimson mist gathering in Sara’s stomach. Shin’s earlier questions about surviving through a siege, little Sara’s immediate attempt to kill her, the malice and lustful looks she had felt since entering the grove, everything lined up.
Shin watched her fingers regrow and Sara clapped, her open mouth laughter as sinister as a banshee’s wail. “Looks like you just needed a good meal, You’re certainly a stronger mage than I ever was.” Shin Said.
Behind him, Kai stiffened, rising from his seat towards a distant wagon.
They had been sizing her up to eat her. There were no women left because they ate the more tender sex first, Sara was too small –Ashera saw the girl tear into her second helping of human– for eating, and had probably escaped being dinner because she was good at disarming others.
Channeling Sphere’s magic into her silver eye she empowered the weapon, granting it the ability to decipher the crimson mist. It drained a negligible amount of mana, so small she barely felt it. Her silver eye deciphered the crimson mist, actively communicating what it had been showing passively. Cannibal corruption levels appeared near Shin and Sara, Shin’s level was around three fourths, and the expected transition into a cannibal thrall would occur once he consumed fifty more pounds of human flesh. Sara was much closer to the conversion point, two more pounds of human flesh would complete her de-evolution into a thrall.
Cannibals. She was having dinner with cannibals.
Take their souls! Before they try to eat us! Screamed Soul Sphere.
Kai emerged from the wagon, carrying a bottle of wine so thick with foreign alchemy that it might more accurately be called jello. Ashera considered their plans forming her own as she plotted, cannibals would not poison a victim, they would lure them in with hospitality and offers of kinship then put them to sleep. Then the coup de grace would come, fear gave the meat a bitter aftertaste –at least that’s what she had been told in Takioomi–.
How far will I go to kill Lorelai?
Ashera steadied her face, slicing off another piece of the ‘boar’ on her plate and chewing it. She swallowed again, smiling warmly to Shin. “After my tongue… you know… I forgot what real food tasted like. Thank you Shin.”
“You flatter me! Please, don’t stop.” Shin said with a toothy grin.
“Although, I do have one complaint.” Ashera began.
Shin’s mouth fell open and Sara cocked her head to the side, chewing another morsel of human. Puzzlement plagued her face, as if she were trying to say ‘it tastes fine to me’.
“There’s no wine to pair with the meal.”
Snorts of laughter burst from the men around them, Ashera had been so focused on Shin and Sara she had failed to notice the three men sitting behind her, savoring their own vile vittles. The loudest snort belonged to Shin, whose shock seemed more pronounced than the others.
“Great mages think alike eh, Kai, where is our wine?”
Kai was there before Shin finished calling for him, alchemical wine and several small cups in hand. He served Shin first, who made an all too deliberate show of drinking the wine, he even made sure that some whine lingered on his upper lip, a wine stache that Sara giggled loudly at.
How many times have they performed this rouse? Is it even a lie anymore, or do they enjoy killing others. Like a hunter filled with satisfaction at a successful snare knowing their planning will feed their family.
Continuing on, Kai served Ashera next, giving the bottle of sludge a concealed shake before pouring her an overfull cup. She downed it in one go.
“Delicious.” She lied, holding out for another.
Kai’s eyebrows flew away, “Tis strong lady mage, ar-are you sure?” He stammered hesitantly.
“Scared I can’t hold my liquor?” She said, wrestling the bottle from the overlarge cannibal.
How many people have you tricked?
Discarding her cup she settled into her meal, asking for seconds and drinking straight from the bottle, giving the cannibals the last spectacle of their damned lives. Sara wasn’t immune, and soon found herself staring at Ashera with an empty plate and eyes wider than dinner plates.
“What?” Asked Ashera, holding out the bottle of wine she added. “You *hic* want some?”
Sara glanced at Shin, fear evident in her eyes --she knows it’s poisoned– the small gesture strangled Ashera’s last hope for the girl. Shin nodded.
“It’s alright, you can have a taste. Just keep it to a Sara sized bite.” Shin said, holding his thumb and index apart to show how small a ‘Sara sized bite’ was. With a smile on her face she climbed into Ashera’s lap, pressing herself into the older woman as she snuggled.
My lap isn’t for cannibals, your kind took my nephew and my son. I’ll kill her.
Raising the bottle to her lips Ashera helped her take a sip, receiving a wrinkled nose and much lip smacking as her reward. Sara’s full faced wince made her push the bottle away.
“Eugh!” Groaned Sara, pushing the bottle away with both of her petite hands. “It’s icky-bitter! How do you enjoy that?”
She buried her face in Ashera’s padded bosom, clinging to her as if she were her own mother. Rowdy teasing began in earnest as the cannibal men mocked Sara. Ashera for her part patted the girl’s head, taking a few moments to comb her fingers through the child’s hair.
Go to sleep little canary.
Elderly eyes watched them, Shin feigning consideration as Sara’s head nodded and drifted off to sleep.
“Her mother passed before I met her, and we are all former soldiers of Gaheris’ army. Having another woman in our camp would lift my soul, is there any way I could convince you to join us? I can’t offer much, but I am growing older, the day of my judgment is swiftly approaching. If you agree to look after her I will give you everything I have. Even this.” Shin said, raising his reserve for all to see.
Gasps of surprise hissed through the camp at his Offer. Whatever artifice created the reserve had not been shared with the artisans of Oathinao, or any others across the world. Jaflin and the Seraphim themselves produced and regulated the trade of artifacts, turning the items into a restricted blessing that commanded a king’s ransom for those who had been deemed worthy enough to purchase them.
Old fool, your judgment is here.
Rubbing her eyes, Ashera yawned. “Ssounds great. Mhmmm dis win si tastey.” Ashera said, smacking her lips. “Ssay, where can a girl layyy er ead *hic* fffor a nap.” She asked.
“You can sleep in Sara’s tent. Kai will show you the way.” Said Shin.
Strong hands trapped Ashera, cutting on any escape as they escorted her to a covered wagon. The ‘tent’ was nothing more than a fabric enclosed wagon for the women, dresses hung on the walls, tapestries of previous victims or trophies of prior conquests, it didn’t matter. Ashera staggered to the wagon, putting on a good show for the men of the cannibal carnival. It wasn’t the first time she had pretended to be drunk.
Like Loki would patronize a champion who couldn’t bluff drunkenness.
They laid her on a bed of clothes, scooting Sara close to her and covering them both with blankets. A willow thin hand caught Ashera's formerly fingerless paw and lifted it atop the blankets. Night fell, and men dispersed, leaving Kai and Shin as the only members on watch. Undeath had been good to Ashera, she was immune to alcohol as well as whatever alchemy they had tried to slip her. A few more hours and her plan would come to fruition.