The newly revived soldiers emerged from the ashes all at once. They looked around in confusion at the crowd that had gathered around the spectacle, but their confusion did not compare to the amazement of the crowd. Shouts shook the night air as each end every one of the spectators debated what they had just seen. Speculation overflowed that these men were some new form of undead. I had no intention of correcting their misconceptions. I had a hard limit on the number of people I could resurrect and if everyone knew the truth, it would probably cause no end of headaches for me. It might even cause a riot if handled poorly.
I motioned to Luther gawking in amazement and got his attention. “Why are you just standing there? Those poor men and women are standing there naked in front of a crowd of thousands. It may have been a week for us but only seconds have passed from their perspective. Help them get adjusted to all that has happened and get them ready to march tomorrow.”
Luther stood up straight and saluted. “Yes, my lady. It will be done.”
I nodded in satisfaction as Luther marched over. His voice echoed louder than the crowd as he shouted commands at his men. The newly reborn soldiers were still confused, but Luther was a good captain. The men and woman fell into line without hesitation and followed him to a nearby tent we had already set up for distributing clothes and equipment.
Each of those reborn would have to come to terms with their death and revival in their own way. I thought about giving a speech to calm their nerves but decided against it after seeing how large a crowd my little stunt had drawn. If I wanted, I knew I could make use of this display to etch myself into the minds of the soldiers as a near-mythical figure but ultimately, I just sighed and walked away in silence. The crowd of people parted for me. Their eyes were like a sea of stars watching my every action.
Vissna walked behind me. Her footsteps shook the earth with every step. “You do not look very happy. I expected you to be ecstatic over your new army of pseudo-phoenixes.
“I am happy they have revived without problems,” I mumbled as I tried my best to ignore the crowd, “However, this incident reminded me of how far I still have to go. Even if I regain the power I had before my death, an army of undead does not compare to much of what I have learned recently. Of both the Five Calamities and the Aevus family I was always the youngest and weakest but I had reached a limit. I could not see a way to grow stronger than I already was. I had accepted that my only choice was to slowly accumulate more energy through countless centuries of work and simply accumulate more undead. That has all changed now. I think I finally see a path I can take.”
Dry grass crunched underfoot as I spoke. Green and blue fire began to swirl around me and sweep across the ground with every step like ripples across water. However, when this dry grass came into contact with the flames, it did not burn. Instead, the grass began to grow. The brown decay that covered the land turned green and spread further with every step I took.
I smiled peacefully as I left behind an awe-struck crowd of soldiers. A sea of green grass still growing in my wake. “I finally understand it now. Mine will be the path of life…” I paused as I waved my hand towards a nearby tree covered in green leaves. It all seemed to come so naturally to me now. Like wringing out a sponge, the tree withered. Its leaves turned brown and fell to the ground. The energy from the tree sparked as it touched the air, transforming into bright green fire. “And death…”
Vissna eyed my actions with scrutiny. “I did not expect you to find your connection with the realm so quickly. Adepts really are incredible. It usually takes decades for newborn dragons of diving into the sea of life before they can find the piece that resonates with them.”
I looked at the green and blue fire swirling around me and chuckled. “I think some part of me was always connecting to the realm, even before I became an Adept. I don’t think it is a coincidence that my innate talents happen to represent my connection so perfectly. It might be that all innate talents are seedlings for becoming Adepts.”
Vissna paused as she considered the revelation. “I do not know. Adepts are rare. The ancient Preateritum saw one once and spent the next thousand years trying to recreate him. Could it really be that simple?”
I shrugged. “Ask Mare. She is the one that turned me into an Adept after all. She should know the truth.”
Vissna hesitated before shaking her head. “I doubt she would answer truthfully.”
“Then it falls on us to learn the truth ourselves, one step at a time. You should consider asking her though. You said it yourself when we met, through Adepts more dragons can be born from the world. This could be the opportunity to save your race.”
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Vissna fell silent as she stopped following me. Her inner conflict was clear on her face. I did not wait for her as I continued to walk through the camp. Experiencing the rebirth of more than ninety soldiers was a moment of enlightenment for me and I still had much to process from what I had learned.
I now understood how to draw energy from the land and how to give it back. It all seemed so simple, almost instinctual. The trees, grass, insects… people, all life carried the incalculable energy of a being's soul. This is what I drew from. Even now, I was only just barely touching the boundary of what I might be able to accomplish in the future, and yet it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. If I could truly master this power, I would be able to defeat my old self at my full strength with a light sneeze.
However, I could not shake the feeling that my connection was not complete. When I drew power from that tree before, less than a fraction of one percent of that energy had been able to turn into flames. The rest had simply dispersed into the surroundings. I felt the same about the grass growing under my feet as I walked. Most of the energy I was using did not reach the plants. It felt as if I was trying to scoop up water with a cup made of tissue paper. My power fell apart as soon as it connected with the energy of the realm and I was only able to draw the slightest drop out for myself before it collapsed.
I continued to walk through the encampment as I pondered the problem. Green grass grew in my wake with every step, drawing endless attention from the soldiers I passed but I was too lost in thought to notice. After several hours, I was finally able to piece together the problem. I looked down at my hand as a flicker of blue and green fire swirled around each other, a hair’s breadth apart but never truly touching. After everything, this was still the problem. If I ever wanted to master this power, these two flames would have to become one. Unfortunately, I was still no closer to fixing that problem either.
Unable to come up with a practical solution, I walked back to Dragon’s Nest intending to go to sleep for the night. tomorrow this small moment of peace would end. We would march into the blood mist and there was no telling what the Demons might have planned for us.
Before going to my bedroom, I stopped at the door to my parent’s room. I hesitated slightly before opening the door. Inside, Mom still lay unmoving in her induced coma. Dad sat by her side. Hundreds of loose papers were scattered across the floor. All of them were covered in drawings of glyphs so complex it hurt my eyes to look at them. My dad mumbled to himself as he crumpled up a piece of paper and tossed it to the side.
“That’s not right either. If I do it that way, average soldiers would still get infected by the mist. It needs to be denser but if I make it too dense, the soldiers will be unable to move under the weight of the power.”
Dad was so focused on his work that he did not notice as I entered the room. I reached out to place a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise.
“Oh, Wren it’s you. Thanks for the book you gave me. It might have taken me years to reach this point without your help. I think I might really have messed up bad if I went with my original plan.”
“It sounds like you are still having trouble even with my help,” I replied with a smile, “You should take a break, you look like you haven’t slept in days.”
Dad rubbed his eyes and glanced over at Mom. “No, I am too close to stop now. If I can just solve this one problem, this glyph could completely change the future of this war.”
I sat down next to my dad and looked at the glyphs scribbled across the scattered papers. I might have learned the basics of glyphs from Dad but I did not understand anything drawn there. It didn’t even look like normal glyphs. The glyphs i knew were usually more geometric and symmetrical but these symbols were more like someone tried to draw flowing wind and water passing through each other.
“Explain the problem. Maybe talking through it will help.”
Dad hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I have created a glyph that imitates domain armor using my old silver light as a base. The glyph itself works fine, better than fine in fact. I can create armor capable of nearly twenty percent of my own domain spread across an entire army. The problem is that I imitated the effect of domains a little too well. Any normal person exposed to the armor can’t move and usually loses all strength to fight. I can weaken the pressure of the armor on the soldiers but if I do that, the armor also loses strength. Right now, I am trying to find a balance where the soldiers can move unimpeded but the armor still functions to protect them.”
I chuckled lightly. “Is that all? You should have come to find me sooner if that is your problem.”
“You know how to fix this problem?” Dad asked incredulously.
I smiled as puffed up my chest in pride. “When it comes to domains, I am one of the best in the Thirteen Divisions. Before my death, I had an endless horde of undead serving me but how would they be any threat if a single domain warrior can lock them all down? I could never have reached the infamy I have now if that was the case. Long ago, my teacher and I developed a technique to spread my domain through my undead. At the peak of my power, it was as if I had tens of thousands of domain warriors serving me and if one was destroyed, I would simply shift my domain to a new undead. The only downside is that the technique requires a lot of energy to use, far more than I even have now. However, if your glyph uses your experience to draw energy from the realm instead of just a single person…”
Dad’s eyes lit up. “If I could integrate that technique into my glyph, I would not have to lower the power of the armor at all. Each and every soldier would become a miniature domain warrior!”
I beamed happily at Dad’s excitement. It was infectious as I began to enthusiastically explain my domain technique in detail. Throughout the night, the two of us worked tirelessly to perfect a new glyph. By the time the sun started to peak over the mountains, we had a working prototype. I still did not understand much about the glyphs Dad had drawn but we both knew we had created an incredibly powerful weapon for the war to come.