Prologue
I don't remember much of what happened that day; that day that everything in my life disappeared into a warped tunnel of light; where my entire body changed its appearance and the world in which I had grown up in and loved was no longer beneath my feet. I suppose, all I can really explain is when I first woke up after it all happened; what it felt like and how I was feeling...
When I recall the events of that day, I can remember certain things sometimes more clearly than others. My first memory was when I had woken up; my chest was in immense pain, like it had turned to cement, and I couldn't for the life of me force a breath. What frightened me most was that, despite my overwhelming sense of panic, I could not hear the telltale rushing of blood through my body from rapid beatings of my heart because, quite simply, my heart was not beating. Confused and afraid, my hand rushed up to my aching chest and I sat up wide eyed. I should have been cold, at least shivering for warmth, because I was surrounded by nothing but forest and snow...but I felt nothing. At that stage I had no idea my hair had turned from dark locks of black to a sickly white. Nor did I know that I looked as sick as I felt...how could I have known? There were no mirrors to see; just blurred visions of what had happened before I had woken up.
Back then, I could recall my friends' deaths clearly but, time and emotional trauma has left that memory distorted and all I can now remember is flashes of an event that still gives me guilt and pain. We ventured into a place we shouldn't have, not that I can even remember what the place was anymore but, I do remember halogen lights on some sort of rocky ceiling, like it was a cave. Maybe there was a door...I don't quite remember...I remember clearly a strange book bound in human skin; which may horrify most of you to know, I still carry today. But I won't delve into that topic as of yet.
In the centre of a strangely marked floor in a rather grand room filled with flashing technology was a crystal resting in some earthly made podium thing...anyway, things start to get vague from here...but, someone, one of my friends and I am not entirely sure who, plucked the book from its glass casing and flicked it open. Something was read and somehow, I ended up with the book. The marks on the floor illuminated beneath the feet of my five friends and...one by one they began to scream as if their very souls were being sucked from them; which I would learn later is actually what happened. In a bid to stop this, I ripped the crystal from its podium and then my world spiraled into black and I woke up elsewhere.
You'd think that was the end of my story, right? Wrong. Somehow, the crystal had embedded itself into my body and attached to me like a parasite. It had turned me into something that was no longer human; something that was both alive and yet, dead.
It took many months in that other realm to realise that this crystal was all that was keeping me alive. It was this crystal that turned me into what the 'Highborne'** there called 'Necromancer' but, that was before they realised I could use ice magic as well. Now I am referred to as a 'Lych'*. Whatever I am or whatever I have become, doesn't matter to me. All I want is a cure. A way to remove this crystal without dying...or at least, a way to use my powers for good.
**'Highborne' are also known as 'high elves' depending on the realm.
*The term 'Lych' has been around for centuries and can be spelled differently. It is the name given to an undead Necromancer.