Chapter 2: Souls of the Dead
Light breaches the horizon.
As the light pierces the trees around me I laugh a little. It is amusing to me. The morning has arrived and I already greet the new day with fresh blood on my hands.
Dawn… and I've already killed a man. Unlike most, I am not shunning the light… not begging for forgiveness or making my peace. For when I killed him, I reveled in it.
Heh… you may think of me as a beast… for it twas a beastly act… but it is not my will. My soul wanted me to do it. My… second soul.
It preys upon me… hunts me… hurts me, but helps me. The man had done nothing to me… nor did he bear me ill will. He was just a man.
So why?
Why did I destroy the village the night before? Why did I slaughter the people then? Why?
Simple. Because it told me to.
When I saw that man, it whispered to me. And when I destroyed his life, it was satiated. It is always satiated after a kill… after destruction. But it is a ravenous beast. It hungers… it always hungers.
That is why I hope to keep it satiated for eternity… by destroying the empire… destroying its emperor.
It is because of this that I have decided. I shall seek others like me. Others that are holders… of the Gift. If they exist.
But I haven't spoken of the Gift yet… have I? I mentioned it… I gave it importance… signified that it was the meaning of my life… but wasted my time on history. An outrage… a travesty…
Very well… then I shall tell you now. About the Gift… and the Souls of the Dead.
…
From the beginning… in which I do not know exactly which beginning of what, there has always existed a cardinal rule where magic is concerned. By using magic, one uses energy. However… whatever its source, magic solely uses living energy… and never the innate energies that sustain the everything. Until now.
The secrets of getting around the living are learned through the dead.
In truth… I should take my hat off to our king… if I wore one. It is because of his deeds that I am what I am today. It is because of the great unbalance.
When the dragons suffered from the fall, the elves weakened and human society fell into ruin. When the dragons were brought back, they were brought from evil. When the elves were destroyed… it brought discord. When humans grew unaided… they grew proud and arrogant. They thought they were powerful… but they died.
Now, the souls of the dead have been denied the right of passage… the return to the living world through reincarnation. When such thing happens, those are born that hold the Gift. Though… most die right at birth. Others grow to a young age when they fall victim to the whisperings and are thought mad or worse… and killed off. While others still listen at an early age and are hunted down and destroyed like a rabid dog. Most never make it past their ninth year. None grow to realize… the power of the souls of the dead.
The souls are huge. They have a power birthed only through the wisdom of death. Elves… Witches… Sorcerers… Shades… the list goes on. No matter the difference… which is often huge, they are linked to the same death. They all died attempting to use magic through non-life energies. However… what they didn't know then… they know now.
And so do I.
Such is my secret… and the undying power of those possessive of the gift… as well as our medians… the souls of the dead.
Heh… if it is a fight that we expect… it is a fight we'll be hard pressed to lose. After all… my days of these story tellings are history. Now it is time to rise…
No…
It is time… to overwhelm.