Chapter 2: Soul Searching
After hours of making the lifeless body move and dance about the room, Ranilok set it down dejectedly on the bed. He sat on the bed and straightened out the position that the statue lay in then thought again about what he had done.
"This isn't what I intended." Ranilok frowned. "There's still something missing."
With great care, Ranilok placed the statue under the covers of the bed and climbed in beside it. Turning to the figure, he spoke. "I swear that I'll find what's missing, my love." Ranilok promised as he went to sleep beside the statue.
That night, Ranilok's mind was drawn back to the icy caves of Nerub'Itjahz, where he remembered a conversation held between Neru'Rekan and the undead body of Methuselah that had come to call himself Maldelic.
"I can explain that.Neru'Rekan stepped towards Maldelic. "You exhibit the symptoms of anyone who has sold their soul; a foolish thing a warlock can do when they run out of other souls to trade." The spider looked about to begin a long speech. "An entity is made of three parts, a soul, a body, and a will."
Interrupting, Maldelic spoke. "So you're saying I have no soul? Instead of fritting it away it was taken from me?"
Grumbling, Neru'Rekan continued his speech. "The body is physical while the soul and will are metaphysical. A soul is composed of memories, the moments that remain in your mind for you to make decisions upon and base the other metaphysical part of your being upon. The body is simply a vessel; nothing more. The body is what anchors you to the mortal plane and provides the energy to sustain your being. This crystal is a vessel." The spider tapped on the shape that contained Methuselah. "Being magical in nature rather than physical is what limits the time it may exist for."
"And what of this will?" the warlock edged Neru'Rekan on.
"Do you hound all of your teachers in this way? I am surprised you have succeeded as a warlock. Now be quiet while I continue." The spider berated Maldelic then picked up his lecture. "The will is where problems occur. A will is generated from memories when a soul and body are present. It is the drive, wisdom, intelligence, and personality which belong to a soul." Having explained the basics, the Nerubian paused for a moment and waited for the information to get across.
"Your point?"Ranilok had grown impatient and begin to fiddle with a bag of arcane powder that he always carried with himself for those moments when he wanted to relax in its magical qualities.
Finishing, the dream, Ranilok awoke with a start. The statue still lay lifeless but soft and flexible beside him. He looked at it, admiring his work, and then remembered his dream.
"A soul! I've made a perfect body, and now I just need the perfect soul. The 'will' will come from the soul." Ranilok leapt from the bed, moving across the room to pace and think about how he could get a soul. As soon as he had paced a moment, he stopped quickly. "How does one… make a soul? I've no diagrams, models, nothing." The elf frowned and then the idea occurred to him of where he could get a soul. Gulping, he faced the idea of where he had to go. "I'll have to go see Him… oh I loathe him. Why? Why? I sent that damn dwarf that way too. This is indeed unfortunate, but I suppose I'll have to." Ranilok turned to the figure. "For you, my love."
After lowering the bars that he had made on his windows and locking the door, Ranilok created an additional arcane shield around the building; nothing would get in to harm his love. Outside, his hawkstrider, Fireplume, waited at its food and water troughs. It was the same hawkstrider that he had taken to Northrend years ago when he had gone to hunt for Methuselah. Mounting up, Ranilok quickly headed for the seaside and hoped that Gevran had not reached his old 'friend' already.
It took nearly half of the day to reach the destination that Ranilok sought. Although he was on the side of the mountains close to the sea, Quel'thalas was an expansive kingdom. Thoughts of his 'loss' plagued him as he rode towards this destination. Knocking on the door, Ranilok tried to compose himself and swallow his pride enough to speak with the owner. To his surprise, a young elven boy opened the door.
Looking at Ranilok with wide eyes, the boy ran into the house. "Mummy, that man's at the door." He called out.
"What man?" Arisia met the child halfway across the floor and picked her son up. She caught sight of Ranilok as she did and frowned. "Irideus, I told you not to open the door alone, especially not for strange people."
Simmering at the remark, Ranilok tried to speak patiently. "I need… I need to see him."
"Well I don't think I'll call him after what happened the last time you two met. Stop darkening my doorway." Arisia called out in indignation.
"Hold it. I'll come to the door." Mithelidan stepped infront of the door from the other side of the frame and took a hold of Irideus from Arisia. "Because if someone as prideful and unforgiving as you shows up at my door asking for help, it must be a momentous occasion."
Just let me come in and talk to you." Ranilok rolled his eyes at Mithelidan's gloating.
"I will, but I hope you still realize that with Irideus here your powers mean nothing." The warlock warned.
"I realized that last time." Ranilok looked lost and stripped at the idea of not having his power at his disposal.
"And watch your tongue too." Mithelidan led Ranilok in and closed the door with his free hand, moving to the table in the house. "Gevran has already been here and I know you cast his friendship by the wayside too."
Ranilok cursed silently, hoping Gevran had not turned them away already. The elf had already turned them away mostly when he found out that Maldelic had become Mithelidan. The elf had stormed in after sighting Arisia with another blood elf man, demanding an explanation. He had come to see if she had turned away the undead Maldelic or not. Ranilok was ready to incinerate the 'new' acquaintance, even after he found out that it was Maldelic in this new form. The spell wouldn't cast because of Irideus. Irideus was born half human as he was conceived before Methuselah became Maldelic. When Maldelic became the blood elf Mithelidan, Irideus became a full elf and also experienced strange side-effects from the transformation. The boy was now a walking anti-magic field, he was only beginning to learn to use the ability at selective times.
After sitting down and trying to clear defeat from his mind, Ranilok spoke. "I need to know some things about Warlock arts."
"Really? What will you gain from it?" Mithelidan probed. "You have no interest in anything unless you've something to gain."
"Why do I always have to answer for my motives? I have my own reasons!" Ranilok cut Mithelidan off just as the warlock finished the sentence. "Look, I need a soul, ok? Just a soul."
Mithelidan chuckled and then answered. "You've absolutely no idea what you're asking for. What, did you piss away your own in some deal and you need a replacement?"
"It's not for me damnit!" Ranilok tried to make the conversation serious again.
"Oh well then I'm sure the soul of one of the local Murlocs would suffice." Mithelidan answered graciously. "I've no qualms about releasing such a slimy soul to such a slimy individual."
Not noticing the insult, Ranilok immediately dreaded the thought of his love hunched over and making animalistic gurgling noises. "No no. I need a new soul… I need to create a soul."
Pausing pensively, Mithelidan was no longer entertained by his guest. "What?"
"I…" Ranilok paused. Could he tell Mithelidan? He had to tell Mithelidan; the warlock had suggested it after all. Perhaps Mithelidan would realize that he couldn't separate Ranilok from his destiny; that Arisia had lost to Ranilok's new love. They would know they couldn't beat him… so they would join him. "I've made… a… perfect vessel for a soul. I need a new soul to go in it, or else it cannot live."
Now openly showing his disdain, Mithelidan tried to remain calm and explain a few things to Ranilok. "First, warlocks do not create souls… we trade them. No being in our world is capable of such a creation, except perhaps parents. Second, get out."
"Why? It's a reasonable request! I would pay you… a business deal." Ranilok dismissed the fact that it was impossible as a lie.
"As much as I have done reprehensible things in the past, I was not serious when I told you to make woman from those crystals… that is what you've done, isn't it?" Mithelidan raged at Ranilok. "I can see why Gevran stormed out of visiting with you now, this is an affront to anything a priest would stand for."
"No!" Ranilok exclaimed, standing up. "This is destiny! I am not destined to be alone! Just as you were destined to take Arisia from me, this is my fate!" the mage began to pace the room.
"Take me from you?" Arisia gave Ranilok a disgusted look. "I was never yours to begin with! I'd hoped that your last visit was a misunderstanding, I really had! You're no better than when you had the gall to defy Malygos and strand us all in Northrend! I didn't want to believe that you tried to keep Mithelidan and me apart… I've no choice but to believe it now."
"Well then I guess all the cards are on the table now. It doesn't matter." Ranilok moved towards a satchel full of scrolls that hung from a hook on the wall, putting one of his hands into his robes.
Catching on quickly, Mithelidan got up got ready to move if Ranilok went for the scrolls. "Don't try it. Even I don't know what's on those. There's no knowing what you could unleash if you tried to use them."
"You're lying! They'll give me what I want… I'm sure of it." Ranilok eyed them greedily. "I saved your life twice, you know? I ensured that Neru'Rekan didn't destroy your containment crystal… and I got your soul out of that corpse."
"Your greed and hidden intentions have more than made those deeds worthless." The warlock began to step around the table so he could see Ranilok fully and cast his spells. "Irideus… try and stop him only. Don't block us."
As the boy concentrated to try and block Ranilok, the greedy mage spoke once more. "I didn't mean that… Neru'Rekan couldn't stop me. You won't stop me either!" In an instant, Ranilok grabbed a few scrolls from the satchel and began to disappear.
Arisia tried to cast a slowing spell on the thief, but he was gone. Ranilok had been activating his hearthstone while talking, Irideus was stopping Ranilok from casting, but he wasn't stopping the stone. Outside, the mage's hawkstrider screeched and ran off.
"I'm sorry, mummy, I didn't see the stone." Irideus apologized.
"It's ok, Irideus, you tried your best." Arisia picked him up and sat back down in her chair, holding him on her lap. "We can ride after him and get those scrolls back."
"No, it's ok. We'll let him have them for now." Mithelidan sat back down at the table.
Sliding off of his mother's lap, Irideus walked over to his father and questioned the choice. "But isn't stealing bad? Doesn't he need to be punished?"
"Yes, son… and he will be punished. It will not be by our hands. He will be punished by the very things he took. Warlocks learn not to summon more demons than they can control. If we become overconfident and try to do something in madness, we will die. When a mage tries to presume that he knows warlock magic and do the same… he will suffer worse fates than death." The warlock taught his son as he considered the things that might happen to his old friend if he were really mad enough to open the scrolls that he took.
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Appearing in front of his home, Ranilok sighed. "Another 'friend' gone; he will not keep me from my destiny." The elf shrugged it off.
Turning to the house, he saw several wretched hugging up to the shield and trying to drain some of the mana they desperately desired from it. Casting a spell, Ranilok made the shield explode, easily killing them. "Wretched scum… it works every time."
After making sure that the property was clear, Ranilok quickly went inside and locked the door, barring it as he had in the past days. The elf checked on his prized creation, relieved that it was safe. Moving to the table where he had the medical diagrams held open, Ranilok broke the seals on the warlock scrolls and laid them out. He had taken three scrolls from the satchel in hopes of finding something worth reading. The first scroll was written in a completely indistinguishable character set. The second scroll was written in common, which Ranilok still knew from years ago; it detailed the opening of a demonic prison. The final scroll detailed the combination of several lesser infernals into a colossal greater infernal.
"Damnit! None of these create souls! Could he actually have been telling the truth? Could the creation of souls be impossible? It can't be… the titans made earthen and the dwarves that came from them have souls… or do they?" Ranilok contemplated.
For the first time since its conception, Ranilok considered that his idea might fail. The thought filled him with dread beyond anything he had experienced before. Even being locked in Malygos grip and threatened for his greed didn't scare him this much. He had put everything into this moment, lost his place in Silvermoon, lost his 'friends', all in pursuit of his destiny. He was out of choices; he couldn't go back and take more scrolls, he couldn't waste time to find and bribe another warlock. Most of all he couldn't fail… he absolutely refused to fail. Even though he had succeeded in acting noble at some times of his life, his greed had failed all of his nobility. He would not fail at his destiny.
"No! I will not fail you, my love! One of these damned scrolls must do something!" The mage rifled through the scrolls. Grabbing the second scroll again, the idea suddenly came to Ranilok. "An unbinding scroll would be perfect. No one on this planet knows how to create a soul… so a demon from another plane must be able to do it! If I free the demon it would most definitely owe me something!" The mage didn't question the logic of the idea in his fervor.
Luckily, the second scroll had symbol chalk rolled up in it. Ranilok took the presence of the chalk to be a sign that he was meant to fulfill his destiny. Dusting away the chalk, Ranilok felt a strange tingle in his hand and then felt it begin to burn. Quickly casting a strong curse-removal spell, Ranilok noticed the scroll lose a bit of a red tinge that it had as his hand returned to normal.
Triumphantly taking the chalk and clearing a space to draw, Ranilok began to run the chalk along the floor. "That was a bit too close… but a mere curse cannot stop me. Curses mean nothing to mages!"
Ranilok had never understood the power of symbols in magic. Drawing lines and circles was something useless in his opinion, but he did it because the scroll said to. For him, magic was mana and energy, a true liquid force to be manipulated and used for one's purposes; the frill of drawings had nothing to do with magic at all. As the sun set, the symbol was completed. Similar to his other work, Ranilok completed it with precision; he was as good at mimicking spells as he was at mimicking life. In truth, he had no idea of what he was getting into. Perhaps such greed spawned adventures, like Ranilok's return to Northrend, defined his life.
"Now, the last mark… to unbind this demon and gain a soul for my beloved!" Ranilok marked on the symbol as it turned a shade of purple and a portal opened above it.
A few moments passed in silence as Ranilok waited for something to happen. The portal sat calmly, which was very uncharacteristic of warlock spells. Suddenly, a cacophony of chattering came from the portal as a half dozen imps flooded out and looked for something to attack.
"You'll not harm her, demons!" Ranilok quickly shot the imps with frostbolts and then ran to the bed and grabbed the figure, taking it with him beside the portal.
Before the mage could do much, a barrage of beasts that were the same shade of blue poured from the portal; voidwalkers. Each cried out identically, "Energy… to… consume."
"It's my energy! She is mine! Back off!" the mage easily fried the voidwalkers too. "Why not send me a real challenge! You won't stop me from freeing this demon!"
In response to his call, a tall demon with plate armor and white skin emerged from the portal. "The prisoner within shall not be released! Face the wrath of my masters!"
A large white felguard had come from the portal wielding two greatswords that flowed with icy enchantments. Ranilok knew that he must be close if something like this had come through. A felguard that belonged to Mithelidan had made Ranilok cave in once; it was when Ranilok gave the location of Arisia up.
"This time, you will die!" Ranilok swore to the guard and took up the call he had repeated to so many in the past few days. "You will not keep me from my destiny!" the mage laid the figure down, not noticing that he had put her partially on the symbol.
The felguard grinned and swung mightily, hoping to kill Ranilok in one blow. Sadly, he hit only air… the mage blinked behind him as he swung and hit him in the back with a fireblast. Grunting and making a second swing, the felguard missed the limber elf with the blades but connected with the chains on the hilts, knocking him back across the room and into the portal. Ranilok shivered for a moment, feeling that he was in an icy cave. The only thing he could see was the portal and a bright light, so he dove back through the portal and hit a the felguard with a prepared fireball. The two continued to fight, but Ranilok continuously dodged the blows. Leaving its swords, the felguard charged Ranilok and lifted him up, pressing him into the wall.
"You'll die before you free her!" The demon spoke darkly as its rancid fel-reeking breath wafted into Ranilok's face.
"It's not my destiny to die!" Ranilok called out as he pulled an Itjahzi crystal from his robes and tossed it between the two of them. "It's my destiny to be with my love!" The elf threw the crystal in the air and called the essence of the black dragons to breathe through it. The crystal amplified the spell tenfold and reduced the felguard to ashes instantly. The portal flickered as if something was trying to close it. As it did, a ball of light flew out and struck the figure that lay partially on the symbol.
"No! My love!" Ranilok rushed to the symbol and scrambled to erase it. As soon as the first bit of the chalk was smudged, the portal snapped shut and left only a small black stone on the ground.
Ranilok kicked the stone to the side and picked up the living statue, he ran to the bed quickly and sat with the statue across him. "My love! What did it do to you?" he looked her over.
Rather rapidly, the color of the figure was changing from deep blue to flesh toned. Aside from one stripe on each side of her head near the ear, the woman's hair was now a pale shade of blonde. The only other markings that separated her from a normal elf were seven raised crystal markings that could easily be mistaken for jewels seated on the woman's skin. Three of the jewels formed the edges of a triangle on her forehead, one sat on each wrist, and one on each shin. They were still flexible as when the flesh was blue colored, but they retained the blue while the rest of her skin changed.
"My love… you're changing." Ranilok noticed the figure's chest rise as it drew in breath. Immediately, all thought he had of danger and even of what he had just done left him. "You're breathing."
Almost thrown into ecstasy over his success, Ranilok held the woman close and hugged her. The being began to move on its own, as if the soul was exploring the body that it had been gifted. Ranilok let her lay across him as he watched her twist and paw around as if she was having a strange dream. He knew it! He knew that this was his destiny. All of his adoration, his work, his loss of friends, it all came together now as he achieved his goal.
The figure opened its eyes next, looking at its arms and then up at Ranilok; the pupils in the woman's eyes also shined the blue color of the Itjahzi crystals. It began to speak in various languages until it landed on his, the voice that came from the statue sounded like a melody carried on the wind. "Your language is Thallasian."
"Yes… My name is Ranilok, my love, I am your creator." The elf almost stammered out his planned greeting, still in shock that he had succeeded so overwhelmingly.
Pausing to look around at herself more, the woman sat up and slid off of Ranilok's lap, kneeling on the bed and looking at him. "You are the maker of this body?" She questioned him.
"Yes, I have made you, my love." Ranilok still stared at her with completely star-struck eyes; she was everything that he had hoped for.
"Your love? Do you even know the weight of the word that you use?" the girl spoke softly, looking into Ranilok's eyes.
"I… do. I'm sure I must." Ranilok paused as the girl had. "It is our destiny to be together! I have waited so long and I have been stopped at every turn. Now, after all this time, I have made a perfect body and soul to be my companion throughout life!"
"You mean me?" The girl pointed at herself quizzically, only to be answered by Ranilok nodding furiously. She tried to think of how to say what she needed to say. "Ranilok…" the woman said his name unsurely. "You can't make a soul. You've given me a form and saved me from the torture that I've endured for millennia by opening my prison. I was all but lost and my body was taken from me; they kept my soul alive to keep me aware of what had happened. As much as you would like to believe, you did not create me. My name is Cin'donia."
"What?" Ranilok's expression changed to a sadder one. The full weight of what he had done hit him at that point. He had not created a soul. Ranilok had only given refuge to the being that the spell freed. It had caused his body to live… but it was not a new soul that would be there for him instantly as he wished. "I… I don't know what to say. My destiny…" He was truly astounded as he swallowed hard. "I've nothing now."