âWell, looks like itâs stopped.â Thundar pointed. âSee?â
At long last, the Ravenerâs remains had stopped flooding the floor of the chamber. Most of the enormous cavern was filled with black dust; the remains of the terror that had reigned over Thameland for millenia. Even the lake was saturated with them.
âAll that stuffâs got to be worth a fortune!â Thundar rubbed his hands together.
âWeâll split it among the lot of us,â Alex grinned. âWe might as well get some good from it.â
âWait, are you sure?â Bjorgrund asked, looking at Alex sharply. âI wouldnât know what to do with any of it.â
âDonât worry, if any of you donât want Ravener-remains, I can buy your portion from you, or use it to make magic items or golems that I could sell, then give you some of the profit, âŠafter a small fee for my labour, of course.â
âThat sounds good to me, and you sound like a real merchant,â Bjorgrund said.
âNo, no, no, my young friend, he's trying to rip you off!â Thundar said quickly, waving his hands at the giant. âAsk him how âsmallâ this fee would be! Next thing you know, this bastardâll be grinning at you as he hands you three silver coins for your trouble while heâs saying, Oh, sorry friend, after my fee, this is all thatâs left, terribly sorry! I could just hear him now, saying how sorry he was without a hint of apology showing in his eyes! None!â
Alex started laughing, his whole body shaking. He was in a good mood, a very good mood. âCome on, Thundar, I wouldnât rip Bjorgrund off⊠heâs not you.â
âThanks,â the minotaur said dryly.
âActually, speaking of doing things with remainsâŠâ Drestraâs voice crackled. She had returned to human form and was pointing at the deific body lying on a pile of Ravener-spawn corpses. âWhat do we do with him?â
The group fell silent.
After their initial celebration, theyâd turned to cleaning up, picking up arrows and going through Ravener-spawn corpses, searching for any pieces of equipment theyâd dropped during the battle. Hannah had gone, leaving them behind while she went to Thameland where scores of wounded fighters needed healing, but sheâd promised she would see them later.
The rest of the group was scattered across the lair, they had paused at Drestraâs words, and were now looking at the godâs body.
Uldarâs form lay splayed across a pile of Ravener-spawn corpses, thrown aside and almost forgotten.
No one had considered it or even thought to pick it up after Theresa had dumped it there earlier.
âIâd eat it,â Grimloch rumbled. âBut that poison in it wouldnât be tasty at all.â
âAye, thatâs real helpful insight, Grimloch,â Cedric said.
âThanks.â
âI didnâ meanâAch, nevermind.â Cedric looked at Drestra. âWhatâs there tâ talk about? We could jusâ take âim back tâ his sanctum, aye? Then seal thâ whole thing up anâ forget about âim.â
âOr we could give his body to the king,â Merzhin said. âTo King Athelstan. He rules the country, so he should have a say in what is done with Uldarâs body, I would think.â
âOr Hannah. Maybe we should give it to Hannah,â Theresa suggested.
âMeh, I dunno about that,â Hart said. âThat bodyâs probably worth a lot, right? Why donât we take it to some rich alchemist and walk away from there with some extra coin in our pockets?â
The group fell silent.
Some looked away.
Their expressions ranged.
Some looked disgusted.
Others looked thoughtful.
Few looked outright accepting, but none vigorously protested Hartâs suggestion, either.
âHonestly,â Alex cut in. âIâm with Merzhin, I think we should bring it to the king, maybe not give it to him right away, but he and Tobias Jay should know that weâre discussing what to do with it. But, that saidâŠthereâs a little project I have in mindââ
He looked at the body. ââsomething Iâve been thinking about for a while now, and a bit of Uldarâs divine essence would really help me with it.â
âOh, aye?â Cedric made a face. âUsinâ a bit oâ his body feels kinda ghoulish tâme, but I donât think thereâs a single soul here who would argue against you usinâ some oâhis essence fer whatever yâ gots in mind. Thereâs not a person here who wouldnât trust you witâ their lives. Anâ after all that Uldar put Thameland through, at leasâ âis bloody corpse can do some good. So, whatever yaâ gots in mind, all I can say is, why not?â
âOh yeah, itâll help out all of us in a major way,â Alex promised.
âBut hold on, what about the poison in his body?â Prince Khalik asked. âUnless you are using it to make more poison, how can you use any essence from it? That poison killed a god, why wouldnât it destroy everything else?â
âOh, I wouldnât worry about that,â Alex said. âOne second.â
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With a thought, the young archwizard teleported back to his laboratory in Generasi. He conjured a swarm of forcedisks with his staff, then teleported a few good sized sample containers onto them.
He returned to the lair with the disks and sample containers.
âLike I said, I wouldnât worry about that.â He smiled. âCheck this out.â
He focused on Uldarâs body, his attention on the godâs physical form and the divine essence that still remained inside it.
Concentrating, he formed a clear image in his mind of that essence andâmost importantlyâpictured it separating from the poison that had suffused the body. Once he was satisfied with the image, he channelled the Travellerâs power.
In an instant, the specimen containers filled with a glowing, silvery substance.
Not a single drop of the dark poison was visible in the samples.
Drestra and Isolde looked awestruck as they rushed over to get a closer look at the samples.
âNo poison?â Isolde asked. âHow did you do that?â
âHannahâs power,â Alex explained lightly. âI just focused on teleporting some divine essence out of his corpse, while leaving the poison behind. Honestly, it was easier than I thought; having Hannah here, back in the material world, really elevates her power inside me.â
âWhat a wonderful power,â Drestraâs voice crackled as she scrutinised the samples. âAnd you are sure thereâs no poison in them?â
âIâm sure, but Iâm definitely going to be analysing and purifying them before I use them for anything,â Alex said. âEven a trace of that poison could mean catastrophe.â
âIt makes sense,â Isolde said. âI cannot wait to see what you plan for this.â
Alex was about to answer when a bitter laugh interrupted the conversation.
Merzhin was scowling at the godâs body, laughing, without a hint of humour in his voice. The small Saint of Thameland was shaking his head. âDo you all not see the ridiculousness of the situation? Itâs like some great cosmic joke!â
âWhatâŠwhat isâŠit?â Claygon asked.
âThink about this,â Merzhin said. âAlex, if you could teleport Uldarâs essence out of him with the Travellerâs power, then it stands to reason that you could teleport the poison out of him if he was alive.â
Alex considered that, âYeahâŠI think youâre right.â
Merzhin laughed even harder. âImagine then if Uldar had turned to his people for help. If he had created the Heroes not to war with the Ravener, but to preserve his life and help cure him of his poisoning. Even if a previous Saint or a General could not find a cure, all he would have had to do is endure and keep trying to find one with his Heroes. Eventually, Hannah would have been born with her unique power, arrived in Thameland, and she could have taken the poison out of him!â
Alex and his companions looked stunned.
The General of Thameland then imagined a completely different path from the one Uldar had taken.
The god of Thameland wouldnât have retreated to a sanctum to hide, but rather stayed among his people, revealing his ailment to them. Some might have challenged him, but others might have grown more faithful to him, desperate to help the deity who had built their kingdom.
He would have lived his life as a benevolent Lord: sick, but beloved by those who aided him, who cared for him. The god had once said that fear was a powerful motivator for faith, but wouldnât people have more feared their godâs passing? Wouldnât the benevolent, more natural fearâthe fear of losing a mentor, a loved one, or a friendâhave fuelled faith as much as the Ravener had?
And Uldar would only have needed enough faith to survive.
UntilâŠ
Another image rose in Alexâs mind.
There was Uldar, white-bearded and frail, surrounded by his Heroesâif he had chosen to create themâand his loving worshippers. He would be sitting on a throne in the material world, and Aenflynn would have been by his side, helping his friend.
And these people would be visited by a TravellerâŠa Traveller from a faraway world, wielding magnificent powers and abilities that even Uldar could have hardly imagined.
Even if she couldnât have cured Uldar when they first met, with some practice, in time, she surely could have. Then the frail old being would be gone, replaced by a mighty and kind ruler that would steer Thameland toward a bright future.
Uldar wouldnât be just a destructive relic of the past now⊠a soon to be forgotten corpse.
âI can see the bitter humour in that, Merzhin,â Alex said. ÆreewebÉłovel.com
âWhen one is immortal, one sees that an endless lifeâs greatest gift is being able to live long enough to see new opportunities arrive at one's feet, when mortals have long since passed away, never able to see them,â Asmaldestreâs voice stung the ear. âJust as I have lived long enough to have the opportunity to drink of this glorious, violent battle against a godâs creation of war.â
The war-spiritâs wounds were deepâand likely would have been fatal, had she been mortalâbut she was not, and they didnât seem to bother her in the least, though Alex could see her insides exposed from some of the injuries. They certainly werenât superficial, but she handled them gently, lovingly, like she was glad to have them.
âAre youâŠalright?â Alex asked, looking at the wounds. âDo you need healing?â
âThe marks of violence do not harm a spirit of war in the same way they might harm one of your kind,â she explained. âOur existence is violence. It is fundamentally different. While we can enjoy the honour of dying in battle, it would take far greater wounds to bring me any true harm. These will heal soon, and I will carry the scars as medals of honour won on the battlefield.â
She looked at her summoner closely.
âOur contract has ended.â
âThat it has, Asmaldestre,â Alex said. âYou have received your weapons and helped me in these final battles. You took part in the violence you wanted. Was it satisfactory?â
âYes,â the war-spirit sounded pleased. âThe song of violence was loud and clear on this day.And I enjoyed dancing to it. Now, it is time for me to depart. This summoning was pleasurable, and I would not be opposed to further association as time marches on.â
âNor would I,â Alex said. âIâm sure this wonât be the last battle I find myself in. There will be future wars and future conflicts to fight. I would be glad to fight alongside you at that time.â
âGood, then until we meet on that battlefield again, Archwizard,â she said. âUntil we shed blood together. Until the song of violence sings once more.â
With those words, her form began shifting, growing hazy.
Then, she vanished, leaving only the tang of blood tingeing the air.
âAnd so our first companion departs,â Khalik said. âIt is sad butâŠnot that sad. I must admit, she sent chills up my spine. And speaking of chills up the spine, let us leave this gloomy place. Alex, you can teleport the Ravenerâs remains whenever you want, right? I think we have finished gathering our equipment, so let us go. There is much to be done.â
âRight.â Bjorgrund picked up Uldarâs body and threw it on their floating disk with the rest of their equipment. âLetâs go.â
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With that, the companions gathered around the General of Thameland.
He reached out with the Travellerâs power, and teleported them away from the Ravenerâs lair. They passed through the barrier between the fae wild and the material world, andâat lastâappeared in Thameland, in the countryside.
Nearby stood the burnt out remains of the windmill where Alex and Claygon had fought the Ravenerâs Hunters and the blue annis hags.
From this day onward, there would be no more fights against Ravener-spawn, not here or anywhere.
There would be no more dungeon cores, either.
The Ravenerâs substance would provide a supply for a long time, and there were likely plenty of dungeon core remains to be found across Thameland from the cores that had collapsed when the Ravener died.
But after that? No more Ravener-spawn would be created. And no moreâ
A thought struck him.
He turned to Claygon.
âHey buddy, can you do me a favour?â he asked. âI want you to try something.â