A Necromancer's Experiment }{ Domination of th...

[blithehysteria]

Her steps were that of a human’s: they made noise. She wasn’t terribly loud, and carried her weight with relative grace, but the muted thuds of her feet against the dust-choked path were probably heard from yards away by anything with ears beyond the strength of the humans. Her ears, however, were normal. She barely heard the tromps of her hiking boots, the swish of her pants as her legs brushed against one another, a result of her straight and measured gait.

Despite her severe lack in powerful attributes, Ezra was often a sight to instill fear in the hearts of others. They fled to their homes to lock windows and doors when they laid eyes upon her bells, held in a dark leather bandolier across her chest. Their ebony handles were embedded with spikes of bone, the bells ranging from the size of a pillbox to a jar and each emanating a sense of unease. She moved with the confidence of one who knew she was a predator, the sword strapped to her side not the only weapon she held.

Ezra trudged forward with unrelenting endurance, heading for the sense of power she had picked up earlier last night. It called to her like some enticing dessert, tempting her curiosity until she was consumed by the desire to know for sure her limits. She couldn’t hear from immense distances, or turn into anything furry with super strength- but she could control most of anything dead, even vampires if they weren’t strong enough masters to defy her will- and even that was not always a proper defense.

She hadn’t met anyone able to resist her, but she knew there had to be a limit. A hand leeched of color lifted to rub eyes dark and raw as she moved up the sleep incline against the bitter winds trying to knock her off her feet, if she didn’t collapse from sheer exhaustion first. She thought of creating a diamond of protection, just to catch a nap, but felt it would bite her later on. Her luck wasn’t particularly bad, but she knew that was because of her somewhat superstitious, cautious nature.

Shadows touched her like she was one of them, a familiar entity they were accustomed to enveloping, and if one observed her skin, they might believe she was one of them- and in many ways, she was. As a person who often danced the border between life and death, and with her bells and sword determined who she thought should live and die, she was sometimes more a monster than a human. These worries had long since stopped being able to penetrate her innermost thoughts, and she was safe from the constant fretting about the condition of her soul.

She stiffened, hand dropping to stroke the hilt of her blade as that sense of power leaking towards her grew stronger. Like a determined hound, she bent her head against the wind and quickened her pace while planning her domination of something whose power was stronger than her last experiment, but still might not be able to refuse the lure of her own power, or the voices of her bells.

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi strode slowly down the mountain path. He had just come from one of the troll tribes that dotted the region and he was discouraged. The chieftain had been out and there was no telling when he would be back. Kerodi had waited for three weeks outside the caverns, trying to find something useful to do or something interesting to study. Naturally, there had only been enough to fill one week, so he had spent the last two practicing some of his more recently acquired magic.

He had progressed far. He was a natural student and that made studying more arts that much more satisfying so he continued to adapt and expand with ease. He had gotten two solid weeks of work in before the news came that the chieftain was dead and that a new troll was in charge. Naturally, Kerodi was not on good terms with the new one and had been ordered to leave. Not wanting to confront the trolls right now, he had gracefully departed, though he was still bitter overall.

The wind was fierce as he rounded a corner and it whipped a small amount of dirt into his eyes. He stopped and brushed it lose; his eyes tearing at the problem. Suddenly, he sensed someone on the path ahead of him. Had it not been for the wind and dirt and his lack of attention, Kerodi would have run right into the person.

The wind was still whipping, but the person a few feet away looked to be more feminine than masculine. Kerodi shaded his eyes from the wind and dirt. "Hello." Nothing. Kerodi tried again, "My name is Kerodi." Again nothing.

Confused, Kerodi put his other hand inside his cloak to be safe and stepped forward. "Can you hear me? My name is Kerodi." He smiled and waited to see if the person would respond.

[blithehysteria]

So intent on pulling the tendrils of power into her, tasting it’s strength and flavor, Ezra didn’t hear his voice until the last minute, when his feet slid into sight and roused her to attention. Rearing back, the necromancer instinctively bent her knees and had her blade halfway from its sheath before her mind cleared and she saw he wasn’t threatening her. Keeping a wary eye on his hidden hand, she slid her feet back a few inches, putting herself out of striking range.

Secure for the moment, Ezra lifted sharp eyes to assess the stranger. The power that had been taunting her nerves was stronger than it had been previously, but a nervous glance over his shoulder showed nothing loomed near. A frown furrowed the woman’s brow as she looked at the man once more, seemingly human but emitting a power that didn’t feel very human, nor matched the confines of his flesh. Releasing the hilt of her blade, she allowed it to slide back but for an inch.

The plait that had rested along her spine was too heavy to be tugged by the wind, but not tight enough to stop wayward strands from being pulled free. Squinting against a lock tangled in her eyelash, Ezra reached up to free it even as she straightened from her defensive stance and absently brushed a hand over the handles of her bells, gaining reassurance from the presence of each bell, their frigid handles inducing a rush of goosebumps along her arms.

The wind was at her back, an insistent pressure urging her forward. Her words were ripped from her throat almost immediately, the laughter of the wind muffling her tone. “I am Ezra. Who are you?” Rather, what was he, she silently corrected. His name meant nothing to her, but just about everyone had a title. Depending on the common habit to label one's self, Ezra turned a portion of her attention to the softer air currents emitting from him, something she could sense deeper inside, as if a wind chime had been wound through her veins.

Reaching forward, the woman kept her body tense but for the eased splaying of her fingers. Sliding the tips of her digits down the air in front of him, she felt for the pulse of his magic before pulling away with a thoughtful frown. Curiously, she rubbed her fingers together as if testing the texture of his nature.

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi heard the soft reply of "Ezra" against the backdrop of the wind. He heard the question of who he was and repeated his name once more while he withdrew his hand from the gesture of peace they had just accomplished.

Kerodi watched the woman seem to fold within herself. He was not sure what to make of her but she seemed to be half lost in thought...maybe half lost in mind? He hated to make that assumption, but the first few seconds of his interaction with her had not made Kerodi that comfortable and he was not sure how to proceed.

The sound of thunder jerked him from his thoughts and he realized that a storm was brewing. Having been around the area before, Kerodi knew that the storms could be pretty bad. He looked to the side of the path and saw a darker shadow. That would be one of the caves that dotted the region. It might be inhabitated, but he was sure that he could convince the occupant to leave them be.

"The storm is going to be bad!" Kerodi yelled over the rising of the wind. He pointed to the cavern and saw a flash of understanding. Kerodi stepped closer and around the woman, headed towards the cave. Within seconds, he was inside...just as the rain began to come down in heavy sheets.

Kerodi turned to look for the woman from the path...but she was not there. Where had she gone?

[blithehysteria]

Ezra blinked, turning to watch the man retreat to the cave. She was torn between following and observing the storm, the feel of the dead at her feet ancient and a third temptation. As the storm broke open overhead a resounding roar swung through the skies, emphasized by the brilliant flash of amber tearing through the heavens with an awing vengeance. Spellbound, she allowed the wind to drive rain into her body, her cloak a pitiful barrier against the freezing moisture.

The rain soaked her braid, making her head ache from the weight. As one might lift a hem to avoid tumbling over themselves, Ezra grabbed the end of the plait and lifted the bulk of it. Instant relief was the result, although holding her hair induced a feeling of foolishness. The necromancer used her hood as a net, the weight transferred to her shoulders and the fabric pulled tight across them.

The rain clung to her dark lashes, brought her lips to a crimson fullness only moisture could truly manage, and illuminated her skin until she appeared created of the moon’s dew. Swiping her cheeks of excess water, Ezra turned to follow the man into the dry opening. A whisper danced around her feet, crawling up her legs and whirling around her until the sound found home in her ears. Glancing sharply over her shoulder, the necromancer was caught in a myriad of memories and thoughts of the dead that rested fitfully beneath the earth, buried by nature or fellow earth inhabitants.

Their wills coaxed her back into the storm, kept her tight and knotted with anticipation. Although her gift was a cold one, holding the frigid winds of death, she felt heat rush through her veins as a hand darted up to free the second bell. It would wake the dead, as many as her power could reach. She had just pulled the bell free, stilling the clapped instinctively, when her mind stumbled from the state of numb confusion.

Shaking her head, Ezra was slapped by drenched strands hardened from the cold air that emanated from her skin when she sank into her trance of raising the dead. Upturning her face, she closed her eyes against the beating rain and waited for her mind to clear before slipping back into the cave and returning the bell to its pouch. Giving the man a curious look, Ezra gestured to the stormy sight beyond the entrance.

“Kerodi, was it? What are you?” Tilting her head to the side, she began to pull off the wet cloak, squeezing water from it as she went.

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi looked up as the woman entered the cave, drenched head to toe and appearing to love the fact. He scratched his head, but opened up his pack to start building a fire. Blaze Mountain had very little wood in some areas so he had packed some with him in case it was needed. It looked like the lady would need it.

Kerodi looked up a second later and the lady was headed back out into the storm, a bell in her hand. She seemed confused and torn between wanting to be outside in the storm and wanting to be warm and dry. Kerodi was a naturally curious person and this lady seemed to be quite the contradiction in herself. A conversation with her might be enlightening, he decided.

The lady seemed to gather herself and she came back inside. She saw Kerodi look at her and she gave him a funny look in return. She had returned her bell to her pouch and had taken off her cloak to squeeze it try when she had asked her questions.

Kerodi continued to build the fire while he considered her questions. The first one was simple and he answered that his name was indeed Kerodi. The other question confused him somewhat? What was he? What did she mean by that?

Confused, Kerodi remained silent and built a fire. After it was stoked, he returned to his knapsack and brought out some cooking implements and some ingredients, including some dried beef. He put the pot under the lady's cloak as she drained water from it and once it was about three quarters full, he removed it and set it over his makeshift grill.

He began slicing vegetables and began talking again. "I am not sure what you mean by your question. I am a magician, if you mean what is my trade. If you mean something else, I am not sure I know how to help you." He dumped the vegetables he had into the pan and began stirring them slowly, adding a small hint of herbs and spices from a pouch at his waist.

He looked at her while he cooked. "I could ask you the same. What are you? What are you doing up here on the mountain? Not many people come this way." Kerodi stopped speaking and wondered what the woman would do. So far, she had not done anything he expected...and he was willing to bet she wouldn't surprise him now.

[blithehysteria]

When her cloak was lighter and not dripping so profusely, Ezra dumped it in a pile for the moment. With quick, practiced movements she removed the bandolier, the dark leather damp and smelling faintly of beeswax. Setting it down with far more care than she had the cloth, the necromancer turned her attention to wringing out her hair and removing the complex tangle her braid had become.

As she went through the familiar motions, Ezra watched the man out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t know him, and although he offered no violence she wasn’t willing to trust him so easily. Watching as he prepared the fire and food, she was amused by wayward thoughts about the stereotypical role of cooking that was oft left to women. Sliding from her thoughts, Ezra casually plopped down against the cave wall and stretched her legs out.

Leaning forward, she grabbed the cloak and spread it over her lap. Brushing out the voluminous folds, she bent one knee so the fabric hung over it and would receive more of the warmth. Absently rubbing off some dirt, she listened to him speak thoughtfully and frowned in reaction to his explanation. Moving to push back a bothersome lock of hair that had stuck to her cheek, she barely caught herself from painting her face with dirt. With a wrinkled nose the necromancer cleaned her fingertips on the hem of her leggings.

“I meant your breed.” Frowning over the word, she ran through her mind a list of better possibility. Shrugging when the search failed, she gave a frustrated wave of her hand. “Your nature; some could be called vampires, others lycanthropes. It is something they cannot help. If being a magician is your trade, then it is not necessarily your nature. Usually that’s how it works.”

Shrugging indifference, she shifted the cloak a little before returning dark eyes to the man. “You are powerful for a mere magician,” she thought to remark upon, a frown darkening her brow. She waited a moment, letting her thoughts run their course before speaking once more. Her tone was quiet and mild, her speech slow as if she analyzed every word before letting it pass the barriers of her mind and drip onto her tongue.

“I am a necromancer, but not a very adept one.” A quick grin spread across her mouth, a brief flash of white teeth and brightened eyes before it vanished. She shifted her scabbard against her thigh in a hunt for comfort, thoughts straying across her mind that were disturbing and uncertain. Scowling, she shot him a suspicious glance. "Are you dead?

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi cooked as the lady tried to dry herself off. He understood now what she meant by "what was he?" She wanted to know if he was human or not. That made more sense, but Kerodi had a passing wonder if he looked like anything else. He grinned at that and began testing the stew.
The last question caused him to spit the mouthful he had taken out in a spray formation.

He coughed a couple of times and looked at her more closely this time. She was a necromancer, which might explain the odd behaviors he had witnessed. He had glossed over the fact that she had known he was a powerful magician. Now he was beginning to wonder how she knew that without ever seeing him perform. Now the question about being dead. He started to form the dots and the lines between them in his mind.

"I am a human to answer you first question," Kerodi stated, still watching her closely. "I am a magician, but how do you know I am a good one? Like you, I could only be slightly adept at what I do." Kerodi grinned here and stirred the stew again absentmindedly.

"I am not dead. I hope I don't look that way. If I do, maybe I should not travel so much." He grinned at her and continued. "What are you doing up here on the Mountain?"

[blithehysteria]

Ezra swayed a few inches away from him and the fire to avoid being hit by the spew of liquid. Wrinkling her nose in obvious distaste, she brushed a few stray beads of the stew from her cloak before returning her attention to the magician. He took his time answering; that was for sure. It made her feel suspicious; knowing the enough time to think could result in clever replies.

“I know you are a powerful magician, not a good one.” A gleam of laughter erupted in her eyes as she gave the sly correction before continuing, “Those who have power give off energy of different flavors and feels, of which they can hide when they give enough focus to it. As a necromancer, I am more attuned with the dead but I am also sensitive to other such things.”

She gave another a shrug, feeling strange for having just done it earlier. “Not that knowing one has power or not can usually give me any advantage. More like a useless quirk.” Moving the cloak so that the dry area was pooling in her lap and the wet receiving the pants of heat emanating from the fire, Ezra settled more heavily against the wall and closed her eyes.

A long moment ensued in which Ezra sat still and reflected over a myriad of thoughts before she spoke again. “With enough power from the necromancer, or the dead before they pass on, anything can look human again. You do not appear dead, however. The taste of your power is merely peculiar to me, although I cannot claim to have met many of your kind in the first place.”

Ezra couldn’t remember when she’d talked this much, let alone to explain the nature of the dead and their masters. Not one to share counsel, she was mildly bewildered at the ease that her tongue wagged. It was with reluctance that she muttered, tone surly: “I believe I came up this mountain searching for you, Kerodi the Magician.”

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi took the correction about the ability of his magic very maturely. He was not the best in the land of Valear, but he was not the worst. Of course, to someone that dealt with the dead for a living, he might indeed pale in comparison. After all, someone had probably been more powerful than him in a past life...and there were a couple more powerful and more controlled currently than him. Not many, but a couple.

Kerodi was impressed with the woman's abilities to detect magic though. Since most of her magic dealt with those in the ground though, it made sense she could detect other magic through that venue. Most of Kerodi's magic used a different medium, and while he could utilize ground magic, he did not do it that often. He was realizing as he watched this woman: It might have been a mistake.

Kerodi was relieved that he did not look dead, but he was becoming confused about why his magic was peculiar. Why the lady may not have met many magicians in her time, he could not be the first or the strangest she had ever come across? Could he?

Kerodi frowned thinking that and began to methodically scoop stew into two bowls. He sprinkled both with a fine white powder and stirred it in absentmindedly. He handed her a bowl and a utensil and sat back against the cave wall, stirring his soup again.

He took a bite and relished the warmth of the food. At least he had retained a few nonmagical abilities from the time he was little. He had a passing smile and looked back at the young lady again.

"Why do you search for me? I have been gone from the world of practiced men and magic for years. I have lived in the Ularian Ridge for quite some time." He stopped and looked at her again, a sthingyful of stew halfway to his mouth. "Why search for me here when you could have found me there at any time? What do you hope to gain from me?"

[blithehysteria]

“Thanks,” she murmured as she accepted the bowl, setting the utensil in it for the moment and curling her fingers around the almost scorching heat. Almost purring with the delight, she inhaled the steam and smiled faintly. Her body quivered as the conflicting temperatures of her body brought a chill up her spine and induced a wave of goosebumps to rise along her arms.

A soft exhale blew the steam in a warm white cloud across the air in front of her, gradually dissipating to nothing but a memory. A quirky grin flittered across her face at that thought, which led to knowledge of all the dead, forgotten so thoroughly they might not have existed at all, laying beneath the ground. Their bodies, anyways; their souls tended to leave after three days.

Cautiously tasting the broth, Ezra gave her silent praise with a nod before settling once more against the wall and bringing the bowl against her chest, the warmth a comfort to her heart, although perhaps such a thought was rather wayward and romantic. Tensing her upper body against movement, she moved the cape once more, so accustomed to the duty she barely had to think about what she was doing in order to accomplish the work efficiently; a reflection of her necromancy.

“I did not search for you personally,” she explained, mildly amazed she didn’t feel weird trying to get her meaning clearly across. “Due to a lack of something in my life, I have taken it upon myself to fetch my limit, and so upon doing so your power, or perhaps essence, drew my attention.” A quick glance at his face lifted her eyes so that she might be assured he wouldn’t explode on her in fear or some other violent emotion.

“You are stronger than my last conquest.” A moment brought Ezra’s words back to her and with a frazzled look she brought her free hand up while supporting the bowl with the other. Exposing her palm in a diplomatic gesture, she hastily continued, “Seeing as you’re not dead, however, I can’t do anything harmful to you or otherwise with my bells.”

Figuring logic might only worsen the situation, Ezra didn't mention any of her other weaponry and gave an unusual amount of focus to the stew and cape, pale fingers brushing against the dark cloth. The storm outside still raged, but with less fury than it had begun with, abating at a steady if slow pace.

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi watched the woman warm herself with the bowl of soup. He listened to her talk about lacking something in her life. He could agree with that. He traveled as much as he did now because he was the same way. He was missing something and his travels gave him something to do while he looked for his consolation in the world...his meaning...his purpose.

Maybe she was not after the same things he was, but there seemed to be a connection of loneliness...and it was forged through the magics they had...even though both were different; they were the same. It was somewhat comforting to be thinking that here in a cave on the side of the Mountain during a raging storm. Kerodi smiled to himself and brushed aside the thought as she continued talking.

He heard her mention the word "conquest" and then hastily backpedal and shrink into her cloak, hurriedly trying to make him see that she was not threatening him to be her conquest. While that was reassuring, Kerodi still had a feeling that if it was not a conquest of him she wanted, it was soemthing along those lines, if not just pure and simple siphoning of magic.

His eyes narrowed as she finished her explanation and went back to the soup...her eyes down and her hands moving slowly and methodically. He took a few more bites of stew and went back for seconds. He washed it down with some ale and poured a glass and handed it over to her.

"I know what you mean to some degree," Kerodi began, swirling the ale around his cup. "I too travel to find more information. Granted, I tend to do it with the magic of Valear and in the present rather than those that have come before, but the idea is the same. I think our journeys might coincide, but I am not sure as to what end. What do you hope to gain now that you have found me?"