Chapter 93 - Something’s Amiss

"Oh, it all sounds just so wonderful!" Amaranthae exclaimed, grabbing onto Ryan's hands as they sat next to each other on the only bed in the cottage.

His face instantly reddened at the physical touch; the woman next to him was the epitome of beauty, nearly irresistible. His hormones were currently raging through his body, causing his heart to race, his palms to slicken with sweat, and the hems of his pants to slightly lift off of the ground.

"Well." He stuttered. "It… it is pretty great, most of the time. I mean, to me, it's pretty ordinary, but I can see how you'd think so."

"So many people, so many souls…..." Amaranthae muttered under her breath as she looked far off into the distance.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ryan asked, not sure he heard her right.

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking out loud." She said quickly, before changing the subject. "Thank you for telling me so much about the world outside, it seems that I've missed so much, but now we should talk about how to break the spell imprisoning me."

A serious look plastered Ryan's face as he nodded his head. "Right, so, where do we begin?"

"Well, I've had a very long time to think about it, and the solution is actually very simple. My prison requires a constant supply of mana, all you need to do is either disrupt that supply or cut it off completely. Then I should be able to overpower my restraints, breaking free."

"Are you sure? Are you strong enough to break free all on your own?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe. I might need your help from the outside once you cut off the flow of mana. You're a mage, so just attack the ice with all of your might, that should be enough." Amaranthae said, confidence shining from her violet eyes.

An awkward chuckle left Ryan's throat as he scratched the back of his head. "Uh, yeah, that might be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's a very long story, but the short version is that I won't be able to use magic once I leave here." He reluctantly confessed.

Hearing what he had said, Amaranthae furrowed her brows. She wasn't going to dig any deeper into what he said, it wasn't her place, but the fact that he wouldn't be able to use magic would pose an issue. "That is a problem, but one that I think you should be able to overcome, given some guidance."

"What do you mean?"

"If you can't use magic, then you'll just have to call upon something that can."

Now Ryan was the one to cock his head in confusion. "I still don't understand."

"Spirits." She said in a soft voice. "I'm going to teach you how to communicate with the spirits."

…..

The forbidden section, deep within the bishop's library, was currently in shambles. Old books were strewn all over the room, scrolls were unfurled, and the musty smell of ancient paper and iron ink permeated the hazy air. Professor Kal was currently sitting atop a small mountain of books, gnawing on the end of his long, dark pipe.

He had long given up on discreetly searching through the numerous texts, and had begun to just tear through the books, putting anything that seemed to be of use inside his ring for later analysis. Everything else that didn't make the cut, he simply left wherever. By the time anyone would discover the state of the room, he would be long gone, and they would be stuck with the mess.

"Well, I think I'm about done in here. Now, what am I going to do with you?" Professor Kal said as he stood up and looked over at the crumpled up, cold corpse now covered in fallen books.

"I've got several experiments that you could help me with, but then again, I'm sure someone is bound to miss you at some point… Hmmmm."

After thinking for a moment, and then quickly coming to a decision, Professor Kal put his pipe away and pushed the books off of the dead body. Propping up the body, with its back against the wall, he took a step back to inspect it. Other than a slightly bloody eye from where he had stabbed the man with his wand, the corpse was in perfect shape, making his next step much easier to pull off.

Taking a blood red potion out of his ring, he sprinkled a few drops onto the body's tongue, making sure not to get any on its robes. The crimson liquid sizzled and popped as it trickled down the dead man's throat, noxious gases wafted out of its mouth, causing the Professor to pinch his nose to avoid the smell. As he waited for the potion to kick in, Professor Kal slung the priest's dead body over his shoulder and made his way out of the forbidden section of the library.

With the keystone safely tucked away in his pocket, he had no fear of triggering any of the magical arrays as he made his way toward the exit. Just before reaching the door, he unceremoniously dropped the body he was carrying onto the hard, stone floor.

"That should be long enough." Professor Kal said, taking a step back from the body.

As he waited for the potion to take effect, he brought out some flint, steel, and some accelerant. Just as he placed the materials on a table not too far away, a sliding, shambling noise sounded out from behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with the recently departed priest, standing hunched over and slowly swaying side to side.

Professor Kal walked up to the animated corpse, grabbed its chin, and raised its head, looking into its dull eyes. "In ten minutes, take this and this." He said, letting go of its chin and placing the steel and flint into the corpse's hands. "And hit them together, over and over again, got it?"

Not even getting a grunt for a reply, the corpse rose both its arms in a clumsy manner and looked as if it was about to hit the two materials together. Instead of hitting them though, it froze in that position, waiting for the correct amount of time to elapse. Pleased with everything, Professor Kal nodded his head before taking the accelerant and splashing it on the books immediately around the waiting corpse. He made doubly sure to soak the corpse's robes in the flammable liquid before slipping the keystone into its pocket, leaving the library, and closing the door behind him.

…..

The front of the cathedral was the exact same as when he left it. Priests and paladins busied about, going in and out of the many doors spread across the room. The massive statue of Thesan stood tall, watching all of those that passed beneath her. Professor Kal Hummed a tune as he stood with his back against the statue, garnering odd looks and shaking heads as he studied a pocket-watch he held in his hand. The second hand ticked away happily, oblivious to the fact that it was counting down to an event that would change the lives of so many, none for the better.

"Excuse me, are you Priest Unilith?"

An eerily familiar voice reached his ears over the constant low din, echoing through the massive foyer. Looking up, Professor Kal was greeted with a veiled woman, wearing a matching light-blue, silken dress. Another woman was standing at the ready, directly behind her, wearing light leather armor, with long sleeves and leather gloves to match.

Already knowing who it was, Professor Kal let out a sigh, not liking where this was likely heading. "Who wants to know?" He replied gruffly.

"I was told that you are the lead investigator concerning a certain man, is that true?" The woman said in a curt tone, avoiding his own question.

"I am, and I've already turned in my report. So, there's not really much to talk about." He said, looking back down at his pocket watch before snapping it shut and returning it to his pocket.

His words seemed to have some effect on the woman as she took a step closer to him. "You've already completed your report, so fast? Shouldn't it have taken at least a week or two, it's only been two days."

"What does it matter to you anyway? Don't tell me you were in cahoots with a suspected necromancer!?" He said with an exaggerated tone.

"Of course not, I was..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a small tremor tore through the cathedral, causing the stained-glass windows to rattle in their frames and some neglected dust to fall from the timber rafters.

"What the fuck was in that library?" Professor Kal muttered to himself, scratching his head as he turned toward the back of the foyer.

Less than a heartbeat later, another, much more violent tremor gripped the cathedral. The windows shattered from the vicious shaking; a kaleidoscope of razor-sharp meteors bombarded those below that were running for cover. Fissures formed in the polished marble floor, and the hidden magical arrays dotted all over the cavernous lobby brightened before overloading and exploding. Those unfortunate enough to be too close to the arrays as they detonated were either severely burned or outright killed from the forceful ejection of mana.

As pandemonium spread like a plague throughout the room, Professor Kal started walking toward the front of the church, leaving the two women behind him without saying another word. He wasn't certain what was in the library that could have caused such an event, but he was certain that now would be a good time to make an exit.

But before he could, a tertiary shockwave ripped through the church, this time causing him to actually lose his footing and nearly fall. He only remained standing due to the fact that he managed to spread his legs far apart and wave his arms about in a humiliating display.. Luckily, everyone that was within eyeshot of him had much more important things on their minds at the moment as a deafening, deep roar washed over them from somewhere deep inside.