Chapter 62

Chapter 62

A/N: Or part 2 of chapter 61 if you prefer that. This one is a bit shorter at only 3,1k words, but you got it much faster.

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This is where Nelehs hunch started taking form. Fire seemed somehow too obvious as a choice for her. She also didnt necessarily have the personality traits most often associated with the element, even if her affinity for it was otherwise great. Thinking that far, she gave the golden warrior a small glance and walked through the door marked with the symbol of fire.

Unsurprisingly she was met with a hellish landscape of ash, black rock and geysers of lava erupting in all directions. The heat wouldve felt oppressive to most people, but to her it felt like coming back home. This was the plane she was the most familiar with. The air was rich with the energy of the fire element. Neleh scanned her surroundings and her sight came to rest on the form of a gigantic man with ash black skin and a hair of flames.

Surtr greets master. Ready to serve. The giant said in a voice that sounded like rocks grinding against each other. Not a very talkative spirit. Neleh could feel that the giant was not stupid by any measure; it just didnt feel it was necessary to talk more.

What, no deep analysis of my personality this time? Neleh asked amused.

Doesnt matter. You used to be an empress class fire spirit. Anything below Surtr would be an insult, and the only one above Surtr is the elemental king of fire. Surtr is number two. So I was chosen. Feeling like that explanation sufficed, the spirit disappeared and Neleh felt the connection forming.

Now this is an interesting ability. Neleh said to herself, thinking out loud, a bad habit that she was forming. Surtr was a very dualistic spirit. On one hand, Neleh could use the spirit as a channel to draw on the elemental energies of the fire plane. Combined with her already ridiculous affinity with the element, that meant the mana she spent on fire magic would be negligible. Only with fire magic though. So this would not work with holy fire for example, or more precisely it would, but it would still require the holy power to be spent as normal.

On the other hand, Surtr was a spirit whose combat ability could be enhanced exponentially the more power you used to empower the spirit. Most spirits had the strength they had. Giving them extra power could boost their power a little, but not by a wide margin. They required a certain amount of power to materialize and maintain, but that was it. Surtr on the other hand could be fed with extra power, and its power would rise drastically if you did. It wasnt a weak spirit by any stretch of the imagination even at base level, it wouldnt be the number two spirit on the plane otherwise, but with enough power fed to it Surtr became powerful enough to snap dragons like twigs. Of course the power required to reach that level of strength was currently beyond Nelehs ability to provide, but the potential was there. This spirit would see some use, especially in the future. Honestly speaking, Neleh had been worried about what to do if the lost-gods decided to take to the field of battle in person, but Surtr might be a viable answer.

Neleh exited the plane of fire, to once again hear the voice of the golden warrior. Five down, two to go. A correct choice once again. How will you choose between the remaining two, I wonder? And the warriors laughed again. That voice and laugh were really getting on her nerves. The golden warrior was enjoying the process too much, and Neleh wasnt overly fond of people laughing at her expense.

She looked at the two remaining doors of death and darkness. Not very cheery elements, though often very misunderstood. The hunch kept urging her in a certain direction. As it happens, she had another reason to go along with the hunch. The golden warrior was a spirit of light. So it should be a certain kind of loss to the spirit if Neleh was to choose her personal spirit from the opposite element. She looked up towards the golden warrior spirit, made a rude gesture just to make her point, and entered the door marked with the symbol of death.

She entered a desolate world void of all life. The ground was cracked, dry and held no life. Everything seemed to be covered with a layer of gray dust. She could not see very far around her, as the whole place was covered in a thick grey fog. She could faintly make out an outline of a figure larger than a human, but much smaller than a giant. As the figure drew closer, she could see that it was dressed in black and silver robes that covered the spirit entirely. The figure had what seemed a bit like wings made out of the fog behind its shoulders. If Neleh had to describe the being, the first thought that came to mind would be an angel of death.

Welcome to the plane of death, oh great destroyer. I am known as Morael. You are one of the greatest sources of death seen this universe. The only things capable of rivaling you are the forces of nature, hunger, war and the Enemy. Yet you do not deal death indiscriminately, and in this new life of yours you even restrain yourself. You do not view death as something evil or even bad in many cases. You view it as another step on the journey, a simple truth of the world that will meet us all in the end. You even took this step yourself voluntarily, and one could say you came better off for it. Death is the great equalizer, something neutral. Your nature is not really that of neutrality, instead it is a balance of extremes that sometimes exist in harmony, sometimes less so. Strong personalities often have trouble maintaining neutrality, as their personality draws them to one extreme or another. You maintain a delicate balance most of the time, but that is not your normal state, instead its something forced. You are suited for death, something no one can deny, but your personality is not that of death. Yet, you knew this already. The spirit once again disappeared, and the connection was made.

She could feel that the songs that she sung could now contain the words of death. It was not something that killed quickly or something which could not be resisted, but if she chose to incorporate the words into her battle hymn, then the enemy would feel their life force getting slowly drained away. Perhaps more importantly, the words would bring the enemy face to face with their impending death, something which even the most powerful beings feared. Theres no terror quite like the terror of death, resulting in the ability to sap the strength and the will to fight from of your enemy. For some, death might be a release, but for those on the field of battle, struggling to survive against the threat of death was what they all aimed for.

As she stepped out of the plane of death, she faced the awaiting golden warrior. There was no mirth to be seen anymore, just seriousness. You have chosen well Neleh Khalidor. You know yourself better than most, and for that you will be rewarded. The final door awaits. The golden warrior, along with the indistinct forms of the other spirit kings and queens, disappeared. Neleh would not be returning to this place in this life. There would be no further spirits for her, and that was as she expected.

Well that was interesting. She said, clearing her throat and trying to draw the attention of anyone who might be awake inside the room.

Shioris head snapped up with enough speed, that Neleh was slightly worried that she might break her neck like that. Youre awake. Shiori said somewhat dumbly.

So it would seem. How long was I gone? Neleh asked. Alexis had said something about the ritual usually lasting for a day at most.

Eight days. We were worried that something had gone wrong with the ritual. Asheara did mention something about your emotions still being active and relatively calm, so she wasnt too worried. Or at least she was hiding it well, which, as you know, isnt one of her strong suits. Shiori explained.

Makes sense. Multiple spirits take more time than a single spirit. There were also some extra complications. Im fine though. Did anything interesting happen while I was dozing off? Neleh still felt a little groggy.

Shiori noticed her grogginess and rose up to pour her a glass of water. Alexis wanted to go back to his mission to negotiate with Nimue, but understood when we detained him here. He was also worried that something might have gone wrong, and knew hed have to face the consequences if you didnt come through alright. She said while walking back and handing the glass to Neleh.

As she tried to take a hold of the glass, it shattered into a thousand pieces. This will take some getting used to. Neleh mumbled half to herself. The increase in strength was much bigger than she had thought. There was going to be countless hours of practice ahead of her, before she got used to her new strength. Strength increase was usually something very slow and gradual and something you got used to while it happened. This was something different.

Another problem arose when she tried to remove the spilled water from her bedclothes. She had slight trouble with the simple spell, because it acted as if she was using way too much mana. Apparently the purity of her mana had risen in relation to her physical strength. More practice incoming. At least that was something she could adapt to more quickly, since she had more experience with it. It was more a case of simply taking the changes into consideration now that she knew about them.

Are you alright? You didnt cut yourself did you? Shiori asked a little worried. She had never seen Neleh be so careless. Neleh excelled in precise control after all.

I will be soon. Just something I didnt expect. Did anything else happen? Neleh asked, trying to change the subject.

Oh right, Azrael returned to the celestial capital in a real hurry. Something big happened there it seems. She didnt really explain properly. Shiori said in a musing voice.

Its the demon-fairy war. It has finally ended. Nimue will send a word to you soon. Elune whispered Neleh.

Did something happen? I dont think Azrael would leave if it was a simple truce. Neleh asked, hoping for more clarification.

Even Im not sure on all the details. The other gods arent really sharing, so all my information is from what was told to Nimue, and thats only speculation. I wouldnt want to give you erroneous information. Youll find out soon enough. Elune replied sounding a bit confused.

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