Zane led the others to his accommodations so they could see what the others had learned. Not much, but Rommel had been informed of the prison move but only because he'd paid a man's weight in gold to plant enchanted scrying stones in several inconspicuous places.
"I've made a composite of any beast we can think of that uses fire, is a bird, and has influence or references of the dead." Noelle informed placing a paper on a mana stone tablet that was then duplicated for everyone at the table and would reflect real time edits made using a mana quill.
Zane looked over the list, crows, owls, vultures, ravens, cardinals, sparrows, swifts, doves, hummingbirds, condors, caladrius, nightingale, swans and the list continued. Each name had a tiny portrait, and how each bird was related to death. Many chased death away, harbingers, heralders, escorted souls…
Rommel sighed, "Well, this is good, I'm sure there are a few we can knock off… vultures, sparrows, doves, hummingbirds, and cardinals should be safe to remove."
"I've never heard of a caladrius before, healer of kings… looks rather promising." Jantje remarked reeding the description of the snow white bird that had fiery wing tips.
"We can probably also remove nightingale… while a singing bird it's fairly small and unimpressive." Lucera added also glancing over the caladrius.
"I'm more partial to the idea of a raven variation, they are more soul bound birds and watchers for injustice. They are also incredibly intelligent, if they were larger they would be excellent companions." Zane remarked comparing the two birds.
"I don't see a caladrius as being rather proud, nor a raven using much fire… though both are possible as beasts… the caladrius image is more reminiscent of what we've seen. Then again… I haven't seen him heal anyone." Rowena sighed glancing through the other options.
Rommel sighed, "While I think it's important to know what he is… considering the state of the empire maybe we should be more concerned about finally learning the truth behind the sacrifices?"
Zane hesitated, "I'll send word back to Crown prince Asturias, until his official sanction don't do anything other than observe until we learn more. I'd rather not have to fight our way out of a nation of damned souls…"
Noelle nodded, "While we were promised protection, it is conditional. Not to mention… souls usually attach themselves to something. I don't want to bring any damned souls back to Kake, better to return home and just wait until Smyrna cleans up its messes before we return."
Rommel leaned forward, "Smyrna will probably do something stupid anyway, we'll be able to take advantage and push them down the ranks. The Fae might even finish them off."
Zane stared his uncle down, "That is not our decision to make, we will act with honor and integrity, should I find out otherwise I will personally ensure the offender is returned to their country immediately."
Rommel sighed, "Of course, I just meant if an opportunity to weaken them presented itself, but I would never disgrace myself to fall to their level. I also wanted to know… the difference between freeing the damned souls… and saving them."
The ladies of the tiger nations shared a hard look, several of their own had disappeared, no doubt becoming sacrifices for this vile empire. "We will wait and see what Young Song decides, I'd rather a trapped dragon continue to own the empire rather than a new beast and force it to be hostile to us." Noelle reminded with a glance around the room.
Rommel turned to princess Hazel, "Princess Hazel, what do you think?" She had been diligently looking over the birds but hearing her name had her nearly jumping out of her skin.
"Uhh, better safe than sorry." Hazel's voice became quieter with each word as everyone turned to look at her.
Rommel didn't ignore the detail that Hazel had been making personal notes on a separate notebook in ancient Gippsi, her drawing looked similar to the caladrius… but… there were subtle differences of the bird in flight. His ancient Gippsi was far from fluent, but he could reed a few key words. Fires, sun, justice…
Hazel quickly closed her notebook blushing, "Just… doodles…" She murmured shyly. This was one of the notebooks Young Song had given her… if the other's saw what it could do…
Rommel glanced at the caladrius again… perhaps they should investigate the breed more thoroughly.
Lucian was getting a headache from Novak's questioning. "No, We do not know what Ashton means when he says embrace the light. No, We are not aware of legends, myths, records, oracles, or gossip about it. No, We were not aware of the sacrifices or churches involvement." Lucian stated for the fourth time.
Novak was starting to lose his patience, "Since your majesty is so ignorant, let us question the priests."
"Only with us present, as we've said." Jaxon growled, this loop was endless.
"I will share what I learn, but don't want you there." Jakub insisted while ensuring his hood remained low so they couldn't see his eyes. "You need me more than I need you."
Leonard rubbed his temples, "Just one of us, otherwise we will get nowhere, and we all want to free the souls!" Leonard finally just shouted to silence the bickering. There was too much to do for all these petty power plays.
"Then only Duke Carlos, or no one at all." Novak jumped on the offer.
Sebastian glanced up, he'd stayed silent for the most part. He'd been leaning back with both hands over the dragon head cane between his knees as he waited for whatever agreement would be made. "For the empire." Sebastian acquiesced with a slight nod.
Jaxon wanted to insist but… he needed to focus on Ashton's little game. "Agreed, priest Katherine and his majesty will escort you to the dungeon then return."
Novak only smirked, Jaxon still making decisions for the puppet emperor. "Fine, there isn't much time. Let's go Jakub." There had already been two separate skirmishes of groups trying to destroy the enchantments. One under a small home, the other a personal shop of a wealthy merchant.
Jakub stood up to follow at the back, he kept his eyes on Lucian… embrace the light… embrace the light… Lucian's name meant light so there had to be someone who at least had an idea of what was needed. Unfortunately, he'd never managed to get his hands on the soul of any of the previous imperials. The church had always acted too quickly.
Novak had been in the imperial dungeon, but clearly Bodin, Wilbert and Promise were kept somewhere even more secure. Lucian used his blood and a phrase to open a door in one of the middle cells… the prison was mostly empty but the damp, cold, pungent air left little to the imagination of what atrocities had taken place.
Lucian led the group over a mile into the darkness before arriving at ten cells. Each suppressed mages of the eighth rank and lower, any beast up to a guardian class. As added security, the cells could only with the blood of a priest, and someone of the imperial bloodline willingly given.
Lucian had to chant not in ancient Smyrnaean, but in dragon tongue. The cells were entirely made of dragon bone and scales… the abhorrence not lost on him after learning the avarice dragon might still be alive…
Novak looked at Bodin through the dragon bone cell bars. Even with his wrists chained to the ceiling, dirty, bloody robes, and weeks of torture… he kept his benevolent smile.
"I hope the faithful have been well," Bodin rasped through cracked lips.
"Leave us." Jakub ordered looking at the priests with a mix of malicious zeal and determined scrutiny.
Novak handed the priest a mana crystal that was enchanted for long distance communication. "I will send word when we are finished."
Lucian handed over three keys made of dragon bone, each with a corresponding number to the cells.
Jakub snatched the first key then started to enter the cell with Bodin, yes. This would be a good conversation.
Lucian narrowed his eyes but didn't comment as Novak took the other two keys. Without another word Lucian turned and walked into the darkness, Katherine close behind.
Sebastian had remained silent the entire journey, he pulled a small but comfortable chair and table out of a spacial ring then sat down with a journal, quill and some ink. The ceiling above the cells were dimly lit by mage fire, so now… he would document everything unbiasedly.
Jakub removed his hood, revealing a malevolent sneer to Bodin, "Why don't we get comfortable?"
Bodin narrowed his eyes, he recognized the green light in the man's eyes. For the empire to have fallen so low as to employ a necromancer. Bodin didn't waver when the necromancer pulled out four blood red mana crystals…
"As a priest, you shouldn't know about these, but as a fellow practitioner of soul mana and sacrificial rites… well I'm sure you have a fair idea." Jakub announced with a childish delight, he then pulled out a chipped dagger that had delicate waves with a ruby embedded in the hilt and cut away the priest robes covering from Bodin's chest to navel. Since Jakub wasn't particularly careful he drew a bit of blood here and there
Bodin didn't miss the glow of the ruby as his blood was absorbed. He had been whipped, bones broken then mended, fingernails pulled, toenails pulled, and now wore a slave brand that encompassed his entire back… but they had not once used a dagger or blade on him.
Jakub grinned, then stabbed Bodin through both palms. He watched with gleeful anticipation as the dagger absorbed blood, then he twisted the dagger with the strength of a fifth-tier mage. There was too much blood for the blade to absorb so blood was gushing down his arms, shoulders, and down his chest.
Bodin jolted but refused to scream, even as the jagged edges scraped against his bone. His tensed stomach was in knots as he did his best to breathe. Unfortunately, when the dagger was twisted he couldn't help but let out the smallest of stifled groans. "Ugh."
"Come now, this is nothing compared to having your heart ripped out. If you are complaining about this, my companions will be disappointed." Jakub informed as he pulled out his everyday spacial ring. Several bones fell out, then three skeletons with cracked ribs pulled themselves together.
Each had been a comrade, each had their hearts ripped out, each had known they were going to their death. Jakub had bound their souls prior to their capture. Through their eyes, through their souls, Jakub had experienced each of their deaths first hand. Now, after death, they in turn would witness the church's downfall.
Bodin gave the skeletons a disgusted grimace, when the three each took a mana crystal and surrounded him, his gut clenched from more than just pain.
"Now, stay still, we would hate to miss." Jakub jeered holding the last mana stone as he and the tallest skeleton gripped the chains binding Bodin's wrists. The other two skeletons bent down gripping Bodin's shins to keep him steady. Without warning, Jakub and the tallest skeleton stabbed the mana stones through Bodin's hands.
Bodin jerked from the searing agony as the stones cauterized themselves into his palms. The chains jingled merrily mocking his pain.
Before Bodin could catch his breath, the skeletons stabbed his calves with the mana stones, Jakub watched intently as the mana stones seared around the edges, cauterizing to the flesh as well. Bodin's muffled scream brought a rush of satisfaction to the very depths of Jakub's being.
The bound souls of Jakub's comrades cackled in delight, relishing in the pain, feeding off Bodin's mana. Each crystal had been created using their hearts. With this, Bodin would be forever bound to their suffering.
Novak was leaning against the far wall outside the cell as he watched. Sebastian would only glance up momentarily, then continue to write. Novak wasn't sure how the duke had ingratiated himself to the beast… but hopefully it wasn't because he was the least antagonistic.
Jakub waited until all four mana crystals were bound in Bodin's flesh, then he pricked his index finger with the dagger just enough for blood to start flowing. Jakub dipped a mana crystal quill into his blood as if it were ink, then drew a circle that encompassed half of Bodin's chest. Jakub meticulously started drawing three palm sized circles that would only overlap with the largest circle at each third.
Bodin attempted to wriggle his body away but the three skeletons gripped him tightly. "Ignorance is bliss." Bodin informed staring directly into the necromancer's eyes.
Jakub narrowed his eyes, then smiled, "But knowledge is power, and I want yours." Bodin did his best to block out the increasingly painful drawings, the more Jakub wrote the hotter the blood felt. By the time the third circle was complete, he felt as if the necromancer was writing with a red-hot brand, not blood.
Jakub then started to draw intricate runes, starting with the largest circle, then overlapping with the smaller. He had to reopen his cut twice but after an hour he had finished his masterpiece. "I've taken the last ten years to copy your soul binding enchantments, while it's far from perfect, it will ensure your soul cannot leave your body even after you die. Unlike normal soul summoning necromancy… your soul will be trapped so long as whatever I've bound you to exists."
Bodin was panting as bloody sweat continued to drip. While he didn't have any fresh wounds… his sweat was slowly washing the blood away, no doubt making him a horrific sight to behold. "There are some truths… better ignored. And some sacrifices… worth the price." Bodin rasped raising his head to meet the necromancer's gaze. Trying one last time to convince the trio.
Novak frowned… if weeks of repairable torture had not broken the pope's convictions… perhaps this was a trap.
Jakub impassively met Bodin's gaze, "That will be for us to decide." Then he pulled out the almost transparent green mana core of a bishop the assassins had captured for him during the purge. The tiny green core was then embedded into an unpolished mana crystal. He stabbed the jagged mana crystal into Bodin's chest right where a heart should be.
Bodin let out a primal scream of agony as the enchantment was activated. He felt as if fire and acid was being drawn from the red mana crystals to his heart.
Jakub stepped back with a satisfied smile, watching as Bodin's veins started to glow a dark red as the blood of a thousand sacrificed victims started to seep into Bodin's body. Jakub had silently collected what he could when he found priest operations, an undead mosquito was often overlooked when it was laying in a pool of blood.
Over the last twenty years he'd managed to gather the blood of more than five thousand sacrificed… he could only imagine the total in the last 700 years.
Novak didn't bat an eye as Bodin's seven orifices started to bleed. His eyes, nose, ears, mouth. Blood even started seeping through what was left of his priestly robes.
"To ensure your cooperation, your victims' blood will fuse with your own, any remaining will have to be removed. Since I could not acquire their souls, their dying grievances and pain will have to be enough of a punishment. I expect in an hour or so you'll be much more talkative." Jakub happily explained as the untainted blood was forcefully expelled.
Novak watched as Bodin started to writhe then thrash. Soon Jakub came for the second key, eagerly repeating the process with the ever-gentle Promise, and then with Wilbert. Promise was surprisingly stubborn, as an innately holy priestess she was able to delay the fusion by self-purifying for over two hours.
Sebastian was only mildly uncomfortable with the once priestess having her breasts exposed, but he kept recording everything he saw and heard. While Bodin had bled for just over an hour, Wilbert was finished in half the time, Promise had delayed her fusion, but once her purification was breached, she succumbed almost immediately.
Once all three had their blood fused, the skeletons dragged Wilbert and Promise into the cell with Bodin and laid them side by side. Jakub circled the trio as he muttered to himself, now he had to bind all three together. Using a water spell to wash through the cell floors, then concentrated the gathered blood.
Sebastian wasn't sure if he should be horrified or fascinated seeing Jakub use a first-tier water manipulation spell to write out a new spell in blood. Sebastian suddenly jolted; blood mana used the blood as a medium so that had been understandable even with the mana restrictions… but to use a regular spell while in the cells…
Novak saw Sebastian tense, clearly the duke wasn't a fool either. Novak didn't give the fact that the real Jakub was using a shroud of darkness spell to hide himself, while a new corpse was taking his place in the cells. Jakub was slowly using some of the gathered blood to create the real binding enchantment just a little further up the corridor while the corpse doppelganger made a large, false facsimile enchantment to fool the empire.
Jakub had brought a paper of the enchantment so he could just use their mixed blood to trace the outline. This way he didn't make any mistakes due to his excitement… soon he would know what was happening to the souls, and more importantly… why. He could also learn where the dragon was. If they found the dragon, perhaps they might strike a deal… surely it would be grateful to be free and if not… Jakub glanced at his spacial ring… well if the dragon wasn't willing there were ways to force cooperation.
Jakub only took about twenty minnets to trace the enchantment, then used a marble sized blood mana crystal to place in the center to start the activation before he made his way into the cell and replaced the corpse. This crystal was made using his own blood and mana, concentrated for the last fifteen years… he hadn't been sure he'd ever have the chance to use it.
Jakub hid the real enchantment by continuing to have it shrouded then layered it beneath the false enchantment. He was sweating from the strain of dividing his attention between making the false and the real enchantment. Even with the prepared power sources this was still a lot for his old bones.
Novak watched Jakub stumble as he was leaving the cell, the eerie green and dark red enchantments were overlapping as they passed through the trio.
Jakub sat in a chair Novak had prepared while the enchantments took hold. Now he just had to wait.
"Mage Jakub, I have a question… not on record." Sebastian started while he put away the quill.
Jakub raised a brow waiting for Sebastian to continue.
"Were you by chance… employed to create a binding enchantment for a land dragon… and family member of the Darnings Duchy?" Sebastian inquired neutrally, he'd been over the records and seen the recreated enchantments from the forest debacle.
"You think after thirty years of chasing those priest bastards down, I'd help them make more sacrifices?" Jakub sneered, then spat at Sebastian's feet.
Sebastian only nodded, then tensed as footsteps were heard coming down the corridor.
Novak glared into the darkness as the steps echoed all around them. After about a minnet a sparrow sized silver bird of flame and red eyes appeared in the middle of passageway. It was taking exaggerated steps that echoed as it approached.
Jakub bent down on the floor offering one of his hands. The bird was only the size of his palm… the bird circled his hand twice, ruffled it's feathers, then jumped into his palm to sit. "Lord beast?" he inquired hesitantly.
Novak watched as the swirling flame head tilted to one side, then jumped off Jakub's hand. Jakub jolted in an attempt to catch the bird but it quickly glided into the cell. When Novak tried to follow it in Jakub threw his hand up.
"Don't… he's… helping." Jakub rasped as he steadied himself on one of the bone bars watching as the tiny creature hopped around the edges of the enchantments. As brief as the moment had been… the beast had created a connection.
Sebastian watched practically horrified as the tiny bird started using one of its feet to draw in the blood. Miniscule innocuous lines were added, a symbol here a line there, then a burst of silver flame engulfed the room for just a moment. In the time it took him to flinch the flames died out. Nonchalantly the bird hopped out of the cell.
Novak watched as Jakub knelt again to pick the bird up, but the bird pecked his thumb then started to hop back into the darkness. The sound of steps echoed through the passageway for only a few moments before silence returned. Novak glanced into the cell, the enchantments had shrunk in size and were overlapping… slower.
Jakub watched until Lord Beast was out of sight, then crawled to the bone bars to examine the spell circles. The souls… weren't just being tethered to each other like sewn clothes as he had intended. The souls… were melting into a large puddle, merging, they would truly be three bodies and a single soul.
Novak didn't disturb Jakub as his eyes glowed green, darting all over the cell. Novak also noticed that Sebastian was gripping his notebook with clear indecision. Sebastian hesitated… after the initial burst of flame he hadn't noticed any differences… maybe the red and green circles were moving a bit more steadily… but all else was quiet.
Jakub started to laugh maniacally as he watched the three started screaming, trying to separate their melting, mixing souls. Arms reaching out of the mound they were becoming, until the screams started to fade into whimpers, then three voices all weeping in tandem as the blob of soul started to settle. Within a few minnets they almost resembled a large soul slime monster, then the slime separated over the three and poured into the bodies.