The chaos seed interrupted his guard’s confused musings. He had already decided what to tell the man, “You were knocked unconscious during the battle. The undead spit something on you that crawled in your mouth. Luckily, Lady Hisako was able to force it out of you. The sprites will take you to our biomancers.” The man opened his mouth to speak again, but Richter firmly said, “On your way, soldier.”
The caster walked away, still confused and looking doubtful, but did as he was bid. Once he left the thicket, Yoshi threw back the cloaks that were hiding the other bodies. It was a sensible precaution the adept had taken without being asked. Richter didn’t hesitate. He just pointed to the next guard that he wanted resurrected. The man wasn’t the strongest or the highest level of the dead guards, but he had a family and children. A small part of Richter’s innocence died, but he didn’t shy from his duty. Richter drank a mana potion and placed his hand on Hisako’s shoulder again. “If you are ready, Hearth Mother, let us begin.”
CHAPTER 23 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
Hisako had been right. They were able to save three of his men in total. The last one resurrected almost died again. The death shroud was firmly entrenched in her body. There was blood on it when it had finally been pulled from the guard’s throat. The creature had held on so tightly that it ripped tissue from the inside of the woman’s body. Even after the shroud was burning in the fire, the guard continued to hack up gouts of blood. It was only through the intervention of sprite healers that the bleeding was stopped. Richter knew without being told that they could not save the rest.
Hisako lay exhausted. She still found the strength to give Richter a warning. While the power of resurrection could be wonderful, it also opened a doorway to great evil. The shroud had to be destroyed. If it was allowed to live, it could grow into a being of horrible, destructive power. She also warned him against attempting a resurrection if the body had been dead for more than an hour. The shroud grew stronger the longer the body had been dead. Even if the resurrection failed, the shroud could still be unleashed upon The Land.
Richter agreed, and Yoshi handed over a small pouch of five of the glowing roots. The Hearth Mother assured him that Sumiko could cast the spell. Hisako gave him a final warning to keep the roots secret. She also reiterated that he was being given such a gift only because of their strong relationship and alliance. The chaos seed nodded and opened the bag.
You have found:
Rebirth Root of the Hearth Tree
Durability: 4/4
Herb Class: Rare.
Quality: Living
Weight: 0.2 kg
Traits: This root has been gathered from deep beneath the Hearth Tree of the Wood Sprites. It has concentrated the Life energy of the Place of Power and the many residents who live above it. You feel that it could be used to greatly augment the summoning of Life creatures. If placed in contact with Death creatures, it could also destroy it or at least greatly limit its powers. Adding this root to any Health potion would improve both its strength and level by 3 ranks.
“I don’t see the capability of the root to resurrect,” Richter said.
Hisako smiled and gave a tired laugh, “That is because you are only an apprentice in Herb Lore. There is still much you have to learn, young lord.”
Richter nodded. This was actually a good thing. It meant he could try to grow it in the village garden, without any of his villagers learning of its properties. He didn’t realize it, but that was the moment that he fully committed to deceiving his own people. It was done with the best of intentions, but it was done.
Hisako needed another thirty minutes to recover. While she did, they finally spoke about his use of CPR to revive a dwarf after the bugbear attack. He explained what he had done, stopping several times to answer her questions. She then quizzed him even more, taxing his unused medical knowledge. She just nodded in response to many of the things he told her, as if he was confirming things she already suspected about the workings of the body. When he began speaking of DNA and other macromolecules, however, her eyes grew wide. The questions came faster, and she started to smile as if long-questioned mysteries questions were finally being answered.
When she was recovered, they made their way out of the thicket. The troops looked grateful for the rest after the attack. One unhappy task remained before they moved out again. “What do we do with the dead?” he asked. “We are too far from my Place of Power for me to summon mist workers. We can’t send them back, and we can’t take them with us into battle.”
“I will show you,” Hisako said. Her tone was gentle, but pragmatic. “First, strip the bodies of anything useful.”
Soon all arms, armor, and items were taken from the dead. Potions and water were distributed among the other soldiers. Richter had looked around at first, concerned that his men and women might think him heartless, but no one batted an eye. The realities of battle and sudden death were instilled in the people of The Land. Arms and armor, especially those that were enchanted, were simply too valuable to waste. When the bodies were laid bare, she extended both hands and started casting. The mystical syllables were familiar to Richter. She was ensuring that the dead would not one day rise again.
With that done, she began a different casting. The words did not have the rich tones of Life magic but instead hung heavy and solid in the air. Green light formed a nimbus around her hands, and the earth began to vibrate. The ground beneath the bodies of their fallen comrades turned loose like sand. The Hearth Mother turned her arms so that her palms were pointing down and then she slowly lowered her hands down, as if she was pushing. The bodies sank beneath the ground. The light faded from her hands, and the dead were set to rest. The piled carcasses of the winged koolari remained on solid ground off to the side. Hisako would not bury the fell creatures with the village’s dead.
CHAPTER 24 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
The two Masters stayed close together as the warband readied itself to move again. Hisako spoke in a low-pitched but serious voice, “Those were not mere skeletons or low level zombies, Lord Richter.” She had completely removed the gore off of herself and her clothes. A Light spell was all it took to clean every speck of blood, leaving Richter honestly a bit jealous. It looked like she was wearing a simple robe, but knowing the Hearth Mother, it probably gave better defense than his own armor.
“Those were koolari,” Yoshi cosigned. “They should not be here. I might have expected to find them in the Whispering Woods, but not in the Forest of Nadria.”