Revenge of the Sorcerer King 17

Hey Everyone! So, I plan on releasing RSK every Tuesday and Thursday. I'll let you know if something comes up and I fail to deliver but that is my plan now that I'm releasing on RRL. Holy Blood should be the new Saturday release, but that one is more loose as my weekends keep ending up really busy. 

Anyway, Let me know what you think in the comments about the direction the story is going. 

Chapter 17 

Alessa POV~~~~

We walked the halls with no goal in mind. The halls themselves were still a buzz with activity. The fairies were moving around the castle constantly working their magic into it. In all my time in the city, I never once saw the imps even half as enthusiastic about the place they lived. We eventually made it to one of the exits. 

We found it led to the Gardens. The gardens were flourishing. Though, I didn’t recognize anything present. The fairy magic and the miasma of the undead were causing… interesting creations to bloom. The twisted plant life looked beautiful to me. 

In the center of the gardens was a black rose bush. Its surroundings were clear of anything else for nearly five meters. A dark aura radiated from the roses that I could clearing feel were lethal from the edge of the garden. There were benches, fountains and other works of stone dotting the garden. I found a bench and took a seat. Vaunn stood next to the bench, looking to the world like a suit of armor on display.

“Vaunn. Do you remember Oberon from before?” I asked, gazing up at the night sky. 

“Master was powerful. Created all of us,” Vaunn said. “He was nice even to golems.”

“I can’t believe someone betrayed him,” I said laying out on the bench. 

“You flesh ones… unable to understand.”

“Fair enough,” I said with a sigh. 

“Master pushed magic far. The number of people afraid of him probably higher than the number that respected him,” Vaunn continued explaining. “Wiped a city from the map once.”

“That’s not scary,” I said with a shudder at the thought. 

Vaunn shrugged then turned to look at the garden. We stayed like that for a few hours. As long as I got blood, I didn’t have to sleep. That meant I could enjoy this until dawn broke. At dawn Oberon wanted me in the throne room for magic practice, so there was that to look forward to later. 

Glancing up at the full moon, I saw a bat fly through its glow. That reminded me that Vampires should be able to transform into other creatures. The most commonly known one was the bat. Surely as a pureblood I should have be able to do this to. My status showed I had only form but didn’t say how to unlock more. Plus, I didn’t even know if it meant my human form or something else. 

“I wonder if Siateth would be nice enough to explain some of this to me,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. 

“You would have to pray to him,” a voice said suddenly from the darkness. 

Vaunn spun around towards the sound while I jumped to my feet doing the same. From the darkness, a robed form made its way through the shrubbery. I couldn’t see the face, but I did think the voice sounded vaguely familiar. A ray of moonlight illuminated the spot where the face should have been and only a skull was present. While most of the skeletons that Oberon had created ran together in my mind, this one stood out.

“Sam! I thought you were staying at the temple?” I asked. 

“Indeed, but Master Siateth has asked me to relay a message to Master Oberon. Master Oberon does not like his mind pried into and still has defenses from his previous life defending him,” Sam explained as he bowed. 

“I see. I wonder why someone would want to keep the Gods and Goddesses out of their heads,” I said with a snort. I could still remember the pain caused when the damn goddess tried to kill me. 

Sam chuckled coldly. “I understand but it makes him hard to talk to without a middle man. Putting that aside for now. Lord Siateth has imparted some knowledge about the gift he has given you, Lady Alessa,” Sam said moving towards the death bloom in the center of the garden. The coiling aura parted around him.

“Oh? And what would that be?” I asked retaking my seat on the bench. 

Sam turned to give me a bony grin. “Now that is the tricky part and one of the reason Master Oberon does not like dealing with the Pantheon. I can not simply tell you,” Sam said as he tapped one of the pedals of the floor with a bony finger. 

“Do I need to sell my soul? I think I already did that…” I said leaning back to gaze at the sky again. 

Sam laughed loudly at that. “No. No. Lord Siateth would just like you to help spread his word. Nothing like a priestess mind you. Just… consider him when you need help in the future,” Sam explained while waving his hand. 

“Sounds like he knows more than he is letting on,” I commented. 

“He is a God after all. How are us of the lower realm to know his designs? You have already traded your life to his once. It would be in your interest to support his cause.” 

“And let me guess, you don’t want me to tell Oberon about any of this conversation?” I asked. 

“On the contrary! I plan to discuss this with him after we are done,” Sam said.

I sat back up and stared towards him. “Fine,” I said after considering it. 

Oberon POV~~~~

The throne was thrumming with power. The more territory the fortress core claimed the more mana it could absorb at once. Right now, there was literally no drain on the core, so it was feeding the core’s base. It would be a few months still, but the legendary core would regain its power. In a month I could summon its fairy guardian. Since time passes differently in the cores, I wondered if I would see some familiar faces. 

“My Lord. Sam is here to see you,” a fairy attendant announced from the entrance. 

“Enter,” I ordered dismissing the screens in front of me. 

Sam walked in, his robe glowing with power from being in a place of power for several days. His staff was the same way with a few runes that would boost his god given spells. I knew it was only a matter of time before Sam came back due to the bidding of Siateth. 

I leaned forward placing an elbow on the arm of the throne. “Sam! So glad to see you!” I shouted. 

“Master Oberon,” Sam said kneeling in front of the throne. A moment later I noticed Alessa walk in followed by Vaunn. I tilted my head but only smiled. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure? I thought you planned to spend the better part of the foreseeable future in the temple,” I asked. 

“Indeed. Master Siateth bid me deliver a message to you since he could not speak to you personally,” Sam said bowing his head deeper. 

If I had eyes they would have narrowed at that statement. So, some of my mental defenses were still in place. I would have to thank the Goddess Revi if I ever see her again. Glad to see the deal I paid so dearly for was still in affect even as an undead. I returned my focus back to Sam.

“And? What is the message?” 

“As Siateth says, ‘Make me your country’s Guardian Deity and I shall reveal the location of Mercy,’” Sam said. 

“Mercy. It should have been destroyed with my death… No… I guess it required my soul’s destruction,” I said rubbing my chin. 

Mercy. An artifact of great power. It was based on a Magic technology that tied directly to the lay lines drawing… as much mana as you could ever need for, well, anything. Mercy was special in that it would fuse with a user’s mana pool turning them into a god for a short time. 

I glanced at my skeleton hand. If I could regain Mercy, my body would allow for the channeling of power unheard of on the lower realms. I was able to destroy a city with Mercy as a normal human. What could I do with it as an undead?

“Country Deity… Siateth does know that he is required to protect the people of the country and NOT kill them all correct?” I asked Sam with a bony grin. 

“Lord Siateth is tired of watching the other Pantheon from the sidelines. As the forces of the living grow in number the others gain more and more followers. The forces of evil as they are called are divided and hunted on sight. The Pantheon started as equals as did their creations, so why should Lord Siateth’s creation be destroyed for simply existing. Do you not already plan to lay waste to half the continent?” Sam asked. I looked up and noticed there was a glow of gold from his eye sockets. It was barely noticeable, only a few specks but it had leaked out when he started to get excited. 

“Its rude not to announce yourself in another person’s abode. Lord Siateth,” I said with a chuckle. 

I noticed Alessa jerk from where she stood on the side of the room. It looks like she didn’t know. I sighed as I wondered what type of deal he offered her. Something for later I suppose.

“My apologies. You know who we so love our games,” Sam or rather Siateth said standing up form his kneeling position. 

“Then how much of it was a game and how much is it the truth?” 

“All of it was the truth. My dominion shrinks by the day. As the souls of my creations are sent to new rings, the races of good,” Siateth said with a growl, “grow ever more numerous.” 

“As long as good exists there will always be evil,” I said with a shrug. 

“This is a truth. I will never truly be gone, but the other gods mock me. A petty reason to try and overthrow most of life on the planet sure, but I’m a god.” 

“I see,” I said simply.

Siateth seem to deflate for a moment at my casual remark. “Fine! Fine. When I sensed you at the temple, I knew I had a way to strike at the others in a way that hadn’t been done in an eon. The once great Oberon, Champion of the light and justice, now a bastion of evil and revenge. I wanted to see the looks on their faces when their petty kingdoms burned.”

“That sounds more like the Siateth I knew. Did you already make a deal with her?” I asked as I pointed over to Alessa. 

“Not yet,” Siateth mumbled. 

“Send us a vampire that can teach her without forcing her into a deal and I’ll consider your offer. You have a lot of points correct in that I plan to break a lot of things, but I don’t like being told to do it,” I said leaning back in my throne. 

Siateth ground his teeth as he thought it over. Finally, he sighed and said, “deal.”