by Wolfe Locke
“Edd!” someone shouted. He looked over. It was Colubra, leaning up against the Practice Arena wall.
“Freeze it,” she said. “Every time it tries to shift, keep it from changing shape!”
Edd looked at the revenant flying above his head. It was a good idea. But he didn’t want to freeze Yarrl as a dragon. If he wounded it, though, it would have to change to heal itself.
Gritting his teeth, he fired a rapid volley of ice at it, trying to bring it down. It weaved around the flurry of Frost Novas, but it couldn’t dodge them all. A large ice shard lodged itself in the dragon’s wing, and it crashed to the ground, screeching.
It transformed into a dire wolf, and Edd moved quickly.
As he had with the iron golem in the arena, he encased the revenant in solid ice, leaving it frozen solid except for its face. It struggled to free itself, but all it could change was its head. It flickered between forms— lizard, falcon, crocodile— while its body remained stuck as a wolf. Finally, it stopped panting. Its head had become that of a man.
Edd narrowed his eyes, knowing the battle was over. He had toyed with the revenant long enough. Drawing on his memories of the Arena, he gathered his magic to him and twisted it sideways with his mind.
Storm of Swords.
The entire Practice Arena lit up with blue fire as icicle after icicle slammed into Yarrl’s body, lifting it off the ground. The revenant screamed in agony as the ice pierced its flesh.
It was an eerie, high-pitched wail, the sound of a dead thing dying again. Edd laughed as he watched Yarrl suffer. He knew it was cruel, but the rush of power as he used his magic to its full potential was intoxicating. He kept the relentless barrage of ice going long after he knew he had won.
Finally, he let it subside. Yarrl was on the ground, twitching. It still wasn’t dead yet. Its yellow eyes gazed up at Edd helplessly, looking for mercy, but Edd wasn’t feeling particularly merciful. Spear in hand, he stalked over to the revenant, moving deliberately and purposefully. It was time to end this.
Edd looked at Zekant, who nodded, pleased. It felt good to have the Dark Lord’s approval. He looked down Yarrl’s quivering body. Pathetic.
“I said I’d kill you,” Edd said quietly. “I do not make idle threats.”
“We all act according to our nature,” Yarrl gasped. “The Dark Lord made me this way. I do only what I have been created and commanded to do.”
Zekant hadn’t heard the revenant’s comment. He was grinning widely, face shadowed by his glacial helm. Edd felt a prickle of unease. What if the revenant hadn’t been the soul of Pyke Wildwood at all? What if it had been a simulacrum created by the Dark Lord to test him? Was he being manipulated?
Yarrl heaved on the ground. “If you’re going to kill me, do it now,” it rasped. “I am tired of living in this useless body.”
Edd raised his spear high then stopped. He ran his tongue over his fangs. His vampiric aspect had been underutilized to date and had grown dormant. He’ll no longer benefit from it, so I might as well use it. Throwing the spear aside, he kneeled to the ground.
“Don’t worry,” he said to the revenant. “Part of you will live on.”
Then he sank his teeth into revenant’s throat. The revenant twitched and heaved as Edd drank its putrid blood. It tasted awful, like the grave, but Edd swallowed it anyway. He could feel himself absorbing Yarrl’s power and abilities. Finally, with one last dying convulsion, the revenant lay still.
Notification: Ability Gained “Monster Transformation”
Details: You have gained the ability to transform into monsters.
Current Forms – Giant Bat, Dire Wolf, Lesser Dragon, and Nagini.
Notification: Ability Evolution “Ice Monsters”
Details: The ability Monster Transformation has evolved, becoming “Summon Ice Monster.”
Current Summons – Ice Bat and Ice Wolf.
Notification: You have unlocked Vampiric Aspect Type III.
Details: By consuming a fully sentient being, you have taken a portion of its power for yourself. In the future, any opponents destroyed this way will also provide additional stats.
Edd stood up. He felt incredibly powerful, like he could conquer the world. Edd the Conqueror, indeed. It was the first time he felt worthy of the name. He shot a volley of ice magic across the Practice Arena, and it came out wolf-shaped and running.
Ice creatures. A new ability. He had absorbed that power from the revenant. His vampiric nature would come in handy, after all.
His ice wolf loped over to the Dark Lord and sat at his feet, ears pricked attentively. Zekant patted its head then snapped his fingers. The wolf dissolved into a flurry of snowflakes. Edd gritted his teeth, irritated. Zekant had destroyed his wolf!
Unfazed, he sent out three more. They sprinted around the Practice Arena exultantly, howling. The other Champions had joined his cohort to watch the fight, and they cheered as the ice wolves passed them.
Wiping the revenant’s rancid blood from his face, Edd grabbed his spear and raised it high— not to Zekant but to the crowd.
“You see!” he shouted. “I have destroyed the revenant. And if anyone thinks to come after me, I will do the same to them!”
The crowd of monsters did not respond, fearful of their Dark Master and drawing his wrath.
His own name ringing in his ears, Edd turned to look Zekant right in the eyes as his wolves gathered around him. He did not salute.
Behind him, the other champions moved away, fearful of what he had become...
* * *
Zekant was conflicted as he returned to his quarters. He had been pleased with Edd’ victory over the revenant, but the skeleton’s sudden insubordination had disturbed him. This was not how things were supposed to go. His champions were meant to be obedient and loyal without question.
“Crixa,” he snapped as he sat at his desk. The spider-monster appeared immediately.
“Yes, master?” the spider monster replied, hoping to avoid the conversation.
“What was that today?” Zekant aked.
“He defeated the revenant,” Crixa said uncertainly. “As you had hoped.”
“You think that went exactly as I had hoped?”
Crixa shuffled uneasily. “Edd has spirit. You knew that when you resurrected him from the Well of Souls, Master.”
“Not this much spirit,” Zekant said. “This will be a liability in the war.”
“Or an asset—” Crixa tried to say.
“A liability,” Zekant said firmly. “I need my servants to be reliable. We must break him.”
“I don’t think—” Crixa responded, cut off.
“Will you constantly make me repeat myself?” Zekant snapped. “I have said we will break him. These are my orders. He must be broken.”
“My Lord,” Crixa said, “I must object. Edd is a good soldier. He could be a great one. Trying to crush him will make him more rebellious. If you treat him fairly, he will serve you.”
“Crixa,” Zekant said. “I created you, and I can unmake you just as easily. I resurrected Edd as well. He is my slave and mine to do with as I wish. Disrespect as he has shown to me will not be tolerated.”
Crixa bowed low, silently acquiescing to the Dark Lord’s command.
Zekant nodded curtly. “Good. I will send you plans tomorrow.”
The monster vanished. Alone again, Zekant turned back to his pile of scrolls. There was work to be done before the war, and he was determined to see it through to its conclusion.
Lord November approached from the shadows, once again wearing his own dark armor, the holes where his wings had been continuing to bleed. “I have a proposal, Zekant. The skeleton has my favor, I would buy him from you.”
Zekant stopped what he was doing, “I had thought you went back to your dungeon. Are you so bored with the humans you must bother me?”
The scarred man smiled. “It is far less complicated than that. I am expanding my dungeon. I could use a minion like Edd to help manag
e a floor. I do not trust the demons Amarath has bonded to us.”
Zekant turned and looked, “And what would you part with that would ever be worth the price of Edd?”
“I would offer the one thing you crave most in this endeavor of yours. Fresh souls. Not those taken from the Well, not those doomed by the Gehenna Pits. The newly dead. Those yet unwarped by the eternal darkness that awaits them,” Lord November explained.
Zekant signed. The idea has merit. I’ll need heroes, though, actual heroes. Not broken souls and tormented villains. The loss of Edd might be worth it...
“I want three souls of unselfish heroes that die within your dungeon. That is what would make this deal worth it for me,” Zekant finally responded.
Lord November smiled. “It is a deal,” he said as he pulled out an eldritch looking cage from within his own spacial ring. “I’ve a thousand such souls right here. Count the remaining towards the purchase of other slaves.”
“Fine, it is a deal,” Zekant responded. “I will have Edd sent to you immediately.”
Lord November smiled and prepared to leave, saying before he left, “Make sure to send that flesh golem of his, wherever he’s hidden it. It will become a powerful butcher in its own right.”
Afterword
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