A few weeks later, they were stopped by a small waterfall. The vast grasses still surrounded them, but now there were also some rocky inclines and small hills.
Bas and Tam had gone off to hunt and forage, leaving Orion and Hazel at their camp. The latter two hadn’t had a chance to talk by themselves for quite a while.
Sirius had wandered off and was playing with some dead flowers. She also seemed amused by batting at the grass and watching it sway back and forth.
Hazel had been reading his book, as he now did openly around them. However, he had stopped and his expression was complicated. He seemed to be searching for what words to say for a bit, sitting in the silence, but finally he asked, “Where did you find Sirius?”
“Near a graveyard a few years ago.” Orion was working on her horse’s saddle. She had neglected to clean it for a bit and that neglect had been showing.
“You know it’s not normal, right?
“Finding a pet in a cemetery? Yeah.”
“No. I mean . . .” Hazel was looking at Sirius. There was a hint of fear in his face, the type that had shown up when he first met Orion’s companion. “Necromancer’s eyes look like this because they’re been corrupted too much by the energy of death. Any major use of necromancy does it. Our eyes are an obvious give away. However, this also comes with some uses.”
“Stop fucking trying to tell me whatever it is gently. Just, say it.” Orion was pretty sure this wasn’t about a phobia of animals anymore.
“Sirius isn’t alive, not really. She’s also not dead. I don’t know how, or what she is.” Hazel pointed to his book. “I’ve been trying to figure her out for months and I still have no idea.”
Orion guessed that explained why Hazel freaked the fuck out that morning. She never knew what species Sirius was. “Does that change anything?”
“Aside from knowing that your companion is some sort of eldritch, unknown, or mysterious entity, no.”
“Well. Thanks for telling me?” Orion muttered.
“You’re welcome.” Hazel sat up a bit straighter and nodded his head towards Orion. “Thank you for dealing with that lady when I was drunk. I never had the proper chance to thank you.”
“Oh. Yeah. No problem.”
“I’ve been curious for a while.” Hazel seemed to have decided for today and now to be the time to talk about everything that happened. “What’s your relationship to Tel Legen?”
Orion hesitated. She wasn’t sure what to say.
“We’re all in a conspiracy to kill him.”
“Yeah.”
“And the only person with motives still hidden is you.”
“I think he might know something about my past.”
Hazel stared at her for a few moments, then nodded and went back to reading his book. He didn’t seem satisfied, but didn’t press further.
Orion wasn’t done talking. “It’s not just spooky evil energy. Anyone I talked to doesn’t view it like that. So, what’s necromancy?”
“Using the essence of death, termed ‘death energy’ by Tel Legen, to do things. Chalk helps direct the energy to go where we want and do the things we want. Handling the essence directly is dangerous.”
“How dangerous?”
“If someone isn’t a master, going insane, turning undead, or crumbling to dust. I have seen all of these on the battlefield.”
“Then I don’t understand how’d everything with Tam work out for her to be healed. You and she were handling energy pretty directly.”
“I can handle it, as for Tam. You saw how I had her use that metal eye? It’s not really a purifier, it’s a converter. It turns death energy back into life energy which can be used to heal. It’s still possible to reform things with death energy, but it leaves a stain on the body. Death energy is associated with something that passed on. It’s not wrong that necromancers often have to deal with the souls of the dead, memories of the dead, or emotions of the dead.”
“How much do you have to handle to have your eyes turn dark?” Every necromancer that Orion had ever seen had those eyes. Pitch black irises with equally black sclera around. It was like the most damning form of pink eye had been invented to scream that someone used death magic.
“As I said before, just once isn’t enough.” Hazel paused. He was holding his book open now, fingers acting as a bookmark for the spot he had left off. “Life energy can also leave a visible mark. Not everyone with white eyes has them because they don’t have death energy.”
“Wait, what the hell. Are you saying people that are blind could be-”
“No. Tam should just be happy that it wasn’t her eyes damaged. I can’t heal eyes and make them look normal. There was someone else that I helped—an ice mage—I took energy of death from a swamp and rebuilt her eyes with life energy. Everything went as it should have, but her eyes were pure white like an undead, even though the woman was still alive.” Hazel waited for a response, then wrote down a note, quietly talking to himself, “It might be possible to temporarily purify the eyes of necromancers with that method. Rebuilding the eyes with life energy…”
The first part of what Hazel said reminded Orion of the ritual and how everything around them died. She waited for him to finish writing before she asked, “Were you really able to avoid taking from us?
“Yes and no. I did take your death energy. Everything that is alive is also dying.” Hazel added, “I avoided Sirius because I wasn’t sure if that would affect her negatively or overpower the converter.”
Orion guessed that made sense. In her classes on biology, the body was made of cells that were dying and being replaced all of the time. Mortal things and mortal people will produce both energies of life and death.
With the whole idea of needing lines to direct energy would that mean these energies act like electricity? That’s a thought for if Orion ever studies ritualistic magic. She probably never would.
“How hard is it to get those converters?”
“Hard. That was my only one. I had to make it with special materials.”
“Oh.” Orion wasn’t sure whether to thank Hazel or say she was sorry.
Hazel went back to reading his book.
Soon, breaking the silence, were Tam and Bas. They brought food and a fire was started. It was Hazel’s turn to cook. The smell of skewered meat was wonderful and fragrant.
“Who is your friend you mentioned before, the one who owns the phoenix? Can we trust him?” Hazel questioned.
Bas nodded. “The one I sent a letter to previously is in Nu; he will pass my request along to the friend whose help we need. We can trust both of them.”
“What other help can we expect?”
“My faction’s. I will be sending letters to them soon for some basic preparations.”
“Good.” Hazel shifted uncomfortably, before asking, “Does Tel Legen still have his favorite consort change almost at random?”
Bas threw his hands outwards. “The harem politics kept changing so much that at this point they’re all just immune to whoever his favorite is.”
Hazel rolled his eyes. “I bet he still has them speak for him because he’s too lazy to handle court.”
“Yeah, he still does,” Bas responded with a huff.
Complaining about Tel Legen seemed to be a well worn routine between the two men.
Orion was largely ignoring the conversation in favor of being the first to have roasted meat. She pulled three skewers out of the ground by the fire before either man noticed. She gave the third to Sirius.
Tam followed suit quickly.
Hazel sighed a bit at not having had a chance to eat, but went back to cooking. He wasn’t dumb enough to try prying food from anyone else’s hands, nor rude enough to consider it.
———
Three days later, Orion had gone off by herself in the next town, with only Sirius for company. She planned to buy a cut of ribs; they cost less due to the small amount of meat, yet would result in quite a lot of bones for Sirius to chew on.
The local butcher shop was run by a couple. The wife was a short woman who wielded her cleaver with skill. Her husband weighed the ribs and then calculated out the price. Orion haggled some and let the kids running around the shop pet Sirius.
Orion was walking on her way back when her arm was grabbed.
“You, you!”
Orion turned out to see a lady with reddened eyes. She shook the lady’s hand off roughly. “Yeah, me, what?”
Sirius hissed loudly and pressed herself against Orion’s legs.
“The prophecy was correct! You’re the chosen one.” The crazy lady was covered in tattoos and various charms. A long shawl was covering her shoulders. Her face had not wrinkled, but she didn’t look young.
Orion backed away. “Go try to con someone else. I’m not dumb enough to get involved.” She knew how prophecies went. She’s read books about chosen ones before—their lives never ended well.
“Blood. Death. Life. These surround your fate,” the lady spat out. Her expression worsened. “The High Lady of Desire has spoken against you. That three faced dog will not protect you. Your destiny has been decided ever since you came here.”
An ice blade formed in Orion’s hand and she held it out, ignoring the stares from the passersby. “I’ll decide my own fucking fate, thanks. Get lost.”
The crazy lady mumbled under her breath as she left.
Orion let the ice blade fall down and stamped it to pieces under her boot. She was thinking, as she watched Bas, Tam, and Hazel approach from the other side of the road. Not much could be from their conversation, but with the help of the wind, she could tell they were talking about the future of the kingdom.
Although she didn’t believe the conman, she was considering things again—whether trying to kill the king was smart. She was definitely involved in this now, however, that didn’t mean her sides were chosen for sure. By all measures, siding with the king would pay well and made more sense.
And yet . . .
Orion watched them as they walked towards her and found she couldn’t seriously entertain the thought of getting them killed.
“God, I’m a fucking idiot.”
A/N
9/29 Chapter Upload Spree
Orion is very much just: Can’t believe I can’t convince myself to just betray them and not risk my life. this is horrible.
I may take some time to write some extra chapters that would be inserted after chapter 20, so that may lead to delay in uploading. We’ll have to see.
