Back at the academy, Grifus promoted all the Prospect-ranked students that participated in the fight with the zombies to Initiate rank. It was a brief ceremony as the town was in potential danger from the Lich and Grifus needed to prepare its defenses. Jeze felt bad that she brought this trouble to them. She walked over and gently punched Zack on the arm.

  “Congratulations,” she said.

  Zack grinned at her. “Thanks, it is not Adventurer rank, but it’s a start.”

  “Give it time,” Jeze replied, nodding her head.

  “When are you leaving?” Zack asked.

  “Soon, I will visit the library first,” Jeze said, kicking the dirt with her feet. “I’m sorry for everything.”

  Zack arched an eyebrow. “You are threatening our town with an undead invasion?”

  Jeze rolled her eyes. “No, but I brought this trouble to your town.”

  Zack gripped her shoulders in his two hands and looked her in her eyes. “The world is a dangerous place, and sooner or later, we will have to fight it. That is why we are training.”

  Jeze nodded, but she still felt bad and wondered if she should have just left the Hold Core with Berserker Orn. No, I need it to stop the Fiendish Lord and will not replace one tyrant with another! Kalina called out to her to hurry up.

  “I gotta go. Good luck,” Jeze said

  “You as well.”

  Jeze jogged over to join Kalina.

  “We have a lot of work to do,” the pale lady stated.

  The two entered the academy and made their way over to the library.

  “Where’s Grifus?” Jeze asked.

  “He is organizing the town’s defenses,” Kalina replied.

  Jeze nodded, her guilt rising back up in her chest like a bubbling geyser.

  Kalina tapped a small stack of books. “This is all that we could find on Necromancy. It’s not much, but it is a start.”

  For the next thirty minutes, the two skimmed through the books and found Rune chains. Because Necromancy was outlawed, the patterns were incomplete. The purpose of the books was to help the reader identify Necromancy.

  “Necromancy is a compound aspect comprising the Spirit, Affliction, and Life aspects,” Jeze observed.

  Kalina nodded, pointing to the text she read. “You were right. The Portal aspect Runes you used to contain the Hold Core can also be used to hide the gem.”

  Jeze leaned over to read the passage. It was a journal written by a Safe Zone member of the Runic Research Division. The author talked at length about how the Portal aspect can allow and restrict movement. Like the seals that trap the Fiendish Lord at the top. In theory, it could also hide the items it contains and not just power sources like the Hold Cores. The Portal Runes can block linked items such as the Lich’s red gems.

  “You should wrap the gem in the same Rune pattern you used for the Hold Core,” Kalina suggested.

  Jeze agreed and pulled out a clean cloth and started to write the Runic inscriptions in ink. Kalina’s black eyes went wide.

  “Are you mad? What happens if it gets wet? Like when it rains?” She asked.

  “I keep it in my pack,” Jeze replied, recognizing her error. “I was in a rush!” She cried.

  “But, now we have time. We should stitch these Runes onto the cloth to make them more stable,” Kalian suggested.

  Jeze agreed, and the two gathered the materials they needed from the school and went to work. Jeze learned to stitch from her work with Hannah, and Kalina learned from years adventuring where she needed to maintain clothes and armor. It was a long, arduous process to stitch the extensive Portal Rune patterns. The chains were normally long for all aspects but were considerably longer for the Portal aspect. It was the only aspect that could not be completed with a channeling tool and needed some sort of threshold to work. After hours of stitching, the two finished two clothes that were completely filled with Rune chains. Jeze tentatively wrapped the Hold Core within the new cloth and synched it tight with a thick string. She looked at Kalina, who nodded.

  “I can’t sense it.”

  “Good,” Jeze replied, gently placing it back within her pack. She turned to study the red gem as it sat on top of its cloth.

  “There are thousands of Runes etched onto this thing!” Kalina exclaimed.

  Jeze squinted and noticed the same thing. “It must have taken the Lich years to create each of these phylacteries.”

  “I only recognize the Mind and Life aspects, the others are gibberish to me,” Kalina said.

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  “The others are Spirit, and Affliction aspects,” Jeze answered.

  Kalina nodded, impressed. “We know that the Lich can take over a corpse with the gem. He also stated that the vampires resisted him, but in theory he could take over any undead that is in contact with the gem. So, we need to test if the Portal Chains work.”

  “How do we do that?” Jeze asked, leaning over the gem with narrowed eyes.

  Kalina sighed, answering, “We test it with a corpse or undead.”

  Jeze wrinkled her nose. “We can see if one of the zombie corpses remains, but I believe the town already provided proper burials for them.”

  It was hard on many of the newly promoted Initiates to know that the zombies were once people with families and lives. Such a tragedy! Jeze thought, and then worried about the other towns that the vampires visited. She could only hope that they had proper defenses.

  “I was not thinking about using a zombie,” Kalina said, reaching for the gem with a shaking hand.

  “Kalina no!” Jeze cried, but it was too late.

  The pale lady picked up the gem, and her arm shriveled, turning gray. Kalina let out a gasp. Oh no! Jeze inwardly screamed. Outwardly, she searched for options. What can I do? Kalina started laughing.

  “How convenient of you! To keep one of my phylacteries!” Kalina spoke in the voice of the Lich, but the transformation was not complete. Kalina hunched over and growled as she fought off the Lich’s control.

  “You can do it! Put it back on the cloth!” Jeze cried.

  Kalina howled as she reached out her fist, but it froze just inches above the Rune-inscribed fabric. Only her arm was shriveled in the shape of the Lich’s arm, and it was clear she was fighting off the undead caster’s influence. Jeze stood across the table from her. Kalina looked at her with pure black eyes and spoke in a voice that was not hers.

  “Just give me the Hold Core, and I will make it worthwhile. You can serve me as my apprentice. Think about the power you can achieve? The knowledge I can share?” Lev’s voice said through Kalina’s lips.

  “What will you do with the Hold Core? Do you think it will take you to Hero rank?” Jeze asked.

  “Yes!”

  “Then what?”

  Kalina’s face pulled back into a smirk. “Silly girl. Us foolish mortals developed the ranking system, and we failed to see beyond!”

  “There are higher ranks than Hero?”

  “Of course there are!” Lev cried.

  Jeze narrowed her eyes. “What will you do then? Conquer the Golden Empire?”

  “That’s a start,” the Lich answered.

  Jeze made sure to keep her gaze raised away from the gem that was clenched in Kalina’s fist just above the Portal Rune stitched fabric. “Then what? The world?”

  The Lich, through Kalina’s body, chuckled. “Yes, and then much more. Do you think you are distracting me? Stop denying the inevitable. I can take the Hold Core if I want to, but I am offering you a chance to achieve greatness!”

  Jeze stuck her chin out and challenged, “Really? Well, go ahead and take it.”

  Kalina’s body trembled, but her fist remained frozen above the fabric. The Lich scowled through Kalina’s face. “Fool!”

  Thinking fast Jeze picked up a heavy tome and slammed it on top of the clenched fist. Kalina released the gem the instant she touched the Rune inscribed fabric and she fell back, trembling.

  “Kalina! Are you alright?” Jeze asked, rushing to her friend’s aid.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? How’s your arm?” Jeze prodded limb.

  Kalina’s undead powers returned her arm back to normal. She gently pulled away from Jeze and rose to her feet.

  “I’m fine,” she said again. “Give me some space.”

  “Sorry,” Jeze replied and took a step back.

  Kalina held her head in her hands. Her body was trembling.

  “Can I get you anything?” Jeze offered.

  Kalina inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled. The trembling stopped. “No, thank you. Our minds connected and I - I saw his plans.”

  “You did?”

  “It’s horrific. He is truly vile. He plans to overrun as many towns as possible to raise an undead army,” Kalina said, her voice cracking.

  “We will stop him,” Jeze promised and asked, “Where is he?”

  Kalina rubbed his face. “I am not sure where he is, all I could gather was that he was far from us. Deep within the Golden Empire.

  “We have to find Grifus,” Jeze said.

  Kalina, trembling, nodded in agreement. The two left the library and it did not take long for them to locate the old instructor. When they were able to pull him away, they told him everything that happened.

  “That is troubling news, but not surprising, based upon what we saw earlier,” Grifus responded.

  “What about the other vampires and the undead army?” Jeze asked, worry etched on her face like the shadows before dusk.

  “I will put the word out to alert the Templars when they arrive here.”

  “The one’s hunting us?” Kalina asked.

  Grifus nodded. “They can mount a proper defense. That should contain the undead.”

  “What should we do now?” Jeze asked.

  “We stick to the plan. I know a scholar that,” Grifus said and looked around before continuing in a low voice, “that studies Necromancy.”

  Kalina gasped. “Can they be trusted?”

  “She’s harmless, just a bit eccentric,” Grifus answered.

  “Seems like that is our best bet to defeat the Lich. How do you know her?” Jeze asked.

  Grifus continued to scratch his head. “She was a former student of mine.”

  Kalina arched a pale eyebrow.

  Jeze nodded. “Where can we find her?”

  “The only place where a person can study Necromancy in secret. A place where others avoid,” Grifus answered.

  “Mount Dragon,” Kalina stated.

  “Yes, but not in the realm of Eclipse, but just beyond it,” Grifus added.

  Jeze’s eyes went wide, and she started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Kalina asked.

  “I have a friend who lives on Mount Dragon that owes me a favor,” Jeze answered.

  “What? On the mountain? Are you sure?” Grifus asked.

  Jeze nodded. “Kalina met him on the third floor.”

  “The Dark Swordsman?” Kalina asked.

  Grifus arched an eyebrow, “You know him?”

  “I do. Wait, you know him as well?” Jeze asked.

  “I’ve heard of him. Are you sure he lives on Mount Dragon?” Grifus replied.

  Jeze nodded.

  “Is he mad? What could be his reasoning to be near the great Dragon?” Grifus stated.

  Jeze grinned. “Yes, well, about that…”