《Dark Arts - The Book Of Shadows and Thorns》


 Chapter 01 - Birth of an Elder Lich

    Hello Everyone and sorry for my long absence but college is very time consuming and all of my limited free time was put into working on a full length novel, which is this fiction. Hopefully with this post you will forgive me for my long absence and not try and chain me up in my basement.(The last time that happened I wasted nearly two hours getting loose.)


    I have finished/dropped Azran because I ran out of ideas and it was becoming rather monotonous. The pacing in Azran was pretty horrible and hopefully this fiction will be much better as he will get stronger slower than Azran did. Sure he receives a major power boost in the first chapter but that only makes him slightly stronger than most mages, there are many more powerful beings out there, as he soon finds out.


    Once again, Thank You All for your continuous support for my previous fictions and hopefully you will continue to support me in this new one. I truly appreciate all of your criticism, ratings, ideas, and views. Thank You and enjoy.


    Chapter 01: Birth of an Elder Lich


    A massive cracking sound erupted from inside the large pentagram that I had created. I watched as blue fire erupted into a 12 foot high blaze with reality seeming to warp around it as a portal to the Abyss opened. I had finally done it, three years of constant studying, researching and failed summonings had finally born fruit. Everyone had said that I was insane, they said that not even the biggest fool around would even consider trying to summon a 9th level demon as their first summon. Hell, even most Magister ranked summoners had only managed to summon and bind an 8th level demon. In hindsight I might have been better off if I had just started at the bottom and worked my way up but I wanted power and immortality so I decided to do something that was completely against common sense.


    The demon I was trying to summon was a Soul Eater from the 9th level of the Abyss. Soul Eaters were infamous for their incredible cruelty and the ability to permanently kill immortal beings by devouring their souls. They were immensely powerful and some of them have been known to cross over to the 10th level of the Abyss,(There are 21 levels in the Abyss) a feat which is impossible for any other creature from the 9th level. It is extremely dangerous to try and summon a demon that was stronger than you are but I had a good reason for attempting it. The reason was because I needed to summon a demon of at least the 9th level to be able to preform a soul binding ritual which would result in my obtaining immortality.


    There have been many humans who have sought immortality throughout the ages but I was going to be the first one to truly obtain it. Normally it would be impossible for my idea to work, but I had the Book of Shadows and Thorns, so nothing was truly impossible. I had obtained the book from my mentor when I was 12, it was his most prized possession and his greatest secret.


    The Book of Shadows and Thorns was a thin book that had ten blank pages but when you asked it a question that was related to the Dark Arts, the answer would appear on the blank pages although it was often accompanied by a puzzle, riddle or cypher that contained an important part of the information. It was said to contain all of the knowledge of the Dark Arts and the only thing that kept its owner from being the most powerful person in existence was that he had to know what questions to ask and how to interpret the answer. It was a fabulous treasure and one that had ensnared me so quickly that I had murdered my mentor in his bed to obtain it.


    In this world there is nothing that matters more than strength and only the strong can survive. Family, love, friendship, all of these things are worthless in the face of power. I learned this lesson when I was very young and I have walked the path of power ever since. This was why I had was risking my life for a 9th level demon servant and immortality because it would give me access to the power that I needed to survive.


    I grinned widely as the demon stepped forth from the Abyss, she was beautiful. The demon was about 7 feet tall with a slim body frame, long silken black hair, large breasts and pale white skin that was impervious to most weapons. She was extremely beautiful and the only things that showed she was different from a gorgeous human woman were the white horns that curved around her head towards the front, slitted golden eyes, and the two large black feathered wings that sprouted from her shoulders. It really was an entrancing scene that could ensnare most men but I knew better. No matter how appealing her form was I knew how dangerous and cruel the monster that lurked beneath her skin was.


    All demons were alike in that aspect as they constantly hungered for power and destruction, for them it was a necessity like food and water was to humans. Kindness or mercy would be wasted on them as they would exploit it as the weakness it was. The only way to truly gain a demon''s respect or loyalty was to beat them down and suppress them with your power, only after you had shown them that you were strong enough to be their master would they accept you.


    The problem with summoning demons that were far stronger than you were was that you would be unable to dominate them and they would refuse to accept you. Then even if you somehow managed to bind them so that they had to obey your orders, they would not respect you and would do everything in their power to make your life miserable without contradicting your orders. On the other hand if you were not strong enough to suppress them they would escape and tear you and anyone they could reach to pieces.


    Ironically if you were able to suppress them they would be willingly enter into a binding with you and they would be completely loyal to the agreement. For creatures that sought power, destruction, and the fulfillment of their desires above all else, they were frustratingly loyal to any contracts or bindings.


    The Soul Fusion and Binding Ritual was an extremely complex ritual designed to overcome the traditional problems that occurred with a binding. The ritual would begin with the summoning of the demon inside of a multi-layered pentagram that consisted of 13 pentagrams all drawn overtop one another without disturbing any of the runes that were carved into the pentagram below. Each of these pentagrams served a different function in the restraining and suppression of the demon''s strength and magic in both the physical and astral planes of existence. Once the demon had been successfully isolated in the pentagram the summoner would then begin to chant a dual layered spell that lasted for 13 lines.


    Unlike normal spells, a dual spell forced the magician to say two completely different spells at the same time. It was extremely hard to do this and it had taken me an entire year just to learn how to speak in dual layers. The first layer of the spell would use the demon''s own mana pool to suppress it and then it would begin binding the demon''s soul to the summoner. The second layer of the spell would fuse the demon''s soul to the summoners, allowing the summoner to absorb aspects of the demon''s soul such as their immortality, immense mana pool, and their immunity to fire. It also gains you a demon that is utterly loyal to you because it now sees you as the dominant part of its soul. Not all of the effects of the Soul Fusion and Binding ritual are positive though. The summoner will also absorb certain aspects of the demon''s psyche and while it is not certain which aspects will be absorbed, it is somewhat disturbing to know that you are discarding what made you human.


    Whatever. Power is all that matters in this world so why should I concern myself with


    humanity.  I grinned unconsciously as I thought of the massive amounts of power that would soon be mine in return for the small sacrifice of humanity. The enjoyable feeling quickly passed as a shaking sound originated from the pentagram. The demon slammed her fist into the invisible wall that was created by the pentagram and screamed. Even from withing the constriction of the pentagram she could sense the level of my power and she was deeply insulted that one such as I dared to summon her. The pentagram was built to withstand her power but I did not want to take any chances so I quickly began to chant the spell. As he words spilled out of my mouth I kept one eye on the demon to watch the effect that it had on her. If I was doing this correctly then I would be able to notice the effect and if I wasn''t then I was shrakked since the pentagram would not hold together. (Shrakk is a common curse word in this world.)


    Sure enough, as I began the third line she began to tremble as her own mana pool began to pressure her. She opened her mouth in a soundless scream as she hurriedly pounded her fists into  the invisible wall with a strength that belied her slim form. I gave a silent shudder as I watched the pentagram flex for a moment before returning to its previous form. If the pentagram wasn''t there I would be shrakked, her power had reached a seriously frightening level. I gave a tiny shake of my head as I concentrated on the spell, the last thing I needed was for me to make a mistake in the wording and pronunciation of the spell.


    A miserable scream was ripped from the demon''s mouth as she dropped to her knees. All of her mana had been turned against her and it had completely overwhelmed her physical strength. She tried to stand back up but the pressure from her mana pool was forcing her down to the ground and her muscles could not take the strain. As I watched her I began to chant faster in growing anticipation for the power that would soon become mine. By the time I had finished the 10th line, the demon was lying flat on the ground completely helpless and suppressed. The last few lines of the ritual went smoothly and in no time at all the spell was activated.


    I screamed as my soul began to melt, fusing itself with the demon''s soul. I knew that it would hurt but I had never imagined the magnitude of the pain involved. I knew that even the slightest injury to a person''s soul could make them feel horrible pain but I didn''t think that it would be like having my very existence torn apart and remade. It felt like a million white hot needles had been thrust through every part of my body, while I was being roasted alive and doused in acid. Or at least that is what I would describe the feeling as, even though I have never had any of those things happen to me. I thought that the pain of having my soul remade was as bad as it could possibly be but the next couple of seconds proved me wrong.


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    During those couple of seconds I experienced every single second of the demon''s life, an unseen side effect of melding two souls together, I would know everything that happened to her and she would know everything that happened to me. Some people would not consider this to be true pain but in the span of a few seconds I felt every emotion, injury, and desire she had ever felt over the 96,256 years since her birth. Her name was Navaris and she was one of the youngest demons on the 9th level of the Abyss but due to her Soul Eater heritage she was in the middle ranks of the 9th level when it came to power. There was a whole lot of other stuff that I learned from her life in the Abyss but frankly I didn''t have the time to comprehend any of it.


    I could feel my body shifting and changing itself as my soul finished integrating with Navaris'' soul. It seemed to be recreating itself according to the attributes that I had absorbed or copied from Navaris'' soul. The pain had lessened as the majority of my soul had integrated with Navaris'' and now my body simply had to adjust to my new race. I had no idea what it would be or what attributes I had absorbed from Navaris but I could already feel my mana pool expanding and granting me access to a massive amount of mana that dwarfed my previous capacities. Having access to that much power was like having an adrenaline rush when you were high on Tare, it was an addicting rush of power that made you feel like you were invincible.


    Unfortunately, I was only able to enjoy this rush of power for a few seconds before the pain began again as my body began to remake itself so that it could contain the power I had obtained. It was like there was an itch under my skin and no matter what I did I couldn''t scratch it. This feeling intensified until I dropped to the ground and began clawing at my flesh, desperate to get to the irritant. My flesh fell off of my body in chunks as I dug my fingers into my muscles and began ripping. Strangely the amount of pain I felt from this was far less than what I had felt when my soul melted. It was possible that my new nature was suppressing the pain but before I could reach any conclusion, my consciousness dropped into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.


    I have no idea how long I stayed unconscious but even while I slept I could feel my bones cracking, stretching, healing, and then hardening. It was apparent that when I awoke I would be confronted with several major changes to my body but I had prepared myself for this possibility when I decided to forsake my humanity for power. Once I managed to come to terms with forsaking my very identity for power, any physical changes seemed unimportant by comparison. It was possible that I would become some sort of human-demon hybrid but I couldn''t say for sure because the Book of Shadows and Thorns said that the result of the ritual depended on how well it was performed. I would simply accept and deal with whatever form I found myself in, even if it was that of an ugly humanoid frog.


    ''Well it''s not quite that bad, but even if it was, you should know that there are ways around that sort of thing.'' An entrancing female voice rang out in my head responding to my unspoken thoughts. I was startled for a moment but I quickly recognized the voice as Navaris'' and remembered that having a fused soul meant that we could always read each others thoughts, although if I wished I could conceal mine from her because I was the dominant member of our relationship.


    ''Well, what am I? Since you seem to be awake and aware of the situation outside.''


    ''Well at least you''re not gloating over managing to suppress me. As far as I can tell your body is reshaping itself into a variant of an Elder Lich as that one of the forms closest to a humans that is capable of containing a being that is immortal. The reason no human has ever obtained immortality is because their mind, body and soul are unable to comprehend it and even if they could their bodies, minds, and souls would be destroyed from the sheer amount of power it takes to make and immortal. Our Soul Fusion could have resulted in your transformation into dozens of other immortal races but I am 99% certain that in this case it is turning you into an Elder Lich.¡±


    I thought about what she had said and had to admit that it made a lot of sense but I had never heard of an Elder Lich before so I would obviously have to find out what that was. ''That is quite interesting. What is this Elder Lich? I have never heard of it before but I am rather young and I have only scratched the surface of the Dark Arts.''


    ''Oh, I thought all humans knew about Elder Lichs. Perhaps it has been so long since one has walked your world that humans have simply forgotten about them. I suppose it is also possible that there have never been any Elder Lichs on this world and that they exist solely on other worlds but that is highly unlikely.


    Listen closely, An Elder Lich is a powerful undead creature with a skeletal form. An Elder Lich evolves from an ordinary Lich that it is much smaller and weaker. Most Lichs are actually Necromancers who used Forbidden Magic to transform their bodies into an undead skeleton. If they survived the transformation and studied and trained their magic for a couple hundred years then they would be able to evolve their body into that of an Elder Lich, which is very hard to kill and infamous for their ability to easily raise large amounts of undead.  The average Elder Lich is much taller than any ordinary Lich as they normally stand around 12-15 feet tall and have dark grey bones that are harder than steel as well as being completely impervious to mind control.


    However you are rather different from a normal Elder Lich since due to the Demonic nature of our fused souls your transformation went a little differently, mainly because of the aspects of my demonic nature that you absorbed. The aspects that I can currently identify are a demon''s complete lack of morals when it comes to fulfilling their desires, the ability to have more than one form, and the ability to regrow or recreate yourself from a fragment of your body, but I''ll explain more about that later.¡±


    ¡°Okay. First off it is pretty obvious that you are far more intelligent than I thought you would be and way more intelligent than I will ever be. I''m going to need some time to process that information so Do you have any questions that I can answer for you while I wait for my body to finish remaking itself?¡± I asked as I quickly tried to understand and connect all of what she had said. I thought that she had said I could regrow myself from a fragment of my body but that should be impossible.


    ¡°Actually I do. What is next? You fused your soul with that of a demon and jumped directly to the Magister level when you were only 23. So what do you want to do now? Do you have a plan for the future or are you just winging it? I''ve searched through all of your memories but I can''t find any trace of what you planned to do after you achieved Soul Fusion.¡±


    I paused for a moment as I considered the question before answering honestly. ¡°I have no idea. I spent the last several years searching and yearning for power but now that I have it, I have no idea what  to do with it. You''ve had the answers for all of my questions so far, so do you have any suggestions?¡±


    There was a pause for a few moments as Navaris considered my question before she answered. ¡°I suppose you could always try to build an empire and conquer the world. It''s not like no one has ever conquered a world or two before so you might be able to conquer this world if you play your cards right. I can do the basic strategy, analysis, and planning for the beginning of an empire but you will have to obtain more followers or summoned demons to do the physical labor and combat. My powers are mainly based around my intelligence and while my physical body is strong I am rather unskilled at physical combat. My magic and knowledge on the other hand are immense and there were few on the 9th level who could match me in those areas. After you awaken I would suggest finding an empire that accepts beings of all races, religions, and powers. Most of the human dominated countries would have you killed on sight, and even though your strength is at Magister level, you should never forget that there are always people who are stronger than you.¡±


    I nodded as I considered what she had suggested and her advice on where I should go next. Honestly it seemed like a good plan and I had nothing better to do so why shouldn''t I try and conquer the world. After all, I had all of eternity to get it right. ¡°All right, I''ll do it. I''ll try my hand at conquering the world. Now I believe that we have never been properly introduced. Ahem. Hello, I am Azran Vaughn, former heir to House Vaughn of the Shiran Kingdom. I am 23 years old, single, a practitioner of the Dark Arts and have currently obtained immortality by fusing my soul with yours.¡±


    Navaris'' voice seemed somewhat amused as she replied ¡°Hello Azran Vaughn. My name is Navaris and I am a 9th level Soul Eater who specializes in intelligence, analysis, planning, and using specialized and focused magic. I am currently the subordinate personality that resides within our fused souls, as long as one of us remains alive, the other will never die. I am over 90,000 years old and could care less about this world''s rules about sex and relationships. Shall we conquer the world together?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Yes we shall.¡± I grinned mentally as my body finished remaking itself and I felt myself being sucked into my new body. Light flooded my eyes as I awake and I grinned, or at least I tried to. I, Azran Vaughn, was awake and the world was about to find itself under new rule.

 Chapter 02 - The First Battle

    Hello Everyone, Sorry for the week long break but this week was exam week for college. I think I did pretty well but I''ll have to wait until next week to find out.


    Here is chapter 02. Enjoy!


    Please do not forget to rate, review, and follow. Let me know what you think.


    Chapter 02: The First Battle


    It was strange to look at my hand and only see bones, it was almost like I was in a different body or that this body was not my own. Well I didn''t think that I would immediately be able to fully use my new Elder Lich body, that would just be ridiculous.


    I used a simple reflection spell to create a psuedo mirror and then inspected my body through that and I have to say it was rather intimidating.  I was a full 13 feet tall with a skeleton that looked human-ish but had some significant differences from a human skeleton.


    One of the most obvious differences was the large red soul gem that was implanted on the front of my ribcage. It was about the size of a human head and contained quite a large amount of mana, giving me access to extra mana in case I used up my entire mana pool.


    Another of the obvious differences was how a dark mist was generated inside of my bones and seeped out and gathered mainly in my ribcage and inside my skull. Two glowing red orbs were located behind where my eyes would be and acted as visual and audio sensors, allowing me to be able to see and hear.


    There were a few other differences in bone structure and shape such as the fact that my fingers all ended in razor sharp points but other than those differences I looked like a giant human skeleton.


    With this my physical body had increased in strength tenfold and my magical strength had increased to the peak of the Magister level. The levels of magical proficiency were rather simple and progressed in this manner. Apprentice Mage, Mage, Advanced Mage, Great Mage, Arc-Mage, Magister, Grand Magister, Magus, Grand Magus, Arc-Magus, Paragon, High Paragon, Sovereign.


    I was close to breaking through to the level of a Grand Magister and once I did I would be able summon a 10th level demon. On the other hand with my current strength I could probably summon and bind a couple of 8th level demons or a high level elemental before my mana ran out.


    Fusing my Soul with Navaris'' had definitely given me a huge power boost but there were certain aspects of the fusion that worried me. My biggest worry was the Navaris would somehow find a way to overturn the Soul Fusion and make herself the dominant personality as she seemed to have far more control over our combined soul than I did.


    It was a little strange that one soul controlled both of our bodies but she seemed to be able to easily read my thoughts, emotions, and memories at will while I could not read hers. Her intelligence was far above mine and when it was combined with her knowledge and power she had an enormous advantage over me.


    I am pretty sure that the only thing that stopped her from being the dominant personality was the fact that The Soul Fusion and Binding Ritual was so complex that she could barely understand it. Abyss, even after three years of constant study I could barely glimpse at the ritual''s true purpose and the only reason I succeeded in performing it was because I only had to know what to do, not why I had to do it.


    The way she acted humble and subservient, easily volunteering information was also disturbing as demons never did that without being forced to. The only explanation was that she was waiting for me to let my guard down so that she could repress my personality or imprison me within my own mind.


    From the few short minutes I had spent with her I had recognized that she was far smarter than any demon I had ever encountered before and her skill with our soul bond was disturbing because it meant I would never be able to catch her off guard.


    As a matter of fact she was probably listening to every single thing I was thinking about and knew that I suspected her even though it wouldn''t make a difference. She could simply mold herself into whatever being was most calming and helpful to me so that I would eventually let my guard down.


    Demons excelled at deception and from what I could tell Navaris was one of the best at it. Well whatever, its not like I can do anything about it for now so I will just wait until I can do something about it.


    Anyway, after I spent some time admiring and experimenting with my new body I got ready to go to the Rai Empire''s capital, Tharsius because it was the only place I knew of that accepted all beings regardless of race.


    Before we left I spent a couple of hours comprehending a spell from the Book of Shadows and Thorns that allowed me to use magic to make a hooded cloak to hide my body so that I could move around easier.


    The Book of Shadows and Thorns gave me several spells for creating clothing from pure mana but the one that I ended up choosing was called the Cloak of Terror. The reason I chose it out of all the others was because it''s benefits were the best suited to my current condition and goals.


    Several of the other selections gave benefits such as invisibility against all types of detection magic, increased luck, increased charm and the ability to mildly hypnotize, or the ability to temporarily slow time but the Cloak of Terror offered several benefits that worked perfectly for me.


    The most important effect that the cloak offered was that as long as the hood was raised over my head, no one would be able to see what lay underneath the cloak. My hands, feet, and face would all be shrouded in an impenetrable dark mist with only two red, glowing orbs hovering where my eyes would be.


    Of course there were also side benefits like being able to infuse mana into the cloak to create a feeling of incredible terror all around you and the ability to use the cloak to wrap yourself in shadows making you almost completely invisible to the naked eye.


    I could have made the cloak look ragged and torn so that I appeared to be a person of no consequence but instead I made it appear to be very ornate and valuable with the cloak being made of black silk and lined with silver threads.


    If I was going to be an undead Dark Lord, I might as well be a well-dressed one. To the Abyss with poorly dressed Dark Lords and Kings, if you''re going to conquer the world then you damn better do it with style.


    It took me a couple of hours and a good tenth of my mana pool to create the Cloak of Terror with Navaris helping me but in my eyes it was worth the time and effort. I wasn''t ashamed of my new appearance but it might be better for me to avoid other humans for a while until I can grow a new body.


    Navaris told me that she had already started the process of growing a new body within my soul and that when it was finished I could freely switch between bodies. I just took what she said for granted because I have no idea how to grow a physical body within my soul and even if I did know how I probably didn''t have sufficient control over my new large mana pool to actually do it correctly.


    I mean really, what kind of inhuman freak can grow a body inside of his soul? I suppose the answer is an Elder Lich with demonic attributes but the whole thing sounds rather far fetched. I wouldn''t be surprised if she was actually taking parts of my soul away but even if she was I wouldn''t be able to do anything about it.


    I had never been to the Rai Empire before and only knew that it was about 200 miles to the west of my current position, so I had Navaris start drawing a teleportation pentagram since she was the expert on magic. Technically, she said that her main strengths lay in magical theory and complicated rituals and spells but a simple teleportation pentagram should be no problem at all.


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    Besides, this would allow me to perform a small test to see exactly how much control and expertise she has in magic and how much she exaggerated or made up. The quality of the teleportation pentagram would most likely reflect her actual knowledge of magic and if she was telling the truth then it should be readily apparent.


    While I was waiting for her to finish the teleportation pentagram I prepared a couple of spells just in case we were transported somewhere dangerous. In all honesty the amount of spells that I knew was pitifully low as I had devoted almost all my time to the Soul Fusion and Binding Ritual, but I do have to admit that the few  spells that I did know were really nasty.


    The spell that I had the most proficiency in was simply called Burst and it was a one word, dual layered spell. I simply had to say burst in dual layers and the spell would be activated. The more mana I  could pour into it the more severe the resulting explosion would be.


    The effect of the spell was rather simple too, I simply designated one item as a target and the spell burst outwards from that object destroying everything around it. It was originally designed for being used on anchors, items that were the base for wards and other protective spells, as the anchor would be targeted and the resulting explosion would destroy the magic that emanated from it, disabling the ward.


    I, however, had found an entirely new and nasty way to use it. I would target a person''s skeleton and then when it activated it would literally rip off any and all living tissue that surrounded the skeleton. The target''s skin and muscle would literally be shredded off of their bones while their inner organs and eyes would be liquified almost instantly.


    Of course this spell only worked if the target was not magically protected but with it''s fast activation time and its suitibility for close combat, it was one of my favorite spells. Sure it was more than a little gory and horrifying but as an Elder Lich I highly doubted that gore would bother me now. I couldn''t throw up even if I wanted to.


    Not that I would throw up in the first place. I was a powerful practitioner of the Dark Arts so why should I throw up at the sight of a little gore.


    I mean really, they don''t call it the Light and Fluffy Arts or the Unicorns and Rainbows Arts. No. They call them the Dark Arts because they''re shrakking Dark! I''ve done things that would give most humans nighmares for the rest of their lives and I always, always go for overkill.


    I learned that from my master. Once some pig-faced noble kidnapped someone that my former master cared about. My master went far far above that as he kidnapped and tortured everyone who knew him, was related to him, or had even talked to him on the street once. My masters acquaintance was returned rather quickly and then the noble was tortured and killed along with everyone else my master had kidnapped.


    Men, women, children, it didn''t matter we killed all of them and laughed as their blood gushed over our hands but I am straying from my original topic. Who cares about the murder of a bunch of useless human scum? Not me.


    The two things that I took away from my time with my former master was that you should always, always go for overkill and loving or caring about someone is a weakness that your enemies can exploit. Those were two of the rules that I lived by and I was determined to not break either of them.


    Anyway, I prepared a couple more spells while Navaris finished the teleportation pentagram and then grinned, or tried to as she told me that it was done.


    ¡°The pentagram is finished Azran. If my calculations are correct it should send us to within 20 miles of Tharsius, and further measures can be taken from there. If I am mistaken then we will most likely be dropped into an active volcano, the middle of an ocean, or possibly up into space. But my calculations are never wrong so you don''t have to worry about it.¡±


    I paused for a second trying to figure out if she was threatening to drop me into an active volcano but decided that I would simply go a long with it and trust in the Soul Fusion and Binding Ritual to keep her from killing me when my back is turned.


    So I nodded at Navaris and stepped into the pentagram with her. After I examined the pentagram for a moment I quickly decided that at the very least she was being completely honest about her magical knowledge. I had never even thought about a pentagram that could have so many interconnecting symbols, runes, and circles. In all honesty it was quite frightening.


    Reality warped around us as the pentagram activated and moved us through space and towards our target.


    I stumbled for a moment as we materialized but was almost immediately hit by a very large object that flung me backwards until I hit something hard. I felt several of my rib bones crack as I flew backwards and crashed into a very large tree.


    Navaris had been wrong about one thing. Her calculations had been perfect but that didn''t mean that they weren''t in danger. She had teleported them right into the middle of a large scale battle.


    The assh*le who had hit him was a 20ft tall troll whose giant club was nearly as big as he was. I pushed myself to my feet and prepared to release a spell but before I could Navaris reached him. Her first spell completely destroyed his legs, shattering his bones and peeling the flesh from their remains. Her second spell released a highly concentrated flame that burned a hole through the troll''s chest.


    She then yelled a word in the Abyssal language and grabbed a fluttery white blob of ectoplasm out of the air and ate it. It took me a few moments to recognize what she had done and when I finally realized that she had just eaten the troll''s soul I was fascinated.


    I had never seen a soul before let alone a demon eating a soul but the sight was interesting and the burst of pleasure that I felt through our soul-bond revealed that it tasted quite good. I had never even thought of how a soul would taste but now I really wanted to taste one.


    Did it matter what race the creature was? Did the taste change depending if the soul was male or female? Did age matter? Did all souls taste the same? Or did each soul have its own unique taste and the factors of its material body did not matter?


    Whatever. Despite how much I would like to taste a soul, I am currently unable to. It is possible that I may obtain that ability later on in the future but for now I should concentrate on finding my way out of or through this battle.


    Some random human warrior tried to attack me with a sword from behind but I stabbed my fingers towards his face and was somewhat surprised when my hand went clearly through his head. Turns out that humans are much more fragile than I thought.


    A soul rending shriek ripped through the air and I glanced up just in time to see Navaris morph into her original demon form. I had always known that her beautiful human form was an illusion but I was definitely unprepared for her true form.


    Her skin had shrunk until her form was almost skeletal in appearance and her arms had lengthened until they reached nearly down to her ankles. 6 inch long claws had sprouted from her fingertips and she gave off an aura of terror and pain that could make even the bravest human wet himself in fear.


    I watched as she began to tear into the soldiers, eating souls by the dozen. A vicious smile spread over my face as I began to unleash my spells. I had no idea which soldiers belonged to which side but if I just killed everyone then everything should turn out just fine. The battle was just beginning.


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    Next chapter will include a Navaris POV. Look forward to it.