SoulScourge

The desperate Pearlcatcher gazed through the portal before her, tears glistening on her light blue cheeks.

“Oh Calcifer, I m-miss you so m-much, how am I supposed to go on w-without you?”, she cried between heaving sobs. Mournfully, she reached a paw towards her departed love, as if hoping to somehow make contact with him once again.

SoulScourge rolled his eyes.

Dragons paid good treasure to resurrect their loved ones. Of course, the version of Calcifer which now appeared before his love was nowhere near a perfect resurrection. It was a kind of ghostly figure, a shimmering mirage. But to the grieving Pearlcatcher, it was the most beautiful sight in the world. This was her fifth visit to SoulScourge’s lair over the two weeks since Calcifer had died, each one costing her a hefty sum.

SoulScourge glanced back to where his gigantic pile of golden coins was heaped against the cave wall, their surfaces flickering in the light of the dimming fire. The necromancer stifled a yawn as the Pearlcatcher continued to babble on to her dearly departed, her nostrils running profusely now. Gross. SoulScourge’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and the image of Calcifer began to waver. The grief stricken female sobbed goodbye to her love with a promise to visit him again soon. SoulScourge smiled.

He flicked through his latest earnings as the Pearlcatcher tearfully departed his lair. Although the female had forked over tens of thousands of treasure already, the clever Skydancer knew she would come back for more. All his clients did. He knew what the widow was seeking. True resurrection, her love made flesh and bone again. But SoulScourge would never practice such magic again, not after what happened last time. SoulScourge had learned that day, years ago, that true resurrection cost far more than treasure.

***

SoulScourge and his mate sat before a roaring fire in a clearing nestled amongst a forest of ancient trees. As the blood moon burst from behind a wall of dark clouds, he and his mate began chanting in low, even voices…

At the time, SoulScourge was quickly becoming the most powerful necromancer in all of Sornieth and, what was more, he had fallen in love with a gorgeous female Imperial. Her star-kissed scales were a perfect complement to his snow-white form, and although they had met only a few months ago, SoulScourge had known immediately that they were destined to be together.

Their voices grew louder, their words became faster, as the flame before them began to turn a sickly green hue…

SoulScourge’s mate was extremely intelligent. If it weren’t for the absence of dark magic in her veins, she would have been the world’s most accomplished necromancer. But since she could not perform the magic herself, the Imperial had begun to teach the practice to her newfound mate. SoulScourge was a quick learner, and it didn’t take long before the two had begun to push beyond the limits of known necromancy… and delve into the unknown.

The flames formed an orb, a globe of inferno, hovering above the ground…

They believed that this new spell, a culmination of all they had accomplished together, was the key to unlocking the ultimate end of necromancy: a true resurrection. They had progressed from wavering mirages to semi-solid ghosts to physical forms devoid of life… this was their final masterpiece. The previous evening, as they had made their final preparations to put their spell to the test, SoulScourge had asked his mate whom they should attempt to resurrect. The Imperial had gazed off into the distance, a small smile tightening her lips. She had someone in mind, she said.

The orb grew larger and larger, large enough to accomodate the shadowy form of a male Imperial…

… and that’s when things began to go wrong.

His mate ceased chanting as the male Imperial gradually materialized in the fire in front of her. Starting with his tail, the magic crawled over him, inch by inch, creating flesh and bone out of thin air. SoulScourge could feel the magic coursing through him, leaving his body, sapping the strength from his bones. But he was strong. The spell was powerful, but he hadn’t even begun to expend the deepest reservoirs of his magic.

SoulScourge’s body was buzzing with energy, adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream with the magic as the Imperial’s eyes burst into life. The eyes looked around, searching for something. That’s when SoulScourge noticed it. Her expression. His mate, the love of his life, looking into the eyes of the resurrected male, gazing into their depths as if she had been dreaming of doing so for centuries. The stars covering her skin flickered brighter than before. And suddenly, the truth dawned on SoulScourge.

She was not his mate. One look back at the Imperial male was enough to be sure. The two dragons held each other’s gaze, drinking in their reality. Lovers, united at last. A love so great that they had not allowed even death to destroy it.

SoulScourge felt lightheaded, and not just from the drain of the spell. She had used him. Had found the most powerful necromancer she could and had tricked him into loving her. Had made him believe that their combined powers would be enough to resurrect her true love. She’d had no intentions of being his mate.

The reality was sending SoulScourge reeling, his magic beginning to sputter and fracture. The necromancer realized with a jolt that it wasn’t just from the shock-- his reserves of magic were beginning to dwindle. He wouldn’t be able to last much longer like this. But even though the male Imperial was there, alive, the spell continued to twist and weave out of SoulScourge’s veins, out of his very pores. The spell was not finished with him.

Suddenly, his false mate collapsed. Although she had no magic of her own, she had recited the spell alongside SoulScourge, and it was beginning to take its toll. The sinister magic was searching for more power, more fuel to burn to keep the male Imperial in the living world. SoulScourge’s magic hadn’t been enough. It had turned to his mate, and now, it was attempting to devour her life.

Gritting his teeth with concentration, SoulScourge funneled all of his energy into tearing his magic away from the spell’s grasp and directing it to her instead. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew she had lied to him, had tricked him, had used him to her own ends. And yet, he couldn’t just leave her to die. He still loved her. Perhaps some part of him would always love her, despite what she had done.

Pain began pricking his body, his wings, lightly at first and then harder and harder until he was screaming in agony. Still, SoulScourge reached his magic towards his mate, her own mate fading into ash as the spell keeping him alive faded into nothing...

When it was all over, SoulScourge and the female were left alive, barely. SoulScourge’s mate lifted her head wearily, her eyes cracking open, then going wide as she searched for the male Imperial. His ashes lay in a heap where the green flame had been. Upon seeing them, the female Imperial’s eyes went dead, an eerie calm creeping over her face like a mask.

A second, subtle realization hit him: this was not the first time she had done this. And it would not be the last.

The Imperial said nothing to SoulScourge, didn’t thank him for saving her life, didn’t even spare a parting glance in his direction as she took to the skies. He knew he would never see her again.

When he attempted to rise, SoulScourge froze in shock, staring at his body. Large splotches of blood covered the necromancer’s entire form, the stains dark with some twisted magic. The Skydancer took one look at them and knew the marks would never leave his skin. They were a reminder, a warning. Should he attempt the spell again, he would not survive it.

The warning really wasn’t necessary though. SoulScourge had learned his lesson: no one was worth the sacrifice.


~Written by Xayxayx~