31st of Frost, 120 AS
"So you're some kind of necromancer." Naila stated, flipping a knife absently between her fingers as she sat lounging in one of the chairs in Lyra's lab, "And you plan to use my body to save your own soul?"
Lyra had answered the question several times already, and so this time she simply remained silent and continued her work. A day had passed since the woman Naila had come into her shop, desperate and dying. She was poisoned, doomed to pass away eventually, though fortunately or unfortunately for her, the poison used was magical and struggled to take root in her Hytori blood. When she had originally requested a woman close to death from Fletcher she had intended to simply rip out the woman's soul and use her subsequent soul gem to power the corpse to keep it from rotting. Now, however, some things would need to change. Luckily for Lyra she had already begun preparations more than a season past.
Another char of greyish liquid was sat on the long workbench in front of Naila. There were four in total, each carefully labeled 'infused ichor'. They were not small jars, but Lyra suspected she would require every bit of it to do what she planned with this woman.
Naila looked at the jars curiously as Lyra began to unscrew the first, "Will that stop the poison?"
"No." Lyra said simply, extending the jar toward Naila, "Drink."
Though she frowned Naila accepted the jar, tilting it back and gulping down a mouthful of the viscous liquid. She coughed violently and wiped her mouth, "Fuck, that tastes like day-old jizz."
Lyra paused and looked down at Naila, raising an eyebrow. Frowning Naila took another swallow and grimaced, "Don't ask. How much do I have to drink?"
"All of it." Lyra smiled at the other woman's expression, "But it sounds like you are experienced enough to handle that much at least."
"Funny..." Naila said with a frown, but she took another swallow anyway.
While she struggled to down as much of the ichor as possible Lyra returned to her lab, opening one of the drawers and removing a small ghostly white gem. One of her soul totems. She stared at it for a moment, turning it over in her fingers. It was always an odd feeling to feel a piece of yourself within those little gemstones. In some ways, it was like one of the missing pieces of Lyra that were now scattered who knows where across Ransera. What made a soul totem different from those fragments? Was it simply intent, or was it that those fragments held something more of her than was inside of a soul totem?
Shaking her head Lyra straightened and carried the gem out to the other lab, stopping as she saw Naila finishing the second jar already.
"You are a professional." Lyra said, walking closer.
"I've had my nights." came to the response as the 2nd jar was slammed, now empty, on the table. Naila let out a belch and gagged slightly, but managed to hold down the ichor. "What is this stuff anyway?"
"My Ichor."
"Your what?" The soul totem was set down on the table in front of Naila, who looked at it with interest.
"It is one of the primary reagents of necromancy, made from my blood. It is the catalyst for nearly everything."
"So I just drank your blood." Naila's voice was monotoned, but the look in her face told Lyra all she needed without the need of the melodies.
"In a sense, yes, though my Ichor is somewhat unique. I have to use synthetic blood as I do not produce any of my own." Lyra tapped the soul totem, bringing Naila's attention back to the rock, "You need to swallow this now. You will retch it back up later."
"Wonderful..." Lyra turned her back as Naila picked up the soul totem, popping it into her mouth and using more of the ichor to help her swallow the gem, "So what is all of this for? And why don't you have any blood?"
Lyra waved a hand at Naila to follow, which she did carrying the 3rd jar of ichor with her. Lyra lead them into the main necromancy lab and indicated to Naila that she needed to sit on the white stone slab at the center of the room.
"All of this is to prepare your body, and soul, for the procedure ahead." Lyra said, closing the door behind them. When she turned Naila was still standing, simply looking at the stone slab.
"Prepare me for what." Naila said softly, not looking at Lyra. There was a dangerous note to her tone with Lyra did not miss.
"As I said I am not a healer. I cannot save your life, however, I can keep you from dying." Lyra walked over to the table against the far wall, pulling down a box with glyphs carved into its surface. Breathing out a stream of black smoke trickled over her lips, flowing over the box and setting the glyphs to glowing a faint blue. There was a soft click as the box unlocked and Lyra lifted the lid, revealing a dagger made of bone with softy misty light flowing from it.
Turning Lyra held the knife up for Naila to see, and as expected the woman's expression hardened.
"Hows a dagger going to stop me from dying?" she asked coldly.
"It wont." Lyra said with a laugh. She ran a finger over the edge, nicking herself lightly. She held up her finger to show Naila that she, indeed, didn't bleed. "The thing you see before you is a corpse. I am currently inside of this corpse, controlling it like a puppet on strings. Like all corpses, however, my vessel is slowly rotting." She pointed the dagger at Naila, "This procedure is to help prepare your soul to accept my own into your body. I will bind our souls together, and doing so I will have greater control over your soul and thus have the ability to keep you from dying."
"So you plan to enslave me?" Naila asked, accusation in her tone and eyes.
"Yes." Lyra said, smiling broadly at the surprise on Naila's face at her own admission, "But in exchange you will live, and be able to complete your mission."
Naila stared at the dagger, her expression a mix of conflicting emotions. Lyra let her think on everything, to consider, but after a minute she snapped her fingers drawing the woman's eyes back to her own, "We have an accord. I swear to you that I will aid you in your quest, in exchange for your body and soul." Lyra still smiled that same broad smile, "That is not too much to ask, I think, given your current situation."
There was another long silence, and then in one motion Naila threw back her head and swallowed the last of the ichor, gagging and doubling over as she did.
"Fine." she gasped, using the edge of the stone slab for support, "Not like I have much of a choice anyway."
"None at all, in fact. Not since you swallowed my soul totem." At Naila's glare Lyra genuinely laughed, "Remove your clothing and lay on the slab. The next steps will be unpleasant, but it will be over quickly for you."
The woman did as instructed, removing her clothing and laying down on top of the cold stone. Her skin prickled with cold, and Lyra was curious to find two runes of magic on the woman's body. There would be time for that though soon enough. Naila's eyes were already growing heavy, and Lyra could see she was struggling to remain conscious.
"I better wake up."
"You shall, in one state or another."
A faint greyish mist was beginning to flow from Naila's every pour, flowing down off the slab like waterfalls. Her eyes blinked one final time before closing and remaining so. Lyra gripped the knife in both hands, standing over Naila's still body. Without hesitation Lyra stabbed the dagger down, piercing the woman's heart straight through. Releasing the weapon Lyra turned and left it in place, already preparing for the next steps which would come the next day after the soul binding was complete.
"So you're some kind of necromancer." Naila stated, flipping a knife absently between her fingers as she sat lounging in one of the chairs in Lyra's lab, "And you plan to use my body to save your own soul?"
Lyra had answered the question several times already, and so this time she simply remained silent and continued her work. A day had passed since the woman Naila had come into her shop, desperate and dying. She was poisoned, doomed to pass away eventually, though fortunately or unfortunately for her, the poison used was magical and struggled to take root in her Hytori blood. When she had originally requested a woman close to death from Fletcher she had intended to simply rip out the woman's soul and use her subsequent soul gem to power the corpse to keep it from rotting. Now, however, some things would need to change. Luckily for Lyra she had already begun preparations more than a season past.
Another char of greyish liquid was sat on the long workbench in front of Naila. There were four in total, each carefully labeled 'infused ichor'. They were not small jars, but Lyra suspected she would require every bit of it to do what she planned with this woman.
Naila looked at the jars curiously as Lyra began to unscrew the first, "Will that stop the poison?"
"No." Lyra said simply, extending the jar toward Naila, "Drink."
Though she frowned Naila accepted the jar, tilting it back and gulping down a mouthful of the viscous liquid. She coughed violently and wiped her mouth, "Fuck, that tastes like day-old jizz."
Lyra paused and looked down at Naila, raising an eyebrow. Frowning Naila took another swallow and grimaced, "Don't ask. How much do I have to drink?"
"All of it." Lyra smiled at the other woman's expression, "But it sounds like you are experienced enough to handle that much at least."
"Funny..." Naila said with a frown, but she took another swallow anyway.
While she struggled to down as much of the ichor as possible Lyra returned to her lab, opening one of the drawers and removing a small ghostly white gem. One of her soul totems. She stared at it for a moment, turning it over in her fingers. It was always an odd feeling to feel a piece of yourself within those little gemstones. In some ways, it was like one of the missing pieces of Lyra that were now scattered who knows where across Ransera. What made a soul totem different from those fragments? Was it simply intent, or was it that those fragments held something more of her than was inside of a soul totem?
Shaking her head Lyra straightened and carried the gem out to the other lab, stopping as she saw Naila finishing the second jar already.
"You are a professional." Lyra said, walking closer.
"I've had my nights." came to the response as the 2nd jar was slammed, now empty, on the table. Naila let out a belch and gagged slightly, but managed to hold down the ichor. "What is this stuff anyway?"
"My Ichor."
"Your what?" The soul totem was set down on the table in front of Naila, who looked at it with interest.
"It is one of the primary reagents of necromancy, made from my blood. It is the catalyst for nearly everything."
"So I just drank your blood." Naila's voice was monotoned, but the look in her face told Lyra all she needed without the need of the melodies.
"In a sense, yes, though my Ichor is somewhat unique. I have to use synthetic blood as I do not produce any of my own." Lyra tapped the soul totem, bringing Naila's attention back to the rock, "You need to swallow this now. You will retch it back up later."
"Wonderful..." Lyra turned her back as Naila picked up the soul totem, popping it into her mouth and using more of the ichor to help her swallow the gem, "So what is all of this for? And why don't you have any blood?"
Lyra waved a hand at Naila to follow, which she did carrying the 3rd jar of ichor with her. Lyra lead them into the main necromancy lab and indicated to Naila that she needed to sit on the white stone slab at the center of the room.
"All of this is to prepare your body, and soul, for the procedure ahead." Lyra said, closing the door behind them. When she turned Naila was still standing, simply looking at the stone slab.
"Prepare me for what." Naila said softly, not looking at Lyra. There was a dangerous note to her tone with Lyra did not miss.
"As I said I am not a healer. I cannot save your life, however, I can keep you from dying." Lyra walked over to the table against the far wall, pulling down a box with glyphs carved into its surface. Breathing out a stream of black smoke trickled over her lips, flowing over the box and setting the glyphs to glowing a faint blue. There was a soft click as the box unlocked and Lyra lifted the lid, revealing a dagger made of bone with softy misty light flowing from it.
Turning Lyra held the knife up for Naila to see, and as expected the woman's expression hardened.
"Hows a dagger going to stop me from dying?" she asked coldly.
"It wont." Lyra said with a laugh. She ran a finger over the edge, nicking herself lightly. She held up her finger to show Naila that she, indeed, didn't bleed. "The thing you see before you is a corpse. I am currently inside of this corpse, controlling it like a puppet on strings. Like all corpses, however, my vessel is slowly rotting." She pointed the dagger at Naila, "This procedure is to help prepare your soul to accept my own into your body. I will bind our souls together, and doing so I will have greater control over your soul and thus have the ability to keep you from dying."
"So you plan to enslave me?" Naila asked, accusation in her tone and eyes.
"Yes." Lyra said, smiling broadly at the surprise on Naila's face at her own admission, "But in exchange you will live, and be able to complete your mission."
Naila stared at the dagger, her expression a mix of conflicting emotions. Lyra let her think on everything, to consider, but after a minute she snapped her fingers drawing the woman's eyes back to her own, "We have an accord. I swear to you that I will aid you in your quest, in exchange for your body and soul." Lyra still smiled that same broad smile, "That is not too much to ask, I think, given your current situation."
There was another long silence, and then in one motion Naila threw back her head and swallowed the last of the ichor, gagging and doubling over as she did.
"Fine." she gasped, using the edge of the stone slab for support, "Not like I have much of a choice anyway."
"None at all, in fact. Not since you swallowed my soul totem." At Naila's glare Lyra genuinely laughed, "Remove your clothing and lay on the slab. The next steps will be unpleasant, but it will be over quickly for you."
The woman did as instructed, removing her clothing and laying down on top of the cold stone. Her skin prickled with cold, and Lyra was curious to find two runes of magic on the woman's body. There would be time for that though soon enough. Naila's eyes were already growing heavy, and Lyra could see she was struggling to remain conscious.
"I better wake up."
"You shall, in one state or another."
A faint greyish mist was beginning to flow from Naila's every pour, flowing down off the slab like waterfalls. Her eyes blinked one final time before closing and remaining so. Lyra gripped the knife in both hands, standing over Naila's still body. Without hesitation Lyra stabbed the dagger down, piercing the woman's heart straight through. Releasing the weapon Lyra turned and left it in place, already preparing for the next steps which would come the next day after the soul binding was complete.
