The First Lich Lord

Chapter 38

The undead dragon was covered in burns and deep gashes from the resplendent, fiery red dragon tearing at it with powerful forelimbs. The red dragon was in the European-style, with four massive legs, a long thick tail, and impressive wings. It was winning, though its armored body had a few gashes, and smoldered in places where the black flame ate at it, but nothing compared to the damage dealt to the undead dragon.

With a command from Damien, the drakes moved to attack the red dragon. I followed at their tails, and Damien and Ilore built their spells. I felt tiny compared to the two creatures, but this was my mindscapewhere I was much more powerful. I reformed the blade of my weapon into a long, slender spear, made for armor penetration. When the drakes leapt at the red dragon, I dove around behind it.

The massive creatures created the perfect distraction. It struggled to contend with the three drakes and the undead dragon. I jumped over the dragons swishing tail cutting through the air. The massive spike at the end impaled one of the drakes and promptly ripped it in half. I leapt onto the dragons back, eliciting a roar in protest, but the other two drakes and the undead dragon kept its attention.

Another leap, and with a powerful, downward thrust, drove my razor-sharp spear between the dragons shoulder blades. The needlelike spear hit the scales, which only momentarily resisted. Like a needle going through leather, I kept up the pressure and it sank in, smoothly cutting into the soft flesh beneath.

The dragon roared in pain and thrashed, but I hung on to the shaft of my weapon, driving it deeper still, until almost half the shaft was plunged in. The blade-staff served as an anchor as the dragon thrashed, holding me in place. The tip of my blade came up against something hard and the dragon thrashed even more violently.

Losing my grip, the dragon sent me flying across the room and I slammed into a wall. I crumpled to the ground, dazed and hurt. Struggling to my feet, and taking stock of the situation, I was on my own this far removed from the party.

By the time my spinning vision cleared, the red dragon had slain the other two drakes and now tore at the undead dragon. Except the red dragon moved strangely, its arms no longer as quick nor generating as much force. With my blade-staff jammed deep into its back, it was likely hindering its ability to fight.

A bolt of magic hammered into the dragon from Damien and Ilore, and I gritted my teeth, beginning to head over to rejoin the fight.

Something caught my eye, stopping me in my tracks. In the back of the long room, farther back then where Id hit the wall, was a throne made of obsidian. On it sat a massive man with hair that seemed to burn as it waved in the air around him. His eyes were closed, lines creasing his face in concentration.

I moved toward himhe was the emotion, and he didnt know I was there. Through my dazed mind, it occurred to me that he was controlling the dragon. As long as the dragons attention remained on Damien, Ilore, and the undead dragon, he would not sense me coming. With that in mind, I dashed behind the throne, hiding myself in case the dragon turned around and spotted me.

Without a weapon, all I had was magic. Id likely only get one chance to pull this off. I lacked the power to bring this creature down in a single blow, so I focused on the time magic lessons Ilore had been giving me. Shed been working with me ever since Maxwell and I returned from the demon village. I had been able to summon small amounts of the temporal magic under her guidance in the mindscape, but Id yet to do it on my own.

The first spell she taught me was a simple one designed to capture enemies in a temporary suspension of timelike a temporal filter that affected how they could move through time. It was rather complicated for being one of the simple spells.

You cant actually freeze things in time. The entire universe is in continual motion, rendering such feats all but impossible, and dangerous if ever figured out. The most you can do is alter how time is affecting something. I dont even really understand the true difference. One is possible and relatively safe, while the other is nearly impossible and catastrophically dangerous.

Ilore had been focusing on teaching me how to add these effects to my weapons since Id been serving as the front line of attack. Without a weapon, I instead focused on channeling the spell into my fist. Once the time spell was in place, gray magic surrounded my hand, and I layered another, more powerful dark magic spell over it. The hope was the first spell would discombobulate the emotion, allowing for the time spell to take full effect.

When I was ready, I moved as quickly as I possibly could, using the throne as a pivot to bring myself around at full force. Right as my fist was about to collide with the emotions face, its eyes shot openjust long enough to register surprisethen my fist hit square between his eyes with every ounce of strength I could muster.

An explosion of dark energy surrounded the emotions head, followed by a flash of gray magic as chains burst out of my hand. They disappeared into the cloud of dark energy, wrapping around the emotions head and constricted. I fed magic into the spell and the chains spread. My dark magic appeared to have served its purpose in overwhelming the emotion while the time spell took effect.

The red dragon roared and I glanced back. It staggered, giving the undead dragon an opening to latch onto the red dragons neck, and wrap his long body around the bigger dragon.

A powerful necromantic spell was building between Damiens hands. Ilore caught my eye, and I blinkedshe blurred across the room and was suddenly standing beside me. She took a moment to study the great chains of my time magic further spreading as the cloud of dark magic faded, and how the emotion began to struggle against the effects. Without a word, she built her own spell and fired it into the chest of the emotion point-blank. Powerful chains of magic began to wrap around the emotion.

This emotion was incredibly formidable, and I worked with Ilore to help her subdue the creature. Thankfully we got the jump on it with my surprise attack. By the strength it displayed, it wouldve been a tough fight after dealing with the red dragon. Damien joined us, using a spell he knew wouldnt interfere with her magic. Another layer of chains made of pure black energy wrapped around the emotion, and eventually, we managed to subdue the creature.

Good work on that spell, Ilore praised as she gasped for breath. Combining it with the dark magic was an excellent way to get around your lack of skill with time magic.

I figured I had one shot and didnt want to waste it, I said.

Next time focus your mana. Ilore began to instruct me on how best to build my magic.

I guessed was she used to being a professorshe fell into lecturing mode rather easily. Now that she was instructing me on time magic, it was clear she saw me as her student and never missed the opportunity to impart her lessons.

As we talked, Damien approached the slain red dragon. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the magic holding his undead dragon together and it fell apart into a pile of flesh and bones. He then began to draw a ritual diagram on the ground around his feet.

Ilore saw I was distracted, and when she looked over at Damien, she snorted. Does that man never quit?

Im not sure he does I was a little surprised to hear the tone of her voice. It contained a small amount of admiration.

Ive got this here if you want to go and help, she told me.

Im not sure I can, I said as I moved away. But I definitely want to see how hes doing it.

Magic surrounded Damien, standing in the middle of his diagram. It continued to grow, becoming etched by dark magic. Please dont step on the lines. Damien didnt even open his eyes, he simply sensed me drawing near.

Undead dragon? I asked.

Yes. This one will be a true undead dragon, or better known as living dead, and not that thrown together mess from before. I know you dont want undead creatures filling your mindscape, but I figured having a living dead dragon as a guardian would be beneficial.

No, no. I agree. I studied the diagram. When I first summoned Damien, that had been one of the first things I told him. This was a place I could always come to get away from all the undead in the real world. He was right though. The living dead dragon would be a cool thing to have.

Damiens spell diagram took several long minutes to finish building, and by the time it was done, it was almost ten meters in diameter. Magic filled the air around and above Damien. It was much smoother compared to the dragon created outside the cave. Necromantic energy began to flow out from Damien, and into the body of the red dragon and the pile of flesh of our original dragon. The magic also spread to the bodies of the drakes.

Concentration lined Damiens face.

Damien raised his hands, lifting the bodies into the air. He muttered something in an arcane language I didnt know, the magic concentrating on the red dragon. The bodies of the undead dragon and drakes were pulled to the body of the red dragon, surrounded in necromantic energy. I watched in rapt fascination and disgust as the red dragon was fused with the dead flesh.

When Damien lowered his hands, the red dragon touched the ground. It was no longer red, its great form now entirely black, with streaks of crimson running through it. Unlike the previous undead dragon, this one seemed whole, almost alive with a glint of intelligence behind its massive eyes. The dragon scales were thick and its eyes blazed with dark, purple flame. Truly an impressive creature.

Wow, was all I could say, admiring the beast. It was bigger than the red dragon had been, and far more powerful.

Damien was gasping for breath and smiled when he looked upon it. This is a living dead dragon. It will be a powerful defender for your mindscape.

Will it take any issue with serving? I asked, understanding how such a powerful creature would resent being controlled.

It will be fine. Its now a denizen of your mindscape and would do nothing to harm you, Damien explained.

With the emotion of rage now secured, we left the volcano behind, the dragon following our battleship back to the main island. Large portions of my mindscape had been subdued over the course of the last several monthssome that Id been involved with and some accomplished by Damien and Ilore without me.

There was a noticeable difference as order was restored. Gone were the strange creatures that wandered every island, replaced by things recognized as denizens that belonged there.

Ilore and Damien had gotten so good at working together, theyd not even needed me for capturing a few of the lesser emotions. This emotion of rage proved one of the most powerful ones so far. Along with the emotion of love, wed also subdued two other primaries. An emotion I hadnt realized was so important was that of awe. It governed being able to truly appreciate the world around you.

The final two emotions we needed to conquer were grief and terror. And in all honesty Id been avoiding them. I was afraid of the grief I knew I should be feeling, and the place where terror resided was true to its namesake. So much so, the last thing I wanted to do was think about going there.

Dealing with those things was an unavoidable eventuality, but for now, I was happy with the progress we were making. As Ilore repaired my emotions, I became more aware of how intrinsically they were tied together. Quite eye-opening with how hate was intrinsically part of love. Without one, you could not have the other.

I didnt realize it at the time, but the process of regaining my emotions made me more in tune with who I was. More than Id ever thought possible.

This is something Im sure you will go through as well.

After we returned to the main island, I left the mindscape for the real world. Id made plans with Maxwell to enjoy the night at the tavern. Even though I cannot appreciate the alcohol and food, it was nice to be around good people.

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