The Silent Mine (1/2)

Over the years spent serving in the Threshold, Haalfrin had gotten permission to grab some of the native people's storage bags, and he had started collecting weapons.

Rehkin are far better at enchanting, so their storage bags are a dozen times larger than his. Each bag could go from holding dozens of weapons to hundreds - rather convenient. Now, he has a place to put about 10% of Wills (he really has far too many of those things.)

When Haalfrin remembers this fact, he suddenly has the bright idea to carry the entire human squad he's escorting with them; he certainly has enough blades available for that. Plus, all these soldiers are wearing armor anyway.

So, on the morning of the 2nd day, Haalfrin announces, "Ok, we're far enough away from the Threshold. Let's speed up our journey a little.

He then hands out his 5 Space bags, and he has his platoon spill out all the contents.

"Um… Sir?" the captain says, exasperated, "why do you have so many weapons?"

Haalfrin shakes his head. "Just have all the men strap the weapons all over their body; the more weapons they can fit on them, the better."

Trusting their leader, the platoon obeys his strange order without question. Then, ensues a mad dash to scramble enough rope between them all. Then, since Faylin, Jay, and Resburn have experience with this, they help the other soldiers see exactly how to strap the weapons on in the safest way.

You want the weapons centered around your torso, and you want them tightly hugging your body; you don't want them dangling loose at all.

Once this is all done, thousands of Wills surge out of Haalfrin's soul, and they possess all the weapons and armor, and they all lift up into the air.As one, the 100+ men and woman are all shooting off over the horizon.

Given that all the Threshold soldiers are trained to withstand Death Aura, none of them scream in fear as they're suddenly yanked hundreds of feet into the air. Instead, they all either passively rest, yelp in surprise, or squeal in joy. Flight magic is expensive on the mana, and you have to have your Dra Name to use it effectively; hence, most of these soldiers have never actually flown before.

Of course, the Foxman guide is the first person to figure out what's going on.

When he sees the Wills and what they're doing, the guide actually gets personally interested in these humans for the first time. He asks Haalfrin through a spiritual link, "How do you know the Ancestral magic? I thought that was a racial trait for my people?"

Of course, Haalfrin knows exactly what the guide is talking about; "Ancestral" magic is the most common Rehkin term for necromancy. The humans view necromancy as a dark art that unnaturally twists the spirits of the dead… but the Rehkin see it as a gift – a chance to keep the younger generation connected with the older.

Spirit magic is all about connection and compatibility, which the more similar or familiar you are with something, then the stronger your spirit magic is on that thing.

That's why the default for most of the clans is to use those of their own blood relatives for their "Ancestral Magic" (necromancy) – hence the magic's title.

Even when you compare Rehkin necromancers to human ones, the humans are just an embarrassment. The most advanced Haalfrin has ever seen a human perform necromancy was when he saw Querry aggravate a bunch of spirits and let them run wild.

The Rehkin, on the other hand, have spiritual bonds that are so thick and full of (usually) good will, that when a Rehkin dies, he's never really gone from the Clan's life. Even beyond the Gates of Death, they can continue offering their wisdom and strength to their children, and their children's children.

(Necromancy is a lot more beautiful when you put it that way.)

And so, Haalfrin perfectly understands why their guide is curious about his powers; he has such a strong connection with his Wills that they're able to keep their independence, as well as perform tasks without becoming damaged or driven insane. This perfect example of Spirit Magic is something only a VERY powerful Rehkin Elder could accomplish.

Faced with the guide's questioning, Haalfrin gives a polite smile and admits, "I'm a god-candidate."

"Oh…," the young Fox man realizes with an open mouth. "that makes sense. Are you sure you should be telling me that? I'm not loyal to the humans."

Haalfrin shrugs. "It's not a secret; all my relevant enemies know anyway."

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They eventually make it to the fox clan lands, and they find that most of the forest is eerily quiet; there's no sound anywhere - no birds tweeting... nothing.

The Foxman guide looks around the forest skittishly, and everyone gets a bad feeling watching the poor man slowly lose his cool.

Sensing their guide's urgency, Haalfrin orders all of his men to get themselves presentable, since they're about to reach their destination, and they needed to get permission from the Fox Clan Elders to bring armed forces through their territory.

Haalfrin is VERY used to going through this procedure with all of the friendly clans he passes through since he – a dragon slayer- counts as "armed forces" just by himself. Naturally, he can't go anywhere by himself without chatting causing an international issue.

When they near the city, the Foxman guide looks at Haalfrin nervously and says, "Sir… I can't feel anything down there. Where's my clan?!" He puts his hands over his head and suppresses a sense of madness from clouding his mind.

The Rehkin are all deeply connected to their blood relatives (and by extension, their clan), and they can normally feel the others of their race.

Since the Foxman strangely feels nothing down there, there is a gaping hole in his heart, where he used to be able feel that connection. It's that Connection that keeps him motivated, and prevents him from feeling lonely while travelling far away with the humans.

He was hoping this itching hole in his heart would go away when he got closer to his hometown, but the sense of absence only grows greater as the distance closes.

Unable to take it anymore, the Foxman starts to feel himself going a little crazy…

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They arrive in the city…, and most of it is reduced to rubble. The Fox guide cries out in grief and runs up to see the damage for himself.

As if possessed, the Foxman digs through some of the rubble while hyperventilating. "What are you looking for?" Haalfrin asks.

"Gone… they're all gone…" The Foxman finally plops on his knees and lets a fat tear slide down his cheeks.

"I can see that…," Haalfirn mutters as he looks around. "Wait, where are all the bodies?" he thinks.

Haalfrin frowns, sensing the thick Death Aura covering the city like a shroud. This is more Death Aura than he's ever seen in one place (except for the Death Realm). Judging by how abundant the Aura is, Haalfrin guesses that this city had well over a million deaths.

With the Aura still lingering, Haalfrin realizes that there are many Wills here that haven't dissipated on their own yet. Haalfrin holds out an arm invitingly, and a surging tide of well over 10,000 Wills jump out of the ruins and dive into his soul.

With the Fox Clan's Wills taken care of, Haalfrin starts to quickly and quietly suck the Death Aura into his own soul.

"Well," Haalfrin thinks, "That's at least 10,000 people who died here... If a long time has passed, there's a chance there may have been more, since unattended Wills dissipate after a while."

While he's thinking this, Haalfrin sees the Foxman's frantic look suddenly turn hopeful. He starts rambling off in his own tongue before he turns to Haalfrin and says, "Humans! There are no bodies here!" Evidently, he observed the same thing Haalfrin had. "Perhaps they fled to another land? If you help find them and help them out, perhaps our queen will reward you all greatly!?"

One of the men with Haalfrin reminds him, "Our mission is to go check on the mine first! We can submit a request to the commander, and he may send aid. Otherwise, we're following our orders."

Instead of answering his soldier, Haalfrin addresses the Foxman, "There's a thick Death Aura here. A massacre just happened. I doubt your people are alive, and if they are, there's probably not many left."

The Foxman curses in his own tongue and stomps off just ahead.

"Well," Haalfrin shrugs, "I guess he's mad at us. How are we going to find the mine now?"

Jay steps up and says, "We should know the way from here. It was in the reports that the mine was in the mountain just past the Fox Clan city.