Chapter 1: Innocence Lost

     The sweet nectar from the honeysuckle tickled her tongue as it dripped from the petal. It was still cold from the morning frost that lightly blanketed the valley side. The honeydew that she had fed upon was so delicious she had to take another taste. Her rose-colored eyes sparkled from the melting frost, glittering like jewels as the valley welcomed the sun’s radiance. Lilly, a young Vandarlen lady, was waiting for her instructor. Today was the last day of her training to become an apprentice Allocotion priestess.
     The sun had crept over the hill, revealing the cobble stone pathway to her village, called Mallan. Lilly looked around, hoping that she would see her instructor coming from the road. Only the brisk wind blew in her direction to greet her.
     “He’s always late,” she thought.
     Lilly didn’t mind too much, because her trainer was a member of her family. Ever since the death of her parents, Lilly’s Uncle has taken care of her. She knew that he would show up, so she waited patiently at the base of the hill. To the left of her was a vast river leading into a lake which separated the valley into two lands. The massive body of water hugged the bottom of a blackened marble wall. The wall was built just after the Great War that rained red blood upon this land, more than five hundred years ago.
     Normally this wall was covered by the constant mist, but on this beautiful day, the barrier was clearly visible for miles. Lilly always hated to see the gloomy sight when it would become visible from time to time, breaking through the fog. The whole thing made her uneasy. On top of the wall, every five hundred yards, stood guardian statutes. They were dressed in ceremonial armor which represented the ancient battle demigods of a nearly forgotten religion that once covered the entire world of Pangaea. Since the day was so clear, Lilly noticed that each guardian was holding a bladed weapon in one hand.  All the statues were pointing their weapons to the ground as if the weapons were holding something down. Next she noticed the top of their heads held crown-like helmets with unlit beacons in each helmet's center.
     An unsettling feeling came over her and yet her eyes couldn’t look away because all the statues looked almost as if they were crying.
All of Lilly’s life, there had never been a day like today, when she could see the magnitude of this barrier. She knew the length of the wall stretched entirely around the Xian’s kingdom. Her eyes were so fixated on the wall that she didn’t notice there was a person now standing on top of a nearby  hill. The shadow of the person slowly passed by her feet before Lilly saw the silhouette.
     “Uncle!” she yelled out, as she waved her hand to get his attention, but there was no response.
     “Uncle, quit playing. I am ready for my last lesson,” said Lilly.
     She walked towards the person on top of the hill, but stopped twenty feet away.
     “Strange, he’s not moving.” She thought.
     “Uncle, is that you? But no, it’s made up of the coble stones from the road.”
     With curiosity in her eyes, she looked upon the picture-perfect copy of her uncle which was cast in cobblestone colors. When she touched the side of the hood, it felt like stone. The leather-hooded robes had ancient symbols that ran straight from the shoulders to the base of the robe.
     “Wow, even the cleft in his chin is there! But where is my real uncle?” she thought.
     With closer examination of the statue, she noticed that it was looking upwards into the sky. Lilly stood beside the figure and looked in the same direction, parallel to the stone head. Without warning, the cobblestone eyes opened and looked right at her; it said with a smile, “Boo!”
     “Eppep!” she yelled in fright because of the unexpected movement.
     Lilly stumbled back and tripped over a small patch of shrubbery. She had no time to recover her balance and begun to fall down the hill. Within a split second before she hit the ground, the stone figure came to life. At the same time the stone covering crumbled off the figure to reveal that it was indeed her Uncle. He caught her just before she landed.  Lilly grabbed hold of his robe for support to recovered her balance.
     “By the four Gods, you scared me half to death,” said Lilly as she smacked his shoulder.
     “Sorry for frightening you my dear. You have been tense these past few months of training. I was only trying to help you relax.”
     “I was relaxed a few minutes ago, you big bully, now I’m not. Besides, how did you do that?”
     “It was an Earth spell. You can manipulate the earth around yourself for protection.”
     “That’s so cool. Is that what I’ll be learning, once I become an apprentice?”
     “Ha, ha, all in due time. Now let’s get to your training.”
     Lilly’s Uncle, Ki’van Mailstorm was the headmaster and senior teacher of the small finishing school that Lilly attended. He and a few others males have advance knowledge about the practice of the Allocotion. Only Vandarlen’s women were allowed by law to become an Allocotion. It was important that Lilly to be accepted for apprenticeship. She would be the fiftieth generation Allocotion in her family.
     The cobblestone road they walked on continued along the shoreline. They headed toward a light house. This was where they would cast off on the shallow side of the lake. Ki’van had rented a small sailing boat. Now, Lilly had a sour look on her face she began to realize what they were going to do.
     “Uncle, do we have to row out there on the lake? I don't like it.”
Ki’van looked out at the lake and became aware of the barrier.
     “Oh, it’s because of the gloomy wall.”
     “Yes, it’s creepy alright. I always get a bad feeling when I see it, and now I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.”  
     “Well, we can’t worry about that now. We have to get you ready for the your trials. The element of water is where you’re the weakest. You must overcome your fears and doubts to concentrate on the task ahead of you.” said Ki’van.
     "Well Okay then, I still don't like being so close to that wall."

       Ki'van was sympathetic to Lilly’s concerns about the wall. He too had the same feeling that Lily talked about.
     “Never has the blacken wall been so clear.” he thought.
     Ki’van knew that they were safe as long as the beacons were not lit.
     “After this Lilly, I will treat you a meal.”
     “Can we go to the café that looks out toward valley?” she asked.
     “Anything you want.”
     Lilly took a deep breath and nodded with a smile.
     “Alright, then. I'm ready”
     Once they got on the boat and went out on the lake, the calming water settled Lilly’s nerves. Ki’van set sail to the far end of the shallow side of the lake. They passed by the remnants of an ancient harbor that was connected to a fort which was occupied by a garrison defense force. This force once protected the southern tip of the valley long ago. Now, the place was abandoned and partly flooded by the lake. In front of the old port, there was a half submerged statue of a woman whose head had an armored headdress with four spikes coming out of the helmet.
     Ki’van stopped beside the statue. Both he and Lilly balled their left hand into a fist, then placed their right hand over their left hand. After a second they both opened the balled up hand and repeated the ritual with reversed hands. Then they said a short prayer from the blessing ritual.
     “Lilly, why do we do this ritual?”
     Lilly opened her eyes and remembered the reason. She looked at the statue as they passed by as she said,
     “This is the statute of the Vandarlens princess named, Ellon Di’sea. We pray for a safe return, not just for us, but also for her lover who was the commanding general in the Lazus’s army.”
     “That”s right Lilly. Kubla Khan, the half-breed who stopped the destruction of Pangaea was also Ellon Di'sea's lover.  He saved us all by sealing the Soul of Chaos.”
     “Uncle, what happened to him?”
     “We really don’t know. The legend stated that Ellon was the only one from the royal legion who came back alive, barely alive. Though, the Princess never said what happened. History stated that Kubla completed the mission.  It never said that he came back."
     Ki'van pointed downward. This was the exact spot where she died, waiting for her lover to return before this land was flooded. ”
     “That’s so romantic, if you think about it...”
     “Pay attention Lilly, we are at the spot to start the lesson.”
Lilly looked around. They were about a third of the way from the middle of the lake. She bent over the side of the boat and touched the surface of the lake. Quickly she moved her hand back to her side; she was having second thoughts about doing the lesson.
     “It’s so cold Uncle, why are we here?” That was when she thought about it, “Oh that’s right. My weakest subject is the water element. You brought me out here to ….” She had a confused look on her face; her elf-like ears twitched a bit as she pondered why he would take her here.
     Ki’van smiled and said, “The five basic elements of our land are governed by one of the five.”
     “That would be spirit, which governs fire, wind, water and earth.”
     “Correct Lilly, and because of that I chose this spot. This lake was called the Abissian Sea before the great wall was constructed and during the Great War, and many people died here. However, their spirit energy remains.”
     “So since, the spirit energy governs the other elements, I will be able to master the element of water.”
     “Well, let us just say, you have to pass through the trials of apprenticeship. Remember, mastering one element could take a lifetime. Focus on how the spiritual energy connects with the rest. Then it will all come together.”
     Lilly was starting to understand, but her biggest question was how she could do all of this. “But Uncle, how do I find the connection?”
     “First you meditate for awhile, then you can connect with your spiritual energy. Remember that is the key to the other elements..”
Lilly sat on the other side of the boat, crossed her legs into a meditation position. She closed her eyes and began a steady breathing pattern. Then She positioned her hands, one over the other to help her with the meditation.
     One hour went by, but Lilly felt no closer to connection. All she was getting was a cold. She opened one eye and saw her Uncle was meditating as well. She hated to interrupt him, but she was getting frustrated
     “Uncle?”
     Ki'van slowly came out of meditation. His voice sounded far away.
     “Until you’re able to feel the energy flowing through the water, you will never pass your trials. You excel in fire and wind, so this should be no problem for you.”

     “Then we are going to be here forever!”
     “Cheer up Lilly. Just concentrate and it will come to you.”
     “Lilly closed her eyes again and thought,
     “Lets see. Water can be soft a gentle breeze or frozen hard as a mountain. I don’t get it. How can this element have two different properties?”
     Ki’van noticed his niece’s contemplation and started to rock the boat. Quickly she opened her eyes and tried to hold on, it was too late. She quickly lost her grip and fell overboard. When she resurfaced, Lilly was outraged.
     “What are you doing? I could have drown!”
     “We are still in the shallow side, remember?. If you stand up your head will be out of the water. Besides, you’re thinking too much Lilly. What you needed, is to be in the water.”
     “Uncle, you’re so mean!”
     “Trust me lass, I will not bring you any harm. We’re family.”
     “But I'm cold.”
     “Hold on,” said her uncle as he placed his hand into the cold lake. With in seconds the water warmed up around her.”
     “There. Is that better now? Use the element of Earth to give yourself a place to sit in water and resume your training. This will…”
Lilly interrupted him.
     “Yeah, yeah, I know, this will be the first step in understanding the element of water..”
     Just as Ki’van was about to talk Lilly suddenly raised her arm and waved at him to be quiet.
     “I think I understand. So please Uncle, no more talking.”
     “Of course my...”
     “Ah! No more talking.”
     Ki’van gestured her to continued her training. He was happy when he saw she was serious about the lesson. Lilly relaxed in the water and did what Ki’van said to do. By focusing on the earth, Lilly was able to build a sand mound to keep her stable and comfortable. Next, she kept the water warm by focused the fire element and using the air element to harvest oxygen from the water to breath. She was now ready to submerge herself completely in the water, so Lilly sat down and slowly sank under the surface of the water.
     The hours went by quickly as Lilly meditated, she became quite determined to understand the nature of the water element. Ki’van waited patiently in the small boat, looking toward the sky line. He could tell it was about noon from the sun position.
     “I’ll give her another hour before I check on her,” he thought. There wasn’t anything to do but relax and enjoy the beautiful, clear day.
     However, as soon as he closed his eyes Ki’van heard the most horrifying scream coming from the direction of the blacken marble wall . Ki’van opened his eyes and saw the beacon on each statue's helmet was lit. The gestures of all the statues had changed to a look of fear.  About half a mile away from where he stood were fishing boats on the lake.
     “Those boats, ” he thought, They’re moving too close to each other.“
     Ki’van continued to watch them as they were caught in a strange whirlpool on the lake. The sailors could do nothing. Finally, the boats with their crew were sucked into the depths of the whirlpool. At that moment, Lilly felt a strong, unnatural presence. This presence felt like sharp needles going painfully up her spine. It nearly made her lose control altogether. Lilly now opened her eyes, but there was only darkness. Above her, the sun shone on her sightless eyes.
     “What ‘s going on? It feels like I'm in water, but there's nothing but darkness,” she thought.
     Lilly tried to stand up to touch the bottom of the lake, but she could not find it.
     “No, this isn’t right. I didn’t move from my spot near the boat.”, she thought, as she became more alarmed.
     It was at that point that she lost her concentration on the elemental spell that formed the air bubble around her. The icy water hit her like a ton of bricks, nearly causing her to gasped in the water. Lilly clasped on to her mouth with both hands to stop her to breath and tried to swim upwards to Allon. However her legs didn’t responded. The prickly sensation had crept up her legs, causing them to be numb. Her legs were now like an anchor, holding her down in the water.

      “Oh, Gods , am I going to die?!”

      The more she struggled, the more she sank. Her hands were becoming numb like her feet. She could see again. Lilly’s eyes stared at the bottom. There was something within that darkness. Then, some feeling worse than death gripped her. She attempted to move away and Lilly's breath caught. Her legs were encased in leather straps and chains. They were coming from the bottom of the lake. More and more chains and leather straps wrapped around her body. She could feel herself being pulled towards the bottom of the lake.  These bindings were bringing her nearer and nearer to the presence.
      “What’s going on? Uncle please help me!” she cried.
      Just then she heard a unearthly voice echoing from the darkness.
      “Lilly… Lily, you've been chosen. You have been singled out for me.”
      “Chosen!…No, stay away from me Help! Help!”
      The voice gave an eerie cackling laughter and said,
      “No one will help you my child, you are mine!”
Lilly franticly tried to swim away turned her back on the voice. But she couldn't. Her eyes were fixed onto the bottom.  Out from of the sickening darkness came a symbol shaped like a dagger stabbed deep into a crescent moon with a dot in the middle.
      “That’s the sign of the bounded soul,” she thought.
The symbol became as red as the crimson blood that flowed in her veins. She could not look away. She felt her life force leaving her body as the symbol touched her. She felt life force leaving her and being replaced by the darkness of this presence.  The chains and straps had nearly covered her  entire body. All the while the dark presence was coming closer and closer.

    Time changed, only seconds after the whirlpool sucked in the fishing crew. Ki’van remembered that Lilly was still in the water. His heart raced furiously, fearing that she could have been swept away from the currents of the whirlpool.  His eyes frantically moved back and forth trying to find Lilly. At that moment, Ki’van saw a dim glimmer close to the port-side of the boat. It was Lilly’s hair pendant. He was flooded with relief, however when Ki'van reach out to grab her, the water temperature took a sudden drop and the water instantly froze over . Ki'van could not get close to his niece.
      “What kind of sorcery is this? ”
He paused as the ice now formed around the boat. Like lighting striking the ground, the ice patch shot out a line of ice towards the wall, hitting the base of the great barrier.

      Ki’van couldn't worry about that, he had to keep his focus on to Lilly. All he wanted was for her to be safe. He pulled out a flint and a fire-starter stone from his pocket. With a quick strike of the stone-on-flint he created a spark. With all his might, he kept striking and he enhanced the spark into a roaring flame which he directed towards the icy patch.
      “Hold on Lilly, I am coming!” He yelled out.
      Meanwhile, below the water, Lilly’s whole body was now completely numb. She was seconds  away from giving totally into the darkness. Before the final strap closed around her eyes, another force zoomed past the evil presence and ripped off the bindings from Lilly’s body. She felt the warmth of the second energy force as her life force slowly returned to her.
      “You will not have her!” the unearthly voice shouted.
Ki’van had a chance to reached into the water. He grabbed on to the back of Lilly’s garments quickly pulled her body into the boat. He was shocked to see the symbol of the bounded soul on Lilly’s forehead. He then ripped off a sleeve of his own robe which he wrapped around her forehead like a bandanna. Suddenly, she woke up wild-eyed with fright. Lilly screamed,

      “Stay…stay away from…..” Lilly stopped to see that she was out from the water. Ki’van was right beside her trying to comfort her. She pushed him to aside and crawled to the front of the boat. She took off the covering from her fore head and saw in the refection of the water the symbol of the bounded soul. Lilly uncontrollably begun to cry. Her tears that trickled down her face were the color of blood. She turned to Ki’van in a shaky state, fearing of the meaning behind this symbol. She remembered what the dark presence said to her and said, “Uncle, it said that I was chosen.”

      Ki’van was in disbelief. This day had come, but this was all wrong. He was told that he would have time to prepare Lilly for this. Lilly’s eyes, once the color of roses, now were faded to shades of silver.
      “More changes will happen,” he thought.
Ki'van moved to the front and got a blanket that was packed under the second seat. Then he unfolded the blanket and covered her. “We are leaving now. Lilly, everything will be fine. I am going to get you some help.”
      Lilly began shaking with fear. She couldn't stop looking at the water. All of her other senses were numbed by the  water below and the darkness. She felt the presence was angry with her. She couldn’t turn way.
      “Lilly. answer me!” Ki’van shouted.
      She did not respond. Her bloody tears flowed and she continued to watch her reflection in the water. Ki’van placed a hand on each side of her face and turned her head away from the lake. He silently stared at her and she listlessly stared back. Again, he tried communicate. “Dear child, look at me, we are leaving here!”
She finally spoke with a whisper.
      ” Beware his flashing eyes and flowing hair.”
      “What?”
      Lilly put her hand up in the air with an wide eye look of fear before Ki'van could react. She pointed towards the great wall. They both heard the cackling sounds of the black marble shattering before they saw it. A crack in the wall's foundation could now be seen. The crack continued on an upward path and split into two separate cracks at the top.

      Lilly and Ki’van noticed the beacon were still lit. They had just witnessed the end of a five hundred years of peace. A tidal wave had come into being which was about to engulf them. Ki’van moved to the mast and pulled out the sail. He used the wind from the valley to steer away from the wake of the wave. They reached the shoreline and got out of the boat. Village people began to quickly gather around while Ki’van covered Lily's head with the blanket and lifted her up in his arms.
      “Lilly,” he whispered, “Don’t look back, just close your eyes. I feel that what’s coming will be bad for us all..”
      “Uncle, I can’t stop crying.”
      “I know, but once I get you to a safe spot you will be fine.”
      Two of Lilly’s friends, Hanna, who knew that Lilly was to have lessons today, and Pai, came up to the crowd because they also heard the noise. They were dressed in mid-length skirts, knee-high stockings and sweaters with Lilly’s school emblem on them. Ki’van saw them coming up and said, “Girls, what are you doing here?”
The girls were shocked at what they saw. Pai gasped as she saw the blood trickling down Lilly’s cheek and said with a shaky voice, "We skipped school to...."
      “Look there is no time to explain. You are all in danger here. Follow me back to the school. You both will be safe there.”
      Ki’van scanned the horizon. To his left, he noticed a couple of local fishermen talking excitedly pointing in back of him. Ki’van turned around to see a man standing on top of  one of the severed heads lying on the shore. This man was dressed in black leather armor. On the right side of the armor was a protection device, as well as, a draped shawl with ancient magical script. In his right hand were prayer beads commonly associated with priests and he held a huge clever in his left hand. His eyes were closed, but he had a devilish grin on his face. Without a sound, he released the prayer beads into the lake. Ki’van gasped because he now knew what was about to happen.
      “He’s a Necromancer.”
      “Teacher, what is that?”
      “All you need to know that Necromancers are bad people. Girls, we are leaving now!”
The water in the lake started to bubble as the clear blue color of the lake became an oil-like black as the prayer beads dissolved. The silent Necromancer laughed and suddenly spoke.

      “It is ready.”, said the Necromancer as he begun to laughed. Portions of the damage wall exploded into peaces, opening up to the other side.

      The lake water quickly filled the space where it had been. The people on the shore gasped in fear because they did not understand what was gong on. Now, Ki’van screamed out.
      “Run! All that’s here now is death!”
Out from the black ooze came hundreds and hundreds of creatures. The laughter of the Necromancer grew louder and louder.
      “Ha, ha, now go my minions, rejoin the world of the living and destroy it.”
      The dead creatures coming from the bay were from all four races. Hanna and Pai screamed in horror. As the undead turned towards them, the creatures' soulless eyes had a lust for blood of the living.  Ki’van knew that he has to take Lilly to safety quickly as possible. However he was the only one who could slow the oncoming threat for the people to escape and warn the town.  He wondered if he would survive. Ki'van hand over Lilly to the girls and said, “Girls, please take Lilly to school and give her to my assistant. She will know what to do. I will hold off these creatures.”
      “No, Teacher, please don’t do this! We’re scared.”
      “I’m scared too. But if I have to try.”
      Lilly silently looking up at him tugged onto his robe. He could feel that she didn’t want him to stay. Her bloody tears were for him now, because, he was the only one who could fight these creatures. All Ki’van could do was to return a gentle smile.
      “Be careful Uncle.”
      “I will.”
      Ki’van released Lilly to her friends' care.

      “Now go, but don’t take off her head bandage because she has an head injury.
      “Ok, we ….we will.”
      With a deep breath, Ki’van turned around to face the oncoming horde of the dead. He could see the locals were now running away. The people who were closest to the shoreline were horribly slaughtered and taken to the bottom of the lake to join the ranks of the army of the dead. Ki’van waited for the girls to get to safety, and thought, “They should be far enough away from here for me to begin.“

      Ki’van took out the fire starter rock and the flint. Just like before he clashed the two together and created a spark. By focusing his spiritual energy to Increased the power the spark. Ki’van pushed out the energy towards the enemy like a flame thrower more than ten fold in the direction of the dead. Swiftly the engrossing flames ate up the first wave, or so he thought, The burning corpses kept coming. Still more were rising up from the black pool.  Ki’van had to backed up. He glanced back and saw he was on the high point of the cobble stone road and he bent down. Ki'van took out a small dagger and pricked him self on each fingertip on his right hand. This was an Earth incantation to create from the stone road itself.

      A single drop of his blood from each finger splashed onto the payment. He placed one of his fingers into each of the five spots. His hand quickly changed to the color of the road like the time when he joked with Lilly. This time, instead of a defensive spell, he combined magic into offensive-defense spells.
      He scooped up a clump of cobble stones and stood up. With a look of deadly determination to stop this madness in his eyes Ki'van raised his hand in front of him. He then squeezed the stone to activated the incantation. Ki'van begun to focus on a wide-range attack. As a results, the entire shoreline path flipped up. Both sides of the path turn towards the middle. They slammed together and crashed back down. Ki’van squeezed harder on the stones in his hand forcing the massive rocks to form a barricade. It was a thousand feet long  Ki'van made another squeeze. He was able to moved the barricade forward like a plow which forced the dead back in the ooze. Ki’van had paid a price for implementing this spell. Blood was trickling down his nose. This was a sign that his body couldn’t handle much more, he was giving up his spirit energy. He knew that the longer this spell continue the more of chance that he could die from the spell.
      “It is working, just a little bit more,” Ki’van thought.

      Looking on was the Necromancer. He was amused by Ki’van’s actions.

      “Clever, using the earth element like that, but you’re not suppose to know that. However, you are impeding our progress in this invasion, that won‘t do.”

      This Necromancer’s named was Malice, and he was a part of a group called the Doomsayers, an elite group warrior that specialize in Necromancy. He was given command of four other Necromancers including his sister, Spite. They were his lieutenants for the first wave of this invasion. He could also see that Spite was now sitting on the top of the breach wall. She watched her brother‘s performance and waited for the moment to act. Red tribal-style tattoos were all over her body and two lines were striped across her face to her lips. As her brother gave the signal to take control of the rising army, Spite got a malevolent glimmer in her eye and a lust to prove how powerful she was. The red brought out her crystal blue eyes which were now impatient for more action. She was happy to see her brother's signal. To her surprise, It was difficult to make any progress. She knew that her brother was watching to see how well she would do in this situation.
      “Damn it,” she thought, “He only wanted me to take over to test me.“
      Distressed by what one of the Vandarlens was able to do, Spite reluctantly gave more control over to the other Necromancers and came to her brother’s side. She knelt beside Malice waiting for more orders. Both of them watched without saying a word as Ki’van persistently kept the army at bay for a long time. Malice still didn't say anything but Spite could no longer stay quiet. She thought that they should play their trump card now.
      “Brother, shall I call him?” she asked.

      The others heard her request. They were agitated at the thought of bringing him out from the depths of the lake so soon. This was supposed to have been an easy take over. However, revealing their trump card within the early stages of this conquest could lead to a disaster.
      “Commander, we should look in other avenues before sending him out there. Two of our own men have died in the process of resurrecting him. We barely have enough Necromancers to continue with the mission.”
      “I’ll take that into account, but remember it is important to take this town at all costs. You three will set out to the other targets for the second phase of the invasion. My sister can handle him.”
      Sprite smiled at the responsibility, knowing in her cold black heart she could do it.
      “Her?” said the lieutenant with a scoff.
      Malice turned to the lieutenant in disgust, “She is more capable than any of you three idiots combined.”
      The lieutenant, had forgotten his place for a second and submissively bowed.“Forgive me, Commander. We will proceed with the secondary target.”
      “Fine, just remember, if you doubt my sister, then you doubt me. Now you three go to your targets as planned.”
      “By your command,” said all three.
      The lieutenants set off in different directions. Their targets, the neighboring towns, were opportunities forcibly recruit residents to the undead army. The Doomsayer's form of necromancing which reanimates the dead, uses the necromancers' own blood and their spiritual energy to reanimate populations of the dead. Recent deaths are tricky to control because traces of memories and emotions of the recent self are still with the body. Some  bodies still have souls attached to this world.
      Meanwhile back in Malice's chamber, Spite came closer to her brother's side with glee. This was another chance to prove her power to her brother. Spite’s arms were wrapped in brown leather bandages with three buckles: one on her hand, forearm and bicep. She unbuckled only the first one on her hand. The red tattoo lines stopped and formed a circle at the base of her palm. She unwrapped  the one on her hand to reveal a circle. Next, she took out a small dagger with the other hand and made a single slice in the middle of the circle. The slice was only skin-deep  to make her hand bleed. With out a whimper, Spite raised her hand magically over the blackened ooze and poured her blood into its depths. A look of pure pleasure twinkled in her eyes, and a little giggled came through her lips.
      “There, it has begun,” she said as she rewrapped the bandages back into place. The blood-soaked leather was decorated with symbols similar to the ones on her brother’s robes. These symbols controlled the stronger spirits like Jun’soless. There was also an enhancement power spell which she had tattooed all over her arm.       

      Spite closed her eyes and released a part of her spirit energy. Within seconds, her arm gave off blue flames. Her blood not only awakened the beast down below, but caused the other dead people to become insane with rage. With tremendous force, they began to claw, scrape and push Ki'van's barricade. Ki’van was suddenly forced to one knee.
      “No this can not be happening. No, I won’t let you by!”
He struggled back up without releasing his spell. Looking up, Ki'van was aware of the one’s who were responsible.
      In his mind, he noticed a red glow coming from the woman who started this new resistance. He could see that she opened her eyes. They now looked pure white. Her face held a wicked smile and she raised her arms up. It was exactly at that moment when the earth below shook violently and suddenly a low roar was heard from the murky waters. The twenty-foot tall shadow of the rising beast suddenly engulfed Ki’van. the shadow had horns which looked like ram's horns protruding out from it’s head . In shock, Ki’van recognized who it was.
      “A Maclorien berserker!”
      His eyes widened in fear as he noticed the armor which berserker wore. The armor was a golden furred, armor plated cuirass with the royal Hanvanica family symbol on it. It also had the name of the Maclorien’s kingdom on it.“ Ki'van thought, “That’s Jun’soless, the crown Prince of Hanvanica. There were rumors of him being lost in the sea. He's alive? I….. can’t fight,” he paused from at the fear facing him, but the image of Lilly’s face suddenly popped into his head and he shook it off.
      “No, all I need to do is to stall a little longer. As long as Lilly makes it back to the school.” Ki’van said to himself, as he focused on the last bit of his strength which fortified his barricade.
Spite stood watched over the spectacle with delight. She commanded one of the most powerful warriors that had ever lived. Her enjoyment quickly diminish when she noticed an defiance within Jun’s sprit. Pain begun to shoot straight up her arm as she tried to stop his advances. This was proving to be a bit more difficult struggle than she had planned.

      “Damn!” She screamed as she felt to one knee. She was more upset of the fact that she was looking bad in front of her brother than the pain of Jun‘s defiance. Malice, wasn’t too concerned of his sister predicament. This was a part of conditioning for a Necromancer. If she could not handle the power of this warrior then she would die. Malice stood close just incase that doesn’t happen, Jun was too importance for their caused to lose him in the first part of the war.

      Jun’soless stretched his arms wide and clenched his fist as he retracted his arms back to his side. He looked down at his opponent with discuss. This was not he wanted to fight. He felt Spites spiritual energy pushing him to attack the Vandarlen down below him. He didn’t just looked just stare down at Ki’van.

      Spite stood back up and yelled out in anger,

      "Don’t stand there like an idiot and attack him."

      The dead prince yelled out with huge roar and turned to the Necromancers. Spite felt his anger as the shooting pains intensify. She couldn’t breath and nearly fell over. Jun yell out again, “You promised that I would fight my brother. This weakling is not him.”
Spite grabbed her armed from the pain. She knew that Malice will have to take care of this if she couldn’t handle him. She would die first to let that happen. Spite saw that her brother were growing concern, she had to get up and fight back.

      “You will!” Spite screamed. “But now kill that son of a bitch down there, or you won’t fight anything.”
      The Prince rushed up to Spite, chomped his massive razor-sharp teeth in front of Spite, and said,

      “I agree .”
      Spite nearly fainted, her heart nearly jumped out of her mouth. His soul was so strong over his lifeless body she now knows that provoking him any longer would only produce a monster that no one could stop. She had to play it cool so as not to show weakness to her brother.

      The Royal family of the Maclorien kingdom was known for their special gift called the Berserker rage. Normally, Maclorien’s men were between seven to eight feet tall, and Berserker’s rage amplified strength and size, hence the reason that the Maclorien were rarely defeated.

      Spite screamed out, “This is your chance, step on him until he pops like a grape!”

      Malice observed the battle with Jun when suddenly Malice’s senses went numb. He quickly begun to lose his sight. All he saw were straps and buckles going around his face.

      “The bounded soul,” he thought.

      He was right, the ancient soul who had attack Lilly had come forth to give Malice a message.

      “Stop this, Malice. He is the one who can lead me to the girl. Let him play his part further for me.”

      Spite, was shaken up for his actions and yelled,