The First Lich Lord
Chapter 26

The next day, as I was working on my cabin, a canoe drifted up the lake. I headed to my dock to greet them, the lynx getting up to follow me. Part of me expected her to leave overnight, but so far she appeared content to stay.

Before long, I waved to Rhea, and helped her out of her canoe. “I take it you successfully dealt with the evil shrine?”

She had a look in her eye and I swallowed, even though I didn’t actually need to swallow.

“Yeah, totally. Shrine is gone now.” I nodded maybe a little too emphatically. “The goblin village it was built in is also gone.”

“A goblin village?” she asked in surprise. “I had detected something evil happening, but then the effect faded. It’s alarming that there was a goblin village nearby.”

“They were sacrificing humans and animals into some kind of blood ritual,” I explained.

“There are rumors of a goblin kingdom hidden under these mountains,” she said. “No one has ever seen them, mind you, or if they have, they have been relatively peaceful. For goblins, anyways.”

Growling rose behind me, and I turned to see the lynx hunched up and growling at Rhea.

“Hey, now, she’s a friend.” The lynx looked at me in question, then relaxed.

“Who is this?” Rhea asked, kneeling and holding out a hand much like I’d done the night before.

I was impressed that she was so comfortable with the wild creature. “She was in a cage at the goblin village. They were going to sacrifice her, but I interrupted the ritual and freed her. She decided to follow me back home.”

“What’s her name?” Rhea asked as the lynx inched closer to her and sniffed her hand.

“Name? I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

Rhea scratched the lynx’s ears. She ran her hand along a black stripe that I hadn’t noticed before, that flowed down the lynx’s back. She pulled her hand away, looking at the lynx in surprise more than alarm. “She has been touched by death. It must’ve happened after you freed her.” Rhea saw my look of alarm. “It’s okay, she is not in any danger. My guess is some stray magic from whatever was happening ended up on her, and then she came in contact with either a death creature or something dead.”

“Is it… alarming that there’s potentially a death creature in the mountains?”

“No, it was more likely she came across something that’s already passed on and was just unlucky. The chances for crossing paths with a powerful enough death creature to change the ambient magic attached to her is highly improbable. I for one would know if such a creature was in the area,” Rhea assured me, not seeming to notice my growing panic. “Either way, I think you should call her Raven. Ravens are often near death so it is a fitting name.”

“You’re surprisingly okay with this,” I pointed out.

“While death is sad, we are taught that death is part of life,” Rhea explained. “Olattee seeks to restore and preserve, but also understands that without death, there would be no point.”

“That is a rather enlightened view,” I said, then blanched. My comment could be taken as very rude. “Sorry if that came off harsh, not my intention.”

Rhea let out a soft chuckle and stood. “It’s okay. I don’t expect you to know the tenets of Olattee.”

“Can’t say I’m very religious at all.” I gestured for her to follow and we made our way to shore. “I don’t have much in the way of hospitality right now, but I can show you around.”

Rhea frowned at my temporary home. “I’m not sure this will keep you warm in the winter.”

“I handle the cold pretty well,” I told her. My undead nature meant I could all but ignore the cold. “With the help of the sawmill from Derek, I should easily have a roof on my cabin before the snow comes. I might even have the time to dig out my basement.”

Then I showed her the construction of my cabin.

“You are making fast progress,” she said. “You must be quite strong, though you don’t look it.”

“I’ll try not to take that like it sounded,” I chuckled. “I am quite strong though. Perks of living a life of adventure I suppose.”

Rhea blushed a little, which surprised me. With a start it occurred to me that she was quite cute, but yet I felt nothing. Likely due to my emotions being all messed up in my mindscape.

“I did not mean it that way,” Rhea assured me. “So, you were on an adventure? Where, might I ask?”

Deciding it couldn’t hurt to tell her at least some of the truth, I answered, “The nation to the south of this one, over the mountains.”

She blanched a little. “You mean the one that was overrun by the undead?”

“That very one. I just barely made it out ahead of the hordes.”

“The things you must’ve seen escaping that place,” she shook her head.

“And the things I did,” I said in a quietly haunted voice.

“I think I understand more why you’re hesitant to talk about your resistance to Olattee.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “Just know the door is always open.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with a smile.

“Now, will you at least let me lay some wards around this area to keep wild animals at bay so they won’t bother your home.” She looked at me expectantly. “Don’t worry, it won’t affect Raven.”

“That would be helpful,” I agreed. Truly, I did not fear any of the wild animals, but it would be nice to know a wandering bear wasn’t going to come along and ransack my home while I was away.

I followed her up the valley a little way, where she then began to carve small symbols into the bark of trees, chanting a simple chant. The symbol glowed briefly before the bark regrew, absorbing the magic. At first, I was hesitant, worrying that the magic would affect me. After a while, it became apparent that the low-level holy magic didn’t have any obvious effect on me. My guess was that Lichs were a bit more powerful of an undead creature than this magic was meant to handle.

“These trees will now serve as a kind of barrier to prevent monsters from coming down the valley,” Rhea told me. “Be warned though, it won’t prevent very powerful creatures from entering.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I assured her.

Rhea and I didn’t stick around much longer after setting up the wards. The purpose of her trip was mostly to see where my home was and to check-in about the quest. Later that afternoon, Derek showed up on the trail alongside the lake, leading a pack mule carrying supplies.

“You have a spot for this?” he called out when he saw me.

“Yeah, bring it on over,” I said.

With Derek’s help, we set up the water powered sawmill. It was a simple contraption with a small waterwheel being turned by the stream, which twisted a set of gears, that drove a blade up and down. The blade was span between two sturdy pieces of wood and very sharp. The hardest part was getting the cutting platform level and the wedges in place to help me keep the thickness of my planks consistent.

By the time we finished, the sun was set, and we began working on cutting planks by torchlight. Raven had been watching us intently, but left to hunt.

“Let me take you back to town in my boat, saves you the trip tomorrow.”

“You good crossing the lake in the dark?” Derek asked.

“Yeah, I have great night sight,” I assured him. “In some ways, I’m more comfortable in the darkness.”

“You do understand how ominous that sounds, right?” Derek gave me an odd look.

“Oh, don’t be melodramatic.” I probably shouldn’t have said I was more comfortable in the darkness, but it slipped out in trying to assure him I’d be fine.

As we crossed the lake, both set to rowing, we chatted quietly, our voices carrying far over the water. “Cutting green logs into planks has some issues, you’ll likely get splitting after a time.”

“I was worried about that,” I agreed. “Unfortunately, I can’t think of a way to cure the logs fast enough. There’s no way I can build a kiln.”

“I have some tar you can use to coat your roof to help prevent it,” Derek said. “That will only last for a short time. My recommendation would be to cut enough planks for your roof now, and get some trees cut down and set in a pile. In a few years they should be cured. The tar should help your roof last that long, especially with that good layer of thatch you have on it.”

“I’ll be sure to do that, thank you. Will the logs cure faster if I debark them first?”

“Yes,” Derek agreed. “Just make sure your pile is kept off the ground to help keep them free of insects.”

I dropped Derek off at the town docks and headed back up the lake. The moon had come up, reflecting perfectly with the stars above in the still water. It was a peaceful night.

Maybe… all this would work out in the end.