The First Lich Lord
Chapter 58-Interlude

Marissa stirred, opening her eyes. Bright light poured through one of the windows within the room she’d been given in Ezekiel’s castle. She did not know how long she had been meditating but guessed it hadn’t been long. She wasn’t very skilled at meditation. It wasn’t something that came easily to her. Her mind was always busy, and she’d had a lot to pour over in her thoughts.

Still, Marissa tried. By the direction of the light, at least a few hours had passed since Raven led her here. The room was furnished with simple but high-quality furniture, and a soft, dark blue rug with swirling black patterns covered the floor.

Standing, Marissa stretched, though she had little need to. The golden ring she wore with an ebony sphere nestled on the top of the band caught her attention. While she hadn’t intentionally become a Lich, this ring had been the one item she acquired as a safety net, just in case. She had stashed it away with her phylactery. When she died on Earth unexpectedly and found herself in a de-leveled body of a Lich, the ring had no doubt preserved her life.

It was a powerful magical item that a friend of hers had created. The ring enabled an immensely powerful illusion, far more powerful than anything Ezekiel had access to those first few years. She appeared human when wearing it, her body given mass, and she could even feel sensations fed into her mind by the ring. It wasn’t the same as being able to feel, an ability she had yet to regain, but it allowed her to react to stimulus that affected her illusionary body.

Marissa moved to a mirror and hesitantly slid the ring off. Her dark brown skin faded and a few moments later her cloak shifted as the mass underneath vanished. She held in a shudder at the image that stared back at her. Where her arms were exposed was now thick black bones, and underneath her clothes was nothing but bones and a few spidery strands of pitch-black sinew. Her head was a black skull, with a few strands of black sinew stretching across the top.

From what Marissa understood from seeing Ezekiel and hearing how he described himself in the past, that sinew would eventually form muscles and even skin, making her appear human once again. That would take time in levels though. The orbs of light in her eye sockets were a different color than Ezekiel’s. For the most part, his eyes were purple with streaks of gray, and eldritch energy could be seen coursing through them. Her eyes burned a frosty blue, and the same eldritch magic could be seen streaking through them occasionally.

Marissa stared at her visage, repeating a mantra in her mind over and over again. The same mantra she’d been chanting since being reborn in this world. “I am not a monster, might look like one, but I am not one.” She hoped one day she could believe that as fundamentally as Ezekiel seemed to.

She slipped the ring back on and the illusion rebuilt around her. Her arms became clothed in flesh and her robe filled out as her body regained its fleshy bits.

Leaving her room, Marissa retraced her steps back to the courtyard where she had first met Raven. The lullabies that Ezekiel had shown her had closed their flowers in the bright sun. The courtyard was cast in a very different setting now that the sun shone down on it.

She was surprised to see a bush with green leaves. As she approached the plant, having expected plants from a death biome to all be black and evil-looking, she spotted a lynx curled up in a beam of sunshine on a patch of black-leafed clover. The lynx had a black stripe running down the length of its back.

Marissa thought she’d been moving quietly but when the lynx’s head lifted and its bright purple eyes fixed on her, she realized she might not have been as quiet as she thought. The lynx yawned and stretched, pawing at the ground. Its body morphed in an instant, and Raven was standing before her.

Raven smiled. “I didn’t think you would last very long. Meditation is a hard skill that takes a lot of practice.”

“You’ve been waiting for me?”

“Of course.” Raven nodded at the green bush. “This place is full of very dangerous things, and Zeke would not be thrilled if you got yourself killed. By, say, something as innocent-looking as a bush.”

Marissa eyed the bush. “I was just surprised it was green.”

“Zeke says it has something to do with the sunlight.” Raven flicked her hand in annoyance. “Evidently green allows the plant to use the sun, or something like that. He said there’s no reason that death-based plants can’t use sunlight, they just need the right stuff.”

Marissa nodded, understanding the point. “What makes the plant so deadly?”

“It’s not dangerous for me.” Raven gave her an appraising look. “You are just too weak. When the leaves are disturbed, it releases an intoxicating cloud of dust that has just enough life magic to enthrall. Then the colony of death wasps that have formed a symbiotic bond with the bush swarm and kill whatever has been caught. Then both the bush and the wasps feed on the magic and flesh of their victim.”

“That’s quite gruesome.” Marissa stepped away from the plant.

“Oh, it is. But that’s a death biome for you, not nearly as forgiving as others. Zeke has put enchantments around it to contain the wasps, but if you get too close it won’t be able to protect you.”

Marissa shook her head. “If these are the plants, I shudder to think what the creatures are like.”

“We have a few of those around.” Raven smiled. “They are quite fun. Don’t get me wrong, there are some horrific ones, but the only ones Zeke brings back for me are the fun ones. You want to see them?”

Marissa glanced the direction Ezekiel had disappeared.

“He’s going to be busy for quite a while,” Raven said. “I think it’s okay if you go see what he’s doing, but you can’t interrupt.”

Marissa nodded. She shouldn’t expect Ezekiel to wait on her. “Let’s go see your pets.”

Raven’s smile widened, showing off her sharp canines. “You’ll love them.”

***

The grounds of the castle were quite extensive. Raven spent the day showing Marissa around. What Raven considered pets were a series of creatures Ezekiel and her had collected in their travels. Some were strange, some were even cute, but all of them were dangerous.

Raven led Marissa to where Ezekiel was working with Vito on a large spell diagram carved into a perfectly black, smooth stone surface. Two other people were assisting them as they worked.

Ezekiel looked up when Marissa and Raven entered the area. It was an outdoor space situated on the edge of a cliff. In the distance below, Marissa could see dark forests spreading out in a narrow valley.

“Marissa, Raven,” Ezekiel smiled. “I was wondering if you two would show up.”

“Raven’s been showing me around the castle,” Marissa said.

“I figured you should be getting close to done at this point,” Raven said.

Ezekiel returned his focus to the diagram. It was twenty meters in diameter, and the intricate lines carved into the stone had been carved so precisely, Marissa wondered how it hadn’t been done by machine.

“I’m almost done with my part.” Ezekiel glanced over at Vito. “Do you mind finishing up?”

Vito stretched his back—there was an audible crack as his spine popped. “Yeah, no problem. You did what I needed you for already. I can work with the others to finish the carving and the minute details.”

“I appreciate it.” Ezekiel nodded at Vito in thanks and walked toward the two ladies with a smile. “How was meditating?”

“Difficult,” Marissa admitted. “Got a lot on my mind.”

Raven, seeing her job was done, headed off in a different direction shifting back into her cat form.

“Would you prefer I continue where I left off?” Ezekiel asked, walking at a leisurely pace, no particular direction in mind.

“That would be perfect,” Marissa said, falling into stride beside him. She pulled out her magical pen and paper, ready to take notes.