Page 9

I looked at the surrounding tundra. It was beautiful in a way. The frozen, glittering ground and the sunlight dancing across the crystals. Still I longed for greenery, for life. I may not remember my travel through the tundra, yet I was still sick of it.

“I always loved the tundra. My High temple was about 27 miles east of here. There is so much death in winter, and it is always winter here.” Mana stated, regarding the wasteland around us.

“What will happen when I die Mana? As  goddess of death you would know right?” Mana looked at me seriously. 

“All I can say is that a god or goddess will gather your soul. That is, unless a necromancer interferes. Other than that, I can not describe the afterlife. Not even my first master was able to make me budge on this Richard, so do not try.” She said fervently. 

“Calm down Mana, I won’t push. Well, I plan to go back to warmer climates, and I assume you are coming with me.” Mana looked overjoyed at this.

“Teach me about necromancy while I walk please, it will be a boring journey otherwise.”

“Of course Richard.”

The journey through the tundra took about 4 months. I was very slow, relying heavily on Mana to support me. Apparently I was so close to death that I was only operating now because Mana was animating the majority of my body with necromancy. I was not sure how I felt about this, it meant I was mostly dead, and I resolved that as soon as possible I would seek out a priest and get healed. If I could find one I could trust. Having Mana at my command elevated me to a different playing field than most mortals.

I rarely delved into Mana’s past. While she happily told me of her “kind” masters, it wrenched my heart whenever I reminded her of the “mean” ones. The poor woman, I had trouble thinking of her as a deity or a staff, was truly traumatized and broken. Over the months she slowly lowered the shield between us, and I could feel the depth of her damaged psyche. I resolved to try to heal her, but knew that many before me would have done the same. 

My training in necromancy went very smoothly. I had resolved not to use Mana’s power unless absolutely necessary, to the point that I commanded Mana to use her best judgement and not consult with me.

I had come to trust that she truly wished to serve me, especially after I made my command. It was not out of compassion for her actually, I never actually got that far in my internal debate to consider how she would feel about the matter.

No, it was a matter of pride. I have my own power, and it is beneath me to rely on someone else. That does not mean I will refuse to use Mana’s immense might, I knew that someday there may be no other choice, but for now I am content just to pick her brain.

The final curiosity I encountered was how the mind meld worked. At first I worried that I would wind up as some sort of demigod trapped in a mortal shell, as my mind and hers melded into one. In reality it was more like our thoughts bled over into each other.

I quickly learned how to keep my thoughts to myself, just like she could, and how to look into her mind if I really needed to. I only forced my way in once, after I reminded her of an especially painful memory and I had to go in to pull her out. I try not to think of what I saw.

I had made up my mind of what to do when we finally reached the forests bordering the tundra.