Forbidden Magic
POV: Alexandra
Necromancy is known as a forbidden magic across all realms. This rule was handed down by the Gods to the ones they ruled over. It was forbidden to take anything from a God and to take souls from Hades was to take from a God. I imagined that he was not pleased with the fact that someone was taking souls from the Underworld. I asked, “How do we know it is necromancy?” Ashton sighed, “Hades himself told us that this was possible but Blake’s spy within The Order has seen this deed with his own eyes. From what we understand, the necromancer wizard is not doing this of his own volition. He is being forced to do so but we are unaware of what power The Order is lording over him. The spy saw a long-dead comrade reanimate in front of him. He went from a full skeleton to a pyrio with blue flesh and white hair but this time his eyes were glowing red. Best that we can tell, the reanimated are only those from Vellum but they are amassing an army larger than that of Vellum. The General says conventional weapons won’t kill them either. We already know that Jess can bless the waters in Vellum but the General doesn’t believe that that will be enough, this would only stave them off for a while. We need the wielder of the Holy Fire to come forth and assist us.” I furrowed my brows, “Holy Fire? Do we know who wields it?” He shook his head, “Unfortunately, no. We don’t. Not even Grand Pretre knows and she has been pulled in to help out.” It troubled me that this person who wielded such a seemingly powerful ability should not be known to Grand Pretre even.
My grandfather sighed, “I have heard of this magic but the wielder would not be known to Her Eminence until the wielder gained the power. In my readings, I was able to read about different abilities used in the history of Vellum. This particular power did not belong to a particular House which made it one of the more unique abilities. It was last wielded by House Kastilidan about a hundred years ago when the dragons were able to animate their own dead. Lord Kartilde Kastilidan wielded the ability to take their nest down and took out the dragons who gained such power. It took a lot of strength to wield the ability and it came at a powerful cost. He lost his left arm after wielding it. The bearer will give up something to gain the power. This kind of magic, like necromancy, requires a cost.” This declaration made me worry about the poor wizard being forced to do the bidding of The Order. It made me wonder what he had to give up in order for him to bring forth such a massive army. What would the cost be for the one who had to wield the Holy Fire? I worried for this unknown person. Would they lose an arm as well for the sake of their realm? I know that if I had to wield such a power for Terre, there would be hesitation on my part. Would I have this hesitation for Vellum if I had to make such a decision? The thought rolled around in my head for a while.
Teddy finally spoke, “Would the wielder of Holy Fire need to be someone who is proficient in fire magic?” My grandfather looked over at him, “Not necessarily but the cost would be awfully high to anyone who is less proficient in fire magic. What’s more this ability doesn’t just manifest. It would have to be gifted to the wielder by fate. No one knows how one comes by it but it certainly isn’t a natural manifestation.” This whole Holy Fire thing was confusing because it could be wielded by anyone but it doesn’t just manifest and Grand Pretre couldn’t tell us who would stumble upon this ability in the future. I sighed, “So we’re just supposed to hope whoever this mysterious unknown wielder of this powerful holy magic comes forward in time to save us all from a zombie army?” Ashton looked at my grandfather who was chuckling, “Zombies are a thing from Terre. They are sort of the same thing as the undead here. The difference being that the undead here manifest with flesh while zombies rot as they walk around undead. Not to mention that the zombies aren’t necromanced into existence.” I shrugged, “I guess I really can’t call them zombies but it really was easier for me to call them zombies than the undead. I kind of feel like in human terms the undead refers to vampires which is weird to me.” My grandfather laughed harder, “The humans really had us wrong by calling us the undead. We live and breathe. We were just a different species that lived off of blood. They just wanted to explain the unexplainable to them.”
A knock sounded on the door and Derek poked his head in the door, “Ash, I asked the General to send over Toby.” Teddy sat up straight, “T-toby! Why are you bringing him here?” Derek looked at Teddy confused, “I guess they didn’t explain to you.” I interrupted, “We were just about to but Ash came in to talk to us about the necromancer.” I turned to Teddy, “We are sending Derek out to investigate Tyleesh’s disappearance. Ashton figured that sending Toby over to replace Derek would be best.” Teddy started to fidget in his seat and instantly I knew why he was nervous. I didn’t know if I wanted to call him out here in front of everyone and risk embarrassing him. Ashton must’ve seen me staring at Teddy because he asked, “Why are you staring at Theodore, sis?” Teddy’s eyes widened as he looked into mine realizing that I understood his fidgeting. He slowly nodded at me to indicate it was okay to talk about it. I sighed, “Teddy’s crush is Toby Ligidew.” Derek smiled at Teddy, “Ah, okay. That explains the nervousness in your voice when Toby was mentioned. Have you ever talked to Toby before?” Teddy wrung his hands nervously, “Sadly, no. I’ve only ever admired him from afar. I’ve never so much as uttered a word to him. He makes me so nervous.” Ashton gently placed a hand on his shoulder, “We can help you to find out if he’s into you, Teddy.” Teddy vigorously shook his head, “I don’t even know if he is attracted to men. What if he hates me for my crush on him?” Derek shook his head, “Toby is a really nice guy. He would let you down easy and offer to be friends. I’ve seen the youngest of the Baltiliard ladies approach him and confess her feelings to him. He told her he didn’t feel the same but she was nice and would like to be friends. He’s done it to countless women.”
I gasped, “Countless women you say?” Derek nodded, “Yes. Why?” I smiled, “Oh, that’s for me to know. I will reveal it when I have formulated the full plan in my head. Teddy, you need not worry about it. We can find out his feelings towards you without even having you confess to him. Will you trust me with this?” Teddy looked at me with a new admiration, “If you can find out without me having to confess, of course, you can Alexandra.” I nodded at him, determined to help my new friend find out if the guy he had a crush on was interested in him as well. If what Derek said was true, it was quite possible that Toby Ligidew was in the closet as well. Neither man was out in the public about their preferences. I was going to find out in a subtle way by befriending Toby and talk about his love life much like I had been able to do with all of my friends so far. This would take a little time and effort but I was fairly certain that I could help Teddy out with Toby one way or another. If the opportunity should arise, I would also help the two spend some time together. I had not planned on leaving the house much anyhow. The fall break was coming up in two days and during those two weeks would be the next assembly along with the fall masquerade ball. I would create an opportunity for the two men to spend alone time together but I would need to time it right. The wheels in my head kept on turning about the plans on how to help my friend Teddy out.
Ashton cleared his throat, “Moving on, the General is going to receive reports from the spy directly as they figure out the identity of the necromancer. They’re also keeping count of how many of the army they are amassing. We can only assume that my father plans on taking over Vellum if Melody is not named Queen. He did say that he would make her the wife of Lucien and Queen by the end of all of this, even if he had to force the King’s hand. He said he wouldn’t let some filthy human occupy the throne. It’s stupid though since you are pyrio sis.” I sighed, “It doesn’t matter, I was raised in Terre so they will only ever see me as human.” Grandfather shook his head, “He just doesn’t know you well enough, kiddo. You are the strength of Vellum and you will soon see it.”
