Red Glass

26.

The 6th Blood Scroll

After the War of the Gods had finally come to an end, a truce was scribed over corpses of armies between King Vladimir and the Dragon clan under a red moon●

King Vladamir had managed to lead his kingdom to victory but at great cost● The blood army had withered to barely under two thousand, not enough to defend against the surrounding kingdoms should they form an alliance● The great kingdom had been taken by force, burning many flags that tied beyond●

General Vatalis proposed a deal with the Dragon clan, one that would shift the world's fate● The King had arranged a meeting to claim his token of victory, a tradition usually recompensed by treasure, weapons or a crown●

People called the Dragon clan gods, for they had technology from beyond the stars but the King knew weapons do not win wars, soldiers do● King Vladamir the victor wanted an army more powerful than his enemies could ever assemble, an army of immortals●

The Dragon clan had renounced their ways of mysticism for a more technological-based civilization● The ancients of the Dragon clan nevertheless, still knew of the crafts● The token of victory in topic could only be sowed through one whose blood already spiraled with magic, this was a decree that could not be severed● King Vladamir himself could not be chosen to originate this new sovereignty into the world, nor could Lord Artimis, the Queen to be or General Vatalis●

Priestess Shay and Keeper the court mage had become legends through the war among both sides● They battled not for the King but for themselves, for the euphoria of combat, skill advancement and distinction as was common amongst users of magic● General Vatalis advised our fierce king against subjecting two of his most powerful champions against their will and that he should allow them the opportunity to voluntarily embrace the honour●

Keeper was not trusting of the former enemy. He had seen the monsters beneath the mask they donned and knew the flames of delusion scar viciously● Why the dragon clan would help a former enemy to enhance made no sense in any culture, especially if nothing would be accumulated in return●

Everything comes with a price●

All abilities came with different ways to earn them but necromancy took the most● Not many can pronounce the inhuman ritual involved, even few could oblige● Shay, having performed the rituals required for the darkest of arts, knew all too well about the price of power but still, she yearned for more● Immortality was unnatural, even in the world of ancient magic. Nature by its own accord forbade the immortal of sunlight and even with immortality, silver would be deadly● Shay saw the price of immortality too high as half of its value and refused these terms●

The priestess was told that true immortality could not form in a single life, but many● A replica of her would be always present in the realm as a descendant of one of those she passed the superiority on to● As long as a copy of her existed with magic flowing through the veins, upon death, her soul would possess the new body● Through the soul shifting from copy to copy she could retain her aptitudes and recollections without the deficiencies exacted by nature, instead the expense would be delivered by the unsuspecting copy whose soul would be sacrificed●

The ritual to become the seed of a new darkness took three steps;

°The venom of the dragon spider had to flow in equal amounts to blood through the heart● For this to be executed, Shay had to survive for twenty nights without food or water, throughout her body would exhaust, reducing her blood content● After the nights of hunger and thirst had been completed, she was bathed in rose water and carried upon a bed by King Vlad, Lord Amdis, general Vatalis, Keeper the court mage and agent Carmilla as a tribute for her sacrifices for the kingdom● The elite five lay her in a special chamber swarmed with dragon spiders as instructed by the dragon people and waited one whole night●

○Once the first condition was met, the priestess was lifted and set upon a large rune that glowed red● The dragon lineage cast a synchronised spell of life force, holding as long as required as Shay screamed in agony● The screams tore through nightsas such that the king complained that he could still hear them in his slumber moons later●

○For the third element, the King was told that the priestess had to choose eight hundred subjects, no more, no less, to be given the powers promised● King Vladamir was furious at such a late condition as the dragons were never known to have lied before● The dragons never lied not because of honesty being a principle, but because they saw lies as crimes against themselves● As furious as the King was, nothing could have been done for half his warriors●

Over the span of less than half a moon, eight hundred had been gifted powers through sexual rituals in service to the King● In honour of the now most powerful witch ever to walk the realm, the dragon spider was renamed the Shay spider●

Those chosen had become stronger, faster and near invincible overnight and their powers continued to grow, yet none had known the full price that had been paid● The dragon people had explained that the powers could be passed on, not through recreation, but through casting a spell upon someone with venom of the Shay spider flowing through them at the cost of their own life force●

Keeper, able to understand the dragons of the sky, discovered what price had been paid but it was too late● Shadow magic was given at the cost of the sun, immortality granted at the cost of an addiction to blood and blood magic, at the cost of infertility●

The dragon people had deceived the priestess about her bid of immortality● They did not trust a creature so eager for power, especially one that had become so powerful● Aware that Shay could figure out the loophole in this bid, they suspected she would turn on those whom she passed the gift to or all that had been involved● To counter this they appointed one human to be granted the similar abilities save one- shadow magic● An immortal without weakness to the sun•