Necrofairies

Part 5 - Heliodor

Heliodor sat back on a well worn armchair that had seen better days. His squat little shanty was filled with all sorts of strange spell ingredients, bubbling liquids and books. The one table in the room was a mess of scribbled on paper covered in runes, formula's and the feverishly scrawled notes of someone obsessed. The place was so crammed that there was nowhere for anyone else to sit so Sliver and Neen hovered in front of him. To make it even more unpleasant the whole place smelled of orc.

"What do we need to do to reverse the spell?" asked Neen.

"I am afraid to say my dear that there is no way to reverse the effects of a spell cast using that elixir. It is the most powerful magic ever created. Some say it came directly from the gods. A nanolitre has the power to cure disease, a single drop to raise the dead...permanently."

"So are you saying there is nothing we can do?"

"I am saying that you cannot undo the past. If you wish to stop the destruction of the living world as we know it we need to get the elixir back from Gravlok. While he still has it he has the power to raise the dead indefinitely. Even those you say you have killed could be reanimated at his whim."

"How is it that you know the name of this orc wizard?" asked Sliver suspiciously. "I worked for him for six months and I was never able to find out who he was."

"Let's just say we have a history."

"What type of history?" insisted Sliver.

"My current affliction is the result of experiments he conducted on me while I was his captive. In another life I used to be a pure blood elf and a very ambitious magic user. I was lured by Gravlok to learn the lost art of orcish magic. I planned to master this lost knowledge and to save it. Unfortunately I was to discover that his intentions were otherwise."

"None of this gets us closer to a solution," complained Neen.

"I've already told you what we need to do," snapped Heliodor. "We need to find Gravlok and get that elixir back. Then kill him and every last one of the undead and afflicted before their contagion spreads across the entire world."

"And how exactly are we going to do that? Any suggestions?" asked Neen.

"I believe it might be possible to predict where he will go next by consulting some of the ancient texts in the library of Adarna," replied Heliodor thoughtfully.

"Adarna is halfway across the country!" exclaimed Sliver.

"Distance is not a problem," replied Heliodor dismissively.

"Assuming we do actually find him, how do we stand a chance of defeating him when he can raise the dead at will?" asked Neen.

Heliodor grabbed his staff, flipped it upside down and unscrewed the brass section at the bottom. From within the hollowed out section he produced a small thin black vial.

"With this," said with and air grandeur, "Inside this tiny bottle is a liquid called white light. It can only be extracted from the tears of a fallen angel and not just any fallen angel, it needs to be one who is willing to sacrifice their wings and become mortal. Needless to say it is beyond rare and there are many rich and powerful people who would kill just to have it in their possession. To obtain even this tiny amount I have done things that I thought I would never be capable of. Even showing this to you I am taking a great risk and by doing so I hope you understand the gravity of the situation if we cannot stop Gravlok.

"What does it do?" asked Neen resisting the urge to make a grab for the bottle and run.

"It has the ability to elongate life, to heal sickness and, most critical to our current predicament, it can purge the undead of their tormented spirits, thus preventing them from being reanimated."