The First Lich Lord
Chapter 89-Interlude

“You don’t happen to have those rings still lying around, do you?” Marissa asked.

Ezekiel and Marissa had moved from the kitchen to a large drawing room. The room was furnished with large, overstuffed chairs and had a massive fireplace that burned happily along, giving off pleasant warmth. The same potion that allowed Marissa to taste the wine allowed her to also feel the warmth of the fire, something that soothed her immensely. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“No,” Ezekiel shook his head. “They aren’t available anymore. I don’t need one anymore at any rate. That was so long ago, I don’t even know if I could track them down again.”

“I figured as much.” Marissa let out a disappointed sigh as she looked around the room, appreciating the fine paintings and large daylight windows that made the room quite charming. “You know, for the stronghold of a Lich Lord this place isn’t nearly gloomy enough.”

“Who says it has to be gloomy?” Ezekiel chuckled. “That would just get depressing. Back on Earth they say sunlight is a good way to ward off depression. Now, while I’m not entirely sure if that holds true here, sunlight does tend to make people happier, assuming it doesn’t burn them or cause other harm.”

“It seemed awfully gloomy when I first arrived.” Marissa stood before one of the large windows.

“Well, you arrived at night on an overcast day, of course it seemed gloomy.” Ezekiel watched her move toward the window. “Out there you’re going to see where Raven keeps all of her pets. I know she showed you, but that will give you an arial view to truly appreciate just how large an area it is.”

The view that greeted Marissa was indeed quite impressive, especially with how far up in the castle they were. The sanctuary that Raven let her animals roam around in was nestled in a valley at the rear of the castle. Cliffs boxed in the valley on all sides except for where the castle was built. Different creatures moved among the trees, everything from birds to large creatures.

She swayed slightly, leaning against the wall, the alcohol was taking effect. They had gone through several bottles of life magic laced wine. “Does anything ever escape?” Ezekiel’s castle, while located in the mountains, wasn’t within a death biome. Creatures from Raven’s collection escaping could be problematic.

“Sometimes.” Ezekiel shrugged, getting up to look out the window with her. “Normally it’s just the flying creatures, but they always come back. This is the only place for a long way that feels right to them.”

“Interesting.” Marissa leaned heavily against the wall, her vision swimming. She’d been fine while they were sitting, now that she’d gotten up, the potency of the laced wine was going straight to her head. “We should continue the story.”

“Perhaps later. First you should take some time to sober up. I’m not sure you’d remember much at this point, nor take as good of notes as you normally do.” Ezekiel took her by the arm and led her out of the drawing room. They passed through the hallway before entering the garden near the tower where Marissa’s room was.

Raven was in the garden and gave them an odd look, shaking her head. “Drink a little too much? It’s not even evening yet.”

“It’s my fault, I should’ve known better,” Ezekiel said. He sat Marissa down on a bench, where Raven joined them. “I don’t suppose you can help her with it?”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Okay.” Magic surrounded her hands and she placed one on Marissa.

The magic passed through her and purged both the potion that allowed her to taste and the alcohol. Marissa blinked owlishly and looked around.

“Was that regular healing magic?” she asked after a moment.

“Not quite,” Raven said. “That would’ve hurt you. It is a healing spell that only removes the buffs.”

“How can you work life magic?” Marissa demanded, the haze of alcohol having vanished so quickly it left her disoriented.

“Why couldn’t I use life magic?” Raven asked as a raised eyebrow. “I’m not a death creature, I just have great attunement toward it. I’m not a super powerful healer of any kind, I just picked up a few tricks over time.”

“I guess that makes sense. Shall we continue?”

“Where are you at?” Raven asked.

“He just escaped Rhea by riding an underground waterfall.”

“When he was an asshole and sent me away.” Raven glared at Ezekiel.

“You know I would still make the same decision,” Ezekiel responded firmly.

“Because you’re stubborn and stupid,” Raven shot back.

“You made a comment that you didn’t see her as a daughter, why is that?” Marissa asked, only to jerk back, glancing at Raven. “Oh, I’m sorry, that was impolite.”

Raven wasn’t offended, though she was blushing and trying not to laugh at the same time. It was the first time she’d seen the werecat flustered at all. But no explanation came forward.

Ezekiel shot Raven a sidelong glance. “It’s simple, really. Do you feel like the zombies and undead creatures you create with your magic are your children?”

“No,” Marissa shook her head.

“Even when you create living dead?” he pressed.

That wasn’t something she’d done a lot of, though she had created a few living dead. “Still no. Though I will admit there is some connection there, but it’s not like that.”

“Exactly,” Ezekiel said. “With Raven, it’s even more true. The spell that essentially gave birth to her was as much situational and not my own doing as it was anything else. You feel a sense of responsibility for the living dead you create, but that feeling goes away as time passes. As the living dead you create start to live their own lives and make their own decisions your responsibility for them fades, if you had any in the first place. With Raven, she was her own person outside of me from the beginning, and while I care for her, it isn’t because of any kind of feeling of responsibility. It’s more like a fear that I would lose a friend.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” Marissa said.

“Either way.” Ezekiel stood. “Let us continue the story, but let us walk as we do, I’m tired of sitting.”

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