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ISRI HURRIED THROUGH the corridors to her mother’s study. She only had a few minutes to get her mother to agree to her plan before the Chreuthecal ceremony would begin. Luckily for her the candidate had not yet been revealed. This would make it slightly easier to keep her secret. Lye-Ashe could always reject her if she thought something was awry.
“Mother, please excuse me if I talk like the wind, but I need your help.” Isri screamed as she burst through her mother’s study doors.
Aesurnu had no idea what her daughter could be talking about, but she had a feeling it had to do with the handsome prince she met today. She could only guess that she had received a marriage proposal that she truly needed to consider. She was quite taken aback by the words that her daughter spoke next.
“Mother, you need to name me the next Chreuthecal. I cannot explain everything to you just yet, but know it is in the best interest of the people. As future Raelisuir, I need the experience of seeing our patron immortal on an everyday basis. I need to be the one to help her with her duties.”
“My dear child, what has gotten into you of late? First you desire to run away to a far-off land and marry a handsome prince. Your father goes to great lengths to find you suitable mates and you dislike all of them. Then you are gone half the day with this one from your father’s land and now you suddenly come back and want to be the Chreuthecal? What about leaving this boring old town for adventure? Did this prince you met today scare you in some way for you to want to go away for a whole year?”
“No mother, it is hard to explain. Please, just know that I have my reasons and because of who you are and how close you are with Lye-Ashe I cannot tell you beforehand. I have had quite an enlightened day while visiting with Prince Est’it. All I am asking is that you allow me to become the servant to Lye-Ashe this year. Next year we shall be preparing for a wedding.”
Aesurnu stopped in her tracks. She whizzed around and grabbed Isri in a huge hug and began to dance up and down. “Does this mean that you have finally found the person you wish to marry and have already accepted a proposal?” She yelped with great excitement as she clutched her daughter even tighter.
Dizzy with the excitement and the dread of the future, Isri steadied herself in her mother’s arms. “Yes, mother, that is what it means. However, I need to accept my path as a Raelisuir before I can begin a new journey as a queen. This is why you must make me the Chreuthecal this time.”
“Oh, Isri, I had hoped beyond hope that you would want to do this. I knew you would come around. I already had plans to make you the Chreuthecal this year if only you asked. However, you are cutting it very close my dear. Go and prepare yourself in the sacred robes of Lye-Ashe and meet me in the Shirasute.
Isri quickly dressed in the golden robes of Lye-Ashe for the ceremony. At one point in time she would have felt honor, but now she only felt disgust after finding out what she had about Lye-Ashe. She attempted to bottle all of these feelings up inside her far away from where anyone could sense them. She cleared her mind as she prepared to walk down the long corridor to the Shirasute. The Shirasute was the pool of the dead where the Chreuthecal would enter Lye-Ashe’s realm.
Lye-Ashe was most powerful in her home dimension of Perib’a. It was part of the Underworld. Most humans had to die in order to arrive there, but with a few magical rituals one could become a Chreuthecal, an undead. By becoming undead this allowed the person to cross over to the dimension of the dead without leaving their body behind. This was especially necessary for the servant of Lye-Ashe who had to handle the staff, Shultash, because a non-corporeal body would be of no use. It was also necessary because Lye-Ashe promised to return all Chreuthecal candidates back to their former lives, but in order to do this the soul must not leave the flesh.
In a matter of minutes, Isri would meet Lye-Ashe and have to gain her trust or be rejected. It would be especially hard for her to convince Lye-Ashe because she knew that the ritual to turn her into a Chreuthecal servant would leave her with her will intact. She would not be an obedient slave bound to the will of Lye-Ashe, which is what the ritual usually did to the candidate. Isri would have to play her part and be on her toes at all times until she could steal Shultash back to the dimension of the living.
When she arrived at the pool her mother was standing at the great alter with her grimoire. The joy in her mother’s face pained Isri. She knew if she were successful that it would break her mother’s heart. If she did not succeed then that would break her mother’s heart as well, but she had to do what was best for her future children and the children of the past that did not ask to be bound to this terrible creature.
Isri stared into the dark pool and began to become very drowsy as her mother chanted to the beat of the drum. Each beat made her forget more and more what she was doing. All she could think about was Est’it. Her body became numb and she collapsed into the waters below plunging deeper and deeper into the cold. Soon there was nothing. No sound, no motion, no cold, no thoughts—only a single light.
Alaestiphos pulled Isri out of the pool of water in the Perib’an dimension. He chanted a few words and then all of a sudden Isri’s senses came back at once to the point where she awoke with a start. Wet hair clung to her face and she coughed out water from her lungs. The present Chreuthecal helped her up and dried her off. Alaestiphos was a young man of no great regard from Cerynian. He was in a lesser class than Isri as most Chreuthecal were. It was only on very rare occasions that nobility of any kind became the Chreuthecal. Isri noticed that Alaestiphos looked very different. His eyes were hollow and his face was sunken. He looked more like a zombie than a servant. Of course, no one really knew what you looked like as a Chreuthecal, other than Lye-Ashe. When a Chreuthecal returns home, they are usually the same as when they went in and with hardly any memory of the service. Isri hoped that the return trip for Alaestiphos would rejuvenate him.
Isri had expected Alaestiphos to be waiting with Lye-Ashe so she could send him back home; however, there was no one around. Alaestiphos moved to the left of her and struck a large golden gong. Trumpets began to blare and then there she was in all of her glory, Lye-Ashe, Queen of the stolen souls. She looked nothing like her statues in Cerynian. Down here she looked like a human. She was still darkly beautiful and she carried herself with great authority. She quickly eyed Isri and snorted.
“So, another wide eyed princess comes to me. What is the matter? Is Cerynian out of real servants that they can send,” Lye-Ashe asked Isri in a mocking tone.
Isri gathered her strength and replied, “No, I am daughter of Aesurnu and future Raelisuir. I plan to wed next year so I asked to come here to learn all I can as I have been lax in my studies in the past and wish to make up for it”.
This response caught Lye-Ashe off guard. Most of the time when the candidates arrive they are too fog minded to say much of anything. Lye-Ashe wondered if maybe this girl were something special. For a second a cold chill ran up her spine, but she brushed it off to being caught off guard. There was nothing that anyone could do to stop her from getting souls to power Shultash and this girl certainly posed no threat. Although, she was a little more clearly minded than Lye-Ashe liked her servants.
“Of course, dear child. And what might I call you daughter of Aesurnu?”
“I am called Isri and I am here to serve you my immortal patron,” Isri said with a grand bow to Lye-Ashe.
“Splendid. Your first task is to send Alaestiphos home. Take this grimoire and read the incantation while he steps into the pool. This will effectively send him home and bind you as the new Chreuthecal, Isri,” Lye-Ashe instructed as she handed Isri a book.
Isri did as Lye-Ashe asked all the while wondering how long she must stay here in this dank Underworld dimension. After she was done reciting the incantation Alaestiphos disappeared to the bottom of the pool. Isri stood there half expecting him to bob right back up, but he did not.
Isri was relieved when Lye-Ashe spoke and told her what to do next. Lye-Ashe wanted her to follow her to the temple where her brother Seorithcal, the maker of the staff, was inspecting Shultash.
Lye-Ashe led Isri up a long, dark winding path. The flowing magma below it was the only light upon the path. One wrong move and it would be a very hot bath for anyone that fell.
Lye-Ashe saw the disdain in Isri’s eyes at the magma. She began to wonder if this princess would be able to handle her responsibilities. She did not seem very sturdy.
They arrived at the top of the path where it opened to a beautiful mountain temple lit by moonlight from a huge orange moon. It was something out of a fairy tale, thought Isri. The temple looked like an eastern themed palace. Although it was not very large, it had several rooms within it and in the center stood Shultash. The moonlight was pouring in over the staff. It was actually a very beautiful weapon. It had intricately carved runes running down the top of the metal. The staff also had an immaculately carved handle with deep grooves for grasping. In the center of the staff there was a beautiful glowing light that caused sparks and zaps between the two great wings. Isri could only imagine what caused the staff to spark, perhaps the souls.
Isri was lost in the sparks of the staff when she heard a voice from the shadows.
“So, you are the new servant? You look much like a princess to me? Are you sure you are up to the tasks at hand?” The eerie voice surrounded Isri as she felt cold eyes piercing her very being.
“That is enough, Seorithcal. You will leave this one alone. She is to be wed when she returns and you shall not touch her.” Lye-Ashe spoke to the shadows.
“But, sister, you promised the next girl that came when I was here would be mine. I have been so very long without a companion and she is so beautiful. I only want to touch. I will not hurt her,” responded Seorithcal still from the shadows.
Isri suddenly felt a shock run through her spine. Touch her? What did this voice in the shadows want with her? There was nothing about this in the legends of the Chreuthecal.
“Seorithcal, this one is not as foggy minded as the others. She will most likely reject your advances.”
“I have potions for that, sister,” hissed the voice still hiding in the shadows.
Isri could feel this Seorithcal pacing around her in the shadows of the room. She did not like the feeling at all. It would be all that much harder to steal the staff if there was some crazed Crythl trying to seduce her at every corner.
“Enough brother. You must show the servant how to handle the staff so she can begin her time here. I am much too busy to train her tonight. I will leave you with her, but do not harm her.”
“Busy, busy, not busy. You just want to spend time with your play things. You only think of your pleasure these days and I must sit alone in the shadows and teach your servants their jobs.”
“Fine! Do as I ask and she will stay in your realm of Ild’dart’it for six months when you return, on the condition that you bring her back each day. Really, you are getting very demanding Seorithcal.”
Lye-Ashe turned back down the path and left Isri alone with the voice in the dark. Isri was not at all excited about the prospects of what was to come next.
“Take the staff from the alter; it will tell you what to do next.” The voice commanded from the darkness.
Isri was confused. “That’s it?”
“Yes. That is it. Your other duties were to be my consort, but since sister says no I must obey. The only reason she even wanted servants in the first place was for her own pleasure. She calls you undead, but you are not undead, merely under a spell. A few of you come down here very clear minded. Spell doesn’t work. We have elixirs for that, but sister says no. Sister always gets her consort, but not always Seorithcal.”
“And why exactly do you need consorts? Do you not have any of your own kind to consort with?”
“Yes, we have plenty, but humans make best consorts. Sister is also trying to create a new race of creatures to do her bidding. Real Chreuthecals they would be. They would be able to travel both worlds and capture souls for Shultash. But Seorithcal has said too much now. Little girl must come with him now to his dimension. We come back tomorrow.” With that he leaped from the shadows into the light. Although he talked like a monster Seorithcal was a beautifully muscular human looking creature; not at all what she thought might be lurking in the shadows. He was pale like the moon with shoulder length black hair. He was wearing only pants. Isri could not help but stare. His demon orange eyes glinted with lust.
“Little human change her mind about Seorithcal? I talk funny because this language is new to me. I am eons and eons old. I only learned new language to speak to you, but it no matter. I already see there is no reason to waste time talking to you.” He stepped closer to Isri and made her back into a pillar as she tried to avoid his advances. He sniffed her hair and pawed at her dress like an oversized Neanderthal. She tried to push him away but that just made him grab her so she could not run away. He began whispering in her ear some strange long forgotten language. This language was not as crudely spoken as her own tongue. Then he moved down to kiss her. It was full of white-hot passion and she was helpless against him like a rag doll beating against a mountain.
She was pinned with nowhere to go as his hands moved down her robes to where they fastened. She felt the first outer layers of the robes fall away and her skin exposed to his touch. She had to think of something quick, but she did not know what. She had not had time to review the area or the weapons she might have at her disposal. Then she had a vision. She called to Shultash and it sparked. She had one hand free and she willed the staff to come to her. The appearance of the staff made Seorithcal take a step back, but still he kept a hand firmly on Isri. Before either one of them knew it Isri had commanded the staff to attack Seorithcal. It bludgeoned him over the head until he let go of Isri. Then an incantation came to her. She was not sure what kind of magic it was, but giant roots appeared and trapped Seorithcal inside a magical cage. Isri knew this was her chance. She would have to make a run towards the Kisaka so she could find Arocia and the main point of the N’Loron to complete the plan.