Resurrection II

"Wake up, child" she heard in the midst of complete silence. "Let your death wait for a while."

She slowly opened her eyes, not knowing whether she had the strength to do so. Surprisingly, she felt no pain, she looked down to see her body completely fine as if the fight that just happened was just an illusion. She looked around to find herself standing in a dark abyss.

She could see nothing in the dark, yet her body was strangely illuminated. She continued to look around frantically, trying to find any existence but her own. And out of the abyss, a familiar face materialized in a flash of blue sparks. To say she was shocked would be a gross understatement. This man had no reason for being alive, and she finally realized she was dead.

"Do not panic, child." The man wearing her father's face spoke, "You are not dead, but you are infinitely close to it."

"Who are you?" she asked, backing away from him, searching her body for any kind of weapon, finding none.

"Calm down, stubborn child." the man spoke, a little annoyed. "If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't be speaking to you. I only wish to help you. So a better question will be, 'what do I want?'"

"Very well, what do you want?" she asked, this time a little more relaxed.

"As I said, I only wish to help, but for a price of course." He began and pointed at her. "You are currently at death's door and the only chance of survival is making a deal with me."

"What kind of deal?"

"Quite simple really. I will help you survive and even help you with a certain life goal of yours, and in return you will help me escape this prison that I'm sealed in and help me with my goal. When we both have accomplished what we want, we part ways."

She looked at him suspiciously as she considered his words. She remembered where she fought, there was a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room bound in chains she had never seen before.

"So, you are the being inside the sarcophagus." She looked at him and he nodded. "Are you human?"

"I was once." He answered casually.

"What do you mean?"

"I was born a human." He answered with her father's face. "But as I grew stronger, I had to leave behind my mortal shell."

She stood silently for a moment before asking another question, "You know about my life's goal. Are you sure you can help me achieve it."

"Yes, in time I will make you strong enough to help achieve both of our aims." He looked at her and suddenly the space in which the stood started to shake. "We don't have much time. Make your decision quickly."

"Very well, I'm ready." She replied, knowing that the alternative was her death, she had no other choice. She forwarded her hand, offering to shake his hand.

He looked at her hand before speaking. "That's not how we make a deal."

His eyes flashed with a blue light, and sparks of blue light began to materialize into a language she instantly recognized. These were the runes adorning the walls of the tomb. Strangely, she could somehow understand the words this time. The runes continued to form until they came together on a sheet of blue mana.

"It's a soul contract." He looked at her with a serious face. "It will come into effect when we both sign our real names on it and imprint itself onto our very soul. After that, if one of us were to break this contract, our souls would be condemned to a millennium of torture by the concept of mana itself."

She was shocked to hear such words. How can a being that had barely lived a few decades imagine the torture of a millennium? She carefully began to read the contract. It was very simple, it included all the being standing in front of her had said with a few more details.

After her careful examination, she concluded three more things beyond the previous terms.

First was the most important rule that the two of them will not be able to lie to each other no matter the circumstances. It was a dangerous rule, as it meant she would have no secrets, but it also meant the powerful being would also be the same.

Second was that she would help him regain his true body sealed in the sarcophagus, and until then his soul will be transferred into her body. This scared her extremely until she read that he could not read her mind nor control her body unless she wished for it. She relaxed as she continued to read that in return he would help achieve a realm of power very few can compete with.

Lastly, it stated that they both will help each other accomplish a certain goal. In her case, it was revenge for the murder of her parents and in his case it was revenge on the person that had sealed him in this prison.

"Why can't I just free you now, and we can avoid the hassle of your soul hitchhiking my body." She asked.

"It is simply impossible for the current you. It would require extensive knowledge of Rune magic, along with a realm of power you are not even close to. So for now that's our only option." He answered. "Then as soon as you are ready, channel your mana into the contract."

The two of them extended their hands and channeled their mana into the contract. A moment later, two names appeared on the sheet.

"Freya Einar" he looked at her name, "A name worthy of a warrior."

"Artium Vrdun" she looked at his name, "I don't know what that means."

"Perhaps someday I'll tell you."

***

After finally piercing his prey's heart, the vampire leader watched with satisfaction as the life faded from her eyes. Now all he had to do was deliver the body to his lord, and he was sure he will be rewarded in some form or another. But before that, he went for a taste of her blood to regenerate his wounds.

Unexpectedly, he was thrown across the room like a rag doll, and he crashed into one of the statues. He quickly to look at his assailant to find the body of his prey floating atop the sarcophagus, her eyes shining with an eerie green glow.

"Such a weak insect dares to hurt my partner." An ancient voice erupted from her lips. The expression on her face filled with disgust.

"How are you alive?" he spoke in stupor, "I pierced your heart. No human can survive that."

"That's no longer true for this one." She spoke and vanished in a dark flash. He tried to look around, but an instant later found himself pinned to the wall by the same dagger he had used to kill her. The dagger passing just above his cold heart, pinning him to the wall.

He instantly called upon his mana to conjure up a spell, but the dagger released a charge of lightning, frying his mana channels.

"No, no, no, little bat, don't try to resist. It is useless." The ancient voice coming from the young girl spoke. "It's a pity I need you to heal these wounds, or how I would have loved to torture you."

The girl stepped back and held up her hand in his face. "Blood Magic: Absorption!" and in her hand a red magic circle appeared. It was about a foot in diameter, with a range of strange runes surrounding one large one in the middle. But what shocked the man pinned to the wall even more was that he recognized this magic, and this girl should not be able to use it.

"Bl… Blood Magic" he stuttered, "You are not a bloodborne. How can you use this magic?"

"I always hated this about you vampires." The voice spoke. "With all your powers, you are so short-sighted."

A red mist appeared from the circle as it went to cover the man before he began to shout desperately. The mist also began to heal Freya's wounds slowly. The shouts continued for a while until Freya's wounds were completely healed and the mist disappeared along with the magic circle, leaving behind a husk of the vampire.

Freya stood there for a moment until the green glow vanished from her eyes. "Why hasn't his body disappeared into ash like the rest?" she spoke in her normal voice.

'I stole his life force, but that's not enough to kill a vampire. They are cursed beings.' She heard a voice in her head, 'You still need to stab through his heart with a silver weapon or a spell.' Hearing this, she took the dagger from his shoulder and stabbed his heart, turning him into a pile of ash.

"What next?"

'Let's get out of this place first.' The voice in her head answered.

"It's going to take some time to get used to this." She muttered to herself as she picked up her bag. She walked out of the chamber, leaving behind three pile of ashes. When she reached the door, she realized that this time she could the letters on the door, courtesy to the ghost living in her head.

'Here lies the dragon that devoured death'

"Are you a dragon then, if you're no longer human?" She asked her soul bound partner.

'Currently, I'm just a soul bound to a girl who asks too many questions. Just get out of here quick.'

She harrumphed as she went back out through the crack she came from. Artium had told her that there was no other way out. The tomb was situated deep beneath a lake that was the source of a waterfall. There was no other way to access it other than magic, and only if you knew where this place was.