Oathkeeper

The ceiling of the bear's den was covered in hanging roots dripping sap into puddles on the ground. Skulls filled the cavern some human, other horse, and a few were bird skulls. Pale yellow lights glowed within their sockets. Chunks of rotting dried skin covered the frozen ground. Far to the back of the den I found a couple of saddle bags.

I grabbed a heavy one. Within it was cured ham, some ancient; buttered biscuits, the rotten remains of fruit, and exactly what I needed, salt. In another saddle bag, I found a well-balanced skinning knife. After searching through the bags for a good thirty minutes, I found the last tool on my list.

The fleshing knife was a bit rusty and needed a good sharpening, but it would do the job. With a bit of aura control, I used friction from my aura to remove some of the rust. With the rust gone, I checked the tool for any holes. It was looking good.

Before I left there were some things I needed to do. I held out a hand and let some sap fall on it. A sweet sticky scent wafted all around the cave from the sap. An interesting trap for a hungry bear to have. Some of the roots covered rotten bodies in the cave hiding the scent of their rot and feeding from the decay. I wiped the drop on my pants. There was a good chance it was poisonous.

A black miasma poured from the skeletons their hate was only subdued by the tree above. These travelers had died at the hands of a hungry bear. I needed a mount, and this place had enough bones to make a horse.

Most of this ritual was done already. The resentment and hate from the spirits clung to their bones and had begun forming some sort of singular undead entity. It was the vibe I'd gotten from the yellow in their eyes.

They weren't alive and their amalgamation was more fragile than Mahina's. "Are you done in there yet?" The parasite shouted. I sighed and thought about laying some burn on her but held off for now. No need to pill up the resentment. She was a pile of worms able to puppet bodies. Mahina wasn't much different from this tree feeding off of decay. Only, Mahina kept most of her host's functions alive.

A black ritual would be best. The tree and this place were filled with black aura but strangely the bear was of winter. Winter and black seemed to work well together. Better than black and white. That was weird. Winter was close to white but not quite, it should be all about nature but that isn't it either. It was a personal aura from what I could tell.

I needed some help with this ritual. Winter aura would help with the creation of this artefact. "Get down here I need some help." I ordered.

Naked and covered with black markings made of the worms within her body Mahina slowly approached me. Her bow was over her shoulder and her quiver and belt attached her naked waist. A cleft of tiny blond hairs covered her privates just enough the hide the peaking clit nestled within. Her pale eastern skin shone almost like paper with the worms moving through her. She'd adjusted them, by lining them in a pattern look like tribal tattoos. Unfortunately, my eyes could tell the difference.

"I like the aesthetics, and so much black aura." She moaned the last line. Drool slid from the sides of her lips as she stared at the skulls.

"You're here to work not to play." I said.

She grinned showing off wolf fangs. Tiny black worms slide between her gums. "Of course, my master, what can I do for you?"

"I need some uninfected blood from the bear." I said. She brought the lumbering creature into the den sealing the exit. Her eyes never left me. Mahina was always searching for my weakness. I had captured her and made her my pet. She only needed a moment of weakness to slip her worms into any master.

I drew my skinning knife and cut a small hole in the bear's side. That blood oozed into a tea pot. With several blasts of my aura, I scanned the contents of the blood for any eggs. The last thing I wanted was for her to have some control over the creature I was about to create. Well it was more an artefact but it could be considered a creature as well. Its lack of life should make it immune to Mahina but I wouldn't take the chance.

When the blood mixed with my own, I felt the connection. From that point onward, I began to draw the circle with the mixed blood. I felt the spirits reach for the blood of the creature that hosted their anger. All of their spiteful curses were centralized on this blood and even the tree was connected with a few drops of sap.

After this ritual, I'd burn the blood I left behind. A quick pyre spell burned the blood from my circle outside. It was better to be safe than sorry. The more rituals I performed, the more I learned about the nature of aura and spells.

I took the bones in this place and crushed them to powder except for a single equine skull and enough horse bones to make a large horse. The tree was my Yggdrasil and this was my nidhogg. I double checked the binding spells several times and then made sure the white spells were in place. Both would be needed to ensure the best possible outcome. I was raising something like a lich, a vampire, and a spirit of vengeance all in one shell.

Black had a lot of binding and summoning spells for undead. Enslave, Undead Bindings, Curse of Servitude, Master to Undead, Serve Unto Death, Mummify, Sarcophagus, Skull Servants, Raise Skeleton, Raise Undead, Raise After Death, Rise Blood Hunter, Blood Raised, Control, Command Undead, Turn Undead, Betray Undead, Undeath, Undying Sacrifice, and Decay Haunt to name just a few out of the first two tier texts. Blood was an important factor, sap could be considered the blood of trees, and the blood of the creature that harbor's their vengeance was an important factor. By adding it to my blood I gained a connection. By killing the bear, they owed a debt to me.

They weren't souls, not really. Even stacked together like firewood they made up barely enough aura to exist as a cohesive spirit. The tree had taken too much of the festering rot they needed to truly ascend as an undead creature. Luckily, black was all about taking nature by the cunt and prolapsing it.

I raised my hands up unleashing my immense aura onto the ritual. Bone powder swirled around the ritual circle as the images I'd caved and filled with my own blood enforced their will on the energy and the spirit. Bone white aura mixed with specks of black swirled mixed with the blue, white aura of winter itself. The three mixed in a way I thought impossible. The winter aura seemed to facilitate the interaction between white and black without many adverse results.

This was the calm before the storm. Mahina had been a mere binding spell that only needed my blood and knowledge. This was different.

I was attempting to bind a vengeful spirit using a perceived debt it owed me into the form of a horse. Through white, black, and winter auras, I planned to drag in the bone powder of various creatures and force the substance into the form of a horse. Whether that form was an empty husk that looked like a horse or an almost copy of a living horse was a spectrum.

A victory would be a creature that passed itself off as a horse with a white aura. So long as it appeared of the white no one would look too closely at it.

The yellow eyes within the horse skull glowed unnaturally bright and the storm arrived. I clapped my hands together and focused on the image. This was what I wanted. Your vengeance has been obtained but your existence isn't over. Become my steed and ride again.

I poured as much aura as I dared into the circle. The bone white cloud gathered around the skull and I sensed the next part of the ritual was about to commence. We'd crossed from the edge of the storm into the heart. The tree shook before roots struck everywhere. I heard a pained shriek and what was taken would be given back. All the power tree had taken was drawn back by the ritual. This was without a doubt a wake-up call. Never leave blood behind ever.

The tree put up a green field of aura to protect itself only for bone white hands to grab the roots of the tree. A mighty crack resounded from above and I was sure whatever power sustained the tree had be devoured by the ritual.

Now we're in the eye of the storm. The energies gathered by the ritual converged upon the bone powder and skull. A yellow flame appeared before a white horse heart grew around it. Veins just as white as the heart shot out of the organ. The skull crack and bone powder filled in the gaps creating a larger skull. Lungs, kidneys, guts, and other organ systems formed within the creature. Muscles soon grew over the bones and skin covered them. All through the creature's body small yellow veins formed pumping thick yellow blood. Links of armor plating appeared over the muscle hidden beneath the skin. When that finished soft white hair grew over the skin before two heave balls popped out from between the stallion's legs along with its equine penis.

More complicated organs formed like its eyes had formed and then I heard its heart begin to beat. Oh, it wasn't alive not really but was life. This was a machine made from my documents on horse anatomy, an image, and a unique version of bone nanites.

It was white except for its blonde main and winter blue eyes. They were of a similar color as Mahina.

When the eye of the storm passed the full brunt of the storm returned. I raised my hand. "Bind," I called and forced my will upon the stallion. I roared at battered against my control. With its creation, I'd forced over half of my aura into it. The stallion stomped its hooves and whinnied. It rammed against the circle but couldn't break through it. It flared its white aura battling against my black binding spell. Though it was undead its nature was the white. It was an undead made to battle undead.

I flared my full power and activated parade and stacked my spell. With every buff my spell wrapped tighter around the stallion until I felt something click. Once that happened, I felt the stallion's presence in my mind. Then I squashed its resistance.

Mage lvl100 +1 INT +1 PER per lvl

Perks

Multicaster – Combined spells gain 10% more effectiveness.

Spell Chain – You can customize command names of chained spells.

Researcher – +25% spell learning speed.

Color Proficiency – You gain proficiency skills in color series when you use a color series spell.

Philosopher – +25% spell learning speed.

Secondary – colors can be blended to form secondary color series of spells.

Spell Scholar – +50% spell learning speed.

Aura Manipulator – +25% control over aura.

Instructor - +100% learning speed to students.

Ritualist – +100% success rate when performing rituals.

After saddling him up I attached Star's thread to the saddle and used him to hall the bear up. I cut off the bear's pecker and ass before slipping the hook of the skinning knife down just missing the guts. From there it was easy to yank the skin away. Black worms fell around the bear while I yanked off the tough hide.

"I guess I can just claim all of its resources keep them for myself." Mahina said.

I shook the worms out of the pelt and began removing the excess flesh with the fleshing knife. After thirty minutes, I'd managed to clear nearly 30ft of bear. I salted and the inside of the hide folded it and tied it to my new stallion.

"You should clip his balls; he'd be much gentler if you clipped them." Mahina said. I shook my head. I'd named the horse Oathkeeper because it sounded more badass than bones or chestnuts.

I began strapping the cured hide on the stallion. "Nah, a little rebellion is a good thing. Oathkeeper is fine just the way he is." The undead abomination snorted but accepted the skin all the same. With a crack a mighty tree split and fell to the wayside. I had only two hours till I needed to get back. A gentle kick sent Oathkeeper trotting back the way we came.

Before I forgot, I raised my hand and cast pyre. Flames quickly filled the burrow and smoke began to rise.