GODS & LINEAGES

After leaving Kylee and the rest, Sage and Bori along with the skeleton made it back to the tower without any more incidents. On the way back Sage did her best to avoid the geezer's stare and succeeded for the most part. Bori remained silent until they stepped into the tower's clearing.

"You left the tower and robbed a group of mercenaries while I was away," he stated. His tone was neutral, which made it very hard to figure out what he thought about this.

"There is only so much one can learn being cooped up here," she replied coolly. "I wanted to go out and experience what life is like outside this clearing."

"Your adventures on the outside almost landed us in a fight," the geezer responded. His tone this time was unhappy, which conveyed to her his thoughts about her escapades.

"When I robbed them I obviously hadn't expected I would be meeting them again," she retorted. "Much less so soon. If not for your summoning that encounter would never have happened."

Bori was at the tower door when he stopped. Then he turned to her with a serious and worried expression.

"Sage," he began seriously. "I'm sure the two encounters we just had were enough for you to get an idea of how most people feel about the necromancers and the undead. This world is not kind to those like us. More so to you than me. Have you any idea what would happen if people found out you are Darkborne?"

"No," she replied firmly. "Because I still don't know what it means. You say the Darkborne are regarded as offspring of Death, but I've read most of the books in your study. There is no God of the Dead."

Her words seemed to send Bori into contemplation. The geezer opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it when no words emerged. He repeated the process and only got the same results. After a few more tries he sighed and gave her a resolute look.

"Let's go inside," he told her. "If you're going to go out into the world you might as well learn about it."

After saying this Bori turned around and entered the tower. She was quick to trail him, following him right up to the first floor where he invited her to sit down at the dining table before settling in the opposite seat. Then he looked at her with his full attention.

"How much do you know of Aran's creation," he asked seriously.

She thought about this for a while before replying. "Only what I've read in the books. There was an excerpt in one of the books about it."

Scratching her chin she wondered out loud. "How did it go again? Oh yeah: The Sun is the First Flame, the Origin. To the Void She birthed the Land, the Sky and the Sea. But the three were empty and without warmth. So She spared some of Her heat and birthed a fourth offspring, the Heat. However, the flames of Heat burned too hot, causing the Land to blister, the Sea to boil and the Sky to smoke. Seeing this, the Sun birthed a fifth child to balance the Heat and it was named Cold.

"Then the Sun looked upon Her offspring with pride and gave names to them. To the Land She gave the name Rakka, and the Land took the form of a lion. The Sea was named Netha'mun and took the form a Kraken. To the Sky she named Tizhura and it embodied a harpy. As for her youngest, the Heat was named Vestrava, who took the form of a dragon and the Cold became Atasha the tiger. With these five offspring a balance was attained and soon the fairy Shea appeared. With her birth life began.

"That's all I remember from the Creation legend," Sage said, scratching her head. "The god Argun does not appear in the legend because magic only appeared around two thousand years ago. That was when the first mention of his name appeared, but there is not much information about that. Also, there is clearly no God of Death mentioned."

"What you've read is the most common retelling of the legend," Bori said. "Most of it is accepted as fact. However, what is always omitted from the modern retellings of The Creation is the fact that there was a seventh god. Vatran the Sleeper. He presided over all that Life had forfeited and He was called Death."

"If he really exists he does not seem to have much of a presence in the world," Sage said. "Much like Tizhura. The Creation is the only place where she is ever mentioned."

"That is because the two are no more," Bori said seriously. "Ask any staunch believer of the Beast God about the Harpy and they would be happy to tell you how She fell to the Beast and was devoured. And so Rakka became the embodiment of both the Land and the Sky."

"Is that what happened to Vatran? I don't remember any other god who embodies two aspects."

Bori shook his head. "That is not what happened exactly. The details are not clear, but from what I know there was once a clash between Vatran and Shea. It was the Life Goddess who emerged victorious. She slew Vatran and cast His body from Aran into the Void. This is a tale that almost all necromancers know of, because where His body landed the Deadlands propped up."

"You are telling me that the Deadlands are the remains of a god?" she asked incredulously. That fact was a little too much to accept.

Bori nodded. "That is why only undead are capable of living there and those that come from the place are much stronger than undead created on Aran. It is also the only place you can find Netherkin and Darkborne."

"What is the significance of that?" she asked.

"It's no secret that the gods have children and by extension lineages. Those from the lineage of the gods are known as Kin. An example of that would be the dragons. They are all descendants of Vestrava and so are by default Firekin. You should note that the most powerful dragons in the world are the direct offspring of the Vestrava. These dragons are referred to a being Scorchborne. They are children of the Flame, as such the direct offspring of the gods are known as Scions."

"Okay," Sage said with a nod, beginning to gain a little comprehension. "So in terms of Death, the Netherkin are Kin to Death while a Darkborne like me is regarded as a Scion of Death?"

"That is so," the geezer nodded.

"Okay," she nodded before moving on to her next question. "How can any of us be related to Vatran if He is dead?"

"It is not really hard to understand?" the geezer replied. "The undead born in the Deadlands are formed from Vatran's flesh."

"Okay," she responded, gaining the gist of it. "But why would being Darkborne bring about trouble? There are other Scions in the world so why would the Darkborne be the only ones who invite trouble by revealing what they are?"

"None of those Scions belong to a dead god," the geezer replied. "Which is why they are not regarded as dangerous."

"Is there anything special about the Scion of a dead god?"

"What do you know of the Days of Gloom?" the geezer asked, shooting her a stern look.

In response she scratched her head again. The name sounded familiar. She had read about it somewhere.

"Wasn't that the time when the Dark Lord led a massive army across Rekke?"

When she first read this she cracked so hard she cried. The fact that a Dark Lord actually existed in this world had been too much not to laugh at. The concept of a Dark Lord was as basic as one could get in a fantasy setting. The fact that she found it here of all places made it all the more amusing."

"That's probably all that is written in history texts," Bori said in a lamenting tone. "The Dark Lord led his army of monsters across the land, spreading suffering and death. What the historians did not record was the reason for that."

"And that reason was?" Sage perked up her ear.

"He was trying to succeed Death," the necromancer said solemnly. "His father."

Those words were like lightning to her brain and thunder in her ears. Her entire body froze up as she stared at the old necromancer with wide eyes.

"Are you trying to tell me that in the absence of a god a Scion has the chance to ascend to the throne?" she asked incredulously.

Bori nodded sternly. "It does not mean others would just stand by and watch them succeed though, particularly the Goddess of Life. During the Days of Gloom she sent her most powerful servant, Saint Leah herself, to stop the Dark Lord. I can assure you if it ever becomes known that you are Darkborne yourself you will be getting a visit from her."

Hearing this, Sage smiled at the geezer, even if it was the last thing she felt like doing at the moment.

Saint Leah was the Imperator of the Shean Holy Imperium and regarded as the most powerful Transcendent on Aran. Even the arrogant dragons of the Drakenburg Range behaved themselves in her presence. And this was the person that would come after her if it was ever learned that she was Darkborne?

Although Sage looked calm on the outside, she was hurling obscenities internally.

Mother cunt! Dick! Son of bitch! She raged, clenching her fists tightly. That fucking arsehole!

He actually reincarnated her as a living target! How fucked up was that?

"Fuck!" she exclaimed verbally.

There goes my dream of a leisurely advancement, she thought bitterly.

If she wanted to survive in this world she would need to get stronger immediately.