The Great Plague and gray dragons (3)

"We ourselves don't know for sure. A summoner is always born into a simple family without a pedigree and without any mages in the closest generations. In fact, this power is given to a person who, from birth, never had a chance to become a mage, yet possesses immense power. When they awaken their magic, they can perform any spells, though not always successfully. They need to form a contract with one of the spirit lords, and then a portal will open, returning the spiritual energy into the cycle of life.

"And if they fail to form a contract?"

"Then... they might die. The summoner's magic is unstable, and if it isn't controlled, it can harm the body. In any case, we aren't even aware of the existence of a summoner until they use their magic for the first time. So, it's possible that there were many people with this gift, but they lived humble peasant lives and died without ever fighting anyone."

"And how did Risa awaken this power?"

"Heh, she was a quiet and modest girl," Reines took over the narrative. "I saw her a couple of times in the palace. During those times, magic was highly valued in Nordrune, almost as much as in Verania, but other classes were not neglected due to their lack of skill. Therefore, warriors, craftsmen, traders, and peasants were frequent guests at the palaces of the necromancer kings. Many poor children also served as servants there. Lord Kiras appreciated the girl's curiosity and inquisitive mind and allowed her to work in his laboratory. Of course, her work mainly consisted of washing test tubes and doing other chores, but in her free time, she could read any folios. The first books on magical theory were developed during that time by the ancient rulers of Nordrune. Everything changed when Risa decided to try her hand at magic."

"She didn't belong to the necromancer lineage," Thanatos continued the tale, "she came from a simple hunter's family. Theoretically, she shouldn't have possessed any gifts, yet her first spell turned out to be quite successful. That's when I first noticed her. At the time, I couldn't penetrate her mind, but I observed her development. Kiras didn't know what kind of phenomenon she was, but he was pleased to finally have a worthy apprentice. He taught her necromancy without considering where these powers came from. And, of course, he was amazed when his pupil turned out to be a summoner. When she awakened her full power, I was finally able to establish contact with her. At twenty years old, she became one of the most powerful necromancers in Nordrune and invited her teacher to the cave under the capital. There, she did something that no one after Rimmel's death could do: she opened a portal to the world of the dead, and I emerged from it. Then I made my third contract and became part of this world for a while. But, unfortunately, this triggered a reaction from the necromancer kings that I didn't expect."

"But why? Shouldn't this have brought prosperity to Nordrune?"

"Krito, you haven't lived long enough to judge human desires," Rumy smiled. "Necromancers pass on their power from parent to child with minimal loss. Other children of necromancers receive only a minimum of this power. It's much more convenient than when the power of the contract is divided among all descendants. This way, necromancers maintain the power of their lineage for centuries and millennia. I won't mention that necromancers themselves are immortal and don't necessarily have to pass on their power to their descendants."

"And now think for yourself," Reines spoke up. "A country was wisely and justly ruled by five immortal rulers. They did everything for the good of the people and believed in their absolute righteousness. They could live forever if they didn't find a worthy successor or find one and retire."

"And then someone several times stronger than them appears?" I began to understand the catastrophe of those times.

"Exactly. No matter how honest and noble people may be, they can never suppress greed within themselves. And they made the stupidest decision imaginable."

"They decided to subjugate the summoner," Reines sighed sadly. "Kiras was the only one who had doubts about this decision, but the other necromancers forced him to agree. They summoned Risa to a council and offered her to become part of it and rule Nordrune alongside them. Essentially, she would be on the same level as them, but in practice, she would be subject to the same conditions as them, with decisions made by the majority, meaning she alone couldn't make decisions.

"Alas, they misinterpreted her response," Thanatos paused before continuing. "Risa was a kind girl, she was never interested in power. She simply wanted to travel the world and help people. So, when they asked if she wanted a place on the council, she replied that she wasn't interested... But for them, it was like declaring war. Naively, they assumed she saw herself above them and wouldn't submit to them.

"Foolish people, if only they had asked her what she planned to do, all of this could have been avoided," Reines shook her head. "They let her go, but as soon as the door closed behind Risa, they began looking for a way to eliminate her physically. Poisons and diseases didn't work on her, and they weren't confident they could overpower her in strength. Therefore, they decided to create a new poison that could even affect the strongest of necromancers.

"But poisons don't work on necromancers, or am I mistaken?"

"Not entirely," Thanatos pointed to Rizel. "The spirit takes the poison from the necromancer's body immediately after poisoning, so Rizel can identify what poisoned her comrade from the residual effects and find an antidote. But if, for example, the poison is magically enhanced, it can neutralize my power and affect the mage."

"And for this, they chose the most suitable poison," Reines nodded towards the spider heads. "Mental spiders used to be found on the outskirts of the Northern Crown. They were dangerous predators. Although the largest individuals grew only up to thirty centimeters, they possessed a venom of a very specific nature. They could kill victims many times their size. By poisoning a target, they would subjugate its mind and force it to do what they wanted. Sometimes even people became their victims. So, this poison was used as a basis.

"But its power wasn't enough, and enhancing the already prepared extract magically was difficult," Thanatos created a small green sphere in the air. "Changing the composition of the poison itself without losing its properties is challenging, but if you enhance the source of the poison, it will become stronger itself."

The spirit sent the sphere into the spider's head.

"And they decided to do something that had never been attempted before - to forcibly establish a contract between a spirit and an unintelligent animal. Although it's called a contract, it's essentially just the merging of souls. And who, if not necromancers, can control spirits? So, they forged a contract with one of the oldest spirits of the dead. This caused some side effects, for example, the spider grew in size and... gained intelligence...

"Well, it was quite reckless to bestow intelligence upon such a dangerous creature," Reines said, displeased. "They tested her venom, and soon it started affecting even the powerful necromancers, but the effect was still not strong enough. So, they began breeding enhanced spiders. They found several females and males and strengthened their contracts with spirits, and their offspring started producing venom of sufficient potency to enslave the minds of even the strongest among them. They first tested it on one of the council members... on Kiras. The dose was mild, but for the whole day, he followed his comrades like a devoted dog."

"Alas, those idiots didn't even realize who was truly controlling them," Rumy smirked. "Constantly exposed to the effects of this venom, they unwittingly fell under the influence of the much smarter spider queen. Soon, the kingdom was no longer ruled by humans. Life deteriorated; taxes were raised, people were thrown into prisons, and given as food to the new masters of the five castles.

"And soon, already forgetting the initial purpose of their experiments, the insane necromancers found a new way to spread the venom. They created a disease that could pass from person to person and turned them into slaves of their bloodthirsty masters within a couple of weeks. That was the same plague that decimated half of the continent. People died or became slaves to the new rulers.

"In the first half-year, all the northern provinces of Nordrune perished. A third of the population turned into obedient slaves at the monsters' court. The disease started spreading to the southern countries, and soon, the rulers of other nations noticed the source of the contagion. But when they raised their armies to fight, the necromancers already had a substantial force of obedient zombies. The remaining free northern peoples united under the command of the finest warriors and joined forces with the southern countries. At their helm stood one of the descendants of Degar, who lacked the magic of the necromancers and thus was not part of the council.

"Many back then blamed the necromancers for creating the plague, and they mistakenly thought Risa was their leader," Reines sighed sadly. "Initially, she didn't engage in the battle, as she was trying to find a cure for the disease. Of course, it was impossible to cure those who had already died and risen as zombies, but those who were only subjugated by the venom's power could be saved. Alas, the venom was too powerful, and when she couldn't find an antidote, she decided to join the army because the only way was to kill the source of the disease.

"By the way, it was around that time that the Nords encountered my clan for the first time," Shiva interjected. "At that time, many Nords sought refuge in the southern lands to escape the disease, and when the first attack of the undead army occurred, they didn't have the strength to defend themselves. That's when warriors from the east came to their aid. Evaluating the situation, the leader of our clan at that time decided to cross the border with all the clan's fighters and protect the remaining Nords. Since then, friendly relations have been established between the Yukitori clan and the Nords. During the elemental war, our lands even came under Nordrune's protection when neighboring feudal lords tried to seize them."

"The united forces of Nordrune warriors, the Yukitori clan, and the armies of Verania and Leran marched against the necromancer's army," Rumy twirled a blade in her hand, gazing at the flames. "But even with a tenfold numerical advantage, they had little chance. That's when I was offered to join the battle, but I refused. I didn't want to kill my comrades. However, all those who fell in the battle were resurrected by the necromancers to fight against their former friends. And of course, since the inhabitants of the southern lands set foot on Nordrune soil, they were infected with this venom. If the war had dragged on, they would soon become slaves of the mental spiders themselves."

"Risa saw the only way out of the situation," Thanatos gathered a green smoke over the campfire, which transformed into a map of Nordrune, but slightly different, with five mountain ranges instead of three peaks in the northern part of the country. "Five great necromancers and five spider queens, each ruling over one of them. Their nests were located at the peaks of the highest mountains of the Northern Crown. The human armies gathered in the center of the country, pretending to march against the central nest, this one. As the eldest among the spider queens, she had significant influence over her kin and gathered all the forces of the necromancers where the capital is now. Destroying these hordes was of paramount importance, but it was merely a diversionary maneuver.

"Risa wanted to divert the main enemy forces while the best warriors fought the supreme necromancers and spider queens," Reines smirked. "Dragons were also afraid of this contagion because poisons and diseases were the only things that could harm us. But among humans, there weren't enough strong warriors capable of challenging such powerful monsters. So, I suggested something unusual to Risa - to unite the power of dragons and magicians.

"But that's impossible."

"Everyone thought so, but we found a way to deceive our nature. Among the dragons, there were five volunteers. I, as the eldest daughter of the White Goddess and the ruler of the white dragons, my brother and sister, and two ancient dragons from the black tribe. We had the greatest chance of surviving the transformation. We had to forge a contract with the spirit of the dead, but a dragon's soul cannot merge with a spirit. To bypass this rule, we drank human blood - Risa's blood. This way, we gained a portion of her magic and were able to unite with the spirits. As you can see, we have changed a little."

Reines stood up and turned around for us to examine her.

"This dress is my dragon's garb and should be as snowy white as my scales, but after the union, it turned gray, and so did everything else. We didn't change in form - white dragons still remained larger than black ones, and we were different in body shape - but our scales and horns turned a uniform shade of gray, and our eyes became a burning green. We acquired all the abilities of the necromancers - the power of decay, immunity to poisons, and the ability to command the undead. But we also lost something crucial..."

The girl waved her hand, and it transformed into a dragon's scaled paw, but only for a few seconds. Instantly, she returned to her normal state.

"We became more human than dragons. Maintaining the dragon form now required great effort from us, and I was no longer as confident about the outcome of the battle. But we had no other choice. While the armies distracted the hordes of undead, Risa, along with the rulers of Leran, Verania, the last descendant of Degar, and the leader of Yukitori, fought the necromancers. And we headed to the monsters' lairs. One for each lair," Reines fell silent and sighed heavily, "After those events, I never saw any of my comrades again. We maintained communication through mind magic."

"Mind magic?"

"Yes, it's a new type of necromancy that Risa discovered. She simply pondered how spiders, empowered by the necromancer's magic, enslaved humans. Necromancers can control souls, but only after they're dead. Spiders, on the other hand, enslaved living people. With the help of their venom, they made the human mind more susceptible and gained control over their souls. The stronger a person's magic was, the more easily they succumbed to the influence," Reines looked at Hilda, "That's why necromancer kings fell so easily under the monsters' sway, and that's also why your friend became susceptible to such magic. Risa never learned how to dominate other people's minds but managed to develop a defense against this magic. She taught the protection techniques to all necromancers, so we were shielded from the spider's influence. My siblings and I maintained a psychic connection, and it was evident that we were losing the battle. In our new form, we were immune to the spiders' power, but physically, we were much weaker than them. When I almost ran out of strength, I attempted to use a power that had previously been inaccessible to me. Becoming half-human, I acquired their weaknesses and their strength. I managed to summon the power of ancient gods - the white flame. I wasn't proficient in using it, but it gave me a slight advantage. I felt that my sisters also dared to take this desperate step... And in the end, I got trapped in a temporal trap together with the spider. Until a couple of hours ago when you found me."

"So, the other dragons also awakened the power of the ancient gods..." Rumy looked at the map made of green mist that still hovered over the campfire. With one gesture, the girl swept away two mountain ranges from the map, "You were a white dragon and summoned the flame of time, but your siblings from the black tribe called upon the flame of destruction. They couldn't control it and destroyed the lair along with the mountain ranges. Now it's clear what the cataclysm was that shook the planet that day. The Northern Crown now consists of three mountain ranges, and between them are vast bays, where the main ports of Nordrune are located."

"So, there are only three of us left," Reines sighed and looked at the map, "I don't even know what became of the battle's outcome."

"Risa... saved everyone," Thanatos spoke again, "By that time, she already had a daughter. Celestia was born shortly after she became a summoner. I'm not entirely sure, but her father was probably Kiras. Risa didn't want to cause him trouble, so she lived in the north of Verania, where she had no acquaintances. That's why she couldn't stop the necromancers when the plague started. By the time she learned about it, it was too late. The king of Verania died in that battle, but his comrades managed to finish the job and destroy the necromancer kings."

"That battle also brought my heiress closer to the last descendant of Degar, and they founded a new dynasty that still rules Nordrune to this day," Shiva said with a cunning smile, looking at Hilda, "But the king who took the title of Jarl wasn't the only one who got closer to my clan. My amorous descendants, so to speak, helped replenish Nordrune's population. Since then, ice magic has been quite widespread among the warriors of the North."

"After the battle, those who were infected did not recover and, losing control, began to die. Risa had to find a cure, but there was no time for that."

"And the only one who fully resisted this disease was herself?" tears began to well up in Reines' eyes.

"That's right. But while I was in her body, I killed any infection. To create the cure, she transferred my power to her daughter. Deprived of my protection, she forcibly infected herself with the spider venom and managed to develop antibodies against the disease. Using the remaining necromancer powers, she passed her immunity to all the people. That's how she cured the sick, calmed the risen, and gave a chance to survive to all the people. But alas, that was the last of her strength. After healing people, she died."