Part 14C

Zoraster dismissed the wizard he had chosen to deliver the items Danica would need in her next task, then immediately began to pace.

Things were coming to a head quickly. Zoraster had expanded his power base nearly continent wide, agents doing his bidding from one sea to another. Here, in the center of his power, he had near domination. Nothing happened in the entire country that he did not know about and direct to his ends.

Elsewhere throughout the world, his agents slowly penetrated the governments, preparing the way for him to seize control there silently through blackmail, murder, and corruption. His archive of stolen magic and pool of conspirators to work it increased daily, with new knowledge of little known magic coming from far-flung cultures worldwide. Within days, Danica would prepare the way for Zoraster's penetration into the northern desert of the faraway continent known as Jachairo. He was sending her to the most powerful nation on the continent. Infiltrating that society would provide Zoraster with vast resources — and likely a storehouse of unique magic from the isolationist nation of death worshippers.

As his power grew, so did the chance of discovery before he was prepared to show his hand. Wizards, Priests, and Heads of State suspected his claws extended toward them, but as yet had found no proof. Zoraster knew his old teacher Darkniciad had no trust for him and constantly surveyed his activities. He also knew the doddering old fool could not penetrate the web of deception and magic spun around him.

Zoraster also pondered the problem of Devan, Danica's sister. The death of their mother had prompted Devan to seek her sister. Outside the usual bounds of her character, the woman did not grow bored and cease her search as Zoraster had surmised she would. She had even sought out Zoraster for knowledge, something he had never anticipated, since their last parting had found them engaged in a heated argument that had nearly turned into a spell battle.

Devan was too close to Darkniciad, who was too close to Thakkorias, and other Kings and rulers. All were too connected to Geflon and Mindblind, who had met Danica briefly at the Training Grounds. It was only Zoraster's careful distraction of the Dwarf and the Half-Goblin — keeping them too busy to spend much time in idle conversation that might filter to Devan — which kept that meeting from becoming an issue.

Zoraster contemplated whether his decision to groom Danica when she fell into his web was a mistake. She was a weak link in his secrecy, quite critical at this point in his designs. In contrast, Danica was one of his most valuable assets as well. A combination of luck, skill, and her womanly charms had provided the catalyst that had brought him so far, so quickly.

No, he thought, Danica's usefulness outweighs her liability, exactly as I foresaw upon realizing whom I had snared in my web that evening.

Now, I must find a way to neutralize her liability — provided Devan does not return to her expected behavior and abandon her search out of boredom. It has not been so long since she began looking, and she only searched when not engaged with her numerous studies and sexual conquests. She might yet give up her pursuit and cease to be a threat.

Zoraster knew the insight would come to him, as it always did. His mind worked on levels that most of the pitiful fools on this world could not even envision. He was destined to control this world and reap all of its power, then expand those designs beyond. One world was not enough for the hunger of Zoraster Arias.

A chime sounded and Zoraster turned toward it — and the mirror below it — with a smile. He had expected this contact would come soon, and now he suspected the moment of victory was at hand.

Waving his hand before the mirror, the image of a cadaverous man in voluminous black robes appeared. The wizard's smile reminded Zoraster of nothing less than a bare skull leering with empty eyes. Zoraster assumed that the smile signaled the promise of good news. "What is your progress?"

"We are prepared, this very moment, to attempt our first animation. Of course, we invite you to witness our success," the cadaverous man hissed.

Zoraster's face spread into a wide grin. "You are truly confident of your success then — excellent. I shall arrive momentarily."

With that, Zoraster waved his hand to dismiss the magic of the mirror and spoke the words of the spell that would transport him to the necromancer's lair.

Zoraster stepped from the pattern and crossed the room to the group of assembled necromancers. Lying upon a table before them was the nude body of a woman. She was attractive, but not overly so. She had the timeworn appearance of one aged beyond her years by a difficult life. Zoraster knew it for what it was, the body of a whore — and yet he also knew it was not.

Reaching out to touch the corpse, he ran his fingers over its cold, stiff flesh. Squeezes of the muscles and movement of the limbs revealed nothing indicating the body was not exactly as it appeared. "So, it seems the first stage is a perfect success. I am pleased. Now, let us see the true magic."

The emaciated leader of the Necromancers laughed; a dry, hoarse sound full of darkness and mockery. The blood mages gathered around the corpse to work their Art. Zoraster watched with rapt attention, recognizing bits of the spell from the original sources.

The chant of the death mages rose to a crescendo, repeating a phrase that would have made a normal person's skin crawl with utter terror. The dark connotations behind the words of magic and the aura of dark power gathering swiftly around the Necromancers and the corpse caused Zoraster to smile, however.

The building power released moments later, and Zoraster leaned in close with a wide smile as he saw the corpse contort. The necromancers stepped back, a pair even collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. Zoraster's smile grew wider and he laughed as the eyes of the corpse on the table popped open.

"Rise," Zoraster commanded the corpse.

With smooth, fluid motions, the animated corpse swung its legs off the table and stood straight before Zoraster. The Archmage then stepped forward and grasped the breast of the animated creation before him. He felt soft, supple flesh, warmed by a living being's heat beneath his hand. Opening the creature's mouth, he saw moisture gathering there. The breasts rose and fell as the creature took in breaths. Zoraster reached down between the legs of the creature and felt moisture gathering there as well.

Letting his vision shift into the second sight, Zoraster saw the last fading light of the enchantment that had animated the corpse. With concentration, he could see the dweomers around the creature that supported its mockery of life, but he knew what he was seeking and knew it would be improbable that others would discover it by chance.

Zoraster laughed and slapped the creature on the buttocks. "Excellent — none could possibly tell she is cobbled together from corpses. Now, to the last, let us truly give life to our creation."

The lead Necromancer smiled wickedly and gestured to a pair of dark clothed men across the room. They nodded in response and turned to enter a locked door behind them. Zoraster could hear a woman's screams echoing from behind the door when they entered. A moment later, they emerged hauling a woman who looked exactly like the animated creature standing before Zoraster.

Zoraster walked up to the screaming, sobbing woman as she struggled in the strong grip of her captors. Zoraster touched and examined the woman, smiling and staring into her eyes as he did so. Under his gaze, she ceased to struggle and began to sob pitifully.

"Release her," Zoraster commanded, and the men dropped the woman. She crumpled to the floor in a heap, then immediately scrambled away from Zoraster and the assembled wizards.

Zoraster turned and spoke to the animated creature behind him, "You may feed, my dear."

Instantly, the creature sprang into motion. It turned and leapt the table, hurtling directly toward the scrambling woman. She screamed, and the creature hissed, covering the distance to the woman in one impossible leap.

The woman stared in mute terror at her twin as it pinned her to the floor, opening its mouth wide.

Zoraster watched with a smile of deep satisfaction and triumph as tendrils of energy emerged from the woman's wide-open mouth. His creature absorbed the woman's energy as it seeped from her. The woman quivered violently as the creature stole her very life.

When the energy ceased to flow, the creature rose to reveal only a withered, dry husk where the woman had lain beneath her. There was something different in the creature's posture as it rose. It smoothed its hair and smiled when it turned back to the assembled wizards.

"What is your name, my dear?" Zoraster asked.

"I'm Allana. You looking for a good time?" The creature asked and struck a seductive pose.

Zoraster smiled and continued to ask the creature questions, which it answered without hesitation. He ordered it perform common daily tasks, to consume food and drink, and many other mundane actions.

"Who do you serve?" Zoraster asked the creature at last.

"You, my Master — and anybody you tell me to," the creature replied with a purr and walked toward Zoraster.

Zoraster smiled and opened his robes. The creature licked its lips and dropped to its knees before him. Zoraster laughed as he felt the creature's lips wrap around his cock with every ounce of skill — and feigned enjoyment — the whore it had consumed possessed in life. The creature's touch felt like a living woman in every respect.

Zoraster pushed the creature away, prompting it to put on a convincing pout, and then wrapped his robes around him once more.

The creature's earlier leap demonstrated some of its abilities. Zoraster's commands to the creature revealed others. The creature was impossibly strong, easily lifting the heavy wooden table over its head. Slicing a deep gash into the creature's flesh with a dagger, Zoraster watched it bleed convincingly. A command caused the creature to close its eyes in concentration for a moment, and the wound instantly closed.

"Marvelous. How long will it take to replace the rest of the whores in the city with our wonderful little toys?"

The leader of the necromancers considered the question, and then answered, "With an ample supply of corpses, perhaps a month. With more sent to aid us, two weeks."

"You shall have what you require. Make it so."

Zoraster walked over to the husk of the whore his creation had replaced. Giving it a light nudge with his boot, it rocked like a curled leaf. "You understand what to do with this?"

The assembled wizards nodded, their leader speaking for them, "It shall be contained, Master Zoraster. We will let you know the results of our tests if your expectations, with which we agree, prove true."

The cadaverous necromancer walked up to Zoraster and handed him a book bound in human skin. Zoraster accepted the tome containing the process of creating the creatures, which he decided to name Arians. With a final nod to his necromancers, Zoraster vanished in a flash of light.

Back in his private quarters, Zoraster placed the book on a table and laughed, loud and long. Soon, he would have a formidable force of utterly obedient servants scattered around the world, in the places where one would least expect to find them.

The next day Danica awakened early, and packed to leave. She chatted with Jaron and Tonda as she waited, wishing she could do more. She almost decided to do just that when the man for whom she was awaiting arrived to transport her to her next task.