The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 146

Chapter 146 – Goddess

The leather-clad goddess of the hunt smiled, and said, “Yes, my child. You have done well. And it is well that you did as I said in placing the site as close to the Seal as possible. You would not know this, as it is still too early to measure, even for you, but there would be danger for these people, if you had not done so.”

Safar moved forward, and bowed his head respectfully, if not reverently. “My apologies, Lady Murena, but I do not know the proper terms to address you. I am Kontar Safar, and am here as a representative of the government for this land. Please, may I know more about these dangers to the people?”

Murena simply smiled at him, and nodded once. “Lady Murena is fine, or one of my titles if you wish to be more formal. Unlike some other gods, I care more about one’s intent, than pageantry of one’s words. You do not follow my teachings, but are trying to show respect. This is good. You wish to learn the proper address to a goddess made manifest, without trying to speak as though I was not here, and your first concern is about a threat to your people. These are good as well.

“I have seen through my warlock’s eyes, and heard through her ears. The example she made of the dam at risk of failing, and needing to unleash the water stopped up in a controlled manner, is accurate. However, even when the initial torrent is bled off by the ritual, there will still be more water in the fields than before, yes?

“For most of the seals, this would not be a problem. Some of the local creatures will change. Not so much, or so terribly, as the ‘leak’ scenario my servant spoke of, but it will happen, as the aspected mana suffuses the area. In most places, that will only serve to strengthen the local creatures. But Death is different.”

“Because the Death mana works against living creatures, right? It will kill them?”

“If nothing is done, only the very young, the very old, the sick, and the infirm would be at risk. Those most vulnerable, in other words. Still, Life mages or healers, what you call doctors, could counter the effects, especially if they knew to look for signs early on. That risk is small, but present. Yet it is not the risk I was speaking of.

“For Death mana is unique amongst the elements in that it changes not just the living, but the dead. A ‘leaked’ seal would see a horde of the undead rise up from every tomb and cemetery around, and should any living creature fall to the undead, they, too, would rise up and join the horde. A safely unleashed seal, where the vessels were filled and changed by the Death mana, would see far fewer undead rise from their graves, and the chance of the newly dead joining them would be much smaller. But it would still be disruptive, to say the least.”

“And your temple being here, giving you, a Goddess of Death, a presence so close to the seal, will help prevent this? Why not just tell us of this, through your warlock?”

“Because I know mortals well. Even in this other world, mortals are mortals. If there had been a demand for you to place my temple here, with threat of the horrors to come should you fail? That would make the relationship between myself and your government an adversarial one. One might think that I was going to conquer your native faith and force conversions at sword point. I did not agree with such methods on Onerth, and I won’t practice them here, on Terra.”

Safar nodded respectfully. “Thank you for your candor, Lady Murena. May I ask how your temple will help with the problem?”

“If we continue the example of a dammed river being unleashed, then my temple here would be like a reservoir, empty, and waiting to be filled, just downstream from the dam. The ‘water’ will pool here first, before filtering out into the world. By the time that the reservoir is filled, the Prime Seal will be undone, and mana will be properly mixing around the world, so the risk becomes far smaller. However, with the Seal of Death so close, the ‘currents’ of Death mana will always be strongest here, meaning that the risk will always be present. In the coming days, I would bid you send people to this temple, so that my priest may educate them on the proper wards to place around tombs, and places for the newly deceased, so that the currents do not accidentally raise any properly buried dead.”

I decided now was a good time to add to the conversation. “That is why I needed to have the long dead from the other world given to me as I built my army during the long war, instead of just raising them as I passed. Their graves and tombs were warded against such things. Unless the bodies were removed or the wards broken, then they would never have joined my ranks.”

Murena nodded. “It is as she said. As a sign of good faith, my priest will teach your people the rites needed to protect your dead from undeath. But now, my time is short. The dedication of the temple allowed me to descend, but only briefly, as most of my power still resides in Onerth.”

Koyama bowed to the goddess, and said, “Before you go, Lady Murena, can you tell us whether Onerth is in a dimension parallel to this one, or is in orbit around another star in our universe? We have heard of the void between worlds, but it was unclear whether that void separated dimensions, or space.”

“Which would give your masters some idea of the scope of my powers, no?” The goddess chuckled. “Onerth is indeed in this selfsame universe as your own Terra, around a different star. The Void Between is one means of traveling from world to world, faster than the star’s light, but it is not the only way. More than that, you will have to discover for yourselves. But remember that exploring the unknown can be hazardous, for door once opened can allow beings to pass both ways.”

And, with that last bit of wisdom, the goddess shimmered slightly, turning to black smoke starting from her feet, and then moving slowly up her body, until nothing was left. Just before the smoke disappeared entirely, I heard her whisper to me, “Hunt well, my child.”

I paused, and then looked to the others. “Well, I had not been expecting Murena to manifest directly. I think this bodes well for this temple, don’t you, Huntmaster?”

“Indeed,” the High Priest nodded, a reverent tone in his voice. As one might expect for someone who literally got to see their goddess face to face. “I can already tell that she has laid her blessing upon this place, more strongly than a typical dedication might be. But then, this is her first temple on this world, and her primary anchor here, so it is understandable.”

Safar walked up to me, and smiled. “Your Majesty, thank you for inviting me to observe this ceremony. The actual dedication and everything that went into it was enlightening enough, but to actually see a deity with my own eyes, and speak to her? Even if she were not warning us of potential dangers from the Seal, once it is unleashed, that was, well, inspiring.”

“I know full well how you feel, Mr. Safar. Even in the other world, where the works of gods could be seen directly, and many heard their voices and perhaps even received true answers to their prayers, to actually see a god or goddess in a solid avatar, and not a mere projection, was a rare thing, one that most people never experienced. And, you can see that it is as I said, Murena will not seek to force her faith upon your people. But you would be wise to heed her warning about sending some people to come and learn how to protect your dead from Death mana attempting to raise them in undeath ‘naturally’.”

“Oh, I can promise you that there will be someone here tomorrow, or I will have answers why. Not allowing the desecration of the dead, whether by human hand or by acts of nature, is something that even the most conservative mullahs and imams will not contest. That the first thing Lady Murena did was warn of a danger, and ask that we send people to learn how to protect the dead, rather than offering to send her people instead? That shows respect, and honor. One can scarcely ask for more on first meeting with a goddess.”

“And so long as you and your government keep that attitude with Murena, and her church, then you will not likely have any problems with her. But there are other things we must speak of. I assume that, by now, the entrance to the seal has been identified?”

Safar took a breath, and straightened himself as we moved to more official business. “About that,” he sighed. “While our thaumaturges detected the pulses and noted that the seal is somewhere under the Great Pyramid, the entrance has eluded us for some time, especially since caution made us slow our search, to keep from accidentally releasing anything, like what happened in Australia.”

“Sensible. Accidentally unleashing an army of the dead to turn Cairo into a necropolis would not be ideal, in anyone’s book.”

“As you say, your Majesty. Fortunately, our thaumaturges were able to trace the magical flares on subsequent seals, and discovered something that must be an enchantment come to life. At the very least, there is a strong and constant magical presence at the site, which we assume must be part of the seal’s defenses, but we dared not poke at it without someone more knowledgeable to guide us. Instead, we’ve ensured no visitors can approach the site. The tourism industry will be most happy when we can allow people closer once again.”

“Where is the site? From your words, I take it that it is near one of the historical sites? The Great Pyramid, perhaps?”

“We thought that is where it would be, as well, especially since our readings say that the seal lies beneath it, but what we believe to be the entrance is actually a bit further off, between the arms of the Great Sphinx. Literally, between the great stone paws, as you look upon it from the front. This is why we believe it to be the entrance, and most likely guarded or trapped somehow. The ancients were more than capable of making traps that functioned just fine without magic, and none in my government wish to see what they might have been capable with it.”

“It is possible that the Wellspring was already being used, or tapped in some way, before the Seal was crafted. According to the information I could find online, both the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid were constructed in roughly the same time frame, so they could have been designed to work together, somehow. It may explain all the lore of curses and such things that have persisted through the intervening centuries. When actual magic is involved, curses become far more real than they would have been, and curses caused by Death mana can be frightening in their strength.

“Of course, it might be that the priests of the time simply used the abundant Death mana, and converted it to other forms for their own needs. Holy and Unholy magics use mana all the same, but there is no wellspring for them, because their users convert the mana around them through their belief, and turn it to their own ends.”

“I see. Then, when would you like to go to the site?”

“The time matters not to me, as I no longer have need of sleep, but I believe we shall go to the site just after an early breakfast. While Death mana does not wither in the sun, if there are defenses hidden from a mage’s sight, then they will be easier to pick out when the sun is out. And if the path is older than the Sealing, then it would have been made for mortals, not the dead, and mortals need light, amongst other things, to make sense of things. So, morning is the best time to start.”

“I understand. I will have the arrangements made, and a car ready to take you to the site in the morning.”