“Yes. With good reason. He has an impressive tactical mind, especially for one so young. He thinks many steps ahead.”
I smiled at the thought of him, even protecting me through that.
“So, who’s grimoire was it? He mentioned an arrogant necromancer who thought he was at your level—but wasn’t.”
“Rex Crowley.”
“The Basilisk Dominion gave him and another necromancer refuge when Morien was culling necromancers all over the place twenty years back. But it’s just you and me here on this plane now.”
“Rex would’ve only been given refuge for his grimoire. Nothing more.”
“What does that mean?”
“He would’ve been useless beyond that. His mind was fractured. The result of him pushing far beyond what he was capable of—in incredibly dangerous ways, ways I warned you about when you were younger.” He sighed. “To try to reach my level.”
“You two had a rivalry?”
“No. He had a rivalry all on his own. I didn’t participate. Either way, although the Basilisk Dominion gave them refuge for a time, they took off anyway and disappeared. We now know that was to Ruxnoth. He must’ve pulled them into Sanctus.”
“Even Rex with him being… that way?”
“Ruxnoth can still pull on his power and put that to use.”
“That’s disturbing and really sad for Rex.”
“It is, yeah.”
“Do you think all the necromancers down there with Ruxnoth are lost? That they’re under his control entirely?”
“I don’t know.”
I frowned as he pulled from me and averted his eyes. “And you don’t care about making the distinction? You’ll treat them as enemies needing to be put down, regardless? What if we can save them, Dad? More like you. More like… well, half of me.”
“It’s not about a lack of care. Not about me denying a kinship or whatever else. It’s whether I can afford to entertain a distinction. Whether I can pause to determine where all twenty of them stand, because of the slight off-chance that a few of them might be there under duress and not on that monster’s side. Ina battle of this nature, a pause is lack of action, and that’s an invitation to sustaining harm. To us all.”
I winced.
“Win, I know. It’s heavy. But we’re not even at that point yet. Let’s focus on the here and now, preparing you, expanding your knowledge base, and your confidence. Most of all, reducing that fear you’ve been carrying around for so long.” He shifted his weight and settled in, telling me, “We’ll keep away from Desiccation Curse for a few sessions because I’m aware of how much you hate it. But know that Grandpa has volunteered and I’ve found a way to ensure he feels no pain while it’s being performed on him.”
That was actually a weight off that he didn’t expect me to go at some random vampire and partially desiccate them over and over in order to master the spell. Thank goodness for that. Just the idea of it made my gut twist.
“For the rest of this session and the next several, we’ll work on what I’ve shown you today—you’ll perform what I did. I’ll also get you well-versed in master-level spellwork—detecting, interpreting and dismantling complex death-bound enchantments. I’ll then bring your mom in, where she and I will teach you how to fuse your Necromancy with your Wraith side, weaving it together through twilight resonance, and enhancing the power of both in the process.”
Excitement actually thrummed through me. “Sounds great.”
“It does? Really?”
I smiled. “Really. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Well, then. We’re already halfway there, aren’t we?”
Actually, yeah, I’d come a long way already today. Something profound had shifted in me. That fear… it wasn’t ruling so much of me.
I mean, obviously there was still a nerve-wracking aspect to all of it.
But there was now also a thrill to it, possibility, goodness in it—things I’d never let myself feel before.
Now that I had, it was invigorating.
