“You make an interesting point,” she admitted, trying to sound casual. “I suppose I could consider your request and bestow certain requested powers upon you, should I choose to do so.”
It was easy enough to see where this chess match of wills was going. She knew I was right, but her pride forced her to make it seem like it was her idea, as well as requiring her to feel like she was always in control of which powers she gave me. Even if I was the one asking for specific powers. Whatever, if this was what it took to get the exact powers I wanted and needed, I was confident enough in my own position of strength that I could let her win this superficial ego battle.
“Of course,” I said, “it would be entirely up to you to decide. I’d only be, uh, making suggestions. It would be your choice as to whether you deemed me worthy of receiving such powers. That’s all I’m trying to get at, really.”
A smile flickered on her lips, and it was mirrored in her glowing eyes. I could see that this was a compromise she was willing to make, and a boost of quiet triumph surged through me. I did not, however, let it show on my face.
“Very well then, Vance. You may put forward your suggestions to me, and if I deem your performance sufficient, I will consider keeping the suggestions in mind when deciding what your next power will be.”
“Only if they are ultimately beneficial to you, of course. Anyway, how about we put this idea into practice? Let’s see… I think a great new power for me—with the ultimate aim of getting you more souls even faster—would be something that would allow me to take souls without using Grave Oath.”
“Taking souls without using Grave Oath? How do you propose to do that?”
“Well, the skeletons I’m able to raise, and the beasts, like Fang, are essentially your creatures, resurrected from the dead by your power, correct?”
Isu nodded, frowning uncertainly.
“So,” I continued, “Given the fact that they’re your creatures, linked to your power, which I channel, couldn’t you make it so that the souls that come from people or creatures they kill go into Grave Oath?”
“Perhaps.” She gestured for me to continue.
“I’m the conduit, the flesh-and-blood link between you and the world of the living. My skeletons and creatures are physical beings, connected to you—and this dagger—through me. So, whatever or whoever they kill, those kills are really mine, even if only indirectly. Make it so that their kills—my indirect kills—count in terms of soul-taking.”
The frown on Isu’s face morphed into a pleased, if subdued, grin.
“It’s something that could work favorably for me, I suppose,” she said slowly. “We could try it out, yes. I have a certain spell that might prove useful. And if it works well for me, I’ll let you keep it.”
“If it will allow you to take physical form again, for a much longer time than last time—let’s say, for the duration of one night,” I said, grinning salaciously, “I’ll do whatever it takes to get you as many souls as possible. You and I only just got started last night, and I’d like to see and experience a whole lot more of the Isu I saw… and touched.”
While saying this, I saw that this line of motivation was working pretty well. A look of eager, ravenous hunger spread across her gorgeous features, and I could almost sense the swirling fog getting a little wetter as I spoke.
“Very well,” she purred, her hungry smile broadening. “I have decided to grant you the power to capture souls via your skeletons’ and creatures’ kills. Take out Grave Oath,” she commanded.
I drew the dagger and held it out to her with both hands. She gripped Grave Oath by its hilt with one of her fog-hands. The forest seemed to grow darker, and the wind howled louder in my ears as Isu spoke powerful words in a language I didn’t recognize, her voice suddenly seeming to come from everywhere at once. It was as if she was sucking the light of the moon out of the sky; even the bright, shiny disc of the moon itself seemed to become dulled, its glow tarnished as the sky grew black and thick around it.
Grave Oath grew hot in my hands, almost too hot to touch, but I knew I couldn’t let go of the weapon, not until Isu had completed her spell. Suddenly, black veins of anti-light—this was the only way I could describe them—blasted out from the dagger, blotting out everything around it and coursing like eager serpents through the trees toward the wagon.
“Each of the necrotic veins,” Isu explained, “are connected to your skeletons, and another to the beast you call Fang.”
So, these pitch-black arteries would be the conduits along which souls would travel from my skeletons’ and creatures’ kills into Grave Oath.
Abruptly, the veins vanished, and everything appeared to return to normal. Once again, the full moon was bright in the sky, and the woods were quiet but for the sound of insects and night creatures. Even though I could no longer see the veins of anti-light, I could feel that they were there, tugging with a minute force, like microscopic strands of spiderweb on my blade.
Chapter Ten
“It is done,” murmured Isu.
“I have one more request,” I said, “that, uh, maybe I should have made before you did the whole enchanting thing.”
Isu growled and glared at me with undisguised annoyance. “What else do you want?”
“Well, I was focused so much on the kills Fang and my skeletons would be making that I forgot that there are two more people with me, two more people who will also be making kills. It’d be great if there was some way to get the souls from their kills too. I mean, this is all to benefit you, you know. I’m just thinking of how best to get as many souls to
