Rollar took the dagger from me and then turned and looked at his direbear, knowing what needed to be done. There was great sadness in his eyes, for this direbear, wild and ferocious as it was, was like a puppy to him.
“Don’t worry,” I said to him. “Your old friend will still be with you. He’ll just be a little different. You already possess the power to raise him from life to unlife.”
Rollar seemed unsure for a moment, but his doubts quickly vanished. Determined, he nodded and approached his direbear with all the sobriety of a funerary march. He stroked the massive creature’s neck and pressed his forehead against the bear’s.
“Lord Vance,” he said to me, “when this is done, how do I make it... undead?”
“When it’s over, close your eyes and focus on the bear’s heart. You’ll need to pluck some of your own life force from your heart, and it’ll drain you the first time. It gets easier with practice.”
Rollar nodded and breathed in deep. “All right. I’ll do whatever you ask of me, Lord Vance, and now I’ll show you just how great an honor I consider it to be that you’ve chosen me as your first Death Knight.”
He lifted the direbear’s massive left arm. If any other person had tried to do this, the wild creature would have ripped their head off, but it trusted its master.
“You’ve served me faithfully, old friend,” Rollar said to the direbear, “but now, the time has come to serve me in a new way. Goodbye, for now.”
And he slammed Grave Oath into the direbear’s heart. The beast reared up and let out a thunderous roar that shook the timbers of the ship. Then it toppled forward, crashing like a boulder launched from a great siege engine onto the deck, dead.
Rollar bent over the corpse even as its blood pooled beneath it and closed his eyes. For a long time, nothing happened, even though Rollar was furrowing his brow with increasing intensity and actually starting to sweat with the furiousness of his effort and concentration. Finally, I started to feel it, the presence of Death magic working in front of me. I glanced up at Isu, and she gave me a knowing nod; she could also feel it.
The direbear’s still corpse started to twitch. The movements were barely perceptible, but they were there. I stared intently at the creature’s glazed-over eyes, waiting for the telltale sign that the Death magic was truly working. Slowly but surely, the familiar yellow-green color, like a drop of concentrated ink splashed into clear water, swirled around the direbear’s eyeball. Then the color spread and glowed with an unearthly light. Rollar was breathing hard, as if undertaking a task of great exertion, and sweat was dripping off his forehead and running down his neck. His hands, clenched into tight fists, were shaking.
Then, finally, it happened. The direbear’s eyes glowed brightly, and it thundered out a powerful roar. It rose to its feet, animated once again, but no longer alive.
Rollar staggered backward, and I had to catch him to prevent him from collapsing. He gripped me tightly, holding on for support, but when he opened his eyes, a broad smile spread across his bearded face.
“I did it, Lord Vance, I did it.”
“Yes, you did, Rollar,” I said, “and I’m proud of you. You are now officially my first Death Knight.”
He quickly knelt at my feet and handed Grave Oath back to me.
“And I will serve you with honor and loyalty, until earthworms feast on my buried flesh.”
“Rise, Rollar, first Death Knight of the Temple of Necrosis!” I roared, and when Rollar rose shakily to his feet, everyone let out a massive cheer.
“Time to celebrate,” I said. “Crew, break out the grog!”
The pirates, who had gathered to watch Rollar’s ceremony, all cheered once more, even louder. They ran to grab the rum barrels—which they cracked open at the slightest excuse—and started handing out wooden tankards. I tossed the bucket of acid overboard; I could just picture some drunk pirate attempting to chug it and liquefying his innards instead of his inhibitions.
My party drank a toast to Rollar, my first Death Knight. The pirates’ rum was strong and harsh, and the women all coughed and almost choked on it. Even Rollar coughed and rasped a little, but Drok tossed his tankard of rum back as if it was nothing but water. Grinning, he asked Percy for a refill. The jolly First Mate was only too happy to oblige, and he and Drok promptly began a drinking contest. Percy could drink, but Drok was in another league when it came to sucking back booze, and soon enough, Percy was reeling and slurring his words, but Drok was still chugging rum happily, with no apparent ill effects.
With my tankard of rum in my hand, I walked toward the ship’s bow. The sun was directly behind us, sinking low in the sky as we sailed east, and on the eastern horizon, there was nothing but open water as far as the eye could see.
I stood on the prow, smiling as the wind rippled through my hair, thinking about how awesome it would be when we finally got to Yeng. I heard footsteps approaching and turned to see Rami-Xayon walking over to join me.
“Your wind is pushing us at a good pace across the ocean, Rami-Xayon,” I said. “But is there any way you can make it stronger? I’m pretty damn eager to get to Yeng.”
“I’m already using a lot of my power to keep it at this strength. Any stronger, and I might start exhausting myself.”
“And I thought you were a strong and powerful goddess,” a new voice said. “Perhaps your powers are not as potent as those of other goddesses.”
We both turned around and saw Anna-Lucielle approaching us. The setting sun created an alluring backlight that lit her
