The Court of Souls?

“Mana is a word found in Austronesian languages meaning "power, effectiveness, prestige," where in most cases the power is understood to be supernatural. The exact semantics depends on the language. The concept is a major one in Polynesian cultures. It is part of contemporary Pacific Islander culture. The term came to the attention of western anthropologists through the reports of missionaries in the islands. Its study was included in the topic of cultural anthropology, specifically in the anthropology of religion. Links were seen between it and an earlier phase of western religion, animism at first, then pre-animism.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis***

***Shade***

I am still sleeping. I refuse to wake up just because Elona is snoring right into my ear. I am not opening my eyes, not happening. Even if my wife engaged her steamroller, I will not falter.

Besides, there is a lot to think about. For example yesterday's battle. We lost a lot of good people, but the slavers got it worse. If this was a Celtic saga, they would sing songs about rivers of blood. But our victory wasn't perfect, fifteen of our enemies escaped. Sadly, Enwick was among them.

I was about to catch him when that stupid Ra interfered. He cast some kind of light spell which hurt like hell. Then they both bolted. To say that I am pissed isn't cutting it.

“You are nothing more than a pawn! Even now you are just playing into his hands, and the funny thing is that you don't even realize it.”

Those were Enwick's words as he fled. I don't trust him, but I don't believe that he is on Moonray's side either. Too bad that he didn't confirm Moonray's involvement. Is it possible that there is more going on than I can see? Or did he just refer to Moonray's games?

And then they managed to add yet another spirit to the battle. Moonray is slowly making it to the top of my black list. We have to do something about those constant attacks, or we won't have a home in a few months from now. The first thing on my list is to interrogate the assholes who we managed to capture. Then I will go through the souls I have caught during the battle. A good thing that my ability automatically sucks up everything that's within reach. Next I'll wipe out Imothep's island.

What else... yeah... my observation ward. I have to check on it. Since Moonray sent us yet another spirit, the mana storm must have entered a hot phase sometime before the battle. So either they can control the storm to some extent, or my initial suspicions are true. But the ward I left didn't alert me. Either I missed the mind-link, or the messaging function of the ward was destroyed during the storm. I didn't expect it to hold long anyway, so that's a definitive possibility. Actually I should put that on the top of my list.

“KYAAAA!”

Elona shrieks right into my ear and I raise both hands to block the noise. “Blasted woman! What's your problem!?”

I open my eyes, but all I get to see is Elona's backside as she storms into the walk-in closet. She is wearing a bathrobe which she must have grabbed from the wardrobe.

“What's happening to me!? This is impossible!”

I massage my ears and get up to grab my pants from the ground. Then I follow her, hopping on one leg while putting it on. She is standing in front of the huge mirror which covers the closet's left wall. And then my eyes are drawn to her figure.

Her perfect hourglass figure was replaced by the round belly of a pregnant woman in her final month. “Wow, Dear. What did you eat?” Yesterday she was showing, but not like that.

There is no time for an answer. Elona would have replied with something snippy anyway.

The door to our bedroom is taken down by Tisha and Chloe, Doreen follows on their heels. They push me aside like a trio of furies to get to Elona.

Whoa! I stumble against the wall, gaining new respect for my wife. If she is able to command those three with a single shriek, I should probably avoid getting on her bad side from now on.

“Mom, what happened to me!?”

Chloe places both hands above her mouth and ogles her daughter. “Little fledgeling, what did you do? Did you sneak off under the cover of darkness and rape all the men in town?”

My attention snaps towards Elona who draws in a sharp breath. “I would never do such a thing!” Her eyes focus on me. “Shade, don't even think about it! I am not that kind of woman. And I couldn't have done it in any case! You boned me the entire night, there was no chance of escape and I am still sore!”

“Then where did you get all the life energy from? Don't lie to me, you are radiating with it.” Chloe asks astounded. Doreen turns a funny shade of red and my mother throws a knowing smile at me.

“I- I- I-” Elona stutters, then her finger points accusingly at me. “It's his fault! He made that stupid amulet which supplies him with almost limitless healing and stamina! He kept me awake until five in the morning.”

Chloe looks at me and then at the amulet on my chest. “Succubi's children grow by absorbing a part of the life force which is collected by the mother. If a succubus had a limitless supply of men, she could get the entire pregnancy procedure done in just a few days.”

She touches my chest, gasps and starts absorbing power. “Oh my, it's true! Do you mind?”

Her fingers wander to my amulet, but I slap them away. “That's mine. It's my only protection against you wenches!” The women in this household are life sucking leeches all together. Well, maybe not Doreen.

Suddenly I am crowded in by all three of them. “Did you just call my granddaughter a wench!?” Doreen's eyes start glowing.

“Please make more of those! I need one for Shawn!” Chloe grabs my hand and I could swear that she is about to start drooling. Of course she isn't failing to suck on my power.

“I'll get the first one! He is my son!” Tisha grabs my other hand and I find myself pushed into a corner.

If it wasn't for the fact that they are related to Elona, I would love it to be cornered by three beautiful women. Well, Doreen is a little scarred, but that doesn't mean that her figure is bad. She has been in this realm for a long time and she has her own charm.

“Guys...”

“I'll try to find some time to make more, but I really need time and resources for that. Like gold and metal-,” my voice is cut off by Elona who is raising her voice.

“Guys! I appreciate that you have fun, but shouldn't I be the centre of attention? And Mom, we two need to have a serious discussion about succubus biology! I can't believe that you forgot to educate me on such an important topic. I almost had a heart attack when I woke up this morning,” Elona complains. Then she looks at her feet. “Not to forget, I have a situation.”

My eyes wander to the puddle of transparent liquid which gathered around her feet. There is also a steady trickle of the stuff running down the inner side of her lower leg. How can she be so calm about this!

I feel the blood draining from my face while the entire room bursts into activity. Elona is grabbed by Doreen and Chloe, and carried over to our bed. Tisha guides me to her side and forces me down into a chair. She pats my hands until Chloe steps in.

Elona's mother takes my hand and places it in Elona's waiting palm. Of course I immediately feel the energy drain. I am glad that I didn't give up my amulet. Wait, did I just turn from a manly stud to an exploitable energy source?

I don't want to talk about, nor remember the following hour. Let's just say that there is a reason why some cultures have the man wait outside while the woman is giving birth.

In the end I hold a little bundle of joy in my arms, with Elona lying exhausted in our bed... we have to change the bedsheets though. And we have to get the rest of the family outside, the bedroom is much too small for everyone to be in here. At some point Ishaan and Shawn also sneaked inside, followed by Quianna and her boyfriend. Even Aswang and Manti are witnessing the scene from beyond the doorsill.

I raise our little girl into the air, remembering many similar situations. “Let's name her Seria!” And hope that she never remembers about her time as Legna!

“Why not Legna?” Manti asks with a defiant voice.

“Seria is a good name. We will go with that. And wasn't Legna just an alias to avoid the slavers?” Elona assists me.

“Yeah...” Manti squints her eyes at the baby, but Aswang grabs her earlobe and pulls her away like a little child who misbehaved.

I sigh in relief and hand the baby back to Elona. “Rest, my love. I'll be off for the rest of the day, but I promise that I'll be back in the evening.”

Elona's expression turns worried. “Where are you going? If it's one of your stupid plans, then at least take someone with you as a guard.”

I shake my head. “I just have to check on my ward at the mana storm. The fact that they sent yet another spirit for us means that the storm entered a hot phase. The messaging function of my spell must have failed, so I have to repair it. I promise that I'll head back immediately after I check on it.”

Elona bites her lower lip, but it seems that she is too exhausted to follow me around. “If you say so.”

I nod and inform everyone of my departure. The only one who gives me a little trouble is Ishaan, but when I offer to have him join me on my venture he declines. The women are all over the baby, so I take my leave and get myself equipped. It may be just a small hike, but one may never know.

Then I engage a direct teleportation to the place which I was shown by Aswang. There is no problem in teleporting to a place where I have already been. Though I have the same problem as everybody else. Teleporting too close to a mana storm is a serious risk.

So walking it is...

Four hours later I arrive at the lookout point which gave us a nice view on the mana storm. There is no question that the storm expanded and ravaged the mountain. Huge boulders changed their position and some parts of the mountain's flank are molten or simply scraped away.

When I turn my attention to the mana storm, I notice that it is much smaller and there are less of the little vortexes. I force my eyes away and search for my ward stone.

The small plateau is scrubbed clean and my ward is gone. Cursing, I approach the edge of the plateau and take a look down the mountain. If it was carried over the edge, then the ward was lost. And with it my little experiment, a shame.

I decide not to give up and study the storm. It's turning clockwise, so if it expanded without changing directions, then my ward was carried to the left.

I start kicking boulders and searching clefts in the rocky surface of the mountain. If the thing was buried under stones, then I have no hope of finding it. And all those energy interferences don't make it easy to sense the damn thing. My best hope is that it was carried along and fell into one of the many clefts in the ground.

I search slowly and move forward while I make my way across the mountain range. Half an hour later I notice a crevice in the ground. A blue shimmer is distinguishing it from the many others.

A few steps take me to it and then I peer down into it. Five metres under me is a staff. It is made of blue crystal which is criss-crossed by countless thin, red veins.

When I placed the ward, I also added the spell formation to create the seed of a mana crystal. Mana crystals are the stuff of dreams for any mage or god. They are pure mana, condensed to the point of gaining the properties of a material. Almost indestructible and very receptive to magic, they are my greatest invention.

Creating a mana crystal requires a seed. And a seed requires stupid amounts of mana. This realm doesn't have the resources to create the mana generators which I would require to kickstart a seed. Normally a controlled environment is needed to keep the seed from destabilizing while it is created.

That's because I don't know how to provide enough energy in one go. But what if I have an almost limitless power source which allows me to create the seed in much less time? Like a mana storm.

I reach out and try to bond with the staff. At first the staff only vibrates, but then it shoots up and lands in my hand. I get the shivers from feeling the raw power inside it. It's pure, wild, natural chaos magic. The power of creation. And it's mine! It feels like I regained another piece of my past.

The red veins are new, but I never created a seed with natural magic. So far I only had the refined version at hand. I shrug, it will reveal its secrets to me soon enough.

My thoughts return to Enwick's words. “You called me a pawn who is moving according to my opponent's plans. But you are forgetting that controlling a pawn isn't very hard. Pawns can only go forward and deviate slightly from their path when they are offered a sacrifice.”

A grin starts forming on my face as I study the energies inside the staff. It is a rough item with sharp edges. It looks like it is naturally grown crystal. I run my hand across its length and shape it into a more even form, but stay true to its theme. I like the evil vibes I get from the veins, but there is no point in cutting myself by holding it.

I form the bottom to a sharp blade and instruct the top to gather the red veins into a big, red crystal. When I am satisfied I take a last, critical look at my creation and order the crystal to hold its shape.

I laugh, ignoring the fact that I sound like a lunatic. “But now you have a problem. Your pawn reached the other side of the board.”

.