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Runespentthepastfew days perfecting a spell based off his blood’s tie to his altar. He isolated the link between the two and created a spell which allowed him to scry for the location of an altar using blood as its beacon.
He would have immediately gone to Faye with the news, but it was a dreadful hour of the night. He thought of her often. His imaginings bittersweet. He’d found the means to give her everything she wanted. She would have her shard, could have the family she wanted. His heart bled knowing it would not be with him.
Rune’s hand settled over Saith’s journal. He’d finished reading it, finding nothing of use. Only Saith’s cruel use of magic. At a loss he’d reached for Morbid’s mind, seeing if Morbid was awake. The Familiar King was ancient, there when Saith came to power.
Prince,Morbid’s voice purred through his mind.
You are awake.
I waited up for you.
Rune laughed, wondering if there was anything Morbid didn’t see. He phased to the only location he knew in Chaos and stepped off the landing pad in front of Morbid’s home. There were two constants in the Familiar’s realm. The first being the thunder filled sky that never rained. The second, while the bones changed with each visit, they always made up the ground.
Today charred bones littered the ground, crumbling beneath his steps. Flashes of lightning illuminated the sky as lightning arced within the heavy dark clouds. Morbid’s home took the shape of a multilevel mansion typically found in Necromia for this visit. Turrets and gables rose from the Familiar King’s home.
The large windows unnerved Rune. The home’s interior was pitch black. Not darkened rooms, but voids containing nothing.
A bone popped beneath Rune’s shoe, and he grimaced, glancing down before phasing to the front door that lay open in invitation. Once inside Rune found himself in a small room without doors or windows. Only a staircase that led up.
He climbed the steps given no other choice. They led into a wall with a door flush to the steps. Rune eased the door open, and it led into a large room that could be used as a study. Empty bookshelves sporadically lined the walls. Rugs overlapped haphazardly on the floor. A large fireplace took up the far wall with two chairs angled in front of it.
“Shadow Prince, how may I be of service?” Morbid sat in one of the chairs near the fire. He slouched in the corner of the chair with one leg bent over the armrest at the knee. He wore his customary leather pants, not bothering to wear a shirt. The Familiar King probably thought the two brightly colored scarves, looped around his neck to rest against his chest, made up for it.
Rune took a seat in the chair opposite Morbid and glanced at the fireplace. Hellfire burned blue. The flames burning were pink. Rune pulled his gaze away, already feeling his head beginning to ache. Nothing made sense in Chaos.
Rune turned to Morbid and said, “I am finding it difficult to locate documents that predate Saith.”
The Familiar King nodded. “New rulers often eradicate evidence of the old.”
“You were there. Do you remember that time?”
Morbid’s lips parted in a wide smile, displaying his less substantial fangs. “I have a long and accurate memory. What are you searching for, Prince?”
Rune took a shallow breath. Each time Faye filled his thoughts, the pain of her absence stripped another piece of him. Hollowing him out further.
He had nothing left to give, but his regret always found more to take.
“I am looking for a race who existed before Saith came to power. Able to resurrect like a Pure Blood, but their life thread is anchored in the Darkness.”
Morbid shrugged. “Can’t say. We do have a library with the history of the realms before Saith. You’re welcome to it.”
Not the answer he’d hoped for but Morbid never answered anything outright. Rune inclined his head and said, “That would be most helpful.”
“I’ll take you to its landing pad.” Morbid stood, smoothing his scarves before phasing them deeper into the Familiar’s realm.
A decaying version of the Artithian library rose before Rune. Instead of the gleaming whites and golds, this structure was awash in gray. Deeper blacks ran down the corners, staining the walls.
Morbid started for the building, crushing the charred bones beneath his boots as he walked. Rune chose to phase to the doorway, avoiding them.
He followed Morbid into the building. The interior followed the Artithian library, colored in darker tones of gray and maroon. Familiar strolled through the space in various stages of undress. Sounds of coupling came from various locations on different floors.
The musk of bodies joining permeated the air. Rune parted his lips, taking a slow breath. The taste of want should have been thick in the air. No tastes of emotions coated his tongue. Rune originally believed he was unable to taste the emotions of Morbid and Sadi. Perhaps all Familiar were immune— or at least those who served Chaos.
Morbid past a brazen couple on a table, knocking books to the ground in their endeavors. Rune raised a brow at Morbid. They behaved little better than vampires during the Hunter’s Moon. “Is this a normal occurrence?”
Morbid paused at a narrow stairway. “My people are hedonistic by nature.”
“Will this building change like your home does?”
