A Bored Lich

Doevm raised an eyebrow. Elero took a step towards him, her gaze locked with his. Doevm sighed: "I suppose, if one had to make an exact choice from the options you gave me, you could say I both stole it and acquired it from unbelievable odds. Since stealing is relative however, I guess you could say I lean more towards the option of unbelievable odds."

"What do you mean?" Elero asked, her eyes narrowing.

Doevm picked the frog leg back up and ran the dagger along the bone and flesh. "When I say unbelievable odds, it means because no one could believe what happened. No one predicted it, the betrayal. I looted the book as a conquest of war. His name was Ashtehar, War Monk. I took it after he killed my subordinates, killed my Captain, hurt my friends, and killed my comrade."

From the corner of Thomas's eye, Frey leaned against the tree trunk and put his head in his hands. If he wasn't so far away, he could have sworn he was shaking. "So yes, I have read the book." Doevm continued. "I understand that it is hard for a noble like yourself to believe a peasant such as myself but please refrain from digging up my past, Miss Mech. I prefer it to stay buried like the rest of my men."

"I-I didn't mean." Elero stuttered. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed anything. I was just…"

"It's fine," Doevm said. He tossed one of the clean bones into the soil. "They're gone, and I will push forward because of their sacrifice. Now please let me continue to prepare the meal in peace."

Elero nodded. "I-I'll be right back," She shambled off, her braces clicking and gears shifting. Thomas waited until she was out of earshot and looked back over to Doevm.

Thomas stood from his Amphiboard: "I don't know if any of that was true. If it was, I apologize, but I can't tell the difference anymore. You can't hide your secrets forever." He turned and walked in Elero's direction.

"Thomas," Doevm said. Thomas turned around. "Mind the thread on your way out. It's supposed to help us by hiding, but if you push against it, it might just trip you."

Thomas didn't say anything and just stormed out of the camp. Doevm took out Burnsticks, activated them, and placed them on the meat, which immediately began sizzling.

"My favorite book huh?" Doevm asked himself. "If I had to choose one, it would probably be…" he smiled. "Yup, the one about that idiot. When he slew the mighty slime king..." He chuckled for a few seconds before halting. "No, what about that other one about…" he poked at the meat. "That's a good question, which reminds me." He glanced around, finding that Frey still had his head in his hands.

He pulled the book of soul magic from his spatial ring and flipped through its pages. 'After scanning through this dozens of times, I still can't figure out how he did it.' The memory of the Resistance leader turning a knight into a Creature flashed through his mind. 'This is so frustrating. I can't learn anything more. Truly, this isn't magic at all, but it is something I need if I am going to take down Maker.'

He glanced at Frey. 'Soul magic is something that can't be given by anyone but Maximus Draken. I doubt I can add other types of soul magic to my arsenal without reading his books or inheriting. I need everything I can get. Frey, you better get focused soon, or I might have to beat the sense into you. Like it or not, you are a part of this now.'

…

"Miss Mech," Thomas called out as he walked into the dim swamp and trudged through mud. The light of the many fireflies around the camp may have faded, but a few stragglers lit the area just barely enough for him to see the outlines of things. "Where are you?" He squinted and put a layer of life essence around his eyes. That didn't help much so he dispersed it and cursed under his breath. 'Doevm, couldn't you have gone a little easier on her?' After a few moments, he heard her, the clicking and creaking of the many gears on her braces.

Following the noises led him to a small clearing with bits of white stone scattered everywhere. Elero was huddled up under an old, wrinkled tree. The fog, at this point in the night, was but a distant memory. Elero was looking up, through parting in the tree's many leaf-less and decayed branches, at the cloudy night sky. Rays of moonlight illuminated her figure.

She looked over to him with a look more distant than Frey's, as if she had just pulled herself out of a memory. "Why did you follow me?" She asked, not so much with a somber tone as one that had lost a little bit of its strength.

"I just wanted to talk about what Doevm said," Thomas said as he walked towards her. "You see, Doevm is not normal in any way, shape, or form. He doesn't try to hide his abilities, but he doesn't say the truth either. Even when I asked about his past, he-"

"I don't care about that stuff." Elero interrupted.

Thomas hesitated: "Y-you don't care about it, about who he really is? I thought that you-"

 "Everyone is allowed to have their privacy," Elero shrugged. "I mean, I just met him after all. It's understandable. I don't go blabbering off about my past to everyone I meet." She followed that with a curse and said under her breath, "With certain exceptions."

"Then, why did you walk off?" Thomas looked her up and down, but she didn't look any different from how she was usually.

"Just needed some air is all," Elero responded, her gaze returning the sky. "And I felt it would have been a little awkward if I stayed after pushing Doevm. I'm fine."

"That was it?" Thomas trudged through the mud in a circle around her. She leaned back against the tree and ignored him. Thomas shook his head: "You know, I'm tired of getting lied to."

Elero let out a long sigh before turning her gaze towards him: "And I'm tired of lying but I didn't want to be rude." Her voice filled with annoyance. "I didn't want to tell you bluntly to leave me alone and let me think for just a few damned minutes but here we are."

"Oh," Thomas's shoulders drooped as the realization struck him harder than any Bullfrog. "Sorry. I guess I got a little caught up with my own thoughts. I'm bad at reading situations and people. People in general confuse me." He turned to leave.

Elero sighed: "Thomas." Thomas turned back around to find her gaze had softened. "You said that you are bad with people, but you seemed to make fast friends with a certain…group of nobles."

"Do you know them?" Thomas asked. He took a step towards her. "But I didn't see you talking with them."

The ray of moonlight faded as a cloud drifted in front of the moon. While Thomas couldn't see Elero's figure anymore, he could see the faintest glimmer moonlight reflecting off her metal braces. "That's probably because I hate them." Creaks and clicks sounded as she adjusted herself, as if the very mention of them was uncomfortable. "And the feeling is mutual."

"They didn't seem to be going around bothering people, not while I was with them at least." Thomas thought back to his memories, to Jackal who would fight for his friends no matter the trouble it brought upon him. "Did you do anything to antagonize them? Are you sure we are talking about the same group?"

"I'm sure. There is no mistaking them. Because you asked, I didn't do anything to them, much like no commoner did anything to them. I don't know much about you, but I can tell that you're different from that group. You don't put on a stupidly righteous act like them. If someone makes you angry, you curse them out. You don't care about appearances. You know commoners and call them by their names." She pushed herself off the trunk and shambled through the mud. She pat Thomas on the shoulder as she passed him. "Just be sure to listen. Let's get back before they begin to worry about us."

Thomas nodded: "I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm going to ask them about it the next time I see them. I know they have a reason behind whatever they did to you. I'm sure it's a misunderstanding…It has to be." He said that last bit more to himself than to Elero.

Elero shrugged as she shambled along. Doevm had already cooked the Bullfrog legs to the point that both Thomas and Elero could make it back to the camp solely by following its mouthwatering smell. Light from dozens of fireflies met their view. Doevm moved the Burnsticks around by pushing them with a stick.

Despite the smell drifting through the camp, Frey didn't seem to be in high spirits. His eyes, red from staring at the floor so much, finally blinked. He slowly stood up. Leaves and dirt fell off of him. His eyes focused on Elero and Thomas before turning to look at Doevm.

Frey took a deep breath: "Doevm," Doevm took one glance at him and deactivated the artifacts. He set the stick down and gave his full attention to him. Frey looked to the other two. "You should hear this as well." Elero and Thomas got closer until they were all in a circle around the mass of flesh in the center. The noise of the swamp seemed to die down a little. Since the Burnstick had been deactivated, the cold night air chilled crawled into the camp and chilled their skin. "Do you think we should drop out of initiation?"