13 Monastery.

The next day…

William and Artur found no impediments on their way back. Artur guided him to his room, and he fell asleep before his mind rambled again.

He woke up the next morning with a headache and a sweating body, fragments of a nightmare kicking as he opened his eyes. He didn't remember much other than that black, cold land he dreamed of before being resurrected.

That skeletal figure in a black shawl was there too, sauntering away as he tried to follow it before the raining ashes drowned him. He sighed. Maybe those nightmares were just secondary effects caused by that ritual they did to bring him back.

He wondered how many nasty surprises still awaited...

And their visit to Inanna; Onissa Kal-Si, Visidia, the food, remembering them, and waking up in that same room as the previous day confirmed to him that madness was real.

And that serial killer —Bloodsucker— what was going on with him?

That day was going to be special. Their training would begin and he would be introduced to the Zeimey Monastery. Artur knocked on his door early on, entering the room lively and energetic.

"Will, are you up already? don't tell me you've got a hangover! Wait 'till you try out the moonflower malt liquor. Today we're gonna be busy, remember? Put on some pants, casanova. Zho and Miris are waiting for us. It's time for you to know this old piece of carved rocks we call home"

William dressed up in his asymmetrical coat and boots, washing his face with cold water. Following Artur out of the dorm area, they reached a room with a rusty door inside. Through a narrow corridor, they went outside; a forgotten trapdoor among giant boulders.

The panorama before William's eyes astonished him as the white sky illuminated. Smaller peaks of white tops and black bodies descended in the view, blending with the dark horizon below as fog engulfed everything past them, no further than five kilometers in the distance.

They were at the narrow cornice of a mountain, where a road covered by yellow grass and rocks of purple lichens extended left and right.

"What a beautiful morning, right?" asked Artur. "If it wasn't for this weather you'd see Inanna past the last peaks over there, a tiny colorful spot. I hope you aren't afraid of heights. The ancient liches who build the monastery had something for them."

"Eh, I can handle that," truth was that William was a little nauseous. "Where is the entrance to the monastery, by the way? This place looks easily defensible. If it's not for some religious significance I wonder why someone would build a place this high."

Both went through the right side of the way, next to the rocky wall of the mountain.

"Oh, Will, you can bet Reniram was not the same hundreds of years ago. The true defensible capabilities of the monastery are how hidden it is. It's a pain in the ass and a walk of no less than two whole days to get from the bottom of this mountain up here. It's also hidden by some magic I don't understand. Hey, look. There's Miris. "

They reached the end of that vertiginous way, arriving at a flat cornice, huge enough to hold a whole castle. Two rocky pillars 20 meters ahead held a natural roof that left the natural terrace in shadows.

The Reniramian girl was 30 meters ahead in the open, her feminine figure of jet black hair and olive skin contrasting with the paleness behind. Her traditional dress was sand-colored.

Its saggy sleeves had multicolor threads hanging from their edges, floral figures knitted to her long skirt. A typical Oksidi scarf of magenta and crimson colors enveloped her neck.

"C'mon, little swallow. Remember: if she or Zho asks what we did last night don't mention anything about alcohol, alright? they told me to not make you drink anything as it would do you harm and blah blah blah… What damage can do some good ol' booze to a man?"

They arrived. The cornice ended near Miris, descending into eroded cobblestone stairs that followed a serpentine way below, getting lost amidst the rocky edges of the mountain.

"There you are, morning bird," greeted Artur. "what keeps you waiting through the shine of the dawn? A new summer breeze to thaw your wings?"

"The fifth poem of Nek Akkaze?" she asked with incredibility. "Don't tell me you're reading ancient Yikkh poems, Artur. Did Zho force you to study?"

"What? I only wanted to impress you with that poetry you like reading so much," he chuckled sarcastically. "Nah, I was put to study the other day. But don't be mean, girl, greet Will over here, don't let him think all the Oksidi are rude, arrogant thickheads. I'm sure you're a little less so than the average one."

"Idiot," she rolled her eyes, chuckling before smiling at William. "Hey, you're looking good today. I will prepare you some moonflower tea after we're done with this. I don't know why Zho wants you training when you're still not at your best."

"Trust me when I say that when the real stuff happens, you're never at your best," replied William. "But thank you, Miris, you look good, too"

Her gentle behavior contrasting with the rude Oksidi they interacted with in Inanna the previous day was hard to ignore. Maybe being a fellow lich helped. Artur was also a foreigner, and both looked like the teasing-type of friends despite their backgrounds.

"Yeah, just look at her cute face," Artur stretched his hand towards Miris. "Would be such a sweetheart if she didn't happen to be a nagger."

She pushed him away. "Shut up. I swear every time you act more and more like a child. You're gonna influence William in bad ways."

"Oh yeah. You also love playing mom, right? Didn't you ask Zho permission for going to William's room to take care of him earlier in the morning?"

She blushed. "Artur, you know how delicate his status is. If something goes wrong, he could mutate into that horrible monster kind of—"

She halted her words, trading looks with him as if they said something they should have not. William got the bad feeling of being hidden something, which only added up with his previous concerns.

"Eh… Don't pay attention to that, William," she awkwardly smiled. "You're gonna be alright, just don't push yourself and listen to what you're told, ok?"

"Oh, look, there comes Zho. be quiet as a moth, as he says," said Artur

William turned his head around, noticing something he missed. 40 meters ahead, a majestous construction stuck out of the rocky walls around, 15 meters tall. It reminded him of a church, though its strange shape and carvings were of no religion he was aware of. It was made of a sand-colored material like its interiors.

A five-meter-tall iron gate stood in the middle, Zho coming out, but William's attention was on the architecture itself.

Surrounding the gate, three thick pillars raised to hexagonal heads suspending a niche above, strange, geometrical characters carved at their edges. Animal figures rested in their middle; a moth, a crab, a crow, a toad, a cat, and a figure that wasn't an animal: a human skull.

The structure rose from the niche like a halved octagon, divided into three sections that had the same foreign characters, as well as dozens of carved moths. But the rectangular space in the middle was the most interesting.

An eroded, three-meter-tall statue with missing parts stood out from it, some warrior on thick armor of spikes and chains. A long cloak descended from his shoulders. His left hand held a staff with a skull, and his right hand had a curved sword.

Smaller skeletal figures carved in the wall behind kneeled before him, their weapons up. A sun and a moon stood above, surrounded by stars and moths.

The place didn't make sense. How could someone possibly build a monument like that without the mountain collapsing?

How did they take the resources up there to build it in the first place? And why suffer the risk of an accident —which would be likely, considering the place the monastery was located in?

Zho reached the young liches, dressing in his typical black tunic of golden margins, his hair a braid. Miris and Artur straightened. "Artur Asgard. Miris Ates. William Amber. I see you are doing well today."

"Oh, yes, Zho," said Artur. "William is ready like you requested. Right, Will? We're ready too."

Zho glimpsed at William. "You seem strong. I've seen others before in your position still on a bed when you are already walking and moving around. Am I detecting alcohol? You're even digesting it already."

Artur looked down, William feeling called out as Miris stared at both. How could Zho know that? And what did Miris mean for mutating into a monster? he could not take that out of his head.

"But human strength is far from enough. As I said, you still have to dominate your new condition. This place is where a long journey begins for you," he turned around, facing the monastery.

"You said you didn't drink anything," whispered Miris with disapproval.

"I'm sorry? Onissa spilled some on my mug by accident," mocked Artur in a low voice.

Zho ignored them. "The Zeimey Monastery was built more than 1000 years ago. It is the legacy of those liches who preceded us. It is now our home as it was theirs. We should honor them and follow their wisdom."

"It is… great," said William. It was amazing to think a place like that could thrive through the long pass of time.

Zho invited the three to get closer. "See the statue, William? It's Lord Okkos Zeimey, harbinger of Lord Sekera, and founder of our order. He guided his people to more prosperous lands. Reniram."

"Lord Sekera?"

"The Yikkh god of life cycles," explained Miris. "God of dusk and dawn, and elemental change. Father of all liches, we are all blessed by him. We must honor his might and grace."

Zho sauntered ahead, raising his hands to cast his wicked magic. The road leading to the monastery dazzled as light wisps appeared on both sides, killing darkness. With the way illuminated, he continued ahead.

"Follow me. Miris, Artur, you have received informal training, but it's until now that we're complete. But before doing so, William needs to meet his new home. You must also meet your other teacher, Aeschyrus, and the leader of our order."

"Leader? you mean, you aren't the leader of this order?" asked William.

"No, I'm only your mentor. Our leader is someone with more experience than all of us combined. He's the son of one of the most powerful liches to have ever existed, right hand to Lord Okkos Zeimey himself. He's near 1000."

William gulped his saliva, remembering how they were ageless. All liches were, and would never die of old age, but seeing it in action was nothing like just hearing it. He wondered how old Zho, Miris, and Artur were. They had been liches before he was turned into one.

"How many of you— us, are here?"

"You three are currently the only liches in training," responded Zho. "Counting our leader and me, we're only five. Five liches in our order and in the world. Times are dark for us. We were once admired as heroes by the people, today we're only a forgotten shadow, nothing but monsters to be persecuted. That can change. You need us, William. We need you too."

William felt like an ant as he stood before the giant monument, his eyes fixated on the towering statue above that time and erosion couldn't strip off of its greatness. Artur and Miris were enthusiastic too. Everything was so strange.

They were about to get inside and learn more. If he wanted to know what happened to him and what he was now, maybe the best was to learn about the details that made up for the bigger image.