A Bored Lich

Frey's heart pounded against his chest. 'Why did I tell them so much?' he thought, instantly regretting his actions. 'Maybe I can say it was all a joke. It's not too late.' His lips quivered, trying and failing to form a fake smile. 'No, I am dealing with this now.' He pressed his fingernails into his palms. The pain kept him still as he waited for their responses. 'They're not going to believe me. They're just going to laugh. Gwen would laugh and she's…a manipulative bitch.'

"And?" Elero was the first one to ask. Frey was preparing for her to attack, curse, or yell, but her calmness was somehow worse than all of those things. He cocked his head to the side and froze for a couple of moments, trying to process that single word.

"What do you mean and?" Frey rebuked. 'That's it?' He thought. 'All the anxiety, all the pained silence and guilt, all the stress and sleeplessness; that was all for nothing? No, this can't be it. They must have misunderstood something.'

"I just dropped a huge twist on your lives and your first response is and?" Frey insisted. His breathing went ragged and his voice raised by an octave but he didn't know why. "You should be asking if I'm joking or lying. Elero, I thought you of all people would come up with some sarcastic remark or insult. Why aren't you yelling at me? Why are you acting as if this doesn't change anything between us?" His vision blurred as his eyes suddenly watered. "Why aren't you trying to fight me? Aren't you mad? Aren't you going to walk away? I just told you that Doevm is a thousand-year-old Lich!"

"Frey listen to yourself," Elero stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Why would we just walk away after coming so far? Thomas and I both knew that you and Doevm were keeping secrets. You didn't try to hide them. You just stepped forward and opened up to us. What kind of people would we be if we got angry at you for that?"

"You'd be me," Frey muttered. He looked away, grimacing at the shattered light crystals strewn throughout the ruin behind him. He could still see Doevm's dried blood. If his regret had been a knife then Elero's kindness twisted the blade.

"I kind of already knew all of that," Thomas chimed in.

Frey raised an eyebrow. "Even my past? When did you find out?"

"…Gwen. She told me." Thomas frowned and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry I should have told you. She kind of…fancied me. I kept refusing because I knew why she was interested: the mansion and the Virility name. It was immediately after you left. She tried to make herself sound interesting through your grandfather's stories. Father eventually got mad and traded her assistant with Owen so she would finally back off."

"And I knew Doevm was a Lich," Elero said. "I mean it was hard not to notice. He went by Mr. Lich, wore a skull mask with two flaming eye sockets, and can use the God of Evil's dark magic. The only question I have for him is where he came from. He is supposed to be an all-powerful Lich yet I haven't heard of anyone becoming a Lich in a century. It's like Doevm just appeared out of thin air."

"So this was just a confirmation of what you already assumed?" Frey asked as he leaned against a wall and let himself slide to the ground. "Fuck." He lowered his head and relaxed his body. "I wish I could have been as calm as you guys. Maybe then I would know what to do." He then told them of the fight in the ruin ahead, where he had tried to run away upon learning the partial truth. "If I hadn't tried to run, maybe Doevm could have regained more of his strength, we would know who this stupid Notemaker was, and Thomas wouldn't have died."

"Wait, what?" Elero asked.

"And Doevm would still be here." Frey let his shoulders droop. "I should have tried to-"

"You died?" Elero interrupted, looking Thomas up and down.

"Oh yeah I guess I did come back from the dead," Thomas shrugged. "But I'm still me."

"Now that you mention it," Elero rubbed her chin. "You have been adopting Doevm's weird way of speaking. You've also been a lot more…bleak. You also ate a rabbit which still kind of creeps me out."

"Let's…forget about that," Thomas gave a nervous chuckle before shaking his head. "I'll ask Doevm about it after we break him out. He's more likely to know." He looked to the ruin ahead, then down to his friend, who held his head in his hands. "By the goddess, a Lich huh?" He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a list filled with numbers and names before presenting it to Frey. "As I recall, the highest bet was half-god, right?"

"Now I'm starting to get lost," Elero rubbed her temples. "What does a list have to do with this?"

"Nothing," Thomas stowed the list and pulled Frey to his feet with some difficulty.

"Oh yeah," Frey slowly pulled out his own copy of the list and scanned through it. "I forgot about this bet with the guards. So you were in on it as well?"

"Yeah I was," Thomas said as he pat Frey on the shoulder. "Good thing no one said Lich, so we don't have to pay the other guards squat."

The two laughed and a faint smile crept onto Frey's face. "I'm glad I met you two." He turned and stepped into the ruin. He was quiet. It wasn't the kind of turbulent quiet when he had something on his mind nor was it the kind of isolating quiet when he distanced himself, but the natural, peaceful quiet of a calm giant.

'How envious,' Thomas thought. The rabbit had helped, but it was just a warning of things to come. The hunger grew in the back of his mind. Light didn't matter to him anymore. He could see regardless. It was just a matter of time before he would break. He could feel it. He and Elero descended into the ruin.

Hidden behind the crumbled wall was an enormous underground cavern. The crunch of the shattered crystal echoed off the black stone walls. Many thick white stone pillars along the left and right sides of the chamber bore intricate depictions of Draken. The two doors at the end had a gaping hole in them, and the familiar smell of gunpowder filled the air.

"Welcome," Frey said as he stepped in. "To the ruins of Maximus Draken's Legacy. Let's hurry and search it top to bottom for any clues." He held the light crystal above his head, illuminating the chamber. As the rays of light struck the pillars, the intricate designs shifted like serpents lying in wait.

"Movement! Get together." Thomas yelled as he drew his crossbow. The others didn't seem to notice anything, but they drew their weapons as well. The three disciples got back to back and waited for something to emerge.

"Where are they?" Elero whispered. "I do not see anything."

"The pillars," Thomas said, taking a long look at each pillar. "The designs moved. Something is in here with us."