[center][h2]Edge of Reality[/h2][/center]
[center]Lazarus, Shaylee[/center]
[center][i]Themerlinhawk[/i][/center]
[center][color=silver]Day 1, Afternoon[/color][/center]

The young woman bent over a long thin Khopesh which had been clearly made to fit her hand and she worked with an engraving tool. Shay’s handy work could be seen starting from the base of the blade where it met the hilt and it began its slow march from there. With headphones in her ears she continued to translate and copy the glyphs from the journal on her left. It was more art than science since the blade in the journal was a straight double edged hand and a half sword. No doubt the one in Lazarus study where she had snagged the book from. It was clear from the spidery hand writing that Lazarus had also penned the journal she was copying the glyphs from. The whole of the writing was in an archaic form of Gaelic that Lazarus liked to use to keep casual eyes off his secrets. It had been one of the first things Shaylee had learned upon coming to Finch’s Loft. 

Leaning back over the Journal she peered down at it. “What the hell is a snare entity?” It appeared she was missing a necessary component for the conversion. Regardless, now she had a pretty good idea of how to create the Vessel. Taking a break from the engraving she picked up the Journal. From what she could tell the Vessel was meant to act as a receptacle for essence that could be drawn on for use in necromancy. Unfortunately Lazarus switched into a language she could not understand about halfway through the actual description; however the majority of his writing on how to perform the creation was still in Gaelic. It appeared she would actually need Lazarus to explain and help her with the conversion of the weapon. [i]Damn[/i]

With a squeak of fright Shay jumped a half foot in the air as the door to her workshop was slammed open against the stone walls. Lazarus stood in the doorway and he appeared to be pissed beyond belief.

[i]Double Damn[/i]

“You better believe it Shay”

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she remembered he had the eerie ability to read surface thoughts. “That is so not fai-” Suddenly the journal in her hands was wrenched away from her and snapped shut as Lazarus caught it in his left hand. 

“What the hell do you think you are doing with this? Infact where did you even get it. And while we are at it you better not be attempting what I think you are.”

Shaylee stood up and kicked her hip out as she folded her arms. The pose was that of a petulant teenager but Shay didn’t even notice. The young woman had grown up a spoiled brat and a popular girl; regardless of Lazarus efforts she still retained many of her unsavory habits. “What the hell are you hiding Dr. Finch? I saw your library. There is a shelf full of these and you are the first person to tell me all about the crap you’ve done in the past. So why haven’t I ever seen one of these Journals? They are a how to manual for your new necromancer and yet you haven’t once shown me them.”

Lazarus eyebrow twitched in annoyance and it was clear that Shaylee was treading on thin ice but the girl didn’t even notice as she continued her own tantrum regardless of the fact that she’d been caught doing something she damn well knew she shouldn’t have been doing.

“And while we are on the topic of that little secret library of yours. Why the hell does your sword whisper?”

Lazarus eyes almost popped out of his head. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING HANDLING DRACUL!” The room seemed to drop in temperature as Lazarus eyes blazed with cold blue quicksilver. “You little fool. You know nothing about anything! If it weren’t for me you’d still be trying to get ghosts to even respond to you. Yet alone being able to command them. And you have the nerve to dig through my private library? Handle things you don’t understand AND THEN get mad at ME?!”

Shaylee could tell that she’d pushed him too much; there was no escaping the tirade that was coming. Well. Except for her trump card. Hanging her shoulders and her head Shaylee’s eyes watered and she sniffled before reaching up and rubbing at her eyes and nose with both her hands. “I’m sorry….I just feel like you don’t trust me enough…” 

Lazarus stopped mid rant as his brain tried to comprehend what was happening? [i]Wait. Why is she...damn it.[/i] With a sigh he walked across the room to her. “Hey, stop that. I didn’t mean to get so upset. There are just things you aren’t ready for yet. It has nothing to do with me trusting you.”

Shaylee’s quiet sobs continued until Lazarus finally relented set the book down and gave her an incredibly awkward hug. For all the young women who’d ended up in his life the resurrection mage had never managed to get over the awkwardness of attempting to provide physical affection. Marry had been the easiest as she was young enough that it had been closer to a father daughter relationship. Shaylee and Iris, even though Iris was his daughter, it had always been difficult to express physical affection. Perhaps it was that when he looked in the mirror he really appeared only a few years older than the two of them. Well the last time he'd seen Iris. 

“Shaylee, the reason I have these and the reason you haven’t seen them is simple; the journals are from a time in my life when I needed every weapon I could possibly get my hands on. You don’t want to have the Knowledge in these books. Atleast not right now; you are better off working on your own to flesh out the kind of magic you command. It is completely unique; we will work on teaching you regular necromancy too but right now you are better with.” Lazarus chuckled a little to himself “Ectomancy”

Shaylee rolled her eyes at the label that Lazarus had given her particular brand of necromancy. “If not now then when?” Sitting back down on the stool next to her work table Shaylee crossed her legs and used her arms to hold them up. There was no doubt in the young girl's mind that at some point she would need that magic and knowledge contained in those books. “Given that I am even capable of spirit magic don’t you think that is indicative of something not being right in the world? 

Lazarus hairs stood on end for a moment. It always seemed to elude him just HOW good Shaylee was at understanding things. Maybe that was why she was so incredibly good at the magic that had blossomed in the presence of the spirits in their world. They would probably never know, but Shay was right. The world felt more and more out of balance. Lazarus could feel it; no doubt it had to do with his missing lover. All of the sudden he had the nastiest itch to go and check his phone. It had been a solid week that he’d left his son in law to his own devices and it was dawning on the Resurrection Mage that he’d all but tuned out the outside world until now. For all he knew it could be ending. 

The look on Lazarus face said it all to Shay. Something was decidedly not right in the outside world. “Dr. Finch. What is wrong?” It seemed to snap him out of his contemplation as she said the words out loud. Shay could already tell that he was trying to determine what if anything he was going to tell her. Before he could respond she cut him off “Please don’t lie to me. You talked to us all about how more than other magic Necromancy carries a high price and a great risk. I accepted both of those when I came here and you respected that when you took me in.”

It was clear that Lazarus heard her as he looked like he was rethinking the lie he was about to tell. “The world is not well. Essence is no longer disappearing into the void and Hazumi has gone missing. Without her to regulate Essence in the world things have become even more dangerous. Especially since she was the one who prevented murder; to be frank that has made things a lot easier for those of us who are okay with working outside the Law. However, it opens the door for grander scale machinations. Frankly we don’t need that; Judas was enough of an eye opener for this world. Any more disruptions on that scale could spell disaster for us as is.” Lazarus shook his head “There are hundreds of problems to worry about. I guess maybe it is time to worry.”

Looking up at Shaylee he looked back down at her sword. “Come on.” 

With that Lazarus picked up Khepri and walked out of the room. Shaylee scrambled off the stool and followed him. Something felt different about the way that Lazarus was talking to her and when he lead her down a flight of stairs concealed behind a stone wall she knew something was up. The set of stairs spiraled down into the heart of the bedrock which Finch’s Loft had been built on. As they went deeper the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The two of them came out onto a long metal corridor that had windows on either side. Walking just behind Lazarus Shaylee peered out the windows on her left and right. The cavern they were crossing above was massive and appeared to be lined with shelves about sixteen feet wide. The cavern extended into the darkness on both sides. Filled with the strange structures as Shaylee exited the walkway she shuddered as she looked back. As she was leaving she could see that her first inclination had been right. They were shelves and each one of them had a square door on the front of it. Shaylee had seen shelves like them once before and she could only wonder in horror at why her mentor had a whole cavern of them. 

The tunnel on the other side had a staircase leading down that Shaylee shied away from as she knew where it lead. The depths of the that cavern she’d just seen. Scampering after Lazarus she hugged her arms against herself and fought the urge to look over her shoulder. The young girl had the distinct feeling there might be something behind her. Looking up at Lazarus she was startled to see that he was using his essence sight. [i]What is he doing?[/i] She stifled the thought and looked up at Lazarus again expecting him to make some comment but he was still focused on what was head. 

The hallway opened into another room. Shaylee suddenly skittered very close to Lazarus as they entered the room. Leering at her from the walls were what could not be mistakened for as anything but coffins. “Wh-what are those?” 

Lazarus didn’t even look as he crossed the room with long strides. Looking down it dawned on her that Lazarus was still barefoot as he wandered across the room. “Sword Wights.” Shay’s mouth hung slightly open as she frowned and scampered after him. “Wh-what are they?” Lazarus sniffed as he kept walking. “They are the strongest form of risen dead that I can conjure in this realm. In the Seat of the Mad I can raise Titans but no such things exist on the surface.” Shay appeared confused, “What is a Titan?” Lazarus finally looked at her. “It’s an undead that had a corpse which was created specifically for being raised from the dead. Think of them like organic golems since no such creature predated them. They only exist as the puppets of Necromancers. Shaylee nodded “So. What makes a Sword Wight so special?” Turning back he walked to one of the coffins and ran his hand over the ruins on its surface. “They are powered by artificial souls. Because of how they are constructed though there is no way for them to last for more than about 20-30 hours. The result however is a potent undead with advanced reasoning capable of raising and controlling other undead as well as producing potent evocation and abjuration magics.”

Shay shuddered again.

The unusual pair continued deeper into the depths of Lazarus’ laboratories winding through other spaces where he performed other experimentation with a variety of magic and alchemy. With a final shove Lazarus pushed open a single door of a set of double doors that appeared to be more in line with the style of Finch’s Loft as opposed to the metal sterile lab doors. Lazarus smoothly slipped inside.

Hesitating Shaylee finally worked up the courage to enter the room. The room was one part library, one part archive, one part workshop. The walls were covered with paintings and images; some featured people Shaylee couldn’t identify, some of them she knew and still others she could guess who they were from reputation. Hazumi feature prominently but two other women also had a equivalent presence. No doubt they were Kathleen and Iris. One of them she could only stare at with a certain degree of horror and fascination. It was the Master Mage: Solus Grim. 

Another featured two people; one a young man and the other was a shadowy figure that lurked in the background of the painting. [i]Ian[/i] Shaylee shuddered at the painting; it made her skin crawl to look at the shadow figure who was no doubt the personality of his instrument. When Shaylee finally tore her eyes away from the paintings she noted Lazarus who was standing over a sealed vessel. Peering over his shoulder her eyes bugged as she looked down on a girl with beautiful green wings who lay in what appeared to be a peaceful sleep. Closing the cover of the thing that appeared very much to be a casket Lazarus smiled sheepishly. “Sometimes we have to own up to our mistakes.” Gesturing he moved past the sealed casket he continued “She was one of them. Remember that when you are forced to take a life.”

With that said Lazarus moved to a large metal cabinet that dominated the far wall of the room. Reaching up Lazarus removed a large tray after disabling a lock on the outside of the drawer. Setting it on the desk Lazarus beckoned Shaylee over. Plucking a gem from the tray he held it up. “This is a soul stone. It is feeds on essence. You wanted to know why Dracul whispers? Because it houses the Souls of all the people it had killed.” Lazarus trailed off for a moment. “Well, it houses part of their essence which can be used for magic.” 

Taking Khepri, Lazarus moved his hand over the end of the Khopesh and fitted the gem to the end of it. With a flick of his hand Lazarus finished the inscriptions down the length of the blade. “Khepri should now be capable of storing essence and energy for your own use.” Handing Shalee the blade he gave her a look that flayed her to her soul. “Betray me and I will cut out your heart and eat your soul Shaylee Carter.” The room itself seemed to grow darker and colder. 

In that instant it became all too clear what Shaylee had gotten herself into. Lazarus was dangerous but he was also one of the most powerful necromancers of the age; and with good reason. “I won’t”

And with that he went back to being his normal self. “Good, now I don’t know about you but I think I missed lunch.” With that he helped her to belt Khepri onto her waist before he headed for the doors of the room. “Start collecting energy and essence for Khepri. As you do it will become more functional. And with that he disappeared out the doors. With a parting look at the casket with the woman in it she sprinted for the doors before they could slam shut.