Chapter 5: Ageless.

The fire in the torches creaked. The mysterious man in black gazed at William from feet to head before moving apart from the ashen hexagonal door and stepping closer. Miris and Artur moved their seats back to let them face each other.

"You… you were there," William gulped his own saliva. "you…"

"I see you are feeling good," responded the man, his voice calm, grave, and smooth. "Most of the ones who manage to survive the ritual are barely able to move. You are even already drinking liquids."

Miris looked at the cup between her hands as if she did something she shouldn't have. "Sorry. We thought it'd be a good idea to give him something to feel better, Master Zho."

The Eastern man moved to the table with the square teapot, serving himself a cup of the same flowery and warm beverage. "It's alright, Miris. I see you've done a good job with him. Congratulations. You too, Artur."

Both young figures humbly thanked him, but William was too distracted by his words. 'Most of the ones who managed to survive'. What did that even mean? He felt for a moment as if he was being used as a guinea pig for some twisted and sick experiment. Maybe he wasn't as safe as he thought inside that prismatic room.

"Who are you?" he insisted again. "You were back there with us on that coast, singing as those pirates killed us. Was that all staged? ...What do you want from me?"

William's eyes moved from the man to Artur, staring at him as if he was the mastermind behind those strange doings.

The young lad was with him in Sunia, and then out of all sudden, knew that odd place they were in, survived execution, and took William's body with those people who did a wicked ritual on him. It was all like the complot from a classy novel to eliminate a powerful monarch!

William didn't doubt it: it was all too much to be a casualty; Artur knew what was going to happen and kept it hidden. But why? What did they want from William? And those prisoners, why did they have to die?

Artur looked down at his accusing stare. The man gulped his tea before leaving the cup and walking towards them, standing between Miris' and Artur's seats. He calmly responded.

"No one said it was going to be easy. We have answers, but they shall come in time. My name is Zho Ming. What is your name?"

Zho Ming. Like Miris, it was obvious that he was also foreign to Sunia, yet his name also sounded foreign from hers. William didn't know. He was ignorant about the place he was in, and all his care was concentrated on his current concerns.

He looked at both Miris and Artur before responding. "They told me I've been two weeks here. Didn't they tell you my name?"

"A formal presentation is always needed when two people haven't met directly. But I see that things might be different in the lands you come from..."

William sighed, leaning back on his puffy pillow. Artur looked at him in the same way as he did when Miris raised her shirt. They were in foreign lands, and maybe they were right in that he needed to calm down. It didn't seem as if they'd answer his questions the harder he insisted. It was better to play along for now, as he didn't know that place or them.

"William Amber. My name is William Amber."

"William. Do you know why you are here?"

"That's what I'm trying to ask."

Zho left out a small hum before speaking again. "Miris and Artur must have already told you about what you're now and what happened to you. About your phylactery. But it's time for you to answer our questions."

"No," William tried to sound polite, but his tone couldn't be other than sharp and direct. "Please, respond to my first questions. What happened on that beach? Why did you bring me here? Where are the other prisoners? Why did you make me into this… lich thing and not one of them?"

Artur and Miris traded tired looks before looking up at Zho, but his slanted eyes were still over William. "Everything at its own time, William. It was half-error, half-planned that you are here with us. We'll explain that later. What matters now is what follows next. Are you willing to listen? ...We have an offer for you."

William sighed, looking down and squeezing his fists. Maybe the best was to just wait until they decided to reveal whatever made him end up there. Miris promised they would do.

An offer? What could they want from him? He was just a foreigner with no possessions or benefit in that strange place, somehow brought back from a messy death against his will. But it seemed as if they had already spent time, energy, and resources on him; maybe it could not be much of an error that he was there.

"What's it?" he asked. "...What do you want from me?"

Zho cleared his throat before speaking, strengthening up.

"It's no longer a secret that we are liches, and you are like us now, William. We are necromantic beings that linger between the forces of life and death. You might think that this is wrong, we are monsters, and even that it'd be better if you were truly dead. You're wrong. This is an opportunity that destiny has put in your way. It's a gift that you must take."

Zho looked at Artur and Miris at their seats, looking confident to be there as well. The green-eyed lad spoke. It was as if Zho's silence requested him to continue.

"Will," Artur relaxed and spread his legs. "I was just like you when the same happened to me. We don't have any of these things in Sunia so I know it's hard to assimilate, but it's great once you do. Oh, we didn't tell you what makes you different now that you're a lich, besides the obvious shiny thing exposed in your chest. Miris, would you?"

"Ah, yes," the Reniramian girl straightened up, adjusting her saggy scarf and making eye contact with the new lich. "William, you are no longer aging. You'll live forever if you don't get killed. Your body heals and regenerates faster, and you're more resistant to disease. It's hard to imagine, but death is no longer a concern for us."

"...Because we are already dead," said Zho. "But true death is always a menace, and you have to learn and become stronger if you want your agelessness to make any difference. This is where my offer comes, William: join us. Join the Zeimey Lich Order. We are offering you the opportunity to train you, help you get stronger, and get the most out of your new condition. The life of a lich is hard and dangerous, and we are willing to help you."

William gulped his own saliva. Agelessness? Regeneration? How could it be possible to live forever? Thinking that it was happening to him was something his mind couldn't process; it was as if he was just dreaming profoundly or hallucinating.

Except that somehow in ways still unknown to him, it was real.

"Reniram is a dangerous place," continued Zho. "and our order was founded more than 1000 years ago by our former leader, the legendary Okkos Zeimey: patron of all liches. I'm going to be honest with you. Times have changed, and we lich have fallen into a dark age," his eyes darkened, his voice halting in a melancholic pause. "Our numbers used to be hundreds. Today, all existing liches can be counted with the fingers of only one hand, including you. Reniram doesn't welcome us anymore. We need you. And you need us."

Okkos Zeimey? Another foreign name, one that matched more with Miris' rather than with Zho's. Still, William felt as if he had been missing something great all his life. The world was bigger than he thought, and living most of his life in a small village in Sunia didn't help.

"My help? But what can I do for you? Say… what happens if I decline?"

Artur and Miris traded looks, but it was Zho who responded to his question.

"You've survived the most important phase of the lich ritual, William, but that's not the end. Your mind is still struggling, and your body will rot again if you do not take care. I'm sure you had nightmares while you were sleeping. If you don't learn how to manage your initial lichdom, your mind will break, and your body will continue to get putrid until you become an abhorrent beast with no will and no control. Many have suffered that fate before. If you decline, we'll leave you out there on that coast where we found you. Reniraniams aren't welcoming of foreigners. You've already witnessed it in that boat, and your decaying state will finish you."

William's strange dream kicked into his mind; those bats engulfing a white sky like the biggest hurricane, only to get vaporized by a skeletal figure wearing a black robe. What was the meaning of that nightmare? He had forgotten about it since he woke up. But now, its figures seemed more linked to whatever they did to him.

And turning into an abhorrent beast? William didn't know anything about liches, and much less Reniram, or whatever that place was. How was he supposed to survive? Assuming the unknown land and its inhabitants didn't murder him, that decay still happening on him would eventually do it.

Going back to Sunia and the western continent? How? William had never driven a boat and much less counted with one. He was ignorant about where to go or sail to, and the giant ocean would devour him before he could even figure it out.

And assuming he somehow managed to go back, what could wait for him in Sunia, if not war, hunger, and death? his homeland was currently under hard times, and nothing good expected a low-ranked soldier like him. Maybe there was no home to go back to.

Electrifying sparks dragged everyone's attention; Zho's feet began to break off the hexagon-tiled floor, a green aura of light engulfing his bulky body. He was about to adopt an advanced form of their shared undead condition...

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