Chương 27: Justice

Aaron had been waiting for an opportunity to test out his Lesser Curse of Rotting. A mouthful of disgusting rotten food was the least these bullies deserved. They were so occupied in the brawl that no one would notice. Aaron reached out with his spirit and channeled his mana into the plates of food on the table. He could feel their freshness and vibrance. He pictured his new curse in his mind's eye. Casting these innate abilities was like riding a horse.

There was little concentrated thought about how to use the magic, it just happened as he willed it. At least that's how it had worked with most of his healing spells. They were easy to cast, but were tiring and used a lot of mana until they were a higher level. But Aaron didn't need a big spell here. He only wanted to sour the taste and give them a shock. Coldness in his chest became intense and almost painful before it traveled down to his hand. He felt it reach out and spread over the food, like a creeping moss.

It was difficult to force the spell to remain in the food. As hard as he pushed, only a small amount of his mana found a footing, but that was probably down to practise and skill. Aaron knew a bit about curses. He had spent countless hours researching before he tried to cure Tim. They were difficult spells and usually involved locking your mana into a pattern and anchoring it to a person or item. It was much more difficult to set it into a person as their souls innately rejected malicious spells.

In people, curses were usually short lived, unless the caster was particularly powerful. It was much easier to curse objects, like broaches. And it should have been easier to curse the food. Aaron couldn't help but feel disappointed at how difficult the curse was. But he felt better when he received a notification from his tome.

[Skill proficiency increase] Lesser Curse of Rotting: Level 2 [Somatomancy talent improved] Corruption Mastery: Rank 1 [Curse talent unlocked] Malediction: Rank 1 A surge of mana flooded inwards, warming Aaron's chest. It felt like his hair could have been puffed into the air with the amount of power he felt from the spirit coalescence, but that's not how mana worked. It was clear as glass that his soul was being rewarded for using this spell.

He knew roughly what Necromancy was about for the stories, but figuring out exactly what caused the most spirit coalescence was unclear. Was it the fact that he was seeding and spreading corruption? Or was it the fact he was seeking a dose of retribution and punishing those cruel men? Either way it was effective and he was another step closer to learning more about curses. He retreated to his seat before the fight ended. No one was looking his way. The food didn't look different, but rot works from the core.

If it was there, you wouldn't see it until it reached the surface. But he hadn't been powerful enough to rot the food all the way through. Paige was pulling a murderous look. She didn't say a word, but Aaron knew exactly what she meant. She was clearly displeased. The brawl in the corner of the room was wrapping up. The boonstone worn by the worker had helped a bit, but they were clearly no match for the peacekeepers. Given how one sided the fight looked, they must have had some sort of magic or boon.

Aaron had met construction workers in the city. These men hauled bricks and stone around for a living and were built like chimneys. Their strength was nothing compared to someone like a battlemage, but Aaron couldn't think of anyone with more raw physical strength. One of the workers was laying on the floor on his front in the middle of the room, unconscious, but Aaron's True Sight sensed he was still breathing. The smartest one had fled the tavern and the last two were backed into the corner by the four men.

The grunts grabbed the workers, one man per arm and lifted them in the air as if they were made of paper. Their legs dangled beneath them as they were carried to the door and chucked out into the street. After throwing the two men out, one of the grunts grabbed the unconscious man by the back of his shirt and dragged him across the floor. His head lay down limp as his body trailed behind him. He dropped the man just outside of the doorway. Hopefully his friends stuck around long enough to check on him.

No one in the tavern dared look up, let alone tend to the injured men. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! The peacekeepers stole the remaining two meals from the table and brought it back to their booth. They continued their arrogant chatter as if nothing had happened. The largest grunt, the one who had shouted at everyone in the tavern earlier was the first to tuck into his meal.

The meat was still steaming hot and glistened with a sticky sheen from the gravy on top. He sliced up a large chunk of the meat and put it into his mouth, dripping a bit of sauce onto his beard. He made a slight frown as he chewed as if something wasn't quite right.

"What's that flavour? It's a little bitter." One of the other men grabbed a slice of beef with his fingers and took it from his plate.

"It's tarragon I think," he said in a deep, slow voice. He definitely didn't sound like a scholar.

"Shut up Derek, as if you know what tarragon is!" The smallest peacekeeper grabbed a slice to try. He tore it in half and gave it to the last man who frowned inquisitively as he chewed.

"Basil," he said, "With a hint of lime."

"Lime?" the short man said, "who puts lime on beef?" The first man had gone quiet. He was hunched over in his chair clutching his stomach.

"I don't feel so…." Before he could finish his sentence, he spewed a powerful jet of brown vomit all over the table. It was so forceful that it splashed up and sprayed the other three men in the face. They all shouted in disgust and wiped their faces with their jackets and sleeves. The room erupted with laughter.

"Can't handle your liquor?!"

"Clearly got hit a bit too hard in the stomach!"

"KARMA!" The man was red with embarrassment. One of the men stood up.

"SILENCE!" They clearly took the insults to heart. They were furious. His fury turned to concern as he leant forwards and grabbed his stomach for a few heartbeats before emptying its contents all over the table. The last two men looked at each other with concern. They might have been thick as mud, but they knew what was coming. They scrambled frantically to find a container, but failed to locate one in time. They added to the growing pile of mucinous puke and threw up all over themselves and the table.

Everyone in the room was bellowing with laughter. Even the poor barkeep who presumably would have to clean up this mess. Aaron's sides were cramping. He could barely breathe. The four men got up and scrambled out of the room with their tail between their legs. Aaron's laughter died down a bit and a grave thought dawned on him. The men must have known that the meal was responsible for their vomiting. What if they thought they were poisoned and came back for revenge?

Maybe they will be too embarrassed to show their faces again… he hoped.

"Do you think they will come back?" Paige wiped the tears from beneath her eyes. Aaron felt pride for all the laughter he had caused, and for humiliating the arrogant bastards.

"I doubt it," she snorted, "those cowards won't want to be made fun of anymore. And they won't tell their seniors because they'll probably get a bollocking for it." Paige's words were reassuring, but Aaron wasn't convinced. There wasn't much he could do about it now, but he made a mental note to think twice next time.

"Did you hear them talk about a crow?" Aaron asked. Paige was holding her sides.

"Yeh, I think the whole tavern did. Why?"

"Do you know where it is? Or who Gully is?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Aaron, I don't know what you're planning, but we don't have time for this."

"Just humour me, please." Paige grunted and let out a long irritated sigh, "Uugh, fine. Yes I know who Gully is, no I don't know anything else about some corrupted crow."

"Can you take me to Gully?" Aaron asked.

"NO!" She exclaimed. A couple of heads around the tavern turned towards them. She leaned in closer and spoke quietly.

"Are you serious? There are Mana Hounds in the settlement and you are on the run from Harrold Umber. I wouldn't be surprised if he had men looking for you all over." Paige had always been kind, even if she was only at the infirmary to gather information on him and report back to her master. She was different since leaving the city, but Aaron still felt they were friends and could trust each other. At least as far as their goals aligned. She also didn't have the blatant hate that Giddeon had for Necromancers.

Aaron took a deep breath in and huffed it out slowly before whispering back to Paige.

"I resurrected a crow in the city. It was the first time I used my power and it was a complete fluke. I'm worried they captured him and I feel responsible for him." Paige's soft brown eyes stared back at him, unblinking. She must have thought he was crazy.

"You're crazy." Aaron anticipated that one.

"You're not responsible for some bird. You'd be risking a lot to even get close to him. Let's get our rations and get out of here before we're found."

"I need you to trust me. I have a connection with him that I can't explain. And I feel responsible for making him this way. I can't leave him to suffer." She blinked slowly as if in complete disbelief.

"What about your brother?"

"We can free the bird, gather our supplies and be back by sunset. You know what you're doing around here. I'm sure you can sneak us around any patrolling hounds with ease." Paige's eyebrows raised slightly and she moved in a little closer.

"Can you make more like the crow?" Resurrecting creatures with half their soul missing was not what Aaron had trained to do as a healer and he hadn't intended to make more. He was supposed to balance and restore the souls of the sick, not create sick souls. However, his view of the world was clearly wildly inaccurate. He was in uncharted territory, fleeing a crazed noble and heading directly towards lands corrupted by dragonfire.

Animating a corpse or two was unlikely to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, especially if it got him closer to his goal. It might even help him figure out what makes a necromancer spirit coalesce. Or maybe there are some talents in the somatomancy school which will better his understanding of Tim's curse.

"Yes, with a little practice, I think I can."

"Good. I'll help you get your bird if you raise a few corpses for me." Paige offered an easy deal. Aaron needed an excuse to explore his magic and this was perfect. Aaron was taken aback by the request.

"What will Giddeon think of it?"

"Let me worry about him. We'll tell him it's so we can learn more about undead and how to battle them." Aaron was uneasy with her confidence. Gideon hated the undead and didn't need another reason to hate Aaron. But he really needed her help to free Cuthbert… Assuming it was him afterall.

"Deal," he said, extending his hand out toward Paige.

"Why do you want me to raise the dead anyways?" Paige extended her hand to meet his with a firm shake.

"target practice."