Deus Necros

Tull stopped walking so abruptly that the others continued for several steps, snow crunching beneath their boots, before they noticed. He stared at Cain, whose expression remained unchanged, then swallowed hard. ”Nah. That can’t be right. That’s too absurd.”

”Sometimes life is, kid,” Kaiser replied with a smile.

”I’m not a kid.”

”To me, almost everyone here is.”

Ludwig glanced at him. ”You called Cain young earlier.”

”He is.”

Cain’s eyes shifted toward the lich, though Kaiser remained utterly unbothered by the attention. ”Regardless,” he continued, ”he cannot use the full extent of that power.”

”Why do you know so much, Lich?” Cain asked, his voice dropping dangerously low.

”Bad habit,” Kaiser said. ”Called learning.”

Redd muttered beneath his breath, ”Horrifying concept.”

”Indeed.” Kaiser turned his attention back to Ludwig. ”For vampires, their Pseudo Authority is best understood as Dominion. They develop it over time. As their blood settles deeper into the world and reality grows accustomed to their presence, Dominion gradually takes shape.”

Ludwig glanced at Cain. ”How much time are we talking about?”

Kaiser tilted his head as he studied the vampire. ”This one is probably... what? A thousand years old?”

Cain remained quiet for a moment before answering. ”Close.”

”Pretty young,” Kaiser said.

Ludwig looked at him, expecting to find some hint of sarcasm. There was none. Kaiser truly meant it, which somehow made the statement considerably worse.

”The older something becomes,” Kaiser continued, ”the more readily the world accepts it as part of itself. A mountain that stands long enough becomes more than stone. A river that flows long enough becomes more than water. A curse that persists for centuries becomes part of the local truth. Certain beings undergo a similar change. If they survive long enough while remaining coherent, their existence begins pressing against the world’s rules.”

Thomas frowned. ”So vampires get stronger because they are old?”

”That is the crude version.”

”Can we have the crude version more often?”

”No.”

Tull looked deeply uncomfortable as he glanced between Cain and Kaiser. ”And what exactly does this Dominion allow them to do?”

”Vampires can dominate lesser beings if they wish,” Kaiser explained, his smile thinning. ”Lesser undead in certain cases, mortal minds in others, and members of their own bloodline most efficiently. That is why old vampire houses are terrifying in ways young nations rarely understand.”

Celine’s expression tightened. ”Which is why I called it mind control.”

”Isn’t she right?” Ludwig asked.

”Common mind control relies on delusion,” Kaiser replied. ”It places a lie within someone’s thoughts and convinces the victim to accept it as truth. Strong will, sufficient training, or certain protections can resist that influence. Once the delusion breaks, the mind returns to itself.”

”And Dominion?” Ludwig asked.

”Compulsion. Forced order.” Kaiser gestured loosely toward Cain. ”Dominion imposes hierarchy through blood and existence. The body recognizes the command before the mind has the chance to oppose it. That is why lesser vampires so rarely challenge the hierarchy of their family. Rebellion against a sire, or someone like this progenitor here, can cause the victim’s own nature to turn against them. In many cases, merely forming the intent to rebel begins the process of self-destruction.”

Tull appeared to regret joining the expedition even more than before. ”Does that mean immediate death?”

”For some,” Kaiser said. ”Others suffer paralysis, collapse, madness, or blood ignition. The result depends on lineage, age, and how cruel the one above them happens to feel.”

Cain’s face remained still, while Celine quietly looked away. Ludwig noticed the reaction, though he chose to say nothing about it.

”So it is an Authority?” Thomas asked.

”No,” Kaiser answered immediately. ”It is not.”

Everyone turned toward him at once. The expression shared across the group was so painfully unified that Ludwig could almost hear the thought passing between them.

Brother, pick a damn side.

Kaiser seemed amused by their irritation. ”The difference lies in how the power comes into existence. True Authorities are blessings, or curses, depending on who obtains or receives them. Most wielders are entities shaped by an Authority or beings granted access by the entity governing it. Gods, for example. Usurpers. Certain primordial mistakes. Things of that nature.”

”Wonderful list,” Redd said.

”Thank you.” Kaiser gestured toward Cain. ”Vampires are different. They created their own imitation by living too long and stubbornly refusing to disappear. No higher entity bestowed their Pseudo Authority upon them. It accumulated.”

”Accumulated?” Ludwig repeated.

”Layered, weighted, and pressed into the world over centuries,” Kaiser clarified. ”They earned it in a disgusting, mosquito-like fashion.”

Cain gave him a cold look.

Kaiser raised one hand. ”No offence intended. Yours truly is a remarkably long-lived race.”

”That did not make it better,” Celine said.

”It was never meant to.”

Kaiser continued before Cain could decide whether killing him would be worth the effort. ”Vampire Dominion possesses considerable weight, though it lacks the absolute legitimacy of a true Authority. Compared to principles that have existed since the earliest ages, even the oldest vampire remains relatively new. Their power is also restricted by blood, hierarchy, proximity, lineage, consent corrupted through creation, and the strength of the target’s own nature.”

Ludwig’s gaze sharpened. ”Can it work on me?”

Cain looked at him then, and Celine’s attention followed a moment later.

”Interesting question,” Kaiser said with a widening smile.

”I hate when you say that.”

”Your Living Vessel complicates matters. Undead nature resists many forms of bodily coercion, and Pride’s influence makes you considerably harder to bend. Then there are the pieces you carry. Any vampire attempting to force a hierarchy upon you would be making an entertainingly suicidal decision.”

Cain’s expression remained unreadable as Ludwig glanced toward him. ”Entertaining for whom?”

”Me,” Kaiser replied.

”Of course.”

Thomas folded his tiny arms. ”So Cain can command vampires, though it falls short of true Authority because no god granted it to him and he was never born as the concept itself?”

”Close enough for a candlefly.”

”It’s fire spirit.”

”Close enough for a firefly.”

Thomas pointed accusingly at him. ”That was worse.”

As they resumed walking, Tull drifted a little closer to Redd, perhaps without realizing it. ”You said Dominion comes at a cost.”

The change in the air was slight, yet everyone felt it. Celine’s gaze flicked toward Kaiser while Cain continued staring ahead, his posture perfectly still.

Kaiser had been speaking with the smug ease of a lecturer enjoying his own brilliance. Now he paused. He looked at Cain, then at Celine, and for once appeared to consider whether continuing would be amusing enough to justify the consequences.

Apparently, it would not.

”It does,” Kaiser eventually said.

Ludwig waited for him to continue. Kaiser offered a faint smile, though the expression carried far less mockery than before. ”The cost is a subject better left alone while we are walking toward Sloth’s shadow.”

Cain offered no response. Neither did Celine. Tull looked between them and wisely chose to leave the matter alone.

Redd possessed less wisdom. He opened his mouth, caught the warning in Celine’s stare, and quietly closed it again.

The path stretched ahead through the pale silence. The wind continued to slow, while the falling snow drifted with increasing reluctance. Even their footsteps sounded too loud against the packed white trail. Far behind them lay Solania, human walls, imperial authority, and the comforting belief that the world still followed rules familiar enough for people to complain about.

Ahead, the Dark Continent revealed itself one quiet mile at a time.

Ludwig looked north, though his thoughts remained fixed on Kaiser’s explanation. Authority and Pseudo Authority. Will made law. Hierarchy given flesh. Pride declared completeness, while Sloth removed direction. Wrath destroyed obstruction. Envy stole worth, and Gluttony moved through hunger. Lust, wherever she waited, would undoubtedly pull at something else entirely.

Then there was Cain, walking alongside them with the silence of an ancient predator. He carried a Dominion the world had never granted him. After centuries of resistance, reality had simply grown too weary to deny it.

The thought nearly made Ludwig laugh.

Even the world could be worn down.

”Useful information,” he said.

Kaiser looked pleased with himself. ”Naturally.”

”Still annoying.”

”Also naturally.”

”Less talking,” Cain called from ahead.

Tull frowned. ”Why?”

Cain stopped, and the rest of the group halted with him. For several seconds, Ludwig heard only the sluggish wind and the faint scrape of loose snow dragging across the ice.

Then Redd’s ears twitched. Thomas’s flame dimmed, and Celine’s hand slowly moved toward her weapon.

Far ahead, somewhere beyond the white trail, something heavy dragged across stone. The sound came once, followed by another long scrape. Whatever made it seemed to be pulling itself forward because walking required more effort than it could spare.

Ludwig’s hand settled on Durandal as Kaiser smiled faintly beside him. ”Speaking of Sloth’s shadow...”

No one laughed.

The path curved between two low ridges. Beyond that bend, the air appeared strangely still, as though the world had forgotten how to continue moving past that point.

Ludwig released a slow breath. ”Wonderful. Morning finally started.”