Necromancy: The Beginning

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

WHAP

"OW!"

"Good, now that you're done screaming, we can get to business."

Spike's vision started to dim down, and things seemed pretty normal. The room was lit, Corvo was sitting beside him, and the mare in the corner was sitting there like she always was. Everything seemed fine. "Curvo, I-"

"Corvo." he corrected.

"Oh, sorry. Corvo, I don't see anything different. Besides blinding light, nothing really happened. I can see just fine." He looked around the room once more, and suddenly it dawned on him. He hopped onto his feet and pointed a clawed finger at Corvo. "You drugged me and took a kidney or something!" The things swimming through this creature's mind are fascinating.

"No, I didn't steal one of your kidneys. Honestly, your kidney wouldn't work for any creature other than a dragon, and yours is much too small to be used on a dragon of the age where it would need a new kidney. You should really think before you accuse me of things. Now," Corvo stood up and walked towards the door, "do you see anything that you didn't see before?" Spike looked around the room. Of course, all of the windows were open! Of course! Also it isn't as cold as it is outside, despite having no protection from the outside elements.

"Oh, so you made me immune to cold because too much would kill me?" Spike asked. It seemed logical, as potions could do that. Probably.

“No, check again.”

Spike looked around the room, once again. This time, he noticed two things. For one, the room seemed twenty percent brighter, even with the light having not previously changing before or after he began screaming. Maybe the powder he inhaled increased vision?

Maybe that mare in the corner could help with-

Oh crap.

Spike’s body began to shiver. A dark realization became apparent. Everything made such sense, and the mare in the room made things clear. He felt nauseated, and the world began to spin. The mare in front of him began to look less and less like a sexy mare, and more like a bloodthirsty creature hell-bent on sucking his soul. Now, he could understand the potion.

He could see ghosts.

He was half expecting there to be holes in the floor, likely made from iron pellets pushed at insane speeds, that would look and smell suspiciously like sweat. But lizards don’t sweat. He looked up and saw Corvo just looking at him with a faint grin on his face. He knew that Spike could see it, and he chose to let him find out on his own, rather than say so. Well, at least now Spike could safely say that Corvo was not out of his mind. “Wha?… She?… The ghost?… What?”

“And now you know that I was not lying to you.” Corvo took a few steps towards Spike, who began to shrink under his indecipherable gaze. “I need you to come with me into the everfree forest to kill a creature, dragon.” Spike opened his mouth to protest, to explain that killing a creature goes against everything he was raised to believe. He grew up with ponies, and he knows that killing is like a taboo to them. He quickly shut his mouth to continue to listen. “As you know, this creature is very weak compared to it’s brothers, and it will pose no threat to you as it is now.” He stepped aside to reveal the spirit mare. “But if it was to consume this young mare, things would not be over for you so easily. Don’t think for a moment that that creature would just leave. Supernatural creatures grow stronger with each and every soul they consume. It would have no trouble killing you, should it consume Ariel.”

The mare, Ariel, shifted her gaze from outside the window to Corvo. Her features were indistinguishable, but the fear on her face was seen. Spike suddenly felt sorry for her. She looked very young, easily around his age not counting the time she spent dead. A silver mane drifted over her crystalline eyes, and her face was hidden like Fluttershy would normally do. “I need your-no- she needs your help to find and end this creature. She obviously chose you for a reason, and it would be a waste to not find out why. I will only ask you this once-” Corvo began to cough into his hoof, and he almost lost his balance for a moment. He looked into his hoof for a moment before pulling out a cloth and wiping it. “Would you help her?”

Spike didn’t need to hear anything else. Whatever creature would come and eat this mare was obviously not something he would want anywhere near her. He hasn't ever really felt more entitled to do anything other than right now. His choice was clear, even in his silence. A smile appeared on Corvo’s face. “Well then-”

---LINE BREAK!!!:flutterrage:---

“So you know the plan?”

“Yes.”

“Will you mess it up?”

“I hope not.”

“Thats all I needed to know.” Corvo said, as he disappeared through the trees. Spike sighed, and looked over at Ariel. She returned his gaze, and looked mostly curious. Corvo was amusing to her, Spike could tell that much by the way she would make laughing motions. Spike did know, that she could understand, but speaking was out of the question for him. Talking with her was like talking to Owlicious, Spike could say things that she understood, but the situation cannot be reversed.

“Alright, so we just walk around and look appetizing, then?” Spike asked, not for confirmation, but for conversation. It was awkward, sure, even Ariel knew it. That didn't mean it was worthless to try. Made things feel less dreary, now that he thought about it.

Even still, his comment made Ariel less assured in the plan. As a spirit, she knew that Corvo likes to help the supernatural, and she was drawn to him. She was supposed to latch onto him, but he was… Disguising himself for some reason. She knew her pursuer was going to attack her at any time, so she found what it hated.

A dragon.

Sure, this dragon was smaller, and less fierce than the others. Sure, this dragon would deem little to no threat to the follower, but the follower knew not. The follower was too blind and stupid to even notice. One moment, he was here, and the other, he was gone. Everything worked out in the end.

That was a good plan.

“Do you know what this thing looks like?” Spike asked. Ariel wasn’t entirely sure, as she never got a good look at her pursuer. All she got was a malicious aura and a killing intent akin to a lust for power. She shook her head. “So basically we are charging into a forest with tons of unknown creatures, after a creature I probably won't be able to see, and is probably hunting us right now, and neither one of us knows what it looks like, or where it might be.” he summarized.

Ariel didn’t really think of it like that, and despite the situation, she silently giggled. “At least one of us is in a good mood.” Spike laughed as well. “Okay, so how can we communicate? I don’t really like hearing myself talk as much as ponies think I do.” Ariel reached a hoof to her chin. The she shrugged in a motion that spoke ‘I don't know’.

“Alright.” The two just walked in silence, and by walk, Spike did and Ariel floated nearby. The forest was actually uncharacteristically silent, especially for this time of night. Sure, the sun was bound to pop out any time now, but that was no real excuse. Spike guessed it was twilight, or some other time of night. Actually, Celestia wasn’t known to make the sun rise late, but it has happened before. Even for gods, waking up is a pain.

Even while not this deep in the forest, things were not right. For one, they hadn’t seen a single creature. Not even a squirrel or jackalope, or anything really. Even insects were not seen, heard, or anything else insects do to get attention. Nope, this forest was barren except for the trees. All flora, no fauna. It was quite unsettling. Sure, the natural (if you can call it that) version of the forest was always filled with sounds and dangers, but this was just plain… Wrong. Everything was off here. The lack of dangerous predators faintly seen by Spike’s night vision was evidence of that. Not even a lone timberwolf.

Apparently, Ariel felt it too, as she would scan everything around with her eyes. She seemed nervous, and that was probably the creature giving off something that only she could detect. Spike knew that he shouldn’t talk, so he gave Ariel a look, asking for confirmation in any way she could give. He looked into the shrubbery, and saw Corvo looking at him through the plants, a serious expression on the grey earth pony’s face. He mouthed the words ‘Get away’.

As Spike got ready to comply, he saw Ariel looking straight ahead, onto the path they were walking on. Spike looked, and saw nothing there. He stole another glance with Corvo, and he had his eyes closed, and he was mumbling something unheard.

Suddenly, Spike felt something as well. Something was washed over him, like there was somepony staring at him from the bushes, a dagger in his hoof, and ready to rush out and stab him. He looked around for this pony, but the only things he could see were Ariel and Corvo, and they were doing their own things. He spun around again, and saw a creature morph into existence, but then fade not a moment later. The creature had no real features, as it looked more like a blob of smoke, similar to Sombra, than anything else. The thing is, the thing didn’t feel the same.

The dark energy encompassing the being felt far different than the black energy surrounding Sombra, as Sombra was evil and using magic. This thing felt far different. The malicious aura was different. Like a horrific hodge-podge of hunger, lust, and… Fear? Spike didn’t really understand what the thing had to be afraid of, and when it morphed back into existence, it moved forward cautiously, then stopped and backed up. The thing stopped flickering, and the shadows looked like… A tiger?

Yes, the creature was definitely a tiger of some sorts.

It wasn’t shadows with a dark figure shaped like a tiger inside, and the creature wasn’t completely a tiger. In fact, the shadows in the entirety had the shape of a tiger with the head of a white mask with half of the paint and features gone. Where the tail was stood what looked like a grid-like patterned chain with several holes of shaped and sized, which was constantly swishing behind the creature. The mask had holes filled with what felt like void space, and what looked disturbingly like saliva dripped from the bottom of the mask. The sides of the creature had plenty of holes in it, from what looked like arrow wounds and shash marks.

Also, the creature was much bigger than Spike.

It took another step closer, staring at Spike like a fish would a wildfire. The fear it was giving off was almost intolerable, and it was also seeming to get rid of all of Spike’s oxygen. He couldn’t breathe, and he could guess that the soul eater was suffering through something similar. Spike fell over in pain, and the creature deemed him less of a threat, and moved towards Ariel, who was already gone by that point.

Angered by this, the soul eater roared silently. Spike couldn’t hear it, but he did see Corvo cover his ears. Although Spike couldn’t hear it, he could feel it. All the cautionary instincts he had flared up, and he wanted to get away from there as fast as possible. As the lion thing moved it’s soulless gaze onto Spike, Spike rolled into some nearby bushes, propped himself up, and silently climbed a tree as the thing searched the bush and the following areas.

Spike looked over to Corvo, wondering what he was doing. This whole time, Corvo was pretty much useless, and it was very pathetic. Corvo was still muttering, his eyes closed, and upon looking at it, Spike could tell something was up. During his time with Princess Celestia, he heard her muttering words while she cast spells, but these words were pretty legible, and equish. What Corvo was saying, was not equish in the slightest.

Corvo’s spells had a mystic and old air to them, like they were filled to the brim with magic, but this magic couldn’t be tamed. It was like a wild force that reluctantly consents the will of it’s master for a beneficial reason, and only for it’s own gratification, no matter how mutual it was. Spike’s gaze was trapped between the giant looking for him, and the stallion muttering verses from an unseen text, and the drake’s eyes were filled with curiosity and panic. No matter how much he would claim the opposite, Spike was always similar to Twilight, his adopted sister, in a way. She would look upon a situation and analyze it as far as she could. When she sees something of interest, she would try and find exactly what it is, what it’s purpose was, what it could do, who made it, where it came from, and other things. Spike was no different.

Seeing Corvo mutter the phrases filled Spike with curiosity, and he wondered what was so important in the speech that would let the stallion just stand by and risk both Spike and Ariel’s lives. Obviously, this wasn’t a trap or something, as Corvo didn’t just lead them to the soul eater and call for it to come back. Still, Spike had no real idea what he was doing.

 He was unable to think further on it, as the soul eater noticed Spike was in the tree, and tried clawing at the base, in an attempt to bring the thing down. Although it possessed a feline body, it seemed to be unable to use the hooked claws to climb the tree. Advantage Spike.

Luckily for Spike, Corvo stopped chanting his verses, yelled at the beast, and got it’s attention. Upon looking over, the creature didn’t seem to register Corvo, until it shook it’s head and charged at him. Spike wanted to yell out to the stallion, but the creature stopped in it’s tracks not halfway over to Corvo. Spike gasped, and fell out the tree, but landed on his feet, like a cat would.

He was dangerously close to the creature, directly facing it’s back, but the creature stood still and paralyzed by something unseen. “I got rusty.” Corvo said, while walking around the creature. “You should have listened, but no matter.” he paused and looked the tiger up and down, while he bought a hoof up and rubbed it’s side. As he did this, the thing whipped over and snapped at him, forcing him to draw his hoof back. “Fine, be that way. Ariel!”

As he said that, Ariel peeked her head out from a tree she was hiding inside of. Upon seeing the lion thing, she jumped and went back into the tree. “Ariel, it’s safe. This thing won’t hurt you.” She didn’t budge. “I can hear that, and I don’t really like it.” he paused and waited for a reply. “Fine then.”

Corvo turned to Spike, and motioned for him to come closer. “Since Ariel is being a canem, I will ask of you to dispose of this creature, to draw her out. If you have a quarrel with this, I will not hold you to this. If you do dispose of this creature, you will be saving a lot of lives, both living and already deceased. I know this is a lot to ask for in a child of your age, but this is absolutely necessary.”

Spike shrugged. “Didn’t you say that this thing was evil?”

“Yes.”

“I have dealt with evil ponies before. One named King Sombra. He wanted to make slaves of an empire that he completely destroyed, and he also was going to kill the princesses.” he gazed over at the immobilized soul eater. “I still don’t think I can do this, even if it saves lives.”

“And why is that?” Corvo asked.

“Because I was raised under the roof of the honorable princess, and she taught me that you are never to harm anything if it can’t fight back.” Spike said. He looked at the lion thing again, and saw under it’s mask. This thing wasn’t able to be heard by him, but he could understand the message that was directed at him. ‘If you let me go, I will kill you.’

“You sure?” he asked. “Because this thing has some interesting things in mind for you when he gets out of this.”

“That is all I ask.”

“Alright, step back.” Spike complied, and Corvo tapped the ground next to the soul eater, and it stopped thrashing and touched it’s head with it’s paw. It turned on Corvo, who looked at it with a raised eyebrow. The soul eater was about to slash at him with it’s paw, but it sniffed the air, then turned on Spike.

The thing got ready to charge on him, but he was ready for it, unless it could suddenly learned how to teleport. It began it’s charge, and Ariel poked her head out of the tree to see what was going on. As the crazed monster was close enough for the fire to reach, Spike opened his mouth, and blew a fire over the creature, with the focus of teleporting it far away, or to a place where it cant hurt anyone. Perhaps Tartarus would work as a nice place, but Spike currently had no way to send it there, nor did he know where it was.

The creature jumped through the fire, mildly burned, and in no way hurt by the fire. Majorly annoyed, but no real deterring damage. It kept it’s pace, still charging, but still slightly on fire in some places. The tiger moved to slash at him, bus Spike’s scales took most of the force, and he was relatively unharmed,aside from the blunt force and a few scratches on the scales. That was something he would regret telling Twilight about. He wasn’t exactly indestructible, and luckily for him the creature didn't have very sharp claws. That mouth was the biggest danger to him. Good thing it was under a mask.

As if reading his thoughts, the creature removed it’s mask, which literally shimmered out of existence, and he saw it’s horrid face. It’s face was rotted in several places, bones visible, and half it’s jaws were just gone. Inside it’s mouth were layers upon layers of  sharp teeth. Like a shark’s mouth.

Corvo saw Spike pause, and sprung into action. He lunged at Spike’ grabbed him, flipped him onto his back, and chanted a spell, and this time Spike heard it. “Ego vocantem mortuorum, quas ab inferis ad hoc debellandum peperi tibi? Ite spiritus immundi, et pereatis in obscurum!”

The soul eater, still engulfed in Spike’s fire, stopped abruptly, and fell over to the ground, clawing at itself in pain. Spike’s green fire slowly darkened in color, until it was black. As the color darkened, the flames spread further and further along the lion’s body, and it screeched so loud that even Spike could hear it’s pain.

It began to scratch entire segments of it’s skin off, and Spike could feel something deep within his body churning as he watched the spectacle. It was deep inside him, almost as deep as his internal fire. It also felt alive, as if it were pulsing and growing inside of him. The only thoughts in his mind right there all of the same words. ‘Dont let the spirit suffer any longer than it needs to.’ Obeying, Spike climbed off Corvo’s back and blew a small fire in his claws, which morphed around that claw, and pulsed slightly. Spike reared his claw back, and jammed it through the black flames covering where it’s heart was supposed to be. After he punctured it, the spirit disappeared into smoke. “Requiescant in pace.” Corvo said as the creature