Chapter 11: Warden

Charon awoke on the carpeted floor of his bedroom. His first thought was the memory of the creature forcing itself upon him. With shaky movements he grabbed his face, feeling all over his skin. He released a sigh when he confirmed he hadn’t become a skeleton. ’Did I dream it all?’ Pushing himself upwards, he absent-mindedly grabbed the holo-pad lying near him and turned it on. Flicking to the personal information tab, he hoped to check if anything had changed in his ability tab. [Name: Charon] [Rank: Novice 1] [Patron: Death] [Element: Soul] [Abilities: Soul Summon*] [Relics: None] [Summons]* His eyes caught sight of the new icon at the bottom. ’Summons? It has a star, just like my Soul Summon ability.’ Pressing the button, a new screen appeared. [Summons] [Current Summons: Warden of the Acheron*] Following the natural progression, he clicked the next star with mounting excitement. ’So I was right! He was my summon! A Warden of the Acheron, whatever that is’ [Name: Warden of the Acheron] [Rank: Novice 1] [Patron: Death] [Element: Soul] [Abilities: Soul Bind*, Warden’s Resolve*] [Description*] Charon’s lip slowly curled in disappointment. ’Novice!? The thing is Novice? But the soul was an Archmage soul! Did I make a mistake and bond to the wrong creature? Did it judge me unworthy and leave me with something worse?’ Temporarily ignoring the abilities, he selected the description, hoping to discover what had gone wrong. [Description: Scrubbed from all records, both mortal and otherwise, the Warden of the Acheron is a mystery to even the most devoted scholars. Only through ancient artifacts and the messages given from the gods themselves has anything been gleaned as to his purpose. All known information points to the following: The Warden of the Acheron is loyal to the God of Death, having been chosen to watch over the River of Souls, known to the gods as the River Acheron. In this duty, he protects the souls of the dead from creatures that would seek to harm them. As far as time goes back, the Warden of the Acheron has stood, a guardian for those long gone from the world of the living.] Every sentence chipped away at Charon’s turbulent emotions, leaving him with a vague feeling of embarrassment at how he rushed into negativity. ’It seems I judged things too quickly. The description fits the creature I saw, but why is it Novice 1?’ Comparing the information to his own, he realized that it matched his own rank. ’It must be one of two things, then! Creatures I summon are brought to my rank, or creatures I summon are reset at Novice 1, but can grow far more powerful with time!’ It was a far cry from starting with an extremely powerful ally, but it was better than nothing. A Novice summon was better than no summon as far as Charon was concerned. Growing slightly more hopeful, he selected the first ability, Soul Bind. [Ability Name: Soul Bind] [Ability Element: Soul] [Ability Description: Touch beneath the skin, piercing the soul of your foe. Bind the essence they cling to, deny it from them. Let them suffer without the blessing of the gods, a reminder of how alone they truly are. No ability shall breach the bound soul, lest it overpowers your strength.] Easily looking through the fanciful way of speaking, Charon gawked at the text. ’It’s negates abilities! That has to be it! Soul Bind must stop people from using their abilities against me, but only if they don’t overpower me. Does that mean by rank, or by physical strength, though? What are the exact metrics used to measure it?’ His excited mind quickly set to trying to figure out the hidden details, but he tempered them by forcing himself to look at the next ability. ’I can learn this stuff in time. I need to be forward-thinking. When the trial arrives, I have to be prepared to face it.’ [Ability Name: Warden’s Resolve] [Ability Element: Soul] [Ability Description: At the dawn of time, one word was spoken across the cursed shore of the Acheron. That word took form, becoming something sentient. Something burdened with one eternal purpose. For eons, it has stood, waiting, watching, and fighting to deliver on the promise it never knew it made. Then, coming from the same sky it had forever toiled beneath, a new word was spoken, and a new command was given. As it has always been, and forever shall be, the Warden obeys.] Unlike the first ability, the second was far more difficult to understand. ’It feels more like an extended history of the Warden of the Acheron rather than an ability description. I can barely learn anything from this!’ Still, even if it was cryptic, it had to mean something. A strange ability was better than no ability, especially as a week ago, Charon didn’t have any magic at all. ’These abilities don’t even matter compared to the creature himself! A beast like him could fight like a warrior!’ The thought of running across a battlefield to defeat the Elves who burned his home, the Warden following behind him like an omen of death, brought a smile to his face. ’If only Roger could see me now!’ Remembering his childhood friend dampened his mood, but not as much as it had before. Only a few days had passed, but having a new purpose was strangely energizing. Maybe he hadn’t moved on, but until he had finished school, he could settle for just trying to master the magic he had recently gained. Snapping himself out of his thoughts, he stood and greedily rubbed his hands together. ’Now it’s time to summon this time!’ Assuming it was the same as activating an ability, he closed his eyes and focused inwards, honing in on the energy floating around the center of his chest. Going through the same motions, he reached out and grabbed it, quickly sending his intent of summoning the Warden of the Acheron. Much like the first time, he failed, the energy slipping away. Not letting his failure get the better of him, he tried again, this time being more forceful with it. He mentally reached out and snatched the mana, commanding it to summon the Warden. With a jolt, the energy surged through his body. Instead of going only to his head and hand, like before, it coated his chest and began streaking down all four limbs. Once the mana had collected there, a fifth stream went upwards, climbing his neck and covering his head. Charon grimaced as the sensation of cloth crawled its way out of his skin, coming over his clothes and hiding them. Following the cloth was a sequence of chains, going over his shoulders and crossing in the middle to create a large "X" on his chest and back. Shuddering, Charon pulled at the robes, disturbed by how they felt when exiting his skin. ’It was like I was sweating fabric!’ Turning to a mirror set into the wall, he gasped when he saw himself. His new clothes were just like the Wardens, black as midnight and frayed at the edges. The chains subtly swayed, clinking together to make soft chimes almost too quiet to hear. His forehead and eyes were hidden in a shadow that seemed almost impossible given where the light came from. ’I look... intimidating!’ It was a strange feeling to find himself scary, but Charon had never been in a situation like this. Part of him disliked how un-heroic he looked. ’I come across more like a villain than a hero.’ It wasn’t unheard of for heroes to look more than a little frightening, but that wasn’t the norm. ’Well, I do have an unusual element. So long as I’m saving lives and beating the Elves, I doubt anyone will care if I look evil or not! They will write songs about the black-robed angel who saved them in their hour of need!’ The childish idea made him snicker. Giving himself a spin in the mirror, he found himself enjoying the way the robes felt. ’It’s weird that my summon manifested like this. Can he come off me and become his own creature again?’ Unsure how to make that happen, he went with the first thought he had. "Detach from me, Warden!" No response came, his robes unmoving. Frowning, he tried again, this time pointing at the ground in front of him. "Detach!" Again, nothing changed. His mouth fell with mounting horror as he considered a new possibility. ’It’s Novice 1 now! Maybe it can only be on its own at a higher rank, and until then it’s a useless piece of clothing!’ Seeing no signs of life from the cloth, he assumed that the abilities would be unusable until the creature had advanced enough ranks to take its own form. That left it little more than a comfortable, if a little strange, robe for him to wear. ’Damn it! So my first summon is useless!’