RP:Dead Souls

Part of the The Day I Tried To Live Arc

Summary: Brand accompanies Khitti to Vailkrin so that she can practice her necromancy. As usual, things do not always go as planned.

Graveyard, Vailkrin

The day of the trip to Vailkrin finally arrived and Khitti...well...she was about as nervous now as she’d been before they all went back to Raiez’s cave. She’d woken up quite early, or rather, she hadn’t slept at all. The poor vampiress had tried and tried in vain to get even a few hours of shut-eye but to no avail--it just wasn’t meant to be today. || Khitti took her time packing, not only her satchel, but Dominic’s pack as well. She wanted to be prepared for anything. Potion bottles clinked together in one bag with her quill, inkwell, notebook, and various other odds and ends including Brand’s enchanted bottle of wine. The other held the books she’d taken from the library; they ranged from herbal component lists to dark magic spells and rituals--it didn’t matter, she wanted them all. The redhead did her best to not make a sound as she bathed and dressed for the day in her dragonscale attire. For now, she’d let the dual-minded Catalian sleep, for Brand would need all the rest he could get. She feared for him, now more than ever, as their intended destination was one where dark magic ran rampant. Surely, Amarrah would try something again? Hopefully not, but there was always the chance. That shadow creature’d grown cocky. She might’ve failed all of these times, but they were still small victories for Amarrah. When Brand finally awoke, she’d let him eat and take care of whatever was needed on his end before handing him the pack of assorted bottles and jars, leading him to the wyverns outside in silence. || The vampiress didn’t put up a fight when it came to the wyverns. She hated it, yes, but it’d take far more time out of their day to walk. Not to mention it’d also completely bypass Kelay, which was a good thing. Through the dark portal and to the cemetery they’d go, with Khitti opting to leave the winged steed on the opposite side of the fence. Once inside, and closing the wrought iron gate behind them, she stared down the path towards the center of the graveyard. How long had it been since she’d been there? Nearly a year exactly, wasn’t it? There was a pensive look on her face--one that’d been there this entire time since they’d left--as she thought about the last time she was in this unsavory part of Vailkrin. “Zhis is vhere I met Lionel, “ was said at last.

Brand was equal part surprise and mirth at those words. “Seriously? You met him at a frakkin’ graveyard? In Vailkrin?” Shrugging, he added, “Jus’ seems like an unlikely place for him to be, and there aren’t a whole lot of those. Was there some great evil he was puttin’ to rest here, or somethin’?” The Catalian peered at a few of the headstones as if trying to guess who the big bad of the day might have been, but truthfully he was scoping out the layout. Khitti planned to raise the dead, and anything from success to disastrous failure to Amarrah being Amarrah to all seven hells literally breaking loose seemed possible to him. He’d been trying to approach this all with good spirits, distracting Khitti from the grimness of the matters at hand -- but best to know now where the vulnerable places and the best spots for cover would be, just in case.

Khitti gave a half-hearted nod as she surveyed the area with him, “He vas here to help Hildegarde. Vhen she vas doing all of zhat political stuff vith Larewen zhat I told you about, zhe one zhat resulted in me getting my job, he vas here too. Zhere vas...a spider.” Vasn’t that always the case with her though? “Zhis one vasn’t zhe sort in zhe forest, zhough. It was big, vaguely humanoid, and spoke of zhe old gods. He vas...different back zhen.” She paused, thinking aloud, “Zhen again, so vas I.” Brows furrowed at the thought, but she was soon shaking it off and giving his arm a gentle tug. “Come on.” She’d lead him down the path, and would soon veer off to the left, leading him into one of the side sections. “If ve keep our backs to zhe open area, ve von’t get cornered--in case zhat happens, zhat is.” There was that wrought iron fence again on all sides but one; a large mausoleum sat in the middle with about fifteen to twenty feet on either side of it, various tombstones--all standing upright, tilted, or knocked over entirely--littering the area. “Don’t go in zhere,” she offhandedly points at the large, black stone building as she reaches with her free hand into her pack to grab a book, “Some of zhose lead underground, especially zhe ones for zhe idiotic rich people zhat seem to zhink it’s smart to be buried vith all zheir possessions. I don’t know vhat’s down zhere, or at least, I don’t remember.” The redhead kneeled on the ground, the hand that had been pointing at the mausoleum now reaching out to Brand for the other bag in silence.

“We were all different,” Brand muttered, only half paying attention to his own words. He was mostly busy contemplating the mausoleum, a hand rubbing at his ever-present stubble. “If I’d spent my whole gorram life obsessively gatherin’ material wealth,” he concluded after a moment’s pause, “I’d probably wanna be buried with it, too. Bet they don’t keep it long, though. Grave robbing’s a lucrative job, I hear, and it’s not like they’re gonna come back ‘round to protest, anyhow.” He’d only -heard- it, you see. And totally never participated himself, no. (We don’t talk about the various methods by which Brand earns his living for good reason.) “Well, most of the time, anyway. I wonder if you’re gonna raise some disgruntled baroness or somethin’. Y’think?”

Khitti scoffed as she took the bag from him and rifled around inside it, “Zhat’s ridiculous. Zhe moment you’d turn into a corpse everything you owned vould no longer have meaning...because you’d be dead. I kept a few zhings out of sentimental value before I burned my village, but even zhose ended up getting sold for gold--Lydia’s violin included. No point in keeping any of it vhen I didn’t have zhe money for food, you know?” Ultimately, she upends the bag and lets the bottles clatter onto the ground. “Here. Happy Birthday, “ she said sarcastically as she carefully tossed his bottle of wine to him. Then it hit her, “Hey...vait a damned minute...vhen zhe hell is your birthday?” The vampiress blinked a few times as she lifted her gaze to him, then shook her head muttering as she peered down at the bottles again, “I swear to zhe gods...I need to make a damned list of zhings I don’t know about you two. Zhe not totally private sort of zhings, zhat is.” Three jars were picked up in one hand and a book opened in the other, “Okay. Black rose petals are out. Zhat’s for bringing back a dead lover.” The bottle was tossed back into the bag. “Amaranth to help summon it back from vherever zhe hell it vent vhen it died…Wormwood to aid in binding. And--” Khitti scoops up a handful of dirt from beside her, “--and handful of graveyard dirt.” Then, without any further interruption, she lights it on fire and lets it burn as she recites the spell.

Brand only had another shrug to offer at the mention of his birthday. “No family, remember? Prob’ly was dropped on the orphanage doorstep one day or somethin’, and hardly stuck around there long enough for them to tell me when about that was.” After a lengthy sip of that precious wine (straight from the bottle, the uncultured heathen!), he added, “You can pick us a day, if it makes you feel better.” Okay, cork back in the bottle now. Can’t be drunk when there might be unruly undead to fight in a moment here. She’d only just begun her spell when he realized… “And hey! Seven hells, woman, makin’ a big deal outta ours when I don’t know yours, either.”

Khitti stops mid-spell and blinks several more times. If someone came along and saw her doing that, they’d surely think something was in her eye. “Vhat? Oh...uh...I sort of forgot zhe actual date too. But, it vas in zhe fall, vhen all zhe leaves ve’re changing. Zhe trees going up zhe mountain looked like fire vhen zhe sun vas setting…” She frowned a little, then shoved her nose in that book again, “I do remember, however, zhat I vas zhe oldest out of Lydia and I. I vas born before midnight and she vas after. Never once let her forget it either,” was said as she grew a little more somber. “Zhe zhree of us could pick a day together and I’ll bake you both your favorite deserts. A miniature version, of course, so I’m not making a ton of sweets again.” Her head turns just enough to catch him out of the corner of her eye, “If you’d like zhat, anyway,” before returning her attention once again to the book and finally finishing the spell. It didn’t take long for the undead beneath her to pop it’s rotted and bony hand out and grab her by the wrist. Then another one crawled out to her left, and several more to her right--and hey! There’s that rich person moaning and clawing it’s way out of the mausoleum. “Oh hell. I read zhe vrong spell. Zhis is to summon several!” In a strangely comedic fashion, she tugs her arm back from the undead and stick her booted foot on his face, “I’m supposed to actually dig one up and use it’s bone dust instead of using zhe amaranth. Whoops!” The vampiress pushes herself up off the ground, crushing that poor zombie’s skull along the way and summons up that cloud of shadow dust. “I zhink you all need to behave. And maybe learn proper hygiene. Seriously.” She actually genuinely grins now, it’s all goofy and lopsided as she manages to find humor in this as she takes care to blow the dust on all of the undead.

Brand was… skeptical about that claim of hers, to say the least. He’d tucked that wine bottle back into the bag as the undead started rising, and now stood with fireballs swirling in either hand, ready and waiting in case one of them threatened her. “You’re a terrible liar, y’know that? Just one would’ve been boring. This many, though… this many’s a party.” That quip was shot at Khitti as he stepped closer to her and away from the undead who’d emerged from the mausoleum. At one point she was surely a well-dressed corpse, but now her dress was showing the unseemly stains and deterioration of several decades underground. Only the pearls around her neck were relatively untarnished. By the time Khitti began blowing her shadow dust on the first of the zombies, the undead corpse lady was limping with haste toward Brand, arms outstretched and a leering, hungry grin upon what was left of her features. “Oi, peach, you wanna get to Becky over here before I hafta set her to blazin’?”

Khitti promptly punched Brand in the shoulder sans vampiric strength, “Hey! I’m not a liar, you flaming blonde jerk! Sheesh. I vas trying to make zhings easy and -zhen- raise zhe difficulty a bit.” She steps forward in between the Catalian and the undead, her head tilted as she held a hand out to hold the female by the forehead. Those decayed chompers were well...chomping, but fruitlessly, as Khitti held her in place, “Alright, lady. Only I get to nibble on Brand. And don’t even zhink about asking vhere he likes it at--” she side-eyed Brand with an innocent grin “--because I’ve conveniently forgotten and you vouldn’t be able to remember it anyway. You’ve pretty much lost your mind zhere.” With the last bit of shadow dust left in her other hand, she sprinkled it onto the zombified corpse like it was pixie dust, leaving the creature to drool a bit and stand there awkwardly. “Now, gimme zhat necklace. You know zhere’s a girl in Kelay zhat’d yell at you for vearing pearls vith zhat outfit?”

Brand doused his flames and began availing the undead lady of her pearls, but it seemed ‘Becky’ had other ideas. As Brand unclipped the necklace and started withdrawing his hands from the back of Becky’s neck, she grasped tightly onto both forearms, pinning them between her hands and her cheeks. Drooling, Becky stared up his arms at him with vacant eye sockets and let loose a low, rumbling, “huuuuuuuurrrrrhhhh…” Brand attempted to tug himself from her grip, but it seemed she was unexpectedly strong for a zombie. Unexpectedly opinionated too, for with every tug of his arm Becky’s growling grew a little louder and a little more annoyed. “Hey, peach, a little help, here? This s’posed to happen?”

As Brand went to take the necklace, Khitti watched him quietly, the gears turning in her head. “Hey...so...uh. You know, ve’re not far from Cenril.” Yes? And? Well, she didn’t get very far with that train of thought and instead just kinda stared, and then blinked, and then narrowed her eyes at that thing she managed to summon up. There was definitely a flare of jealousy there. Just who did this bitch think she was?! There’s only one undead female in this universe that’s gonna put her hands all over Brand and that was Khitti, damn it! “Let go of him! -Now-!” Wait, was that Khitti’s angry mom voice? Yikes.

That question about Cenril was going to have to wait. Another one of the zombies tipped his hat to Khitti and then wrapped an arm around her waist. A third sidled up against Brand and purred -- yes, purred -- as it pressed against him, rubbing at his chest. One by one, the undead were approaching them and acting quite… fond of them both. Brand had never looked so uncomfortable and disgusted in his life. “The -one- time in the last few months I’m not wrapped up in five layers of winter clothes,” he grumbled, still struggling to free himself, “and you go and summon frakkin’ love zombies or somethin’. You pronounce the spell wrong, maybe?”

Khitti glowered at Brand and growled, “Zhere vas a reason vhy I only vanted to summon one, you know.” Alright. No more Miss Nice Vampire. Quite forcefully, she grabbed the arm around her waist and pried it away; the bone made an awful snapping sound and went limp. Booted feet sidestepped away from male zombie before he can grab at her with the other arm and a swift kick was gifted to its chest moments later, sending it flying across the yard. It’d likely try to get up and come after her again once it regained its bearings, but for the moment Khitti focused on getting Brand free. The back of the purring one’s head was quickly acquainted with Khitti’s fist, the vampiress’ appendage knocking it clean off the undead’s shoulders seconds before it crumpled to the ground. And then, that last one that’d been attached to him, the one with the horrid fashion choices, met the same fate as the one before it. Apparently, Khitti should stick to slaying the undead instead of raising them, she’s pretty good at it. The rest of the creatures are taken care of with a bit of shadowfire and a whole lot of irritation from the redhead.

“Welp. Guess I can cross ‘gettin’ hit on by a zombie’ off my list of things to do before I die.” Brand brushed himself off -- more because he needed it psychologically than because the zombies had left anything on him. “Least you get some gaudy jewelry out of it.” The pearls were tossed to Khitti before Brand nudged at the ribcage of one of the zombies by his feet. “So, what, you gonna try again? Can they be raised twice, or is it pretty much a one time thing?”

Khitti let out a heavy sigh at Brand’s question. “Pretty sure it’s a one time deal, but zhen again vhat zhe hell do I know about necromancy. Ve -are- in a rather large cemetery, however. You know, vith more bodies.” She should’ve known that the first official time she’d try this that it -still- wouldn’t go right. Hastily, she throws all of her belongings back into the pack and tosses it at Brand. “Get back. Now.” The vampiress seemed irritated, though it didn’t seem directed at him. More and more lately she grew agitated, and even now when things weren’t as dark as they always were, things were no different. “I really didn’t vant to, but I guess I should’ve known it’d end up zhis vay. Never vas anyway around it. I don’t know vhy I even fight it anymore, you know?” What the hell was she even going on about? Khitti didn’t elaborate, of course, because Brand would soon find out.

A suffocating sort of darkness befalls the already night-stricken area, the magically lit lampposts along the pathways flickering, struggling to stay alight. “Vhen ve’re done here, you’re going to take me to Cenril, somewhere vhere I can try to zhink clearly. Ve’re going to get dessert at my favorite bakery and one of you is going to take me dancing and ve’re going to stay zhere for zhe rest of zhe veek. I vant to be able to pretend like zhings are normal again or as close to normal as zhey ever vere.” It was extremely short notice, but she didn’t seem to care; she’d manage to quell that bit of irritation long enough to speak her demand calmly, a brief glance sent over her shoulder to him. There was a flash of violet instead of that dark green as she watched him, the shadows closing in, but she soon cut her line of sight away from him as the darkness began to crawl up her body. Like snakes, it coiled around her arms and danced along her fingertips, the vampiress kneeling down once again, her fingers digging into the dirt.

The ground began to shake beneath their feet as she channeled the dark magic into the ground, the moans of the undead once again filling the night air. It wasn’t just zombies though that she’d managed to summon this time. The spirits of those long since passed had not forgotten her from the last time she was here--and they were still angry.

For that instant of violet eye contact, Brand’s heart caught in his throat, thumping frantically. Was this Amarrah taking over again? But no, Khitti proceeded and her words clicked into place. This was intentional. This was using Amarrah’s magic for her own ends. Well, at least having that shadow creature stuck in her head wasn’t -all- downside. Brand took a step away as directed. “Aye, kiwi. Cenril it is. Though, now I think about it, you sure you don’t wanna try to summon some beached mermaid while you’re there? Maybe use her siren call, drag your enemies out to sea? Feast on their fear or somethin’?” Leave it to Brand to make everything into a joke. Only the arrival of the spirits shut him up; he positioned himself at Khitti’s back, flame once again at his fingertips. “Hey, I’m thinkin’ some of those dead you woke up weren’t morning people. You pack any tea or coffee with you, maybe some hot cocoa?” Okay, nope, that was a lie. Brand never shuts up.

“Brand? Shut up and kill zhings so you can live long enough to get in bed vith me tonight.” Did she just actually say that? Yes, yes she did. Khitti didn’t hesitate to summon up her own flames in one palm as she pressed her back to his; her free hand reached behind her, grabbing at his wrist-- “Please be careful…”--her hold lingering before she finally let him go. As the horde she’d awakened closed in on them, she’d still not use that shadowfire of hers just yet, instead calling Francis from the Shadow Plane to help out. The giant white arachnid let out an affectionate blurble to his ‘parents’ and skittered off to focus on the zombies. “Zhe ghosts here aren’t like zhe ones in Venturil and Frostmaw, but zhey’re still not very nice. Zhey’d much rather possess you and drop you off zhe bridge into zhe void in zhe city instead of kill you vith one touch.” One of the aforementioned spirits stops just in front of Khitti, as if taking stock of her. Oh, yes, she was definitely the same one from a year ago, the ghost decided, and let loose a powerful wail. “Apparently zhere’s a few banshees too, “ was muttered off-handedly as she threw the shadowfire ball at the spirit and conjured up more.

Emerald eyes shifted to that hand at his wrist. What? O-oh. Alright then. Focus, Brand. Your woman’s being forward with you. Except, she’s totally not your woman, mhm. “Not the way I’d prefer to go, yeah,” agreed Brand, pelting fire and ice down upon the spirits closest to them. Nearby, Francis took a chunk out of a zombie’s leg; it howled and tried to grab at the spider’s mandibles, only for Francis to eat his hands. Mmm, delicious spider food. “Is it really a void, though?” Brand asked, when there was a moment to breathe between defenses. “Like, bottomless canyon with no relation to space and time sorta void, or just a really, really deep frakkin’ pit?”

Khitti blinked at Brand’s questions as she set her own side of the horde of undead ablaze, “Uh, I mean, vould you like to go check? Do you really vant to know zhat badly? Considering zhe fact zhat ve have to go zhrough a portal made from dark magic to get here, I’d say it’s a good bet zhat it is indeed zhe void itself.” She peeked over her shoulder, watching as he torched anything and everything that tried to nibble on him. “You’re, uh…” He’s what? Handsome? Charming? Has the best sarcastic humor you’ve ever heard? “...you’re pretty good. At zhat. Zhe fire.” Smooth, Khitti. Really smooth. “I mean, erm--” The redhead had absolutely no idea why she got it into her head to say that at all and immediately regretted it because it’d likely be met with some sort of snark. “Nevermind,” she sighed, stepping away from him and headlong into another large wave of undead, opting for an arc of fire this time to cover more ground.

Khitti’s stammering earned her a quizzical look from the blonde. “Yeah. Er, got a lot of practice.” His response was equally as awkward, and the distraction was enough to leave him a tad vulnerable. A spirit swiped at Brand’s side with ethereal claws; Khitti struck it down with a burst of shadowflame with only a fraction of a second to spare before it would have made contact. Brand blinked at the thing’s demise before resuming his rain of the elements upon the restless dead before him. “Anyway, we don’t have to check, obviously; it was just a thought. Lithrydel’s a pretty strange place. Thought maybe someone had taken it upon themselves to find out, y’know?”

“Yeah. Maybe. I don't know, “ was all she could manage right now as she remained preoccupied by her thoughts. Khitti remembered back to that dream she had before Amarrah took over and then it soon shifted to all the other dreams she’d had of her and Brand. A pensive frown made itself known as she continued her assault on the undead, albeit distractedly; unbeknownst to Khitti, however, a few of the zombies just stood at the back of the crowd as it dwindled. They didn't attack whatsoever, standing there like good little soldier awaiting orders. The redhead eyed Brand again briefly over her shoulder, watching as he too fought the undead off. That seed of doubt that’d been planted the night Lionel and him spoke about her behind her back sprouted a little more. “You and Lionel...You don’t zhink I can do zhis...do you?” Now’s probably not the time for this, but at least out here, they were mostly alone--except for the zombies and spirits, of course.

“Eh?” The fight was starting to die down (heh, necromancy pun), and Brand took the first opportunity to offer Khitti a confused look. She hadn’t provided much in the way of context, after all. “Well, I didn’t at first,” he admitted, once the last of the hostile zombies fell to a pile of ash at his feet. Brand twisted himself around until he was standing at Khitti’s side rather than out her back. “And even now, you won’t manage it alone. Not the part where you’re gettin’ rid of Amarrah, anyway. But with help...?” The Catalian let that thought linger as he caught sight of the passive undead paces away. He advanced cautiously to inspect them, stepping over bones and spirit dust in the process. A single dismembered arm dragged itself across his path until he squashed it under booted heel. “You’ve changed, kiwi,” he called over a shoulder to her. “Gotten stronger. Gotten more confident, more determined. Still get in every gorram bit as much trouble as you did when we met, but these days you can pretty much hold your own. I think you’ll pull through.” He’d reached his destination, and now was waving a hand in front of the remaining zombies, trying to rouse them from their strange stasis. “Hey, I think you maybe actually hooked a few of ‘em. Try tellin’ them to do something?”

Khitti only frowned more once he gave his answer, “I probably vouldn’t have changed if it veren’t for you two. And, if you zhink zhat, zhen vhy didn’t you and Lionel talk -to me- instead of sneaking off to the other room? It’s bad enough zhat zhe entire guild doesn’t trust me now, but it sort of feels like you guys don’t either.” She paused for a moment, staring at the passive zombies, “Especially Dominic.” Khitti sounded a bit hurt, letting her thoughts conclude for now as she closed the gap between her, Brand, and the undead. “Francis!” she called to the spider, “Come say hi to your father.” Francis finished munching on the bit of zombie he’d been inhaling, then bounded over to Brand’s feet, shaking his butt like a good eight-legged dog waiting for much needed love and affection. Letting out a ‘hm’, she dug into her pocket and withdrew a few bits of silver, handing them over to one of the zombies in front, “Go get me some peach schnapps from zhe tavern.” She jutted her thumb northwards in the universal gesture of ‘go take a hike’ and the zombie did just that, shambling off with coins in hand. The next one, a little girl, was knelt in front of and Khitti eyed her carefully, “You...can...go pick me some deadly nightshade. Down zhere, “ she pointed south, further into the cemetery. “And you--” she said to the last zombie “--pet zhis spider like your unlife depends on it.” And, well, it did.

“Meh. Kid’s got issues. I dunno.” Brand picked up the arm he’d crushed a moment ago and waved it before Francis. Before long, the two of them were engaged in a playful tug of war, with Brand holding the fingers and Francis chomping on the other end. “But as for Lionel and I, well… you must not’ve heard very much of the conversation, did you?” Two of the fingers popped off of the undead, and Brand was left bemusedly clutching them in a fist while Francis devoured everything else. “Your boss-man came over wantin’ to know how you were after the whole possession event, wantin’ ideas for what he should say to the guild… wantin’ to make sure we knew that whatever he had to do, he considers you family and backs you completely, no matter what the gorram grunts have to say about it.” There was that word again, family. That word that both Khitti and Lionel kept bringing up of late. Brand stared down at the digits still in his hands before pitching them as far as he could throw them.

Khitti watched the zombie girl wander off south as Brand played with Francis, wondering if she’d actually find the right herb Khitti spoke of. She didn’t know how any of this worked and frankly, was afraid to ask--the whole mind control thing really weirded her out. She listened to the blonde, though, occasionally sneaking a peek at him before turning to face him entirely, “No, I guess I didn’t hear much of it.” She paused. “And vhat about you? Do you consider me family too? I feel like I should know zhis by now, after everything, but lately zhe seed of doubt has planted itself in my head again.” The vampiress let out a faint, brief laugh before adding, “I don’t even know how to refer to you vhen I mention something about you--nothing major or vorld-ending of course--to other people.” Khitti turned away from him again, pacing a little, “It’s always just ‘His name is Brand and ve fight a lot. I’m pretty sure he’s probably my best friend, but sometimes I don’t know.’ It’s very difficult, you see. It’s almost been a year now and you’d zhink I’d have you figured out, but nope. You’re a riddle, vrapped in mystery, inside an enigma, you know. You’ve so many layers zhat I should call you ‘onion’.” Plus, he’s made her cry a few different times, so it’s not like the nickname wouldn’t fit.

Brand wrinkled his nose at that nickname, but otherwise gave no indication he’d even heard her. He’d stepped just beyond the range of where Khitti’s necromancy had summoned those many unliving and was now peering at some elaborately carved statue -- a skeletal dragonling with wings twice the size of its body, feasting on some carcass of indeterminate species. “Grody thing to put in a cemetery, aye? I can almost understand why the kid’s so gorram hesitant to come to Vailkrin.” He was circling around it, examining it from every angle, but from under one skeletal arm Khitti received a fleeting glance. “Y’know, I don’t remember ever havin’ any family. Haven’t got a lot of memories at all, frankly, but before the Daggers it was always me doin’ odd jobs with some kid gang on the streets, and before that, briefly, an orphanage. So I’ve got no real personal relation to the concept, other’n your stories and whatnot. But… sure? I mean, we live together. I’ve saved -your- ass more’n a couple of times. You’ve bailed me out of a few rough spots, too.” A hand traced along the edges of one of the great dragon wings as Brand continued to circle, eyes sticking to his study rather than to her. “Heh, whoever built this thing’s got a real sense of humor, or somethin’. I think that’s s’posed to be a vampire it’s eatin’. The thing’s got its fangs sunk into the dragon’s ankle.”

Khitti could only sigh and nod at Brand for the moment. How does one explain ‘family' to someone who's never had one? It was increasingly frustrating to be sure. But then she pondered over his words as they seemed a bit off, her attention settling on him again, “Vait...I zhought -Dominic- vas zhe one in zhe orphanage...not you.” There was a brief moment of confusion on Khitti face before she shook her head and eye the statue. “It’s being eaten and dragon blood is poisonous to vampires, ” she shrugged, “if it vas me I’d probably do it too if zhere vas hope zhat I’d die before zhe dragon ate me. Zhen again, it’s not all zhat realistic because a dragon vould likely eat you in one or two bites--probably just zhe one.” The vampiress shook her head again, rolling her eyes as she attempted to find something else to settle her thoughts on instead of the obvious--the obvious being that damned Catalian nearby--and thankfully it came in the form of that little girl zombie returning. “Aha! It vorked!” She gathered the nightshade from girl and pat her on the head. “I need to find out how to bind zheir souls to zheir bodies like Larewen. Despite our differences, zhe servants she kept vere very kind. I baked vith zhe lady, Margret, several times. She showed me how to make zhose pies I made you and Dominic for Yule.”

Brand only barely heard most of what Khitti said, talk of dragons and vampires and bonded souls. A rumbling echo in his head built into a deafening crescendo. It… -was- Dominic, wasn’t it? Dominic’s memories. Funny, he’d felt like they were his for a moment there, and not even questioned it. “Huh. Well, guess that was bound to happen sometime, gettin’ the kid’s memories mixed up with my own. Kind of a wonder it doesn’t happen more, really.” With a last glance at the dragonling statue, he stepped away, rejoining Khitti and the zombie girl. “Are they… sentient, then? If you go an’ tie souls to their bodies? Is she sentient now?”

Khitti side-eyed the blonde as that realization hit him, an eyebrow raised at him. “Yeah. I guess so.” What a weirdo...and yet, he seemed completely convinced for a minute there that it was -his- memories. “Are you...okay?” She turns her attention towards the north side of the path, looking for the other zombie, “Zheir sentient enough to know vhat eating is. Zhe need to feed is zhe most basic instinct for humans, likely other mortals too--I don’t know enough about zhe other races to know, zhough. Zhere veren’t any other in Dhavislaav zhat vasn’t just passing zhrough along zhe trade routes.” She pauses, eyeing the little girl again as the creature stood there swaying a bit, “If your magic is strong enough, you can take zhe bones and completely regrow the entire body vith dark magic. Zhere’s like...an imprint of vhat you look like or something--maybe from your soul, I don’t know. But, Larewen did it day one vhen I met her. Back zhen, my scar vas a gaping wound zhat never healed; a font of pure dark energy. She siphoned me and Amarrah’s magic and created a death knight vith it. Sealed his soul and gave him free vill. It was zhe first time she’d done it apparently. Takes a lot of magic and I had just vhat she needed.”

Quite suddenly, the thunder in Brand’s head ceased, in its wake leaving Vailkrin’s muted sense of disquiet in sharpened clarity. “Yeah, peach, I’m good.” He looked confused as to why she’d even asked, his features hardened into a wall of secrecy once again. “So I take it this isn’t somethin’ you can do now, not ‘til you’ve figured out how to go about it?” There, off in the distance, the third zombie was returning, bottle of peach schnapps in hand. Brand’s gaze flicked to from it to the girl before landing again on Khitti. “Here comes your other minion. You wanna take off after this, or try again?”

Khitti let out an exasperated sigh, blowing a bit of her hair out of her face, “No, Brand. I can’t do it yet. Zhank you for pointing it out.” Once the other walking corpse was close enough, she’d take the bottle, toss it to the Catalian, then clapped her hands, “Alright, you guys. Go home.” The zombies all turned and started taking off towards their respective homes and quite obviously not their graves. “No! No no no. Not your actual home, damn it. Zhe ground. Back in zhe ground. Please. Zhank you.” She gets a little bug-eyed at the thought of people’s long dead relatives returning home. Yeah, that wouldn’t be good, though probably not entirely unexpected in Vailkrin--or Lithrydel for that matter. The dark ranger sighs again, “Alright, Francis, you too. Time to go.” The spider, who hadn’t even been here for very long, lets out a blurbled whine. “I know, little guy. Vhen ve get to Cenril, ve can go valk on zhe beach together, okay? Vould you like zhat?” The arachnid let out a much happier blurble as Khitti knelt down to give it a hug. Yes, yes she did just willingly hug a spider. The end times are coming.