章 35: Chapter 33

There have been changes in the approach in the Soulbinding curriculum of the Red Abbey. Please disregard all prior instructions in favor of these new instructions, which have been directly commanded by the full body of the Synod. Do note that there are drastic changes reflected in the position of the Bound, as opposed to the position of the archaic "Soul Companion", as well as the potential new Bound species. If you have any questions, do not mention them to the students, since we will have a full administrative body meeting in twelve days under the direction of High Lord Leialt Alniyh.

In order to create a strong Soulbind, the aspiring Speaker must follow these steps.

1. Progress to the standard of a true Speaker in Soulspeaking. You can verify yourself as having progressed to this level of capability if you are able to sense idle thoughts beyond baser desires in lesser creatures.

2. Select the creature you wish to Bind. While the Speaker is at the level of Speaker, the subject of the Souldbind is strictly prohibited to those creatures whose intelligence is lesser than a human's. That varies after ascending to High Speaker.

3. Learn as much as you can about the creature to be Bound. The more intimate your understanding of the creature, the more total will be your control over the Bound.

4. Begin siphoning the sense of self from the Bound while integrating a sense of obedience and reverence to you.

5. Continue to reinforce the sense of obedience, reverence, and dependence upon you until the Bound is fully obedient.

6. Ensure that you spend at least one hour a week reinforcing the above within the Bound, and you will find that the Bound is a faithful servant to you until its life comes to its end.

–excerpt from the first wave of educational reforms of the Red Abbey, 200 years after its establishment.

While I recognized the strength of my fists and jaws, I felt a visceral need to learn magic once again. That had been a vital part of me for the vast majority of my life, and a part of me screamed that magic would bring back to me personhood. But how could I get a "magic generating organ"? I somewhat doubted that these organs were the way that humans learned and used magic.

[The Administrative Body has deemed it unnecessary to divulge that information.]

The Body as a whole seemed to only give me exactly what they were required to, and that wasn't going to change any time soon–

[The Administrative Body had been reminded by the Administrator that if they continue to withhold this information, they will be again–information withheld. Result: the Administrative Body gives counsel; the System User need only continue to explore their body while attempting to use the magic. Eventually, the magic may force development of a magic generating organ.]

That was frustratingly vague, but I was getting the sense that "my" Administrator was fighting for me as best as she could, regardless of any efforts being made by the rest of the Body to keep me from learning. I internally thanked her for her consistent help as I resumed hauling the body of the wolfstag back to the den.

[The Administrator appreciates your appreciation.]

I internally shook my head and continued hauling. Fortunately for us, without considering the deaths, the wolfstag had caught us within the more open area surrounding the marshes near the den, so the going wasn't too difficult to drag the corpses back to the den. We still didn't know what had happened to Percral so we couldn't do anything with his body, but we did drag back the female's body, in its two parts, back as well.

As we passed by the marsh where I was sure the rest of the pack was still to be hunting enough for everyone else to eat, I was surprised to notice that there weren't any of my pack around. As a matter of fact, there weren't any keelish out. Beginning to panic, I urged the rest to hurry as Oncli urged Treel to let him stumble ahead alone while she helped the rest of us get back into the den. The large wolfstag's body was much more difficult to haul down the tunnels than the long but thin and flexible python's, but with a bit of struggle and force, we were finally able to begin to drag the corpse down the hole.

Finally we began to draw near to the entrance to our den, I could hear screeches and incoherent voices, all in a rage. I pushed my head into the space just in time to see Percral raise his hand and smack it into Oncli's face and knock him down. I didn't think as I rushed forward and leapt onto Percral.

I was able to control myself enough not to immediately kill him, but when I came to complete control of myself, Percral was crumpled on the ground, blood flowing freely from his mouth and both nostrils. I screamed into his face as he tried to rise, and he settled back onto the ground, where I promptly put one foot on his chest. I ignored the feeling that something was different about this scream of mine and turned to Oncli.

"Are you ok?"

Behind me, Treel helped him to rise to his feet, where he nodded briefly then retreated back into our personal den's space.

"Sybil, do you know what happened?"

"Alpha, that one… came in… before you and… told us all… that you were… all dead. Killed by… the prey that… you bring with you. He said… that he… would be the… new Alpha. Oncli returned… and said… that you all… had survived… and were… returning soon. That one… was angry… and called Oncli… a liar. That was… when you… returned… just in time… to see Oncli… be struck."

"So… this suns-burned fool thought that we would be killed by our prey? That we would be defeated? That we would not achieve victory?" With each question I punctuated my building rage with a stomp down on Percral. I heard the breath be pushed out of his chest with every step, and there were a couple of pops from his ribs and spine as I continued to pressure him. "He fled, abandoned us, and then dares to think that he could return as if he were some survivor, not a coward!?"

"What do we do with cowards? What do we do with the weak? With the unwilling to work?" I reached down and grabbed Percral by his neck, my claws digging into his flesh and beginning to make him bleed as I bodily lifted him up. I could feel my left arm shaking with the effort, but I needed to make an example of him, like I had with Tieran. Around me, the den went silent as I began the execution.

Silent except for two. One was Percral, whose sniveling nearly brought me to an even greater, more incandescent rage. The other was Oncli, whose quiet voice carried out.

"Wait… Alpha. Give… him… another… chance." The longest sentence he'd ever spoken, and it was to beg clemency for one who'd assaulted him. I dropped Percral unceremoniously and turned to Oncli.

"Why? He provides nothing."

"He… can… learn."

A demand for understanding was not one I wished to give into, and so much of me demanded that I make Percral suffer… but Oncli deserved to be listened to, he was my Beta, right?

I gritted my teeth, the sound echoing in the den.

"Ok. Last chance, coward. You try something again, and I'll kill you, but not so quickly as I would have now." Then, with a whip of my tail, I stormed back to my private quarters as I noted the flashing of [System] notifications in the corner of my eye.