World Seed

"Tylin?" Aerwyn called out and caused Tylin to abruptly turn, nearly knocking over the liquid filled bowl.

"Ah, Aerwyn! Very good, very good, you have impeccable timing. Here drink this." Tylin spoke as he excitedly handed the bowl of mystery liquids to him.

"...No?" Aerwyn stared at the contents of the bowl in his hands and squeaked out a reply. It was filled with a ghastly looking dark green liquid that seemed to be moving on it"s own. It had the viscosity of tree sap and the bowl was cool to the touch but kept bubbling as though it was at a boil.

"Ah yes, it"s only some rare mushrooms i found by the mountains with a little ergot mixed in...Ahem."

"...Amongst some other things." Tylin whispered under his voice before putting on a uncharacteristic smile.

Aerwyn trusted Tylin so he brought the bowl to his mouth and swallowed. The taste was rancid and earth-like causing his mouth to feel dry the moment the liquid touched his lips. With a sour look on his face he gagged a few times before finally downing the whole bowl.

"Bleh... What is this liquid used for? It"s the most awful thing I"ve ever had."

"The ingredients are something called hallucinogens. I planned to use them to better understand my own soul in hopes that i could make a connection. If my theory is correct then i may very well be able to gain some enlightenment on how to link my soul to a phylactery."

"What are hallucinogens?" Aerwyn asked still covering his mouth out of the fear that he may unload the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

"Ah, make no mind of it. Just enjoy the experience dear boy." Tylin"s face warped into a devilish smile leaving Aerwyn with a feeling of regret for agreeing to drink the liquid.

"...Ok. I wanted to ask you about evolution. The hobgoblin Bon told me that only creatures that are named can evolve and that only creatures named by people can evolve into their final evolution. Is that...Ahem, is that true?" Aerwyn"s train of thought was interrupted by an odd sensation he felt throughout his body as if he was becoming weightless and fuzzy.

"Evolution huh?" Tylin paused and scratched his scruffy chin.

"The truth of the matter is we mortals know very little about evolution. Some creatures can evolve and their bodies will stay the same, while others will change with each evolution like goblins, hobgoblins, and ogres. The end result for all life is to take a form similar to our own, a person if that"s what you prefer to call it, or perhaps even to reach for G.o.dhood. All life is linear, it wants to exist in it"s most perfect form."

Aerwyn began to explain what he had discovered about the different cla.s.sifications of souls. He began to notice the shadows in the corner of the room move like an oceans tide or as if they were breathing. Even his voice began to sound funny like it was echoing all around the room and he could even see the waves they made as they traveled through the air.

"Hmm... It seems as though we see souls very differently. They all look the same size to me, besides yours and your undead of course. Perhaps with your power you could supplement or force an evolution by feeding your undead souls like you had done with the barghest. If you can grow their souls to that of a persons then perhaps it would force an evolution..."

Aerwyn heard most of Tylin"s words but he was now preoccupied by the many furry goblins running around the lab that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. He had never seen a goblin like this before, they were covered in white fur and had friendly faces with big round eyes. He watched as they skipped around giggling and beckoned him to join them in their merry. It seemed as though the laughter was contagious as it wasn"t long before Aerwyn joined in.

"Heh...hehehe..."

"...Ah that"s right! I guess it"s time for it to start." Tylin watched Aerwyn carefully while he began to pour more liquids into a new bowl.

Aerwyn"s expression was that of a child"s in wonder as he danced around the lab with the goblins. The light from the many candles in the lab began to grow brighter and brighter until he found himself surrounded by nothing but white. He felt weightless and empty much like how he felt when he was in the darkness. He gazed around the wide expanse all the while still giggling like a child.

"BANG"

A loud noise from behind him caused him to turn. Large ornate doors appeared in the empty white vista and were being closed by a man clad in silvery armor. In the blink of an eye the man appeared before him, faceless, with his hand in Aerwyn"s chest. There were no flames this time and the man spoke no words.

Aerwyn felt immense pain for a moment but the man quickly dispersed as if he were made of the purest white smoke.

"BANG"

The man appeared once more behind him, closing the doors before appearing with his hand in Aerwyn"s chest. Once again he felt immense pain before the faceless man disappeared in a flash of white smoke.

"BANG"

Like clockwork it played out the same, except now time seemed to slow and Aerwyn watched, unable to move as the mans hand slowly entered his chest. There was no pain now and the scene froze with the faceless mans hand in his chest. Aerwyn stared at the smooth skin that looked as though all facial features were covered in a thick layer of skin.

It gave him the creeps and he couldn"t put a finger on why. Out of the corner of his eye tenebrous tendrils appeared as if shredding away the white expanse. They quickly expanded all around him for as far as his eyes could see as though they were consuming the very world. It wasn"t long before he was encircled in darkness, he could see his soul and the souls of his undead now. He appeared to be in his mind, in the place where he could communicate to all his undead but he couldn"t move like he usually could.

"SWOOSH"

It felt like he had been launched out of a catapult as the world around him blurred and flashed. Now he found himself in a valley being overlooked by large snow capped mountains. Aerwyn recognized them, they were the mountains that overlooked Setrhyn but the village was nowhere to be found as if it had never existed here in the first place.

"SWOOSH"

The world once more shot past him and he found himself back in Tylin"s lab. He was hyperventilating and holding his head as Tylin cradled him and poured a cool liquid down his throat.

"..I"m...NEVER....drinking something you give me again." Aerwyn howled.

"Yes, yes. Now tell me dear boy, what did you experience?"

"To h.e.l.l with your "dear boy", that was awful!"

Tylin gave him a look as if he was hurt by his words causing Aerwyn to feel pity. He was fine regardless of what he experienced so it"s not like Tylin had hurt him or anything. With a disgruntled sigh Aerwyn explained everything that had happened to the tricky elf.
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"You saw Setrhyn but Setrhyn village wasn"t there? Hmm... Perhaps the concoction..." Tylin trailed off and began to scribble some notes down on a blank book.

Aerwyn picked Rin up and nuzzled her to try and shake him out of the odd aftereffects his body was feeling. He peaked out a window and noticed the sun had already set while he was lost in his mind.

"Is Sera not coming back tonight?"

"Ah, no dear boy. She"s out on a mission for a few days so we"ll be fending for ourselves tonight. There"s some bread on the counter and Sera cleaned your room just in case you came back. I"ll be busy with research so help yourself."

Ren looked sad when she heard Sera wouldn"t be here and Aerwyn could sympathize. He took the two brexil cats with him as he grabbed some bread and headed to his room.

The next morning Aerwyn said his goodbyes to Tylin who appeared to have worked throught the night before heading off back to Ardin.