Chapter 174: The Missing Chef And The Black Magic Discussion!
Ryker was eating from a wooden plate something that looked like soup.
His face was scrunched up in an expression of pure displeasure. The taste was absolutely terrible. It was salty and bland at the same time, which should not have been possible but somehow Sorin had managed it.
Since Neve was not home and Aldric, the second best cook in the little family, was also gone on the rescue mission, there was no one around to prepare proper food for them. Everyone had to fend for themselves or eat whatever Sorin managed to throw together in the cooking pot.
They all missed Neve. Even the children, Doris’s three siblings, they all missed Neve’s cooking. They missed the way he made simple food taste amazing. They missed his presence around the hut.
Sif sat across from Ryker, munching on the soup with her face squeezed up in discomfort. The expression of pain on her face mirrored Ryker’s own distaste.
"It tastes like it’s forbidden," Sif said, taking another spoonful out of obligation rather than desire. "Like something that should never be eaten by anyone ever."
"Well, I tried my best," Sorin said defensively, folding his hands across his chest. He was clearly offended by the criticism. "Why are you still eating it if it tastes bad? Just stop eating it."
"Because I don’t like wasting food," Sif said stubbornly, continuing to eat despite her obvious discomfort. "Food is precious. We shouldn’t waste it even if it tastes terrible."
Ryker ruffled Sif’s hair and stood up from where he was sitting. He was also unable to finish his plate. The taste was just too much.
"Then, I’ll give mine to you. Finish it," he said, pushing his wooden plate toward Sif as an offering.
Sif raised a brow as she glared at Ryker with suspicion.
"There’s no way I’m eating that. Mine is enough suffering," she said, obviously refusing to consume any more of Sorin’s culinary disasters. "I’m not eating two bowls of this poison."
Sorin stepped forward quickly and yanked both plates from them, his pride clearly hurt.
"I’ll just take it back," he said grumpily and glared at Ryker. "Where are you heading to anyway? Come to think of it, it’s been two weeks already since they left for the outcast territory. Do you think they would have gotten to the outcasts territory by now? Do you think Cael and the others made it safely?"
Ryker froze, staring out the door where snow had gathered in thick piles. The winter was still going strong. The cold was relentless. The journey to the outcast territory was dangerous even in good weather.
"We can only hope that they have," he said, sighing heavily. "I can’t wait for it to be over. I can’t wait for Neve to return home. Everything feels wrong without him here."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Their cave felt incomplete without their main cook and without one of their strongest fighters.
"I have to head to the village and bury the villagers that had died yesterday and today," Ryker said, preparing to leave the hut. "There have been more deaths from the weather and illnesses caused by the weather. The bodies need to be handled properly."
"Oh," Sorin said, lowering his head as the temperature in the room seemed to drop with sadness. "Do you need help digging? I can come with you. I can help prepare the graves."
"Don’t worry about digging because of the snow," Ryker said, shaking his head. "The ground is frozen solid. We’re not going to dig today. We’re just going to burn the bodies instead. Fire is the only way to properly cremate them in this weather."
Sorin raised a brow, his expression becoming confused.
"Isn’t that a form of black magic?" Sorin asked. "I heard that burning people was how dark magic users got their power. Isn’t cremation connected to black magic?"
"What?" Ryker frowned at the misunderstanding. "No! That’s completely wrong!"
He continued his explanation, clearly wanting to educate Sorin about the actual connection between cremation and magic.
"It was done in my tribe just like it’s done in many tribes. Cremation is a respected burial method. Everyone is scared of fire so we had to stick to water burial or earth burial as alternatives, but fire cremation has always been an option."
"But I heard black magic is gotten by burning people," Sorin insisted, clearly confused about the relationship between cremation and dark magic. "I heard that sacrificing people in fire gives you dark magic powers."
Ryker laughed, his deep voice filling the cave with warmth despite the heavy conversation.
"Black magic is not gotten by burning people," Ryker explained patiently. "Black magic is gotten by sacrificing someone loyal to you. Someone who is willing to give up their life for your benefit."
He leaned against the pillar by the entrance, settling in to give a proper explanation.
"There are rituals and stuff that would need to be done for someone to have dark magic," he continued. "Complex ceremonies. Magical words. Specific conditions. But the core requirement is sacrifice. Someone has to give up their life. Someone has to die for you."
He leaned off the pillar and walked toward the fire pit in the center of the hut.
"However, if a loyal person sacrifices their life for you willingly, if they die with the intention of giving you power, you’ll be blessed with the purest form of black magic," Ryker said, his voice becoming more serious and reverent. "Not all dark magic is the same. Some is gained through cruelty and violence. But the purest form comes from true sacrifice and loyalty."
"Black magic has its pure form?" Sorin asked, clearly shocked by this revelation. His brows raised in surprise as he processed this new information. "There’s a difference between regular dark magic and pure dark magic?"
"I haven’t seen it in person," Ryker admitted, his expression becoming thoughtful. "I haven’t witnessed someone with the purest form of black magic. But I’m sure there’s someone out there who possesses it. Someone who was blessed by a loyal person’s ultimate sacrifice."
He looked out the window at the snowy landscape beyond.
"It’s probably rare," Ryker said quietly. "Very rare. Most dark magic users gain their power through violence or exploitation. True sacrifice is uncommon. Most people are not willing to die for someone else. Most people choose survival over loyalty."
"Oh... Wow," Sorin and Sif muttered together after listening to all of Ryker’s teachings about black magic and its various forms.
The new knowledge was interesting and somewhat frightening.
But Sorin’s mind was still working on the problem even after Ryker left to handle the cremation ceremony.
Sorin silently wondered as he cleaned up the plates of uneaten soup.
’It’s never easy to sacrifice oneself for someone. It requires incredible love. Incredible loyalty. Incredible conviction.’
He paused, standing alone in the hut with Sif who had fallen asleep by the fire.
’Just who is that person? Who out there has loved someone so much that they were willing to die for them? Who has given their life so that someone else could gain the purest form of black magic? Is it someone we know? Is it someone connected to us?’
He stared into the fire, his mind working through the possibilities.
’And if someone like that exists, what does their sacrifice mean? What kind of person receives such a gift? What kind of responsibility comes with power earned through someone else’s death?’