Azel felt a pressure surge over his body as he heard the voice of the knight. Obviously there was something incredible about this guy... Of course, by this point Azel had felt his wounds stitch themselves up, so he assumed he was a pretty incredibly guy himself.
Turning slowly to face his no foe, Azel kept a tight grip on Lyra, she was his hostage and was the only bargaining chip he had.
A tall man stepped out of the forest, he was dressed in a full suit of armour and had a flowing red cape, the only resemblance he shared with Lyra's outfit was a white sash tied around his waist.
The actual helmet we wore was confusing. There was no slit for his eyes or mouth, instead it was just a square cube of silver completely covering him. In some ways the knight seemed more monstrous than Azel.
"Colwyn, I presume," Azel said, his voice dripping with confidence he didn't feel. ""I have no quarrel with you. I seek answers, not conflict."
There was silence for a moment before Colwyn laughed, a deep metallic laugh that seemed to sound like nails scratching against a blackboard. "Man, you even talk like some kind of old man! What a weirdo..."
Suddenly Azel felt bit embarrassed, did he really sound weird? Its not like he had much time to acclimate to the new language style... shaking his head the undead tried to reorganise himself.
The knight was strong, stronger than himself by a mile... but he wasn't attacking despite the rocky start. Maybe there was hope for negotiation here.
"I'll let her go as long as you answer some of my questions..." Azel paused for a moment, but received no indication of Colwyn hearing him so continued, "First tell me about this monster conversion I'm supposedly going through..."
Colwyn was silent for a moment and gave no impression of doing anything but instead stood as still as a statue, Azel had this vague feeling that the knight was sizing him up even if there was no movement. When he inevitably moved to shrug Azel had to stop himself from flinching.
"Sure, why not? Right now you're an undead, and unlike us "pre-dead" you need mana to survive instead of food and water..." Colwyn explained, "The easiest way to get mana is through the absorption of mana-cores.. Oh, those are found inside of certain living creatures"
Azel nodded at the revelation. The water he drank earlier had some special properties, it probably had trace amounts of this mana stuff in it for some reason, and that was why he felt his thirst quenched despite not technically needing the stuff.
Further more, when Lyra talked about undead going "wild with hunger" she meant that they were hunting down mana-cores to sustain themselves... And therefore living creatures. Frowning slightly, Azel realised that it would be difficult to appear friendly when peoples natural instinct was to fight.
"Is there any other way for me to get mana?" Azel asked, his voice betraying a hint of desperation. "I don't want to become a monster.."
Azel doubted the concentration of mana in the water would be enough to truly sustain himself, but if mana could be found in the environment then surely he could find other ways to absorb it.
Colwyn was silent for a moment, his helmet giving nothing away. "There are ways, but they are not easy. Some places are rich in ambient mana, like certain magical springs. Another way is through ancient artifacts called relics..."
Lifting his hand to the helm Colwyn rubbed his chin like he was thinking "I've heard of monks in the west learning to passively absorb mana from the environment so that may be a permanent solution..."
Azel was intrigued, "Monks? where exactly are they?" He quickly belittled himself, what was he thinking! This guy was a threat and here Azel was showing him that he had no idea about the outside world.
"Well, I don't know the specifics but im sure someone back at HQ will know..." Explained Colwyn, "But that's enough about magic theory. Let's see what we're dealing with."
Azel barely had time to react as Colwyn's hand wrapped around his face and ripped him away from the hostage. The force was immense, and Azel felt himself lifted off the ground, his grip on Lyra instantly broken.
He struggled against Colwyn's iron grip, his undead strength proving futile against the knight's overwhelming power.
Colwyn threw Azel to the ground with a casual flick of his wrist, the impact jarring every bone in Azel's body. Rolling to a stop Azel was lost in confusion, he hadn't even seen the knight move!
Before the zombie could get back onto his feet, Colwyn once again appeared out of nowhere and stomped down onto Azel's chest with another force to crack his ribs.
"You are strong, but not nearly strong enough," Colwyn said, his voice devoid of the earlier humour. "If you wish to survive and find the answers you seek, you will need to understand your place in this world."
Azel gritted his teeth, his blood-red eyes blazing with defiance. "Then explain it to me asshole! Stop beating around the bush and give me something to go off of!"
Colwyn leaned in, his helmeted face inches from Azel's. "You are a lost soul in a world that will not easily accept you. But with guidance, you might find a path that leads to something greater. The Sun Chasers can offer you that guidance, but only if you prove yourself worthy."
Lyra interrupted now, breaking the silence she had held during Azel's and Colwyn's conversation, "Surely you can't mean you're going to take an undead in to the Sunchaser's! The idea is preposterous even for you!"
Azel couldn't see because of the foot pinning him down, but Lyra quickly became red after seemingly crossing the line of a subordinate, apparently she was a stickler for the rules.
Colwyn lifted his boot off Azel's chest and turned to face Lyra. "Lyra, remember that our order values knowledge and understanding above all else. If the undead proves to be more than just a mindless monster, we owe it to ourselves to explore that potential."
He looked back at Azel, who was slowly getting to his feet. "We will take you to the Enclave of the Eternal Dawn. There, we can begin to understand your condition and see if you can indeed walk a different path."
The way Colwyn spoke wasn't one of suggestion, or even commanding, it was just simple fact. And after seeing how easily he took control of a situation where he was at a disadvantage... well, Azel Could understand where his confidence came from.
The only actual choice Azel seemed to have was if he was going to be a willing participant or not. Damn, he was unlucky to meet such a strong individual shortly after his resurrection. At least he hoped Colwyn was considered strong, what was the plan if he was just average?
Azel disregarded the thought, if Colwyn was considered average he wouldn't have a servant following him around.
Letting out a sigh, Azel climbed back up to his feet, feeling a mix of relief and fear. "Lead the way."