Huntsong Chapter 9 — Sasi

Chapter 9 — Sasi
Chapter 8 — Haeight	Chapter 10 — Cara
Chapter List
	Huntsong

Huntsong Chapter 9 — Sasi is the 9th chapter of Huntsong.

Sasi and Culin were greatly saddened by Princess Seraphel's depatrue of Afiele, crying for several days. The [Princess] had been the only person who could talk to the children, as they were now alone while being housed at Duchess Grishen’s castle. Sasi still had recurring nightmares from when the [Necromancer] took control of her, forcing her to follow him as he prepared to destroy her home and people. These days, the young girl became prone to wandering the fields where the [Necromancer] died, looking for his remains.

Grishen told Sasi that her and her brother are bound to Afiele, to let the people know they are alive, and then to Ovela to present them to the rulers of the provice, the Twins. Grishen is less than complimentary towards the Twins, derisively calling their six-year conflict with the [Baron] of House Ecte bloody and pointless. The ghost ancestor of Grishen, [Paladin] Arteis, promises to protect the two, swearing to not fail them a second time.

While stalwart in her duties in protecting Sasi and Culin and the lands of Afiele, Arteis is baffled by the mystery behind the disappearance of the other tens of thousands of ghosts, with a scant two hundred remaining. However, she swears to Sasi that she and the other ghosts will guard her and her brother, along with Afiele, promising to stay vigil for decades.The ghosts have already rebuilt the walls at Landsmecht, being able to labor day and night without rest. Grishen is slightly intimidated by her ancestors and the other ghosts, who can be considered high-level legends in the present day. Grishen warns Sasi to be wary, reminding her that the ghosts are beholden to only Sasi and Culin, which the crown and other nobles may not like.

That night, Arteis is guarding Sasi in her bedroom, while Ser Dalius is in Culin’s. She tells the young [Lady] some of her past. As a Level 43 [Paladin], she served as a Crusader of the Dawn Patrol, having fought the Nagatine Empire’s armies of Lizardfolk and a Goblin Lord. She also fought in Rhir, where she died fighting "Devils".

After a few hours pretending to be asleep, Sasi sneaks out of her room, going outside the walls of the keep. She returns to the burnt field in search of Feren’s bones, to reassure herself of the [Necromancer’s] death. She finds the [Necromancer’s] remains by sheer change, just when the ash and bones begins reanimating itself, forming into a skeleton of ash. Sasi tries to flee, but it starts choking her. Suddenly, a tall [Witch] with orange eyes and ringed pupils appears from out of nowhere. The skeleton drops the [Lady] and tries to attack the [Witch]. However, she easily crushes its skull with one hand and prevents it from reanimating it. Calling Sasi a "Lady of the Fields,." the [Witch] claims to come in peace and asks for a moment of her time.

The [Witch] introduces herself as Belavierr, the most powerful witch in the world. Answering Sasi’s questions, she claimed to travel to House Ladel, after sensing the death of the [Lord] of the land, and the awakening of a nostalgic presence. The [Witch] also downplays her own accomplishment of killing the skeleton, claiming that it hadn’t been dangerous in its current state.

In exchange for answering Sasi’s questions, Belavierr demands three of her own questions. First, she asks if the young [Lady] if she knows the whereabouts of her daughter, but is unsurprised when Sasi doesn’t know. She then asks how ghosts now walk the land of the living, to which Sasi is compelled to answer, telling Belavierr the tale of the [Necromancer] who opened the Tomb of Afiele. For her final question, Belaveirr asks what Sasi would offer for her parents to be resurrected. Though the young girl is unnerved by the [Witch's] seemingly impossible claim, as well as Belavierr’s smile, which was “the fakest smile Sasi had ever seen, worse than Culin’s,” she states she would do anything, greatly pleasing the [Witch]

When Sasi offers her soul in exchange for resurrecting her parents, Belavierr refuses, while also declining the service of Paladin Arteis and the other ghosts, claiming that they are bound by oath to Sasi and Culin. Instead, she asks for artifacts and the armies of the ghosts, naming a price at least three hundred thousand bodies with souls. However, she disconcerted by Sasi’s confusion. Belavierr also rejects Sasi’s offer of gold coins, as they are not pure gold. During the negotiation, the [Witch] becomes perplexed as to why the land is silent, claiming that it should have risen up when the [Lord] of the land died, along with the countless dead of Afiele’s crypts to pay their respects. Realizing that Sasi had less to offer than she had thought, Belavierr leaves, but promises to return if Sasi should come into a fortune. In the seconds after the [Witch]'s departure, Arteis arrives, sword blazing and shouting an alarm. Sasi soon realizes that she had met a legend, someone so terrible that Grishen refused to tell the young girl of her story.