Elias, armed with a solemn step and a shovel, dragged his feet through a grassy field outside the city of New Alexandria. Short trees, bushes, and rocky metallic spires surrounded him and the small meadow of dry, knee-high grasses. He placed his Wizardly tools, the wand and staff, at the edge of the meadow. Taking only his enchanted revolver and a mundane shovel to the center. The wizard quietly conjured a palmful of flames and burned away the grass in a large square, leaving only a large patch of charred dirt and roots. With a quiet heave, Elias stuck his shovel in the ground and began digging. 

Hours later, just when the Reach's star was about to set, Elias finished his work. A large five foot deep hole. He wiped his sweat soaked brow with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, which had long since been cast aside for the work.

"This had better be worth it," Elias muttered to himself as he pulled the revolver from its resting place just outside of the hole. He whispered an unintelligible phrase as the wizard quickly walked to the center and stuck the revolver barrel first into the ground and waited.

A few minutes later, the moment the star hit the edge of the horizon, dozens of ghostly apparitions appeared. Both standing outside Elias' makeshift hole and surrounding it. One for each of the soldiers killed during his and Blue's assault on the ONI weapons facility. Most of the ghosts were faceless. The only way to identify them as ONI were the uniforms and armor they wore. Many of them appeared to retain the same wounds that had killed them.

One ghost stood out amongst them all. It's face and six bullet holes, one in the head, each arm, each leg, and the belly button, were crystal clear.

The ghost looked around, confused, before focusing on Elias. It let out a blood curdling scream to which Elias simply responded by closing his eyes and blotting it out.

"You killed me," The ghost screamed, charging forward with his fist riled for punch. His incorporeal fist simply phased through Elias and crashed against the invisible barrier on the side of the hole.

"You would've died anyway," Elias responded calmly, "I found the best way to save you."

"Chaining me to a gun is saving me?" The ghost questioned.

"Yes."

"Bullshit."

Elias paused for a moment, to think. Surely any kind of life, even where one's soul was chained to a gun, was better than nothing.

"Death only brings nothingness," Elias explained, "A life where you can look at the world has to be better than disappearing for good."

"I already am dead," The ghost retorted, "You killed me and your crazy bitch friend killed everyone else."

"Fine then," Elias pulled a few materials out of his bag, which he had left at the edge of the hole, and pulled out two materials: a stick of dead ash, and a nightshade flower. With the stick, he drew a circle in the dirt and placed both inside and started channelling mana. Not the normal force that holds the life together kind of mana, but the energy that gave the universe life. The wizard drew upon that residual energy floating about in the air from the lives of spirits too long dead to have any real existence and plants long since ground away by the forces of nature. Elias channelled these energies through the little circle. The flower and the ash slowly melded together, forming a long and slender wand over the course of several minutes. 

"I'll give you a body if that makes you happy," Elias whispered as he raised his new wand. He channelled a new flow of inky life energy through the wand. A gooey green substance appeared to fill up the form of the ONI soldier. The stuff quickly solidified into body and uniform similar to the one the agent was wearing the day he was killed.

"Yes, this is good," The soldier replied, winding up for another punch which struck Elias squarely in the jaw. The Wizard took it with no comment and was flung to the ground. The soldier went in to kick the wizard while he was down, but Elias raised his wand and froze the soldier in place.

"I can give you life," Elias said, "but I can also take it away. If you help me, I can give you life."

"Fuck you," The soldier retorted, winding up for another punch only to be frozen still again.

"You don't understand," Elias muttered, a deadly anger began creeping into his voice as his eyes changed to a crimson red. "I am the one here with power. Accept my help or you will never see the world again."

The power of Elias' voice washed over the ghosts as he unknowingly bent them to his will. They began nodding in agreement. Even the original soldier knelt on one knee as a knight would in front of his king."

"Yes, my master," The soldier stated in a monotone, "We will do whatever you command."

Elias almost stepped back. He hadn't intended that to be the effect.

"I'm no master," Elias replied softly, "I'm just a friend."

"Of course."

Ellias slowly walked past the kneeling ghosts and pulled the revolver out of the ground. The numerous ghostly apparitions slowly faded away like mist in the wind. Elias climbed out of his makeshift grave and walked over to the tools he had left by the side of the meadow. The wizard stared at his makeshift staff. The light and fragile broomstick had served him well in the past few weeks, but somehow, lifting it just didn't feel right. He gripped each end of the stick and promptly snapped it in two with his knee.

Of course, a wizard can never go long without a staff. The tool is a symbol of a wizard's power and his mastery over the powers of magic, so Elias packed up his two remaining magical tools, his wand and shield amulet, and wandered around the edges of the near pitch-black meadow until his foot caught on a dead sapling on the ground. Elias stared at it for a moment, his eyes trying to focus in the middle of the night, and picked it up. He hefted it a bit and gave it a few spins in his hand. It had some heft to it, and it wasn't terribly well balanced with the various knots and branches still attached to it, but it felt good. He used his old wand to conjure a floating fire in the air above his head and got to whittling the staff to an acceptable shape and size.

The flow of magic surrounding Elias as he whittled was the only thing that kept him awake for the long hours it took to create a staff. The Wizard slowly let the staff take it's natural shape and height, and by the time he had finished, it would stand just below eye level. Though one of the things that confused him the most was a large cavity close to the top. As if the staff wanted something to sit there. The wizard closed his eyes and focused. He focused his senses in on the tug of energy holding life together: Nothing. He debated for a moment and focused on the Forces keeping the beings around him alive, still nothing. He focused on both and felt a light tugging nearby, as if something were sitting there, waiting for him. The wizard walked towards the tug, which grew stronger with each step until his boot hit a large piece of amber, a stone said to have the properties of balancing emotions and promote control over it's bearer's life. Elias had no idea what such a large chunk of the stuff was doing on the surface, but it was clearly meant for the staff. The Wizard picked up the unusual stone and slid it into the gap on his new staff. The dead wood tightened around it to ensure it wouldn't slide out just as easily as it went in.

The wizard sighed his last breath of regret. Now that the haze of death had cleared from over his head, Elias' mind was clear. He was now more than ready to face the days ahead, all he had to do was remember to collect the souls of those he killed.

[End]