Anathema - Conversations with Dead Kings

The voice called to him.

Dresden was lured from his uneasy sleep, pulling him into the darkness that night had to offer, bringing him face to face with the ghost of his dead father. It was no surprise to him, the necromancer no longer shocked by the oddities that came along with his gift. It was emotion that overwhelmed him though - a sense of betrayal, despair, grief that had filled him when he first came to these lands - instead of happiness and relief at seeing his sire. “How could you? How could you do this to us?!” He yelled, his voice shaking the very earth he stood on.

The ghost turned, looking at his son. “There was a time you weren’t so reliant on me, Dresden. You have never worn the crown, never seen all your victories turn to ask, your friends, even your heroes depart for other, greener pastures and leave you with the rubble. What right do you have to challenge my decision to walk away?” What had started off as soft, resigned words had turned to anger - an anger empty of the flames Zacharias once controlled. “How can you stand there and claim to be fit to judge?”

“There was a time you weren’t so selfish, Zach. I have every right to challenge, to judge an action that’s affected so many. Every right to judge an action that brought harm to me and my family... you abandoned us just like your heroes abandoned you. Who is more in the wrong?” Dresden shot back, his eyes no longer on the ghost but on the waves that covered Zacharias’ decaying body. It was then that laughter took him over, pulling him into the shallows of the sea. As water brushed up against him, he looked back at his father’s spectral form. “Maybe I am wrong. Should I try it? Would it give me a better understanding, Zach? Maybe I’m just stronger than you are, than you could ever think of being. Maybe I’m more considerate, more faithful to the ones who care about me.” Moving back to the rocky beach, he looked at his father once more. “Enjoy your afterlife. I’ll let the Queen known you dropped by for a visit.” His words trailed behind him, left for the apparition as he walked away.

“And maybe you’re more like me than you’d ever want to admit, and you fear that the darkness I gave in to will claim you as well?” Zacharias had followed his son into the waves, desperate to keep the connection to the living. “I’m not going to say I made the right choice, Dresden, but it felt as if I didn’t have another. Will you deny me the desperation I felt, the isolation from everyone I’d loved? I couldn’t have asked for help, had I known the words. Walking away and refusing to keep trying seemed like the only thing I could have done. I caused too much pain already.” It was Tia Maria who filled his addled mind now, his decaying heart forever belonging to her. “The gods aren’t done with me yet, Dresden. I shouldn’t be here, locked into this shell of a life with those so filled with hatred that they’re insane, and those killed too soon, unable to let go of what they lost. I’m not supposed to be here!” His voice grew louder, aimed at the back of Dresden’s body as it walked away from him. “Find a way to bring me back.”

A laugh echoed through the Isles of Despair, Dresden’s voice echoing amongst the overgrown pines. “I’ll see what I can do.”