Rise of the Necromancer: Chapter 25

Vayne always found it odd how few people lived to the north. There were those that lived in the cities. Those who lived in the center of the desert and those that lived in the south near the mountains that separated this country and the next. But something about the north and its coldness and remoteness alienated people.

Perhaps that was the reason Cerisans decided to build their castle up here. Isolated away from the Norian and Sanctum war. At the same time, they would not fight for resources with the Free City. Left alone and able to foster their own colonies for taxes and substance.

Guiding the skeletal horse down the ridge he made sure that the beast was careful where it stepped. Undead animals were just as prone to mistakes as their living counterparts. From up high he could see the dull grey valley that was his goal. The once full village was nestled between two mountain ranges protecting it from the elements. However, it was vulnerable to things like landslides though, those were rare. Truly in this territory, it was one of the safest places one could live.

The reason that the Cersians were able to hold these people under their thumb was because of the demons. That was something that Cerisan territory always had more than any other. Maybe it was because they knew there was prey here or maybe it was because of the queen’s own energy. Regardless it was dangerous to live there without some form of protection and that’s where the soldiers and knights of Cerise came in.

Now the town was abandoned. Many of the homes had been flattened by the elements but long before that it had been besieged. Vayne hadn’t been there when it happened but the aura of death within the village was almost intoxicating. It was like a haven for a necromancer.

Riding to the edge of the village he dismounted and watched it fall into a pile of bones. Walking into the village slowly he spread his arms and took a deep breath soaking in the energy. Many people died in this village and their souls were aggressive, reaching out to him and grasping at him but the demon that dwelled inside his soul repelled them.

He could see the spirits of the village trying to live a normal life within the village. Going their former day to day lives until he approached. Then the former villages revealed the distorted beings they had become.

A long lanky hand snaked toward him and it was rebuffed by a quick skeletal swipe. Vayne ignored them for the most part because this was not something new to him. He kept walking to the heart of the village where the spirits congregated. They shuffled away from him as he walked through them to the other side.

This was a massive graveyard, small mounds in the ground marked by smaller stones. He’d done the math and the spirits in the grave were just as restless. From the oldest man to the smallest child. Once he’d been tempted to raise this village just to see if he could but he was long past grand displays for his own validation. Stepping through the mass graveyard he felt the presence and hate of the dead fall away like water off a duck’s back. He knew spirits hung around after getting brutally killed but collections that large were still a rarity.

At the very base of the valley beyond the village was a small basin. It was dried out entirely but at the base was the entire reason that Vayne had traveled to this part of the world. A pile of logs stacked atop each other with a shovel embedded into the ground. The shovel was old, caked in rust from the handle to the blade but it was still standing strong.

He glanced at the sky and heard a dull rumble of thunder somewhere far off. The rain hadn’t come yet but he had a feeling that this part of the country was going to get a downpour. Sliding down the basin he walked forward until he stood in front of the shovel. Reaching forward he grasped the handle and felt the age of the tool.

Thunder boomed overhead, this time much closer. His green magic manifested, racing across the length of the shovel blasting away the rust and shining the blade of the weapon. It was like it was good as new. But he stopped and manifested the demon above his shoulder and it swung its skeletal arm.

The fist was stopped short by a woman’s pale finger, “You still reup the protection on his grave.”

“Have and will continue to do. To keep out undesirables.”

“Of course. I’ll be honest Vayne. I almost thought that you were slipping. Allowing me to get this close to you.”

“We knew someone was following us. We didn’t take you for the sentimental type Rebecca.”

The skeleton arm disappeared into green mist and she stepped forward. She wore a long black hooded coat, black gloves, and boots with a short heel. Against her back was a long shovel the blade pointed toward the ground. She folded her arms in front of her chest and then pulled the hood off her head slowly. Very short brown hair revealed itself, a shade darker than her own skin. Her eyes drooped slightly but there was an internal glow within the depths like stars buried in the void of the sky.

“I could ask you the same question Vayne. And please, call me by my proper name. Pride.”

Vayne raised an eyebrow, “A name befitting the woman. What brings you to the middle of the north?”

“Can’t a widow visit the grave of her husband?”

“Considering you drove him to his death we wonder if that’s appropriate,” he chuckled to himself.

She walked forward and Vayne could see that she wasn’t entirely on the ground. She actually floated an inch or two off the ground though. “Oh please. You cannot give me all of the credit for such a thing. Even I am not that powerful.”

“Perhaps so. Our brother was stubborn and refused to listen to reason. Or our own advice. His death is his own.”

“Indeed. Though he stole away one of my precious children. An affront that I am not quick to forgive. Even now.”

“Children are a difficult thing. They grow and become unruly. Rarely listen to the things that we advise them.”

She turned to face him and covered her mouth, “Oh my Vayne. Did you finally procreate? I did not think it was possible.”

“Unfortunately, no. We simply have had the pleasure and displeasure of many students.”

“Oh no. More of you demon hybrids roaming around.”

“It’s a better fate than the undeath that you embrace so willingly.”

“Unfortunate. It truly is a liberating experience. To brush off the shackles of life and embrace the infinite possibilities of the beyond. If only everyone could enjoy such an experience.”

“We’ve heard a rumor that that’s what you’ve begun to do.”

“After that unpleasantness with Daze, I decided to follow my own ambitions.”

The pair of necromancers stared at one another and neither of their faces changed, maintaining the same pleasantness. Vayne moved first, taking a step back and turning to properly face her. “Why are you really here Rebecca?”

“I told you. Call me Pride.”

“Only because you insist. Pride. Why did you come to our brother’s grave?”

“If you must know I came for his shovel.”

The smile on his face remained but it was far less welcoming as he looked at her as his eyes narrowed. Taking another step, he actively put himself between her and the grave. She moved along with him not taking a step toward the grave but the air grew charged between them. The first few drops of rain began to fall steadily from the sky.

“Will you stop me?” she asked spreading her arms.

“When the alternative is allowing you to enslave his spirit. We’d rather not.”

“Oh Vayne. You think far too small.”

“My dead shall not be fuel for you regardless.”

“You manipulate the dead often but only when it’s your kin do you draw a line?”

“Exactly.”

“I take it this is your way of telling me you won’t come back and be my Envy again?”

Lightning flashed and thunder cracked about their heads. The rain began to fall in a steady sheet. The skeleton manifested behind him and its arm surged forward ready to grab her. A wall of air wrapped around her preventing the hand from truly taking hold. Flicking her wrist, the hand shattered and she grasped at him.

A trio of spirits manifested out of the air in front of Vayne. They lunged forward, their long thin fingers slashing at him. The skeleton’s ribcage appeared blocking each of their hands. Hands shot out the ribcage, spearing the spirits and turning them into mist. Crouching he reached into his pouch and tossed forward a dozen shards of bone.

A dozen skeletons burst out of the air and broke into a sprint. Before they could even get close the skeletons stilled. The magic was sucked out of them and they collapsed into a pile of dust. The magic rushed toward Pride’s outstretched hand and rested as an orb above her palm.

The magic flowered above her and turned into a giant skeleton. It charged forward and jumped stomping down over his head. Vayne’s skeleton caught the leg and he took a step to the side throwing the skeleton down. He shoved his hand into the magic itself and absorbed it into his body. Shuddering he hissed and then felt the demon at his back groan.

A trio of spirits lunged from the ground grabbing at his feet but were rebuffed by a flash of green light. Kicking the remnants away from him he stared at Pride. “Spirits. Fascinating. We haven’t seen magic quite like that in some time.”

“You handle yourself well. But that’s to be expected,” Pride tapped her fingers against her arm slowly. “How should I properly handle you so that you don’t remain a thorn in my side. Oh I know.”

Reaching around her back she drew the shovel out like a sword. Turning the weapon around she raised it to the sky and thunder rocked the air. The air rippled with energy and Vayne realized what she was doing far too late to do anything about it. The village that he passed through had begun to glow with a fell light. And then it was sucked out of the city and flew toward them like a swarm of locusts. Staring at it he could hear the screaming of the spirits as they lunged for him sweeping him out of the basin.

They scratched and tore at him, burying him under the weight of their fury. Through the deafening screams of the spirits he could hear his demon’s groans as the pressure threatened to crush and kill them both. “We won’t perish here. Not like this.” He said to himself.

Closing one of his hands into a tight fist he growled and shut his eyes. The magic rumbled through him and one by one he felt the chains that kept the demon bound break away. The demon began to move, flex its arms and shake itself slowly. Once the last one was gone the demon’s eyes were flooded with green light as it awakened.

Vayne stared at the demon huddled against the ground but its head was bent upward and facing him. Its bright green eyes didn’t waver and its mouth was agape. He stared at the being that he had enslaved a long time ago and raised his hand. The demon followed that motion like a starving dog, waiting for a command.

“Devour,” he commanded.

The screeching, the thunder, the rain. All of the noise in the basin was slowly eradicated under the noise of one long howl. A note like wind flowing rapidly through a crack in a window if that window was the frail form of Vayne. The howl came out of his mouth but even then it was a second hand sound.

It started with only a couple spirits, dragged out of the air and sucked into his mouth. As they entered his mouth, they realized their fate and tried to claw themselves away. Find some sort of safety. But there was no saving them. They were trapped in the suction of the necromancer’s demon.

He slowly pushed himself to his feet, consuming spirit after spirit eating them like a warm soup on a cold day. The spirits began to realize that the only thing this situation had for them was death and they tried to flee, to escape what was coming. But Vayne was relentless.

The light of the spirits eventually faded away and he was in the darkness of the storm above his head. He sank to his knees and pressed both hands against the ground. His eyes and mouth had begun to glow and he felt the power coursing through him. Digging his hands into the ground he shut his eyes tightly.

“Devour and engorge yourself. Grow in power and fuel us,” he said talking directly to the demon which was not something he had done in a very long time. His eyes rolled back in his head slowly and his body ached. He was in a huge amount of pain that racked him from head to toe.

And then the pain disappeared. He could feel the suction of the demon as it drank of the souls that they had eaten. He could feel it grow behind him, getting larger and more powerful. But it wasn’t more powerful than him, for as it grew stronger so did he. He brought the chains back and confined the demon again. It floated behind him, back bowed and head down.

Taking a hesitant step forward Vayne pulled his hair back and narrowed his eyes. Only a few of the spirits remained, floating harmlessly through the air. But Pride was nowhere to be found. He looked around with his still glowing eyes but it was empty. He sloshed through the water and went to the grave that he’d dug years ago.

The logs were still there, arranged as he had left them previously. But what was missing made him swear. The shovel stolen right from the resting spot that was the former headstone. While he had been brought low by the spirits Pride had made her move.

Walking out of the basin and climbing to the top he stood on the edge of the valley again. He stared at the sky feeling the rain pelting at his face. Lightning flashed in the sky and the thunder echoed as it rumbled in the distance. Brushing the water from his face he raised his hand.

The magic surged to his call and he threw his arm down. It raced into the ground pulling from the energies nearby. It sucked and pulled from the dead both recently and long buried. Slowly he pulled the lives of previous creatures out of the soil and turned them into what he needed. Turned them into a horse with much sturdier bones. He even allowed the meat and skin to grow back for comfort.

Going to the horse he tapped its bones and swung his leg over onto its back. Putting a hand on the back of its head it turned and started walking toward the village. “Well Vemire. We weren’t able to stop her from desecrating your grave. We warned you to stay away from that woman. And now she seeks to bring an end to this world. As much as we’d love to see that happen, we don’t wish to live in that world. Time to go pay our student a visit.”