Defiant Necromancer (Book 2 stubbed)

The inner circle of the Grand Beastfolk Army convened.

It was Tybalt, Andric, Vidalia, Victoria, Tatiana, Dero, Mariella, and a selection of the prospective officers corps Tybalt was hoping would gradually continue to take on more of the responsibilities of military operations.

Tybalt let Andric open things.

“The war will wait for no one, so even if we’re comfortable here right now, we have to plan for our next conquest,” the foxman said quietly. He still seemed a bit subdued from the revelations of the previous half hour, but all things considered, the necromancer thought Andric was holding up well.

I made the right call, deciding not to kill him. Just because his father’s nuts… Well, I know all about that. He’ll be a good Chief. And if something happens to me, he’ll keep the fox tribe as safe as he can.

Tybalt thought about Vidalia and Mariella, both carrying his children. Then he pictured the General who Vidalia had repeatedly envisioned defeating Tybalt in battle, a seemingly inevitable fate.

He shook his head wearily.

Stop thinking about mortality. It’s not inevitable that you ever have to die, let alone soon.

“Edgard suggested we take the towns we skipped in order to get to Whadesgart next, ending with Vors. That location has some… personal significance to him. He could explain it better himself.”

The others stepped back in surprise as the mummy strode forward from where he had been, off to the side, opened his mouth, and began to speak.

“In the last war we managed to wage against the humans - I mean against the oppression of the Kingdom - that was the final town we reached,” Edgard said.

“So this is as far as we’ve ever gotten,” Andric mused.

“And the last time was in your day, King Edgard?” asked Tatiana.

“Indeed. The reasons I want to go there are complex… but one is personal, as my lord said. That town was where we were defeated. Where I died and shamed my ancestors forever.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Vidalia quietly. “You have been of great help to my darling, and if you and your kin weren’t present for the fight with the dragon, I suspect Tybalt would have died last night.”

“Any shame is more than gone now,” Andric agreed.

“Still, I would like to reclaim my honor and take the town personally, in the name of my lord,” Edgard said. “It would set right what went wrong all those years ago… putting our people on our path of decline.”

The others fell into a sober silence for a few seconds.

“Does this mean you intend to let Beastking Edgard lead the operation?” Andric asked finally, looking at Tybalt.

“I’d rather not be traveling at all myself just now,” Tybalt said with a slightly embarrassed expression. “I want to train my magic further, and it’s easier to do that when I’m stationary. And frankly, it’s a bit frivolous, but my birthday is coming up, and I’d like to just spend some time with my future wives. We took this town at a fortuitous time. I think the group of us have earned a bit of a break. I think those of us who stay here will be the ones who take Fort Hadrian in the end, while those who go with Edgard will get their experience from that. I’m imagining he leads a force of half beastfolk, half undead, and the other halves of both groups stay here with you and me.”

“Well, the Beastkings are certainly capable of commanding the respect of our troops,” Andric said.

“Your birthday? When is it?” asked Victoria, looking at the necromancer.

“Next week,” Tybalt replied.

“What? Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Mariella. “We’d have been preparing something.”

“In any case, you should definitely stay here if you can, Tybalt,” said Andric. “Spend time around the people you love. And perhaps more pressingly, the town authorities spoke with you, negotiated with you, seem to like and trust you well enough. The Kingdom is still a hostile place for beastfolk, and I doubt the rest of us would be welcome for long if you suddenly disappeared.”

“That’s fair,” said Tybalt. “I’ll send one of my ghouls among the undead. Once they hit level five, they get a skill called ‘Personal Illusion.’ It will be able to disguise itself as me and speak with my voice if we end up needing that for some reason. And- ” he looked at Dero- “hopefully I’ll learn the Teleport skill by the time our army actually arrives at Vors. If not by then, I imagine I’ll have it down by the next town they take.”

“If you want me to speed run this, I’ll happily put you through your paces,” Dero said with a gleeful look. “The system is more likely to recognize you have the skill if you can perform it while enduring distractions and pressure, you know?”

“Mm hm,” the necromancer said. He resisted the urge to ask questions for the moment. Instead, he turned to Mariella. “As for why I didn’t tell you sooner, I haven’t exactly been thinking about when I’d be a year older. It wasn’t important. We were fighting a war. It hasn’t been a time for celebrations.”

“That reminds me that we should have the wedding soon,” said Vidalia. “Join all of our hands together in holy matrimony. Before anything bad has a chance to happen.”

“She has a point,” said Andric. “I’m sure there’s more grief coming in the near future.”

“Yeah, I would rather do this when we’re not mourning any losses,” Tybalt said. He thought he and Andric were both talking about the same thing.

“Then I’ll speak with the other members of the priesthood, and we can arrange a traditional beastfolk ceremony to be performed here,” Victoria said.

Probably for the best, Tybalt thought. We still have towns to burn, a fort to take, and a meeting with a dragon to attend. Who knows how long those negotiations will take? If we wait until we’re back at the mountain to get married, Chief Mihalic will already be dead, and we’ll have to pretend to mourn him. There won’t be a decent period of time when we can get married before I have to face the General. And I still get an ominous feeling when I think about that.

“Sounds like it’s settled,” said Tatiana. She turned to Dero. “Do you have someone to attend you as your maid of honor? I like your style, so if you needed that…”

“I… could use that,” Dero replied slowly. “I think.”

Tatiana looped her arm through Dero’s.

“Then you and I should go and look at dresses together! Hardly any weddings happen anywhere outside of our mountainside. I can’t remember the last time I snuck into a town, and it was a backwater town too. Here we can shop freely!”

“I guess that’s the military side of this meeting finished, then,” said Andric, smiling thinly.

“And the all-important wedding planning has begun,” Vidalia said in a tone of faux seriousness.

“You men had better keep out of our way,” said Victoria, matching her sister. “We have matters to attend to that are far more important than any war.”

I didn’t realize Vicky had this lightness to her, Tybalt thought. We should spend more time alone together. She’s quiet most of the time, so I still don’t know her the way I know Vidalia.

“I’ll plan for Tybalt’s birthday,” Mariella said with a small smile. She winked.

Well, I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I know it’s going to be an interesting day.

“I suggest that the troops who can be ready to leave tomorrow go with Edgard then,” he said.

Tybalt and the mummy looked at Andric, and the foxman nodded.

“That sounds like a plan.”

***

It was the very next morning when Edgard gathered with the troops placed under his command.

Five hundred undead, including five fellow Beastkings, and five hundred beastfolk, almost half of Tybalt and Andric’s living force, joined him. The living were mounted on camels and horses, whatever they had brought from previous towns - or semi-politely commandeered under Tybalt’s semi-voluntarily granted authority from Whadesgart itself. They were fresh, equipped, fed, and carrying ample supplies.

Tybalt and Edgard had wanted nothing left to chance. So, although the necromancer kept back the vast bulk of the undead and enough beastfolk to make Whadesgart nervous, he and Edgard had ensured that the mummy commanded a well-equipped and sizable force more than capable of flattening Vors - or any settlement in the Salt Waste.

This would be Edgard’s chance not only to redeem his honor but to assist his master in ascending to greater heights of power.

After all, along with my life, I lost my crown there, the mummy thought. And unlike my body, the lord of that town apparently never gave that back.

Edgard remembered the conversation just before the fatal duel like it was yesterday.

“There is only one King in Niet,” Lord Brekker had said. “You are not he.”

“I will make you kneel and acknowledge us,” Edgard had replied simply.

The two had fought. And he had failed. Edgard had failed and died, and the army he had built to take revenge on the Kingdom had been forced to go home and lay his corpse to rest in the Valley of Martyrs.

Not this time, though. I hope I can face his descendant. I hope that man’s blood still runs thick with power even in this generation. I have learned new tricks since dying, Lord Brekker. I have grown stronger under the care of my master. And I have been filled with new purpose. Soon, what remains of your line will kneel before a new Beastking.

His mind shifted from the haze of memories to crisp, clear reality of the present.

The living were muttering to themselves, questioning Tybalt and Andric’s decision to place them under the command of one of the undead. Even if he had been their ruler once, mummies weren’t the men and women they had been. They couldn’t even speak.

Edgard was happy to set their minds at ease on that score.

“Attention!” he barked.

The beastfolk stiffened, but a moment after the dead shifted into perfectly ordered lines, it was easy enough for the living to follow their example.

“We march now to rectify a great historical mistake!” Edgard roared, his voice as hearty as it had been in life. “We should have taken every town in the Salt Waste during the last war we waged with the humans. We failed. Our numbers have thinned since then, but we are bolstered by the ranks of the dead. By a great leader who faced down an ancient dragon without flinching. By a new generation of beastmen who fight even against overwhelming odds. Most importantly by the support of our god, as he seeks to set the entire world right. We will finally have the opportunity to change this Kingdom for the better. Move with courage, men! Take what is rightfully ours!”

Edgard felt the energy of the troops, then. It was as intense as it had been in his time. The nature of his people - their passion, their vigor, their lust for life - had not changed over the centuries.

The Grand Beastfolk Army marched. They moved under the command of one of their Beastkings for the first time in centuries.

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