The misadventures of the necromancer

“But how can a city like that appear in the middle of nowhere?” Sena hears Seres wonder aloud. Apparently bored on their travel back to the Vey stronghold.

His voice pulls her thoughts back to the blond young man who seems so friendly—and to everything she has learned about him and his friend. The two images are so different that she can hardly believe they belong to the same people. Though it isn’t as difficult as it is for Saca, who, because of the help she received from them, is far more reluctant to doubt the boys.

In the end, however, both of them agreed that Nero would hardly lie or invent something—especially not at the moment he revealed all that.

And considering that even Nero agrees the two boys are unlikely to be dangerous while he is around, they decided—for now—to trust them, but keep their eyes open. In truth, they can only fully trust each other.

“I already told you—it’s because of the Pit!” Nero replies, clearly exasperated.

“But a ruin only has monsters. Even if you hunt them, I don’t see how they could be worth enough to justify building a city like that,” Seres answers, scratching his head thoughtfully.

She can’t help but consider the question and find herself agreeing. Even if there were enough meat from monsters to feed a population, there would hardly be a reason to build such a large city. Besides, she cannot imagine herself eating such meat unless in desperation.

“That depends on what you’re hunting!” Nero’s comment interrupts her thoughts.

“Remember that the gold we have came from the eggs we gathered. And I can guarantee you that inside that ruin there are creatures far more valuable than a few miserable giant spider eggs,” Nero declares, revealing the origin of his fortune.

That he can handle giant spiders well enough to collect their eggs isn’t even particularly surprising. Of everything she has learned about the necromancer so far, that is by far the least shocking—almost unimpressive.

“Yes, but I imagine that for most people catching such creatures isn’t easy. And certainly not without risk,” Adar interrupts, his tone slightly sour—but making an important point.

Nero simply nods before speaking again.

“Well… you’re not wrong. At least for the deeper levels.” Here he tilts his head slightly, as if recalling something else. “But monsters weren’t the Pit’s main value… at least when you're starting in the early ga...”

Everyone slows their pace slightly at that, wanting to hear more—even if the information isn’t immediately important. For a brief moment, Sena wonders what he means by “early ga...” Still, she begins to understand how the boys let some of Nero’s stranger comments pass without question, as the necromancer keeps talking, apparently ignoring his little slip.

“The important thing is that the Pit allows people to go down—and come back up—from very deep levels. Where lots of magical crystals grow.”

At the mention of magic, no one except Delmic can avoid staring in astonishment.

“But what’s that?” Saca asks—much to Sena’s relief, since despite her curiosity, she didn’t want to admit she didn’t know what those crystals were.

Nero doesn’t seem bothered by the question.

“They’re crystals that contain magical power—like magical batteries…” he begins, then stops and looks at them. Making her suspect that he realizes they don’t understand what he is saying. Crystals containing magic are one thing—but what are batteries?

“Well… if you want to make magical things like rings or swords, you need crystals. Not that you’ll find many of those in Inverten. There, it’s mostly pale blue ones… at least the one that it's easy to get,” he continues explaining. “Those are only good for potions… You know, good ingredients for potions that restore magic.”

“Really?!” exclaims an overexcited Seres, immediately turning back to look where they had come from, his imagination clearly racing.

“Don’t get any ideas, Blondie!” Nero says with amusement. “For starters, I don’t know the recipes for those potions. And don’t even think about going down into the Pit.”

Seres’s expression instantly falls.

“To begin with, I don’t know the state of the Pit. And I don’t intend to go find out. Even in the best conditions, you… wouldn’t stand much chance of surviving the places you’d need to reach to find those crystals.”

“But then you are agreeing with me about the danger,” Adar interjects.

“Yes, I am,” the necromancer replies with a shrug. “It’s dangerous even if you do know what you’re doing. But it’s less dangerous than other things. So for someone just starting out, it is… or was a good plan.”

“So there aren’t any magical crystals anymore?” she asks.

Again, he shrugs.

“I don’t know. There are other places where crystals grow. They grow in all ruins. And there are mines.”

“Mines?!” Seres perks up again.

“Yes, mines. However, they can contain many unpleasant things besides crystals. And they attract nasty creatures… That, and mines run dry—something that doesn’t happen in ruins.”

A very interesting idea—one that makes her wonder how the necromancer knows such things. He speaks as though he had seen Old Town when it was still inhabited. But that was many years ago…

“Someone is coming!” Adar announces, instantly banishing her thoughts, replacing them with unease and dread. What now?

In the distance, she sees two ponies approaching—which in itself is strange. This is mountainous territory; after one hill, you usually find another. Not the best place for horses. Even the nomadic clans around here don’t have many horses. There are a few ponies, yes—but even those are rare.

Only some clans can afford the resources to keep them. Even ponies—which don’t require the grain that the large coastal horses need—still require space and time to grow before becoming useful. Something very few can provide.

In fact, she knows of only one clan that breeds them for trade: the Alji, who occupy the small plateau on the opposite shore of Lake Clearwater from the Clue—the lake itself forming the boundary between the clans and maintaining the peace.

So seeing animals here is worrying. Her heart begins to race as she imagines they might be the Clue—a clan that truly has ponies and a reason to come after them.

But quickly she reminds herself that the Clue are also the ones who best understand that coming after them and facing Nero would be incredibly foolish—and her husband’s grandmother was not a fool.

As the riders approach, she slowly begins to relax, because the one in front is very clearly a member of the Alji—evident from the sides of his head being shaved. Before reaching adulthood, the Alji shave one side of their head, left or right, depending on gender.

At last, she lets out a sigh of relief, considering there is no reason for the Alji to be a problem. And if they are, they would hardly be a threat to Nero, who has “little chats with servants of gods.”

“What the hell is it now?” Nero mutters as he gestures for them to keep walking. It reassures her somewhat that, though irritated, he does not seem particularly worried.

As they resume walking, Saca suddenly asks aloud, “Isn’t that one of the Vey?”

And yes, she is right—the other rider appears to be one of the Vey who had helped unload the milk from the cart they used to bring it from their stronghold.

“Alji and Vey together! What could they want?” she comments, half to herself.

“Alji!?” Adar asks, clearly intrigued as well.

That prompts her to quickly explain what she knows about the Alji—it is best if the boys understand what stands before them.

As she finishes, they are close enough for the Alji rider, who rides in front, to raise his hand in greeting before stopping at a respectful distance.

But, the one who speaks is the Vey man.

“Mage Nero!?” he begins, but quickly stumbles and corrects himself. “I mean, Lord Mage Nero.” She has to suppress a smile at the clear realization that someone had very carefully instructed him on exactly what to say—only for him to get it wrong.

“The clans of Lake Clearwater invite you to a meeting to discuss the relationship between…” here he extends an arm to indicate the necromancer, “…you and the clans.”

Nero simply stares at them before releasing an annoyed, “What!?”

The poor Vey man looks around helplessly, as if hoping someone might explain to him what to do. Meanwhile, the Alji rider remains silent, merely observing.

“The clans of Lake Clear—” the man starts again, likely assuming Nero hadn’t heard him properly.

Unfortunately for him, the necromancer interrupts with a sigh. “Dude, I heard you the first time. What I want to know is why I should go to this meeting. What the hell is going on here?”

Sena believes she understands and steps closer to Nero, trying to explain in a low voice.

“The Clue must have organized this meeting, gathering the other clans. They probably want to know what you intend to do…” Nero listens calmly without reacting, while Saca and the boys nod. And the riders give them space to discuss.

“After all, having a mage around who likes to threaten entire clans can’t make anyone comfortable,” she continues, explaining how the Clue matriarch likely had little difficulty arranging this. From what she knows of her, faced with an enemy as powerful as Nero, she would certainly try to gather as much support as possible.

When she finishes, the necromancer raises his voice slightly so he can be clearly heard.

“And why the hell should I care about that?”

“Hey, you,” he calls, pointing at the Vey man. “They tell me you’re one of the ones who sold me the milk. Right?”

The poor man nods quickly. “Yes, yes. I was one of the chosen because I could recognize—”

Nero cuts him off with a dismissive wave. “OK, I don’t care.”

“What matters is this—you’re going back home and telling them I’ll be returning to your place to buy more milk…” He pauses, thinking briefly as he glances at Saca holding the baby and then at his mule.

“I’ll also want a cart my mule can pull. She’s been carrying too much junk lately. Now I can afford for her to have a bit less mobility…” he declares, pleased with the idea that has just occurred to him. To then add in a lower, slightly bitter tone, “Shame I didn’t think of that earlier.”

Once more, he faces the two men and states clearly, “I can pay in gold or potions. Your choice.”

Shaking his head again, he adds in a weary, almost regretful outburst:

“And that’s all I want. That—and to get out of here and leave this fiasco behind.”

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