The misadventures of the necromancer

“Are you sure no one will come here?” Avast hears while the door begins to open. It gives him just enough time to drop against the wall, ending up half leaning against the wall beside Grima.

Pretending he hasn’t woken up and hoping they are only checking on them seems like his only option.

“At least that’s what Esther said,” a female voice replies, as he hears footsteps entering the room where they are.

From the sounds of people moving around, he assumes there are several of them. But he doesn’t dare open his eyes—not even slightly.

“Alright,” replies the first voice, and from the slight tone of annoyance, he immediately recognizes the way the damned mage speaks.

“The last light of magic,” the one who must be the mage announces. A strong light suddenly appears—bright enough that it shines through his closed eyelids.

“You caught two!?” another male voice asks stupidly. Avast assumes it must be the mage’s companion, the one called Grumpy, who had been their second target, as the sound of the door closing echoes.

“Yeah… I got lucky. After I knocked out the first one, I decided to go after the other. I thought this one might run…”

There is a brief pause that makes Avast think he must be pointing at Grima.

“But when I came back, he was still in the same place where I left him. He must have hit the wall harder than I first thought.”

The casual way he talks about Grima’s condition forces Avast to restrain himself from attacking—especially since the mage must be standing right in front of him.

Unfortunately, the looseness in the ropes is still not enough for him to free himself. This would be the perfect moment to finish the job, since the bastard certainly wouldn’t expect an attack now.

“Yeah… I can see that,” the other male voice comments from where Grima must be lying. Making Avast suspect he’s checking on his friend. But once again, he doesn’t dare open his eyes—especially since the mage may be watching him.

“Are you sure about this?” the companion asks hesitantly.

“Yes, I am!” the mage answers firmly. Avast grows uneasy about what exactly they’re talking about.

“But…” the companion begins, as if trying to bring something up but unsure how.

He is immediately interrupted.

“I know we’re low on potions. If we don’t find an alternative, we’ll simply have to restock by buying more.” His voice clearly shows he’s unhappy about that. So Avast realizes they must indeed be short on potions. And to his relief, if they’re talking about potions now, he can only assume it’s to help Grima.

“But right now it’s better to have two people to question instead of just one… Should make things easier!”

That conclusion makes the situation far from good. The only small comfort is that their reluctance to use potions suggests extremely violent torture might not be their first option.

But even without that, they could still do plenty of unpleasant things to make them talk.

“Well, if you’re sure,” the companion finally says. From the sounds, he must now be looking for something.

“You should carry potions too,” a new female voice says. Which means the two girls are probably here as well—and therefore all members of the mage’s group in the city are present.

“I’ve already explained I don’t need potions. Besides, we’re short on them,” the mage replies. Confirming Avast’s suspicions about their potion supply—and that the mage is somewhat arrogant.

Sure, his resistance spell might make him harder to injure. But things can still go wrong—as Avast and Grima can attest right now.

“Even so. It’s better to have some extra safety,” the girl insists.

“So what do we do now?” the other girl asks.

“Now we have a conversation with our new ‘friends’… to clarify what’s going on here.” The way he says friends sends a chill down Avast’s spine. while the meaning of “conversation” is perfectly clear.

“Don’t you think?” the mage asks.

For a moment, Avast almost thinks the question is directed at him—but that wouldn’t make sense, would it?

“Do you have any idea how much effort it took to carry you here, tied up and unconscious? My back still hurts…”

The mage pauses, letting silence fill the room while Avast continues pretending to be unconscious.

He is almost certain the mage is speaking to him—but he isn’t entirely sure. The uncertainty makes him uneasy about what he should do.

A heavy sigh follows.

“You’re in the wrong spot, smart ass. Do you think I don’t know where I left you?”

Strangely enough, it’s the mage’s mild irritation that finally makes Avast open his eyes—more than the words themselves. The tone sounds almost like someone scolding a child rather than addressing someone who had just tried to kill him.

But he opens them. And tight in front of him stands the mage, just as he expected.

Behind him stand the two girls watching him. To the side, tending to Grima, is the dark-haired boy—Grumpy.

All of this is clearly visible because above them, floating in the middle of the room, is a sphere of light illuminating everything.

Normally, that would be strange. But right now, the mage in front of him makes it make sense.

Avast settles against the wall, trying to appear as calm and relaxed as possible. The mage crouches down so they are face-to-face.

“Great! Maybe now you can explain what’s going on here?” the mage asks with an almost friendly smile.

But Avast has seen far too many fake smiles to fall for that.

Besides, what could he tell them?

Confirm what they already know—that they tried to kill him? And then reveal who hired them?

The moment he did that, their lives would lose all value both to the mage here and to all their former clients. If they were willing to reveal one identity, then all would be at risk. They had worked for people who do not forgive betrayal.

So he says nothing.

Simply holding the mage’s gaze in silence.

Then a groan is heard beside him.

Looking over, Avast sees Grima beginning to move. The mage’s companion stands up and says to the mage with visible frustration:

“Almost two vials.”

Meanwhile, Grima struggles to sit up, looking around in confusion, as if unable to understand what’s happening.

Finally, he looks directly at Avast, and recognition appears.

“Avast!?”

Avast feels a smile form when he sees his friend alive and talking. But he also feels some frustration—this is definitely not the moment to reveal their names.

“What’s going on?” Grima asks, looking around.

Then he seems to recognize the mage—and realizes he too is tied up.

He turns to Avast.

“Avast!! Didn’t I tell you to run?”

For a moment, Avast is tempted to say that he did try. But considering the dried blood on his friend’s forehead and all the eyes watching them, he decides against it.

“Cute. But how about one of you boys explains what’s going on!” the mage interrupts, forcing them to focus on the present problem.

When they look at each other silently, they both reach the same grim conclusion: they’re screwed.

Better to remain silent and at least face the end with some dignity. The mage may have beaten them, but they still have some choices.

The prolonged silence makes the mage look from one to the other with a strangely calm expression, as if he expected this.

“Alright. The hard way then!” he announces, standing up.

“Tell me who you work for and what you want!” he demands, slightly irritated—but not as angry as Avast would expect.

Besides… why is he asking what they want?

Why would anyone hire assassins?

The confusion shows on Grima’s face as well while the mage continues.

“Of course, you work for someone. I’ve never met you before. So you must have no reason to be testing me yourselves. Right, Grumpy?”

His companion nods in agreement.

At that moment, Avast realizes something important.

The mage does not know they are assassins.

Not even their attack in the alley had made that clear to him.

Too bad Avast doesn’t know whether that’s good or bad. It’s becoming obvious they’ll be tortured either way.

“Nothing!!!” the mage suddenly exclaims in irritation.

Not that it’s especially frightening. Both Avast and Grima have seen far more terrifying people use such tactics.

The mage begins pacing backward and sighs.

“Alright then, let’s talk about alternatives,” he comments oddly.

When he reaches his companions, he extends a hand toward them and murmurs calmly:

“Lesser servant of Dekart.”

Light appears in his hand—clearly, some kind of spell is being cast.

At the same time, on the floor in front of Avast and Grima, a large circle of light appears filled with strange symbols.

From inside the circle, strands of light form like cords, dancing as they join and separate. Where they intersect, something begins to appear.

A substance like bone forms out of nothing.

For a moment, Avast cannot even think.

Until it becomes unmistakable: a skeleton is forming right in front of him.

He stammers,

“Ne… Ne… Necro—”

“Necromancer!!” Grima shouts beside him.

Both of them press themselves desperately against the wall as the circle of light fades, leaving behind a skeleton armed with a black sword and shield, staring at them with blue light shining from where its eyes should be.

“Well, actually…” the necromancer begins, shaking his head as if frustrated about something.

Not that Avast is paying much attention, considering what stands in front of him.

“This spell isn’t necromancy!!!” the three companions say almost simultaneously.

The necromancer looks back at them as if offended. The dark-haired girl smiles and asks:

“Isn’t that what you were going to say?”

The blonde exclaims while trying to hide a smile,

“That’s what you always say.”

The necromancer turns toward Grumpy, who steps back slightly as if considering what to say. Then he shrugs.

“Honestly, I don’t even know why you bother,” he says, nodding toward the prisoners.

“Unless they were mages, they wouldn’t understand the difference anyway.”

“Yeah…” the necromancer begins, turning back toward them while Avast tries to process what he’s seeing.

“Besides, you’re going to reveal necromancy to them anyway. " As you did with that soldier,” Grumpy continues, shaking his head in disbelief.

“So why go through all the trouble of explaining the spell… just to prove you’re a necromancer in the end!”

“Forget it,” the necromancer mutters lightly. In the end, this only confirms that he really is a necromancer. Avast and Grima exchange fearful looks.

Yes, he is afraid of the necromancer because of all the stories he has heard about necromancy. But also because of his own experience. One of their first clients had been a necromancer who had fled from one of the major cities on the coast—he had never specified exactly which one.

When, some time later, they heard that a group of knights from an order had killed him, both he and Grima had toasted the news. If anyone deserved to die horribly, it was that bastard.

Just hearing him speak had given him chills—and that was without even considering what he had asked them to do to the target. Things they had refused, and in the end, the job had become a normal one. Even so, remembering that man still gave him shivers.

And now the idea that they had fallen into the hands of someone with the same inclinations was enough to freeze their souls.

So when the necromancer’s attention returns to them, Grima suddenly shouts:

“No… We’re from the Assassin’s Guild!”

Something they hadn’t used in years, since practically no one had ever heard of the old organization. Even they themselves had only known about it because of their rings.

So Avast is quite surprised when the necromancer brings a hand to his head and mutters in clear frustration:

“Damn it!”

He continues, “The damned guild. That ruins my plans.”

Behind him, the dark-haired girl asks, as expected, “Assassin’s Guild?”

The necromancer keeps his hand on his head, as if forcing it to produce an idea.

“Yes, the Assassin’s Guild.”

The blonde exchanges looks with her friend and the boy before asking, “What guild is that?”

“The name isn’t very creative. It’s exactly what it says… a guild of assassins,” the necromancer begins explaining calmly, as if an organization that must have been extremely secretive even at its height should be common knowledge.

“You can go to them and hire someone to kill a person. You pay the price they ask, and they take care of the rest. Which confirms that this was an assassination attempt…” he concludes quickly, casting a heavy look at Avast and Grima. Though not as critical as Avast would expect, almost as if the necromancer had already considered that possibility.

“Unfortunately, that also means they won’t stop,” he finishes pessimistically. Apparently, not knowing that even those who had heard of the Guild considered it an extinct group.

“But how do we know they really belong to that guild?” Grumpy asks, unfortunately for them.

“Yes. Adar is right. How do we know they belong to this Guild? It can’t be that simple to hire people like that… They could be lying!” the dark-haired girl adds, leaving the necromancer thoughtful.

Avast and Grima look at each other with renewed frustration—and hope. This was actually working. And they immediately remember that they might indeed have proof.

The reason they knew—and had spent years convincing people they were part of the Guild.

They speak at the same time.

“The rings!!!”

They begin trying to show their hands tied behind their backs.

The necromancer removes his hand from his head and nods for Grumpy to deal with it. The other boy approaches Grima and kneels down to remove the ring from his finger.

For a moment, Avast regrets that Grumpy didn’t come to him. Maybe he could have finally slipped free of the ropes and captured the necromancer’s companion. But looking at the skeleton watching him right in front of him, he quickly reconsiders.

Meanwhile, Grumpy hands the ring to the necromancer, who begins examining it under the light of the floating orb.

Avast prepares himself to explain the ring. Even though they had spent years and a considerable amount of money to uncover the secrets of those rings, which they had found by chance as children.

The proof was a rune inscription on the inside of the rings:

“Night comes for everyone.”

They had eventually discovered that it was the motto of the Guild. Together with the magical effect of the rings, it proved they were rings of the Assassin’s Guild.

That was what had led them to embark on their profession. It had felt like a sign from the gods. They possessed magical artifacts that allowed them to become some of the best assassins known.

The necromancer, however, simply studies the ring for a few moments before declaring:

“Yep, it’s an apprentice ring from the Guild. One of the ones with camouflage magic.”

He hands it back to Grumpy without giving it much importance.

“How do you know?” the boy asks, examining the ring himself before turning it to show the girls.

“Oh!... I had one. They give one to everyone who joins the Guild,” the necromancer says casually while apparently thinking about something else.

Grima and Avast are stunned.

Even his companions look surprised. The blonde blurts out:

“What!?”

Looking slightly distracted, the necromancer shrugs.

“Everyone does a few Assassin’s Guild jobs… Good heavens, I’ve even seen paladins doing some.”

Avast can’t believe what he’s hearing. In front of him stands a young man claiming to have belonged to the Assassin’s Guild—and speaking of it as if it were a place where you just go do a few side jobs.

“At least I used a necromancer with invisibility. Much more coherent, right…?” he asks, turning to his companions before suddenly falling silent as if he had said something he shouldn’t have.

Sensing the awkwardness, Grumpy changes the subject, pointing at them and asking:

“So what do we do with them?”

That immediately makes Avast say:

“If you do anything to us, the Guild will never leave you alone!”

Their only chance.

Unfortunately, the speed with which the necromancer turns toward him—and the expression on his face—is enough for a blind man two hundred steps away to know Avast has just said the wrong thing.

To confirm it, the necromancer raises an eyebrow suspiciously and asks:

“Since when?”

He takes a small step toward them and adds, “Since when does the Guild care about its agents? Especially guys who barely have the qualifications to be apprentices.”

He slowly tilts his head as if truly contemplating them. “If you disappear on the job, they simply send others until the work is done.”

Gesturing toward them with one hand, he continues, “If the failure is your fault, they might put a bounty on your heads. But apart from that, they don’t care much.”

He starts shaking his head. “My real difficulty, besides the river of assassins to follow, is that the Guild is an intermediary. Which means you probably shouldn't even know who hired you.”

Then he focuses completely on them again, in an almost oppressive way.

“And if that’s the case, canceling the contract would be a huge headache. But…”

At last, a cold smile forms on his face.

“Little Finger, Initiate, and Blade.”

Avast can only stare at the poorly dressed young man in front of him, wondering if he has gone mad. Which, considering he is a necromancer, cannot be ruled out.

“Two of those are Guild ranks. Can any of you tell me which is which?”

His expression is almost innocent, as if he were asking for the simplest piece of information. Meanwhile, Avast and Grima look at him and then at each other.

On the one hand, they have a one-in-three chance. Not completely terrible, but…

“They don’t know,” Grumpy comments while studying them.

The girls nod their agreement.

“We…” Avast begins, trying to find some way out of this.

Unfortunately, he’s interrupted by a brief laugh. The necromancer clearly finds the situation amusing.

“Honestly, I’d really like to know how two idiots like you managed to walk around with Guild rings, pretend to be members, and still stay alive,” the necromancer says, still laughing.

Suddenly, he stops and says in a very cold tone:

“But maybe I’ll solve that problem for them.”

With that, the skeleton that had remained motionless the whole time steps forward, only a little, but...

Avast swallows hard as his heart begins pounding in his chest. They have just lost the only thing that was making the necromancer hesitate.

One thought appears in his mind:

What kind of mess had those bastards dragged them into? A necromancer who actually belongs to the Assassin’s Guild!!

So he sees only one possible solution.

“Tevat!!” he blurts out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Grima’s surprised expression. But what else can they do now against this necromancer?

Yes, revealing the identity of their employer might end their lives. But looking at this necromancer’s creature—and considering that he almost certainly belongs to something that shouldn’t even exist anymore—Avast has no doubt the necromancer will do everything possible to break them.

And he suspects that in the end, he will succeed, even if by using magic.

Better to end this now and hope for a good and clean death.

But the necromancer only stares at them in confusion, as if this wasn’t what he expected at all.

“So he asks, sounding genuinely puzzled:

“What?”

Avast looks at Grima, who also seems unsure what to do, but gestures for him to continue—showing his usual trust in him.

“Tevat is the one who hired us through someone who works for him. Fendat!” he explains the best he can.

Or at least he tries to, because although the necromancer now looks more thoughtful, there is still no sign of recognition on his face.

So much so that he turns to his companion and says:

“Grumpy!”

But the other boy simply shakes his head, clearly not recognizing the name either.

That leaves them in an uncomfortable and dangerous situation.

They are willing to cooperate—but they have no way to prove it. If these people don’t recognize the name Tevat, they’ll quickly conclude that they’re lying.

And looking at the large sword in the skeleton’s hand, some very disturbing images appear in Avast’s imagination.

The necromancer turns his gaze back to them before speaking again.

“Boys, you do realize that as undead you’d help me find the people behind this very quickly.”

A chill runs down Avast’s spine as the situation deteriorates even faster than he expected. Even if his choice has just been vindicated.

“But it’s true! Tevat is the one who hired us,” Grima interrupts.

“Tevat of Arrowhill.”

But the necromancer doesn’t seem convinced, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

“Wait…” Grumpy interrupts, to Avast’s relief.

“Arrowhill is the soup village, remember?”

“Ohhh… yes. The bastard who ruined my shirt,” the necromancer says, finally showing some recognition—and irritation.

Avast could almost kiss Grumpy. Although it seems rather strange how much importance they are giving to soup and clothing.

“And I think the mayor’s son was called Tevat. But I’m not sure. Since then, we’ve had more important things to worry about,” Grumpy adds.

“Yes, yes, Tevat is the mayor’s son of Arrowhill,” Grima quickly confirms.

“So you do know this Tevat,” the blonde remarks.

“Yeah… The guy had an argument with a girl and spilled soup all over Nero. Ruining his new clothes…” Grumpy pauses meaningfully.

“So Nero solved the situation as you’d expect. The guy and his father will remember that day for the rest of their life's.”

The explanation leaves Avast staring in disbelief.

Yes, they had been hired for petty reasons before.

But Tevat had sent them against a powerful necromancer… over an argument over soup.

The girls nod as if the explanation were perfectly clear.

“But what do we do now?” the dark-haired girl asks.

“Good question,” the necromancer comments calmly.

“Maybe I can solve several problems at the same time.”

He gestures lightly with his hand, and the skeleton steps back.

Then he walks toward them.

“Well, boys. Since it’s clear you don’t belong to the Guild, having a little conversation with the soup guy shouldn’t be too problematic for you… right?”

Seeing the situation, Avast can only nod. Beside him, Grima does the same.

Handling the bastards who got them into this mess? Avast almost feels grateful for the opportunity.

The necromancer claps his hands, satisfied with their answer.

“Good.”

He turns and starts walking toward the exit.

Then, as if remembering something, he tells his companion:

“Give him back the ring.”

Grumpy immediately tosses Grima’s ring back to him.

“Are you sure?” the dark-haired girl asks.

The necromancer answers almost cheerfully, glancing at her.

“Of course. Our new friends wouldn’t lie to us… would they?”

Avast and Grima can only shake their heads.

They have already failed once, and Avast has no doubt that a second attempt would be their last.

“Of course not. They wouldn’t like the consequences,” the necromancer adds, making Avast swallow hard.

Then he gestures toward the exit for his companions.

They begin leaving the room.

To Avast’s relief—and confusion.

Are they just leaving?

Not that he’s about to complain.

As the necromancer reaches the doorway, he turns back as if remembering something.

“Just to make this clear…” he says in a cold voice.

“Don’t kill them. I don’t want bodies… But make them understand their mistakes… alright?”

Seeing them nod—since they have no choice—he finally leaves.

“So what do we do now?” Grima asks weakly.

And honestly, looking around, Avast has no idea what to say.

They’ve been left alone—tied up in a room with a skeleton.

What exactly are they supposed to do now?

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