by Han Yang
“Yeah, well. I never had them. Always wanted to avoid the eventual let down and instead played the field. Caitlyn scolded me for my womanizing ways. After she lured me into this trap after all,” I said.
“But you’re leaving. Why take the route of a relationship if it's doomed to fail?” Bell asked, and I shrugged.
I didn’t answer because I didn’t have anything good to say.
She didn’t press me about the topic, and I turned back to the horse, not sure which one this was.
Claim or Consume Zorta?
Claiming the horse as a minion will result in you earning Ostriva points. Do you wish to proceed? (YES) - (NO)
You selected to claim: horse. Consume 1.228 Zorta to summon this horse as a minion of the undead. This will incur 100 Ostriva points. Do you wish to proceed? (YES) - (NO)
“Close your eyes if you want to. I’m going to try to summon the other one quickly to test the spell,” I said.
I mentally accepted yes.
Black tendrils escaped my body, wrapping the horse’s corpse. I tried to coax the second orb and failed.
The hands of souls reached out of the ground to strip the horse clean. The transformation lasted less than a minute, and when done, a skeleton horse stood.
“Go help Jark in his tasks,” I said.
The horse’s skull moved as if neighing in understanding. When it clomped off for the distant fire, we watched it leave.
“So, horses are a thing,” Bell said with mild surprise.
“Yeah, worth more dead than alive, go figure,” I said.
She shook her head. “Yes and no. These mares were past breeding age and only capable of so much life left. But yes, to a desperate owner, they’re worth more to slaughter and not that many Ostriva points. Or so I’ve heard.”
“A hundred points. So, I have three slots left and no one can ride that horse,” I said, mulling over the other dead horse.
“Five, that’s good,” she said optimistically.
“Right, that was for tier two which cost ten Z to upgrade,” I said.
She gasped. “You’re never going to ascend.”
I sighed and nodded. “Probably why Caitlyn wanted me to reset.”
“I vote we raise the other horse. We can create a platform between their backs in place of the wagon. I doubt they feel pain anymore,” she said.
“Right, lots to learn. Hey Bell,” I said, my tone getting serious. “About Tarla. Should we trust her?”
“Yeah, I think we can,” Bell said, and we saw her petting the skeleton horse. “At least they strip them clean and aren’t like zombies. Tarla just lost everything she holds dear, and she didn’t take part in her brother’s nefarious ways. You might want to warm her sheets to make her yours, though.”
I shook my head. “I’m trying to be better. If I sleep with someone again, it will be out of love, not lust.”
She snorted and sighed. “The necromancer romantic. So quaint.” My stomach rumbled. “Fine, fine, quit yer bellyaching. Other horse, please.”
I cycled through the process, numb to the souls reaping the flesh for their underground domain. The system called this horse: horse 2.
As I watched it trot away, Tarla approached. I went about picking up anything of value. I found my purse, handing it to her.
“You sure?” she asked.
“I’m not cut out for this. I’ll try my best to keep your brother and you alive, but I need help. That means a stronger you, and I honor my word, kinda why I avoid commitments,” I said and she opened the bag.
I watched her cultivate the orbs I had inside. She smiled and said, “Level four. So, I want you to know, I don’t blame you.”
“Thanks, I feel responsible. I wish I could revive the both of you,” I said.
“Level twenty-five reduces the timer to twelve hours. I’ve seen a few of the guild lords with high level healers. Hey, so that’s him. One hundred percent. He just can’t talk. We did our secret handshake and everything. He can draw in the ground, though. He told me to say sorry and that he must obey your commands. Even the bad ones,” Tarla said.
“Ah, you’re concerned,” I said.
“He did drug you and rob you,” she replied.
I nodded, seeing an opening. “A trade?”
“Loyalty in exchange for you not sending him to run off a cliff?” she asked.
Again, I nodded, scooping a book off the road.
“If another bear comes, I’ll order him to fight it but try to stay alive,” I said.
“Just my loyalty?” she asked.
I smiled and said, “I may be a necromancer, but just because I’m a bad guy doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy.”
“You’re cute. Thank you for not exploiting me and for trying to make the most of the situation. If… never mind. It’s been a rough night. Thank you,” she said, running away.
I watched her brighten as she neared the firelight. My life had taken another dramatic turn, and I hoped it would be for the best.
CHAPTER 14
Foothills of the Targee Mountains
After setting the wagon’s canvas into a tent, we slept downwind of the dead bear. Jark was tasked with killing anything trying to earn a free meal. The horses were set to walk around our tent as guards without any issues.
I awoke in a pile of bodies with Bell snuggling me from behind and Tarla snoring in my face. Prior to last night it had been Jark and his sister separating Bell and me.
We simply needed to sleep in the same tent so there would be awkward moments regardless. Once I quickly geared, I left the ladies to see what the early morning had brought me.
I saw the two horses moving in a counter-clockwise pattern, their skeletal frames still hard to absorb as real. I knew waking up in a different realm would be challenging, but this one really left me struggling to wrap my head around it.
A wafting scent of iron caught my attention.
About a dozen feet from our makeshift tent rested a fox, three bunnies, a possum porcupine type animal, and even a large alien frog with spider eyes.
I went back into the tent and stirred the ladies.
“Get back in here, it's cold,” Bell grumbled with open arms.
I frowned. “We went to bed wearing clothes. I can’t be that warm,” I said in a chipper tone.
“What made you so excited?” Tarla asked, propping herself up. She glanced down at her shirt and folded arms over her nipple show.
“Maybe it is cold,” I snickered.
A boot flew for my body and I retreated to give them privacy.
Jark stood, waving emphatically not even five feet away. He all but danced about his catches.
“Jark, I gotta admit. I didn’t think you’d catch anything,” I said.
His continual animated talk walked me through what happened.
He stood still, the animals went for the bear, and he stabbed them. I glanced back down at the bodies and realized he had stabbed them a lot. I’m sure an animal might be easily fooled, but a sentient being would realize the skeleton was a threat.
“Excellent work. Take the horses and go work on the barge,” I said, almost adding please.
Bell arrived out of the tent first and said, “Can I have him guard me while I poop? I always get so -”
“Yes.” I shooed her away with a wrinkled expression. “Too much information.”
“Wait for me,” Tarla exclaimed, hurrying out of the tent. A second later, she became distracted from the bodies. “Orbs!”
“Yes, part of my repayment plan. Let Bell tally everything so it’s fair,” I said, and she ran off to catch Bell with a skip in her step.
The next half hour consisted of me knocking down the tent and then trying to make sense of how to salvage it. The ladies quickly returned to tally the loot from Jark and divvy it up through the ledger.
I knew I wasn’t due anything anytime soon. Eventually, if my minions became that awesome, we’d need to shift the balance to afford a larger army, but no point in raising a fu
ss yet. I couldn’t even see what necromancer three cost until I earned experience.
While I worked to salvage what I could, the ladies pulled out maps and discussed plans without me. Every once in a while, I’d get a look from them both and a friendly wave.
I figured it was for the best to let them do their planning. After trying to convert the canvas into an assembled tent, I quit. I stripped all the wood off and just kept the canvas. The canvas fit in my bag, barely, and we did have four staves in our group.
I returned to the scattered wagon and started hauling wood to the construction site. The ladies went to work salvaging the bear’s hide. Their grisly task constantly made gross noises. The slurps would probably give me nightmares.
When I finished depositing all the remaining bits to Jark and the horses, I saw only a small raft had been built. The skeleton weaved rope between the two horses with the best planks from the wagon.
He worked tirelessly and happily. Somehow, I figured Jark would be a glum asshole when he became a skeleton. Nope, he waved, and his body language was contagiously happy.
Without a task, I went to cook the morning meal. I headed to the small fire, unsure of what to prepare. I eventually impaled the three bunnies onto my sword and used the flames to burn the fur.
The nasty smell led to me creating a way to prop the sword over the flame without holding it. While I watched the sizzling rabbit, I stepped back, not sure when they’d be done.
“What are you doing?” Tarla asked.
“Uh, trying not to let them go to waste,” I said with a shrug.
“I take it you never cooked a rabbit before?” she asked.
I pointed to the three rabbits burning on the sword. “Cooking rabbit.”
“That… ugh. Where did Caitlyn’s champion come from?” Tarla asked.
“Damien. Even if you know the truth, I prefer Damien. I haven’t got to say this yet, but I did zero cooking. If I wanted to eat, I paid someone else to have a machine… magic box, cook my food. Processing a rabbit, never on the agenda,” I said.
She nodded. Walking to my blade with her hands wrapped around her shirt. She yanked my sword free and sent it clattering against the rocky terrain.
“Yeah, you need that. Not for cooking. Bell has a spit roast.” I chuckled. “What’s so funny?” she asked, and I certainly didn’t answer. “The last four days, the meals have been awful, and I fear it’ll only get worse. Anyway, we need a cook.”
I glanced around, seeing no one else in sight, and laughed.
I wished for a cook to appear, and… nothing.
“I’ll put it on the to-hire list. So, what’s up?” I asked.
She tucked a hair nervously and said, “I’m level complete. As in, for the first time since I first had a spell of luck, I have excess Z.”
“Excellent,” I said, not catching on.
“I can leave and be ahead,” Tarla said, her fierce brown eyes locking to mine.
I caught her suppressing a smile, growing a smidge confused. “Oh?”
“Except, maybe I found my purpose. Even if I’ll likely die soon. Jark keeps drawing hearts for me,” she said.
“Anxious about the trip to Fraunt?” I asked.
She fidgeted.
“I’m grateful. I want you to know that. I also wanted to go back to Tarb, get a miscee for a cook, purchase a carriage for comfort, and maybe buy Jark some armor. And for you, too,” she said, hesitating.
I furrowed my brows, clearly misreading the situation.
“Um… you lost me, Tarla,” I admitted. “If we can make it happen, we will.”
“You’re sweet,” she said, kissing my cheek. “I predicted you’d say that.”
When she left I became even more confused. Bell arrived a few minutes later with jerky from our supplies.
“You're fired as a cook. I gave you recipes and instructions before, and this time, left you to do something. You put three rabbits on your sword with skin and fur on over the fire. Fired,” she said with a snorting headshake.
“Hey, what’s gotten into Tarla?” I asked.
Bell’s hazel eyes bored into me with a mix of pain, anger, and happiness.
“We came to a decision and just need your approval,” Bell said.
That would explain the plotting earlier. “Uh, that doesn’t help me understand the conversation I just had with Tarla,” I said.
“You’re such an oaf at times, Damien. I’m getting there. The first part is. Wait a second.” She glanced around. “Well, come over here,” Bell said, unfolding a map.
She walked to a nearby rock and laid the map out the best she could. This version was old, and the second we would go down in elevation the terrain would change.
I was still curious as to if the terrain shifted in design. How do rivers flow or does it flood until new rivers form?
“This was the Pizt Dukedom before the mists and where I was going to take you. On the other side of this region is the Fraunt. Basically, Pizt is a giant valley that stretches for leagues and is now infested with strivians,” Bell said. “The trip is dangerous and unknown. Still, it’s not terribly long.”
“Okay, I’m listening,” I told her.
“That plan left Tarla’s knees quaking. Poor girl. She’s going through a lot, and she sees you as a hero instead of a villain,” Bell said.
I folded my arms. “Hey.”
“I’m all for you being you in private. Honestly, being a kind-hearted soul won her to your side in five days. Shocker. Anyway, Caitlyn said your arrival would bring assassins. Ergo we needed to flee Tarb and find ourselves at the start of a river,” Bell said.
“Yeah, I’m following so far,” I admitted.
“Okay, Fraunt is the next closest section of humanity for us to traverse to. It even has a river that used to flow from these mountains to that empire. Caitlyn said to leave Tarb, find a new source of humanity to exploit while staying somewhere neutral,” Bell said with a frustrated sigh. “Again, hard mode as she said. You're different, and we already went over this. Fraunt is where they’ll track us to, assuming we’re followed.”
“Okay, what’s this?” I asked, pointing to a super distant northern mark on the map where she rested a finger. “Rolva?”
“Ah, so a few things. Tarla has a point. Two undead horses and Jark will make even a trip to Fraunt almost impossible with our current supplies. We have extra coins again,” Bell said.
“If we backtrack, I’m dead to the first adventuring group who finds me with skeleton minions,” I said.
“That’s never going to change, but no, we’re being tracked. Caitlyn said as much. Another turn around isn’t a day lost. It's ten to Tafo and then to get back here. Huge difference. Tarla wants to go to Rolva, and that means months together on this very road,” she said.
Her finger traced down the Tangee mountain range, into a valley, and the north along a massive mountain range. The second range was called Parqi and it had zero cities labeled on it.
“You want to go north instead of east?” I asked.
She sighed and said, “We launch a small raft, make it seem like we dragged a bigger one, and then go north. Obviously, we never get on the raft.”
“A decoy?” I said with a questioning grunt.
She nodded, and my finger slid over the Parqi range.
“What used to live in these mountains?” I asked.
“Even before the mists there were still dangers in Nordan, just not even close to the same scale. A dragon or two, orge maybe. It’s from before my time and path of least resistance. We have to expect whatever strivians arrived to naturally migrate when they expand. That’s fifty years of unchecked growth in that valley,” Bell said.
I pinched my nose in frustration. “No hints from our goddess?”
“Nothing. Caitlyn would know, but she didn’t answer my prayers. We probably need to build a temple,” Bell said with a slight shrug. “Either way, she’s not warning me from going north at least.”
“One thing at
a time. So, what’s going on with Tarla?” I asked.
“She wants to better prepare, and I told her we can’t afford to. There’s something called savior obsession. Obsession is likely too strong of a word. Basically, you saved her and her brother without exploiting her. She’s fawning about your safety to me. Even predicted you’d go into danger to grant her requests,” Bell said with a scoff.
I rubbed the back of my neck and said, “Yeah, I said I would. Okay, should I worry?”
“No, actually the opposite. She’s decided to be a disciple of Caitlyn and follow us north,” Bell said.
“That’s good, right?” I asked.
“Yes and no. She’s a bit moonstruck. If you play it slow, she’ll recover and see the error in her ways,” Bell said and stopped my protest. “Look, I wanted to thank you for healing my arm. Then you slept with my Ma. Almost two weeks later, and I’m coming around to not hating you. However, she’s girlfriend material. If you ascend, I’ll never go with you.”
I understood what Bell was insinuating. She was semi interested in me but made it clear if I desired love she was not the right choice.
“I’m going to be the sweet necromancer to both of you ladies as a friend. Enough said. Now, going north. You’re sure about that?” I asked.
“No, I’m a water mage and a city girl. But it makes sense, assuming we can cover our tracks where we turn north, and those following us take the river,” she said, tapping the map again. “If we go north, we’ll have less time in a valley but at least two more months of walking.”
“Ah, hence her wanting a cook. We don’t have enough supplies,” I said.
“Yup. If someone gets to Tafo and sees what we bought, they’ll learn that we only have enough for a raft trip to Faunt, not a trip to Rolva. That extra-long journey worries Tarla,” Bell said.
I chuckled and asked, “And not you?”
“I’m a devout believer. If I die or you die, so be it,” she said.
I glanced at her with judgement. That sure was a fanatical way to think about it.
“When do we leave?” I asked. “And how do we survive?”
“Now, and we save most of our rope. The planks of the wagon made a nice rack, and the horses are ready. We ride the raft for only a few feet and then cut in,” Bell said.
