The four, plus Neebs, left the hidden valley and returned where Grifus had hid the horses. Prior to leaving, Jeze climbed the tall rock face in order to scout the ruins Viel told her about. In the distance she found the ridge that ran up to the base of mount dragon like the tail of a snake. The valley under the mountain was where they needed to go. But, Jeze couldn’t know for sure because her view was obscured by the tall pine trees and rocky formations.
Jeze returned to the others biting her lip. “We need to head that way.” She pointed.
Kalina narrowed her eyes. “You don’t sound so certain.”
“I for one would not want to waste my energy going in the wrong direction,” Zel proclaimed.
“No one asked you!” Jeze snapped.
Grifus spoke softly. “We trust our Scout. If she is wrong, we backtrack and figure it out. That is what adventurers do.”
The others nodded and marched along the switchback trails that meandered upwards through the rocky landscape. After an hour, Zel needed a break.
“You got to be kidding me!” Jeze exclaimed.
“What? It’s never every day that one travels for miles,” Zel shot back.
“It is for adventurers,” Jeze shot back.
Kalina shook her head. “She should not have come with us. Our journey is only going to get harder.”
Grifus inhaled deeply, holding his temples with one hand. “Zel, do you have a way to keep pace with us?”
Zel’s eyes widened with disbelief. “How? To miraculously change my body!” She paused, holding a finger in the air as if an idea occurred to her. “Wait a moment. I do!” She rummaged through her pack of channeling tools.
“We do not have time for this,” Kalina growled.
Grifus held up a calming hand. “Give her a moment.”
How much longer until he loses his patience? Jeze agreed with Kalina and with a loud exasperated sigh, she sat on a boulder. Zel placed several channeling tools on Neebs. These included bracelets, and metal plates that hung from the zombie’s thin waist. Jeze, frustration forgotten, watched with interest as Zel gracefully shaped glyphs into the air.
“Recognize the patterns?” Grifus asked her.
Jeze nodded. “It is almost like the Stoneskin aspect.”
“It is similar,” Grifus acknowledged.
Neebs' thin frame bulked up and the pale skin turned to stone. Zel ordered the zombie to hold out its arms and she climbed on. Neebs held her as one would cradle a child.
“That’s ridiculous! How do you expect to travel like that!” Jeze cried.
“It’s quite comfortable, actually. You should try it,” Zel replied.
Kalina shook her head. “Whatever, let’s continue. If you fall off a cliff, that’s not our problem.”
Despite the apparent awareness, Neebs managed to carry Zel without fail through the uneven switchback trails and the group made decent time toward the valley at the base of Mount Dragon. Jeze’s initial doubts were forgotten and replaced with curiosity.
“How are you able to hold on to Neebs' enchantment for this long?”
“I’m constantly recharging it,” Zel casually answered.
Jeze’s draw dropped in shock. “What? How? That has to be exhausting!”
Zel glanced at her, smirking. “You have a strong physical body. It is clear you have spent many long hours to achieve top physical condition. Such a waste! I, however, have strengthened my Will, which has unlimited potential.”
Jeze scowled. Lets see if your strong Will could stop me from knocking you off your zombie. But, Jeze refrained herself. Instead, she had more questions. “How is it that Neebs is not trying to eat your face?”
Zel chuckled, but answered Jeze’s question in the manner of a professor. “Necromancy is a compound aspect that comprises the Affliction, Spirit, and Life aspects.”
“Life? I thought Life was the opposite of Necromancy,” Jeze interrupted.
Zel scowled. “Well, you thought wrong, you ignorant fool.”
Grifus placed himself in between the two before Jeze could knock the thin necromancer off of her zombie. “Zel, be nice.”
“Fine, where was I before the rude interruption?” Zel ran a pale hand through her dark hair and continued, “It is a common misunderstanding of the relationship between life and death. People think they are opposites, but that is not the case. Life is merely energy in motion. Death, however, has potential.”
“Potential?” Jeze wondered.
“Did I stutter?” Zel snapped.
Kalina shook her head. “I would be careful if I were you. Jeze may seem small, but she is fierce.”
Zel glanced at the pale lady and muttered, “Noted.” She turned her gaze back to Jeze. “Where was I again? Right, death is potential. Energy that is not in motion like life, but it can be directed, shaped, and reimagined. The possibilities are only constrained by the limits of one’s imagination.”
Jeze chewed her lip. “You still didn’t answer my question. Why is Neebs not trying to eat your face?”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“I was getting to that! But, you continue to interrupt me,” Zel said and turned to look at Grifus. “Seriously, where did you find this one? You said she was a skilled Rune caster. How is that possible if she can’t even listen for more than five minutes without yapping her mouth?”
Jeze fumed, with her hands balled into fists by her side, but she controlled herself with a deep steady breath. Kalina shook her head but stayed out of the conversation.
“A good teacher does not blame the student for their lack of attention. The fault lies in the presentation,” Grifus replied as the group continued to trek along the mountain trial.
Zel smirked and turned back to Jeze. “I’m sorry for your lack of attention span. I will try to talk using easier words.”
Jeze scowled back. “I’ll try not to punch you in the face.”
Zel chuckled. “Fair enough. As I mentioned earlier, Necromancy consists of the Affliction, Spirit and Life aspects. The reason why many zombies, as you say, try to bite faces off is due to the Affliction aspect being naturally malevolent. It is used to curse a spirit and force it to remain in this realm. That makes them angry and spiteful. Spirits, as you may know, crave freedom. They need to be properly tempted to remain. Like with all aspects, the Affliction energy can be shaped to be less forceful and more rewarding for the spirit. If done correctly, and this requires significant skill, then you can create a zombie that is like Neebs. Content to be here.”
Jeze opened her mouth to ask a question but decided against it. She didn’t trust her ability to control herself if Zel responded in a rude manner. Jeze may just knock the necromancer off her pet zombie. Instead, she remained quiet and allowed Zel to talk. For a hermit, Grifus’s niece sure liked to talk!
“The potential for Necromancy is only limited by the imagination! Think about the potential uses Necromancy can have for society!” Zel exclaimed.
Kalina snorted, unable to control herself. “What do you know about society? You live alone in the mountains.”
“Not by choice!” Zel snapped back. “It is due to ignorance as to why I need to be hidden in order to study my craft.”
“You were talking about Necromany’s potential good for society,” Grifus prompted.
Zel waved her hands in the air. “Imagine a world filled with Neebs. People would not need to toil with arduous labor such as farming, but can use their time for more intellectual and rewarding pursuits.”
Jeze wanted to say that there was nothing wrong with farming, but realized there would be no point to that discussion. She bit her lip and remained quiet.
Zel continued and grew more excited with each word. “Or war! No one would need to die in battle. Instead, imagine if kingdoms used armies of undead to settle their differences? Or pest control! Necromancy could be used to create zombie rodents that would tirelessly hunt down their living counterparts. The list goes on and on!”
Jeze held up a hand to indicate silence and she crouched. Grifus and Kalina immediately responded in kind, but Neebs continued to carry Zel along the trail.
“Zel, get down!” Grifus hissed.
“What? Why?” Zel asked, confused.
A boulder smashed into the ground next to Neebs. The chunks of stone that exploded upon impact ripped through the zombie’s stoneskin protection and marred its perfect smooth white skin. Jeze saw for a brief moment a chain of Runes flare red along Neebs’ body before fading away. The boulder had broken the chain and the zombie stiffened and fell over like a board. Zel tumbled painfully onto the hard jagged ground. Were the Runes what powered Neebs and why he didn’t require to consume flesh for energy?
“Neebs!” Zel cried.
More boulders soared toward them. Grifus gritted his teeth and rapidly shaped the boulders to turn to sand that rained harmlessly around them.
“Rock trolls,” he said.
Jeze peered up and saw the giant gnarled forms of gray skinned abominations. They reminded her of the Ice Giants from the fourth floor. Were they related? She wondered.
“I hope you have enough imagination to make Necromancy useful for us in this situation,” Kalina growled to Zel.
The necromancer crawled over to her fallen zombie.
“Zel, get out of there!” Grifus screamed as more boulders soared toward them.
Jeze shaped the boulders into sand as the Rock Trolls summoned more. Kalina shook her head and in a blur of speed she charged the monsters. Grifus dragged the wailing Zel behind cover away from the fallen Neebs.
“His Rune chains were damaged!” She cried.
Jeze’s skin turned to stone as she charged after Kalina to engage the Rock Trolls. She counted six in total. Let’s hope they are not tougher than the Ice Giants. Kalina weaved past two of the behemoths and avoided their heavy wooden clubs that shook the ground as they tried to squash her. Her blade flashed as Kalina sliced the back of their legs and continued past them. The Rock Trolls stumbled to their knees as Kalina surged forward to engage the remaining four.
Jeze was close behind and as she ran she summoned a boulder to strike one of the kneeling Rock Trolls. The rock shattered on the creature's chest and knocked it flat on its back. The second troll was trying to rise up on its wounded leg, but before it could stand, Jeze planted her battle axe in between its eyes.
The remaining four Rock Trolls saw what happened to their colleagues and were more prepared for Kalina. They didn’t underestimate her and cautiously worked to surround her. Jeze and Grifus launched boulders at them, but the monsters batted the attacks to the side with their tree sized clubs. Kalina dodged and avoided their attempts to smash her to a pulp, but was unable to close the distance to cut with her blade.
With sword and axe in her hands, Jeze weaved a greasy red ball of Affliction energy and flung it at one of the Rock Trolls. With quick reflexes, and like with the boulders before, the monster swatted the ball of energy with its club. But, unlike the boulders, the red energy burst into a red mist that engulfed the monster. The spell caused its eyes to water and the beast sneezed. That distraction was all Kalina needed to close the distance and climb up its body to cut its throat before flipping off the tall beast. It gurgled as it fell on its face.
The remaining three Rock Trolls howled in rage and recklessly attacked Kalina. She dodged and weaved away from their crashing tree sized clubs and managed to land a deep gash on one of her attacker’s hands. It yelped in pain as it dropped its club, but the move cost Kalina as another Troll batted her into the air like she weighed nothing. Kalina crashed hard into a boulder and slumped to the ground.
“Kalina!” Jeze cried and released a sphere of darkness that covered the heads of each of the remaining Trolls. As they scrambled in a blind panic, she hacked at their knees with her axe and magic sword while avoiding their blind swings of their clubs. Grifus dropped another with a boulder and the two remaining wounded Trolls escaped Jeze’s darkness spell. Kalina, her bones crunched back into place, savagely pounced on the unarmed Troll and began to suck its energy with her undead power. The final one lumbered after Jeze with fury in its red eyes. Jeze gripped her weapons and was ready for a fight when a shimmering spear made from black and red energy flew past her field vision to strike the Troll. It howled as its skin withered and it fell to the ground as a gray husk.
“Take that!” Zel cried, her pale hand glowed with the residual red and black necromantic energy.
Kalina, satiated from the Rock Troll she just consumed, shrugged. “Not bad.”
“But, you need to do something about your zombie. It’s too fragile. Maybe cover the Rune chains that bind it with some armor?” Jeze suggested.
Zel looked at her fallen zombie, sighing. “It’s not like I had armor on hand for this.”
“Can you repair the damage?” Jeze asked.
“I can, but I will need a moment.” Zel answered, bending down to examine her zombie.
“We don’t have a moment,” Grifus said, pointing. “More Rock Trolls may come.”
Zel blinked. “Well, I can’t leave him here.”
Kalina growled and snatched up the thin framed zombie and threw it on the back of one of the horses. “You will need to walk.”
Zel kept her mouth shut and nodded. She is smart enough to know not to push an angry Kalina.
Jeze climbed ahead and smiled. From her vantage point she saw the faint outlines of an abandoned town at the base of Mount Dragon.
Which point of view interests you for the sixth floor?
