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The Necromancers - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

Published at 29th of September 2018 09:48:02 PM


Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 Chapter 1

 

As I descended, the thick clouds parted under my feet to reveal a beautiful city. If my estimates were right, this would be my destination—the city of Martiling.

As the last step in this aerial journey, or, to remember my trip, I took out my water flask and drank all of the wine and water mixture, to which I had added my favorite wild honey. I had arrived; there was no point in saving it. On my way here, I was drinking bit by bit to make sure I always had water. You may ask why I didn’t buy a bigger flask. This was the biggest water bottle I could find; any bigger I’d have to custom-make, and I had no patience for that.

As I lowered more and more, people on the ground noticed me. They shouted and started running away. While this was convenient for my descent, I have to admit I had hoped they would be greeting me instead, or even better, give a welcome parade. My childhood dream was to become a royal magician and be accompanied by a full honor guard at every show. Now, this dream of mine probably has little chance of being realized. In this world, what palace needs a magician? Even if one did, would they have someone as young as me be it? Magicians tend be more respectable the older they are. The young ones are all considered to be untrained brutes. 

As the magic dragon I rode continued descending, it kicked up a gust of wind and dust. Once it fully reached the ground, I turned elegantly to jump off its back. I looked so smooth I impressed myself. Since I was a perfectionist, very few things satisfied me. 

No one was around, but I could feel the gazes of nearby residents gawking at me from inside their homes. It was nice to be the center of attention. I believe my posture earlier didn’t go unnoticed. 

The magic dragon’s teeth grinding made me take a look; its eyes were filled with hatred for me. Its teeth kept moving, as if it was ready to take a leap and swallow me up. I fully understood why it despised me. I caught it and forced it to be my carriage, flying me all the way here. This poor beast worked for six days. While I ate and drank leisurely, it was flapping its wings with fatigue, and given no food or water. To be fair though, if it were caught by anyone else, it would probably be instantly killed and made into dragon jerky; at least I allowed it to live.

The restraints on its back loosened the minute I hopped off its back. The dragon was free now, yet, it held back from moving. Like all animals, it knew who was weak and who was strong, and it knew who was the prey and who was the hunter. It let out a pained cry—something only an animal-lover like me could hear—and then spread its wings and flew up into the sky. It may not understand, but I still waved goodbye. After all, we spent six days together, so we were sort of partners.

Fifteen minutes after the dragon flew away, people started appearing on the plaza. They stood at a distance, looking at me with fear, as if I was a monster . . . So that was the impression I made.

“South of Martiling, gray bear, hotel, across . . .” I took out the note inside the package and started analyzing it. I had to analyze it since I had no idea if the note writer had ever gone to school. The illegible handwriting was hard to read even for the mother of language, if there was such a thing.

I spent quite a bit of effort, using deduction and guessing, to finally figure out the message. If you had to spend twenty minutes reading ten words, you'd probably want to kill the person who wrote it. No wonder that pathetic man had been stabbed by someone so many times. He was lucky that he'd run into me before he died. After he'd promised me a generous compensation, I had agreed to take this package of his to the destination on the note. I was really too rash, leaving as soon as I read the first few words. While I was on the dragon’s back, I should have studied the note more so I wouldn’t be confused by it now.

My laziness won. I decided to stop spending so much time on this note. Since I figured out part of it, I’d head to that Gray Bear Hotel first. Whatever happens later would happen later. I had always worked like this anyway. 

“This is the Gray Bear Hotel?” I looked up at the banner; the name certainly matched the place. Looks aside, the odor alone let me know what type of guests this hotel attracted. I had no choice, though. There was a wasteland across from the hotel; looked like something had been dismantled not long ago. I walked inside the hotel despite wearing a brand-new robe.

“Hey, hottie, how can I help you?” A heavily made-up waitress came up to me as soon as I came in. Though she smelled of cheap perfume—a scent more annoying than the hotel’s other odors—I was a little flattered. A man being called good-looking was always nice. I believe I’m good-looking, but because of the mask covering half of my face, very few called me “hottie.” 

“Just a soda.” I had to buy something before asking questions or no one would help.

As the woman walked away, I noticed many angry looks toward me. I didn’t care. Apparently my lavish robe was expensive and attracted a lot of jealousy. I doubted that anyone here would pick a fight. They should be able to tell I was a magician from my clothes—making an enemy out of me would be very unwise. Not to mention my half-face mask. Sometimes, an odd accessory would confuse people, and anyone who wanted to confront you would have to believe they knew you already.

As the angry looks increased, and I was tallying them, the waitress delivered a glass of ice water. Before her hand left the glass, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward me, then I looked into her eyes with what I knew to be my most seductive look. Just as I predicted, she giggled and sat in my lap. The unfriendly looks multiplied around me.

This swift victory made me uneasy. I didn’t know if it was my charm or my pricey robe. Some people said being a magician was a path chosen by those who were too smart, and maybe I was too smart. The flirty words I had planned evaporated in my mind. As the cheap scent assaulted my nostrils, I didn’t do what I should have done. After a few seconds, I decided to end this interlude.

“When did they take down whatever was across the hotel?” I interrogated her, and then realized my mistake as everyone around me turned to watch us. The lusty smile disappeared from the waitress’ face as she stood up. 

“Why are you asking?” Her expression was very different from a moment ago. Past experiences have taught me that women were a capricious species, but this quick change still made me marvel.

“Someone asked me to deliver a package to a place across from the hotel, but now that it’s taken down . . . Do you know where they went?” I didn’t like to lie, so I usually said half of what I knew. Some people told me this was the same as lying, but I didn’t listen to them.

“Taken down?” Her smile was dismissive and sarcastic. 

I didn't understand how her flirty face could look so different now. Well, at least she was still smiling.

“Of course I know where they moved to, but this information isn’t free . . .” Her hand reached to almost under my nostrils. Her strong perfume once again hurt my nose. 

I put my hand inside my pocket. Before I felt the first silver coin, I noticed the people around us looking at me. It was the way people who thought they were smart looked at an idiot, so I revealed my empty hand.

I grabbed her hand and twisted it. I may be a magician, but I was confident in my strength. Her hand cracked, but her screams covered the noise. 

“Ah–”

“Don’t take me for a moron!” I bit out the words. I was a man, but my face could change fast, too. I pressed her down on the table, with her cheek shoved onto the dirty tabletop and her right hand twisted behind her back. People stood up around us, but as I looked at them, no one dared to make a move.

“Tell me what happened!” I loosened up my grip a little. I didn’t mind spending a coin or two, but I couldn’t let a woman treat me like an idiot. I was a magician, after all—a profession of which I was proud.

“Didn’t you see the notice when you came into town? That place was destroyed by the necromancer’s first attack. Everyone there went to hell! Ouch, you’re hurting me!” 

I loosened my hold on her hand. I suppose being lazy wasn’t the best idea after all. If I had stopped outside the town and walked in on foot, I’d have seen the sign. Too bad I didn’t want to travel that little bit. It’s fine. Now this mission wouldn’t earn me any compensation. That was disappointing. Working for free felt awful. There was no reason to stay at this dump anymore. I stood up to go.

“Wait, you haven’t paid yet!” the woman yelled as she rubbed her wrist. She really wanted that money.

I turned to look at her with my sternest gaze, but she wanted money more than her life as she actually met my eyes. 

“Use my package as payment,” I uttered weakly, though I only had a sip of the drink. The package was useless to me now; the 100 gold coins the dead man promised me were just empty words. I ducked out of the Gray Bear Hotel quickly. As soon as I got out, I took three deep breaths. Ahh, air never felt so good. 

“What to do next?” Just as I was feeling listless, things took a turn. A group of soldiers came around the corner, and they stopped in front of me.

The soldiers’ leader stared at my face with an unpleasant look. I swear, other than the half-mask, there was nothing on my face worth a man’s gaze, and I wasn't interested in men either.

“Sir, are you a magician?” His eyes were still on my face.

“Yes!” I wasn't happy answering. Anyone could tell that from how I was dressed. If he was a beautiful woman, I might have been more courteous. There were no women among the soldiers though, never mind a pretty one. In fact, no one here looked decent.





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