“Ith that what you came for?” Vanus inquired, cautiously glancing at the masked intruder.
Somehow, she had managed to get through all the traps he had set up in his abode without triggering them. If not for the fact that the zombie he had given specific orders to head north east of Io to maintain the illusion that the undead came from there, he would not have realised something amiss. Somehow, this invader must have taken control of the zombie and ordered it to lead her here.
When he had first noticed the creature veering off course, his immediate thought had been to flee. Of course, as a 5<sup>th</sup> Order sorcerer he was not in possession of a spell capable of carrying him to safety. Fortunately, magic circles were a thing and he possessed one specifically set up to take him to the Frost Wilderness north of Lethia. It had been pricy to set up and its usage would be even pricier for someone of his attainment. However, no price was too much for his life. Even so, the thought of paying such an exorbitant fee, abandon much of what he had been trying to accomplish here and suffer a setback tallying in the decades had caused him to hesitate and thought of other possibilities.
The only ones capable of controlling undead were fellow necromancers and Sheans. The latter were not allowed within the borders of Lethia and the duration of their control was a few minutes. Another thing he considered, was the fact that when Sheans and necromancers took hold of another’s undead, the connection with the previous master would be severed; something that had not happened in this case. To say Vanus had not been terrified when he realised that, even though he still maintained his bond with the zombie, his orders were being ignored was an understatement.
However, another feeling had bubbled up in him at that moment, curiosity. The desire to know what kind of being was capable of such a feat was what had stopped him from fleeing. Still though, Vanus had been a necromancer for a long time; he had not lived to his age by being careless. Therefore, even though he had decided to stay, the setup for the teleportation circle had been completed. He was standing on it at the moment, the intruder’s view of it obscured by the stone table. A single hint of danger and he would activate it immediately; even if it meant sacrificing his health and aptitude.
That moment had not come yet, but he kept vigilantly watching for it.
“Yes,” the invader affirmed in a friendly tone, as if to make him forget the outburst she had just had.
He looked her up and down in her leather armour, checking the mask that coved the lower half of her face. There was a stitch running from her forehead to between of her dark eyes and then to unknown parts beneath the mask. He also noticed a shifting in her shadow, most likely a familiar.
“You’re welcome to my rethearch if that ith what you dethire,” he immediately relented. He was under no illusions that he was a match for the intruder despite how young she appeared to be. If he handed over what she came for, perhaps she would depart and leave him to his devices; that was the hope. “If give me an hour to duplicate my noteth I will share them wholeheartedly with you.”
In response the intruder sighed, which almost caused his heart to skip a beat. Then, before he could react, she cast a spell that allowed her to grab a stone seat and bring it over to her so she could settle down.
Telekinethith! Vanus’ eyes widened when he witnessed the scene. The person in front of him was a senior magician! He was definitely not her match! Maybe he should activate they magic circle now!
“I have no intention of robbing you if that is what you think,” she said as a cat jumped out of her shadow onto her lap. “This will be a transaction, so I plan to compensate you for your research.”
“That’s right,” the cat chimed in, it’s emerald eyes mockingly staring him down. “And you can step away from that circle. If master wanted to harm you, all she would need to do is put up a [Space Lock]. A measly teleportation circle would not be able to save you from her.”
“That was completely unnecessary Nyx,” the intruder reprimanded her familiar, though her actions of stroking its fur suggested she was not in disagreement. Her eyes left the cat and returned to him while her free hand went to her face and removed her mask, revealing the extent of her scars. “I am Sage by the way. Sage Maverick.”
“Vanuth Reith,” he responded as he removed his hood. Then he stepped away from the circle to the closest seat.
Even if the intruder could cast [Space Lock], it would take time- at least as second- to cast. By sacrificing the present zombies, he would be able to buy enough time to rush to teleportation circle, travel to its twin and destroy it before he could be followed.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
This train of thought was disrupted when the intruder’s eyes left him and scanned his zombies with a clear displeasure.
“These guys are stinking up the place,” she said softly, her voice oozing disgust. Without warning a [Dimension Door] sprang up behind her, which she indicated to with her thumb. “Go on, get out of here.”
In the next moment, Vanus could only watch dazed as his zombies obeyed her orders. Previously the only spell that was cast had been [Dimension Door] and nothing else. Somehow, without spell craft, she had managed to get hold of his zombies; and just like before, without breaking his connection to them.
An ability? he thought after coming out of his stupor. Ith she not human?
Now that he took a closer look at her. There was something off about her, apart from her scars. It was her skin, her eyes; small details that would be missed by those who did not delve into the art of raising the dead. It was likely this Sage Maverick was an undead, a fact that gave rise to another terrifying thought. There might be a necromancer behind her, an even more formidable entity.
“I’m willing to trade,” he said, resigned to his fate. At this point there was nothing he could do but go through with the intruder’s wishes.
“Good to hear,” she smiled, an act that did not do face any favours. She shifted the cat to her shoulder and bent over- all the while the familiar kept its eyes trained on him- and pulled several books from her shadow. After coming back up, she placed them on her lap and returned her dark gaze to him. “I’ve got notes on an undead transformation ritual. Seeing as you’ve reached the end of the line with your aptitude and your life, turning you into an undead could rid you of it. If you’re lucky, you could even improve your aptitude, allowing you to reach higher heights than before.”
The Undead Conversion Ritual? Vanus thought. Of course, as a necromancer he was not unfamiliar with it. The knowhow of converting to undead was highly sought after by every necromancer, especially those near the end of their lives. Its value was higher than what the intruder wanted.
The drawback though, was that one needed to cultivate an aura of death where the ritual would be carried out. The most important component to such a ritual was corpses, multiple human corpses no older than three days old; the fresher, the better. Meaning he would have to leave his abode to kidnap and slaughter an entire village, angering many do-gooders in the process.
Vanus might be reaching the end of his lifespan, but he was still far from being that desperate.
Sadly, he could not reject the notes. Doing so would likely anger the invader and then his life would be forfeit.
“That ith thufficient,” he said, leaving his seat and heading to shelves illuminated by green flame. He grabbed all the papers, loose and bound, and placed them on the table. “All my rethearch ith here. You can have it all.”
He did not mention copying them first like before. As the intruder revealed herself to be more dangerous than previously thought, the only thing he wanted at the moment was for her to take the notes and leave. The loss would be painful, but he would recuperate after a few years… deep in the Frost Wilderness far from this place.
Sage smirked as she got up from her seat and walked over to the table. Then, after placing her own notes down, she removed several books from the shadows and dropped them onto the table. One opened as it fell, baring its blank pages for all to see. The intruder then reached for the books and papers Vanus had placed on the table and cast a spell. Vanus did not recognise it, but felt it shared similarities with the 3<sup>rd</sup> Order spell [Note] which he had intended to use earlier in order to copy this research. The spell being used was of a higher level, so he could only assume it was the 5<sup>th</sup> Order version, [Transcribe]. He watched as his books and papers rose into the air and the pages flipped around before the same phenomenon happened with the empty books. A minute passed and the books closed and landed on the table. What would have taken Vanus the better part of an hour to complete was done in a fraction of the time.
“There,” Sage said, as she scooped up the books and shoved all but one in her shadow. That one she carried over to her seat and cracked it open as she settled back. “The exchange is complete. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll just sit here and sift through these notes.”
She’s not leaving? he thought as his eyes darted around the cave, trying to find something to distract himself with. His gaze stopped at the three nude and unconscious figures on the floor. “What about them?” he pointed.
To this, she snorted dismissively. “I don’t care. Use them to create new undead if you please; they have good physiques if nothing. You can even feed them and let them go if you want, though I would appreciate if you waited at least a few of days to do that if you opt for the latter.”
“I will be taking them then,” he replied. “Thank you for the contribution.”
“Pleasure,” she answered, her eyes momentarily darting from the pages to the bodies. “If they wake up, you will be no match for them. Let’s remedy that.” She raised a hand in their direction and let loose a spell, causing black chains to sprout from the ground and bind the unconscious bodies. “There,” she breathed, her hand going to stroke the cat perched on her shoulder.
Vanus picked up the trespasser’s notes and went back to his seat. However, instead of going through them, he kept his gaze on Sage, watching as she flipped through the pages with an ever-deepening frown.
“Ith there problem?” he asked, struggling to keep the weariness out of his tone.
His research had yet to be perfected. Perhaps the reason for her frown was that she had realised it. What if she decided to express her dissatisfaction in a tangible manner?
“There’s no problem,” Sage responded, looking up. There was something in her gaze he could not place. “It’s just that this ritual of yours seems to share several similarities with a departed friend’s. Does the name Bori Samedi mean anything to you?”
An image of a bald man even older than him flashed through his mind and he could not help his jaw slacking.
“You know Bori?”