《Plumamentia》


 Prologue

    She was trembling like a leaf on the wind; the teardrops glistening in her eyes illuminated by the streaming light of the full moon. Hamish pulled her towards him, squeezing softly to provide any sort of reassurance he could. Julia leaned into that embrace, her hands still shaking, and eyes still gazing intently at what was approaching.


    "We''re going to die."


    Julia''s words came out quietly, mumbled even, without any trace of her normally overbearing tone.


    "Hey, hey, you have me."


    He grinned ruefully.


    In the distance, the hordes of undead ambled towards them; basking joyfully in the moonlight glow. Judging from the amount of them; there must have been at least 6 highly trained necromancers working in harmony, possibly even 7 or 8.


    "There''s no way we can take on this many. Or escape."Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He looked down at her and smiled. As her Appointed - perhaps more than simply an Appointed, if they had had the time ¨C he had to keep her alive, and there was only one way to do it. Still, he dreaded it.


    "Which- Which is why you get to safety, while I distract them."


    "What?"


    "You heard me. I can probably last a good 10 minutes. At least until the necromancers join the fight."


    Her blood ran cold with the thought. Dying was one thing, but death at the hands of necromancers was another entirely. She stared up at him, saw that he was dead serious.


    "Hamish, you can''t do this. You''re the best of the best we have."


    ¡°And if I don¡¯t do this, then both of us will die.¡±


    ¡°Y-"


    The gap was being closed far too quickly.


    He dropped her and drew his daggers. She lurched. He ran. Ran with the pattern he had used to escape capture a dozen times before, left-right, left-right. Only now he ran to death.


    She hated it ¨C but she couldn''t waste this chance. She had to make sure that his sacrifice wouldn''t be in vain. Wiping the still-lingering tears from her eyes, she turned and fled.


    She was too far to turn back when his screams pierced the night sky.


    Halfway to the camp when she realized that she forgot to say goodbye.

 Interlude 1 - Discourse

    My Dear Livia,


    Allow me to start by expressing my deepest condolences. Hamish held a special place in all of our hearts, so believe me when I say our side regrets his loss also. Although we may have clashed a multitude of times on the battlefield, there is also no shortage to the times we exchanged pleasantries over refreshments. Indeed, you will recall I called for a temporary ceasefire, once I was informed of his death. I regret to say many of my colleagues are still in mourning, so this is not a call to resume the fight.


    I know you two shared a special relationship. I hesitate to call it romantic, for what it was went far beyond that, but I must, for there is no word yet developed able to amply describe the bond you shared. I have felt it also, the way each and every iota of magic called to his; the way even intercourse does not fulfil the need to conjoin yourselves. I have felt the loss, also, a special one being ripped away far too suddenly, the way magic and energy simply does not ignite as it used to. Neither description does either justice.


    The corpse is, of course, irretrievable, scattered by many hundreds of foul summons. They are our common enemy, your side and mine, as I am sure you know, and although you may find our methods similar to the dark mages residing in that accursed land, if you were to know the sheer quantity of resources spent containing them, such thoughts would be swiftly banished. This letter is not a call for aid respecting them, either, as I am sure your side spends equal or exceeding time attempting the same.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Rather, this is an offer of assistance. We do have necromatics working with us - purely working to calm those already raised, allow me to assure you - but if you were to agree, they are indeed willing to capture the soul of your lover and grant it a sort of new life. I was offered the same, once, and there is nothing I regret more than considering too long. It is too late for Gernath, and I beseech you, do not make the same mistake with Hamish.


    All we ask for in return is to add your power to ours. We do already have a multitude of healers, but Hamish told us in no small detail of the prodigy that is your magic. We would not ask you to do anything you do not currently do, and indeed, only to bolster those parts of our work no differe


    - From an unknown sender of an unknown date, found hidden among the belongings of the subject matter. It is recommended to note an unknown length of vellum has been crudely removed, presumably now destroyed.