Chapter 5 The Necromancer of the Tomb

Before the time of Nova s arrival at the tomb there was a time of the Necromancer, he was a kind and gentle soul who was different form the many others who came before and after him. Out side on the stone verge he stood in a dark rope, standing under a wooden arch that was barely standing up and had skeletal remains laying around the base of a small fence. He was stood before a lonely villager who was on his knees praying before him.

"Why do you seek me out." he asked.

"Oh Necromancer." he pleaded shuffling towards him. "My wife is deathly ill, can you bring her back form deaths door." he said as started gripping of to the robe.

"ENOUGH!" he boomed pulling back the cloak and sending him back.

Clouds formed and thunder crashed around them. The man cowered at his feet.

"What have you to offer me?" he asked.

"I haven t anything."

"Silence, I will give you what you need, but you must return to pay me with gold another soul or what ever you have to hand." he demanded.

"Of course." he pleaded.

"But to give you insensitive I will keep your soul until you can pay me."

He reached out a finger and touched his chest, that sent a fog like vaper form his chest and he pulled it in to his clock. The man felt ice cold, but then a small bottle filled with red liquid dropped from his sleeve in to his hand.

"This will bring her back." he said.

"Thank you." smiled the man as he scooped up the bottle and left.

The Necromancer spun around and left to the rock, as he reached a small area where a door almost seemed to be. As he walked towards it the rock inside the doorway moved to one side and he stepped though in to the rock it self.

The inside was hollow smoothed down and well light, as she stepped down the steps after the door he came down to a large area a large black mirror hung on a wall with a alchemy set beneath it. A stone arm chair sat with a stone bookshelf coveted in books to the side of the stairs with a kitchen area on the back wall, the far wall led to cave with a pile of gold.

The Necromancer pulled back his hood and let his red scruffy locks on show, he moved to the mirror and started to brew potions. He was younger then many would have thought, he s face showed years of knowledge but himself was to young to lived that long.

"Sorry about that." he said.

"No problem." came the reply.

On the mirror the bonny skeleton of death in a black hood looked down on him, he seemed to leaning his arm on something.

"Why do you always have to use the mist and fog and not just take their soul?" asked Death.

"I may be a necromancer, but if I took their soul that would be cruel." he replied as he looked at his bottle.

"Nice work by the way, all the clouds and lights."

"Thank you."

"I guess your elemental magic training paid off."

"When your born with magic, you learn to take up more."

"Unlike your other ilk." sniggered Death "Do you need me to watch him."

"No, he ll return, he wants his soul."

"You now I m lucky."

"Why."

"Out of all the Necromancers, your the only one willing to talk to me." smiled Death as she stood up straight.

"My kind are those who abuse magic, take souls and force them to do their biding and even for companionship." he growled.

"Whoops I ve got to go, but lets catch up later." he said.

With that he faded away.

The Necromancer continued to make up his red coloured potions, before retrying to the back room filled with gold. As he came in he removed his cloak and his bare body was on show but as he stretchered his body became that of a black dragon but his body was still similar size to a human before, he fell on to the gold and went to sleep.

The next day he was in the chair reading a book on alchemy, when a chime echoed.

"That s the door." he said jumping up, he picked up some potions from the table pulled his hood up and went up stairs.

Out side he submerged form a thick fog to see the man had returned.

"I ve come to pay you." he said.

"What have you to offer me now?" asked the Necromancer.

"A soul." he said as he brought forward a young farm hand, her cloths rough and ragged.

She had long dark blond hair, dressed in rags, her head was bowed and she was no older then he was. The Necromancer was taken back by this

"Who is this?" he asked.

"Oh we managed to buy her from a passing merchant."

"Fine, I wile return for soul her hers." he said as he pulled his hand form his chest.

A line of fog flowed out and with quick thrust of a hand it flew in to the man and was gone.

"Thank you." he bowed and raced away.

"Hello master." said the girl bowing.

"Uh follow me." he shrugged.

The girl followed him in to the rock and down the stairs. He sighed as he hang his head over his alchemy bench wile she just stood before him, he pulled his hood back.

"Go make your self at home." he said.

The girl nodded and walked off.

"DETA!" He screamed.

"What up." he said as he came on to the mirror.

"I was given a soul."

"So."

"SO! I m being forced to bound a soul to me, I have to force girl to bound to be though life and death."

"Other necromancers do that."

"Other necromancers, use their power to live forever in the underworld with souls they bound to them to use as they wish."

"And you don t want to abuse your power."

"No."

"Well your the only necromancer, who has mortals."

"I m also the only one who embraces their powers and doesn t try to control them."

"Who are you talking to?" asked the girl.

"Death." he said showing of the mirror.

"High." waved death.

"I can t see him." said the girl.

"Well only necromancers can see him, but ounce your bound to me you will be able to see him, but only on the black glass." he explained.

"Why do you have to bound me to you?" she asked as she came over.

"It s one of the rules of using Necromancy."

"What rules?"

"When it comes to magic there where no rules, but necromancy deals with life and death."

"So."

"It was to powerful, one necromancer could raise an army of the un-dead and conger kingdoms and rule for years as they can use their powers to live forever."

"So the rules where put in lace to what, keep them in check."

"No, to make sure they don t step out of line, so all souls that collect can only be given not taken and ounce they reach one hundred they forced to go to the under world where they trick souls and have built an army."

"So what will you do with me."

"I have no choice but to keep you here."

"I will try to my best to help you." she said.

"Just do as you wish, but just so you now, as you can t leave the cave with out me after we are bounded."

"I understand."

"Okay it s done."

"Wait it s done, are bound?"

"Magic is magic, what you saw was all for show, people need to see to believe and it also means I don t have to be upfront."

"Where do I sleep."

"I can make you bed but you will have to sleep on the chair for know."

"Yes master."

"Don t call me that," he protested.

"What should I call you."

"I gave up my name, just call me Necro."

"Ha!" laughed Death.

Necro just pointed at Death and gave a angry look.

"You can call me Lady, that s what everyone else called me."

Later that night Necro was sleeping on the gold as a dragon, wile Lady was left on the cold and hard stone chair, she found it uncomfortable and she was unable to doze off. Getting up she began to look around as from before where she just stood in place, as she looked around she came to the sleep chamber were on the gold Necro lied. He was king and more gentle then the others she had worked for, but even know a dragon form was not something she had seen. Getting closer she was unsure on what he would make of it, being careful she reached out and and touched him felling his warmth coming off in droves. It felt good and not wanting to return to the chair she lay beside him, in response his wing came up and pulled in her closer as he rolled up around her. It was if he was holding a stuffed animal, but to her she felt warm and snug and fell asleep.

She awoke the next day to find she was alone on the gold as she stretchered out to wake up, she wondered where he was. Getting up she noticed he was no in the main area, as she exited the chamber she saw him the kitchen, he was using his magic to cook food he was keeping fresh and cold in a stone fridge powered by more elemental magic.

"Good morning." he said.

Lady came in to see he was cooking up beckon and eggs.

"How did you do that?" she asked filled with wonderment.

"Do what?" he asked back looking over his shoulder.

"Become a dragon."

He stopped cooking and brought the food over quickly cooked though and sat it down on the stone counter.

"When I was born, I was born not just a Necromancer but also with an animal form, a Dragon form. I found it hard to sleep in a cave, something you found out last night. So I found out that by stashing gold I could made it easier to sleep as my dragon form." he explained

"How big can you grow,"

"No bigger that that with out a Dragons help, but it does strike fear in to everyone I meet." he said as he started to eat.

Lady joined in and started to eat a good meal, something she had not had in a wile.

"After this, I ll take you in to town and get you some new clothes." he said.

"Why?" she asked looking at her old raggedy cloths.

"If your bound to me, I wanting you look decent, I know tailor he made me a cloak that can hold potions."

Lady was quite excited over the idea of a fresh set of clothes.

As they where leaving the stone the wooden arch was no longer there but in fact a iron gate stood in it s place and the bones replaced with a cart used to carry the dead.

"What happened to the wood?" Lady asked.

"The stone exists in a secluded area, I ve used my magic to content to every grave in the world, unmarked or not. If you need find me all you need do is find a grave, one upside it s lets me travel far and wide" said Necro.

"So where are we to go?"

"A town I frequent, for my shopping."

"How far is it."

"Not far, but we d better take a horse." he said as skeleton horse rose form the ground and formed in to a horse.

"How did you do that?" she asked.

"I can call on any dead creature." he said, as he spoke the horse grew muscles, organs and skin.

Lady was disgusted by the site, but Necro just hopped on and the horse as it backed up to the cart. Necro proceed to link the cart to the horse with the harness, Lady was unsure but just deicide to hope in to the cart. Pulling on the lead the horse started on towards the town.

After the shopping was over the two had stopped at a local tavern, the wood and stone structure had dim light at the far end but the chose to sit buy a window facing the street. The the two having a bite but Lady as distracted by the many glares the two where receiving.

"Why is everyone looking at as?" whispered Lady.

"Their not looking at you, their looking at me." said Necro.

"Why?"

"I m a necromancer, some see it as unnatural. But to be honest most necromancers are evil and twisted, they take souls and they think I have forced you to serve me."

Lady looked around she saw their anger but saw no one came near them, out of fear for their own lives.

"Why did you become a necromancer?" She asked.

"I was born one, mots magic users are born with magic and others can learn, like many who are born with animal forms, they have to learn to use their power." he said glumly "Enough about me, how come you re a slave in the first place, most slaves are either too pour to pay of a debt and have to work it of and get traded or are just poor souls sold off as children."

"I was ounce in line to be king, but my kingdom was taken over, so I fled. I knew that I would not last alone and I have no idea of how to fend for my self."

"So you made your self a slave."

"Yes, the life is harsh but mots are cared for and fed, I just needed somewhere I could call home."

"I guess there s no going back for you."

"No. What about you why did you live alone?

Necro was uneasy but chose to tell his story "I was born to poor family, we all worked but on a farm but when crops died, I discovered I could bring them back, my family used it for their advantage, but after he brought back a dead bird they shunned me."

"Why."

"Brining back crops to help feed are family is one thing, when I start brining back animals I become a monster who could do more harm then good."

"What happened?"

"In a moment of fear I killed all the crops in the filed. It was then and there I knew I had to learn how to control my powers." he sighed "I found the Magic Users Guild but they had no Necromancers, so I taught my self and also learnt some more magic."

"Your rock and water magic." smiled Lady.

"Elemental magic, I also learnt to make potions, but it was there I learnt not to control my power but expect and embrace it, which gave me more power over death and life that I became the most powerful necromancer as all the others only learnt to control it, that s how I met death."

"So how did you come to be so well know."

"I went back home and fixed the crop, but my family was deathly ill, I used my brewing skills to bring them back, word sped and as I walked the earth looking a for a home, I found the stone and used my magic to reach all over to help everyone. I refined my showman ship wile I travelled."

The two finished up their food and left, the loaded cart was filled with supplies and a few some new clothes for lady. As they went home the two became more open and close to each other, as time went forward the two became closer and one day ventured out away form the tomb only to return to find and discover a young girl was waiting for them outside their home.