Heather the Necromancer
Book 4: Chapter 14: Arise my champion

Heather looked down in a panic, the fear of falling gripping her heart. The pit was so deep her friends and minions vanished from sight, and soon even the sound of their cries were gone. She looked up to see Breanne frantically trying to hold on to her hand as her fingers slipped. She reached up with the other hand and clutched at Breanne, desperate to hold on.

“I can't do this for long. I have to remain spectral to fly but solid enough to hold you,” Breanne groaned as she tried to lift Heather to the ledge.

Heather nodded her mind still spinning as her fingers slipped even more. “You carried me up in the tower,” she stammered, desperate to find a way out of the trap.

“I made you spectral like me,” Breanne replied. “But I can't do that for very long, and the doorway is too far! I am sure I could lift you, but not with a backpack full of coins and your spider.”

Heather realized she was going to fall and wondered what it would be like to respawn. It was then she remembered the raven statue and considered letting one hand go to grab it from her pouch. Her heart raced as time seemed to slow, one hand making a desperate grab for the pouch and the statue inside. The motion was more than Breanne could tolerate, and Heather's hand slipped away as Webster leaped from her backpack. He trailed a cord of spider silk as thick as her finger behind him, rapidly anchoring it to the wall. The straps of her backpack jerked her shoulders as she lurched to a stop. She groaned in pain as she came to rest along the wall.

Breanne blinked in alarm as Heather dangled from the spider silk, and Webster crawled down to secure her. He quickly attached two more threads to the straps, anchoring her to the wall as she started to lift her head.

“I didn’t die?” she moaned as her shoulders ached.

“That spider is the best familiar ever,” Breanne said as Webster fumbled at Heather’s waist. Breanne got the idea and pulled Heather’s pouch open to hand her the statue.

“Quickly,” Breanne urged. “Before the wizard finds some way to take advantage of our situation.”

Heather nodded half in a daze as Breanne pressed her fingers around the figurine. She spoke the command word and was suddenly free, flapping her black wings to gain height and reach the doorway. Breanne caught the falling figurine, fearful it would be destroyed before Heather could use it to regain her form. She carried it up as Webster crawled along the wall, meeting them both in the upper hallway.

An explosion echoed down the hall, reminding them that Legeis was still pursing Nightrage. Breanne set the statue down, and Heather quickly used it to return to her normal shape.

“Ow,” she moaned, slumping against the wall as she worked her arms. “That sudden stop jerked my shoulders terribly.”

“Use a heal and get up, Legeis might be in trouble,” Breanne urged.

“What about Frank and Quinny?” Heather asked as she tried to stand.

“I can fly down and see what happened to them, but that will leave you to help Legeis alone,” Breanne replied.

Heather nodded and used mend the dead, driving the pain from her shoulders. She sighed in relief before finally standing with some strength.

“I will go after Legeis. Find out what happened to the others and if they need help.” She put the figurine in Breanne’s hands and looked her in the eyes. “They might need this to get back up. Tell Frank he has no choice.”

“If they are still alive,” Breanne replied with a nod. “Good luck.”

Heather returned the nod as Breanne rushed away and vanished into the open pit. It was just her and Webster now against who knows what danger. He tapped at her leg, causing her to look down as his voice echoed in her mind.

“Oh, my scythe! I dropped it when the floor vanished,” she said and looked back to the doorway. She held out a hand and spoke the word “scythos.” The scythe appeared in her hand as she clutched it to her chest. “I put a word of calling on it like I did the statue,” she said. “Let's hope the others are still alive, and Breanne can get them out.”

Webster bobbed and moved ahead, causing Heather to cry out. “Wait, there might be traps!”

The spider turned about, and she heard him again. “You are not walking ahead of me to set them off!” she argued. He argued back as her face deepened in a scowl. “I don't care if I can summon you back later, you're my friend, and I am not using you as cannon fodder.”

The spider turned to walk on, but she stepped in front of him. “Legeis and Nightrage both ran this way. It is safe to assume there are no traps at least until we catch up. Now, let me carry you in my pack, or at least walk beside you. I am not letting you sacrifice yourself for me.”

His feet beat the floor in aggravation, and she shook her head. “This is why everybody is so mean to each other. I don't care that you can be resummoned, and I can be respawned. People need to start treating life like it's special regardless of how easy it is to come back. It's this callous lack of consequences that turns people into jerks. Now we go together or not at all.” He let out a shrill sigh, and she picked him up, lifting him over her head to put back in the pack. “Come on; this works better anyway, nobody suspects a backpack spider.”

She set her scythe and looked down the long hall as another rumble was heard from deep within. She ran off at a reckless pace, hoping her assumption was right, and the path ahead would indeed be clear. The hall ended in an open door, inside of which was what looked like a kitchen. There were tables, pots, pans, a wood-burning stove, and numerous shelves. The floor was littered with pans as if a storm had blown threw and cast them about. There were two doors out, but only one of them was open. This one led to a large chamber with archways on the fall wall. It had a long red rug in the center and some chairs along one wall. Chandeliers glowing with magical flames hung from chains high above.

This room showed little in the way of battle damage except for a discarded dagger and a singed area of the wall.

“They must be chasing one another,” she said as she dashed for an archway to peer into the room inside. This was a vast hall that ran to her right and up a flight of broad steps. There were archways on the other side and a door to her left. She felt intensely curious about the door, but it was locked, and she didn't dare try to open it.

“Did they run through the archways or up the stairs?” she grumbled as Webster peeked out.

“You're right, I should check the archways first,” she agreed and crept across the hall. Here she found a sort of formal dining hall with a long narrow table set with tall white candles. A blue runner ran the length of a dark wood table that would comfortably sit thirty. A large fireplace dominated one wall, carved to resemble the mouth of a skull.

She crept into the room, looking for signs of battle but was surprised to find dust instead. “What a strange room for a wizard and rogue,” she said as Webster looked around from her pack. There were pillars of black marble in the corners with a skull motif about halfway up. She took a few seconds to run a finger across the table to see just how thick the dust was.

“They don’t even use this room,” she said as she rubbed the dust between her fingers. “This looks like it belongs in my tower, not here.”

A rumble was heard someplace deeper in reminding her that there was no time to waste. She abandoned the room and ran for the stairs, going up a dozen steps to an upper hall that hit a crossroads. It was here she realized that the mist was gone and the doors easily visible. She worried that this was all some form of elaborate trap, meant to lure her into believing she was safe. She now had three choices the long hall ahead that went up some steps to another length and a double door. A short hall on the right that went up yet another flight of stairs to three doors. Or the curving hall on the left with one doorway and a thin cloud of smoke near a burn mark. A strange need pulled at her to go to the double door, but the battle went the other way.

She dashed to the left following the obvious battle marks and raced around the curving hall. This led to an open tunnel that entered a cave. Here there was a winding path of stone roughly half a meter above dark waters. Several wooden poles jutted out of the water with sharp spikes flung out to impale anyone on the path. It was another trap, but it was already set off, and she hoped the only one in the room. Carefully she ran across silently praying for safety and arrived at a cave tunnel on the other side.

Battle damage was evident here, from burns to metal shrapnel lying on the floor. There was even a piece of Legeis's cloak torn away and smoking near the wall. She peered down the tunnel that was large enough for an elephant to march down and pushed on. The tunnel ended at a grand chamber where the ceiling rose high enough that glowing stones above were like stars in the night sky. It was a natural cave above, but the lower walls and floor were worked to make a comfortable space. It was stone blocks, fitted together, and polished smooth. Thick rugs covered most of its surface, and two great stone pillars rose up to support the ceiling. If an elephant could have walked down that hall, a whole circus could operate in here. There was a basin of water whose walls were nearly as tall as she, clear cold water pouring into it from a carving of a dragon's head on the wall. A massive archway led to an adjacent room whose floor was a sunken depression in the stone. There were arches along the walls forming a large ring around the depression, but the room contained nothing else of interest.

She made her way across it, noting the disturbances in the dust. She found a discarded dagger with blood on it, and a blood trail across the room, scattered as if the wounded person was running. Heather followed the trail to a massive archway and froze. The room beyond was smaller but still grand by all measurements. It was devoid of decoration but contained something that made her pause. A skeleton like a dinosaur laid to one side of the room, the bones crumpled into a disorganized pile and covered in dust.

“What is that?” Heather asked as she dared to approach the lifeless husk. Webster spoke in her head, and she nodded. “right, I need to focus and find Legeis.” She went back to following the blood trail that ran to a wall where a narrow shaft led down a dimly lit tunnel. The blood trail was reduced to scattered drops but was still discernable as she hurried on. This tunnel went up a flight of steps to an opening in the wall. This was a clean hallway that ran passed two doors and turned right. She crept to the corner and looked into a room in time to see a flash of light. When her eyes cleared, she stepped in to see Legeis dragging one leg as he tried to hobble after Nightrage, who was running to a cliff edge on the far side.

“Legeis!” Heather cried as Nightrage reached the ledge.

“Oh, look who is still alive,” Nightrage mocked.

“Heather, get down!” Legeis cried as Nightrage spun, and three sharp blades came racing her way.

Her arms went up in a cross, the thick leaves of plants forming a shield to catch the blades. When the spell winked away, Nightrage bowed as if impressed and then vanished in a puff of smoke only to reappear across the gap on a narrow ledge.

“I applaud your skills,” Nightrage said with a smile her way. “To bad your so hideous, I would have liked to charm you.”

Heather stood up in shock at his words. “I am not hideous!” she shouted back. “And I would never have accepted your advances.”

Nightrage smiled and blew her a kiss as Legeis leveled a stick at him. A popping noise proceeded a puff of smoke as a net raced across the gap. Nightrage vanished again in a puff of smoke only to reappear a few steps to the side.

“You can't catch me,” Nightrage mocked. “I am rather enjoying your game of trying, though.”

“He’s right,” Legeis groaned. “I am running out of ammunition, and I can’t run anymore.”

Heather ran to his side and put a pulsing heal on him as Nightrage laughed safely out of reach. She quickly studied the space to notice two doors to either side of the gap and a strange, almost ghostly haze in the air. Even more alarming was the strand of spider silk dangling in the air a few meters below the ledge of a massive pit.

“That's the room we were in!” Heather yelled.

“Ha!” Nightrage laughed. “You thought you were clever enough to avoid all my traps. I took away your little army of undead in one easy move.”

Heather leaned over the edge and passed through the wall that was only an illusion. From inside, they looked solid, leaving her feeling a little bit like Breanne. She was about to comment when Legeis pulled her out of the path of another hail of daggers.

“Foolish zombie,” Nightrage mocked. “You act like you have never seen an illusion before.”

Heather went to reply when a spectral form rose from the pit, and Breanne called out.

“Heather? I hear you, but I can't see you.”

“Come through the wall to your left quickly!” Heather yelled as Nightrage readied to throw. Breanne dashed for the wall as Heather filled the other side with pollen to obscure his vision. Breanne looked shocked to arrive in the room and looked about in alarm.

“Where are Frank and Quinny?” Heather demanded.

“The pit ends in a shallow pool below. They are hurt but still moving and are heading down a side tunnel. Your minions are a complete loss, not a one of them survived.”

Heather silently thanked whoever was watching over her that they were alive, but had to admit Nightrage removed all her minions from play in one smooth stroke.

“Your spells are an annoyance!” Nightrage yelled from the other side as Legeis tugged at her arm.

“Can you fill that side with a wall of bone?” he asked.

Heather nodded but asked, “What good will that do?”

“I want to push him into the pit, or force him to come over here,” Legeis said.

Heather nodded and fell into her spell; her strength felt drained but quickly formed a wall of bone, filling the ledge on the far side from floor to ceiling to the lip of the pit. A shape was pushed forward with it, falling out of the pollen with a laugh. Nightrage tipped a potion to his lips, suddenly turning into a cloud of smoke that drifted down the pit gently.

“A smoke form potion,” Legeis groaned as Nightrage continued to laugh, as he escaped. “How deep is that pit?”

Breanne looked up in alarm. “A hundred meters, maybe.”

Legeis nodded. “Just deep enough.”

“Deep enough for what?” Heather asked as Legeis fished something out of his backpack. He pulled out what looked like a ball with a long coiled band. Legeis pulled some of the band away and stepped to the ledge.

“Frank and Quinny are out of the bottom?” he asked.

“Yes,” Breanne replied with a curious expression. “What are you planning to do?”

“Those kinds of potions don't last long. I bet he takes a solid form the second he touches the floor. We just need to give him thirty seconds to get there.”

“So?” Heather asked as Legeis held the sphere over the pit and tapped the side. The band began to burn slowly as he let it go to fall down the shaft. He stepped back and wiped his goggles.

“That bomb is timed to fall to the bottom before going off. Nightrage will be solid just a few seconds before it explodes.”

“But that isn't likely to kill him,” Heather said. “Surely, he can survive a bomb or two.”

Legeis nodded, his long pointed ears flapping. “True, but I am counting on all the secondaries to fix that for me.”

“Secondaries?” Breanne asked as there was a distant boom that echoed down the shaft. A moment later, it was drowned out by a thunderous roar as the bomb, and inferno skeletons lying in the bottom went off with it. The room shook, and fire reached so far up the shaft they saw flames.

Heather stumbled back, fearful of the blast that made her ears ring. Webster pulled the flap of the backpack closed to hide inside as the dust choked the room.

“Let’s see him avoid that,” Legeis said with a pleased tone in his voice.

“One down, one to go,” Breanne said as she looked about the room.

Heather shook her head to clear the ringing from her ears. “How did they survive that fall?” she asked, looking to Breanne.

She smiled and drifted closer. “Frank used his tunneling skills to dig his nails into the wall. Quinny hung on to his neck as he slowed their fall. They still hit the ground hard, but they are alive and moving. If either of them can get their hands on something living to eat, they can heal quickly.”

Heather sighed and wiped her brow. “Thank goodness, but

why didn't they use the bird to fly back up?”

“He thinks they are in some kind of secret tunnels,” Breanne replied. “Hallways made so the wizard and rogue can bypass all the traps. He felt it was more important to explore them and see if they can find an easier route up. He thinks you should come down there to him.”

Heather looked to Legeis, who shrugged and spoke. “This is assuming we still can. Remember, we just detonated all those skeletons down there. What if the tunnel is collapsed? Besides, there aren't many traps up here. I think we are already passed the worst of them, but it's never a good idea to split the party.”

“What party?” Heather asked in confusion.

He laughed. “You really are a newb.”

“I am not a game player,” she sighed and leaned on her scythe. “Look, they may be right, and those halls below lead passed all the traps, but there were a bunch of rooms back the way we came. I bet those are the living spaces for the wizard and rogue. It would be a shame to go down if we're just a few steps away from him.”

“You saw rooms?” Breanne asked.

“Lot's of them, but I was following Legeis's trail and didn't stop to look in many of them. But one was a kitchen, a dining room, and a grand hall.”

“Hmm,” Breanne said with a concerned look. “I see your point, but I don't like us being separated either. Your Ghoul knight didn't survive that fall. Can you resummon him, at least?”

“I think so,” Heather said and fell into her spell. She suddenly felt light-headed and stumbled back as Breanne rushed to catch her. “I feel drained,” Heather groaned and tried to clear her head.

“Not this again, how much magic do you have left?” Breanne asked.

Heather rubbed her tattoo and brought up the panel squinting at the character stats to see the answer was very little.

“You never fully recovered from last time, and you're almost out,” Breanne sighed. “You are going to have to go without him. I hope those points you spent on your scythe make up for it.”

“What about these other points that will convert?” Heather asked as she looked at essence.

Breanne and Legeis exchanged a worried glance as Heather held up the panel to show them she still had some of that left.

“I don't know,” Breanne said. “Every time you tap into that, you faint and are asleep for a day or more.”

“We don’t have time to rest,” Legeis said. “Giving the wizard and rogue a full day to recover will end badly for us.”

“Then we push on,” Heather said with a toss of her head. “I can use my scythe to fight.”

“Should I go back and tell Frank and Quinny?” Breanne asked.

“Time is ticking,” Legeis reminded.

Heather nodded. “Go back, tell them we are going to search this level. If they need you stay with them, otherwise come back.”

Breanne nodded and stepped through the illusionary wall to fly back down the pit. Heather watched her go a moment then looked to Legeis.

“How was that room solid when we were in it?”

“I think there is a spell called solid illusion. You can make an illusion solid for a short while or until some event happens,” he replied.

“Like a bunch of fools linger in the room too long,” Heather nodded. “For all we know, this room is an illusion.”

“If it is, we had better get moving.”

Heather agreed and went back the way they came, eventually arriving in the large cave with the tile floor. She pointed out the skeleton, and Legeis took a moment to examine it.

“Can you animate something that large?” he asked.

She paused to consider it and wondered if maybe she could. What would she do with a giant skeleton, though? She walked up to the skull and peered into an empty eye socket.

The room was full of flashes of light, and fires burned along the walls. Voices cried out that she tricked them, but a familiar voice rang out and said she warned them about that. There was a pain in her side quickly followed by another as more fire blasted the walls causing men to scream. A knight in golden armor leaped through the flames, a sword of silver metal glowing like the sun in his hand.

“Yo, Heather!” Legeis cried out, causing her to jump back.

“What?” she said in a hurried rush. “What just happened?”

“You were staring at that skull, and you sort of zoned out. Then you and the skull started to glow blue.”

“I did?” she gasped.

“What? You don’t remember?” he asked.

Heather shook her head and took a cautious step back. “I was here, but it was different. There was fire everywhere, and men were shouting. A man in golden armor jumped through the fire with a glowing sword.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked.

“I haven't been alright since I got here,” she growled. “I am tired of seeing things, dreaming things, and goblins insisting I am someone I am not.” She folded her arms, gripping her scythe tightly. “What is this thing anyway?”

“Looks like a dragon,” Legeis replied.

“This is a dragon?” Heather asked as she dared to lean closer. “I wonder if this is who the egg belongs to?”

“We don’t have time to figure that out,” he insisted. “That wizard has been too quiet. He must have something big up his sleeve.”

“Great,” Heather said with a roll of her eyes. “Let’s go find out how he plans to kill us.”

They wandered across the room, pausing to look at the fountain and then wandered into the dining area. From here, they entered the long hall with its carpet, and she paused to the far end.

“We need to go that way,” she said, pointing down the hall.

“What about all these side rooms?” Legeis insisted.

Heather looked down the hall and could vaguely see large double door a the end. “Something is in there. I feel a need to go that way.”

“I dunno, maybe we should have gone down with Breanne. I don't know much about this strange power of yours and what it means.”

“They don't either,” Heather sighed. “But we need to go this way.”

“Then let's look quickly,” he insisted and followed as she led the way.

The hall ascended some steps and then went twenty meters to a stout double door with silver bands. There was an inlay of metal in the shape of a skull so that the doors split the eyes. Strange symbols were etched in the metal, forming a five-pointed pattern.

“I don’t like the look of that,” Legeis said. “The door is enchanted.”

“It’s a warning,” Heather said as she recognized the runes. “Only the dead may enter.”

“You can read it?” he asked in alarm as she stepped up and ran her hand over a rune.

“I have come, open, and the dead will enter,” she commanded. The doors groaned and swung inward in a slow motion revealing a domed room inside. The marble floor was inlaid with silver forming rings and patterns. Pillars of black marble rose up then branched over the pattern to create a sort of arched roof. A single chain hung down, and from it was suspended a metal bowl directly over the center.

“What is this?” Legeis said from where he dared to look in from the doorway.

Heather strode boldly into the room and looked around. There was a strange blue mist that followed her steps as she walked to the center of the pattern and looked around. Her eyes went up to the bowl above and the ghostly light inside, light only the dead could see.

“Maybe we should leave this room alone,” Legeis suggested as he waited just outside the door.

“No,” Heather said with a smile. “This room is exactly where we need to be.”

“Why?”

Heather looked at him as her eyes began to glow with a green light. “This is a necromancers focus, and I am going to activate its power.”

“You will not!” a voice shouted as white flashed filled the air, and the wizard appeared just behind Legeis. He scrambled into the room with a bomb in hand as the wizard rose to float just above the floor. “Step away from there, girl. You have no idea what you're dealing with.”

“Do you?” Heather asked. “Have you any idea how this works?”

“No, but those who used it died and never respawned. I may be a jerk, but I don't want that for you or anyone else,” he said with an outstretched hand. “Now, come away from that, and I will let you go. You undead have caused me enough trouble.”

Heather tapped the but of her scythe on the floor and called out in a loud voice. “Necrus Aetheros!”

The room vibrated as a wailing sound filled the air, and the lines in the floor glowed as green as her eyes.

“Stop!” the wizard yelled and threw up both hands as flames began to swirl around them. A pillar of fire raced from his hands, bearing down on Heather, who dived to the side. She came up with her scythe in hand as the green light became a mist flowing to her as if alive. She raced across the room, her scythe going high as the wizard began another spell.

Legeis threw a bomb, but it struck an invisible barrier around the wizard falling to the side where it exploded harmlessly. He reached for the last stick on his back and leveled it the wizard's way.

The wizard's hands danced in complex patterns as he intoned a spell, a moment later glowing balls of light formed over his head and streaked at Heather. She tried to avoid them, but they turned and followed her, slamming into her side and chest like punches. She ignored the pain and leaped into the air, her scythe making a whistling sound as it cut downward at the wizard. He saw the danger, and suddenly there were five of him, all running in different directions.

The blade cut into the floor with a ring of metal as she looked at the wizards all around her.

“I hate Illusions,” she growled and wrenched her weapon from the ground.

“Which one do I shoot?” Legeis asked as he pointed his weapon at one, then another.

The images continued to move, continually circling them as the wizard took on a walking pace. “You think you can control the magic of that circle?” he asked. “Only a necromancer of great power could manage such a thing.”

“Well, then I should have no trouble,” Heather replied.

“Sheesh, you got nerve,” Legeis said as he backed up to her, watching the images circling them. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The wizard laughed. “You are brave and foolish. You do realize you could die permanently?”

“No,” Heather replied. “I think you don’t understand how the magic works, and you are assuming they are dead.”

“Do you see any necromancers anymore?” the images shouted at her. “Most of them died to their own magic and the few that didn't were hunted down and forced to reset. They tried to twist the power of the world to some goal it wasn't meant to do.”

Heather watched the images circle as the wizard spoke, waiting for the right moment. She kept her eyes moving as if trying to figure out which was the real wizard. When one image came close enough, she slashed out with her scythe, cutting the only image that had the glow of life around it. He cried out as blood was drawn and flashed away, appearing outside the doorway with a snarl on his face as he held one arm. The other images vanished, and Legeis leveled his weapon that looked like a crossbow with a belt of small darts hanging below it.

“I tried to reason with you,” the wizard said.

“You should have given me the kingdom heart,” Heather replied.

The wizard laughed. “Still after that. Tell you what, why don't you deal with this first.” Legeis fired, but the wizard vanished in a cloud of smoke as something else appeared inside.

“Oh, this can't be good,” Legeis remarked as he pulled a crank that loaded the next dart.

“Keep whatever that is busy a second,” Heather shouted and ran for the circle as a woman made of iron stepped out of the cloud.

“It's another golem, and we don't have anything to fight it with,” Legeis shouted as he pelted it with a dart that exploded harmlessly on its hide.

“Just keep it busy!” she shouted and ran into the circle. “Ok, the book said these were wells of power, and that you could tap them.” She thought back to how it said to use the magic and began a spell. Green mist poured into her, augmenting her power as a shape began to form in the air. There was a loud crunch as Legeis ran from a hefty punch, the golem cracking the floor with the blow.

“Whatever you're going to do, you better hurry!” he shouted back.

Heather completed her spell and then focused the green energy into the shape that now stood before her. It stood over three meters tall with gray and black armor plates covering most of its body. The metal looked aged and corroded but still strong. In one hand was a sword of serrated metal that dripped a green mist, and the other a tower shield that looked to be made of metallic bones.

“The ghoul knight was fun, but I prefer this look,” she said as she walked up to him. “Welcome back, my bone champion.” The skeleton nodded it's head as another loud crack shook the room. Heather looked to the golem trying to reach Legeis around a pillar and pointed. “Would you be a dear and kill that thing.”

The Skeleton turned on the golem and let out a cry like a dozen voices screaming from a deep pit. Green fire burst from its body, burning over its armor as it ran across the room, trailing fire in its wake. It slammed into the golem carrying it into the wall with a crash.

“What did you just do?” Legeis asked as he scrambled away, the golem and champion standing eye to eye as they began to battle.

“I used the room to power and boost one of my summons. I can't actually summon one that powerful, but here, I am twice as strong.” She watched with a pleased smile as the skeletons shield easily held up under a blow from the golem, and a return cut from his sword burned a line across the golem's chest.

“So this is a necromancers thing?” Legeis asked.

“Oh yes,” Heather replied. “In fact, I don't think this is the wizard's home. I think we're in a hidden necromancer lair, and the wizard is just using it.”

“But, where is the necromancer then?” Legeis asked.

Heather turned on him with a smile. “She is right here.” There was a crash as the golem fell over, the champion breathing a line of green fire in its face.

“Those two are going to tear this place apart,” he said as the golem rolled, part of its face melting away. It backhanded the skeleton sending it stumbling back and rose to its feet to resume the fight.

“The room will heal,” Heather replied. “The magic that makes this will restore it, even if it's fully defaced.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I have a book of necromancer knowledge, and there is a similar room near my home. I have been researching it for a while now.” Heather looked up again and reached her hand into the air. She danced a little pattern, and a spectral hand appeared just above her. She used it to reach up and pull the ghostly object from the bowl above. Down came a simple ring with a black stone hidden in the realm of the dead. She tried to grab it with her real hand, but it defied her touch as her hand passed right through.

“I will have to figure out how to claim that later. Now, I think it's time to end this,” she said and turned her attention to the battle. Her hands moved, reaching for the floor than making a sweeping motion up as she chanted. Spikes of bone each two meters tall ruptured out of the floor in a line. Before the golem could move, they impaled it and rooted it to the spot. It twitched only a moment before her bone champion took advantage of the situation and cleanly cut its half-melted head off. It fell to the floor with a loud clang as Heather smiled.

“Now, we have a wizard to evict,” she said and turned to the doorway and paused. “As soon as I leave this circle, I will lose my power.”

“Are you going to be alright, or will you pass out?

She let out a long, slow breath. “I will be fine, but just to be sure.” She turned to the bone champion. “This is a friend. If something happens to me, you must help him battle the wizard.” The bone knight nodded and folded an arm over its chest in a salute.

Heather looked to the edge of the circle; there was no point in waiting. She stepped over the edge and felt the power go, weakness flowing back in until she stumbled.

“I am fine,” she insisted when Legeis tried to help her. “It just felt strange to lose all that power.” She set her feet and looked out the doorway. “Let’s go,” she said and marched out, the bone champion towering behind her as they walked down the hall.

“This isn’t going to end well,” Legeis groaned and ran after her.

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