Heather the Necromancer
Book 4: Chapter 26: Too Late

Coins of a dozen sizes and colors filled the chest. Tiny gems set in rings, bracelets, and necklaces glittered in the light. There were several small glass bottles and a thin black wand with a diamond pattern to it.

“Ahh, a good find,” Margus said as he stepped back. “That hag was a high level.”

“We need to fight more of those,” Heather insisted as she stared down at the treasure. Her mind could hardly grasp the wealth that was on display. She wanted to dip both her hands in and lift the coins high to spill through her fingers.

“We should explore the tunnel that ogre came out of,” Quinny said. “He might have some treasure of his own.”

“I want to keep this hammer,” Legeis commented. “It's a decent size for my armor and gives me more reach.”

Heather and the others agreed and carefully searched the back tunnel. It led to a small cave where a bed of animal furs rested on a ledge. A quick search found another pile of treasure hidden in a hole under the furs. They pulled out a few hundred coins, and a few gems, as well as a cloak of black cloth with red trim on the bottom. This was added to the chest and carefully divided between them.

Eribold used magic to identify the potions and set them aside. One was a growth potion that would increase the drinker's size. Another was invisibility, and the last one gave them water breathing. The wand was also carefully considered and determined to be a wand of ice, able to cause various freezing effects. Eribold demonstrated by firing a line of frost at the water pool, freezing a small section of it. Sᴇaʀᴄh the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Quinny held up a necklace of red stones that she really liked and offered to pay for it with some of her share of the coins. Margus and Eribold didn't care if she took it and helped divide the incidental jewelry among the group. When all was said and done, Heather had a pile of coins and a few pieces of jewelry. Frank had the same and the potion of growth. Legeis had the wand of frost that he believed he could work into a weapon system for his armor.

The one odd item was the cloak. It was in good condition if a little dirty, and Eribold's magic said it was perfectly normal. It was too long for Margus to use, and Eribold had a magical cloak already. Breanne took the cloak in the end and added it to her pile of coins.

Eribold took the potion of invisibility, and Margus the one for water breathing. Eribold joked Margus needed it since he could drown in a puddle. Heather tried not to laugh as Margus rolled his eyes and threatened to drown him in the pool nearby.

Heather had to remove Webster from her backpack to put her coins in, and when this proved to be too heavy, asked Frank to carry it. He suggested using one of her zombies to do it, but the ogre zombie expired almost immediately after he said it. He shouldered her pack with a sigh and led the way out, the adventure short but rewarding.

Heather noticed the jagged knife the hag was using lying on the floor as they went to leave. She must have dropped it in all the commotion, and the others forgot all about it. She picked it up, turning the strange blade over in her hands. It was all metal from point to pommel with a sort of skull-like face where the handle met the blade. The blade's curves were gentle and well defined, making the weapon almost artistic in its quality. She shrugged and tucked it in her belt to look at later when they were safely home.

Outside, the sun was in the evening position, indicating it would be after midnight when they got home. Eribold and Margus came back with them to spend the night in the tower and leave in the morning. Legeis ended up carrying most of the packs, his armor shrugging off the extra weight. Long after the stars came out, the tower was finally visible, and soon the forest appeared. It was extra spooky to wade into the trees of Quinn's forest, where the moonlight barely reached the ground. Shadows were there thick, and mist obscured visibility. There were howls and strange snaps as if something large were stalking them. Glowing eyes would appear in the distance to blink and fade away. They heard the low moans of zombies lurking someplace in the distance as they picked up the trail and made their way to the graveyard.

“This place looks very different at night,” Eribold said.

“Aye, it looks very uninviting,” Margus added.

“It's perfectly safe,” Heather said as she clutched her scythe. Something did feel out of place as the tombstones became visible beyond the twisted metal gates. Here the grave mist was thick as it rolled across the ground turning the scene into a haunted landscape. Frank paid it no attention, walking into the mist as if he belonged to it. Breanne followed, and one by one, they made their way. Skeletons crept through the shadows and dark places with red eyes, watching them pass. Heather was relieved to arrive at the tower and quickly retreated inside with Eribold, Margus, and Legeis.

Monica made them some bread and vegetable soup. Heather sat at the table dreaming of cookies when Monica presented a pear tart, made from the magic tree's fruit. They quickly gobbled down the treat and decided to retire for the night.

She found the bone champion standing at the window in her room. He seemed to be looking into the yard as if lost in contemplation. She decided to ignore him and set her scythe aside before picking Webster up to place him on a pillow. With a yawn, she climbed into bed and had dreams of treasures and jewels for a change.

The morning saw Eribold and Margus in the outer yard touring her gardens and annoying the skeletons. It seemed like a typical day in a strange world. Frank, Quinny, and Breanne had spent the night planning what to do with the treasure. She found them in the graveyard sitting on the stones and talking. Quinny was wearing the necklace they found as she excitedly talked about expanding their lairs. Heather had forgotten they could sacrifice treasure and items to gain points. Quinny made it sound like they had enough to buy back anything they would lose in the move. Frank argued there were other uses for the treasure, and Heather had to ask what they were.

He then explained that there were special areas they could add to their lairs. The more treasure they stored in a special area, the more powerful a monster might spawn in them. If the players defeated the monster, they could claim the treasure, or they might die and add to it. It became a game of how much treasure did the monster player want to risk. Small amounts would mean small monsters but risked very little. Large amounts meant a powerful monster but a much more considerable risk.

“Hugh, I wonder what I could do in my tower?” Heather said as she pondered it.

“I bet you could get some kind of super monster,” Quinny said. “Something evil and powerful.”

Heather wasn't sure she wanted evil, but something that was a challenge would be nice. As it stood, she had very little in the way of monsters in her tower. There were two skeletons guarding each door, and her bone champion. There were specific undead and monsters she could buy, but something powerful would be nice.

“If Margus and Eribold send players to that Gwen's city, we will have plenty of traffic,” Breanne said. “You won't need to spend the gold.”

“Hmm, what can you do with gold?” Heather asked as Breanne smiled.

“I can increase the strength of the area I am haunting. I will have more power to affect the landscape, detect players, and even summon other spirits. In swamps, I can call on things called will-o' wisps. They are the strange lights people see in swamps and dark woods. They are deceptively dangerous and hard to hit. I can also call on ghosts and drowners. When I haunt the swamp, I will be invisible to the monster there, and they won't attack me.”

“Can you build anything?” Heather asked.

“Eventually, I will be able to create a sort of tomb with a magic mirror in it.”

“Why a mirror?” Heather asked.

“It has something to do with banshee and vanity. I can’t make it very big, but I am stronger the closer to it I am.”

“Hmm,” Heather said as Eribold and Margus arrived.

“Well, it's time we headed out,” Margus said. “It was good to see you all again and lovely to meet you,” he added with a wink to Breanne.

“You will remember to tell players about the city?” Heather asked to be sure they hadn’t forgotten.

“Aye, we will spread the word and come visit ourselves after we’ve told enough.”

She bid them farewell and watched them leave as Legeis walked up without his suite. He sat on a low stone and took his goggles off to wipe the lenses clean with a cloth as Heather looked around.

“Where is your armor?”

“I left it in the tower,” he replied. “It gets kinda annoying to be inside it all the time. I can't do any of the work I need done unless I get out.”

“You need to spend a week beating the dents out of that thing,” Quinny joked.

“Yeah, I thought that too, but I noticed some of them are gone. I think maybe because it's technically a golem, it can heal slowly and fix that on its own.”

“Well, that's a plus,” Breanne said. “It makes a great pack mule as well.”

“It's good for that too, I guess,” he said as he held the goggles up. “So, what are we doing today.”

“Getting ready to move,” Frank replied. “Heather was going to summon a bunch of skeletons to carry stuff for us. We could carry more if you were willing to help.”

“Sure thing,” Legeis said. “The sooner I get back to a workshop, the sooner I can put some weapons on that thing. I suppose we're going through that shadow tunnel.”

“Umtha isn't,” Quinny said. “She is organizing the goblins to walk there.”

“I don't blame her,” Breanne said. “That place is disconcerting, and the noise those poles make is nerve-racking.”

Heather agreed the sound was disturbing, but the tunnel was so much faster. Thinking of it made her think of the mysterious ring. She only pondered it a few seconds before throwing the thought away. There was enough to worry about without adding that to the list. Legeis agreed to start work on turning her bathtub into a wagon so they could pile things on it to carry away. She realized it would be impossible to get the cart into the room unless Frank used his tunneling skill to widen some doorways. Or they could unload everything and roll the tub in sideways, then reassemble the cart inside. Either way, it would take some effort to get where they were going, and today was the day to get it done.

She summoned a hoard of skeletons and set them to the task of collecting things in the various rooms. Frank helped roll the tub down the stairs and carried it outside for Legeis and some goblins. They set about building a frame for it to rest in, turning into a sort of wagon. Heather and the others began to load their stuff into the basin and choosing skeletons to pull the thing along.

As she worked, there was a sudden cry from the side, and a man in animal skins burst into the yard and struck one of the nearby skeletons with a big wooden club. Behind him came a lizard woman in metal plates. She thrust with a spear and helped the man batter the skeleton down.

“Yay, adventurers,” Quinny laughed as they all turned around to see the two attacked a second skeleton.

Heather rolled her eyes and straightened her yellow dress before casually walking to where the players were busily searching the graveyard.

“Excuse me,” Heather called.

“What is this?” the man in animal skins said. “A fair damsel lost in this foul place.”

“What?” Heather asked, raising a brow a the odd reply.

“She looks to be a city lady or a social class,” the lizard woman replied.

“No,” Heather began, but the man cut her off and stepped to her side.

“Fair not, for I, Cragnor, the bold, will protect you from the dangers of this foul place.”

“Your name is Cragnor?” Heather asked with a smirk. The man bowed and hoisted his club to flex his bulging muscles.

“Cragnor the barbarian, champion of good, and protector of the helpless. My companion Lizardra and I will keep you safe.”

Heather looked to the lizard woman as she bowed with a swish of her green tail.

“You two can’t be serious?”

“We are always serious and well known for our daring deeds,” Cragnor replied and looked past Heather to see Quinny and Legeis watching. “Stand back. A foul zombie has come.”

“It has a goblin at its side,” Lizardra said. “Be on your guard, for this will be a daring battle.”

“Wait, one zombie and a goblin is a daring battle? What level are you two?”

“We do not know of these levels,” Cragnor replied as Heather rolled her eyes.

“You two just spawned in a few hours ago, didn't you?”

“We have been here a little longer than that,” he replied.

“So a day at most,” she laughed. “And you think you’re going to protect me?”

“We are daring and brave,” Cragnor replied. “Watch how easily we dispatch one of these foul skeletons.”

Heather watched as they charged a nearby skeleton and had to strike it several times to bring it down. Lizardra was wounded in the fighting, and they retreated to a mausoleum to recover.

“A hard-won battle,” Cragnor said as he looked over the bruise on her side. “But such a serious injury will not slow us.”

“You two are delusional,” Heather said with a shake of her head. “You should level to two before you go any deeper into the yard. Maybe go back into the forest and kill some bats.”

“We are more than ready for any challenge,” Cragnor replied as he puffed out his chest. “Nothing is too great for us.”

“Is that so?” Heather asked with a smile. She walked into the graveyard and headed for a distant skeleton.

“Fair lady, come back! They will tear you limb from limb!”

“I am sure,” she replied and walked right up to the skeleton that didn't even look her way. She sighed and glanced back at the two players, and weighed her options.

“Foolish girl, any second now, they will swarm you!” Lizardra called.

“Foolish girl!” Heather remarked as her mind was made up. She turned her back to them and smiled before casting howl from the grave on the skeleton. As its eyes blazed with unholy power, she whispered to it and told it to attack. The skeleton cackled in a manic laugh as it rushed across the yard to the two adventurers. For nearly a minute, the battle went on as the players found a magically buffed skeleton more than a match for them. Lizardra went down first, but Cragnor didn't last much longer, falling to the ground as he tried to run away.

“I feel so grateful they were here to rescue me,” Heather said with a shake of her head.

“That was usually cruel of you,” Breanne said as she came through the wall of a nearby mausoleum.

“I was just having a little fun; besides, they said they were ready for any challenge.”

“I am sure they didn’t expect a skeleton buffed by a necromancer,” Breanne laughed as she bent over to look through the packs. “They have more dried food.”

“Yay,” Heather sighed. “I can't wait until we're back at the cookie supply.”

“Can’t your cook make cookies?”

Heather knew she could but only with the ingredients she had on hand. She supposed Monica could make some kind of mini tarts with fruit, but chocolate chip was out of the question.

“There is a handful of coins and a few wolf skins,” Breanne said as she picked up the packs. “The lizard woman has a bunch of misc adventuring gear.”

“Let's throw it all in the wagon,” Heather said as she reached to help carry a pack.

“Will we be ready to leave today?” Breanne asked.

“Probably, but it's already getting late. Why don't we spend one more night and leave in the morning.” Heather looked around and felt a sense of sadness to be leaving. Oddly this place felt like home, but too many people knew she was here and were already coming. It would be better to be gone away before the danger came knocking on her door.

“One more night shouldn't matter,” Breanne said as she too looked around. “The goblins left an hour ago on foot.”

“Umtha is afraid of the tunnel; I honestly can't say I blame her.” They arrived at the cart and tossed in the packs in as Legeis looked over the construction.

“Are we ready to go then?” he asked.

“We are going to spend one more night here,” Heather replied.

“I suppose it is getting late. If you don't mind, though, I will take the cart to the ruined tower and wait for you there.”

“You want to wait alone in the tower?” Heather asked, wondering why anybody would want to spend the night alone in that place.

“I got some work I want to do that's going to be noisy. I figure the others don't sleep much, but you do, and I didn't want to be hammering into the night when you're trying to sleep.”

“Oh, well, that's a good idea, I guess,” Heather agreed. “You can pull the cart yourself?”

“Yeah, that armor can pull a ton, especially when it’s a wagon like that.”

Heather could only agree. If Legeis took the cart now, it would mean a faster march in the morning, and her skeletons could easily carry anything incidental that was left. She agreed and watched as he fetched his armor and then made a rough harness to attach the wagon handles. He marched off, towing it behind, and headed for the distant tower as the sun moved to the nine o'clock position, and the sky turned black.

Quinny headed off to check her lair for any last items as Frank finally came out of his tunnels. They spent an hour or two discussing ideas and how they might arrange things.

“I almost think it would be better to build the forest and graveyard near the city,” Heather said. “We will get a lot more players that way.”

“But you can’t protect the egg from there,” Frank suggested.

“I am going to take the egg to wherever it is meant to go,” Heather replied. “Then we won't have to worry about it.”

“What if taking it there leads you to another path to follow?” Breanne asked as she sat on a tombstone.

Heather knew that was a distinct possibility, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. For right now, all that mattered was settling in their new home and putting their plans in motion. As they spoke about how they might arrange things, Frank had a brilliant idea.

“You should make a square tower and put it right in front of the cave.”

“Why would I do that?” Heather asked, confused by the suggestion.

“That way, the only way into the caves is through your tower where you can heavily defend it, and you will have easy access to the upper tunnels. You can make levels of your tower match the upper cave so you can walk right into the dragon cave and the living areas.”

“And the kitchen,” Breanne added with a laugh.

“You could even live in that bedroom deep in the caves and use your tower as a series of death traps to keep players out,” Frank added.

Heather wasn't sure at first, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. This would artificially increase the size of her tower and give her significantly more space to use. Not to mention the kitchen or that wonderfully warm pool of water to swim in. Frank then described how he could put his graveyard in front of the tower and along the cliffs, building tombs into the cliff walls. He would make the graveyard go all the way to the water's edge and create a raised island where Breanne could make her tomb to haunt the swamps. Quinny could then spread her forest down the road passing over the goblin village and beyond. The idea became even more attractive when Frank pointed something out she hadn't known.

“When Quinny is high enough level, we can use the forest to move rapidly.”

“Move rapidly how?” she asked.

“Most high-level monster players can hunters step through their lairs, and take people with them if they choose. It's an ability that allows us to teleport from one end of our lairs to another. Once Quinny and I are higher, our lairs will cover a significant area, and we will be able to move across them rapidly. If Quinny extends her forest down the road around the swamp, we could teleport nearly to the old keep.”

The idea seemed amazing, and there was no denying the utility of having a way to cross half the swamp rapidly. Heather wondered just how much land Quinny and Frank could cover. If players started coming in large numbers and many died and were buried, they could spread over massive areas.

“I will haunt the swamp all along the edge we use. That way, I can add you to my friend's list, and the monsters that spawn inside will ignore you,” Breanne said.

“So this really will be a good move for us,” Heather agreed.

“This is going better for us,” Frank replied. “Building my graveyard here was fine when it was just me, but now that you're all here, we need a better place.”

“I feel good about this now,” Heather remarked just as the nearby skeletons turned and ran to the side of the yard. There was a flash that stung Heather's eyes, and several of the skeletons fell to pieces. A dozen more peeled away and ran into the darkness, weapons raised as an arrow hit Heather in the side.

“Heather!” Frank cried as he jumped up to catch her. A wail from above alerted them to the gargoyle spreading its wings and taking flight. Charging at the tree line only to be blasted by a hail of spells coming from different directions. It managed to survive long enough to reach the trees where shouts and cries arose.

Breanne threw her arms up, and the area was engulfed in darkness. Heather felt cold arms wrap around her and was swept away. She couldn't see a thing until they dashed out of the blackness into the tower, and Frank slammed the door.

“Take her upstairs,” he cried as he threw the plank down over the back of the door. “Get her to the mirror so she can raise her defenses.”

“Ow!” she cried as her hand wrapped around the arrow shaft. “Why did they have to make it hurt so badly?” She tugged on the shaft and tore it free, causing the pain to spike for just a moment. “Why am I not dead?”

“That is hardly a fatal wound,” Breanne said. “And you have more health than one arrow can take away.”

“Health?” Heather asked as she put a pulsing heal on herself.

Breanne sighed and looked to the door in a worried panic. “If you can walk, I will go outside and see who is attacking.”

“Do it fast,” Frank said. “We might need to use my escape tunnels.”

Breanne nodded and went spectral before passing through the walls. Heather looked at Frank and waited for her to come back.

“Frank, they have come for her!” Breanne called from outside just before a chain of noises from explosions to thunder echoed outside. Bright lights flashed in the windows, and a voice called from outside to surround the tower.

“Heather, go!” Frank cried and went to run to her side when the door shook hard enough to split the wood. He stepped back with a worried look on his face and then turned to face the door. “Put howl from the grave on me, and run for the escape tunnel.”

“What? I can't leave you!” Heather cried as the door shook again, with flames appearing around the frame.

“We don’t have time to argue,” Frank said.

“What about Breanne and Quinny?”

Frank didn't reply, and Heather knew he was sure they were already dead. With tears forming, she cast her spell as the door split enough for a plank to fall away. She dashed up the stairs and ran for her bedroom, immediately ordering the bone champion to the front door to help Frank. Webster bounced up from his pillow as she ran for the mirror and raised the tower's defenses. She used the magic to peer into the yard and saw dozens of people in flashy armor and glowing weapons. They were swarming the tower on all sides, eager to get in and get to her.

“You're not getting to me that easily,” Heather growled and began to cast spells through the mirror. Every tree in the yard animated and began to lash out at intruders. Her carefully hidden thorn whip plants were already flinging waves of thorns, and she called out to raise more skeletons. They rose up among the attackers as she blanketed the yard with fog and gave them all howl from the grave.

She dared to look at the front door to see it blasted wide, and to her horror saw Frank burned by a blast of light from a man in silver armor. He lunged into five players who didn't seem impressed, and she had to cover her mouth to stifle her cry as he was cut to pieces.

“Frank!” she wailed and turned around, rushing to grab Webster. “We have to get out of the tower.” The wall of her room shook, and just a few steps in, a person appeared out of thin air.

“Going someplace?” A woman in black robes said as she raised a silver wand. She smiled for just an instant before screaming as a spider landed on her face.

Heather filled the air with pollen and snatched Webster up to run into the hall and make her way down a floor to where her secret tunnel was. For good measure, she filled the air behind her with bees and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

“I should have left yesterday!” she scolded herself. “I didn’t think this was going to happen so soon!”

She heard the sound of combat as she reached the stairs and carefully made her way down. The hall was filled with mist and the doors hidden in illusions. The battle sounds were someplace a floor below as her Bone Champion met the enemy. She passed the hall that led to her balcony and suddenly felt a pain in her shoulder. Stumbling forward, a man in all black faded out of the shadows, a wicked knife dripping with blood.

“Gotcha!” he cried and rushed at her.

Webster tried to pounce on him, but he batted the spider aside and kept coming. Heather felt a searing pain in the wound as if it was somehow still harming her. She quickly crossed her arms, and leaves formed in the air sealing the tunnel off with her shield.

“Where is the necromancer?” the man cried from the other side. “Tell us, and we might not reset you.”

She wanted to cry from the pain in her back, the wound feeling like it went through her lungs. Webster tapped at her leg as if trying to help, but she didn't know what he could do. As soon as her barrier faded, this man would attack. There was no time to escape.

“Webster, go to the study and get my bag, then escape out the tunnel,” she said over their telepathic bind. She dared to reach over with her hands and unclasp the bracelet, letting it fall to the floor. “Take that with you and go! Find Legeis and stay with him until I come for you.”

He obediently dragged the bracelet away as a blade came through one of the leaves. The man was going to cut his way through, and time was running out. Heather held on as long as she could, the pain in her back growing worse. When the spell faded, she immediately took her undead form and a second stab to the leg. He was fast, cutting at her with rapid strikes that her armor barely slowed. She managed to gain some advantage by filling the air with pollen again and then bees. The man jumped back and swung an arm wide, hurling six small blades into the narrow hall, two of which caught her. She was bleeding from a dozen places and stumbled to a door falling inside before casting a plant growth to seal it in vines. She then healed herself to dull the pain and struggled not to cry.

“Where is she?” a voice cried in the hall.

“I don’t know where the necromancer is, but some druid is defending this level of the tower,” the man in black answered.

“They said she had a lot of friends. Spread out and dispel this magic so we can see the doors.”

Heather knew it was only a matter of time now. Soon they would discover the door, and then they would break it in. She was trapped in one of the unused rooms, but she wasn't defenseless. She realized the bone champion was dead but quickly fell into a spell to summon a ghoul knight. He would give her some teeth in this fight and maybe kill one of the fools.

“There’s a door here!” A voice cried as her door shook. “It’s barred from the inside.”

It rattled and shook for a few seconds before suddenly shattering in a hail of fragments. The ghoul knight rushed forward with an ax and shield holding a group of players in the hall. Heather filled the hall with grave blight and then pollen only to see both spells sudden fade away.

A sword cut through the ghoul knight sending him to hands and knees on the floor. Just as Heather was about to unleash some rotting bolts when the back wall exploded, and a man standing on a blue, glowing disc arrived. He raised a hand, and a ball of fire raced into the doorway, blasting the players in flame.

“The necromancer is ours!” he shouted as cries of alarm echoed from the hall.

Two others appeared in the room with a flash of light. One of them a second man in dark blue robes, the other woman with blue skin and white hair.

“Moon!” Heather growled as the woman smiled.

“Miss me?” Moon asked before pointing to the doorway. “Keep them back!”

The man on the disk unleashed a hail of fireballs as the man in blue began to chant, opening up a tall spinning blue cloud.

“You killed my friends!” Heather yelled and charged forward only to stumble as the pain in her back reminded her she was injured.

“Looks like there is nobody here to rescue you but me,” Moon said as she leaned over.

“You’re the one attacking me,” Heather said through gritted teeth.

“Those fools in the hall are mercenaries hired by another party. I caught wind of their attack and had to move my plans up.”

“We need to have this discussion someplace else,” the man in blue said as a magical portal opened up.

Moon smiled and opened a small pouch taking a pinch of powder from inside. She blew it in Heather's face with a gentle blow causing her to cough. Heather suddenly felt dizzy as her eyes became heavy, and her legs weak.

“Nighty night,” Moon said as Heather’s world went black.

She awoke to find her arms bound behind her back and her wrists tied to a post. She was in a small wooden room that rocked and shook. She turned her head to see two women sitting by a window as the landscape outside seemed to be moving away.

“We had better get a fair cut for this,” a woman in red clothing with bare arms said.

“Moon promised we would be given an equal share,” A woman in black leather armor with two swords on her back said. She glanced at Heather to see she was awake and smiled. “Did you have a good nap?”

“Where are you taking me?” Heather asked as she struggled with her binds.

“Where else? To collect the bounty,” the woman in red replied.

“Why didn't you just open a portal straight there?” Heather asked. The two women laughed, and the one in black leaned over to address her.

“King Keven only allows approved wizards to open portals into the capital city. If we had tried to hire one of those, they would have become suspicious. We're splitting this reward enough ways as it is.”

“Once word gets out, we crossed the Red Reavers; we will all have bounties on our heads,” the woman in red added.

“The reavers will get over it,” the other replied. “Besides, we will have enough power and prestige to hire mercenaries of our own to deal with them.”

“Is this all that matters to any of you?” Heather barked. “You will all backstab one another to get even slightly ahead.”

“It's all part of the game,” the woman in black said. “You should learn how to play it; you might have lasted longer.”

“I doubt Moon is going to get her reward when I tell them she forced me to be a necromancer.” The women laughed and dismissed her threat. They agreed that nobody would trust what Heather had to say or even care if it was true. As they were still laughing, a familiar face appeared outside the window, and Moon climbed in.

“Hello, darling,” Moon said with a smile. “You have made quite the name for yourself.”

“I am going to reset you again,” Heather threatened. “And again, and again and again.”

“Sorry, kiddo, but only the paladins are allowed to reset players. If you did something like that, it would be considered a crime, and they do have prisons here.”

“And all you belong in them,” Heather replied to more laughs.

“Oh, don't be upset, my dear. Honestly, this is better for both of us. You get to reset and pick a new class, and I get the wealth and levels I wanted.”

“We get wealth and levels,” the woman in red interjected. “And so do the three wizards.”

“Of course,” Moon replied with a wink at Heather.

“So where am I?” Heather asked.

“You're in a wagon, headed for the nearest city. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a wizard who could portal us any further than my old town, but it works better this way. The red reavers will assume we went to a city near the capital and be tearing them apart, looking for us.”

“And we slip right in under their nose,” the woman in red added.

“You really are a monster,” Heather hissed.

“Oh, I’m not a monster. Just an opportunist. I told you before this is just how things are. I knew the path to wealth and levels was going to be that bounty. That’s why my town was on the road from the southern spawns.”

“I thought you were there to lure players into building homes so your fake raiders could pillage them.”

Moon smiled and leaned against the wall. “That was just a side job while I waited for some fool player to spawn in as a necromancer.”

“You people are pathetic. You spend all your energy trying to get ahead by continually tearing each other down. All that matters to you are levels and wealth, yet you won't allow a monster player to provide them.

“Please, the dungeons monster players build are only good for the first few levels,” the woman in red replied.

“That’s because you idiots keep resetting them,” Heather barked. “If you let them level with you, the challenge would keep going up. Nearby towns would make a ton of money from players who wanted to play in the lairs.”

The three women laughed, and Heather felt her blood boiling.

“Sorry, kiddo, but it doesn't work like that,” Moon said as the wagon came to a stop. A frown appeared on Moon's face as she leaned out the back to call to somebody ahead. “Why did you stop?”

“There is a man in the road ahead,” a male voice called back. “He looks like a paladin.”

“We should kill him,” the woman in black said as a hand went to a sword.

“No, there is no way to know where he will respawn,” Moon said. “We don't need some random paladin respawning ahead to tell the red ravagers where we are.”

The two women looked tense as Moon told the driver to ride past him and wave. They would play it calm and do nothing to draw attention. She then sat right next to Heather to conceal her binds and pressed a dagger to her side.

“One word out of you, and I will stab you with this. It's coated in a sleeping toxin like the dust. When you wake up, you will be bound, gagged, and locked inside a chest for the rest of the trip.

Heather frowned and kept quiet as the wagon rolled on. She heard the driver greet somebody, and the three women tried to look relaxed as they passed the stranger. Heather watched as the man finally came into view behind the wagon, and her eyes met with that of Skullmans.

Recognition twitched in his eyes for a brief second as Moon waved to him with a smile. He saluted back and looked away as if disinterested as the wagon rolled on.

“See, nothing to worry about,” Moon said.

“The last person who would come to her rescue is a paladin,” the woman in red added.

“Then why is he buffing himself?” The woman in black said as all three looked back to see golden light forming around the man in the road.

“Bloody heroes!” Moon growled as Skullman drew his sword and charged after the wagon.

“We got this,” the woman in red said before she and the black leathered woman leaped from the wagon. She ran at Skullman with her bare hands while her companion drew the two swords. Skullman suddenly turned into a blur and raced at them so fast Heather had to blink. He collided with the woman in red, tossing her back with a crunch. The second woman met him with cross swords, but she was suddenly struck by what looked like a wave. She stumbled back as Skullman cut upward with a two-handed sword cutting a swath across the woman. He dashed past her before she could recover and headed straight for the wagon.

“One of you fools turn this hero into a frog!” Moon yelled. There was a flash of light as fire streamed down around Skullman. He stopped in the flames and pointed his sword skyward, releasing a blast of golden light.

Heather watched as the man she saw flying on the disc earlier fell from the sky. Skullman continued to run for the wagon as Moon produced a crossbow in a puff of smoke.

“How do you make so many people fight for you?” Moon groaned and fired an arrow that trained green mist. It struck Skullman in the shoulder, but he kept coming even as the two women chased after him. The one in red dashed and caught up, tacking him just as he reached the wagon. He turned to fight her as she danced around him, pummeling him with punches and kicks. This delayed him long enough for the other woman to arrive in a twirl of blades, drawing blood as he tried to fend them both off.

“He is certainly a strong one,” Moon said as an arrow magically reformed in her crossbow. “Paladins have so many ways to recover health, but poison arrows will wear down his healing. Just as Moon aimed, Heather, kicked out her legs, toppling Moon from the back of the wagon. She struggled against her bonds, but it was hopeless. All she could do was watch as Skullman fell behind, tangled by the two women.

He looked her way in the middle of the battle, his eyes telling the story that he wouldn't win. She was about to give up hope when golden light surrounded him, and the others were pushed back as a bubble formed. He ran as fast as he could and threw himself into the wagon, nearly toppling Moon a second time.

“Skullman!” Heather cried.

“I told you to leave,” he panted while rolling to her feet.

“I was leaving morrow,” Heather exclaimed. “Cut my arms free, so I can help.”

“You won’t be able to turn the tide,” he groaned. “They are all my level or higher.”

“Paladin!” the woman in red yelled from just outside the wagon. “Your aura of protection only lasts a minute, then you're ours.”

He looked at Heather with sorrow in his eyes as she went silent.

“She's right. I can't win, even with your help.” He paused to take a deep breath before looking deeply into her eyes. “Tell Breanne I forgive her,” he said as he got to his feet.

“What are you doing?” Heather asked as he raised his sword.

“I had to save my holy rage for a righteous smite,” he said and raised his sword. “Now it’s your turn to forgive me.”

“Forgive you for what?” Heather asked as the sword came down, trailing golden light.

“Nooooo!” Moon screamed from someplace to Heather's left as the sword cut into her shoulder, and a beam of sunlight blasted the wagon, tearing into her body. There was an explosion as Skullman released a pool of stored power, and the cart disintegrated. Heather felt a sort of dull pain as her world faded to black, and her mind slipped into the quiet oblivion of the buffer.

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