Heather the Necromancer

“There may be more in the lower tunnels,” a grating voice said. He wore black armor of metal plates with spikes on his shoulders. His eyes glowed red in black sockets on the skull-shaped helm he wore. He stood like a giant with his back to her as he pointed to the mausoleum by the gate.

Heather watched as three others headed for the structure and entered the doorway. She knew they would follow the tunnels and eventually come up behind her. While that was a concern, it was the man in the spiked armor that had her attention. He held a sword of black metal streaked with red. Its point was pushed into the earth at his feet, impaling Frank to the ground. She could see Frank clawing at the dirt weakly as if trying to crawl away.

Heather covered her mouth to stifle her gasp as the man stepped back and took out a second smaller sword.

“You stay right there,” the man laughed. “I will be back for you in a minute.” He then followed his companions into the mausoleum, leaving Frank pinned.

Heather waited until the man was inside the mausoleum and crawled to Frank.

“Frank!” she gasped as she reached him.

“Heather run,” he wheezed. “You have to get out of here.”

Now that Heather was close enough, she could see the streaks of red on the sword was blood. It seeped upward across the blade from Frank's wound like raindrops on a window. She dropped her panel and scythe and did the only thing she thought to do and grabbed at the handle to yank it free.

“Owww!” she cried as her hands burned on the swords handle.

“Heather, go!” Frank pleaded as strongly as he could.

She looked at her hands to see red marks where she was burned.

“Why did that hurt me?” she gasped.

“Because it’s an unholy blade,” he groaned. “Only it’s summoner can touch it.”

“But it hurt,” Heather panted. “I can’t be hurt.”

Frank groaned and tried to push her away. “You’re level one now. You can be hurt by everything.”

“No, I'm not,” she protested. “I haven't picked my class yet.”

“You have been picking classes all day. The second you picked that golden sprite you became level one. They will be able to kill you if they find you. You have to run.”

Heather felt a sense of panic as she looked at the Mausoleums. At any moment they would come out of one of them. She felt the need to run but couldn't leave Frank.

“What do I do?” she asked.

“You go!” he spat.

“I’m not leaving you. Where are the skeletons?”

“They killed them all. That armored one is a Death knight. He can shatter lesser undead once a day.”

“Why didn’t he just kill you so you could respawn?” Heather asked thinking how cruel it was to impale him like this.

“This is an unholy blade. It eats the energy of a target and powers the sword making it stronger.”

“This thing is eating you!” she cried.

“Keep quiet,” Frank groaned. “Go hide by the stream. They won't see you.”

“The tunnel goes back up,” she heard a voice say from behind her.

“Go,” Frank said as he pushed at her knee.

Heather realized they were about to come out of the mausoleum behind her. She panicked and picked up her stuff before running across the graveyard to hid behind a large tomb. As she curled up, she looked around to see the piles of bones.

“The skeletons,” she whispered. Carefully she turned around and looked over the tomb to see them exit the mausoleum. The death knight walked to the blade and cruelly rocked the weapon making Frank cry out in pain.

“No,” she gasped and hid again. It was only then she remembered the panel in her hand. She sat with her back against the tomb and pulled up the screen.

“How do I heal the skeletons?” she asked.

[Error – Skeletons cannot be healed.]

“There must be some way,” she said in a panic. “How do I bring them back to life?”

[Error – Skeletons cannot be resurrected.]

“You stupid panel, just tell me how to reanimate them!”

[Reanimation requires necromancy]

Heather blinked in surprise and struggled to think of what to ask next.

“What classes have necromancy?”

[Dark walker, Death knight, Grave robber, Necromancer, Shadow fiend, Witch doctor]

“Which of those classes can touch an unholy weapon?”

[Death knight, Necromancer]

“Which one can help Frank?”

[Necromancer-- 1st level Class power: Howl from the grave]

Heather didn’t have time to think as she heard Frank cry out in pain again. She closed her eyes and pressed a button.

“There wasn't much in this graveyard,” A dark-furred catman said as he flipped a dagger over in one hand.

“A little gold at least,” said a lizard looking man with rusty metal plates for armor. “I expected more, though.”

“At least I got a good feeding,” the Death Knight said as she glared down at Frank. “We will be sure to come back and visit you again. You're an easy kill.”

The others laughed, but one of their numbers, a dark-skinned elf in black robes looked around.

“Why is the graveyard filling with mist?”

They looked up even as the gravestones began to vanish into a cloud of white crawling mist.

“He is the builder, right?” the cat asked, pointing to Frank.

“Nobody else is here,” the dark elf replied.

“Then who could be causing a mist?” the cat asked.

They heard a clicking noise that began to echo around them, and they all stood alert as red lights appeared in the fog.

“The bloody skeletons are back!” the lizard man said as he drew a massive two-handed club.

“They wouldn't reset until after he was reborn,” the Death knight said, kicking Frank.

“Well, they are back!” the lizard man hissed.

The first skeletons ran out of the mist, and the four of them charged out to meet them.

“Skeletons are easy prey,” the death knight laughed. “Just stick together.”

They waded into the mist together as the fog swirled around Frank and a shadow stepped out. Dressed in a black dress with a white collar, her hand reached out and grabbed the handle of the sword. A hissing sound was heard as purple tendrils of light tried to resist the touch.

“Only the grave can touch that which is unholy,” Heather said with a smile and yanked the blade free.

Frank groaned and curled into a ball as she fell to her knees beside him.

“Heather, what are you doing?” he gasped.

“Saving you,” she said as she lifted her panel to read the spell.

“Terrothos, et licarum, lichoss,” she said as she waved a hand over him. “From the grave, I give to thee,” she whispered.

“Heather what?” Frank sputtered but went silent as the graveyard around him began to move

Black arms of smoke grew out of all the nearby graves. They raced like living things for Franks curled form and sank into his ghoulish skin. Frank shook as his eyes filled with a purple light, and a sudden desire filled him.

“Are there more skeletons than before?” the lizardman asked as he shattered another.

“We must have missed some,” the dark elf replied as he cast a spell that hurled a flaming bolt through one.

“I used my power to shatter them,” the Death knight said. “Every skeleton in this graveyard should be dust.”

A terrifying screeching howl filled the air and made them pause. They looked every which way but around them was a wall of shrouding mist.

“What was that?” the cat asked.

“I don't know,” the dark elf replied. “We missed something when we searched.”

“There were only three rooms underground!” the Death knight insisted. “Two of them were empty.”

Something moved in the fog to their right, and they turned to face it with weapons out.

“Did you get a good look at it?” the lizard whispered.

“No, but whatever it was it was big,” the Cat player whispered back.

“Stay close together,” the Death knight said. “There are four of us and only one of them. It will have to fight all of us at once.”

“You should not have come into my graveyard,” a woman said.

They all turned around to see a woman wreathed in a green glow standing in the distance. Her face was cast down, and her long hair hung over her black dress. In her right hand was a scythe that curled cruelly to a razor point.

“A necromancer!” the dark cried. “But those are outlawed!”

“Keep calm, one little girl won't be a challenge for us,” the Death knight said. “Besides, I am practically a necromancer myself.”

As he took a step forward, they heard a terrible cry from behind them. They turned to see the cat player was missing.

“Where did Jonas go?” the Dark elf said.

Somewhere in the dark mist, they heard a muffled cry and the crunching of bones.

“She distracted us!” the lizardman yelled. They quickly turned around to see the woman was gone.

Heather ran down the stairs of the mausoleum as fast as she could. She raced down the tunnel to Frank's room and hid her panel inside. Then she ran for the stairs down the far tunnel and up to the mausoleum. She crept to the open door and peered out. The three remaining intruders stood with their backs to her.

“The ghoul must have been a summon,” the Dark elf said as he backed up.

“That was a player!” the Death knight scolded. “You can tell by how he reacted.”

“Shhh!” the lizard man said as he peered into the darkness.

They saw the purple lights first as the shadowy form appeared in the mist.

“It’s the ghoul,” the dark elf remarked.

“It's bigger,” the lizard man replied as he joined ranks with the Death knight.

“It's buffed,” the Death Knight said with a smile. “That necromancer must have enhanced it. It's still no match for us if we stay together. We will take it head-on and keep it busy. Marcus, you burn it to the ground.”

The dark elf smiled as he put his back to the mausoleum and the other two charged out to meet the Ghoul.

A terrible noise filled the air as Frank howled and the two men waded into combat. The elf began to chant words of power as his hands took on an orange glow. His words were suddenly cut off as the blade of the scythe sank into his shoulder.

“Eww! Ick! Gross!” Heather shouted as she hacked blindly through the narrow doorway of the mausoleum.

“Marcus, we need that spell!” the Death knight yelled to the dead ears of the elf behind him.

The lizardman was swatted aside by Frank and thrown into the mist. Red lights appeared in the fog as the remaining skeletons descended on him. His cries lasted only a few seconds.

“It doesn’t matter how big you are,” the Death Knight sneered. “You’re just worth more experience this way.”

Frank came slashing in, but the Death knight held his ground and returned a few slashes of his own. Frank took a cut across the leg and a slash to a shoulder, but the shorter blade didn't sap his strength like the unholy one. He returned the blows with dangerous claws and cut through the man's armor on his side, giving him a grievous wound.

The Death knight staggered back and reached out a hand calling out a word of magic. A green light raced from his hand to frank, pulling at his life force and using it to heal the wound.

“I can use your strength to heal myself,” the man mocked.

Frank stepped away as the man laughed.

“What’s the matter? Did you finally realize you can’t win?”

“No,” Frank replied. “I just didn’t want you to move.”

“What?” the Death Knight asked before cold hands grabbed at his collar.

He whirled around to look into the face of the dark elf. His lifeless eyes glared back as he let out a faint moan.

“Marcus?”

The zombie tried to bite him as he stepped back slashing with his sword. The zombie was no match for him, but it served its purpose as another distraction as Frank leaped on the man's back.

The two tumbled to the ground as Frank tore at him in savage howling madness that ended with the Death knights blade through Frank's side as Frank bit out his throat.

In moments it was over, and the red lights from the man's eyes went out.

Heather watched from the doorway as her zombie collapsed as well. She was only level one, and the spell would only last for a minute. Thankfully it was all the time she needed. She gritted her teeth as Frank pulled the sword from his side and cast it aside. Black smoke began to leak from his skin as her spell on him faded as well. He grew smaller and smaller as he staggered for the doorway.

“What did you do?” Frank asked as he reached the door.

“There was no other way to help you,” Heather said as she tumbled inside.

“You picked a necromancer?”

“It was the only class that had a spell I could cast at first level that would help you,” she said.

He coughed as he nodded and staggered for the stairs.

“What can I do to help you now?” she asked.

“Nothing, I need to get to my grave soil and sleep. I will be fine in a few hours.”

“Can I help you get there at least?” she asked.

He shook his head. “If I haven’t died already I’m not going to.” He staggered down the stairs as Heather watched and stopped at the bottom. He looked up with a gory smile and dull yellow eyes.

“Thank you for saving me,” he said.

She smiled weakly and nodded back. “You’re welcome.”

She watched him go around the corner and then turned to the empty room.

“I killed a man, err elf, err man elf.” she whispered. Her eyes glanced down to where the bloody scythe lay, and she made a sick face. “Ewwww!”

With a weak heart she retreated to a corner and sat down.

“I will just wait for Frank to come back,” she said with a staggering voice.

She closed her eyes and focused on relaxing her frenzied thoughts when.

Ding! - [Necromancer Level 2]

The sudden noise echoed in her ears, causing her bolt upright with her arms curled up.

“I hate this stupid world!” she yelled as her heart raced with renewed panic.

With a racing heart, she put her head back and started to settle herself once again. The battle was over, and Frank was safe. She finally had a class that worked well with Frank and didn't require her to be a monster. For the moment, all she cared about was calming down and catching her breath. Everything else could wait for Frank to wake up.