Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire (The Unconventional Heroes Series Book 3)

by L. G. Estrella

  “I know it was you,” James growled. “Just wait until I have proof.”

  “Alas, I do not know what you are talking about although I must commend the genius or geniuses responsible. Rabid zombie squirrels represent the pinnacle of necromantic brilliance.”

  “You are a complete idiot.”

  “And you are a total jerk.” Timmy waved one hand at the rats hidden in the shrubbery. “Get the others. We can meet in the dining room.”

  “Whom were you talking to?” James asked. “Another one of your zombies?”

  Timmy smiled. “A ninja rat.” He declined to mention the fact that they could turn invisible. Their invisibility could prove to be very handy one day. “We’ve got them everywhere. They’re tricky little fellows, and they make excellent assassins.” To his immense satisfaction, James cast a suspicious eye on all of the shrubbery and took a noticeable step away from a nearby bush. Ah, it was the simple things in life that were the most enjoyable.

  It wasn’t long before Timmy and James were in the dining room. Timmy had made sure to summon as many wraiths and ghosts along the way as possible without seeming too suspicious to make James’s trip as uncomfortable as possible. Sure, it was incredibly petty, but petty pretty much summed up how he and James interacted with each other. They didn’t like each other, and neither of them was shy about it. Had the circumstances been different, he was fairly certain that he’d either have caved James’s head in with his shovel by now or been blow apart by James’s magic. As it was, they both knew that any real misbehaviour would eventually get back to the Council, and then Vicky would undoubtedly show up and lay down the law as only she could – by pummelling them both.

  “Welcome, everybody.” Timmy gestured vaguely at James. “James is here. Yay.”

  “Councillor Arthurs,” James corrected sharply. “Call me Councillor Arthurs.”

  “Welcome, Councillor Jerk Face!” Avraniel clapped enthusiastically.

  Timmy sighed. That was too obvious, even for him. Plus, the cutlery on the table was perfect for James to use as weaponry. Then again, James might have trouble dodging Avraniel’s fire indoors.

  “Anyway,” Timmy continued as Gerald pulled out a familiar paper bag. James’s decision to not fill out the proper paperwork prior to his arrival had not done good things for Gerald’s stress levels. “Why don’t you tell us what this is all about?”

  James reached for a jug of water. He was about to pour himself a glass, but he stopped and gave Timmy a meaningful look.

  “James, if I was going to kill you, it would be in a much more amusing and satisfying way than using poison.”

  “Fair enough.” James poured himself a glass of water and took a sip of it. “What I am about to speak of absolutely cannot leave this room. I mean it.” He stared pointedly at Avraniel.

  “Why are you staring at me, you bastard?”

  “It’s because he thinks you’re a blabber mouth,” Timmy said. “And I’m inclined to agree. You don’t exactly keep secrets well. You have this tendency to shout them at the top of your lungs while setting people on fire although I guess those people can’t tell anyone else since, you know, you set them on fire.”

  “Hey!”

  “Just makes sure that you do not share this information carelessly, or I guarantee that you will lose your chance for a pardon. You will also have an assassination team dedicated solely to the purpose of putting you in a coffin.” James rubbed his temple. Timmy wondered what had gotten him so stressed. This was genuine stress, not the minor aggravation Timmy delighted in.

  “Don’t beat around the bush,” Timmy said. “Just tell us. It’s easier that way.”

  “Fine.” James took another, much longer, sip of water before reaching for a bottle of wine. He considered using a glass before simply popping the cork off and taking a swig. Timmy stared. This could not be good. James was normally a teetotaller. “How familiar are all of you with the foundation of Everton?”

  “I know what everyone is taught,” Timmy said. “But I’m guessing that there’s something most people don’t know. What have they left out?”

  James took another swig from the bottle. This could not be good. “As you all know, Everton was once part of the Eternal Empire. For various reasons, we decided to seek independence. They did not handle it well.”

  “You bet they didn’t. They declared war on us and attacked with the largest army the world had ever seen. But, hey, we beat them, and they haven’t given us any major trouble since then although there have been periodic flare ups, and I’m fairly sure we’ve always got at least one proxy war going on.”

  “Have you ever wondered how we managed to fight them off?” James laughed softly. “Oh, the First Council was tremendously powerful, but there had to be more to it than that. The Eternal Empire had powerful mages of its own. Certain members of their Lords of Magic could match even the First Council. The emperor was also a monster in his own right, the kind of mage you’re lucky – or unlucky – enough to see once every thousand years or so. But we still drove them off, and they suffered far greater losses than we did.”

  “Everton is protected by an elaborate system of magical defences that run along the naturally occurring lines of magical energy that crisscross the land,” Katie replied. “No one knows exactly how it works or what it is truly capable of, but no country has ever been able to fully replicate it. It gives Everton a powerful defensive advantage. I’ve never seen it in action, but the records I’ve been able to find describe it as the land itself turning against the enemy.”

  “Very good.” James frowned. “But I’m not sure I like you knowing so much about it. It’s supposed to be a secret.”

  “Quite a few of those lines of magic are connected to Black Tower Castle,” Timmy explained. “I worked it out after being in charge of this place for a few years.”

  “Of course, you did. You always were clever that way. Anyway, one of the members of the First Council was arguably the greatest master of runes and seals this world has ever known. Thanks to him, Everton has a virtually impregnable defence. It’s not something we can use regularly. There are a lot of drawbacks, so we can only deploy it if Everton is under serious threat. The costs, to put it bluntly, are extreme. And overusing it… well, we don’t ever want to do that.” James threw his hands up into the air. “Boom.”

  Avraniel perked up. “Interesting…”

  “If there weren’t limitations,” Timmy said. “I have a feeling we’d have used it against our enemies long ago.”

  “The only ones who know how the defence system worked – how it still works – were the members of the First Council and the leader and second-in-command of each subsequent Council, along with the two most senior members of a secret order charged with the maintenance of the defence system. The records outlining the development of the system are sealed and protected in a secret location by some of the most powerful magic we have. In short, nobody should know how it works – and how it can be defeated or disabled – except for us. Except, that’s not entirely true. Somebody does know.”

  “Well, damn.” Timmy shook his head. “If, say, the Eternal Empire got their hands on that somebody and worked out how to deal with our defences…”

  “We’d have to fight them fairly. Now, don’t get me wrong. They wouldn’t have it easy. We might even win since we still have defender’s advantage. Their navy might be much larger than ours, but it’s still rubbish. However, the cost in lives, territory, and money would be extreme. Our magical defences can never be compromised if we want to maintain the status quo or to improve our position. Everton needs those defences.”

  “So… who knows?” Timmy asked. “And why aren’t they dead yet?”

  “We would already have eliminated them if we felt it was an option. To be honest, we didn’t even know they were still alive until recently.” James sagged. “I really, really wish that I didn’t have to tell you this, but I haven’t got a choice. Are you familiar with the founder of my House?”r />
  “Amanda Aurora Arthurs,” Timmy said. “She was a member of the Supreme Advisory Council of the Eternal Empire before she joined the independence movement. She eventually became a member of the First Council.” He reached for a grape. “She was something of a legend, wasn’t she? She managed to live for several centuries, but no one was ever able to work out what kind of magic she used to extend her lifespan. People have spent years trying – and failing – to replicate whatever she did.”

  “Correct. Apart from being a member of the First Council, she was also one of the best friends of the person who created Everton’s magical defence system. She knows everything about it. And throughout her long, long life, she also acted from the shadows to guide my House and protect first the Eternal Empire and then Everton. If there is anyone who understands the origins of the conflict between the Eternal Empire and Everton, she does.”

  “You said she knows everything about Everton’s magical defence system.” Timmy frowned. “You used present tense, not past tense.”

  “And this is where I get to the bad part. For reasons that I’m sure you can guess, my House suppressed the fact that Amanda’s long life was not due to her having a unique form of magic or developing an exotic potion. We did an excellent job of it. Not even the Eternal Empire is completely sure of what she is. No, her longevity has nothing to do with magic or potions, at least not in the way most people think. She is a vampire.”

  Silence.

  “Hahahaha!” Avraniel pounded the table with one hand. She was laughing so hard that there were tears in her eyes. “You’re descended from a vampire? Oh, that’s too good.” She jabbed one finger at James and turned to Timmy. “Does he count as a vampire? Should we call Sparky and have her purify him to death?”

  “She wasn’t a vampire when she had her children,” James ground out. “She became a vampire after having children. So, no, technically, I am not descended from a vampire. I am completely human.”

  “And completely a jerk.” Avraniel giggled. “A vampire jerk.”

  “…” If looks could have killed, the elf would have died where she sat.

  “You have to admit, James, this is pretty funny.” Timmy snickered, as did Katie. “Wait…” He trailed off as a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Then the dispute involving Vicky’s family, the one about a goat and a vampire…”

  “My ancestor may or may not have attacked a prize-winning goat Victoria’s family owned, beginning a feud that has lasted for centuries through to the present day.” James covered his face with his hands. “Apparently, she was very hungry that night and it was either the goat or another person.”

  “Please, tell me Vicky knows.” Timmy was never, ever going to let James live this down.

  “No, she does not, and you can’t tell her.” James’s glare was beyond icy. It was the kind of glare that could freeze water on sight. “The most important thing is that Amanda is still alive. I now believe she faked her own death centuries ago for reasons that are currently unknown. I’ll have to ask her when I get the chance.”

  “How do you know she’s still alive?” Timmy asked.

  “I recently received a description of an ancient vampire who had been captured. My contacts did not know who the ancient vampire was, but when I heard their description, there was no doubt in my mind that it was her.”

  “Captured? That’s not good.”

  “No, it’s not. It is extremely not good.” James folded his hands together on the table in front of him. His blue eyes hardened, and his gaze grew sharp. “So far, we’ve been lucky. The people who have captured her don’t know whom it is they’ve captured. They simply needed an ancient vampire to experiment on. Since she wasn’t surrounded by a coven, they were able to catch her by surprise and capture her. But what do you think will happen if they realise who she is and what she knows?”

  “If they’re smart, they’ll sell any information they can get from her to the Eternal Empire, and that’s assuming they aren’t from the Eternal Empire.”

  “Like I said, we’ve been lucky. They aren’t from the Eternal Empire, but they will most certainly sell information to them – the people who’ve been waiting centuries to get even with us – once they realise who they’ve got. Your mission is very simple: I need you lot to retrieve her before any of that can happen.”

  “Given her importance,” Katie said. “Why not send an army? I mean we’re good, but an entire army with a full complement of war mages and members of the Council would be better, right?”

  “They’d see us coming from miles away.” James took another swig of wine. “It might even help them realise who they’ve captured if they haven’t already tortured that information out of her. My House would also like to keep this whole thing as quiet as possible since her being a vampire is an ancient secret.”

  “And your House has built its reputation on being overly pious, not to mention that vampires aren’t exactly the most popular people in Everton.” Timmy chuckled. Vampires were even less popular than necromancers. Zombies tended to freak people out, but vampires terrified people. “Oh, this is too good.”

  “Yes, it’s nice to know you find this whole thing so amusing.” James sighed heavily. “But I have another reason for asking you to do this. You, Timmy, might be the only person in the world who can lead a mission to break into the place where she is being kept.”

  Timmy did not like the smile on James’s face. It reminded him far too much of a mongoose eyeing a cobra. His gut clenched. He had a bad, bad feeling about this. “And where exactly is your vampire ancestor being held?”

  “I’m sure you remember the place. She’s being held in the Nameless Citadel in the middle of the Desert of Glass.”

  Timmy banged his head on the table. “Damn it. She just had to end up there.” He made a choking sound. “I still can’t get over the fact that no one seems to have realised that naming a citadel the Nameless Citadel means it isn’t nameless anymore.”

  “I don’t think I’ve heard about that place, master.” Katie used some of her shadows to grab him before he could bang his head on the table again. “What sort of place is it?”

  “It’s a prison. It’s used to hold some of the most dangerous magically gifted criminals in the world. The reason they use it is because it’s made out of a material that, quite frankly, most nations would kill to be able to replicate. It was crafted millennia ago by a race that predates the elves but no longer exists because they turned a huge chunk of a very fertile empire into a smouldering crater of glass – which we now call the Desert of Glass. Nowadays, they keep criminals there because the ruins of the Nameless Citadel are made of a material that is virtually impervious to all forms of magic below, I don’t know, what Avraniel could do if she got really, really mad.” Timmy nodded at the elf, who looked entirely too pleased with herself. “The prison itself is protected by an extremely complex and powerful magical barrier and a small army of guards.”

  “Sounds tricky.” Katie paused. “Um… how do you know so much about it, master?”

  “Because thanks to my master’s idiocy, I ended up stuck in there with him for a few exceedingly unpleasant months. Needless to say, I don’t like to talk about it much. I was twelve, and the guards there weren’t the kind to take it easy on children. It was where I learned the importance of knowing how to pick locks and conceal weapons.”

  “You are one of a very small number of people who have managed to escape from the Nameless Citadel,” James said. “Which is why I’m sending you and the others to get Amanda back. If you broke out, then I’m sure that you know how to break back in. I also need you to do this as quickly and quietly as possible. The fact that you are not formally affiliated with the Council gives us plausible deniability in case something goes wrong since any attempt to break into the Nameless Citadel could cause an international incident. Apart from my ancestor, it also houses some of the most dangerous criminals in the world from an assortment of different countries. It would be for the best if
my ancestor is the only escapee.”

  “Wonderful.” Timmy ran his hands through his hair. “It’s not like you’re asking for the impossible. How much are we getting paid?”

  “The payment will come from a special discretionary fund that is under my direct control.” James wrote the sum out on a piece of paper and slid it across the table to Timmy. “Here’s how much each of you will be paid, provided you succeed.”

  Avraniel snatched the piece of paper off the table and shot to her feet. “Each? We’re each getting this much to rescue a damn vampire?” There were so many zeroes, so many lovely zeroes. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

  “Not yet.” Timmy cut her off. “We’ll take the mission, but I need to go through some old notes and diaries that I kept from back then. If we’re going to do this, we can’t afford to screw up. If they catch us, we can look forward to being experimented on by crazy jailors for months, possibly even years.”

  James helped himself to some more wine. “Then you’d better not get caught. Let me know what you’re planning, but you have the authority to do whatever you deem necessary, as long as it cannot be traced back to Everton or the Council.”

  Two days passed before Timmy bid James a spiteful farewell and gathered everyone in the dining room again to explain what he knew and had managed to scavenge from the records he’d kept at the time. At the centre of dining table was a map of the world.

  “This is where we are,” Timmy said. “And this over here is the approximate location of the Nameless Citadel. We are not going there on foot. It would take us far too long. Instead, we’ll be taking zombie wyverns to the edge of the Desert of Glass. There is a trading city there, Kargahd. I know someone there who will help us, and we’ll be able to pick up some camels to take us the rest of the way.”