The Heart of a Necromancer

by Eddie Patin

  "Jeez—we're doing so great," he said, "I feel like we should take a break for a little while."

  "That's the sleepiness talking," Riley replied. "But yeah, a very short while. But take my word for it, dude: you'll wanna get back into the action real soon. I agree, though. We could definitely do with some R&R."

  "R and R?" Morgana asked with a yawn.

  "Rest and recuperation," Jason said with a frivolous whoop. He was so tired that he was giddy. "Shit—I feel like I can sleep for three days!"

  "That sounds good to me," Riley said. "What do you think about heading to the Market to turn in the hearts first?"

  Jason groaned. "I'm so freaking exhausted."

  "I am too," Riley replied then cocked his head in thought. "You know what's funny? Normally it would be you pushing us to keep going when we're shet-tired. Jason 113 did that, anyway. But in this—"

  "Yeah," Jason said, interrupting him. "It's an exclusive. I get it. Also, this is ... I don't even know how much gold's worth of glowing rocks just sitting here. These gargoyle hearts aren't worth anything until we turn 'em in."

  "Golem hearts," Riley corrected.

  "Yeah. And we got more than double the minimum Skinner wanted!" Jason smiled. Everyone smiled tiredly, except for Gliath, who patiently stood by near where they'd rifted in. "Okay, let's get this out of the way, I guess."

  "We're going somewhere else?" Morgana asked.

  Jason nodded and smiled at her. Damn. Her face was covered in dried blood and her skin was smeared with soot or something, but she was still freaking beautiful.

  "We need to stop real quick at a place called The Market. It's where we sell the monster parts we collect. We'll do that, get paid, then come back home, clean up, and go to sleep."

  "Where will I sleep?" Morgana asked.

  "Oh, I can find somewhere for you, I guess," Jason replied, running his hand through his short hair. He avoided her green eyes, afraid to reveal his attraction.

  Riley chuckled quietly and nudged Jason in the ribs from behind, which immediately made Jason feel embarrassed. His face grew hot and he hoped that Morgana didn't notice. He shoved Riley away.

  "Let's get this shet over with, then," Riley said, loading the golem hearts back into the leather bag. "Jason, let's just rift straight into the Bounty Boards this time, okay?"

  "If we're going somewhere," Morgana said, "do you think we can find something else for me to wear other than the necromancer's robe?" She gestured at the plush, black fabric over her torso. Jason's eyes were drawn to the big 'M'.

  "You don't wanna keep it?" Riley asked with a smirk. "It says M for Morgana."

  The young woman sneered. "The necromancer killed my brother. And my father."

  M, Jason thought. Derek Norton. There was no 'M' in there, but the name Malydamus was all over inside the journal.

  "Malydamus," Jason said. "I think his necromancer's name was Malydamus." Then he smiled and shook his head. "Um ... yeah, Morgana, I think I can find something. You can wear one of my t-shirts and maybe—I dunno—something that used to be my mom's."

  "You still have your parents' clothes?" Riley asked.

  "Yeah I ... I just never really cleared out their room, you know?"

  Fifteen years ago, Jason thought. It was fifteen years ago. He was going to get around to it sometime. Riley and Gliath were staying in Jason's parents' old room now. Weren't they using the closets? Jason suddenly realized that he'd never seen Riley out of his Merc armor. Did those two even have any Earth clothes? Back when Jason first saw Gliath—before he knew him—the leopardwere was in human form dressed in old, dirty clothes that made him look like a bum. They must have thrown that stuff away by now.

  "It's okay," Morgana said suddenly, touching Jason's arm and snapping him out of his reverie. "Anything is better than this."

  "Okay, come on," Jason said, feeling a little weak in the knees with her holding his arm. "You can also clean your face. What is that? Blood?"

  "You don't want to know," Morgana replied.

  Chapter 33

  All four Reality Rifters peered through the shimmering window in the center of the roaring, blazing rift of swirling orange fire and sparks. As the gateway cleared, Jason could see a dim, sandy area behind several tents a little ways down a canvass alley from the street.

  Jason stared, exhausted. Something felt wrong but he wasn't sure what it was.

  "That's the Market?" Morgana shouted about the noise. "It's pink!"

  "Jason," Riley said with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. The soldier wasn't wearing any weapons other than his blaster. Jason had left his AK-47 back in the gun safe, but still had his Glock 26 concealed under his minotaur-hide jacket on his belt. "That's not the Bounty Boards. What the fruk, man?"

  Jason felt a stab of stupid and managed to keep from bopping himself on the head.

  "Shit. Sorry—that's the rendezvous. I'm really freaking tired."

  Riley sighed. "Whatever." He flashed a smile—probably to let Jason know that he wasn't mad at him. "Let's just walk there, then."

  "Okay."

  They stepped through the roaring whirlpool of spitting sparks onto the desolate world of Churn. Morgana's skin was moderately cleaner after a quick visit to the bathroom sink and she was now dressed in an old Pink Floyd t-shirt, a long skirt that Jason had found in his mom's old, dusty clothes, and a fleece jacket with a blue overcoat. Jason felt strange seeing her in that miss-mash of modern clothing, but it also felt good to see Morgana out of that grim, other world. She'd spent the last several minutes brushing her long, dark hair while they all talked in the garage.

  On the other side of the rift, Jason felt immediate relief on his eyes in the dark, pink air inside the massive black pyramid. It was as cold as always—just a little too crisp to be pleasant—but Jason was fine in his Merc armor and jacket.

  He immediately released the rift and reached down to his left hand, pressing the subdermal button to activate the night vision in his right eye. As the rift disappeared behind Jason with a pop, the dark bazaar became fully visible to him in shades of pale green for the second time.

  Riley and Gliath stepped past him down the alley toward the street full of bizarre and alien foot traffic. The leopardwere carried the majority of the Golem Hearts. Jason carried a dozen or so in his CamelBak backpack in the main compartment with the necromancer's journal. Riley was carrying the duffel bag with the two wyvern eggs from the Wilderlands.

  "Think you can finally sell those eggs?" Jason asked, following them.

  Riley looked back and shrugged. "I'll keep trying. They're really valuable. We just need to find the right buyer." The cyborg paused and looked back. Jason followed his gaze and watched Morgana standing lost and uncertain in the sandy clearing between the backs of tents that they had designated in the OCS as the rendezvous. She stared around in wonder, mostly looking up into the higher reaches of the pyramid where the translucent walls let in the light from the pink atmosphere outside. "Morgana," Riley said. "Don't pull that sword out here. There are rules against fighting in the Market."

  Jason watched Morgana gape and look around in awe. She nodded absently. "Okay..."

  "Lead the way, Riley," Jason said. "I still don't know my way to the Bounty Boards yet."

  "Alright."

  Jason touched Morgana on one shoulder, feeling her muscles jump under his hand as she startled. "Hey," he said, waiting until she met his gaze. In the night vision, her green eyes were crystal clear and seemed to sparkle. "The people and creatures here are really freaking weird. Try not to dwell on it. Stay close to us."

  "I'll stay close to you."

  The words sent a quick shock through Jason's heart and he smiled.

  Heading out into the street, Jason kept Morgana at his side and followed Riley through the throngs of mercenaries, planeswalkers, and bizarre humanoids and multidimensional entities. Gliath brought up the rear like a tall, black shadow. The noise of many different races and creatures conversing was constant. J
ason watched with a smile as Morgana's attention flitted all over the place; usually following an exceptionally-weird-looking lifeform passing by or considering a bizarre sound manifesting from the crowd.

  Jason was reminded of himself. Hell—it had just been several days ago when he was walking through the Market for the first time himself, just as freaked out with his heart hammering in his ears. Now, Jason wasn't exactly a veteran, but he at least wasn't shaken anymore. And with his new night vision, he could make out a lot more details in the strangely-shaped and sometimes incomprehensible features and appendages of the wild and crazy creatures around them. Sometimes, Jason just took a few deep breaths and told himself that it was okay if he didn't understand them all. He didn't have to. The omniverse held infinite possibilities and there would always be bigger and weirder shit out there. It would always be that way.

  Morgana clutched at Jason every once in a while, which gave him a thrill. At one point, he said, "There are a lot of weird ones that can hurt your head if you focus on them too much. Just don't think about it."

  The words made him laugh.

  Partway to their destination, Jason's attention was taken when he saw a few bug-men skulking at the edges of the planeswalking crowd. He stared at the Nothrix, trying to make out whether or not they were watching him in the pale green of his night vision. But after moment of scrutinizing, the Nothrix vanished into the throng of weird, passing bodies.

  Eventually, they ended up in the center of the pyramid and climbed the deep-black steps leading up into the Bounty Boards. Jason could see inside just fine and stared at the intricate carvings all over the huge, obsidian-like blocks that composed the ancient-looking structure. The Bounty Boards building was a mini-pyramid within the giant pyramid of the Market, mostly open to the air of the enclosed monolith except for a few standing walls here and there and an intricate network of ceiling beams and scaffolding that Jason could now see were beautifully sculpted. While the massive outer black pyramid of the Market was like a gigantic Egyptian design, the Bounty Boards structure itself was more like the blocky pyramids of ancient Mexico and Central America.

  "Wow," Jason said quietly to himself, drawing Riley's attention. When the soldier looked back questioningly, Jason added, "I can see so much more now!"

  "Reality Rifters!" The booming, gravelly voice of Zayden Skinner emanated from up ahead near the jobs wall. Jason looked up and saw the huge, ebony man standing and waiting with his massive arms folded across his elaborately-armored chest. With Jason's night vision, Skinner's flame-like hair was brilliant in the darkness, flickering and fanning back and forth from the top of the imposing figure's smooth, stone-like head. It looked like Skinner was finishing up a conversation with a trio of tall, thin creatures that reminded Jason of human-scorpion hybrids. They wore black, metallic armor over their chitinous exoskeletons.

  Riley waved with a smile and closed the distance as the scorpion-men departed. Jason and the others followed.

  Zayden Skinner stood like a pitch-black Greek statue, his chiseled, muscular form covered in the ornate reddish-gold armor he always seemed to wear. The ebony giant stood taller than Gliath and twice as broad. With his wide jaw set and face furrowed with deep lines, Skinner stared down at them with eyes that glowed like coals; bright like LED's in Jason's right eye.

  Skinner's eyes landed on Jason, and he suddenly felt small and cold under the man's stern gaze.

  Then, Zayden Skinner smiled.

  "Welcome back, Jason Leaper and Reality Rifters. You have completed the bounty...?"

  As if he doesn't know, Jason thought. He was pretty sure that Skinner could read his mind.

  "We did!" Jason said.

  "Sixty-seven golem hearts!" Riley added with a smirk.

  Skinner nodded. "Very good," he said with a deep voice like grinding stone. "The client will be pleased. I will take the items now."

  Jason immediately stripped off his backpack, feeling a flush of cold as he now had airflow between his shoulder blades. He'd been sweating a little, and this place was cold. He and Gliath headed with Skinner toward the massive stone table near the jobs wall and pulled out all of the golem hearts, setting them down in a neat stack. Sixty-seven golem hearts glowed like a golden fire, lighting up all of their faces and playing beautifully on the reddish-gold breastplate of the Bounty Boards manager.

  As Skinner's ebony face was illuminated in the glow of the many crystal-like stones on the table, Jason saw Morgana blanch next to him. He felt her shuffle to stand a little more behind him. She let out several panicked breaths as Riley chatted about the origin of the gargoyles.

  "Uh, yeah," Jason added, looking up at the huge man and shrugging his backpack back on. It was a lot lighter without the twelve golem hearts. "And ... as it turned out, the necromancer wasn't actually dead! We killed him again. I thought you paid the Corsairs of the Astral Sea to kill him..."

  Zayden Skinner's face seemed to darken for a moment as he stared at the many, glowing golem hearts. Jason had no idea what the strange man was thinking.

  Then, the golden glow—and all sixty-seven hearts on the table—suddenly vanished.

  "That is between me and the Corsairs of the Astral Sea," Skinner replied like rolling thunder. "It was their contract."

  "But you paid them," Jason said, suddenly feeling like he was balancing on the edge of a tall cliff. "He wasn't dead. Thought that you should know, I guess; that's all. He's dead, now."

  Riley glanced at Jason with a quick look of fleeting terror then opened his mouth to speak...

  "You will go far, new Jason Leaper," Skinner replied deeply with a grim smile, looking down at him. "Bravery and your pursuit of truth—or at least valid information—will assist you greatly in this business. I will tell you this, Jason, since you are so curious and I respect your boldness. The contract of the Corsairs of the Astral Sea was for the head of the necromancer."

  Morgana suddenly gasped. Jason looked back at her and saw her eyes wide and terrified.

  She pointed at Skinner with one shaking finger and breathed, "The head!"

  Zayden Skinner regarded Morgana with a sideways glance for just an instant then went on. "The head was all. Whatever the necromancer did after he lost his head was no concern of mine."

  "It's you!" Morgana screamed, backing away from everyone and stabbing her finger through the air at Skinner. "You're Xarzeth the Black!" She shuddered and trembled and made several unintelligible noises as she shrank back in horror. Her wide, green eyes flashed over Jason, Riley, and Gliath with a mix of shock and fear. "You work with the demon?! You work for the demon?! Oh ... oh God!"

  Jason was floored. He stared at Morgana in utter shock, paralyzed and watching her freak out. He didn't know what to do. Then, he felt a rush of fear plow through his insides when he saw several flashes of pink light—shimmers and glitches in the air just at the edges of his vision.

  In the next moment, as Morgana stammered and backed away, Zayden Skinner burst into bellowing, dark laughter that vibrated Jason's bones.

  "Oh God—what have I done?!" Morgana screamed, then turned and fled down the steps and into the Market streets.

  Jason's heart flip-flopped. He looked back and forth between where Morgana had disappeared to and where Riley and Gliath watched in shocked bemusement.

  Skinner laughed and laughed.

  Looking up at the ebony man, Jason searched for words. All he came up with was: "I'm sorry! She's ... she's really tired!"

  That renewed Skinner's loud, booming laughter. Jason looked to Riley for help.

  The soldier smirked, glanced up at Skinner, back to Jason, then said, "Go on, man. I'll finish up here."

  With that, Jason turned and ran after the young woman. He emerged into the pink light of the market around the Bounty Boards and immediately scanned the crowded, sandy streets for Morgana's flying hair; the bold blue of his overcoat that she was wearing. Jason felt terrible and afraid. He needed to catch her before she did something desperate and got herself kill
ed or ... fuck! She was in a totally bizarre world full of all manner of crazy creatures and didn't have anything at all other than the clothes he'd given her, her necklace, and her sword...

  Jason suddenly spotted a flash of long, dark hair between a group of mercenaries that looked like hobgoblins or something. He ran after her.

  "Morgana!" Jason shouted above the noise of the crowds. "Morgana, wait!"

  Rushing through the bodies, he pursued the girl, terrified that he'd lose her, then relieved when he caught a glimpse of his blue coat between two weird creatures.

  He called after her again. "Morgana! Wait up! Morgana!"

  All manner of entities looked down at Jason from all around with a variety of eyes and glowing orbs and other things as he ran. He pushed past a group of a half-dozen humans with cybernetic parts sticking out of their faces and hair, all wearing space-marine-esque armor and carrying heavy rifles. Two of the men scowled at Jason when he stumbled past too closely.

  "Morgana, wait!" he cried again when he saw her dart out of the crowd and into an alley between two large, canvass tents.

  Jason pushed through two extremely tall creatures and rushed after her, then was surprised when something heavy hit him hard in the back and knocked him sideways to the sand. He tried to stand, but something was clutching onto him! Jason struggled to get free, craning his neck and searching for Morgana's fleeing form in the alley.

  "Morgana!" He felt fists pounding on the back of his head. "What the fuck?!"

  Turning violently, Jason tried to throw off whatever the hell was pulling on him and punching him, then he heard a flappy, farting sound behind his head and several loud clicks.

  Was he under attack?!

  Jason turned to see. "Get off of me!" he cried, wrestling in the street with something that was a lot bigger than he'd initially thought. He was thrown into the canvass wall of the nearest tent close to the ground and his face and mouth was suddenly full of sand. Struggling with someone—something—attacking his back, Jason writhed around to face his attacker, noticing that all of the planeswalkers and creatures around him were backing away, giving him a wide berth. There was another flappy grunting sound, more clicking, then Jason managed to catch a glimpse of his attacker. On his back, flailing at him and trying to slice up his back but stopped by the minotaur-hide was a fucking Nothrix; one of the bug men that he, Riley, and Gliath were fighting back on Maze World. The nasty creature was laughing at Jason in that weird way that they did. It glared at him with black, insectoid eyes set deeply in its grey, flabby face. It beat at him again and again with its chitinous fists, striving to beat Jason to the ground and—