Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City

by L. G. Estrella

  A small, faint smile crossed Amanda’s lips as she thought of the Shimmering Isles. It had been a long time since she’d been there. Back in the old days, before she’d become a vampire, she’d visited them regularly. She’d been a girl then, not quite a woman, and she’d been tasked with finding a suitable husband. She’d found one: the second son of a fabulously wealthy merchant. The match had been more about money than anything else – her bloodline was more than noble enough on its own. Her family had been keen to spread its influence, and although he was a second son, her husband’s business acumen was even greater than his older brother’s. Certainly, he had helped improve her family’s fortunes quite substantially following their marriage. The Shimmering Isles had already been an important trading hub in those days although they had been a collection of island city-states rather than a unified kingdom as they were now.

  Her husband hadn’t been especially fond of the sea – odd for a man who’d grown up next to it although it might have been because he’d seen what its fury could do to the unsuspecting – but he had enjoyed fishing a great deal. She touched her chest. If she’d still had a working heart, it would have ached. She could easily imagine him sitting down next to Old Man and some of the rats on the shores of the lake near the castle. It was exactly how he would have preferred to while away his free time. He’d been a peaceful man at heart, and she was glad he hadn’t been around to witness the war between Everton and the Eternal Empire. It would have sickened him to see so many former friends and allies at each other’s throats.

  If their marriage had not been about love at first, then she had certainly grown to love him. He had been a kind man, a good, decent man who understood the importance of family and the duty of the nobility to properly care for and lead the nation. She still missed him, and it would be nice, if a little painful, to walk the shores of the Shimmering Isles again. Hopefully, his favourite beach was still there. He might not have liked the sea much, but the beach was another matter. He’d been fond of the cool ocean breeze and the feel of the sand between his toes. He’d tried his hand at making sandcastles, but he was scarcely any better than Avraniel and Spot in that regard. He definitely wouldn’t have stood a chance against Timmy. Thankfully, their children had mostly inherited their sense of artistry from her instead of him. And speaking of the necromancer…

  “We should arrive right around dawn. Not bad. We’re a couple of hours ahead of schedule. These guys know their stuff.”

  She turned. Timmy had set his cloak aside in favour of a simple tunic. “Aren’t you cold?” Unlike Avraniel, his magic would not protect him, and he was human.

  “I don’t plan on staying out for long. I had to use the bathroom.” He gave her one of those quick, keen looks that hinted at the razor-sharp intellect lurking behind his easy-going smile and seemingly bizarre love of shovels. She’d met many necromancers over the years. None had possessed his knack for tactics and strategy. “What’s on your mind?”

  “The past,” Amanda drawled. It was easy to put people off with a combination of sophistication and coquettishness, and she was all too aware of the effect her inhuman beauty had on others. In combat, the split-second of hesitation most people experienced when they laid eyes on her was generally a death sentence. Timmy, however, seemed immune. Given his history, he’d no doubt had to deal with female assassins who’d tried to charm him before murdering him.

  “That’s not really answering the question since you’re an ancient vampire.” The necromancer yawned. “But, hey, you’re welcome to keep your secrets. It’s not going to cause us any trouble, is it?” He ran one hand over his face. “Because I like to know about trouble before it arrives on my doorstep.”

  “Not at all.” Amanda smiled, genuinely this time, and she took note of the surprise on his face. It wasn’t often he was surprised. “Simply memories, some bittersweet, but all of them precious.” She gazed up at the stars. Were they the same as they had been in her youth? It was mildly troubling to realise she wasn’t sure. “It’s funny, is it not? The heart can still remember well after the mind should have forgotten.”

  “You know,” Timmy said after a long moment of silence. “I have a brother.”

  “Oh? This is the first time you’ve mentioned him. You don’t talk about your family much.”

  “There’s not much to talk about.” He smirked. “And I don’t think you want to hear all about my tragic backstory. I’m a necromancer. Most of us don’t go into necromancy because everything turned out wonderfully. But I like my life. I wouldn’t mind some more money to finish renovating the castle, but it’s a good life. Anyway, he’s not my full brother. My father may have had an affair while my mother wasn’t watching. It turns out that dumping one of your children on the doorstep of an evil, psychotic, drunken necromancer with a penchant for murder doesn’t do your relationship any favours. Sure, I remember them arguing basically all the time, so it was probably only a matter of time, but dumping me at the castle definitely didn’t help.” Timmy chuckled. “Which is why I encourage Katie to write to her family. I don’t think her parents will ever accept her, but she’s got an older sister who wasn’t too happy when they shipped her to the castle.”

  “Has she ever visited?”

  “No. She’s twelve right now, or there about, so she still lives with their parents.” Timmy frowned. “Katie was so young when they brought her to the castle. She can barely even remember her sister, but her sister remembers her. Visiting would make things hard, and I don’t think she’s last long at the castle. It’s not her type of place. Still, she writes to Katie, and they’re getting to know one another properly, which is more than I can say for the rest of her family.”

  “So… about your brother?”

  “We don’t talk much, but there is one thing we have in common.” Timmy grinned. “Neither of us ended up staying in that village, and our family doesn’t like either of us that much. Sure, my mother couldn’t have been happy being asked to raise him, but it wasn’t his fault he was born. Neither my mother nor my father liked what he wanted to be. You see he always wanted to be a fisherman. Don’t ask me why. I’ve got no idea. When I was about fifteen, he ran away from home. He was only a kid, but he managed to talk his way onto a fishing boat, and he’s been out on the water ever since. He’s part of a good crew now. They fish out of Salton.” The grin on his face widened. “We write to each other once or twice a year. I wouldn’t say we’re friends or anything, but he understands why I didn’t go home and become a farmer or something after my master died.”

  Timmy fought back another yawn. “I visited him last year. He’s rough around the edges, even more so in person than on paper, but he’s a decent man. We talked about our parents, and he said something that stuck with me. It wasn’t always bad with them. We each had good times and bad times. I can still remember some of the good times.” His brows furrowed. “I think my mother was sad before she left me, but I can’t be sure. What I do remember is how in the week before she took me to the castle, she made my favourite dinners and read me stories. She never read me stories. I always had to read them to myself. I thought it was great. But when we were on the road to the castle, she barely said a word to me. It makes sense when you look back on it. She didn’t want me to suspect what she was about to do. I’d probably have run for it if I’d known. Even as a kid, I’d like to think I wasn’t stupid enough to think that going to one of the most evil people in the world was a good idea.”

  “I’m sorry.” Amanda’s voice softened. “That couldn’t have been easy.”

  “But you know what the funny thing? I can remember exactly what Katie’s expression was when we first met.” Timmy smiled. “She was small then – even smaller than she is now – and she was holding her zombie dog, Patches, as if somehow he could make everything okay, like her life depended on it. She just… she looked scared and lonely, like she was afraid I’d get rid of her like her family had.”

  “How is Patches?”

  “She man
aged to get his soul into his zombie body, but she didn’t exactly know what she was doing. Over the years, she’s made some improvements and repairs, but he still has to be careful. Patches isn’t built for roughhousing the way some of her other zombies are.” Timmy shook his head. “She was a little girl, and her family was terrified of her because she’d used necromancy to bring back the dog she loved. People wonder why so many necromancers go bad, but you hear stories like hers and you start wondering how more of us don’t end up like my master.”

  “Abandoning children at unfamiliar castles is hardly a brilliant childrearing strategy.”

  “Yep. So I told her I liked her dog, and I showed her one of my zombie squirrels.” He chuckled. “She looked so relieved because she realised I was like her. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that expression… just… pure relief.”

  “You’ve done well with her,” Amanda said. Her gaze shifted to the side as Spot coughed. A thin tendril of smoke left his mouth before he settled back to sleep, using Avraniel’s lap for a pillow. Amanda meant what she’d said. She’d seen a lot of families and a lot of fathers and daughters over the years. Even if Timmy and Katie would never call themselves that, that was what they were. “She’s happy with you.”

  “I hope so.” Timmy yawned. “I know what it’s like to live in constant fear, always wondering when the next beating will come or what new horror I’ll have to face. I don’t ever want to be that guy.”

  “You won’t be.”

  “Did you know my master killed his family?” Timmy said. “I never did find out why – and I doubt anyone alive knows – but I was able to learn that much. He wiped out his entire village. I went there after he died. Even decades later, you could feel his magic everywhere. It was like standing in a cursed graveyard.”

  “What a pleasant fellow.” Amanda’s lips curved up ever so slightly. “Did you know my husband’s name was Alfred?”

  “No, I didn’t. People don’t talk about your early life much in the history books. They tend to focus on what happened during the First War and after it.”

  “I doubt if anyone remembers him except me.”

  “Well, if it helps, I know his name now. That’s one more person. Maybe you should tell us about him sometime. Katie is quite the historian. I’m sure she’d love to know.”

  “I think you’d like him. He was rubbish at building sandcastles.”

  “Another easy mark, eh?” Timmy laughed. His victories over Avraniel, Spot, and Katie had become a sore point with the trio, and they would undoubtedly seek revenge while they were in the Shimmering Isles. The elf had accused Timmy of being a horrible cheater multiple times, and Spot refused to believe that a dragon could lose at anything. Katie simply wanted revenge for all of her previous losses. Alas, they had yet to come close to winning, and Timmy was happy to let them know it. Even some of the rats, loyal rodents that they were, had started joining Timmy’s team right from the start, so they could partake in the benefits of victory – bragging rights and perhaps a few extra peanuts and grapes.

  “You could say that.” Amanda shook her head in fond exasperation. “But that didn’t stop him from trying, no matter how awful he was.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Timmy yawned. “I’m going to head back to bed now. Not all of us are ancient vampires. Try not to brood too much.”

  She laughed lightly. “Brood? Timmy, I’m an ancient vampire. Brooding is what we do best.”

  Amanda wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, but she did notice when the first rays of dawn began to break over the horizon. The vampiric side of her urged her to seek shelter despite her ancient nature being more than enough to protect her from normal sunlight. Even so, the tingle of the light on her skin brought a smile to her lips despite the discomfort. Few people understood why so many ancient vampires devolved into shameless hedonists. The reason was simple: it became increasingly difficult for ancient vampires to feel anything due to their durability, regeneration, and increasingly inhuman nature. It was hard to damage her in the first place, but she barely cared when she got injured. Having a limb cut off would barely slow her down at all. Indulging in the pleasures of the flesh was one way for ancients to fight the numbness, but she was not nearly desperate or crass enough to set up her own harem. She’d leave that sort of debauchery to less scrupulous ancients. There were certainly enough of them.

  The first to awaken was Spot. The dragon toddled over to her and nudged her leg with his head. Are we there yet?

  “Almost.” Amanda pointed. “Look.”

  The dragon clambered up to peer over the railing. The island was ahead of them, perhaps only a couple of hours away at the most. Its most prominent feature was a towering spire that could be seen for miles and miles around. Some canny fellow had attached a massive crystal to the top. It wasn’t good enough quality to be fabulously valuable, but it didn’t need to be. Its sole purpose was to amplify light magic, so it could be used as a lighthouse, a beacon to guide ships to the relative safety of the island.

  Spot chirped happily. He was getting bored without anywhere new to explore. He glanced toward the cabins. Should I wake them up?

  “By all means,” Amanda said. “But try not to cause too much of a ruckus.” Back at the castle, Spot was fond of waking people – including some of the servants – by flying in through a window and leaping onto their beds. Several near heart attacks later, and Timmy had put his foot down. Spot had to wait at the window instead of leaping onto people’s beds.

  As Spot went off to wake the princess, Amanda began to count in her head. She had barely gotten to twenty when the princess let loose a bloodcurdling shriek and stumbled onto the deck in her nightclothes.

  “Help!” Calista cried. “There’s a… a…. oh.” She trailed off as her mind, still sluggish from sleep, finally caught up to the situation. “Ah. Right. Spot was simply trying to wake me up since we’re close to the island.”

  “Yes.” Amanda chuckled and handed the princess her cloak. The cold didn’t bother her, but the princess had begun to shiver in the chilly breeze. “He usually gets that reaction, and not just from new people.” Right on cue, Gerald gave a screech of his own before joining them on the deck.

  “You’d think I’d be used to this by now,” the bureaucrat grumbled as Spot chortled and gave him a playful nudge before going to wake up his next victims. “But it’s still a shock to wake up with so many teeth so close to my face.” He shook himself, and Amanda raised one eyebrow at his attire. He was wearing a dressing gown, a nightcap, and a pair of fluffy bunny slippers.

  “You’re very well dressed.”

  Gerald flushed. “I… will go get changed.” He grimaced. “It’s not my fault! The bunny slippers are the most comfortable pair I have!”

  “I am not going to judge you for wearing bunny slippers,” Amanda said. “But you’d best hurry. If Avraniel sees you, you’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Gerald scuttled off at full speed, much to Amanda’s amusement. Sadly, Spot did not have quite as much fun waking up Katie and Timmy. The necromancer and his apprentice were both made of sterner stuff, with Rembrandt shooing the young dragon off before Timmy emerged dressed for the day and with a brand new fashion accessory – Spot was draped over his back like some kind of overgrown, scaly monkey.

  “You’re getting too big for this,” Timmy said.

  No, I’m not. Spot nuzzled the necromancer’s cheek before scrambling around to rummage through his pockets. He found a treat and trilled in delight before munching on it and getting some crumbs on Timmy’s shoulder. I’m still young.

  “You’re a dragon, Spot. Being young doesn’t stop you from being enormous.” Timmy nodded at Gerald who had returned in more sensible attire. “Morning, Gerald.”

  “Ah, good morning.” The bureaucrat eyed the approaching island warily. “Should we be prepared for trouble when we get there? I’ve heard that places like this can be quite… uncouth.”

  “Uncouth?” Timmy reached up to scratch Sp
ot under the chin. “That’s a polite way to put it. Places like this are basically full of pirates, smugglers, monster hunters, and various other miscreants. When we get there, someone is probably going to threaten us in a bid to extort some money, most likely after saying horrible things about the women in our group. They will also brandish weapons at us. At that point, I’m going to find the biggest, scariest-looking guy and hit him with my shovel. If we’re lucky, that should put an end to it.”

  “And if we’re not lucky?”

  “Then I’ll have to hit multiple big, scary-looking guys with my shovel. Timmy patted Gerald on the back. “It’ll be fine but keep your frying pan handy. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  “Indeed.” Amanda bit back a grin. “If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed over the centuries, it’s that places like this island are breeding grounds for trouble. I’d be more worried if we didn’t run into some ruffians and ne’er do wells.”

  Timmy’s words proved prescient. They had hardly disembarked – Timmy gave their captain a tidy bonus to ensure his future cooperation and discretion – when they were confronted by a rather odious bunch of ruffians. As someone with an exquisitely keen sense of smell, Amanda was tempted to kill the lot of them on the spot. This was an island. It was surrounded by the ocean. Bathing regularly should not have been too difficult a task for grown men to accomplish.

  “You!” In the age-old tradition of ruffian’s everywhere, the burly fellow at the front had opted for a monosyllabic approach to communication. He was also projecting his thoughts so forcefully – as were others in his group – that Amana didn’t even need to reach out with her magic to glimpse into their minds. Her lips curled in disgust. There was no chance whatsoever of her ever doing what he wanted. “Give us your women!”