The misadventures of the necromancer

Chapter XVI

Seres looks around, seeing only trees and bushes while the sun descends in the sky. Nero led as usual, with Seres and Adar following closely behind and the undead mule bringing up the rear. It was the second day since they had left Dantar, venturing northward and off the beaten path. Spirits were down since the incidents in the Dantar.

Adar had been robbed, losing the money they had earned from selling the belongings they had brought from the inn. It had brought tension to the group. Adar had been especially quiet in the past few days. Nero had also been silent, but his expression remained heavy, which Seres found understandable. After all, Nero still wore rags due to what had happened, which couldn't be comfortable.

It was somewhat strange because they still had some things on the mule that they could sell and at least get enough money to buy some clothes, even if simple and cheap. For several times Seres had tried to lighten the mood, only to be told to shut up by Nero.

As Seres pondered this situation, they reached a point where the forest seemed to end. Beyond a few more trees, they could see what looked like cultivated fields with various crops growing. Arriving here, they began to look around in confusion at finding a field in the middle of the forest. Before they could have any sort of reaction, they heard a voice.

"What are you doing here?" almost shouts an old man with a strong build despite his hair and beard as white as snow. On his hands, he tightly grips a hoe, looking at them with clear suspicion. Seres notices that in the distance behind the man, a column of smoke rises into the sky, indicating it must be the camp or house of this old farmer.

Once again, they look at each other, unsure of how to respond to the question. Fortunately, it's at this moment, that his friend steps forward, saying, "Sorry, we're lost. We've been wandering in the forest and are a bit surprised to find a field here!" Adar lies calmly, even managing to convey a hint of exhaustion in his posture. Though that part might be true, they've been walking since morning and had only stopped briefly for food.

Unfortunately, the man doesn't seem to find a reason to relax. "Lost, you say? And where do you plan to go?"

Fortunately, Seres sees that Adar isn't deterred, continuing to weave a story. "We left the road near Dantar and entered the forest, thinking we had found a shortcut. If I'm not mistaken, we shouldn't be far from Flatrock. Right?"

"Not bad," thinks Seres, observing Adar's tactic of mixing some truth with a question to divert attention from the fact that he didn't answer the man's question. After the fiasco in Dantar, Nero simply had set a direction, and they followed.

Thinking of Nero, Seres looks at the mage. Who is observing the conversation with a raised eyebrow but saying nothing.

"So, you're not that lost after all. The village is about four hours in that direction," the man says, nodding in some direction. Then he points the hoe at Adar and continues speaking in a harsh and aggressive tone, "Go. I don't want you on my land."

Adar looks to Nero, obviously seeking his decision. Nero, in turn, stares fixedly at the mountains now easily visible on the other side of the man's fields.

This leaves them with a problem since it doesn't seem like the man in front will simply let them cross his fields. As Seres looks at the mountains, pondering what might interest Nero, he notices something that might at least disarm the standoff.

"The sun," he says, energetically pointing at the reddening sun descending in the sky. "We won't have time to reach the village before nightfall."

Even the man looks up at the sky and seems to agree. Attempting to travel at night is dangerous. The risk of accidents or encountering dangerous animals greatly increases in the dark.

"Yes, as my friend said, we won't have time to reach the village today. Perhaps you can point us to a nearby place where we can set up camp for the night," quickly says Adar, seizing this opportunity to resolve the situation.

The man buries the head of the hoe in the ground beside him and rubs his beard forcefully, grumbling something largely incomprehensible. The only word Seres understands is "camp."

This indicates that Adar's comment was clearly a good thing. The man seems to have as little desire to be near them as they do near him, even if it's for very different reasons.

The man uses a hand to point somewhere behind them and says, "Go over there. There's a tall tree, the tallest around. Right next to it is a clearing. You can spend the night there."

Seres looks back and sees what he believes to be the top of the tree the man speaks of. With that indication given. The man picks up his hoe and starts walking in the opposite direction.

"I don't expect to see you tomorrow. I already have enough strangers around my land," the man says with annoyance evident in his voice.

Finally, Nero speaks with some irritation in his low voice. "I also don't expect to see you tomorrow."

Now Nero turns to them, speaking even lower. "Pay close attention to the size and shape of the fields. Tomorrow morning, we'll go around them and move forward. Understand?"

Both Seres and Adar nod in agreement. Seres then wonders what the powerful mage is interested in those mountains for.

So, they follow the old man's instructions and arrive at a clearing next to the mentioned tree. Immediately, they begin setting up camp. Fortunately for them, the surrounding forest is rich in firewood for their campfire, something they were used to. But being close to the old farmer's fields, the wood in the area might have already been gathered.

This allowed them some calmness while setting up camp since one of their main tasks hadn't been delayed. And due to this unexpected detour, their rest had been advanced a bit.

So, they ate their travel rations, as their fresh food had already run out. Not that it would last for more days.

After the meal, they follow their normal routine. Nero sits cross-legged at some distance, while Seres and Adar remain near the campfire, cleaning and chatting a bit before going to sleep.

Between them and Nero is the mule, completely still, looking in their direction. Seres had felt somewhat uneasy seeing this on the first night. But after thinking about it, he calmed down. After all, what better guardian could they have for a night in a wild forest?

When he had mentioned this to Adar, his friend disagreed, arguing that the mule was a dangerous being, and they had no way of knowing how it might react.

But Seres had countered that they were necromancers; it was only natural for them to be defended by an undead, as Nero had ordered. Something that didn't need rest and would remain alert all night while they could sleep peacefully.

How Nero had simply created such an impressive undead was still something that amazed him. And it demonstrated his superiority as a necromancer.

So, looking at Nero, Seres tells himself, "I would love to know what he's doing!"

Since they had started traveling together, Nero spent a lot of time away from them like this. Sitting cross-legged, usually with his eyes closed and apparently murmuring something.

Seres had often speculated what the powerful wizard might be doing. Perhaps reflecting on magic secrets, that Seres couldn't even dream of, or maybe trying to control some powerful spell.

Seres's musings are interrupted by Adar saying, "I'm sure of one thing: he'll be even more grumpy than usual."

Seres looks at his friend, having to agree that Nero tends to be irritable after these meditation sessions. Once he had gathered the courage to ask what the mage was doing, he had been shouted at to shut up and not bother him.

"Did you see him earlier?" Adar asks.

"You mean with the herbs?" he asks in turn, receiving a nod in response.

It was clear that Seres had seen the scene. When they were gathering firewood, Nero had found some herbs and strangely started kicking them.

"Did you see how he was jumping around?" Adar asks, a big smile appearing on his face until he looks in Nero's direction, and that joy disappears from his face.

Again, of course, he had seen it, starting with kicks, and ending with him jumping with both feet on the remains of the herbs, while seeming to grumble that it was their fault. Surely a strange, albeit somewhat funny, sight.

"Do you think the herbs were dangerous?" Seres questions, something that had occurred to him while watching the scene.

Immediately, Adar responds with a returning smile on his face, "No, I saw the herbs before he found them. They were just ordinary herbs, usually considered weeds. I often had to destroy them on old Hilbert's farm. Remember?"

And Seres vaguely remembers. When they were young in the village where they were from, his friend often went to help old Hilbert on the farm to earn some extra money.

"Tears of... Look, Tears of something, I can't remember. They were weeds. I can't imagine the reason for his reaction," says Adar, tilting his head to indicate Nero.

Before Seres can open his mouth again, a frustrated voice can be heard saying, "Damn it!"

At that moment, Seres turns his head to see Nero letting his back fall to the ground. He then starts hitting the ground beside him with his hands.

Turning his head to Adar, he can only see him saying very softly, so softly that he can only understand what he said by the movement of his lips. "I told you so."

Nero spends a few minutes lying on the ground before getting up and walking to where he was going to sleep, on the other side of the fire from them.

As the mule starts moving to the position next to Seres to watch over them during the night, Seres gains the courage to ask the mage.

"Nero..., Sir..., where are we going?" This said, the mage immediately fixes his deeply annoyed gaze on him.

"If we have to cross the old man's fields, it might be useful for me and Adar to know the final destination," he says, pointing to himself and Adar. Before concluding with "But if you think it's not worth it, disregard what I said."

Nero continues to look at him but seems to be considering the justification given. He scratches his head and says, "In the mountains on the other side of that guy's fields. There must be a path that leads to the northern territories."

Hearing this, Adar almost shouts, "You want to follow the howling snow trail?"

Nero shrugs, makes a face, and says, "I don't know what it's called. I just know it must exist. And I intend to follow it to go north."

"Yes, it exists. But as far as I know, the trail is extremely difficult. And it's impassable with pack animals. That's why no one uses it," Adar quickly says. The expressions on his face as he indicates the reasons declare what he thinks of this plan.

"That the path is challenging, I already know. Happily, I highly doubt my pack animal will be bothered by it," Nero expresses almost annoyance as he says this. While indicating the undead with his head.

At this point, Seres doubts that even Adar can refute that. After all, the mule will fulfill its instructions until it's impossible to do so. When other beings would be afraid or tired, the mule will just keep going.

"Even so, the danger hardly seems worth it," Adar firmly asserts.

Nero slowly shakes his head as he speaks.

"Grumpy, you really are a disappointment. You're easy to rob..." he begins, referring right away to Adar's recent mistake. "And you're not very smart."

His gaze returns to showing some irritation before he speaks again. "What do you want to do? Go back to Dantar or head to Freehope. Passing by the inn?"

He pauses for a few seconds, letting his questions and the possible consequences of those choices sink in.

"By this time, rumors of what happened at your inn should already be spreading. And how many people can recognize you in Dantar or even in Freehope? I don't even want to know," he waits a bit longer, shaking his head again.

"At most, we have a few days before people start looking for necromancers. And when that happens, I'll be associated with you. So the best choice is for us to disappear."

Both Seres and Adar nod in agreement, agreeing that it seems like the best idea.

"Following this path that most people will think is unusable, just like you, is like disappearing."

Then, as Nero's irritation seems to explode, he tells them, "Although I don't know what kind of necromancers you are? I've never even seen you use magic."

This leaves Seres insulted, although they are far from Nero's level. They know magic, and thinking about it, he decides to demonstrate his abilities. So he decides to cast a spell, the only one he thinks he can use right now. It's the first spell he and Adar learned.

So, he stands up and concentrates, extending a hand and saying seriously, "The last light of magic."

Immediately, he feels the sensation of his magic gathering and concentrating in his hand. But nothing happens.

He feels embarrassed by this failure, although he knows it could happen, seeing Nero's raised eyebrow as he witnesses his failure.

Still, Seres decides to try again and repeats, "The last light of magic," with the conviction that he shouldn't fail twice in a row. Something like this hadn't happened in years.

Once again, he feels a slight tingling in his hand, indicating his magic gathering. But once again, nothing happens.

Now Seres feels the heat on his face due to his embarrassment, indicating that his face must be red with shame.

Nero starts to smile, probably preparing to start laughing at the sad figure Seres is making.

That's when they hear a noise coming from the forest outside the clearing. Looking, at the source of the sound, a large figure can be seen.

This figure approaches, and with the light of the campfire, it's possible to see that it's a boar the size of a pony. It's dark, making it difficult to see, but its tusks reflect the light. It's possible to see that the animal has an arrow in its back and one of its eyes destroyed.

With just a glance, Seres can realize that this is the most dangerous animal in the region. A black-backed boar, known for the species' aggressiveness. And Seres can see that this animal seems particularly angry.