6. Death heirloom

‘Darkness12 is calling…’

As the train doors opened and the passengers got off, I stepped away and took the call.

« Lord Necromancer speaking. If you hang up, you’re dead. »

I snorted silently. Such a wonderful way to begin a phone conversation.

“Hi, sir. What do you want?”

« I’m about to enter the house, but you aren’t in there. Why? Did you run away? If you did, I’ll drag you back to Ray no matter what, so don’t even think of escaping. »

Ray’s dad was the Lord Necromancer: I instantly believed him when he said he could drag me back any time.

The train doors closed without me getting on. I leaned on the platform wall and said:

“You don’t need to worry, sir, I’m not running away. I was going to get on the train and head back, but I missed it.”

Because of you, by the way.

« Mm. So you didn’t run away. Well, then, hurry up and come back, or else I’ll— »

“I know, I wish you well too,” I said teasingly, and I hung up with a stiff smile. Crazy old man… I understood now why Ray had avoided him until now.

I waited for the next train and got on. Half an hour later, I was in front of Ray’s new home.

I pushed the gate and entered the yard. There was a guy leaning on the orange tree. I had already put a foot on the veranda when it dawned on me. I looked his way. Who could that be? Red-haired, in his late teens, clad in the Harvard High School uniform. He moved away from the tree, his hands shoved in his pockets in a carefree way.

“Hi.”

“Ah… Hi?” I said.

“I suppose you don’t recognize me. My name’s Arkill Miller. I’m in the same class as Ray.”

His voice was brusque, but not hostile. I relaxed.

“I see. You’re a friend of Ray’s? Nice to meet you. I am—”

“Armen Moon. I know.”

Arkill waved to the door.

“You should get in. The Lord and the young master are waiting for you.”

The Lord and the young master… Hey, bud, you come from the Middle Age or what? Then, I finally grasped the situation.

“You work for Ray’s dad, right? So you are…”

“That’s right. I’m a life reaper like you.”

I stared at him. That guy was dead. I was in front of an undead. I swallowed hard. He raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you getting in?”

Mumbling some words, I rushed to the door and shut it behind me. Whew. Ray was sitting at a low table in the living room. I breathed out:

“An undead. Ray, did you know you had a classmate like that?”

Had I been alive, I would have broken out into a cold sweat. My best friend gave me a startled look.

“Ah, you mean Arkill? Well… I knew. He’s, like, stalking me? On my dad’s orders.” He paused, then snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re scared? You’re dead too, you know.”

I froze, then silently put down my bags, sat down on the sofa, and took off my red knit cap as I said:

“You’ve got a point.”

The house was cozy, made of wood, and covered with carpets. There was a large screen in front of the sofa and the low table Ray was sitting at. It was crumbling with books.

“Everything okay?” Ray asked.

“Yeah… Hey, you’ve got some weird books there. Don’t tell me those are necromancy grimoires?” I joked.

“Hum. Dad brought them.”

My eyes popped out of my head.

“Are you for real?!”

Ray sighed as he turned some pages of the book he was holding.

“My dad’s ancestors were necromancers too, but necromancy is not easy to learn. Some of my relatives can revive skeletons, drain lifeforce from a body to get stronger temporarily, and those kinds of things. My aunts are considered good necromancers, and they just have a few ghouls in their necro-family—Well, one of those ghouls became a life reaper several years ago. However, someone capable of preserving the souls of the dead is on a totally different level. Only a few master necromancers in history managed that. Well, if you are lucky enough to have a special power that helps you in the task, your chances of succeeding are obviously higher. That’s my dad’s case. That’s partly why he was able to preserve your inner soul during the resurrection.”

I listened to him intently.

“So, you’re telling me your dad is an amazing necromancer even among a family of necromancers? No, even among all the necromancers in the world?”

“Creepy, huh?”

We then heard an inner door open and someone singing:

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish!

Swish, swish, swish!

Swish, swish, swish!

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,

all through the town!

A slender, black-haired man appeared from the kitchen, holding a tray with a steaming pot on it. The Lord Necromancer was wearing a colorful apron while singing a children’s song. As Ray hid his face under his cap, I pinched my lips, then snorted and laughed loudly. Creepy, he said? How, exactly? My undead laugh sounded a bit off.

The Lord Necromancer put the tray on the table and turned at me.

“So you came. The fool who hung up on me.”

The laugh died in my throat. A glow in his eyes made me shiver. I stood up, uneasy.

“Ah, about that… I hung up accidentally.”

The Lord Necromancer raised an eyebrow.

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t lie to me. Did you hang up accidentally?”

His glare felt as if lightning had struck me.

“No. ”

Why did I blurt out like that? And why did he have to make such a fuss? It was just a phone call! The Lord Necromancer was scary…

“Stop it, Dad!” Ray stepped between us. He was upset. “You said you wouldn’t use that on him!”

“I never said anything like that. Besides,” the necromancer frowned, “I’m disappointed. A liar is never a reliable friend.”

His words shook me. A liar is never a reliable friend. Was he saying I was unworthy of being Ray’s friend? It pissed me off.

“Then, what about you, sir? You said you would kill me if I hung up on you. Or were you lying?” I snickered. “Are you gonna do it or not?”

There was a tense silence. And then…

“STOP!” Ray was trembling. “I said stop that already, you two. Dad, don’t be childish. Armen, just relax and sit down. Let’s have lunch.”

Unexpectedly, the Lord Necromancer smirked.

“I understand you don’t want to tame him because he’s your friend but… you just did it.”

Ray looked shocked as he lowered his eyes on me. I had sat down on the floor, near the table and the tray. My sudden action confused me quite a bit. The Necromancer patted his son’s shoulders.

“It’s all right, son. You’ll get the hang of it in no time. Now, let’s eat!”

Ray was paler than usual. As his dad took out three plates and glasses, we put the books away and joined our hands.

“Thanks for the food!”

They were eating noodles. It looked delicious, but the smell didn’t arouse my appetite in the slightest. The raw pork meat, however, tasted so good that I almost forgot about what just happened.

“I’m sorry,” I said, gulping down. “It was rude of me to call you a liar, sir. I don’t even want to die. Thanks for saving me yesterday. Though I would still be alive if it weren’t for you,” I added in a mumbling tone.

“Are you apologizing or complaining?” the Lord Necromancer snorted.

I smiled innocently.

“By the way, aren’t we going to invite your stalker, Ray?”

Ray hadn’t touched his food yet. He was in a daze.

“My… stalker?”

“Sorry, I mean Arkill.”

“He doesn’t eat meat,” the Lord Necromancer explained as he slurped his noodles like a child. “He’s been an undead for a long time, so he lives by absorbing life energy. As a new-reborn, you still can grow just by eating meat, but as you get stronger, meat won’t quench your needs. That’s why life reapers have to learn how to eat lifeforce from the living. Ray will teach you when the time comes, won’t you, Ray? Ray? What’s the matter? Don’t you like the food? Do you want me to cook something else?”

“No… it’s fine.”

“Then dig in, dig in! There’s dessert too. I’ve bought you a lot of fruits. You love tangerines, right? When you were little I used to peel them for you. You used to eat quite a lot, back then! You’re so thin, now. Are you on a diet? That’s bad for your health! Your stay in Europe was no good for you, I knew it.”

The Lord Necromancer’s voice filled the room. I felt weird in his presence. He was the one who had brought me back to life. Why had he done something like that? Not for my sake, that’s for sure. Did he want his son to learn necromancy so badly?

As I finished eating, I went to wash my plate in the kitchen. I was lost in thoughts. Why was necromancy considered taboo? What was exactly this lifeforce both the Lord Necromancer and Ray had talked about? Was it wrong to “eat” it? Why had my senses changed that much? What was I, actually?

All that mattered was that I was still conscious and all but… There were things I had to know.

Still, when I finally decided to return to the living room and ask for answers, I stopped by the doorway. Ray and his dad had pushed the tray away and were leaning on books, discussing actively.

“So that’s why the necro-bond is affected by our emotions. If you want to control it, son, you’ll have to do as this book explains, this one, there. For the energy exchange, I’ll recommend the red-covered book. You already read it? Ah, yes, I once lent it to you. So you read it, I’m so proud! It’s one of the most difficult skills, energy control, bond control… Haha, I’ll teach you all of this!”

Ray was so focused, and the Lord Necromancer was so excited about teaching his son… I thought it was best to leave those two alone. Perhaps love between father and son would finally bloom through a necromancy lesson. My smile twisted.

I washed the dishes to kill time. There were some leftovers and, out of curiosity, I ate a fork of noodles…

Tasteless.

O goodbye, chocolate and ice cream, I won’t forget you guys.

I turned off the tap, dried my hands, and wondered: how did lifeforce taste like?

With that question in mind, I went out to the veranda through the back door and searched for Arkill. He was still in the yard, standing beside the orange tree. I sat on the edge of the veranda and gave him a curious look.

“Hi again. Ray and his dad are busy, so I’m coming here to bother you. Can I ask you some questions?”

The red-haired life reaper shrugged. I took his gesture for a yes.

“I've heard the word ‘bonde’ several times already. Do you know what that means? Is that like a magic contract?”

“Bond is bond.”

I blinked. Damn, could it be Arkill was one of those not-so-smart undeads Ray had told me about? Arkill moved away from the tree and came to sit down next to me.

“That’s how resurrection works,” he went on. “The caster establishes a bond between a corpse and his mind. Through this bond, he has control over the corpse and brings it to life.”

Control over…? Had I had a heart, it would have been pounding right now.

“So… it’s just like in the video games,” I muttered. Arkill raised an eyebrow, but his expression remained emotionless. “So… Does that mean Ray’s dad can move my body through his mind?”

“He can. But life reapers like us are more complex than lesser undead. We can think almost the same way a human does, so we can understand our master’s wishes better. That’s why the Lord can use words to give us more sophisticated commands.”

I shivered.

“So it’s like that…”

I was just told I was a mere puppet in the hands of a necromancer. That could become quite problematic.

“But it seems you got something wrong,” Arkill said. “I heard the one who established the bond with you was the young master, not the Lord. Nevertheless, since the Lord is an advanced necromancer, he can affect undeads that aren’t under his protection, to some extent. Some parts of the necro-core are very vulnerable to necromancy spells, even more so if the undead is still but a newborn like you. That’s why necromancers rarely fight among themselves. Also, I suspect the Lord did something to you during the resurrection to keep some control over you. He’s that kind of person. Never too cautious.”

Arkill sure talked a lot for a dead guy. But I was thankful that he took his time to explain these things to me. I was also relieved that Ray was the real owner of the bond. Now I understood better his talk about not using me as an underling because I was his friend. And I understood why he was so troubled during lunch: he had unwittingly given me an order to sit down. I guessed he was, in a way, more worried than I was. He surely thought our sworn friendship was being endangered by his own lack of knowledge in necromancy. I should reassure him. Because I trusted him.

I gave the red-haired guy a warm smile.

“Thanks, Arkill. It feels good to be talking to a fellow undead. So, tell me…” My eyes caught the flight of a bird with a worm in its beak as I asked: “Is lifeforce tasty?”