Suggested Listening

Scratch allowed himself to drift away from the group, knowing full well what would soon come. He was surprised only that Elruin found him sooner than expected, and asked him outright.

"What happened to the other necromancers you've been with?"

He understood the girl was about as subtle as a god razing a city to the ground, but had expected the question to be lead up to, rather than the first words from her mouth. "Oh, they died. Welcome to mortality, there is only one way out."

"How did they die?" Elruin crossed her arms, acting as she thought a mother should act when chiding a child. "What happened to them before their deaths?"

Scratch wondered for a moment if someone else might find what she was doing to be endearing, or perhaps annoying, but he had little emotion aside his goals, and the willingness to sacrifice everything for them, including mortality. "Mostly violence, defiant to the very end. A handful locked themselves in libraries which would later become their tombs." He paused for a moment, having realized that these questions were her leadup, and finished with the answer which was the real question. "And a few took a walk on my side of the great divide. They, more than any of the others, were fools. No sane living thing wants to be what we are."

Now the spark of scholar's curiosity lit in Elruin's eyes. Here she could pursue her concerns without realizing what those concerns were. "What are you?"

"I keep telling you, I'm neither theologian nor thaumaturge." Scratch drifted along, just out of arm's reach of the necromancer. Though he acted like he was lounging in the air, he remained alert with senses not limited by physical organs.

In the context of the conversation and their language, it was clear what they were speaking of. "I once told Cali I thought undead were made from resentment, hatred and jealousy of live, that undead aren't truly negation, because negation brings the end of emotion, while the undead have lots of emotion, all of it bad. Now, I'm not sure."

"I'd say that's not far off, in a scholarly sort of way." Scratch said many times he was no scholar, but scholars fell short as well. How could one describe the hateful, cruel impulses that were so strong that even the combined forces of Life and Death rejected you? Humans had difficulty enough describing love, an emotion oft touted as hate's opposing equal, yet love was too weak to survive long amongst the dead, while hatred could power an abomination forever.

Elruin walked along in silence, thinking her own thoughts until it became clear Scratch wasn't going to continue on his own. "What do you think the undead are?"

"If I was forced to hazard a guess?" Scratch spoke just to buy time. Elruin was not going to drop the topic, which meant he needed a way to give her answers that didn't give her real answers. It was far too soon for her to know the actual truth. Then he switch to the language of death, unwilling to allow the living to hear what he was about to say. "I think we're like the void holes. Whether by accident or intent, we're wounds in the universe. Neither life nor death, nor any other traditional concept."

Elruin considered his words, but wasn't satisfied. Theory was fine, but it wasn't getting her to the answer she needed. "Cali says you're dangerous, and it's bad for my soul. You said you've worked with lots of necromancers who used the undead. What happened to their souls?" She, too, switched to the language of the dead, trusting Scratch's judgment.

"Once again, I don't know. I don't know what a soul is, or what it does, or if it exists." Scratch turned to face away from Elruin, or at least shifted his imprint of a presence in the living world to make it appear as such. "All I remember of death is a force ripping me apart while I fought to hold myself together. Memories and thoughts and feelings destroyed until only that small fragment of self that could not be consumed, the part which consumed instead, remained. If those are your soul, then I don't think there's anything beyond. No justice, no judgment, no arbiter of morality, what happens to the flame when a candle is blown out?"

"Cali didn't mention anything like that."

"She didn't experience it. You prevented the forces of death from ripping her soul, if you want to call it that, apart in the first place. She didn't have to fight for her existence, she didn't earn it." Scratch stopped, surprised at his own emotion. It had been a long time since he lost that much control, and as this conversation progressed the chances grew that it would happen again, perhaps to cataclysmic results.

"I get what you're asking." He chose to cut his losses and hope that the closest thing he was willing to say to the truth was enough. "Did any of my past partners wind up tainted? Yes, I'd say a full third of them, most by choice and plenty by accident. And most of those who didn't died too soon. We are dangerous tools, same as the void and the things inside it. You should be careful with us, no doubt. That includes your dear big sister, whose only hold on sanity and that soul she so values comes from your protection. Can you shield yourself like you shield her?"

Elruin considered the question, but her magic wasn't good for looking inward. "I don't know."

"Then neither do I." Scratch drifted into the sky, and faded from sight. The conversation was over, but his next victim was going to suffer unspeakable agony to make him feel better.

Suggested Listening

There was little time to speak during the hard trek across the rough land. If not for healing and resilience granted to them by magic, Elruin and Lemia might have died to the brutal pace Cali and Ketak set for them. By the time they rounded the hills to get their first look at a Seyid city, Lemia was beyond caring and even Elruin's supernatural toughness was reaching its limits.

The first thing which struck Elruin's eyes was the most obvious. "There's no wall?" Never before had she imagined such a thing as a city without walls. "Why don't they have walls?"

"Out here, walls are useless." Calenda spoke down to her from a position along a narrow ledge of rock that allowed her to look over the hill at the threats of the plains. "Even the buffalo could knock down a wall, and they're amongst the least dangerous things you'll find here. The plainsmen survive by building bunkers and tunnels. The big plains monsters are easy to spot from a distance. They spread out their shielding sarite to hide much larger territories, then run for the tunnels if anything wanders closer. Now, Ell, I need you to get out of your armor."

"Why?" Elruin looked down at her outfit, right at Decima clinging to her upper leg. Glowing red eyes blinked at her, before the creature felt shy and ran around to her back.

"Because that runebone necromancer's been collecting from this region long enough that at least one of them came out looking for revenge, and it's going to be hard enough to get them to trust us as is. Best case, they suspect us and say nothing. Worst case, a truthsayer asks if you've ever made any undead. Believe me, you do not want a fight with the plainsmen. They're hard enough to work with when they're on your side."

Elruin had started undressing as Calenda spoke, much to the annoyance of her three furry pets. While the nature of undeath and magic was a murky topic, she trusted her sister's judgment when it came to dealing with people. "What do we tell them?"

"Most of us tell the truth; a priestess, a scholar, and a forge mage sent from Arila to find the necromancer that attacked us. Ell, you're a farmgirl I found along the way and had to take with us, because we couldn't turn back. Just try to keep the pet squirrels from causing any trouble. We'll tell them the things are a weird magic breed that can sniff out necromancy."

"Let me tell 'em about 'e rats." Ketak gave the beasts a glance. "E'eryone knows silmid are masters o' magical animals. A sellsword dwar' wi' pets to track down abominations won't raise suspicions."

Lemia smirked at the suggestion, while helping Elruin undress from her armor. "Isn't all of this a little too on the nose?"

"As close as we can get, protects us from Truthsayers later." Cali scaled further up the hill, to make certain there weren't any nearby surprises. "Once they get to know us at least a little, we can talk to their leadership about our concerns. I'm just trying to keep us from being lynched on the outskirts."

"Jeez, they sound like wonderful people," Lemia muttered. "At this rate I'm wondering why we're bothering to help them."

"Truth, they're not that bad, once they get to know you. They just don't like strangers, especially ones who act like they think they're better than them. Speaking of, Ell, is there anything about my body that makes it so I can't eat?"

Elruin, now removing the last part of her armor, considered her answer. "No, I don't think so. But it might be hard to get it out after."

"Then I'm going to smell like a terrible drunk until we figure out a way. These people love their alcohol, and breaking bread is the surest way to make friends in their society. Especially if you bought the bread off them." Cali jumped down from her spot. "We're clear for the minute, now let's book it. Scratch... know what, you probably could sneak into the city, but if you do, don't come anywhere near us."

"I'll stay out here, thanks." It felt good to lie, and he needed any excuse to take the edge off. "Wouldn't want to end up being some weirdo's puppet. I'll stay out here and see if I can find a cute new doll for Elruin when she comes back. Don't expect a dragon, but I think one of those buffalo would look nice with a tent on its back, don't you?"

"Yeah." Lemia gave a dry chuckle. "Nice enough for a dragon to spot from miles away and eat while we're still on it."

"You bring up a good point. In fact, you bring up a lot of good points, most of them teeth." Scratch drifted out of their hiding place. "Well, you kids have fun, I'll see if I can't find something worthwhile out here."

"Just don't do something stupid and insane like sending an abomination into the city to stir things up and give Elruin a chance to show off, or I will kill you with my bare hands." Cali glared at the ghost, willing him to understand that she could and would make good on the threat if she had to.

"Don't worry, I ain't some amateur. That stunt only works if you're already in a position of trust and you want to strengthen it." Scratch faded from sight, then began to snake through the ethereal pathways toward the city. By the time the others arrived, he'd already know where the mystery necromancer was hiding, how he operated, and every secret worth knowing.

Then he'd do as he always did.