Upon opening the door, they found an ornate room with an older man reading a dust-covered tome sitting in an elaborate chair. He carefully closed the tome and looked at the group with curiosity. “So, you’re the individuals who stumbled into my tower,” he observed in greeting. “I don’t suppose it’s too much to ask that you’re here to assist me?” he asked mockingly.

Lelwyn stood in front of the others. “Never, foul necromancer!” he shouted in defiance. “We will make you pay for your misdeeds!”

The necromancer sighed. “I see.” He snapped his fingers. “Where are my manners?” he asked rhetorically. “I am called Tryen,” he introduced himself with a short bow. “And your names?”

Lelwyn, taken aback by Tyren’s politeness, answered in reflex. “My name is Lelwyn, Initiate of the Order of the Golden Shield. With me are my fellow mages, Kirel and Bewr. The knight is Rikel and the elf is Jolen of...”

“My family’s name is not important right now,” Jolen interrupted. “Just what do you think you are you doing in my forest?” he demanded.

Tyren bowed his head. “Simple research, Jolen,” he answered. “There are so few places where a necromancer can study or perform experiments in peace,” he pointed out.

Bewr and Rikel readied spells while Rikel drew her sword. “So you admit to being a necromancer!” Rikel accused.

Tyren smiled at Rikel. “I believe that is was what I just said,” he answered in the same tone one would use with an inattentive child.

Jolen held Rikel back before she could attack. “We don’t know yet if he actually broke any laws,” he told her.

Bewr scoffed. “Merely studying necromancy is a crime in the country of Elrlith.” She explained. “Which the forest is not a part of,” she realized. “Do the elves forbid necromancy?” she asked Jolen.

Jolen shrugged. “I never bothered to study the laws pertaining to magic; I never figured that they’d ever pertain to me,” he admitted.

Kirel stepped forward. “It’s not like we can just leave him here,” he pointed out sarcastically.

Tyren cleared his throat. “If I may make a suggestion?” he asked the group. When they made no move to stop him, beyond readying their weapons or spells, he continued. “I am willing to travel with you to the elvish authorities to make my case of innocence,” he announced while standing up.

Rikel turned her head back towards the others. “I don’t like this. There’s no way that I can see this not being a trap,” she informed them.

Lelwyn nodded to her. “While I agree that this is rather unorthodox, I have no alternative to offer, save for slaying him where he sits,” he added.

Jolen shook his head. “I will not be a party to that,” he countered with finality.

Kirel rolled his eyes. “Does one of us at least have any rope?” he asked.

Jolen started searching through his bag. “I do!” he announced, pulling out a coiled cord of rope.

Lelwyn pointed a Tyren. “If you make any attempt to escape, we will slay you at once,” he warned. “Be sure to secure him thoroughly,” he ordered Jolen.

Jolen walked behind Tyren and quickly bound the necromancer’s hands behind his back. “You’ll pay for casting that curse on my home!” he swore while tightening the ropes.

Tyren looked over his shoulder. “There is no curse cast by me affecting your home,” he announced.

Rikel drew her sword and held it to Tyren’s throat. “And we’re to just take you at your word?” she demanded.

Lelwyn held back Rikel’s arm. “Hold fast, my friend,” he ordered. “Slaying a prisoner in our care is beneath us. Let him answer for his crimes to Jolen’s people.”

Tyren smiled amicably to the others. “Shall we be off?” he asked lightly.

Kirel sighed and started pushing Tyren back out the way they came in. “Okay, let’s get going,” Kirel ordered the necromancer, not pausing for the others to keep up.

Tyren looked over the three mages. “I take it that the three of you are graduates from the Mage’s Academy of Elrlith,” he surmised.

Rikel glared at Tyren. “We’ll not be answering any of your questions,” she assured him.

Tyren raised an eyebrow at Rikel. “Really, knight?” he countered. “Lelwyn already introduced you,” he pointed out.

Lelwyn ground his teeth in irritation. Kirel leaned over to him. “It’s okay,” Kirel assured him. “You didn’t tell him anything of importance. Besides, you were just acting politely without thinking. We understand,” he added.

Lelwyn turned to him with a dark look. “The words ‘without thinking’ are the problem, Kirel,” he countered. “Had I kept my tongue, the necromancer would know much less about us than he currently does.”

Tyren, overhearing the exchange, started laughing. “Is that so, healer?” he mocked. “It’s obvious that none of you are summoners, lest we’d be out of the tower already. Kirel there carries himself with the air of an elementalist. While Bewr, who is currently hiding in the back, has the bearing of an enchanter,” he observed.

The mages all looked at each other in worry. Jolen leaned over to Rikel. “How bad is it that the necromancer figured out what kind of mages they are?” he asked her.

Rikel gulped. “At the least, it means that he can better predict the kinds of spells they’d use against him if we got into a fight,” she explained. “For a more thorough answer, you’d have to ask a mage,” she admitted. “They’d be able to tell you the details.”

Tyren chuckled to himself. “An enchanter, a healer, an elementalist, and a Knight, why does this sound like a joke?” he mused to himself.

Rikel shoved Tyren. “Quiet you!” she ordered.

Kirel walked up to Tyren. “Were the poachers we met in the forest under your employ?” he demanded.

Tyren smirked. “I cannot speak to anybody that you may have met in the forest,” he answered. “That said, there are those that I had working for me, including a trio of poachers,” he admitted.

Kirel slapped Tyren. “That was for...” he shouted before stopping himself. “Just know that your little minions killed a friend of ours. We killed them ourselves within this very tower,” he taunted the necromancer.

Rikel pulled Kirel back. “Know this also, necromancer,” the knight drew Tyren’s attention back to her. “We shall not be telling you any more about us than what you already know,” she promised.

Bewr walked next to Lelwyn. “This really doesn’t make any sense,” she objected. “The only reason I can think of for the necromancer to surrender like this is if he’d already done what he meant to,” she informed him.

Lelwyn nodded. “Aye,” he agreed. “If he had managed to strengthen the blight in Midway, we’d have felt the power of the spell,” he pointed out.

Kirel walked up to them. “Could his plan have had something to do with that major release of power we felt earlier?” he whispered.

Bewr ran up to Rikel and grabbed her sword. She pointed the sword at Tyren’s throat. “Were you the one responsible for the release of magic that happened earlier?” she demanded angrily.

Tyren looked at the sword pointed at him and smiled. “If I were capable of calling on magic of that caliber, do you honestly think that I’d be hiding out in this forest to do my research?” he countered.

As Bewr started to lower the sword, Kirel walked up to her and pushed her arm back up, pointing the sword at Tyren’s throat again. “Did you cast the spell that created that energy?” he asked. “Yes or no,” he clarified.

Bewr, realizing what Kirel was doing, handed Rikel her sword back quickly cast a truth spell.

Tyren waited patiently for Bewr to finish her spell. “No,” he answered with a polite smile. “I am not responsible for the creation of the energy in the magical release that we all felt earlier,” he continued.

Kirel huffed. “Did you order anybody else to do so or use necromancy to make a corpse do it?” he asked.

Tyren smiled. “No spell cast by me or on my behalf created that energy,” he clarified.

Bewr returned Rikel’s sword and motioned for the other two mages to follow her. “I can’t think of any loopholes for that,” she admitted. “What about the two you?” she asked in desperation.

Lelwyn shook his head. “Nay,” he answered. “As implausible as it appears, my only conclusion is that the necromancer speaks truth. At least, as in regards to that magical release,” he amended.

Kirel started pacing. “I can’t think of anything, either,” he admitted. “I just wish the truth spell compelled people to be completely honest instead of just not outright lying,” he complained. “Half-truths are an aggravating loophole.”

As the mage trio returned to the rest of the group, they saw Tyren leaning into Jolen’s ear and whispering something. Jolen spun around and knocked Rikel to the ground. “Watch your step, elf!” Rikel shouted in annoyance.

Jolen quickly rummaged through Tyren’s pockets and found a rather ordinary looking stick. Lelwyn laughed. “Good showing, my elvish friend,” the healer complimented. “Unless I very much miss my mark, that is another teleportation snapper. Had Tyren managed to get his hands on it, he could have easily slipped through our grasp.”

Rikel stood up and glared at Jolen. “You could have warned me,” she muttered. “I could even have helped in the search,” she pointed out.

Instead of answering, Jolen placed the stick in Tyren’s hand. Before anybody could act, Tyren snapped the stick and vanished. The others all stared at Jolen in horror.

Bewr groaned in frustration. “Just because you recognize the obvious effects of a well-known spell,” she began, “that does not mean you know the actual spell that was cast,” she completed the quote.

Lelwyn turned to Rikel. “We never found the real Jolen,” he explained to the knight.

Rikel nodded. “I gathered that part for myself, thank you,” she answered tersely.

Kirel, in a moment of extreme rage, cast a powerful fire spell at the false Jolen’s feet, immolating him instantly. “Nobody makes a mockery of my friends like this!” he swore loudly in contempt.

Bewr collapsed into a sitting position on the floor. “Now how are we going to find Tyren again?” she demanded in anguish.

Rikel walked up to Lelwyn. “Wouldn’t it be easier if we just leave the tower and destroy it from the outside?” she asked him practically.

Bewr shook her head. “Unless we personally witness the necromancer’s death, we’ll have no way of ascertaining that he didn’t just escape,” she explained in frustration. “Further, if Jolen is still alive in here, destroying the tower would kill him, too.”

Rikel frowned sadly. “I hadn’t thought of that, sorry,” she apologized.

Lelwyn grasped Rikel’s shoulder. “Nay. ‘Twas a good suggestion,” he countered. “Be not afraid to offer more. After all, you are the only one here trained in combat tactics, are you not?”

Kirel walked over to Bewr and helped her stand up. Once Bewr was standing, she pulled Kirel into a hug. “Don’t worry, if the real Jolen is anywhere still in this tower, we’ll find him,” she promised. “And, we’ll make Tyren pay for impersonating Jolen as well.”

Lelwyn walked up to the two of them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “Well spoken, Bewr,” he complimented. “Now that we have Tyren’s measure, we can be certain not to underestimate his subterfuge again!”

Kirel swallowed nervously. “Do we even know if Jolen is still alive?” he asked. “I mean, what practical benefit did the necromancer have to keep him alive?” he added.

Bewr pouted at Kirel. “We can’t lose hope,” she objected. “Until we see Jolen’s body, and used magic to rule out another deception, I’m going to assume that he’s still alive,” she promised.

Rikel joined the group. “I agree with Bewr,” she chimed in. “This necromancer has done so much that doesn’t make sense already that keeping Jolen alive wouldn’t be too far fetched,” she added in an attempt to keep up morale.

Lelwyn nodded. “Then where shall we begin our search?” he asked. “It would take no small measure of time to completely retrace our steps. Though we know not if Jolen or Tyren are in the very next room,” he explained their options.

Bewr chewed on her bottom lip. “I suspect that the false Jolen we traveled with was programmed to distract or otherwise delay us for long enough for Tyren to accomplish his goals, whatever they were.” she concluded. “Heading in the opposite direction of where the impostor led us would be the most logical place to start. In fact, we should start with the corridor behind where we found him,” she suggested.

Rikel nodded. “I agree with Bewr; we should head back,” she suggested. “Maybe we’ll luck out and find Jolen for real. Or at least get a lead to track down Tyren again.” The group agreed and started heading back down the tower.

After trudging back through the tower the way they came from, the group finally returned to the hallway where they met the false Jolen and went through the door where he had to have come from. Inside, they found large glass containers filled with unknown liquids.

Inside one of the containers was Jolen. Before Kirel could break the glass, Rikel stopped him. “Do we have a way of knowing if this is actually the real Jolen?” she demanded.

Bewr nodded. “Now that I know to check for it, the spell’s pretty straight-forward. So much so that I feel silly for not having cast it the first time,” she blushed.

Lelwyn placed a hand on Bewr’s shoulder. “It matters not. Neither Kirel nor I thought to check ourselves. Further, it is in the past. Dwelling on such mistakes ill does us any good. Do not blame yourself,” he ordered.

Bewr smiled sadly and cast some spells. When she was done she turned to the others. “That’s really Jolen. I’m sure of it,” she announced.