“The Necropolis is the World City for Tzintkra, isn’t it? I have to go there. It’s the fastest way I have to get home, and the only way I can bring people with me.” Serenity took a deep breath and let it back out. “I’ll just have to get in without her knowing about it.”

“She’ll know.” The City Lord sounded certain. “The same way I know there are only two DeathLords on the planet. I’m sure she’s already looking for you. I’m not sure how you managed to get into Tzintkra without me knowing, but her wards are better than mine; you’ll never slip through them on the surface.” Stojan Tasi’s voice was calm. He certainly didn’t seem to be upset to be sitting across from a necromancer.

At this point, Serenity would take that as good news.

Serenity knew how he’d gotten past the wards: He hadn’t come from the surface, he’d used a portal from a dungeon, and he’d warded the portal. He hadn’t really intended to hide himself specifically, but he had hidden the identities of the people traveling, for Katya’s benefit. It sounded like it’d turned out well for him as well. “Will she have warded the portal entrances? The ones from dungeons?”

The City Lord shook his head. “The portals themselves report to the City Stone. There’s no need to ward them.”

“Wait. Slow down.” Hale shook his head. “Did I hear that right, Tasi? Serenity’s a DeathLord?”

Serenity waited a moment to see if Hale would continue, but he didn’t. “Yes.” He’d have to figure out how to handle the fallout, but he should have expected them to find out eventually. If he had to disappear now, he probably could; getting out of the city might be hard with them looking for him, but-

Stojan Tasi smiled, only a little slower to speak than Serenity. “Indeed. He’s been breaking curses with Death magic for days, I assumed you’d have guessed by now.”

Katya laughed sharply. “Hah! I knew I was missing something. I should’ve realized it as soon as I saw that Dungeon. It was a Death Dungeon after all. And then there’s your eyes. I still say they look like undead eyes. Plus your father. Mentor? Whatever. The guy in the quest.”

“It’s the same ability,” Serenity admitted. “Didn’t I say that at the time?” He liked the idea of calling the Final Reaper his mentor. That was more accurate than father. Mostly.

“What’s a DeathLord?” Raz’s question revealed that he had no idea what was going on.

“A DeathLord is someone good enough at Death magic to be allowed to rule a Necropolis and therefore a Deathworld.” Stojan Tasi’s reply was faster than Serenity could gather his thoughts, and seemed more concise than what he’d have said anyway. “Nothing more, nothing less. Death mages are necromancers or healers; I don’t think I’ve heard of a DeathLord healer before.”

“I’m not really a healer. Those aren’t the only options. That would be like saying Fire mages can only summon Fire elementals and cook food. There’s more a Death mage can do. A lot more.” The City Lord seemed doubtful at Serenity’s comparison and Serenity sighed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s clear you don’t mind Death magic as long as it’s used appropriately, so why are we here?”

“That’s why you’re a fighter!” Raz exclaimed. “And why you’re working on other Affinities! Your magic’s only good against Death magic, so you have to do other stuff!”

Serenity covered his eyes with his hand. It didn’t block his vision, which was creepy in its own way, but it still felt like the right response. He’d try to teach Raz better later.

The City Lord ignored Raz’s outburst. “Used appropriately and by someone who’s allowed to, I have no arguments with Death magic. So far, you’ve stayed well within the bounds, and you are a dhampir, so yes, I’m not worried about that. No, you’re here because I only have a few options if I’m going to avoid a war that will destroy the Shining Caverns. I need an escort to the Necropolis who can keep their mouths shut, and the four of you already know enough that I have to ask you to be silent.”

The City Lord was clearly uninterested in trying to keep Serenity’s secrets secret. Well, there were worse things that could be revealed than his dhampir heritage; his use of Death magic, for example.

Oh well.

The City Lord stopped, then tried again. “That is why you were here, but - if I take Serenity before her, she’ll kill him. She doesn’t tolerate challengers.”

“I want to go home. Why would she consider me a challenger? It’s not like you can take away a Lordship that easily.” Serenity was starting to get a sinking feeling about his trip to the Necropolis.

Stojan Tasi shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that to become Necropolis City Lord, she killed all of the other DeathLords, and any time another comes to Tzintkra, they die. Not become undead; die. I know taking the Shining Caverns away from me wouldn’t be easy, or it would already have happened.”

Serenity had a very bad feeling. This was a Catacomb planet; this was where people with Death specialties would go to train and learn. Having only one DeathLord meant that something was very, very wrong.

There had been several DeathLords when Vengeance first visited … hadn’t there? Serenity wasn’t sure. He hadn’t been a DeathLord yet, and he’d stayed out of politics. So maybe there hadn’t been. He did remember a massive civil war in the Necropolis some time later, but he couldn’t remember when or why.

All he could remember was that between one visit and the next, large portions of the city were destroyed; he seemed to remember that he’d stayed away from Tzintkra for a few decades after that. There’d been no reason to visit, since there were better training worlds he could reach. What he knew for sure was that by the time he was a DeathLord, the Necropolis had a City Lord, but it also had a Council of the other DeathLords.

That was what the "Seat" business the Voice mentioned was about; the City Lord was the strongest DeathLord, and was advised by the Seated. Vengeance hadn't been a City Lord; he'd never wanted to try for it. There had been … eight Seated, including Vengeance, if he remembered correctly. He hadn't taken it all that seriously; it was simply something he had to put up with to keep the rest from bothering him while he worked on the stuff he wanted to.

“I still need to go to the Necropolis. It’s my way home. I need to use a City Crystal there. Even a Node might work; I’m not sure. So I’m going to be heading that way. I should be able to sneak into the city the same way I came to the Shining Caverns. If you want to come with me - or us - you can, but you’ll have to decide.” Serenity wasn’t sure who, if anyone, would be coming with him. He was expecting Raz, more likely than not, but Katya and Hale were questionable.

Stojan Tasi’s expression shifted repeatedly as he considered options. “If you’re going anyway and you can prevent the wards from detecting you, it might work. I can’t tell you’re a DeathLord just by looking at you; I doubt she’ll be able to either. If you can hide me as well, that would be even better. I’d prefer they not know we’re there until we reach the Residence.” The City Lord tapped the chair with a finger as he thought.

“If all four of you go … Hale?” Stojan Tasi turned to his friend’s son. “If you and Katya go with Serenity and are off planet for at least three months, I’ll get that debt forgiven. I’m afraid that covers you, too, Katya.” He turned to Raz. “I’m not sure what incentive will work for you. Twenty Etherium, same terms?”

Serenity was confident that Raz was being offered far less than Hale was. He wondered if Stojan Tasi was just using this as an excuse to take care of the debt in a way that wouldn’t offend Hale’s father. It seemed likely.

“You’ll need to escort me into the city, guard me during the meeting, then you can leave. I don’t really expect any actual danger; I’m quite capable of protecting myself. This is for appearances, mostly, but having an escort should make problems far less likely. Since all of you will be leaving afterwards, I’ll lead you to a Node and see you through it; I can do a cross-planet portal from there.” The City Lord looked at the group. “Come see me tomorrow evening with a plan. I’ll have a reward for Serenity’s service to my city ready then as well.”

As they filed out, Serenity apologized to Hale, Katya, and Raz. “I didn’t mean to get you three roped into going with me if you didn’t want to.”

Raz didn’t hesitate to speak up. “I was planning to anyway. There’s nothing for me here, the place I’m looking for may be on your home planet.”

“I’m for it. What’s three months? Should be more cheerful than this place. Open air, critters that aren’t dead…” Katya had a spring in her step as she talked about what she was looking forward to.

“It could be more than three months. The portals won’t be generally open until we take care of the invasions. I’d guess at least six, and that’s very unusual.” Serenity didn’t want anyone to get their expectations set too high.

“Doesn’t matter. Even if it’s a couple years, a guaranteed debt payoff is worth it. We’re just two people.” Hale sounded a lot more phlegmatic than Katya. “We’re mercenaries, after all. Doesn’t mean we won’t make a contract with you, too!”

Serenity smiled. It seemed like it was all going to work out.