It's still Thursday. Here it is.

Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 80

Mortimer stalked followed his target the person he wanted to talk to down the hallway. He just needed to catch them alone, and then he would strike. Or, well, talk to them. Mortimer honestly felt it would have been easier to attack someone. Though, not his target. After all, they were one of the few friends he had. Well, maybe they were on the list of acquaintances that might become friends? Mortimer thought about that for a while, then saw an opening. The guard escort friend they had been walking with left.

However, there were still witnesses around. That was a problem. Maybe he could catch their attention somehow… Mortimer intentionally made sound. Most people wouldn’t think much of it, but hopefully his target would look over… Yes! Mortimer waved them over. This was his chance. Then, he regretted his actions. Why had he wanted to be alone with them? That would make it harder. Mortimer almost ran away, but he did need their help.

Solara walked over to Mortimer, who was standing awkwardly in an adjacent hallway. “You need me for something?”

“No. Yes. Umm… I need Ruby. You. To help me with a quest.” Mortimer at least managed to get out what he was trying to say, if not as eloquently as he would have liked.

Solara leaned in and spoke in a conspiratorial tone. “Is it a secret quest?”

Mortimer swallowed. Solara was very close. Well, she was still a couple feet away, but that was still pretty close. Mortimer had a very large bubble of personal space, especially when the other person was his crush. Mortimer just stood there and stared, trying not to run.

Solara waved her hand in front of his face. “Hello? Anyone in there?” She straightened up slightly.

“Huh? What? Who? Yes. Umm… it’s a secret from Angela, at least.” Mortimer looked around slightly shiftily, though he knew nobody was nearby. He would have heard them walking up. He could even hear Master Valarao… occasionally. Angela wasn’t nearly so… subtle. “It might be dangerous though. Actually, it’s definitely dangerous, and my plan might not even work…” Mortimer was beginning to doubt himself.

“Dangerous and secret? Sounds fun. I’ll help.”

“R-really? Umm, I haven’t even told you what it is yet…”

Solara smiled. “Well, that’s true, but it’s important to you, right?”

“How did you know that?”

“You asked me for help. That says enough.” In addition to what she knew about Mortimer’s shyness, Angela had told her that Mortimer would never ask for help for anything. If his parents didn’t provide help intentionally, he was generally expected to do something on his own. Alternatively, when he asked Angela for help, he owed her a favor, and he didn’t like owing favors. Thus, it was a very rare thing for him to ask for help.

“Right. Well, I need your help to try to calm down a ghost army so that I can talk to them.”

Solara laughed slightly. “Oh, is that all? It sounds like a fun opportunity.”

“Yeah. Err, actually… there are two ghost armies. Just so we’re clear.”

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Quietus waited, nervously, for Ruby. He was nervous because he didn’t actually know if she’d be able to help calm the ghosts down, at least temporarily. Certainly, she had bardic abilities that could do that, but they weren’t all powerful. Would they even work on ghosts? Even if it normally would, there might be something special about these ghosts. If it failed, he would have caused Ruby to die for nothing. He didn’t mind dying himself, but that was because he didn’t lose much. Plus, it would be worse to have caused death to someone else.

He was also nervous because, well, it was Ruby. He could count the number of real conversations they’d had on both hands. One hand, if he didn’t count conversations about Royal Road. In fact, she was the entire reason he’d started to play this game. He’d almost forgotten about that, actually. Almost.

Eventually, Ruby arrived. She was riding on a horse. Obviously because it was faster, but as she got close, Quietus realized there was another reason. She had a harp with her. Not a little, handheld harp. A real harp. As tall as a person standing up. Frankly, it was barely practical to transport on a horse, at least without fantasy type strength. Quietus realized that he should come out from hiding. He stepped out as she approached nearby.

“I didn’t know you could play the harp.”

“Well, it’s not very… practical, for adventuring… or raiding… or moving anywhere. However, this one is quite magical… which should increase our chances here.”

“Right, well… with that, it’s probably best to set up outside this town. The sound of you playing should draw their attention, and, hopefully, calm them down enough to give me a chance to talk. I’d actually prefer to have you talk, but it’s my quest… and undead like me.”

“That town? Alright.” Ruby moved to a position a few hundred yards away from the edge of town. Quietus thought that wasn’t very close, but figured she knew what she was doing. Hopefully.

Upon confirming that Quietus was ready, Ruby started playing a beautiful song on the harp. Then, after a few verses, she started singing. Quietus was supposed to be watching for signs of the ghosts approaching. He had planned to. However, he couldn’t focus on anything but Ruby. The music was strong and carried far, but didn’t feel loud. Quietus could almost see it flowing across the field, rustling the grass like the wind. He watched her hands move up and down the harp, and listened intently. By the time he realized, the song was over. It was only then that he spotted a ghost.

His gut reaction was to soul bind it and kill it. He didn’t, though. That wasn’t his reason to be here. In addition, he shortly after noticed many more. Surrounding them. However, they weren’t attacking… right now. Quietus turned and looked for the leader he’d seen before. The ghosts started to look restless, and threatening. Quietus finally spotted the leader, and Ruby began another song. Softer, but no less soothing.

Quietus figured he’d better start talking while he had the chance. “Oh great soldier. I implore you to listen to my words. I understand that your souls are in anguish, and I wish to help.” Quietus stopped there, waiting for a response. Fortunately, one came in the form of words, and not an attack.

“Indeed, our souls are troubled. In fact, this is the first time I have had a clear head in… a very long time. Since that dragon came… or maybe before that.”

“Would defeating the dragon help you and your companions?”

“Help? Certainly. That dragon is a great source of fear for us. Even though it seems we are now ghosts… it terrifies us. It fed on some of our numbers. However, the clouded mind comes from more than that, though… I know not what.”

“I will do what I can to help, but first I must ask… Was the battle with your enemies so terrible as to cause your army to be filled with lingering regrets? What quarrel do you have with the other army?”

“We were… at war.” The commanding ghost held up a hand to his head and frowned. “Our nations fought because…” He frowned more. “I don’t remember. The battle… It was harsh. Deadly. However, such is war. Was it enough to cause me to rise as a ghost? I don’t remember, but currently, I harbor no such feelings.”

“Very well. I will do everything in my power to help your souls be laid to rest. However, I may need to call on your assistance… to help save yourselves.”

“If something can be done… we are willing to try. However, there is no guarantee that we will be in our right minds. Now, we must away, before we return to madness. Do be careful.”

Then, the ghosts rode off. Quietus looked at Ruby. She had been playing and singing continuously for some time, and looked almost like a ghost herself. She slowly finished her song, and stopped playing. “Whew, that was tiring. You said there were two ghost armies?”

“Indeed I did. After you rest for a while, we should try to visit the other one. We might need two armies to fight a dragon.”

“A dragon?”

“I didn’t mention the dragon? Oh man, let me tell you about it. It was so awesome.” Then, he proceeded to do just that. Though, he somewhat extrapolated some details since he hadn’t had much time to look at it carefully.

End Chapter 80