Chapter 1

Always Read the Instructions Carefully 

 

"I.. I'm really sorry your geraniums didn't have much to say, Ms. Petra. But, in all fairness, they are a plant. Maybe they just can't speak, even from the spirit world, ya know? I-If it helps, they totally felt very happy to see you,"

Delaney chuckled a bit nervously to a rather disgruntled looking woman who was holding a small flower pot. The pot held the form of a dead and withered plant within it, clearly a treasured member of her family. Or, perhaps the only member.

Unfortunately, despite the girl's attempts to make her feel better, Ms. Petra simply made a small noise of discontent before walking off. Adding insult to injury, the woman also swiped her money back from the table before Delaney could pocket it.

 

"Oh, come on! That was totally uncalled for,"

Delaney huffed, causing her messy ginger hair to flutter out of her eyes for a moment.

"I mean, what did she expect me to do? Give her the last wish of a dead perennial? Seriously, I need to start pocketing the money before I do my divinations..."

With another defeated sigh, Delaney retrieved the empty bronze collection plate which Ms. Petra so mercilessly helped herself to, placing it beneath the table instead. It seemed that despite the bustling town square, no one was very keen on speaking with the dead today. Not that this was a particularly new development, of course. That's why Delaney kept books on her little stand to pass the time between customers.

Well...that, and also to distract herself from the fact that she probably wasn't making rent this month. 

As the sun started to flirt with the mountaintops in the east, a grim carriage strolled into town. In the driver's seat was a scruffy man wearing a tattered top hat. Behind him on the wagon rode a great mass of some sort, covered by cloth and swarming with flies. As it rode past Delaney's stand, the carriage stopped and its driver looked down at the young woman with a smile and a tip of his hat.

 

"Evening, Delaney. Make much coin today?"

Dustin, known as the Dead Carter in Veilein, was a kind soul for someone of his occupation. He was fond of Delaney the way an old man is fond of a neighbor's child whom he watched grow up, so having him pay a visit to her stand wasn't particularly unusual. However, today there was someone sleeping next to him on his cart. A rather... dapper young man, who was currently snoring on Dustin's shoulder. 

 

"Oh! Hey, Dustin; I see you've been working hard. Since when do you let the corpses sit up front with you?"

Delaney chuckled, looking up from her book at the two men before her.

Dustin let out an infamous laugh. The booming kind that causes the people around him to curse under their breath at the suspected noise pollution. Such a laugh woke up the "corpse" beside him – a truly quite alive man, around Delaney's age, with dark rings of fatigue around his eyes. He bore rather arcane attire, the sort one would think Wizards wore, without the pointy hat.

 

"Ugh... Wait, are we here?"

He asked in an eager, albeit groggy tone.

 

"We sure are!"

As the young man slowly arose, Dustin patted his back hard, causing him to stumble and fall onto the back of the carriage horse before sliding off the side and slumping to the cobblestone floor. This, of course, drew another hearty laugh from Dustin's entire lungs.

"Boy hasn't got his land legs back yet!" 

 

Delaney watched the ordeal with a sort of shocked bemuse, attempting to process how a man could allow himself to be thrown into a horse. Dustin's booming laugh was enough to snap her out of bewilderment, at least, instead causing the ginger to jump back a bit, accidentally dropping her book on the table.

"Ack!! I... Yeah... Heheh.. land legs..."

Delaney laughed awkwardly as she moved to help the dapper young man from his unfortunate union with the street.

"Er, are you alright? That was quite the fall."

 

"Uh, yeah... I'm fine."

The man's black and gold cloak fell off his left shoulder a bit, revealing a white ruffled shirt. Something swashbucklers would wear in romance novels.

"Forgive me, I've had a long trip by foot before this uh... Dead Carter picked me up. I haven't slept much as of late…”

 

Delaney tried to respond with some idle chatter about "finally sleeping when you're dead", but the rest of the words train-wrecked coming out of her mouth. This strange man was quite handsome, and Delaney was… quite awkward.

 

"Well, I can see you two are hitting it off," Dustin chuckled, lightly whipping the reins on his horse so it would start trotting along.

"I'll be spending the night at the Inn if you want to come over tomorrow and share a drink or two. Tell me all about the dead people you've been paid to talk to!"

 

"Dead people?"

The young man's eyes widened as Dustin rode away, scanning Delaney up and down before glancing at the booth behind her. It was a quaint booth, with a sign reading Speak with the Dead for 5 Coin.

"So you are the woman Dustin told me of… Delaney, right?" 

 

"Ah, yep! That's me! Delaney Chainsworne, Necromancer Extraordinaire, at your service~"

The ginger smiled bright and proud, placing her hands on her hips. As she did so it caused her long, tattered black robe to sway, apparently a size or so too large for her.

"So uh... What'd the old man tell you about me? Are you looking to communicate with some dead relatives? Or maybe uh... identify your next girlfriend?"

She punctuated her inquiry with another awkward chuckle. Someone please help her.

 

"He told me you dealt with spirits and the afterlife, something I need a great deal of right now."

 

"You need a great deal of the afterlife..?"

Delaney questioned quizzically under her breath.

"I mean, it's your funeral, but I'd rather not help the first dateable man I've met in a while off himself. Maybe he doesn't actually know what a Necromancer does…”

 

From his jacket, the man produced what looked to be a magic tome of sorts, with a diamond of four runes on the front. But before opening it, he looked to Delaney with a half-desperate expression.

"My name is Lucas Willmender and I… need someone brought back to life. Can you do that..?" 

 

"Wait, like...a resurrection?! I dunno... I-I mean, yeah, I could totally do it! But there's a lot of things to consider. Who were they? Will they kill me when they come back? Etc etc– not to mention such a daunting task isn't cheap."

The necromancer listed all of the potential issues on her hand before shrugging. She didn't want to sound unprofessional, but resurrection was a delicate and difficult process. Perhaps if she could dissuade him then Lucas would settle for a lengthy conversation with his loved one and she could at least make rent.

 

"So you can do it?"

It's as if that's all the stranger heard from Delaney. Licking his finger, Lucas traced the left rune, causing it to glow. Once the rune dimmed, he opened up the book, revealing it to be hollow, yet somehow filled with a thick stack of Astrid Bills as well as a small bag of coins.

"This is all I've brought with me. Will it be enough?"

 

Forget rent. With money like this, Delaney wouldn't have to work for a good year! She examined the cache with awe, her emerald eyes sparkling in a certain light of understandable greed.

 

"Holy crap, that's a lot of–! I-I mean, ahem, yes. This should be just enough of a fee for my services, thank you very much,"

The necromancer attempted to regain her composure. After all, no one likes a greedy businesswoman.

 

"Good. Great!"

Lucas took out the Astrid and coin purse, handing them both to Delaney.

"I've been to every town I could; the towns that would let me in, at least. Necromancy is ah... an uncommon art."

 

Delaney pocketed the money as quickly as possible, not wanting to go through another "Ms. Petra incident." Of course, she would have to complete the traveler's request in order to rightfully claim the full reward... But how hard could that be, right? She was a Necromancer -- raising the dead is kind of their thing!

"Heheh, that's one way to put it,"

She responded, half distracted as she started to collect her books and close up the stand.

"So, uh... This is a big project, you know? We can't just resurrect someone in the town square. I'll have to take you somewhere else. Also, uhm... Who exactly are you trying to bring back..?"

The ginger eyed Lucas curiously as she gathered the last of her things. Soon, she was leading him into the neighborhoods of Veilein.

 

"A mentor of mine. Very eccentric in his teachings, but he had a spectacular mind,"

The stranger would open his book again as the two walked together, revealing it to be an actual book now, filled with the writings and doodles of a learning — sometimes bored — Apprentice.

"He made me this spellbook and etched the four runes on the cover to transform it. Without them, it's just a blank tome for writing spells in. But with the runes it allows me to hide things like money, medical supplies, and apparently ancient secrets. He told me the book used to be his old journal when he was an errant sorcerer, adventuring and learning all he could, and with certain ingredients I can access his writings. Saliva works for one rune, and blood works for the other. The other two he wasn't able to tell me since he died..."

Lucas let out a sigh, though one more of frustration rather than of sadness.

"But if you bring him back, I can continue my teaching and learn what he knows! Or at the very least, learn what ingredients unlock these two other runes..." 

 

"Ahhh, there's no rest for the wicked, I see,"

Delaney smirked a little in amusement, leading the exasperated apprentice farther into town.

"Even in death he's forced to finish what he started. Well, not that it matters much to me. I'm just an exclusive service for hire, ha ha! In any case, we'll be at my totally awesome secret lair any minute now, and then we can give your mentor his waking nightmare! Er-- Joking, of course." 

 

While grateful, Lucas was beginning to realize that Delaney didn't act like he'd expected her to, instead all wily and unprofessional... Then again, she did deal with the dead on a regular basis, so it was hard to say what exactly was expected.

"Uhhhhh-huh... right, anyways. Once they're brought back, is there any way I can tether or bind them? My old mentor died from... Well, extravagant means... so I just want to make sure he doesn't decide to do the same thing again after all this money... and effort... and money." 

 

"Tethering? Ahahaha! Oh, wow, that's hilarious~ You're quite the card!"

Delaney erupted into a flurry of genuine giggles, apparently not recognizing Lucas' words as a serious question. Lucas laughed along with her, now too nervous to say that he was being quite serious. Luckily, there wasn't much room to inquire further as within a few paces they reached the doorstep of what was apparently Delaney's home. 

"Here we are~! The secret lair~"

Contrary to her dramatics, the building looked much less like a lair and more like a small family cottage. It was quaint, and cozy, and definitely resembled more of a Grandma's house than a Necromancer's study.

However, instead of leading the traveler through her front door, the ginger took him around the side to the entrance of a cold cellar. With some effort, she wrenched the wooden doors open, revealing a damp staircase that smelled of dirt, roots, and mildew.

"Down here is the best option for our endeavors. After you~?"

 

Lucas had examined the exterior of Delaney's house as they approached, trying to find some kind magical veil to lift up and reveal this "Secret Lair" she had been talking about. The cellar was more what he was expecting, but it felt spooky in less of a necromancer way and more of a kidnapper-hostage kind of way...

Nevertheless, he descended first.

"So... do you get many visitors, or do you just do most of your... services, in the town square?" 

 

"Believe it or not, people aren't usually the most comfortable with entering a Necromancer's home,"

Delaney answered the inquiry with just a tad bit of awkwardness. She followed her guest down the steps, leaving the large cellar doors open without thinking. The cellar was as remarkably ordinary as the exterior of the house. Canned goods... Foodstuffs... There was, however, a small workspace littered with books, papers, and apothecary items.

"Most of what people want me to do is tell them their horoscope or send messages to dead relatives. You know, simple, 'safe' requests. Small stuff like that only really gets noticed out in town, but something like this is a....a little more taboo."

 

Delaney bustled about as she spoke to Lucas, shoving papers and books aside from her workspace only to replace them with the books that occupied her arms. She then continued to shuffle them around, apparently searching for something while trying to straighten up. Although, it only seemed to make more of a mess...

Lucas had been pacing the cellar, looking around the place and twiddling his thumbs as Delaney searched. He had just picked up a can of pickled carrots, only to nearly drop it when Delaney shouted in triumph.

 

"Aha! There you are!"

She finally procured from the chaos a large, dark book. It actually appeared to be a tome of sorts, adorned with amethyst and possibly hand-inscribed. 

It was labeled Necromancy for the Curious.

"Let's see... Let's see... 'The title was an aesthetic choice’... ‘Please don't take this book lightly', yadda yadda.... 'How to give your hangover to a ghost'... Yes! Here we go, Resurrection spell!" 

 

As Lucas listened to Delaney's mumblings, he began to realize that something about the tome sounded... odd...

"This sounds very... produced. Who's the author of that book?" 

 

"No idea!"

Delaney responded jovially, a bright smile upon her face. She then proceeded to gather various items that the spell had apparently requested, including several candles and what appeared to be a stick of crimson chalk fixed onto a.... broomstick..?

"I just stumbled upon it in some old dusty corner of the local library. Everything I've used from it has worked, so I don't see why this won't!"

The necromancer was moving as she spoke, using the chalk-on-a-broomstick to draw a large magic circle on the cellar floor.

 

"Uh...huh..."

Scratching his chin, the apprentice was starting to doubt Delaney's professionalism. He studied the circles she was drawing, well aware of similar, though different, circles used in other schools of magic. However, Lucas never saw one like what Delaney drew. It was more of an art piece than a traditional ritual circle.

"This will work though, right? I don't plan on paying you for producing some feral zombie or mindless husk."

 

"You worry too much, Lucas,"

Delaney replied nonchalantly. Having finished the circle, she cast her chalk contraption aside and quickly arranged the many candles upon her drawing.

"I'm like, 99% sure this'll work! And the other 1% is just your standard margin of error. Besides, everything should be in place now, sooooo no turning back!"

She flashed her trademark sunshiney smile with a clap of her hands before kneeling at the circle.

 

"Bekkon... Sothìs à Mortum... Riszè..! Riszè..! Riszè!" 

 

With every utterance of Risze, the room began to darken and the circle began to glow. The chalk upon the ground seemed to lift up in a spiral before Delaney, her employer standing on the sidelines watching in awe.

 

"Seras and Hæmos..."

Lucas breathed. The glowing crimson chalk flowed like ribbons, bleaching before bunching together into the form of a human.

"It's working... It really is working!!!"

 

Indeed, it was working.

The form of the human seemed complete, but there were plenty more ribbons of glowing chalk to use up. With nowhere to go, the spell began to rumble and shiver, the ribbons of cold blue light shooting out and around the room before–

 

BOOM!!!

 

A flash of white light flooded the room, blasting Delaney and Lucas across the room. When the light faded, there was nothing remaining of the ritual. The chalk had disappeared, being replaced by a pale unconscious man whose skeleton shone underneath his translucent skin…

Delaney had felt the air forced out of her lungs from the blast, lucky enough to have slammed into the chair at her desk and not the concrete wall. She then tried to collect herself on the floor, gasping for the breath she had been robbed as her vision came back into focus.

When her eyes fell upon the man in the center of what had been the circle, Delaney's heart raced even faster.

 

"Did..."

Lucas spoke up, struggling to a sitting position at the base of the shelf he'd apparently hit. 

"Did it work...?"

 

A gasp came from the newly summoned man, who quickly sat up before groaning. It was a pain that one could only feel if they had lost all the burdens that come with living, such as breathing, blinking, and eating, only to regain them once more.

 

"Ugh... I hate mortality..."