Chapter 15: Life can be a soggy pancake
516 3 17
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

Phil let out a low groan. His body protested being awake. It ached all over and he just felt hot and sweaty. It was too warm. And, his throat felt hoarse for some reason.

He opened his eyes and glanced around the room. 

"I'm back at the inn. How did I end up here?" He tried his best to recall what happened, but drew a blank. The last thing that he remembered was calling out to an acolyte at the temple.

"Did I let them know?"

He thought about standing up and finding the others, but he quickly dismissed that idea as his aching body rejected any attempt to move around. He heard a few footsteps coming up the stairs. The door to his room creaked open.

It was Ted and Zephyra. 

He went to greet them. But, Ted suddenly turned and asked.

"So… I get that the church is oppressive and everything toward necromancers. But, I don't know, it seems like you really hate them."

"Huh?" Phil thought to himself. "What are they talking about?"

"I do hate them! They're awful! They're the worst! They've killed and tortured so many people. And they've claimed to be innocent and righteous the entire time!" He heard Zephyra speak, she sounded upset.

"The church?" Phil thought and was confused. "They protect us. They fight for us. They are innocent. They are righteous."

"Zephyra…"

Ted sounded really concerned. Actually, Ted sounded really subdued and somehow not quite himself. 

 "Th-they even killed my daddy!"

"Her father's dead?", Phil was protective of his friends, they were his family. He wasn't heartless toward Zephyra. But, he couldn't ignore the danger that she represented. Even though he actually felt a bit sorry for the girl. 

He let out a soft groan. "It's getting complicated."

Ted and Zephyra stopped their conversation and turned toward Phil. 

"Oh, hey, you're awake!" Ted exclaimed as cheerfully as he could.

Zephyra turned, sniffled a bit and rubbed the tears from her eyes. 

"Well, it's probably best if I just ignore that I heard anything." Phil thought. 

"What happened?" He managed to rasp out in a whisper. 

"We were hoping that you could tell us. You started acting like… well, unlike yourself. Then, you fainted and we had to drag your muscled ass back here." Ted answered with a bemused smirk. 

"I don't remember. I looked for you. Then, I woke up here."

"A member of the church brought you back." Zephyra said with barely concealed venom. "They didn't hurt you did they? Can I check you over to make sure?"

Phil shook his head. "They didn't hurt me. You can check though."

Zephyra rushed over and checked over every inch of him. He was in mostly good health it seemed.

"You're running a bit of a fever. It should wear off pretty quickly. Um, otherwise there were some traces of magic around you."

"Magic?" Phil asked. 

"Yeah, it seemed like something was cast on you. I don't know what sort of magic though. It's just a very thin trace that's left behind."

"Odd."

"I-ive heard of a few pranksters casting magic on strangers to cause trouble. I can't think of a reason otherwise though. It won't cause any lasting concerns though." Zephyra quickly explained. 

Phil hummed an acknowledgement and noticed a plate on the furniture nearby. "Pancakes?"

"Oh yeah. We got those for you and Karen. We figured you'd both be pretty starving once you woke up." Ted happily reported.

"I am hungry." Phil nodded.

"Great!" Ted handed the plate over to his friend, who began to eat voraciously and gratefully. 

Zephyra watched for a moment and made sure that he wouldn't have any difficulties eating his food.

"I'll um… go check on Karen. I need a moment." She excused herself and left the room. 

Ted sat down and watched her leave, a bit forlornly. "She's a really good girl. It's… pretty difficult to watch someone like that suffer."

Phil stared at his pancakes in contemplation and finally spoke in the soft whisper of a reminder. "That girl is a necromancer, Ted."

Ted snapped around. He found himself caring a lot more than usual. He didn't like the way that Phil seemed to think of her. 

"That necromancer is a girl, Phil." He hissed through gritted teeth. Their conversation over pancakes echoed through his mind. He couldn't stop seeing her cry at the end of it. 

"Gods, she lost her family. I… I don't know what I'd do if I lost either one of you. And, then she somehow ended up with us. We should be there for her. I mean… she even saved Karen!"

Phil took a deep breath. "Ted, don't get involved. Karen wouldn't have been in danger without her. The necromancer is going to get us all killed."

Ted stood up, his eyebrows furrowed, his cheeks burned red and he clenched his fists together. "Zephyra. Her name is Zephyra. I owe her my life. And… I owe her for Karen's life as well."

"No, Ted, you don't."

"Damn it, Phil! Don't you get it? I messed up! Me! I nearly got us all killed. I was impaled by my own idiocy. A-and, I…"

His anger deflated and he dropped into a whisper.

"I didn't listen... I charged in on my own... and I killed her." His body shook, he curled up against his knees and quietly began to cry. He tried not to let it out. Yet, it still came out in broken whimpers and strangled sobs. 

Phil sighed and placed a hand on Ted's shoulder. "It's good that you recognized your failure. You can grow from it. Karen is alive. You're alive."

Ted stifled his crying as the wave of guilt and emotion slowly receded. Phil stayed with him and waited out the storm.

"But, we won't live following a necromancer. They're slaves to death itself."

"Slaves to death?" Ted sniffled. 

"I heard it long ago. The first necromancer was a mage that sold their soul to decay and death. He led a campaign of conquest and terror against the gods themselves. He was defeated. But, he planted the seeds of death amongst the people."

"I don't-"

"The seeds became those that were born to the aspect of death. They all became corrupt with power. They stole life. They became the next necromancers. They're all evil. If not they will be evil. Death corrupts them."

"I-i don't think that Zephyra is evil."

"She isn't right now. But, she will be." 

"How do you know all of this?" Ted whispered. He didn't know what to believe. It was different, so different, from everything that Zephyra had told him.

Phil awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I… um… I was studying to become a paladin."

"A paladin?" Ted felt himself getting angry again. "A paladin! They have to pledge themselves to the church for their whole life."

"I know. I just-"

"No! You were going to leave us. And, you didn't even tell us. How long? How long have you been planning and studying to be a paladin?"

Phil found that the syrup on his pancakes had made them soggy. 

"It's been three years…"

"Three years… that's before we even started training to be adventurers."

"Ted, I-"

"Save it. You clearly didn't want what we wanted. There's… there's nothing more to say."

Ted stood up and stormed over to the door. "I'm going to go see how Karen is doing."

The pancakes weren't quite as sweet as he remembered. 

17