"I don't have far to go. A little farther and I'll be at the church. I'll need a scout. Or, some way to find Bob. He's the only one that I can think of that would be responsible for all of this."

Zephyra's eyes darkened, her gaze grew sharp and piercing. "He has a lot to answer for. And, I need to find my things. My people." 

She glanced around for a suitable scout to use for her purposes. It would need to be small. It would need to stay unseen and unheard. Or, at least unnoticed. 

"A dog maybe. Or possibly even a cat." She thought to herself as her eyes fell on a perfect candidate. A small dead mouse. It seemed to have recently passed as well. "Oh, perfect. It's small and should be easy to reanimate."

Zephyra closed her eyes and focused on the mana inside of her. It responded to her beck and call. It moved, jumped and danced at her command. And, it slowly spilled forth from her hands as a black tar-like ichor.

The necrotic mana sunk into the flesh of the deceased vermin. The corpse twitched and stretched out as the mana found purchase and housed itself within the vessel. Then, it laid still. 

"[Reanimate dead]" Zephyra chanted quietly amidst the burning city. 

And, the undead servant awaited its master's call.

Zephyra pocketed the small monster within her robes and continued on her way. 

The Cathedral loomed overhead. The bell tolled. It was an ominous rolling thunder, as if to summon her demise. Or, perhaps a call to ferry the souls of the dead to their eternal rest. But, either way, it was a morose and sombering tone that rose into the night sky. 

Zephyra slipped close to the temple complex. And, despite the danger, she laughed to herself. It was almost too easy. The guard and the mob patrols had thinned in this area. It was as if they believed that she wouldn't dare to desecrate their sacred and hallowed ground. 

The necromancer pulled out her servant and whispered a few words of encouragement to it. Then, she pulled back her arm and yeeted the creature across the temple wall. It soared through the air and landed with a dull thud onto the stone paved street on the other side. 

The undead mouse quickly sprung to its feet and scurried quietly further into the temple. 

Zephyra scurried up to the roof of the nearest building. And, she huddled into the nearest convenient hiding spot. 

"[Eye of the Undead]"

Zephyra felt her senses blur as it refocused into the senses of her servant. She would be able to see, hear, and smell everything that it could. But, it was risky, she had lost contact with her body.

She would be completely helpless until she ended her spell. If someone saw her she

wouldn't  be able to protect herself. If someone recognized her for the necromancer that they were hunting, then it would all be over.

She took a deep breath and focused on her mouse. It had approached two acolytes. 

"Not too close. They'll be able to sense us." Zephyra warned her pet. The mouse squeaked in agreement. 

"A necromancer? Can you believe it?" An acolyte asked the other. 

"Rotten filth. I thought they were all castrated of their magic at the awakening." The other acolyte spat in hatred of her kind.

"They're supposed to be. Skalgnos should just kill them all out. He's powerful enough. Isn't he?"

The other acolyte scoffed derisively.

 "Of course he is. Skalgnos is all powerful. He sees everything. It's all in his plan."

"It would just be nice to know his plan. He hardly reveals anything. He just gives us orders and expects us to follow out."

"Well, we can't exactly argue or complain. The gods are so far above us. We may as well be ants. Who are we to complain? 

Do as you're told and you'll be rewarded."

Zephyra rolled her eyes as she listened to them. They were willing pawns. But, even worse, they were willfully ignorant and blinded by their faith.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just surprised that there were so many necromancers in the city. I mean, we've already heard reports of about twenty or so, so far." The first acolyte continued. 

Zephyra clenched her teeth and her fist.

Twenty. They had found, at least, twenty people accused of necromancy. And, if the murderous scene that she had witnessed earlier was any indication, there was no trial. There was no justice.

Only the demise of the innocent.

Zephyra ordered her mousey servant to move further into the temple. She had heard enough. And, she wouldn't get anything useful from the acolytes banter.

"It's all that bastard Bob's fault. You saw him. The necromancers got to him. He stank of their filth. And, he turned on us, protected them and let them run wild across the city."

Zephyra's ears perked up. Her servant's nose twitched. This was the information she was hoping to find!

She ordered her servant back to his hiding place. And, to listen closely to their continuing conversation. 

"I always thought something was off about him. You know, he begged me to let him take my guard duty. Begged. No one wants guard duty. I should've known. 

You remember all of those people that he kept 'helping'? I bet the heretic was only helping his own. You know, keeping the necromancers fed. And, feeding them information about us."

The other acolyte nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. They wouldn't have been able to avoid us for so long otherwise. I mean… twenty? 

Can you believe that? Imagine the damage that they could've done. I wouldn't be surprised if this city became the next Necropolis."

"It's a good thing that His Grace, the Bishop, found out when he did. Or, we'd probably all be dead by now. 

And, the traitor will get what's coming to him too. He's to be executed in the morning."

"Good. The fire of Skalgnos will purify his filth. We don't need his kind."

Zephyra sat back with a heavy sigh. She had to find him quickly. There wouldn't be much time to save him. And, if he died…

Well, it would be much more difficult to find her missing party members.