I watched with fascination as the wound in my abdomen sealed back up. Cannibalism was really a lifesaver. I wasn't sure how much damage I could take before I died but apparently, it was a lot more than I had thought. My skeleton had been destroyed by an explosion which I had mostly shrugged off with the aid of water and taken a far more severe beating. I couldn't help but feel a little incredible, though my arm seemed to be barely healing. 

 

“Hey, you. Stay close to me when you're not doing something I tell you to do!” I said loudly waving my zombie over. Tiss who was looking around for my arm flinched and looked over worriedly. I cursed myself for my own stupidity. “Sorry, not you Tiss.”

 

She kept looking for my arm but my words had clearly affected her. I really needed a better way to command my undead. Pulling up my skill tree I looked for something that would work. Luckily enough, or maybe luck had nothing to do with it, there was something that would be perfect.

 

[Call of the Mistress]

You may send out simple telepathic commands to your undead in the vicinity. Your undead may respond though that depends on their intelligence and they are limited to simple responses. 

 

Simple but priceless. Curious, I called out to the zombies I knew were somewhere in the city. 

 

Come to me!

 

A strange tug of confirmation was the only response but that meant my order had been received. Oh, this was definitely going to be useful. I tried to reach my skeleton outside the city but I was fairly sure it was too far away. It seemed like it wouldn't work for long-range communication.

 

Tiss returned as I got to my feet. “Y-your arm is gone,” she mumbled, not looking at me. “Burned.”

 

“Ok, thanks for looking,” I said gently. I had really fucked up with commanding my undead pyromancer. The problem was I didn't think anything I could say would help. Maybe it was worth saying anyway. I crouched down so I was at eye level with the small woman.

 

“Listen, I hate slavers and I know a lot about them,” I began, trying to find the words. As much as ancient warfare, Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages fascinated me, people were often just as horrible as the Order and Cleo. “Noone deserves to be treated as less than human– less than like a person,” I corrected myself, I was doing a shit job of this. “I know I'm not saying anything you don't already know but the point is I want to help you and I don't want you to be afraid to speak your mind. I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I meant it. You can stay with me as long as you like or I can help you find a home. You saved my life with Cleo, so thank you and I will help you however I can.”

 

She looked up at me and nodded resolutely. “It’s what she deserved,” she replied and I smiled.

 

I stood up to see Jackal wiping tears from his many eyes, a sight that was both heartwarming and a little weird. “You too Jackal.”

 

“You're scary as shit, Lady, I’m in,” he sniffed.

 

I wasn't entirely keen on taking in strays but they had saved me just as much as I had saved them. I had failed severely with Cleo, now I knew not to make the same mistake again. Despite my hesitation, I was starting to feel like I had some actual friends now. I wasn't good at this but I could get better. I wasn't sure being around me would be good for them but that was their choice.

 

Right now though I needed to find an arm and test a theory. After sawing off the arm of one of the corpses, much to the disgust of my companions, I held the severed thing to my shoulder and prayed to the universe I could use a transplant. The flesh at my shoulder seemed to stretch out towards it and begin to connect before giving up. “You may not want to watch,” I said before leaning down to take a bite from the man. After a few mouthfuls of delicious warm human, it wasn't even worth pretending at this point, I tried again. This time my body reached out and connected, fuzing the new arm to my body.

 

Sensation suddenly sprang into my new limb as it began to gray and shrink. After a minute the transformation was complete and I was as good as new. So fucking cool.

 

Now to find Franklyn and my stuff. Heading into the main room with Tiss and Jackal in tow I turned to my zombie. “What's through that door?” I asked, pointing at a wooden door underneath the stairs which led up to the tavern. The zombie blinked at me but didn't respond.

 

“Speak. Do you know what is through that door?”

 

“Nooooo,” the zombie croaked, causing blood to ooze out of its mouth. Interestingly, it seemed like zombies had no connection to the people they once were. Considering who they had been, it was probably for the best. I sent the zombie ahead and it opened the door to what was an office.

 

It was a small room with a desk and chair. Shelves of trinkets and books lined the wall along with a chest and… my bag. I snagged it off the wall and looked through it, relieved when everything seemed to be there. Franklyn curried up my arm onto my shoulder as I reequiped my sword.

 

“Franklyn, meet Tiss and Jackal,” I said pointing to the others.

 

“Is that a rat?” Jackal asked.

 

“Zombie rat,” I replied.

 

“You wanna say hi?” I offered, taking Franklyn off my shoulder.

 

“I’m ok, thank you,” Jackal replied, taking a step back.

 

Tiss was ignoring us and looking around the room.

 

“How did you get to such a high level?” Jackal asked as I inspected the shelves which seemed to mostly be ledgers.

 

“Well… I’m not, I’m only level four,” I replied, deciding to tell the truth.

 

“Seriously? Damn,” he replied. Tiss seemed equally surprised.

 

“I’m not really a necromancer, and I made up returned,” I added before I let myself think better of it.

 

“What are you?” Tiss spoke up, picking up a small box.

 

“I’m a lich,” I replied with a smile.

 

“What a lich?” Jackal asked.

 

“I don’t know,” I replied, it was mostly the truth. I wasn't sure how to get into being from Earth yet. That could wait.

 

Tiss opened the box and found a jeweled bracelet which she held up.

 

“Is it cursed?” I asked.

 

“Why the hells would it be cursed,” Jackal snorted.

 

I couldn’t help but notice that Jackal and Tiss were polar opposites. Somehow Jackal seemed unaffected by his time enslaved. My guess was they had very different stories. “Keep it, Tiss,” I told her and pulled one of the books off the shelf. It seemed to be a ledger of deals and sales. On the cover was the image of a rose with liquid dripping from its thorns.

 

“Do either of you know what this symbol means?” I asked, holding it up for them to see.

 

They both shook their heads no. The next book seemed to be a list of who owed them money again with the same symbol on the cover. It seemed like they were some kind of fantasy mafia.

 

Footsteps marched overhead, thunking against the ceiling as we all froze. The trap door creaked open followed by the steps descending the stairs. “Get behind the desk,” I told them and drew my sword. The door to the office swung open and I had never been more glad to see someone in gold and white robes. It was my two zombies that I had called. Apparently, they hadn't been far.

 

“It's safe,” I said.

 

“How many of those do you have?” Jackal asked uneasily.

 

“Not enough,” I grinned.

 

“Search the place, bring me anything valuable,” I ordered the two newcomers and they spun on their heels and did so.

 

“They're so gross,” Jackal groaned.

 

“Get used to it,” I huffed.

 

A surprised gasp drew my attention to Tiss who had found a pouch. “Gold,” she laughed quietly.

 

“How much?” I asked as I knelt beside the chest.

 

“A lot,” she replied as she counted it out on the desk. She placed coin after coin on the desk with only a few silver in the mix of the gold. We were set now. I turned my attention back to the chest and could feel some kind of magic emanating from it. It was locked and as much as I was tempted to use [Channel Death] on it, the power from the chest made me hesitate.

 

“Search the bodies for a key,” I ordered the pyromancer.

 

It held up the ring of keys he had gotten from the elven man which had unlocked the cells. I took them from the zombie figuring they were worth a try. “Check the others, especially Cleo’s body,” I told it. None of the keys worked in the lock unsurprisingly.

 

“Look at this!” Jackal grinned holding up a battle axe.

 

“Very intimidating,” I rolled my eyes. Tiss was sitting on the edge of the desk staring at the money with a look of anger, I had never seen that before on the kobold.

 

“Are you ok?” I asked quietly.

 

“They could have bought me several times over but all this still wasn't enough for them,” she said. The most words I had ever heard from her.

 

“As I've quickly learned this world is not a kind place,” I replied and she nodded. “Do you have an idea of what you want to do now?”

 

She shook her head. “My… my parents might be out there but I barely remember them.” She took a shaky breath and slipped the gold back into the bag before squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

 

I bit my cheek, “Would you like a hug?”

 

She shook her head no intensely, still not opening her eyes.

 

“Ok, take whatever time you need,” I said and turned back to looting the office. I could hear her muffled sobs but gave her space. I had no idea how to comfort someone. Jackal was watching with a worried expression.

 

“What about you, Jackal, any plans?” I asked before he could ask about Tiss.

 

“Nope. I would like to go with you… uh, miss, if that's alright with you of course,” he began quickly becoming very polite.

 

“I'm not going anywhere, Jackal,” I offered, not wanting to get his hopes up. I could help him get somewhere but I still had work to do here.

 

“What? You can't stay here, not after that.”

 

“This place is filthy, Jackal, it must be burned to the ground,” I growled, working my jaw. At his shocked expression, I continued “My offer was sincere. You and Tiss are more than welcome to remain with me and I am more than content to help you if you rather something else. But I am not a peaceful person and I have no intent to try and be. There are people that do not deserve to breathe the air and walk the earth. It is an unwinnable battle, but it is mine nonetheless.”

 

Before he could finish processing that the pyromancer returned holding a fancy key. Now that looked promising. I took it from it and slipped it into the lock. As I turned the key it clicked open. I swung the lid free to find several old books.

 

Reading over the titles they all seemed to be about rare and valuable creatures. One was about the weaknesses and strengths of the fey. One about dragons. One titled, Queen Grilith, the Rise and Fall of an Empire. Which seemed somewhat out of place. The last book was titled Calvin’s Compendium of Calamitus Creatures.

 

“Why the hells would they lock books away?” Jackal huffed, clearly disappointed by the find.

 

Yet I knew what we had found, it was Cleo’s research material. Her ambitions must have reached beyond slaves and into rare creatures of all kinds. I picked up the book about Queen Grilith and read the first page. It seemed that she was a powerful succubus who enslaved thousands before eventually being defeated when the kingdoms managed to band together. Apparently, she led to her kin being hunted down to extinction. 

 

Who would have thought Sloffanil would have a problem with slavery? 

 

Grabbing Calvin’s Compendium of Cataclysmic Creatures, even I could appreciate good alliteration. I flipped to the index looking for Succubus. Except listed under L was a word I hadn't in a million years expected to be here, Lich.