The artifactual cooling spell that lightly blew through the athenaeum was barely able to take the edge off of the excessive heatwave that was passing through the Low Lake Valley as of the past week. Even the High Temple, which served as one of the more inviting buildings of the Citadel of Lake Born, felt almost uninhabitable during the valley's current sweltering fever.

A young purple squirrel, dressed in a blue silk robe with vibrant green hemming, sat behind a stack of large tombs. The youthful male, dully turned through the pages of the book currently opened in front of him. Sweat began to drip from his forehead just below the blond bolt tufted of fur running over the top of his head. Wiping away the sweat from his brow the prodigy mage paid little mind to the other mages that gave him concerning glance as they passed him by.

Static had gotten quite use to being somewhat of an outsider since choosing to follow the path of Necromancy back when he had just passed into his teenage years. The darker magic tiers were still taboo despite the fact that they were now perfectly legal to practice, and had been for the past 50 years. The High Counsels decision to open their arms to their long-shunned brethren had little to do with any real acceptance of their art but more to do with needing more allies. As the worlds Templar order grew stronger the idea of the High Counsel, and all magic users for that matter, being wiped off the face of the planet became more likely with each passing day.

Being looked down on for his chosen path didn't bother him in the slightest. Those who gained great power were rarely loved, only feared, and that suited him just fine. Generally, when he looked around at his so-called peers, in the fellowship, he found himself unnerved with pure disgust at how so many were so content with being as powerless as some sideshow attraction. How could the High Counsel hope to hold on to their power and prevail against their numerous enemies, such as the Templar's, and the Order of Gaia, if they allowed so many of their collective to be so lax?

A loud thud caused Static too look up from his attempt at reading that had just turned to negative thoughts. A light smirk crossed his face as he took in the young woman standing next to him. The brown female squirrel had just dropped a slightly larger stack of tombs down on the table next to him. She returned his devilish smile as she took a seat and scooted it slightly closer to him while peering at the pages of the book open in front of him.

"Ya must be looking at something pretty darn interesting what with that sad scowl ya had on yer face." She teased only to have him pull the book away from her.

She was something else he thought to himself while trying to ignore his uptick in heart rate. Somehow, they had both been training at the citadel of Lake Born, on and off, for the past ten years but had only met a month ago. Sandra of House Cheeks. It was a stretch to give her lineage the title of being an official House, but seeing as she was the most promising high-level magical prospect the Counsel had had in years it bumped her family's worth up more than a few notches as far as this Kingdoms royalty was concerned. That jump from nothing, to something, had helped in her finding herself as somewhat of an outcast herself.

Sandra was already a high-powered priestess. Her healing magic put those of their teachers to the test very often and she was only 23. Static, just slightly younger at 21, was the highest-powered necromancer that was currently affiliated with the high counsel. There were many mages of the dark arts that considered themselves allies, but he was the only one with true power that had to balls to openly practice within their domain.

The two squirrels magic were polar opposites. If her magic were to rule it would make his most powerful spells unable to be performed. If he were to flex his magical might it would mean her healing had failed and thus him making use of the empty vessels known as corpses. That didn't seem to bother either of them since they met though. She found a keen interest in his forbidden work, and he was interested why such a young woman of great potential desired healing magic rather than harnessing the power of elementals, or anything else not as weak as healing. In the end he had to give her credit, and it wasn't just his dick taking control of his brain, some of the most damaging spells done to the undead were healing spells. And so, he agreed for her to teach him the basic of healing if he taught her the basics of necromancy. He honestly didn't think she'd use the dark arts, but could sense her lust for knowledge, and that pushed his lust for her over the edge.

"Sorry my dear, but it's a secret for only us deplorables." His grin turned to a fake frown as he closed his book, and grabbed one of hers. "But what have you got?" He questioned as he read the cover. "The sensual nature of the healing arts?" The words slowly rolled off his togue as he rolled his eyes. "Please tell me this is a trashy romance novel and not an actual book about magic." He laughed as he tossed the small hardbound book back towards her.

A blush crossed her face as she tossed the item of ridicule aside. "I was told it was both, but it's one of the few healing books I haven't read yet." She looked away from him a bit unnerved while nervously running her fingers through the fur on the back of her head, before quickly bouncing back as happy as ever.

Static grew a bit concerned as he realized he had actually upset her causing him to reach out and grab her hand. "Maybe I should read it first, so I can tell you the raunchy parts to ignore?" He winked at her while squeezing her hand.

She then gave him a more genuine smile. "Maybe we could read it together?" She asked shyly.

Now Static was blushing. It wasn't like her to act in such a timid way. They had grown to become close friends the past month, however he had always though the sexual tensions between the two was only one sided, but now it seemed she had a genuine interest in him. "Alright." He barely managed to respond as they continued to look into each other's eyes.

DARKNESS AND PAIN

Static came to just inside a forest's edge. His body ached, but his fatigue was quickly replaced by an excess of adrenaline. Several undead soldiers surrounded him, but they seemed to be protecting him, and not looking to end him. Static looked to the loud commotion coming from the north only to find it was the Citadel of Lake Born ablaze. "Sandra!" He screamed as he attempted to run back to the chaos only to be held back by one of his lifeless minions. They were predisposition to protect him after all.

After a few more moments of watching the ongoing slaughter, and recalling nothing of how this came about Static bit his lip and turned around leading the way for his undead slaves, and himself, to escape.