And again, I don't own Diablo.
I was woken in the morning by the musical, rhythmical sound of someone pounding steel with steel. For a moment, I was completely disorientated as I stared at the cream-colored canvas above me. Incongruously enough, the smell of baking bread reached my nose, causing my stomach to rumble. Sitting up, I scrubbed at my face with both hands. Food. Food sounded fantastic.
After washing my hands and face, I pulled on most of my armour, but left my pack, helm and gauntlets behind. My white hair gleamed in the sun – I made a mental note to bathe in the river at the earliest opportunity. Then I followed my nose to the mess tent.
Jamming my wand into my belt, I stepped outside with a plate of good wheat bread and a bowl of last night's stew. After two weeks of travel rations, it was a feast. As the sun gently warmed my face, I sated my hunger, and considered my evening.
For the first time in weeks, months even, my sleep had been untroubled by the dreams that had been haunting me. No more visions of unnatural death, desecrated corpses or demonic visages. No inhuman whispering voices pleading for release. And during my waking hours, there was no subtle pull towards the east. I mopped the gravy from the bowl with the remainder of my bread and indulged in a sigh of pleasure. The sun was warming my muscles even under the mail shirt I wore, and felt incredibly good on my face. I knew enough to enjoy every moment I could in the sun. I would spend my time in darkness soon enough.
Perhaps half an hour later I collected my golem from beside the banked fire. I'd left what gold and gems I had in the chest at Charsi's forge to free up room in my pack, and it was light on my back as I moved. The Rogues on duty at the gate gave me suspicious looks as I sauntered past them into the wilderness.
The first creature to cross my path that day was a creature known as a Quill Rat. It was a common rodent, made more vicious by the evil magic that rode the land, but it still took my golem a few strikes to destroy it. As the golem backed off, I drew a deep breath, gathered myself, and cast upon the gory remains.
A skeletal mage arose from the Quill Rat's corpse. I had asked my masters once, why, even if the body was small, a fully grown skeleton could be produced from the corpse. It had brought me three house of kneeling on cold flagstone floors whilst being lectured on the nature of forming a magical image. It also taught me the folly of asking questions of that nature.
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Around midday, I stopped to rest under the spreading branches of a tree. Uncorking my water bottle, I idly watched my minion run around madly. Unlike my golem, my skeletal warriors and mages were constantly combat ready. My magic animated them, gave them the ability to fight, but they were not particularly clever. In fact, they were down right stupid. I had to steer them occasionally, running towards my enemies to get them to attack.
I was finishing my brief rest when a hoarse war cry split the air. I stiffened, trying to pinpoint the source. It had sounded like a woman's voice. Interested, I rose, stuffing my water bottle into my bulging pack and moving off towards the sound.
A blonde woman wielding a javelin was racing across an open area engaged in a running battle with a pack of Fallen Ones. Pesky little creatures, cowards alone, but in a pack they were difficult to kill. And made much more so, I noted, by the Shaman who walked at the back of the pack, bringing the dead back to life.
My anger was a hard knot in my chest. This was a perversion of Rathma's gifts! It could not be allowed to stand! I was running towards the howling pack almost before I knew what I was doing. My skeletons, swifter than I, over took me. They crashed into the flank of the Fallen Ones with a great crash, and as I began to cast Trang Oul's Teeth, I noted the woman had spun, and, seeing that the demons were now occupied with me, ignored her running battle to plant her feet and cast her javelins with deadly accuracy.
Fury still rode me as I concentrated my energies on killing the Shaman. His staff made him an easy target, but my spell made me one as well. He began to lob fireballs at me, most of which splashed against my bone armour protection spell. One did managed to hit me, but I was so deep in my anger that I scarcely noticed. Finally my golem broke through the demon ranks, and added his fists to my spell. The Shaman cried out, then died. The sudden silence was eerie. The woman eyed my skeletons, who began their endless movement once again as I yanked a healing potion from my belt. It was only when the heat of battle wore off that I felt the pain of my wounds.
As I drained the small bottle, I watched the blonde venture closer. "I suppose I should thank you," she said. I stared at her for a long moment.
"No," I said at last. Looking at her blonde perfection, I felt a stab of loathing. She'd turn and run at any minute. Feeling much better, I began to pillage the bodies, recovering a few potions and a sword that I knew to be magical from the runes on the blade. She continued to stare at me from a distance, moving away when any of my minions came near. As I rose to my feet, I realised that it would be a bother to walk back to the encampment, so I readied a portal scroll. And I also realised that the woman was still standing there, a considering expression on her face.
Abruptly, she spoke. "Where have you come from?"
"The encampment of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye." I was being brusque, I knew. I was simply waiting for her to finally go away. I saw her nod, and her look was calculating. "Goodbye," I added, fixing the encampment in my mind and murmuring the words from the scroll. An oval of crackling blue energy appeared in front of me, and, shouldering my pack, I stepped through. There was a moment of spinning disorientation, then I stumbled into the Rogue encampment. Stepping lively, I moved away from the portal to allow my minions through. And, it seemed, my companion from the field. With a sigh, I ignored her and headed for Charsi. I also ignored the bad looks my minions were receiving from trader and Rogue alike. What did I care for their feelings?
Charsi and I haggled for a while over prices, but I realised just how lucky I'd been in my day's haul. I had found field plate that had been clearly magical, and it was revealed now that it was a unique creation, built light yet incredibly strong, and imbued with the power to increase my own magical strength.
I returned to my tent and shed my mail, and felt immeasurably better when I had donned the plate. It was wrought in black, and seemed to absorb the light, not reflect it. Resettling my helm and pack, I left my tent, and almost walked into the woman from the field. "What?" I demanded abruptly.
"You don't have to be so rude," she snapped back. I distained to answer that and stood waiting, frowning at her. She sighed through her nose. "Kashya told me. About the graveyard. I want… I want you to come with me, to kill this Blood Raven. We'll share the spoils equally."
I considered this. The woman looked to be a capable warrior, why did she want an escort? There was a fast way to find out. "Very well. But first things first," I said. "There is a cave system inhabited by monsters nearby. Help me clean that out."
:"Done," she replied. I would be able to test her mettle in that confined environment. We made for the portal, and I gave a sardonic smile and a bow.
"After you," I said, waving her forwards. She nodded, and proceeded me through. I waited long enough to make her sweat, then stepped through behind her. She was standing on the other side, shifting from foot to foot, but did not seem nervous. I glided to my left, and my minions boiled out of the portal in my wake. It was only when she laid eyes on the minions that she became nervous. Constructs of steel and bone, that was all they were – why should she be nervous? I swallowed a nasty smile and fell in beside her as we began to walk.
"Do you have a name, necromancer?' she asked, sounding genuinely interested. "I'm Kyleea." I gave her a sidelong look. Was she for real? "I can't just yell, 'hey, necro!'," she added with a smile. She seemed determined to get along with me. It would pass the first time she saw me reanimate the dead.
"You may call me Priest. Those of my calling do not give our names lightly." Or at all, I thought to myself.
"I see," she replied. "Well, where are you from?" she continued, the blithely began to tell me about her own childhood. I walked in silence, listening to her babble. When she didn't look like she'd be done any time soon, I decided to interrupt.
"Do you ever shut up?" I demanded, exasperated.
She blinked. "If we're going to be travelling together, we should get to know each other. Just because you're a grump, doesn't mean I can't try to get to know you."
A grump?! Was she innocent or merely stupid? "What do you know about my kind, Kyleea?" Her name tasted strange in my mouth.
"You can bring the dead back to life. The name of your god is Rathma. That's about it," she admitted.
"I'm a necromancer. I can animate dead flesh and cast curses. I have minions to do my bidding. My people are objects of fear, even thought we do naught but maintain the balance of nature.: I paused, took a breath, and realised that she was looking at me oddly. I'd stopped walking whilst I ranted. I shook myself, then started walking again.
"So obviously your people aren't very well liked." A strange smile quirked her lips, and the one hand that didn't hold a javelin rose to rub her shoulder. "I can understand that."
I stopped again, staring hard at her. "Somehow, I really doubt that."
"I was stoned out of a town once. The men didn't want their women folk contaminated by me and my ideals." She shrugged. "Villagers are the same no matter where you go. Stupid and provincial." She began to walk again, and this time I kept up. I let the silence close around us for a moment.
"My name is Necrum," I admitted.
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We stood at the mouth of the cave. Inhuman snarls and growls echoed faintly from within.
"D'you think this could be the den of evil?' Kyleea asked rhetorically. I simply looked at her, then stepped into the darkness, my minions trailing. It went a little way back, then narrowed to a hole just big enough for one person to move through.
"After you," Kyleea grinned with a bow. I didn't dignify that with an answer either, and stepped through the hole into the dark beyond. My golem had a little difficulty with it, but the skeletons piled through easily. Kyleea brought up the rear as we stepped into darkness.
The sounds of the creatures drifted around us, echoing eerily from the stone walls. Water dripped somewhere far off, and the air was filled with the must stench of mould and fungus. There was also a smell that I had come to associate with monsters – the smell of evil; old blood, demon dung, and rotten flesh.
Kyleea wrinkled her nose. "Yuck," she said flatly. "Horrible creatures in an enclosed space." Her voice echoed in the silence, to be answered by a snarling bellow. My bone armour snapped into place around me and began to whirl. "Great," she added, "bring on the monsters," as she settled into her stance, javelin ready to cast, as my minions spread out.
I considered risk versus reward, then cast a wide spray of Trang Oul's Teeth towards the noises. Their light revealed shambling beasts; bipedal, dark furred, with large muzzles and heads crowned by a pair of twisted horns. A shuffling sound behind them were three zombies, staggering towards us and making soft moaning sounds.
My minions raced into battle as Kyleea made her first cast, her javelin sticking into the chest of the larger of the beasts with a meaty sounding 'thunk'. I cast Trang Oul's Teeth out again. My golem finally engaged the lead beast as the skeletons spread out. Watching Kyleea continue to cast javelins, I allowed my wand to droop in my right hand as I tucked my left thumb into my belt. The minions were doing just fine. Let her waste ammunition, I thought.
Obviously Kyleea was of a like mind. The enemy were fought to a stand still by the agile skeletons, so she lowered the javelin she held. In a conversational voice, she said, "They're handy to have around."
I nodded, then spoke over the noise of breaking bone, crashing steel, and bellowing beasts. "Against a limited number of stupid enemies, yes, they are. Against an enemy with even slight intelligence, they are easily avoided."
We waited for perhaps five minutes for the last zombie to fall. The creatures had spilled some gold and a few potions when they'd died, the remains of poor adventurers they'd eaten, no doubt. Kyleea and I picked up what ever we could carry, agreeing to split the profits later. With my minions running around senselessly, we ventured on.
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We had a bad moment when we turned a corner and walked into a major encampment of Fallen Ones. My skeletons went berserk, but as fast as they killed the enemy, the two Shamans brought them back to life. Mastering my rage, I pointed out the one on the left to Kyleea and shouted, "The other one's mine!"
I raced through the struggling bodies to dins a vantage point to launch an attack. I allowed righteous indignation to fill me. How dare those demons pervert Rathma's gifts? Finding a suitable spot from which to wage war, I concentrated my energy. No wide spray this time, I thought, and cast Bone Spear, a deadly spike that dealt much damage, but since I did not know it well, drained my magical energies at a fearsome rate.
It took six bone spears to kill the Shaman. During my attacks, I had to avoid Fallen Ones and fireballs. By the time the cavern was quiet, my bone shield was all but gone. Greedily, I emptied a healing potion and looked around.
One of my skeletons had dissolved into its component parts during the fight. Kyleea had fared better that I – she'd come through with nary a scratch. She looked across at me with what I could have sworn was an expression of concern. I looked away, uncorking a potion of mana and downing it whilst I examined out haul.
A few magical items; and axe and a sword, a ring, a few other odds and ends, and a huge pile of gold. Kyleea bent and began to shovel it into her pack. "Do you think they kept it because it shines?" she mused aloud. I gave a one shoulder shrug.
"Who knows how a monster's mind works?" I stretched out my muscles and let loose a tension yawn. There was a scuffling sound behind us, and a Fallen One dived from a hiding place and lunged towards us. Almost casually, Kyleea and I cast at the same time.
Her javelin impaled the creature at the same time my spell did. It stiffened, then collapsed to the rocky floor, javelin piercing its stomach, head misshapen from my strike. The floor shook, and a deep musical tone sounded. Kyleea and I looked at each other in awe as pieces of the ceiling fell in, flooding the dark cave with light.
"You think we got them all?" she asked me with a saucy grin.
I couldn't help it. I laughed.