Necromancer and His Skeleton

A black cat had badly wounded the strongest member of the group, Knight Roman.

A flash of black light took down everyone.

Gret's heart sank. The newcomer was overwhelmingly powerful. He could probably kill every last one of them without breaking a sweat. Worse, there was the black light, the black cat, the skeleton soldiers, the zombies, the gargoyles...

It all sounded like it belonged to the same person. What if the owner of this place had really come back, only to find they'd trashed his home, killed his skeleton soldiers, and dismantled the gargoyles guarding it...

It couldn't get any worse.

Gret wriggled as discreetly as he could, trying to inch into a corner and look as though "I didn't do it, this has nothing to do with me." He'd barely moved when a chill ran down his back, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Gret looked around. The fallen warriors all wore expressions of terror--

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Someone approached from behind. The footsteps sounded strange, like something hard knocking against the floor, or little claws scrabbling across it. Gret stiffened, lowered his head, and slowly turned to glance over his shoulder--

A long black robe came into view, almost trailing on the floor. Gret couldn't tell what it was made of. The fabric hung heavily and didn't reflect even a hint of light. It seemed to swallow every ray. If a fashion designer from his past life saw a material like that, they'd do anything to get their hands on it.

Gret shivered and looked higher. The black robe billowed around the figure, concealing any hint of a human shape. It was almost as if the only thing inside it was a skeleton--one leaning on a long staff made of bone. Before Gret could see the person's face, Knight Roman, rolling on the ground, began to scream:

"Necromancer!--You're a necromancer!"

The figure in black paused. The long robe stirred, then fell silently back into place. Knight Roman let out a few more screams, then raised an arm and pointed at the necromancer, his hand trembling.

Gret noticed that the knight's wrist was twisted at an unnatural angle, and his fingers looked strange too. His thumb wouldn't straighten. Maybe he'd injured an extensor tendon. Gret silently speculated as Knight Roman shakily straightened his index finger and aimed it straight at the necromancer's face:

"You're an outsider necromancer, and you dare attack a priest of the Spring Goddess! Aren't you afraid the temple will hunt you down?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I arrived in the city this afternoon and registered at the Mage Tower."

The necromancer replied with complete confidence. As he spoke, he took a step forward. His long black robe billowed violently, like angry waves roaring before a storm:

"But what about you? You broke into my Mage Tower, smashed my gargoyles, and if I hadn't come back in time, you'd have torn apart my laboratory too. The temple? If they don't apologize and pay compensation, I'll join forces with the Magic Council and tear the temple apart tomorrow!"

"Don't even think about it--"

Knight Roman roared. He tried to push himself up from the floor. He tried again, but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't get up. Finally, he steeled himself, curled up on the ground like a shrimp, and threw himself forward headfirst:

"AAAAAAAAAAAH--"

"Clang!"

A flash of golden light. Knight Roman was sent flying and slammed into the wall. The wall shook with a rumble. The knight slid limply down, rolled over twice, and fell still.

Tap, tap, tap. The footsteps continued. The necromancer pointed his bone staff at the priest and gave a cold laugh:

"What do you have to say?"

"I..."

Well, looks like he's after the priest. If you've got a score to settle, settle it with the person responsible. Turn left when you leave, and you'll find... the Spring Goddess's temple. I'm just a nobody, and I was forcibly recruited. I never laid a finger on those skeletons or zombies. The necromancer seems like a reasonable man; he probably won't come after me, right?

Gret breathed a sigh of relief. Now that he felt safe again, he craned his neck and started examining Knight Roman once more.

Broken bones.

Probably unconscious. Considering that collision, he could have a concussion.

Not sure if he had any internal bleeding.

He couldn't push himself up. Judging by where the cat had scratched him, he might have torn tendons in his wrists and ankles.

The big cat had scratched him so many times that infection was inevitable. He might even get tetanus. Since it was a domesticated pet, Gret could probably rule out rabies for now...

Gret watched intently, mentally recording the case one detail at a time. Once he'd finished, he turned his gaze toward the necromancer again. Good heavens!

Walking right beside the necromancer was a radiant Golden Skeleton, glowing with brilliant golden light.

And it was alive. Its joints had no cartilage or ligaments connecting them. And yet it could move. It could walk!

It had just sent Knight Lehman flying, too!

Gret's eyes lit up. His attention was instantly drawn to it. A skeleton! A skeleton that could move! The Life Science Academy had a skeleton too, but it couldn't move. It had to be kept in a glass case, with a velvet rope strung around it like a barrier. The teachers treasured it like nothing else!

Sure, there were skeletons you could touch, but those were all in pieces, kept in the Mentor Building (Dissection Building). None of them were complete... The only full-body skeleton you could touch was made of plastic.

But this one was real! Really real!

Compared to the skeleton soldier that had been smashed to pieces before Gret could even get a proper look at it, this Golden Skeleton was much more intricate and agile. Gret studied it carefully. The bones weren't cast from metal. There was a fracture on the left tibia, and the ridges and grooves of the pelvis were clearly visible. They looked like ordinary human bones, with brilliant golden light shining from within.

He wanted a closer look.

He wanted to touch it.

He wanted to get his hands on it.

Gret was so absorbed in studying it that he forgot all about the necromancer's threats. Without realizing it, he'd sat up and leaned forward, wishing he could press his whole body against the skeleton to examine it.

How did this skeleton move?

No joints, no ligaments. Its bones were all separate, loose pieces, and yet it could move!

The necromancer had sent Knight Lehman flying, then used a mix of blackmail and threats to reach a compensation agreement with Priest Donald. When he turned around, he saw a young man sitting among the fallen warriors, head tilted back as he stared at the Golden Skeleton protecting him, as though he wanted to climb inside it.

Necromancer: "...What are you looking at?"

"There's something wrong with that skeleton!"

Gret answered without turning his head. Only after he'd spoken did he jump in surprise and turn toward the voice. Who had just spoken to me?

He couldn't see anything.

No, not nothing. He could see a patch of darkness... black fabric... a black robe... and a thin face.

The necromancer was tall, especially from Gret's seated vantage point. He looked like a pillar with a head on top. He wasn't just tall, but thin, his body billowing inside the black robe like a stick wrapped in cloth.

Someone this thin was bound to have a gaunt face. His cheeks clung tightly to his cheekbones, and his face was sunken on both sides. He looked like nothing more than his Golden Skeleton with a layer of skin on top.

Gret gave a small start, but he wasn't particularly scared. A necromancer being thin was normal. Even a skeleton with two flickering phosphorescent flames in its eye sockets would have fit the image of a lich he remembered. The necromancer, however, was in a hurry. He stepped forward and pressed him for an answer:

"What's wrong with the skeleton?"

"The skull and the body don't belong to the same person!"

"They don't belong to the same person? How can you tell?"

Ah... now that was a question he could answer. Gret braced a hand against the floor and struggled to his feet. He swayed a little as he stood, and the considerate Golden Skeleton even reached out to help him up:

"The skull is male, but the pelvis is female. It's obviously from two different people!"

Thanks to @Hidden Flower Creek for the 300 Qidian coins!

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