The sinister chill of negative energy made Anya cover her mouth without thinking.
She looked at Lidona and found her just as surprised.
But while Anya was shocked by the necromancy itself, Lidona was more surprised that He Xi knew a spell like this at all.
A thin curl of smoke rose from the lit incense stick.
Drawn by magic, the smoke seeped into the corpse.
A hazy figure appeared above the body.
As the ghostly face slowly took shape, He Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
Not undead.
Rowan's unusual reaction to divine power had made He Xi suspect he might be some kind of undead creature.
Having learned from his first use of this spell, He Xi had made sure not to show himself this time.
When he had questioned those followers of Bhaal, he had helped kill them. The consciousness they left behind had been full of hostility, resisting the spell and vanishing after a single answer.
The ghostly face grew steady.
He Xi asked his first question. "Why did you attack that woman just now?"
"Mistress... smelled... new blood...
"Servant... for her."
The broken voice cut off.
The lingering shade visibly dimmed.
Mistress? Is that Jislav?
He Xi couldn't be sure.
But once he realized the shade weakened every time it spoke, he decided not to waste his questions.
He recalled the information Reese had given him:
The mayor's daughter, Celia, had said she would rather die than marry Jislav.
And if Celia died, the challengers who entered the illusion would soon die one after another.
Jislav was most likely responsible.
With that in mind, He Xi asked directly, "Why does your mistress, Jislav, want Celia to marry her?"
The shade fell silent for a moment.
"Prying... into Mistress... foolish."
He Xi paused. As a servant,