The moon pushed its dim rays through the leaves in Felden, shining on a dismal scene. Lucan poked the fire haphazardly as he wafted as much as he could to keep the stench of the roasting rotten flesh away from his nose.
He looked at his black skull on the ground. Here he was, hunting Necromancers again. Worse, this time he was the bait, while Nikka was the spring in the trap. Why did he agree to this? Was it her eye lashes or her katanas?
An arrow pierced the night air. Lucan raised a shield to deflect it and stood up. Around the clearing, armed zombies and skeletons carrying bows emerged. Lucan reacted quickly. He charged and chopped off the head of one zombie. It fell to the ground, now truly lifeless. A skeleton drew an arrow and aimed. Lucan rushed with his shield in front and rattled the skeleton to splinters with his blade. A zombie stabbed at him and he rolled on the ground to avoid the metal. Grabbing a torch from the fire, for he knew the Undead are afraid of light, he stood up and brandished it around, but it was too late. He was surrounded. Lucan prayed that Nikka was watching, but if so, why didn't she help him?
Just when he thought himself a goner, they all stopped. A man in Necromancer robes approached. The skeleton on his front reflected the torchlight with a greenish glow, as if he was One with the Undead.
"The Felina female who was with you the other night." The Necromancer spoke with his sword pointing at Lucan. "Where is she now?"
His appearance was exactly what Lucan came here for. "Which night are we talkin' about?" He faked a sigh, trying not to burst out laughing. "I get my Felina girls mixed up."
The Necromancer was not happy with Lucan's answer. He moved closer. Lucan could almost touch his sword now. "Don't fool with me, scum." The man threatened. "I want to know where…"
A dark figure leapt from the shadows above. It quickly cleared away all the Undead next to the Necromancer. Elbowing him to the ground, it put a foot on the man's chest. Lucan quickly killed all the Undead on his side and joined the scene.
"Looking for me?" Nikka said to the man beneath her.
"As a matter of fact, I was." The Necromancer strained.
"Well, here I am." Nikka replied. "Now it's my turn to ask questions."
"I'm not telling you anything." A divine power seemed to flow into the man. "The Necromancers will soon rise," He proclaimed, "and cover the world in darkne…Urgh!" He yelled as Nikka kicked him unconscious.
"Nikka!" Lucan shouted. Now it'll take forever to get information out of that guy!
"What?" Nikka whirled around. "You heard him." She kicked the pile on the floor with her toe. "He said he wasn't going to tell us anything. Or," she mocked with her hands, "were you enjoying his little speech?"
"Well, what's the plan now then?" Lucan asked. It had better not be a dead end for them.
Nikka pondered. "I can disguise myself with his robes. She bent down. "Maybe follow their tunnels back to their base?"
"Uh, yeah, one problem." Lucan pointed out. "That was a human male. Might be a bit strange if a Felina female returns in his place."
Nikka halted and stood up. She hadn't thought of that. How could she get around that problem?
"I'm a human male by the way." Lucan said. Nikka tends to forget some simple things.
"Fine." She grudged. "Just… put on the robes." She started taking them off, when she felt something hard in the man's pocket. She took it out.
"Obsidian." She turned over the small black object in her hand. "Where would there be obsidian in this area?"
"The only volcano around." Lucan replied, after searching through all the nearby places in his head. "Mt. Tempus."
They found the tunnel the Necromancer used and Lucan put on his uniform. He wished he could admire himself in the mirror, to see all the horrifying postures he could make for all the pain it's causing him.
"It's hot," He complained, "and itchy." He scratched his rear end as they stepped onto the ledge overlooking the entrance. Lucan scratched his crotch. "And these pants are super tight!" If this is what it takes to be a Necromancer, he'd rather stick with stealing cakes.
"It's only going to get worse inside the volcano." Nikka comforted him, which somehow didn't feel comforting at all.
"Great." Lucan said. It would be like the Nether down there. He started down the long passage, then paused.
"Take our prisoner back to the Riverstead prison while I'm away, alright?" he said, turning around.
"I didn't know Riverstead has a prison." Nikka said. She never came across such an institution all these years.
"Well… it does." Asserted Lucan.
"Are you sure?" Nikka questioned.
"Pretty darn." Lucan could think of all those happy years he spent there.
"How do you know?" Nikka ventured.
"What?" snapped Lucan. "Nothing, it just does." He tried to hide the fact he was an honorary guest there. "I should go." He put on the mask and walked down the stairs.
"Hey," Nikka shouted after him, "Good luck." Then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Try not to die." She sounded as if Lucan was a pathetic rat walking into a cat's nest. Nikka left Lucan staring down the ominous tunnel.
"I'm going to need more than luck…" Lucan muttered as he adjusted his costume again.
The tunnels were dark and musty. Torches lined the walls, but were so far apart that there might as well be none. "No wonder they need that outfit." Lucan thought as he followed the path, well-trodden by millions of feet, "These tunnels are as black and as dirty as a dung shed."
After half an hour of feeling in the dark, Lucan came into a clearing. It was lit by the lava flowing from the ceiling and the giant pools below. Black rock formed the floor, absorbing what little light there was.
Lucan bent down and felt the black ground. Millions of little pores presented themselves to his touch. "This is Mt. Tempus." Lucan thought. He had been here, many years ago, and used it as a temporary hideout. Thank goodness Nikka didn't ask him about that.
"Grrrr!" A zombie roared from behind. Lucan whipped around to find it approaching with outstretched arms. Lucan pulled out his sword. "Oh great!" Lucan muttered. He has not met a Necromancer yet and he's about to die at the hands, well rotten hands, of a zombie.
"Wait," Lucan remembered he had something special for this zombie. Rummaging in his pocket, Lucan pulled out the black skull and held it above his head. The zombie stopped and looked up at the object in Lucan's hand. Its green face was mesmerized by the hollow eyes and sunken cheeks. As it looked on, its eyes began shining white.
"Yeah, that's right." Seems like controlling the Undead is simple. Lucan smirked. This mission could be easier than he thought.
But his smile did not last long. Another zombie came from his back. The two zombies sandwiched Lucan in the middle. He raised the black skull to control the new zombie as well. But as soon as he pointed its face away, the first zombie started moving towards him again. Lucan zipped around. The zombie stopped moving, but the other unfroze. Lucan backed into a corner as he waved his skull back and forth to try to control both zombies at once.
Even more Undead emerged. A skeleton grabbed Lucan by the shoulders, but he flew a back kick and knocked it into the wall. Following up, he stabbed it in the chest, but more and more zombies emerged, accompanied by skeletons, creepers, and spiders. It was Basalt all over again.
A figure, dressed in the same black robes as Lucan, landed beside him. With his weapon, a sword with black skulls carved into the hilt and body, he spun around and drew a shiny circle around them. The Undead backed off a bit. From inside his robes, he took out a black skull of his own, exactly the same as Lucan's, and raised it above his head. All the zombies, skeletons, and creepers stopped to look at it, with the same awe they had contemplated Lucan's.
"Whoosh!" The Necromancer threw the skull far away. It sounded terrifyingly familiar. Lucan's mind jumped back to the attack on the mines. The Undead crowded after it. "So that's why I could grab the skull in the mines." Lucan thought. "It was a beacon for the attacking hoards." But he must be careful now. He mustn't speak a word. The Necromancer could recognize his voice and turn him in.
The man turned slowly towards him. "I expected you would have learned by now." His voice sounded disappointed and impatient. Lucan did not reply.
The Necromancer continued. "I presume you're the new rookie."
"Mhm." Lucan nodded affirmatively.
"And I imagine you haven't killed the Felina girl." The Necromancer continued. Lucan could not decipher what he meant, but it seems like he wasn't going for the chop, so he answered with another nod and shaking his head. "Mm-mm."
"What happened to the undead under your control?" The Necromancer asked. No one in the organization moves without at least ten of its soldiers.
There was no simple way to answer this with a simple "yes" or "no", "Mm-mm-mm." He grunted with a shrug.
"There's no need to be embarrassed about failing the mission. At least you survived." Was that a compliment? If that's so, he would be a great Necromancer as well. At least he could play on even grounds with Nikka.
"However, the Felina is more dangerous and resourceful than we anticipated. We'll have to report this to His Lordship." The Necromancer concluded. He turned around and led the way. It was then that Lucan noticed their outfits were slightly different. The Necromancer's had three more ribs than his. Lucan guessed it was a sign of status, like the stars on a Felden soldier's shoulder.
Lucan let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't required to speak, and didn't reveal himself. He followed behind him, and noticed a small nametag flying out from the Necromancer's behind. It was probably from his underwear or something, for Lucan didn't notice any such embarrassment on his suit. It read "Xaria." "He must be real poor to be wearing his childhood clothes," Lucan thought.
They entered an even grander cavern. Here, torches lined the walls, and the hall was a bit brighter than the previous cavern. But the torches were so far away that the center was still shrouded in darkness. "Wait here." Xaria instructed Lucan, and left.
Lucan mounted a platform and looked below. He could just make out the entirety of the Necro base in all its horror. In the center was an altar, where burnt a flame and skulls lined the edges. A figure stood before it, but unlike the other necromancers, he wore purple robes instead of black.
All around the altar, pits were dug out and Undead monsters populated within. Zombies were by far the most numerous. They fought each other with bare hands in mock-combat. Skeletons held the largest pits where they seemed to be practicing their archery. Creepers crawled in the other pits. They seemed to be practicing on sneaking up on each other. Lucan tried to smile at the scene.
The figure at the altar turned around and raised a black spine with an equally black skull on top. His eyes glowed red, probably because of the lava. The staff, if he may call it, glowed white in the eyes, just like the Undead he saw at the mines. As the eyes luminated, all the zombies, skeletons, and creepers stopped what they were doing to stare at it, as if entranced by a spell.
"You, up there!" Xaria's voice brought back Lucan. "Come with us. We have a new mission." Lucan followed, wondering what the mission might be, and planned to slip away as soon as possible to find Nikka.