"Who's there?!"
Following this shout, a burly farmer wearing only nightclothes burst through the bedroom door, holding a lit candle.
Startled, Aleric began running a second too late. The candlelight fell on his face, showing his corpse-like features.
The farmer gasped in terror. At this moment, Aleric gathered himself and began running with extra speed from his own fright and his new shoes.
A moment later, he heard shouting behind his back–and ran even faster.
"A MONSTER! Wake up! Oh Light, there's a monster! And... It took my new boots! THAT BASTARD STOLE MY BOOOOTS!"
Aleric slowed down only when he could barely hear the shouts anymore. Despite his looks and malnutrition, he was surprisingly tough and had a lot of stamina to run away, and even after several minutes of sprinting still had strength to run a little farther.
He glanced at the village stretching behind him and saw the lights of several torches being lit.
Aleric cursed under his breath. This wasn't the first time he was almost caught, but people rarely had the bravery to chase him into the night. At least he still had the advantage of his unnatural sight. In the darkness he could easily lose all his pursuers, just like he did many times before.
Besides, Aleric already had the supplies he needed. Now he could just search through the Broomwood's "cursed" forest until he found the necromancer's crypt!
Emboldened by this thought, Aleric threw one last look in the village and began walking toward the forest visible in the distance. As he did, he opened his travel bag and pulled out a piece of food he looted just a few minutes ago. Just the thing to give him the strength for a long search ahead!
Aleric doubted even kings ate food more delicious than this stolen goat cheese with the seasoning of hunger and fear.
***
Aleric stumbled through the forests until the sky began to lighten, finding nothing except for a few edible mushrooms. Tired, but still hopeful, he settled for a fitful sleep under the roots of a large oak. Again, his unnatural condition was helping him, protecting him from the autumn's chill.
He woke up from the sounds of a dog barking in the distance.
Aleric went alert immediately. Soon, Aleric was running again while cursing his luck.
'Dogs! They must be tracking me, whom else? Are these from hunters? Or actual monster hunters? Doesn't matter... But I can't hide from those, I must run!' Aleric thought as he dashed past the trees and the bushes.
He ran as fast as he could for a long while, until even his unnatural stamina ran out and his lungs went on fire. Only then he slowed down.
But a while later, he heard the barking of horses behind him. His pursuers, moving slowly but surely, caught up with him.
Aleric ran again, but this repeated itself, and this time, Aleric was even more tired than before.
'Shit... If only there was something to get these damned dogs off my trail! Why didn't I see a single water stream so far? Am I walking in circles?' Aleric thought. 'They are going to catch up to me like that. Then I will be so tired that they could just pick me up and throw me in a sack.'
Despair washed over Aleric.
Years… years of running and hiding, years of survival, years of searching…
Was Aleric's search about to end abruptly so close to his goal?
He still had no idea where the crypt was, only that it was in this forest. If it even existed... What were his chances of finding it in this situation? What were his chances to even live until nightfall, when his pursuers would have to stop for a rest?
'My chances? My chances aren't zero!' Aleric thought, clenching his fists. 'I can't give up until I'm still breathing… And even after that, if this is possible!'
So, Aleric picked up the pace again, even though his legs and lungs protested at every step. His mind cleared from fear, and he became aware of a strange feeling from a distance, as if something was telling him to go there.
Perhaps it was just his intuition, but the direction was going away from his pursuers, so Aleric followed it.
***
It was almost night when Aleric saw the first tombstone. It was so weathered and covered in moss that he barely recognized it as one. However, there was another tombstone several meters away. And more of them in the distance.
The sight filled Aleric with hope and made him forget his exhaustion and his pursuers. He followed the trail of old tombstones and abandoned graves like breadcrumbs until he saw the centerpiece of this forgotten graveyard.
It was an old crypt which looked like it was built from dark stone just yesterday–moss and erosion didn't touch it. A pair of statues of knights stood at the entrance like guardians, and the dim lighting made them look almost alive and watching.
Aleric could feel the power coming from the spells on this crypt with his skin.
This was it!
Ecstatic, Aleric ran up to the crypt's doors. He didn't even care if there were traps!
He pushed the doors... but they didn't budge.
'Locked. Of course! Damn it!'
Aleric's blood ran cold. He frantically looked around the door, searching for a deadbolt he could lift with wire or a lock he could try to pick.
But there was nothing.
The pair of stone doors had no visible lock, handles, or any other way to open them. Now Aleric felt like the knight statues above were not simply watching, but mocking him.
The lock on these doors was clearly magical. Aleric knew he had some magic talent, but without magical studies, all he could do was sense magic near him.
The wind brought the sounds of distant voices from behind him.
"…here! I can see him!"
"Caref… …ace is cursed!.."
"Finally…"
Aleric leaned on the stone doors, feeling all the exhaustion of this day return tenfold.
Would he get caught so close to his goal? The Church of Light's monster hunters will burn him without a trial. He will die without ever getting his answers.
He will die…
"I don't want to die," Aleric whispered. "Not now. Not ever. They won't get me…"
He stood up. Perhaps he could still hide somewhere. Or at least fight—he had a knife!
Aleric turned toward his pursuers, the figures of which he could already see in the far distance between the trees.
At this moment, he heard the screech of stone behind him.
When Aleric spun around, he saw that the doors of the crypt opened on their own, showing a set of stairs leading down.
He gasped–but Aleric wasn't about to question his luck. Without waiting another second, he ran down. He only paused after hearing the doors closing behind him–but then clenched his teeth and kept moving.
'If this is a trap and I'm about to die here... At least I will try to get my answers before that!'
The inner room of the crypt was much smaller and emptier than Aleric imagined it would be. There were no chests of treasures and no shelves with books, only stone walls with mysterious writing engraved in them and a pedestal in the center. The only sounds heard here were those made by Aleric himself.
On the pedestal was lying a staff made out of several human spines bound together and topped by a skull with golden engravings in it.
Another person would've grimaced with disgust at the sight of this macabre creation, but Aleric thought only about the magical aura he could feel coming from it.
'So much power... I never felt anything like it! This must be one of these artifacts people say legends about, items wielded by kings and heroes! But… is there not a single book?' Aleric thought, looking around. 'How can there be no books? And no grave? This is a crypt, after all. It couldn't have been built only for this staff, could it be?'
In this moment, the skull's eyes lit up with a green glow.
"Come here, heir… Let me look at you," the skull spoke in an eerie voice.
Aleric gasped.
'It… spoke?'
He never heard about artifacts that could speak. His survival instincts told him to run, but there was nowhere to run to. Cautiously, Aleric approached the staff and stared down at it. The staff stared back.
"Yes. You are truly an heir to the great Xarvain. This means that I, the Spine Staff, am your inheritance. From now on, you are my new master. Wield me! Command, and I will obey!"
Aleric could barely believe this. For the first time in six years, someone spoke with him normally. Or spoke with him, period. Even if this was a magical staff.
He felt that he had come to the right place, even if he didn't know what this place was exactly. Aleric sat on the floor, giving rest to his tired feet. Now his face was on the same level as the skull.
"Who is this Xarvain, and why am I his heir?"
"Xarvain the Arch-necromancer is one of the most powerful necromancers in the world, master. A long time ago, he had decided that pursuing knowledge wasn't enough and wanted to leave some of it as a legacy for a worthy heir. He made seven sentient artifacts, each of which contained a part of his immense knowledge, and built seven crypts to store them. People with talent for Dark magic are drawn toward the power in these crypts, and the magic in them separates the worthy from the unworthy. You are touched by death while seeking eternal life, just like great Xarvain does–thus, you are worthy."
Aleric laughed, feeling week in the knees with joy.
This Spine Staff really was answering his questions! And it had some knowledge in it.
This meant Aleric had actually found the library he was looking for! Just in the form of a weird staff–but everybody knew that necromancers were weird and evil.
"Do you know why I look so strange, staff? People think that I'm a ghoul or a zombie..."
"This is because you are death-touched, master. This is an extremely rare gift that few lucky people awaken when the dark energy of death and suffering surrounds them. The death-touched people are so close to the Dark that they gain some advantages of undead and can wield Dark magic with incredible ease–sometimes even without studying at all! They make the best necromancers."
This sounded exactly like things Aleric experienced. He only used Dark magic once, though—that day six years ago, when he accidentally raised the dead.
"So… I'm actually very talented, huh?" Aleric chuckled. "Too bad that necromancy is outlawed in our kingdom... And in the entire world! You speak about this Xarvain in the present tense, staff, but he probably died with all the other necromancers in the Dark Spires when they fell four centuries ago. Even kids know this story. Forces of Light versus the forces of Dark..."
The Spine Staff's eyes flashed.
"Outlawed? This means a truly long time must've passed while I waited for you, master. But it doesn't matter. If you take the great Xarvain's legacy, you will become powerful enough to build your own kingdom. Let me give it to you!"