2/24/16
Awoken
You know what? Being dead isn’t all that bad, well after you get past the fact that you’re dead it really is quite nice, no one to bother you, nothing inconveniences you, and you have a vast white expanse all to yourself. What about the vast white expanse? It’s probably what I assume is the afterlife but I can’t be certain about anything other than it’s big and white and… Almost scary due to the eerie singing in the distance, I tried to go towards it once but I got nowhere because I realized I couldn’t move. But who cares about moving when you have all this? You have your hardly visible bedroom, kitchen, main hall, nothing could go wrong right? Well something did go wrong, an idiot with mastery of necromancy woke me up.
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Part One: Awoken
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The vast expanse suddenly grew darker, slowly then I suddenly sensed movement, like I was falling, as the expanse grew darker the singing in the distance increased in tone until it reached a blood-curdling never ending scream of terror, as I moved faster and everything got darker I noticed hands around me, white hands that were reaching out to me as I was falling, but I was falling too fast for them to reach me. Then, suddenly the falling stopped, the screaming stopped, and the vast expanse was pitch black Scattered around were tiny holes with a dim light coming through them. I tried to move my legs but I couldn’t feel them, I tried moving my arms which made a sound, I couldn’t feel them but they were moving around somehow. I moved them around and sounded out the shape of a box, I pushed against the surface in front of me then heard a creaking sound, I quickly decided to push this box open. I pushed against the surface until it fell onto the ground and light flooded my vision followed by a cacophony of clacking sounds. I looked around, a candlelit tomb with coffins lined up against the walls and pillars in the middle. I dragged myself towards the pillar with what little strength I had left and no legs. I leaned myself against the pillar and started to examine the area more closely, It was lit by candles suspended on chandeliers which were dripping with wax and a puddle of wax was below it, some high level conjuration wizard must have made it so the candles never burn out. I looked at the ceiling and saw that streams and ribbons of glowing green thread were flowing along the top of the tomb, and just as I looked at it, a ribbon detached from the stream and touched my head, I then put my hand up to my head and sounded out a large, long object protruding out of it.
A tall figure then walked through a doorway to my left and looked around, then saw me “There it is!” said the figure and rushed over to me
“Who are you?” I tried to say but it only came out as “CLACK RATTLE CLACK CLACK.”
The figure then gave a soft chuckle and looked around, he saw my tomb and a pair of leg bones, then he picked them up and put them in alignment with my torso, he started to wave his arms about in an incantation then I noticed green threads forming joints and tying my legs together with an audible creaking sound. My sight then sharpened and I gained some primitive form of feeling, touching the floor of the tomb brought about a cold sensation, as I looked down at the tombs floor I noticed things made out of green thread growing inside my ribcage, and after waiting for a few seconds they resembled a pair of lungs, a heart, intestines, and a liver. I poked around at the artificial organs and felt a tingling sensation. The figure then wrapped his hands around the long object sticking out of my head and pulled it out. It looked like a blood spattered, rusty warhammer.
“Who are you?” I finally said in a whispery, clacky voice.
“I am Eldritch, a necromancer that hails from Svern, I rob graves, pillage, raise the dead, everything you could imagine a necromancer could do, and you are to follow me on my travels and assist me without pay. Does that clear up everything for you?”
“Am I dead?”
“You’ve just now figured that out?” he then gave a soft chuckle through his grizzled beard “In case you haven’t, you are dead, bare bones, a walking skeleton that I have raised from its eternal slumber, and by the looks of that rusty warhammer you died in the war.”
“How long- I- How long have I been dead?”
The old necromancer got up from his kneeling position and flipped over the cover of my tomb, on which a year was engraved
“About fifty-ish years.” He said.
It finally dawned on me: fifty years of death have passed, what could have happened in fifty years? Did wars break out? What about my family? What family did I have?
I then and there realized that I didn’t remember anything.
“So, any more questions of yours?” He questioned.
“Why me?” I asked.
“Well my magic is set so that only dead persons with full bodily skeletons shall be employed as my… minions? I know that sounds cliché but that is an appropriate name for it.”
“And I won’t be paid?”
He gave a hearty laugh “You want pay for your services? What are you going to spend it on? Why should I be paying you, you’re the one I just raised from the dead, you should be thanking me.” He then grabbed a coin from the pouch on his belt and dropped it inside the hole in my skull that was left from the warhammer “Consider that your processing fee.”
He then went over to the other tombs and started to tear the lids off of them.
“What are you doing?” I said.
“You’re not going out there naked are you? I mean I know it’s not exactly indecent for you to do that but wouldn’t you like some clothing? A burial garment should at least cover you up until we can get you proper attire.”
“Why wasn’t I buried with anything?”
“I’m not the only grave robber you know of.”
I then realized how annoying this coin in my skull was, I desperately shook and banged my head on the pillar to get it out and made a sound like a poorly made maraca.
“Save the orchestra for when we get out of this tomb.” He said jokingly. “By the by, do you happen to remember anything about combat from the war? Are you a magic user or do you use a sword?”
“I really don’t know.”
Eldritch stopped his further grave robbery and stepped behind me, he grabbed my wrists and waved them in a triangular shape “Luminos Projectis” He said and a searing beam of light came out of my hand.
“What the hell was that?” I questioned.
“So you’re a magic user eh?” He said “And a high level one too.”
“Can I really do that?”
“It seems so, but you need training.”
“Training?” I questioned
“If you follow me on my travels, I can teach you the ways of necromancy.”
He then glanced over to the far corner of the tomb and walked towards a coffin there, it looked very similar to mine and he proceeded to open it “There you are, he said pulling a robe from the tomb while bones clattered to the floor “Your new garments!”
I looked at them, it looked like a full black moth bitten robe with green cuffs around the wrists, I slipped it on and Eldritch flipped the hood over my head “Perfect!” he said “Now I believe you are ready.” He walked over to the entrance of the tomb and pointed his arms to the door.
“What if I don’t want to go?” I asked
“Oh come on” he said annoyed “Where else have you got to go? you can either stay in this tomb, or follow me, why don’t you take part in some adventure with your newly given life?”
“What if I didn’t want to be resurrected? What if I would rather stay dead then to go with you?”
“Trust me, you’re better off with me than dead.”
It was then I put everything into perspective, this man raised me from the dead and gave me a new start at life, it wasn’t the best place to be in the world but it was great for now, the least I could do for this man is what he asks, even if I do it begrudgingly.
“Alright.” I said “I will follow you on your travels”
“Hip hip horrah.” he said sarcastically, “Now let’s go, I have to make sure my horse hasn’t run off.”
I walked over to the entrance where Eldritch was standing and walked through the door, unaware about what lies ahead.
To be continued.