The Nekromancer - 11. Chapter 11

They travelled through the dark, searching out a safer place to sleep. Guided only by the wane light of the moon, the party moved through the silent night, each footstep a thundering alarm to the undead that doubtlessly lay around them. Yet nothing came at them out of the dark, and they made their way down the road in peace.

Amnor Sen knew something was off. A book, the undead werewolf had said. And come to think of it, the necromancer had mentioned a missing book too.

"Where is it?" he asked, looking at Jakun.

The neko was trudging between himself and Jeremy, looking like a kicked kitten. Amnor Sen didn't blame him; being attacked by a zombie would mess with anyone's mind, but when the zombie was your undead mother…

Still, they had been attacked. And it must have been Jakun's fault; neither Amnor Sen nor Jeremy had the chance to take anything from the necromancer. Nor the inclination.

After destroying so many undead relatively unscathed, Amnor Sen doubted they would be allowed to peacefully go about their business.

"He can't have the book," Jeremy protested. "Unless you think he's hiding it in his tailhole?"

"He shouldn't be able to hide a werewolf's ghost either," the elf pointed out. "I'm not…"

He shook his head slowly.

"Look, I'm not trying to blame you. If you have a book from that place, it's best that you keep it to yourself. I just want to be sure these undead chasing us are for a reason."

Jakun stopped suddenly, his eyes closed. The cat took a deep breath, reaching out as he croaked out an arcane sentence.

A black aura appeared around the amurran's hand, a book coalescing from the shadows. He held it out for inspection, his ears folded in shame.

"You had it all along?"

The words struck the cat, Jakun flinching. Jeremy grabbed the tome, scowling at the darkness that seeped from it.

"It's a book of vile magics," he scowled.

"A spellbook? Is this how you cast your spells?" Amnor Sen demanded.

Jakun nodded.

"Then we will help you make this a book of good, not evil. Perhaps there are ways for you to summon living creatures. And let's face it, denying the necromancer this book is probably a good thing."

"Still, I'm keeping it in my bag. I want to look through it tomorrow," Jeremy scowled, tucking it into his bag. "We need to make sure nothing evil comes from it."

"If nothing else, some good has already come from it in the form of a score of destroyed undead," Amnor Sen said.

"Regardless, I am exhausted, and there is no way I will be able to call upon the god of luck for aid tomorrow if we do not rest," Jeremy yawned.

"Fine. Jakun and I will take your watch," Amnor Sen grunted as they stepped off the road again. "The good news is we should reach Mechitar late tomorrow night. Rest and recovery are in order, at least a week's worth."

"Thank the gods…"

The cleric sighed as he laid out a bed roll, removing his armour before crawling into bed.

"Hey Amnor Sen."

"Huh?"

"I love you," Jeremy said, kissing the paladin before settling down.

"I know."

The paladin let out a fond sigh, sitting beside Jeremy. He looked at Jakun meaningfully, patting the ground beside him.

Taking the invitation, Jakun sat down, still staring at his lap.

"You know… I never thought the goddess would show favour to someone who is undead," Amnor Sen mentioned as the neko sat.

"The gods work in mysterious ways that I am not about to discuss," Jeremy yawned beside them.

"No one's asking you to. Just sleep in case more of those skeletons track us down," Amnor Sen said gently rubbing the cleric's back.

As he focused on the man, he failed to notice Jakun digging through Jeremy's bag. The sound of pages flipping couldn't be ignored however.

Glancing over, he frowned at the sight of the cat mouthing words.

"What are you doing?!"

"...help. My… my spells…" the cat coughed out.

"Your spells are evil," Amnor Sen said, closing the book. "We'll get you a new book you can use."

"T… the spells… saved us… master…"

He could see the confusion in the cat's face, the fear that his hard work would be wasted.

"At the price of your soul," Amnor Sen said gently. "If you wish to be good, then you must not take the easy route. I'll buy you a new book, and you can find a way to cast living spells, spells that aren't evil."

Jakun frowned, but nodded, allowing the book to be taken.

"You helped a lot earlier," the paladin added. "As… disturbing as your spells are, you did save our lives. Thank you."

And with those two simple words, Jakun's body seemed to melt, his ears folding in embarrassment even as he soaked up the gratitude. Amnor Sem chuckled quietly, rubbing the cat's head.

"You're cute, for an undead."

Jakun nearly purred under the paladin's attention, his body twisting subconsciously as he tried to get more.

"I still don't understand how you knew the skeletons were coming," Amnor Sen said quietly.

"Anya…"

"Anya… the werewolf?" he guessed.

Jakun nodded.

"Past life… keeps me safe…"

The cat looked sad again, his tail twitching against the paladin's leg. The elf pet his head again

"She didn't come back. But her sacrifice helped me," Amnor Sen said.

The elf sighed quietly.

"You know… you should get some rest too. This night was hard on you."

The cat nodded, his head leaning into the elf's warmth. Amnor Sen allowed it, fingers running through the soft fur on his head. He felt dangerously protective of the cat for some reason. Perhaps it was Shelyn's approval of Jakun, perhaps it was his innocence in the face of overwhelming troubles. But Amnor Sen knew he was bound to keep the cat safe at this point. He couldn't allow the cat to be harmed.