The Nekromancer - 30. Chapter 30

He could hear the howls of wolves in the distance, Anya appearing beside him.

"They must be on the hunt," she said quietly, reading the sound.

Nearly six hours into his watch, a spell kept Jakun awake. If he got into a fight with wolves, did anything more strenuous than watching over his companions, the spell would fail, and he would be left to face the next day with no sleep.

"How far are they?" he asked, reaching for his bow.

"Maybe a mile? Two? Not far enough," the werewolf shrugged. "Should we see if our friend will help us?"

"Friend?"

"Oh come on Jakun, you felt him in the quiver. How else do you explain the fact that you have hit your target with every shot you've taken?"

"Yeah, but a spirit? That's what you're saying, right? Why couldn't it just be a magic bow? You know Loran had it in his possession-"

"Exactly. He probably trapped a soul in the quiver. Not the bow."

"So… if I run out of arrows…"

"If the enchantment is on the bow, it won't matter. If it's on the arrows, you'll be out. If it's on the quiver? You should be able to regain whatever power the quiver has by refilling it," Anya concluded.

Jakun looked at the quiver thoughtfully.

"Well… if it is a spirit, hopefully we don't upset them," the cat concluded, before peering out into the woods.

The wolves' howls became confused, no specific pattern to them. Jakun could feel Anya's consternation; for the werewolf not to understand the howls was upsetting.

"They won't attack unless they are desperate for food," she said. "I'm going to look through the spellbook. We might as well accomplish something while you wait for them to wake up."

The words startled Jakun.

"Anya, the spell says we can't do anything more vigorous than standing vigol!"

"No, the spell says the caster can do nothing more vigorous than standing vigil. I'm not the caster," the werewolf denied, sitting against a tree. "Besides, you have never slept longer than six hours before. I think you can do stuff now."

"But if you're wrong-"

"If I'm wrong, I'll take full responsibility. Why don't you check out the bow? I'll stand guard while you work, and then we can work on the ritual together."

Jakun sighed, reaching for the quiver. He ran his hand over the leather, taking in the rather intricate stitching that held it together. Sixteen arrows remained within the quiver; sixteen shots left before Jakun would be defenseless again. He wondered idly if Amnor Sen would be willing to make some arrows for him.

A strange feeling came over him, almost a suggestion of… a word?

"Anya? What is 'enugo'?"

A brief warmth passed through his hand, almost as though a spell had been cast.

"It is an Elven term. Enough, or full."

Jakun looked down at the quiver, pulling an arrow out experimentally. It split into two arrows as he removed it, the second arrow an exact copy of the first.

"Oh…"

It was a magic quiver, for sure. Still, this didn't explain how he was able to shoot accurately with no training. Or how the trigger word for the quiver had entered his mind.

"I don't think it's a spirit. But something is definitely wrong with this quiver," he said.

The arrow in his hand vanished suddenly, the amurrun gasping in shock.

"Great, we have a magic quiver. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to do some reading," Amya said.

Shaking his head, Jakun sat on the floor, staring at Jeremy and Amnor Sen. He could hear the pages of the necromantic book whimpering as Anya turned them, and the cat knew he needed to keep Amnor Sen and Jeremy from realizing he had the book.

An hour passed, Anya discussing the ritual with Jakun. Slowly, he realized the ritual was a divine one, Ivris using his position as the favoured of a demon to bring undeath to himself. It was not the way Jakun wanted to go, not at all.

"We'll have to find an arcane equivalent," he said, tucking the book in his bag as Amnor Sem stirred.

Removing his workbook, the cat opened the pages, searching through his spells. He could feel the elf's eyes on him, but Amnor Sen didn't interrupt him as he memorized his spells. Not that his workbook contained many useful spells for walking through a dead forest.

'I guess we should have checked out that fear spell in the ritual book,' Anya said, back in his head.

'Is that what we're calling it?' Jakun questioned.

'Better than the murderbook.'

'That has a better sound to it though.'

The werewolf laughed, her mirth flowing through the amurrun.

'We'll make a killer of you yet. And no, your mom doesn't count, that was forced.'

Shaking his head, Jakun closed his book, slipping it into his bag. He used a spell to send the necromantic book to a pocket dimension, ensuring no one would be able to find it until he brought it back.

"Why would Loran keep the books in a cabinet?" the cat mused out loud.

"Maybe he doesn't know your spell," Amnor Sen yawned. "Magic is hard. It was the only class I failed in the monastery."

"You lived in a monastery?"

"Yes, like the other paladins of Holomog. It was just outside of Anuli. As a follower of Shelyn, I had devoted myself to an art, the art of crafting weapons. Made quite a bit of money from it, but when Jeremy came along…"

The elf sighed fondly.

"Oh, that brings up a question we had. Your master was going to sacrifice you in a ritual. At least, Jeremy and I are pretty sure that was his intention. Now, even if you aren't exactly alive, you are in danger. There is a way Jeremy and I can make you useless for rituals," the elf said.

Jakun fought to hide his flinch, Anya appearing beside him.

"The only way to do that would be if he wasn't a virgin sacrifice," she pointed out.

"Well, yes, that's the idea," Amnor Sen said, almost uncomfortably.

Jakun's eyes widened, and he burst into a fit of giggles as he realised what the elf was suggesting.

"I thought paladins were supposed to be chaste?" he asked.

Amnor Sen laughed in return.

"Have you met Jeremy? Us staying chaste is about as likely as Aroden returning."

"Hey! I could be chaste!" Jeremy pouted from his bed roll.

"Yeah, sure, okay."

Jakun thought about it, trying to stop laughing. If he couldn't be used in rituals…

"They don't know what a virgin sacrifice is," Anya murmured in his ear. "I say go for it. It will throw suspicion off you. Just don't offer your blood."

"Can… can I think about this?" Jakun asked.

"Of course. Um… just so you know, Jeremy and I will do it together, if that's okay with you. But it wouldn't happen until we have a room," Amnor Sen said.

"It's a lot more fun when I'm involved, trust me," Jeremy smirked.

Jakun didn't doubt that. He just had some misgivings about this. Thoughts that might improve with time. Or not. He would see.