The Nekromancer - 76. Chapter 76

The news reached him slowly, rumours of rumours filtered through the gossip that flowed through the tavern. Vampires staked through the heart, piles of zombies burning in dark alleys. The war for Mechitar was on, and Jakun found he didn’t really care who won. Both Sadira and Gidane were awful people, and the sooner he was gone from the city, the better he would feel.

But Anya had to come first.

“Sir?”

The amurrun held up a hand, still working out the last intricacies of a new summon. He looked up a minute later, a young appearing vampire standing in front of him.

“Sir, Master Gidane says he is waiting for you just outside the city.”

Jakun nodded his understanding, slipping his spellbook back into his bag. He slipped the bag over his shoulders, before nodding toward the door.

They walked for nearly an hour, slipping out through a small hole in Mechitar’s wall before heading down an invisible path toward a pile of shale rocks. Jakun’s eyes peered ahead, the lich’s senses no longer beholden to light. A small opening in the rocks was guarded by a pair of vampires with naked swords that seemed to swallow the light around them.

Jakun’s guide approached the vampires, a sigil glowing on his hand. They allowed the two to pass, Jakun feeling eyes staring at his tail. The amurrun hoped they knew better than to touch; explaining to Gidane why his guards were scratched to ribbons was not on his to-do list.

Descending into a pit of darkness, the catfolk followed his guide into an underground lair, the area around losing its roughness in favour of a faux nobility, complete with carved doors and stone floors. The absence of light was not concerning to Jakun; the black and white figures around him were still easily seen. He knew the vampires preferred darkness, and he was a guest in their lair, not entitled to the simple luxury of light.

“Master Catfolk,” Gidane greeted with a smirk as they entered a sanctum. “Please, make yourself comfortable. We have plans to make, and I expect they will take most of the night to complete.”

Jakun sat at a table, looking at a series of maps on the granite slab. Maps of Mechitar, and of a fortress hidden in the nearby hills.

“Sidara’s home outside of Mechitar,” Gidane explained. “Only the most desperate would fight a mage in her lair. Tell me, cat, how desperate are you?”

“Enough,” Jakun replied. “What of your spawn?”

“Standing watch. We have tipped her off that there will be an assault by vampires. She knows we are coming, and she is frantically seeking new bodies for her creations. If we give her two days, she will be back to full force, and my followers will have perished for nothing.”

“She will create skeletons, the better to deny your people blood and flesh,” Jakun pointed out. “I once saw a cleric hold off near twenty skeletons on his own. Perhaps we could hire one to give ourselves an edge.”

“The skeletons will be no problem. I have a squad of apprentice mages who are learning to claim control of them, and turn them to our sides. Our biggest concern will be traps. I’m assuming most will be arcane in nature.”

“What is the purpose of the fortress? To defend Sadira from holy warriors, or from undead? It will tell us the purpose of most of the traps.”

“She is known for sucking the souls from her victims. Most of the traps will do likewise,” Gidane replied.

“It is fortunate for us that I have no soul then,” Jakun said with a small smirk. “I do not have much experience with traps, but at least if I trigger them, I should not have to worry about the results.”

“And how do you suppose we gain entrance? She will send waves of undead to stop us.”

Jakun shrugged, staring at the maps.

“You know, I’m not a military planner. I’m just pulling ideas out of my tailhole,” he said.

“And here I was expecting you to have a plan to get the spell. What exactly are you bringing to the battle? Did you make me start a war in Mechitar for no reason?” Gidane asked icily.

“Perhaps you should have asked for my abilities before attacking,” Jakun pointed out. “I am a summoner. I bring numbers to the fight, and some transmutations.”

“So you feed our enemy, and let her numbers grow.”

“No, I cut her numbers with my own, and deny her the bodies of our fallen.”

Jakun tapped a claw on a small tunnel near the base of Sadira’s hill.

“If someone could fit through hare, perhaps they could open a gate for us. Preferably during the daytime, so Sadira wouldn’t suspect an attack.”

“My spawn can’t even enter the fortress unless given permission,” Gidane said. “We need to find a way to either draw Sidara out or at least remove her guards.”

“Which is what you have been doing for the last few days, right?”

Gidane nodded.

“I suppose I could fit into that tunnel, but I do not wish to enter the den of my enemy on my own,” he said. “There is an amulet I have that would give you the form of a wolf. I don’t suppose you know how to cast spells in an animal form?”

Jakun shook his head.

“I have found myself to be resistant to most magic, so a curse should not affect me too much.”

Gidane’s eyes widened, Jakun chuckling lightly.

“I know how you work Gidane. You think I haven’t done my research on you?”

“Well, regardless, we can slip into the fortress together while my spawn create a distraction. There is a shaded outcrop within striking distance of the hill, and all it would take is having a sacrifice brought forward to pull the guards over there.”

“Wolves,” Jakun said. “Give me a day and I’ll have near ten scrolls of summoning. Your spawn can summon a horde of wolves to charge, with the added benefit of making Sadira believe they are daywalkers. It will keep your spawn safe, and should distract the guards sufficiently.”

Gidane nodded slowly.

“It sounds like a plan. You will need to follow me within the fortress. Casting your darkness spell over me would aid greatly in the fight, as Sadira likely will be waiting in the sunroom for us.”

“It is settled then. You will have your spell, and then we will have our revenge.”