Gray skies threatened to rain as the wind blew through the graveyard, whistling through the trees' bare branches. They ran most of the way back, Frank insisting they get as far away as they could. He carried Heather the whole tome with her bone knight, shadowing him as if angry about it. He didn't care what a summoned pet thought or felt; all he cared about was Heather, and what was happening around her.
Thye arrived at to find two low-level players in the forest and paid them no mind, quickly taking Heather to the tower. She was still unconscious when Breanne tucked her into bed with Webster curled into a ball at her feet.
They then gathered outside to discuss what happened and what they might do next. Frank no longer believed they could weather this storm by telling people she had been mistaken for a necromancer. Too many people knew, and those people were growing in power day by day. There was only one option that would see them safe, especially Heather.
“We should leave,” Frank said as he paced in the graveyard.d “Take Heather and go south into the wilds.”
“And do what?” Breanne questioned. “Hide under a rock?”
“Everybody knows she’s here,” Frank argued. “Every day somebody knew turns up to hunt for her.”
“That dragon knight was after her for a completely different reason,” Quinny said. “It wanted another dragon.”
“It doesn't matter, he still wanted Heather, we need to leave.”
“Our first priority should be to remove the crown,” Breanne insisted. “Something about it isn’t right.”
“You mean like how it's fused to her head?” Frank asked.
“We know how to get it off,” Breanne reminded.
Frank threw up his arms and paced angrily. “She is right, you know. Something seems to be guiding her. She always has what she needs just before she needs it. It can't be a coincidence.”
“Things go wrong for her,” Breanne countered. “She got a spider when she wanted a cat.”
“And the spider has proven to be far more useful,” Frank pointed out. “She got what she needed, not what she wanted. Like there is some planned path for her steps.”
“What about the statue in the temple?” Quinny asked from where she sat on a gravestone. “You can’t tell me that wasn’t Heather.”
“Which only proves Heather's point,” Frank said.
“How does that prove anything?” Breanne asked.
“There are hundreds of places Heather could have spawned in,” Frank said. “She just happened to spawn in at the only point near a temple with a statue to her in it?”
“Maybe there are more temples,” Breanne suggested as she tried to make sense of it all.
“What about spawning near an abandoned necromancers tower with a book only she can read?”
“I get your point,” Breanne admitted.
“Everything she needs is no more than a day's journey from right here,” he pointed out. “She was immediately chased into my graveyard and encouraged to stay here. We keep finding the things she needs are all around us like they were placed there for her. This is too much like a game,” Frank said. “Like the path was chosen by the developers, and all Heather can do is keep following the trail.”
“Then maybe she needs to keep following,” Breanne said. “If there is a path laid out for her, it might be important.”
“What about what that dragon said before it flew off?” Quinny reminded. “Don’t carry the taint?”
“Don't carry the taint of that one long, she betrayed you once before,” Breanne repeated. “We can only assume that it has something to do with the crown.”
“Which we need to get off as soon as we can,” Frank insisted. “She behaved like a completely different person when she stepped out there.”
“She was acting funny, and the dragon even more so,” Breanne admitted.
“Why did it call Heather it’s sister?” Quinny pressed.
“I don't know, and I don't care why we should just leave,” Frank repeated as he nervously scratched at his head.
“We can't leave until Heather wakes,” Breanne replied. “She needs to have some say in this before we abandon all we have built.”
“We can rebuild in the wilds,” Frank repeated.
“But nobody will come to play in the wilds,” Quinny said.
“And what do we do about the goblins?” Breanne asked, reminding him that they had followed them back and were now sitting on the other side of the graveyard.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “This is all starting to get out of control. Heather is going to be hunted by every player who wants to cash in her head. Moons people will be back, the cleric that attacked her tower will be back, and now the dragon knight will too.”
“The dragon didn't seem interested in killing her,” Breanne said. “Maybe it won't bring him back.”
“When the dragon knight saw Heather, he said they killed her once before,” Quinny pointed out.
“I am not sure he was talking to Heather,” Frank said. “He was talking to the person she is now.”
“She is still Heather; she just has horns now. Oh, and a creepy green third eye,” Quinny said.
“Which is gone,” Breanne commented. “As soon as it faded, she fell.”
Frank could see they were getting nowhere and looked to the tower where Heather lay. She was perhaps his best friend and the first person who encouraged him to keep trying. To see the world hunting her for something so stupid made him angry. She didn't deserve to be caught up in this mess when all she wanted was to go home.
Heather stood on a grassy hill with a strange crown in her hands. It was a simple metal band with a green stone in the center and a pair of sharp blades horns coming up the back. She looked over the strange crown, turning it in her hands as if remembering what it was. This was important to her somehow, a piece of something she once had. There were more pieces, part of a set, but where were they? Why were they separated, and why did she feel the need to find them all? Try as she might, she couldn't remember, as if something was preventing her from knowing. She finally gave up and did the only logical thing she could think to do and put the crown on her head.
“Heather!” a woman’s voice yelled out. “You must wake up!”
She bolted upright in fright, her breath a hurried pant as she looked around to see she was in her room. The space was darker for some reason, but nothing seemed out of place. She struggled to remember how she had gotten here, but the last thing she recalled was stepping into a fire?
Her hands came to her face as she settled her breathing. It must have been a dream; she thought as she looked around the room. Webster was at her feet, watching her intently with his numerous eyes. Her scythe was against the wall, the bone knight standing a the door, nothing was out of place. She threw her feet over the side and went to her mirror as her jaw fell open.
Trembling hands traced over the pale, almost purple skin of her face. Her eyes were a vibrant, glowing green and lips a soft blue. She had two horns that jutted from the back of her head. They curved out to each side just above the ear, then grew in a gentle arc until the tips were a hands width apart over her head. They looked sharp as her scythe and were a reddish-black in color. She pulled at her hair to inspect where they attached, but they were too far back to see.
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“Ok, so that wasn’t a dream,” she said to calm herself. “Umtha told me how to take it off, we just do what she said and then bury it in a hole.”
“Don't be so weak,” a voice echoed in her head, sounding distant and with a faint echo.
Heather jumped and looked about the room in a panic. Nothing had changed except for Webster had turned on the bed to watch her.
“Did you say that?” she asked the spider who replied by waving its front legs in the air.
“I heard a woman’s voice just now,” she said. “Didn’t you hear it?”
The spider turned circles on its legs back and forth in a no.
“It was a voice like yours, like it was inside my head,” she said as she stumbled up. She looked back to the mirror to see her appearance and shook her head. She decided to change into a simple blue outfit with white sleeves and put on her new boots. She took a minute to brush her hair, finding it awkward with the horns but managed to get it done. Then she made her way out, with the spider and bone knight in tow to find the others.
She nearly screeched When Breanne came up through the floor right before her in her ghostly form.
“Good, you're awake, you had us worried,” she said in a voice that sounded cold.
“What happened to me?” Heather asked. “How did I get here?”
“We carried you back,” Breanne replied. “You passed out after defeating the dragon knight and talking to his dragon.”
“What?” Heather said in shock. “I never fought the dragon knight.”
“You did too,” Breanne insisted. “And you defeated him soundly.”
“No,” Heather groaned, pacing in the hallway. “The last thing I remember was walking into the fire.”
Breanne put her feet to the ground and started to solidify, her ghostly form becoming more solid by the second. A moment later, she was an elven woman again with a perplexed look in her eyes.
“You fought that dragon knight like you knew what you were doing,” Breanne said. “When he proved your better, you tackled him and carried him over the cliff; then, you teleported yourself back up.”
“I did?”
Breanne nodded. “You don’t remember at all?”
Heather shook her head, unable to recall any of that. “I think I teleported when trying to escape the islands that were falling. I wonder if it has something to do with the gremlins stone?”
“You said you put it in the crown?” Breanne asked and waited for Heather to nod. “Then, that must be what it is.”
“I want this thing off,” Heather said as she pointed to her head.
“We have been talking about it and what to do next?” Breanne said. “Frank wants to run. He thinks too many people know you're here.”
“This again?” Heather groaned. “We can't just run from everything. If people want me dead that badly then I will face it. I would rather reset than you guys lose everything you built.”
“I knew you would say that, but none of us want you to go through what it will take to reset you.”
“That’s my decision,” Heather stated firmly.
“We all know that,” Breanne agreed. “Besides, What is truly bothering us the crown.”
“What about it?” Heather asked.
“Were worried you won't want us to take it off.”
“Well you can stop worrying, I want it off, right now.”
“We understand you do now, but we think maybe the crown will fight back.”
Heather paused before her next response and thought about what Breanne just said. Why would the crown fight back?
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Breanne looked worried for just a moment before looking up at the horns. “Remember what Umtha said, you will fight if we try to remove it.”
“No, I won't,” Heather insisted.
Breanne smiled and shook her head. “You say you don't remember fighting the dragon knight, well you did. While you were fighting him, you were talking and behaving like a completely different person. We suspect the crown might have a will of its own, and the way it binds to your head is a sort of self-defense mechanism. When we try to remove it, it might take possession of you and cause you to fight back.”
“You mean it’s alive?” Heather asked.
“We don't know, but it's a possibility. When you were fighting, you had a third green eye floating right over your forehead.”
Heather tried to look up as if to see the eye and sighed with frustration. “How long until the moon is out?”
“It's mid-morning I'm afraid, the dark sky makes it feel later,” Breanne replied.
“Great, so I am stuck with this thing all day?”
“It doesn’t seem to be hindering you now, but we should plan to remove it the second we can,” Breanne insisted.
Heather agreed, and Breanne left to tell the others she was awake. She spent the day moping around her tower then went out to discover the goblins were there. She spoke with Umthat, who begged her to keep the crown on saying she was Hathlisora. Heather wanted to be sure what bathed in moonlight meant, and Umtha said she had to bow her head when the moon was at its peak. She had to be entirely exposed and not in any shadow, or the effect would not work.
She asked who Hathlisora was, and Umtha kept pointing back to her. Finally, she asked how Umhta knew Hathlisora, and something of interest was learned.
“Hathlisora want go home. Necromancers say help Hathlisora if she can help them. She make them portal to place so they can go. She waits for necromancers, but they not come back. Other come back, one who make Hathlisora this.” Umtha then pointed to the horns on Heather's head and smiled.
“But how do you know all this?” Heather asked.
“Goblins work for necromancers. We guard the paths south and keep eye on spawns. We look for new necromancers and send to hidden tower.”
“That explains why they were so impressed when you declared yourself a necromancer,” Frank said.
“And why their village is so close to the spawn,” Breanne added.
“They were sending new necromancers to that tower we found. Probably to meet with the necromancer there,” Frank said as he scratched at his head with a long nail. “Heather is right; there is some bigger plan going on here.”
“The necromancers have shown an immense amount of foresight,” Breanne said. “But how does that explain the temple and the statue of Heather?”
“Necromancers make that for Hathlisora,” Umtha said. “It collect her and bring her here.”
“I don’t like this anymore,” Heather said.
“Are they trying to say the temple was to make sure Heather spawned here?” Frank asked.
“Yes,” Umtha said with a wag of her head. “Hathlisora must spawn here. Her crown was hidden here for her.”
“The crown given to her by the other,” Breanne said with a nod. “Who was the other?”
“She come from portal and brought crown. She look like Hathlisora; goblin call her sister to Hathlisora. She say crown necromancer gift, payment for portal.”
“Did she have a name?” Heather asked.
“Issicara,” Umtha said. “Queen of Abbadon.”
“Is any of this making any sense?” Heather asked.
“Sorta,” Quinny said with a strange tone.
“What part made sense?”
Quinny looked at Frank as he shook his head.
“This world has what are called outer planes. It’s based on our games so they used a lot of our lore. Abbadon is an outer plane outside this world,” he said.
“And this woman is Queen of it?” Heather asked.
“It appears so,” Frank said.
“And that crown is a gift from her,” Breanne said.
Heather tried in vain to look up and see the horns but gave up when it was apparent it was a wasted effort.
“So what's so special about this, Abbadon?” she asked.
“It’s one of the hells,” Frank replied. “I don’t know anything about it. I just know it’s one of them.”
“I heard it was supposed to be a prison,” Quinny said. “Something to do with desolation or something.”
“Great, I have a crown made by a devil welded to my head,” Heather remarked.
“If she is a queen of a plane, she must be an archdevil,” Frank said. “This Hathlisora must have opened a portal from here to Abbadon for the necromancers.”
“And they never came back,” Quinny added.
Heather listened to it all with a sudden curiosity. If this was all just a game meant to study players, why did they need other worlds? Couldn't they just make this world bigger? Nothing made sense to her but the desire to take the crown off.
For the rest of the day, she studied the book, poking through pages hoping to find out more about these planes. She was irritated that for a book that had what seemed like a thousand pages, there was no index. The pages went by, and the hours with them, eventually the sun moved to its dusk position, and they started to get ready.
Umtha pleaded for them to leave the crown on, but Heather demanded it come off. Frank was oddly insistent they do it inside his graveyard just outside the gate to her tower. He said he didn't want her trees to cast a shadow on her accidentally, so she relented and waited in his walkway. Her bone knight stood just to her right, and Quinny stood by the gate as she and Frank spoke.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Just get it off already,” Heather said as they watched the sky.
Frank looked up, and suddenly the sky started to move, the moon racing across the horizon. He looked to Breanne with a nod and yelled.
“Now!”
Breanne faded going ghostly and let out a terrible wail as she tackled Heather’s bone knight. The Knight drew it’s sword as it stumbled back the two wrestling to overpower the other.
“What are you doing?” Heather cried in alarm. Behind her, the gates slammed shut, and Quinny wedged a branch between the bars. Heather spun around in time to see Quinny making motions with her arms as if clawing something up from the ground.
“Sorry, Heather, this is for your own good,” Quinny said as green mist boiled out of the ground on Heather's side of the gate. She saw her skeletons racing across the yard as if responding to her being in danger. Zombies began to claw out of the earth, and Quinny quickly ordered them to kill the skeletons.
“What are you guys doing?” she cried as two strong hands wrapped around her arms from behind. She felt a sudden sensation like falling into cold water, and her muscles went weak as Frank drained her strength.
The moon came to its high position and bathed them all in its glowing brilliance.
“Noooo!” A voice yelled as a green eye opened on Heather’s forehead. “She needs me!”
Frank saw the crown forming in the moonlight as Heather began to thrash. He was as careful as he could be not to drain too much of her strength. When the crown looked whole, he tried to grab it, but the green eye suddenly flared with light. Heather vanished in a puff of smoke and reappeared five meters to his left, crawling along the ground.
“She is so close!” the voice yelled. “She agreed to help me!”
“Get that thing off of her!” Breanne yelled. “I can’t hold this knight much longer.”
Frank tackled Heather, going straight for the crown, he got his hands around the base of the horns and pulled. The crown seemed to fight his efforts, and a green light formed around Heather's head.
“She must keep the crown on!” the voice wailed. “I can’t help her if she doesn’t!”
Frank pulled with all his might, toppling over when the crown, at last, came free.
Heather lay on her hands and knees, panting as Frank tossed the crown aside.
“Heather?” he asked, putting a hand to her shoulder.
“I can’t, get up,” she said.
“I had to drain your strength. It will come back in an hour,” he said. “You need to order your minions to stop attacking us.”
Heather nodded and shouted as loud as she could for her pets to stand down. The bone knight glared at Breanne as it ceased fighting, and her skeletons paused just outside the gate Quinny was barely holding closed.
“Why didn't you tell me you were going to do that?”” she panted.
“We think the crown is listening,” Frank said. “It would have heard our plan and prevented it.”
Heather nodded and tried to sit up. Frank helped her come to her legs, and she looked back to see Breanne and Quinny arriving.
“What do we do with it now?” Breanne asked
“We keep it,” Heather replied. “We keep it until we know why I am supposed to wear it.”
“Then what?” Frank asked.
Heather looked back to the crown as she took deep breaths.
“If I don’t like the answer, we find the deepest hole we can get and throw it in.”