Pulling back the hood of her black robes, Angakkuq stared out toward Shorinstown. The black walls of the citadel loomed on the horizon, dominating the landscape for many miles. It was far grander than the ramshackle laboratory she had spent most of her time in. This was clearly from the past, when people actually built things rather than made do with whatever was left.

“Are you certain it’s a good idea for me to go on ahead?” Miusvon asked, walking with her hands behind her head.

“Of course. There’s no sense wasting time.”

“I know. I’m just not sure you’ll be safe out here on your own.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Angakkuq. “Are you really that worried about a few stray ghouls?”

“No, I’m worried about whatever else is drawn to the citadel. Losing you and your work over something like that would be a tragedy.”

“Your concern is touching, but I assure you that no harm will come to me. Now go.”

With one last shake of her head, Miusvon took off running toward the citadel and soon left the others far behind. At their much slower pace, Angakkuq and her ghouls would still take a few days to get there. Shorinstown was too distant to make out much other than the citadel, and yet Angakkuq was already filled with a mixture of dread and hope at their arrival.

The last city of the world offered a certain novelty, but from what Miusvon had told her, she didn’t expect much. The natural had made it out to be a dismal place, populated almost entirely by dull ghouls. If it was only that, it wouldn’t have bothered the necromancer all that much.

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What concerned her more was the inevitable bloodshed that would follow during their takeover. She’d instructed Miusvon to keep the casualties to a minimum, but the deaths could easily add up depending on how much resistance she met. Had she a choice, she would have stayed at home, comfortable and free to pursue her research. Her work was far too important for her to waste time exploring the world.

But there was something out there in Shorinstown, something that radiated powerful energy and had only seemed to grow as the days passed. It was the very same energy she used to create new life, but the quantities there was far beyond anything she’d encountered.

As far as Miusvon had been able to determine, there were no necromancers in Shorinstown, which made its presence all the stranger. Whatever phenomenon was occurring within the city, it presented the opportunity of a lifetime.

All that she had to do was go there and seize it. Even if it proved to be bloody, taking over the place shouldn’t be overly difficult—it was what happened after that which concerned her. If she was able to sense the energy, then undoubtedly other necromancers could as well, and they were bound to make their way here just like she had. All she could do was plan and hope that Miusvon’s aid would make the difference.

She’d sent the natural on ahead in the hopes that she’d be able to secure the place before any necromancers got there. Much as she’d like to have gone as well, the equipment her ghouls were carrying was too delicate for them to handle without supervision, and Miusvon was probably more suited to the takeover than she was.

Conflict was nothing new for Angakkuq, but she’d always disliked it. Why couldn’t they just work together? There was scarcely anything left to work with, so she didn’t understand why other necromancers were so obsessed with hording what they had. Maybe she was just getting old. In her day, necromancers working together toward a common goal had been normal.

But that was back when they’d still been working with the humans, a concept that was probably alien to most necromancers now. Angakkuq sighed. The world had gotten far worse since then. If she didn’t have her work to keep her busy and give her hope, she was sure she would’ve lost her mind by now.

Putting her hood back on, she instructed her ghouls to pull down the pavilion and get ready to leave. They’d rested long enough.

It was time to get back to saving the world.