Anastacia had been punted out of the realm of the night father into the barracks of the guild guards almost at the opposite side of northern Valor. Having never had the reason to stray that far from the inn, she had absolutely no idea where she was or how to get anywhere, luckily the guardsman whose lunchbreak the necromancer had ruined was willing to guide her to the boutique she and Holly had visited. As from there on she would be able to hopefully navigate to the alley the owlfolk lived in.
It appeared that a few hours had passed while she had been away, and the sun was already well on its way down towards the western horizon, though Anastacia could have sworn it had taken almost a full day, but perhaps one’s sense of time wasn’t the thing to rely on when hopping between dimensions.
The parts of northern Valor that weren’t as near the gate were quite different to the one’s Anastacia was used to. Though the overall architecture of the buildings was much the same, the stores and other services they housed weren’t at all like the ones the necromancer frequented in. The number of bookstores and small libraries alone was mind-boggling to her, as was the fact that none of the windows had a single blade or piece of armor on display.
“What’s up with this place? The streets are almost empty and there’s nothing useful for sale. Where are the blacksmiths and such?” Anastacia asked and stopped to look at a collection of quills that was sale for a price that could have covered all the weaponry and armor she would no doubt go through in the next five or so years.
The guard raised his eyebrows. “Ah, you’re from near the gate, aren’t you? Well, you see, the guild likes to keep the quote unquote ‘troublesome’ adventurers around there. So warriors and other more violence-oriented ones are free to run about and go punch things more readily. The adventurers here are more about diplomacy and silvery tongues.” He explained and nodded to greet a finely dressed elven adventurer that happened to walk past them. “It’s not that the guild thinks less of your kind, but sometimes it’s better to talk things through and avoid bloodshed. Some parties also prefer to have someone who’s able to talk their way out of situations with finesse and grace as well, at the cost of having to protect them, because it’s not like you can convince a bandit lord’s pet wyvern to rethink its choices in life.”
“Huh, when I try speak my way out of situations, it usually has the opposite effect.” Anastacia laughed. “So are they like mages as well or something? Can’t imagine anyone going out there completely defenseless.”
“Usually they know a spell or two, or are mages but just not the combat type, some of them have done some training with swords as well, but in general their offensive and defensive capabilities are that of a piece of toast compared to you lot.” The guard said jokingly with a hushed tone and his mouth covered to avoid anyone overhearing him. “What are you by profession anyway? Some kind of a sneaky rogue type?”
“A mage mostly… and a necromancer.” Anastacia said with considerable emphasis on the first profession.
The guardsman squinted and looked like he was trying to remember something the best he could. “You’re ‘Anastacia’, aren’t you?” He asked.
The necromancer stopped on her tracks. “Why did that sound like my name was in quotes?”
“Oh, don’t worry, it’s just that the guild has issued an official warning about dealing with you. Apparently, you’re detrimental to order and liable to cause issues when confronted.” The guard shrugged. Obviously, he wasn’t too worried, regardless of the warning.
“Those damn official asshats! I swear to fuck if there isn’t a form that lets me snap that raspberry icicle right off their dumb foreheads, I’m going to make them write up one!” Anastacia yelled and stomped on the ground. “I AM NOT DETRIMENTAL TO ANYTHING BESIDES FUCKERY LIKE THIS!”
The guard calmly watched her flail about and waited for the rage to subside. He had clearly witnessed a few adventurers having tantrums before. “You don’t really need to get so upset over it. They haven’t actually told us to watch you or anything, and besides, from what I’ve heard, you’ve never caused trouble to the guard, so no one actually thinks you’re a danger to anyone.” He explained while lazily leaning on his halberd.
What the guard said was true, though the relationship between the only necromancer in Valor and the guild guards had started off a tad rocky with mutual wariness, as well as Anastacia almost getting arrested within a day from arriving to the city for the first time and frequently clashing with the guild officials. Anastacia had quickly understood that unlike their arrogant, crystal-horned masters, the guards were actually understanding and well-meaning. Similarly, the guards had learned that the threat posed by the necromancer was more or less nonexistent.
“It’s still ass though.” Anastacia grumbled as they continued down the nearly empty streets.
Soon enough, Anastacia started to recognize some of the shops and other buildings they passed and started to get some idea about where she was. When they finally found the general store she and Holly had visited, Anastacia thanked the helpful guard by offering to buy him a drink if he ever happened to patrol around Rosie’s inn – though she forgot to ask his name before letting him go back to his duty.
Navigating from the shop to Holly’s alley was still more or less trial and error, as Anastacia had to return to where she had started a few times before finally stumbling upon the unnaturally shady alley once more, which now seemed somehow even less inviting than before.
As she inched her way to the door, the necromancer could feel the same pressure she had felt in the realm of the night father. Yet she still pressed onwards, despite breathing becoming even more labored than it had been in the darkness. While it was clear that something was terribly off from the start, Anastacia couldn’t pinpoint what exactly. The only way she could describe it was as if something immensely powerful had turned its focus on her and almost crushed her with nothing but its gaze. Each step felt like she was hauling the entire weight of the skies on her shoulders, the air in her lungs felt like it had turned into tar, and each time she exhaled, it felt almost like she was coughing up coagulated blood.
Having her movement be hindered through necromancy was something Anastacia was familiar with, but even that felt like nothing but harmless child’s play compared to what was happening. With necromancy, there was barely any room for struggling as one’s muscles simply stopped moving, but the pressure in the alley was nothing like that, as nothing was stopping her from fighting back, but it was very obvious how futile it was.
Unsure whether she was starting to black out or if the alley was slowly becoming even darker, Anastacia lurched forwards and tossed herself towards the door, only barely managing to reach it. Using the last ounces of her strength, she slapped the door a few times and hoped that Holly could hear it. When nothing seemed to happen, the necromancer closed her eyes and kept trying to knock on the door for what felt like an eternity, until finally she could hear the door unlock.
The entire alley was suddenly flushed with light as Holly opened the door. “NO BULLYING!” She screamed from the top of her lungs and hastily dragged Anastacia inside before slamming the door shut.
Gasping for air, Anastacia flinched awake in the pile of bedding that was Holly’s nest. She flailed a bit in confusion but getting blinded by the crystal jars once more made her calm down in no time.
Holly was standing next to her with a book already lifted above her head. “Part of a story.” She demanded.
“What?” Anastacia muttered and rubbed her eyes, before getting mercilessly whacked with a book for not remembering to quote something from Holly’s story. “Ow! Stop that! Just give me a second… The throne under the ivory crown shall forever remain empty, for its owner can never see the glory of what is rightfully theirs!” She recited the first sentence that came to her mind.
Happy with the answer, the owl girl lowered her book and sat down next to Anastacia. “Thought Anna was gone. Very scary.” She said and shook her head. “Shouldn’t have let her go.”
Anastacia took a few deep breaths to make sure she was okay, but luckily it seemed like almost being crushed by darkness didn’t have any lasting effects. In her hand, she was still squeezing the small roll of thread gifted to her by Estreya, and upon seeing it, she remembered its purpose. “It honestly wasn’t all that bad, and I met someone who was able to help you.” She said and proudly showed the thread to Holly.
“Yarn? But we have no kittens.” The owlfolk wondered and turned her head. “Did you find kittens?”
The necromancer hopped up and started unraveling the thread. “I wish, but I did get this stuff that’s supposed to block anything from the realm of the night from entering here – or something like that.” She explained and snapped the thread in two, roughly equally long pieces. Trying to remember the instructions given to her, Anastacia shoved one of the pieces under the doorstep and the other into a crack between the doorframe and the wall above the door. “That… should do it? I guess?”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“No more spies?” Holly asked, sounding slightly hopeful.
Anastacia shrugged. “There’s no real way to tell – unless…” She said and took a deep breath before slowly and carefully opening the door.
“NOOOO!” Holly yelped and buried herself in beddings.
Mentally prepared to start choking again, Anastacia glanced at the alley outside, the alley that was no longer dimmed by the powers that haunted Holly. Though still shady, as alleys often were, it was only regularly shady. As far as Anastacia could tell, the threads had warded off the night, just like Estreya had promised.
“Whew… That could have gone badly.” The necromancer sighed in relief, hastily closed the door and stepped away from it. While it definitely looked promising, she didn’t exactly trust the devotee of Ciel enough to keep the door open for too long.
Holly looked annoyed. “Shouldn’t do dangerous!” She scolded Anastacia.
“Well it worked, didn’t it?” Anastacia laughed nervously. “So what now? Did you have something planned?” She quickly changed the subject.
Holly huffed and opened her book once more. “I need to sleep soon, work again in the evening, must be responsible after all. But Anna asked for another story, head noises picked one she should like.” She said while still frowning as hard as she could, as if to make sure the necromancer understood how displeased she was. Though Anastacia mostly found if funny as the owl’s tone didn’t have a hint of anger in it and didn’t correspond at all with what Holly was trying to get across.
Anastacia sat down and glanced over at the page Holly had opened. Since it was obviously just as blank as every other page in the book, Anastacia groaned in annoyance and leaned back to avoid further frustration. “Okay, what’s this story about then?” She asked and closed her eyes.
Holly yawned, cleared her throat and placed a finger on the page to begin reading. “In a kingdom buried by time and forgotten by mortals and gods alike, stood a fortress manned by the mightiest knights under the sun. For eons they had dedicated their lives to combat the kingdom’s numerous enemies, from the vile servants of death to primordial evils to newly crowned divine fates; all of this and more they had faced to serve their lords. Though limited in number, they reigned over battlefields completely unchallenged, no sword could pierce their armor and no shield could protect from their wrath.
“The commander of these knights of stone, a great strategist and a mind without peers, was known as The Erratic Judgement. Loyal beyond question, he answered the call from his masters without a fail and sent his warriors to countless wars.
“Thanks to these mighty knights and their commander, the kingdom rose to power across the lands and prospered without limits. Though it allowed the citizens of this empire to live in peace, the unrivaled power slowly corrupted the lords of this kingdom and made them arrogant, greedy and careless. They waged more wars from the safety of their thrones, relying on the commander to strengthen their control over the world.
“This corruption didn’t go unnoticed by the wise commander. For the purpose of his creation had always been the protection of the realm, not ensuring its blind expansion or eradication of those who didn’t submit to it. Yet, it was the purpose the lords had used him and his knights of stone for. Disappointed by his creators, The Erratic Judgement gathered his knights, sealed the gates of his fortress and fell into eternal slumber.
“Foolish and vain as they were, the lords once more challenged a new foe, expecting the knights to carry out their malicious deeds, but for the first time since the ancient times, when the kingdom was formed, the commander did not answer their call, and So began the fall of this ancient empire. Millennia of advancement in science, magic and culture, buried in mere days by the countless foes their hubris had amassed. They pleaded and begged for the commander to send out his knights, but the fortress remained silent.
“As years, centuries and millennia passed, the ruins of the ancient empire faded into obscurity, until naught was left but the ever-vigilant automatons, who continued their tireless servitude without acknowledging the fall of their masters. New kingdoms rose and fell over time, and these remnants were soon considered nothing more than purposeless machines or a force of nature. For all this time, The Erratic Judgement waited, he planned, and he calculated. Hidden from prying eyes of those that came after, he prepared for the day he could once more serve lords worthy of his loyalty.
“Through no reasoning a mortal mind could understand, the commander finally deemed world to be ripe for his purposes. But knowing that the rulers and champions of the new world were no more resistant to the temptations of power than the lords he once served had been, the commander sent out two of his knights to travel the now unknown lands and learn whether it was truly the time for their return or not…”
The owlfolk took a break from reading to flip a page, but when she glanced at Anastacia, Holly noticed that the necromancer was fast asleep next to her. She huffed annoyedly and closed the book before turning her attention to the door that had been reinforced with the black thread. It hadn’t budged once after Anastacia had returned, which was at the very least a good sign of the seal’s effect.
Anastacia woke up to the sound of a door slamming shut and was further shaken up by the blinding light from Holly’s collection of crystals, immediately reminding her of where she was. Clumsily climbing out of the pile of bedsheets, the necromancer looked around and figured that Holly must have just left for the inn. It was nice of her to allow Anastacia to sleep a bit longer, but in all honesty, she still had no idea where the alley was in relation to anything in the city and would definitely get lost on her way back.
As Anastacia stood up, she could hear something hard fall on the floor and roll into a corner of the room. “Ohhh!” She gasped as she remembered why she was visiting Holly in the first place. She picked up the glass pearl and peered into it, but couldn’t tell what was so special about it, so much so King had to go out of his way to destroy them. Regardless, acquiring the pearl meant that Anastacia was a step closer to finding out the simulacrum’s secret, now all she had to do was to visit a guild office to have the officials read the mystery bead.
After carefully inspecting the alley for any irregularities from inside Holly’s home, Anastacia stepped outside, made sure that the door was locked and dashed into the street as fast as she could. Though it was unlikely that being on a slightly bigger road made her any safer from being crushed like a bug by an angry god, it did make the necromancer feel a lot better.
The streets were still relatively busy despite the encroaching night, and it wasn’t hard to find a guard who could point her in the right direction. While initially comfortable, the pile of beddings hadn’t really been all that great for sleeping, and the odd position had left Anastacia’s back a bit sore, but on her way she was able to limber up a bit and shake away what grogginess was left from the long overdue nap.
The trip to the guild offices seemed much shorter than she remembered from the morning, but it was entirely possible, if not likely, that Holly wasn’t using the most direct route when navigating from the inn to her home.
Stepping into the office was always a nice experience, seeing all the different adventurers and their odd equipment, the boards full possibly amazing quests for anyone brave enough to take them and the extremely annoyed looks on the officials’ faces when they noticed the necromancer heading for their tills.
“Good evening to you, fair unicorn.” Anastacia greeted the clerk and mocked the distinctive horn on their forehead.
“We have been over this multiple times already, necromancer, unicorns are equine creatures and we are not.” The clerk sighed and put aside whatever forms she had been flopping through earlier.
“I know, and it’s amazing that you still think that pointing it out helps at all.” Anastacia laughed and leaned on the counter. “Anyway, I need you folks to help me with something.” She whispered.
The official perked up slightly. “Oh? You do now? Well, I assume it’s no coincidence that we need your aid with something as well. You see, earlier today, a messenger arrived here with a declaration of war and a list of atrocities perpetrated by someone called ‘Anastacia’” She explained while another clerk hastily handed over a scroll to her. “According to this, Valor is harboring a dangerous war criminal and by continuing to do so, is placing itself under risk of being besieged by the forces of Duke Filippos Beppo the Third. To undo this, all the guild needs to do is hand you over to them.”
Anastacia went pale and backed away from the counter. “Shitshitshitshit… They followed us?! You’re not going to toss me out, are you?!”
“The guild spent approximately four seconds discussing the matter, until it was unanimously understood that your disruptive attitude towards the guild procedure and the danger you possess to Valor as a whole far outweigh your current usefulness as an adventurer.” The official stated coldly while unraveling the scroll.
“WHAT?! I’ve done nothing but completing quest after quest for you, and you’re going to hand me over?!” The necromancer yelled but ended up lowering her tone to avoid causing a scene.
The official appeared wholly unconcerned about the outburst and emotionlessly stared at Anastacia until she calmed down. “However, if you allow me to finish now, it was also understood that if you choose to behave for once, you have the potential to complete some of the most dangerous and rewarding quests ever to be listed. In addition, above all else, it was decided that all laws of Valor will always apply to all citizens; and as per nothing less than the second law, no citizen of Valor will ever be given up to be persecuted by authorities other than the guild itself, unless they have acted against the laws of Valor.” The official continued and tore apart the scroll to make her point.
Anastacia scratched her head and returned to the till. “So you’re not going to hand me over? You could have started with that…” She muttered. “But thanks, I suppose.”
“Affirmative. The messenger was sent back with a complaint form that can be filled and submitted within the next twenty days, and which included an additional notice notifying the duke that any and all military activity within Valor’s borders will be responded to with excessive use of force, up to and including a black order.” The official nodded and for a split second, Anastacia could have sworn she saw a smug smile on her face.
“Wha… what’s a black order?” Anastacia asked.
“Did you not read the book of laws when you were filling the application to become a citizen? Hardly surprising, now that I think about it.” The clerk sighed and tossed the crumbled pieces of scroll into a small bin under the counter. “A black order is a guild submitted quest that automatically and instantly applies to all adventurers within the city. It is used as a defensive measure and grants all adventurers the permission to use whatever means necessary to defend our borders. Participation is both mandatory and extremely lucrative.”
“Oh.” The necromancer nodded, realizing that it was probably the reason she had to clean thousands of remains from the fields around the city.
The official opened up a drawer near her and began going through the glass cards stored in it. “Now, while we have no intention to rethink our decision about your fate, it would be much appreciated if you returned the favor. It would also go a long way towards improving our opinion of you. What do you say?” She asked in a tone that made it clear that it was more of a demand than a suggestion.
“Uh… Sure. What did you have in mind?” Anastacia asked nervously.
“Why a quest, of course.” The clerk said, now obviously grinning, and pulled out one of the cards from the drawer.