Chapter 3:

The Castle of Flowers was a beautiful city. The Castle was well stocked with food and resources. The vault was full of gold. The king was calm, and laughed often. Everyone was welcome in the Castle of Flowers. The castle was surrounded by gardens full of beautiful flowers. It had a main path of cobbled yellow stones that lead to the outer gate.

The outer gate was the entrance to the village. It was a robust town, with many manors. Every corner had a shop, either selling potions, books or armour. The city was famous for it’s architecture. The homes were beautiful, built from wood and they had steep black tile roofs.

there was a Tavern that most of the locals preferred. It was bustling with activity for most of the day.

The locals loved to drink ales and wines in the tavern during lunch. They served incredible meats, and a wide variety of them. Everything from enchanted potatoes, to frog milkshakes.

The door to the inn swung open and the locals continued their conversations in loud voices, laughing at simple jokes. The man in the doorway was a young man, about the same age as Jason. He was dressed in long, tattered black robes. He had a rune tattooed under each eye, his right ear was pierced three times and his neck had scorch marks.

“Behold, the Evil Necromancer!” One of the bar patrons said, noticing the man, then the table erupted around him in laughter.

“Fuck you, Nolan.” The necromancer responded, with a rude gesture.

“Oh no he's going to raise my cat from the dead!” Another patron said with a smile. Which garnered an undeservingly huge laugh from the rest of the group. The necromancer simply walked past to the bar and ordered a Cider. He took his drink to an empty table in the corner of the room and sat there drinking by himself. Occasionally he would dodge thrown beer cups with a nonchalant expression. It was normal. Most people hated him. He wasn't evil, but dark magic was feared by many. It's not his fault he was born a dark wizard. He was employable by the townspeople. He gave people the chance to speak to their loved ones from beyond. He also revived some favourite pets, a blacksmith's dog, a hunter’s pet deer and a farmer’s biggest bull. The pets were simply bones reanimated, but they maintained their nature after resurrection. It was cute, and terrifying.

The necromancer finished his drink peacefully and left the bar. He started walking home when he was stopped by an old woman.

“Excuse me, dear.” she spoke and she grabbed his arm. “My husband passed away last week. I was hoping I could ask for your help.”

The necromancer sighed deeply.

“Alright.” He said, slightly drunk.

A few hours later the necromancer and the old woman were standing beside a pile of dirt next to an open grave. He was holding a shovel, and was covered in dirt and dust. The coffin was visible in the hole. He jumped down, lifted the lid and came face to face with a grey haired corpse. The body was gaunt and the skin was pale with deep circles under the dead man's eyes.

He cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck from side to side. The necromancer started singing softly.

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“Your body is cold, your spirit is free

Return to your bones, rise and serve me

Your soul is returning, to bring you new breath.

I command you, skeleton, stand up from this rest.”

As the necromancer sang, small bubbles of light appeared from his hands, casting an eerie glow over the graveyard. The orbs of light floated gently towards the face of the dead man. They drifted past the dead sin and moved into his skull. They could see the light emanating from behind the man's eyelids and cheeks. The lights disappeared and the dead man took a very deep breath in. He sat up in the coffin, eyes pointed in different directions. He looked around with a confused look, and then he closed his eyes and started snoring.

“Gordon, wake up!” the old woman shrilled. Gordon awoke.

“Mavis, what are you doing up there?” The old man said, puzzled. “I was just having a very good sleep.”

“Gordon, dear. Where did you put the shovel?” She asked.

“It's in the shed, next to the pitchforks.” He said.

“Oh, I didn't look there.” She said, “Love you, hon. Go back to sleep. ” She smiled.

The necromancer stopped the spell and Gordon closed his pale eyes. Then he closed the dirty coffin and simply used a spell to push the dirt into the hole. Then Mavis and the necromancer walked out of the graveyard chatting quietly.

This was his career. He was hired by the town for odd jobs like this. The necromancer returned to his home. The basement of a magic shop. He rented beneath the main store that sold potions, magical items, hexes and cursed items. The shop owner had decided to lease the downstairs to make some extra money.

He walked into his front door and heard a very powerful voice.

“Behold, Nathaniel the Necromancer, who is kind of shit at being a necromancer.” The voice said.

“I conquered three cities, but you can barely conquer three ales.” A second deep and gravelly voice said.

“Alright take it easy, General Nimbus. You died storming your fourth one.” The Necromancer said back.

He saw his three best friends sitting on a couch, staring at a large scrying orb. They were watching the gladiator fights from a few cities over. They were all skeletons. The first wore robes of an emperor, and a golden breastplate and pauldrons. He was a king from over 200 years before. It was Brutus. The second skeleton wore a full suit of black armour with a deep red cape. This was Arkanon, a king and conqueror with a love for battle and fire. The third skeleton was dressed in a white gold suit of armour. His suit of armour shined like a pearl. This was a fallen elven prince. Rodon.

The three skeletons were mostly a trophy of Nathaniel’s own accomplishments, but also his only friends. They constantly tried convincing the human to start a rebellion. They insulted him and laughed at his passive and peaceful attitude.

“So when are you going to bring a girl over?” The king said, which brought a huge round of laughter from everyone. Even the necromancer smiled.

The necromancer’s house was filled with cauldrons, spell books, flasks and chemistry stations. Drawings of skeletons covered the walls, some were for medical purposes with measurements and notes. Other drawings were child like, showing skeletons doing things like patting horses or riding on dragons, or fighting with zombies. These child like drawings were made by Brutus. The room was lit by dull oil lamps and a glowing green cauldron.

“How is dinner?” he asked the skeletons, gesturing to the glowing vat.

“Delicious.” said the dead king. A large green bubble popped and sent a large glob of slime onto the cheek of the necromancer.

“Smells good,” he said.

The necromancer jumped into a hammock and fell asleep, as he closed his eyes, the souls of the dead filled his vision, horrifying mutant faces taunted him as they swirled in a cloudy void. His connection to dark magic was strong, this was a depressing side effect.