I step out of the darkness and have to put my hand up as the light is slightly blinding. Thankfully I did, as once I put my hand down I see Ashley, Alyssa, and Felicia armed and ready for combat. That’s when I realize why they are like that as both of the hounds are growling, which is rather impressive since they don’t actually have vocal cords.

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!” I shout, waving my arms about like a madman. Instantly, both of the hounds sit and cock their heads. I’m sure if they had tongues, they’d be out, and I can feel that they’re laughing at me.

The women are glaring at the dogs and look at me. “What are those? And where did they come from?”

I sigh, “Well, I passed the trial. I’m now a Mortician, a Necromancer who specializes in Blood and Bone magic. Anubis told me right before I was sent back. And these are my familiars. We haven’t figured out what their names are yet, but Anubis said they wanted to stay with me, and well, how much do you know about familiars?” I ask the last at Ashley.

“Plenty, as Reginald and the twins are my familiars. That’s what beast tamers do, we contract animals and monsters into familiar contracts. The contract supplies magic that gives us limited telepathy, and forms a link between us.” She still hasn’t set down her sword yet.

“Well,” I say, “The Necromancer version, or at least the correct necromancer version, is that we form a contract with the souls of our familiars, sharing our souls together. So these guys are just as much a part of me as I’m a part of them now. Yes, it hurts. But it is also worth it. The world I just saw…” I drift off, trying to cope with the pain of a world where unlife has grown so powerful and evil is just that painful.

Alyssa is the first to lower her weapon, and she comes forward a bit, “How bad was it?”

I realize that that’s part of what Anubis wanted me to do. To warn everyone what will happen if the Unlife is allowed to grow unchecked. If there aren’t any necromancers willing to do the right thing over the easy thing.

“The world I was taken to was one that had been overrun by Unlife. Life was still there, but the sky was red like blood, and there were cracks in the land that I’m pretty sure were filled with green soul fire. These two,” I motion towards the hounds, “Were massacred along with the rest of their pack of dogs by ghouls. The ghouls had captured the souls of the hounds and I’m guessing threw them into the cracks. But these two remained. Both had been beheaded in the end, though I had to go through a mound of bodies to reach them. They wanted revenge, and to help me stop what happened to their world from happening to ours.”

As I describe the hellish world, the girls’ faces grew pale. Hearing about it is horrifying enough, but to actually have been there? I don’t truly have the words to describe, but it was enough.

“That world is why we need good necromancers. People who are able to walk the path between living and dead and not give in to temptation. Without Necromancers to put the dead back where they belong, our world may end up like that one.”

Ashley pales a little more at that, as she knows best what some people are doing to fledgling necromancers. There is a lot of fear built up around the dead, and we both know it won’t go away easily.

I nod at her, before looking at the objects in my hands. Two masks, made specifically for my hounds. One mask is silver, and now that I look closer seems to have engravings of stars and moons on it. Then I see the other marks, the ones that tell me this mask was enchanted to do something.

Suspicious, I nod at the hounds, “Which one wants the silver mask?” One of them steps forward, and as I place the mask on the skull, the magic snaps it tight to the skull.

And then there is a normal dog with bright blue eyes.

Somewhat shocked, I realize what Anubis meant about being able to tell them apart. I can feel that the hound isn’t actually changed, besides having a mask on its face now. However, my eyes tell me it is a whole healthy dog.

But on the top of its head is a crescent moon, with a star in the middle open space. As I’m looking, the other hound nudges the golden mask onto its face, and his head is the same, but he has a sunburst on the top of his head. I’m so astonished, I almost don’t hear Ashley mutter, “You could have done that sooner…”

I turn to look at her, “I think Anubis was watching just now, to see the looks on everyone’s faces, because he returned me just after giving them to me.”

It acquiesces Ashley for the time being. She changes subject with, “The guild charter states that you are only able to take one specialization test at D rank, you’ll have to wait until C rank to take the Cleric test. Between now and then, you must accomplish ten C rank quests at a minimum before considering your sub specialization.”

I nod my head. I hadn’t known that, but it doesn’t surprise me. The guild wants to be sure it has the best people possible, and if it put out people who took all the tests without gaining any combat experience, it’d be a laughing stock.

“That’s fine, though I would like to visit the Temple of Sobek and at least become a priest of Anubis. I know he has an altar there.” At this Ashley nods, and says, “That’s on you. I officially welcome you as the D rank Guild member, Mortician Daniel Greyman. May you and your party find glory with honor.” As she finishes, she gives me a chest salute, one hand against the heart, arm held straight horizontal across her chest. I return the salute, and say, “Thank you Guild Master, and I’m sorry for troubling you so much.”

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She laughs as she drops the salute. “At least you have a lot of interesting things happening around you that make up for the pain in the ass that you are. I’ve got to go, but let me know how you’re party searching goes. Good luck.” She turns and leaves, with Felicia following closely behind her.

*****

Alyssa and I exit the guild hall at street level. Compared to how the streets looked even just four years ago, there is a remarkable improvement. The remaining pieces of rubble are so large, they need to be broken down before they can be moved. The cars that used to litter the street have all been scrapped down to the metal, and that metal has gone into making weapons and armor for adventurers, soldiers and guardsman.

Alyssa and I find a restaurant where the owner doesn’t care that he’s serving a necromancer. Granted, we had to find one first, as most have been informed by this point that I’m a necromancer. Some even had pictures up saying that if you even looked like me you’d be escorted out of the building.

The restaurant we eventually found had advertising up for world famous Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza. The owner is an extremely old Italian couple. I mean, they’re so old that I can almost see how long they have left, but both of them are extremely kind. They see that I’ve earned my D rank with the Guild and bring out a pizza for us to celebrate. They don’t even flinch when I mention I’m a necromancer, the woman saying, “That’s nice dear, would you like some more tea?”

It confuses me, but Alyssa finds it hilarious.

We start going through the files that Alyssa got from the guild hall on who we should invite to join us. I also explain to her that we’ve already got a mission. Indianapolis is calling me, I know I can’t leave it alone for long.

We eventually settle on interviewing three people, and I stay with the newly named Oro and Argento. The old woman, Mama Ricci as she insists I call her, is more than happy to put us up for the night, I think because she knows that Oro and Argento are scarier than anything that might try to rob the store.

Alyssa went to find the three people, as she was worried about “accidents” happening if I went out into the city after dark at this point. Enough people have issues with any necromancer, never mind that I’m not like the others.

The three we settled on were a tough decision, though we ended up doing it for two reasons. One, every single one of them has been part of multiple groups, and they were mistreated or kicked out of the group for as far as we can determine, no good reason. And two, they all tend to fir into the same mold we do, covering multiple areas all on our own.

First is Erin Carbonneau. She’s a French Canadian that took the ninja specialization route. She’s originally from near Vancouver, which has been a serious problem for her. She was reportedly down in central Michigan, when Frost giants attacked Vancouver, taking it over. Since then, the Giant’s favorite tactic is to send humans, either slaves or voluntary servants, to infiltrate a new settlement, bring its defenses down, and then the Giants raid and capture more slaves for themselves.

She’s been dealing with the prejudice from that, as well as mistrust because she has the Ninja class specialization for rouge. Everyone knows it’s available, however no one knows what needs to be done to get the class, as she won’t tell anyone about it. With that combination, every group she’s been “part of”, has kicked her when she wouldn’t tell them how to become ninjas.

The other two are brother and sister. They’ve been kicked and mistreated by multiple groups, largely because of the sister, Jessie Williams. She’s a Singer, one of the bard specializations. However, her style of music is one that a lot of people don’t appreciate.

She sings either Irish Folk Music, which her previous groups have said sounds like funeral music, or classic rock and roll. Songs like Stairway to Heaven, and Highway to Hell. The mixture is enough to make most of her previous groups kick her, and when she goes, her brother goes with her.

John Williams is a knight. Strong, Brave, and a shield between his enemies and his friends. He’s also extremely loyal to his sister, who is his only living relative. None of his previous groups have kicked him, however he has received the same treatment as his sister when he voices his opinion, or when they leave a group who kicks her. John and Jessie definitely come as a pair.

There is a third reason we chose those three. I asked Anubis to give me a hint as to who would be willing to work with a necromancer. After all the other options were taken out, these three were the only ones left to tell the truth.

*****

It takes nearly forty minutes and the sun is down when they get back. Alyssa managed to get all three of them to agree to come, and at least talk with us. She’s fuming when she gets back to the Pizzeria, so much so that Papa Ricci, which he insists on being called after he finds out that Mama Ricci insisted on her name, sends out an order of cheesy breadsticks. Apparently he’s got just enough talent with Fire Magic to heat the oven and such on his own, and Mama Ricci has enough talent with Water Magic to keep the drinks cold. Not really sure why this place isn’t more popular.

And then I realize it’s because the building is haunted. Not actual ghosts or souls, just the echoes that can happen when extremely emotional things happen in a location. Enough to creep people out, but not enough to actually need a necromancer. Of course, I can deal with it, but that’s something I’d need to talk with them about before I do.

Anyway, the three newcomers enter the pizzeria, and we all sit down. Alyssa is chowing thru a basket of cheesy bread sticks on her own, and Jessie is looking at the dogs strangely. I swear she jumps a little when Oro looks at her.

John is a bigger guy than I had actually been expecting. He stands at about six foot three, and must weigh two hundred and thirty pounds. He’s clearly young though, and if I had to guess, he just turned eighteen. His sister, Jessie, looks a little bit older, and if I had to guess she’s been a singer for a while now. She’s about five foot six, maybe seven, and weighs a hundred sixty probably. She also has a rapier on her hip, just like John has a bastard sword and his shield, as well as a pair of hand axes that he can probably throw with some accuracy.

The last member of the party, I know has weapons, though I can’t see them. Hells, half the time I can hardly see her, as she likes to stand near shadows and such anyway. Erin Carbonneau, is a beautiful woman, with slightly striking features that clearly denote she has some Asian ancestry somewhere. If I had to guess, I would say her mother. She’s about five foot nine, and probably weighs a hundred sixty to a hundred ninety. It’s hard to tell as I haven’t seen her yet, just her face and some general ideas about her bust from observation.

With this group all sitting around the table, I decide to get started with why they’re here.