Morita-san and Robert hopped up and headed out to gather the required materials. Joaquin and I sat back and simply rested for a time.

I opened my Grimoire and searched my memory for yesterday’s attempt with the squirrel. I shuddered at the memory, but knew I had to commit it all to my Grimoire. I turned to a blank page, closing my eyes and concentrating. Once I was certain I had it all, I opened my hand, palm up, and willed the memory into my essence.

From my hand rose a cube, red in color this time, with more swirling pinks and oranges inside. Joaquin gave a low whistle.

“Uau. É uma cor linda, tio. Essa é a memória do experimento de ontem?” Joaquin said softly.

I held my hand up to Shutan, trying to work out what the young man said. “I have no idea what the first sentence was, but yes, this is the memory of yesterday’s experiment,” I said with a smile.

Shutan looked between us and chimed in with. “He says that it is a beautiful color. My question is this: Do you choose the color, or is that just what happens?”

“I haven’t tried to influence the color of the orb one way or another. I wonder…” I said, stroking my chin.

“Instructor?”

“Hmm?”

“Is it possible to put my memory-filled essence into someone else, so they can experience what I did?” I asked, my head cocked to the side.

“Please don’t ever do that, Initiate. You could kill someone that way,” she said frankly. At my look of absolute horror, she continued. “Think about it. Especially with you. You’ve told me that you feel your feelings and emotions intensely and deeply, do you not?” I nodded, and she went further. “Well, not everyone has those same experiences. You would basically be slamming their system with so much information in an exceedingly short period of time, that you could possibly overload their minds. This could kill the unprepared. Someone like Seth could possibly overcome it, however. The Guildmaster definitely could. Please don’t try it with any of your friends. With me, it should be fine, but nobody else. Promise me,” she said in a no-nonsense tone.

“I’ll not do that unless either the situation warrants it, or if it is asked for by someone like Seth or the Guildmaster,” I replied solemnly.

“That will have to do, I suppose. Go ahead and place that in your Grimoire. I’m interested in seeing the results,” she said.

I placed the cube onto the blank page and watched as it slowly sank into the Grimoire. The book vibrated softly, and a photorealistic image of the massive squirrel popped into existence on the page. It was followed by several more pages of detailed notes and formulae, for some reason. Images of each stage of the animal’s growth along with its subsequent crumbling from existence were there, as well. I thumbed through the data, and shook my head.

“Katira? Why and how are there formulae in my experiment log? I don’t know any formulae specific to Necromancy or chemistry in general. What’s going on?” I asked in a voice that sounded agitated and concerned.

Her face snapped to mine, and she came over quickly. She took the Grimoire from me and inspected it, and a small gasp left her mouth. Kneeling next to me, she placed her mouth next to my ear and whispered, “You may not, but Bethany did. This is her influence, and you would do well to memorize these formulae. I will show you how to use them later in your career.”

I swallowed and nodded, considering the matter closed. I whispered a silent thanks to the spirit of the former Necromancer, and got to work studying those formulae, trying to piece together what they meant.

After a couple of hours, Robert and Morita-san returned with a large collection of mint. They came in and sat in their respectives areas, and Robert began to set up his equipment. While I was studying the formulae, Joaquin had reclined against the cavern wall and fallen asleep. He looked like he was about to fall over. Morita-san tip-toed over to him and sat tailor-style beside him. As Joaquin slowly toppled to the side, she guided his head into her lap, and gently stroked his hair. The young man’s restlessness seemed to fade away as his hair was stroked and caressed.

Morita-san looked up at me and placed a finger to her lips. I nodded with an ear-to-ear grin. They looked so adorable together. Shutan looked on at the pair and seemed to sigh softly. I motioned for the skeletal familiar to come over, and he did so silently. He sat beside me and I placed a warm hand on his shoulder.

“Is something bothering you, friend?” I asked softly.

“No. Nothing is bothering me, Stu. I worry for my Master, is all,” came the soft reply.

“Why? He is in good hands, as you can see. He is young, and the young must know love. In his case, knowing love and comfort from a woman like Morita-san will only be a blessing,” I replied.

“But what if they aren’t good matches? What if his heart shatters and I can’t fix him?” he asked mournfully, and I was certain that if a skeleton could cry, Shutan would be.

“Then you do what any good man does, Shutan. You support him with all the love you can. You help guide him through the darkness that is loss and grief; guide him back to the light of Life. He is coming to trust and rely on you. Prove him right, my friend. If that should happen, continue to be his stalwart rock,” I told the skeletal man. “I take it you’ve not had to deal with your Master having a relationship very often, have you?” I asked.

Shutan simply shook his head. “I have not. Most of my Masters were either celibate or too jaded or had a partner already. Those that did, died shortly after their partner. I’ve never had one as young as him. I know next to nothing about teenage men and their hearts,” he said regretfully.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Well, just know that you are not alone. I am here for you to contact, as is Robert, I’m sure. We both care very much for Joaquin. We’ve got your back,” I said softly.

Robert had finished his setup, and had wandered over. He squatted in front of Shutan. “He’s right. We won’t leave you hanging. I promise,” he said softly. Robert nodded once and went over to lay next to Yin, curling up in the fluffy wolf’s fur.

I sat there against the cavern wall, my arms folded across my chest. I knew why Katira couldn’t come sit beside me and hold me, but it didn’t stop me from wanting it. After a few minutes, I apparently nodded off.

“Guys! It’s happening!”

Robert’s excited shout startled me awake. Katira was beside me, my head resting on her arm. I looked over at her and thanked her.

“It’s my pleasure, Master. I couldn’t let you slide down the rock wall and hurt yourself, could I?” she asked softly.

I smiled and looked over to where Joaquin and Morita-san sat, red-faced and slightly embarrassed. With a short chuckle, I hurried over to Robert’s still.

We had missed the initial absorption of the droplet, but as I looked on, I watched the small sculpture vibrate, making a soft hissing noise as it slid across the stone floor. As with Morita-san’s bell, it was moving fast enough to fool our eyes that there were two sculptures. With a sudden halt of movement and noise, there sat an identical pair of sculpted radios.

“I…I did it! It worked!” Robert said, beaming with joy. We all smiled back at him.

“Well? Go try it out, man! If this works, you’ll be able to make a TON of them!” I said to the excited younger man.

“Joaquin? Would you help me?” Robert asked the younger man.

Joaquin nodded and held out his hand, a broad smile on his face. Once Robert put the radio in his hand, he took off like a rocket out of the cave, Shutan on his heels.

After a few minutes, we heard Shutan’s faint voice shouting, “Ready!”

Robert pushed his thumb onto the sharp antenna, and said, “Joaquin? Shutan? Can you hear me?”

We waited quietly and I could hear the thrumming of my blood in my ears. After a couple of seconds, we heard Joaquin’s reply, “Olá Roberto! Eu ouço você alto e claro!” and we all erupted into cheers.

Once Joaquin and Shutan returned, Katira stood and addressed us. “Congratulations, Initiate Grimes! Now, I’d suggest you all pack a light lunch and a bottle of water, as we have a trek before us. Get to it.”

We all scrambled to make a light kit to take with us, packed with four simple lunches and eight bottles of water. Once prepared, we made a beeline for the cavern entrance, and Katira led us out, looking like the strangest parade West Virginia had ever seen, complete with a tiny dragon.

We trudged down the holler with only a couple of missteps, and the group stopped once they saw the waterfall. We all admired the soothing sounds of the rushing water, and the coolness of the crystal clear liquid. Joaquin stared at the crawdads in shock.

“Não sabia que pitu morava aqui,” he said quietly. After Shutan translated for us, Robert looked at him funny.

“Prawn? Here, they are called crawdads. I think they live on almost every continent, except for Antarctica, obviously. Good eating, too,” Robert replied.

“We must keep moving, everyone. We still have quite a ways to go,” Katira reminded us.

One by one, we walked away from the small waterfall, and off towards Rose’s grave. It took us only a couple of hours, and by the time we reached the mound of stocks and stone, the sun was high overhead. Drake took the skies, searching for a bite to eat here and there. Watching him swoop in and snatch something up was a treat to see.

“Okay, everyone. We will stop for lunch here. We familiars will make sure no dangerous animals are able to approach while you eat. Still, don’t waste too much time. We have work to do, after all,” Katira said solemnly as Drake wheeled above us in the skies.

We nodded and reached into the kit for our lunches. Our familiars spread themselves to the four directions and faced away from us, keeping a solid watch. As instructed we didn’t mess around, and ate our food swiftly. I wasn’t terribly hungry, so I only ate maybe three-quarters of my sandwich, figuring a small bite on the way back would be a good idea. We all finished at roughly the same time, so we stood and turned to Katira for what would be our final lesson of the week.

Our familiars turned to face us, and Katira spoke. “Okay, Initiates. Gather around the grave. There are some things I must tell you about the process before we begin.”

We fell in beside our familiars and listened with rapt attention as Katira began her instructions. “First, the immediate area around the grave must be cleared. If you cannot clear the area of weeds and grasses, trample them down. Take great care to not disturb the grave itself, however. In this particular case, we must be careful to not collapse the cairn. Granted, it has collapsed in on itself to a degree over however long it has been here, but it may still collapse further. In our case here, there is grass and plant life growing between the stones of this grave. Ideally, we would allow nature to take Her course in the decomposition of the body, and in this case, it already has. The graves you will find out in the world today are cared for by a crew of people who will mow and trim around the stones, but they do not hallow the ground.”

Robert raised his hand. “Instructor? How far away from the grave do we need to clear the ground? And does it need to be cut back to bare soil, or is grass okay?” he asked.

“Good questions, Initiate. Clear at least a foot away from the grave. How you do it is immaterial, but you must clear enough space to comfortably walk. Cutting it back enough to let wild grasses grow is fine. If it’s a cemetery or a graveyard, it will likely already have simple grass carpeting it. Does that answer your questions?” she replied. Robert nodded thoughtfully.

Drake chirped from above, and we all looked skyward towards him as he sped toward the ground at an incredible speed, halting his momentum with powerful downbeats of his leathery wings just feet above our heads. Once he landed, he trotted over to Katira, and bounded up to her shoulder, settling in comfortably.

“Now, once we have cleared the ground, we must hallow it. To hallow something means to make it sacred. Indeed, a grave is sacred. To not only the person buried there, but to their loved ones, as well. The method of hallowing depends on the Necromancer. Some do so by invoking their personal deities. Others do so by saying a prayer. The ones who have no deities and care not for such things do it by offering their essence to the land itself. It takes four drops. One in each cardinal direction. In Initiate Merideth’s case, he can do so by simply manifesting his essence and placing a sphere at each cardinal point. Or, he could call upon one of his many gods. Either will work just fine.

“Now. A grave can be hallowed by multiple Necromancers. At the same time, centuries apart, minutes apart, it matters not. There is a distinct feel to the air around a grave once it is hallowed. Did anyone feel anything different when they walked up here? No? Then this gravesite has yet to be hallowed. Hallowing lasts only as long as the last Necromancer who did the Hallowing. The four of you can perform your own Hallowings at this site right now. First, however, we must prepare the grave.”