I awoke alone early in the morning. I didn’t hear any clunking of bones, or any scratching of claws, so I figured it was simply my overactive imagination that led me to have some sort of fantasy about a skeletal kitten and a Necromancer’s grimoire. I looked around my bed, and didn’t see the grimoire where I thought it had been laid the night before. Fantasies that were probably brought on by mold. Mold can do that, right? Yeah. Had to be mold.

I slipped on my fisherman’s trousers, and went to the kitchen, yawning and rubbing my eyes.

“Morning, Stu! I took the liberty of making some tea, since you don’t have coffee. Why don’t you have coffee? I thought everyone drank coffee,” asked Katira in a decidedly older, more velvety voice.

I yawned and replied, “Because I have ADHD. Coffee makes me sleepy, and I’m not a huge fan of…the…taste.” I looked over to the counter and saw what looked like a rainbow-skinned woman with a pair of crystalline horns that spiraled around her ear, ending at her jawline.

“Katira?” I asked, bewildered.

She giggled and stepped back, doing a pirouette. “Yep! This is the form you had in your mind! Well, almost,” she said, placing a finger on her chin. “I figured that you would appreciate it if I didn’t take the form of a twelve-foot tall dragon, so I took that idea, and merged it with a human female form! What do you think?” she said, hopping backwards.

I looked at her, and pursed my lips. “I think you look, ah, good. Very good, actually. Lets, um, let's put on some clothes, yeah?”

Katira looked down at her body, “I thought you would like this body,” she said with an adorable pout.

“I do! I find that body incredible, actually. I would like to complete my repairs on the house, though. If I have to attempt that while you’re naked, I will likely take much longer to get it done. I had hoped to be done by next weekend, actually. If I get too distracted, I’ll take more time. Come on. Let’s see if we can’t find you some clothes. I should have something to fit you,” I said, walking back to my room.

“Oh, no need! I can take care of that,” she said cheerfully.

I turned around, and she had materialized an oversized t-shirt and baggy shorts onto her body. “Well, that has to be handy,” I mused. I walked over to the counter and picked up the mug of tea. Katira had her hands clasped beneath her chin, a hopeful expression on her iridescent face. A face, I realized, that was patterned with thousands of tiny scales. As I looked closer, I saw that she had scales all over her body, in an interesting pattern. I would have to get a closer look later to examine that. It was pretty interesting.

I took a hesitant sip of the tea. It was Earl Grey, sweetened with what tasted like honey, and still hot.

“This is good, Katira. Thank you,” I said with a broad, satisfied smile.

She hopped up and down, clapping her hands. “Yay! I did good!” She giggled and hopped up on the counter, sitting with her hands on her knees. “So! What are we doing today, Sir?”

I sipped my tea, thinking. “Well, that depends. Are you going to let me work on the house some more, or will you distract me?” I asked, curious as to her intentions.

“Well, You really want to finish the house, so I think it best that I help. I may seem childish, but I’m actually rather competent. So, just tell me what needs doing!” she said with a grin.

I stood there, drinking my tea. Well, I was working on the kitchen last night before everything happened, so it only made sense to continue there. “Since the kitchen is where I stopped last night, it makes sense to start there. After that, there’s the main room of the house and the office,” I said with a shrug.

“And the ritual rooms.”

“The what?”

“The ritual rooms. The room where you found the grimoire? There are several rooms attached to it. Each has a specific purpose, and I know them all,” she said shrugging.

“Since I know what needs to be done up here, let’s take a look downstairs. I need to know all of my home,” I said, setting down my tea.

“Okay!” She hopped down, landing lightly on the floor, and walked to where the trap door was.

I shook my head. She was either unaware of or unconcerned by the way her body moved. It was like watching a character from a hentai. I took a calming breath and followed her to the trap door.

She unlatched it, opened it and we headed downwards. Once at the bottom, I remarked on how dark it was.

“Oh that?” She snapped her fingers and the candles came to life. “That’s easily fixed. And here” -she motioned to the pedestal where the grimoire sat- “is where you will find the grimoire. You can bring it out, but once you or I lose contact with it, it transports itself here within thirty seconds. Safety measures, you know?”

“So I’ll need to do all my reading and studying down here, if I want to actually be a Necromancer?” I asked, hoping I was wrong.

“Of course not. Bring it on out and study at the kitchen table. Just don’t let go of it,” she said reassuringly.

I looked around. This was definitely not in the floor plan. The walls, floor and ceiling were rough stone. There was a carpet laid down, although it appeared to be absolutely filthy. Several braziers on the walls held…something that was on fire, lending an eerie glow to the room. The fireplace wasn’t lit, although I suppose it was because it was mid-Spring, and not necessary. Even if it were lit, I’ve no idea where the smoke would go, as I didn’t have a chimney.

I saw two doors on either side of the fireplace, and noted that they were closed and bolted. The only sound was the soft flickering of the flames, and our breathing.

In a low voice, I asked “Where do those doors lead, and why are they bolted?”

“Well, the one on the left leads to a series of cells, with a connecting hallway to the room on the right, which is where you’ll do your experiments and build your servants. I’m here to help you in any way I can, Stu,” she said, leaning close to me.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“I’m not sure I even want to be a Necromancer, Katira. Why would I wanna animate the dead? There’s just no need for that anymore. I don’t think there ever was, really. And isn’t Necromancy one of the ‘dark arts’?” I asked.

“At one time, it was thought to be. However, after thousands of years, new uses have been found for it. For instance, you can use it to heal. It costs someone their life force, but it can be done. Not all of it, just what would normally be used in the process of healing naturally,” she explained.

“Life force? I’m not sure I completely understand. Does that mean I would take time away from someone’s life in order to heal someone else?”

“Not really. Life force replenishes rather quickly, and isn’t a measure of how long one will live, but rather the immediate potency of their life. You will cause no lasting harm to someone by draining a bit of their life force in order to heal someone else, or yourself. Not unless you take too much too quickly,” she said.

“Oh. What happens? Do they pass out or get sick or something?” I asked.

“No. They die. Immediately. You could bring them back rather easily, but they would just be a thrall. It’s why Necromancers in the past used to work mainly with skeletons. More unusual is a golem or a homunculus. And even more rare is a Necromancer who, instead of raising the dead, subjugate the will of another creature. It takes an extremely powerful Necromancer to do something like that,” she said with a shrug.

“Well. Hypothetically, say I want to heal someone. How would I go about learning these things?” I asked.

“We start small. I can go kill a lizard, and you can raise it. The instructions are in the book. Would you like to start now?” She had an odd gleam in her eye.

“Um, no. No, first I want to get my home in order. Then, and only then, will I make any sort of decision. Okay?” I said.

“Okay…” She pouted and hung her head.

I put my hands on my hips and said “Oh stop, Katira. You’ve peeked into my head. You know pouting will get you nowhere.”

“It was worth a shot.”

I shook my head and headed back out of the workspace, Katira on my heels. She doused the lights, then shut and locked the hatch.

“Out of curiosity, why were you so insistent about the latch before?” I asked.

“Oh. Because that space isn’t connected to this world. Outside of the workspace is a world filled with dangerous creatures and truly evil people. With that locked, certain wards are completed, and usually there is no way they can come to your world. So you must always keep it locked when you aren’t down there. The chance is small, but if anything does come through, very little will be capable of stopping it,” she warned.

I swallowed. “Okay. Good to know. What if something breaks into the workshop while I’m in it?” I asked, fearing I knew the answer.

“Run. Lock the door. Pray the wards hold. If you can’t get out in time, hope your death is quick. I’ve lost many a Master to that exact thing. Every time, they thought themselves powerful enough to survive, and every time, they’ve been wrong,” she said sadly.

I approached her and took her hand, saying “Katira, I’ve no intention of being down there alone for any length of time. If anything like that were to happen, I would be out of there in a flash. Okay? I’ve no desire to die anytime soon.”

She smiled appreciatively, which lit up her face. “Thank you. I hope you live for a long, long time. Most Necromancers get a taste of power and wind up doing something stupid, like overextending themselves, and burning out. Few have ever acted with any degree of self-preservation. My last Master died horribly. He tried to raise an army of minions, and wound up being consumed by them shortly thereafter. It was all I could do to shut and lock the hatch.”

She had a faraway look on her face as she told me what happened, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around her and held her, saying “Well, I’m not doing that. You’re stuck with me, Katira. For as long as I can manage to live. Okay?”

She gasped softly, and held me tightly. In a small, thin voice she simply replied “Okay.”

After a moment, I held her at arm's length, and smiled. “First, we need to finish this house. Let’s go do the thing, yeah?”

She sniffled and nodded. I put on a shirt, some actual pants, and got back under the sink, and resumed the work I’d halted the night before. Katira and I made short work of the sink, and turned our attention to the rest of the kitchen.

The work continued until I got hungry, which was later than usual. I ordered a pizza and Coke, and sat down in the great room, chatting with my new partner in crime about everything and nothing. I ate about a third of the pizza, then we got back to work. We spent the rest of the day simply working and talking.

“Well,” I said, surveying the work we had done in the kitchen, “It looks like we are almost done here. A new backsplash, and we will be set. After that, it’s off to the great room and office. Or do you want to make that your room?”

“What do you mean, ‘my room’?” she asked, hands on her hips. “I sleep with you. No ifs ands or buts.”

“What if I get a girlfriend? Or get married? How will I explain you to her?” I asked, somewhat irritated.

“You won’t be able to do that. Not unless she is also a Necromancer. Trust me. All my prior Masters tried at least once. All were unsuccessful. Either she died suddenly, refused him because of my presence, or he was simply denied repeatedly. It’s one of the reasons you were even able to be a Necromancer in the first place,” she explained.

“What? I’ll never have a partner again? No kids? I’m not going to know the comforting embrace of a woman again in my life?” I said, my voice rising.

“Unfortunately not. I didn’t cause this, nor did the Guild. A simple quirk of your destiny. Did you never wonder why love always seemed so far out of reach?” I shook my head, unwilling to accept it. She continued with, “It isn’t anyone’s fault. Not really. It’s got nothing to do with how good you look, or how great of a man you are, or your worthiness, or anything like that. It’s just fate, Stu.” She shook her head sadly, and gently cupped my cheek. “You’re a wonderful man. Simple as that. Few in this world could deserve you, and an exponentially smaller number could handle all of you. Remember: I know everything in your head. I know precisely what you’re capable of, and what you need. I can and will gladly give you what you need. Trust that. I know how to fulfill your needs and desires with and without sex. I know how to be the perfect person for your life. As long as it may be.”

I sighed heavily, sadness washing over me. She was right, of course. I’d had dismal luck in the dating scene for my entire life. I had little hope of ever finding a partner I could be completely open with. Someone who wouldn’t judge me, or push me away.

My throat was tight as I looked down and whispered, “Yeah. It’s been hard, that’s for sure.”

She gently lifted my chin, smiling softly, “Look at it this way: Nobody will ever be worthy enough for you. Not for my Master. Necromancers -even those that don’t practice the art- are a special type of human. You don’t get to be within their presence without knowing how rare they truly are. Only one in a hundred million or so. Probably less. Finding that other Necromancer who is a true match for you? Never happened before, and the art has been around for several thousand years. Don’t despair. You are not alone. Not anymore.” She wrapped me in a tight hug and held me for a while.

“Okay. I can try to believe that,” I said sullenly.

“I’ll take it. Come on, let’s get to bed,” she said as she gently took my hand and led me to the bedroom.