Damien and Fred approached a series of town houses on the northern side of Windcrest within the Halfling ward. Each of the town homes seemed unique when viewed from the outside. Some formed out of crisp, deep oak, others crafted from light ash trees. Damien walked for a time, until he was lost. Fred followed loyally though he clicked his lighter in anticipation. He was never one for waiting.
Eventually Damien began to feel a warmth in his chest. A pull toward something. He let the force drag him forward, twisting through the neighborhood. A couple of streets passed in a blur until Damien stopped at the base of a series of steps.
“What? Is this it?” Fred said.
“Yeah,” Damien replied, “I think this is it.”
“How do you know?”
Damien pointed to the oak door. Carved into it was the depiction of a flaming fireplace, “The devout of Nuria are supposed to keep a hearth burning just in case someone lost needs a place to rest. I just figured someone whose last words were of family and hearth,” Damien shrugged.
“You are a very smart man, despite what they say about you,” Fred said, “Shall we?” Fred gestured up the steps to the front door. He knew to stay farther away when Damien delivered the news. A lot of people could feel spirits in the Ethereal even if they did not know what it was. It was better to avoid having the loved ones think that Winnow was still around.
“Hold up a second,” Damien took the locket from his coat and undid the latch to reveal a picture of two Halflings smiling together. One of them was Winnow, maybe a few years younger, though it was hard to tell with Halflings. The other was an older Halfling woman with white in her hair and lines creasing her face. Damien focused on the abjuration magic emanating from the locket and drew a light azure glyph in the air. This one rectangular, unrelenting. He closed the glyph and with a snap sealed the magic within the locket finishing the enchantment. He then stepped up to the door and began to hang the locket from the door handle. Before he could, the door opened. A little Halfling girl with a bundle of curly brown hair opened the door. The child looked as if she had just woken up, judging by the way she rubbed her fists into her eyes.
“Um…hi…. small child,” Damien said glancing inside. The home was exactly what he had come to expect from those devout to Nuria Goddess of Family, Hearth, and Harvest. Damien was immediately accosted by the scent of earth and wood smoke. The living room was covered in vines hanging from plants on the ceiling and draped across the fireplace mantle. The vines across the fireplace seemed to have no issue thriving next to the heat of the fire.
“I was waiting up fow you, but I fell asleep. You took a while,” she replied. She seemed to have trouble with her Rs in the common language.
“Dava, what are you doing out—-.” A more masculine voice came from farther in the house. A Halfling man jogged up to where Dava was holding the door and after seeing Damien he immediately pulled the girl behind his back defensively. The Halfling man stood somewhere between Damien’s knee and hip in height and had a mop of curly hair atop his head matching his daughter’s. Damien could see that the man was not used to receiving strangers at this time of night.
“I told you Dah. Nuwia said to wait fow the lost. Just like Mah would,” Dava said.
“I take it Winnow was not the only religious one in the family,” Damien gestured to the carving on the door.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The Halfling man glanced at the door and then back at Damien his eyes narrowed, “How do you know Winnow?”
The man was skeptical, Damien thought. That was understandable. It probably wasn’t often that a human found himself in the Halfling ward. Even rarer still was a human using the name of a Halfling that disappeared nearly a month ago. Probably best to stick with honesty. Damien pulled his badge from beneath his shirt.
“I am a Necro with the Office of Spectral Activity,” Damien said, “O. S. A.”
The Halfling looked at the badge and his shoulder’s slumped. Tears welled up in his eyes as they drifted to the floor. “Is she okay?” he asked. Though it seemed he knew the answer.
“She is now,” Damien said, meeting the Halfling’s eyes, “She wanted us to tell you that Nuria awaits her, and that a warm hearth will be waiting for you when it is your time.” Damien knelt and held out his hand, letting the locket dangle from his fingers. “She also wanted me to give this to you, little one.”
Dava moved around her father and stepped out onto the small porch. The man seemed to be in shock. It was not the first time Damien had to deliver news like this to the loved ones of the deceased. It was never easy. He took the locket and clasped it around the young Halfling’s neck. She took a moment and opened the locket smiling at the pictures within.
“Dah! Look! It’s Mah!” Dava squealed.
Damien could feel the light buzz of abjuration magic emanating from the locket now. He nodded feeling satisfied. “That locket will keep bad things away, little one,” Damien said.
The Halfling man was still staring at the floor. Damien moved up and attempted to place a hand on the man’s shoulder. The man shifted backwards at once pulling his daughter into the house. Damien yanked his hand back. “I know this is not how you would wish to hear this news. I am sorry…... for what it is worth.”
The man pushed Dava farther into the house and turned back to Damien with tears running down his cheeks. He spoke intensely, “Bring her back…. I…I have money. I can pay, just bring her back to me!”
Damien stepped back, “Sir, no. I can’t. It’s not allowed.”
“I know you can! I know! Please!” The Halfling fell to his knees, crying. Dava stood with wide eyes holding the locket in one tiny hand.
Damien stepped forward into the house. He was careful not to touch the Halfling. “It wouldn’t bring her back. Just a piece of her. She wouldn’t be herself. She is at peace now, relaxing within the Endless Tavern along with the rest of Nuria’s devout. Would you rip her away from that?”
Damien was a bit more intense than he intended with the man. It was important to stress what could happen if he tried to bring her back. It was possible but required powerful magic. Magic that most underground wizards had no business messing with. The last thing the world needed was another outbreak caused by a grieving man.
“I know the pain you must be feeling. No words can describe it. You must be strong. I only knew her for a short time, but Winnow would want that.” Damien took out a card from the inside of his jacket and placed it on the floor near the grieving Halfling. “If you need anything. Call. If you are thinking about going to another Necro. Call. I won’t bring her back to you, but I can let you speak to her. I can’t stress enough what will happen to you and your daughter if you go to someone else.”
The man looked at the card but did not take it. Dava made her way forward once more and wrapped her arms around her father. Damien smiled to the young Halfling before turning and making his way down the steps. Fred was still waiting at the bottom of the stoop.
“Bargaining is a good sign. He’s on his way to acceptance,” Fred said as they made their way down the street. Fred dodged the spirit of a soldier with a ghastly series of burns along his face.
Damien closed his eyes and breathed deeply. When he opened his eyes again the dead disappeared. All except Fred. Damien looked up at the three moons drifting high above Fenwrath. Hitsos, Luna, and Chaotis. Luna shown brightest in the sky. Damien was not particularly religious, but something about this encounter made him want to be. He sent a quiet prayer to Solfis, Goddess of Magic and the Hunt and hoped she was proud tonight.
His thoughts were broken by a soft buzzing on his left wrist. He tapped the pink Void Rock crystal on its leather band and a flat display flicked up, hovering above the gemstone, and illuminating his face. Damien read the text on the display.
“We have to go, Fred. It seems a couple of bodies have been found on the lower east side.”
Fred looked one last time at the hearth on the deep oak door, “Right behind you, boss.”