Rian and the others reached the castle before long and were led in to a vast hall. It wasn’t the throne hall, or at least there was no throne in it. The ceiling was so high, it almost disappeared into darkness. Torches in holders along the walls barely lit the long room. There were no windows. The walls were smooth stone, and the floor was pale marble.
Members of the court gathered at the edges of the room. At the far end, there was a small but ornate wooden table. A man and a woman sat behind the table. Rian thought they might be Gar and Promise Pile, King and Queen of Virida. There was something regal about them. The King of Virida cleared his throat, the sound echoing through the hall. The various conversations fell silent.
“We’re all here,” the king said. “Let us begin.”
Dow moved to the center of the room. “We have been searching for anything that might tell us what the two mages are up to, and what they’re capable of. We believe they are not truly wild mages, not controlled by their magic. That is a far more worrying notion considering their claims of what they will do. They are both necromancers.”
“One is Arwel of Fen,” Frida said. She glanced at Mae and Andred apologetically. “Son to Mae and Andred. We do not know who the other is.”
“I have found no record at the Sancta of the old god the two speak of,” Dow said. “Halbert knows more.”
The voice in Rian’s head snorted. “Of course they wouldn’t find anything about Trivius at the Sancta.”
Whose voice was that? Whoever it was, he knew the name of the god, which Rian himself hadn’t known until right then.
The queen looked at Halbert. “What can you tell us about this supposed god?”
Dow moved back to stand beside Frida. Halbert took his place at the center of the room.
“All I know is that he is sealed within the Bone Garden,” Halbert said. “I don’t know if he is truly a god, or a being that was worshiped as one. The Bone Garden can only be reached through the Grove of Thorns.”
The queen raised a brow. “And how did you discover this?”
“A long time ago,” Halbert said. “In a book that belonged to the man who now travels with Arwel. He is Norris of Chayer. I destroyed the book due to what else it contained. Arwel and Norris are different from me. They have used their magic for dark ends and it has changed them in a way that will make it very difficult to stop them. I am not strong enough to face them alone.”
Andred hesitated. “And if I help you?”
“Not even then.” Halbert didn’t look back at Andred. He was silent for a moment. “Only the Speaker of the Dead can stop Arwel and Norris from freeing what lies in the Bone Garden. He is the only one who can stop Arwel and Norris due to what they have become.”
“The Speaker of the Dead?” the king asked.
Mae and Andred had gone tense and pale. Was the Speaker of the Dead a bad thing?
Halbert was silent again for a moment. “Years ago, I did a ritual to speak to the dead. They told me Rian is the Speaker of the Dead.”
It took a moment for those words to sink in. He was the Speaker of the Dead? He didn’t know what dark thing Arwel and Norris had done with their magic. He hardly knew anything about necromancy. But if he could stop Arwel, then he would. If there was any chance of saving his brother, he would do it.
“No…” Mae said, the word quiet. She shook her head.
“I’ll do it,” Rian said. The words echoed through the hall. “If there’s a chance of saving Arwel, then I’ll do it.”
He had never seen his parents look so horrified. Whispers had spread among the court.
“Very well,” the king said. “If the boy is willing and is needed to stop these necromancers, then he will go with Halbert.”
“We’ll find another way,” Mae said.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“There is no other way,” Halbert said, still not looking back at them. “I’m sorry.”
“If this is the only way, then it must be done,” Dow said. “Frida and I will delay the Sancta sending out knights as long as we can, to give Halbert and Rian a chance at stopping Arwel and Norris.”
Mae and Andred said nothing on the way back to the inn. They said nothing for the rest of the night. In the morning, Halbert went with them back to Fen. They reached the village at night, having walked in silence through the day. Rian had so many questions, but he didn’t dare ask them yet. Had he made a mistake? If there was a chance of saving Arwel, he would do it, whatever it was.
Halbert stayed at the house that night, and still no one spoke. In the morning, they all sat at the table. Rian hoped his parents would say something soon, or at least that Halbert would explain a few things. Instead, Andred wordlessly put food and water in a bag, as well as two blankets. He handed the bag to Halbert.
“I don’t suppose I could convince you to let me come?” Andred asked.
“It would be for naught,” Halbert said. “You and Mae are needed here. There will be other things you can do to help.”
Andred talked quieter, but Rian could still hear him. “Rian is to know what his choice means and is to have a chance to go back.”
Halbert nodded. “He will. I would not have revealed the truth if it weren’t truly necessary. Rian spoke to one of the missing villagers and freed the soul by finding the body.”
His parents frowned only further at that.
“He has the magic,” Halbert said. “It’s not something that will go away if he hides from it.”
Andred looked away, but he nodded.
Rian’s parents hugged him goodbye, then saw him and Halbert off. Ora was out in the village, watching Rian with disgust as he left the village. Soon Fen was out of sight on the path behind him and Halbert. They were headed toward Derwen.
“Where are we going?” Rian asked.
“Caerulis,” Halbert said. That was the next country over, where the Sancta was. “We’re going to Chayer, the main city. We’ll go to the archive and see what we can find about this ritual Norris and Arwel are looking for.”
When night came, Derwen wasn’t far off, but the two of them didn’t head for the city. They stopped out on the plains. It was a warm night out there. They sat on the ground, across from each other.
Halbert moved the bag closer to Rian. “You should eat.”
“And you?” Rian asked.
“I don’t,” he said.
Rian had a bad feeling about that, but he tried to ignore it. He ate a bit of the bread and cheese his father had packed and drank some of the water. When he was done, the two of them were sitting in silence again.
“Did my parents already know I was the Speaker of the Dead?” Rian asked.
“I told them what the dead told me after I did the ritual,” Halbert said. “They forbid me to tell you. I warned them that not telling you wouldn’t make you any less the Speaker of the Dead.” He sighed. “Nothing can take away your magic, or change who you are, but I will keep my word to Andred. I will give you a chance to go back to Fen. You must understand what necromancy costs. Avoiding the cost can be done, but at a terrible price, and it is a corruption of the purpose of our magic.”
“Is that what Arwel and Norris did?” Rian asked.
Halbert nodded. “We’ll get to that.” He reached up with hands that were all bone, with no skin or anything in between. He pushed back his hood.
Rian didn’t know what to say. Halbert stared at him with empty sockets. Was there any part of him that wasn’t skeletal? Halbert pulled his hood back up without a word.
“Can you see?” Rian asked, not knowing what else to say.
“Yes,” Halbert said. “I am entirely undead. I do not require food or sleep, but I must occasionally rest on burial ground. Especially after using magic. There are two kinds of necromancer. The true undead, and those who refuse to pay the price and use their magic for dark purposes. We are meant to help restless souls move on to the land of the dead.”
“But Mortua hates undead and necromancers, doesn’t she?” Rian asked. “Father said she did.”
“She does,” Halbert said. “I haven’t been able to find out why. As far as I know, Norris and I are the only undead left in the world. The only other necromancers are you, your father, and Arwel. The Sancta wiped out necromancers a long time ago, but Norris’s grandfather left behind a book that led Norris and I to become what we are. The cost of our magic is flesh, to become undead. The only way to kill a fully undead necromancer is to separate their soul from their bones. Their souls are bound to their bones by their magic.”
“Nothing happened when Gavin moved on,” Rian said. “He was the villager who wanted his body found, and he moved on when I found him.”
“Not all souls are trapped,” Halbert said. “A trapped soul must be freed by magic, which would have a cost. There are other ways a necromancer can use magic to aid in protecting the souls of the dead and themselves, but only the fully undead can do such magic. For now, you can only free trapped souls and will not have a means to protect yourself. I will protect you.”