The Necromancer

Today was a pretty busy day.  I went and got an eye exam, because I'm way too clumsy with my glasses and they needed replacing, so I've got a new pair coming in two weeks!  Woot!  I have a bit of a headache from the exam, but I managed to write a page today!  I'll be honest, part of this one creeps me out.  But I think I managed to take some of that creepiness away.

Anyway!  Enjoy!

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He had long since forgotten his name.  And so had everyone else.  No one came to visit him.  He had no family left.  They had died hundreds of years ago.  His only company was the few apprentices, young mages, who sought him out for training.  There had been too few of those lately.

He stood gazing into the tall mirror framed in charred, blackened wood.  It had withstood many battles and many angry apprentices who sought to take their master’s power.  His pale lips twitched into a smile.  Long black hair hung like string around his face.  His eyes were a brilliant shade of sapphire blue.  He was tall for a human, taller than the shortest northman, but shorter than the tallest.  He bore the appearance of a human at the age of forty-eight.

He spread a hand over his cheek, making the skin tighten for a moment.  He scowled at the mirror, at the age lines that had started to form.  He looked down at his hands that too showed his age.  He scowled again and looked into the mirror.  The mirror trembled as the earth under the tower rumbled.   

He took a deep breath and unclenched his fist.  The earth under the tower settled and the mirror stopped shaking.

“It seems it is time to renew my search for my apprentice.”  His voice was smooth and yet it crackled at the same time, “If he has survived.”

Above him there came a soft clicking and then the large spider unfurled itself and settled on the man’s shoulder.  He reached up to pet one of its hairy legs.  It clicked in pleasure again.

“Yes, I know you shall be quite excited to see him again.  You had so much fun with him, my pet.  Come, we must prepare ourselves.”

He swayed down the stairs of his tall tower, his pet skittering behind him.  A faint purple hue greeted the pair from the room below.  Bookcases lined the walls, covered in dusty tomes.  Jars with specimens floating inside them, lined one shelf.  A series of vials and other glass tubes were scattered along a table.  Several bubbled with different colored liquids.  At the other side of the room was another desk.  This one was covered in notebooks, dusty tomes and sheets of paper.

It was this desk that the pair moved toward.  The man leaned over the desk, moving papers as if searching.  His pet hop into the chair and peeked over the desktop, only its eight eyes showing.  Every so often, it would reach up a leg or two and knock something off the desk.  After a long search, He pulled out a small black velvet lined box.  He opened it carefully and smiled.

“Yes, this will do nicely.”  He said as he lifted a shimmering silver locket from the box.