It is a warm day, pretty clear as well, and I sit on the top floor of my tower. I can feel four souls approach my tower, but give it no worry.
I chug back a goblet of wine, the liquid flowing through my open bones and staining my robes. My skeletons sit around me, enjoying their chugs of wine as well. I place down the goblet, and look at the skeletons, “Well, minions, today’s the day. Even now the heroes come with their holy lightning and soul rending weapons. It is time for you to return to your afterlives, I hope you enjoyed your return to the mortal coil.”
One of the skeletons slams his goblet down hard, “There is no need to accept this laying down, master! We are here for the reason of protecting you! So let us!” The other skeletons all yell out their agreements.
I slam my bony fist on the table, and stare at them with the empty voids that used to be my eyes, “No, you damned fools! There is nothing you can do, it’s destiny.”
The same skeleton scoffs a laugh out, “Destiny?! You act like you are under destiny! I remember an age ago, when the very same destiny said the world would end! Back when I was still flesh. And I very plainly remember you stopping destiny back then! What happened to the Necromancer that sacrificed a millennia just to save the world and fuck destiny over? You know that the world is held together only by you. Without you, all these damned races will start to fight each other! Gods will fight, the world shall be torn asunder! Do you not remember what Edis said?!”
I slam my staff down on the floor, “Enough!” The shockwave sent out stops my skeletons in their tracks, “I don’t give a damn about what the God of Ending said! I am 3567 years old, God’s damnit, and I am going to die today! I could care less what that foolish God said, he is wrong. For four Ages I’ve been ostracized and hunted down by the races of this world, and I’m tired of it! Today I die, and I will enjoy an afterlife among people that accept me! You are all dismissed!”
The power of my final word is punctuated with my staff slamming down again, sending a shockwave out. This shockwave sends my skeleton’s souls back to their afterlife, and leave me with broken piles of bone. I look at the bones there, and slowly take a seat.
About five minutes pass before someone kicks open my door. In walk an Orc Paladin, Dwarf Assassin, Elf Alchemist, and a Griffon Mage.
“Me n’ da boiz have come da slay ya’ evil wiza’!” The Orc Paladin says.
I calmly smile, “Now, now, young Orc, don’t you know it’s rude to barge in? Ah, whatever, you warriors all lost your manners in the Second Age. Come, take a seat, grab a bite to eat.”
The Griffon steps up, “Even in your own death you are still full of yourself. You think we would sit at your table?”
“Well, I would hope I’m full of myself, don’t want to be hollow do I?” I say, chuckling at my own joke, “I mean, if you don’t want to eat, you don’t want to eat. I was just hoping I could talk with my executioners.”
The Dwarf seems to teleport into one of my seats, taking a swig of ale, “You are surprisingly calm to face death. I remember our stories in the clan, about you being a raving madman. I expected to cut down skeletons before we got to you. You wanna talk, then talk.”
The Elf shakes his head, “Ragnar, are you really stupid enough to just eat that food?”
Ragnar turns around with mutton in his hand, “What? We didn’t exactly bring a feast in our bags. Besides, it’s not poisoned, I’d of died if it was.”
The Elf sighs and sits down in a chair, along with the other two. I nod as they sit, “Let me inform you children about one thing. I am a Necromancer, that means that I know when I die. For Four Ages I have been hunted, I have been branded as evil. I have sacrificed so much to save the world, and yet I am still hated. I’ve had enough, and wish to go to my afterlife. I ask you to kill me. Take your sword, and shove it through my chest, where my heart should be. For to long I have been hollow inside, I have had the Beast speak into my mind with no alleviation. So I ask you, The Heroes of Tel’La De Rus, to end me.”
Ragnar nods, “You want us to bring an honorable end to you? Alright, I can do so.” He stands up from the seat, and pulls his dagger out.
The Elf holds his arm tightly, “Are you a fool? It’s obvious he is withholding information.”
I nod, “I won’t deny, I haven’t told you everything. I don’t exactly have time to tell you my whole life story. You’ve probably heard it already, just twisted to be evil. There is one thing you should know though, the reason why you have to hit where the heart should be. See, if you miss the heart, then you won’t kill my body. Instead, I will pass on, and the Beast will take over my body and kill you all. You have to be accurate, right in the heart.”
Ragnar nods, and continues to approach me. He looks down, kinda sad, “You know, I expected something different than what I face right now. But when I stare at you, I don’t think of the Necromancer of tales, the one who ate children and such. Instead, all I can see is a tired old man, who wants to die without causing pain to his killer. It will be my honor to send you to your afterlife, Necromancer. Any last words?”
I shake my head, “No, just a message. Always remember, there are two sides to a story.”
Ragnar nods, and stabs forward with his dagger.
Pain burns through my body as I fall out of my chair. The dagger is stuck in me, and I look at it. It is only as I see the dagger and breathe my last breath that I realize, “You missed...”
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
I float in an endless void of black, only to see a very odd scene. A man, very much taller than me, and wearing a cloak instead of robes. Still a skeleton, but his empty eyes glow blue. He seems to pull something together out of the void, some type of a equine. He looks my way, and pulls me with his scythe. He pulls me into the body, before looking to his right, a window into the room I died in.
He sees my body be reanimated by the Beast, and reaches down with his scythe. He hooks into him, and pulls him out. A bright burning red soul. He laughs, “Not so quick.”
He grabs the soul, and puts it into my body as well.
He then tears a hole in the void below me, and lightly laughs, “Don’t worry about me. We’ll find out later. Have a good time down there, I know you will.” I start to fall from the sky, and hear him barely speak once more, “Because we already have.
I look below me, and find I have vocal cords to scream with now. I make good use of them as I fall towards a tree in the middle of a town. My new little equine body screaming a very high pitched and childish voice. I get closer and closer.
Wait for it... any second now... hey, that leaf seems out of place, I’m gonna fix that, wait, falling, I forgot.
CRASH
I crack through a layer of tree head first. Then, I fall through another one. I stop on the third layer, definitely creating a crater from my fall. My neck and spine snap from the fall, leaving me bent and broken on the floor, “Owww...”
I fix my spine easily enough, and work on my neck. I’m interrupted by someone shouting, “Oh my Celestia!”
I lose my concentration with the sudden noise, and look to see an intelligent pony there, next to a drake. I sigh, “Could you please not interrupt me? I am trying to heal myself, and your screaming isn’t helping. Thank you.”
I quickly fix my neck with some new store of magic in my system. I pick myself up from the ground, and climb out the crater I made.
I walk over to a mirror, and look into it. A grey colored colt stares back, something both weird and oddly nice. I’m a child horse! A Unicorn as well?! Well, actually, now I think about it, I look pretty good. My mane and tail black, fairly short, unkempt but still good looking. Could use a brush through it, but I could live with it. I brush my hair to the side, and smile at myself, my eyeless sockets still kinda freaking me out, “Looking good.”
I can hear sputtering behind me, “B-but what!?”
I turn around to face the unicorn, “That hole in your roof is an eyesore, I’d get rid of it. Totally doesn’t go with the style.” Then I grab a book from a shelf, “Scholar, eh? You might be able to help me then.” I turn to look her right in the eye, “What kind of afterlife turns you into a horse?”
She stares at me a second more, before passing out.
The drake sighs, “Guess I’m going to have to get the tea ready.”
I nod, “Tea sounds very nice, drake. I guess I’ll stay with the scholar here, I do need some questions answered.”