The Necromancer's Ambition

by KuroiTsubasaTenshi

4 - On the Road Again

I perched on a cloud, watching the forest below me. Despite being the shortest section this side of Pasture, it nearly reached out to the horizon. I expected about a minute of flying, which was twice as long as I would have liked. Any one of those trees could hide an ambush. In fact, so could the clouds.

My eyes traced a route through the cumuluses. If I could speed across the sky, perhaps I could deny anything hiding in the forest a chance to react. As crazy as it sounded, flying right out in the open was probably my best bet.

Crouching low, I prepared for a speed launch. That’s when that soulless thing came blasting out of the forest canopy, the branches crumpling noisily under its power. I barely had time to meet its empty eyes before it was upon me.

Sheer reflex threw me to the side and I tumbled off the cloud. I swore I could feel the air rend the hair from my coat as the bird, which was easily as big as my head, obliterated the cloud with its spear-like beak. We zipped past each other, a rancid smell latching onto my muzzle, and I couldn’t help but gag. Rotting flesh, stained bone and blood-caked feathers were the order of the day.

I had hardly regained control when an unholy screech filled the air. I looked up to find the bird-zombie-thing already coming back my way. The fire of adrenaline washed over my body and I was off.

I dove hard, pulling up just before the canopy. I flapped with all my might, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see the zombie-bird was still gaining. I considered turning to fight, but instantly rejected it. Speed like that would have destroyed me in open air combat. I decided I would have to lose it in the forest, to turn the battle into a contest of dexterity. A dangerous prospect, but I wasn’t in a position to be picky.

I made for the tallest trees, weaving around them as I searched desperately for a suitable hole. But just as I spotted a large enough break, something crashed into my right hind leg with the force of a runaway cart. I barely had a chance to scream before I was spiraling down, the unforgiving branches raking across my body.

My world was a whirlwind of leaves, pain and darkness. The last thing I remembered was the faint taste of copper.

---

Pop! Pop! Crack!

The sounds echoed through the blackness around me, wavering in and out of existence. The unmistakable scent of smoke touched my nostrils and my brain jolted. My body, not so much. The best I could manage was feebly pawing my forehooves through the air. They were raw and tight, as though my muscles had become a wad of tangled yarn. In fact, the rest of my body felt the same way, especially my back right leg.

Where am I? What happened?

Then it all came spilling back. The crash, the chase, it.

I shuddered. At least it was gone and I was still alive. Or I thought I was, anyway. If I was, I needed to get out of the forest before that changed. I only hoped the smoke was from somepony’s campsite and not the start of a forest fire. Wishful thinking, I know, but when a mare’s a little beat up, she hopes for a break or two.

With a groan, I twisted myself just enough to get my hooves on the ground. What I found wasn’t the grittiness of dirt, but soft and stringy. Grass? Undergrowth?

My eyelids were each as heavy as boulders and I grunted as I struggled to heave them open.

The world was a blur, a giant smear of brown several feet in front of me. After a complex ritual of squinting and blinking, I realized I was staring at a wall. A wall made of rough hewn logs that were nonetheless stacked in perfect alignment. Wherever I was, it wasn’t Pasture.

Pop!

My eyes darted to the right and I scrambled to a sitting position. Pain spread through my muscles like a thunderhead discharge and I just about toppled over backward.

As I regained my balance, I caught a fireplace out of the corner of my eye. Its maw was filled with vibrant tongues dancing over a fresh log. Fear melted away under the welcome warmth. As it turns out, a mare does catch a break every now and then.

With the thought of being cooked alive no longer in the forefront of my mind, my eyes fell upon the figure tending the fire. She was an older unicorn, her coat a soothing ivory, though a simple robe covered all but her head. Raven locks fell over one eye while the other fixed me with a disconcerting stare. I shrunk back a little, my butt brushing up against wood.

“Oh, stop being such a filly. Somepony would think you’d never seen another mare before. Now stop squirming before you make things worse. You need rest if you want your leg to heal. And before you ask, your wings are fine, you silly pegasus.” She turned her attention to the fireplace.

I took a moment to spread my wings, eliciting a snort from the other mare, but she otherwise continued to ignore me. They were tender, but best I could tell, nothing was actually broken.

While I flexed my feathers, I surveyed the room. By the symmetrical log design, I guessed I must be in a one-room cabin. That meant if things went sour, the door opposite the fire would be the only way out. Not that I was likely to beat the white mare there, anyway.

Most of the furniture was concentrated against the far wall. Several bookcases stood side-to-side, lining the wall with a small library’s worth of books. A cabinet, clutching its faded doors against itself, sat to the left of the shelves.

Next to the cabinet was a gnarled table that was positively ancient. In fact, I was almost certain my father had once sold one that was in better condition to an antiquities shop. To the credit of this table, it had retained all four of its chairs. A shame they all looked liked they’d been dropped off the back of a cart. The centre of the table was topped by a vase, a long-dead plant of some kind crammed inside. Faded placemats, glazed in a thick layer of dust, ringed the centrepiece.

I looked back at the mare and after a few moments, worked up the courage for my question, “Where am I?”

“Why, in my cabin of course.” The mare didn’t turn her head.

I raised an eyebrow, “And where in Equestria is that? And for that matter, how did I get here?”

Her horn lit up and the cabinet sprung open. A dull grey light guided my scarf and an unsheathed wingblade over to me. I frowned, the heat of embarrassment touching my cheeks. In all the soreness, I hadn’t even noticed they were missing. The scarf settled on the floor in front of me, but the blade remained in the air.

“This,” the mare said.

“What?” I furrowed my brow.

“It’s a weapon favoured by the pegasus and griffon bandits. Its scent led my sentry right to you. I’m... sorry.”

I winced as the creature screeched through my mind again. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by another growing, roiling horror.

“Wait, if that was yours, then you’re...”

“Yes, the villagers call me the Necromancer.” Her voice was completely level. No theatrics, no intimidation, no threats. Just apathy.

My hairs stood on end. I wrestled with myself, deflecting instinct as it tried to fling me at the door, then the Necromancer. No, there was a reason she hadn’t killed me yet and I still had a chance to leverage it.

As I pushed the panic away, a thought hit me. She looks nothing like the legend.

The Necromancer rose and took a few steps toward me. She wore a frown just as deep as my own. “What’s wrong? Not what you expected?”

“Well...”

The Necromancer rolled her eyes. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot to put on my skull mask today. Shall I go get it?”

My back hit the wall. “I... what do you want with me?”

“Nothing, other than for you to heal and get out of here.”

“What?” The creases returned to my brow. There had to be something else going on. Some long term game-plan of hers.

“You heard me. I have a war to wage and I don’t need innocents getting caught up in it.”

I frowned. “What did the villagers ever do to you?”

“Plenty enough. It’s a wonder I still care for the clods.” She glared past me.

I blinked.

“No, as much as they think I’m their enemy, I’m not.” A fire burned in the Necromancer’s eyes, but it wasn’t the brash kind I’d seen in Blaze. There was a certain weariness, the sort of final strength that comes out near the end of a protracted melee.

Her plan began to form before my eyes. The Necromancer wanted to indoctrinate me, make me believe she was protecting Pasture from bandits. She’d let me go so I could vouch for her, to calm the revolt. But a little voice was nagging, prodding at the back of my mind. It didn’t make sense.

I’m no slouch in combat, but that thing had trounced me like a flailing foal in a schoolyard scrap. If all of the Necromancer’s zombies wielded such power, Pasture’s piddly militia wouldn’t even stand a chance. And even if the town tried to send out an assassin, they can’t find her, never mind getting past the sleepless super-soldiers. Why would anypony who is practically invincible bother with such manipulations? Was it then a game of mental domination?

The voice poked me again, nudging a thought to the forefront. The tracks ended and my train of thought flew off into the void. There was no way she was actually sincere. I mean, I was thinking about a necromancer, defiler of the dead and mistress of unholy powers. Hell, she even went by the Necromancer. My mind just couldn’t process it. There had to be something else I was missing, a cornerstone to her grand scheme. Perhaps a calculated move to stay hidden from the watchful eyes of the princesses.

“I can see you have a lot to think about. If you do get bored, you may take any book from that shelf.” The Necromancer pointed to the bookcase nearest the cabinet.

She strode out before I could say another word.

Comments

[The Shade]

... So she's a white necromancer? Interesting... (Most are insane.)

[Fanskapet]

i like it not some megalomanic necriomancer who for some reason must conquer equestria

[KuroiTsubasaTenshi]

3163579
Or... is she?!

Seriously, though, happy to deliver.

[Amethyst Blade]

Meh...A few bad necromancers destroyed any sort of reputation the good necromancers carry.

[AppleTank]

I love you, where have you been all my life?
Good necromancer fics are so hard to find I ended up writing one myself.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Hmm... This is getting interesting....