The misadventures of the necromancer

Chapter XXI

Eudora was calmly resting, seated on a bench next to the door of her house. A small and modest house, with a single room accessible through the door and a window on the side of the house. But it was all she needed. It was where she and her late husband had raised their children.

She basked in the sun as her age rendered her not very useful, in the fields. Although she still helped during times of peak work. Otherwise, she assisted her family and the village with small manual tasks. Especially creating simple potions that facilitated life in such a remote location.

Thus the sunbathing when she heard. 

"Grandma Dora, Grandma Dora.", young Nela shouted as she ran towards her house. The girl wasn't actually her granddaughter, but due to her age, almost everyone in the village called her grandma. When she thought about it, the only ones who didn't were her own living children.

Her thoughts turned to the approaching girl. To have this little one show up now, yelling. Someone must have asked her to bring a message, and the energetic girl started running and shouting.

So Eudora waited a bit until the girl approached. To then, get up from her rest and return the shout.

"What is it, girl?"

In no time, the girl arrived by her side, panting from her run. "A group of strangers has arrived in the village, grandma. And they're asking for someone who makes potions..."

How can the girl say all this in one breath after running here? It's something the woman can only attribute to the vigor of youth.

Even so, she waits a bit for the eleven-year-old to catch her breath and continue, as she doubts this is the entire message. "My mother will send them here, but she sent me to warn you first." she finally finishes.

"I see. Thank you, dear. And thank your mother for the warning." she truly appreciates the warning. It's always better to be prepared than not.

Even though Eudora isn't a potion-making specialist, her potions are important, in such an isolated region.

She's not the only one in this position in most villages around here. Have someone like her who makes some remedies. But with her years of experience. She likes to consider herself one of the best. And as such, people often come to her in need. Even from far away.

So Eudora sits back down to wait for the visitors. Instead of returning to her life, Nela stays nearby. Almost certainly out of her childish curiosity. Although it's possible her mother told her to stay close, just in case.

It doesn't take long for her to see them coming down the path. Three young men with a mule.

Which indicates they're not merchants. After all, what merchant would travel through this region with just one mule? The more pack animals a merchant has, the more merchandise they have to sell.

The two in the front wear dark, identical robes. One is dark-haired, while the other is blonde. Their clothes are disheveled and dirty; their journey here must have been rough.

Behind them comes the third, accompanying the group's mule, which is the one that looks in worse condition. Although she can't be completely sure. With him wrapped in a blanket, but there must be a reason for that. What is clear is that the two in front are the masters, while the other must be some servant.

When they're in front of her house, the two in front turn around and seem to talk about something among themselves. While they were talking, the third sneezed twice. Leading him to try to wrap himself up more with the blanket while nodding yes with his head.

Having reached some agreement, the two masters come to her, while the third stays to tend to the animal.

From this, she gets a clear picture of what's going on. After starting their journey, the three encounter difficulties along the way. So much so that the servant fell ill.

So the two masters decided to find something to treat him with, resulting in their finding out that she was the best at treating illnesses in the region. Or maybe they were just lucky to find her right away.

Either way, they're here to buy some remedy for their servant. What nice boys not everyone treats their servants like that.

"Good day, Mrs. Eudora?" asks the attractive young blonde with some hesitation.

Hearing the question, Eudora gets up from her bench, nods, and says, "Good day. And yes, I am Eudora, my boy," she answers him this way because he's a boy in her eyes. After all, her youngest daughter can't be much older than these two. And seeing them up close, it's clear they're not rich enough for her to treat them with kid gloves.

"We heard that you make potions," the dark-haired one half-asserts, half-asks, as he fiddles with one of his hands. With a careful and experienced look from living in these mountains, she notices he has some frostbite in his hand. And immediately wonders how he got it.

"Yes, what do you need?" Upon hearing the question, the two exchanged glances. And they become strangely apprehensive. Their glances are quick, and they focus on the third member of their group.

"Could we..."

Seeing all the hesitation in the blonde's speech, she quickly concludes, that they're concerned about the third's condition. Maybe the illness is more serious than it seems. And they likely don't have much money.

"...to use your equipment?" When the young man finishes speaking, she's still thinking about their lack of money. So, started to calculate the minimum value for which she could exchange her remedies.

Of course, it would depend on the other young man's illness and what he would need.

Until her mind registers the strange request. At which point she can only, let out an astonished. "What?"

"We need to use alchemical equipment. We don't have much money, but maybe we can trade something." the dark-haired one quickly responds. Strangely, his gaze continues to dart back, while the two acquire a strange energy. Their concern is almost palpable and yet difficult to describe.

Leaving her even more confused. Not only is the request bizarre, but their behavior itself is making her wary.

The request is not only bizarre, it's dangerous. Who would accept it? Even simple equipment like hers is hard to come by, so far away from the cities. If, for some reason, something were to break, it's not just the cost of things. It's mainly that it could take years until some other merchant selling them passes by here.

This could even in the worst case, put a village at risk. A village in this remote area can't afford to lose resources like these.

So her answer can only be "No."

They react as if she had hit them.

The blonde becomes expressionless and seems to swallow hard, while the other takes a step back, his expression turning to fear.

Suddenly, the blonde approaches and grabs her hand. "Please. There must be something we can do to change your mind? Please, this is already our third attempt."

His plea disorients her, but it clarifies some of the tension they have been displaying. Apparently, they've been going around the local villages with this strange request. Only to receive the most natural of responses.

But seeing their almost desperate state, she sympathizes and tries to reach an agreement. "Maybe I can do what you need."

"Yes, perhaps. We'll talk to him..." the blonde begins to say while turning to his companion with enthusiasm.

"Seres, we've already discussed this. He'll never agree." the dark-haired one says to his companion, having regained some calmness. She would almost say he seems resigned to his fate.

"Adar, we can try. We're not getting anywhere otherwise." Seres says, almost pleading.

"Don't be foolish. Since he fell ill, he's been even more stubborn. Why the hell didn't he listen to me when I told him the path was bad?" the young man says with frustration, contrasting with the fear he seemed to have just now.

"His reasons made sense," Seres comments quietly. But this conversation clarifies that she had misunderstood the relationship between the three. The third is clearly not a servant but rather the leader. Before Adar can respond to his companion. A loud sneeze is heard, causing Eudora and these boys to notice the third young man. Who was now beside them.

"Rats." grumbles the young man, sneezing again. Eudora takes advantage of the proximity to study this new young man. Which leaves her even more confused. He really doesn't seem like a leader. This boy with dark hair. At first glance looks more like a beggar. No one in this village, which is not exactly prosperous, would dress in such a poor state.

"So?" he asks after recovering from the sneezes. The other two look at each other. Clearly worried about the response they have to give. As such, she decides to step forward and resolve the situation.

"The answer is no. I'm not going to let anyone use my things." it's best to clarify things right away. His eyes focus on her while he lets out a sigh. To then closes his eyes, while his face takes on a calm expression.

"Well. I see that we'll have to go with plan B." Hearing this strange comment, Eudora doesn't know what to say. What does he mean by plan B? Looking at the other two young men, she realizes she's not the only one who doesn't understand what the stranger means.

As she wonders, he begins to look around. In the end, he focuses on a tree some distance from her house.

"Does that tree have any special value?" he asks calmly. The tree is just a normal tree with nothing special about it. Except that it is old, from her father's time. Even in that, there are several other trees of similar ages in the village.

"No." She replies, unable to think of anything else to say. Making her begin to think that this boy must not be very sane.

"Great!" he says as he reaches, out his hand toward the tree.

"Damn!" exclaims the brunette Adar as he takes a step back.

"Nero!" shouts a surprised Seres. But in the end, the young man just sneezes again. After sneezing, he takes out a handkerchief from somewhere and blows his nose.

"Sorry. I hate being sick, it's really annoying." He says without looking at anyone. Then in the next moment, he says something so quietly that she doesn't understand. And he extends his hand again.

In that hand, a ball of flames forms. The fireball then shoots out of his hand towards the tree.

When the fireball hits the tree, an explosion occurs as the fireball expands. Leaving the tree destroyed, and the little that remains burning.

"So, can you let me use your alchemical equipment... please?" The young man asks her while looking at her seriously. She can only return his gaze while she screams in her mind, 'Mage' and a powerful one.

He didn't ask but rather issued an order to be fulfilled. Nela has already run away, not that with the tree burning, it's necessary. In a little while, everyone in the village will know that something happened here.