Witch of Fear [Mild horror, Isekai High Fantasy]

The necromancer’s study that Autumn carefully entered was fairly small, looking to be only a handful of paces from the door to the opposing wall. However, it was just over double that in length, ending in a wide open balcony that overlooked the graveyard of heroes and kings far below. Thankfully, the foul smell of that horrific place wasn’t able to infiltrate its way past the glowing barrier that sealed the balcony off from the rest of the study.

Glancing curiously about the study, several interesting things caught Autumn’s attention.

A series of narrow bookshelves sat snuggly against the far northeastern corner of the room from the door, filled to the brim with ancient and dusty books alongside a small collection of odds and ends; a marble bust weathered from age, a gilded skull being used as a bookend, and a cracked hourglass filled with black sand. Sitting directly adjacent to the shelves was a luxuriously soft-looking reading chair, the plush leather only slightly faded and frayed. However, what caught the witch’s attention the most was a lone bookstand resting in front of the bookshelves that bore atop it a heavy book bound in black chains.

Reluctantly, Autumn turned away from the book and took in the rest of the room. 

Directly opposite the tiny library and resting against the other wall was an arcane workstation, coated in a residue of melted candles and strange trinkets. Even from the relative safety of the doorway, Autumn could see a series of eerie runes and glyphs shining atop the bench’s surface.

Looking towards the balcony on her left, Autumn took in the large, seemingly oaken desk that dominated that side of the room. Faded and yellowed parchment rested atop the wooden surface, pinned beneath the weight of a crumbling skull. The witch’s eyes drifted over the papers to rest upon a golden chalice, still stained with dried wine as it glittered in the pale light of a candelabra, and a mystical-looking glass orb roughly about the size of her head. A plush chair sat askew behind the desk, as if someone had left in a hurry.

The last thing of note with the study was a fireplace that sat beside the desk along the same wall as the bookshelves. Whether it was actually used by the necromancer or just decoration, Autumn couldn’t say.

Autumn felt spoiled for choice in what to investigate first, but eventually she felt that the lone bookstand was too much for her to ignore.

Skipping excitedly over to the tiny library, Autumn stopped just before the bookstand and took in the esoteric book chained to it. It was a spell-book, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Clearly dedicated to necromancy, its cover was made of stitched skin and depicted a grinning skull trying to push its way free of the macabre binding. However, a black-iron strap stretched across the skull’s eye-sockets, binding it firmly down before ending in a thick padlock to the side.

Autumn’s eyes lit up even as she glanced over it trepidatiously. They then flickered over to the doorway that led back to the sitting room in which Edwyn lurked.

To her knowledge, necromancy was very illegal in the empire, and logically there’d be a clear difference between slyly selling trinkets on the black market and actively practicing it. However, when was she ever going to get another chance? As soon as they handed it over, she’d never see it again. And they couldn’t claim there wasn’t one in a necromancer’s tower, the guild wasn’t stupid after all. 

No, if she wanted to learn any of the art, or at the very least, supplement her own, it’d have to be now, before they returned to Duskfields or even the convoy, for that matter.

More spells in her arsenal wouldn’t hurt…well they would, just hopefully, not her.

To give herself time to think, Autumn paced over the rest of the library to skim over the books there. There wasn’t anything as exciting as the spell-book, just mainly out-of-date history books, medical tomes on how different races work, and other dry topics. Certainly rare books that’d sell well to the Scribe’s Guild, but nothing magical as she was hoping.

On the other hand, the workshop was more to her speed. 

After carefully reading and rereading the scattered runes and glyphs carved into the stone worktop, Autumn came to realize that they’d been designed to funnel the energy of gemstones and other magical ingredients into a central point and infuse whatever that lay there with that power. Excited by her discovery, she pawed over the scattered notes until she found a rather interesting journal.

The Most Comprehensive 

and 

Illustrious Guide 

to Perfect Wand-making 

by Necro-Lord Gravis Val Treach

Autumn couldn’t contain her grin.

Moving on lest she get overwhelmed by excitement and end up blowing both herself and the tower up with another poorly made wand, Autumn turned now to the large oak desk and the papers haphazardly spread across it. She rounded the table cautiously, and after looking over it thricely for traps, magical or otherwise, she plonked herself down in the battered armchair and began carefully looking over the papers. 

However, upon sitting herself down, Autumn accidentally kicked something underneath the desk. Craning herself to look down there, she saw a fairly nondescript belt lying on the floor, seemingly forgotten in a mad rush. Overcome by her curiosity, she couldn’t resist picking it up with a piece of cloth and examining it atop the desk.

The brass-studded leather was reasonably thick and long enough to wrap around Autumn’s waist at least twice, where it ended in a thick brass belt buckle. To either side of the belt lay a pair of small pouches, four in total, while a larger one lay at the small of the back. However, that was not all, as when Autumn curiously opened a pouch, all she saw inside was a black void.

Excitedly, she realized she’d found a pouch of holding or, more accurately, a belt of holding.

Pushing her mind back to examining the yellowed parchments, Autumn skimmed over them until she saw something strange lying underneath them. Slowly pushing the papers away, her eyes steadily widened before she sprang to her feet as she realized she was looking at a map. Hurriedly she cast the rest to the floor until the map was fully revealed to her. 

An intricately detailed map of the underground tunnels and caverns sprawled out before her. She swallowed heavily as she glanced over it. The notes were in the necromancer’s tongue, but that hardly posed a problem for her and she swiftly located several points labeled as exit-slash-entry points. Some even as far away as the Gloomstruck—not that it was called that back then, but the positions aligned. 

One particular exit caught her attention the most as it was labeled simply as: the hag’s abode.

The armchair groaned as the witch slumped back into it, clutching at her head as she hyperventilated. She felt like the walls were closing in on her. It was all too much, too soon, for her to deal with it. 

“Breathe, just breathe,” the banshee’s voice whispered into Autumn’s ear. And under her gentle guidance, Autumn slowly caught her breath and wrestled her fear away into hat. 

Turning back to the map, Autumn carefully thought things over. There was no guarantee that the hag still lived at that spot given the map was over two-thousand years out-of-date. It was highly likely that she’d moved on in that time to somewhere else in the mire or underground.

“I’d not beest so sure. Beings like that becometh entrenched, comfortable in their haunts over their long lives. More likely yon hag lives thither still.”

Autumn nodded, still darkly thinking. Her eyes flickered. She was the only one who knew about the map, that it even existed or could read it. It’d not take much to change it. She could just…alter a few letters and remove some marks until only the hag’s exit remained, until the convoy had no other choice but to fight Mildred the Finger Eater if they wanted to leave the underground alive.

Autumn hesitated as she reached out for a quill.

“Doest thy morals halt thy hand? Abhor it,” the banshee whispered seductively, “for the hag shalt not hesitate to carve thee anew the next time thy fates align. Underestimate yon monster at thy own peril, mark mine words. Thee wilt killeth yond hag, so useth all to maketh it so.” 

Autumn’s fingers tightened around the quill. 

---

 

“Psst, Edwyn.”

Peeking around the corner of the doorway, Autumn quietly called over to the Manus who was pulling damaged portraits off of the peeling wall. At Autumn’s call, they looked over, one bushy eyebrow raising at Autumn’s obvious surreptitious actions. Gamely, they marched over to her, still carrying the portrait under one brawny arm.

“What’s up? Ye found something?”

Autumn discreetly nodded, nervous eyes on the lookout for Liddie. “Yeah, but I need you to help me unlock…why are you collecting that ruined painting? Surely, nobody would buy that.”

“Eh, I bet there’s someone out there with more gold than sense. Besides, sellin’ it ain’t mah problem. Our guild’ll sell it off tae the merchants next door for a gold or two, ‘n’ they’ll pawn it off for five. Plus, it’ll add tae our total.”

Autumn blinked. “I thought all the loot was shared.”

Edwyn shrugged. “Sure, sure, but the Guild still likes tae know who their earners are. We’re already in profit, but the more we collect, the better we look. Now whatcha want?”

“Oh, right. Remember that favor you were talking about?”

“Yeah?” Edwyn asked curiously. 

“Well, I’m calling it in. I need you to unlock something for me and keep quiet about it.” Autumn glanced nervously at the door to the bedroom Liddie was exploring.

Edwyn sighed at Autumn's behavior, resigned to their fate. “How illegal are we talking ‘ere? Out of ten?”

“Eleven?” Autumn winced. “Come on, it's best to show you.”

Sighing again, Edwyn followed behind Autumn as she guided them towards the necromantic spell-book. 

“Ah, that illegal.” Edwyn muttered. “Alright, gimme a moment or two to crack this. After that, leave me out of it. Just promise me that yer nae gonnae misuse this. I don’t wanna wake up to zombies jiggin’ about.”

Autumn crossed her heart. “I promise.”

“Stand back then, these things bite.” 

Giving the Runecaster some space, Autumn watched on for the next twenty minutes as they steadily dismantled the magical locks upon the book. While she was sure it’d take less time if she called Liddie over to help with the physical aspects of it, she didn’t want to involve any more people than necessary in this. As they say; two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead…not that she was planning to kill Edwyn or anything.

“There, done. Now, I’ve got some moldy couches tae rifle thro’ for some loose change, might take me awhile.” 

Saying so, Edwyn left Autumn alone with an unlocked spell-book dedicated to necromancy. Even Autumn could understand what a poor choice that was. Still, she excitedly opened it up and paged through it like an alcoholic craving for a drink.

She got lost in the pages as several spells immediately captivated her. 

Those being: 

 

• Requiem of the Dead

• Brain Worm

• Harm

• Flesh Stitching

• Bone Grafting

• Detect Poison and Disease

 

There were many more dark spells hidden within the hide pages, but they were more in line with what she thought of as necromancy like Raise Zombie or Summon Ghasts, and frankly, Autumn wasn’t that interested.

The first spell she looked at was Requiem of the Dead and it was quite an interesting read. 

Requiem of the Dead

Or simply, Requiem, is a spell I’ve refined to allow the preservation of bodies, both for transport and for reanimation. Still works on detached parts and organs. Useful for short-term preservation, but the spell only lasts an approximate ten days before it is needed to be reapplied.  

Components required: Untainted salt (expended per usage), and a pair of gold coins (purity 98% or above.) 

Steps: 

 

• Place the gold coins atop the target’s eyes and spread the salt around their mouth and navel (skin contact not required.) In the case of body parts, simply spread the salt across it, the gold isn’t required beyond the Ultien Threshold. 

• Recite the chant listed below. 

• Touch the body and imbue it with magic.

 

It was a spell that would be immediately helpful with their current predicament and didn’t seem all that hard to learn or to perform. At least it wasn’t for her. 

Skimming over the pages, Autumn moved on to the next spell in her list.

Harm was an interesting spell in that it wasn’t much of a spell at all; instead, it was more of a modifier, a condition that’d change the effects of her other spells to inflict some kind of magical necrosis upon her enemies. For example; if she applied harm to her Touch of Terror, she could cause a blight to infest whomever she touched. 

A Harmful Touch, if you will.

Brain Worm was…interesting to read, if anything else.

Brain Worm

This is a spell is one that I created solely. It is based upon a parasitic worm I observed in the far southern deserts. An adult fly will lay its eggs upon the skin or in the hair of a host and when the pupa worm hatches, it buries itself through the host’s soft tissue and into their brain. There, the worm releases chemicals to influence the host and drive them to seek a suitable climate for the worm to gestate and become an adult fly. Of course, the host will not survive the encounter as their brain is used to feed the worm’s development.

The spell I devised will use a similar concept to implant a short-lived telepath link to a target, allowing for near instant communication. And, if the caster possesses a stronger will than their target, they’ll be able to mildly influence them as the brain worm might.

Autumn rubbed her eyes. 

While it’d certainly be an upgrade to her Mind Whisper spell, she didn’t think her team would be so keen on it if she told them what it was called or the fact she could subtly influence them. Maybe she’d just learn the semi-permanent part and keep the old name.

Amongst the list of spells that Autumn was interested in, the final three focused more on the manipulation of both the living and the dead. Logically, while necromancers could use degraded flesh and bone to ply their trade, they’d much rather work with fresh components, just like any other profession. However, with their particular skill-set and reputation, acquiring bodies in good condition wouldn’t be easy. As such, this was where magic came in.

And while Autumn wasn’t in the market for fresh bodies, the memory of her almost fatal injury by a crystalline spike right though her spine was hard to forget. If she mastered the three spells of Flesh Stitching, Bone Grafting, and Detect Poison and Disease, she’d have a much better chance of surviving in this harsh world. Not to mention she could finally remove the awful, maggot-looking scar across both her belly and back.

“Hey, Autumn! Where are you?! I found something cool!” Liddie yelled as she burst into the room.

Autumn yelled in fright and spun to face the pirate, blocking Liddie’s sight from the spell-book. 

Seeing Autumn’s flustered appearance, Liddie’s eyes narrowed. “You weren’t masturb—”

“I was reading!” Autumn yelled before she could finish, glaring all the while at the smirking pirate. She gestured roughly to the books behind her. 

Liddie just shrugged. “I don’t really care. Come on! I found the vault! Let’s go see what’s in it!” 

Like an excited puppy, Liddie grabbed onto Autumn’s arm and dragged her from the study and towards the necromancer’s bedroom. Behind them trailed Edwyn, an exacerbated sigh leaving their lips.