Tired Of Death

Reckless woke up with a start. For a moment she didn't know where she was, and then she remembered the battle.

Sitting up she grasped at her body in a quick evaluation. Apparently she was still in one piece. 

"Morning sunshine!" said a raspy voice nearby. She looked around to see a solitary, and slightly worse for wear, detached head perched on a stump looking at her. It grinned at her, not a sight you needed to see first thing.

"Who... what are you?" she asked. 

"Horace. Zombie first class. Head," it replied. "Oh, I need to wake the master." 

It opened it's mouth, presumably to shout, but Reckless squinted at him, and he fell off his perch, landing face down in some moss, muffling his shouts. 

"Better," she said, climbing to her feet. Looking about, she located the boy, Urt, her brother fast asleep, wrapped in a cloak and using a backpack for a pillow.

Striding over to him, she took a moment to look down at his face. One she'd seen in her dreams for so many years. Now she understood, at least in part, why.

Smiling an evil smile, she squatted down next to him and grabbed his nose. "Wake up wizard!" she shouted in his ear.

"Wahh!" Urt awoke, pulling away and wiping at his abused face. "Wha.. .What? You!" He put a hand out, in what could have been a spell casting pose, but then paused as she simply remained still, smiling down at him.

"What's up? Oh!" 

The bo... Urt's werewolf friend, and a female about her own age, dressed in black leather and holding a short sword, ran up.

"Wait! Hold," shouted Urt, struggling to untangle himself from his cloak. 

His friends stopped, but Reckless noticed the female didn't sheath her sword. 

Having gained their attention, Reckless stood up and whilst Urt followed suit, addressed them all.

"I am Lady Nothing," she said proudly, head held high. "People call me Reckless, and so that is my name. I realise we've crossed paths before, but I'm not here to fight you. I have information." She looked at Urt. "We need to talk."

~ * ~ 

Nicolas exploded back into the safe house he'd left not long ago, alternately panting hard and cursing. His cursing stopped suddenly when he realised that someone was sitting on the the room's only chair. 

"M... Master," he stammered. 

"I assume from your expression, and the language that you failed again?" The Extremely Dark Necromancer lifted a cup off the table beside him and took a noisy slurp.

"There was some kind of... guardian I think," Nicolas said. At the same time he was desperately trying to figure out what offensive spells he had left.

"It's a shame," said his master. "I had such high hopes for you. I mean, it wasn't an easy task I know, but then you are no junior mage. You've always served me most well and efficiently in the past."

"That's right!" Nicolas said, grasping onto the thin thread of hope. "And I can still do so! Now I know there's a guardian..." He stopped speaking, not because he wanted to, but because a cold, vice-like grip had closed about his neck. 

"I can only tolerate failure for so long," the Extremely Dark Necromancer said conversationally, as Nicolas thrashed wildly about. His vision was beginning to dim. "You understand don't you? How would it look if I just let things slide?" The mage took another sip from his cup.

Nicolas grasped at his hand, and frantically twisted a ring. A luminous blue figure started to slide out of the band, but the Extremely Dark Necromancer made a gesture and it fell away with a wail. 

"Is that it? Never mind." The master mage put his empty cup down and stood up. "Well, maybe if you can fight your way back from the other side we'll go again." 

The Extremely Dark Necromancer made a complicated gesture. There was a loud crack in Nicolas's ears, and then... nothing.

~ * ~ 

"But how did the Hag know?" Urt asked, skipping along behind Reckless as she wound her way through the bodies.

Reckless turned over a dead soldier with her foot so he was face up, shook her head, and moved on before answering. "She said that she could detect my energy, or some such. She said that it was what you were missing. I didn't understand it all. Well, I didn't understand her much to be honest."

"Yes, she has a small accent," agreed Urt. 

"Small?" Reckless took a deep breath, then made a face. The bodies were beginning to smell. "Apparently, so she thinks, when we're close together, our powers increase exponentially. She says that she's never felt... oh." 

"Oh?" Urt asked, but Reckless was running towards a body a little way away from the rest. Urt, followed, with Reginald, Samantha and Lucy with Horace, who had come for the show, a little way behind.

"Nooo!" Samantha knelt over the body of Bon. He was sitting against the base of a tree, a shocked expression etched onto his face. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Oh, it's your friend." Urt's shadow fell over her as he caught up. "I'm sorry," he said. 

"He lost his life saving mine," she sniffed, wiping a tear away. Looking up, she glared at Urt. "You! You can resurrect him!" 

"Oh, I don't know about that," Urt said. "It's not good form to go around letting people live again. What if the other necromancers heard about it? My reputation would be mud."

"As opposed to the shining awe they hold you in at the moment?" asked Samantha. She was leaning casually against a nearby tree, cleaning her nails with a lethal looking dagger.

"Well, I don't have all the ingredients," Urt added. "I know you need diamond dust for resurrection spells." 

"You can try anyway," Reckless said. "I told you, when we're together we have power."

"I don't know," Urt said, scratching his nose. "I don't feel all that powerful."

"Maybe you're drained. Perhaps I can recharge you. Come here," she commanded.

"Well, Okay." Urt stepped over to where she was pointing, which was just in front of her.

"Take my hands," she said.

"What's all this about?" 

"Just hold my hands," Reckless ordered, "or I'll twist your nose off."

"Mff," said Urt, "It seems having a sister is more violent than I thought it would be."

"Oh yes," piped up Reginald. "I have five brothers and seven sisters, and it was always my sisters who beat me up the worst. Still," he added. "Family eh?"

"Yes." Urt took a deep breath. "Very well," he said.

"Good." Reckless held her hands out.

Warily, Urt reached out and held them. His hands seemed large in hers, although smoother than she'd expected.

"I can't feel anything," he said, after a moment.

"Wait. Close your eyes and concentrate," she said, obeying her own instructions.

For a moment there was nothing, and then a sudden surge of power, she felt as if she was one part finally being made whole. Energy rushed like a wave through her, and, at the same time, she felt her own energy flow the other way. 

For the first time in her life she felt... complete, although she hadn't realised before that anything was missing.

Opening her eyes she looked at Urt; his eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. 

"I think we're..." Reckless began.

There was a sudden shift in the universe. 

"...somewhere else," she finished, looking around.