Dirge for a Necromancer - By Ash Stinson Page 0,67
strike him. “Would you mind terribly if I sketched you? It’d be a wonderful addition to my notes.”
“What’s he saying? What language is that? Are you a Zylekkhan spy?” Diahsis demanded.
“Does he look Zylekkhan to you?” Raettonus said. “It’s English he’s speaking, from my world.”
Slade looked to Daeblau, who was standing guard behind Diahsis with Dohrleht at his side. “How about you?” he said. “I’ve never seen a centaur before today, either. Could I draw you?” He’d been upset when Raettonus had gone to see Brecan off without him, having wanted to see the unicorn before Raettonus sent him north for some of Slade’s clothes. However, as soon as they’d stepped out of Raettonus’ chamber into the citadel’s vast halls, where centaurian soldiers busily patrolled, Slade had forgotten all about it.
Daeblau smiled weakly. “What’s he on about?” he asked.
“He wants to sketch you,” Dohrleht told him.
“From your world, eh?” said Diahsis to Raettonus, crossing his arms. He pondered this for a moment, examining Slade. “So does that mean he’s a magician too?”
“We’re not all magicians in the world I came from,” Raettonus said with a sigh. “But, yes, he is.”
“I could tell by his eyes,” said Diahsis, smiling proudly and leaning back in his seat. “They’re blue and glowing. That’s not something normal.”
“How do you know? It could be perfectly normal for my world.”
“Is it?” asked Diahsis, raising his eyebrows.
“No, of course not,” Raettonus said. “Don’t be dense.”
“Can I touch his ears?” Slade asked Raettonus.
“Master, I don’t think he’d appreciate that much,” Raettonus said.
“I only want to touch them,” he replied. “They’re pointy. He’s a real live elf.”
“What’s he saying?” asked Diahsis. “Tell him to speak in common Zylekkhan or not at all.”
“Well I’ve never heard of any of those languages,” Diahsis said with a shrug. Slade reached out and softly took the general’s ear between two fingers. Diahsis’ eyes widened, and he clenched his teeth together. “Excuse me, why is he doing that?”
“He’s never met an elf before,” said Raettonus turning to Slade. “Master, he’s not too happy about that.”
“Oh—sorry,” said Sir Slade, withdrawing his hand quickly.
Diahsis sighed and rubbed his ear where Slade had touched it. “Look, fine. Whatever you like, Magician,” he said. “The room next to yours should be empty; he can have it. Just—just teach him some Zylekkhan. Actually, I don’t care what language you teach him, just not that awful language from your homeland. It’s hideous.”
“I’ll take that into consideration, General,” said Raettonus. He turned to Slade and motioned that it was time to leave. Reluctantly, Sir Slade followed him out of the room.
“This is amazing,” Slade said as they walked down the halls. “All these centaurs everywhere… I didn’t think anything like this existed!”
Raettonus frowned. “It’s not all that breathtaking, Master,” he said. “There are far more things out there than centaurs.”
“What else is there?”
“Well, there’re dragons—”
“Dragons?” said Slade. “Mary—real flesh and blood dragons? Could we go see some?”
“Well, there are dragons in the mountains,” said Raettonus. “But I sent Brecan off, so we don’t have a mount to ride. We could walk, I suppose, but it’s a very difficult path…”
“I don’t mind,” said Slade. “I’d like to walk, actually. It’ll be good for me. My muscles feel all tight like they haven’t been stretched in ages.” He smiled softly. “I suppose they haven’t been.”
“All right, then,” said Raettonus. He didn’t think it was the best idea, but at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse Sir Slade anything. So they started for the door to the citadel.
* * *
The sun was shining bright on the Dragon’s Teeth Mountain Range, and the air was cool and fresh. Centaurs toiled beneath the Kaebha Citadel’s walls, dragging blocks and placing them in the wall. Slade watched them as he and Raettonus made their way along the path. “So,” he said, once the centaurs were out of sight. “Tell me—how did you end up here?”
“Well,” Raettonus said. “Some time after your death, I was trying to clean some of the clutter in your castle. I was mostly trying to find books about necromancy, but I couldn’t help but get distracted by some of the things you had in there… One of the things that particularly caught my eye was an enormous crystal—it was almost the size of a full-grown man.”
Slade nodded. “Lord Brigham the Blue and Gray gave that to me,” he said. “He was a good magician, Lord Brigham. One day