Dirge for a Necromancer - By Ash Stinson Page 0,97
to go lie down. When he gets up, send for me. I’d like to talk to the both of you about the attack. I want to know what happened.”
“I could tell you,” said Deggho.
“Not now,” said Raettonus. “I need to sleep. Later. When Diahsis wakes up.”
“Okay,” the goblin said. He frowned and, readjusting his head, entered the room as Raettonus tiredly made his way past the soldiers still milling around, murmuring amongst themselves.
As Raettonus was making his way down the hall Slade came to meet him. “What happened?” asked Slade. “Is he going to be all right? What was that wound from?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask when he comes to,” lied Raettonus. “He’s still got a fever but he should be fine. Could—could you give me your arm, Master? I’m feeling unsteady.”
Slade obligingly helped Raettonus back to his room. As soon as Raettonus was in his bed, he was asleep. He dreamed of dark, colorless places and fire—no memories or conversations. No peaceful temples on broken plains.
* * *
It was midmorning when he awoke, groggy and covered in stale sweat. For a moment, he felt confused and light-headed. As his thoughts ordered themselves, he realized he’d been awoken by a hard-faced Zylekkhan soldier who was standing patiently over his bed watching him. “What’s that?” asked Raettonus, sitting up. He swayed and lay back down.
“General Diahsis woke up. I was told to fetch you,” said the soldier.
“Right, right,” groaned Raettonus, trying again to sit up. He waved the soldier closer and grabbed his arm for support. “Think you’re going to need to carry me, actually. Couldn’t Diahsis come here? Why do I have to go to him?”
The soldier helped him up, and he tried to walk, but found himself growing dizzy. After a little bit of urging, the centaur let Raettonus ride on his back and carried him down to the room where he had left Diahsis the afternoon before. Diahsis was lying in his bed, propped up against the headboard, waiting for Raettonus when he arrived. Deggho, Daeblau, and two soldiers Raettonus had either never seen before or couldn’t remember, were with him. “Magician!” said Diahsis warmly as he entered. “I want to thank you for the bang-up job you did on my leg. You saved my life.”
“Yeah, well,” said Raettonus. “I was just doing what I always do. Which is to say, being amazing.”
“Well, good job,” said the general agreeably. He motioned to the two strangers. “This is Captain Lorum and Captain Uhkeht, by the way.”
Raettonus nodded casually in their direction and leaned against the wall. “Tell me,” he said to Diahsis. “What was the attack like? How many creatures were there? What did they look like?”
“There were seven of them,” said Diahsis. “Horrible creatures with teeth made of iron and these soulless, black eyes…”
Deggho was sitting on the foot of the bed. “They came out of nowhere,” he told Raettonus. “We had twelve soldiers with us, but as soon as those things showed up they didn’t have a chance. We barely made it away…”
“Do you have any idea what they might have been?” Diahsis asked.
Raettonus nodded. “Abassy,” he said. “I’ve seen their bite before. It’s unmistakable.”
“Abassy?” asked Uhkeht. He was an older centaur with long, gray hair and a crooked nose that looked like it had been broken in several places at some point. “Aren’t those the servants of Cykkus?”
Lorum, a much younger centaur with wide brown eyes and a child-like face, asked, “What would make abassy attack us? I mean, is that even possible?”
Lorum crossed his arms and muttered something Raettonus couldn’t hear. Deggho’s ears twitched, and he turned his head toward Raettonus. “Wait—you’ve treated abassy bites before? Where? On whom?”
“I’m not at liberty to say. It doesn’t matter, anyhow.”
“I’m going to have to respectfully disagree, Magician,” said Diahsis. He leaned forward in his bed and gave Raettonus a stern look with his light blue eyes. Eyes like Slade’s, back before he died. “I get the feeling you know more about the abassy than you’re saying.”
Raettonus shrugged. Uhkeht took a step toward him. “Whatever it is you know,” he said, “you must tell us. We need to understand, so we can prepare. Where did they come from? Why?”
For a moment, Raettonus was silent as the four men watched him pleadingly. “Yeah, I guess I do have an idea about why they’re here,” he said finally. “And I certainly know where they came from and how they got here.”