Victo, Arlin, Vorren, Soghol, Hasterb, Zjott and Jacob finally got to know each other well, when the Elder and Roland entered. Arlin scowled, and bent towards Zjott.
-"Shh... those guys are undeads... they have a really bad temper, they do. Don't get on their bad side."
Fortunately, Arlin did not have to endure their prescense for long, because...
---
"The large gilded doors swung open, and, as expected, my most loyal servants stood before me.
-"Good day to you all. I'm sure you know who I am, for if you don't, you would not be standing here."
I watched my subordinates bow, and suddenly I realized that someone was missing.
-"Where is Necirrejel?"
Hasterb was first to speak.
-"He is gone, my lord. The way he was and the way he is somehow said goodbye... He did not only say goodbye because it felt so easy for him to say goodbye, in a way that I knew. This is the last time."
As always, listening to Hasterb could be compared to reading poetry: even after so many words are spilled, the information is hardly of any value.
-"Alright, does anyone other than Hasterb know what happened to Necirrejel? Or must I send out wyverns to hunt him down?"
Vorren, looking rather distraught, said:
-"He left this morning, my lord. It seems that after a year of being in the Kandarinian shock troop squad, he finally got sick of it. We found several guards slaughtered, and one hydrojump transport stolen."
There were deaths that I did not sense? What is this? Are my Necromantic powers dulling? ...no, that cannot be. The sly fool must've devised some way to block my mind away from the fleeting souls of the recently deceased.... or perhaps Vorren is lying. Either way, I will find him. Sooner or later, I will find him.
-"Anywho, let us get to the reason why you were brought here. I have recently heard word of a book called the "Necronomicon", which contains the deepest secrets of the Necromantic practice. There were three copies made, but two of them were destroyed by the heretic Blue Minotaur." Roland and the Elder visibly flinched. "The last copy, entitled "Simon's Necronomicon", was stolen by the offshot group which calls itself the "Black Dragon". Similar in practice to the Blue Minotaur, but employing much more radical and extreme methods of achieving their goals. They are bent on preserving what they call the Original Arcane, and Necromancy happens to be a part of that. This is why they preserved the final copy."
Victo was first to raise concern.
-"But what of the cult itself?"
-"The events I am citing, my friend, have long passed. I imagine the cult to now be a little less than small piles of dust."
Vorren was still unsatisfied.
-"Not to sound overly egotistical, but we are your best. Why us? Why not just assemble a legion of expendable undeads to take the tome?"
Roland and Elder flinched again, at the mention of "expendable".
-"Don't question the Marshal's motives, fleshbag, or ... or else."
Vorren scoffed and was opening his mouth for another remark, when I intervened.
-"All three of you, stop this nonsense! You are acting like children! At any rate, there is a reason why I chose you over a legion of undeads. This job has to be covert. No one must know that it ever took place."
-"But why?"
-"Enough talk, all of you. Pack up and off you go."
--- --- ---
Ein hurried away from the tavern, and hid behind a house, panting heavily. The accent might have fooled them... It might have not... nobody must know that Ein is here. Not even Ein must know. No one. Absolutely no one.
With a constantly ripping thread of thoughts, Ein got back up and continued running towards a nearby forest.
