Chapter 77: A Necromancer’s Vigil
Maggie’s answer surprised everyone.
“Your mother was a Necromancer? Can you tell us more?” Abyss asked, then, realizing the question might be painful for Maggie, added, “Ah, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. We understand.”
“I’ll tell you,” Maggie said, touching her healed face, a slightly forced smile on her lips. “It’s not really a secret, as long as you don’t despise me…”
“Impossible,” Leona thumped her chest. “I don’t discriminate against Necromancers at all.”
“Necromancy is quite a fascinating school in our eyes,” Rebecca added with a mysterious smile.
Flora nodded. “Don’t worry, perhaps other Druids dislike you because of it, but we won’t. We know some Necromancers are principled and kind; we don’t judge based on profession.”
Abyss felt a surge of warmth; his companions were not only reassuring Maggie but also subtly praising him.
Excellent, as expected of my companions. Abyss nodded proudly, then said to Maggie, “Tell us everything. We’re friends now; you can say anything. We don’t mind you rambling.”
“Really?” Maggie’s eyes lit up. “Then… I’ll start.”
Maggie sat cross-legged, holding her feet, speaking softly, as if afraid of being overheard by the other Druids outside.
“My memories of my mother are hazy. All I remember is her holding me in her arms, sitting on a tree branch, looking at the stars. My master said she died when I was four. My father wanted to take me away, but my master persuaded him to leave me at the gathering, raising me himself.”
“My mother was a wandering Necromancer, and my father was a mid-tier Druid in the gathering. My master is my father’s close friend. He told me all the stories about my parents.”
“You must know about the eternal pride of our Druid gathering, the former Grand Sage, Miss Agnes. It’s said that after her death, she somehow relayed a message to the Necromancers of the continent, prompting them to search for treasure. For years after her death, Necromancers lingered around the gathering. My mother was among the first to arrive.”
Maggie paused, glancing cautiously at Abyss and his companions, who were listening attentively, their faces showing no disgust. She continued,
“My master told me that when my mother first arrived, she searched around like the others, but after a while, she stopped and settled nearby. She initially tried to rent a house in a nearby village, but the villagers refused her money. Having no choice, she built a treehouse in the nearby woods and lived there. She wasn’t a Druid, so the treehouse was crude, barely providing shade from the sun and offering no protection from the rain.”
“After settling in the treehouse, she stopped searching for treasure and waited for other Necromancers. If any appeared, she would try to make them leave. If they refused, she would fight them. Most Necromancers didn’t dare cause too much trouble on Druid territory, so she eventually drove them all away.”
“There were a few other Necromancers like my mother. They also built crude treehouses or dug burrows, living there, ready to fight any incoming Necromancers, like thugs protecting their turf. But strangely, these Necromancers, including my mother, never fought amongst themselves.”
“Does that mean they had the same goal?” Abyss mused, stroking his chin. “Your mother and those Necromancers were working together, protecting something here.”
“Yes, perhaps, but the Druids preferred to believe they were planning to divide the treasure among themselves,” Maggie said with a wry smile, sighing. “Ah, sorry, I almost digressed. I was trying not to digress tonight. I was talking about my mother and those Necromancers – they would fight other Necromancers every now and then, even teaming up against stronger opponents. The nearby graveyard suffered; the incoming Necromancers loved to dig up the dead, and the resident Necromancers would rebury them after the fights. Someone even joked that they should install doors on the graves for easier access.”
“There was a wave of grave relocations in Keshel; the residents were fed up with the Necromancers. But since my mother and the others always reburied the dead for free, it didn’t escalate to the point of driving them away.”
Abyss blinked, trying to figure out Maggie’s mother’s intentions.
Were they really after treasure? But why didn’t they just take it and run? Did they need a specific opportunity?
Judging by Maggie’s age, her mother had been there for nearly twenty years. Had they been waiting for something that long? Even for elves, that was a considerable amount of time.
“At first, the Druids were quite troubled. Every time the Necromancers fought, the gathering would send someone to intervene – usually by force. My father met my reclusive mother during one of these interventions.”
“Somehow, they fell in love. The gathering disapproved of a Druid dating a Necromancer, but their love was genuine, a part of nature, so they couldn’t interfere.”
“Later, they got married. My master officiated the wedding, with a few animals as witnesses. After they married, my mother became pregnant. My father took care of her, and fifteen months later, I was born.”
“My master said that after I was born, my mother stopped guarding the Sacred Tree. She hoped to wait until I was older, then leave with my father, settling in a remote village within the Elven Kingdoms where no one knew their identities, and live happily ever after.”
“However, when I was four, tragedy struck.”
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