The Necromancer's Blessing

The world around me was a blurry mess. I had no clue where I was or how I had gotten here. But I knew wherever I was, it was cold. It took me a moment to realize I was screaming. As soon as I did, I stopped, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"Are you there?" A soft voice asked as I felt something gently touch my shoulder. "Please answer me..."

I slowly looked over to find a young man standing over me, his gaze filled with worry. "Where am I?" I asked. My throat burned with pain as the word slipped out of my mouth.

"You're home." The man replied, relief showing in his voice.

Home? What was home?

"How?"

Another figure walked into my eyesight. She was a young elegant woman, with deep brown eyes. But something about her seemed off.

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, kid, but he is not allowed to answer that question. That's the rules."

"The rules? Of what?" I asked.

The man shook his head, "It's nothing." He offered a hand.

I gently grabbed it and he slowly pulled me up. The world started to spin again, making me feel woozy. Once I was sitting up, I took a moment to get my senses back.

"You should've waited a bit longer, Scout. She wasn't ready for that yet." The woman said, a bit rougher than what felt necessary.

"She seemed like she was ready, plus, I took it very slow." Scout argued.

"Why couldn't he help me?" I asked, looking over at her.

"I didn't say that." She replied, "It's just that your body is still... waking up... Yeah that's it."

"My body was sleeping?" I asked softly.

Scout looked unsure, but gave a small nod, "You were asleep for two days..." He glanced at the woman, as if waiting for approval for something.

She flashed him a warning look before turning to me, "You will experience some difficulties as you go about your daily life. Don't worry about it, it'll go away in about a year."

"A year?" I exclaimed, "That's a long time, miss."

"I know it is. Be lucky it won't be longer." She replied, before turning to Scout, "Payment will be due the same week her side effects wear off, that surely gives you enough time to go out of debt."

"Yes ma'am." He whispered. "Thank you."

"If you truly want to show your appreciation, don't let it happen again." She replied, "Just because children are easier to do than adults, doesn't mean I like doing it."

Scout nodded, "Do you think she's good to stand?"

She looked at me for a moment, then slowly nodded, "Take it nice and easy though. And you might need to help her walk. And no matter how much pain she's in, don't give her any pain killer till after her first week or it might cause big issues."

Pain killer? Why would I need pain killer?

It was only when Scout helped me to my feet did I realize what the lady was talking about. My whole body began to throb with pain. I bit my tongue and held back another scream. I needed to push through this.

I let go of Scout's hand and sat back down on the bed, slightly shivering as the cold took hold of me, even worse than the first time. The woman looked at me for a minute then rushed off, only to come back with a blanket. She wrapped it around me snugly.

"I'm sorry, dear, I always forget about the blankets." She said, sitting down next to me. "There than cold, how are you feeling?"

"My body hurts..." I complained.

"That's normal." She replied sweetly, "It'll go away due time."

I nodded, pulling the blanket tighter around me. After a moment Scout softly asked, "Do you know what happened before this?"

I thought as hard as I could, but I couldn't recall it. After a moment I shook my head, "No. What happened exactly?"

"You best not know." The woman replied, flashing another look at Scout.

He gave her a weird look back, "What? I was just curious."

"You know the rules." She hissed.

He threw his hands into the air, "Look I'm sorry. I'm just... Fascinated I guess. I mean she was just-"

"Enough, Scout." She said cutting him off. "It is better for her to not know."

"I'm sorry ma'am." He whispered, taking my hand, "Are you ready to go home, love?"

I shook my head, "I'm still cold."

"You can keep the blanket, kid." The woman said, "I have plenty more."

"Thank you, ma'am..." I replied, as Scout helped me off the bed again. It took me a minute to figure out how to walk again, but Scout seemed willing enough to wait for me. As soon as I did figure it out, I had no issue keeping up with his brisk pace.

As he led me out of the weird building I softly asked him, "Who was she and what did she do?"

"She was a kind person who helped you wake up, darling." He replied, "Though she asked me not to tell you too much. Apparently, she has special rules on it."

"But, wouldn't I have woken up by myself?" I asked.

"Not this time darlin." He whispered, "That's why I called her to give you another chance."

"Another chance? For what?" I asked.

He chuckled softly, "I'll tell you when you're older, deal?"

"But what if I don't want to wait till I'm older?" I asked.

"It won't change anything. I still won't tell you anything till I feel like you're ready."

I sighed and pulled the blanket tighter around me, "Why was I screaming when I woke up?" I asked.

"She says it's normal." He replied with a shrug, "But even she doesn't know why."

I looked back at the building. It was such a weird building, it looked like an abandoned watch tower that's been torched or something. "When will I see her again?" I asked.

"Hopefully never."