The Necromancers

Prologue

Her nails bled as she dug harder and harder.

The freezing cold of the mountains didn't seem to bother her. She was determined. She wanted it and she would have it. Her hands dug faster. Her breath came out in puffs. There was no time to breathe.

They were chasing her and although she distracted them to buy her enough time, she couldn't risk anything. She had to be as fast as possible. They could be here any moment and they'd take everything away from her. Once again.

Her hands ached. The mud pressing against the open wounds of her fingers but finding the bracelet was more important. It was the least she could do after everything that her mother did for her.

"Please please please." She couldn't figure out if she was sobbing or just praying.

The building of the ancient temple stood strong and calm before her. The wooden doors of it, shut close. Sealed for the night.

She shook her head and looked down again. Her vision was blurry. The tears streamed down her face and pure panic was slowly taking over her. She was petrified. But this was no time to fear.

Taking another long breath she dug with the last of her strength and there it was. A rough metal under her bruised finger tips. With a sigh of relief she dug further and extracted the little metal thing.

There was no time to wait and see what it looked like. She just made sure that it was actually the bracelet her mother asked of her and she pocketed it.

She gulped as much air as her strained lungs would catch and chanted the spell for aeroportation, teleporting using air or wind currents. She was a master at it. She was a master at every spell she'd ever seen or heard.

"What are you doing here?" A voice startled her. She turned around and saw his face. Him. The man she had once respected and now despised with all her might.

All in the span of twenty four hours.

She had everything. And now she had nothing.

He was a reason and she hated him.

With a glower on her face she eyed him. His face was as immaculate as ever just with a scowl present. He wasn't fond of people either. And any disturbance with his personal time was a reson for him to dislike the cause of that disturbance.

"I asked what are you doing here?" He asked again. Calmly.

"Nothing." She gritted out through clenched teeth.

They both stared at each other. For a moment his eyes widened as her face set in his mind. She was the girl he had seen around. The girl about whom he had heard a lot. The girl he was intrigued to meet.

Pretty, he thought. Even with those bloodied hands and muddy face. She was pretty. A tiny little witch that was glaring at him with all her might. He was confused but didn't let it show. Her gaze spoke of unrestrained hate and loathe for him. Because her eyes were directly glaring into his.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly this time. But before she could answer, they heard snaps of twigs from the forest. He turned in that general direction but when he looked back again to the girl, she was gone. Vanished as if she wasn't ever there.

Had it not been for the dug out mud near him he would have believed that he imagined the entire encounter.

After all he had been hallucinating ever since that witch cast her spell on him. Even though he killed her, her spell still worked. Sometimes, not as often as she had hoped but the spell was there. And he hated it.

Because he wasn't supposed to have any weaknesses. Gods no. But hallucinations were his only set back. And they were rare thanks to his own witch powers.

Shrugging away the thought of that strange girl he prowled away in the direction of the woods to return back to his destination.