Old's morning routine involved a variety of mundane chores, such as scraping moss off the tombstones outside the ruined keep, attending the few intact statues that were pale representations of his slumbering dark master, and the occasional fighting off of graverobbers that tried to loot and steal what little remained of the great fortress of the evil overlord.
Inside the keep, Old cleared the ever-blocked corridors, ignoring the countless critters nesting in every nook and cranny between boulders and fallen debris, sweeping dust with a brittle broom.
By midday, Old focused on preparing his "gargle juice" to ease his constant irritating cough. The sluggish mixture of ingredients simmered in a rusty pot over a smoldering fire.
He performed these tasks while showing the ropes to the new servant. Although Old knew he would eventually pass on the torch, Young was still too little.
Their room, one of the few chambers somewhat intact in the keep, stood as a testament to its former glory. Even after three hundred years of constant sieges, some massive structures remained standing. However, the intricate interior design was mostly lost. Young marveled at "the castle," now reduced to scattered rocks, abandoned siege engines repurposed as garden decorations, and skeletal remains of fallen warriors. Occasionally, they encountered a rat, which could only find some kind of nourishment by nibbling on dried roots, for nothing grew on that shadow-cursed land.
Despite the desolation, it was a dream come true for Young, the next aspiring servant of the dark lord, the ever-dreaming master of darkness and despair. He was a small youthful child, with big brown eyes filled with dreams and hopes and a round belly full of those vicious, treacherous parasites called "expectations."
On the other hand, Old, worn by years of avoiding the sun, had translucent skin, bloodshot eyes, and pale complexion. A ragged hood concealed most of his face, and like wet noodles, his thin gray hair dripped from his scalp.
YOU ARE READING
Shadows of the Lich
FantasyAfter a 300-year nap, an ancient necromancer finds himself with no recollection of the past and must face a world that has no place for the un-alive anymore.
