The Necromancer

Chapter 2

Christmas day dawned bright and cold. The snow had continued falling during the night, but now the sky was a sapphire blue. While most people huddled around their fires, exclaiming with joy as they opened their gifts, three hooded people hurried down the nearly deserted street. Two were wrapped in long cloaks and the third wore only a hooded shirt and threadbare pants. Anyone who happened to glace out their window would only assume they were on their way to an acquaintance's house for Christmas morning. When the three people reached the Mason Pub, they stopped and turned inside.

Throwing back his hood, Pan seethed, "It's so cold! If I could light fire to the building to keep warm, I would." Peter ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up. The third figure chuckled and lowered her hood, knocking Pan's shoulder with hers. Her blond hair fell in curls around her face.

"Oh calm down, Pan. You've lived here all your life. You'd think you would have gotten used to the cold by now."

Pan rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but we've got the nice summers in between so I forget how much I hate the cold bits." The three moved over to sit down and the bartender shuffled over.

"Merry Christmas! What'll it be?"

Pan grinned, "Merry Christmas to you as well! Four cups of hot apple cider would be wonderful." The bartender nodded.

"Anythin' ter eat?" Pan shook his head. Once the man had returned with the cider, Peter took a sip, then stretched.

"Well, it's nearly ten, Gwendolyn should be here any minute. If she isn't, I say we fly on up to her house and sit throw rocks at her until she agrees to help us," Peter said, sighing.

"You're a horrible human being."

"I'm not human, that's the point," he said with a wicked grin. An icy gust of wind coming in through the door made them all swing around to see who had entered. The door shut and Wendy made her way over and sat down with them.

"Merry Christmas," she said with a nod to the boys. Turning to the girl she asked, "Who's this?" The girl smiled softly.

"I'm Tinsley." Wendy glanced at her blond curls and blue eyes.

"Are you related to them?" She asked with a jerk of her head towards the boys.

Tinsley laughed. "No, thankfully. I'm a friend. Part of the Lost Magicians. I've come to help search for The Necromancer."

Peter cleared his throat. "Right, Gwendolyn, we need a list of all your acquaintances in the city, even outside the city. Everyone; friends, family, enemies. You've agreed to help us and we need to know every aspect of your life. Your relationship with your family and friends, the places you go, where you like to shop, everything."

Wendy's eyebrows drew low over her eyes. "Absolutely not," she said. Peter scowled and opened his mouth to remind her that she had agreed to help, when Tinsley cut him off. She quickly read Wendy's body language, the set of her mouth, her arms crossed tightly, and the scowl written on her features.

"Miss Harod?" She said quietly, "Can I talk to you?" She stood, not waiting for an answer, and hurried out the door. Wendy followed reluctantly. Once outside, Tinsley turned to face her.

"Wendy--, May I call you that? I understand you are confused and don't wish to disclose every detail of your life to strangers," Wendy interrupted with a snort, "but we need your help. I don't know how on earth Peter convinced you to talk to him yesterday, much less meet you here today, because he's terrible with people. So if you're here, I'm assuming you're not only here because we need help. I think that you're curious. It's a classic story: rich girl with a controlling parental unit, dreams of going on adventures, and then one day, just the thing she was hoping for comes knocking at her door. If my life wasn't a new adventure every day, I would jump at the opportunity for any excitement to distract me from my everyday routine. Can you tell me I'm wrong?"