Gravedancer

8. RIGHT AHEAD OF US IS NECROMANCY.

And, just as night about the moon grows gray,

One sail leans westward to the fading rose.

-Battle Sleep, Edith Wharton, 1919.

When I returned to my senses - that's the fourth time this single night, Alden - the campfire and chattering growls weren't filling the air anymore. Sure, there were still some weak campfire crackles, but that's about that. Everything else was quiet, even the humans' cries. Then I sensed that there was a presence near me - very near me.

"He is awake," a voice whispers near my ear. Then the voice repeated in a louder shout. "He is awake!"

When my consciousness finally hit, I realized that it was the Ace of Hearts.

"Good," another voice, this one resembling a man, said from somewhere further ahead of me. "Bring him here."

"See you later, magus," Ace of Hearts whispered so softly to my ear only I could hear it. Then I could hear her footsteps leaving me.

There were growls replacing her footsteps, and my eyes finally worked. Two skinwalkers - the wolf kind - were coming my way, bearing their sharp teeth.

"That's unnecessary," I said weakly, but of course the skinwalkers wouldn't understand.

I could feel my body swinging a little, and then the only thing keeping me from the ground was the skinwalkers. They carried me over their shoulders and brought me -

Oh, wait.

That looked like a stage.

How did they make that?

The skinwalkers walked quickly across the sea of monsters, all looking or snarling at me as I passed by them. I tried my best to look around - Ace of Hearts was nowhere to be seen.

The skinwalkers who carried me growled shortly each time a monster came in their way. Eventually, we reached the stage.

They dropped me right in the middle.

The stage was wooden, kind of like the ones they used to hang people back in the day, just without the hanging frame. Reminds me of the stage they sometimes still use in the square when making an announcement.

There were steps and I could see from the shadows that the skinwalkers had left me alone on the stage. The campfire was almost directly in front of the stage, and I could feel the stinging heat on my skin.

It wasn't just a campfire. It was a bonfire.

I glanced around and saw no cages - even if they were still where they were, I couldn't see them because the monsters were blocking my view: even when I was standing, they looked pretty huge already. My being on the ground was not helping.

There were even monsters on the treetops. Most of them resembled giant insects and arachnids, while some of them resembled simians. Some looked like extremely athletic humanoids. Some others I couldn't draw any likeness to compare with anything I know of.

Then the monsters in front of the stage cleared. There were two monsters there - both of them Suits - and both were wearing pointed hats. One was a woman figure wearing a lot of jewelries, while the other was a man with a vicious-looking mace in either hand, both maces' grips carved into the shape of clover leaves.

Pointed headdress...like the Ace of Hearts.

Diamonds.

Maces - clubs.