Necromancer For Hire- Arc 1

Arc 1, Chapter 10

The Dungeon

This was the second time today Umbra had fainted, and he was quite angry about it.

As he expected, when he fluttered his eyes open he was in a completely unfamiliar place. He assumed it was the dungeon, because that was one of the last things he remembered the nagas telling him.

The dungeon was made of large stone blocks, and the cold, dampness of the area made him think he was underground. His back was pressed against the wall, and his wrists were shackled together and placed behind his back. An iron collar hugged his neck tightly, keeping him uncomfortably tethered to the wall by a chain.

Black spots still dotted his vision as Umbra tried to investigated his surroundings closer. He seemed to be in some sort of hall, sitting against one of the side walls. Further down the hallway, the room seemed to open up more, but it was blocked with a curtain of flora.

But by far the most relieving sight to Umbra's sore eyes was the young child sitting parallel to him, chained to the wall.

However, Victor didn't seem to be fairing well. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and wet streaks trailed down his cheeks. The skin around his neck brace was bloody and raw, like he had been struggling to escape from the collar.

"Victor, dear," Umbra whispered, keeping his voice low and calming. "Are you okay?"

Victor suddenly seemed to realize that his father was right in front of him, and his head jerked up, fear prevalent in his eyes.

"Dad!" he screamed, "I want to go home now! I feel really bad!" In a gut wrenching display for Umbra to watch, Victor tried to squirm towards his father, only to choke himself when he got a few centimeters from the wall. The boy coughed and spluttered, hard sobs interlacing with gasps for breath.

"Victor! Stay still! You can't move, you're just hurting yourself." Umbra said, a bit louder than last time he spoke.

"I-I gotta get out of here, I don't wanna be here..." Victor muttered in blind panic, and his eyes alighted in a blue flame. Arcane symbols seared under him, and an electric feel excited Umbra's skin.

"Victor, control yourself!" Umbra screamed, cold sweat pouring off his forehead. "You're losing control of your powers!"

It was a standard for children to have little control of their innate magical abilities, mostly during temper tantrums or times of extreme excitement. As they got older, adolescents steadily gained more control until their power was completely voluntary. However, Victor's nervous, unstable disposition made grasping this control difficult, as he couldn't even rein in his own panic.

Bright, blue flames ignited around Victor, casting an unearthly light around the room. The dungeon turned ice cold, the magical fire sucking up the surrounding heat like a vortex.

Umbra's heart thundered in his chest as the flames started to spread around the room. Normally, to stop one of Victor's anxiety attacks, he would wrap his arms around the boy and sooth him the best he could, reassuring him that he was safe. However, Umbra wasn't even sure if he was safe, and he couldn't even touch his son in his current position.

Thinking quickly, Umbra turned to the most convenient weapon in every parent's arsenal: lying.

"Victor!" Umbra called, grabbing his son's attention. Victor stared at him in fear, eyes illuminated. "Victor, we're fine, everything is fine, okay? I'll see if I can talk some sense into the dungeon master, and then he'll let us go. You know me, dear, I can worm my way out of anything!" He forced a smile. "Remember when I avoided getting that citation at Target? After I slapped that guy for scaring you?"

The edges of Victor's mouth curved into a smile. "T-That was really funny... He had your hand print on his face..." He chuckled a little, eyes becoming more relaxed.

Umbra laughed along with him, looking at his reassuringly. "See, that's it. Laugh, smile with me. Everything's okay, repeat that for me..."

"Everything's okay..." Victor echoed, lying back against the wall. The fire started to die down, smoldering into mere black marks on the stone.

Victor let out a heavy sigh, the bags under his eyes becoming more distinct. Using that kind of magic drained his energy, stacking onto his previous exhaustion, making him feel completely swamped.

"It's okay if you need to sleep," Umbra whispered, "I'm not tired. I'll keep a watch on everything while you nap."

Victor clumsily nodded, his eyelids dropping shut near instantly. The rise and fall of his chest slowed to a pace normal for human breathing, signifying that he had drifted into a peaceful slumber.

Umbra let out a sigh of relief, mentally erasing one catastrophe from his list of things that had went wrong today. His job wasn't quite done, however, since he and his son were still imprisoned in a dungeon in another dimension.

"What the crap was that?" a crude voice called out.

Umbra jerked up, looking in the direction the voice had come from. He quickly realized Victor's fiery panic attack had incinerated the leafy curtain that covered the room down below them, allowing whatever was in there to see them.