Necromancer For Hire- Arc 1

Arc 1, Chapter 13

The Plan

"Let me get this straight," Umbra said, glaring at Aunora. "You want me to convince the nagas to let all of us go, and then tell them that Victor will perform a séance for them in exchange for an antidote? And then, in some manner you haven't specified yet, you will take them by surprise and rescue Esper, right?"

Aunora shrugged, staring up at the stone ceiling of the dungeon. "Well, I expected you guys to help me out a little bit. You can fight, right?"

Victor nodded fervently, winking at Umbra. Umbra gave him a scathing look, quickly making him go still.

"I prefer to use my combat skills only when I must protect my son," Umbra hissed. "Not for some stranger."

"Dad, can you please try to sympathize with Miss Aunora? She just wants to see her friend again. I mean, can you imagine if the nagas had kidnapped me? You would try everything in your power to rescue me! That's how she feels, all alone and desperate..." Victor suddenly said. His voice was heartfelt but fearful, peering at his father with wide, glistening eyes.

Umbra opened his mouth for an acerbic retort, but the acidic comment never came. Victor's surprisingly meaningful spill sunk into his heart, leaving him a bit more emotionally fragile than he'd like to be. In a split second, Umbra's mind threw him into Aunora's position, despondent and yearning for the one person he really loved- Victor.

Blinking, he saw Aunora in a completely new light. She wasn't just some crude demon horse, she was suffering, and he could descry the hopelessness in his eyes.

Umbra felt humbled, letting his body relax. "Fine... But I have one big issue. This entire plan is built on uncertainty, and has much too many variables! If one thing goes wrong, the plan falls apart!"

"Well, we don't seem to have much of a choice! This plan is the only chance we have to escape this place. And Victor needs that antidote." Aunora countered, body twitching with aggravation.

Umbra sighed. He hated to admit it, but the girl was right. They were trapped between a rock and a hard place, and Aunora's plan was a feeble rope to pull them out.

"Listen up, Aunora. I'll help you, but I'm gonna be in charge of this operation. You will follow my lead, and I will refuse to take any kvetching from you. Understood?" Umbra growled, embracing his inner control freak.

"That depends- what the crap does kvetch mean?" Aunora said, giving Umbra a bored look.

"Kvetch is a word of Yiddish descent meaning- ah, forget it. Just keep your mouth shut and don't cross me." Umbra retorted, a heavy sigh racking his slender frame.

"Alrighty, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. As long as I get Esper by my side again, I could care less."

Umbra opened his mouth, but quickly decided it would be wiser to not to waste oxygen denying her (rather truthful) observation.

Victor looked at Umbra, sweat gently rolling down his face. "Dad, are we ready?"

Umbra swallowed, trying to quell his pulsating heart. Too much of this plan depended on luck, and Umbra hadn't exactly been touched by Lady Luck that many times in his life. He wasn't even sure if Victor was ready for such a challenge as performing a séance. But, if he was going to get out alive with his son, he had to trust both Victor and Aunora to perform correctly, and he had to be prepared to fight for his life. 

"I'm ready. Let's begin."

Author's Note- If you didn't feel like looking up kvetch, it means to complain a whole lot. There's a lot of big words in this story, 'cause I like big words. So, the inteded effect is for you to look these unusual words, and then you expand your own personal vocabulary. That's me, Nice Girl Kamikaze teaching you vocabulary words.