Necromancer For Hire- Arc 1

Arc 1, Chapter 16

The Healing

Victor had been drawn away from Umbra and sat on the wooden floor. Esper was crouched down beside him, one hand laid the boy's leg and the other grasping a needle filled with opaque liquid.

The nature spirit waved away the nagas that flocked the two of them with a feeble hand. Once they were out of earshot, Esper leaned down and whispered into Victor's ear.

"Aunora is with you, correct? She has quite the distinctive smell, like rotting meat. I assume it's a standard trait of demons." Victor look flustered, nodding his head. It quickly hit him that nodding would do nothing to alert the blind Esper, so he opted to frantically squeeze his hand.

Esper sighed, touching Victor lightly on the arm. "I'm going to take that as a yes." he shook his head, shoulders slumped. "I can only hope that she has a plan this time. Aunora's much to brash for her own good...I'm not sure what she has up her sleeve, but I dearly want it to work."

Esper pulled up Victor's sleeve, rubbing the top of the boy's arm with his thumb. He prepped the needle, hovering the tip above his pale skin. Victor groaned in discomfort, feeling tears welling in his eyes.

"Don't be afraid, child. It won't be that bad. Here, look at this instead." Esper touched the ground beside him with two fingers, and light pink runes shined on the woody floor. To Victor's surprise, a plant started to grow. The plant shot out of the ground at an accelerated rate, only taking a matter of seconds for a beautiful yellow rose to bloom. Esper plucked the rose from its stem, placing it in Victor's lap.

"Shots hurt a lot less when you're distracted. This is a yellow rose, correct?" he smiled, laughing a little. "It's been so long since I've seen colors, I just had to memorize the slight variations in the spell to make different kinds of roses."

While Victor stroked the petals of the flower, he felt a slight prick. He cringed, but kept his eyes glued to the rose.

"It's done. You can look up now. At least, I assumed you were hiding your eyes." Esper chuckled. "You did well, dear. You didn't even cry or jerk away from me!" Esper tossed the empty syringe away, wrapping Victor in a tight hug.

"If you try to rescue me, I'll help out as much as I can. I'm sick of them thinking I'm so kind of forest goddess." Esper whispered, his breath hot on Victor's ear.

Victor squeezed Esper's hand as a confirmation, and then Esper stood up, holding his arms out towards the gathered nagas.

"The child has been given the antidote, and I have blessed him with my powers. The medicine is fast working, so it should be taking effect as we speak. Once he feels he is ready, the séance can begin."

The crowd of nagas broke into cheers, all of them bowing to Esper and clapping hysterically.

Victor stood up, surprised when no dizziness accompanied the sudden movement. He stumbled to Umbra, throwing himself in Umbra's lap.

"Esper was talking to me..." Victor murmured quietly.

"What did he say?" Umbra whispered back, eyes widening. Aunora causally leaned in to hear Victor's response.

Victor twirled the flower Esper gave him between his fingers. "He says he wants to help us free him."

Author's Note- Sorry for the short chapter. The last two gave been like a thousand words, so this is a bit of a breather. We're nearing the climax!