Necromancer For Hire- Arc 1

Arc 1, Chapter 23

The Juxtaposition

Once again, Umbra found himself face-first in the dirt.

Gritting his teeth and fighting off an intense wave of nausea, Umbra pulled himself to his knees. Black spots danced across his field of vision as he located his companions.

Victor was curled up close beside him, clutching his spell book to his chest. To his relief, he noticed that Victor had been smart enough to grab the black bag containing their belongings in midst of the chaos and sling it over his shoulders.

Aunora was sitting in a careless slouch, absentmindedly touching one of the cuts on her arm. Esper, still in his stag form, sat near her, front legs neatly tucked in under his body.

"You okay there, bro?" Aunora said skeptically, leaning in towards Umbra.

"Yes, yes," Umbra muttered, standing up and feeling the world spin around him. "I'm just a tad bit woozy- I'm sure its nothing to worry about. All of this inter-dimensional travel is finally getting to me, I assume."

"Umbra, will you allow me to heal your injury? It seems serious." Esper's light and courteous voice echoed in Umbra's ears as he tried to get his bearings back.

The stag stood up, and with a slight glow, transformed back into a human.

Esper still distinctly resembled his previous human form, but this time, his outfit was different. Instead of a flowing white gown, the spirit now wore a light pink sweater, and a pair of cream-colored slacks. A teal skirt hung over his pants, and a small flower was stuck in his shirt.

Walking on his toes, Esper glided to Umbra, feeling his way up Umbra's arm with his greyish fingers. Umbra cried out when he reached the cut on his bicep, body tensing.

"We don't have time for this!" Umbra exclaimed, squirming away from Esper's touch. "I've got to open this portal and get my son home!"

Esper crossed his arms, curling his upper lip in a scowl. "Sir, you're barely able to stand up right now. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not sure how much good you can be to your son when you're this weak."

Umbra stomped his foot, at a loss for words. He wanted to retort that he was perfectly fine, but he figured that it was for naught, as the blind person could even see that he was most certainly not fine.

Umbra bitterly sat back down on the ground, pulling Victor's head into his lap. In his sleep, Victor grumbled and figeted, but didn't wake up.

"Let's just get this over with." Umbra muttered, holding out his injured arm. Esper crouched down, murmuring a spell under his breath. Light pink runes blazed under his body, a heart symbol recognizable in the arcane script.

Faint, wispy streams of magic sparked across Esper's slender fingertips as he touched the gushing cut on Umbra's arm. Immediately, the skin began to reconstruct itself, a stark white scar sealing the gash on his dark flesh. The blood that had collected around the area dissolved, leaving only the jagged slash in his silken shirt.

A feeling of refreshment rushed through Umbra as his vision became more focused and his thoughts cleared. Laying Victor's sleeping form across his shoulders, Umbra stood up, relieved to find that the motion wasn't accompanied by blistering vertigo.

Clearing his throat with a polite cough, Umbra pulled Esper up by his hand. He patted the nature spirit on the shoulder, a smile coming to Esper's face.

"I restored some of your blood, along with healing the wound. I assumed the loss of blood was what was causing you to be unwell." Esper informed, tapping his fingertips together.

"Alrighty, are we finished here? I'm really, really ready to get out of this crapsack place." Aunora grumbled, her hands on her hips and eyes locked in an impatient glare.

Umbra smiled, holding out his hand and summoning his sword in an overly suave manner. The violet, rippled blade materialised into his palms, glimmering in the blistering sun.

Before Umbra could cut the runes, branch snapped behind him.

"Did you hear that?" Aunora hissed, her eyes darting back and forth, searching for the source of the noise.

"Victor, wake up." Umbra whispered frantically, shaking the boy on his shoulders back to consciousness.

Umbra, Esper, and Aunora carefully stepped back away from the brush, on high alert. Blood pulsed in Umbra's ears as the snapping sound became more frequent- something was moving closer to them.

Suddenly, like the fragile flame of a candle being snuffed out, the noise stopped.

Victor, now wide awake, wrapped his arms around Umbra's neck, quivering. Umbra wished to say some kind of caring words to quell his child, but he didn't want to risk revealing their location to whatever was in the brush.

Beside him, Aunora was growing more and more frustrated. Her bruised cheeks were flushed with anger, and she continuously shifted her weight from foot to foot.

The fuming woman suddenly went animated, bending down, picking up a rock, and tossing it into the bushes in one fluid, wrathful movement.

"I'm sick of just waiting for something to come out! Get out here and fight me if you mean me any harm!" she screeched, waving her arms.

For the second time that day, Umbra heard the deep, bass- like twang of a bowstring being released. An arrow flew out of the brush, sinking into Aunora's chest.

Author's Note- I never said Aunora was supposed to be smart. Remember to vote and comment! Also, I totally learned in my Spanish class that 'mala' is the feminine form of bad, so...fitting, huh? ;)