The Necromancer

Chapter 4, Part 3

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This part is going to be completely rewritten, and future sections are already referencing what I plan to do here. Instead of swimming to the castle and then climbing up, they are going to go over the narrow bridge from the city into the castle. And Lirk will no longer be with them; he'll remain in the forest with Mog.

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I shook my hair like a wet dog, sending a spray of saltwater spattering onto the nearby rocks. All it really seemed to do was mess up my hair; I was still completely drenched. Despite the warm summer weather, it had been a chilly swim across the channel made even worse by the fact that all I really knew how to do was doggy paddle. Skip, on the other hand, took to the water like a fish. She got so tired of waiting for me to come with her that she ended up just dragging me for the last quarter of the swim. 

"Come on," Skip waved for me to follow her. She was already dancing her way up the rocks to the white stone base of the Lord's Tower, wherein we'd hopefully find Lamneras. I tried following after her, but my soaked shoes were slipping and sliding all over the damp, slick stones. Skip seemed quite entertained by my struggle; naturally she'd had no issue with the climbing. 

Finally I reached Skip and leaned against the smooth white stone to catch my breath. Hundreds of feet above us, a narrow stone bridge jutted out from the tower, spanning the narrow bay over to the high cliff on the edge of the city of Bermatora. It was the one 'official' entrance to the Lord's Tower, making the palace nearly impregnable. And unfortunately, the guards up above didn't seem to think that two filthy 'farmers' in ill-fitting clothing had any business going inside. So instead, we'd resorted to Plan B, leaving me shivering and wet to face a steep climb up a sheer wall. 

Lirk emerged from the water behind me with a splash. There was seaweed tangled between his ribs. Swimming turns out to be pretty damn difficult when you don't actually have any skin, so he just walked across the bottom of the bay. Wish I could do that. 

"Meet any nice fish down there, Lirk?" Skip asked.

He climbed up the rocks and joined us at the base of the tower. "I did not speak to them, Ms. Skip. I do not know if they were nice." He was still having difficulty with the whole 'sarcasm' thing, which Skip seemed to find hilarious. And part of me was unsure if he remembered that fish couldn't speak; there wasn't much of his old knowledge left in his spirit.

"Well, maybe on the way back, then!" she told him cheerily. "All right!" She clapped for emphasis with an eager smile on her face. "Let's get going." It was the happiest I'd seen her since we got to the city. With a nimple leap, she sprang onto the wall, somehow finding toe and hand holds on the smooth stone. "Just follow the path I take!" she shouted down to me, scampering up like some kind of damn spider.

I tried to follow. I jumped up at the wall... and slid immediately back down. There was nowhere to grab onto! How the hell was she doing this??

I tried again. Skip was already halfway up to the first window, a dark hole that I could barely see from all the way down here. I managed to get the very tips of my finger to cling to one miniscule ledge a few feet off the ground.... then slipped back down to the rocks. How the hell was I supposed to get up there? "Lirk!" I ordered. "Give me a boost!"

"Yes Master!" He immediately rushed over and wove his fingers together for me to step on. I placed my foot there and launched myself upward... and the joints collapsed. I fell down onto the rocks sending pain racing through my backside, and sending Lirk's fingerbones clattering to the ground. 

"Sorry, Master!" he held up the stumps of his arms, as if I didn't realize what had happened and he needed to show me. Seabirds wheeling overhead cawed down at us like they were laughing at our vain attempts to climb the wall.

I hauled myself to my feet and rubbed my smarting butt cheek. That would certainly leave a bruise. "Just... hold still," I ordered. This time, I steadied myself using his spine and tried to get a foothold on his pelvis. For one brief second, it supported my weight, and then his hip popped out of its socket and we both went tumbling back down onto the rocks. 

"You boys need some help down there?" Skip called up. I looked up to see her leaning out the low window with a broad grin on her face. 

I sighed. I could try again, but there was a 99.9% chance that that would lead to me hurting and humiliating myself again in front of Skip. "Yes," I finally called up to her. Her thin, gossamer rope came flailing down just a moment later.

"Tie it around your waist!" she called. "I'll haul you up!"

I did as she commanded, and lurched into the air as she began to hoist. My feet swung just a few feet off the ground, and the rope around my waist made my stomach bulge out from the already-tight clothing, adding insult to injury. Lirk's skull stared up at me as I jerked upwards a foot or two at a time. With the power left in me, I put him back together. 

"Thank you, Master. What should I do now?"

Another jerk up a few feet into the air. "Just... wait here, I guess. We'll be down to get you soon." Another few feet up.

"Of course, Master." He sat down on the rocks and stared obediently out at the ocean as I went higher and higher up into the air.  I felt a little bad just leaving him down there, even though he didn't feel loneliness. But I couldn't exactly go traipsing into Lord Berman's hall with a walking skeleton in tow, uness I wanted to be burned at the stake. Hopefully the gulls wouldn't bother him too much.

The closer I got, the more I could hear her heaving with every tug. The window came closer and closer until I could finally reach up and grab hold, and from there (once she wasn't dragging my full weight), it was easy going. Skip greeted me at the window sweaty, out of breath, but smiling. I grabbed onto the ledge and managed to pull myself inside. "No jokes!" I told her.

"Never!" she said in her best solemn tone, but with an ear-to-ear grin. "So, where do we go find your buddy?"

I looked at our surroundings. We were in some sort of storage room, filled with wooden barrels and crates, along with a few drying herbs hung from the ceiling. "Upwards, I guess?" Given that we were on the bottom floor of the tower, it was a fairly obvious decision.

Skip and I made our way up a winding spiral staircase past more storerooms and servants quarters. We somehow managed to sneak past one very crowded barracks room, where a particularly raucous game of cards was being hotly debated. I pratically had a heart attack when I heard one of them shout before I realized he was actually yelling at one of his comrades. 

We turned a corner to go up yet another flight of stairs, and I practically ran smack into none other than Lamneras!

He stared at me for just a moment like he couldn't believe his own eyes. "Winston?" Same old crooked smile and shining green eyes, but my buddy was covered in a brand-new layer of pudge and wrapped all in fine silks. Serving a wealthy nobleman seemed to agree with him. "What are you doing here?" He took a step back and took in my clothes, still soaked through with the briny waters from the bay. "And what in twelve hells happened? Why are you all wet?"

I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I looked like utter crap. "We... had a bit off difficulty getting here. Had to sneak into the city and then swim across the bay."

He looked puzzled. "Why didn't you just tell the guards at the gate to come get me?"

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I feel like this section of the story is missing a bit of something, but I'm not sure what! I may make some additional edits later. Hopefully you like it. Also, remember to vote on the chapter and follow me for more updates!