The Bizarre Adventures of a Half-Elf

12. Fun with Necromancy

Charlotte woke up coughing as life filled her once more, forcing her to sit up and gasp for air. The room swam around her in a white blur, and she pushed through the fogginess of her mind to try and remember what had happened. 

She was sitting on a medical cot in the chapel, and the bile in the back of her throat reminded her of the events right before she had lost consciousness. Around her was a white privacy curtain, and she was not wearing a shirt. She was still wearing her black chest wrap, necklace, and gloves, though, and there was a new small, pink scar that rested vertically on her abdomen. 

Voices came from the other side of the curtain, and the rogue tried looking for her tunic. When she was unsuccessful at finding it, she simply swung her legs over the side of the cot, stood up, and yanked the curtain aside.

She appeared to be in the medical wing of the chapel, and the others of the group rested around the room in various states. Elric was one of the first to look up, and his eyes went wide as he immediately slapped his hand over his face to obscure his vision. "Charlotte, you are... exposed..." 

"I can't find my tunic," she replied, unfazed. "Don't worry about it, I've got my bits covered."

"Gross," Timoré commented from where he was laying in another cot with his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

"You're gross." Came her immediate retort.  

"I have your shirt, Charlotte. I'm just mending it," Lola spoke up from her left. She was sitting on a crate with the Half-Elf's tunic across her lap, holding a needle and thread with one hand. Asmoth was sitting on the ground below, arms crossed, holding the spool for her. There were no signs of any ghoulish effects from the necromancer.

Charlotte blinked in surprise. "Oh. Well, thank you. Did we win then?"

"Not exactly." The Kishi's ears twitched. "When things started to go badly, Türin ran for help. Luckily, he found some nomadic clerics that happened to be passing by. Once the Black Skulls saw them, they disappeared, and the clerics healed the worst of our wounds. They even turned Asmoth back to normal since he had only recently been affected." She leaned down and kissed the purple crystal protruding from the Kuesik's forehead. 

"So is everyone okay then?" The Half-Elf asked, beginning to do a headcount.

"No." Elric spoke up solemnly. He had lowered his hand from his face, but his gaze was still respectfully averted. "They took Lydia."

"They did what?!" 

"We have to get her back, or who knows what they might do to her," the Nephilim continued. 

"Can't we just try and negotiate like you did with me?" Lola asked.

Asmoth shook his head. "No. That plan didn't go well last time."

Charlotte sighed, shaking her head. "Girl got herself captured even after I died saving her." She looked absentmindedly at her gear, and noticed a shortsword missing. Her off-hand sword, Talon, was there, marked by the silver eagle on the hand-guard, but she could not find her primary weapon. 

"Did you lose something?" Türin asked her.

"Aye, the dark sword that I use for my main hand: Heartsbane. The bandits didn't take it, did they?"

"Well they are bandits," Timoré pointed out. 

"Great," Charlotte rolled her eyes. "So are we going anytime soon, then?"

"We need a better strategy," Asmoth said. "I don't plan on becoming an infernal puppet once more."

The rogue placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, whose got a plan? Türin, you have a sample of the venom, don't you?"

The Woad Elf was quiet for a long moment, before he replied, "...aye..."