Christabel's guide to necromancy and world domination

What's in a name?

It was just a very little scream, anyway. And I had just fallen into a dimensional hole, been almost sacrificed by weird stupid undead elves, whom I may have also killed, or re-killed, whatever, and then I had been whisked away in the air by a mysterious guy with big bat wings, and on top of that I had just peed on a skull. Really, screaming was the best way to relieve some stress. I was perfectly justified in screaming.

I stared at the empty eye-sockets looking back at me. It was a human skull, or at least humanoid, half-buried in dark soil and roots. It looked like it had been there for a long time. I started spotting other shapes in the ground, long bones and a few other skulls, and what looked very much like a hand. I took a few steps back and cleared my throat:

" Ehm... I am very sorry about this, guys. I did not see you. May your souls rest in peace, okay?"

No answer was a very good answer in this case. I pulled up my shorts and darted out of the bushes.

Mysterious now-without-bat-wings guy was waiting for me in the same position I left him, which means sitting and staring at the night sky. One of the two moons had almost disappeared beyond the horizon.

" Did you know there were skulls in those bushes?", I asked, my voice slightly higher than it usually was.

He looked at me for a few seconds, puzzled, then shrugged:

" Well, yes. I told you these are ruins of an ancient city destroyed thousands of years ago."

Now, I may not be specialized in Anthropology, but I took a course on the subject during my degree in Classical Studies, and I did not even need that to know what I was going to say.

" Those skulls are old, but not thousands of years old."

" Magic preserved them very well?", he suggested, in a smug voice.

I did not know a lot about magic, but I knew something about omitting a part of the truth, and that was what he was doing. Well, better not to antagonize my only source of information who could also potentially kill me.

" Okay. Magic.", I conceded, sitting down in front of him. My legs were still shaky from the flight and the long hours I spent tied up to a stone before that, and I was still wearing nothing but shorts and a top, which is the best outfit to go to the gym, not so much to sit outside in a chilly night, so I was shivering. He did not seem to notice, his yellow eyes back to the sky above him.

" What's your name?", he asked.

Now, yours truly has read more than her share of fantasy books, and one of the first rules they impressed on me was: do not say your true name to weird strangers when magic is concerned. Luckily, I was used to lying about my name to perfect strangers who tried to start a conversation. Thanks so much, college. I went with my favorite one, the one that sounded like mine so it would be easier to remember.

" Christina. You can call me Chris. And you?"

" I don't know. I suppose I used to have a name, a long time ago, but I forgot it.", he answered, still not looking at me. I did not think he was lying, but I was still suspicious.

" I'm sorry.", I offered, and he finally watched me, with a weak smile.

" It's good. I have forgotten a lot of things."

" But... what do other people call you?", I insisted, because I could not go on referring to him as "maybe-a-serial-killer", "bat-wings-guy", or "red-hair-does-not-go-well-with-tanned-skin-guy". It was a bit embarrassing. I really hoped his real name was something I could pronounce.