This short story was inspired by a short story prompt called "Dramatic Entrance". The story is written to stand alone, although my long-time readers will recognize the characters from the adventures of Annie and her Psuedo-Dragon which I first started writing in My Grandmother's Pendant and continued in Voices and Visions in a Dark Wood.
As always, I appreciate and enjoy any feedback! Let me know what you think. Also, if there are every any story ideas or prompts you'd like to send my way for me to try, let me know!
Have a Great Week!
James
"In the Necromancer's Lair"
by James J Meadows III
“To restore balance to the worlds, you must
retrieve the Pendant of the Last Kingdom. The ancient mystical talisman can be found
in the stronghold of the Necromancer, the ancient lord of death. Find his lair,
hidden within the secret kingdom of Radash, and return the pendant back to us.
Or all will be lost.”
Those
were the seer’s words, which started this whole mission almost three weeks ago.
Now, I stood at the door to the
Necromancer’s lair. Disguised as a small stone house in the middle of the city,
it was the perfect camouflage, one which sent me on a two week long goose chase
around town trying to find it.
Who knows? If not for the tip from
a stranger at the local bar, I might still be searching for another three weeks
- perhaps longer.
“Remember,
if all the legends are true, getting the pendant from him will not be easy,”
whispered my invisible pseudo-dragon companion, Llander, his high pitched voice
coming from just to my right. “He is said to be extremely powerful, capable of
roasting us with nothing more than a flick of his wrist. We will need to move
fast before he can do so.”
I
nodded, still staring at the door. Summoning my courage, I approached the
barrier, advancing up the sidewalk until I stood almost directly in front of
it. This was absolutely nuts.
I was just a simple teenage girl,
with no notable powers, skills, or talents. Heck, I wasn’t even from this
world. How could the great seer expect me, of all people, to defeat the
mysterious necromancer, recover the lost Pendant, and restore balance to the
worlds?
“Alright,” I said, my head spinning
as I tried to wrap my mind around what I was about to do. “We will need to
catch him off guard, I will try to keep him distracted while you rush in and
grab the pendant.”
“How do you plan to do that?” my
companion asked.
“Not sure,” I answer. “What I need
is some sort of dramatic entrance, something no one will expect?”
“You are going to enter doing a
theater routine?”
“No, not dramatic like that,” I
replied, feeling a rush of annoyance at my companion’s usual inability to
understand figurative language; it was a flaw all pseudo-dragons possessed. “I
mean, dramatic as in do something big and grandiose!”
“You are going to make yourself
larger?”
“No,” I said, my annoyance
increasing. “I mean like bursting into the door, creating a lot of noise,
something that will catch him off-guard so he won’t be able to take immediate
action.”
“Oh,” my companion mused. “You are
going to burst through the door? But won’t it be locked?”
I hesitated. Come to think about
it, I never considered how we would actually open the door. In all the fantasy
novels I always read, or various video games I played, you typically just
walked inside the evil villain’s dungeon and confronted him.
“Um, I don’t suppose you have some
sort of magic that can unlock a door?” I asked.
“That isn’t really a part of my
race’s abilities,” he answered. “Maybe you can kick the door in?”
If I could see my companion, I
would have rolled my eyes at him. I was five foot two and weighed one hundred
pounds. I was more likely to get blown away by a breeze than kick in a door.
“Why don’t you kick it open,” I
asked. “Your race is, like, part-dragon or something, isn’t it? Don’t you have
some sort of supernatural strength?”
“I’m one foot tall and weigh about
ten pounds, what do you think?”
“Well, we’ve got to figure out some
way in!” I said, with no small amount of exasperation.
“If you’ll step aside, I have the
key,” a deep voice sounded from behind me. “I can open the door for you.”
A chill
ran up my spine as I turned to see a tall black-robed figure towering above me.
He had narrow grey lips, thin sallow skin, and long white hair flowing down
from beneath the low hood.
For a
moment, I stood paralyzed with fear, gazing into his bloodshot eyes. I didn’t
need an introduction to know I stood in the presence of the mysterious Lord of
Death, who the seer had told me about; the one capable of turning me into a
pillar of dust with just a word. He had apparently walked straight up to us
while we were debating, without us even noticing. Now, we would pay.
I stood
there, holding my breath, waiting for my doom.
Nothing happened. He just continued
standing there staring at me for a second, before making a slight gesture with
his right hand, which I now realized was holding a key, as though requesting me
to move out of the way.
With a
quick nervous step, I moved aside. To my surprise, he proceeded right past me,
with complete nonchalance, placing the key into the door, twisting it, and
pushing it open. He then turned around, looking at something behind me, and
waved his hand. I looked back and realized there was a small cart full of
vegetables, meats, and various other supplies sitting on the lawn, a short
distance behind where he stood a moment before.
In
response to his wave, the cart rolled forward, advancing through the door and
down a short hallway visible within. He took a couple of steps after it before
turning around.
“Are
you coming?”
I stood
irresolute for a second. This was not in any way what I was expecting. My instinct
was to look at my companion for advice. Then, I remembered he was invisible. I
was on my own with this decision. Still, it wasn’t like I had any better plan
of what to do next. So I went ahead.
He led
me through an entry hall, into a large sitting room attached to a kitchen. I
followed him in before giving a sudden scream of fear, backing into the wall
behind me. The kitchen and sitting room were filled with walking skeletons, their
bones, teeth and eyeless skulls devoid of all flesh, organs and decorations,
save for the dirty, moth-eaten clothes hanging from their frames.
Our
host ignored my outcry.
“Roger,”
he called, addressing one of the skeletons. “Fetch some drinks for our guests.”
The skeleton replied with a rather
rude gesture, involving one hand and one finger.
"Don’t
you give me any lip,” our host snarled. “Just do it! That’s an order!”
The
skeleton retreated into the kitchen as our host turned back to us. Meanwhile,
other skeletons began collecting the various foods, wines, and supplies from
his cart, placing them into cupboards and spaces around the kitchen.
“The
undead can be such a pain at times,” he said, with a small sigh. “But if I
don’t keep them in line, the wandering hordes will go wreaking havoc across the
kingdom like they used to. Please, sit down.”
He
gestured toward a series of plush armchairs and couches. I took a seat on the
nearest one, feeling completely bewildered.
“Anyway,”
he said, taking a seat across from me. “You must be Annie.”
“How
did you know my name?” I asked, rather surprised, not just at his knowledge of
my name but also at the fact that he called me by it. Though I always introduced
myself by name, so far no one else in this world had used it.
“I know
a lot of things,” he answered. “Your name is just one of them, though if you’d
rather me call you ‘Light Child’ like everyone else, I will do so.”
“No,
please, call me Annie,” I said, feeling a rush of relief.
In some ways, it was nice to
actually have what seemed like a normal conversation with someone; though, at
the same time, considering I hadn’t met a single other person in this world who
seemed capable of such conversations, this only added to the already surreal
quality of the scene.
All-in-all,
though, holding a conversation was much better than the alternative. I only
hoped my companion was taking advantage of this time to look for the pendant.
As I had no way to tell, I decided I would just keep the conversation going as
long as possible and hopefully buy some time.
“Do you
have a name?” I asked.
“Probably,”
he answered. “I couldn’t tell you what it is, though. No one has called me by
it for centuries. They always call me by various pseudonyms and titles. After a
while, I just forgot what it was.”
“Oh,” I
replied, unsure quite where to take the conversation from here.
Fortunately,
the skeleton, dubbed Roger, came back about that time carrying a pair of
glasses and a small ceramic container, which reminded me forcibly of a dog
bowl. He handed one glass to the Necromancer, one to me, and placed the bowl on
the ground beside me. They were all filled with a strange, glowing,
greenish-liquid. The drink in the bowl started getting lapped up as soon as it
touched the ground - so much for my companion scouring the place for the
pendant.
I studied the drink, feeling
somewhat apprehensive.
“It
isn’t poisoned or drugged or anything,” my host replied.
“That
is okay, pseudo-dragons are immune to poisons,” came my companion’s voice from
beside me.
“Yeah,
I know,” the necromancer responded. “I was talking to her – Earthlings aren’t.”
“How do
you know the world I’m from?” I asked. I was growing more than a bit unnerved
by his seemingly vast knowledge of me. “And how do you know what my race is and
isn’t immune to?”
He gave
a small laugh.
“My
dear young lady, they wouldn’t have appointed me Keeper of the World Pendants,
if I didn’t have a pretty good knowledge of the various worlds,” he replied. “I
suppose that is what you came here for, after all. Here you go.”
The necromancer
reached into his robes, withdrawing a large golden medallion, featuring a
bright blue circular gem situated inside a ring of gold, attached to a thick
chain necklace. I recognized it instantly as the one my grandmother used to
always wear. He tossed it over to me in a haphazard manner. I caught it, even
more confused than before.
“You’re
just giving this to me?” I asked.
“Of
course,” he replied, “Why not? You’re the rightful bearer, chosen by the
previous bearer to take over their legacy. Plus, you passed the first test.”
“What
test?” I asked.
“Finding
me,” he answered, “and having the courage to confront me.”
“But,
you haven’t been dangerous at all,” I replied. “What kind of test is that?”
“A real
one,” he said. “Many of the greatest fears people face are in their heads.
Being able and willing to face and overcome your own internal fears is the
first step to facing the real fears and dangers which confront you the rest of
the way.”
“The
rest of the way…” I said, my voice trailing off as the realization dawned that
this might only be the first test.
“My
dear, did the seer not talk to you about the many vile forces seeking
to throw the worlds out of balance for their own dark schemes?” He asked. “Do
you really believe obtaining the pendant and returning to your world will be so
easy with such enemies?”
“I
guess, I hoped,” I replied.
He smiled at those words.
“But
what does this pendant have to do with anything?” I pressed. “This is just a
simple necklace that my grandmother used to wear. What does it have to do with
bringing balance and safety to the worlds?”
“Each
world in our multi-verse of worlds has a pendant associated with it,” he
answered. “This world, being the center of all worlds, is the repository from
which they are distributed. Within each world, there is one bearer of their
pendant, who is tasked with guarding and protecting it.”
“Your
grandmother took on the responsibility when she came to this world ages ago,”
he continued. “When she passed away, she willed you to be the next guardian.”
“Then,
why didn’t she just give it to me herself?” I asked. “Why did I get brought
into this world?”
“The
pendant must attune itself to the wearer, if it will give them the power of
their world,” he said. “While you wear the pendant in your world, you will
attract all the blessings, joys and happiness of your world; or else, you will
attract all the pain, grief and suffering of your world. It all depends upon
you! If you are to unlocked the good and benevolent powers of the pendant, you
must learn to attune yourself to it and unlock its secrets. These things can
only be done here.”
“So,
what do I do now?”
“Now?” He
asked. “Well, you can finish your drink for one. Then, I would put the pendant
on. Afterward, I encourage you to head back to the seer. I expect as you travel
there, your next step will be revealed to you. Be open to the power of the
pendant and its messages. Do so, and the whole world, and the secrets of all
the worlds, will open up to you. Protect it, for dark forces want the medallion
for themselves, and will try to prevent your unlocking it.”
I
studied the pendant, twirling it around in my hands. I felt myself reeling from
the shock of all I had just heard. I took a sip from my drink as I thought
about everything I had gone through. The drink possessed a odd, sweet
flavor which reminded me, strangely, of flowers. My mind was too preoccupied to
enjoy it, though.
Only ten minutes ago, I had stood
at the door, trying to figure out a way to make a dramatic entrance so I could
get the pendant. Now, a part of me wished I could make a dramatic exit to get
rid of it.
Yet,
the weight of the obligation, and the knowledge of the faith everyone had in
me, stayed my hand. I could see the concerned faces of the seer and her people,
asking me to help them. I couldn’t let them down. I put the pendant around my
neck, placed down my drink, and rose from the chair.
“Thank
you,” I said. “I appreciate your straight-forward answers. You are the only one
who has given me any. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll see myself out.”
With
those words, I strode boldly back toward the door and the waiting world beyond.
