Author's Note: This story was originally published back in November of 2015. Since then, the characters have been taken out of their fantasy setting and thrown into a much more contemporary one. But after seeing some awesome submissions for the Revision Contest running in October of 2020, I decided to revisit this work - and republish the original for comparison! I hope you enjoy a glimpse into 2015 Mage's writing.
Author's Note: Hello, dear reader. My name is TheLearningWriter, and this is the first case in The Schadel Files, a mystery series that takes place in a universe that is far different that own. To avoid any future confusion, this universe works similarly to a video game. If you don't play video games, the term "drop" refers to what is left behind when a monster is killed. The bright light that fills the sky is the equivalent of a monster dying. With that in mind, enjoy the first of The Schadel Files.
The Case of the Necromancer-For-Hire
Chapter 1
The
longsword is as much a part of her as her arms and legs are. It is
what makes the young warrior whole, and when she fights with it her
movements are fluid and quick. One swift slice of her blade finishes
off the monster.
The monster's remains burst into a bright light that fills the sky. Her gaze travels to two other girls standing nearby. None of them have
reached the age of sixteen yet, and the three have been together for
years.
“Hey, Zarith, Oona!” She yells excitedly as the sword is returned to
its sheath. “Look at the loot from this guy! We'll be able to
get the nicest rooms in the inn!” The girl waits several seconds before repeating their names. "Zarith, Oona!" Neither of the two respond. Over and over again she speaks, waiting for one of the two to notice what she's done. Why don't they answer her?
She knows the reason, actually. It was more of a rhetorical question. While she was
working her hardest to defeat the gigantic wolf, Zarith and Oona were
conversing about the newest armor and fighting tactics.
Her
grin fades, and she pockets the gold coins.
The girl notices a fang
out of the corner of her eye. Though she's no drop expert, she
understands that this could be a chance for more money. She puts it into a small leather pouch that rests at her side.
As
the trio walks out of the forest, she trails behind the two chatting
girls. She starts to quietly sing. The song is a somewhat morbid song, and yet she's somehow known it for as long as she can remember. She thinks she heard the bards sing it when she was little, but she honestly doesn't know when she first heard it. It has always offered her a strange sense of comfort. It's the only constant in her short, fourteen year long life.
“That's
some pretty nice singing, you know.” The girl jumps. Her
friends are obliviously continuing on their way. “Shame you
aren't a bard.” Green eyes frantically glance around the woods,
finally settling on a humanoid figure perched on a tree branch. The sun suddenly breaks free, its brilliant rays revealing the figure to be a boy. From the sound of his voice, a boy around her age.
The
boy takes a bite out of a small apple.
“Wh-Who
are you?” She manages to get out. Where had this strange boy come from? She hadn't sensed or heard him. She is failing at being a decent warrior. Or, she realizes, this boy is so experienced that he was able to sneak up on her.
“I'm
a mage-for-hire.” He jumps down from the branch, landing on the
ground with a soft thud. The apple is thrown to the side.
He's
dressed in a black cloak, with silver runes sewn into all parts of
his attire. A skull necklace rests against his chest. And, in dirtied
bandages on his back, is a scythe. “Well, more like
necromancer-for-hire, but for some reason it just doesn't work on the
resume.”
“Oh.”
She says. Her eyes wander down the path. Her friends are
long gone now. She knows that she should try to catch up to them, but
something makes her want to stay. Let them worry for once when they
realize I'm not quietly following them, she rebelliously decides. “What's your name?
I'm Proschima. But everyone calls me Chi.” The girl sticks her
hand out.
His
bandaged hand shakes it. “I'm Schadel. Were those two
your friends?”
Chi
gives a slow nod.
She
can only make out a pair of intelligent silver eyes on Schadel's
face. The rest is hidden by a combination of shadows from his hood
and the bandages wrapped all over him. Those strange silver eyes
watch her for a second before he speaks once again. “Then I
think you need some new friends.”
Chi
stays silent, her green eyes focusing on the ground underneath her as
she remembers a time when it wasn't always this way. She wants to
hold onto that precious time, and clings to the chance of her dreams
coming true.
“They're
my friends.” The girl says slowly. “I've known Zarith
since we pretended to be princesses and knights in shining armor.
Since we decided we wanted to go on adventures.”
“Friends
don't always stick close together.” Schadel points out. “You gain friends. You believe in best friends, that you'll always be together for the rest of your life. And maybe even beyond that. But then you drift apart, or something tears you apart. You lose them, and then gain more friends. The cycle repeats itself over and over until the day your coffin is lowered into a worm-ridden hole. It's an unavoidable part of life.”
Her lips quiver, and she bites the inside of her mouth. Who does this boy think he is, saying something like that? People do stay together. It's not a stupid dream, a stupid fairy tale. You don't drift apart. You always have that one person you can rely on. Like Zarith before either one of them had even heard the name Oona. “You're wrong." She quietly whispers. "You're wrong."
"I'm not. You've lost your friends long ago, Chi. It's time to move on. To make new ones."
"It was nice meeting you, Schadel.” Chi coldly says.
She begins to walk away, only to glance over her shoulder at him.
“But I'm perfectly happy with my current friends, thank you
very much.”
As
the white haired girl marches off, Schadel gives a frown and pulls
out a scroll. It is her name on there, and the picture is of
her. He sighs and returns it to his bag. “She's the one,
alright,” Schadel says to the air next to him.
*
* * * *
Chi opens the door to her new room in the inn. Though Zarith, Oona, and her are a team, there isn't enough beds in a room for three people. So, like usual, she was the one who offered to sleep in a different room. Maybe she should have gotten Oona to take the extra room instead. Yet Chi knows that she couldn't do that. She's too kind - something that always seems to bite her in the butt later on.
This room is larger than the last one. She wishes that she owned something to put up on the walls, but all she has is her trusty sword, knife, traveling pack, and several outfits that are all getting a little too small. Chi settles with resting her sword near the door. The nearly empty sack of coins is dropped onto the table, along with her knife and the bleached white fang. She places her backpack at the end of the bed, and begins to put all of her clothes into the dresser that's near the window.
As she does so, she puts aside a nightgown to wear later. After five minutes she finishes folding them and organizing her clothes into the right drawers. Chi grins at the sight of the bathroom drawer. She'll be able to take a shower, something that she hasn't had the luxury of in a long time.
* * * * *
Her hair is still wet as she jumps onto the bed. It creaks underneath her, and she's upset to find that it isn't half as comfortable as she had originally guessed. It's too warm for her to slide under the covers. Once the sun sets, it will be cool enough. As she stares up at the ceiling, she starts to think about all that happened today.
Zarith and Oona had been worried sick about her - although
they were convinced that they had lost her once they reached town,
not in the forest. She grabs the fang from the nightstand and begins to finger it. It's surprisingly smooth-enough that she doesn't draw blood when she touches the tip.
Who
is Schadel? She had never heard of a necromancer-for-hire before. And
there was something about his eyes. Something almost surreal. For some strange reason, Chi
finds that she now wants to learn about the mysterious boy. It's like when she's reading one of Zarith's mysteries. Schadel has piqued her interest, and Chi knows that she won't be satisfied until she knows more about the necromancer-for-hire.
Her
mind flashes back. Then
I think you need some new friends. Is
Schadel right? Does she
really need new friends? She still fondly remembers
when
she first met Zarith during a training session at
battle school,
and just as fondly remembers being introduced to Oona because of
Zarith.
She buries her head in her
pillow. It's so hard to decide where to draw the line. Who would she
go to if she suddenly were friendless? Who would she fight with? It's always been their little group of three. For years they've been a team. When did they start to fall apart?
Chi suddenly becomes aware of
the sound of someone moving about in her room. What's extremely worrisome is that Zarith and Oona would announce their entrance. And there is also the fact that her door is locked.
She peeks her head up to see
a tall, darkness shrouded being peering down at her with empty eyes.
It almost reaches the uneven ceiling - in fact, it's ducking as it
stares at her - and on its back is a gigantic silver scythe. Chi
resists the urge to scream. Her sword is too far away to defeat this
monster, and there's no way she can destroy it with her fists.
She has to do something. As Chi rushes to come up
with some way to save herself, her eyes settle upon the small knife
she has on her nightstand. She has forgotten about that rusty dagger
many times before, but this could be what allows her to live. She
grips the hilt and thrusts it into the monster's side.
It yelps out in pain,
clutching its side as long fingers attempt to remove the weapon. She
scrambles to her feet. Now that she has her trusty longsword in her
hand, Chi feels much more confident. Although there is a certain
thing about wearing a nightgown in a battle that makes her suddenly
not feel as powerful.
Her eyes meet the empty pits
on the monster's face. She holds the longsword out before her, the
tip touching the area where a human's heart would be. For some reason
she can't finish the attack.
“Well, crap.” It
says. The dagger is dropped onto the ground. “I've been discovered.”
A small ball of light shoots
in through the window. It settles on the ground, and the form of a
small child flickers into existence. “I told you so.” The
transparent girl says as she crosses her arms. Chi stares at her.
This young girl can't be more than eight years old. Is she a…Is
she a ghost?
The monster copies the girl's
gesture. “You did not.”
“Did too.”
“Prove it.”
“…I can't.”
“Then I'm right.”
The monster says smugly as it moves past the dresser. It sits on
the windowsill, kicking its legs back and forth.
“Sorry to burst your
bubble, but that means your claim is just as worthless.”
“Damn it!” the
dark being exclaimed, jumping to its feet. “How come you always
win? You're like, what, turning eight hundred-”
“Nine hundred.”
She angrily points out.
It waves one of its hands as
if trying to brush off the comment. “Close enough. But like I
was saying, you're way younger than me! It just isn't fair!”
“Life isn't fair.”
It gives a short laugh. “You
act like I don't know that already.” The being turns to look
at Chi, whose grip on her sword is tighter than ever before. “Hello
again.”
“Huh?” She lowers
her sword slightly.
The ghost elbows the dark being.
“Form.”
“Oh. That.” It snaps its fingers,
and its form starts to shift. The monster becomes smaller, and its
edges smoother. The scythe grows smaller as well. Bandages appear
over both the monster and the scythe. The change finishes with black
clothes popping into existence over the bandages covering its body.
“Hello again, Chi.” The necromancer-for-hire says with a smile.
I appreciated that he was introduced very early in the story. I think you started in the right place and I like how he was introduced and how that played out. 
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