Chapter 0 Prologue

The moist soil dirtied the man's boots as he continued to trek down the path to an abandoned graveyard. Dark was the sky and it almost looked like it was going to rain soon. That fact didn't bother him though. He'd be out in a jiffy once he finished the job enough to keep him dry.

Around him was a forest with slender trees and overgrown shrubbery. Some distance ahead, at the end of the pathway, the gate to the cemetery lay open, its hinges almost falling off the support column and its bars, rusty and chapped.

For a mage like him and one that had walked the earth for quite some time, he had been to different kinds of places, enjoyed his time while there and met some lively people who had no clue as to who he was.

But this one, however, was a different story.

He had never been in this cemetery before, or any cemetery for that matter. He hated such places, but he had to tolerate it for now. After all, what he was about to do would all be worth it in the future.

Mages had a versatile power. They could almost do anything if they trained and perfected it, but there was one power they were prohibited to use: Necromancy.

Once upon a time, he had come across a book meant for it. Instead of putting it on a shelf, he read its contents and even practiced the spells.

Now, all his hard work would come to fruition.

He was here in a cemetery almost forgotten by time to resurrect a certain woman.

He stared at the very ancient tombstone almost swallowed up by the ground. It was particularly set apart by the other tombstones around the premises. No statue of angels or gargoyles stood sentry near or around it, just untrimmed shrubs and towering trees that looked as old as time.

Carved on the black stone were the initials E.R. It was meant to be unanimous to all who looked at it, but to the mage, he knew exactly who this person was buried six feet below.

From his coat's pocket, he fished out a booklet with tattered edges and dog ears. With a single sweep of his palm on the cover, the booklet grew in size enough to read the contents without wincing. It was the necromancy book.

He flipped a page with the bookmark and then chanted its contents while shutting his eyes close.

The next few minutes, everything around the cemetery changed. It was covered in thick fog, it was surrounded with a sulfur-like smell that was mixed in blood, and it was deadly silent, the forest sounds muted.

The mage, being his first time raising the dead, expected a gruesome event to occur next like a hand pushing up from the soil and a head popping out thereafter but none of that happened. A concentration of fog appeared on top the tombstone. It twisted and whirled round and round until a body materialized.

"This is...a surprising development, " said the woman with a certain echoing voice. She cocked her head up and gazed at the man before her, cracking up a grin when she felt a familiar dark aura around him.

"For you to resurrect me, I'm assuming you need my help? Who are you and what do you need?"

The mage's eyes lit up. This was exactly what he'd expect from the woman known to be a powerful witch.

"I'm a friend. That's all you need to know for now about me. As to the reason why I raised you out of your deplorable state, " he paused, examined her up and down and then cringed at the sight of her wearing Old World clothes and looking less motherly, "You'll know soon... First, let's get out of this Hell. I don't want my clothes wet with the rain."

The woman grinned some more. "As you wish, " she said.

At the mage's command, a bright circle of light with weird scripts emerged on the ground where they stood. Seconds later, they disappeared leaving the cemetery in its usual dull atmosphere.