The tornado sucked up a few drops of blood from the dead paladin, and these formed into gleaming red eyes like a cobra’s on the face of dry leaves. Was this snake about to strike, or was it ready to sway as if hypnotized by a charmer’s flute? It was hard to tell with Isu. But I wouldn’t become the plaything of a goddess, so I planned on ensuring it would be the latter.
“Impressive,” she said. “You discovered how to control the skeletons. Much faster than the last thread who crossed mine.”
“Yeah, the skeleton turned out really useful. The throwing stars are great, but they need a bit of work. I can definitely see the potential, though.” I pulled one from its holster on my belt and spun it through my fingers.
“The necrotic magic I infused your stars with is powerful, but your opponent was no mere paladin. The man you just killed was Ser Rosewood of the Shining Order, a particularly venerated paladin… among that band of fools, anyway.”
I shrugged and tucked the throwing star back into its holster. “He didn’t seem like that big of a deal to me.”
“Well, you are no ordinary necromancer, I suppose.” Her eyes gleamed with a sudden hunger, and her lips curled into a seductive smile. “In any case, the fact that you have given me his soul means that I am now able to provide you with a gift of great value.”
“In here? You really want us to have our first romp in a crypt? I suppose it is fitting, you being the Goddess of Death, after all.”
Isu did something approximating an eye roll before reaching out with her right hand and touching my chest with her tornado finger of dust and debris. I felt a brief but intense jolt of pain, as if a needle had been jabbed into my heart, but as quickly as the pain appeared, it was gone. Isu stepped back and beamed a strange smile at me.
“It is done.”
“What’s done?”
“Link your mind to the skeleton’s body again.”
As I had done before, I made my soul stretch out of my body to “possess” the skeleton. It felt a whole lot easier this time, and a lot less weird too. It actually felt pretty comfortable; linking myself to undead skeletons was something I could get used to.
“Now,” continued Isu, “pick up Ser Rosewood’s greatsword.”
I willed the skeleton to do this, and unlike the time I had tried to pick up the rock before the fight, the skeleton obeyed, grabbing the greatsword with its right hand. I gave the sword a few swings, testing its weight and balance. It was a fine weapon, and wielding it via the skeleton’s hand felt just as natural as holding and swinging it myself.
“Hey,” I said, “this is pretty cool!”
“I have increased your powers, Vance. Now, your skeletons are able to wield melee weapons in one of their hands.”
“Just the one?”
“In time, they will be able to do more. For now, you’ll find that a skeleton wielding a single weapon is a most useful attribute—yes, a most useful and deadly attribute.”
I performed another few test cuts, thrusts, and lunges with the greatsword. The skeleton’s prodigious strength made wielding such a heavy, cumbersome weapon in one hand as easy as swinging a rapier.
I felt like a kid who had just been given a new toy. Soon, the skeleton was running and diving, performing jumping slashes and spinning attacks, ducking under phantom foes and performing defensive maneuvers against multiple opponents. I got so carried away, I almost forgot Isu was even there.
When I’d had my fun, I slipped back out of the skeleton’s body.
As soon as I was in control of my own body again, the tornado dissipated into the air, and the gust of wind whooshed away. The leaves and debris fell to the ground, and Isu was gone.
Immediately after, I heard another sound: the distinctive crack of a twig snapping behind a nearby bush, followed by a muffled curse.
“Whoever you are, you’ve got five seconds to show yourself before I send my skeleton and his sword over to carve you up,” I said. “Five… four… three… two… one. All right, that’s it. I gave you your chance, and you just blew it. Say your prayers.”
I linked my will to the skeleton and commanded it to charge over to the bush. It obeyed, its sword raised above its head, ready to cut down whoever—or whatever—was hiding there. But as the skeleton parted the bush with its left hand and prepared to bring the blade whistling down, a scream sliced through the silence.
A distinctly feminine scream.
“No, please!” screamed the mystery girl. “Please don’t hurt me!”
“Step out and show yourself, and maybe I won’t.”
The girl obeyed… and for a moment, words failed me.
Chapter Four
To say that the blond dame who stepped out from behind the bush was jaw-droppingly beautiful would be an understatement. But I didn’t give two shits about fancy words or lah-di-dah poeticisms. So instead of falling to my knees and singing her praises like some sappy, limp-wristed bard, I said just one thing to her.
“You have exactly 10 seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.”
Panic washed over the girl’s stunning oval face, her big hazel eyes opening wide with sudden fear.
“I’m… I’m not with him,” she stammered, her full, red lips quivering as she pointed at Ser Rosewood’s corpse. “I was just… just following him, so that I could… find you!”
As she spoke, my eyes traced the outline of her form. She was dressed in a long white cleric’s robe that covered her from her shoulders down to her ankles. It clung to her curves, revealing the shape of her large, pert breasts. A slim waist flared out into curved hips, below which were a pair of long, shapely legs. It was a figure that was far too sexy to be covered by the matronly ugliness of a cleric’s robe. This gave me
