Necromancer

Seeing her family after all this time proved to be one of the hardest things Valkyrie had ever done. Every smile, every joke and every loving look drove daggers through her lungs. The guilt was constant. It surrounded her thoughts like fog, making it difficult to concentrate on the things that she was being told. It made her reactions blunt and detached. It made her sick.

So, she practiced. Which proved more difficult than she expected.

The world – her world – had changed a lot in the last few years. Many of her friends had been killed and many had gone away, dealing with their own trauma. Those that were still in her reach were less approachable. China was practically out of the picture as meeting her was proving to be almost as difficult as tracking down Abyssinia. Then there was Fletcher, but even he was often busy now, meeting her only for a cup of coffee every now and then.

She often thought about Tanith and how much she missed her. She had gone away after Devastation Day, just like Valkyrie had done. She didn’t blame her. In fact, Valkyrie was probably one of the only people that could even remotely imagine what being possessed by a remnant and then being freed from it felt like. What it felt like to have a part of you ripped out, leaving only darkness behind. Valkyrie thought about that hollow feeling she had experienced when Darquesse had been taken from her. She wondered if it was the same for Tanith. She wondered if Tanith also secretly longed for something to make her whole again, but she stopped herself. She felt weird thinking about this, like she was imagining something indecent. Tanith had gone away because she had been lost after waking up to a different world. If anyone could understand that, it would be Valkyrie. She missed her, nonetheless. It had been easier in America – not a whole lot, but easier - being separated from her old life by an ocean, but when she had returned to Ireland, the ghosts of her past had in turn returned to her.

With her friends being either dead, gone or otherwise distant, she had found one person to be alive and available for normal things. Like dinner. So, for some weeks now – or was it months? - Valkyrie met Militsa at least once a week. Drinking coffee, going to galleries, having dinner and watching movies mostly. Sometimes talking a lot, sometimes almost not at all.

Valkyrie hadn’t told Militsa why exactly she was so scared of seeing her family, all she had said that she needed time to adjust after being away for so long. Militsa probably thought that it was because of Devastation Day and how Valkyrie had endangered her family. To what extent she had truly endangered them, Militsa didn’t know and Valkyrie was not sure if she would ever tell her. She wanted to. There was a part of her that longed to share this sinister secret that weighed her down in every waking moment and was often dictating her dreams. Maybe sharing it with someone new, someone who wasn’t part of the world of violence she lived in, would lift that burden, if only a little bit. But she had never had the courage to speak the words, to replicate her actions by saying them out loud. It was one thing telling China, talking about it with Skulduggery, but Militsa was not like them. Not like Valkyrie. Militsa hadn’t seen darkness like they had, hadn’t done horrible things to enemies and friends alike. Militsa was so… innocent, for lack of a better word.

Valkyrie told herself that she didn’t want to burden Militsa, but deep down she knew that she wouldn’t be able to bear the look on her face. Couldn’t bear losing one of her only friends.

So, they talked about everything and nothing. They avoided Devastation Day most of the time – Militsa knew the story well enough, being a teacher - and Valkyrie made sure to never let the conversation drift to her time in America.

Militsa for her part liked to talk about all things concerning magic. She sometimes got lost in talking about history, theories and aspects of magic, only to realize that Valkyrie hadn’t really gotten anything she had said. But Valkyrie enjoyed seeing Militsa so eager and passionate as it was really endearing to watch. Sometimes Militsa would make a connection from what she was saying to Valkyrie’s magic. She didn’t hide how utterly fascinated and perplexed not only she but the whole magical science community was by Valkyrie and her connection to the Source. When Valkyrie had met Militsa, she had felt pretty weird about being seen as some kind of test-subject, but she could understand the fascination. Now she didn’t really mind any more. If it was Militsa who was asking her questions at least.

When Valkyrie had shown Militsa her magic for the first time, she had had to laugh at the pure amazement on the other woman’s face, like a child getting their favourite toy on Christmas.

“Can I touch it?” had been the first thing Militsa had asked.

But right now, they didn’t talk about magic. They talked about normal stuff, like being a teenager.

“So, yeah, I wasn’t actually there for my first kiss,” Valkyrie was saying while burying herself deeper into the cushions.

When Valkyrie had first visited Militsa’s home, it had not been like she had expected. It may have been the fact that Militsa was a Necromancer that made Valkyrie expect a dark, gloomy house with heavy antique furniture and an uninviting atmosphere. In reality, Militsa’s place was open and cosy, always giving Valkyrie the feeling that she was off in a cottage somewhere. There was a fireplace made of stone in the living room, a designated reading space beside the large couch on which Valkyrie was sitting, a small dining room connected to the half-open kitchen and a study where Militsa worked when she wasn’t at Corrival. Just like in every other ordinary Roarhaven house, there were two bedrooms on the upper floor. The only thing about Militsa’s house that was exactly like Valkyrie had anticipated were the multiple large bookshelves, stuffed with books over books, heavy tomes as well as ordinary novels. There were even some compartments that carried actual scrolls. When Valkyrie had informed Militsa of her subverted expectations, Militsa had laughed and explained that she had lived in a cottage off Edinburgh with her parents until college and that she had wanted to take that feeling with her when she came to live in Roarhaven.

On the living room TV, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on, but neither of them had been paying much attention. Valkyrie watched as Militsa came back into the room, carrying two steaming cups of tea. She took the cup and thanked her. It had been cold and wet all day, so she welcomed the warmth of the tea.

“And here I was, hoping to hear a cute story about Fletcher,” Militsa said, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch.

Valkyrie laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t really call our first kiss cute, as he had just knocked someone unconscious.” She paused. “Although, I probably would actually call that cute. It was really cute, if I think about it. That was back when we went to get Skulduggery back from the Faceless Ones.”

Militsa grinned. “And Fletcher knocked someone unconscious? That’s so hard to imagine.”

“Well, he didn’t really knock him unconscious, more like, teleported him unconscious. That’s one of his favourite moves, dropping people. I always preferred hitting them.”

“Let me guess, he said something cool after that?”

“Actually, yes, I think he said something like ‘it’s not every day that I send someone to hell.’”

Militsa snorted and almost chocked on her tea. When she could breathe normally again, she said, “That sounds so much like Fletcher. He’s so sweet, but he can be pretty goofy. I’ve seen him flirt and it was… difficult to watch.”

Valkyrie had to ask. “Did he ever flirt with you?”

“No,” Militsa said, shaking her head. “He hasn’t. We’re just friends. I think he likes women that are a bit more dangerous.” She raised one eyebrow at Valkyrie.

Valkyrie grinned. “Well, he always had a thing for Tanith Low…”

Militsa swatted at her arm lightly. “You know what I meant, you sheep.”

“He hasn’t had much luck with women, that’s for sure.”

“Well, I think he had to have been very lucky to get you.”

Valkyrie looked at the TV while she answered. “I don’t know if I would call him lucky for being cheated on.”

“You cheated on him?” Militsa echoed surprised.

Valkyrie looked over. “He didn’t tell you?”

Militsa shook her head. “I asked him so many questions about you, but he never told me that. He only said that you once dated a Vampire…”

When Valkyrie looked away again, understanding dawned on Militsa’s face. Her tone was almost accusing. “You cheated on him with the Vampire?!”

Valkyrie groaned. “I wish he had told you, so I wouldn’t have to.” She sighed and looked back at Militsa.

“His name was Caelan and I thought he was pretty hot. He was a bad boy and I was stupid and didn’t listen when every single sorcerer I knew told me to not get involved with him. Then of course it backfired, he got obsessed and tried to kill me. Then Fletcher helped me kill him.”

Militsa stared at her, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. It took a few moments before she could speak.

“Fletcher helped you kill him?” She paused again, then shook her head. “That is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard. And I am a good Necromancer, so that’s saying something. I wonder why he never told me.”

Valkyrie shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe he just doesn’t like to talk about it. I hurt him pretty bad. And now, let’s change the subject. Please.” She looked at the TV again, just as Buffy dusted a vampire. She grabbed the remote. “And the channel.” Militsa laughed.

They were watching a movie without vampires in it when Valkyrie spoke up.

“It’s your turn.”

Militsa turned her head to her, looking puzzled. “What?”

“You didn’t tell me about your first kiss. If I had to, you have to as well.”

“Ah well, it’s really not that exciting, especially after your story.”

Valkyrie shook her head. “No excuses.”

Militsa sighed. “Okay, but it’s really nothing special. It was in my first semester of college, with a, uh, with a mortal. It was the first time that I was so far away from home and I tried to follow my mother’s advice to go out more and make friends. We met at a party. I think that was one of the first times I was drunk. We kissed and I don’t think either of us remember much of it or were any good. After that, we went on few dates. Then started going out. But the whole relationship only lasted a few months. I just didn’t like hiding such a huge part of my life from my…partner. It was also rather difficult, since I devoted all my free time to studying magic back then. And I still do, if I think about it.”

“Weren’t you still studying at the Temple?” Valkyrie asked, wondering all the while why Militsa seemed so flustered.

Militsa made a face. “No, I wasn’t. I was eighteen when you stopped Melancholia. I may be a Necromancer, but I couldn’t get behind this…madness. I could never let anyone be killed and benefit from it. Even if the Passage were possible and all those that were killed could live on in the stream – all those people would still have had to die. And I don’t think anyone has the right to decide who must die so that some get to live a life free of death. It’s just hypocritical – killing so many people to defy your own fear of death?” Her expression was disgusted and her voice bitter. She took a breath before continuing.

“I never truly believed in the Necromancer teachings, anyway. So, I turned my back on the Order, finished school and went to college to become an English teacher.”

Valkyrie was stunned. Militsa had never told her this before. It was also the first time she had seen her so agitated. When Valkyrie had asked a few months prior about how she came to be a teacher, Militsa had made the whole story out to be quite boring and unexceptional. It really wasn’t.

Carefully, Valkyrie asked, “But why did you join the temple in the first place?” She tried to read Militsa’s face, but it was inscrutable. “If you want to talk about it. You don’t have to,” Valkyrie finished, somewhat lamely. She couldn’t help being curious.

Militsa shook her head and smiled reassuringly. “No, it’s okay. My life at the Temple wasn’t bad at all, actually. Only how it ended.” She paused for a moment. “I grew up with magic and it always fascinated me. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to know more about it. Not one particular branch of magic, but all of it. I read whatever I could find, but I could only get that far with books. I was too young to join any of the groups or laboratories that conducted actual research and there was no such thing as Corrival Academy back then.

“After a while I began focusing on the Source. Research in that field is very scarce, but I was intrigued. Then I read the theory that the Necromancer belief of the stream could be just another perspective on the Source and possibly be the closest sorcerers have ever come to finding it. But the Necromancers’ secrecy regarding their research proved to be so impenetrable that there really wasn’t any hope of magic science benefiting from any of it. So, I decided to become a Necromancer.”

Valkyrie gaped at her. “You decided to become a Necromancer because of that? That’s…a bit extreme to be honest.”

Militsa shrugged and smiled. “I was a weird kid.”

“I always wondered why you didn’t just become a magic scientist. It seemed to fit you better than Necromancy.”

“Well, magic science is not a discipline in itself. Most scientists choose Healing as their discipline, but that wasn’t for me.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like violence or the results of it. And I just can’t see myself treating sick people. I’m much better with theory than practice.”

Valkyrie couldn’t help but laugh. “And you’re friends with me? It’s only a matter of time before you see me punching someone or getting punched.”

Militsa grinned. “I really hope I won’t.”

“I’ll try my best.” Valkyrie paused for a moment, thinking about what she wanted to ask next.

“So, how exactly did you manage to join the Order? When Solomon recruited me, he had to deal with a lot of people arguing against it. I only went into the Temple a handful of times during my training, the other times were always with Skulduggery. Solomon had to teach me outside of the Temple, mostly. Not that he minded.”

“The Temple in Edinburgh was always a lot more subdued. Sure, they had their fanatics, like every Temple, but all in all they kept to themselves and studied and researched in silence. They were hesitant to let me join at first, but I got to talk to one of the researchers one day and she must have seen potential in me.”

“Who was she?” Valkyrie asked.

Militsa smiled almost wistfully.

“Her name was Obita Flumen. I helped with her work and over time she began to teach me the Necromancer ways and I became her apprentice. She concentrated on the stream and its link to the Source.”

“But you weren’t living in the Temple, were you? You told me you were an English teacher, so you must have been going to school. Or did you use your reflection?”

The corner of Militsa’s mouth twitched. “No, I didn’t use a reflection. I loved going to school and I never would have missed a day on purpose.”

Valkyrie grinned. “What a nerd.”

Militsa grinned back. “What can I say. I just love learning things.”

“So, you went to school in the morning…”

“and into the Temple in the afternoon, yes.”

“Wasn’t that a bit much?”

“It was sometimes, but I loved every minute of it. And I owe most of that to Obita. I think it’s because of her that I became a teacher. She was brilliant.”

She sighed. “She never told me about the Passage, but I don’t blame her. I was never much interested in the religious side of being a Necromancer, and I don’t think she was, either. She never had a problem with me not living in the Temple and going to a mortal school. In fact, she seemed to like the idea of Necromancers being able to live outside the Temples. She once told me that she envied Solomon Wreath for his freedom. I don’t think she liked being considered an outcast just because of the discipline that was chosen for her. She had been born into the Temple, so she really didn’t have a choice.”

Valkyrie hesitated. “Did something happen to her? It sounds like…”

Militsa’s tone was bitter again. “She died.”

Valkyrie laid her hand on Militsa’s without thinking. “I’m sorry.”

Militsa smiled at the gesture. “Thank you.” She let out a sigh and answered the unspoken question. “She was killed in a Temple raid.”

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. “A Temple raid?”

“You don’t know about that?”

Valkyrie shook her head.

“After the Passage, there were attacks on a few Temples all around the world. People didn’t trust Necromancers to begin with and after the Death Bringer, they wanted to take revenge, I think. Obita was killed by accident as far as I know. The raiders said they just wanted to trash the Temple, not kill anyone.”

There was a long and heavy silence in which neither of them knew what to say. The sounds of the TV drifted by them, incomprehensible to their preoccupied minds. After a while, Valkyrie spoke up.

“I don’t understand how I’ve never heard about this. I was working for the Sanctuary when that happened. Why did no one tell us?”

“I don’t think the Sanctuaries took these attacks very seriously. As far as I know there were ‘only’ a few people killed around the world, in different countries. After what the Necromancers had done or had wanted to do, no one seemed to be too keen to help them more than necessary.”

Valkyrie stared at her. “That’s awful.” She paused for a moment. “I hate politics,” she muttered.

Militsa’s brows furrowed. “I can understand it. With me not living in the Temple, I always had more of an outsider’s perspective on it, just like you. If I hadn’t become a Necromancer, chances would have been 50/50 that the Death Bringer would have killed me. Or my mum, my dad, my family. That families around the world would have been torn apart. Even if I would have been one of the survivors, at what cost? Living forever with the knowledge that your family or friends were killed so that you can become immortal? The implications of the whole idea of the Passage are horrible and the consequences would have been as well. Not only would magic have been revealed to non-magic people, but the wars that would have undoubtedly broken out would have been awful. Just imagine what sorcerers would have done to mortals, knowing that the mortals can’t kill them. Everything about it is just… insane.

            “So, yes, I can understand why everyone hated the Necromancers. But what people couldn’t see, and that is mostly the Order’s fault as well, is that not all Necromancers believed in the Passage. Only the clerics and the High Priests even knew about it. You can’t condemn everyone for it.”

Valkyrie needed a moment to process all of this. She remembered being disgusted by the idea of the Passage, by the sheer lunacy and audacity of killing all those people, but she had never actually thought about what the world after it would be like. She looked sideways at Militsa, who was staring at empty space, and finally understood why the other woman had shrugged her question off all those months ago. Valkyrie felt a sudden irrational pang of guilt for never asking about it again. But that was stupid, she couldn’t have known that the story was so tragic. Still, she felt bad. Bad for Militsa. And aside from that feeling of guilt she also felt a wave of affection for her.

Not wanting to let Militsa dwell on it any longer, Valkyrie continued their conversation.

“You said you turned your back on the Order before you went to college. So, why are you so open about being a Necromancer now? Seems a bit odd after everything you told me.”

“I abandoned everything about Necromancy when I went to college. But I had already had my Surge, so I was stuck with it.” Militsa shrugged. “It didn’t much matter, practicing magic was never really that interesting to me, I always had a deeper connection to magic theory. My love for that wasn’t affected by the Passage at all. I just continued studying on my own.” She paused and looked at Valkyrie with an apologetic expression. “Then Argeddion came and then… Darquesse. All those things that happened to you, like finding the Leibniz Universe and discovering this new form of magic, really inspired me to someday return to the magical world full time.” She took a sip of tea and Valkyrie tried to keep her expression neutral. She wasn’t angry with Militsa or anything, she just found it weird that her actions had had such an impact on people that she didn’t even know back then.

“I was just about to begin my second year of teaching English when Corrival Academy opened and I knew that I had to teach there instead,” Militsa continued. “And when I got the position, I decided to pick up the proverbial and literal mantle of Necromancer again. Many of us had turned their back on the Order because of what happened. Some became mercenaries, others just went on to live a normal life outside the Temples. But some stayed. Some Temples have been reformed and the teachings have been revisited and corrected. Not all Temples and not all of the teachings, but more and more. And although I’m not really part of a Temple anymore, my time there has put me on the path to become a teacher here in Roarhaven. Without that and Obita, I could very well still be teaching English somewhere. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I loved my short time as a teacher in a mortal school, but I just couldn’t resist being an active part of this world again.”

Valkyrie grinned at her. “I can understand that.”

Militsa gave a short laugh. “I would have thought so.”

“How are the Necromancers doing by the way? I have to admit, I never spared them much thought since I went away, so I’m kind of out of the loop.”

Militsa’s face turned into a grimace. “Well, not as good as I made it out to be, actually,” she admitted. “You know that the Irish Temple was partly demolished and partly converted to a storage facility, right?”

Valkyrie nodded. “I was there when they filled the shadow furnace room with concrete. That was a bit sad actually, I always thought it looked kinda cool.”

“So, you know that the parts of the Temple with religious significance were demolished and filled in, but the parts that had a tactical use were repurposed for storing goods and converted to an emergency bunker.”

Valkyrie nodded again.

“The other Temples around the world were left alone for the most part, but some were disbanded, like in Bulgaria. You know Jenan Ispolin? His father declared the Necromancer beliefs as illegal there and exiled all Necromancers. The same thing happened in a few other countries, mainly small ones. The High Priests of most Temples were also forced to step down, as were many of the high-ranking clerics. Some managed to keep their positions, arguing that they didn’t aid the Irish Temple in bringing about the Passage, some said that they were forced to stay when they actually wanted to leave before the Passage happened and some just bought their way out of dealing with any sort of repercussions.

            “Nonetheless, there were also many who actually felt guilty about what happened and began reinterpreting the Necromancer beliefs. What people tend to forget is that the Passage isn’t the only belief Necromancers have. Most of them are harmless and actually not purely religious in nature, but objects of research, like the stream. Some are even based off scientific facts, which is why I joined, after all.”

“So, what, Necromancers are scientists now?”

Militsa chuckled. “Not really, no. They’re doing as much research as ever, but they tend to be a lot more hesitant to conduct… unethical experiments. In some countries, the Sanctuaries have forced the Temples to give them insight into what they actually do in there and not every Temple had a good track record. This led to another few arrests and further cleansed the Temples of those that were giving the Necromancers a bad name. The ones that still live in Temples and are part of the Order just try to lie low and show everyone that they aren’t a threat anymore.”

“And the raids?” asked Valkyrie.

“Those mostly happened in countries where no action was taken against the Temples. Some people felt as if they needed to take matters into their own hands, and so they did.”

Valkyrie took a moment before answering. “Well, the Necromancers are doing a good job with keeping a low profile. I haven’t heard anything about them in years, I think.”

“Well, they have to. Sorcerers have a long memory and Necromancers were never the most popular among them.”

“How did you manage to convince China, anyway?” Valkyrie asked suddenly. “To accept you as a teacher, I mean.”

Militsa frowned. “I’m really not sure, I wondered about that myself. I always suspected that it was because I was so young and had not really formed any allegiances. I wasn’t alive during the war and I didn’t really have much meaningful contact with any magical faction apart from the Necromancers.”

“Did you tell her what you told me?”

“I did. I think she was pleased that I had been so removed from the Order even while I was still studying in the Temple. And she seemed to like the idea that I wanted to show everyone that the Necromancers were trying to redeem themselves.”

Valkyrie scowled. “Probably because she likes the idea that people think she has control over them.”

Militsa nodded. “She does seem painfully aware of her standing as Supreme Mage.”

“Oh, she is.”

They fell into a comfortable silence. Valkyrie thought about everything Militsa had told her and wondered how the hell it had come to this conversation. Suddenly she had to laugh.

“What’s funny?” Militsa asked, puzzled.

Valkyrie stifled another giggle. “I don’t know, I actually just wanted to know about your first kiss and instead I got to hear your life story.”

“I did tell you about my first kiss!” Militsa protested. “My life story is much more interesting than that anyway.”

“Come on, you didn’t even tell me who he was. What did he look like?”

They locked eyes for a moment, then Militsa averted her gaze. “A girl,” she mumbled.

“Huh?”

“It was a girl,” Militsa said, louder this time. “I’m gay.” She looked at Valkyrie, a nervous expression on her face.

“Okaaay,” Valkyrie dragged the word out a bit, “what did she look like then?”

Militsa visibly relaxed. “Oh, so you’re okay with it?”

Valkyrie frowned. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“I thought it would make things awkward between us.”

Valkyrie gave her a confused look. “Why would it? You didn’t think I’d have a problem with gay people, did you?”

Militsa looked as if she suddenly realized something. Her eyes widened a fraction and then she said hastily, “No, no, of course not. It was nothing, forget it.”

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. “What were you thinking of?”

Militsa failed miserably at trying to act nonchalantly. “Really, it was nothing. I just got something confused. Don’t worry about it.”

“Tell me,” Valkyrie insisted.

Militsa seemed to weigh her options but must have realized that Valkyrie wouldn’t let up. Her shoulders sagged.

“Fletcher doesn’t seem to like gossip, does he? Now I wish he had told you about this. I would have thought it was obvious with everything I said when we first met.” A blush started rising in her cheeks. “I had a crush on you when we were teenagers.”

Valkyrie burst out laughing. She hadn’t expected that. She also hadn’t found anything so funny in a long time.

Militsa looked like she would rather be anywhere else. “I knew you’d be making fun of me.”

Valkyrie shook her head, trying to regain her composure. When she had herself under control, she tried to make a serious face.

“No, of course not. I couldn’t make fun of you for that.”

Militsa apparently knew Valkyrie well enough to look at her skeptically. “Really?”

Valkyrie nodded, still with a serious expression. “How could I? That was ages ago.”

Militsa relaxed a bit. “I was sure you were going to tease me about it.” She paused for a moment, then frowned. “You are going to tease me about it, aren’t you?”

 “About the fact that I was your celebrity crush?” Valkyrie nodded again.  “Yes. Yes, I will.”

Militsa sighed.