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  Katie gulped, and her shadows rapidly expanded to cover the surfaces ahead of them. He didn’t want her to become too paranoid, but it was wise to be cautious in places like this. Using her shadows this way didn’t take a lot of energy. It was making them more solid that drained her. They continued down the stairs, and he watched as Katie took careful note of the intricate carvings and reliefs on the walls. There must be some sort of preservation magic at work in this part of the tomb because the walls were in far better condition than the statues and sculptures outside. There wasn’t any water in here either. The floor was completely dry. Even after a few days above water, there should still be dampness in a place that wasn’t exposed to the sun or the elements. Did the tomb have drains built into it, or was there magic at work? Whatever it was, Timmy was eager to know. His castle could use better drainage, especially in the sections that had fallen into disrepair after decades, perhaps even centuries, of neglect.

  For someone who loved history as much as his apprentice, the tomb had to be fascinating. The walls depicted scenes from the kingdom that had built this tomb, some of which made it clear how unpleasant the king had been. It was, after all, hard to mistake graphic images of human sacrifice, not to mention all of the executions. Still, the craftsmanship was incredible. He’d never seen human sacrifice depicted in such bone-chilling detail before. Eventually, the stairs came to an end, and they found themselves in a vast, open space covered with large tiles. A massive monument occupied the centre of the area. It was a gaudy thing, studded with gemstones and inlaid with ivory, silver, and gold. It must have been built down here too, or at least assembled down here, because it was far too large to fit down the stairs.

  “As you can see, Katie, whoever built this tomb had far too much time and money on their hands. Not only have we already gone down one long staircase, but I bet there’s another staircase concealed inside the monument.” Timmy stopped their zombies before they could advance any further. “Whenever you see a place like this, be careful. An open space like this is a perfect place to set up some traps. Your average tomb-raiding fool will take one look at that big, shiny monument and run straight to it – and end up dead.” He took a pebble out of his pocket and tossed it across the floor. It rolled across three tiles before the last one gave way, and a series of spikes ripped up through the floor. “Cute, right?”

  “I’m not sure that cute is the right word, master.” Katie winced. Those spikes looked extremely sharp.

  “On the upside, the tiles are made of stone, and stone is something I can work with. They’re protected by runes and seals, so I won’t be able to stop traps from triggering, but I should still be able to sense where any traps are.” He tapped the floor with his shovel and used his magic to call the pebble back to him. “Follow me and only step on the tiles I step on.”

  Katie peered around anxiously as he led them along a winding path across the tiles with their zombies travelling a tile or two ahead of them until they reached the monument. Up close, it was even more impressive. Some of the gemstones in it were gigantic, and the ivory, silver, and gold gleamed in the light of their crystals. A lesser tomb raider might have tried to pry a few of the gemstones loose, but Timmy knew better.

  “Don’t get distracted by shiny things. The gemstones are almost certainly attached to traps. If you really do want to take them, wait until you’re already out before sending a zombie back to get them. At worst, you lose a zombie. At best, you can leave with some extra treasure.”

  “What sort of traps would be attached to the gemstones?”

  “Good question.” Timmy rubbed his chin. He should probably shave tomorrow. The last thing he needed was to grow a large beard. It would only give his enemies something else to grab in a fight, a tactic he’d used to defeat more than one malevolent dwarf over the years. “The most common trap would be for the gemstones to explode once you pull them out of the monument. Rubies, sapphires, and diamonds are quite hard, so the shrapnel could easily kill you. I’ve also raided tombs where pulling out the wrong gemstone can lead to the whole tomb collapsing.”

  Katie laughed nervously. “We should definitely leave the gemstones alone, master.”

  “Indeed. Now, what you need to realise is that most ancient kings were big on symbolism. Whenever you need to find a hidden switch, and switches are almost always hidden, you’re better off beginning your search near something symbolically related to a door, key, or gate.” He pointed his shovel at a panel on the monument. It showed a crowned figure throwing open the doors to the afterlife. He gave it a gentle but firm tap with his shovel, and it swung open to reveal a large keyhole. “See? Okay, it’s your turn. Since we don’t have a key, and I don’t plan on looking for one, I hope you’ve been practising. Trying to force the door open could take us a long, long time.”

  Katie extended her shadows toward the keyhole. Once he’d seen how flexible her magic was, Timmy had immediately begun to teach her how to pick locks with her shadows. It wasn’t the most traditional skill for a necromancer to have, but it had served him well over the years. Better yet, Katie didn’t need to carry lock picks around. As long as she could access her magic, she could make her own lock picks.

  “Easy,” Timmy murmured as Katie got to work. “This is an old lock. You don’t want to break it.” They both listened carefully as she slowly but surely adjusted her shadows to fit the lock. “Good. You’re almost there.” The lock gave a click. “And there it goes.”

  The monument shuddered, and a large section of it swung open to reveal another staircase that led even deeper underground.

  “Turn off your crystal,” Timmy said. Katie gave him a curious look and then deactivated her crystal. “Do you remember the basic rune for light?” She nodded and traced the rune in the air without putting any of her magic into it. “Good. Crystals are generally easier to work with, and they tend to be more efficient, but the basic rune for light is one of the most important runes you will ever learn. You don’t need to carve it onto anything, and it will work almost anywhere although it won’t last for more than a moment or two without a medium.”

  Timmy took a small plate of metal out of his pocket. It was about the same size as one of Katie’s charms. “Carve the rune for light onto this with your shadows. Once you’re done, run your magic through it.” Several seconds later, the plate of metal began to emit a steady white light. “See? As long as you know the rune for light, you won’t have to wander around in the dark.”

  “Then why did you have to wander around in the dark – you mentioned it earlier. Did you not know the rune for light?” Katie asked.

  Timmy chuckled mirthlessly. “Sometimes, Katie, you’ll find yourself in a tomb with magical defences so well designed that they can stop runes and seals, even ones applied to independent mediums like charms and trinkets. If you ever run into a place like that, get out. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it’s not worth it.”

  “You’ve been to some really horrible places, master.”

  “You bet I have. All right, deactivate the rune and put the metal plate in your pocket. Do you have the gloves I gave you?”

  Katie nodded and slipped the gloves onto her hands. He’d sewn several runes onto them. He could have put seals on them too, but more complex runes and seals had a tendency to destroy regular cloth if they were activated for extended periods of time. Fortunately, the rune for light was fairly simple. If something happened, she could keep the gloves active for hours before they broke down. “What do we do now?”

  “Turn your crystal back on. We’ll be using crystals since they’re easier and more efficient, but remember what I talked about. Next time, we’ll try using the rune for light instead – or maybe some specially made goggles.”

  “Goggles?”

  “Yes. If you make them right, you can make goggles that let you see in the dark although they are a bit cumbersome to wear.” Timmy sent one of their zombies ahead and gestured for Katie to send her shadows ahead too. “We need to leave a zom
bie or two up here. It shouldn’t be possible for anything to get past the zombies we’ve got on the surface without us noticing, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

  * * *

  They made their way down the stairs, mindful of any obstacles or traps. Katie kept shadows moving ahead of them on the walls, floor, and ceiling, and she could feel the faint rustle of her master’s magic. He was also keeping an eye on their surroundings. It was comforting. She was still learning how to recognise traps, but he had years of experience in dealing with them.

  “This staircase is large,” Katie whispered. “It’s big enough to fit all of our zombies.”

  Her master shrugged. “Bigger was better, or so many of the ancient kings believed. A lot of them also staged elaborate funeral processions – think of a military parade but bigger and with more dead people and gold – so they had to make the passageways and staircases big enough to fit everyone.”

  “That sounds like a waste to me,” Katie murmured. This place gave her the creeps, and she felt much safer with her zombie bear and zombie trolls nearby. Even if there was something scary down here that they couldn’t beat in a fight, her zombies should be able to buy her enough time to get away. She’d even gone to the trouble of reinforcing her zombie bear, Gregory, by soaking his fur in potions designed to reduce the impact of physical and magical attacks.

  In the pale light of their crystals, she took another look at the walls. There were more carvings and reliefs here, and they were done with the same attention to detail as before. Her master gave her another one of those smiles of wry amusement. She’d learned quickly that he was usually a practical man. He certainly wasn’t the kind of person to spend vast sums of money on a tomb. Instead, he would have spent his money on something useful while he was still alive, like fixing up their castle or purchasing more corpses to turn into zombies.

  “The kings in this area once ruled over a vast chain of islands,” Timmy said. “From what people have been able to piece together, each island had its own king, all of whom answered to a High King.”

  “What happened to them?” She loved history, but she could only spend so much time in the library each day reading about it. There were so many other interesting books in there, and she had plenty of subjects to cover as an apprentice necromancer. Luckily, the head librarian, a kindly zombie who seemed almost alive at times due to retaining his personality and intelligence, always knew where to find exactly what she needed.

  “They were kings with stupidly huge amounts of power and very little common sense due to years of thinking of themselves as being half a step below the gods.” Timmy snickered. “You can guess what happened next. Remember where this island used to be until a few days ago – under the sea.”

  “Ah, right.” Katie sighed. People who went mad with power invariably found ways to destroy themselves and anyone else unlucky enough to be nearby.

  “They decided that since they were already almost gods, why not go the rest of the way and create a spell to turn themselves into actual gods?” Timmy’s expression told her exactly how unimpressed he was by the idea. “Well, you know what they say about pride and the fall.” He gestured with his shovel to clear away some rocky debris. Odd. The staircase didn’t seem damaged. It must have come from somewhere else. “When the spell backfired – because becoming a god through magic was never going to work – it did quite a number on the islands. Most of them immediately sank beneath the sea while the remainder were devastated by tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. Out of the kings, perhaps only half a dozen survived, but their society was never able to recover. They were only a shadow of their former strength, and it wasn’t long before everything collapsed.” He peered at one especially gruesome carving. It showed a large group of people being sacrificed to some kind of sea monster. “There are still some people who claim to be descended from those long-dead kings, and two of them have even set themselves up as rulers on islands about a week from here, but no one knows if they’re telling the truth. However, some good did come out of the whole debacle. Since then, almost every nation in the world has passed laws forbidding the creation of spells designed to turn people into gods. No one wants a repeat of what happened.”

  Katie had only been her master’s apprentice for a few years, but he’d always made a point of getting her to think through the possible consequences of her actions. Her magic was powerful and versatile, so she needed to be careful. It was rare for a necromancer to make it through their apprenticeship without losing at least one or two fingers, but Katie intended to get through hers with all of her fingers, toes, and limbs intact. Her master had started her training by making her memorise what he called the First Law of Necromancy.

  Never turn anything into a zombie without having some way to either kill it or control it.

  It was a simple rule, but her master had given her countless examples of how other necromancers, even Grand Necromancers, had met grisly ends after forgetting it or one of the other basic rules of necromancy. Paladins could afford to take risks. Their magic tended to make them very difficult to injure or kill. Necromancers had a tendency to be squishier.

  Timmy paused as they reached the bottom of the stairs and came to another large hall. Katie’s brows furrowed. This place was huge. It must have taken a lot of time and money to build, time and money that could have been spent on something more practical and beneficial. “We should be getting close. Most ancient tombs follow the same general layout: a central area set aside for the king and wings to either side for his retainers and other staff. If there is a library or a reliquary, they will usually be off to one side.”

  Katie shivered as a thought occurred to her. “You said there are usually places for his retainers and other staff… did… did they bury them alive in here with the king?”

  Timmy shook his head and gave her a ghoulish grin. “I doubt it. They weren’t total monsters. I’m sure they killed them first.”

  She scowled at him. “I’m not sure that’s better, master.”

  “Well, there’s no changing it now, and it is something we can make use of.” He concentrated, and his magic stirred. Tombs like this probably had plenty of wraiths and ghosts. As necromancers, she and her master should be able to take control of them and learn from them. “The more powerful and skilled you are, the harder it will be for a wraith or ghost to lie to you or resist your orders. Even so, you should be careful. There are some powerful wraiths out there, and they can challenge even an experienced necromancer.” His magic flared briefly. “I’ll control them, but I’ll let you ask the questions. Think of it as practice.”

  Two wraiths shimmered into being, most likely the spirits of two people who had been buried here. Like most wraiths, they had skeletal features and were wreathed in billowing shadows. Cold radiated off them, and frost crept along the floor nearby. They strained against her master’s magic before they realised what was happening.

  “Necromancer,” one of them spat. His voice was the howl of winter, an avalanche of ice and fury. Any normal child would have run screaming in the opposite direction. Katie was not a normal child. She’d seen Sam when someone ate his cake by mistake. Compared to that, this wraith’s rage was nothing.

  “If it helps,” Timmy drawled. “We’re here to liberate this tomb of its valuables. If it’s peace you’re after, I’ll be happy to send you off to the afterlife once you’ve answered a few questions.”

  The wraith growled, and the temperature dropped even further. “You will not touch one single thing!” He surged forward, but a sharp gesture from her master drove the wraith back. Black light poured out of his eyes and mouth, and he vanished in a blaze of energy. He’d been sent to the afterlife.

  “Don’t bother arguing with a wraith, Katie. It never turns out well.” He shifted his attention to the remaining wraith. “How do you feel about betraying the king who I’m going to assume had you murdered to be buried in here with him?”

  The bitter cold ebbed away, and the
remaining wraith laughed. It was the sound of a tree trunk being torn in two. “I never liked that idiot. Revenge won’t change anything, but I’ll take what I can get, necromancer.” The wraith peered down at them. “What do you wish to know?”

  Katie glanced at her master, and he nodded. It was her turn. “What is the most valuable thing in this tomb?”

  “Oh? What is this? There seems to be a little necromancer here. You’re so small that I almost missed you.” The wraith chuckled at her outraged glare. “I am already dead, little one, and I have spent countless years brooding and suffering beneath the waves. You’ll need to do much more than glare to worry me.” The wraith raised one bony hand and stroked his skeletal chin. “An interesting question, one with many possible answers. Tell me, which do you value more: gold or knowledge?”

  “Knowledge,” Katie replied quickly. “Gold is nice, but the right knowledge is even better, and it can help you get plenty of gold in the future.”

  “Hah! Those are wise words, little one. They remind of me of…” The wraith trailed off and flickered in and out of existence. Without her master’s magic to bolster his strength, he would have been reduced to little more than the occasional icy breeze or bout of mocking laughter. Yet to last this long, he must have been a person of incredible willpower in life. “I like you. Have you heard of the Crown of Torment?”

  Timmy’s eye twitched, and Katie tugged on his sleeve. He knew a lot more about rare artefacts than her, at least for now. “Come on, master. Don’t keep it to yourself. Tell me what it is.”

  The wraith answered before her master could. “The Crown of Torment is a legendary magical artefact. When worn, it grants its wearer the ability to inflict pain on others. It causes no physical damage, yet the pain it inflicts is beyond imagination, capable of driving even the mightiest of men insane within mere moments.”

  Katie grimaced. “I’m not sure I would classify that as knowledge.” Inwardly, she was horrified. Were all ancient kings evil madmen? It certainly seemed like it. “What would we even do with it?”