The Cristal Fleche council chamber was buzzing with activity. The entire city council was in attendance as were most of the more important officials, business leaders, and city reporters. Elder Sister Otillie was sitting in her chair, at her side, and slightly back was the much younger Elder Brother Josef, the second highest Church official in the city. Depending on how things went, they would both need to prepare a message for the faithful and their fellow clergy.

It had been over a month since The Necromancer had arrived at Cristal Fleche, and she hadn't once left her room. The excitement of her arrival had faded quickly, and once more the city was quiet with hunger, cold, and despair. If they didn't have something good come from today, Otillie was all too certain that they'd be dealing with hundreds of suicides by the end of the week. And there would be even more people who simply wouldn't wake up, as yet another hope was snuffed out.

The large doors opened. The soldiers who were acting as guards and doormen jumped back in surprise at what they saw in the hallway. A murmur rose up from the audience who couldn't see what was going on. Otillie refused to lean over for a better look. It would be undignified and as head of the church, it was important to keep up her appearance.

The soldiers quickly regained their composure. The officer announced the guests, “Mage Von and Mage Keira, from the Eldritch Council.”

Two ghostly figures in black armour, carrying old fashioned halberds marched into the council chamber. They looked around the room with featureless faces, making the audience recoil. The Lleial bodyguard followed them, wearing an immaculate uniform marking her as a warrior of the desert nomads. She had a sword and pistol on her belt, which would normally have caused a stir, but this day was hardly normal.

Mage Von came next. He didn't draw much attention having appeared at almost every public meeting since his arrival. The pure black clothing he was wearing however mark him as different from his previous visits. Shadow cloth was known, it was made on other continents, but it was only made in small quantities and was very expensive. The mage's suit would have cost enough to feed a family for a year before the war.

A child giggled, and Mage Keira made her entrance. She was sitting in a wheelchair, being pushed by a translucent mage. A large, bird-like monster with long pale arms, sat on the Necromancer's lap. It watched everything with a large black eyes, and giggled again as people recoiled in horror.

Otillie forced herself to look at the young woman, and realized at once why the Necromancer had decided to use the monster.

She was young, and clearly still weak from getting shot. Compared to most of the city's citizens she was well fed, but her cheeks were hollow and makeup couldn't hide the dark circles around her eyes. The strange tattoos on her hands, neck and chest stood out against her unhealthy pale skin. Her body was mostly hidden under a black dress. It was simple in design, clearly tailored to allow her to slip it on with as little movement and adjusting as possible. Her short blonde hair was covered by a small hat. What hair could be seen was limp and sparse, another sign of her weakness.

Three more armed ghosts flanked the Necromancer, ensuring no one would be able to shoot her in the back again. The doors finally closed, as the group went to the centre of the room.

It wasn't the biggest honour guard the city council had ever seen, but it was definitely the most unique and horrifying. A reporter took a picture of the group, likely using the last working camera in the entire city. The bright flash made the Necromancer jerk in surprise, a second later and she had regained her perfect composure.

The ghostly soldiers and the living bodyguard stepped aside to let the two mages take centre stage. Mage Keira smiled up at the council members, stroking her monster like it was a cat. The creature giggled quietly to itself, making quite a few people look away in disgust.

“Mage Von, Mage Kiera,” Lord Mayor Julius said in greeting. “It's good to formally meet you.”

“Thank you for having us, Lord Mayor. And thank you for the use of your healers, they are some of the best I've ever met. I do apologize for not standing, I don't want to risk tearing my stitches,” Keira said.

The young woman spoke the language of the region well, but the accent and some of the words were archaic, only heard in the most isolated villages, or old poems and plays. It didn't sound quite right. And her voice was airy and light, what Otillie would expect from a young lady talking to friends. Not someone just from a sickbed and facing the most important people for a thousand miles. The question was, was it all just a show of strength, showing everyone that she didn't have a care in the world? Or was she truly that confident in her abilities?

The Lord Mayor allowed himself a small smile. “I'm glad you approve of our healers, they've had plenty of practice. Now we would like to know what you can do to help the city until the Eldritch Council's army arrives.”

“There are several things that I can do, provided I have access to the tools and resources. First, I will need an escort to your cemeteries,” Mage Keira said.

That caused a stir in the crowd. Despite knowing the woman claimed to be the Necromancer, and clearly controlled ghosts and a monster, hearing about the need for dead bodies was a startling prospect.

“It can be arranged. What will that accomplish?”

“With the assistance of several mages, I will be able to create between five-hundred and a thousand undead.”

Someone in the crowd scoffed. “That's barely anything. We lose that many in a day of fighting.”

“Five-hundred to a thousand, a day,” Mage Keira said, emphasizing each word.

The unhappy rumblings stopped. People may have been hoping for an entire army to appear out of nowhere, but having one appear over a period of two or three months, especially in winter, was good enough.

“As I get healthier,” she continued, “I will start raising more, up to five thousand or so. And these won't be simple skeletons, zombies and ghosts. This will include banshees, ghouls, flesh golems, and several more that no one has seen before. Like my strix.”

The monster slid from the mage's lap, spread it's wings and leapt into the air, giggling unpleasantly. People ducked and yelled as it flew over their heads, it's arms hung down, the razor-like talons flexing as if it wanted to rip and tear at the crowd. It landed on a statue, opened it's short, hooked beak and gave a high pitched, childish laugh.

“I'll also require some volunteers.”

“Live volunteers?” Otillie asked, not sure how she felt about that idea.

“Yes. I'd prefer people who are close to death or want to die. I have a special project that will create intelligent undead, who should be able to slaughter demons by the dozens.”

“You have these new dead creatures, why didn't you use them while you were alive?”

Mage Keira smiled very coldly. “Because there are some weapons that should not be used against humans. Against the demons however, I have no reservations about unleashing monsters.”

“And what will you do with these dead soldiers, girl?” Louis Bardot, spokesman of the Engineers Union, asked.

Mage Keira didn't react to the slight, in fact her smile grew a little. “At first they'll take over working in the mine. They can work without rest or worry of injuries. I believe that will help ease some of the shortages plaguing the city. After that is taken care of, it depends on what the army decides. I've written a plan on how to use them most effectively and sent it to the proper people. The simple version is this. I will raise as many as I can before spring comes. They will be kept a secret until we are attacked by a demon army. We'll use them to stop the attack, then counter-attack, taking a mile or two of territory. The basic undead will build fortifications for the soldiers on the newly conquered land. I'll raise more undead, and when we have sufficient numbers, or the demons attack again, we'll take another one or two miles.”

“We've tried that before, it didn't work. The demons will just summon more of their kind and overwhelm us,” Louis said.

“I hope they do. If they're focused on us, it means there will be less demons attacking the relief forces.”

“You really think that we'll be relieved? You may have cleared out your little area, but it was just before winter. And you held a single small outpost. The demons likely didn't put any real effort into the fight.”

“I know for a fact that we will see help arrive,” Mage Keira said with the same kind of certainty as someone saying the sun would rise at dawn. “The Eldritch Council went through a lot of trouble resurrecting me, they won't want to let their investment go to waste. I am also expecting other reinforcements that should prove useful.”

There was complete silence in the council room. No one, not even Otillie knew what the young woman was talking about. What reinforcements could they expect? There was only the Eldritch Council and scattered bands of refugees at this point.

“When the Lleial fled their homeland, many of them headed for my tomb, moving in small groups. While several thousand reached Kodor, most were cut off and fled into the woods and mountains. I sent out ghosts at the start of winter to find them and let them know I have returned. When I decided to come here, I sent more ghosts telling them of my plans. I'm not sure how many have heard, but I do know that every group of Lleial in this part of the continent will be coming here to serve me.

“So, I plan on making sure that all eyes are on us, so they and the Eldritch Council can take the demons in the rear. We're going to the be the anvil, all we need to do is survive until the hammer comes down,” the Necromancer said with a smile.
___

Necromancer Unmanned will be updated every Tuesday. My other story Doom Valley Prep School will be updated every Monday.

If you would like to support my work, get a sneak peek at future chapters for all of these stories, and access to two other stories, Isekai Incorporated and Water Nymph, you can support me on my Patreon page.