Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

The doors to the adventurer’s guild opened and people emerged. They might have heard the sound of combat. The guards just nodded towards them and left with their prisoners. I stood there, staring at the dead body.

Helena and Skadi ran towards us. “What happened?”

“A so-called priestess attacked Nyx. It escalated.” I said.

They looked at the dead body. “Maybe you could explain a bit more…” Helena said.

“There was a priestess with two guards from Ilestria. She called Nyx an abomination and attacked her, while she was still on Koyuki’s head. So we defended ourselves. The guards stopped us from killing them all, but Nyx finished one. The priestess and her remaining minion got arrested.” Cassie explained.

“And we can keep the body.” I added.

“Do you think this was a setup? A planned attack?” Helena asked.

“No. They were too incompetent.” I answered.

“She was just a nutjob. I am not sure why we are allowing them to visit our country.” Cassie said.

“Closing the border is bad for trade.” Skadi pointed out.

“What will happen to that priestess?” I wondered.

“Attacking an undead is a bit complicated. They are not people but often they are acting as guards. Taking out someone's protection can be considered as an attack on that person. In your case, Nyx was on your head. So any attack would endanger you. Which makes it simpler.” Cassie explained.

“Of course in reality it often comes down to the power and influence of the people involved.” Skadi added.

“True. Somebody from Ilestria attacking a student from the Royal Military Academy? She has no chance.” Helena said.

“Even if she is a noble?” I asked.

“Well, if she was an important noble from a house with connections to some of our nobility… maybe.” Helena shrugged. “I doubt someone really important would run around preaching though.”

“You know, she might be sentenced to slavery.” Cassie said.

I did not like slavery. But I had a hard time feeling sorry for a person that simply attacked Nyx.

“So, what are you going to do with the body? Have you looted it yet?” Skadi asked.

“I… I guess I will create a skeleton.” Turning a person into an undead was something new. A person that died in combat against me.

Helena put her hand on my shoulder. “If you need someone to talk to, we are here for you.”

“Thank you.” I said. My feelings were complicated. But ultimately this man stood against us. He paid the price. Now his remains would be serving me. It did feel right, somehow.

“I will finish the sale quickly. The fight interrupted our negotiations.” Skadi said and went back into the guild.

Helena stayed with Cassie and myself. “Well, let’s see if he had anything valuable. Then we can use Coffee to carry the body.” She said,

“Dead bodies stink.” Cassie wrinkled her nose.

“It does need some getting used to.” Helena said, then she approached the dead fighter.

Nyx was sitting next to it. She was still in her big form.

I followed Helena. We found some coins and collected the weapon and shield. We would likely burn the soiled clothes when we were back at the academy. The chainmail was intact. Nyx had gone for the unprotected face and throat. Once we began our looting my undead companion shrunk again. Then she “helped” us search the body… by sticking her nose into everything.

Once we were done we deposited the corpse on Coffee’s back. The horse did not mind. He was trained for combat, I suppose. A dead body was no concern for him. Nyx sat on top of the corpse. It was her kill, maybe she was proud of it?

Skadi returned and we made our way back to the academy. Our plans for lunch had to be cancelled. There was no way we could go to a nice restaurant with a dead body on my horse. It was surprisingly easy to enter the academy with a corpse. Although they did write down our short report of the incident.

“I will have to look for Gornir and ask him how to prepare the body. I don’t want a zombie. I want a skeleton.” I said.

“I will go to the alchemy lab and prepare something to clean the bones.” Cassie offered. Skadi helped her with the supplies we bought.

Meanwhile, Helena and myself carried the corpse towards the necromancy classroom. Nyx was still sitting on it. We were on the way to Gronir’s office when we ran into him.

“Oh? What is this?” He asked.

“A fanatic attacked Nyx. The guard let me keep the body.” I said.

“Ah. Sadly not everyone understands the necrotic arts.” He shook his head. “At least you got something useful out of it! You intend to raise it? A zombie, perhaps?”

“No sir, I would like another skeleton.” I said.

“Most people prefer skeletons. Very well. It will be a good lesson. And I heard you have some free time right now. Follow me, we will take this to a lab. It can be a bit messy.”

I was grateful for Helena’s help. I was strong enough to carry a body but together it was more comfortable. She did not even complain.

Gronir started explaining as we walked. “First you need to get rid of the flesh. The best way to do that is death magic. You can simply rot it all away. The difficult part is not to damage the bones as well. If done right the bones are exposed to just enough magic to make them easier to animate. I don’t have a book with me but I can draw the rune for the spell for you. When you channel it, try to target everything but the bones.”

“Can I infuse the undead with my water magic as well?” I asked.

“Sure, it will make it more expensive to control the skeleton, but mana is not really an issue for you. Are you intending to use some alchemy as well?”

“Cassie is preparing a cleaning solution.” I said.

“Perfect! I am looking forward to your newest undead.”

We ended up in the lab next to Cassie’s. Gronir provided me with a drawing of the spell I needed. “Good luck!” he said as he left.