“I have never heard of such a thing.”
“Yes, well, weren’t you the one who said you never heard of anything like me before?” The zombie motioned toward Larissa. “Can the young woman come in now? I understand she has questions for me.”
There was a poke in his ribs, no doubt from Larissa’s finger. She did indeed want to enter. With ill will he let her enter, but when she made a move to stand in front of him he held his arm to the side, not letting her any further than his side. Again she gave that small huff, but she stayed put.
He might be willing to accept this was not a trap, but he would not let her nearer. No matter what the creature believed, a necromancer created him and a necromancer would always be master to him. “Why would a necromancer create one that had free will? It is counter to their interests.”
The zombie shrugged. “I’m a man of science and I don’t know the intricacies of necromantic magic. My understanding is if they had imprinted me, I would have lost my genius and been useless to them.”
“Then why are you not with your creator now?”
“As my free will and my genius remained, so did my morality. I may be a zombie, but I am in all other ways still the human male who existed before the Great Collision.” He motioned to himself with a sweep of his arm down the front of his body, and for the first time Terak detected emotion, a flicker of disgust at what was beheld. “Do you think I want others to become this? The necromancers to win? No, not at all. I want them defeated.”
“If they are defeated, you will cease to exist.” Cruel words, but truth. How would the zombie react?
The creature took the news as calmly as one would a situation that peace had been made with long ago. “I should have died seven years ago. Even if I expire this moment, I’ve gotten more than my share.”
Larissa’s hand touched Terak’s shoulder, giving his arm a small caress. “Do you know anything that can help me?”
Simon shook his head. “I don’t know any specifics about you. I’ve been away from them too long. But I do know what their ultimate goal is, and with what Olivia has told me, I have to assume somehow you are mixed up in that.”
“Ultimate goal? You mean beyond the usual of bringing death and mayhem wherever they go?”
Simon’s face showed no response to Larissa’s attempt at levity. “They want to rip the Human Realm and the Magic Realm apart.”
“Impossible,” Terak breathed, unable to stop his head from shaking, unable to stop his body from backing away even as the gasps from both Olivia and Larissa sounded in his ears. “You speak of the impossible. The realms are forever entwined. All the great mages have proclaimed it.”
Simon’s eyes bore into his. “The realms can’t be separated in a way that won’t involve carnage and destruction on a scale unparalleled in the history of either realm. When has that ever been a deterrent to a necromancer?”
Terak thought back to the First Council after the Great Collision, where various leaders came together to understand how to proceed. His father had journeyed forth against the advice of many in the Clan, bringing him and his mother. He remembered how one – an elf? – asked if it was possible the realms could ever be separated.
The mage hesitated, then replied, “No spell is impossible, only the conditions that surround it.”
It was double-speak at the time, a way to say no without appearing less powerful, and he and his father, as well as the cadre of leaders, paid no mind to those words. But if this creature was correct? He asked, “This separation of the realms? What would happen exactly?”
Simon shook his head. “I don’t know any specifics. I know we are entering a short period of time where it will be possible to rip the realms apart – planets in alignment and other mystical happenings. If they are able to make this happen, the Human Realm will be destroyed while the Magic Realm will revert to the way it was before.”
Larissa’s hand went to her throat. “The Human Realm will be destroyed?”
Simon nodded. “Since the Human Realm is dominant, it would take the brunt of the destructive force and become the Realm sacrifice required. Anyone who was originally from the Human Realm would die with it. Those who have been born since the Great Collision it’s less clear. With as complex a spell as we are talking about, I doubt any magic user truly understands the full impact.”
“And me? You think them coming after me is somehow related to this?” Larissa’s tone held the fear and uncertainty of a child who had lost sight of her family and was now alone amid a large, uncaring throng of adults. Anyone observing be damned. Terak took the step needed to be situated behind her and wrapped her in his arms, bringing her close to his body. She leaned back into him, her arms circling his own.