Son of Blood and Bone Ch. 03

He had been walking by slowly, a small herd of skeletal remains following after him, bright lavender handprints covering the domes of each skull. His skin had been completely black and smooth like polished ebony. His pale eyes had focused on me for before he cracked an evil smile.

"Dying thing, you are pretty," he had hissed and waved a careless hand making one of the skeletons lurch towards me. The magic inside of me reacted immediately and I reached out and touched the foot of the undead and shoved the spirit from the corpse. I heard a surprised scream before the skeleton collapsed in a heap on the ground. I looked back up at the Necromancer and bared my teeth.

"Leave me alone, demon," I growled, moving to sit with my back against a fallen tree.

He had laughed dryly at this before squatting down near me.

"I am no demon. You should know this, as you are like me," he said and curiously cocked his head to the side, "I am Xesil Sanguis, a son and servant of sin and death. But who are you? I know your face," he breathed and the enticing smell of decay wafted across my nose.

I looked at him defiantly but otherwise kept my mouth shut, I didn't trust him. Up until that point I'd never met a Necromancer but had heard fleeting stories of how entire villages were being destroyed when one would pass through.

He hadn't been patient, and instead of waiting for me to answer he had stood and stepped over me continuing into the forest. "I care not; you will be dead soon, which is a curiosity within itself: a dead thing that is dying. Much, much bigger things are going on than you."

I shook myself from the memory as the pittering grew louder and more insistent. Irritated I shook my head free of any remaining water. When I was done the noise continued and I looked around for the source. I turned my chair to face the giant window looking out into the never-ending expanse of the swamp. I stood and walked closer to the window as a bunch of small things hit the glass. I squinted my eyes and tracked the movement of several bugs flying around clumsily outside.

Red jumping bugs.

A clear imagine of Tina holding a bright red jumping bug surfaced in my mind along with her words.

Wood and water, water and wood. That's where you know he waits for you.

And with a sudden clarity I understood all of Tina's cryptic words: Xesil was in the swamps.

And the killings had been happening in my own backyard.

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