Robin shot up in her bed, sweat pouring down her forehead.

  “Why in the hells is it so hot in here?” She groaned, crawling out of a tent. The sun glared down at her from its highest vantage. “Dammit, I overslept,”. Squinting, she panned her gaze over the limited area they called a village.

  There was Eustace sitting comfortably underneath a tree reading a construction manual that System had given him when they founded the settlement. But Harald and Tyriel were nowhere to be seen. She frowned, not recalling any plans for scouting or scavenging but shrugged. She wasn’t their caretaker.

  She walked over to the river, kneeling down and cupping the icy water in her palms. She sputtered a little when it cascaded over her face, she continued this morning ritual until the weariness had left her eyes. Without coffee she had been forced to revert to the basics. She stood and stretched, her back popping slightly.

  Rejuvenated, she made her way over to Eustace, who glanced up at her approach.

  “Afternoon there,” He chuckled, “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

  She shook her head and gestured towards the woods, “Whatever light show Crowley was doing kept me up.”

  Eustace nodded in understanding, “It woke me up too. I’ll admit I am curious as to what our Warden is up to out there.”

  “Warden?” She sat down next to him.

  “It’s what I’ve taken to calling him,” Eustace shrugged, “I mean that is what he’s doing essentially.”

  “I’d prefer it if he was doing it in here and not out there,” Robin remarked bitterly.

  “As would I, but we both know Tyriel and Harald wouldn’t have it. Much less any new arrivals.”

  “You don’t know that, maybe some new arrivals would bring a fresh perspective and him.” Robin said.

  “I doubt it,” Eustace closed the manual, “Harald wouldn’t be able to handle it, not yet at least.”

  “What do you mean?” Robin asked, her brows furrowing.

  “I’ve seen his kind before, men who love power and being in charge. He wouldn’t be able to handle such an independent force right here in the seat of his power.”

  “I suppose you have a point,” Robin admitted, “But things would be so much more efficient if we hadn’t cast him out.”

  “Undead would make a fantastic labour force,” Eustace agreed, “I’m actually planning on loaning this to him once I’ve gotten a grasp on it,” He waved the manual absently, “Can’t have him spending his entire tenure in a lean to.”

  “I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” Robin smiled, “But speaking of Harald, where are he and Tyriel?”

  Eustace shrugged, “Harald went out a while ago to do some hunting but I don’t know where Tyriel went. She slipped off some time after Harald.”

  “Probably trying to cozy up and get some kind of position from him,” Robin scowled.

  “Probably,” Eustace replied.

  The pair fell silent and Eustace returned to reading his manual. They sat like that for several minutes, neither feeling the need to fill the silence.

  Though the bliss was never meant to last as Tyriel arrived with four newcomers in tow.

  “And this dusty place is where we’re building the settlement,” She was explaining and gestured towards the woods, “And over there is our resident necrophiliac. We’re keeping him away from the main area for decency’s sake.”

  One of the residents nodded slowly while the other three looked over in the direction with general disgust.

  “Why is he even here then?” One of them asked.

  “Because our dear leader has a bleeding heart,” Tyriel replied with mock empathy.

  “Should just kick him out or kill him and be done with it,” Another of the newcomers muttered.

  “I believe Tyriel mispronounced our fifth members role in this community,” Robin interjected, “Crowley is a Necromancer, using his abilities to safeguard the frontier around our growing settlement,” She approached the group with a strained smile, “I’m Robin and that over there is Eustace.” Eustace gave a distracted wave.

  “A Necromancer?” One of the newcomers asked.

  Robin nodded, “Yes. We all felt he was the most capable at guarding the area for the time being.”

  “That makes sense,” The man responded and looked at his fellows who all had conflicting emotions dancing across their features.

  “You’ll meet him soon enough, we’ll have to have a meeting soon about your arrival.” Robin smiled.

  “A meeting?” A woman asked, “Oh I’m Erica by the way,” She added hastily.

  Robin nodded, “We’ll have to discuss the future if you’re staying.”

  “That was our intention,” Erica said thoughtfully.

  “What kind of expectations would you have for us if we did?” One of the men asked, “And how much would we get to interact with this Necromancer of yours?”

  “Mostly just pulling your own weight,” Robin said, looking at the man thoughtfully, “And I suppose as much as he’s willing to stand. There’s no restrictions on who you can interact with.”

  The man nodded, “My name’s Lysander.”

  Robin nodded and Eustace walked up next to her, “Looks like we’ll need to wait for Harald to get back and we’ll get to talking about the details,” He stretched and yawned, “For now, pick out a spot and get comfortable, we’ll be building homes sooner or later and land is at a premium,” He chuckled to himself.

  “Could I meet this Necromancer?” Lysander asked, “I’m really quite curious about what one does around here.”

  Robin frowned and glanced back towards the forest, “If he’s in, sure. I’ll take you to see him.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “If he’s in?” Lysander questioned.

  “Odds are he’s out scouting since the monster release is due in a couple of days.”

  “Monster release?” Erica asked, her eyes widening, “You mean the monsters aren’t already roaming?”

  “What about the goblins we ran into?” Their fourth member asked.

  “I have a theory about that, but we’re waiting on Crowley’s scouts to come back with more information.” Robin answered reassuringly.

  The group nodded, clearly nervous about the revelation.

  I can’t say I was exactly pleased with being dragged off to a meeting the moment I returned to the clearing. After some brief discussion about the light show I put on and Robin making sure everything was all right on my end, she informed me of some new arrivals and the need for a meeting. Personally I wanted nothing to do with it, there was already plenty on my plate. I had acquired enough death energy from the goblins to perform the ritual at least two more times, and I needed to hit level seven so I could snag the Create Shade skill.

  But politics, and in the end it’s important that I show up and let the people see me, otherwise Tyriel would probably drag my name through the mud more than she already has. I internally grimaced at having to deal with Tyriel again, I know I’ll have to but doesn’t mean I have to like it. It was hard enough being something that was looked down upon and not even being human anymore, I didn’t need this extra negativity and hostility. But when the village came into view I squared my shoulders and lifted my head, the people didn’t need to know about their protectors inner turmoil.

  The village itself hadn’t changed much at all, there were the tents that had been set up shortly before mine and it looked like Eustace had begun laying the foundation for a building. I would need to borrow the construction manual from him at some point. Before me was a small group of people standing with Tyriel and Eustace.

  “Where’s Harald at?” I asked Robin quietly.

  “No clue,” She replied in a low tone, “He’s been gone since this morning.”

  I frowned but nodded.

  “Ah, there’s our resident necrophiliac now,” Tyriel announced.

  “It’s Necromancer,” I replied wearily.

  The group looked at me with mixed expressions, some were curious, others were outright hostile.

  “I’m Crowley,” I introduced myself, “I patrol and guard the frontier around the village,” I forced a smile.

  “I’m Erica,” A woman replied, “This is Lysander, Aaron, and Bianca,” She gestured to each of them in turn, “We just arrived with Tyriel.”

  “Were you all just wandering the wilderness?” I asked curiously.

  Erica nodded, “We found each other a couple days ago and decided there was safety in numbers. Especially after running into those goblins.”

  “Robin was saying something about some scouts you sent out?” Aaron interjected, “What exactly did you send them to scout?”

  “A neighboring settlement,” I shrugged, “I thought it’d be a good thing to know what our neighbors are and if they’re hostile or not.”

  “What good are mindless undead for scouting?” Tyriel scoffed.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Bianca and Aaron said.

  “I sent some more intelligent ones,” I smiled.

  “Oh what kind?” Lysander asked excitedly.

  “Hounds.”

  Tyriel barked a laugh, “You sent dogs? Harald was right, Robin or I should’ve gone. At least we could tell you what we found.”

  “My hounds will be adequate,” I scowled.

  “Sure sure,” Tyriel waved her hand dismissively.

  “I believe we have a meeting to be getting on with,” Robin interrupted.

  “Without Harald?” Tyriel raised an eyebrow, “Vying for the seat of power are we?”

  “We’re a council,” Eustace said, “And the majority is already here.”

  Tyriel opened her mouth to press the issue but stopped, a smirk forming on her lips, “Yea sure, whatever. Let’s get on with it.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Tyriel but said nothing.

  “Now that introductions have been done let’s discuss whether or not any of you want to stay here,” Robin began, “You’ll have to pull your weight in whatever way you can.”

  The group nodded in thought before answering that all four wanted to stay and were willing to do what they could to ensure the village’s survival. There were of course plenty of questions about the people already living here and our roles. Erica paired off with Robin to aid in hunting and skinning, Aaron and Bianca went with Eustace as part of the construction crew. While Lysander was left with nothing, his class was Mage, and no one really knew what to do with that initially but that was when Harald returned to the village and after being caught up on the situation pitched an idea.

  “Crowley, Lysander could be a welcome aid on the frontier,” He said, “We all saw whatever ritual you were performing last night. Maybe you could use some more generalized arcane aid.”

  I frowned, I really didn’t, I had Elden for that but they didn’t know that. Now that I thought about it, they didn’t even know about the hounds until I said something.

  Lysander looked at me hopefully, “If it’s really the only thing we could use generalized magic for I’d welcome him on the frontier. But what about construction? If Lysander could learn some useful enchantments then he’d be far more valuable here than out there.”

  Harald nodded, “That’s a fair point,” He looked over at Eustace, “What do you think? You’re our head of construction.”

  Eustace frowned in thought, “We barely have a grasp on the basics right now, it’s probably too early to be involving magic. But it’s a good idea.”

  Lysander looked a little deflated at the soft rejection.

  “Lysander could prove useful,” Elden whispered in my ear, “It could be advantageous to have a mage out in the field, even if he gets put on enchantment duty later on he would know what types of threats are out there and how to counteract them.”

  I smiled, “Actually, I’ll take Lysander on the frontier for now. If he gets more acquainted with the threats out there and comes back to the village to help Eustace with construction he could enchant our defenses to counter our enemies.”

  Harald snapped his fingers, “Perfect. Does that sound good to you Lysander? We won’t tell you how to specialize your abilities.”

  “I’d be willing to at least try it,” Lysander replied hesitantly.

  “Then it’s settled,” Robin said, “Crowley, you remember how to set up a tent?”

  I nodded, “I’ll get Lysander settled.”

  “I’d say this meeting is adjourned then,” Harald smiled, “But before you two go I’d like a word.”

  Everyone but Lysander and I left the huddle we had been standing in.

  “Crowley, any word from your scouts?” Harald asked.

  “They’ll be at the location by nightfall, I’ll be able to tell you more tomorrow.” I replied.

  Harald nodded, while he wasn’t pleased about my initiative at first it seemed like it was growing on him.

  “Lysander, while Crowley is in charge of the frontier I’m in charge of the village defense. I want you reporting to me on how we can best defend the village if anything gets past him.”

  Lysander nodded, “Why two separate divisions? Wouldn’t it make more sense for you both to be working on the same thing rather than separating it like this?”

  Harald and I exchanged a look, when it was put like that it didn’t make much sense did it?

  “Well,” Harald began, “I’m sure you’ve noticed the anti-necromancer sentiment shared by a couple of our residents.”

  Lysander nodded.

  “Due to that Crowley can’t live in the village and it would be difficult to work together that closely, the less of Crowley’s necromancy that’s seen the better.” Harald finished diplomatically.

  “Ah,” Lysander replied, “I suppose that makes sense.”

  I nodded my agreement, “It’s not as complicated as it sounds, and now that we have a middle man it should be even easier.”

  “Why not just send your undead?” Lysander asked.

  “The last thing people want is to see a zombie shambling through the village,” I answered.

  Lysander nodded, “Right.”

  “Go talk to Robin and get some supplies,” Harald said and turned.

  “Go on, I’ll catch up in a moment,” I told Lysander and walked after Harald.

  “Hey Harald,” He stopped and turned to me, “I appreciate what you did back there.”

  Harald nodded, “After thinking about it, your way made more sense. Just make sure Lysander knows the situation well enough to brief me.”

  “Yea will do,” I replied.

  We parted ways and I caught up to Lysander who was holding a burlap sack filled with basic necessities. I guess I have a partner now.