Manela looked at the corpse at her feet.
“Just do it,” Terak said. He always thought that this was easy to do.
Necromancy was an art. It was the art of the soul, of the thing that connected the conscious mind to this dull plane of existence.
Rain hammered around them. Manela wished it was sunny. Souls liked to come back to the land of the living it was sunny.
“Get on with it,” Terak hissed, kicking Manela in the shoulder. She glared at him, something none of the other street rats would be able to do. She was special and that meant she was protected from his wrath. He knew what Necromancers could do to a living soul. He’d seen it done before.
It was how he had found Manela in the first place.
Manela placed her hand over the corpse’s eyes. He was a fresh dead, found earlier by one of Terak’s runners.
Manela could still feel the pulse of the soul under her fingertips. Still lingering to life, trying to hold on.
Come back, she whispered.
Speaking to souls was not about control, it was about persuasion. Death was quiet, a comfort for most, especially those who had suffered in death. This man’s wounds, guts spilling out of his stomach, looked particularly painful.
The soul quivered, scared.
Come back, Manela thought. She brought her hand gently over the man’s eyes. There was a prickle under her fingertips, the man’s soul quivering on the edge.
“Get on with it,” Terak huffed.
Manela glared at him. Terak shied away, repulsed. They always did that with her red eyes, especially when she was calling a soul back from the beyond. It reminded them of who she really was.
Manela turned back to the man, pressing her fingers into his eyes.
She could feel the soul under her fingertips. She drew her fingers into a pinch, drawing them upwards like she was holding the ends of a piece of cloth.
The soul followed her hands, pulled up from the netherworld and back into the body again. The man’s eyes fluttered open, emerald green as reanimated corpses always were.
“There you go,” Manela said, standing up. She didn’t want to hang around for the next bit, when Terak interrogated them for information that he could then sell on.
Terak grinned, gesturing to his brutes to step forward. The man began to panic, trying to push himself from the ground but he couldn’t – his body was too weak.
They never escaped Terak’s graps once he had them.
Manela walked down the street, shielding her head from the rain. One day, she would be like the great Necromancers of old. Genive, Tranle, Inagle.One day, she thought, they will learn to fear me like they fear Terak.
Enjoy this flash fiction? Check out some of my others below!
- This is not a plan“You said you had a plan for this?! Flying into the port with no approvals is not a plan.” Taelew looked over at his co-pilot. Yivonn was not one for breaking the rules, which is … More This is not a plan
- Arrival at Maalek“Here we are,” their guide announced, “the legendary city of Maalek,” Serene rolled her eyes. The sprawling ruins in front of her did not look anything like the ballads that Kieraj had been singing about … More Arrival at Maalek
- Traits of a Turned“You don’t understand me” he said, head in his hands, “you can’t see inside my head.” Amily sighed at her brother. He was in a sorry state, not that she would tell him that. Bandaged … More Traits of a Turned
- Reunited“Can you stop flicking that bloody coin,” Regan said, “it’s annoying.” Chasey flicked the coin up high again, catching it as it fell back towards her hand. “No,” she replied, “it helps me think.” Regan … More Reunited
- We’re not going that way“Why not?” “Why not?!” Favian’s voice rose another octave, “because I don’t want to die, Renglat. I like all my limbs on me, not in the mouth of some gods forsaken creature.” Renglat sighed. The … More We’re not going that way
- Do you recognise this song?“Do you recognise this song?” The words were raspy and barely formed. Marlie moved her head slowly on the bed towards Ranlen, looking up at him through gauzes and bandages. “Do you recognise it?” It … More Do you recognise this song?