Corinne Barnett Collection: The Necromancer's Envy

By Corinne Barnett.

Tarawyn ran through the thick of the jungle, thunder roaring overhead as rain poured down. A wild elf, she was well accustomed to quickly traversing the wilds, her sleek form darting through the trees and brush. The rain collected on her bronze skin masked the tears on her face from the anxious fear she had for the life of her true love Lan'mallon.

All at the hands of the villainous necromancer Tizetch. It hurt her inside, his betrayal. Tizetch posed as a druid, gaining entry and acceptance among the Heartwood Grove. Only to reveal his true nature as a necromancer on a quest to become a lich, using the Grove for his own evil ends. Tarawyn and the other rangers and druids fought him off, banishing him and his undead legion from the forest. But as he retreated, Tizetch swore revenge, that the Grove and its people would suffer one by one. Starting with Tarawyn, who Tizetch vowed to steal as his concubine.

This made Tarawyn's lover Lan'mallon into Tizetch's first target. Tizetch hired assassins to hound him, and sent legions of undead to try and steal Tarawyn away.

But Tarawyn wasn't without a plan, she wouldn't let such a villain have his way. To stop the onslaught of assassins and undead, the villain overlord himself would have to be killed, and she would see it through for the sake of her beloved.

Deep within the jungle was the rendezvous point where she met with her wizard ally Beldor. The two met in Bendir after Tizetch's retreat from the forest, where Tizetch transformed into a red dragon and breathed fire upon the town to scare villagers away from stopping him. An unforgivable act, and Beldor would see Tizetch dead so he could never do it again.

Tarawyn had a scrap of Tizetch's robe from the fight in the forest, she passed it to Beldor to divine the location of Tizetch's lair. Beldor opened his eyes and stumbled back, throwing the cloth to the ground in disgust before setting it alight with a fire spell. Tarawyn inquired as to what he saw, Beldor narrowing his eyes and speaking his answer with the utmost contempt for Tizetch:

"His lair is within the Hells themselves. He is making deals with a devil as we speak."

The two hired a planeswalker to show them how to traverse the planes and find their way to the Nine Hells, the planeswalker demanding his pay up front due to the danger involved. Arriving at the destination, the two snuck through the rocky expanse, keeping out of sight. Fighting a devil within the Hells themselves was madness and would call further misfortune onto Arelith, Tarawyn and Beldor knew they had to stay focused on Tizetch and Tizetch alone.

Eventually they came upon a cave, just as Beldor had envisioned with his magical sight. Bones and corpses surrounded it, two undead minions standing guard. Tarawyn had Beldor light the tip of one of her arrows with magical flame and sent it hurling into the cave. A shrill screech filled the air and Tizetch emerged.

"My research, my books, you set fire to it all! I was going to make you mine, but now, I will simply kill you and eat your heart and feed your soul to my patron!" Tizetch howled as he raised his arms above his head, fingers curled like claws as negative energy swirled from them. One by one the dead legion arose, lumbering towards the heroic duo.

Beldor cast defensive spells on Tarawyn, allowing her to dodge the clumsy attacks of the undead. But her shortsword did little lasting damage to them. For each one that fell, it seemed as though their bones mended and slowly rose to their feet once more. An imp sat atop the rocky outcrop by the mouth of the cave, laughing as he watched.

Suddenly an arrow flew through the air, piercing Tizetch's chest through the heart.

"Lan'mallon, you're supposed to be dead!" Tizetch hissed out a few words. Tarawyn quickly turned to face where the arrow came from, spotting her beloved standing firm. A wild elf like herself, glistening bronze skin and flowing locks of chocolate hair draped over arms toned with muscles from years of archery. Lan'mallon drew the bowstring back again, readying another arrow.

"You are a fool, a coward, and a traitor. Our lives have joy and I will not let you rob us of our dreams." Lan'mallon said as he fired a second arrow, piercing Tizetch's skull. In an instant, the undead legion collapsed, and Tizetch slumped to the ground.

The observing imp cackled and spread his wings, flying forward from his perch. The trio tensed and kept their weapons ready, but held back in hopes the imp would not call for reinforcements.

The imp landed by Tizetch's corpse and gave the trio a toothy grin.

"His pact was signed and I didn't even have to do anything for him. In exchange for this service, I will not tell anyone you were here today." The imp said, busying himself with retrieving Tizetch's soul from his body. Heeding the imp's words, Beldor took no time in casting a portal for the three to escape.

Back home within the safety of the forest, Tarawyn and Lan'mallon sat by a secluded pondside in each other's arms.

"I couldn't let him keep trying to kill you, my love. I couldn't sit idle, if you died I would have the burden of inaction weighing on my heart." Tarawyn whispered into his ear.

"And I wouldn't see him bring harm to you, his foul threats sickened me and I would risk life and limb for your, my dear." Lan'mallon whispered back.

With the struggle behind them, the two had a newfound appreciation of what they meant to each other, and the lengths they would go to for love.