The Sleeping Citadel: Gray Magic

Capture the Flag

AN: Originally posted 1/20/2020. Reposted 2/29/2024.

"Alright, start conjuring up some undead minions!" Reaper cried as the forest came alive with action and noise. Already, they could hear hooting and hollering, and they could see magic flying through the air.

"First off, give me a second! Second off, it's not like I can just snap my fingers and bring back a zombie!" Sonorhc shouted back over the din.

"Well, technically, you can," Reaper replied. "I've seen you do it before!"

"But do you remember how much energy that took?!" Sonorhc screeched. "I was in the hospital for almost a month and nearly dead for half that time!" And this was not an exaggeration in the slightest.

Although very advanced Necromages could call upon the undead with ease, younger ones (like Sonorhc) had to choose the slower route. Sure, it was far more tedious, but it was a lot safer. The one time Sonorhc had called upon a dead creature without going through the proper rigamarole of finding a body to piece together and reanimate slowly was when she and Reaper had nearly gotten killed by a werewolf. They had gone camping, not realizing that it was a full moon and not realizing that there was even a werewolf in the area at all.

They were rudely awoken halfway through the night when the slobbering beast came howling at their tent. Reaper was able to slow it down by draining its lifeforce, but she was nowhere near strong enough to kill it. But even though Reaper hadn't been strong enough, weakening the wolf gave Sonorhc just enough time to get out of dodge and get ahead of the wolf. That was when her resurrection powers came into play.

At first, she tried to sense the nearby bones of a rabbit, or a mouse, or some other small prey-creature that could distract the wolf. But when nothing happened, she chose the harder and riskier option. She began looking for spirits. They were easier to find and summon, but she wasn't just bringing back the ghost. Instead, once she found the ghost of a rabbit, she simply imagined flesh, muscles, organs and bones materializing back into the ghost until she had an ugly little zombie-rabbit hopping feebly at her feet. It was totally mindless, more of a vessel or object than a living being, but that was all Sonorhc needed.

She was able to use the resurrected rabbit to distract the werewolf long enough for her and Reaper to sneak away. But halfway during their escape, that was when Sonorhc shut down. Reaper was left to carry her nearly lifeless body to safety. And Sonorhc had indeed been stuck in a hospital for nearly a month after that, almost completely catatonic for the first 10 days. And all for one little rabbit! Sure, some Necromages could summon entire human armies the same way Sonorhc had resurrected the rabbit, but that took decades of hardcore, agonizing practice. Anyone foolish enough to try anything too high above their skill level would suffer the same fate Sonorhc did, if not worse.

"Oh, don't worry about that! I came prepared!" Reaper grinned wickedly. She then pulled several dead birds out of her coat pocket.

"What the-?!" Sonorhc's eye twitched as she pointed wordlessly to the bodies in Reaper's hands.

"Since I knew we'd be on the same team, I stocked up!" Reaper grinned proudly as Sonorhc's eye continued to twitch. "Right before we came over, I used my draining powers to get rid of a few birds in my yard! It's why I made sure to wear my coat with large pockets! Now come on! It's time for you to use your magic on these little devils!" then she shoved the bodies into Sonorhc's hands.

"I... don't even know... what to say..." Sonorhc blinked, looking back and forth between the birds and the girl who smuggled them in.

"Whatever incantation it is that you need to conjure up some zombie birds?" Reaper gestured to the bodies again.

"You're crazy," Sonorhc decided finally, blinking and shaking her head.

"But you love me anyway!" Reaper's smug grin widened.

"I suppose this is about what I'd expect from you," Sonorhc sighed, then she turned her attention to the birds.

A couple minutes later, three mindless, resurrected birds flew through the ever-darkening sky, controlled by Sonorhc's will. She had them scout from above for the enemy team's flag.

"Man, I love it when you do that!" Reaper whispered with undisguised glee as she watched the resurrected birds fly. Sonorhc grinned proudly to herself, but said nothing as she and her companions moved deeper and deeper into the forest after their compatriots.

At last, someone found the flag, but it was not Sonorhc. Instead, it was another Necromage who also had a specialization in resurrection. They managed to find the body of a small wildcat and, after bringing it back, had it do the same thing Sonorhc's birds were trying to do. Once the zombie-cat managed to locate the enemy flag, it scuttled back to its creator to spread the word.

"Apparently there's a small creek a little bit farther to the northeast!" the Necromage said as the cat returned to them. "That's where the flag is!"

"Well then what are we waiting for?!" Reaper asked excitedly.

"A plan," Abomitable replied. "We can't just charge in there blindly!"

"Sure we can!" Reaper replied confidently, but everyone knew she was just kidding. Reckless as she was, Reaper was still a skilled fighter, and one did not become a skilled fighter by being reckless. Underneath her cockiness, Reaper knew full well how important a good strategy was.

"We'd only do that if we wanted to lose," Abomitable pretended to correct Reaper, even though he knew she was only joking. "And besides, I actually have a plan already in mind! Humor me and let's give it a whirl!" he said, then he explained.

They would split into four groups, approaching the flag on all sides, in actuality, though, only one group would actually try to capture the flag. The other three were only concerned with protecting the group with the flag.

Nevermore and the two other Umbramages on the team were going to come in from the north, using their shadow powers to get there. Reaper and a few of the bolder mages were going to come from the south, pretending as if they actually were trying to just storm the enemy base. Then Sonorhc and the other Necromages were going to come from the west.

"See if you can resurrect at least one large creature, like a deer. Pretend you're going to use it in the final attack, but you don't actually have to," Abomitable instructed. That left him and everyone else to come in from the east and they were going to be the group that would capture the flag!

"Of course you get to be on the capture team," Reaper snickered.

"Hey, I'm the team captain here!" Abomitable laughed. "Besides, it's all part and parcel of being the Snow Queen!"

After Frozen came out, every Cryomage on Earth was subject to a million Elsa jokes, but unlike the rest of them, Abomitable never got tired of it!

"Of course, your highness! You make an excellent leader!" Reaper continued the joke, giving Abomitable a deep curtsey.

"Uhhh, excuse me, that's 'your majesty'! I am a Queen after all!" Abomitable pretended to be offended.

"Oh, no! You must execute me for the crimes of dishonoring my king and failing my kingdom!" Reaper cried in mock despair.

"Maybe if you prove yourself in tonight's battle, I will change my mind and spare you," Abomitable replied with a wink. At the reminder of their little game, the entire group lit up.

"Are we ready to head out, then?" the Necromage with the cat asked eagerly.

"Yes," Abomitable replied, then no one needed any further instruction before heading out.