The Necromancer

Chapter 5, Part 2

Lamneras just stared at me for a moment with an inscrutable expression. "So, if I've got this straight..." he started slowly, "your plan is to get the incantation to Amcerlizar's Summoning Pedestal from me, yes?" His tone made it pretty clear that he had absolutely no clue what the incantation was. Not that that surprised me, given his hatred for Amcerlizar. I'd have to find a solution for that. "Then you're going to somehow trick him into coming to you, even though he supposedly never appears anywhere personally. Then you're going to somehow get him to attack Lirk, who has this Ruby's power protecting him. And that will just disintegrate Amcerlizar?"

I shrugged. "Pretty much."

"It'll work," Skip assured him confidently. "You should see this Ruby of Lirk's in action! Just blew this giant spider to dust; it was amazing!"

"Yeah," Lamneras cut her off, getting up from his chair to pace in front of the fire. "That's not the biggest hole in the plan that I'm worried about. Let's start with the fact that I don't know the incantation to summon him. Then let's move on  to the fact that Amcerlizar will almost certainly send one of his lieutenants."

"So, we'll kill them too," Skip said. "All of them till Amcerlizar comes himself."

"It's not that simple," Lamneras told her. "They're not sqishy necromancers like Winston and I. They're massive, ancient demons who will probably grow stronger from whatever energy the Ruby throws at them."

Skip scowled, which I'd come to learn was her go-to response for when she didn't have a good answer. 

"And, even if he did come personally, which is a pretty big stretch, then how do you know this Ruby will kill him?"

"Well it wo..."

"Yeah, it worked on a Paladin with fancy armor," he interrupted me. "You told me that part. But every Paladin smith that I've ever met couldn't enchant his way out of a wet paper bag. Amcerlizar is on a whole different level of magic. You have no idea what protections he'll have on him, OK?"

"I get all that, Lamneras," I answered.

"And not to mention that you want to do it here?  You want to use our Summoning Pedestal? Whose bright idea was it to have your big battle royale in the middle of a heavily populated city? I'm sure that will go over really well with Lord Berman and the guards."

I really hadn't considered that aspect. And now probably wasn't the time to tell him that we'd also like to bring Mog in, too.  Even if we could get him through the gates and into the city without inciting a panic, he wouldn't even fit through the door into the castle. We'd need to find some workaround for that.

"Oh, and did I mention," he continued, "the fact that y..."

Before Lamneras could make his next point, the door to his chambers flew open with a loud bang and a short chubby figure in fine furs waddled inside with his mouth already open to shout some orders. "Lamneras, my boy, did you finish brewing that truth serum for me? That damned wife of mine ha... OH!" His rant about Lady Berman stopped immediately as he glanced to his left and noticed Skip and I in the couch. "Well I'll be! Visitors! I didn't know you were having guests, Lammy!"

Lamneras sprang out of his chair and bowed sheepishly to the new visitor. "Err, apologies, Lord Berman! These are some of my friends. This is, err..."

"Skip, my lord." She jumped from the couch and gave an elaborate curtsey, causing the Lord to smile and clap with glee. "And this is my companion, Winston." She whacked me on the shoulder so that I remembered to stand and give a quick clumsy bow. 

"You all Alchemists too, then?" He gestured with a pudgy hand toward our robes, which we'd borrowed from Lamneras. Jewels the size of a bird's egg glittered on every single finger of his hand. 

"Of course we are!" I answered, possibly a bit too emphatically. "Just here to visit with Lamneras and... you know... discuss recipes for potions and... brewing... things." I kept muddling through the sentence until Skip squeezed my hand sharply and shut me up.

"Good!" Berman said. He strode into the center of the room and clapped a meaty hand on Lamneras's shoulder. I hadn't really realized just how short Berman was until I saw the two standing next to each other; his well-groomed hair only came up to Lamneras's shoulder. "Lammy here has been a real life saver, I tell you! Half my guard would be asleep at their posts without his alertness potions, and I can't get to sleep anymore without a nice relaxing brew of his." He gave a hearty chuckle and shook his potions master like a bowl of jelly. "Hey, you two staying for the feast tonight?"

My stomach growled at the very thought of it, causing Berman to grin. "I'll take that as a yes! Ask Lammy here; I throw a hell of a feast! And we've got a special treat for desser tonight: Peaches! All the way from the Southern Isles!" He puffed out his chest with pride. "Just off the boat today, so you know they're still fresh!"

"Sounds delicious, my Lord," Skip said. "What's the occassion?"

Berman waved a hand. "Some tribute day for some god or another. It doesn't matter; it's a feast! It's its own occassion!"

"It's Minhal's Day," Lamneras supplied to us. "God of the winds."

"Right, right," Berman said. "Too many of these blokes for me to keep straight. What matters is that we'll be having peaches! Can't wait to see you all there." He turned back to Lamneras. "Now, Lammy, I'll let you get back to visiting with your friends... just as soon as I get that particular potion from you."

Lamneras went to his brewing station and picked out one particular bottle full of a milky white substance that seemed to be boiling even at room temperature. "Now, remember, Lord Berman: just a few drops should get the truth from anyone. If you use too much, the person will start volunteering a bit more information than you'd like. It can get a bit... awkward."

"Yes, yes." Berman snatched the bottle from Lamneras, clearly having not heard a single word that his potions master said. "Not too much, of course." From the glint in his eye, that bottle would be empty in a few minutes. "Very well then! I'll see you all at the banquet this evening!"  He waddled back toward the exit with a pleased grin on his face and shut the door as he left.

"Sorry about that," Lamneras whispered. "He's trying to find out who his wife's latest lover is. Don't know why he needs a truth potion for that; everyone in court knows."

I didn't really answer; I just stared.

"What?" he asked.

"LAMMY?" I burst out, unable to control my laughter any longer.

He rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh too. "Oh, shut up, Winston."

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