Rend Hope Read Free Page B

destroyed, he had used his poison to destroy all the bodies during his battle with whoever killed him.  Ebrim was effectively back at square one.  Given enough time he could probably pick up the trail of whoever had done this, but it would take him awhile, how bothersome.
                  The sound of coughing drew the necromancer's attention, Ebrim shifted his gaze to a cloud of dust that appeared slightly to his left.  He saw a thin man with chin-length blonde hair start to crawl slowly toward him.  The scrawny man had definitely seen better days.
                  "Help! Help me please! Some bandits came by and killed my entire family!  I'm the only one left, but I'm wounded."  The thin man said, Ebrim smiled and made his way over to the thin man.  "Please, I know you must not have much, being in this Savior-forsaken desert and all, but if you could spare some water or clean bandages for my wounds, I'd be eternally grateful!"  The necromancer stopped in front of the prone thin man. 
    The wounded cannibal felt there was something a little off with his gaze, but it didn't matter.  All he had to do was let this idiot get a little closer and he'd lop off his head.  The thin cannibal reckoned the dark-haired traveler would make a decent meal.
                  "Sure thing stranger, here let me grab some water from my pack."  Ebrim said, diverting his attention from the skinny cannibal to the pack on his left hip.  The thin cannibal smiled, this was his chance.  With surprising quickness, the skinny man brought his right hand up from its buried position in the sand.  His hatchet clutched tightly in his right hand, the skinny cannibal brought it forward in a vicious arc.  The slash was aimed at Ebrim's neck, intending to decapitate him.  When the sharp edge of the hatchet was inches away from the necromancer's throat, it met heavy resistance and was stopped completely.  The skinny man was so sure of his swing, its sudden stoppage jarred every bone in his body.  He looked at what stopped his hatchet and found a hand made of bone holding his weapon.
                  The thin cannibal stared in shock at the hand holding his hatchet by its sharp edge.  It was not one of the dark-haired man's hands, both of those were still rummaging through his pack.  The skeleton hand had come from the ground itself.  The skinny man began to feel the same fear that took hold of him when the hooded stranger killed his fellow cannibals.  It permeated his entire body and paralyzed him.  He could only stare as the man he had tried to kill kept rummaging through his pack nonchalantly.
                  "So sorry stranger, I didn't find any water, but take heart...." Ebrim said, pulling a six inch long knife out of his pack and gripping the handle with his right hand.  "...You'll no longer need it." The necromancer finished casually.  The thin cannibal only had time to scream before the knife plunged into his skull.
    **********
                  "You lied to me!" Marie fumed, walking side by side with Markus.  The mid-day sun blazing in the sky above them.  The "Ordinary" magi looked at her, feigning confusion.
                  "About what?" he asked.  She grit her teeth and jabbed a finger at his backpack.
                  "You said that meat was cat, but it was really chicken wasn't it?" She questioned, Markus shrugged in response.
                  "Everything supposedly tastes like chicken.  I had some alligator once and that tasted sort of like chicken." was his answer, Marie glared at him.
                  "So was that chicken or not?" She asked, He threw her another mischievous smile.
                  "I'll never tell."  He replied, Marie growled in frustration.
                  "Why not?" She asked through gritted teeth, the short blonde magi laughed loudly.