How To Kill A Necromancer

It took until early the next morning for Kieran to stir again. Gadelynn worked tirelessly through the night bringing things up the mountain from the house. Zendron dozed off occasionally, and Leopold kept a strict lookout all night. It wasn't until the rays of sunrise started to make the sky blue again that Kieran woke up. He saw Leopold and Zendron and began to panic.

Kieran struggled in the chair before realizing it was too tight to escape. "I- okay, maybe I went a bit too far. Okay yeah, I did. This is just a misunderstanding, alright?" he pleaded, "C - Come on, you can't do this to me Jase! You said it yourself, you're better than this."

"Hah. He still thinks I'm Jase." Zendron stood up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Wh - what?" Kieran was taken aback for a moment.

"No one could mistake you for Jase. You're more like Kieran than anyone else I've met." Leopold said.

"At least I don't grovel and beg"

"Well... I could bring up that one time that-" Jase started, thinking back to the tea incident.

"We WON'T talk about that!" Zendron interrupted.

"W-who are you?" Kieran asked.

"Oh, you know," Zendron waved his hand and the bird skeleton flew over to his shoulder, "Just the real necromancer here." he said casually, "I'll be honest I was a little offended when you thought my work could be Jase's. He doesn't have it in him." Zendron leaned forward menacingly, "You shouldn't get on Jase's bad side. He's the only thing holding me back."

"Zendron, stop. He's going to faint again," warned Leopold.

"That's enough."

"What? Am I overdoing it? I'm just having a bit of fun." Zendron laughed.

"You're cruel," Leopold stated.

Zendron stood up proudly, "I am, though." he said. He leaned back to Kieran, "But I could never be like you. I don't steal my glory, I work hard for it." he said coldly.

"Zendron that's enough." Jase insisted.

Zendron got up and sighed, "You're no fun."

“I wasn't really- I mean- I’d never would have actually hurt Jase-” Kieran cut himself off as he realized that they wouldn't believe his protest. "M-my students are going to wonder where I am." Kieran stammered.

"He's right," Leopold said, "They're going to wonder where Jase is too."

Zendron had already swapped back to Jase. He was facing away from them, looking off down the mountain thoughtfully.

"Come on Jase, be reasonable," Kieran begged.

"I'm trying. But you haven't made this easy." Jase said solemnly. “You tried to murder me. You stole my research and ransacked my house. Then you tried to threaten me so that you could plagiarize my work.”

"Again, we can always threaten him back," Zendron suggested.

"It's your call, Jase. What do we do?" asked Leopold.

"I've been thinking about it all night." Jase went silent for a very long time. “And I’ve made my decision.”

Leopold leaned forward, Keiran looked scared, and Jase could feel Zendron was ready with anticipation.

"I'm not going to do anything," Jase announced.

"What?" asked Leopold.

Kieran sighed in relief. Zendron was disappointed.

"I'm not. I’m not going to threaten Kieran, and I’m not going to keep him prisoner. It's just not right." Jase explained, "And I don't need him to keep quiet. What's there to hide? I'm a well known and respected professor at a prestigious university. And everyone knows, I'm an alchemist. Not a necromancer." Jase smiled, pleased with himself.

"Yes!" In his excitement, Zendron took over again. He spun around theatrically, and made a mocking impression of Kieran."And oh no, did my 'best friend' hit his head last night? My goodness, it must be a pretty bad injury. Maybe you should just go home and rest! I better not see you around later or I’ll have the dean send you home until you feel better.”

Kieran stared at him with a horrified expression as Zendron repeated Kieran’s own conversation with Jase back to him.

Zendron cackled, donning his impression of Jase now, “My poor friend is almost delusional to think someone like me, Jase Jevaun, could ever be doing necromancy. Or even be capable of holding him hostage. Search my home! You’ll see there's nothing there but a stupid white cat."

Leopold crossed her arms, waiting for Zendron to be finished.

He finally dropped his act and leaned towards Kieran, “You should have known better than to mess with a necromancer.”

Kieran’s face paled white as a sheet.

"That's enough of that, Zendron," Jase told him, taking control again. "But yes. It seems to have worked out to be a very simple solution," Jase glanced outside, "Oh dear! I'm going to be late!"

Jase ran out, nearly colliding into Gadelynn as she approached with arms full of an indistinguishable rotting corpse she found in the forest.

"Hello, Gadelynn," Leopold said, disgusted. She stepped behind Kieran and started to tie a blindfold around his eyes before he was able to get a look at Gadelynn, "I’ll carry you back to the edge of town. If you’re smart you won't come looking for this place later." she explained,  “Go ahead. Go back to work as usual. I’m sure the academy will be so excited to hear about your new research. They might just be suspicious where you got it.”

"Y-You won't get away with this," Kieran said, trying to sound menacing. “You can’t do this to me. You’re a SkyGuard. I’ll report you!”

"Who's to back you up on that report? You have no witnesses. And as far as I can remember, the home I searched was spotless, the sender of the message was delusional, and I've been helping my little brother with his essay all night."

---

Jase cleaned himself up at home and reached his office in time to gather some supplies before his class. He was just locking his office door when Kieran came speed-walking past, a full bag on his back and his hair and clothes looking somewhat disheveled. He looked at Jase as he passed, and Jase returned a cheeky smile. Keiran looked away quickly.

One of Kieran's students walked by and Jase stopped them.

"Where's Kieran going so suddenly? Doesn't he have a class to teach?" Jase asked.

"He just resigned! He's been packing for the last half hour." the student said, dismayed. "I had a project due in his class that I've been working on for ages now!"

The student continued down the hall and Jase stepped into his lecture hall to prepare his lesson.

”What are you doing? Now’s your chance to catch Kieran before he’s gone for good. He still has your notes.”

“He does. I doubt he’d give them back without causing a scene.”

“You don't care that your work is being stolen? Your life’s work?” 

“I do.” Jase grimaced. “but he can't do anything with them while I'm around. I’ve been the one making publications on the topic, his plan to use them relied entirely on me being dead, quiet, or discredited.”

“He could still pass it off as his own someplace else.”

“Yes.” Jase sighed, “But if that means that the elixir is accessible to help more people, is that not why I’ve been making it in the first place?”

“You’re a sap. You’re never getting your notes back now.”

“I can write them again. Ive already written down as much as I can remember. I’ve spent my life studying this, all that knowledge is still in here somewhere.” Jase lifted his head proudly, “That's something Kieran doesn't have. He can’t do anything to improve on my work. He clearly doesn't put in the time or effort to learn to be better.”

”I’d bet money that he’ll give up trying to decipher the formulas you scratched down in those notes.”

Jase laughed, “Who’s money? Yours or-” He cut himself off as the door opened. "Oh, good morning, Dean."

"Good morning, Jase. Have you heard about Kieran?" asked the dean.

"A student told me he just resigned this morning," Jase said.

"Yes, I don't know why exactly. Well- good riddance. It turns out he's been talking bad about everyone to everyone. I know you two were close friends. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but the things he's said about you behind your back-"

Jase waved dismissively, "It's alright. Our friendship was purely professional."

"Oh! Irony at last!" Zendron exclaimed.

"Well, all right then." The dean said, "But as such we are short a teacher. Would you mind stepping in until we can find someone to take his place?"

"Not at all, I'd be happy to."

"Alright, I'll let you and the students know the new schedule as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir. Have a good day." Jase said as the dean hurried back to his office.

So what did Kieran teach here?"

Jase smiled, "Lab and Projects classes. One of which you may find interesting, "Inventions and Practices of new Spells and Potions" I believe it was called"

"Sounds fun, if you actually get to experiment and not just take notes. I guess that means you’re going to be spending twice as long writing lessons." Zendron didn't sound overly cheery.

"You know, if I’m going to be teaching more classes, I should probably negotiate a slight bonus." Jase said casually, "Why don't I use it to buy that shack? You can fix it up however you’d like, and Gadelynn can stay there where she can have room to run around and not be so bored. You can also practice and set up your rituals there, away from the town. And... well once we find you a body or some alternative solution for you, you can keep the place, it will be all yours." he offered.

"That's-" Zendron started to choke up, "Oh fuck you. You’re too nice. You know I am never going to do the same for you."

Jase smiled, "I know. Don't worry about it."