How To Kill A Necromancer

Leopold knocked on Jase's door early the next morning, dressed in her riding gear. She handed Jase some leather riding harnesses for him. "Meet me on the upper east wing when you're done putting these on," she said and ran off.

"What is it with you people and waking up so early?"

Jase smiled and pulled the riding harnesses on. He made the bed and pulled his pack over his shoulder, then headed down the halls in what he figured was an eastern direction. Jase eventually found Leopold in one of the towers, readying a long saddle onto the back of a gryphon.

"Good morning Leopold,"

"Ready to go?" Leopold said, setting a brush down next to a note she had written and grabbing the reins.

"Sure. Um..." Jase hesitated to approach the large and rather imposing gryphon.

Leopold looked over. "You aren't afraid of flying are you?"

"I don't know. I've never done it before."

"It's okay to be nervous, but you don't have to worry. It's perfectly safe." She mounted the gryphon and gestured to the room behind her on the saddle. “This is Seraph.”

"Let's get on with it!" Zendron said impatiently. Jase swayed a bit and Zendron took control. He confidently stepped up and mounted the gryphon behind her, grabbing on to the sturdy handholds on the saddle.

Leopold looked disappointed, but she didn't say anything. At her lead, the gyphon walked forward and pushed open one of the wooden walls, which swung open on hinges. Through it, they could see the mountainside and a large lake. It lept out and into the morning air.

"Oh dear," Jase said.

Zendron yelled in delight as the gyphon flapped its wings, climbing higher. “This is amazing!”

Leopold looked over her shoulder. “You boys haven't seen anything yet. Hold on!”

"I don't think this is a good ideaaaaa-" Jase trailed off as the gryphon dived down towards the lake.

Catching the wind in its feathered wings, the gryphon skimmed the surface of the lake, splashing water up into their faces before swooping back up into the sky again.

Jase could feel Zendron's heart racing from the excitement. Zendron and Leopold both laughed as the gryphon leveled out and they caught their breaths. Zendron was even smiling. Leopold reached down to stroke her gryphon's neck.

“Ugh… my hands are going to cramp up holding on so tight.” Zendron commented. “Jase. Your go.” Unexpectedly, Jase felt Zendron giving up control. When Leopold looked back, Jase was smiling his own gentle smile at her.

"What, Zendron had enough?" she asked.

"Oh, thanks. For once I try to do something nice,"

"No he's alright," Jase said. He looked over at the horizon, "This is quite nice..."

Jase looked around him to enjoy the morning. They flew at an incline against the mountainside for a few hours before Leopold landed the gryphon between the trees. The air began to get colder and the peaks of the mountain towered above them.

"Go ahead and stretch your legs a bit," Leopold explained. “We’re going to give her wings a break while I feed her.”

"Alright," Jase dismounted, "oh... yeah. That's sore," he said, rubbing his knees.

"Old man..."

"Okay, stop calling me old. I swear, I barely turned forty."

"So... Are you going to tell me what's happening?" Leopold asked, pulling down a pack from the saddle. "How did you end up with someone else inside of you?"

"Oh, well... It's rather confusing even to me. It's only been a few days."

“I'm not going to think you’re crazy now.”

“A few days ago I died, and my elixir of life brought me back. Somehow, Zendron came with me.”

"So who is Zendron?"

"I'm not sure. He's not exactly the nicest person though, and he said he's a necromancer."

"No wonder you want to get rid of him," Leopold said. She opened the pack and pulled out a slab of meat, holding it up to the gryphon.

"Jase I want to have control. I let you have control on the flight up here, so it’s my turn again."

"Well..."

"There's no one around and she already knows."

"I suppose so. Leopold, Zendron wants to take over for a little while."

"Oh, um... okay," Leopold said.

"I don't need her permission. I don't even need yours," Zendron said as Jase gave him control.

Leopold was watching him. "Hello?"

"Not interested," Zendron said bluntly. He walked around to the other side of the gryphon as Leopold fed it.

"I'm keeping an eye on you," Leopold warned, keeping her hand on the gryphon’s neck.

"Yeah yeah... it's not like I'm going to do anything." his hand drifted towards Leopold's pack and lifted the pack's cover slightly.

"Zendron!" Jase gasped

The gryphon snorted and Zendron pulled his hand away.

"Okay fine." He mumbled. He reached out and ran his hands through its feathers instead. It shook its head slightly. "See there's nothing to worry about. It likes me." Zendron said. He stroked it more, relishing in the feeling of the soft fur and tough quills running through his fingers. They could feel the breathing of the gryphon underneath its thick muscular body.

"That's an amazing creature," Jase said. “It's a miracle any of them survived after the war.”

Zendron frowned. “Yeah. A miracle.” He rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Zendron snagged a feather and yanked it out. The gryphon reared up and Zendron jumped away from its claws.

"What did you do!" Leopold exclaimed. She ran over to try and calm the gryphon down.

"I didn't do anything! It just freaked out!"

"If you don't tell her what happened then I will."

"I accidentally got caught on one of the feathers while I was petting it and it came out." Zendron said, revealing the feather he had tucked in his sleeve.

“That's not what happened, Zendron.”

"Liar! You pulled her feather out on purpose." Leopold jumped at him to grab it back. “You hurt her!”

Zendron held it above it up above his head, taking advantage of Jase's height to keep it out of her reach.

"I'm not giving it to you! I could use this!" He protested.

Leopold backed up, her wings opened behind her.

"No, you don't!" Zendron opened his hand and the feather disappeared in a black flame. "Ooh nooo, where'd it go?" he asked mockingly.

"I would have given Jase dozens of gryphon feathers if he had asked! But you- you’re the worst kind of heartless coward!" Leopold balled up her fists angrily. “How could you do that to an innocent animal?”

"Did you destroy it?" Jase asked.

"What? No! Of course, I didn't destroy it, you idiot! There's no way I'm giving up a component that rare." Zendron said to Jase, he glared at Leopold, "One feather plucked straight from a gryphon is way more valuable to me than a hundred molted ones, so back off! It's too late. What are you going to do? Glue it back on?"

"You planned this when you let me have control during the flight. You tricked me into giving you a turn for this?"

"Oh yes I did, and it was well worth it," Zendron said, pleased with himself. He backed up a little further from the gryphon as it skirted around.

"You're a horrible, awful person!" Leopold shouted at him as she turned to try and calm the gryphon down.

Zendron smirked and kicked over a rock playfully. "I know, right?"

"That's it, I've had enough."

They struggled for control before Zendron finally stepped down.

"Fine, go ahead," Zendron said. “I got what I wanted anyways.”

Jase looked at Leopold "Leopold I am so, so sorry. I had no idea Zendron was going to do that," he stammered.

"He's not allowed near her ever again," Leopold said.

"That may be a problem, considering the situation here."

"No, you are fine. Just him."

"Oh..."

Leopold stroked Seraph’s neck. "He is absolutely awful. Doing that to such a noble creature." She waved Jase over, "Come slowly," she warned.

Jase carefully approached it. The gryphon spooked a bit but Leopold calmed it down, talking to it softly. "Shhh, Seraph... see? Jase is nice. He won't hurt you."

Jase reached his hand up. The gryphon shook its head and Jase retreated to a safe distance before he could lose a hand to its sharp teeth. He turned away and lowered his voice.

"Was that really necessary, Zendron? Did you want to get over the mountains or not? You left it to me to fix the problems you created here." Jase scolded.

"Eh, it was your mistake trusting me."

Leopold looked over at them "Zendron." her voice started to rise, "You are literal-"

"Can we not do this now?" Jase interrupted.

Leopold picked up the bag and set it back on the saddle. "He better not try anything else with me or Seraph, or you’re going to find yourself dismounting somewhere in the clouds."

"I won't be letting him." Jase agreed. He managed to step up and sit behind her again.

Seraph took off and Jase pressed himself down as the wind pushed past them. They leveled out in the sky, steadily climbing again beside the mountain face.

"Leopold, why were you so intent on coming?" Jase asked.

"Oh, well... At first you were something different from my normal life at the guild. I haven't gotten a chance to meet anyone from the town, and you were the only person who walked all the way to visit the guild just to ask us a question."

Jase laughed at Leopold's comment, "I've been told I can be a bit spontaneous sometimes.”

“But after seeing Zendron and talking with you, I had some other thoughts that made me determined to be the one to fly you there.” Leopold grit her teeth, “But I underestimated how much of a selfish asshole Zendron really would be. At least you’re going over the mountains to get rid of him.”

“That is our intention, yes. He wants to be rid of us just as much as we want to be rid of him.”

"You're always welcome to use the library at the guild when you come back, they're bringing in new books all the time."

Jase nodded and pulled his robe a little tighter as the air got colder. “Perhaps I can show you to the academy as well.”

"I just can't wait for this to all be over." came Zendron's voice quietly.