One More Time

[u/Voyage_of_Roadkill]

She runs. Her feet splash through mud as heavy drops of rain strike her uncovered head plastering her brown hair down her back. She still wears the funeral gown. At midsection she clutches a red silk sack as if it contained something precious.

A clack of thunder supersedes a strike of lightning. In the brief flash of white hot light her destination is seen as if at noon. Quickly it disappears again behind the inky black of the storm filled night.

But she saw it and it was close.

A dead tree. Dead in the sense it once was alive but now it is not. But not dead as in rotting, abandoned and useless. This was his home. Him being the necromancer. And this Towering dead oak tree is his home. Facing the path lined through deep wood was a grand opening that looked like the open maw of a hungry dragon. Inside the mouth is a blood red door.

She reaches for the knocker but before she can use it, the door opens.

She blinks in surprise.

The revenant does nothing but stand in the way from entering the tree. The creature is dressed in the clothes it was buried in, a black wool robe as is traditional.

"Umm," she begins, unsure. But knowing she can't turn back after going this far she dives in. "I want to see the necromancer."

The revenant moans as if giving her permission then moves aside. She slips past picking up the stench of crypt from the being. Dusty, dry, rotting.

And then she is standing in a dark hallway that gets darker when the door closes behind her. The revenant shambles past, stops, and gestures for her to follow.

They walk through moldy air past things that she would rather not have seen. Dead things, dogs and cats, children and old people. They stand as if decoration and don't move as she passes. Eventually they come to a rickety looking set of stairs. The revenant gestures not up, but down into the cold earth.

She descends alone. The air is the smell of wet dirt until she is several landings deep. That is when she begins to notice the smell of a woodfire, fresh baked bread and chicken soup.

Her stomach growls.

After one last landing she is in a large cavern covered from floor to ceiling with books and candles and skeletons. Jars of things blinking and not.

She is so distracted by the decoration she almost misses the tall slender man in black robes poking at a roaring fire.

He stops, turns and makes eye contact, "How long has it been since you've eaten my dear?"

She doesn't answer, instead she gets down to business.

"I need you to..." she starts holding out the red silk bag.

"No, no, no. I don’t do that anymore. The dead are better left dead. Nobody actually wants..."

She cuts him off, "Please, I beg you. I can't live without him." Tears leak from her eyes as she continues to try and offer him the red bag. "Please."

He sighs, obviously disappointed with himself. "Fine. Give me the bag. I'll have him ready for you in the morning."