1.5

"waa-" I smiled at the rising sun in the distance, casting a soft light over the tops of the clouds. It was like a whole different world up here.

"We are nearing our destination!" Rem flew beside me.

"Ugh, finally!" I paused to scratch my chin. "But how do you know that?" Last I checked, all we could see were clouds.

"Call it magical intuition!" He puffed his tiny chest out proudly. I couldn't help but giggle at the gesture.

"There!" He called, swapping to a direct path down, cutting through the line of clouds.

I followed behind him, coming out soaked from the other side.

"Aw damn, now I'm all wet! You don't happen to know a fire spell, do you?" I ask as I catch up with Rem, who shakes his head.

I follow our trajectory with my eyes, leading to a much bigger city than the last. It had towers, gates, manors, and even a castle. It was straight out of a medieval fantasy.

A blast of lightning cut between us, the heat of it searing my skin.

"OUCH HE- what was that?!" I nearly screamed, licking my burnt skin with a wince. I was suddenly grateful for the soaking I received beforehand.

"A powerful mage- WATCH OUT!" Rem rammed into me, making sure another blast narrowly missed us.

"Are they using us as target practice?!" I puffed my cheeks out, frantically looking around for any sign of the mage.

"There!" Rem directed my gaze to one of the manors.

I didn't hesitate, changing my flight path straight into the backyard of said manor.

"He-hey, wait!" Rem called after me, but the wind in my ears blocked most of it out. Plus, I kinda hoped for a fight! It's a great way to stretch my legs after nearly a day in the air.

I landed with a blast of dust, pointing my wand directly towards the assailant.

"You!" I called, and as the dust cleared, my jaw went slack. "-child...?!"

My wand was poking the face of a young girl. She looked about fourteen; she had a long frilly dress with accents of gold and many adornments, her hair was cut short and uneven, cyan colored.

And she looked increasingly pissed at the wand in her face.

"Uh, you wouldn’t be the one who was using us as target practice, would you?" I ask, fearing I already know the answer as she smirks.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"You little-" just as I grabbed her by the collar of her dress and started shaking her, Rem arrived and pushed me away.

"Celeste! Relax!!" He heaved, breathing heavily from the journey down. "You can't just barge into people's houses like that!"

"But it was in self-defense! And I’m not even inside of the house!" I practically growled, looking away from the girl.

"For the last time, Casscadora!" A fourth voice called, standing in the entrance to our right.

"You can't just- oh," she looked between the three of us, trying to figure the situation out. She had a worn face, tired from years of bureaucracy. Her hair was unlike that of her (presumably) daughter; it was blonde and long, but they shared the same dark eyes. She also wore a lavish dress.

"Visitors! May I invite you-" She clasped her hands together.

Before she could even finish the sentence, I was out of there, as I dashed upwards back into the sky.

By the time Rem found me, I was sitting up in a tree in the city park, watching the people go.

“Hey! Celeste! That was rude- why did you even-”

“Don’t give me that.” I stretched a bit, swinging my dangling legs from the thick branch I sat on.

“What?” He asked.

“I was sensing a side-quest involving a child, and I am not good with those.”

“Side what now?”

“Dun worry bout it. All you gotta remember is I am not good with kids, and I don’t plan on babysitting anyone.”

Rem resigned himself, shrugging a bit as he sat beside me.

“I guess. Just seemed a little rude to barge in and out like that. Also, you messed up their garden with your landing.”

“Crap.”

We were walking now, following Rem’s incredible sense of direction to where he felt the magic that brought us here originated.

“How close are we?” I asked, stopping to rest at the end of a staircase that led up all the way from the park, only now to finally level out.

“Really close-”

We both stopped in front of a sign reading ‘Graveyard’.

“Wow. Guess it is a good place for zombies to spawn.”

“Spawn?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Rem sighed as we made our way inside.

The place was eerie, quiet. No people were there mourning, and the mist seemed to thicken at our feet, up above our heads enough to block out the sun.

“Be careful,” Rem stuck close to my hip. “It’s really powerful; I can feel it.”

“I can practically see it, bud.” I smiled as we kept walking.

“How come you aren’t even a little bit creeped?”

“I never really believed in ghosts, and zombies are just as punchable as humans, so this should be a walk in the park.”

Rem seemed flabbergasted.

The cemetery was as lavish as the manors surrounding it, with graves so tall they cast long shadows and created intricate patterns.

Each headstone was a statement of a family's wealth, as if every death was just another way to one-up the other in a war of egotistical wealth.

We eventually came to a stop in front of a rather dull-looking grave, unlike the others.

"Here lies Mr. Silvester 'Silver' Grant, missed by his family, friends, and society as a whole for his contributions to humanity." I read aloud, kneeling slightly.

“Looks like his family ran out of their wealth, or they were disgraced nobles. Allowed to be buried in the upper cemetery, but not enough wealth for a lavish headstone.” Rem explained, flying just over my shoulder.

“That sounds rough. What about the source of the magic?”

“It’s here somewhere,” Rem shook his head. “But this mist is messing with my sense of direction.

We looked around the surrounding areas of the grave, noticing an illuminated section of the fog.

“What about that?” I ask, a little too loudly.

“That’s it!”

The ground suddenly gave in to a violent shake, sending me onto my butt.

"Uh, R-rem? The heck is that?"

"NECROMANCY!" Rem replied with urgency.

Out of Mr. Silvesters grave, a hand suddenly tore from the ground and grabbed a relatively fresh-looking bouquet.

"Ah, our specialty then?~" I can't hold back the smirk as I grab at the center of my chest, pulling out my wand.

"Try to keep them in one piece!" Rem reminded me. "Once we're done, I could tell from the residue of magic which zombie came from where!"

"Got it." I take a deep breath, the wand turning into a shield.

Rem looks pleased at my control over magic, though he doesn't say anything.

The first zombie approaches, and I slam into her, a flash of extraordinary light from the shield turning her back into a corpse.

The rest of the graveyard was up on their rotten feet, scrambling towards us.

"Crud, this ain't good, chief!" Rem rammed into a zombie that approached from one of my blind spots.

"We need a better plan! I need you to act as bait!" I call out, shouting over the gurgling noises as I fly into the sky.

The hoard is slowly scrambling towards Rem as I stop just above them.

The scene was truly a sad one. Souls that should have been left to rest are now rotting before me. But I'm not helpless, not in this life.

Not anymore.

I cut through the air with immense speed, lifting my shield against the resistance of the air before slamming it into the ground, causing a wave of light to cascade over the graveyard, relieving the dead from their slavery as they all fall inanimate.

I lean onto my shield, my breath hitching in my lungs as they burn, my stomach churns, and the shield vanishes. I can feel it - magic.

I can feel it, and it's trying to kill me.

I look to Rem, but my sight is too blurry to see. My ears ring too loudly to hear. He is saying something - but what?

The last words I think I said before fainting were "We did it."