24. Days like today, I regret I hadn’t held you over a cliff by your ankles and shook common sense into you. #2
“There is an empty cargo ship approaching as close as is safe.”
“Have them lower lines into the water and ask for the workers to steer clear of those lines. We will move the bodies onto the ship and take them to shore for proper burial and identification. I will use my power to preserve as much DNA as possible and make it easier to retrieve.”
My father nodded before making use of his phone, relaying the necromancer’s directions.
The priestess stepped through where the wards had once been, wrinkled her nose, and approached the bodies laid out in repose. She held out her hand over the adult bodies and frowned.
A golden glow enveloped her skin before sinking down in the remains.
After a few minutes, she sighed. “Yes, these are that foul man’s family.
I can feel the connection. He has, time and time again, attempted to use the deaths of others to restore life to their bodies.
He left the corpses where they fell. He started at the beach and worked his way here, and his miasma kept the snakes at bay.
That miasma remains on the bodies here. Once they are gone, nature will be able to return to its set path.
You have my blessing to work your magic, necromancer.
You will have to free the spirits lingering in these bodies.
They have been sealed, and I cannot set them free. ”
I grimaced. “They can’t rest in peace?”
“No, they cannot,” the priestess confirmed. “In that, his necromancy worked. The souls are here. They are mostly dormant, but they are trapped and unable to continue their final journey. This does not offend them, however. But they were also necromancers.”
“And they were bound by their flesh and blood,” the reformed necromancer commented, and he joined the priestess.
After a moment, he offered the woman his hand.
“I feel it is for the best that I seek your blessing for this work. It will prevent the old souls within the remaining bodies from being drawn back. I wish to move them, not summon spirits.”
The woman smiled and she rested the tips of her fingers against his palm. “I would hold your hand, but you would be burned by the light and the fires of the sun; I can protect you like this, but you may be injured all the same.”
“It would be well worth the price. Charlie, please warn the wildlife that the dead will rise and we are removing them from their territory. If they wish to seek shelter, they can come to us, but remind them we are mere mortals and cannot work if they bite us. Nowhere will be safe except the tallest of trees and the canopy, but I would prefer if the endangered animals and birds living up there have a chance to survive, too.”
My father sighed. “Can you clear a space for them near us first?”
“Yes, that is my plan. They can occupy the spaces I free up as we go and can follow us in safety.”
“I will do as you ask.” After drawing a deep breath, my father whistled. Something warm washed over me before fading.
Then the underbrush nearby rustled, and hundreds upon hundreds of snakes, lizards, birds, and other animals approached, seeking shelter.
A terrifying number approached me, took up residence on and around my feet, and more than a few of the blue lizards crawled up my legs to take up residence on my shirt.
I gave myself credit where credit was due: I didn’t scream, not even when the spiders and other insects came at my father’s call.
“You can begin,” my father announced. “Our new friends will keep their teeth to themselves, and they are ready for the dead to move. I have even warned the life in the ocean to beware the beaches for the moment. Those that can go to deeper water have. Those that cannot wait and are ready to avoid the dead.”
It amazed me he could glean so much information from the wildlife even from a distance.
Alheen leaned close and whispered, “Once we have finished this and the helicopters come to pick us up, you will get to witness your father drop in a faint. He pushes his limits, and he will pay for it in general unconsciousness. In good news, I will offend him and demand the helicopter land on the beach so when he does faint, he does so in an acceptable location.”
I snickered at the thought of my father passing out after pushing his luck. “I do hope someone takes photos of this.”
“Steal his phone. I know the passcode, and I am more than happy to give you access to his camera to immortalize the moment.”
I giggled, doing my best to ignore the spiders that had joined the reptile show. “If I faint, please only allow Emerick to take one or two photos for his personal enjoyment. I think I am close to my tolerance for this.”
“You will be fine. Your father speaks the truth. None of them will bite you. Pee on you? I’m afraid that will be inevitable once this starts in earnest, but none will bite.
He works his magic on them to make certain we all emerge from this island in safety.
Just try not to cry. Fainting we can handle.
Crying? That is beyond us at this stage.
But what we will see here is worth crying over, and I know I will be mourning once I get somewhere private. ”
I nodded, careful to keep from dislodging any of my passengers. “This island does have a sad tale to tell, doesn’t it?”
“One of a love so deep it turned to the ultimate darkness,” my father’s uncle replied, and he sighed.
“Better days come, and while we cannot bring back the dead, nor will we try to, we can offer closure and comfort to those left behind. I wish we could do more, but that is the reality of our situation. Just remind yourself we did our best, and while we failed for a while, we did eventually succeed. There is value in closure—and for the families of these victims, closure comes with the knowledge this won’t happen to anyone ever again. ”
After the tenth corpse rose and began its slow journey to the sea, where it would crawl up the side of a cargo ship to be put into storage until we reached port, I understood what Alheen had meant.
Skeletal fingers gathered what remained of their earthly possessions, including some pieces of jewelry, a few rotting wallets, and every now and then, scraps of what had once been photographs.
The reformed necromancer sighed, shaking his head at the sad progression. “We will have to take their things, catalogue them, and carry them aboard ourselves. These are things the dead cared for so much the need for them resides within their very bones.”
“I can handle that,” I said, and I took care with following the walking corpses to the beach. Three helicopters waited, and the soldiers eyed the dead with wary regard. “Do you have any evidence bags or anything of that nature?”
I could only hope one of them spoke English.
To my relief, one nodded, hopped into his helicopter, and returned with a box of sterile gloves, a box of baggies, and several permanent markers. I snapped the gloves on, uncapped one of the markers and held it between my teeth, and went to the first of the waiting corpses, opening the bag.
Then, wondering just how much the bones remembered, I offered the marker.
Upon seeing what I was about, one of the Columbians brought a clipboard.
The skeleton wrote a name and a phone number on the plastic before shuffling towards the ocean and the waiting cargo ship.
I didn’t cry, but I wanted to.
Not every corpse had such a burden, but enough of them did I regretted we’d been efficient and merciful when dispatching Jeremy Breckenan.
I packed away my personal feelings about the matter, and when the corpse lacked enough left of their hands to write, I improvised, smoothed sand, and had them use whatever they could so I could write their last wishes down.
Over the course of numerous hours, with the helicopters shining light on the beach after the sun set, seven hundred and twenty-two corpses departed the island, and of them, five hundred had either a name, a number, or some other message they wished to leave behind along with their mortal possessions.
When I encountered a few without possessions, I stole some shells or some sand to put in the baggie so their final words were not lost to misfortune or accident.
When the last departed, Emerick joined me, and he plopped onto the sand with a groan.
“Your father politely asked the residents of the island to peacefully occupy the other beach while we leave. Then, as Alheen guessed, he fainted. His uncle was polite enough to catch him, and he’ll be along shortly.
The priestess is checking on him while he’s unconscious and cannot protest. As I wanted to dodge being checked, I fled. ”
“So courageous of you,” I teased. “Are we going back by helicopter or ship?”
“Helicopter,” one of the Columbians informed me, and he grinned.
“I have found a way to transport your pet, and while you were working, I have acquired clearance for you to take her off the island. I cited the break and how she would have died without intervention, so all is well. She will be added to the rest of the paperwork. It’s not much extra since you’re already taking two. ”
“Thank you,” I replied, and I went to one of the tubs we used to haul the evidence back to the mainland. “I’m sorry for all the trouble.”
“You’re no trouble. If anything, we are in your debt. This will help us notify the families of the victims, register evidence, and return what we can to their proper owners. You’re a brave woman, Mrs. Lowrance.”
“Honestly, I’m shocked I didn’t piss my pants when the first snakes landed on me.” I did a triple check to discover I had a small reptilian hitchhiker in the form of a brown and tan snake with a ridiculously thin body, an oversized head, and massive eyes. “Damn it!”
The Columbian snickered, reached over, and seized the serpent behind its head.
“This one is only mildly venomous. She was trying to sleep, as she is a nocturnal species, and you are warm. They are not commonly kept in captivity, and there are currently no breeding programs, but she is generally solitary, and as long as you do not mind rearing small lizards or frogs for her, she would be appropriate for a vampire brood.”
My husband sighed. “If you cannot handle providing lizards or frogs for her, I can. She would not be the first animal with a unique diet I’ve had to feed.”
I pointed at myself. “You mean me?”
“I absolutely do.”
Laughing, I shrugged. “She stayed even after the rest of them bailed, so obviously, there’s something amiss.” I took the snake from the man and cajoled her into wrapping around my wrist. “I’ll have the necromancer and the priestess check on her before we leave.”
“We would ask for vetting records and captivity compatibility evaluations for her; this species is not usually kept as pets, as many countries in this region have strict rules about their removal from the wild. This is a special circumstance.”
“When my father calls all the reptiles away so we can make it off the island intact, and this one somehow ignores him, it becomes my problem?” I guessed.
“Precisely,” he confirmed.
“What is your name? Call me Pepper, please.”
“Mateo. I apologize for not introducing myself sooner.”
“We were a little busy, and I didn’t want to see what would happen if we left those corpses waiting for longer than necessary,” I confessed. “I’m woman enough to admit that was scary.”
Emerick snickered. “If you think dealing with the corpses was scary, every reptile on the island wanted to be friends with your father, and that was terrifying, because they were happy to settle with the rest of us. Within twenty minutes of you leaving, we realized you were the only smart one in our group.”
I grinned at that.
My father’s uncles returned, and Alheen carried my father on his back. Had he been conscious, it would have been amusing witnessing an adult hitch a piggyback ride on another adult. As he wasn’t, the absurdity of the situation reduced me to giggling. “Please tell me someone took pictures.”
My father’s uncles grinned, and the entire lot of them held up their phones, excepting Alheen, who headed for the nearest helicopter and rather unceremoniously dumped him inside. The waiting soldiers dragged him onto a seat and strapped him in.
“He’ll be fine, it just took a great deal of magic to handle that mess,” Alheen reported, and he climbed inside, sat, and handled his own harness. “Why do you have a snake, Pepper?”
“She’s coming home with me because she wanted me badly enough to disobey my father.
At that point, I don’t think I can tell her no, and for a snake, she’s ridiculously cute.
It’s her eyes. And her head. And her teeny tiny little body.
” I took her over to the reformed necromancer and held her out. “Is there anything wrong with her?”
Reaching out, he touched a finger to her body, and after a moment, he shook her head. “She is young, independent, and stubborn, and she has taken a liking to you. She likely isn’t a skilled huntress and is failing to compete with the other snakes for food.”
“What’s one more difficult creature to feed in Emerick’s life?” I asked before heading to the helicopter with my father and climbing inside. “If you snooze, you might have to ride in a different bird.”
My husband wasted no time joining me, and while I accepted help from the soldiers to get properly harnessed in, he handled his and double checked his work.
“At this stage, as long as I don’t have to go on that ship, I’m happy.
I think I’ve had my fill of necromancy and death for today. I’m ready to go home.”
“Me, too. The next time I complain about the work, just remind me it could be a lot worse. The rainforest is beautiful, this island is beautiful, but I am in no hurry to come back.” I regarded Emerick with wide eyes. “Is it bad that I am looking forward to that stupid ball now?”
He laughed at me. “It helps we won’t have much to plan and can just show up. I’ll even be generous and remind you of this moment when your family does their best to embarrass you with the dowry. What I can promise you is that things will be much better from here on out.”
Yes, they would be. “Just don’t tell me what you feed my new snake, okay?”