"An undead scorpion? Did he kill himself?" Helena asked.

"He did not seem the type. I think someone wanted to make sure he did not talk." Hatsumi suggested.

I watched the undead scorpion in Hatsumi's hand. It clearly wanted to sting but the vampire held its stinger in place. I focused on the scorpion. I had never learned how to take control of a natural undead but I hoped I would find something. I took a closer step and touched it. I trusted Hatsumi's hold.

"It's still under someone's control." I declared.

"How do you know?" Blake asked.

"I can feel it's mind, sort of. I can feel that it is bound to someone." I replied as I removed my hand.

"Is the necromancer still alive?" Skadi asked with murder in her eyes.

"Check the corpse!" Harper shouted.

"Still dead, sir." A soldier answered.

"I can't tell who bound it, just that it is a bound undead. Sorry." I apologised.

"Is another necromancer nearby?" Harper asked, looking around.

"Could be. But you don't have to be close to your undead unless you want to give them new orders. It could have been here all along just waiting for a trigger. But it is strange that we did not find it when we searched him after the battle." I said.

"Could have been hidden in their camp and followed us." Hatsumi suggested.

"Nyx is usually better at finding such creatures." I mused.

"Meow!" Nyx complained.

"I think she believes it was not here earlier." Hatsumi said.

"So one of the soldiers brought it?" Skadi asked, looking at them. She still had Cassie in her arms.

"Possible. Or someone used their arrival as a distraction." I said. There was no guarantee that we got all of them. What if they had more camps? Or contacts in nearby towns? When Blake sent someone to get reinforcements they could have heard about it. Someone could have followed them.

"Men, search the area!" Harper shouted.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"If one of them is guilty it would allow them to slip away, sir." Blake pointed out.

Harper grimaced. "If anyone disappears we will hunt them down. And their families. Search the area, in pairs."

"What shall I do with the scorpion?" Hatsumi asked.

"Sadly I do not know any magic that could track the necromancer. I am not sure if such magic exists. Is there an expert nearby?" I wondered.

"I will take care of it. House Winston does have a necromancer." Harper declared.

The soldiers brought a small chest and Hatsumi dropped the scorpion inside. I would have just fed it to Nyx, personally. But it was Harper's decision.

Suddenly Hatsumi's eyes widened, she looked at the dead necromancer.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Mistress, I might have made a mistake…" Hatsumi said.

I did not like the mistress part but I let it slide, since she seemed really concerned. "What is it? Is he not dead?"

"I… I used my vampiric poison and some blood magic to keep him immobilized. I essentially pumped poison in him for a day. I took some of his blood to replenish my reserves…" She said.

I nodded. She had done as we had asked. Except to feed the captive he was pretty much always paralysed by her. I also saw her drink some blood from the other corpses after the fight. She likely needed the power. Having a few sips from the captive itself was fine too.

"There was still some of my magic inside of him when he died." Hatsumi continued.

My eyes widened, finally realising where this was going. "He is rising as an undead."

"What? You have animated my evidence?" Harper shouted.

"Vampires can create undead through their bite. They inject the victim with their mana and a toxin. It kills the victim and raises it. Nobody expected him to die while under the effect of her bite." I explained.

Of course Hatsumi was also a rather new and inexperienced vampire. She might have added certain magic to the bite accidentally. Since he was a necromancer she did not have to worry too much about not getting any necrotic mana inside of him. And that necrotic mana was part of the magic to animate the corpse. But I was not going to explain that part to Harper.

"So, stop it!" Harper ordered.

"Sir, the mana is inside the body doing its thing. Hatsumi is not casting a spell. The spell was sort of finished when the man died and triggered the transformation. It is taking a while since it was not planned." I explained.

"Is he… is he becoming a vampire?" Harper asked, sounding concerned.

"No. Just a vampiric undead." Hatsumi was not powerful enough to create a full vampire.

"I am sorry, mistress. I know I was not supposed to create any undead…" She said.

"It's not your fault." I replied.

Actually, it might be a lucky accident. Maybe I could lay claim to the corpse like that. While we had been talking, the body of the necromancer changed. It became paler.

"Will it be tier three?" Helena asked.

Hatsumi shook her head "No, only tier two."

Harper seemed relieved by that. "Well, just destroy it once it's finished rising." He said.

"The undead is Koyuki's property, sir." Blake said.

"It was my evidence!" He shouted.

"Technically it was your captive, who was killed in your custody." Helena replied.

Meanwhile the corpse rose. His eyes had become completely black. He stood there, waiting for orders.

"This undead is now my property. I am going to take him with me. I will, of course, cooperate if you want to send an artist to draw a sketch of his face. Or if you want to further study his body." I had no idea how this worked legally. But I was annoyed at Harper. And it was Hatsumi's first real undead. I did not want to release him.

While I stared at Harper, Cassie stood again. Skadi had her axe in one hand, the other was placed on Cassie's back. Helena had her hand on her sword. Nyx glared menacingly.

"Leave." Harper said, after a bit.

Now that was fine by me. It was time to leave this mess behind. Blake stayed but the soldiers of House Frost came with us. As did my new undead.

As we reached the horses Skadi looked at Cassie: "We can share a horse if you want. Our newest undead might need one anyway…"

Cassie blushed. "Ok…" She mumbled.

We all mounted the horses and rode towards Helena's home. The whole trip had been a mess. I was not sure if Harper was corrupt, or incompetent, or maybe Archibald had told him to harass us. But we did get the seeds. And Hatsumi had her first undead.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.