Necromancer's Whisper

Chapter One-2

HOPPER’S IMMENSE TROLL nose was, surprisingly, not his most significant feature. Tom laughed at himself. He had no right to judge the nine-foot beast, being a creature of darkness himself. But, Hoppers mouth, filled with razor sharp teeth was so huge it nearly overwhelmed his other features. The flowing blonde hair that covered Hopper was unusual for a troll, most were dark brown or gray. Hopper reminded Tom of a giant upright golden retriever. He certainly had the personality to fit, except for the rare occasion when he acted like a shark-toothed grizzly.

Tom glanced down at the razor sharp talons extending from the end of his fingers and shrugged. They certainly were a pair to be reckoned with. Arching his back, Tom stretched out his large leathery wings and flashed Hopper a wicked grin showing off his fangs. Hopper rolled his large eyes and glanced around in the utter darkness for the moor lion named Pony.

Pony’s eyes gleamed in the blackness a few yards deeper into the small cave on their right. Tom glanced over Hopper’s shoulder and said, “I haven’t eaten in three days. If we don’t find a nether beast soon for me to feed on I’m going to have to head out on my own before your ass starts looking tasty.”

Hopper turned and pointed further down the tunnel to a wide open space. “Feel free to mosey down the tunnel to the fire demon nesting ground. I’m sure you can find a tasty throat to nibble on in there. But don’t wake any of them. You haven’t experienced PMS until you’ve woken a female fire demon during breeding time.”

Not waiting for an answer, Hopper turned and ducked through the entrance of the cave. His eyes were as keen in the blackness of the cave as a hawk was flying over an open field in broad daylight. His nose was even more sensitive than a bloodhound. They were not alone. Tom was going to have plenty to sate his palette before they left this cave behind.

A slight movement to his left and Hopper leapt on top of the blue centipede demon before it could strike out at him. Tom jumped past Hopper to slam into two more as they rushed to their leader’s aid. There was no need to look to Pony for assistance. Tom knew the large cat was already in motion. Pony darted past Tom leaping toward the cave ceiling. The power of her attack left no doubt that the demon clinging to the ceiling would be in pieces before its corpse hit the floor.

Tom sank his teeth into the moist flesh of the first demon as he tore the head off the second. Hopper sliced through the leader’s thick flesh with his clawed hand and slammed each half onto the floor. “I hate centipedes.” He grumbled spinning around to face Tom.

“Their blood is sour,” Tom admitted with a grimace of disgust. “But it does the trick.”

For a brief moment, Hopper could see the old Tom standing in his backyard back in Missouri, waving a baseball bat around as he hit the ball Hopper tossed into a neighbor’s yard. A wraith stood before him, but Tom’s deep brown human eyes stared back at Hopper. Still, the wraith’s gray skin and blood lust dominated Tom’s features now. Hopper never would have allowed Sarah and the others to come on this journey if he’d known how it would end. Sarah was transformed into a sultry sorceress and his athlete’s body was stretched and mutated into a giant troll, a troll that could never love a human.

Hopper allowed Sarah to slip from his grasp and into the Elf Prince Cabal’s arms. All he got in return was a bloodthirsty wraith and his sidekick Pony, a changeling. Hopper’s eyes fell to the floor in shame. Tom was more of a victim than any of them. They had all chosen to participate in the experiment that landed them here, but not Tom. Tom was an afterthought, a last ditch effort of the scheme’s mastermind, Puissant, to seek revenge on them all. Poor Tom was only trying to find and rescue his friends from whatever horror had caused their disappearance.

As a reward for his efforts, Tom was thrown into an alternate universe and transformed into a blood-sucking wraith with no memory of his human life. A wraith whose sole purpose was to destroy Hopper and the others, but just like his other schemes, Puissant’s plan failed. Although Tom could not escape his wraith form, he had regained his memory and his humanity was intact.

Hopper kicked at the demon that lay at his feet. He looked at Pony who turned and sauntered toward the cave entrance. He watched mesmerized as the large black moor lion transformed into a tall slender human female with long black hair. Hopper frowned at her in annoyance as she turned to gaze at him with big amber eyes. “I’ve asked you before, Pony. Please transform into a woman with clothes on!” Hopper moaned as his eyes ran down the length of her pinup perfect body.

She flashed him a seductive half smile as her eyes moved past him to Tom. “Tom doesn’t mind.” Her sultry voice answered a deep melodic tone.

Tom chuckled and he tossed the centipede to the floor. “You never have to wear clothes as far as I’m concerned, Pony.”

Hopper rolled his eyes once more and sighed. “Get a room.” He grumbled and strode past Pony to head for the next cave.

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