The forest echoed with the sounds of birds, and it irritated Jayni. She practically hated the living. Now, had it been a chorus of dead birds, that she could live with. Jayni shook her head and did her best to ignore the chirps as she made her way through the dense trees. She stepped over the occasional rock, and fallen tree.

She had to admit it, she was getting lonely among the living she preferred the company of ghouls, fiends, and spirits in general. Ahead lay a corpse, it was a man about 35 years old, he was well shaven and had been the feast of many animals. His organs were almost all gone his spine exposed, the predators left his flesh and limbs – mostly. Jayni smiled with excitement, this was her chance. Surely though, she did not want to communicate with this guy. She kneeled down and grabbed his face, moving it side to side. He was a fine corpse indeed. His skin hadn't even started to decompose.

A sigh escaped the girl and she ran a fingers through her long black hair as she prepared herself. Turning one corpse into another kind of corpse was probably the hardest of her skills. But raising this man from the dead would just prove to be more of a headache – those recently deceased don't take too well to seeing life again. It's just too soon, too much 'unfinished business'.

The spirally carved, wooden staff began to emit energy, and Jayni focused.  There had to be something dead around here that she could find solace in. She tapped her staff impatiently on the ground, her eyes glowed slightly, and her soul was connected to the spirit world. She sorted through nearby apparitions, 'Too talkactive.. Too depressed... Ugh no. No.. no! Hmmm... no. Jayni thought as she sorted through souls. 

“Aha!” She exclaimed and set her energy in motion to raise a bunny, and in moments it was there beside her. The bunny lacked fur in some places, the cause of death was still apparent, teeth marks were visible on the bunny's neck and body, and bones stuck out in funny places. It was far too skinny to not be hungry.

“Hey there little one.” she spoke softly. “You're mine for now.”  She scooped up the furry fiend in her free hand, the other let the staff fall and drag against the ground as she started to walk again. The bunny moved slightly in Jayni's hand before settling in. “I'll take good care of you for as long as I can.”

The dragging staff left a trail behind- parting the fallen leaves that littered the ground and leaving traces in the dirt when leaves weren't present. It was the perfect trail for the soul that followed doggedly behind. He had been there since Jayni could remember, though she was pretty sure he thought he had gone unnoticed. As if spirits could escape her consciousness. 

Back on the ship she had heard this thoughts – he complained about how sailing was the oldest traveling method in the book. At the time Jayni ignored it, his spirit was about as old – but she need not point that out, rather she wanted to see what his plan was. She was almost certain it was a spirit sent to accompany her by her sister. Quite honestly, Jayni had set up her own sentinel back home, she couldn't blame Praxmy. But on the off chance it wasn't a Praxmy-sent guide, then she kept her guard up. Some spirits were just plain malicious.

Eventually Jayni got tired of carrying the bunny and set it down, for a dead animal risen from the bones of a man it kept up pretty well. Jayni was impressed with herself, the bunny could have turned out much worse. Jayni shivered remembering her attempts at necromancy when she was young – the results were more disgusting than the corpses she tried to raise them from, and that was saying something.

The city was just up ahead and Jayni grew excited. Sure, she had taken the most round-about way possible, traveling from the Ruins of Consre by ship, then hiking through a forest but that was the joy of it all – who didn't love a good adventure? Besides it was the Ruins of Consre, no one was putting in an active effort to keep the place up to date. Rather, the void and desolation of it made it the perfect home for necromancers. Living in such an advanced city with almost no connection to the peasants that built it- that was no place for a ancient-loving, deceased cherishing group. The past is beautiful.

The excitement bubbled up in Jayni, first stop? A cemetery – or the museum, her second favorite thing was artifacts. Irakix was said to have stones with amazing power, holding the spirits of all the aristocrats in them. Imagine being in their power! Goosebumps washed over her skin, just being in the presence of those spirits would give her a Necromancer high, she was sure of it. Necromancers have always loved visiting those stones, and Jayni's parents told her all about them before they died. 

“Let's go little bunny. Don't worry you'll be fine moving from realm to realm as long as you're with me.”