Then he moved in—to do the spell, it looked like.
“No,” I said, stepping forward. “I’ll handle it.”
He hesitated for a moment, before telling me, “All right, take the five over in the far corner on the east side of the beach.”
“I meant, I’ll actually handle it, Dad. The entire thing.”
“Son—”
“You’ve gone over the spell mechanics with me a dozen times. I know what to do. It’s basically engraved in my brain at this point.”
He sucked in a breath.
And then he took a few steps back and gestured for me to go on ahead. “Just be mindful of the power rush once you hit the lightning aspect. Focus on the intent, not the thrill. Other things, other spells, that’s okay. Not this, though. Never this.”
“I know. I remember you telling me that’s how Risen Reckoning can rage out of control all too quickly.”
“Good,” he said, with a smile, then moved further off to the side. “Have at it.”
He even snuffed out his power and kept his hands down by his sides.
He was really letting me take all of this.
I moved into the center of the incoming onslaught.
Well, it wasn’t really an onslaught. Especially after I’d soothed them.
They just needed to be released.
But what if—
I swung my head toward my dad.
Before I could get a word out, he told me, “No. It won’t hurt them. They can’t feel physical pain in the way living things do, remember? They may scream and snarl, but that’s the black magic resisting the natural order of the dead returning from whence they came. I call itscreaming back to hell, but I really don’t think you’ll be down with that.”
“Jeez, Dad. That’s brutal.”
“Told you.” He lifted a shoulder. “I have to lighten it up when I’m doing it. Dark humor and all that.”
“Very dark and disturbing humor.”
He chuckled. “Each to their own.”
No.
He was covering.
I could see it all over him.
He didn’t like that he’d developed that level of apathy.
There were exceptions to that, obviously—those he loved, those he cared about.
But with this sort of thing, it was just how he was now. I wasn’t sure if it could even be undone once somebody became capable of that.
The sad thing was, I could see why he’d had to develop that. His life… it hadn’t been like mine. He hadn’t had anyone there to provide safety and care for him. He’d had it ripped away far too young. And he’d been bearing this Last Necromancer burden for so long too.
“Win, you want to call it off?”
