Ralph and the Pixie

‘Necropheids! It is as the Thane has told us; that creatures of the Netherworld are crossing over as more than mere shadows.’

‘Necropheids?’ Ralph asked, looking blank.

Birin’s look was apologetic. ‘I forget, sometimes, that your knowledge of this world is scant. Necropheids are of an order of creatures of the Netherworld that are associated with illness, and when the illness is very severe, with death and dying. Normally, the presence of these particular creatures portends nothing worse than fever dreams. But if their efficacy becomes great enough, they will call your friend to her death. It is her illness which draws and feeds them.’

Pran’s mouth became a hard line. ‘We have not yet left the Elf Kingdom, and already we are beset by a great evil. Once, long ago, alone and in the wild and wracked by illness, I felt the presence of such beings. Even as mere shadows they are terrible!’

‘Indeed,’ said Birin. ‘But what is to be done?’

One of Birin’s soldiers, having overheard, said, ‘If old tales be true, they cannot abide the light of day; but when darkness falls, fire is said to keep them at bay. And,’ he added, ‘in the elder days of our Lore, before it became usurped from us common folk by our Loremasters, spells were used which banished the presence of such creatures.’ He said this last bitterly, and it was plain that his fellows shared his sentiments towards the Loremasters.