Cold air cut sharply through the sails of Mervin's modest ship as it approached the jagged ice cliffs of an uncharted continent. Frost coated the skeletal assistants, but they seemed unbothered, their bones creaking slightly as they moved to secure the vessel against the ice.
"Alright, team," Mervin said, rubbing his gloved hands together and adjusting his enchanted coat. "This is it. A whole new land! Maybe I’ll name it after myself—Mervinia has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?"
Skeleton #1 tilted its head in silent disapproval. Kelly, ever expressive, raised a bony hand and mimed laughter.
"Fine, fine," Mervin muttered, waving them off. "Let’s just make history first, and then we’ll argue about the name later."
Before setting foot on the icy terrain, Mervin unpacked the newly perfected Necr-adio from his pack. It was a sleek, black device made of obsidian, pulsating faintly with necromantic energy. Fine-tuned after his experiments at the poles, the portable Necr-adio now boasted near-instantaneous communication over vast distances.
Mervin fiddled with the dials, aligning it with the necromantic leylines that Kelly had mapped at the North Pole. Static filled the air for a moment before a clear, familiar voice crackled through.
"Hello? Is this working? Mervin?"
"Autumn!" Mervin exclaimed. "I’m here—on a new continent! Completely frozen, but fascinating. The skeletons and I are already making progress exploring."
"That’s incredible!" Autumn replied, her excitement evident. "You’ve officially gone where no one else has before. What’s it like?"
"Cold," Mervin replied with a shiver. "But the landscape is mesmerizing—mountains of ice, strange glowing formations beneath the snow, and..." He trailed off, staring at something in the distance. "Wait. There’s something moving out there."
"Moving?" Lilac’s voice joined in now, curious but cautious.
"Don’t worry. I’ve got my skeletons with me," Mervin said, motioning for #1 and #2 to investigate. "Whatever it is, we’ll handle it."
"Just... be careful," Autumn said. "And keep us updated. This is groundbreaking work, Mervin. We’re all proud of you."
Mervin smiled, the warmth of their support cutting through the chill. "Thanks. I’ll keep you posted. Mervin out."
As Mervin approached the moving figure on the icy plain, he realized it wasn’t a person or creature at all—it was a towering pillar of ice, glowing faintly with a greenish light. Necromantic energy swirled within it, reacting to the Necr-adio still strapped to his back.
"Well," Mervin said, grinning as his skeletal assistants gathered around him. "Looks like we’ve found something big."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Kelly clapped enthusiastically, and Skeleton #3 gave an exaggerated thumbs-up. Mervin chuckled, already imagining the look on Azrath’s face when he told him about this discovery.
"Let’s set up camp," Mervin said, his breath fogging in the frigid air. "We’ve got work to do."
And so, as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the frozen continent in a pale twilight glow, Mervin and his loyal skeletons began investigating the anomaly.
- - -
Back in Grin Hollow the city buzzed with energy as Lilac, their purple-haired mayor, launched her reelection campaign. Flyers littered the streets, bioluminescent projections lit up the town square, and everywhere, people debated her platform of technological improvement.
"Vote Lilac!" shouted an enthusiastic young supporter, waving a banner depicting Lilac’s face and her slogan: **“Building Tomorrow, Today!”**
Lilac stood on a raised stage in the square, her voice clear and confident as she addressed the crowd.
"My friends, look at what we’ve achieved in just a few short years. From the glowing streets powered by bio-necromancy to the thriving Hallowhaven Academy of Science, Grin Hollow has become a beacon of innovation!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd, punctuated by the occasional burst of glowing confetti launched by some overzealous Academy students.
"But we can’t stop now," Lilac continued, her purple hair catching the light dramatically. "There is still so much potential to unlock—better tools for our farmers, cleaner energy for our homes, faster communication across the continent. Together, we can make Grin Hollow the most advanced city in the world!"
The crowd roared its approval as Lilac stepped down, shaking hands and sharing quick words with her constituents.
Meanwhile, at the Hallowhaven Academy of Science, Autumn was teaching her youngest group of students. She moved through the classroom, her sharp eyes scanning for progress as her students tinkered with small devices infused with bio-necromantic energy.
One student, a shy but brilliant child named Edrin, caught her attention. He had constructed a small, self-moving orb of light that floated through the air.
"That’s incredible, Edrin," Autumn said, crouching beside him to examine his work. "How did you stabilize the energy matrix?"
Edrin blushed, mumbling something about "just trying different things," but Autumn could see the spark of raw talent in his eyes.
"You’ve got a gift," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Keep working on this, and who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll be running this Academy."
Edrin beamed, his confidence visibly growing under Autumn’s encouragement.
Far from the bustling city and the Academy, Azrath and Potabeau were up to their usual antics. Deep in the wilderness near Grin Hollow, they stood before the fossilized remains of a massive prehistoric creature—or so they thought.
"This is going to be amazing," Potabeau said, his voice tinged with excitement. "We’re about to bring back a creature from a time before time. Imagine the stories we’ll tell!"
Azrath, ever the pragmatist, focused on his incantations, the air around him humming with necromantic energy.
The spell reached its crescendo, and the ground shook as the ancient remains began to stir. But instead of a roaring beast, what emerged was...
"A tree?" Potabeau blinked, his excitement turning into incredulity.
It wasn’t just any tree, though—it was a megatree, towering hundreds of feet into the sky. Its bark was as black as obsidian, its branches twisted and gnarled, and its leaves glowed faintly with a soft green light. The tree groaned as it came to life, its massive roots burrowing into the ground with seismic force.
Azrath stepped back, his eyes wide. "I... I think this was a prehistoric lifeform, just not the kind we expected."
Potabeau, ever quick with a quip, crossed his arms. "Great. We reanimated a glorified shrub. What are we supposed to do with it?"
The tree creaked again, its branches swaying despite the lack of wind. Small glowing fruits began to form along its limbs, each one pulsing with necromantic energy.
Azrath examined one of the fruits, his expression shifting from confusion to fascination. "This isn’t just any tree. It’s producing... necrotic energy in a stable, consumable form. This could be revolutionary."
Potabeau grinned. "Revolutionary *and* delicious. Let’s just hope it doesn’t try to eat us first."
By the time Azrath and Potabeau returned to Grin Hollow with news of the megatree, the city was already abuzz with rumors.
Lilac met them at the gates, raising an eyebrow at their dirt-covered clothes and slightly singed cloaks. "Let me guess," she said dryly. "You’ve been meddling with something you shouldn’t have again."
"You’re not entirely wrong," Potabeau admitted, holding up one of the glowing fruits. "But this time, it might actually be useful."
Lilac sighed, but a small smile tugged at her lips. "Well, at least you’re consistent."
As the group walked through the city, the glowing fruit caught the attention of everyone, adding yet another layer of intrigue to the bustling streets of Grin Hollow.
Between Lilac’s reelection campaign, Autumn’s budding protégé, and Azrath and Potabeau’s prehistoric discovery, Grin Hollow continued to thrive as a hub of innovation and chaos.
As the megatree’s glowing fruits began to find their way into the hands of Hallowhaveners, it became clear that even the most unexpected discoveries had the potential to change the world.
