Richard was "invited" into the secret chamber, where he saw the haggard Chief Mage.
The secret chamber was completely transformed. Its original mechanisms and fixtures had all been dismantled, leaving only a ritual site piled high with materials Necromancers favored—the most abundant resources a battlefield could provide.
Magic Power gathered, channeled through blood and bone, coalescing and transforming into a foul energy. Around the Chief Mage, the corpses of several former Casters were at work, maintaining a large-scale spell that had long been in preparation.
Despite the rather small, enclosed space and the various biological tissues, there was surprisingly no foul odor, even with the season turning from spring to summer. It was a clear sign that the army's Chief Mage was a man who paid meticulous attention to detail. Richard could even smell the same faint citrus scent from the Great Mage's office.
