The graduation ceremony was fairly normal as far as Edward could tell. The College of Necromancy was the smallest college at the university. That meant that some of the graduates felt that they had to try harder to stand out than the rest of the school. The true stand out was a girl who had a dancing squirrel skeleton on her head. Or perhaps it was the squirrel skeleton itself. Edward couldn't imagine how it learned such complicated moves. He decided to ask her afterwards.

  Everyone collected their diplomas and eventually headed out to gather with family and friends. His parents exclaimed on how proud they were of him, even if the degree was only in Necromancy. Then he realized just how much of his extended family was there. He had expected his parents, siblings, and grandparents. And while he knew that the family had deep necromantic roots, he hadn't realized that they would still be around, much less have come to his graduation. Great (how many greats??) Aunt Lydia was clearly undead. And she was very effusive in her praise of his choice of necromancy. There were several other undead ancestors that he was less sure of their relationship to him. Then there was an undead introduced as his grandfather from seven generations back. He looked just like Mr. Raymond. The man who became his first ghoul. The ghoul who had accompanied him on every field trip and who should be outside town, with the other witless undead.

  Great Grandpa Ray reached out to shake his hand. Edward slowly reached out in reply.

  “Greetings and congratulations!” his Grandpa Ray said.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Meanwhile Edward said, “Don't we know each other?”

  “I really don't think so.” he said. “You should go ask that girl for the spell she used on the squirrel. It looks like a hoot!” The old man pointed him toward the girl with the dancing squirrel skeleton on her head and gave him a push. Never being good with people, Edward had actually forgotten his earlier thoughts about her and her skeleton. Wondering about his ghoul, Grandpa Ray, and approaching a girl had the effect of short circuiting his brain, just a bit.

  “You must be the other Independent Study Scholar!” the girl with the squirrel skeleton on her hat said. “My name is Melody, what's yours?” Edward immediately thought, of course you are Melody. I've known who you are for the last three years. We've had six classes together. How could I not know your name? You are even more beautiful when I'm close enough to see your eyes. Why didn't I ever say hi earlier?? However, what came out of his mouth was significantly less lucid. It was as if too much was going through his mind and a random selection of those thoughts made it down to his mouth.

  “Harold. Mel. Grandpa Ray. Wait.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Part of his training had been to focus under pressure. He could do this. He opened his eyes and tried to start over. The first thing he saw was the squirrel skeleton staring at him. It saluted, then moonwalked away from him. He blinked, focusing on Melody's eyes. “Hi, I'm Ed. And yes. I'm the other Independent Study Scholar! I've heard a rumor that even though we are “independent”, we're working together?”

  “Yes. The situation at Sterling has the potential to go really poorly. And there might be more than enough undead to require two top notch necromancers.” She smiled. “It sounds like fun. Meet me tonight at TeaTime to make sure we're on the same page on this?”

  “Six?” She nodded agreement. He headed back to his family as the squirrel waved.

  “Honey, your Grandpa Ray had to leave early but he left this for you.” His mother pointed to a fairly large wooden box on the ground. It was perhaps one foot square by three feet long. “He said he was sure you would love it.” Edward wondered if his parents would store it for him while he was gone. He sighed.

  Then again, what would some ancient undead give him as a graduation gift?