NUMA MONT-CALLAHIE

Numa is the daughter of the founder of the Survivors, Kingsley Mont-Calahie (see Kingsley Mont-Callahie).  She was only ten years old at the time of the first undead attack, where she was the princess of the Mont-Callahie kingdom.  She was not in the castle when the undead launched their surprise attack, but rather was at a nearby estate receiving training to become a proper princess.  Kingsley and his wife, the only living beings to make it out of that doomed castle, had to carve their way past horrors and nightmares in order to get to the estate before the undead did.  Her mother died on the trip, and Kingsley just barely made it before the undead slaughtered her the same way they did her classmates, guardians, and teacher.  It was a nightmare she had to live through, and which still haunts her dreams from time to time.

Kingsley guarded her with his life until he had his dream of creating the Survivors.  He knew he had a divine calling, so he left Numa in the care of his good friend, Khothos Du'Morte, and his son Kaleb, who would one day rise in the ranks to become Kingsley's right hand man (see Kaleb Du'Morte).

At this time, Numa was 11 and Kaleb was 16, and he became a big brother to her.  They traveled the land with Kaleb's father, until his untimely demise at the hands of the Undead Elite when Numa was 14.  Kaleb then took over her protection, and took her to the city of Simius, leaving her in the care of the Headmistress of the Royal University of Simius as he went off to fight the undead at Kingsley's side.

Numa hated the University and the Headmistress, and in her heart longed to fight beside her father and Kaleb, so she gathered together her secret stash of princess jewelry, and sought out a warrior to teach her how to fight.  The theories of fighting and the endurance it required were incredibly difficult at first, (as a princess, she never had to do anything for herself) and her trainer would have dumped her immediately, if not for the incredible value of her jewelry.  Still, it took her two years before she became a competent fighter, and her jewelry had run out on her right as she was about to learn the advanced techniques.  However, she struck up a deal with the trainer that allowed her to stay a little longer, but something happened that resulted in his death and her stumbling back to the Headmistress beaten near to death.  Exactly what happened, only she knows, and it is a secret she may take to the grave with her.

After recovering, she grabbed her only possession, the sword belonging to her trainer, and once again escaped the grounds of the University.  It took her time to track down her father, but finally she did.  He was happy to see her, having been worried since her disappearance from the University, until he learned that it was her intention to join the Survivors.  What happened next was an argument like no other, as Kingsley refused to allow his daughter to risk her life against the undead, and she demanded that she fight with his blessings, or she'd fight without them with another group of Survivors.  Finally, Kingsley realized that she would not relent, so he invited her onto his team, where he would be able to protect her.

Her first battle almost got her killed.  It involved one of Lazarus' dark incarnations, and had Kingsley not stopped him, he may very well have killed her in his rampage.  But she learned, and Kaleb was more than happy to instruct her with the sword, as he had developed strong feelings for her in their earlier travels, and she had grown into an incredibly beautiful woman.

As if her life hadn't been tough enough, she found herself facing Libitnia, the Goddess of Death and one of the powerful Lords of the Dead, whose undead had managed to separate her from the rest of the Survivors and bring Numa before her.  The encounter left her permanently scarred and blind in her right eye, as Libitnia struck her down after stealing the Amulet of Chabbak, which Kingsley had given to his daughter for her protection.  That event changed Numa in many ways.  K'Washi was able to restore the vision, but not to heal the scar or return the eye to normal.  After that day, Numa's fighting skill has excelled with the loss of her perfect beauty, and she has become hard in the process.

Numa had originally hated Lazarus for what he did to the Survivors in his dark incarnations, but has been finding herself with unexplainable feelings for him in his newer, more noble incarnations.  And when he sacrificed himself for the Survivors at the Fall of Charosminnakhan, being at the center of the blast that formed Mestipen's Crater, he touched her in a most powerful way.  Now, with his return from death, Numa finds herself overwhelmed by feelings for him.

Which is not something that Kaleb is at all happy about. . .

For more on Numa, be sure to buy the comic book LAZARUS: The Many Reincarnations, published by LODESTONE PUBLISHING.  Ask your local comic shop to order your copy today.  Back issues can be found at Amazon.com.