The Book of Kindly Deaths

by Eldritch Black

  The hoardspike shot them a look of unadulterated venom as she turned away, clomping back along the path to the burnt village. She let forth a furious scream, causing Eliza to flinch and a swarm of crows to fly from the trees. “What happened?” Eliza asked. “Why did she let us go?”

  “Greed,” Shard said. “Absolute, all-consuming greed. She cannot bear to be away from her collection. It’s as much a part of her as that disgusting creature festering in her chest.” He smiled at Eliza. “You see, that’s the trick to surviving in this place. You don’t need to match an opponent’s strength, you only need to know their weakness.”

  21

  Grim Shadows

  As they traveled along the path, Shard told Eliza all about the Grimwytch’s many monsters and answered her questions as to how to defeat them. Eliza’s head swam with the information and the descriptions of all the myriad, strange species.

  “So, you’re all set now. I can probably leave you to it,” Shard teased. “You’ll do your grandfather proud. And your father, too. You do have a father, don’t you?”

  “Yes, why do you ask?”

  “Because you haven’t mentioned him. Is he a writer, too?”

  “No, he’s a dentist.”

  “What’s that?” Shard asked. “Does he knock holes in things?”

  Eliza laughed. “No, he fixes holes in things. Dents, too, if that’s what you meant. He fixes people’s teeth.”

  Shard opened his mouth and ran his fingers over his fangs. “How about my teeth? Could he fix these?”

  “What’s wrong with them?”

  “They ache sometimes. Mother said it’s because they’re growing. I hope they’ll stop soon.”

  Me, too, Eliza thought. Try as she might, she couldn’t help but think of a vampire when she looked at him. She’d seen one on a movie poster once, before her mother had hurried her away. “If my dad did come here, he’d find your teeth fascinating, and I’m sure he’d be only too keen to look them over.”

  Shard grinned. “I might well take him up on that if he ever ventures to our land.”

  Suddenly, a noise filled the sky.

  At first, Eliza thought it was some great helicopter, its blades slicing the air, until she spotted two huge creatures soaring through the sky. Their forms were silhouettes, but she could make out enough to see what looked like giant bats with the round, furry heads of spiders. Figures sat on the backs of the beasts, peering down.

  “We need to get under the trees.” Shard grabbed Eliza’s hand and led her into the woods. “If those riders set down in Malumdell and happen upon the hoardspike, they’ll hear of us. And I’m sure she’ll take great pleasure in setting hunters upon our trail.”

  “Who are they?” Eliza asked.

  “They could be anyone. The guards of the Midnight Guild use aranachiros to fly above the city, looking for criminals. Perhaps something has escaped.”

  “Aranachiros?”

  “They come from the Foggypeake Mountains. Besides the Guild guards, they’re commonly used by hunters.”

  “Would they hunt us?” Eliza asked as the creatures soared overhead.

  “Yes. Especially you. There are underground markets in the Midnight City that trade in rare and unusual goods. Your head would fetch a decent price, whether attached to your body or not.”

  “Nice,” Eliza said. “And that’s where we’re going, right?”

  “To the city, yes. But now that you smell like a dead cat left below the fullest moon, you shouldn’t have any problems.”

  “You have cats here?” Eliza asked. Somehow the concept seemed even stranger than the Grimwytch containing cheese.

  “By that, I take it you have cats, too. It seems there’s a lot our two worlds share. Tell me, in your world, are cats as lazy and imperious as they are here?”

  “Yes. They’re totally arrogant and quite useless. But I like them.”

  “So do I,” Shard said. “Especially with applenut.”

  Eliza shook her head. “Tell me you’re joking.”

  “I may be,” Shard offered. “Stop!”

  He pointed to the mossy ground, where a large, bloated lilac mushroom nestled in the gloom of a tree root. “Don’t get near it. The moment it smells us it’ll explode and release spores. And if you breathe them, you’ll feel like you swallowed a thousand tiny razors. It’s then a question of whether the poison kills you before your heart stops.”

  Eliza stepped away from the fungus, glancing at the trail to see if there were any more. “Does this mean you just saved my life and your debt is paid?”

  “In a manner of speaking,” Shard said. “But I also saved you on the road just after we left the Malady Inn. And I saved you from the hackthins and the hoardspike.”

  “But you made me go to the hoardspike.”

  “Perhaps. But either way I’d…” Shard stopped, cocking his head to the left. “Can you hear that?”

  She could. It sounded like a great river was pouring through the forest.

  Coming right towards them.

  The ground began to shake. “Do you have earthquakes?” Eliza shouted over the din.

  “I don’t know what an earthquake is. But I do know that that noise is a bad thing!” Shard pointed to the base of a giant fallen tree. “Get up!” As Eliza clomped after him, struggling to climb, the sound grew to an almost deafening pitch.

  Shard reached for her and took her hand as he swung her up onto the fallen tree.

  Ahead, through the forest, came a swarm of beasts.

  Hundreds.

  As they came closer, they shimmered in the moonlight, black-and-white striped, deer-like creatures galloping, panic in their wide, glowing eyes.

  They stampeded past Eliza, causing the tree to shake with the sound of their hooves.

  And then they were gone.

  “They were harmless enough, weren’t they?” Eliza said.

  “Perfectly harmless,” Shard agreed. “But the question is, what are they running from?”

  They looked up as a din of snapping branches and panicked breaths drew toward them. A man appeared in the clearing. At least, he looked like a man, until Eliza spotted the tiny iridescent scales covering his skin. He was so intent on escape that he didn’t notice them until he neared the fallen tree. He screamed as something thudded against him, causing him to falter and drop to his knees with a look of agony.

  Eliza threw a hand over her mouth as she saw the arrowhead glinting in his chest.

  The scaled man reached towards her before falling facedown upon the ground.

  “We need to…” Shard stopped as something wove through the trees towards them.

  Eliza’s first thought was of a suited man on stilts.

  He had to be over nine foot, surely?

  But as she looked again she saw that he wasn’t wearing stilts. His legs were immensely long and thin. Just like a stork.

  His pale, elongated head was emaciated, his eyes huge and they projected bright red beams of light that sliced across the forest floor. As his eyes swept over Eliza and Shard, he fitted a bolt to the small crossbow cradled in his gloved hands.

  A pang of dread hit Eliza in the stomach as she realized that she had read of him in The Book of Kindly Deaths.

  He was one of the Grims.

  Eliza winced as his eyes passed over the corpse at his feet. He kicked the scaled man over before turning back to them. He bared his teeth as he stalked towards them.

  “Human,” the Grim said, his voice strangely mechanical. “I smell human.”

  “I thought…” Eliza began.

  “Nothing could smell you.” Shard grasped her hand, leading her from the fallen tree. “Except a Grim. And this one is said to have a particularly keen sense of smell. His name is Grim Shadows.”

  The Grim’s eyes followed them. “Humans are not allowed in the Grimwytch without permission. It’s against the law. Prison or execution, my choice.” The Grim smiled, raising his crossbow. “And I choose execution.”

 
22

  Endings

  Eliza,” Shard whispered, “I’m going to stall him. And when I do, run. As fast as you can.”

  “Will he hurt you?”

  “He’ll try. But it’s you he’s focused on. We need to use that to our advantage.”

  “Speak up!” Grim Shadows aimed his crossbow at Shard. “Or carry on whispering, if you want to be executed with the human.”

  Shard stepped away from Eliza. “The drearspawn has nothing to do with me, Grim Shadows. Do what you see fit.”

  The Grim nodded. “And so I shall.”

  Eliza reached out as if to ward off the crossbow as the Grim raised it towards her chest. The last thing she saw as she closed her eyes was its finger curling around the trigger.

  And then a piercing cry split the air.

  Eliza opened her eyes to find the Grim raising his head towards the stars, agony on his long white face.

  Shard pulled his sword from the Grim’s leg and cried, “Run!”

  Then he took off into the trees.

  Eliza skirted the Grim as he began to limp after Shard. She ducked through the trees, her eyes on Shard as he ran, leaping over the ground and throwing panicked glances behind.

  The Grim’s eyes followed Shard, sweeping across him as it illuminated him in its beam. The lights of its eyes had changed color now, from red to deepest crimson. Shard screamed, clasping his back as smoke rose from his cloak. He rolled across the forest floor, sweeping left and losing the beams as the Grim followed, limping and howling, his lights searing tree trunks.

  They continued their flight until Shard suddenly came to a halt, throwing his arms out to steady himself, crying out for Eliza to stop.

  Eliza found herself inches from where the trees and ground came to a sudden end.

  She peered down to find herself on the edge of a cliff, and below, pitch-black darkness.

  The Grim thundered towards them, its red beams on Shard, making him wince.

  Shard offered Eliza a brief smile before raising his sword. “Be safe, Eliza Winter.”

  The Grim loped across the ground, arms outstretched. As he reached for Shard, he sidestepped the arc of Shard’s sword and grasped him, pushing him back.

  “No!” Eliza screamed as they plunged into the abyss.

  The last she saw of them was a flash of red light far below. And then it flickered out.

  23

  Monsters

  Eliza stared into the darkness below.

  She listened for the sound of Shard fighting the ghoul, but there was only silence, and as she thought of her companion, a tear ran down her face. She let it fall unhindered. She’d only known him for a short while, and yet she still felt an overwhelming sense of loss. He’d made this strange, dark world a lighter place. Or at least, a safer one.

  And now he was gone. Joining his slaughtered family, their deaths unavenged. And it was her fault. Because if she hadn’t turned up in the Malady Inn, he’d still be alive.

  Something howled behind her.

  Eliza backed away from the cliff edge, gazing across the chasm to a series of twinkling lights in the distance.

  The Midnight City.

  As the howl came again, closer now, she turned and made her way back into the forest.

  It didn’t take long for Eliza to realize that she was utterly lost and that the likelihood of finding anyone to give her directions was probably zero. “At least anyone who doesn’t want to drink my blood or steal my immortal soul,” she whispered.

  She began to walk in what she hoped was a straight line, directly away from the cliff. Perhaps she could find the road that led to the Malady Inn. Mr. Barrow would help her. Maybe he could even find some sort of transport to take her to the Midnight City.

  As she recalled the inn, her introduction to this alien world, she thought of the place she’d left behind and her parents slumped at the kitchen table. She prayed that they were okay, that Grim Shivers hadn’t vented his fury at her escape on them.

  Eliza shuddered at the thought of the ghoul and his sibling, Grim Shadows. There were more of them still. The story of Augustus Pinch had told of Grim Shivers summoning six others. And the thought of them crossing over to Tom’s house, surrounding her sleeping parents, made Eliza dizzy with fear and nausea.

  She started as two vivid green lights zipped past her head. They shot into the air, one chasing the other, and for a moment Eliza was entranced by their giddy display as they illuminated the branches and trunks of the nearby trees.

  Until one stopped dead, trapped in a talon that clamped down upon it.

  The claw of an owl. A giant bird, at least half Eliza’s height. Although she’d seen many owls and always found their faces and eyes unsettling, this one was far worse. For it was bone-white, its head like a skull.

  It called to her, hooting, the sound almost metallic.

  And then she heard the word within its call.

  Drearspawn.

  The owl raised the squirming light to its beak and swallowed it whole. Slowly, the dim glow lighting its feathers faded. The other light blazed furiously about the owl, but the bird paid it no heed, instead swooping and landing on the branch above Eliza’s head.

  “Drearspawn,” it hooted once more.

  Eliza ran, her eyes scouring the ground for the mushrooms Shard had warned her of, her ears straining for the bird’s approach.

  The eerie silence of its wings filled her with foreboding as it beat towards her. It swooped over her head, landing on a branch before her, its pitiless black eyes boring into hers as it hooted its insult once more.

  Eliza ran past it, expecting it to tear into the back of her neck. But it didn’t, and as it flew past her again, she realized it was toying with her. Frightening her.

  It had its desired effect.

  As Eliza staggered from the trees onto a road, the owl wheeled over her head, hooted, and swept back into the forest. She watched as it disappeared into the gloom, looking from left to right. The road stretched for as far as she could see. “Which way do I go?” If she’d had a coin she would have flipped it, but instead she glanced at the sky. To her right was a bright star. Eliza decided to follow it.

  She walked with aching feet for what seemed like hours, until a distant sound caught her attention.

  A horse-drawn cart approached from behind, trundling slowly towards her. The horses were tall, gaunt creatures with long legs, their hair muddy brown, their eyes large, melancholy black orbs.

  Eliza considered leaving the road and hiding, but the cart was slow and the driver would have seen her already. Surely if they meant harm they’d have picked up their pace?

  So she stood her ground, deciding to ask for directions; if the driver became a threat, she’d take her chances in the forest.

  As she waited for the cart, something long and grey swept through the branches across the road, vanishing from sight.

  It seemed that wherever she looked in this world, there was something unusual or unpleasant to see. But, she supposed, it would be the same if someone from this world visited hers. They’d be completely overwhelmed by the sheer abundance of people, technology, and nature. Eliza imagined Shard looking up at her sky filled with airplanes, sunlight gleaming off their wings. He’d probably be as terrified as she was in his world.

  And then the cart stopped a few feet away. The driver, an old lady in a hooded shawl, regarded Eliza with caution. She would have passed for human were it not for her eyes, which shone like silver-white pearls.

  “Need a ride?” the lady asked, patting the seat beside her.

  “I’m lost,” Eliza said, pulling her own hood lower over her face. “I was looking for the Midnight City.”

  “Then you’re not lost, are you, dear?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Well, you can’t be lost if you know where you’re going, can you? Hop on, we share a destination.”

  “Thank you.” Eliza clambered onto the cart. The seat next to the old lady was hard, but the idea
of resting her aching feet more than made up for the discomfort.

  A terrible stench wafted over her, and Eliza glanced over her shoulder to see taut, grimy sheets thrown over the back of the cart. It appeared that the reek was issuing from below them, reminding her of a butcher’s shop on a sweltering summer day. She was about to ask what the source of the stink was, but she thought better of it.

  “Where are you from, dear?” the old lady asked as they cantered along the road.

  “I…Blackwood.”

  “Which village?”

  “London!” Eliza blurted, feeling her cheeks reddening. Why had she said London?

  “I don’t know London, dear. Still, there are plenty of places I don’t know. What takes you to the Midnight City?”

  “An errand,” Eliza replied. “I need to find the Midnight Prison.”

  “Which one?”

  “Um, the one where I can find Grim Shivers.”

  The old lady quivered, pulling her shawl tighter. “In that case, tell me no more. Your business is your own.”

  They continued in silence, and Eliza yawned, closing her eyes for a moment.

  She was jolted awake as the cart came to a halt, to find a man standing beside the road, aiming a sword toward them, its blade dripping with something green and viscous. His face was yellow and set like a fresh yolk, his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat. He licked his lips with a forked tongue, rasping, “I’ll take your cart. And your passenger.”

  “If you value your life,” the old lady said, “you’ll put your weapon down.”

  Eliza glanced down the wide road as it cut between two huge hills. She swallowed as she gazed at their peaks, wondering if the robber had accomplices.

  “Step down.” The man came closer, his sword pointed to Eliza. Adrenaline coursed through her as the old lady jumped down and stood before the man. He whipped round, training his sword on the woman.

  She smiled. “Put your weapon down and get back to the hills. Because if you don’t, I’ll be selling various parts of you in the market before the hour is through.”