The Curious Case of Jacob's Hallow

by Patrick Walsh

  This time he was ready. Everything he had was thrown into one perfect attack as the scythe was gracefully spun and slashed down like an executioner's axe. It struck the beast smack dab in the middle of its head, breaking through the metal and deep into what might be considered its skull. The behemoth didn't stop, but indeed flew past him and crashed into an already crumbling apartment. Faster than he had ever run, Hansel sped over to its fallen body, only to fall as needles of terror sliced through him. Barnabee was pulling himself from the wreckage, malice seething from his rotting body. The goliath began walking forwards, a warrior’s axe in one of his giant hands. Its design resembled the scythe, but the metal itself was black with the blade now alight with a crimson haze. He swung it down, shattering the road and sending a red strike of raw might from the weapon. Again, the scythe was used to block, but he was thrown back. His weapon went one way while he went another. The attack had taken far more out of him then he had thought, leaving him little strength to now face the true threat.

  With that pest cast to the side, Barnabee turned back to the cannon. Then his eyes fell upon Gretel. “So Agnis...even in death you hound me…”

  Gretel looked up from the cannon, its wielders all frozen where they stood. With no other option but to buy them time, she began slowly walking away from it. “Agnis is dead Barnabee and so are you! The witch is just usin ya as a puppet, why would you let her?”

  The smiling corpse dragged its axe across the ground, lightning illuminating his deformed visage. “You lot killed me... I think that’s reason enough. Besides, with this army, not even she will be able to stand against me once this is all finished!” He gave a deep, cackling laugh and looked down at the lantern in his chest.

  “You killed her husband, my dad! You ruined her life and the lives of everyone else in this town. You even killed your own parents!” She was shaking as the two drew near, slowly circling as countless bodies littered the ground around them. “Surely you can’t be diluted enough to think ya deserve any kinda revenge!”

  His smile twisted into a sneer. Slowly but surely his mind drifted to hazy memories now all but impossible to reach. “They knew I had no future...none of those bridge scum ever do. She gave me the knife...and I did what I had to.” His patchwork mind drifted again. “ It was so exciting to knock you privileged rats down a peg...end that foolish husband of yours and his meddling. The witch is my pawn...she always has been...you all were too diluted with your moronic dreams to see that. You all can’t beat her...never...never will. If you had just accepted that...then maybe your friends would still be breathing...only I can...”

  Gretel stopped where she was and stared down the reanimated nightmare only meters away. Her whole body was quivering, yet she spoke the words just as her mom would have. Each syllable poured out firm as iron as she stood firm as a forge.”You were a daft bastard in life and you’re a daft bastard in death. It was always about you and what you could do. No one else was a person, just pawns while you sat alone in your office. Yet look at us! This whole town fighting together, with a loa at our backs!” She raised her arms to the raging winds. “The witch loses tonight. This all ends tonight. I truly pity that you were too twisted by your own pessimism to ever think that possible.”

  The grimy grin returned to his face. “I see through their eyes. You’re losing Agnis...on every front you don’t have that meddling loa interfering with. But he hasn’t moved since the last of the east flank went down.” He swung up his axe and gestured to the battles raging in every street. “Carnage! Violent, bloody death on all fronts! It’s glorious...a glorious end to this rotten little slice of the Abyss.”

  Gretel intended to keep him talking, but the demon swung in an arc and brought the axe down again. He was slow and Gretel was able to pull away, but not quite fast enough. The crackling light shot past and sliced the side of her sleeve clean off, searing through her flesh in the process. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, but before the monster could capitalize on the attack, another was headed towards him. Barnabee blocked the sliver of crimson with his axe and now marched towards Hansel again. The two clashed. Red destruction was fired on all sides as the blades crashed together. They swung, missed, blocked, stabbed, swiped, and reigned down ruin on the bloody battlefield around them. Yet Barnabee was far stronger, both physically and with his destruction. The battle raged for only a matter of minutes before the scythe was once again lost and Hansel kicked to the ground. Barnabee slammed his boot down onto his arm, crushing the bone and eliciting a scream of pain. Gretel ran over to help her brother but was batted aside like nothing.

  “This is where ya fall kid. The hag’s games are over...this town is mine...always has been...and always will be. Even as I burn it to ash...”

  “No!” Gretel painfully grabbed a long piece of splintered wood from the ground and began pulling herself up. Yet the axe was already in the air, and the fuse already at its end.

  A loud bang erupted out from the west as a cannon tore through the air and crashed right into Barnabee’s back. The extra souls within his body offered him durability, but he dropped to his knees as his spine shattered and flesh was ripped away. At that moment, Gretel saw her chance. The metal around the left side of his chest had been torn aside and the lantern cracked. Even from here, she could feel the souls crying out for rescue. Each one fruitlessly pushing against the glass in a vain hope of escape. She ran at the man who had helped drive this whole town deeper into darkness, who had killed her father and ended the lives of countless more. The shrapnel was stabbed forwards like a spear, shattering the weakened glass and knocking her back again. Barnabee shot up and stumbled back as bursts of light whizzed and fired out from his chest. Then everything hit at once. Guts and metal were hurled all over the street. His body was blasted apart as hundreds of souls exploded from the lantern and into the sky.

  All over the city, each and every wight was suddenly severed from their master’s will. They were still fighting, having long since overtaken the lines, but now any coordination was gone. The ravenous horrors began attacking not just the townsfolk, but also their own. Chaos spread through an already bloody battle as the wights broke ranks and began running in all directions. Gretel knelt by her brother and tore the remainder of her sleeve off to tie off his bleeding arm. She looked back to see Tom staggering away from the cannon, his ears still ringing as he ran towards them. The two pulled up her brother and began moving him through the corpse ridden streets. Gretel was directing them to a shop just up the road which might have supplies, but for a moment looked over to Tom.

  “Thank you.”

  He just nodded and kept moving. That was when the noise became too much to ignore and all three turned to the left. It was one of the battleships. The great monstrosity was tearing down the narrow street, crashing through the buildings that stood in its way. Yet it wasn’t alone. Wights came tearing down one of the roads, their eyes locking on the fresh bodies...as well as the living. Gretel saw them first and the three began to run. They had a lead on the havoc heading their way, practically diving into the store as one of the battleship’s claws touched down on the street before them. None of them knew how to deal with what lie outside as the monsters began closing in. Though it seemed someone else did. An explosion ripped through the giant animal’s shell and spilled its guts all over the street. A great roar rang out as it collapsed onto the cobblestone, smashing the front of the ship into splinters. The majority of the charging mob were crushed under it upon impact, while the rest fell as it slumped over and into their building. It held up, but the roof impacted the ship and pierced through to the second floor.

  Gretel pulled herself from the ground and began running around the odds and ends shop in search of more supplies. That was when she heard footsteps from the floor above. Tom and her looked to one another as Hansel lay on the ground gripping his wound. She gave a great sigh and tossed him a pipe from one of the shelves. They were exhausted, but if the night wouldn’t relent than neither would they
. She peered down one of the dark aisles and to the stairs at the far end. Yet it wasn’t shrieks that greeted them, but bickering from familiar voices. Jack, Desmond, and Hesmond came stumbling down the stairs. The former leading the three with a hard limp while Hesmond took up the rear, their sister Mable clinging to his back. The siblings jumped when they saw everyone, but quickly recognized who they were dealing with.

  Jack coughed and hobbled forwards. “Fancy meetin you lot again.” His gaze dropped to Hansel at the front of the store. “He ok?”

  Desmond pushed forwards and hurried over to him. “What were you two thinking?” He looked over the poor wrap job and blood dripping onto the floor. “Someone get me some more cloth or else he’s gonna bleed to death!”

  “She had to do it outside. I didn’t have enough time to rewrap it.” Tom had already been applying pressure.

  Gretel ran around the shelves while Tom and Desmond knelt by her wounded brother. Despite coming from far different walks of life, the two had known each other for many years. For those under the Olmire, De Vone had been a cheaper alternative to seeing the real doctor, even if his methods were a bit sloppy. Being his only assistant, Desmond was the one to help whenever the sick arrived. Then as time went on, he took on more and more of the simple duties when it came to treating injuries. Starting a few years back, Tobias had Tom under the Olmire to spread his goodwill on a near daily basis, and naturally the two encountered one another. Thinking there was no better way to get the poor on his side then healing them, both parties joined forces. Though neither ever thought they would be working on a battlefield, or treating a supposed dead man no less.

  As the rest of the siblings gathered at the front of the store, by the shattered display window, their eyes were drawn to the sky. The souls of the lantern were all soaring through the night, lighting it up in a blue haze. But they seemed trapped, unable to break away from this evil place.

  “So I’s guessin the lantern broke?” Jack crossed his arms as he stared off.

  “Yeah.” Gretel looked at her now throbbing arm, slowly wrapping it. “Barnabee came back, but Tom shot him with a cannon...then I stabbed the thing with a piece of wood.” She spoke the words but couldn’t fully wrap her mind around them. “What about you and that escapade?”

  Jack looked to the fallen behemoth just outside. “Hesmond was supposed to keep Mable back, but she ran out. They met up with me an Desmond at one of the middle barricades when the damn thing broke. We ran up to a roof...one of those things ran by...Mable steered actually.”

  Gretel looked down at the girl who was still clinging tight to Hesmond's back like a tick, her left eye twitching while her face seemed frozen in a state of surprise.

  “Then one thing led to the next...small crew an a lotta gunpowder.”He was playing it back in his mind, still unable to believe everything. “When that sucker went down I thought I was gonna be seein Luke a lot quicker than I’s expected.

  “Ah!” Hansel flinched as water was dripped over the broken flesh. “Sounds like a damn fine story to tell your kids one day.”

  Jack and the other siblings laughed, none knowing if they had any shot of making it through the night. Yet Gretel’s mind was on what this implied.

  “So even on your end, the walls didn’t hold.” She looked on solemnly as Desmond did his best to deal with the wound.

  “Nah. Before I lost my transponder, I’s gettin nuthin but bad news.”

  Gretel looked to the master on her arm. It was scraped up but otherwise still alive and functional, much like the rest of them. “Now that enough people have...passed...the networks should be less congested.”

  Jack nodded as she walked to the back. Calls were sent, with more replies then expected, but fewer than she would have hoped for. They had lost a lot of people in the middle, but the east and west were actually pushing them back now that the lantern was gone. Gretel had hope as she sat there in the darkness, a hope echoed by Nibo himself. The Loa sat with one leg over the other on a pile of bodies, gazing into the sky. So many souls, so many prisoners of this strange little town...so many he could draw power from once he sent them to the other side. Well, that was if Aza could beat the witch and end all of this. It was a gamble, but one that looked as if it would pay off given how far things had gotten already. Just as he was about to hop up and find a better vantage point, a single spirit flew down and swirled around him. He just smiled, recognizing it despite the thing being little more than an orb of light.

  “It was a pity your story had to end when it did. I really liked you kids and your little detective thing.” He held his hand out to the orb, warming it and allowing it to shift its form.

  Light radiated and spun, forming a translucent body. Luke’s body. “Where’s Aza?”

  Nibo leaned back. “He’s headed for the gauntlet. I’d wager he’s there by now, or at least close enough.

  “He can’t beat her! I talked with the other ghosts...he’s gonna die…” There was pain in his eyes. “Can’t ya do something?”

  “I wish, hun.” He stood up and brushed himself off. “But you still have time.”

  “What…” Luke looked over the deity, trying to figure out how considering he was quite literally out of time.

  “The witch trapped you to the mortal plane, so you can’t actually harm her.” He looked to the east leviathan then back to Luke with a coy smile. “But that doesn't mean you can't do nuthin.”

  He peered off into the distance, then back to the horde of ghosts buzzing around overhead. Slowly and mechanically his thoughts began to align. “I’s think...I think I know what ya mean…”

  Chapter 24: Ragnarok the Gauntlet of Shadows

  The wind could still faintly be heard in the distance as they squeezed further down the narrow tunnel. Aza could see fairly well in the darkness, but Han needed a lantern, the only source of light in this claustrophobic abyss. The rocks were jagged and bent, threatening to trap the two by thinning if only a few more inches. Though, that seemed to be the least of their concerns as more holes in the maze of stone became faintly visible above. Some slime or mucus was dripping down from them, or something even higher up. Aza was ready for a fight, yet his mind was focused on the gauntlet. It was directing him, telling him which bends and turns to take as they began descending deeper into the earth. The small holes in the rock became even more numerous, as well as the strange appendages or eyes at their edges. Aza ignored them, while Han was shaking, jumping as one slithered against his arm. Soon, all of these would pale in comparison to what the lantern's light would give life to just a few feet up ahead.

  The narrow path suddenly opened up into a long, crooked cavern. There were crevices in it wider than an ox, with mucus glistening off of each rock. Aza stood right at the edge of it, stopping upon seeing what Han had yet to. There were monsters. Thin, long, fat, barbed, tentacled, spotted, many eyed, no eyed horrors all basking in the darkness. Some resembled worms, while others, sea anemone. The lantern was raised to see why they had stopped, but Aza pushed it down as the edges of the strange creatures just beyond were revealed.

  “I don’t think you want to see what’s up ahead.” Aza barely wanted to press on himself, knowing that the feeling would be many times worse for Han.

  He had glimpsed what lay ahead as the lantern fell, a chill flying down his back. “What are they?”

  “No one knows.” He gazed around, his eyes falling to what looked like a human skull. “And if someone did find out, they didn’t make it back to tell us.”

  The scholar’s hand fell to a knife that had made its way from the horse’s bag to his own. “No matter I suppose. Nothing your strings cannot handle.”

  Aza crept forwards. “I wouldn’t exactly bet my life on that.”

  “Really? I thought doing just that is what got us this far.”

  Aza gave a slight chuckle but slowly began to frown as he realized something. The light seemed to be causing the creatures to stir, despite many of them appearing to be blind. Part of him
wanted to find another way but knew he had to heed the gauntlet’s call. The whispers were telling him that the tunnel would take him straight to wherever it lie, all they had to do was navigate the path. The further onward they walked, the more the creatures began slithering closer, their bodies pulsating in the darkness. Aza closed his eyes and fear shot out towards them. To his surprise, they seemed to react to it and began wavering where they stood. They weren’t afraid, but confused and hesitant to go where this strange power was.

  “Kill the light.” He whispered the words as an idea began weaving itself together.

  Han slowly put it out.

  With that done, Aza suddenly grabbed his friend and began pulling him down the tunnel at a much faster pace. The lighthouse was a long way off, meaning every second mattered as they sped through the dangerous shadows. Even with the lantern gone, everywhere the two went, the walls around them stirred with life. Each time one of the beasts strayed to close, Aza would release his icy song of woe, stunning the things with emotions they didn’t even understand. He thought back to the fight at the lighthouse, fearing that if he did this enough times it would drain him. If he wasted all of his energy here, then he stood no chance against the witch and whatever else she had waiting for them. Then again, he didn’t even fully understand what it took to drain his gifts. The few moments of pondering were shattered as he felt the call of the ancient weapon strengthen. It didn’t matter now that the gauntlet was coming through. He and anyone else who’s souls it had cracked were pulling in some of its power. An insignificant fraction of all the dark magic it held, but more than enough for mere mortals like himself.