by Sean Davies
Gaius only smirked, and neither confirmed nor denied her suspicions. “We’ll continue this conversation another time,” he said firmly as he put some distance between them.
“One more thing before I go…” Genevieve began resolutely.
“Your friend, Annabelle Jones,” Gaius guessed her last point correctly. “We’re looking into it. Although, serving us well will help grease the wheels of the investigation.”
“Right, thank you very much,” she said strongly, “and thanks again for the throwing knives, and the Katana. It’s amazing.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, giving her a strangely amused look with his yellow eyes. “Put them to good use out there.”
Genevieve left the training room and headed up the stone stairs to find the Book Wielder.
Chapter 4
Guard Duty
The second floor of Fort Dominia had a regal feel to it, and the gang members that Genevieve walked by were more disciplined and heavily armed than their counterparts downstairs. Red carpet was laid over the wood flooring, and dark red banners marked with the gang’s symbol of two gold fangs hung at regular intervals.
The library had been easy to find, just as Gaius had assured her, and it was one of the first things she had seen after exiting the stairwell. A large set of curved double doors were resting slightly parted in a fine stone archway topped with carvings of books on a shelf. She pushed the thick doors open and walked into the vast library.
Tall bookshelves lined the outer edges of the room, leaving only a few gaps for candelabras, the odd window, and a solitary door. In the centre of the room there was a long square table covered in paints, pencils, and rolls of paper.
Genevieve took a deep breath through her nose and savoured the musty smell of old books that she loved so much. Looking around at the huge shelves, she wondered what secrets the ancient tomes held. Genie walked past a well-preserved wheeled ladder, noticing that it was covered in dust, and headed towards the table.
Simple sketches, detailed drawings, and powerful paintings were spread all over the antique table amongst the scattered stationary and art supplies.
The pictures shared similar gloomy themes of strange dark landscapes underneath a hazy purple sky, decayed and discarded buildings, weird creatures and monsters, savage half-rotten brutes with dirty cloth sacks over their heads, and creepy fabric puppets with cold dark eyes.
The door at the far end of the room opened and a short girl with curly ginger hair peeked out timidly. “Hello?” she asked in a whisper.
“Hey, I’m Genie,” she replied, laying the pictures down where she found them. “I was sent here to get you. You are Chloe, right?”
“Uh huh. By who?” the girl asked shakily.
“Varsara, one of the girls from downstairs,” Genie answered. “She said Seth wanted to see us.”
“Oh right, must be time for work,” Chloe said as she moved out from behind the door. “So… who are you?”
The short ginger girl had light blue eyes and a sprinkling of freckles on her round face, and was wearing a pair of jeans and a loose white t-shirt. Her bare pale arms were covered in a variety of scars and pockmarks.
“You don’t know?” Genevieve asked in surprise, as most of the other people in the fort seemed to have heard of her. “I’m the new member, Genevieve. Most people call me Genie for short, though.”
Chloe eyed her suspiciously.“You a Bloodmage, Nightclaw, or Ironfang?”
“I’m a Nightclaw,” Genie answered, “and you’re a Book Wielder, right? Are these pictures of the Gloom? They’re really good.”
“Thanks.” The red-head smiled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s the Gloom and the things that live in it. No one can take decent photos of it, although I doubt that many Book Wielders have actually tried, so I’m creating my own portfolio to show others what it’s like in there. It’s just something to do in-between supply runs.”
Genevieve looked at the young girl’s collection of scars. “It looks pretty messed up and dangerous in there. You don’t go in there by yourself, do you?”
“You have to,” Chloe explained. “Only Book Wielders can cross over. It’s for the best, really – if both sides could mingle freely then it would be the end of the world as we know it!”
Genie looked at the monsters and maniacal marionettes, and was glad they were stuck where they were.
“You don’t seem like the usual Golden Fang type. Why did you join them?” Chloe asked quietly.
“They’re helping me find someone. That, and they know where my parents live,” Genie answered dubiously.
“That’s how they got me,” Chloe sighed. “One minute I’m flicking through my wacky new book at a coffee shop, learning about the Supernatural world, then next thing I know I’m being carted off and put to work here. They sent a letter to my parents saying that I’m at some fancy boarding school. I’ve phoned them, but I haven’t seen them for months.”
“Shit, that’s terrible!” Genevieve said angrily, before a worrying thought popped into her head. “What did the letter look like? Was it typed out?”
Chloe shrugged. “I don’t know, I only heard about it from Seth.”
Genie grumbled and wondered darkly if the author of Annabelle’s fake letter was the same as Chloe’s. She made a mental note to keep an eye out for clues around the fort.
“So, how old are you?” Chloe asked curiously. “Like, in real years?”
“Eighteen in body and mind. I was only turned the other night, after Seth almost killed me,” Genie explained moodily. “How about you? You look a bit young for all this.”
“Fourteen,” the girl replied casually,
“Only fourteen?!” Genevieve gasped.
Chloe nodded sadly. “I wanted to be an artist, I was planning on studying art and graphic design at college, but it looks like that isn’t happening anymore.”
“My college days are numbered, too,” Genevieve sighed sympathetically. “I wanted to write news articles, and my friend Annabelle was going to handle the photography. She’s missing, I don’t suppose you might have seen her? She was a dealer.” She pulled out the picture and showed it to the young Book Wielder.
“Wow, she’s pretty, but sorry, I haven’t seen her. They don’t tell me any more than I need to know,” Chloe explained in a disgruntled tone. “How long’s it been?”
“Thanks anyway.” Genevieve put the picture away, knowing it had been a stab in the dark. “Over two weeks now.”
Chloe pulled a face. “Oh, shit…”
“I know.” Genie teared up, but forced her voice to remain steady. “She’s probably gone, but I still need to know for sure.”
“Have you tried asking the girls downstairs?” the Book Wielder suggested kindly. “They probably see and hear more than anyone else in this gang.”
Genevieve nodded. “Yeah, no joy, but they said they’d let me know if they hear anything.”
“The girls are really nice, and they’re so funny,” Chloe smiled. “I just wish there were hot hunky guys working down in the dungeons too, but Seth and his boys are funny about that. They’re probably all in the closet. They’re fine with girl-on-girl fun though, bloody hypocrites, so no eye-candy for us I’m afraid!”
Genevieve chuckled awkwardly before changing the subject. “How long have you been doing Book Wielder stuff, then?” She was still surprised the gang had such a young member.
“About six months,” Chloe replied, “since the gang’s last one, partying Paul, got himself killed. Seth and his mates loved him and his idiotic antics, and because I can’t live up to his memory I get treated like shit. He was messed up in the head from war-stims and morphine long before he became a Book Wielder, and started hitting up the magical stuff instead. Although, he was still damn good before he pushed his luck too far.”
“So how did he die?” Genie asked.
“He crossed over from here, while he was drunk and stoned out of his skull,” Chloe sighed disapprovingly. “Over in t
he Gloom this place is a Demon tower, and its Overlord master has quite the scorecard when it comes to killing Book Wielders. I’ve got paintings in my room, I’ll show you quick,” she said merrily, excited to showcase more of her artistic skills.
Genevieve followed the young Book Wielder into her room, which turned out to be a converted study. There was an antique desk covered in more art gear and notes, shelves lined with small wooden boxes and books, a messy bunk beside a small table unit with little glass vials on top, and a large cupboard. The stone walls were covered in yet more pictures of the Gloom. There were also two small doors, both of which were open; one led into a bathroom that was like the one Genie had used in Kaylie’s room, and some form of arcane lab was behind the other.
Chloe dug out a large thick folder from her messy cupboard and flicked through it until she found the desired images.
“This is what the tower looks like,” she said, showing Genevieve a series of images.
The Demon tower appeared from the centre of a fortress of black stone and steel, and rose upwards towards the cloudy purple sky. It was a dark and menacing structure with barred windows that Chloe had painted with intense blazing shades of orange. There were also detailed pictures of the interior and its creepy masked guardians that gave Genie the shivers.
“Have you been inside this tower, then?” Genevieve asked in a concerned tone. “I thought it was too dangerous?”
“It wasn’t exactly by choice,” Chloe grimaced. “They made me go in during my reluctant audition for the position in the gang. They wanted me to bring back any of Paul’s personal effects I could get my hands on. Luckily, Paul had told them about the basic layout of the tower. Apparently it had been an ongoing mission of his to take out the Demon Overlord.”
Chloe pointed out a two-page spread of the Overlord. The first picture was of a noble humanoid sitting on a marble throne, wearing a full masquerade masked coloured black and white and decorated with gold filigree, and a crimson red robe cloaked its entire body. The second picture was of the same creature but with long, muscular, pallid purple limbs that appeared to be fleshless, and its appendages ended in extremely long claws.
The Book Wielder turned the large pages and showed Genevieve her paintings of a throne room lined with stone pillars and blood red banners. At the far end of the room sat the Overlord’s throne, and behind it was a bloody net of razor wire hanging from the ceiling.
“That’s where I found what was left of Partying Paul,” Chloe said, tapping the gruesome net. “I’d snuck my way in, all the way to the top, and the tower’s occupants hardly took any notice of me. His duffel bag was waiting in the centre of the room, and the Demon Overlord was waiting for me on his throne with his mask off as he chewed on Paul’s roasted rotten flesh.”
“So, did you kill it?” Genevieve asked enthralled by the dark tale.
Chloe laughed. “Hell no! I grabbed the bag and ran while the bastard creature was yapping on about eating me. He bulked himself up and clawed me as the room’s magical elevator was descending.”
Genie exhaled loudly. “Good thing it missed-”
“It didn’t miss,” Chloe interrupted. “It raked me along my back and punctured my side in two places before I managed to knock it back with a force spell.” Her expression twisted as she remembered the pain.
“And I thought being a Vampire was crazy,” Genie said, “but it sounds like you Book Wielders have it on a completely different level of madness.”
Chloe nodded before finishing her story. “I managed to get to my book and escape the Gloom just in time for Seth’s cronies to heal me. They were pleased that I got Paul’s belongings back, so I got healed up magically.”
“What happens if they’re not pleased with what you bring back?” Genevieve asked dubiously, already knowing the likely answer.
The young Book Wielder pointed at her collection of scars. “They let me heal up the old-fashioned way…”
Genie sighed angrily but wasn’t that surprised, considering what she already knew of Seth and his friends. “So what else is up in that tower? Why would this Paul be obsessed with getting up there and taking out the Demon?”
Chloe shrugged. “Nothing. The only reason they sent me there was to get his stuff, which included his journal and Alchemy notes, and a crude map of his favourite crossing locations. From what I can tell it was just for bragging rights.”
“And he went to kill it after he’d been partying?” Genie sneered. “What a lunatic.”
“From what I got out of his very poorly written journal, he thought he’d found a way to beat the Overlord,” Chloe explained. “You see, it’s rare to encounter even a single Demon within the Gloom, but this location is crawling with them. Paul figured that they were all just an extension of the Overlord itself, maybe even the tower too, like the creature had summoned them all with its weird magic. So, he assumed that if he went right to the source, rather than getting bogged down wasting his energy on the minions, then he’d have all his stamina spare to overpower the Demon and the rest would cease to exist.”
“He assumed wrong, then…” Genie said.
“I think he was on to something,” Chloe replied, “but I reckon he got it muddled up. I bet the magical extensions of the Overlord are tied in with its power, so the more of the tower remains unharmed, the greater the Demon’s strength.”
“So you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Genie mused. “You can either fight at full strength against an overwhelmingly powerful foe, or weaken the Demon but in turn you also weaken yourself.”
“That’s why I leave this location the fuck alone,” Chloe said firmly. “It’s better to just leave the beast where it is. Maybe if a bunch of Book Wielders decided to team up against it they’d have a better chance, but again, there just isn’t any point.”
Genevieve was interested in learning more about the terrifyingly mysterious Gloom, and Chloe’s impressive artwork, but remembered that Seth was waiting for them. “We’d better be off soon.”
Chloe closed her folder and put it back in the cupboard. “Oh, yeah, duty calls,” she groaned, as she gathered her own duffel bag of supplies.
As she waited, Genie looked around at the quaint impromptu bedroom and her gaze settled on the small glass vials and bottles beside Chloe’s bunk. They were filled with a cloudy light-grey liquid.
“What are these?” Genie asked, hoping that she wasn’t coming across too nosey.
Chloe glanced over her shoulder. “Those are sleep potions. They’re not very good but they do the trick for me. I have really bad nightmares that wake me up in the early hours of the morning, and then it takes forever for me to get back to sleep, but those knock me flat-out for the whole night. They’re one of the only types of potions I can brew without making useless slop. I’m trying to get better at Alchemy, I really should cut down on the art…”
Genie gazed around at Chloe’s Gloom exhibition in the making and chuckled. “Being surrounded by these pictures would give me nightmares.”
“Once you’ve seen the real thing, pictures aren’t that scary in comparison. I’d have to remove my memories if I wanted to sleep soundly, and I wouldn’t do that even if I could,” Chloe chuckled. “How many fourteen-year-old girls can travel between two dimensions, or do real magic? And being part of a Supernatural gang isn’t going to stop me from pursuing my art!”
“I can see that,” Genie smiled, gesturing to Chloe’s picture-plastered walls, and she wondered if she’d ever go back to her writing.
“Come on,” the Book Wielder said, putting on a green and black camo jacket before shouldering her duffel bag. “Let’s go see Goldfang. He’ll be playing commander up in the War Room,” she added with a sneer.
Genie nodded and tailed Chloe out of the library, up to the third and final floor, and through the castle’s corridors to the War Room. The door was wide open, and the Book Wielder ushered Genevieve inside as she closed it behind them.
Seth, Archie, and Chaz were st
anding over a thick rectangular table in the middle of the big square room, and around them were neglected bookshelves, armour stands, and weapon racks. Old framed maps and restored portraits hung on the stone walls, and a few ancient carved stone busts adorned the room’s corners with descriptive golden plaques fixed into their wooden pedestals.
The Golden Fang’s banner hung proudly beside the old Imperian one in the middle of each wall.
The Nation of Imperia’s original banner consisted of a black ‘I’ in a white circle on a red background, but since winning the Great War it had been superseded by the World Banner. Instead of an ‘I’, it had three black triangles spaced around a smaller black circle to represent Mydia’s landmasses, and at the very bottom of the red fabric was ‘IMPERIA’ in a strong, gold-lined black font.
“You took your time,” Seth said impatiently before looking up from the table, but when he did, he wolf-whistled excitedly. “Liking the school-girl look, Genevieve! You can be as late as you want if you always dress like that… wait, that ain’t Gaius’ Katana, is it?!”
Archie and Chaz stopped ogling her body and moved to view the blade sheathed on her back. She saved them the effort and drew the Spell-forged steel, spinning it impressively while hoping she didn’t drop it and make a fool of herself, and then slid it back into the Saya. Even Chloe whistled in admiration.
“I knew Gaius would like ya!” Seth smirked. “Makes my gift look cruddy in comparison.”
He threw something across the room and Genie caught it instinctively. She opened her hand and saw a set of car keys.
“You’re giving me a car?” she gasped.
“It ain’t Spell-forged, but it’s a damn sight better than the shit-heap you were driving before,” Seth said with a big grin.
“Thanks…” Genevieve replied, taking offense. Annabelle had bought her old car, after all.
“A car and a priceless sword?!” Chaz spat. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”