by Ian Fortey
“How can you see my power?” Selena asked.
She could see Vincent trace his fingers along the tiny blue veins in the tree bark as well as he could.
“Because of you, I think.”
“And you see blood magic as well. And necromancy.”
“Yes. I learned necromancy by experiencing Dalca’s life in his memories.”
“And blood?” Selena asked.
Vincent shook his head.
“I don’t know where that comes from.”
He had choices, of course. The others in his head. The child. Or Fix, even. The man who also controlled that dark, umber power. He could see more. The power that had come from the werewolf in the basement. The oily blackness that seemed to reach out like a thing alive. That was Chaos magic. Demon magic. And if Vincent could see that, the implication was something he did not care to think of.
“We need to move,” Selena said.
Vincent dropped his hand away from the tree and continued to follow the stream. It seemed to him that everyone at the fatal ritual had possessed some kind of power. They were all there because of what they could do. If Dalca was one of the strongest necromancers in the world, and if Selena was a powerful witch, maybe everyone there was someone powerful. Each one was there to wield a new power. To use it to do something.
Vincent had recovered a memory when he was in Alder Falls. Not one from Dalca; one of his own. In that memory, there was a different voice in his head. Not Fix, but someone called Razul. Together, Razul and Vincent had tracked down a scientist named Marcus Graham. Graham had promised Vincent the power to open the Dimensional Rift. Dezzy said the Dimensional Rift was a place of Chaos. It was where old and powerful creatures lived. It was where demons lived. In his memories, Vincent wanted to open it. Or at least, Razul wanted him to.
Razul claimed to be working for someone else. It made sense if something on the other side of the Rift wanted out and their plan was to free it. But Vincent was no closer to knowing what they were trying to free or why.
The fact was not lost on Vincent that everyone involved seemed to wield their own power. Which implied Vincent himself had possessed a unique power. And he was trying to open the Dimensional Rift, where Chaos magic came from. So, some creature of Chaos was commanding Razul, then. And Vincent.
The big question still loomed over everything. Who was he? And what happened in that field that made him forget everything? Obviously, their plan failed somehow, but he didn’t have enough information to even guess why or how. It was infuriating.
“That looks like the place,” Dezzy said suddenly. The stream branched to the left, but to the right there was a series of stony outcroppings in the woods. In the middle of it all was a black chasm leading into the earth.
“That’s Widow’s Cave,” Selena agreed. They headed towards it. This area was saturated with primal energy, but Vincent could see the remnants of blood magic as well. There were fizzling geysers of it, like the leftovers of fireworks, popping red in the rocks all around the cave entrance.
“Erit lux,” Selena said as they entered the cave. A sphere of soft, white light appeared next to Vincent’s head, hovering and following them as they walked. He hadn’t even seen the flows of primal energy come together to make it, Selena did it so fast. If Abigail could work magic that fast, they would be in trouble.
The cave stretched deep away from the entrance, the dark tunnel reaching into the unknown. Selena’s ghostly light illuminated the craggy walls and uneven floor. The brown and gray rocks reflected the sound of their footsteps back, making every step seem louder.
“Down that path is where Maggie died. Her husband attacked her, and she defended herself. He died and she fled, fearing the retribution of the townspeople. She’d been correct, of course. They claimed she had been a witch in league with the devil and so the people chased her down. She came here to escape but lost her footing and fell.”
“Her body is still here,” Vincent said.
“Yes,” Selena said.
Vincent had not actually meant it as a question. He could sense Death ahead of them. And also, something else. They walked slowly through the cave, and Vincent’s unease increased with each step.
“There’s something else in here,” he said. He could feel it, like a person standing right behind him.
Dezzy turned around and looked behind them.
“I don’t see anything. Stinks in here, though. Too much magic.”
“Primal and blood,” Vincent agreed.
“Yeah, “Dezzy said, sniffing the air.
“Oh, man. Tastes like battery acid. That’s not just blood.”
“What is it then?” Selena asked.
Vincent watched the shadows along the wall in the light of Selena’s sphere. Most of them bobbed and ducked the way a shadow should. But not all of them. A long stretch of shadow along the wall to their side resisted the light. It stayed black despite the light washing over it, and it moved as they moved. It crept along the wall like a snake. Vincent stopped, putting a hand on Dezzy to keep him in place.
“Did you not appreciate the gift I gave you, Necromancer?” a deep, bass voice intoned from the darkness. The shadow on the wall crept back. It built up a cover of darkness behind them in the tunnel, sealing off the distant light of the entrance.
“What gift?” Vincent asked.
From the shadows ahead, the light at his shoulder reflected off of something. Two golden yellow spheres. A soft, throaty growl filled the enclosed space, echoing off the cave walls.
“Life. I let you live. Though I didn’t have to.”
Marchosias lumbered forth from darkness. The werewolf’s body filled the entire tunnel, its massive shoulders and head nearly scraping the ceiling of the cave.
“Have you brought me a meal?” the wolf asked, taking in Dezzy. Dezzy took a step back.
“I’d just as soon not get eaten today,” he said.
“A feeling shared by every meal, no doubt.”
“We’re not here for you, Marchosias,” Selena said.
The wolf cocked its shaggy head to one side, looking at Vincent with narrowed eyes.
“Witch ghost? How unique. No one comes for Marchosias. Marchosias comes for you.”
“Tomato, potato,” Selena said. “Be on your way.”
“Oh, witch, no. No one commands Marchosias now, least of all you. I choose this place now. The air swims with power here. The blood calls to me. Have you blood for me, dead witch?”
The wolf stepped forward again. Its hands were larger than Vincent’s head. Each claw was like the tip of a knife. There was Chaos magic clinging to the beast, and Vincent could sense the blood magic deep inside it as well.
“I will return you to the pit from where you were summoned,” Selena threatened.
The wolf’s great jaws spread in a mockery of a smile. Black lips pulled away from yellowish fangs. A red tongue licked the muzzle, and a raspy huffing sound came from its throat. A quiet chuckle of laughter.
“If you had the power, you would have done so,” it said.
“Test me and see my power,” Selena said coldly.
The wolf laughed loudly then. The sound made Vincent’s skin crawl. He could hear whispers in it, faint human voices that sounded frightened, though he could not make out the words.
“How powerful you must be. I shudder at the thought, dead witch. So powerful that you died and found yourself trapped inside another mortal shell.”
“So powerful that even Death itself fears to hold me,” Selena said.
“Oh, that’s a good line,” Dezzy offered.
“Desmond,” Selena chided quietly.
He nodded and mimed zipping his mouth shut.
“I thought to let you linger, witch. But now I see your arrogance is as great as those who summoned me in the first place and released me unbound. And besides, what else do I have to do in this cave but tear your spirit from the very bones to which it is bonde
d?”
“You talk too much,” Selena said.
“I prefer talking to dying,” Fix said.
Marchosias howled, and black, oily bile exploded from its jaws. The rush of Chaos magic knocked Vincent and Dezzy to the cave floor as though a truck had hit them both.
The magic exploded into a hundred hands with a thousand fingers. It grasped at Vincent, pulling at his clothes and hair. The ghostly light winked from existence, and Vincent fought blindly in the dark. The tendrils pulled at his flesh, curled into his hair and hooked into his nose and mouth and eyes. It swarmed his body like a thousand maggots, each trying to burrow inside of him.
“Selena needs light to see,” Fix yelled in his head. Without the mirror, her powers could not manifest. And without her powers, they could not have light.
The crunching footsteps of Marchosias thrummed in the cave. Vincent felt the massive, furry hands clutch his shirt and lift him from the ground.
“Where is your power now, witch?”
Vincent felt the hot breath blast his face, smelling like old death and decay.
“She’s not available at the moment,” Vincent answered. The wolf pushed his face against the cave wall, a jagged stone pushing into his cheek as it did so.
“She hides?” the wolf asked. Its lips were against Vincent’s ear. Though he could see nothing, he felt the tickle of the hairs on the beast’s muzzle as it spoke, felt the wash of humid, rank air flow over him.
The wolf’s iron grip was inescapable. It pushed harder. Vincent felt the pointed stone stab into his cheek. The slow and steady pressure continued, forcing the rock through the skin. It burned as it cut into him, and then it was against his teeth. The tip of the stone wedged between his molars, shredding the gums as he felt it crunching the teeth. Pain radiated through his jaw as the teeth shifted.
The wolf was slow and methodical. It did not increase the pressure at all. Vincent thrashed in its grip, kicking ineffectually at its body and trying to pull its hands free.
“You need to do something,” Fix said in his head. He had no idea what to do.
“The words. Say the words for light.”
“Erit lux,” Vincent grunted, his mouth filling with blood. He saw the cool flows of primal energy seep through the black, swirling Chaos around him. It was like a firehose, a shotgun blast of energy. Unlike necromancy, which had to be sought and controlled like knitting a pattern, primal energy simply rushed forward when called.
A sphere of light burst to life in front of the wolf’s face. It snarled and flinched away but did not release its grip on Vincent.
Vincent scanned the cave floor for the mirror. He wasn’t sure where it had gone. Without a word, Dezzy leaped from the darkness beyond the wolf. As the beast was recovering from the sudden surge of light, he jammed the plastic bucket he had been carrying over the top of its head, covering its ears and eyes.
“Mirror,” Dezzy said, tossing it over the wolf’s shoulder. The creature bellowed and dropped Vincent, lifting its hands to pull the bucket from its face.
Vincent caught the mirror, glancing quickly at Selena’s reflection.
“Timor reptans,” Selena shouted. From the darkness, insects crawled forth. Ants and spiders and centipedes crept through the Chaos and burrowed beneath the wolf’s fur. It threw the bucket aside and bellowed again, fixing Vincent with a deadly glare.
“Dissolvant doloris,” Selena called out. “Intus ardere! Obcaecatis! Vi Evacuatur!”
Marchosias howled in pain and threw its hands up, clutching its own head. Vincent could see the primal energy battering the beast from all sides. Its golden eyes became white and bands of thick, primal energy pulled at the creature’s wrists and neck, dragging it to the ground. It twitched pathetically, growling and trying to shake itself free.
The writhing masses of Chaos energy surrounding them receded. Dezzy came to Vincent’s side, breathing heavily and staring at the wolf.
“I think my heart just stopped again, man.”
“What did you do?” Vincent asked, looking in the mirror.
“Restrained and blinded it. Kept it busy with some painful curses. I’m not convinced they will hold for long. Even with a withering strength curse, I can feel it fighting back.”
“Is there somewhere else we can hide out?” Dezzy asked. Vincent shook his head.
“We can’t just leave this thing here for someone else to find. Or to escape. We have to get rid of it.”
“It’s a demon,” Fix said. “Not a rat.”
“They summoned it. It can be unsummoned.”
“I am unbound, Necromancer,” the wolf snarled. Its milky white eyes stared at nothing, but Vincent felt sure it knew exactly where he was.
“You cannot unsummon me. You cannot banish me. And you certainly cannot hold me. I am Marchosias!”
The wolf writhed and thrashed against the primal bonds that held it in place. It was panting and frothing at the mouth. Insects swarmed its body, and whatever curses Selena placed on it were clearly taking their toll. But it did not stop.
“It was summoned with blood magic. I cannot unwork that,” Selena said, watching the beast.
“It keeps saying it’s unbound. What does that even mean?” Vincent asked. His teeth were loose now, and blood flowed from the hole the stone pierced in his cheek.
“Blood bonds are pacts between two entities. Its bond was left open, no terms, no deal. It’s like putting a dog in the yard but leaving the gate open,” Selena explained.
“So, can we close the deal?” he asked.
“You have no power, Necromancer,” Marchosias laughed. The sound echoed through the entire cave. “Neither you nor your witch ghost.”
“It’s right, in terms of binding. You can’t unbind a blood bond without blood magic. Not as far as I know,” Selena said.
Vincent looked to Dezzy, who only shrugged.
“Sorry man, I dunno how this stuff is done.”
“So what happens if I try?” Vincent asked.
“You can’t use blood magic,” Fix said.
“You can’t use blood magic,” Selena added.
“I can see it,” Vincent said. “I can see it all over this cave. I saw it in Maggie, I saw it when Crisp used it.”
“And you can see primal as well, but you need to learn first. Unrestrained blood magic kills,” Selena warned.
Marchosias laughed again. It pressed its palms against the cave floor as though doing a push up and started to lift its body, fighting against the restraints holding it in place.
“Somnum,” Selena said. More laughter from the wolf as it shook its head.
“You are losing, witch. With each moment, my power grows. Do you not feel what I have done? The power that the Father of Wolves wields?”
“That doesn’t sound like something good,” Dezzy said, looking around them in the cave.
“I feel…” Selena looked at the cave ceiling, then back the way they had come. Sunlight still spilled into the cave entrance. Nothing had changed that Vincent could see.
“I feel the Goddess,” she said, unsurely.
“Your Goddess is a freeloader. A trifling fly that buzzes around the heads of great kings, and bathes in the light of my powers!”
“It summons the moon,” Selena said, almost in awe. The wolf’s laughter was almost hysterical.
“And you came to me. You came to this very cave. Does your Goddess hate you so much that she would feed you to me so willingly?”
The wolf forced itself to a sitting position. The murk over its eyes was clearing. Vincent could see the pupils behind the milky white curse that afflicted them.
“What does summon the moon mean?” Fix asked.
“He brings the night and the moon with it.”
“The full moon isn’t for days,” Vincent said.
“It’s a marquis of Hell. It can do what it wants,” she shot back.
“Yes, I can,” the wolf agreed. On shaky legs,
it forced itself to a crouch. Vincent grabbed Dezzy’s arm.
“We need to go,” he said.
“But my sisters—” Selena began.
“Are here,” Mary-Ann said from the cave entrance.
Vincent could feel the relief roll off of Selena. She stood with the other two women, Charlotte and Sandra, at the mouth of the cave. The younger one’s eyes were locked on the werewolf, the fear plain as day on her face.
“Thank the Goddess,” Selena sighed. Vincent and Dezzy headed towards the women. The youngest one looked at Dezzy, surprised.
“It’s you,” she said. He smiled at her.
“It is! And a werewolf! What a weird day, right?”
“Is that really you, Selena?” the older woman asked. Vincent held up the mirror so they could see the reflection.
“As much of me as there is. This man did not kill me,” she said.
“Mary-Ann told us,” Charlotte said. “Come quickly outside. That beast will be free any time now.”
They looked back at Marchosias. The seething, black Chaos energy was already spilling from it again. The whiteness had vanished from its golden eyes and it took a tentative step forward.
“Where will you go, witches? Where can you hide where the night will not find you? Darkness is my domain! The moon is my servant! Marchosias commands all that hides from the light!”
Its words were a furious roar. The very cave shook and Vincent felt his skin prickle as he stumbled back from the monster toward the witches.
“What have we unleashed?” Sandra asked.
“What Abigail unleashed. Perverted by blood magic, it is free to do as it chooses now,” Selena explained.
The three witches backed out of the cave ahead of Vincent and Dezzy and then stopped at the mouth.
“Has Mary-Ann explained everything?” Selena asked.
“She has,” Charlotte said.
“Will you help me save our sister from Maggie Huxley’s rage, then?”
“We are here to save all of our sisters,” Sandra said.