by Amy Cross
“I guess,” I mutter, double-checking the sphere but finding that it did, indeed, zero in on Emilia's location. To within a mile or two, at least. A little further out that I planned, but I've got to admit that the technology did its job. “For this to have worked, she must still be alive, and I doubt she'd have strayed too far from home.”
Looking around, however, I can't help feeling that this place seems completely desolate. There's no sign of a great palace anywhere, with mountains rising up all around us, although I guess there are a few plateaus where my father could have tried to hide an entire building. For all his stillness and calm, Patrick definitely seems to have had a slightly dramatic, almost theatrical touch at times, and I can't help imagining him roaming such a desolate place, trying to find the perfect place to ensconce the old spider palace in the hope that it would never be found.
“He should have just destroyed Karakh,” I continue, turning to Oncephalus. “Why did he let it survive?”
“Perhaps he knew that it was holding something back,” she suggests, making her way to the edge of the ridge and looking down into the valley below. “He must have had his reasons. Your father despised the spiders and everything they stood for, so he would have destroyed the palace unless...”
I wait for her to continue, but she seems lost in thought.
“You only destroy something if you understand it,” she adds finally. “If you're not sure, if you think that maybe there's something else you're not seeing, you'd be a fool to destroy it. You might end up unleashing something even worse. I suppose your father was a little wiser than he often seemed. If only Absalom... Well, you know...”
Again her voice trails off.
“About Absalom,” I say after a moment. “He -”
“We should get moving,” she replies, turning and heading past me, following the slope of the ridge as it leads down into the valley that cuts between two mountains. “Even if we're close to Karakh, we still need to find the damn place.”
I start following. “When Absalom died -”
“I don't need to know,” she says firmly, clearly keen to end the conversation. “Absalom was old school, he was one of the last survivors from the great war. He lived a good life and now he's dead. Please, Abby, try to suppress the human side of your mind for once and resist the urge to prattle on endlessly about emotions.”
“Well -” Realizing that I'm not going to get anywhere on the subject, I decide to just keep quiet. Maybe Oncephalus is right; I guess we just need to get on with the task of finding Karakh. There'll be time later to talk about the people we've lost.
***
“This is hopeless,” I mutter after a few hours, as I scramble through a gap in the rock-face and find myself in yet another dusty valley filled with nothing but a few boulders. Above, the sun burns in a cloudless blue sky, as if it's determined to bleach everything around us. “For all we know, we might be getting further away, not closer.”
“We're walking in a series of circles,” she replies.
“We are?”
“I've been keep track. Haven't you?”
“It's so hot,” I continue, wiping sweat from my brow, “I think -”
Losing my footing for a moment, I trip and stumble. I manage to reach out and grab a nearby section of rock, but I feel as if maybe this whole journey is starting to go wrong. I don't think I've ever felt so weak; even my training at Jagadoon was easier, since I knew there was a purpose to the whole thing.
“Karakh might not even be here,”I point out wearily. “It's possible that Emilia was killed and her body was dumped somewhere out here, and now we're just circling a corpse.”
“Have faith. Besides, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if that bitch was dead.”
“Emilia's not -”
“Save it,” she says firmly. “She's a spider, and spiders are better dead. If you'd fought in the great war, Abby, you'd understand.”
“Maybe if you hadn't fought in the war,” I reply, “you'd understand.”
She turns and glares at me.
“Just a suggestion,” I add, figuring that this isn't the right moment to start an argument about spiders. The truth, though, is that I've been starting to wonder whether my initial hatred of their species was wrong. Oncephalus probably just thinks I'm being weak, but if the spiders were lured into a trap and then exterminated on the steps of their ancient palace, I can't help feeling a little sorry for them. For Emilia, too.
“Don't,” Oncephalus says after a moment.
“Don't what?”
“Whatever you're thinking,” she continues, “just stop it. If it's about the spiders, I mean. They're evil and we have a duty to kill them, and that's all that matters.”
Sighing, I follow her through a narrow crack in the rock, with sheer walls rising up on either side. I haven't seen any sign of life in this place since we arrived, not even birds in the sky, and I'm starting to wonder if there's any water. If Karakh really is in this area, my father must have -
“Stop!” Oncephalus says suddenly, putting a hand against my chest to hold me back.
“What?”
I wait, but she doesn't reply. Looking around, I don't see or hear anything untoward, but I see the concern in her eyes as she turns and glances back the way we've just come.
“What?” I whisper again.
She pauses. “We should turn around and try another route.”
“Why?”
“Trust me.” She turns and takes a step back. “This -”
Stopping again, she looks up toward the walls of the valley.
“You're just being extra-cautious, right?” I continue. “Come on, seriously, there's nothing here and -”
Before I can finish, I hear a faint scrabbling sign nearby, and I turn just in time to see a few pieces of rock crumbling down the wall and landing near my feet. Looking up, I wait for some sign of movement, but there's nothing.
“Abby,” Oncephalus says after a moment, “have you ever heard the legend of Rachel?”
“Who?”
“Have you heard of the Bibophem?”
“I don't think they're mentioned in the Book of Gothos,” I reply, already tensing in case something suddenly comes lunging toward us.
“Of course they're not,” she continues. “We're way beyond the reference points Gothos used. The Bibophem are another race from the ancient days, something that has managed to persist in the shadows. They once fought a vast battle against a woman named Rachel, and they lost, and since then they've been most dormant. Some people even think they might have died out altogether. Still, it makes sense if...”
She turns and looks the other way for a moment.
“If the demons are behind this,” she whispers, “it makes sense that they've recruited the help of creatures they can control. And unfortunately the Bibophem are very much real, because I encountered a nest of the damn things once.”
“Okay,” I reply cautiously, “then what -”
Hearing another scrabbling sound, I look over my shoulder, but once again I don't see anything.
“Hold onto your bones,” Oncephalus says suddenly.
I turn to her. “Huh?”
“It's an old incantation that was supposed to bring luck when dealing with the Bibophem,” she explains. “Poor souls who wandered too close to their territory would say 'Hold onto your bones' in the hope that it might help them survive.”
“And did it?”
“Probably not.” She pauses again, before turning to me. “This might actually be good news, Abby. If there are Bibophem in this area, they must have been deliberately placed here by the demons, which means we must be close to -”
Suddenly I hear a screeching sound from over my shoulder, and I turn just in time to see a pale creature scuttling toward me, its body wrapped in rags and its yellow eyes burning with anger. The creature reaches out to grab my arm, but I instinctively swing a punch and knock it back, and it scurries up the rock-face, seeking refuge behind a small ridge.
Hearing a cry behind me, I turn and see that Oncephalus is struggling with another of the creatures, but the damn thing seems to have dug its claws into her belly and a moment later I hear a snapping sound.
As Oncephalus cries out and slumps toward me, the creature scurries away, leaving a trail of blood on the dusty ground.
“Are you okay?” I ask, trying not to panic.
“I will be,” Oncephalus gasps, clutching the wound above her waist. “The little bastard got a rib.”
“Got a what?”
“That's what Bibophem do,” she hisses, dropping down for a moment and letting out a grunt of pain. “In some cultures, they're referred to as bone-snatchers. They don't kill their victims directly, they do it by snatching one bone from their bodies at a time. It's a very indirect form of attack. If that sounds silly, then consider the fact that they're fast, they're smart, and they never, ever give up.” She winces as she examines the wound. “I once -”
We both turn as we hear a scuttling sound nearby. I spot a hint of movement up above, and I'm pretty sure another of the creatures is hiding behind a boulder that's nestled against a ridge about thirty feet above us.
“I once heard of a vampire foot-soldier named Phellyion,” Oncephalus continues. “He was trekking to Gothos when a solitary bone-snatcher began following his trail. There was no immediate attack, of course. Instead, the creature waited for Phellyion to tire and then began tearing bones from his body whenever it got a chance. Phellyion couldn't fight the damn thing off, but he kept marching toward Gothos because he had an important message to deliver.” She struggles to her feet and draws her sword. “They say that by the time Phellyion reached Gothos a month later, more than half the bones had been taken from his body. One by one, the creature stripped him down.”
“So how do we kill them?” I ask, trying not to panic as I look around, waiting for them to make their next move.
“They're pretty cowardly things,” she explains. “They strike to weaken their prey, and then they just follow until their victim collapses, and then they strike again. Then again, if they're hunting in a pack this time and if they're following orders from the demons, they might have changed their approach.”
Sensing movement above, I look up toward the ridges.
“We need to keep moving,” Oncephalus says firmly, grabbing my shoulder to lead me forward. “We're obviously not far from where we need to be, not if they're trying to scare us off. Just don't show any weakness, Abby, and hopefully the Bibophem will keep well back. There has to be -”
Suddenly another creature screeches toward us. I feel a set of claws digging into my arm, and I can't help crying out as a sliver of bone is scraped away and pulled out. Turning, I reach out and try to grab the creature, but it scurries away with its prize.
“Run!” Oncephalus shouts, grabbing my other arm and pulling me along. “We have to get out of here before they snatch every bone in our bodies!”
Emilia
The guard lets out a pained grunt as I crush his ribs with a punch, and I quickly slam his head into the wall before he can shout for help. As he slumps to the floor, I give him an extra kick in the face just to make absolutely certain that he's out cold, and then I step firmly on his neck, crushing his windpipe.
I didn't have to kill him, but it sure feels good. I don't even know what species he was from, but obviously he was some hired grunt brought in by the demons to do their dirty work.
As I make my way along the corridor, I swear I'm already feeling stronger. I only spent about an hour pouring water into the cracks on the door. The idea was probably sound enough and it would have worked eventually, but I totally don't have the patience to spend night after night dripping water into cracks and waiting for the door to eventually break. So instead, I quickly came up with a much faster plan. When the guard came to fetch my empty food bowl, I managed to reach through the bars and finally – after trying but failing so many times before – I was able to grab his throat and pull him hard against the door, knocking him out. Then I managed to lift him up and get hold of his keys, and it took only a few more minutes before the unlocked the door. Of course then the bastard started to wake up, so I crushed his ribs and killed him, but now I'm back in business.
Still, that idea about the ice in the cracks made me feel hopeful for the first time in ages. It was hope that made me attack the guard with more determination than ever before, and now I'm heading up to the main hall of Karakh so I can deal with the monsters that killed the rest of my species.
Emilia is back in business.
Hearing voices up ahead, I stop and duck into another corridor. Every fiber of my body is screaming at me to go running straight into a fight, but I know I need to be smarter than that. Looking along the dark corridor, which appears to extend several hundred meters through the rocks, I realize that I should try to work out exactly what the demons are planning. On top of that, I'm definitely out-numbered, and even though the guard at my cell door wasn't too difficult to bring down I can tell that the demons have hired some outside help to beef up their numbers.
Emilia is smart enough to pick her battles carefully.
Emilia also needs to stop thinking about herself in the third person. She didn't go that crazy in the prison cell, or at least I don't think so.
Turning, I hurry along the corridor until I reach a room at the far end, where I find a large oak table with several chairs nearby. On the opposite wall there's a faded plaque with colors stained into the wood, and when I get closer I realize that I've seen the image before. Once, a long time ago, Keller showed me the traditional coat of arms that belonged to my family. Reaching up, I run my fingers against the damaged wood and feel all the marks and indentations, and finally I unhook the plaque and bring it down so I can take a closer look.
Taking a deep breath, I can't help thinking that once, many years before I was born, my father and mother probably stood in this very room and held this exact same piece of wood.
Of course, they're dead now. They're long gone and I'll never get to meet them, and this isn't the right time to get sentimental, but still...
I do have heritage, and a history, even if I feel so completely disconnected from it all.
Hearing movement nearby, I turn just in time to see that a figure is watching me from the doorway at the far end of the room. I open my mouth to say something smart, but a moment later there's a faint crackling sound as a ripple of blue energy lights up in a crack on the creature's face, and I realize that one of the demons has found me. It's not Skellig, which is good since I'd go straight for his throat instead of being smart and holding back.
“Hey,” I say finally, waiting to see what he'll do next, “how are you doing there?”
I swallow hard, trying not to let my fear show, but the creature offers no reply. Instead, he simply continues to watch me while blue energy surges beneath his flesh.
“You need to, uh...” Glancing over my shoulder, I see that the only way out of here apart from the window is to go back the way I came. “You need to really get better help around here,” I continue, turning to see that the creature has taken a few steps closer. He sure as hell doesn't seem to be in a hurry. “That guard was useless,” I add, setting the plaque carefully back on the wall, where it belongs. “The moment I perked up, I was out of there in a flash. For future reference, you guys totally need to rethink your hiring procedures.”
Taking a few steps back, I realize that I'm going to have to run at any moment.
“Also,” I start to say, “you -”
Before I can get another word out, I hear a loud hiss behind me. When I turn, I see the face of another demon glaring at me from just a foot or so away, and I'm not quick enough to get out of the way when he lunges at me. I feel his hand burning into my face as he grabs my head and tries to push me down, and by the time I pull away and scramble toward the far wall I'm in agony. Reaching up, I feel sections of bone poking out through the burned skin on my cheek, and a moment later I realize
I can see a patch of my burned flesh seared against the demon's hand.
Wincing with pain, I force myself to my feet as the two creatures step closer.
“I guess you want me to go back into my cell, right?” I ask, as I realize that they've blocked off both the exits. “I've got to tell you, that idea doesn't interest me very much, so maybe we can talk about another option?”
The closest demon opens his mouth, revealing a row of stubbly little teeth.
“At least Skellig talks,” I add, backing all the way into the corner. Looking around, I see that the only possible way out of here now is to go through the window. It'd be dramatic, sure, but it's better than any of the alternatives. Maybe there's a courtyard or something out there and I can find somewhere to hide while I come up with a better plan.
The closest demon steps toward me.
“We'll have to pick this chat up later,” I tell him.
Turning and running, I throw myself at the window with enough force to smash straight through. Glass shatters all around me and I twist around, but it's only once I'm all the way out that I realize the window overlooks a vast drop of several hundred meters, all the way down the side of the valley at the rear of the main palace.
This was not the plan.
As I tumble down through the air, I can't help thinking that it's going to hurt when I land. After a moment, however, I realize that the side of the valley slopes inward, which means there'll be several impacts along the way. Turning my face away, I smash into an overhang and crash through solid rock, bouncing against the slope and tumbling further.
This is going to hurt even more than I expected.
Abby Hart
“Don't look back!” Oncephalus hisses, grabbing my arm and forcing me to keep pace with her. “Don't do anything that'll make the Bibophem think you're flagging.”
“I really don't like the idea that they're following us,” I reply, keeping my voice low.
“We can't do anything about it now,” she tells me. “Besides, I'm more worried about the fact that we seem to be being led directly toward Karakh. These demons aren't behaving the way I expected, it's like they're funneling us in a certain direction.”