by A. R. Knight
“A little?”
“A couple of people I care about caught it,” Anna said. “They didn’t survive.”
On the street in front of us, the pair of guides went by, looking at their resonator and oblivious to us.
“Anna,” I started, but she was already moving. I followed, frowning. I wasn’t in a great position to argue against binding spirits, but I’d barely made it away from Barth’s tower with my life. Every unnecessary binding took a part of you away, strength and vitality that might be better kept at home.
We reached a dilapidated ruin, a store that was nothing more than a collapsed roof and a single, empty doorway.
“They’re in here,” Anna said, ducking in. I followed her in where the roof filtered some of the gray light, casting shadows throughout the rubble.
At the back of the building, after stepping over and around chunks of broken wood and rock, Anna leaned down and opened a trapdoor, grasping and hauling on a metal ring. The door banged open, scattering ash flakes into the air. Someone had hung thick glass along the stairs leading down. Riven’s gray light reflected its way into the depths, letting us see where to set our feet.
“You did this?” I said.
“It took a long time,” Anna replied. “Glass is hard to find.”
At the bottom, the light illuminated a short hall that ended in a dark iron slab. Lifted and pressed, with crude hinges, into a faltering doorway.
“Laurence helped,” Anna said as we went up to the door. “We had to dodge so many guides setting this up. I think that’s part of why he’s so hostile towards you.”
“Everybody has their reasons,” I said. “What’s behind the door?”
Anna didn’t say anything. Just reached out, grabbed the edge of the slab, and pulled it open. The slab creaked as it swung, revealing a room in shambles, and a pair of spirits inside. That’s when I noticed Anna had drawn the mace.
The spirits turned towards us, a man and a woman. I caught the resemblance in the slight light. Their faces, height, everything matched the sneak standing next to me. I also saw the pale fire in their eyes.
“They’re your parents,” I said.
“I need you to help me bind them,” Anna replied, not taking her eyes off of the spirits. Both of them were edging towards the doorway. “Make them whole again. Like you did with Nicholas.”
“How long, Anna?” I said, stepping back from the door. From those burning eyes. “How long have they been down here?”
“Almost a year,” Anna whispered. “I found them right away, after they passed.”
The two spirits started to growl, to hiss. Crouched and readied themselves to run at the door. I grabbed Anna and pulled her back, slammed the slab shut.
“Your parents aren’t in there anymore,” I said. “It’s been too long. They didn’t even recognize you.”
“I... I thought you could bring them back?” Anna said. “I thought binding would...?”
“A bound spirit is shielded from the Cycle,” I said. “From its call. Like my coat keeps me safe from their bites. Binding doesn’t do anything to the spirit beneath. The things in there aren’t your mother and father anymore.”
Anna stared at me. Not a single tear dropped down her face. “I had hoped,” Anna said. “Except, I think part of me always knew. When they stopped talking to me, when their eyes shifted, that they were gone.”
“That’s why we can’t bind everyone we love,” I said. “We have to find them fast, before the anger takes hold or the Cycle claims them.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “You can give them peace, Anna. Send them on their way.”
This time, when I opened the metal slab, the two spirits were waiting by the door. They lunged, right into Anna swinging her burning flail. Anna’s aim was true, and moments later the two spirits, black-eyed and blissful, walked up the stairs and outside of the basement.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Anna didn’t reply. She walked up after her parents. I followed, and we looked at the two spirits as they wandered down the road together into the hazy distance.
“I wanted to become a guide to save them,” Anna said after a long moment.
“You did,” I said.
Anna nodded. We stayed there in that ruined building, watching the ash drift and swirl along the empty apartments, until Anna gave a heavy sigh. “You did you part,” she said. “I’ll be there tonight.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “There’s one more thing we need to do first.”
Chapter 56
When Nicholas opened the door and I saw my mother standing behind him, I was stunned. What a change a single day of freedom could do for you. She’d lost the banded outfit and, with Selena and Nicholas helping, now wore more traditional guide garb. With the cloak I’d brought her from the extras in the clock tower, she looked less like a terror of the night and more like a real person. The grit and grime from decades running around Riven wasn’t entirely gone, but she looked fresh.
“It feels strange,” she said when I gave her the compliments. “For so long I’ve been on my own. Whatever I could cobble together out of the things I could find.”
“Well, if you really try...” Nicholas started before I held up a hand.
“Not everyone has your talents, Nicholas,” I said. “So you think you’re ready?”
My mother nodded. “Graham is only going to get worse. He’s going to find more breaches and compel more spirits to follow him.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I said. “How is he doing that? Is he actually binding all of them?”
Katherine shook her head. “He talks to them. Graham’s been a spirit for a long time, Carver. He calls to them in the voice that you cannot hear and gives them a cause, a home for the lost.”
“You’re saying Graham’s forming relationships with these spirits?”
“I’m saying that when you die, you cross into Riven devastated and alone. Graham speaks to you. Tells you what you are, where you are, and then offers you a way home,” Katherine glanced towards Selena. “It’s a persuasive speech. The promise of a new life works on the hardest of hearts.”
“When I first met Graham, he led me to a factory. Ambushed me with an army of spirits, only all of them burned with anger. I didn’t think a spirit would listen to anything past that point?”
“It would be more difficult,” Katherine said. “However, wouldn’t surprise me if Graham found a way to connect with them. A rock rolling down a hill is difficult to budge, but if the effort is large enough, you can change its course.”
“If I might change the subject?” Nicholas interrupted. “I would like to show you my latest tool? I believe it will be quite useful.”
“One of these days, Nicholas, I’m going to teach you how to talk like a real human,” I said.
“I believe that is an opinion, Carver,” Nicholas said. “My motor speech is not unqualified for—”
“I get it,” I said. “Please, talk?”
“Look,” Nicholas said, then he rushed over to a table that had a coat lying on it. A large, thick black number. He held it up and in the gray light I could see a series of lines running all across it. Down the back, along the arms, as though the entire thing were an art piece instead of clothing. “It is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Nice design,” I said. “Only, I already have a coat.”
“You’ll like this better,” Katherine said. “Trust me.”
Nicholas gave my mother an appreciative nod. He slipped the coat on. Shrugged. When Nicholas moved his shoulders, all of the lines on the coat lit up briefly. Went bright blue for a second before flashing back to the normal color.
“If a spirit touches one of these, they’ll burn,” Nicholas said. “Selena and I, with the help of your mother, tested it earlier today. Perfect for wrangling when you’re desperate.”
I ditched out of my coat and tried on the new one. A perfect fit. If what Nicholas was saying was true, and my mother seemed to agree, and this was a great addition.
“Nicholas,” I said. “Have I ever told you how wonderful you are?”
“Not enough,” Nicholas said.
“Remind me to tell you next time,” I replied.
I looked around the living room with the new coat on, but didn’t see Selena anywhere. Katherine caught my roaming gaze and nodded outside. The balcony. Of course. Selena’s favorite spot in the place. I figured a do or die mission against Graham required at least a cursory goodbye. Just in case.
Chapter 57
I found Selena outside on the balcony looking over the skyline. There weren’t as many sparks right now - the hour was a little odd. Too early for the night crew while the day would be wrapping up their hunts. At least for my part of the world.
“You really like it out here, don’t you?” I said.
“Like?” Selena replied with laughter on the edge of her voice. “It’s more that this is the only part of the apartment that’s open. Nicholas has taken it all over. And now with your mom there, it’s crowded.”
“You need to breathe.”
“I was never one for crowds,” Selena said. “I prefer my own freedom.”
“That’s a little dramatic, isn’t it? All you have here is freedom. You could go anywhere,” I said.
“I don’t know that I really could,” Selena turned away from me. “If I venture much beyond this place, I might be found by another guide. Might be attacked by an angry spirit. Or I might find someone like Graham, who can mess with my head.”
“We’re going after him tonight. You won’t have to worry about him anymore,” I said.
“You know what?” Selena replied. “I still like it. Worrying. Having something to be afraid of. You always talk about how you love the hunts and going out there and having adventures. I like it too.”
“I was thinking about that,” I said. “After this, once Graham is out of the way? Let’s go. I’ll get Nicholas to make you some gear and we can hunt together.”
“Go with you?”
“Bryce and my mother? They went on hunts for decades together. She was a spirit whole time. I can teach you, and we can be a team. Explore all of Riven together,” I said.
I watched her face. I didn’t know how she was going to take the idea. On the one hand, it had to be more interesting than her current existence wandering the streets around the apartment. Playing test subject for Nicholas’s experiments. On the other, she’d never been trained. She wasn’t a guide, or a soldier. Violence might be in her nature, but not the same way as it was for me.
“Yes,” Selena said, and for the first time in a long time, her smile looked genuinely happy. “I might not like all of it, but anything would be better than this. Besides, I would get to see you in action more often. See whether all the bragging you throw around is really earned.”
“Believe me, it is,” I replied.
“That means you have to come back alive tonight,” Selena said. “You can’t let Graham win. Because now you owe me.”
“I owe you?”
“You do. I’m the one that led you to your mother, after all.”
“I believe I rescued you?” I said.
“Only because I let you,” Selena said.
I pulled her close then. Laughing. There were few moments in my life where I’ve been able to do that. Just enjoy seconds of free fun. No angry spirits attempting to kill me. No sarcastic undertones about how everything was grim and dark and doomed. No, for that moment on the balcony, Selena and I were two people enjoying one another and delighting in our words.
I heard a new voice come in through the apartment. Bryce, and my mother’s happy exclamation at his arrival.
“I guess it’s time to get ready,” I whispered.
“I guess so,” Selena said. “A kiss for luck?”
“Make it two,” I said.
Chapter 58
Back inside the apartment things were like a family reunion. Bryce and Katherine hugged each other and launched into questions and stories about what had happened over the last few years. Alec pulled Nicholas aside and asked him about the various things in the room. What this machine did, whether Nicholas could make Alec something fun. Selena and I, we stood and watched. When Anna came in a minute later, the whole thing was thrown into entertaining chaos yet again.
“The sneak!” Bryce said. “She arrives.”
“She’s carrying a weapon,” Alec noted.
“A weapon?” Nicholas said. “That’s a most rudimentary term. What Miss Anna carries is a thing of art. A wrecking ball that is nonetheless the embodiment of finesse.”
“Nicholas is right - I’d avoid the wrong end of that one,” I said, stepping into the fray. “Introductions all around. Then we should go. I’m guessing Graham’s not going to let us walk right in like last time.”
“I hope not,” Alec said. “All of us together? How unsatisfying if our foe is not at his best?”
As names were exchanged and roles described, I noticed Bryce flicking his eyes to Selena and I. Selena, who stayed towards the back, gave her name and nothing else when it was her turn. I’d probably have to answer questions about that later and, if this were a month ago, the thought would’ve had me worried. Now it seemed so trivial. Who cared? With everything at stake, there was no reason to worry about some love in my life.
It took another hour, but we finally left the apartment. The five of us, myself, my mother Katherine, Bryce, Alec, and, trailing behind, Anna. She hadn’t pushed against the role of reinforcement. I think seeing the kind of experience we had on the front lines communicated the type of fight we were walking into. That, perhaps, she wasn’t ready for this yet.
The walk to the Tar Pit seemed faster this time. Maybe it was because we all kept talking, laughing on our way to what promised to be a difficult fight. Like I said before, Riven takes on a different cast when you’re traveling with a group. The deadly doesn’t seem so deadly anymore. The gray ash was more like snow. The ever-present muted light seemed dramatic, creating the perfect atmosphere for us to visit a final end upon our adversary.
We were four blocks into the Tar Pit, blocks away from the building we’d fought Graham at earlier, when our target strode out in front of us. Graham still wore that same top hat, carried that hammer with the spike, sported the long overcoat. That maniacal grin.
“Katherine!” Graham called. “I see you swapped sides. That’s a shame.”
“Amazing what free will can do for you,” Katherine said. “You should try it sometime.”
“If you think free will is amazing, have a look at this,” Graham replied, then brought a pair of fingers to his mouth and whistled. At least, that’s what I thought. I couldn’t hear anything. Katherine, though, winced.
“This isn’t going to be good,” Katherine said. “Get ready.”
A moment later the ground began to shake, a rumble of hard thumps pounding their way towards us. Alec threw me a look and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Ghouls.
They burst onto the street, two of them. Different than the one Alec and I had fought. The one on the right barreled towards us in a rolling mass. Instead of an endless supply of arms and legs, it seemed as though this ghoul was only made out of the former. No eyes, no mounds, just a thousand arms hooked into a central ball.
The one on the left, that was even worse. It moved slowly, a pair of giant two-story legs curled up into a ball with a maw full of teeth. As though a million smiles had been shoved together, all their mismatched incisors jammed into one another to form a jagged infinite.
“We’ll take the one on the right,” Bryce called.
“We?” I said.
“Katherine and I,” Bryce said. “Like old times.”
That left Alec and myself. I waved to Anna to fall back fall back. Stay out of harms way. Then I faced the monstrous thing.
Each of the ghoul’s toes were as large as I was. Their gnarled nails protruding like dirty sheets of glass towards us. Alec threw a wink my way.
“At least this on
e doesn’t have arms,” Alec said. He ran towards it.
“Wait,” I said. Drew my crossbow and flipped one of the orange explosive bolts into the slot. Turned the crank as the ghoul came closer. Aimed. Fired straight into its mouth.
My aim was true, but then, from the ghoul’s mouth, a giant tongue snaked out and batted the bolt away. The missile struck a factory roof and exploded, well away from the ghoul.
“Guess we’ll need to try something else then,” I said lowering the crossbow.
“Besides, such a technique is no fun,” Alec said.
Alec met the ghoul’s feet head-on, rolling underneath an attempted kick and then, springing at the back of the leg, Alec grabbed hold of the ghoul’s calf and climbed up. His serrated gauntlets left burning blue gashes everywhere they touched. The ghoul howled its displeasure but didn’t seem to have a way to get to Alec, or at least, that’s what I thought until I saw that tongue come out again.
The slimy thing snaked out, around and back behind its own leg, gripping Alec and pulling him off. Alec struck the tongue with his gauntlets, but the spirit ignored their burning pain and flung, with a sharp crack, the guide to the ground. Alec bounced off the street and lied there, groaning. Not our best start to a fight.
The ghoul came closer, reached up a foot to step on Alec, and as it came down I rushed underneath and jabbed upwards with my long knife. The ghoul’s foot stomped onto the point and it howled, a crazed scream that bore no resemblance to anything I’d ever heard before. High-pitched and ripping with static agony. Like an emergency radio broadcast losing its signal.
The ghoul tried to raise its foot back off of my knife and lost its balance. Fell backward and collapsed its bulk onto the street. I followed the fall, climbed over the foot and began running up the leg, uncurling my lash as I went.
I saw the tongue come out, looping its way into the air. Pointing at me and darting down. I snapped the lash and it wrapped around the tongue as it came towards me. Pulled to the side, jerking the tongue to the right as it went by, missing me by inches. Then I twisted my hand and sent the pale fire running along the lash through the point and into the tongue.