by Steve Thomas
He made it into the passage, still spurred forward by the ghostly candles. He hazarded a glance behind to see the wraith still drifting forward, passing through each candle one after another, always inching forward.
The way was narrow; he passed through cracks in the rock wall. Shoulder first, he sidled onward as the stone scratched and bit at him. Darvik didn’t look back. He didn’t need to.
The narrow cavern gave way to a chamber with a rotting plank door. He shouldered through the door, completing his set of bruised bones and sore joints. But what was a damaged shoulder compared to his tormented mind?
Now he stood at the base of a stairwell. He climbed. Darvik ignored his burning legs and his aching bones, forcing from his thoughts the memory of his descent and how many stairs awaited him. He climbed, gasping for breath, stumbling over stairs when his feet refused to rise. His heart beat ever faster and yet it drove his body forward like a ship’s drummer. He raced to the top of the spiraling stairs, pushed through another door, and collapsed.
All his energy spent, he lay on his stomach. All around him were racks and barrels of wine. He was back inside Sangrook Manor proper, in the wine cellar. If he could only rise once more to his feet, he could return to the servants’ quarters, wake his master, and escape this foul place. But his body refused him.
Only then did Darvik realize he was still holding the mummy’s pendant. He clasped it tightly in his left hand, where it dug into his palm. Blood dripped from between his fingers and into the gem. The amethyst was still feeding.
He wanted nothing more than to toss the pendant down the stairwell and slam the door shut, leaving that wraith in the pits where it belonged. But even in this, his body refused him. It was a struggle even to hold his eyes open.
The wraith emerged from the door. Darvik felt her chilly presence long before he could gather the strength to roll over and face her. He was powerless to stand, incapable of running another step. He lay on his side, facing the stairwell, gasping for air and stretching his cramped limbs. The wraith approached, gliding through the air like a falling leaf, sliding inexorably closer.
Once more, Darvik tried to loosen his grip on the pendant. This time, his fingers obeyed and unfurled, and the silver chain slipped from his grasp.
The amethyst did not. The blood-red pendant was embedded in his palm now. With every beat of his heart, blood swirled within the stone. It was part of him. If only he could escape this place, evade the wraith, and seclude himself in his workshop, then he might discover a way to extract the gem. He knew those all to be false hopes. The wraith was bound to him now, for whatever time he had left.
The wraith hovered over him, her face so close to his own that her spectral hair billowed with Darvik’s every breath. She closed her leathery eyelids, and when she opened them, two glowing orbs of pure white light had filled the empty sockets. These cracked and opened like another set of eyelids, revealing a pair of eyes, eyes that looked fresh and lively, eyes that seemed to ask, What troubles you? What aid can I give?
She reached out and touched Darvik’s forehead with a tip of her bony finger. Dark thoughts pushed themselves to the surface of Darvik’s mind. He set aside the fear and madness of the night and thought only of the man who had brought him here. Erenkirk. Erenkirk, who was always ready with a harsh word punctuated by a blow. Erenkirk, who assigned him to slaughtering pigs and crafting the simplest of artifacts. Erenkirk, who had forced him into a deal with a cruel and corrupt duke, forcing him into the trade of torturer by proxy. Erenkirk, who had dragged him into Sangrook Manor.
The wraith’s rotten visage contorted into a crooked grin. She released a heavy, rattling hiss of a breath, then slipped backward through a wall.
Darvik was yet again alone in the darkness of the mansion. He tried once to lift himself to his feet, then crashed to the floor. His eyes closed of their own accord.
***
A wan beam of sunlight warmed his face. Darvik awoke in a bed. This was not the cramped and dusty servant’s bed with it’s rough-spun blanket and a lumpy pallet. No, he lie beneath a blanket of furs atop a mattress the likes of which he had never imagined. He must have managed his way to this chamber in some fugue state. Darvik groaned and rolled out of bed.
The bedchamber may have once been a bastion of Sangrook vice and decadence, but now it was nothing more than four walls surrounding a bed. The window bore no curtains. Only the fog of grime and dust blocked the sun’s light. The floor was bare. There were no candelabras nor nightstands nor chairs. There was not even a poker by the fireplace. Someone had emptied this room and left the bed, but why?
As Darvik stood, he felt something tugging at the skin of his back and arms. Bandages. Somehow, he had collected a coating of clean white cloth, now blood-soaked and glued to his skin by scabs. He could no longer cling to the illusion that he had come to this bedroom on his own. No, someone had tended to his wounds and brought him to bed. His heart racing, Darvik looked down at his throbbing hand. The amethyst stared back at him, uncovered, the bandages carefully arranged to avoid it. Had it been the wraith who dragged him to safety? Had he misinterpreted the creature’s intent?
And then he noticed what was on the foot of the bed. Resting atop the fur blanket was a portrait, and a portrait Darvik had seen before, the same portrait of Habrien Sangrook that Erenkirk had pointed out in the lobby. Laying atop the corner of the wooden frame was a small hand mirror. Feeling nothing but dread, Darvik stepped to the items and peered into the mirror, knowing what he was meant to see, knowing what message the wraith had left for him. He saw in both the same pointed noise, the same sharp cheekbones, the same pale skin and darkest black hair. Even their eyes held the same tormented, haunted stare.
He knew then that Erenkirk’s joke upon seeing the portrait was no joke at all. He knew, in that moment, who his parents were and whose blood he carried. That was why the wraith had stopped short of killing him. That was why he had been transported to this bedroom. That was why he was wrapped in bandages. Darvik was an Sangrook, and this mansion wanted to claim him.
His only thought was of escape. He would find his way to Erenkirk and convince the old man that no contract or threat was worth another minute in this manor. Erenkirk would no doubt find some unbruised patch of skin on Darvik’s face to vent his frustration, but a beating was still better than what this place wanted of him. Darvik bolted out the door and into the hallway.
Lit only by the film of dim morning light, the mansion’s halls were far more welcoming. Geometric patterns criss-crossed along the length of a faded red carpet littered with rat droppings. Rotten molding gave way to pale and peeling blue paint. Macabre tapestries were hung here and there, depicting scenes of death and torment.
Darvik wandered his way to Erenkirk’s door and stopped. When he knocked, there was no response, but that was hardly uncommon. Thanks to a lifetime of heavy drinking, a simple knock on the door could rarely rouse the old man. Darvik pounded harder and got the response he expected: none at all. He slammed on the grimy plank of wood with his left hand, then reeled back and screamed with pain. He had forgotten the amethyst for the moment, and had pounded it against the bones of his hand. A blow like that should have pushed it out the back, and yet the artifact remained a part of him.
Clearly, Erenkirk was still asleep inside. There was no hope of avoiding a beating for entering his master’s chamber unbeckoned, so Darvik opened the door.
After a night alone in the terrible bowels of Sangrook Manor, he was beyond shock, beyond horror. For that reason, and that reason alone, Darvik met the gruesome tableau awaiting him with dull surprise. Erenkirk’s bed was empty. The floor was a pool of blood. Erenkirk himself, the vicious, cruel old man, lay sprawled where the blood was thickest. His chest was torn open, his ribs cracked and spread apart like a vulture’s wings, his entrails scattered across the room.
The wraith stood above him, proud and blood-soaked. It is done, her cold eyes said, as you requested.
Darvik’s th
roat went dry. He gently stepped back into the hall and closed the door, then slumped against the wall and buried his face in his hands.
***
Darvik returned to Windmire after long weeks of travel. He would have preferred to go anywhere else, but he only had the money and supplies that Erenkirk had packed for their journey. He could have gone to another city, but what then? All his tools, equipment, and books were in Erenkirk’s shop. He needed those if he were to establish and sustain himself in a new city. He was an artificer. He knew no other trade. There was no choice but to return. He didn’t plan to stay long.
When Darvik came to Erenkirk’s shop, Streshim was waiting for him. Streshim wasn’t the sort to guard a shop himself, which meant that some other member of the Town Guard had contacted him after Darvik declared himself at the city gates. “Where is your master, boy?” asked the Captain of the Guard.
Darvik set down his master’s pack and met the guardsman’s eye. “He did not survive the trip.”
Streshim snorted and patted Darvik on the soldier. “Didn’t think you had it in you. I guess you’re my artificer now. You’re not just inheriting his position and this building, you understand? You’re responsible for his contracts, too.”
“Your contract died with Erenkirk.”
Streshim smiled and laughed. “Oh, did it? And those artifacts you made for the dungeons? Did they stop working? Are the Holy Duke’s cells empty?”
Darvik stood tall and clenched his jaw. “Your contract died with Erenkirk.”
Streshim suddenly rushed forward and slammed Darvik against the door, pressing his forearm against the artificer’s neck. “It occurs to me that you have a spare bedroom now. I’ll be stationing one of my men here to monitor your progress. And I do expect progress, master artificer.” He shoved Darvik against the door again, then spun and marched away.
Darvik clenched his fists and felt the amethyst lapping at his every heartbeat. Streshim! He was the one who had forced Erenkirk into a life of cruelty and self-loathing. He was the reason the pair had made the desperate expedition to Sangrook Manor in the first place. It all started with Streshim.
Darvik tried to take comfort in the simple pleasure of a night in his own bed after a long journey. But every time he drifted off, his dreams were haunted by visions of the wraith. Every time, he awoke with a start. When it became unbearable, Darvik slipped out onto the city streets in search of wine to cloud his memories.
In the morning, a servant found Captain of the Guard Streshim dead. His head still rested on his own pillow. The rest of him was scattered about his bedchamber.
***
Windmire was years behind him. Darvik carried a fresh loaf of bread through the streets of Morville Crossing, a border town where travelers were nothing to balk at. That’s what he was now, a traveling spirit lamp seller. After he head the news of Streshim’s death, he fled Windmire with a cartload of Erenkirk’s stock and tools. He’d bounced from city to city, selling what he could and occasionally setting up a workshop to produce a new batch of spirit lamps. It was only lamps now, nothing more complex, nothing more dangerous.
As he walked, someone bumped into him. “Hey, watch yourself, asshole,” said the man.
Darvik let the insult slide off him and kept moving.
“I’m talking to you!” the man shouted from behind.
All it took was one moment of weakness, one brief loss of control, and the wraith would latch on to another victim. She was his burden, his curse, and his ancestor’s legacy. Even at such a small affront to him, the amethyst was pulsing in his palm beneath the black leather glove he wore to hide it. He could feel the wraith’s rage growing like an itch inside his skull.
“No,” he whispered. “He’s no one.” He breathed in deeply, and the sensation passed. She responded to his emotions, magnified a thousandfold. With a little mental discipline, he’d learned how to keep her safely mollified. But the night would always come when he failed, and on that night, someone wound up dead, reduced to a bloody heap of flesh and bone.
He felt his knee fold and he collapsed; he’d been kicked in the back of the leg. Darvik caught his fall with his left hand and the gem ground against his bones. He couldn’t contain a growl of pain, and the burst of agony jolted the wraith to attention. He could see her misty silhouette coalescing, reaching for the main who had harmed him.
With a groan, Darvik stood to face his attacker. He was a rough man, with a scar down the right side of his face and a crooked nose, wearing torn clothing with a rusty blade at his hip. He was short and lean, but that only made some men fiercer. This was a man who spoke through violence, a man like Erenkirk.
That comparison did nothing to soothe the wraith.
“You do not walk away from me,” said the man as Darvik met his eye.
Darvik’s heart was racing. His own pain was immaterial, but he feared for the man who had assaulted him. Ruffian or not, he didn’t deserve what the wraith would send his way. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t paying enough attention.”
“No. You weren’t.” He shoved Darvik with both hands, forcing him back a step. “You do not disrespect me. This is my street, understand?”
Morville Crossing was crawling with street gangs. He should have been more careful. The crowd was thinning, backing up to form a ring around the two. There wasn’t a city in the world where the people wouldn’t clear space for a good fight. Walking away was no longer an option.
Darvik stood tall and locked his eyes on his assailant’s. He took a deep breath and purged his face of all emotion. He stood motionless while the street tough postured and pranced and peacocked, ranting about respect and territory. Darvik didn’t listen. The words didn’t matter.
All the while, the wraith stirred. No one else seemed to see her, but she swirled around the thug, teeth bared and claws poised to slit a throat at the slightest hint of approval from Darvik.
“It’s not worth it,” said Darvik, to both of them.
Confusion wormed its way into the tough’s eyes. Darvik knew what he was thinking. He’d been in this situation before. Why wasn’t Darvik reacting? Where were the fear and anger? Where was the willingness to the fight? Why wasn’t he rattled?
Sometimes the strategy worked. Sometimes it didn’t. It all depended on the man and what he had to lose.
The man rushed toward Darvik and brought their faces inches apart. He puffed and lurched and drew back a fist. But Darvik stared resolutely ahead, looking through the man at the furious wraith behind him.
The street tough dropped his arms to his sides and shrugged. “I better not see you here again.” He swore at the crowd as he pushed his way through.
Darvik didn’t waste any time returning to his temporary home, a small room in a slum. When he arrived, a dark haired woman in a low-cut frock was leaning against the lamppost outside his door. He often walked past her there. It was her corner. Her eyes flicked to the loaf of bread he carried, and she said, “Eating alone again, honey? You know a little company don’t cost much.”
He rubbed his forehead and felt the amethyst scrape against his face through the glove. “Appreciate the offer, but I’ve taken a vow of chastity.” That was no lie. He hadn’t shared a bed with any woman since Sangrook Manor. How could he, knowing his true heritage? He had sworn himself to celibacy and sobriety. How could he father a child that would only pass along his tainted blood? There was no choice.
She leaned forward in a motion that was as revealing as it was practiced. “You’d be surprised how often I help break those.”
He thought of Candle, how he had mistaken business for love in his youth, how he had never said goodbye to her. This too incited the wraith. Even someone who reminded Darvik of his own shame deserved a grisly death in her eyes.
Darvik pried his eyes away from the woman and slipped inside. He set a pot full of carrots to boil in his fireplace, set the bread aside for later, and sat at his table with his face buried in his hands, forcing all thoughts and images
out of his mind. He envisioned that he was back in the caverns beneath Sangrook, where he was totally alone in perfect darkness. He let that memory of isolation soothe him, soothe the wraith. No one had to die tonight.
He was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“I don’t mind,” he spoke aloud, trying to convince both himself and the wraith. By reflex, he checked that he was still wearing his gloves, then smoothed his shirt and opened the door.
Another woman stood at his threshold. She was was draped in a thin, sheer dress that left no question of her occupation. From her fair complexion, the shock of fiery red hair, and plenty of other details that Darvik could plainly discern, he instantly recognized her. It was Candle. And a boy clung to her leg.
She’d found him, after all these years. But why?
“So it is you,” said Candle. “I’ve been trying to track you down. I was so worried when you disappeared.”
Darvik smiled at her, tried to make a show of being glad to see her. “I left Windmire on short notice. It was nothing personal.”
“That’s not what I meant,” said Candle. She placed a palm on the boy’s back and pushed him forward. “I was with child when you left.”
“No,” said Darvik. He crouched down and grabbed the boy by the shoulders. He knew immediately that this boy was his own. He had Darvik’s pale skin and dark hair, his nose, his ears… This was his son indeed. But he also saw in the boy Habrien Sangrook’s sharp chin and the wraith’s mercilessly compassionate eyes. Darvik had broken his vow before he had even made it.
This was his son. Cursed blood coursed through his veins, but this was his son.
His gaze drifted back to the wraith, who spun blissfully at the news of another descendant. In that moment, he understood her. Darvik would raise this boy, watch over him, teach him everything he knew. He thought of the man who had threatened him earlier that day, pictured a gang coming for him, coming for his son.