A Thousand Eyes

by Christian Leese

  If we’re going to stand any chance at all, you need to let me have my own body. No more fighting to control my actions, no more creeping into my thoughts when I don’t want you there. Do you understand? I’ll cut you out myself, right here, if you don’t.

  Bane shifted beneath Canis’ skin for a few steps. “Very well. Your body is your own again. But if you do anything to endanger us, I will not hesitate to protect myself.”

  He felt something like a long thread being pulled out of his body. His legs wobbled, and he lost his footing for a moment. Bane had been controlling him for longer than he had realized.

  Vann caught him by the shoulder. “You’ve been acting strange since Mortalo sent you away. What’s going on?”

  “The blood loss, and…” Canis mumbled, “…this new body makes me feel so embarrassed. It’s nothing. Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”

  Vann raised an eyebrow but left it there.

  Canis looked around with new eyes. There were hazy outlines of a dozen ragged mannequins piling down the street in their fearless, manic strides. His gaze shot to the corner of the next intersection and to a single closed door in the walls, battered but still solid. If they get close to Vann, can you protect him? Bane did not answer.

  “Through there, hurry,” Canis said, grabbing Vann.

  Canis pushed the wooden surface, but it didn’t budge. Without a word, they reeled back and rammed into it. The door cracked and splintered. They tried again, and the doorframe disintegrated, leaving damp stone behind. A table that had been barricading it slammed onto the floor.

  “Die, you sons of whores!” a lithe, female figure shouted from behind a bonfire piled on the stone floor. A spear shot between them and sparked off the wall. The woman sprang over her makeshift cover and dove at Canis, dagger in hand.

  Vann caught her by the throat and pinned her against the wall.

  The light fell onto her face, orange and yellow flickering onto strong, fearless features. Thorne stared at them, covered in soot, teeth gnashed together, hands bloodied. An unfamiliar feeling grabbed Canis from inside, as if Vann had something of his, as if he had wronged him. Bane remained silent, and Canis pushed the thoughts aside.

  “Big’un? I thought you were one of them. Well, don’t just stand there, put the door back into the frame! Hurry! C’mon, guys! Get off me!” she said, struggling against Vann.

  Vann looked to Canis, who nodded. Thorne wriggled free of the loosened grip and grabbed the table. Vann helped, and together they slid it back into place.

  “What’s going on?” Canis asked.

  She grabbed a replacement spear from the wall. “About a day after you left, my mum started acting strange. Everyone did. Like they weren’t themselves.” She walked toward them. “They wandered around like stray dogs, and before I knew it, they were trying to pin me.”

  “You’re lucky they didn’t get you. They’re Scourge, and if they get hold of you, they pass on the plague in the form of a parasite that nests within you,” Canis said.

  Thorne raised an eyebrow. “Lucky? Look around!” She stretched her arms to her sides. “I’m a prisoner here! And my mum is missing. I have to help her!”

  “I’m so sorry, Thorne, but your mum is probably one of the Scourge by now. There’s nothing we can do. There’s no looking back. We’re all children of the damned, no more so than you. Luck is hard to come by around here, I know.”

  She nodded, her body hunched, withdrawn. They took a step back, the chittering of the Scourge muffled by the door. Thorne looked at Canis, but her gaze fell to the floor. She knew. She must have always known what was happening.

  She pointed at Vann. “Who’s this one?”

  Canis went to the door, placing a foot on the table to steady it as the Scourge outside tried to get in. “This is Vann Xan. He’s my big brother.”

  “Nice to meet you, Vann Xan. My name’s Beatrix Thorne. So, why you following this one’s orders?”

  Vann’s arm tensed. “What does it have to do with you?”

  “I was only asking. Safety in numbers, I suppose.” Her gaze drifted to Canis’ belt. “What in the hell is that?”

  Canis looked down. “Kruger’s head. You asked for it, didn’t you?”

  “Gods below,” she said as she cut the hair tied to his belt. “I didn’t think you’d do it. All right, big’un, new deal; you get me out of here and I’ll help you kill that bastard, Mortilo. I can’t see the Dusk Raiders like this anymore. I just can’t.”

  “Mortalo,” Vann corrected as Kruger’s head clattered to his feet.

  “I’ll call him whatever you want if you just get me out of here.”

  Canis turned to Vann. “Do you know the way back to the citadel from here?”

  “I think so.”

  “We’ll go back there while Mortalo is looking for us,” Canis said. “We’ll ambush him on his return. Fewer of our brothers will die that way.”

  “‘Fewer will die’?” Vann asked. “We don’t want any of them to die.”

  Canis nodded. “Sacrifices must be made if we want to free these people. And Mortalo must die. That, I am sure of now.”

  “And how does that get us out of here?” Thorne asked. “Past those things outside?”

  “I won’t allow you to kill my kind,” Bane said, and, as ever, only Canis heard him. “All they want is a better life. Surely you can understand wanting a better life. The humans they inhabit are quite content.”

  Tell that to Thorne! Look, I’m going to have to kill one at some point. Just like I’m going to have to kill some of my brothers to get at Mortalo.

  “We’ll outrun them,” Vann said with shiver. “Not that they’ve bothered us so far. What’s got you so riled, Canis?”

  Beatrix Thorne sniggered. “If I thought that would work, I would’ve done it at the first sign of trouble. Their movements are awkward, unnatural, but they travel with demonic speed. If they weren’t after you before, they certainly are now.”

  “I’ll stop them from getting you,” said Canis. “Don’t you trust me?”

  “Not at all, big’un.” She grinned, but it was forced. “But you look like you can at least handle yourself, so it’ll have to do. I’d starve to death in here anyway. There’s no access to the roof.”

  “Hold still,” said Vann as he touched Canis’ hair. “There’s a damn spider in there.”

  “Get off him!” said Canis, pushing Vann’s hand away.

  “Him?”

  “That’s Agrim. I found him, and he’s not left my side since. He’s with me.”

  “That’s disgusting!”

  “He helped me escape from the Dusk Raiders. I think he can sense what I’m thinking.”

  Vann tried looking closer. “I want one!”

  Agrim launched itself at Vann, but Canis was quick to reel him in. Vann took a step back and looked at Thorne.

  “Can we go now?” asked Thorne with her arms folded.

  Canis nodded. They lined up against the door, ready to shove the table aside and make a run through the narrow, trap-laden alleys of Thorne’s Company.

  “You go first,” Canis said to Thorne, “since you know where this maze leads. Vann will cover you from behind and give the directions to Mortalo’s citadel. I’ll trail and keep them away.”

  And you just be sure to keep them away from us. Do you understand, Bane?

  Bane wriggled. “They want peace as much as you do. They’re simply not as in control of themselves as me. They’ve not met a human like you before.”

  “Keep them away,” said Canis out loud by mistake. Vann and Thorne exchanged glances. “Ready.”

  He braced himself to push the table away.

  “Now!” Canis yelled, slamming the table in the opposite wall.

  Thorne charged as soon as Canis opened his mouth and was already three steps ahead of them. The smiling, lying faces made themselves known, but looked torn between Thorne and Vann who dashed past them
and into the narrow pathway. True to Bane’s promise, they ignored Canis.

  “It’s the next right!” Vann called ahead.

  “Can’t go that way,” Thorne replied. “Unless you wanna get crushed in a deadfall.”

  “Turn right as soon as you can, or we’re going to end up in the wrong Company!”

  Thorne wove in and out of the bypasses and intersections like a manic rodent.

  The dull, animated mannequins closed in on their pattern, the strained half-words right behind them. Vann shoved a few out of the way, sacrificing his pace and footing.

  Stop them! demanded Canis.

  “I can only stop them from attacking you,” said Bane. “We have a simple, communal mind when we take over a host. It can take centuries to gain full control.”

  There are others like you, who can speak?

  “There are others who speak better than I, but they’re much too involved in the affairs of the other cities to talk with the likes of me.”

  The hairs on Canis’ arms stood on end and, while he wanted to believe there was life outside Blackrose, he couldn’t help but reel at the thought of intelligent, plotting Scourge beings.

  This isn’t a game. I need to know how their minds work, what they’re thinking.

  Thorne turned her head back. “We’re getting close to the border! You lead. I don’t know the way from here.”

  Vann sprinted ahead as they ran down an alley. It tapered into a passageway. His foot hit the ground and punched straight through it. A thin layer of wood hid a hole in the floor. Canis, unable to counter his momentum, followed Vann and they tumbled into the trap.

  Thorne hung behind and managed to avoid falling in. Her head peeked over the edge.

  Canis screamed at her, “What are you trying to do? We had a deal!”

  “It’s not my fault,” she said. “This is a new one to me. Those things must’ve built it.”

  He looked around. Smooth walls, impossible to climb.

  Thorne hopped, ready to run. “They’re close. It’s too dangerous for me to stay.”

  “We had a deal, Thorne!”

  She put her finger over her lips. “Keep quiet. I’ll come back for you.”

  Her shadow disappeared. They were alone.

  “She tricked us,” Vann said. “That horny bitch trapped us!”

  “Don’t be disgusting. She’s my age.”

  “She’s young, but nearer my age than yours. It doesn’t matter now, anyway. She’s screwed us over and you know it.”

  “She might have. This way she’s able to escape and not help us kill Mortalo.”

  Vann ignored him and tried climbing the vertical surface. His feet slid off and he landed flat on his back.

  “Save your strength,” Canis said. “We could be here for some time.”

  “It’s freezing down here!”

  Canis laughed. “You’re always cold.”

  “This is an unfortunate development,” Bane said. It paced between his muscle fiberrs, a caged animal inside a caged animal.

  Do you have any ideas?

  “None that are feasible,” it replied. “We’ll have to wait.”

  Vann sat up. “You saw the outside?”

  Canis nodded.

  “What was it like?”

  He leaned against the wall. “The air is different. And the wind cuts straight to the bone.” Under his feet, he felt the faint vibrations of the city’s heart, beating and churning away at its endless, unknown task. “The trees stand naked with no stone to protect their frame. And the beasts wander around in the open.”

  The clock tower donged.

  “And that,” Canis said with a frown. “Doesn’t hurt your damn ears!”

  Vann stared at him, appearing to not fully take in what Canis said. “Mortalo always made it sound like our flesh would be melted from our bones if we stepped foot outside the walls without his guidance.”

  “Guidance? He sent a child to die. Like he sent everyone to die. There are probably more like me, growing in their mothers’ wombs, unaware their father is the King of Demons. He wanted me to bring him back a sample, you know.”

  “Did you?”

  Canis paused. Do you think he knew I would get infected and bring him back a specimen? Did he know my body would be able to withstand your kind longer than someone else?

  Bane hissed inside him. “I think he thought you’d be too stupid to ask such questions, but you’re getting stronger. I don’t think anyone could have imagined you’d be able to host one of my kind for so long without succumbing. You’ve given me a purpose and my kin hope.”

  “And what purpose would that be?” Canis asked aloud by mistake, the constant voice in his mind blurring reality.

  “What?” replied Vann. “I wanted to know if you succeeded in bring back a sample…”

  “I’m sorry. No, I didn’t, but they managed to get in so I suppose he got what he wanted in some way.”

  “What else was out there?”

  “Blackrose, but it looked so different from the outside. Like the goal was to prevent the inside from getting out.” He sat and crossed his legs. He thought of repeating Bane’s claim that the city used to be a prison, but Vann wouldn’t believe it. “Do you ever think about what it was like before?”

  “I’ve heard whispers. They say people lived outside the walls. Some say the Scourge are the tears of the dead. We’re reborn as those things. The evil inside compelled to infect others. I like to believe there’s something more for us. If we can correct our ways, break away from this place, maybe we can escape to somewhere that has meaning, somewhere we can hope and dream.”

  “It’s true,” Bane butted in. “His part about the people living better lives. The walls weren’t something the people in here wanted or needed. The Imperium of old created seven prisons to match their seven cities. They locked everyone up, built soul lines and the clock towers and spacecraft to harvest the dead.”

  How many people are left? Where are they?

  “Scattered, but ever dwindling,” Bane continued. “Once Mortalo is dead, the people will be free to live on the outside again, away from the rot and filth of this place. You can unite them. Maybe take over one of the Imperium’s bigger cities or ships. This planet is called Xenos XII so there must be others out there. The Imperium may have moved on to new pastures, but with you leading, their mistake can be yours to take advantage of.”

  Life outside the walls. Life on another world…No, I don’t believe you. And why would you put so much effort into capturing Blackrose when you believe there is so much to gain elsewhere? No. You’re full of shit, and I will find out what you want with my city. When Mortalo is dead, things will go back to the way they were. There’ll just be one less madman.

  Bane hissed. “If you think you can succeed where he has failed, you’re wrong.”

  Canis grumbled to himself.

  “Did you say something?” Vann asked.

  “I’ll take the first watch.”

  Chapter 14

  What am I going to do now Kruger is dead? Belloch Storme thought as he gathered what little he had and escaped the Bone Singers’ Company. There’s Vek Tarosh and the Black Guard? Kanak and his Silver Skulls, maybe. There’s no way Aurora Heart will let me join her. He stopped in front of the door leading into Blackrose’s streets. Telsa Reinhart’s the Nameless or Viper Blackmane’s Night’s Watch…He knew that not being part of a Company meant death.

  He touched his swollen face. That demon-slave had ripped off half his warts with that gauntlet of his. Pus dribbled onto his thin clothing. The door creaked as he opened it. The streets were empty, and he ran across the square.

  All I need to do is work my way into a Company, tell them about the Flame of Blackrose and how they can use it. The first to attack the Bone Singers is the one who’s going to get it. He looked back on his old Company before he left it behind. Nothing but bad memories. Blackrose was nothing more than bad memories
.

  He escaped the Bone Singers and headed to Kanak’s turf. Scourge wandered the roads, crossing divides as if it meant nothing. Where did these scat-bastards come from? He waited for a Scourge to pass, its clumsy walk without direction. The green glow of the souls above gave some light in the darkness, and he used it to navigate his way through the city.

  A Scourge turned as he leaped for another opening, its gaze fixed on him. It ran towards him, others following. Belloch slipped but didn’t stop and used his arms to half-run, half-climb back onto his feet. The Scourge-freaks massed together and chased him in a pack, surging ahead to infect him. Their chittering made his hairs stand on end.

  “Get it!” a voice shouted to his right, and Belloch ducked under a net and rolled on the floor.

  “This one’s not like the others, boss,” said a fat man, net in hand.

  “Watch out!” said Belloch as he realized he was stuck between these men and the Scourge. He remained on the ground, stiff, his bowels twisting.

  The Scourge chased Belloch as the fat man flung the net at them, this time able to hit his target. The men jumped in to stab the enemy. Sword thrusts and spears caused the chittering to fade into gurgles. Another man, even fatter than the last, confronted Belloch. Gauntlets alive with green energy sparked at his side. Tarosh! Why did it have to be the Black Guard, why?

  “Are you one of them?” asked Tarosh, his grin full of rotting teeth.

  “No. Tarosh, I’m so glad I found you.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’ve been wanting to join the Black Guard for years.” Belloch smiled. “But Kruger had been using me as a scout.”

  Tarosh didn’t smile this time. “And what’s changed?”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Like half of Blackrose then.”

  “What?”

  Tarosh nodded. “Nobody has seen Aurora, and Kanak’s Silver Skulls have been wiped out. We had to go on the attack or be killed. The Scourge horde cannot be stopped.”

  Belloch tried to get onto his feet. Tarosh kicked him in the chest and he fell back. “I’m a good scout. Don’t kill me. I can help.”

  “You’d be no good in a fight, worm.” The rest of Tarosh’s Black Guard closed in on them.