by Clayton Wood
And they were staring right at her.
“What?” was all Bella could blurt out.
The man stood from his chair abruptly, walking around the table with an unnervingly quick stride and making his way toward her. He was shorter than Bella, but with broad shoulders, and carried a slender black cane in his left hand. But it was not the cane that caught Bella’s eye; it was the hand.
And not the left hand, but the absence of the right.
For his right forearm terminated at the wrist, a fleshy stub that peeked out from his fine sleeve. And it was this that he thrust at her when he reached her side.
“My name is Gideon Myles,” he introduced in a deep, crisp voice.
“Bella,” Bella replied, hesitating for a split second, then shaking Gideon’s…stump. It would have been rude not to do so.
“Oh I know who you are,” he revealed. “Your grandfather told me all about you.”
“You know him?” she asked.
“He hung my painting above his desk,” Gideon revealed. Then he smirked. “Heard you weren’t a fan.”
Bella’s eyes widened.
“You’re his friend!” she exclaimed. He winked.
“The one and only.”
“Where…am I?” she inquired, looking around.
“Someplace you shouldn’t be,” he answered. “Surrounded by people that want you dead.” He pointed his cane at her chest. “And if you don’t do exactly as I say precisely when I say it, they’ll get what they want.”
He turned about abruptly, striding quickly between the tables.
“Follow me,” he ordered. “Stay at my left side, two steps behind. Say absolutely nothing unless I tell you to.”
Bella hurried to catch up to him, following his instructions. Gideon led her past the rows of tables, toward a narrow hallway at the end of the room, which in turn terminated in a set of double-doors. Large paintings hung on the walls on either side, high enough up that she couldn’t reach them, and each was encased in glass. One of the glass encasings closest to the door had shattered, though the painting beyond was still intact. A painting of a man in blood-red armor flying through the air, silhouetted against a starry night sky.
Her shoes crunched on the broken glass as Gideon reached the doors, opening one and stepping through. Bella followed behind him, passing into a long hallway beyond. This too had a dark, polished wooden floor and walls, upon which more paintings had been hung, protected by identical glass enclosures. Lanterns bolted to the walls at regular intervals glowed a pale, ghostly yellow.
“To my left!” Gideon reminded her, his cane clacking on the floor with every other step.
“Wha…” Bella began to ask, but Gideon raised his stump up sharply to his lips. Her mouth snapped shut, and she followed him down the hallway.
Suddenly Gideon stopped, blocking Bella’s way with his cane. He cocked his head as if to listen, then he set his cane against the leftmost wall, retrieving a large, rolled-up piece of paper resembling canvas from within the recesses of his fine suit. He unrolled this, placing it against the wall, muttering something to himself.
It stuck to the wall, perfectly flat.
“Take off your coat and stand here,” Gideon ordered, gesturing between himself and the paper with his stump. Bella hesitated, then did so, facing the paper. It was taller than she was. “Turn around,” he ordered impatiently. Again, she obeyed, turning to face him.
He shoved her right into the wall…and then grabbed her arm, hauling her forward an instant later.
“Grab your coat,” he ordered, leaving the paper on the wall and retrieving his cane. “Let’s go.”
Bella put her coat back on, then opened her mouth to ask him what on earth he’d just done all that for. He swung his cane at her face, stopping it a hair’s width from her lips. She flinched, her mouth snapping shut…and he turned about, continuing quickly down the hall. Bella struggled to keep up, making sure to stay two steps behind him and to his left. The hallway made a right turn at the end, and Gideon turned down it, leading them down another hallway. This was shorter than the last, terminating in a single, black closed door.
One guarded by a bald man wearing red chainmail armor over his black leather shirt and pants, a fine-looking sword sheathed at his left hip.
Gideon slowed his pace instantly, breaking out into a warm, cheery smile.
“Afternoon!” he greeted, stopping before the guard and tucking his cane under his elbow, extending his left hand. The guard smiled back, shaking Gideon’s hand briskly.
“Ah, if it isn’t the good Painter himself!” he exclaimed. “Who’s this?” he inquired, turning to Bella. Bella glanced at Gideon.
“My brother’s niece,” Gideon answered. “Lola Amesbury.” He beamed down at Bella. “Lola, this fine gentleman is an official guardian of Blackthorne.”
“Nice to meet you,” the guard stated, reaching out to shake Bella’s hand. She arched an eyebrow at Gideon.
“Go on,” he urged. “He doesn’t bite.”
“Not unless you’re food!” the guard joked rather lamely. Bella smiled dutifully at the terrible joke, shaking the man’s hand.
“How do you like it?” the guard asked Bella. “The library, I mean.”
“It’s beautiful,” she replied meekly, lowering her gaze.
“Sure is,” the guard agreed. “Well, don’t let me hold you,” he added. “Just let me make it official and all that.”
He took a small book from a pack at his waist, flipping through it. Then he frowned.
“No entry,” he muttered, glancing up at Gideon. “One for you, but none for her.”
“That’s strange,” Gideon replied with a frown of his own. “Are you sure?”
“Bet you my day’s pay it was Cyrus,” the guard grumbled. “Useless bastard is always forgetting stuff like this. Least complicated thing in the world, right? Greet a person, log it. And he still screws it up ‘least once a week!”
“It’s difficult to find quality people who’d agree to work here,” Gideon ventured. The guard shot him a knowing look.
“Ain’t that the truth,” he agreed. “Still can’t figure out why you’ve stayed here all this time. Everyone else is leaving. I’m sure you could’ve filed for a transfer by now.”
“To be honest, I’m not sure either,” Gideon admitted. Then he smirked, raising his right arm. “Guess you could say I’m stumped.”
The guard burst out laughing.
“Good one!” he declared, slapping his knee. “Ah, that was good.”
Bella glanced at Gideon, raising an eyebrow. It hadn’t been that good.
“Well, all right then,” the guard said. “Fear not my good man, I’ll fix the record. Just show me her identification.”
Gideon turned to Bella, gesturing at her right arm.
“Pull up your sleeve, Lola,” he instructed. “Just like before.”
She hesitated, then did so, pulling up the sleeve of her coat and exposing her bare forearm.
Her eyes widened.
For there, on the front of her forearm, was a large black tattoo. A complex series of shapes that fit together to form an intricate pattern that extended from the crease of her elbow all the way to her wrist.
The guard made a show of studying it, then nodded at Gideon.
“Have a good night,” he stated. “Nice to meet you Lola.”
Bella smiled at him, and the guard opened the door for them, ushering them through. Yet another hallway greeted them, which took a right turn. Beyond was a long hallway with a dull red and gold rug on the floor and tall white statues standing on elegant golden pedestals set against either wall.
Bella’s breath caught in her throat; it was identical to the hallway she’d painted over a week ago…except for the fact that every one of the statues was headless.
Gideon led Bella down this hallway, toward a set of large double-doors at the end of it. Another guard stood there holding a notebook, this one with short black hair and a meticulously-gr
oomed beard. Gideon stopped before the guard, nodding briskly, then striking the butt of his cane rather sharply against the floor.
“Good day Baxter,” Gideon greeted. “Taking an early leave today to spend some time with my brother’s niece here.”
Baxter said not a word, gesturing at Gideon’s right arm. Gideon pulled his sleeve up, revealing a tattoo similar to Bella’s on his stump. The guard scribbled something in his notebook, then nodded at Bella.
“Go on,” Gideon urged.
Bella pulled up her right sleeve as before, displaying her tattoo to the guard. He peered down at it, then frowned, flipping through pages in his notebook. At length, he looked up at Bella.
“No record of her entry,” he stated, eyeing her suspiciously. He closed his notebook, reaching for something that looked like a blowhorn at his left hip.
Gideon burst into action, swinging his cane in a vicious arc at the man’s temple.
Thwack!
Baxter’s head snapped to the side, and he literally flew sideways through the air, slamming into one of the statues and ricocheting off. The guard fell to the floor, looking for all the world like he was dead. Bella gasped.
“Oh my god!”
“Go!” Gideon cried, flinging open one of the doors and bursting through. Bella sprinted after him, passing through the doorway…
…and emerging from a great big gothic building onto a wide cobblestone path. The building had a black stone façade, thick vines with black thorns crawling up its surface, all the way to a row of glowering gargoyles leering at her from the rooftop some forty feet up. Beyond the gargoyles, the crescent moon glowed with a pale silver light, peeking out between dark gray clouds that obscured most of the night sky. To her sides were large stone buildings that looked like dormitories, and ahead, the cobblestone path cut through a huge, wide-open grassy courtyard.
Gideon sprinted forward over the cobblestone path, and Bella rushed to keep up with him. More of the headless statues flanked the path on either side, and ahead, the path led through a large, ornately carved stone archway…one guarded by two more guards.
“Hey!” one of the guards shouted, unsheathing their sword and charging up the path toward them. Gideon cursed, slamming the butt of his cane onto the street and rushing right at the guards.
“Stay behind me!” Gideon shouted…and then the guards were upon them.
The first guard swung their sword at Gideon, who intercepted the deadly blade with a vigorous swing of his cane. The sword flew out of the guard’s hand, and Gideon thrust the butt of his cane into the man’s groin.
The guard crumpled, falling to the ground and curling into the fetal position.
The second guard reached Gideon then, thrusting at his chest with a deadly-looking spear. Gideon dodged to the side, cracking the guard atop the head with a swing of his cane.
The guard dropped like a stone.
“Go, go!” Gideon shouted, rushing through the stone arch and sprinting down a gently-curving set of stone steps beyond. Bella followed just behind him, taking the steps down and to the right. They led to another stone arch at the bottom, with a narrow cobblestone path continuing onward from there. This path cut through a forest of tall, stately trees ahead. A forest almost completely obscured by a wall of thick white fog that hung in the air, swirling and churning as if it had a life of its own.
There was frantic shouting from behind, followed by the clamor of many feet rushing after them.
Gideon sprinted forward along the path, plunging into the swirling mist, Bella right behind him. The mist was so thick that she couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead, and the oppressive mugginess made it difficult to breathe. She focused on keeping up with Gideon, knowing that if he got more than a few yards ahead of her, she’d lose him.
The shouting behind them grew louder, followed by the rhythmic clopping of what sounded like hooves.
Gideon cursed, skidding to a halt. Bella ran right into him, nearly knocking him over.
“To the side!” he hissed, guiding her to the left of the path. He swung his cane, striking one of the tree trunks, then stepped back onto the path, gripping his cane so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Thump-a-thump, thumpa-a-thump…
The hoofbeats grew louder, and Bella peered into the mist, but could barely see beyond her own nose. Gideon tensed, crouching down low.
Thump-a-thump, thump-a-thump…
A shadow appeared in the mist ahead, and Gideon leapt into the air…just as a huge stallion burst through the haze, galloping down the path! Its red-armored rider shouted, yanking back on the reins as he spotted Gideon and Bella.
Gideon swung his cane in mid-leap, striking the rider in the chest with a loud thwack!
The rider shot backward out of the saddle with ridiculous speed, vanishing into the mist.
The horse skid to a halt, rearing up on its hind legs. Gideon rushed up to its side, vaulting into the saddle in a single smooth motion. He tucked his cane into his armpit, grabbing the reins with one hand and turning the horse toward Bella. Then he lowered his cane to her.
“Grab it!” he commanded.
Bella did so, grabbing the shaft of his cane with both hands. He hauled her up, and she scrambled onto the horse’s back in front of him. He scooted back out of the saddle, pulling her into it.
“Feet in the stirrups,” he ordered. “Take the reins and turn the horse around!”
Bella grabbed the reins, but hesitated.
“How do I…?”
“Pull the right one,” he instructed. “Don’t yank, pull!” She did so, and the horse turned about, facing the way they’d been running. “Ha!” Gideon cried, kicking the horse’s flanks with his heels. It bolted down the path, nearly throwing her off in the process. If Gideon hadn’t been behind her, it would’ve done just that.
They galloped through the mist, the trees on either side of them tall shadows that zoomed by with terrifying speed. She resisted the urge to pull back on the reins, though every fiber of her being screamed at her to do it. Gideon leaned to the side, swinging his cane at one of the trees as they passed with a loud thwack!
Suddenly they burst out of the mist into the clear night air beyond, leaving the misty forest behind. A huge grassy field opened up before them, the cobblestone path continuing onward. It led forward, curving gently to the right, barely visible in the faint moonlight from above.
And behind them came the sound of more hoofbeats.
“Keep her steady,” Gideon instructed…and promptly spun around, facing the horse’s rear. He tucked his cane under his chin, stripping off his suit jacket.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He ignored her, tearing at the inner lining of his jacket, then pulling out something that had been hidden within. A large, folded-up piece of thick paper, like canvas. She saw hints of color on one side, like a painting.
Beyond him, Bella saw three guards on horseback burst out of the fog, galloping down the path after them. One of them was carrying a bow; he took an arrow from the quiver on his back, nocking it and drawing back on the bowstring even as he galloped toward them.
“Left!” Gideon snapped.
The guard fired just as Bella yanked on the left rein. Her horse swerved sharply to the left, nearly throwing Gideon off its back, but the arrow zipped right by them.
The archer grabbed another arrow, even as the other two guards gained on them, closing the distance between them rapidly. The archer drew his bowstring, letting another arrow fly…just as Gideon finished retrieving the canvas, holding it before him. He muttered something, and the canvas unfolded itself, going perfectly flat, as if it’d been framed.
The arrow plunged right through it.
“Gideon!” she cried.
But to her surprise, there was no hole in the paper, and no arrow sticking out of Gideon’s chest. The arrow was just…gone.
“Faster!” Gideon shouted. “Use your heels!”
Bella kicked the horse’s flanks, b
ut it didn’t go any faster. She tried again, digging her heels into its sides, and it burst forward, matching the speed of the horses behind it. White foam dribbled from its mouth, its breath coming in rapid, noisy grunts.
The archer fired again, and again the arrow struck the painted side of the canvas Gideon held before him, vanishing from sight.
“Get on his sides!” one of the other guards shouted, retrieving a long spear from his horse’s saddle-pack.
And then a blinding light assaulted Bella’s eyes as a huge fireball shot outward from Gideon’s canvas, engulfing the three soldiers!
Two of the soldiers burst through the flames, but the archer’s horse fell, tumbling onto the street and sending the archer careening through the air. He struck the street head-first, flames licking at his body.
“Painter!” one of the surviving guards cried. He reached down to his saddle-pack, retrieving a white horn and bringing it to his lips. A wailing sound pierced the night air, echoing across the land.
And ahead, the path continued forward, sloping down toward a long, gently curving line of huge tents about a mile ahead. The tents were illuminated by tiny orange lights from countless torches. And beyond the line of tents was a massive, churning wall of gray fog over a hundred feet tall, beyond which nothing was visible. Standing between the tents and the fog wall were huge statues of giants that dwarfed the tents, placed at regular intervals behind them.
Behind Bella, the two remaining soldiers dropped back, and were soon left far behind.
Gideon twisted around, clutching the paper to his chest and peering over Bella’s shoulder.
“Keep on the path,” he ordered. “No matter what!”
Bella nodded, focusing on the path ahead. She leaned forward, the wind whipping through her hair as the horse sped through the night.
Thump-a-thump, thump-a-thump…
Another wailing sound came from far behind, a second blast from the soldier’s horn. Shortly thereafter, Bella heard another horn…but this came from ahead. Guards swarmed out of the tents, some on getting on horseback, others rushing toward Bella and Gideon on foot.