A Different Kind of Deadly

by Nicole Martinsen

  Diana wrapped her arms around me, giving a gentle squeeze that made me forget all about her monstrous strength. For one minute she was just a woman, and I felt my heart skip for the simple fact that she chose to hold me in that moment.

  "Thank you, Marvin. I really needed to hear that."

  Tentatively, I set my arm at the back of her head, pulling it close. "I know I'm about as incompetent as they come, but rely on me a little. I might surprise you."

  She laughed, "You and Inval-"

  AGAIN?

  I pushed her away, pinning her by the shoulders so fast I saw her eyes spin a little.

  "I am NOT Inval. I will never BE Inval." She gazed at me as though seeing me for the very first time. I watched as red paint bloomed across her face in a rare blush of shame and embarrassment. "I'm just Marvin," I said softly. "Supposedly, I'm the Pride of the Six Houses, yet a complete failure to my own mother. I'm not afraid of dead things, only things that look dead. My best friend is a Sand Whale maniac, and no matter how similar I am to Inval, I'm not him. You might not realize it, Diana, but there's one area where he and I are complete opposites."

  "How?"

  "He loved you as a student. But I'll love you no matter what you are."

  "I-" Her lips flapped open and closed, but no real sound came out of them. Finally, Diana slid away and continued down the pass. "W-we don't have much time left. Let's keep moving!"

  I squinted, wondering if the heat made me go nuts or if I actually had a chance because I wasn't rejected outright.

  Or was this just a different kind of rejection?

  But seriously, Inval, even if you did have a thing for Diana, at least I was brave enough to let her know.

  It was a small consolation, but it improved my mood. I was competing with a dead man, and for the first time since this journey started I finally got ahead.

  23: Rogue Doll

  Leo clambered up the pass. Unlike Marvin's route, which was a slip of a road above a sea of flames, Leo's path was relatively simple.

  Relatively simple for someone else.

  The walkway was wide, but also steep in its ascent and littered with holes. Leo swore at Diana under his breath; the least she could have mentioned was that the geysers were active. In his great suit of armor, however light Purilo made it with his enchantments, Leo's movement was severely hampered. He had split seconds to dodge streams of acid in order to make it across.

  Uhh, by comparison, had no such problem. While the high pressures did damage him, the gaps closed quickly by grace of his unique composition.

  "Uhh, how far do we have to go until we make it out of here?"

  "Quarrrter of a miiiiile."

  Leo wasn't sure how far they came, but he was certain that it would only get worse from here on. If not acid, then something else. There was always something worse.

  Will landed on the ground in front of him.

  "I don't have time for this shit!" Leo fumed, stomping past him. He needed to get clear ground to light Diana's signal flare. Will didn't say anything, but he did grab Leo's arm as he brushed on by.

  Leo felt the pang of claws latching onto his soul.

  "What did you just do to me?" Leo demanded.

  "I made you my Contractor." Will sent him a mock-salute, sidestepping a geyser without a second thought. "Nice to meet you, Master."

  "HAH?" Leo looked around. "So... you do know if I kick the bucket then you do too, right?"

  "Good point." Will walked up to him and grabbed Leo by the waist. "Excuse me."

  "Wha-?"

  Will jumped high into the air, landing roughly on the mound bordering the pass. Leo backed away from him, pulling out the dagger he normally reserved for ritual use.

  "Alright. What's your game?"

  "Is it alright to be unconcerned while that golem is still down there?"

  Leo paused, looked down, and whistled with his fingers in his mouth.

  "Uhh, get up here!"

  The golem raised his head, released what could have been a sigh, and started walking at his usual pace. Tully clacked his beak in disapproval, mirroring his master's expression.

  "HAUL YER ASS!" Leo yelled.

  Uhh sped to a run, and jumped into the first acid geyser as it erupted, promptly flying high into the air. He propelled himself into the cliffs right before the pressure dropped, dragging his damaged body onto a flat surface.

  Both Will and Leo then had the educational experience of watching an advanced golem reconstruct his melted buttocks.

  "Uhh, the left is bigger than the right," said Leo. "Use that smaller rock to assimilate."

  Will watched Leo bite his lip, stifling a laugh.

  "Get it?" he asked his new Doll, gradually losing his composure. "Assimilate?"

  "...I tied myself to this for the rest of my life?" Will mused to no one in particular. Inwardly, he could hear Koronos' laughter ringing off the inside of his skull.

  "Hey, least I'm more competent than Marvin."

  "I thought you were friends with him," Will said, registering the comment as an insult. Leo crossed his arms as best he could while restricted by his suit.

  "It because I'm his friend that I'm allowed to say something like that. And I thought you wanted Marvin to drop dead, so why did you become my Doll? I'd sooner slit my own throat before you can touch him."

  Will was taken aback by this level of devotion, and suffered a sting of regret. In exchange for taking this course of action, Will had lost the opportunity to go after the one who killed him.

  "I hate Marvin," said Will, straightening his back. "But there's someone I hate a thousand times more."

  Leo placed his pointer fingers on either side of his head in a poor imitation of horns. The image was decidedly ridiculous for a man of his size, but Will was quickly grasping the fact that Leo was ridiculous in his entirety.

  "Yes... that guy," said Will, maintaining a deadpan the whole time. "Besides, I need a Contractor in order to retain my ability to speak, and Marvin is doomed anyway thanks to the deal he made."

  Leo cocked his head to the side.

  "That is a pretty efficient way to go about it," he admitted.

  "You seem pretty calm for a man who's about to lose a friend to the forces of Hell."

  "What Marvin does is his business," said Leo. "As his friend my only job is to support him no matter what road he takes. And I don't think that horny bastard can keep his soul trapped forever. Even though he's a complete sissy, Marvin's one of the brightest necromancers in Nethermount."

  The more he spoke to Leo the less Will was sure they were actually friends. Either this man was a pragmatist to the point of absurdity, or this was just a string of passive aggressive jabs at a man who was too troublesome to bother killing.

  "So..." Leo stretched. "I'm guessing we can also walk this way to get to the Eyes?"

  "We should be able to, yes." Will glanced up the rocky path. "I've never been to the Salamander Nest before, so don't take my word for it."

  Leo shrugged at the disclaimer. "Only one way to find out." He eyed the flares at the side of his belt, but decided against using them. It was in Will's best interest to keep him safe now that they were linked. Leo extracted a sandwich from his travel sack and began to eat, laughably nonchalant in their hazardous surroundings.

  "You said Marvin was a sissy?" Will mentioned, awkwardly trying to start up a conversation.

  Leo swallowed the food in his mouth.

  "Yep. He hasn't actually raised a dead body since you. He lost years of memories after what happened."

  "Years?"

  His new master nodded. "Years. Basically all memories of you and anything older than that were completely erased. Poof! Just like that."

  Will rolled his eyes. "Oh that poor boy."

  "I'm glad you think so too," said Leo, completely missing the sarcasm. "See, I think the problem is he was too young to actually get it. The whole death thing. Part of being a necromancer is accepting that life, and life after death, aren't p
ermanent. When you're a kid, you don't really think like that. Time just feels faster as we get older."

  "If you're trying to defend him then it isn't working. Ignorance doesn't excuse what he put me through."

  Leo closed his eyes.

  "Look, I'm not saying what Marvin did was right. Hell, before this trip I didn't think undead really had feelings," he admitted, ashamed of how little he knew. "I mean, have you ever loved anyone? A friend or family?"

  Will thought back to his mother, a faceless memory he could barely recall. She killed him first, but he couldn't bring himself to hate her. Yet somehow, Marvin was his mortal enemy for the very same reason.

  "Of course I have," the Doll scoffed. "But I don't see what that has to do with anything."

  Leo sighed, unusually resolute in a rare moment of maturity.

  "Death is easy," said the necromancer. "Dying is just the process we go through to get there. Living? It's rough. It's painful. No one asks to be born, and no one comes prepared for all the shit that comes with it. But at the end of our lives, whether we're sick or just plain old, everyone has the right to their last thoughts or wishes. Most necromancers choose not become undead once they die because of that right."

  "So what do you do with them?"

  "We cremate them," said Leo. "And then we let the desert winds sweep them away. Do you know why most of us choose not to come back to life?"

  "Because you understand the nightmare you put other undead through?"

  "No," Leo frowned. "It's because even necromancers have people they love. Death is inevitable for all of us, so it's easy to brace yourself for your last moments. But you can never prepare the people you love for the moment they lose you. The hardest part about life has nothing to do with our own struggles -it's about the things beyond our control. It's hard enough watching someone you care about waste away, knowing you're powerless to stop it. Most necromancers don't become undead because we don't want to put our friends and family through the grief of losing us more than once."

  Will looked away, but Leo's words had already hit home. It didn't change his resentment towards Marvin, but it did much to blunt its edge.

  "Like I said before," Leo went on. "Marvin was a really bright kid, but still a kid. He never lost anyone close to him before. He never had any siblings. Being the heir to House Thanos also made a lot of parents keep their children away from him out of some stupid idea of social standing and respect. You were his first real friend. He loved you more than anything in the world."

  Will clenched his fists, recalling the boy he chased through the dark halls of Nethermount. He saw Marvin as he saw an older brother.

  "Can you imagine what it's like to watch a person that important to you, rotting?" Leo demanded, a forceful edge in his voice. "Do you have any idea how desperate a guy can get, looking for a way to keep you alive? What Marvin did was horrible on a lot of standpoints, but I was watching while he did it. He was crying, Will. He kept on trying to attach your soul to a broken body and that cocky bastard was crying harder than I'd ever seen a person cry in my life. It left him so traumatized that he never raised a body since."

  Leo stuffed his hands in his pockets, wondering what got him in the mood to lecture.

  "I guess... the point I'm trying to make here is that yeah, you've actually gone through Hell. But that doesn't mean he didn't have his own demons to contend with. I can tell you that there is nothing Marvin wouldn't do to take back what he put you through."

  "There's nothing he can do," Will said glumly. "It's already happened."

  "Bingo. He's a wuss. You're a Demon-Doll, and killing him won't change any of it." Leo raised his hand, seeing the start of a retort. "I'm not trying to convince you not to kill him -I won't let you, anyway. I'm just pointing out that all the hurt you've gone through isn't going to change once you get to him. Personally, I think you're smart for changing your target to that Koronos guy; hurting people is what gets him off. Marvin hurt you horribly, but I can tell you for a fact that he didn't mean to, and that he will never, ever hurt anyone again for the rest of his life."

  Will snorted, shaking his head.

  He'd pegged Leo for an imbecile, yet even clowns had their moments of brilliance. Years of boiling rage were now at a low simmer with just a few minutes of conversation. Did Leo stop him from hating Marvin? No. Will recognized that his scars were too deep to let the sin slide... but at least now he could understand where the necromancer was coming from.

  It was pointless to compare which one of them had the harder life or more traumatizing experiences, so Will wasn't going to bother, but it was evident that Marvin had suffered the consequences of his actions for years. While it would never sate Will's thirst for vengeance, the knowledge did much to appease it.

  25: Balancing Act

  I sank to the ground with renewed appreciation for solid rock. Hours of navigating a narrow platform had officially rendered my knees useless. I had yet to feel any real pain in my muscles, but they were tingling from strain.

  A nap didn't seem like a bad idea; if Will was going to kill me then I'd rather die in my sleep after all.

  "Marvin, get up!" Diana yelled at me, promptly dragging me off the floor. She was so short I could see right over her head, and spotted what had her so alarmed.

  Will dropped down from a plateau's edge. He shot me a dirty look, his eyes the same shade of lime I saw in Koronos. But rather than attack, as I expected him to do, Will raised his open palms in the air, showing that he was unarmed.

  Of course, having seen him fight in the Harpy Den, I knew that he didn't need a weapon to be deadly, but the symbolism of the gesture was not lost on us. Diana squinted skyward, where Leo was sitting on the edge of the drop, polishing off the last of his rations.

  "You've got some explaining to do," she growled.

  Leo pumped a fist against his chest and let out a loud belch.

  "'Scuse me," he apologized, clearing his throat. "I'm Will's Contractor now."

  "EH?" I balked. I looked from Will, to Leo, and back again. A side-stepped glance at Diana allowed me to catch her expression at the news.

  Her eyebrow twitched furiously.

  "Leo isn't a complete fool," she admitted, making long strides towards her fellow Doll. "But he isn't capable of forcing you to submit to him. What are you after?"

  Diana seemed to be the only one in our group who Will wasn't openly irritated by. He offered her a respectful nod of his head.

  "Marvin is small fry compared to Koronos."

  "You'd attack your own master?"

  "Former master," Will stressed. "While I'd love to see both dead, I'd choose Koronos every time."

  Diana released a sigh of relief. While she couldn't trust most motives, she had more than enough faith in a solid grudge. Koronos was a pox in the Moor of Souls, and she was glad for any ally who shared in that opinion.

  Leo hopped down and joined me off to the side. Tully leapt from his head to mine, nuzzling my hair as a way of greeting.

  "The bright side is that Will won't be after you anymore."

  "What makes you so sure?"

  "I said I'd kill myself if he goes near you." I gaped at Leo, who shrugged at the comment. "What? I trust you'll bring me back, right? I get a second chance at life, but he doesn't. It's all good."

  "Leo, you threatened him with suicide?"

  "That's what I just said." He punched me on the arm. "Don't think too hard on it. You don't have to worry about that three days crap anymore and that's all that matters."

  Diana and Will continued their discussion. Leo and I sat on the ground to recuperate as the only mortal members of the group. I caught snippets of conversation, mostly directions, dealing with our next steps.

  At one point Diana looked over at us. Her eyes lingered on me before her face twisted and she snapped away again. This didn't go unnoticed by Leo, who eyed me a question.

  "So what happened between you and the banshee?"

  "I told her I was in love with her."r />
  Leo choked on his water. He grinned incredulously.

  "So your balls finally dropped, eh!"

  I kicked his leg.

  "Could you get any louder, Leo?"

  "Of course I can! Watc-"

  I clamped my hand over his mouth.

  "Sarcasm, Leo," I said to his ear. "That was sarcasm."

  He cackled like the irritating asshole he was, and I sat back on the dirt, unable to decide whether I liked the stench of sweat and smoke better than the decay I was so accustomed to.

  "Koronos has got to be plotting something."

  "He's a devil, Marv -plotting is kinda his shtick."

  "But what?" I demanded, raking my hands through my greasy hair. "We're so close to the Eyes, Leo. The issue with Will was settled too easily; he's got to have something else up his sleeve."

  "You're making the mistake of assuming he wants the Eyes," Will said as he approached us. I shared an uncomfortable glance with him before breaking it off a second later. He remained standing, and I felt myself shrinking the longer he looked down on us. "He's after you, Marvin. The Ouroboros guarantees that you're his no matter what."

  "Are devils immortal?" Leo asked.

  "Some. I don't think Koronos is powerful enough to live forever, though," Will admitted.

  The notion that there were devils stronger than Koronos was a sobering revelation.

  "He's definitely strong enough to live a few more centuries if he's already lasted this long," he continued. "But don't think you're in the clear because he has time on his side. Demons are notorious for their vices; Koronos is more impatient than you think."

  "Which is why we're all moving together from here on out," Diana interjected, holding the map in her hands. "The Eyes are right above us. Will is going to carry Leo. I'll take Marvin."

  "And Uhh?" I asked, looking at my golem leisurely making his way to us. "What about him?"

  "He can climb on his own."

  Without saying much of anything, Diana picked me up on her back. Will did the same for Leo. As silly as I'd felt being lugged around by a petite woman, Leo's hulking frame looked positively ridiculous when set against Will's.