Shadows of Home

by James R. Vernon

  Or it would have if his body wasn't devoid of all its organs. The only thing that remained was the man's ribcage and spine. Everything else had been cut or scooped out, the various tubes and veins cleanly cut where they had attached to organs.

  It was as horrific as it was bizarre. Living in the capital, Ezzy had seen her fair share of murder, especially being the oldest child of one of the most powerful families of her time. She had even seen the damage an errant bear had done to a pack of hunters caught unaware. But never had she seen anything as disturbing as what was laid out in front of her.

  Ezzy rubbed her hands as if that would get rid of the chill spreading up and down her spine. She had to focus on something else. Had to say something to stop the bile rising in her throat.

  "Did you know him?"

  "Raymond Sotson." Bran's voice was barely above a whisper. "One of our many new immigrants. No family as far as I know and he had no interest in starting one. He kept mostly to himself, only had a few people he spoke with regularly. It might have taken us longer to find him if not for Trina Bowchamp stopping by to drop off a stew she had prepared for him." Bran shook his head. "Poor girl. I think she was sweet on him. To be the one to have found him like this..."

  There was a long pause, and when he spoke again, Bran's voice came out as a croak and Ezzy glanced over to find his eyes had watered up.

  "What do you notice?"

  She looked away quickly and focused on the body, trying to remember all that Shay had taught her about anatomy. The precision of the cuts wouldn't have been possible while he was alive. There wasn't a single jagged wound that would have marked it as a defensive one. All the wounds seemed to have been inflicted after the man had died. And there was something else...

  Ezzy let out a gasp as her eyes flickered between the body and the surrounding area.

  Not a single drop of blood was visible on anything. Even the metallic smell that often accompanied the various brawls she had been involved in over the last year or so was missing.

  "How is that possible?" she murmured.

  "So you've noticed it too." Bran was moving around the room, checking under every table and chair, examining even the smallest corner where blood might have fallen. He looked up from examining around the fireplace. "I can't find any. What could have done that," he gestured towards the body, "without painting the room with the man's blood?"

  "Magic?" Ezzy shook her head as the words left her mouth. "But I've never heard of anyone having any kind of power that could do something like this."

  "So then, if it isn't a person..."

  He didn't have to say it. She knew exactly where his train of thought was headed.

  "You really think one of Ean Sangrave's creatures could have done this?"

  "I don't know. Practically nothing is known about the beasts that he keeps. I don't even know if I've seen all of them or if he's keeping the more terrifying ones hidden away." His eyes grew distant in that way that she had noticed throughout the day. "I'm not even sure if he is the one really in charge of them."

  That certainly caught Ezzy by surprise. "Wait. What do you mean?"

  "There is..." he trailed off and his eyes drifted back to the corpse only a few feet away. "This probably isn't the best time to talk about it."

  "You’re right." But it doesn't change the fact that I want to know what you meant. Her expression must have given away her disappointment.

  "We can talk about it back at the inn." He gave a weak smile. "After enough drinks to at least partially forget having to see poor Raymond picked apart like this."

  "Agreed."

  A loud bang behind them made them both jump. Ezzy had one of the small knives she kept hidden on her body in her hand as she spun around, but she was surprised to see Bran had stepped in front of her.

  Mayor Erikson stormed into the room through the door he had slammed open. His face was red, but that could have been from either the anger painted across his face or the fact that he was panting as if he had sprinted there from the inn.

  "What are you doing here, Bran?" the mayor said between ragged breaths. He pointed a chubby finger at Ezzy. "And what stupid ideas has she been putting into your head that would make you bring her along?"

  It was interesting to see Bran's face twist into the same angry look his father was wearing. "I came, Father, because you seemed more interested in whatever you were doing in your study than in the fact that one of the people under your care had been murdered." The mayor looked like he was about to reply, but Bran continued. "And the only thing Ezzy has told me is that she is training to be a bounty hunter. I thought her insight might catch something I might miss."

  Ezzy stepped out from behind Bran. His protective gesture was nice, but she wasn't in need of it. "I would like to help--"

  The mayor cut her right off as if she hadn't even spoken. "The things I do behind closed doors are always for the betterment of our home. When you get older, you'll have the maturity to stop and think about what you are doing instead of running off at the first word of trouble. Maybe then I'll start letting you in on how to really run a village."

  "You lead the village, Father, because you are elected by the residents. Just because you've held the position for so long doesn't mean you'll always have it. Or that you'll be able to just pass off the responsibility to whomever you choose."

  The mayor gave a dark chuckle. "You continue to prove how little you actually know."

  A commotion from outside interrupted the two men. Men were shouting and at one point, someone let out a pained yell.

  "That thing bit me!" One of the guards outside yelled.

  "Don't try and put your hands on me then, human," a raspy voice replied.

  The mayor twisted towards the door. "What now--"

  He cut off as Ean Sangrave strode through the door.

  Chapter 28

  Ezzy's first instinct, despite the doubts that had begun to gnaw at her, was to attack. She had stared at the wanted posters of his face for so long, dreamt about each strike she would deliver to it for so long, that it was almost instinctual now to want to drive her fist into his face. But as Ean limped into the room, she realized the man already looked like he had gone through a battle.

  Bruises covered half his face, although the mustard yellow and light black blemishes appeared to be fading as if they had been inflicted weeks ago. He held his right arm against his body and when he moved, it was obvious he favored that leg as well. At his side was a creature she had never seen before.

  It stood just taller than the man's knee. It was humanoid, as it stood on two legs and had two arms and the features of a face, but that was where the comparisons stopped. The creature's skin was a dark-brown in color, and it appeared naked, although she couldn't see any distinguishing parts that might help identify its gender. Tiny claws rested at the tips of its fingers and toes, its hands flexing at its sides. Two black eyes glanced around the room; since there were no pupils, it was hard to tell exactly what it was looking at. A pair of pointed ears flopped down to the side of a small head, and an elongated nose pointed out from the middle of its face like a small, curved blade.

  Before anyone in the room could speak, one of the men who had been guarding the door pushed inside. He moved around Ean and the imp, keeping as wide of a berth as if they carried a plague.

  "Sorry, Mayor Erikson," the guard stammered as he got passed the new arrivals. "That little creature bit me."

  The mayor gave him a withering stare. "Just return to your duty and try not to let anyone else in."

  The guard gave an awkward salute, then sidled back around Ean and his creature.

  "I suppose," the mayor continued, turning the same look on Ean, "that telling you to leave would be a waste of breath."

  Ean seemed to glance at everyone in the room before finally locking eyes with the mayor. "Since I'm sure you'll blame me for this murder as well, I wanted to see what happened with my own eyes."

  The mayor made a dismissive wave towar
ds the creature. "And you brought that thing."

  To Ezzy's surprise, the thing responded. "I'm here to determine if this was done by something from the Abyss or if your accusations are just more of the usual dung that dribbles out of your mouth."

  "How dare you--"

  Bran stepped forward, cutting his father off. "If you're here to investigate and you had no hand in this, you may stay. But any attempt to hide or mar the truth, by you or your beast, will only confirm your guilt. Understand?"

  "I do," Ean replied. "Zin, do you want to take a look?"

  "That's why I'm here," the creature replied although it glared with those beady black eyes at the mayor.

  Ezzy and Bran moved away from the body as the creature approached. Bran remained close, watching Zin as it moved around the corpse. It touched each wound gingerly, pulling back skin without causing more damage than had already been done.

  "Done after he died..." the imp mumbled as it probed the corpse.

  Ezzy changed her initial opinion of it. Clearly, this creature was much more intelligent than it appeared.

  While Zin continued to examine the body, Ezzy turned her attention to the creature's master. Ean was watching Zin work, his expression blank, giving nothing away. Was this all just a show or was the man innocent? Things would be so much easier if he was the monster she had pictured over the past year. If he was the type of man who could order something like this done, she would happily enact her revenge, even if it meant further angering Shay. But if he wasn't...and he wasn't really the one responsible for her father's death...

  The young man must have felt her eyes on him, as he looked over in her direction. For a moment, his blank expression broke. It happened too fast for Ezzy to get a good read on the emotion that broke through before his stoic mask returned. Had it been guilt or were her own desires causing her to see what she wanted to see in his expression? They held each other's gaze for a moment longer until Zin's voice drew Ean's attention away.

  "I'm not sure, Ean. I can't imagine any of the creatures you've brought out of the Abyss doing this." Zin ran a finger along the outside of some of the wounds. "The Maruks don't leave their forges and the imps aren't smart enough to leave the mine or brave enough to attack anything. The Crux only kill in self-defense or if pressed into battle." The creature scratched at its chin. "One might kill a human if it thought it was slighted in some way, but an angry Crux would probably just rip the person apart in anger. Dissecting a body with this precision would take the focus an enraged Crux would not possess. If this was done by any of ours, it would have to be Azalea."

  "Not possible." Ean shook his head. "She was with us away from here for the other murders and hasn't gone far since we've been back."

  The mayor let out a grunt. "Just because you want to rule out one of your pets doesn't mean she isn’t a suspect."

  Ean seemed to ignore him as he continued. "And the missing blood?"

  So, he noticed it too, Ezzy thought.

  "It’s just as confusing as the way the man was killed. Plenty of blood drinkers in the Abyss, but most wouldn't have ever tasted human blood before." It gestured towards the multiple wounds. "Most also would have been much sloppier with getting it out of this man's body, nor would they have made all these minor wounds to get it. Other creatures would rip and tear or drain from a singular point. The more refined blood drinkers also wouldn't have worried about the organs. It’s all very confusing."

  "But you can't rule out something from the Abyss?"

  "I can rule out most of our creatures. Whether or not it was something else from the Abyss, I'm not sure."

  "Most, imp?" Bran stepped forward and addressed the smaller creature. "Let me guess which one might. The one you already mentioned? Azalea?"

  Zin glanced at Ean, which as far as Ezzy was concerned, might as well have been an admission that Bran was right. When the imp remained quiet, Bran waved it off with a disgusted grunt.

  "This Azalea is the same creature you brought out of the Abyss in front of me and..." Bran stopped and Ezzy saw his expression grow darker before he continued. "The monster that feeds off emotions and almost drained the life from my body? The one you claim is under your control?"

  "Azalea has kept her hunger under control since then." Ean took a few steps towards Bran. At first, Ezzy thought he was getting ready to fight and she tensed in preparation to come to Bran's aid. To her surprise, she watched Ean's eyes soften and his mouth turn down in a pained expression. "She has come a long way from the creature I unleashed in a fit of anger. I don't claim she's an angel, but I know her well enough now that she certainly wouldn't do anything like this."

  "Unless she is controlling you, something I've feared since you first came back here."

  "No one is being controlled, Bran."

  "Then you admit the monsters in your mine might have done this despite whatever orders you've given them?"

  "Now you're twisting my words--"

  "No, you're just either your own creatures’ puppet or too stupid to realize that any control you thought you had over your monsters has all been an illusion."

  "You call me a puppet when every word out of your mouth is one that your father put in it."

  Things degenerated from there. The two men continued to throw insults back and forth as Ezzy and the mayor were left to watch. To her surprise, the mayor made no attempt to support his son. No declaration of Bran's character, no supportive words as Ean questioned both his intelligence and his morals. The man actually took a step back as the argument escalated. The look on his face was similar to that of a cat that has cornered its kitten with a dangerous bird and didn't care which ended up as dinner. At one point, the rotten man even glanced over in her direction and gave her the kind of smile Ezzy had found charming when she first met him. Now the way the ends of the mayor's lips turned up made her feel like throwing up.

  As the argument ramped up to the point that it was only a word or two away from becoming physical, Ezzy took stock of the room. Always be aware of your surroundings, Shay drilled into her during their travels. The environment can just as easily cause your death as those trying to do you harm. Bran and Ean were between the door and the fireplace. All the furniture was more or less against the walls or resting in the corners of the room. The mayor, the imp, and Ezzy were still by the corpse, with Ezzy in front and the other two behind her. The corpse's legs were spread out, which could be a tripping hazard, and she could just as likely be tripped by the mayor as the imp. The mayor wouldn't openly attack her, she hoped, but she had no idea about the imp.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she caught the imp looking right back at her. He wore a pensive look, or at least what looked like one on its humanoid face. The creature raised its eyebrows as their eyes met, but its attention was drawn away when Ean spoke.

  "Zin, we're leaving." Ean's fists were clenched and he was glaring at Bran as he spoke to the imp. "I'm done wasting my breath on these people. They are so obsessed with finding us guilty that they ignore anything we have to say."

  "Go ahead," Bran retorted. "Run away. That is the only thing you know how to do."

  "Yea, well, thankfully I also know I'm not the murderer and I doubt any of my people are the cause of the murders either. For all I know, you're going around killing people just to frame me." Ean pointed an accusatory finger at both Bran and the mayor before turning his ire on his companion. "ZIN."

  "Coming, coming." The imp got to its feet and strolled over to Ean's side as if it couldn't feel any of the tension in the room. It seemed about to walk out the door but instead turned towards them. "Bran, always a pleasure. Mayor Erikson, always a pain. And...Esmerelda?" It waited until she nodded. "Ean has told me about you. Thanks for not bringing your metal monstrosity crashing down on all of us. It is...reassuring...to see you are not as reckless as Ean made you out to be."

  Again that same questioning look, held for three breaths, before the imp casually walked out of the room. Ean watched the imp go, his expression mark
ing him as confused as Ezzy felt. The anger returned, though, with the imp’s departure, and the young man slammed the front door shut as he left without another word.

  Chapter 29

  "The nerve of that man," Bran growled as he kicked at an unoffensive patch of dirt in the road. They had left the deceased farmer's home and were headed back into the village. The low lantern light cast strange shadows around them, made only creepier by the different shades of light reflected off the three moons above. "The arrogance."

  Ezzy nodded, although she wasn't quite sure what she made of the situation that had just transpired. Not soon after Ean had left, Bran had seen the smug expression on his father's face and stormed out. Ezzy had followed right after him and they had walked in silence for a time. It had been clear he needed time to stew over what had happened. She certainly was having trouble coming to any solid decision about Ean. Bran, on the other hand, was making it clear how he felt.

  "He had a chip on his shoulder long before he gained any of these powers," Bran continued. "I understood where it came from; parents killed, most of the village blaming his family for what happened with the marsh. My father and younger brother were the worst when it came to the bullying he endured. I did my best to help..."

  Again, he took on a faraway look. Ezzy took the opportunity to jump in, her mind locked on a single sentence. "He lost his parents?"

  "What?" Bran glanced over at her for a second then nodded. "Yes, killed by some water monster that had resided in the marsh. It was a small pond at the time but the monster left right after murdering his parents and that’s when the area turned into the marsh."

  Bran waved back behind them although the marsh itself was far enough away that it was lost in the darkness—the marsh, its foul-smelling Rottwealth plants, and the water elemental that Ean had placed in its waters. The young man had lost his parents and still trusted the same type of creature that took them from him to fix the marsh. Either Ean was more complicated than she had thought or he had ulterior motives other than helping the village. A year ago, she would have thought the latter. Would have believed the worst in him without giving it another thought. On this night, however, she gave it more than a few. She couldn't think of a single reason why he would lie about healing the marsh that would benefit him in any way. Maybe the man walking in front of her had an idea.