Death Flag

  Suddenly remembering what it was, he pushed it open and stepped into the pitch-black room. He felt a blast of frigid air slam into his face, and the hairs on his arms stood up straight the shock of the sudden and drastic temperature change. This was even worse than it had been last time since his clothes were still soaking wet from his dip into the stream. He knew that they were going to end up as frozen sheets of ice if he spent too much time here, so he made a mental note to leave before that point. He heard the door click shut behind him as it closed on silent hinges, and he was struck with that same strange feeling of being briefly submerged in water that made his skin crawl.

  As soon as the door was closed, a world materialized in front of him. Having at least some idea of what to expect this time, he quickly stepped away from the entrance and strode into the clearing. Everything looked almost exactly as it had the last time he had been here. The weapons rack was there, along with the globe, a chess board, a bookshelf, and a large fire pit with an equally-large flame. The grass-woven mat still occupied the center of the clearing, but rather than a ghostly specter waiting for him, the flag it had left behind was still planted there, flapping away in an otherwise unfelt breeze. His footsteps crunched underneath him in the snow as he made his way around to the weapons rack.

  Why am I here? he wondered, staring down the rack of weapons. Is it because I was thinking about getting stronger? Did the keep’s magic direct me here for that reason?

  He pulled his eyes away from the rack and spun around in a circle, taking everything in. He drew in a deep breath, wincing as he did, and exhaled slowly while watching his breath billow up in a cloud. It was freezing here for Warren and Rae last time. I know Warren explained that to me—he even said that they had to be treated at the infirmary—but I still don’t feel the cold. I see my breath. I see the snow. I know that it’s cold. But I don’t feel it. He shook his head and took another slow breath, ignoring the pain his ribs that protested his action.

  Something about this place was calming to him. He actually felt better just being there. He was still all-too-aware of those self-defeating thoughts lurking in the back of his mind, but they seemed further away now. It was like they just didn’t matter as much. And it was the same way with his aches and pains. The cold air was refreshing to his throbbing eyes, and it didn’t bother him that his face was swollen and bruised.

  He turned back to the weapons in front of him and gazed down the long line. He ran his hand along their pommels as he walked own the rack. There was everything he could think of here. If he ever needed a weapon, or if he ever wanted to learn to use one, this was the place to come. He couldn’t imagine there being a more complete arsenal anywhere else. He’d certainly never heard of one if it existed. He stopped in front of the swords and studied them for a moment. He had originally grabbed a simple one-handed sword in his fight against the wraith, but that hadn’t felt right. It had been wrong in just the same way that a shirt was slightly too tight or a pair of pants too big. It fit, but it just didn’t fit right.

  The two-handed great sword, however, was a different matter. That had felt like an extension of himself. He remembered how it felt to heave the blade back and forth, how he had been able to maneuver it with a single hand as easily as with two, and how he had known exactly how to wield it for maximum effect. He had never laid his hands on a sword before outside of a video game, and despite the fact that he worked out with weights almost every day, there was absolutely no way he should have been able to wield a massive blade like that. He was positive that was part of the magic of this place. It just wasn’t possible otherwise.

  He reached up and grabbed the handle of the great sword there, his fingers curling around the leather-wrapped hilt. He was just about to heave back and draw it from the rack, but a hand suddenly appeared on his own, stopping him. He let go of the sword and jumped back, automatically assuming a defensive posture and fearing the worst. There was no telling what this magical word was going to create for him to fight against, and he knew well enough to be ready at all times.

  When he saw what it was, however, he dropped his stance and his mouth fell open.

  There was an exact copy of himself standing there. It was in slightly better shape than he was, minus the cuts and bruises, and it was certainly dressed better, wearing a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a black button-up shirt, but otherwise, it was like looking into a mirror. A gust of wind suddenly whipped through the clearing, and his clone’s hair blew about in the breeze before settling down again.

  “What the hell?” Madison asked aloud. He wasn’t convinced he wasn’t seeing things, but he had felt the touch of its hand, and he had seen its hair move in the breeze. That meant that this being was real enough to at least be solid. “Screw magic,” he muttered at last when his doppelganger didn’t move or react.

  “Well, at least we agree on that much,” his double replied.

  Madison blinked. “So, you can speak.”

  “Of course. Why couldn’t I? Did you do something to jack up your vocal cords as well? You look like shit, by the way.”

  “Seeing as you look like me,” Madison replied, “that’s a rather self-deprecating comment.”

  “Yes, but I’m the better looking you. I’m not the one who let a bunch of overgrown children beat me senseless for no other reason that the fact I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going,” he droned sarcastically. “I’m basically the you that you wish you were right now.”

  “What? The hell is that supposed to mean?” Madison asked defensively.

  “It means that I’m the you that’s smart enough to look both ways before he crosses the street,” his twin responded.

  “Hey, screw you!” Madison responded. Have I always been this much of a snide asshole?

  His twin smiled smugly and knowingly but didn’t respond. Instead, he walked out from around the weapons rack. “Come,” he said, motioning with his hand as he walked away. “There’s a reason I’m here, so we just have to figure it out.”

  “You don’t know why you’re here?” Madison asked suspiciously.

  His clone shrugged indifferently. “I’m here because of, as you so aptly put it, ‘the damn magic.’ But that magic must believe there is a reason for me being here, so we need to figure out what it is.”

  “Well, no shit. You don’t have to the obvious. But what are you? Are you actually some part of me? Or just some apparition that was conjured up to look just like me?”

  His clone shrugged again. “Yes, and yes again. I’m as much a part of you as you are a part of you. And I was certainly brought here by magic. What other explanation is there for my being here? Now, which part of you, exactly . . . Well, that’s an interesting question. I suppose we’ll have to figure that out as we go.” His clone looked around at the world appreciatively. “Although, this does appear to be a rather relaxing spot,” he commented idly. “It looks like it could start snowing at any moment. Do you think that has some hidden meaning?”

  “Hidden meaning? Why would snow have a hidden meaning.”

  His replica sighed but smiled patiently in the way a father might while teaching his son something simple. “I know everything that you know. What did Warren tell you? Everything here has meaning. It’s up to you to figure out what that meaning is.”

  “Uhh . . .” Madison looked around at the bookcase, the globe, and the chessboard. “Alright. I give up. What does it all mean?”

  His body double scowled at him and pointed down at the chessboard as he walked by it. When he had seen it before, the pieces had been neatly arranged, ready and waiting for someone to sit down and play. Now, they had been moved. It looked like someone had made the opening moves for each side and then walked away without finishing the game. “Interesting game. Have you ever seen someone play chess with three queens before?”

  Madison looked at the board again more closely this time. His twin was right. There were three queens on the black side and only one for white. “Wait a minute. I reme
mber now. The queens were missing last time I was here. I remember wondering about that.” He looked up at his double and then back at the board again. “So, I’m supposed to figure out what it means. There’s meaning to that.”

  “Apparently. Have you figured it out yet?”

  “What? No. I only just— You’re infuriating, you know that?” he asked of his clone. “Have a little patience.”

  “How much time do you need?” his clone asked, looking at his wrist as if there were a watch there.

  “Har har,” Madison responded dryly.

  “No, seriously,” his clone asked. “How much time do you need? Time passes differently than it does outside. Remember? Two days passed out there in the short time you were here before.”

  Ah shit. He’s right. “That means I can’t stay here very long. I can’t imagine anyone would be too happy with me for sneaking in here on my own. Actually . . . They probably wouldn’t care at all. As long as I’m where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be, I doubt that they’d care at all.”

  His doppler nodded. “I agree.”

  “So, is there any way to know how much time has passed? Or how to control it?”

  His clone smirked but didn’t answer.

  “Yes, there is,” Madison answered for him. “I know there is. I just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  “I agree.”

  “Then I’m also going to agree that I need to step back outside into the real world until I figure out what that is.”

  “Eventually, yes. But you’re here for now, and I think we’d both agree that you still have a bit more time. So, why not practice a bit while you’re here?”

  Madison glanced back at the weapons, neatly lined up and waiting to be used. “Against what?” he asked, glancing around. Unlike before, no ghostly apparition had appeared for him to fight, so there wasn’t an opponent on hand at the moment for him to test himself against.

  His clone smirked again. “Against yourself, of course.”

  “You mean . . .?”

  “Why not?” he asked, barking out a laugh at the same time. “What better way to learn? Look, you already know a lot more than you think you do. You just haven’t realized it. I can tell you that because I’m only telling you something that you already know. No, that isn’t a paradox, so just shut up and listen. I’m you, but I’m also created from the same magic that makes this entire world possible. Before you get caught up on all the details and fallacies of circular logic like I know you’re going to, just accept the fact that I can tell you certain things you haven’t quite put together yet.”

  Madison shrugged. “Okay, whatever. That’s a load of shit, and you and I both know it, but whatever. I’ll play along for now.”

  His doppelganger rolled his eyes but continued. “I’m here to help you. I’m not going to be able to teach you higher-level calculus because you don’t know it. The magic here can, however, pull things from our memory and make it work to our advantage. It’s going to challenge us in one way or another to make us stronger, right? There’s knowledge and strength in you that you haven’t realized is there. You’ve used it before, but for some reason, you aren’t right now. You just have to remember what you’re doing, get your head right, and it will come to you.”

  That caught Madison a bit off guard. This conversation had taken a trip to Zen rather quickly, and he was having trouble putting together all the mental connections as quickly as they were being thrown at him. Where in the world would I have picked up fighting knowledge? I don’t think anyone even pushed me into karate classes as a kid, I never took wrestling during school, and I’ve only ever been in a handful of fights before—and those were usually while either drunk or playing around. Still, the more he thought about it, the more he began to feel like his handsome new friend was actually correct. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly why, but he felt like there was a reason. He was almost certain that he should be able to call forth a memory that continued to elude him.

  “Alright. Whatever,” Madison finally said, giving up on figuring it out for the time being. “I don’t know whatever it is that you know that I know that I don’t know, but I guess we’ll figure it out together the hard way.”

  His clone nodded and pushed past Madison as he walked around to the weapons rack. “But you’re in no condition to fight,” his clone said thoughtfully. “So, we’re going to have to save that fight for another time. For now, just watch me. It wouldn’t do either of us much good for you to fight in that condition. Frankly, if I didn’t know how incredibly prideful and stubborn you are, I’d be impressed that you can even stand up, much less walk around.”

  “Ah, you flatter me so,” Madison exclaimed sarcastically. His clone rolled his eyes again as he pulled a simple two-handed sword from the rack. It was slightly smaller than the one Madison had used to fight the wraith with, but that would also mean that it was likely faster and easier to wield as well.

  His clone walked out on the woven mat and took a few practice swings. Madison had been dealing well enough with talking to an exact copy of himself, but watching himself go through the motions of warming up with a sword was a bit too weird. Screw magic, he thought for about the thousandth time since he arrived in this world.

  “Let’s start with something simple,” his clone said.

  There was a gust of wind, and a stream of thick, black smoke was carried along with it into the clearing. It flew to the center of the mat in front of his twin and began spiraling in on itself. There was a small burst of black a few seconds later, and when the smoke cleared away, there was what looked like a rotting corpse standing in its place. The creature was a sickly green color with rotted flesh covering its body. Its eyes were bugged out of its skull, and it stood there lifelessly, opening and closing its jaw mindlessly.

  “We’re running out of time, so let me make this quick,” his clone said. He turned his body slightly to the side and pulled the sword up in a fast, upward motion, removing the zombie’s right arm at the shoulder joint. Before he had even completed the swing, he stepped in closer to the creature and rammed it with his shoulder. The undead beast stumbled backward, and his clone brought the two-handed sword down in an overhand slash across its chest before it had time to even regain its balance.

  “That’s cool and all,” Madison called out as his twin finished off the creature. “But what can you do against something that can fight back?”

  His clone stepped back and threw one of his hands up to the sky as if he were taunting the creature. The undead creature’s body stood up as casually as could be, simply standing up on its own as if it had never fallen over. The monster then leaned over, grabbed his arm, and reattached it with a sickening crunch before marching over to the rack of weapons, pulling out a one-handed sword, and moving back to the center of the mat.

  Madison couldn’t help but nod appreciatively. “Now that’s a party trick I’d like to learn.”

  “It would definitely be advantageous after all those nights partying until sunrise, right?” His doppelganger grunted as he received the zombie’s first attack on his sword. It was a simple slashing attack, but from the way his clone reacted, it had a lot of power behind it. The zombie reached back, shifted to the side, and thrust forward at his clone’s abdomen trying to get past his clone’s defenses. His clone responded by shifting in the opposite direction and slicing downward at just the moment the zombie trust forward. The creature’s arm was severed at the elbow, and its limb fell to the ground harmlessly for the second time.

  “I’m still not impress—”

  His clone stepped forward, lifted the sword over his head, and then brought it down in a mighty swing. The undead creature was split in two from the top of his decaying skull to his abdomen.

  “I’m still not impressed,” Madison repeated. “It’s a rotting sack of flesh and bones. It took two shots at you, and you easily defended yourself against both.”

  “When you teach a child,” his doppelganger retorted, “you mu
st first start with the basics. He held his sword up in front of him with a single arm, and a sinister black flame erupted along its blade. The unholy-looking aura flicked along the length of the blade silently, occasionally casting off an occasional stray ember in the same fashion that a piece of burning wood would. His clone touched the flame to the undead corpse, and the creature erupted with the same dark flames. The fire raced along the monster’s body, devouring it from the outside in, and within mere moments, all that remained was a charred, black corpse.

  Madison stared at the remains in shock. Why do I know this? How is this even possible? Something about the sight of the unholy blade tugged at his memory, begging him to call up an image that he couldn’t quite reach. It was like the thought was there, on the top of his mental tongue, but he couldn’t quite get the images to form. It was insane, but he felt like he had seen this before. It looked so familiar. It felt like something he had seen before a thousand times, yet he couldn’t place it.

  He jerked his vision away from the pile of ashy remains and stared into his clone’s eyes, trying to pick up some hint there—some stray thought or emotion that would let him connect the pieces and put together what he had just seen.

  His clone nodded once, an amused smile hanging on the corners of his mouth, and then he disappeared. There was no fanfare, no poof, and no cloud of smoke: he was just there one second and then gone the next.

  Madison shook his head as he turned and walked away from the chessboard and the practice mat. He was beginning to feel like his subconscious was trying to tell him something as much as the magic was. Ryder told me that this room would test me in the most appropriate way at the most appropriate time. But this wasn’t a test so much as it was being taught. This was magic being used to dig through my memories and bring something to the surface. But why?

  Madison walked back to the entrance, once again experiencing the sensation of being submerged in water, only backward this time. He felt that same sinking feeling in the depths of his stomach except in reverse. He felt the invisible tension surrounding his body break and the weight of the magic lift off of him. He wasn’t nearly as disoriented as he had been the first time he experienced that transition, likely because he knew what to expect now. He fumbled around blindly in front of him in the dark room until he found the door handle and then pulled it open and stepped out into the hallway.