by Anton Strout
No signs of chaos or sounds of conflict came from within, but that did not relax her. Her backpack was off and she pulled out the secret tome along with the three newly acquired books, which she spread out over one of the worktables of the art studio. Somehow she was managing to consume all of them at the same time while frantically taking notes in her own notebook. I made sure that the little one called Bricksley did not tread across the books as he tried to join her on top of the table.
A short while after, the groan of strained metal arose from outside and Alexandra looked up from her work, running back out to the terrace. Before I could reach the edge of it myself, a figure came into view coming up the fire escape. One of the malformed monstrosities from the ship.
“Do something!” Alexandra called out, peering over the edge. She held up her notebook. “If I can restore you with the last stone, you’ll have the power Alexander hinted at in his books, our only chance to beat them, but I need time to find the Heart of the Home. Deal with these monstrosities. Please? There are more of them coming up!”
“As you wish.”
Alexandra smiled, then looked down and flipped through the book as fast as she humanly could, continuing her search.
I turned to my foe out on the terrace. “You cannot stop us,” the one coming up off the fire escape said. “We are the Servants of Ruthenia, and we are stronger.”
“You are nothing like me,” I growled, stepping up to him.
“Yes, we are,” he said, confidence in his very tone.
“We are not alike,” I said, spreading my wings wide. “For one, I have these.”
The stone figure paused and laughed. “So? We are stronger.”
“So this.” I shoved at him with all my might, sending him flying straight through the railing. The creature tumbled down through the night sky, end over end, its cries ending with a shattering crack on the pavement below.
The broken railing pulled away from the rest of the fire escape as its mounting tore loose from the weight of the men of stone coming up from below becoming too much for it. It broke free from the building, sending the other creatures tumbling with it, save one close one who dug into the stone of my forearm. I shook my arm back and forth, but the stubborn thing refused to let go, and it quickly became clear that if he were to fall, I would end up going with him.
I dug the claws of my feet into the terrace stone and stepped back from the edge, using my wings to bring the creature up. I fell back with it toppling on top of me, but I refused to let it have the advantage. Rolling, I got the struggling creature under me, only to see Alexandra’s tiny servant Bricksley get crushed under it.
“No!” Alexandra cried out, but there was nothing I could do, and given the superior strength of these abominations, I would not keep the upper hand long unless I acted.
I drove the pointed tips of my wings into its shoulders, stone digging through stone. Raising both arms, I joined my fists together and brought them down hard onto its head. Although I met solid resistance, the blow still managed to shoot chips of stone out all across the terrace.
My enemy went still for a moment, but not any longer than that. He bucked up at me, tossing my body up in the air. If it had not been for my wings settled into the stone of his shoulders, I would have gone flying, but they held fast in place. I came down hard on the creature, my body driving the fight out of him as I landed. Hands still raised, I brought them down again and again on his head. With each strike, larger chunks of stone broke away until there was little left but a pile of crumbled rocks and dust.
When I could finally take my focus away from my now-lifeless enemy, Alexandra was standing in silence, clearly shaken. Her nerves tumbled into me, and I stood. “I am sorry you had to see that,” I said, then realized that while I felt her nerves, there was no fear or horror behind them. “I am sorry for your servant. As well.”
“It’s all right,” she said. “He went down swinging. And when I watched you destroy that creature…I can…feel you now, a part of why you do what you must. That bond you’ve been feeling protecting me, the one formed by my restoring parts of you…It seems to work in reverse. There was no hate in what you did. Only duty.”
She looked like she wanted to say more, but I nodded my head once, closing my eyes, then turned to look out into the night sky. “Maybe a little hate,” I said. “After all, I am becoming more in touch with my humanity, but we were lucky just now. I could not have fought them all.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to,” she said, holding up her notebook. “I think I’ve found what I needed out of the three books. I’ve written down everything I think I need to find the last gemstone for the Revelation of the Soul.” She ran to the edge of the balcony and looked down.
I joined her by the remains of the fire escape.
“They’re gone,” she said.
“No,” I said. “Not gone. Merely regrouping. They did not cross an ocean to get here to be so easily turned away. Not with what they seek out so near.”
Alexandra spun, then ran into the building, going straight for her spread-out books. “If they’re regrouping, then that means they’re going to take the easy way in now.”
“Which means—”
“They’re coming in downstairs,” she said, and as if to confirm it, a cacophony of sound rose from the back of the building, coming up through the shaft of the elevator.
“They’re messing with the elevator,” she said, grabbing up her backpack, notes, and Alexander’s tome. She ran for the elevator, but I was quicker to it.
I came to the doors seconds ahead of her, pressing my claws into the thin seam in the middle of them. They did not want to give, but I made them. Dark open space met us, a series of thick wire cables running down. The sounds of metal being crushed filled the entire shaft, forcing Alexandra to cover her ears.
“They know they’re going to have trouble dealing with us so they’re going to hit us where we’re weakest,” she said, her face filling with horror. “My parents.”
The first rule—protect the family—flared at the center of my mind. Without another thought, I grabbed Alexandra, pulled her close to me, then stepped into the empty elevator shaft.
Thirty two
Alexandra
My stomach sank as we fell, Stanis pulling his wings around me before crashing through the roof of the elevator below. Metal crunched under Stanis’s feet as we landed, and despite him slowing us with the drag of his wings before punching through the elevator’s roof, my shoulders ached from where he had been gripping me.
When he unfolded the heavy stone wings from around my body, I saw we were inside the crumpled remains of the elevator car itself. The gargoyle set me down, then tore open the broken doors of the car, tossing them aside like they were made of paper. Making sure not to cut myself on anything jagged, I worked my way out of the shaft and into the main living quarters on our family floor. I pulled out the compiled notes in what I thought of as my book of arcane knowledge now, then tightened the straps on my backpack before running down the main hall in search of either my family or trouble, most likely both.
The trail of destruction along the way made it easy to follow as I stepped over broken chairs and knocked over piles of my father’s hoarded newspapers and magazines. The sound of commotion rose up as I approached the dining room and kitchen at the other side of the building, and my stomach tightened. I readied one of the binding spells I had learned while creating Bricksley, one that had rendered his stone form inert when I’d wanted it to. I only hoped I had enough force of my own will to render some of these creatures the same.
I rounded the next corner, stepping into our kitchen with Stanis coming in behind me, his wings tucked close to his body so he could get around the overturned dining table in his path. My eyes sought out a target while I incanted all but the final words of my spell. Movement—figures standing in the doorway at the opposite side of the room. I let my will go as I completed the incantation, forcing my words of power in that dire
ction.
Only it wasn’t the stone men or my parents. My friends stood there—Rory with her pole arm at the ready and Marshall holding one of my great-great-grandfather’s statues from the back hallway—a centaur. The figure exploded into a cloud of dust as my spell hit it and the two of them jumped.
“Christ!” Marshall cried out, counting his fingers. They were covered with a fine gray dust, but other than that, they all seemed to be accounted for. “Watch it with that stuff, will you?”
Rory ran across the kitchen and hugged me. “We got here as quick as we could,” she said. “We were worried.”
“I still am,” I said, hugging her back just as hard. “I went through the three new books, though. There’s a lot to learn, but I think I know where the fourth soul stone is. I was piecing it together when those things tried to come up the outside of the building, but Stanis here knocked them off.”
“What does the Heart of the Home even mean?” Rory asked.
“I have an idea,” I said.
“Your front doors were smashed in,” Marshall said, joining us.
“So much for the warding on the house,” I said. “Not that it would have stopped Devon from finding his way here.”
Rory stopped hugging me and stepped back. “There was a smoke cloud pouring out of the elevator into the lobby so we followed a different path of destruction up the stairs past all the offices.”
“We were following a path of our own from the elevators around this floor,” I said, “but we didn’t see anything, other than you two.”
“So where are they if not here?” Stanis asked.
“There’s only one other way to go,” I said, and ran off to the back hall, the last piece of my great-great-grandfather’s puzzle falling into place. “To the Heart of the Home, of course.”
Thirty three
Stanis
Alexandra, Marshall, and Rory led the way into the depths of the building.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked. “I do not feel much comfort in going into a more confined space. I cannot protect you as well.”
Aurora tapped the end of her weapon on one of the stone steps. “We stand a fair chance of protecting ourselves, you know.”
“If you think to take down these men of stone with a mere bladed stick, then you are in for a harsh awakening,” I said. “I was hard-pressed to hold my own against Alexandra’s brother.”
“For the record,” Marshall said back over his shoulder, “I’m okay with the gargoyle trying to keep us safe as a first line of defense.”
“Shh!” Alexandra whispered from up ahead of us. “We need to stay quiet from now on. We’re going to need the element of surprise if we stand any chance of getting my parents away from them.”
“If they’re down here,” Marshall added.
“Trust me,” she said. “If my parents heard intruders, they would have run for the catacombs. Especially my father. At any time of stress, he’d prefer a place to pray, and what better place than in our own private cemetery?”
“Catacomb?” I asked. “Cemetery?”
Alexandra looked up at me in wonder. “It’s where we bury those of us who have passed on,” she explained. “You’ve never been down here, have you?”
“Actually,” I said. “I have.”
Alexandra stopped. “You have?”
“Yes,” I said. “I do not fully understand your custom of burial, but sometimes I would come and rest here among the carvings of grotesques. There was a comfort in it. Other times I merely came down here to watch over you.”
Alexandra smiled, the warmth of it filling me; then she turned and continued on.
The stairs continued farther, but we did not follow them lower, instead walking out among the graves on the first floor down. Voices came from farther along, Alexandra motioning for our group to slow as we approached. Up ahead I saw many of the creatures from my first visit to the freighter; among them were Alexandra’s father and mother, the woman looking horror-struck, but not the father. Alexandra’s brother was in the crowd, but he remained still, only watching the exchange going on between the humans and them.
“Your father does not look afraid,” I said.
“Of course he doesn’t,” Alexandra said. “Why would he? He’s been visited by an angel, remember? He believes in a better place. He’s not afraid to die.”
While most of the creatures made sure the two humans stayed where they were, there was a clear leader of the pack, a larger monstrosity whom I recognized. “Kejetan,” I said.
“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,” Marshall said, unenthused.
“We need to help your parents,” Aurora said. “We need to strike!”
“Very well,” I said, and moved to pass them, but Alexandra’s hand on my arm stopped me.
“No,” she said. “Not yet. We have to go.”
Aurora looked at her in disbelief.
“Go? Now?” she whispered. “We have to help them, Lexi!”
“And we will,” she said, looking through the new book of Alexander’s she had brought down with us. “But the Heart of the Home isn’t up here. I need to keep my promise to Stanis. I need to restore him…because it’s important not just to him, but to me.” She paused, almost unable to speak, as if the words were catching in her throat, tears at the corners of her eyes. She wiped at them, then turned to smile at me. “And hopefully we get the added advantage of Stanis returning to his full power.”
My wings gave an involuntary flutter against my back, and I took a moment to still them. “I pray you are right,” I said.
“I think I know where the final stone is,” she said, then snuck her way past me back the way we had come, heading farther down the set of stairs there.
Aurora looked unsure, but nodded and followed after her friend, pole arm at the ready.
“I hope she’s right,” Marshall said before also heading down.
I hoped they were right as well. I did not relish the fight to come without being as whole as I could be.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the three of them were in conversation, waiting.
“I can be the bait,” Marshall said. “I’ve got the skills for that. Annoying people, running away…”
“Maybe you should just stay out of harm’s way,” Aurora offered. “I don’t want to look for another roommate…you know, if you get killed or anything.”
“Touching,” Marshall said, “but hear me out. We can’t take these things on one by one, but we can outsmart them.”
Aurora nodded. “Makes sense,” she said. “They do have rocks for brains, after all.”
“I have rocks for brains,” I reminded her, unable to help the low, gravelly tone of my words.
Aurora rolled her eyes, then clapped me on the shoulder. “Yes, darlin’, but you’re refined. Not at all like those brutes. No offense meant.”
“No offense taken,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”
Alexandra smiled at me. “Let’s get moving, Mr. Sophisticated,” she said, and started off through this older section of the catacombs.
Aurora took off after her oldest friend and I did the same, Marshall running to catch up with us.
Marshall cleared his throat. “Very touching, really,” he said, “but listen up. At least if you want to get through this…As I started to say, we don’t have to match their brute force. We’ve got several advantages here.”
“Such as…?” Alexandra called back.
He stretched his arms to the side of the narrow walkway between the tombs. “We’re in a confined space, which hopefully makes it harder for those big boys to fight.”
“Me as well,” I said, flexing my wings, which hit two of the columns near me, scraping against them.
“I’d rather we be able to slow a dozen of them down if we can,” he said. “Sorry.”
I looked across the space leading farther back into the catacombs. This bottom floor was different from the one above it, the construction older, the ceilings higher. I
pointed up at them. “I may still be able to use this to my advantage,” I said.
“Excellent,” Marshall said before turning and grabbing for Aurora’s pole arm, but her grip on it was strong. Unable to take it from her, he instead shook it in her hands for emphasis. “This is more than just a striking weapon. It can be used to trip them up by going for the legs, using it to throw their leverage off, to unbalance them. And when they’re going down, maybe a few of them crack their skulls. I doubt the pointy end will do much good.”
Aurora nodded. “Noted,” she said. “Go for the legs.”
“Hurry up,” Alexandra called back to us from her now-considerable lead through the catacombs. “If my hunch is right, that’s going to be awesome, but it still won’t leave us much time.”
The three of us picked up our pace as she led us deeper into the catacombs. The farther back we went, the more spaced out the tombs were until she stopped at one of them that sat along what I sensed was the back wall of the building.
“Welcome to the heart of the building,” she said, and slapped her hand down on top of one of the tombs. The carving on the top of it was of a man at rest, lying with hands folded together at his waist. He wore an elaborately carved breastplate with knot work similar to that of his secret tome, and at the center of his chest was a single red gem resting above his heart. “Meet your maker.”
I stood in silence, staring, expecting him to sit up, the carving so lifelike. Seeing his face next to Alexandra’s, the resemblance was even stronger than my mind’s eye had imagined it to be. Without opening any of the books, she laid her hand over the gem, whispered out an incantation, and the stone came free.
“Ready?” she asked. “This might be too much to bear, judging by how the other ones went.”