by Jamie Davis
The hideous face of the Fell appeared inside the floating sphere.
“Ah, Nilrem,” the ugly voice echoed inside his mind. “I’ve been watching your progress. Have you come back for more?”
“I sense that this power can do more than the shifting of minds and psyches.”
“There is more to learn, if you are willing.”
“Tell me more,” Kane said. “What might I be able to do?”
“Reach out. Touch the orb. I will show you.”
Kane hedged, but then he extended his hand until his fingertips were brushing the smooth surface of the orb.
The moment he made contact, Kane felt himself falling forward.
A part of his being was sucked into the orb.
He tried to pull back, to climb in reverse against the rushing flow that pulled him in and downward.
The ground firmed beneath his feet.
Opening his eyes, Kane looked around and realized he was standing amid a group of heavily armed soldiers in a mist-filled street.
He was about to ask where he was when it dawned on him.
This was the expedition. The mission to Europe where he first met Couch and recovered his family’s fortune.
Then he remembered what happened on this mist covered street.
Dread wracked his body.
“We have to go back,” he heard himself mutter.
The soldier directly in front of him raised a fist in the air.
The group of advancing soldiers stopped, crouching to the ground, all of them facing outward, guarding a sector of their perimeter.
The leader turned to face him: Captain Couch. “Why do we need to stop? According to your map, we’re almost there.”
Nils shook his head. This was all wrong, he was reliving something he’d already been through, something he never wanted to live through again.
“Trust me, Captain. We have to turn around and find another way.” A distant howl sliced through the night. Nils looked around. “We might be too late.”
“Too late for what, Chief Inspector?” Couch asked.
A ripple of shots was followed by a hideous scream.
Couch looked to the rear and called out. “Report. Who fired? What was the target?”
A rolling mist was coming to swallow the rear edges of the company.
Nils said, “We might be able to outrun some of them. But we have to go now.”
“Some of what?” Couch asked.
More shots sounded from the mists to the rear.
A human scream of pain.
Snarls from some sort of unimaginable demon preceded more shouts and screams from the men.
Then the first of the creatures bounded over those soldiers nearest to Nils, leaping out of the mist so fast that none could get a shot off.
The beast landed and Nils got his first look at the creature: humanoid, but with tufts of coarse fur covering its body interspersed with scaly skin like a snake. Its hands and feet ended in claws that could surely cleave right through body armor.
But the worst was its head and face. It looked a massive fang-filled maw had erupted from a once-human face. Crimson eyes bored into Nils.
Everyone froze; no one had ever seen anything like this before.
Tribesmen on the coast had told them that they’d never get past the Garbarians. And now Kane and the men in his expedition saw these demons for the first time.
The creature spun in place, swinging its clawed hands at the armored backs of soldiers still struggling to turn and face it.
Claws ripped flesh to the bone.
The first soldier cried out. A half second and then he was reduced to a husk of meat now missing its soul.
Couch was the first to react. He swung his rifle around on its sling and fired a series of rounds into the creature’s head until it exploded in bits of bone and gore.
He stopped firing, heard even more gunfire behind them.
Screams multiplied.
“Move,” he shouted. “We’re almost to the sanctuary on our maps. Go, go, go! Cover your sectors!”
The special forces soldiers around Kane started forward at a trot, two of them dragging their fallen comrade behind them.
The rear column appeared from the mist, running at full speed, some occasionally turning to fire, but most only trying to escape the Garbarians.
The lead soldiers reached a stone wall jutting upward from the street. They moved along it until they reached a heavy steel gate. The first soldier to reach it tried pushing it open, then turned and called back to the rest. “It’s locked. We need breaching charges.”
“No,” Nils heard himself call back. “We need that door intact or we’ll never be able to secure the keep. Let me open it.”
He ran up while the soldiers fanned out around the gate, guns out and scanning the mist.
Several fired at movement in the mist. A few were rewarded with pained howls from their pursuers.
Nils pulled in some of the limited magic he could access in this barren land and directed it into the locking mechanism on the heavy steel gate.
Several seconds later, he was able to operate the locking mechanism from his side. Kane reached up and shoved against the cold, damp metal.
The gate started to swing inward, allowing the expedition access to the keep.
“We’re in,” Couch called. “First two squads inside and search for defensive positions on the walls. Give us covering fire while the company comes up behind us. The rest of you form up here. Cover the perimeter until everyone’s inside.”
Nils stood by Couch at the entrance, though he wanted to run inside and hide from the creatures attacking their column.
Soldiers jogged past, a few of them bloody, mostly from the dying sprays of their fallen comrades. Once the remainder of the company was in sight and most of them inside the keep, Kane caught sight of the horde of attacking Garbarians.
They surged forward when they realized their quarry was escaping.
The final security team members around the gate fired into the charging mass of creatures, barely holding them back.
Gunfire rained from the walls above, pushing the charge back long enough for Couch to call the remainder of the force inside, then slam the gate shut behind them.
Nils felt a tugging on his being again.
This time he was pulled backward, drifting up and away from the scene in the courtyard.
Then he was back in his apartment, hand outstretched and stroking the orb.
His eye’s widened and he pulled his hand away.
“Those creatures, the Garbarians, they’re yours. You created them,” Nils said to the visage floating inside the spinning sphere.
“They and others similar to them are beings I have created to serve my followers on your plane. The Garbarians are particularly useful, as you remembered. They can track anything, anyone, despite magical enhancements and shields against detection.”
“They could find the Durham girl.”
“Yes, Nilrem. You see the purpose behind what I showed you.”
“So you will create them for me, with nothing in return?”
Nils was suspicious, knowing that there was always a price.
“No, Nilrem, you will create them. I have given you the power. You need only to make the leap.”
Nils considered, seeing the creatures again in his memories.
He remembered the eyes of the Garbarian he’d been face-to-face with in Britain. The eyes were his own. The Garbarians didn’t only look humanoid in shape, their eyes gave them away.
They were humans, twisted and shaped by magic until they took the form of the beasts who had hunted his expedition from that keep to the coast.
“I know what I have to do,” Kane said without hesitation.
The creation of the Garbarians for him to command was merely another step along the path he had to take to succeed.
This new power wasn’t something to be feared.
It was a tool to crush his enemies.
Again, his nagging conscience tried to surface. But this time he pushed it away from his thoughts with such force it was as if he’d snuffed out a candle with his boot heel.
He would create the Garbarians for use against Durham and her comrades, and he’d do it no matter the cost to his soul.
The tiny voice died.
Nilrem Kane knew that it would never bother him again.
CHAPTER 16
Winnie sat in the front passenger seat of the van, glancing over at Danny.
He’d been secretive for a week. Disappearing once for an entire day, leaving in the morning and returning late at night after she’d gone to bed.
She asked him about where he’d gone, but he merely urged her to ‘trust him.’
“I’m almost finished,” he said. “I think I’ve got it worked out.”
Now they were riding down a long lane, overgrowth from the nearby woods encroaching on all sides, pushing up from between the broken, cracked pavement. Elaine, Tris, Victor, and Morgan sat in the rear seats, all looking out at the vegetation, trying to get a glimpse of where they were going. Garraldi and Maria followed with their primary security team in another van behind them.
“I hope this mystery is worth the four-hour drive into the middle of nowhere,” Winnie said.
“It will be,” Danny replied. “I’ve got it all worked out. We’re almost there.”
Winnie looked forward, trying to see where ‘there’ was, exactly. There were tall trees on either side, thick branches and foliage swallowing the lane.
Then the lane turned to the right and space opened ahead.
Danny drove through an open gate in a tall, overgrown brick wall and continued driving through an open area with fewer, but larger trees.
A large brick building loomed ahead. It looked abandoned and run down. A battery of broken windows looked like missing teeth in it its three-story facade. Twisting vines climbed the exterior walls.
He pulled the van outside the broad steps leading up to the entry doors.
A sign stood nearby. Winnie could barely make out the word Hospital along the bottom. Thick vines ate the rest.
Danny turned to Winnie and smiled. “We’re here.”
“Where exactly is this, Danny?” she asked, climbing out.
Winnie walked around to stand in front of the steps. Danny joined her. The others all got out behind them.
“It’s owned by my mother’s family,” Danny said. “We’ve had it for years. I wanted to check and make sure it was still in our family’s hands, and that no one was living here. It’s remote, there’s a wall around the grounds so we should be able to fortify it. The buildings are all made of concrete and brick. Close together. There are hundreds of rooms here, so we should have enough for all of us.”
Winnie looked around, seeing three other buildings close by, including an interesting A-frame structure across the courtyard from where they were parked. The interior of the brick and stone wall surrounding the grounds stretched out of sight in either direction.
There was a shriek of alarm to her right.
Her mother was standing next to the sign. She’d pulled the vines out of the way and was stepping backward, pointing at the words in accusation:
Waverly Chanter’s Hospital.
Winnie spun around on Danny, confronting him. “Your mother’s a Waverly? THOSE Waverlies? I can’t believe you did this. How could you bring us here and think this would be a good place to hide out?”
“I don’t understand.” Danny raised his hands, palms out. “What’s wrong with this place? It’s been abandoned my entire life. What’s the big deal? You can’t possibly believe all those old stories.”
“All those old stories are true,” Elaine said. “This place tried to cure mentally ill chanters of something that wasn’t a disease. Something that couldn’t be cured. Terrible things were done to those chanters here in the name of science.”
“Danny, you can’t tell me you didn’t know what this place stood for,” Winnie said. “The Harvester Kane used to kill so many chanters while siphoning their magical energy likely has roots in the experiments conducted on mentally ill chanters here.”
“All this has ever been to me is an abandoned property that’s been in my family forever. I didn’t know. I’d heard stories, sure, but I never believed them.”
Winnie glared at Danny, not sure how he could be so dense.
Maria came over and stepped between them. “Winnie, we should at least look around. At first glance, this place seems like exactly what we need.”
“Maria, you’re a middling. You don’t understand,” Garraldi said. “This place gives me the creeps just standing here.”
“The history here makes it a perfect hideout. Who would expect you or any group of chanter rebels to hide out in a place like this?” Maria explained. “Let’s look around.”
Winnie wanted to say something about Maria being as clueless as Danny.
But what if she was right? It wasn’t like she believed in ghosts. Sure there were things that couldn’t be explained in places like the crater, but that didn’t mean she and the others had anything to fear from this place beyond its ugly history. It was abandoned now.
“Okay,” Winnie agreed. “Keep your eyes open and look at this place as if we’ll have to defend it against attacks both magical and mundane. Eventually, we probably will.”
As the others spread out and started walking around the grounds, Elaine pulled her daughter aside. “You’re not seriously thinking about using this place as a base, are you?”
“Maria’s right. No one who knows the history would ever think of us hiding here. Besides, if there is some sort of lingering negative energy, it’s going to be chanter life force. It will be on our side in this fight, not the other way around. Maybe we can cleanse this place, make it stand for something positive.”
“I don’t know, Winnie.” Elaine shook her head. “I knew people who were sent here. They never came back. It closed just after you were born, when Dr. Waverly’s work was finally exposed. He was probably Danny’s great grandfather.”
“Danny’s not like his family, Mom. He’s proven himself plenty of times. He’s been there even when you haven’t been. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
Danny came over and cleared his throat. Winnie and Elaine both gave him the same withering glare. He shrank back as he spoke.
“Look, Winnie, Ms. Durham, I’m sorry for bringing you here. I would never have considered it if I’d known what it meant to you both. I get that I can’t understand what it means to be a chanter. We can look for something else. I’m sure we’ll find a better location somewhere else.”
“No.” Winnie looked around at the wall that surrounded the grounds, thinking about the defensive spells she and the others could create to shield them from attack here. Maria was right—this place was nearly perfect in its layout and size. They desperately needed a new location and they had little hope that something better would just come along.
“Let’s look around. Get a feel for this place.”
Elaine nodded, looking unconvinced. Danny gave her a meek smile, took her hand, then led her up the stairs and into the main building.
Elaine, Victor, and Morgan followed them inside.
“My mom brought me here once when I was about five. I remember thinking it was kind of awesome,” Danny led Winnie and Elaine into the main entry hallway and gestured around. “There are a bunch of small rooms, so everyone will have a roommate or two rather than the whole bunk room to share. There are underground tunnels between the basement levels connecting the three main buildings to each other. That could be key if we’re attacked. We wouldn’t have to expose ourselves when moving from one place to another.”
Winnie looked around, trying to clear her mind of previous reservations.
The whole place looked run down from the outside, but the interior wasn’t too bad. It was dusty, but she didn’t smell any mildew or rot. That meant the structure was still sound. If t
he other buildings were still as solid, they could clean up the inside and make it livable with just a little work.
They continued down the hallway, checking some of the first-floor rooms. Most of them still had random desks and other furniture here and there. It seemed that no one from the Waverly family had bothered to auction the facility’s contents.
She exited out the back. Garraldi and a few members of his security team were exiting from one of the other two buildings. Cricket and Tris were leaving the second one. Winnie motioned for them to meet in the courtyard between the three central buildings.
“So, give me your thoughts. If we were to ignore its history, what are the pros and cons of this place?”
Tris hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the building she’d just left with Cricket. “The structure’s in good shape. I didn’t see signs of problems other than some broken windows.”
Cricket nodded. “Most of the rooms in that one have bed frames still in them. The mattresses are musty, but it could be cleaned up with some work.”
“The whole place is on a well system. And the generator behind the building can probably be fixed.” Garraldi looked at Tris. “We’ll need you and your techs to give the systems a once over, but I think we could have limited electricity and water without too much trouble.”
“I’ll have to take a look,” Tris said. “But we should be able to get the electrical, water, and sewer systems working again.”
“The wall is unbroken and extends around the property,” Maria said, appearing from between the two rear buildings. “It would take some work to make it defensible against modern weapons, but we could do it if we have enough manpower. I know some of you have reservations, but this is nearly perfect so far as I can tell.”
Victor and Morgan moved up to join the group. “I know the Red Legs joke about this place being the big boogie man to all chanters,” he said. “I’m not proud of it, but we used to try and scare chanter prisoners by telling them we’d opened this place up again and we were going to ship them here.” He stopped and seemed to be ashamed for a moment. “I agree with the assessment that the authorities won’t consider this a viable location for any sort of chanter base.”