by Icy Sedgwick
Jyx stared at the floor, willing it to open and swallow him whole. Visions of his mother, so elated at his promotion to necromancer’s apprentice, danced before his mind’s eye. He saw Dean Whittaker, so stern and disapproving, and the Wolfkin, so angry with humanity for ages-old injustices carried into the new world. He remembered the intoxication of seeing the World Beyond, and his joy at performing shadow magick for the first time. But a spectre hovered at the edge of his inner sight, a spectre clad in the absent colours of infinity, a spectre with the voice of Time itself.
“I had such high hopes for you, Jyx. That’s what makes all of this worse than it needs to be. The disappointment. You could have been magnificent. A real force to be reckoned with.” Eufame cracked her knuckles. Jyx winced.
“What are you going to do?”
“If it had just been my work, or my things, that had been destroyed, then it would have been a punishment of some sort. Perhaps I would have cast you in amber and had you mounted as some sort of living wall art. Maybe I would have had you added to the Gallery of Sinners that you saw on your way in here. Oh yes, those are not statues. They are petrified former employees.”
“The Gallery of Sinners?” Jyx remembered the statues around the walls of the house and his knees threatened to buckle beneath him.
“Oh yes. You committed at least two sins—greed and pride. I’m sure if I thought about it I could come up with more. You couldn’t be content to simply wait and be taught at your true pace, could you?”
“It was an accident! I wanted to see what kind of books you had and I don’t know, the words just seemed to stick in my brain, and they wanted me to say them! I didn’t mean to raise the pterosaur, it just happened!” Jyx clamped his hands over his mouth but the outburst had been said, and hung in the air like a poisonous miasma.
“Knowledge does that, Jyx. It wants to be used. No, more than that—it needs to be used. Now, knowledge in a normal man is bad enough, but magickal knowledge in the hands of one who is not ready…that’s just never going to end well for anyone. You may have done this entirely by accident, but that doesn’t change the fact that it happened.”
The Wolfkin behind Jyx let out a series of short barks. Eufame nodded and clasped her hands together in front of her.
“My esteemed guard here wishes to remind you that as a result of your actions, eight Wolfkin have been lost today. True, a raised Wolfkin can still serve a purpose, as you can see here, since their bodies have always had a different relationship with their souls, but that is still a waste by anybody’s reckoning.”
Jyx watched the raised Wolfkin bustle around the Vault, performing their set tasks with the sort of clear-minded determination he’d only ever seen in the trolls of the Underground City. Eufame could earn a fortune if she sold them on as household staff.
“Of course, there is a further consideration. Regardless of any injury or damage that you may have caused to me or the Wolfkin, there is the fact that the prince’s procession will have to be called off. Incurring the wrath of a necromancer general is nothing compared to the wrath of a petulant and spoiled brat like our would-be king. I’m afraid he will order an execution when he finds out it was you.”
Eufame stared at him hard. Jyx saw no trace of sadness in her face. She wasn’t afraid of an execution order at all.
“Why does he have to find out?” Jyx heard the whine in his voice and despised himself, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to die, and he wasn’t entirely sure that an execution was a fair punishment for an accident. If Eufame could command Wolfkin, surely she could cover this up.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, Jyx. He will want an execution, and he will want a fate worse than death. Because of the total disregard you have shown to me and my home, as well as your headstrong propensity to disobey orders, not to mention the fact that you left Bastet down here with a mob of bloodthirsty mummies, then I have no option but to condemn you to the Perpetual Death.”
Jyx gasped as cold vomit gathered in his stomach, threatening to expel itself upward at the thought of an imminent, and not entirely understood, death. He shuddered in the Wolfkin’s grasp, ignoring the insistent pain in his shoulder.
“What’s that?”
“I have to kill you, Jyx. Don’t worry, I will make it quick and painless as I am not entirely cruel and without mercy. But I will need to resurrect you…and kill you again.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I can, Jyx. And worst of all—I will.”
The Wolfkin took Jyx’s collar in one massive paw and lifted him off the ground. The collar bit into his throat and cut short his cries of indignation. Flames of agony burned in his torn shoulder, and Jyx resisted the urge to struggle, knowing every movement made the fire burn harder.
Eufame strode away down the Vault, and swept into her chambers. The Wolfkin followed, holding Jyx aloft as it picked its way through the rubble of broken slabs. The raised Wolfkin paid them no attention at all, too focused on the tasks set by their mistress.
They passed through the vestibule. The curtain screening the library from view hung undisturbed in front of them. Eufame ignored the doorway to her right and instead passed through the left-hand doorway. Jyx had never seen inside the room, and he could only guess at what lay beyond the dark portal. His stomach turned to ice, and threatened to evacuate its contents all over the floor.
A short passage led from the vestibule into a large round chamber. A vast ritual circle was inscribed into the black marble floor in mother-of-pearl, its markings utterly alien to Jyx’s eyes. A lofty ceiling sloped upward to the inverted obelisk, which hung from the apex. A low slab stood in the centre of the room, directly below the obelisk. Cages of different sizes hung from the walls. They were empty, although Jyx could only imagine what Eufame normally kept in them. Large alcoves punctured the wall at regular intervals.
Eufame pointed to the slab, and the Wolfkin deposited Jyx in a heap on the cold stone. The guard forced him onto his back, pushed his legs straight and folded his arms across his chest, each hand gripping the opposite biceps. Jyx stared up at the ceiling, the obelisk pointing at him like an accusing finger. It was you, it seemed to say. It was all your fault, and you deserve everything you get.
Eufame stood on the opposite side of the room, her back to them as she rummaged in an ebony cabinet against the wall. Jyx looked beyond the Wolfkin towards the doorway. He had never seen a Wolfkin run, but they were so bulky and heavy compared to his lithe frame.
If I make a run for it, how far might I get?
The Wolfkin outside were ordered to tidy up, not stop me, and there are no guards on the doors now.
Eufame snapped her fingers. Icy claws gripped Jyx’s feet, and a wave of frost passed up his legs and into his body. Whatever the frost touched, Jyx found he could no longer feel. He looked down and saw his feet, his toes pointing towards the ceiling, but they felt as though they belonged to someone else. No amount of effort could make his feet move.
“You’re not going anywhere, Jyx, so I’d think better of running if I were you. Better to accept your punishment. You’ll find it much easier in the World Beyond if you do,” said Eufame.
She barked to the Wolfkin. He nodded and left the chamber. Eufame leaned over Jyx and he shuddered as fear made his muscles spasm. Her expression softened slightly as she brushed a lock of black hair from his face.
“Jyx, here in the space on the edge of the world, I feel I should explain. I always knew this would happen. In fact, you could say I counted on it,” she said. “The prince would have you hung, drawn and quartered like a common criminal, but you’re no criminal, and you’re not common.”
“I’m so sorry, and I’m so scared.”
Jyx’s lip wobbled and the tears held in check behind his eyes finally broke free. Salty water blurred his vision and oozed from the corners of his eyes. Eufame wiped the first of the tears away with her cold thumb.
“I know you are, Jyx, but I also know there was
no malice behind what you did, and you have served your purpose well.”
“My purpose?”
“Do you know why I chose you, Jyx?”
“Because I was about to be expelled?”
“That made it easier, but it wasn’t the reason. No, the real reason was that you overstretch yourself. You run when you should be learning to walk. I was counting on you doing the same thing here. Every time I held you back, I knew you would fight to move forward.”
“You set this all up?”
“Indeed I did, Jyx. The prince has been making noises about replacing me for some time. I represent the old regime of his forebears, and he wants an entirely new set of staff in all of the most senior positions. It’s only natural. He assumes that if he puts them there, he’ll have bought their loyalty, but you can’t buy experience, and he’s too keen to sweep all of that away,” said Eufame.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“It’s simple. I cannot directly oppose the prince. To do so would be considered treason, and I rather like my head attached to my neck. However, by undermining his coronation, I thereby undermine his rule, and make it a lot more difficult for him to impose his authority.”
“So you wanted me to ruin his coronation for you?” Jyx bit back a sob. He couldn’t believe he’d failed to see her plan.
“In a word, yes. You’ve succeeded admirably, although I’m still furious about the destruction of my belongings. I didn’t exactly factor that into the equation. Don’t be so upset, Jyx. One of the men the prince sought to replace is in charge of the Underground City, and the intended newcomer wanted to sweep away the slums.”
“My mother!”
“Yes, Jyx, your mother. Now, I recognised that she would not exactly be safe there, even if Rattadamn stayed in office, since the prince would no doubt be out for blood. So I’ve had her moved. I won’t say where, as walls have ears, even here, but she and your siblings are perfectly safe. I’m not entirely heartless.”
Jyx managed a weak smile, though the thought that his mother might think he’d made such a mess of his academic career, indeed of his life, provoked a fresh wave of tears.
“In a way, your recklessness has saved an entire portion of the city. No one will ever know, except you, me, and the Wolfkin, but it’s a valiant deed, nonetheless.”
Eufame smiled, and for the first time since he met her, Jyx could see a faint glimmer of humanity within her icy shell. She wiped his eyes, and squeezed his hand.
“Now Jyx. This won’t hurt…much.”
Eufame pressed her cold lips to his forehead, a perverse goodbye kiss, and stepped away from the slab. She walked to the sigil nearest the door, and clapped her hands. The sigil glowed white beneath her feet, and a chant in an ancient tongue filled the chamber with whispers and screams. She walked to each sigil in turn, following the perimeter of the circle counter-clockwise, until each sigil pulsated with energy.
Jyx wished he could raise his arms, to press his hands against his ears and block out the fearful noises emanating from Eufame’s throat. The chant changed key, and became an insistent, malevolent thrum. Jyx’s ears hurt to hear it, to hear the minor key of death played out within the symphony of time. He caught sight of Eufame, oblivious to the effects of her chant. She raised her arms, and beams of light shot upward from the sigils. They collided at the tip of the obelisk.
“I will see you again, Jyximus Faire!” screamed Eufame.
The light shot down from the obelisk in a single beam. It passed through Jyx like a white-hot fire, and shock tore the scream from his throat. Bilious clouds of black filled his vision, and a cacophony of tolling bells assaulted his ears.
An instant later, Jyx ceased to be.
12
Jyx opened his eyes—at least, that’s what he thought he’d done. One moment he couldn’t see, and the next he could, but he knew he had no body, much less any eyes to see.
I exist.
The swirling grey mist of the World Beyond floated around and through him. Dark shades slid beyond him. He felt vibrations somewhere within his own shade that felt like greetings, and he tried to nod in response.
Something large and black made its way through the mist. Jyx gained an impression of flapping wings, and a consolidation of Time itself, and he tumbled away from the creature. The World Beyond lacked direction, and Jyx couldn’t tell if he fell downward or upward or even if he spiralled in some figurative shape. He tried to clutch at himself, to keep himself from tattering apart in the wake of the beast.
I feel like a cobweb in the wind.
Jyx fought to think of all of the spells that he knew, searching his being for the incantations and hexes he’d spent so long memorising. They were all gone, washed clean from his mind when he left the mortal plane.
There is no need for magic here.
The thought made the remnants of Jyx run cold. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he didn’t have at least the rudiments of magic at his fingertips.
But I don’t have a life, not anymore. It’s just me, and this, forever.
Jyx looked around, watching the other wraiths drift between each other. Some of them paused and acknowledged one another, soundless greetings passing through the silent space, but most seemed directionless. Many of them seemed to be empty, as though the spark of the soul had gone out entirely.
Is that what Eufame condemned me to?
Jyx would have cried if he’d had the body to do so. His mind strayed to the morning meeting with Dean Whittaker, and he wished with everything he had left that the dean had expelled him. A lifetime struggling in the Underground City was no real life, but at least it was better than this non-existence.
“Jyximus Faire…”
Jyx looked around at the sound of his name. It echoed around him, the syllables seeking his essence in the depths of the mist. More words, strangely familiar yet utterly alien, resounded in the air around him, and he felt himself compelled to follow their trail. The echo led towards a golden light, surrounded by dancing fireflies. Jyx didn’t know where the portal led, but he knew he wanted to find out.
13
Jyx’s eyes shot open and he looked up at an inverted obelisk embedded in the ceiling. His lungs screamed for air and he opened his mouth, wheezing and gulping in equal measure. Steady hands slid beneath him and sat him up. He recognised the slab, and the empty cages on the walls. He recognised the mother-of-pearl sigils in the black marble floor, and the formidable ginger Wolfkin, impassive several feet away. He recognised Eufame.
“Welcome back, Jyx.”
“Wha—”
“Welcome back to the House of the Long Dead.” The pale necromancer general leaned over him. The memory of the last time he’d seen this room jolted in his mind.
“You killed me.”
“Technically, I removed your soul from your body and ushered it along to the World Beyond. I didn’t actually touch your mortal frame itself, which is what I’d need to do to kill you.” Eufame peered into his face, her sharp nose just inches from his. She smelled of violets and alchemical powder and Jyx shuddered.
“Wha—”
“Oh do try to be a little more interesting, Jyx. I separated your soul from your body, and for a few moments they existed simultaneously in different realms, and all you can say is ‘Wha’?”
“Moments?” Jyx felt he’d been gone for years.
“Exactly two minutes, by my count.” Eufame made a show of consulting her wrist but Jyx didn’t remember her wearing a watch. Time still felt sticky, and he tried to keep still until the nausea subsided.
“Was that my punishment?” he asked.
“Part of it.”
“Part of it?”
“Jyx, it will take a little more than a simple body-soul separation to earn my forgiveness, and the prince won’t exactly be satisfied, either. The sooner you realise that, the better.”
Eufame turned away and walked towards one of the cages. She unhooked it from the wall and the Wol
fkin helped her lift it down. It met the marble floor with a resounding clang. Jyx winced, his senses still tender from their excursion into the World Beyond.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“I did tell you that you’d been condemned to the Perpetual Death. I’ve had a communication from the prince while you were gone, and he was pleased with the idea. Of course, he has no actual idea what it entails, but at least he hasn’t ordered an execution.”
“Why do you need a cage?”
Eufame and the Wolfkin brought it closer. Jyx saw it was large enough to hold him if he sat cross-legged on its solid iron floor. A menacing smile crept across Eufame’s face, and Jyx darted a glance at the door. He tried to wiggle his toes to test the strength in his legs, but he couldn’t even muster a twitch. Running was out of the question.
“I’m sure even you’re not stupid enough to think that I have nothing better to do than stand here to recall your soul every time I send you into the World Beyond.”
“Every time you send me?”
“That’s the point of the Perpetual Death. You die and you come back, again and again.” Eufame drew a sigil above the lock, and the cage door sprang open. Jyx gulped.
“Can’t you just tell the prince you’re doing this? He’s not going to check, is he?”
“I’m going to ignore that, Jyx. Don’t forget, your little stunt might have ruined the procession as I planned, but it also damaged some of my irreplaceable possessions, and forced me to scrap some valuable alchemical work.”
Eufame and the Wolfkin each seized one of Jyx’s arms, and hauled him from the slab. Jyx wanted to lash out with his feet, to cause some kind of scene, but his limbs refused to obey his commands. He hung from their hands until they forced him into the cage. The Wolfkin arranged his legs into a crossed position, and slammed the door shut.