Silver Serpent

by Michael DeAngelo

  Swallowing away his anxiety, the old man reached back and swept his hand against the matted coat of his furry companion.

  He noticed the falling specks of ash, and it didn’t take long for an agitated squeal to fly through the air. By the time the vagrant looked up, the airborne equine was plummeting to the ground. The homeless fellow threw his hands into the air as the horse crashed through the roof of the building across the way.

  Jerrod cared not for the wellbeing of his horse. Perhaps if it had not bucked him off nearly three stories in the air, things would be different. Even as the startled vagabond in the clearing behind him slung curses into the air, Jerrod kept his focus in front of him.

  The Banshee called for him—the Arcanax Compendium was in danger. There was nothing else worthy of his attention, he considered.

  When another stranger rounded the nearest corner, panting and bracing himself on the foundation of the building, the Magician questioned that belief. The stranger was shaken, but more interesting to Jerrod was the translucent appearance of his arms. It was as though he saw right through them.

  Gerard didn’t realize he was being watched from the other side of that clearing. He took in a deep breath and felt the stinging, lingering pain in his chest. He thumped his watery fist against his sternum, and for a moment, an iridescent blue made its way past the tunic.

  The man who watched him across the way saw as the injury that had been inflicted upon him closed farther, leaving him whole once more.

  “I suppose you have me to thank for that,” Jerrod called out.

  The other man was startled upright. He composed himself once more, the liquid parts of him turning solid.

  “Surely you recall the aurora more than a fortnight ago,” the Magician pressed. “It was a gift I gave to this city. That is likely how you’ve received your powers. It looks like someone is trying to relieve you of them.”

  The constable arched an eyebrow as he considered the stranger’s words. “And what would you know about any of this? Who are you to know of me and my abilities?”

  A smile came back his way, and Jerrod drew closer. “I’m just another whose talents are at risk of being stolen away.” He snapped his fingers and brought a flame to bear above his palm. “If you’re like me—and I suspect you are—you don’t want to relinquish the awesome power you have. But if some of the people in this town had it their way, we would all be wiped out. I could use someone like you. You could help me stop the Silver Serpent and her allies.”

  As the vigilante’s name left the stranger’s lips, Gerard’s eyes grew wide and intense. He stepped away from the building and neared the member of the Brotherhood. “I have my own problems with her.”

  “And if you help me, we can put an end to her together.”

  “What would you have me do?”

  Jerrod smiled. “With your talents, I have just the place for you.”

  *****

  From atop the tower, Kelvin could confirm the terrible news. The golden rings around his eyes didn’t diminish the concern there. Two of their formidable enemies had met with each other, and it seemed they were working together.

  The disguised prince closed his eyes and shook his head. When he looked east again, the golden halos were gone. He turned and descended the ladder until he reached the ground below.

  No doubt Rowan’s former company had constructed that simple turret. It wasn’t as robust as many of the Harding Company’s other constructions, but it served the young man well enough in his endeavors.

  He circled to the other side of the tower, where the weary Silver Serpent leaned to catch her breath. Every time she drew in air, a scratching wheeze could be heard. When she saw the fretful gaze of her protégé, she chortled, and that laugh was also marred by the painful respiration. Marin coughed and doubled over, and Kelvin was there the next moment, his hand on her back, even as she raised her hand to insist she was all right.

  “How could Gerard be right under our nose this whole time—the monster he was—while we were in the dark?”

  Marin rose again, bracing against the stonework of that tower. She coughed into the crook of her arm, and when she looked at her pupil, he saw the moisture in her eyes. “Don’t believe he was always like this,” she said. “I suspect it had something to do with the Arcanax Compendium. That man was Purdell, yes, but he was also something else entirely. It was something I haven’t seen before, and I’ve never particularly been fond of him to begin with.”

  “You think the Brotherhood turned him into that…that thing?”

  “Perhaps,” she returned. “Whether it was intentional is another question entirely.”

  “Either way, it seems they’ve crossed paths again,” Kelvin said. “I need to get you to a safe place.”

  The Silver Serpent scoffed at those words. “I’m well enough. What we should be doing is going after Gerard before he can hurt someone else.”

  “There’s more trouble than that,” the prince declared. “I’m out here because we were trying to stop Jerrod Bodan, the leader of the Brotherhood, from using the Arcanax Compendium again. You remember Thoro?”

  “My leg still twinges when I hear that name. Of course, I remember him.”

  Kelvin wore a sheepish grin. “I’m working with him to stop Jerrod’s plan.” He could tell her brow furrowed, though it was hidden beneath her mask. “I wouldn’t have considered it either, but the Watcher witnessed their falling out. It’s the right time to make one of our enemies into our ally. And as much as it displeases me to say it, Thoro is the right person for that.

  “Everything that happened tonight might not have been for naught if he was successful,” the lad in red went on. “Rowan and I attacked Jerrod’s home to distract him so Thoro could steal away the relic stolen from us.”

  “And you think he’ll just hand it over to you when he has it?” Marin asked. “That thing has incredible power. And power is difficult to relinquish.”

  “Perhaps,” Kelvin said. “Even if he doesn’t hand it over to us, it’s better to be out of Jerrod Bodan’s hands. His plans for the device could set things in motion I’m not sure Argos could survive.”

  Marin tilted her head and peered at her young protégé.

  “I’ll explain when we’re somewhere safer,” the prince said.

  *****

  The man sat alone in the dark, looking every bit the statue he could. Every ragged breath he took set his body aching once more, and when he winced and buckled forward, those broad wings swept into view. There were more than just a few cracks in his stone armor.

  When the door on the opposite side of the empty warehouse opened, Rowan rose and leaned against a granite pillar, enclosing himself in those damaged wings.

  Whoever dared to enter the building remained quiet, though he was certain he heard two sets of footfalls. One of them dragged more than the other, though both were met with some delay.

  Weary as the Watcher was, he looked about for a weapon of some sort. There was no telling how fast he could move in his state, and with his body cracked the way it was, he couldn’t be sure he would endure another attack.

  I might crumble to dust, he considered.

  The sturdy door slammed shut, preventing any light from slipping into the derelict building. Even so, Rowan imagined he could see the shadows of the two intruders as they pushed deeper into the warehouse.

  Though he was in pain, the Watcher clenched his jaw shut into a fierce scowl. He still had an advantage over them. In his new form, his crimson eyes saw through the darkness better than any mortal’s. He would make the pair regret venturing into his domain.

  As he leapt from behind the pillar, he spread his wings wide. That ache in his shoulders couldn’t be ignored, but he didn’t give the new arrivals the satisfaction of seeing any pain apparent on his face. Those red eyes settled on the folks across the way. He noticed they were aware of him too; their eyes were just keen enough to spot him in the darkened building.

  “It’s just us,
Rowan,” Kelvin bade.

  The Watcher stopped and let his wings drop behind him. That time, he didn’t bother restraining himself. He buckled over, catching himself on his knee, and his grimace was wide and prominent. “What are you doing back here?” he finally asked. “I thought you were going to stop Jerrod.”

  “Well, I had to weave through the streets while he rode a horse above them. There was no catching up to him, and without an arrow to my name…” The disguised prince let his words trail off. There was, he recalled, another reason he couldn’t follow the Magician.

  “We have more to worry about than just the man that leads the Brotherhood,” Kelvin said. The fellow in red led his mentor to the nearest pillar and helped her brace against it. “He has a new ally, our former constable. While Jerrod commands flames, Gerard Purdell can become water. It’s a strange and terrifying thing.”

  Rowan nodded, before realizing who else he shared the room with. When his eyes met with Marin’s, behind that domino mask and beneath the tricorne hat, his jaw dropped. “You’re her. You’re the Silver Serpent.”

  “The current one,” the woman offered with a weary grin. She cocked her head to the side. “I thought you were ‘the Watcher.’ Aren’t you supposed to have seen me before?”

  Even that stone frame shook as he chortled. “I’ve only been like this for a short while. Since then, the only times I’ve seen you are from afar. It’s completely different to see you face to face.”

  “Speaking of which,” Kelvin interrupted, “why are you wearing your monstrous face instead of your human one?”

  The winged fellow sighed and looked back toward his shoulder and the wing that protruded beyond it. Once more, those cracks showed, though he wasn’t sure his companions saw them in the darkness of the warehouse.

  “Those injuries Jerrod inflicted on me were substantial. It stings in this form. There’s no telling what awaits me if I cast off this stone cloak.”

  Kelvin reached into his pouch and pulled out a small piece of steel and a hunk of flint. In only a moment, a sconce was alight in the warehouse, and he saw the reason for his companion’s worry. In the soft glow of that flickering flame, intricate cracks lined his body.

  “Well, what do you plan on doing?” the prince asked. “Will you stay in that broken, crumbling form forever? Perhaps your true body was shielded by this husk.”

  “Perhaps,” Rowan said. “Or maybe that blast of fire that came from Jerrod’s hand liquefied my insides, and this suit of stone is the only thing keeping me in one piece.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Kelvin pushed. “If you are nothing but soup inside that armor, I don’t think you’ll be coming back from that.”

  The Watcher furrowed his brow. “So that’s it? You think I should just wave my hand and be done with it? What if—”

  “I would certainly mourn your loss. But you can’t go through the rest of your life as a crumbling statue. And any hope of aiding us against Jerrod and Gerard is for naught while you’re in this state.”

  Marin listened to those words and felt them landing on her as well. She slid down to her rump, expelling a deep breath. Her lungs crackled, and she fought to suppress a cough. Her pupil heard that wheeze come through, however. He was by her side a moment later.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked. “Do you need water?”

  “No,” she said, her answer sharp and forceful. “I don’t know if I ever want to see water again.”

  “Are you all right?” Kelvin wondered.

  “I’m fine. But I wouldn’t have been without your help. There I was thinking I was going to someone else’s rescue, and I never considered I wouldn’t have been able to handle the odds. This is beginning to feel a little too familiar. I’m not some damsel, you know.”

  The prince smiled at her. “I know you’re not. This city is changing, and it’s taking some getting used to. Just like before, though, let’s not have you overdo it. I’ve heard stories of delayed drowning. I’m not sure what Purdell did to you, but I’d like you to live long enough to make him pay for it.”

  Rowan was upright again a moment later, when the telltale sound of that door creaking open resonated once more. His other companions heard it only a moment later and reached for their weapons, but a lack of ammunition and a sharp pain reminded both of them they were outmatched at that point.

  The most recent arrival looked as damaged and dejected as them. When Marin’s eyes landed upon a weak and weary Thoro, she pushed past that agony and climbed to her feet, tugging her rapier from its scabbard.

  Before she could advance on that former member of the Brotherhood, her pupil’s hand wrapped around her shoulder and spun her to the side.

  “He’s here as an ally,” Kelvin bade. “I didn’t like it either at first, but he’s an enemy of Jerrod at the moment, and that makes him a friend of sorts.”

  “That’s the man that tried to kill me,” she returned in a harsh whisper. “He tried to kill you!”

  “All failed attempts,” Thoro reminded. “Just as my task tonight was. I’m starting to believe nothing I do really matters.”

  “You weren’t able to obtain the compendium?” the disguised prince asked.

  The excommunicated thug shook his head and grumbled at the disappointment in his old rival’s voice. “We have a different problem altogether, though. When I went to steal the device, it wasn’t defended by the leaders of the Brotherhood. That’s a story unto itself, but the important part is this: rescuing the Banshee from Jerrod is no longer an option. Somehow, he’s manipulated her into fighting for him. She wouldn’t let me go with the relic. It was all I could do to survive and bring you the information.”

  “So he won’t have to force her to send her wail from the lookout point,” Rowan surmised. “She’ll do it on her own.”

  Thoro looked at the creature that rescued him, noticing all those cracks for the first time since his return. “What in Evarice happened to you?”

  While the Watcher sighed and leaned up against the pillar, their mutual ally nodded. “Jerrod was a more fearsome opponent than we expected,” Kelvin said. “While keeping his men at bay was an easy task, restraining the Magician was one we couldn’t have been prepared for. He rode out from his manor on a steed, soaring across the sky like a winged demon on a road of ash.”

  “And he wants to make more just like him,” Thoro growled. “If we don’t stop him, this city is lost.”

  “We have to do more than stop him,” Marin piped up, working as hard as she could to suppress the crackling in her lungs. “He has another ally now, and even if we stop them from using the compendium, they might be strong enough to do calamitous damage to Argos in due time.

  “The compendium is the answer,” she said. “But we’re not meant to steal it back. We’re meant to use it.”

  Thoro arched an eyebrow. “Are you hoping to create more allies for yourself? Who is to say Jerrod won’t seduce them like he did Ciara?”

  “The compendium was never made to release these powers we now see in our fair city. It was used in the times of the Kalistrazi, when men’s power grew too strong. The compendium stole their powers, and it can steal Jerrod’s—and his companions’—powers as well. But we’ll need to reach it before dawn, when the magic of the tome is most potent. If Jerrod has studied it as closely as I did when I had it in my possession, he’ll try to use it then.

  “Thus far, we haven’t had much luck protecting the city from the Brotherhood,” Marin continued. “We’re beaten and weary and outmatched. But if we can manage to reach that book, the odds will tip in our favor in an instant.”

  “We can’t just walk up the path to the lookout point,” Thoro pressed.

  “No,” Kelvin agreed. “But if we could fly…”

  Rowan felt the gazes of his companions land on him. With another sigh, he pulled away from the pillar to stand upright. He nodded and closed his eyes and willed away the stone sheathe around him. His wings dissipated, and in time, all that was lef
t was his tan skin and the maroon britches he wore.

  He could tell by his allies’ expressions he was not unmarred beneath the guise of the Watcher. Still, when he moved his arms to see his injuries, he didn’t feel the same ache he did in those moments before. His limbs were bruised, and he had several lacerations, but it was nothing he couldn’t endure.

  “Still in one piece,” the man in red said.

  “And this will heal,” Rowan agreed. “Who is to say if my other form ever will?”

  “Even if it doesn’t, having another ally is of great value to us right now,” Thoro said. “We can have you even more prepared in the hours to come. The Brotherhood pilfered some healing potions from the royal alchemist a few months back. I know where they’ve been holding them.”

  “You’ll have to be quick about it,” Kelvin said. “If they are planning on using the Arcanax Compendium at dawn, we don’t have much time.”

  Thoro sneered at his unforeseen ally. “You don’t have to warn me what’s at stake. Just make sure your quiver is filled with arrows, and aim as well as you did when you shot me the night all this went to Evarice.”

  Despite the tone of the former enemy’s voice, the prince couldn’t rein in a grin. Rowan followed the excommunicated member of the Brotherhood, and when the door shut, that smirk faded away. Marin contorted into a weird shape, buckling over and twisting to her side.

  “What’s wrong?” he said, falling to his knees beside her.

  “I can’t say I trust that man,” the Silver Serpent admitted. “I didn’t want him to see how much pain I was in. Truth be told, I could use a healing potion or two for myself.”

  Kelvin nodded. “Don’t you have one back in your house? You refused to use it to help your leg after—”

  “I used it,” she confessed. “That leg was taking too long to heal, and I wasn’t patient enough to wait.” She shook her head. “It’s no matter. I’ll be fine. Nothing’s broken—only bent and bruised. But we should head back to my home anyway. We have more arrows for you there and…”