“This is a tough one!” I breathed. “Hold on, Rudy. A little while longer. Hold on!”
“Get her! She’s trying to set the ghoul free!” one of the guards snarled.
Seconds were left before they’d catch me. Before one of their blades would come down—and I had no idea what effect it would have on me. They weren’t Reapers. They couldn’t reap me, technically speaking. Then again, they weren’t supposed to be able to kill ghouls with their scythes, and yet Veliko had proved it possible.
Anyway, trouble was afoot.
I kept hitting that chain like it was my last resort. The final thing I could do before the curtain came down. Before the show was over.
Then it snapped. The battered link gaped open, and Rudolph pulled away, growling with excitement. I wanted to cheer, but a dozen black guards had already reached us.
I slashed out with my scythe in a bid to keep them away, but they didn’t seem frightened. Rudolph didn’t have a good attack angle, so he stayed close to me as we moved backward, trying to put some distance between us and them. He whispered something, a string of sounds that I couldn’t understand. But the other ghouls did.
The black guards sneered at us, likely thinking they’d just averted a tragedy. Voices boomed in the distance. More soldiers and Darklings were mobilized, darting toward us between the monoliths and the marble ruins of Astoria. I wanted to say it out loud—that we were screwed. But my instincts wouldn’t allow it.
“Get over here,” the first guard said, pointing his blade at me. “This will hurt you badly. Worse than anything you might’ve experienced while you were living.”
“Who the hell is she?” the second guard asked, unable to take his eyes off me.
He never got his answer. None of the twelve guards got their chance to capture Rudolph and me again, either. The chained ghouls pounced on them. Their chains kept them tethered, but the soldiers had been easily within their reach. Out of nowhere, the ghouls took over. They slashed and tore and ripped their limbs and heads off, their fangs piercing flesh and breaking bones.
Rudolph and I moved farther away, and I was suddenly thankful to be dead, because I would’ve been extremely nauseated by the sight before us, had I still had a body.
It was a bloodbath. The ghouls claimed the bodies and removed the heads. They chomped on the souls. By the time the other guards and Darklings came around, it was far too late. There were only pieces of them left, scattered across the ground, blood pooling over the dirt and dried grass.
I was so shocked by the speed with which the creatures had reacted and killed a dozen black guards. I wondered what they could do if I let them all loose. Unfortunately, that wasn’t yet an option, for Veliko and Zoltan had also made their way up to the ghouls’ pen. And they were both staring at Rudolph and me in sheer disbelief.
It didn’t take Zoltan long to recognize me. “The witch,” he murmured. “The damn witch…”
“The one Ignatius killed?” Veliko asked, his brows furrowed as he watched me take a few more steps back. He took out his scythe, the blade glinting in the daylight as if it had been infused with diamonds.
I had to get Rudolph and me as far away from these maniacs as possible.
Most importantly, I had to get Seeley out of here.
Nethissis
“Don’t be foolish, witch,” Zoltan said to me. “You’re only a spirit. There’s not much you can do with a Reaper scythe. It certainly won’t save you from us.”
“I don’t know, man, I kind of like what I’ve managed to do with it so far,” I replied.
The ghouls were quiet again, huddled together and licking their thin, bloodied lips. That was quite the feast they’d had, and there was bound to be some kind of punishment for what they had just done. I knew that from the way Veliko scowled at them. I could only imagine what sort of cruelty was brewing between his ears.
“Suit yourself,” Zoltan muttered. He started whispering a spell, and that was my cue to run away.
“As fast as you can, Rudy!” I breathed, as we bolted across the lazy slopes in the southwest of Astoria. I was basically gliding over the land, my feet moving more as a reflex than anything else. I clutched the scythe tightly in my hand, and I didn’t stop until we reached Seeley.
The air swooshed behind us several times. I’d felt the faint brushes against my back. I’d narrowly escaped several death spells, for sure.
Veliko was hot on our trail, closely followed by Zoltan. The other guards and Darklings were coming, too, having left a platoon to keep the ghouls’ pen secure. There were a spirit and a ghoul on the loose and in possession of a Reaper scythe. They couldn’t leave anything to chance, obviously.
My heart was racing as I slid down on my knees and bumped into a stunned Seeley.
“Nethi… What the…” he managed. I showed him the scythe.
“Tell me what to do,” I said, panting from the excitement. Even in death, I seemed to get quite a thrill out of dangerous situations. “Tell me what to do, what to say… how to set you free!”
Rudolph circled us several times, putting on a fierce expression. If he’d been scared, he had now managed to bottle it up, given what was at stake. He knew he had to protect us. He had to keep Veliko and Zoltan and everybody else away while I got Seeley out of his binds.
“I… How… Wait,” Seeley replied, closing his eyes for a moment. He had known this moment would eventually come, and he had still been caught off guard. “Okay. Say Aloquian Mavris, three times, and cut each of the symbols engraved in my collar. Three times, Nethi, then cut.”
“I have to do it with every symbol?!” I croaked, briefly counting every rune etched into his iron collar. “There’s about twenty of them!”
“No one said this would be easy,” Seeley snapped. “Hurry!”
Veliko was the first to reach us, emerging from behind one of the marble monoliths. Again, he pointed his scythe at me, and it was starting to get really annoying. “You’re in so much trouble, witch!”
“Screw you,” I replied, then focused on Seeley’s collar. “Aloquian Mavris,” I whispered three times, then scratched one of the symbols. I said it three more times and scratched another. I kept going, watching how the symbols lit up white as I cut through them. It had to be working, I thought. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a single light flaring.
“No, you don’t!” Veliko spat and came at me, but Rudolph jumped in.
Careful not to get himself cut with the Darkling lieutenant’s scythe, the ghoul snapped and scratched at whatever he could grab on Veliko’s body, proving himself significantly more agile than the Aeternae. He made himself disappear between attacks, too, for good measure. With a broken rune chain, Rudolph was less limited.
However, he still had the collar.
While I continued working on the runes, Veliko muttered a spell and forced Rudolph to reveal himself. He brought his scythe down and cut through the ghoul’s shoulder, causing ashes to puff outward, gray and shimmering in the faded daylight.
“Aloquian Mavris,” I said again, scratching out another rune.
“You’re doing amazingly well,” Seeley encouraged me, his gaze occasionally following Rudolph and Veliko.
Zoltan joined the party, casting an invisible pulse that knocked Rudolph down. The Scholar then vanished and reappeared right next to Rudolph, putting his foot down on the ghoul’s collar. The entrapment runes lit up red as Zoltan applied pressure, making Rudolph scream in agony. Whatever he was doing to him, it worked. It kept Rudolph down, forcing him to obey.
Veliko shifted his focus to me. I was only three Aloquian Mavris’s away from freeing Seeley, but I had to stop.
“Cut her!” Zoltan shouted. More Darklings and black guards gathered around us, forming a tight and compact circle. The ghouls had been brought over, the symbols on their collars glowing red, pushing them into submission. If they’d helped us before, they were no longer useful. The Darklings still had a magic hold on them, and Zoltan had clearly done something t
o force their obedience.
Veliko’s blade missed me by inches. I jumped away and brought my scythe up, trying to find the right attack angle.
“Be careful. The scythe will kill you if she hits a vital point,” Zoltan warned him.
Veliko scoffed. “I know!”
He came at me again, and I dodged multiple attacks. Whenever he lunged forward, I slipped to the side, swerving around and looking for an entry point.
“The liver!” Seeley shouted.
Veliko was halfway through another lunge, when I dropped, then jumped and brought the scythe upward with me. The blade cut through his side, causing blood to spray out. Veliko cried out in pain and landed on his knee. He couldn’t get himself back up.
Zoltan whispered another pulse spell, but I got out of the way. With only seconds left on the clock, I rushed back to Seeley. “Aloquian Mavris!” I said quickly, and scratched the last of the collar runes.
The iron band snapped off, energy buzzing outward like loose lightning.
Seeley was finally free.
“No!” Zoltan managed, his eyes bulging, rage making the veins on his temples pop and tick angrily. “NO! No! Dammit!”
“Your fault,” Veliko grumbled, still down and pressing a hand on his wound, blood trickling between his fingers. It would take a long time to heal, I realized. This was a Reaper’s blade that had touched him, not run-of-the-mill steel.
“Shut the hell up!” Zoltan hissed, then looked at Seeley, who now had my scythe in his hands. It was a loaner, sure, but it could still be used. It allowed him to keep me visible.
“It’s over,” Seeley replied, taking my hand in his.
For the first time in the longest days of my life, I felt like we actually had a shot at succeeding. I felt like we might win this after all. But Seeley stiffened, his expression darkening as he looked at me.
“I can’t teleport us out of here,” he said. “Death magic.”
Zoltan grinned, suddenly in a position of power again. “That’s right,” he replied, showing us Seeley’s scythe. “Besides, there isn’t much you can do without your weapon, huh? Another Reaper’s scythe cannot do what yours can.”
Rudolph stilled beneath Zoltan’s boot. He was in a lot of pain, but I could see the glimmers of hope persisting in his gaze. He’d yet to give up. Looking around, the other ghouls were snarling and angry, tugging at their chains—I knew they’d tear into us if they were let loose now. Maybe we could get them on our side again, someday. Today wasn’t it, though. Today, Zoltan had gotten them back, since he needed them alive and under his command.
This was the lousiest standoff I’d ever imagined. At least Veliko was down, temporarily, in too much pain to do anything. But he raised his scythe, his lips moving, and I quickly realized that he had yet to run out of options.
Seeley, Rudolph, and I had gotten ourselves stuck in the middle of a power struggle. Wedged between Veliko and Zoltan, who were both aiming for the top of the Darkling faction, eager to trample on one another in order to get there. And Veliko had a lot to prove at this point.
“What do we do?” I whispered to Seeley, my entire spirit quivering. He didn’t let go of my hand, which did offer me a faint sense of clarity and comfort, but it wasn’t enough. We needed to get out of here, as both Veliko and Zoltan wanted us captured or destroyed—whichever came first.
“I’m not sure. Rudolph would’ve been a great distraction, but Zoltan’s got him under his boot. Quite literally.” Seeley sighed, though I knew the wheels were still turning in his head. He was looking for another way.
Movement around the Darklings’ circle caught my eye. A shadow bolted, left and right. A shimmer here. Another shimmer there. I held my breath, realizing that we were not alone anymore.
The Darkling circle broke. Someone screamed. A couple of legs and arms flew out, blood gushing and guards falling to the ground. A small ghoul had breached the line, taking down a couple of Darklings with it. It moved like the wind, vanishing and reappearing in different spots. It was impossible to follow.
Zoltan gasped. The small ghoul revealed itself, fangs sunk deep into the Scholar’s boot. It took a bite out, and Rudolph managed to pull himself away. He bolted through the circle’s opening, terrorized by Zoltan’s previous hold on him. I had a feeling he needed to put some distance between him and the Scholar now, just to stop the collar from affecting him.
“What the…” Veliko’s complex spell was interrupted.
The other Darklings tried to stop the small ghoul, but they failed. It kept disappearing. Moments later, its jaws clamped down on Veliko’s wrist, tearing the whole hand off. The Darkling wailed in sheer agony, blood pouring freely from the stump of his forearm, while the small ghoul made off with his scythe.
“What the hell?” Seeley murmured, likely finishing Veliko’s thought.
The Darklings were increasingly confused, constantly turning around, waiting for the small ghoul to come back. Among them, a familiar figure moved, taking advantage of the broken circle. Another shimmer beyond. A flash of light.
Seeley shuddered. “Someone’s breaking the death magic wards that Zoltan put on this place.”
“What’s going on?” Zoltan croaked, a mixture of dread and anger contorting his features. He looked around, downright helpless. Almost pitiful, but I could not find any mercy for this cold-hearted bastard. My only regret was that the small ghoul hadn’t torn his head off.
The familiar figure became clearer, revealed by… death magic. I’d recognize that faint shimmer anywhere. “Hey, kids,” she said.
“Lumi!” I cried out, as she revealed herself.
Her eyes were glassy with tears, but she remained focused, putting her hands out to her sides. “The Word is with us,” she replied. “The Word is with us, and so is Death. In the beginning and in the end, the Word and Death were one. The Word created, while Death annihilated. So it has been, and so it shall be again.”
“Oh snap,” I managed, pulling Seeley with me down to our knees. “It’s a whopper of a spell. Duck!”
Zoltan wanted to react, but Lumi’s entire body lit up like the sun. The light got brighter, expanding and swallowing everything in its path. It maintained a tight radius. Seeley and I managed to drag ourselves away.
We heard Veliko scream. Then Zoltan, followed by other Darklings.
A giant ball of light had temporarily enclosed them, causing serious, deep burns and a whole lot of pain. I recognized that swamp witch magic. It was hardcore, continent-reshaping, titanic mojo. And Lumi, who, for some reason, was here, on Visio… she’d put a lot of energy into it.
Sidyan appeared in front of Seeley and me.
“Sid,” Seeley mumbled, looking up in astonishment. Sidyan was the glimmer I’d seen!
“The wards are down,” he said to us. “We can leave.”
Lumi joined us, still amber-incandescent, as the light ball faded behind her. It had practically boiled the Darklings, leaving third-degree burns all over their bodies. Zoltan was down on his knees, forehead to the ground and Seeley’s scythe over his head, muttering the same protective spell, over and over.
“I can’t kill them while they’re using death magic and scythes,” Lumi said. “But this will slow them down for a few minutes. Let’s go.”
“But… How?!” I managed. “What… What just happened?”
Lumi gave me a soft and loving smile. “Isn’t it obvious? The universe brought me here, Nethi. The universe brought me to you.”
Sidyan touched her shoulder with the blade of his scythe, using his spare hand to grab Seeley’s forearm. “Come on, we’ll catch up in a bit.”
And just like that, the four of us were gone. Darkness enveloped me for the briefest of moments, and I felt the sweet relief I’d longed for since I’d first found Seeley in that basement cell, tethered to the wall.
We were finally out of the Darklings’ reach. All thanks to Lumi and her uncanny new friends.
My dear Lumi…
Seeley
> We found ourselves on a hilltop about five miles south of Astoria, surrounded by blossoming fruit trees and tall, yellow-and-orange shrubs. I could almost taste the freedom I’d thought I might never experience again. It was a drizzle of honey on the tip of my tongue.
West of Astoria, firmly planted down the main road, I could see a caravan of at least three thousand Aeternae troops, their armor shining gold, silver, and red under the noon sky. They were less than an hour away from the abandoned city, and I knew it meant a possible escape for the Darklings. It didn’t matter now, though. We’d gotten away from them, and that was, by far, the most important aspect of this entire situation.
There was a lot to unpack from all this. A lot to catch up on.
Sidyan hugged me, his grip firm and tight as he laughed. Taking a step back, he patted my shoulders. “You have no idea how good it is to see you!” he said.
“Right back at you,” I mumbled, glancing to my left.
Lumi and Nethissis faced each other, mere inches of compressed air left between them. At least they could see each other again, as long as Nethissis held on to a scythe, or if I or other Reapers revealed her—I’d kept her visible since she set me free. They couldn’t touch, though. Nethissis was a translucent spirit. Lumi was still a body of flesh and Word magic—and boy, had she delivered!
They didn’t say anything, taking a few minutes to just stare in wonder, surprised and relieved to meet again, despite the events that had irrevocably torn them apart. I, too, was in awe—not so much by Lumi, whose power I’d come to know, already… but by Nethissis.
It wasn’t unexpected that Nethissis could hold a scythe, since a ghoul had passed it on to her, but being able to perform rune-breaking spells… that had been a leap of faith, and it had paid off. There was definitely something about her spirit, something that made her special. I wasn’t sure if it had something to do with her unnatural death. Maybe she was predestined to be a Reaper, like Taeral, hence her ability to use the scythe so well.
A Shade of Vampire 80: A Veil of Dark Page 19