Dirge of the Dead

by Reed Logan Westgate

  “Luck saw me through,” Tamera replied, steadying herself.

  “Luck my hairy arse,” Burgle chortled, filling a tankard with ale and sliding it to Tamera, “The Baku saw it. Our Xlina, ever the alpha wolf ole Ox, dragged in here fresh from a scuffle. Rightin’ them wrongs and keeping the creatures of the night at bay like a good lass.”

  “It was no creature of the night,” Tamera replied, looking at Xlina with a curious expression.

  “No, it was a soldier,” Xlina replied, looking at the Burglecuts with worry.

  “A soldier?” Penny asked, looking at the broken bolt in her hand curiously.

  “A man of the cloth,” Tamera answered.

  “A member of the Heavenly Host,” Xlina finished, offering what she knew to her dear friends. Penny’s ruddy face blanched as she looked at her husband.

  “Are ye sure?” Burgle replied with a heavy swallow.

  “He bore an athamé and crossbow,” Xlina answered, “My magic bounced off him like none I have ever encountered.”

  “Sounds right, boss,” Burgle said grimly with a hushed voice looking nervously around the tavern. “Come, let us discuss such private things with the privacy they deserve. Always wise to mind your speech lest a curious ear paired with a busy mouth spill your tail where it ought not be spilled.”

  He lifted Tamera as if he were carrying a child. She barely had time to protest before being cradled up in the brute’s arms. Penny fussed and fawned over the wound, scolding her husband to be gentle as he lifted. He carried her through the door to the kitchen and moved to a small table set in the corner, placing her down gingerly. Xlina followed, looking around at baskets of freshly baked bread and pies cooling above the stove. She saw a pile of freshly baked rolls and pilfered one from the basket, nibbling on it greedily. Penny cooed and smiled at her.

  “Still need some more meat on those bones, dear,” Penny lamented, grabbing the basket of rolls and offering it to her.

  “Thanks,” Xlina replied, taking a second roll sheepishly.

  “Who are you people?” Tamera replied, looking around from face to face incredulously.

  “Aye, but that’s Xlina, boss,” Burgle answered with a puzzled expression. “And me wife Penny. We are family.”

  The way in which Burgle answered melted Xlina’s heart. The couple had taken her in despite knowing of her mark and the trouble she would bring. They fought the Burnished Rose right in the dining room beyond the kitchen where the warlock Morticae nearly killed them all. They faced the wraith of Morticae in that same room. After all that, they still considered her one of their ‘kids’. She had moved out of the loft to protect them, but standing here in the kitchen with the pair, she realized what a mistake that had been.

  “Strange family,” Tamera answered, looking to Xlina, “Did you really know? About Archam?”

  “Yes,” Xlina nodded in affirmation, “In my dream earlier today I saw him kill you.”

  “And yet you came?” Tamera replied skeptically.

  “There was a boy,” Xlina answered with a shrug. “A child hiding in the back pew. I don’t know if Archam killed him, but he shot at the boy, and then everything went black.”

  “You came for the boy?” Tamera replied, her voice lifting.

  “I ran in to him on the street or rather he ran into me,” Xlina answered plainly, “I recognized his face. I couldn’t let it happen.”

  “And so, you came charging in,” Tamera replied, her voice filled with doubt.

  “That’s our girl,” Penny replied, patting Xlina on the back.

  “People don’t do that,” Tamera answered, “Not without expecting something in return. What’s your angle?”

  “That’s a jaded response,” Xlina answered, looking Tamera in the eyes. The woman’s brown eyes locked with hers. They were eyes filled with too much sadness for one so young.

  “It’s reality,” Tamera answered firmly.

  “Well, our girl thumbs her nose at your reality,” Penny snorted with a belly laugh.

  “I couldn’t just ignore it,” Xlina answered plainly.

  “An idealist,” Tamera replied, holding her leg and shaking her head. “Wonderful. Perhaps your foolish ideals can stop that bloodthirsty tyrant before he claims half the awakened in the city.”

  “What about Ox,” Burgle cut in seriously. “If the Heavenly Host is here, we’ll be needing him to be sure.”

  “Ox...” Xlina started searching for the words.

  “What is it, dear?” Penny responded, her voice growing concerned.

  “Ox... isn’t coming back,” Xlina answered, stifling a sniffle.

  “Oh dear,” Penny muttered, turning away and ambling through the kitchen she just shook her head and muttered as she made her way past the stove to the back of the kitchen, “Oh dear. Oh, dear.”

  “What happened,” Burgle asked, a pained look on his face.

  “Maybe I should go?” Tamera ventured timidly, feeling awkward at the sudden change in conversation.

  “We went after Amber,” Xlina replied softly. “We went to hell.”

  “Never mind,” Tamera replied, settling back down on the table.

  “It was his idea,” Xlina continued, “We took Styx to purgatory and found the road to hell.”

  “Are you on drugs or just daft?” Tamera asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

  “We ventured through the Paradox and encountered a being named Grillo that showed us the way to Ertigan’s Obsidian Citadel.”

  “By the gods,” Burgle gasped in astonishment, falling to a chair as if her words had sapped the strength from his legs.

  “We searched the hell-scape for an entrance but could not find a way through the obsidian walls. That is, until Oxivius released a soul which fled to the underground river of blood.”

  “You foolish kids,” Penny chimed in.

  “We did it, Penny,” Xlina looked at the elder woman as tears welled in her eyes. “We found Amber and stole her soul from hell.”

  “Madness,” Tamera murmured.

  “But Ox... he couldn’t make it home, Penny,” Xlina continued, “they trapped us. I thought it was the end, but he saved me... he said... he wanted me to tell you. It was the right thing to do.”

  Xlina could hold back her tears no longer and they fell down her cheek. She sniffled and suppressed a sob as her shoulders sank. Penny joined in, her face wet with tears she hurried over and wrapped Xlina in a hug, patting her head and gently whispering, “There, there my girl. There, there.”

  “It was you,” Tamera answered, her eyes wide and her voice accusatory. “They are here because of you.”

  “Settle now miss,” Burgle replied, “We can’t be sure.”

  “Sure?” Tamera barked back, “You heard her. They stole a soul from hell. They took that which had rightfully passed.”

  “We don’t know,” Burgle repeated, but Tamera cut him off.

  “Enbesil!” she barked fiercely in another tongue, “They defy the natural order and bring the angel’s divine wrath down on us all.”

  “Ox said they would come,” Xlina managed through a sob, “He said the Angel’s would want to restore the order and put Amber back in hell.”

  “Tis the way, foolish girl,” Tamera replied angrily. “You... you’re tampering with the natural order. Magic allows some rules to be bent, but never broken. What you suggest is the darkest of magics.”

  “Resurrection,” Burgle whispered, “Few throughout history have accomplished such feats.”

  “What about Timoneous Nagash?” Xlina asked, recalling the tale of the necromancer and the glass coffin Oxivius had told her. “Oxivius said he had lived multiple lives.”

  “Heresy,” Tamera spat, “You speak of necromancy and the foulest of dark magic yet act like some idealist saving children from the likes of Archam?”

  “No one returns the same,” Penny answered, “Not with dark magic. There is a difference between resurrection and reanimation.”

  “I’m not talking ne
cromancy, Penny,” Xlina replied, shaking her head. “Oxivius didn’t mean for us to use that else he would have done it himself.”

  “The secrets of resurrection,” Burgle replied, “Those are powers beyond our ken, boss.”

  “No V...,” Xlina stammered the demon barb in her throat, preventing her from saying Valeria’s name. “She said something about a Cauldron of Rebirth, the Pair Dadeni she called it. She said it could bring someone back.”

  “An ancient relic from Celtic legend?” Tamera scoffed, “You speak of a relic many have sought. Do you believe you are the only one to lose someone? That none have tried to find this secret?”

  “I need to learn more about it,” Xlina demanded, “The answer is there... I am so close.”

  “And what of the rest of Portland?” Tamera barked stubbornly, “What about the awakened here and now? What fallout will they endure for your precious Amber? What will the rest of us do when the Angel’s set their divine wrath on the city?”

  “I didn’t mean for that,” Xlina answered, looking at Tamera plaintively.

  “No, they never do,” Tamera exclaimed, “Always with good intentions, but it is the people who suffer.”

  “The road to hell,” Xlina replied.

  “What?” Tamera asked.

  “The road to hell,” Xlina repeated, “I opened it with my good intentions. This is the toll. The fallout here in Portland.”

  “Yeah, like I said,” Tamera replied, “All your fault.”

  “I am too focused on my problems,” Xlina said to herself.

  “It’s not you,” Penny answered.

  “Is it not?” Xlina shook her head in thought, “Every step of the way it has been my choices. My decisions. They have led to nothing but despair for all around me.”

  “You’re not alone in this world,” Burgle answered gruffly.

  “I am,” Xlina looked the gentle Burglecut in the eyes, “I am now. Even Oxivius paid the price, Burgle. Why, even now that Irish soldier could be stalking the Hearth, ready to kill us all.”

  “Then he does at his own peril.” Penny raised a pudgy finger in resolute warning like a mother scolding a disobedient child.

  “Leave me out,” Tamera interjected. “I’m not being swept up in some magical Armageddon. I need to get my family and get out of here. All of you should do the same.”

  “That won’t help Tamera,” Xlina answered, “Trust me, you can’t outrun this.”

  “Can’t I,” Tamera slammed her hands on the countertop roughly. “The druids were right, something foul rears its head in the city and it’s here in this room.”

  “What druids?” Xlina demanded.

  “The ones from the grove in Massachusetts,” Tamera answered matter-of-factly. “I thought they were plumb loco talking about a holy warrior and ending the demon threat. But here you stand.”

  “They came here to the city?” Xlina’s voice lifted as she shifted her focus to the Haitian voodoo woman.

  “Yes, we came together on the bus,” Tamera nodded affirmatively. “Trouble followed those boys like stink on a pig. So, when we got here, I thought I would lie low in the Cathedral until whatever it was hunting them had moved on.”

  “They came after” Xlina absently drew her hand to her chin in thought.

  “Just my luck hiding from the jackal in his own den.”

  “I’m sorry,” Xlina shook away the thoughts of her druid father, focusing on the task at hand. “Why did you come along?”

  “Honest?” Tamera answered, “I ran into those druids just outside of Boston. Saw some crazy shit. When they said the Council of Magic had fallen in Portland and that demons were running amok in the city, I grew worried for my brother. So, I tagged along on the same bus. I’m only here to get Tamir and get out. I ain’t looking to get tangled in all your drama.”

  “What about Amber where is she now?” Burgle cut in, shifting the conversation.

  “She is here,” Xlina pointed to her head.

  “Oxy used the soul thief spell to tuck her away,” Penny nodded with a grin, “Oh, she’ll be safe in there for a while.”

  “Not too long.” Xlina shook her head dismissively. “My Baku spirit will consume her dreams. That is, unless she finds her first and sucks the excess soul from my body.”

  “Girl, you’re screwed six ways to Sunday,” Tamera interjected.

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” Xlina shot back defensively.

  “Owen, the druid, he is going to kill you,” Tamera’s bluntness was like a slap to the face, “With that black scythe of his. When he does... you’re not just be gone from this plane. You’ll be gone from all of them.”

  “That’s not possible,” Xlina replied.

  “Isn’t it?”

  “Such weapons don’t exist,” Xlina replied defiantly “They go against the natural order. A druid could never.”

  “Then them tales those boys be telling are just tall tales,” Tamera answered, “But I reckon I’m looking at a dead woman. Owen does his job and both you and that soul in your noggin are gone forever. City saved.”

  Xlina looked at Penny and Burgle, her face sour with doubt and worry. She saw it in their eyes, though they tried to hide it. They were worried too. Ox and Xlina had brought all manner of magic down on the city of Portland. The Druids, Angels, and Demons alike all focused their wrath on her.

  “I need to speak with Lexxes,” Xlina finally relented, cutting the tension in the room. “The council has to be warned.”

  “You do that,” Tamera barked, “Then you consider turning yourself over to those Druids with all that idealism of yours. You consider the lives you could save.”

  “That’s not fair,” Penny blurted, shaking her fist angrily.

  “Life isn’t fair,” Tamera replied coldly. “How many lives? Everything that’s about to come down, you must ask yourself Xlina. Is this girl worth it?”

  “Yes,” Xlina’s tone was low and firm. “Yes, she is.”

  “To hell with you all,” Tamera finally finished easing herself from the table and looked at the inhabitant of the kitchen with a stern glare. “Thanks for patching me up, but to hell with your angels and demons.”

  She stormed from the kitchen forcefully, leaving nothing but the swinging door in her wake. Xlina looked back at the Burglecut’s, her eyes wet with the tears she was holding back.

  “Ah, but it’s okay.” Penny opened her arms and offered a reassuring hug.

  “No, I need to be strong.” Xlina turned away from the offered embrace and ruffled her jacket, flipping her collar up as she turned toward the door leading from the kitchen.

  “Your feelings aren’t a weakness, dear,” Penny motioned again with her welcoming arms.

  “Don’t you see? I must be strong because the alternative is to languish over who I have lost... to face the hole growing darker and deeper in my soul. No, the world may have decided this is my fate, but I decide who I am. I decide what I do. I choose... strength. Better to defiantly spit in the eye of fate, than to bend a knee to her whims.”

  “And when spitting in her eye isn’t enough,” Burglecut crossed his tattooed arms over his chest and tilted his head. His eyes saying everything his words left out.

  “Then I gouge her eyes out if I must.” Xlina raised a fist, summoning her nightmare energy in a blaze of blues and violets.

  “Aye, but you sound more like master Oxivius every day,” Burglecut grinned, raising a hand to twirl his handlebar mustache. “A right shame and tragedy losing the master so.”

  “He wanted me to tell you,” Xlina grew grim, turning to leave, “Said you would know what to do.”

  “You done forgot.” Penny dashed around the kitchen once more, pushing aside bowls and pans. She darted through cupboards and drawers.

  “Aye, but I didn’t, woman,” Burglecut stormed to the stove and reached up into the vent above, retrieving a small burlap bag no bigger than the palm of his hand. Xlina hesitated once more at the door, looking at the duo curiously. />
  “Ah, you hid it good,” Penny bounded about with glee.

  “Oxivius said to give this to you,” Burglecut extended his outstretched hand, offering the small burlap bag.

  “He did? When?” Xlina crossed the kitchen, taking the bag gingerly. It was heavy for such a small bag and something metallic sounded from within.

  “The day he first arrived with you,” Penny grinned widely, “He wanted us to hold on to it until the time was right.”

  “When was that?” Xlina eyes the bag, pulling on the drawstring to open it and peek inside.

  “He said we would know,” Burglecut smiled proudly.

  Xlina shook the contents of the bag into her hand, and two coins fell out. They bore a lion’s head on one side and writing she could not decipher on the other. Obviously ancient, she carefully examined them, flipping them over with her fingers. They were neither silver nor gold, rather they appeared to be electrum.

  “I don’t understand.” Xlina looked at Penny and Burglecut and extended her hand to show the coins.

  “Deary me,” Penny exhaled, moving close to examine the coins. “You young folk. So much information with your internet and media, so little knowledge.”

  “You know what these are then, Penny?” Xlina brushed off the comment.

  “Indeed. You’re holding a Lydian Lion,” Penny smiled as if that was all the answer she required.

  “A what now?”

  “Tis a coin.” Burglecut shifted his bulk and placed his hands on his hips.

  “I see it’s a coin.” Xlina closed her hand around the coins and dumped them back into the small bag. “I don’t understand how they help.”

  “Everything about magic is intent, about meaning,” Penny wrapped her hands around Xlina’s warmly and looked into her eyes. “So too everything about life is intent, about meaning.”

  “Oxivius said that” Xlina looked down at the stout Penny meeting her eyes and letting loose a faint chuckle. “A lot actually.”

  “Those are not just coins,” Penny clapped her hand on top of Xlina’s with a hearty shake. “Like Brick out in the Hearth the first fire brought to mankind, those too are the first coins.”

  “Aye, a fine payment for the riverman,” Burglecut chimed in. Xlina looked to the brute, so intimidating, and yet he was the gentle giant she adored. Recognition settled in, and her lips curled into a small smile as her voice lifted.