Path of Ruin

by Tim Paulson

  “I told you. I might,” Buckley said. “But you must answer my questions first.”

  “No more questions,” said the corpse.

  “Yes,” Buckley said. “Or should I remind you how easy it is to crush these stones. Just a single blow with a hammer. That's all it takes.”

  “I wish to be free salave. I wish for a body, not this dried out husk. Do this for me and I promise you will have whatever you desire. Wealth. Power. Women. Name your price.”

  “I already have all of those things. What I need is knowledge,” Buckley said.

  “No fool this one, more than a common slithering nothing, he wishes to be a king does he not? Let me make you one,” the corpse said.

  Buckley chuckled. “A king. I don't think nearly so small. Tell me what I need to know, or... I can leave you here, awake, in the box. A week perhaps? Two?”

  The corpse sighed. “So be it.”

  Buckley pulled a stool from the wall and sat down in front of the trunk.

  “Tell me. Why would our veil machine lose power without warning? Explain what might have happened and why. Most importantly, if someone is to blame, I need to know how to find them.”

  The corpse coughed. “Yes...”

  * * *

  Mia sat in her cell trying as hard as she could to think of something, anything other than taking care of Adem. They'd entered the room and she could see he was safe but that wasn't enough. She needed to be free to protect him. She had to get out of the cage.

  When the figure in the long cloak entered Mia knew her immediately. It was the woman who'd convinced her to join the ranks of the Halett barony, the brains behind it all, the baroness herself.

  “Mom?” Liam said.

  “Yes Liam,” the baroness said.

  Liam, tall as he was with those broad shoulders, ran to his mother like a child. The two embraced but only for a moment before Liam broke away, face red with embarrassment.

  “Do you know what's happened to father?” Liam said.

  “Your father was very seriously wounded, but I think he'll pull through,” the baroness said.

  Liam let out a heavy sigh, sliding a gloved hand through his hair. “Thank God. I don't know what I would have done if he died. I would have gone mad with rage.”

  “I know dear. I know,” she said, patting his upper arm.

  “Still, we've lost the castle. They forced us to flee our home,” Aaron said from his cage.

  “They will pay for that!” Liam said, shaking his fist.

  The baroness stepped forward into the center of everyone. “Sadly. I must apologize for all of this. It's my fault. I should have known. I was too focused on the Ganex. I never considered their emperor might be the pawn of others and a willing one at that.”

  “Are you talking about the Veil company?” asked Aaron through the bars.

  She waved her hand. “More than that Aaron. Veil couldn't have done this on their own. They're not powerful enough. There were too many moving parts to this mechanism. I know the banking companies are involved, likely others as well. It's all quite coordinated.” She paused. “Here, let me get you out of there dear.” She flicked a finger in Aaron and Mia's directions.

  The cages opened.

  Mia exited her cell with care, doing her best to avoid getting too close to the black tentacled thing that stood next to the baroness.

  From a shelf-like table that looked to be formed from part of the wall, she retrieved her gear. Mia took up her sword, pin daggers and the other items of utility that she normally kept upon her person. All of it had all been expertly stripped from her by those things. They'd even gotten the knives in her boots. She missed her pistol, but that had been left back in Aeyrdfeld. It seemed like ages ago.

  When she looked over at the baroness the woman was staring at her intently. The baroness then stepped over to her, putting a hand near Mia's temple.

  “What... What are you doing?” Mia said.

  A wave of wooziness washed over her, like she'd just imbibed spirits too quickly.

  “Mmmm, someone's done a little something to you. Let's get rid of that then,” the baroness said.

  The woozy feeling evaporated. Mia felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The pressing need to protect little Adem had evaporated.

  “Get rid of what? How did you do that?” Aaron said as he carefully picked his way out of his own cage.

  The baroness ignored the questions, instead she walked over to little Adem. “Will you tell me your name please?” she asked him.

  “I'm Adem!”

  “Is this your daddy?” the baroness said.

  Adem nodded.

  The baroness extended a hand to Henri. “I'm Christine Halett, pleased to meet you.”

  Henri bowed his head and grasped her hand in greeting. “M'lady. I'm Henri Van Bosch. The pleasure is mine. I've heard many things about you.”

  “Not many of them good I'd wager,” she said with a laugh.

  “In my experience M'lady prominent people tend to attract all kinds of ire, whether they deserve it or not,” Henri said.

  “Well said.” Christine replied, nodding solemnly. “Your boy here. I can see he's had some... challenges recently. Is the amulet Vex's doing?”

  “Yes,” Henri said.

  The baroness nodded but said nothing. Mia thought she saw a hint of displeasure on her features but only for a moment.

  “Who is Vex? What is this place? Why are you here?” Aaron asked of the baroness in rapid fire fashion.

  She responded by raising a hand. “In a moment. Why don't we all go back upstairs first. I've a mess to tidy up.”

  “Out here then?” Mia said, pushing past Aaron, Liam and Celia to step out of the only door to the room. Despite that feeling of lightness, still she felt the pull to look at Henri. Perhaps that old woman's curse still lingered in her mind? She did her best to avoid looking at him as she passed and succeeded.

  If he saw her eyes on him it would only embolden him to try to talk to her. If that happened... that just couldn't happen. Not after that ale cellar when she'd... Mia tried not to think about it but failed. It was bad enough that she'd tried to kiss a man she barely knew, but he'd rejected her as well. It wasn't like her. Hopefully if she held out long enough whatever sorcery still remained would wear off completely and she could just forget about the whole thing.

  Mia didn't wait for the baroness and stalked off ahead of the rest. Out the black crenelated doorway and up a spiraling hall she went. It was similar to the spiral stair one might find in a castle except it had only slightly raised nubs instead of stairs and the pitch of the floor was less.

  No matter, she was confident she would end up in the right place. As long as she was ahead and away from Henri.

  Mia arrived at the top of the inclined hallway only to stumble upon a scene of surreal carnage. It was a wide circular room with tall columns lining black walls. The entire room was scattered with debris and body parts. A grisly scene for certain. Not the worst she'd seen, but certainly not the best either.

  Instantly she thought of little Adem. He ought to be spared this the poor thing. He'd seen too much already.

  Augh, once again she was thinking about that little boy. Hadn't the baroness removed the old woman's curse?

  She was about to turn around and ask when movement on the floor caught her eye. A disembodied hand with gray skin was trying to crawl over a hunk of broken white crystal.

  Mia just stared.

  “Quite a mess,” the baroness said as the others followed her into the cavernous room.

  “What the devil happened here? What is this place?” Aaron said, scratching his head.

  To Aaron's obvious dismay the baroness did not answer him. Instead she cinched up her gown's skirt and cloak and picked her way through the rubble to a large chunk of bloody flesh which she then stooped over.

  Mia followed, curious.

  “I think he's dead,” Mia remarked casually, wondering why the woman would waste t
ime inspecting a bloody mass of torn flesh. Then, as she watched, it twitched.

  “Of course he is,” the baroness said. “However I really need to talk with him.” She flexed her fingers.

  “What are you going to do?” Aaron asked. He'd joined them in standing over the chunk of shredded flesh.

  To Mia's eyes there was surely something odd about it though. The flesh was wrong. It was gray instead of pink and though there were splatters of blood around it on the floor, none flowed from it. It was as if it had been cleanly sliced only seconds before.

  “Aaron be a dear and bring me the rest of him. As much as you can find,” the baroness said. “And quickly, he can't hold on forever.”

  “What? Whoever this is, is dead! He's in pieces scattered all about this room. There's blood everywhere and you say you'll fix him? Are you mad? It's... It's...” Aaron stuttered into silence.

  “Profane? Demonic?” Liam said from the back of the room, the corners of his mouth turned down in disgust.

  “Logically impossible!” Aaron said.

  Mia punched Aaron in the shoulder, hard.

  “Ow!” He glared at her.

  “Thank you dear. Go gather the pieces Aaron. I really don't have all day,” the baroness said, casting her eyes about the entire room.

  Mia did the same. Celia was standing near the skull headed creature, fascinated by it. Liam stood on the opposite side of her, looking disgusted, while Henri was up front with his son, staring directly at her.

  She glanced away quickly, angry at herself for doing so. Her cheeks felt hot. She spun her gaze back to the baroness who also happened to be looking at her, eyebrows raised.

  “What?” Mia said.

  “Mmmm... nothing,” the baroness said.

  While Aaron shuffled about the room picking up scraps of gray flesh, the baroness sat cross-legged in front of the growing pile of mashed remains, eyes closed, seemingly preparing herself. Finally when Aaron brought her an exceptionally large armload of twitching parts, she opened her eyes.

  Mia waited, watching. She hadn't been asked to pick up the pieces and wasn't planning to offer either.

  “This should be enough to get started,” the baroness said.

  “What is this? It's shaped like a man, but I'm not sure it's entirely... human,” Aaron said.

  Mia raised her fist but the baroness shook her head.

  “It's a ghoul. They're very resilient,” she said.

  The baroness leaned over and pulled a hunk of torso with its shredded black and purple clothing to one side, exposing the nape of the neck. Here a line of red thread stitched a vertical scar. With a small curved knife the baroness sliced the stitches as well as the long healed flesh beneath. Then she stuck her fingers inside and pulled out a translucent green stone which she pocketed.

  “I thought ghouls were a myth, a made up story to frighten children,” Aaron said.

  Despite his skepticism he was leaning in to see what she was doing. Celia too had crept forward from the alcove at the edge of the room to observe.

  “Oh they're quite real. Some people are unfortunate enough to find one if they happen to linger too long at a mass grave, especially in one of the larger cities. Valendam has a good sized group of them but Ardenton is positively swarming with them. Now please, step back everyone and be quiet. This is delicate,” the baroness said as she took a notebook from her satchel and thumbed through several pages before finding one she liked. At the top Mia could just make out a printed label: Eriandra's Knitting.

  The baroness then held up the book with her left hand while she moved her right, drawing with her fingers in the air. Much like Mia had witnessed with Harald, it looked like nothing was happening.

  At one point the baroness cursed and wiped her whole hand to one side in an exaggerated gesture like she'd made a mistake and been forced to start again. It took several minutes of finger waving but finally she had it how she wanted it, took a deep breath, and pushed her right hand out.

  In the center of her palm appeared a small circle of sickly green light. The glowing orb hovered for a moment above her hand before diving down into the corpse below. The corpse itself began to glow with that same eerie green hue.

  Then things started to move.

  All the parts that had been brought together began to attach to each other piece by piece, rebuilding the body. It was a thin, grotesque sort of body, with gray skin, long sharp teeth and bright red eyes. Pieces from the corners of the room reappeared, floating through the air as if tethered on invisible strings, only to find their place and reconnect.

  When it was done, a whole human-like gray body lay face down on the floor. A few fingers still twitched of their own accord but no breath moved the chest. If indeed the ghoul had ever breathed, it did not do so now. The creature, though now in one piece, still appeared to be quite dead.

  “Is it dead?” Aaron asked quietly, unable to contain himself any longer.

  “In a manner of speaking yes,” the baroness said. “The body lives, in as much as any ghoul is ever really alive. They are odd creatures to be sure. The important thing is that the mind, the final breath of life that animates any living thing, is withheld by this spell.” Then she used her knife to make a new incision at the back of the neck.

  “What are you doing? What's that stone?” Aaron said as she slipped the green stone into the hole in the back of the neck.

  “That stone is Vex,” she said.

  Instantly the fingers and toes curled, then stretched. Then the gray skinned being pushed itself over and sat up with a groan. Red eyes scanned the room before settling on the baroness.

  “Having a party are we?” he said. His voice was low, gravelly.

  “You seem to have blown yourself up,” the baroness said.

  “It was the emuq kagal. I believe something grave has happened. I need your help,” Vex said.

  “Something worse than blowing yourself up?” She said.

  “Far worse.”

  The baroness sighed. “You know Vex, I haven't exactly had my best week either. While I was away conspirators murdered my husband and drove my children from our home. Oh and to top it all, I come here and find you've put two of them in your makeshift dungeon and one was enchanted.”

  “Father is dead? But you said-” Liam said.

  The baroness sighed again, rubbing a temple. “He's not dead Liam... well he is... but he won't be soon... I'll take care of it.”

  “Take care of it how? By filling father with demonic witchery?” Liam said.

  “I really don't have time for this now. Be quiet,” she said.

  The boy fumed, but silently, clenching his fists at his sides. Mia did not like the look of it. She knew from experience that Liam could be impulsive.

  Vex's red eyes moved from Liam back to the baroness. “My apologies about all that,” he said as he tried to use his fingers to do something in the air, but then stopped and gave a frustrated sigh. “Could you? I just want to fix my clothes.”

  “Could she what? Does she have to give you power? Do you run this place? Lady Halett?” Aaron said.

  The baroness held up her hand toward Aaron. “Aaron, please! You will have your answers in due time.” Her gaze returned to Vex. “I'm honestly not sure that I should. My understanding was that I'd be here when that... thing... was started.”

  “I'm sorry about that, really I am. I got excited when I realized how much power the boy has. However, if you had been here when it collapsed you might well be dead,” Vex said. “About the young man... I was notified by one of the nasaru this morning that they'd detained a trespasser. I had no idea he was your son. I had planned to look into it I assure you.”

  “What about Mia?” the baroness said as she stood up.

  “This one?” he said, gesturing toward her with one of his clawed fingers. “I see you've removed her enchantments.”

  The baroness nodded. “She's free to make her own decisions now.”

  “Is that wise?” Vex said.

/>   Mia's eyes narrowed. So it was this gray creature, this ghoul, that had controlled her. It must have been disguised as the old woman. Mia did not like deceivers.

  “Wise?” Mia said, reaching for her blade. “I'll show you-”

  “Stop!” the baroness said. “Please. I have need of him.”

  Mia stared at the baroness, then back at the ghoul, swallowing her anger, and released her grip on the rapier. She would not forget, however.

  Vex's blood red eyes regarded Mia coolly before looking back to the baroness. “I didn't know she was one of yours. I knew she worked for your griffin...” Vex waved a hand dismissively, “people but I only added an enchantment to her because she happened to show up at the town where I was watching the boy. He needed a guardian.”

  “You're not supposed to be watching anyone Vex. I told you, you aren't to bring any more of them here.”

  “And I didn't,” Vex said. “You should take a look at the boy, I'm sure you'll be impressed. I haven't seen one like him in ages. Nineteen spirits yet somehow he survived long enough for me to bind them.”

  “Have you had him tested?” the baroness asked, an eyebrow raised.

  “No, no,” Vex said as he too stood up, brushing bits of powdered crystal from the tattered remnants of his clothing. “That can't be done while there are spirits in him. It would refuse. As far as the hall is concerned his condition is a death sentence so why waste training and ranking on someone who will be lucky to live out the year?”

  “Hey!” Henri said. “You said Adem would live as long as we drained him.”

  Vex raised a single sharp nailed finger. “I said he could live, could. The unfortunate truth is that your son will slowly merge with those spirits until there isn't any of him left. That's the best case scenario. The worst being that you forget to drain him even one time and he dies. He's a strong boy however so the merge may well take a long time, or it may not. There is no way to tell.”

  “But what about that device you had. The woman said it was possible to fix him,” Henri persisted, scowling.

  “You were able to contact someone through the... machine?” the baroness asked.

  “It's none of your concern,” Vex said.