by Tim Paulson
“I'm told Christine has returned but she's brought others.” Vex gestured to a spiraling stairway recessed in the wall with his long thin fingers.
“So you're a ghoul?” Henri said as they continued to ascend the ramp-like spiraling stair.
“I'm a man, or I once was. Now I live within this ghoul,” Vex said.
“Why?” He couldn't imagine wanting to be anything other than himself. It had taken him a long time to get used to his body. He'd been quite clumsy as a child. When he'd joined his father in the forge it had built him up, correcting his issues with coordination, but it had also taught him something important about himself, that he had more interest in learning new things than in following in his father's footsteps as a smith.
That was why he'd gone off to the Institute. Father hadn't understood, but he'd allowed it, even helped with money when he could. He'd been a good man.
“I had little choice in the matter,” Vex said. “Up here.”
They exited the spiral stair into a new twisted corridor that connected with another passage, this one lined with bizarre images. They seemed familiar enough that Henri wondered if he'd passed them before, perhaps when they'd dragged him into the building. Of course back then he'd been preoccupied with Adem's safety. That reminded him.
“Adem ought to be, uh, he should be...”
“Drained? Mmmmm, yes. It's been while,” Vex said. “When we go back down we'll do it.”
They came to a grand circular door which had pinched tightly closed. Vex waved his fingers at it as if swatting a fly and the door yawned open. Beyond was the baroness and the girl Celia who'd gone with her, one of the walking tree creatures was carefully placing two immobile people on the ground outside the entrance.
One was a young woman who wore riding clothes that were soaked with red around her midsection. The other appeared to be a short middle aged man in ragged clothing. Once it put them down, the tree creature immediately turned around and stalked away.
Cowering behind Celia was a crowd of six children who clung to each other like brush hooks to a riding cloak.
“Go ahead,” Vex said. “I have a tendency to scare people when I look like this, especially children.”
“Hence the old woman,” Henri noted.
“Yes,” Vex said. “How is she?”
The baroness did not look happy. “She'll live, but it was close. Far too close.”
“What happened? Highwaymen?” Henri asked. The last he'd heard the girl had been left behind on the road outside the city. That road was barely more than a dirt path. It was hard to imagine highwaymen lying in wait in such a place.
Despite the grisly appearance of her clothing the young woman did look to be sleeping peacefully. That was not the case for the thin man dressed as a bard.
He was covered in blood as well but unlike the girl his eyes were wide with fear and watching carefully as Henri approached. Yet despite his terror the man seemed unable to move.
“What's the bard doing here? Is he alright?”
“Come children, come inside with me. It's safe, I promise,” Celia said.
“What about lady Giselle?” asked one, a very slight girl, easily a head shorter than all the others.
“She'll be fine. This gentleman here will bring her in with you,” the baroness said. She then addressed Henri. “Would you?”
“Of course,” he said, scooping the poor bloody girl up in his arms as gently as he could.
Vex was pacing back and forth by the door. “We can't have more children in here.”
“Of course we can!” the baroness said.
“This is a dead city Christine, dead! It's my job to keep it that way!” Vex said, pointing a claw at her.
“Things don't always work out the way we plan,” she said, though it seemed as much to herself as to the wizard.
“I can't allow it Christine. Enough is enough,” Vex said.
The baroness approached him, eyes like black iron. “You will allow all of us to stay here, at least for now, that's all there is to it.”
Vex fumed angrily, but he said nothing.
The baroness continued with one finger pointed precisely at his chest. “Don't try my patience. I'm pleased you've decided to try to help the smith's little boy. Besides...” She glanced behind her. “I've brought you something.”
Celia paused with the children at her heels and chuckled to herself. “Enjoy!” she said with an evil grin and a twinkle in her eye.
“What?” Vex said, his hat tilting to the side slightly as he raised one thin black eyebrow.
“This man,” the baroness said as she indicated the immobile bard with the fright filled eyes. His arms were crushed against his sides as if bound by invisible fetters. “He shot my daughter and tried to murder her companion. God only knows what he might have done to those children. He is a condemned man.”
At this Henri saw the black wizard's needle sharp teeth bare. A long thin blue tongue coated in saliva caressed their pointed tips.
“I knew you'd be hungry after the knitting. It takes a toll on the body,” she said.
“He's... he's mine?”
“All yours,” the baroness said. “Celia, I know you're tempted to hang back but get those children out of here.”
Celia pursed her lips, “Come on children. We're not wanted here.”
Vex glided past her toward the bard.
“Let's go,” the baroness said to Henri.
He nodded and followed her, carrying the wounded girl. He couldn't help but cast a glance back behind at Vex who was now descending on the bard like a wolf upon a lamb.
“He's going to eat him?” Henri said as they passed the threshold into the dark building.
“Human flesh is a ghoul's only food.”
Henri suddenly felt very ill. He'd just started to get comfortable with the black wizard and now he was eating a man alive. He hoped the skull creatures didn't have their own hidden horrifying tastes considering he'd left one with his son.
The baroness must have seen the look on his face because she tapped his shoulder reassuringly. “Don't worry. Ghouls rarely eat the living. They tend to prefer the recently deceased, however those condemned for terrible crimes, those they love most of all,” she said with a certain amount of satisfaction in her voice as they traversed the hall with the many wild paintings behind Celia and her blanket of closely knit children.
One of the children paused to stare at the paintings, his mouth hanging open in awe.
“They're beautiful!” said the pudgy little boy with the curly hair. “So life like.”
“Rembrandt!” Celia said. “You don't want to get lost in this place, take my word for it.”
“Where should I take her?” Henri asked. “Does she need more attention for her wounds?”
“No, she just needs rest. I was able to heal her, thankfully. I might have helped her companion but he ran off.” She sighed.
“This place may look scary but I promise it's a lot of fun! Right?” Celia said as she nodded toward Henri. Six uneasy sets of eyes locked on to him.
“Uh, yes, right. My little boy is already here, he-”
“Daddy!” Adem said as he ran down the main hall. He now wore soft blue gray clothing of some kind that appeared to be all of one smooth piece, like a second skin. Pockets studded the front, waist and sides of it however, in a way that reminded him of a technician's clothes only with no visible seams.
It was odd looking but Adem seemed to be happy and moved freely. Behind him slinked Daniel, the sight of whom caused several frightened gasps among the children.
“It's alright,” Adem said. “He's my friend!” Then he wrapped his arms around Daniel's tentacles in a big hug. The creature cocked its head to one side looking very much like it might be embarrassed.
The baroness was gesturing ahead. “Everyone, let's head to the main hall for now. I want to have a loo-”
“Giselle! What happened?” Aaron said, running up to them, nearly stumbling on the slight
ly ribbed flooring.
“She'll be fine Aaron. We found her in time,” the baroness said.
“Who did this? Is that her blood?” Aaron said.
“Don't you ever ask one question at a time?” Celia said, lips curled in disgust.
Aaron's eyes flashed to her. “I just want to know what's happened!”
“As I told you. She'll be fine,” the baroness said.
“It was that bard,” Celia said.
“Benny? I knew he was trouble! But we lost him at the town. He's been following us this whole time? What about Pioter? Is he alright?” Aaron said.
“You really are exhausting,” Celia said.
“The bard has been dealt with. The other ran off,” the baroness said curtly. “I'm sorry. I couldn't go after him.”
“Oh,” Aaron said.
“Come on Adem,” Henri said behind him. “Bring Daniel this way.”
“Yes Daddy,” came the reply.
The boy was already sounding less chipper than before and his skin was paler as well. Soon he would start to decline into serious illness if he wasn't drained.
Henri did not relish the thought but he'd seen the alternative. There was no way he'd allow Adem to become a horror, not while he drew breath. He only hoped they could contact that woman again and get those things out of him.
The baroness led him into the great circular room where the white crystal machine had been before it exploded. It was much cleaner than the last time he'd seen it. A small army of the skulls with black appendages had been working at clearing it. Even now one had a broom and was sweeping away the last of the debris while another followed behind with a dust catcher.
Rather than move to the center of the great room the baroness stopped at one side. Along the wall near one of the many curled columns she used both hands to gesture at the floor. A table rose, formed of the material of the floor.
“Put her here,” she said.
Henri complied, gratefully. He was strong from all that hammering surely, but carrying an adult woman for such a time would tax even the biggest man. Aaron had, of course, followed like a pup.
“Thank you professor,” Aaron said.
“Please just call me Henri. I'm not a professor any more.”
“I just need one more look at her. Then we'll send her to one of the living quarters here,” the baroness said as she laid her hands upon Giselle's head and neck.
“They have quarters here?” Aaron asked.
The baroness just stared at Aaron wearily before addressing Henri. “I've no more need of you. I'll get one of the acolytes to move her when I'm done. Thank you.”
“Glad to help,” he said.
It didn't surprise him there were living quarters ferreted away in this place. The building was laid out haphazardly like a rabbit warren. Everywhere you looked there was another dark hall or spiral stair descending into the depths. There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to it. As a former technician this irked him. He was used to having a mental picture of a thing and with all the curves and twists in this place, nothing seemed to come out where he expected.
“Adem. It's time for a nap,” he told his son as he turned around.
“No! Daddy no!” Adem said, trying to lower his voice to sound older and more commanding. The effect was comical but it conveyed the message. Adem had found other children to be with who weren't picking on him, at least not yet, and he didn't want to leave and go to sleep for fear he never saw them again.
The group of them had gathered around Adem and Daniel, peppering him with questions which Adem was doing his best to answer like an adult, exaggerated hand gestures and all.
“Do they have food here?” asked a little boy, or what sounded like a little boy. He was one of two Henri had assumed were wearing fur coats but wrongly. Now that he'd gotten closer he could see they had catlike faces. He'd heard of the lion people before, there were stories that the king kept one as a pet, but he hadn't ever seen one. These didn't look like pets, they looked and sounded just like the other children.
Adem's eyes widened, his arms raised high. “So much food! It was so tasty! There was two cakes!”
“I'm so hungry,” said another one, a tiny girl who looked like she might be significantly older than Adem, yet similarly sized.
“Me too!” added the pudgy boy with the curly hair.
“Well I don't have any food,” Celia said, arms crossed. Henri could tell she'd rather be just about anywhere than surrounded by a throng of children.
Then Vex came striding into the main room. “What's going on here?” he asked of Henri and Celia, the two closest adults.
Celia's eyes widened. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then simply stared at him.
“Adem needs his nap and the rest of the children are hungry,” Henri said.
The wizard nodded, his long nose currently sporting a fine spray of red droplets, no doubt remnants of the bard. Blood could also be seen around the edges of the mouth that poked out above his long purple scarf. However Vex's hands were the worst. The bandages were soaked red all the way to the elbows. It was surprising how quickly the ghoul had accomplished his feast given they'd just left him to it moments ago. Henri tried not to think about it.
“Daniel, take the children to the junior creche room. I'll send Harald along with Adem in a moment and he can feed them,” Vex said.
Daniel dipped his skull in assent and herded the children away, pointing toward a far door in the room that had earlier been obstructed by the presence of the enormous white crystal machine.
“It's fine kids, he's a very nice... thing,” Celia said, trying to help them on their way.
She didn't need to though. After Adem's introduction, the children had taken to Daniel immediately. They followed closely with four of them holding hand in tentacle.
“Daddy I don't wan-” Adem said again until Henri picked him up and touched him with the sleeping stone. The boy's head drooped.
“Wow, he did need a nap!” exclaimed one of the children as they moved off.
“Over here,” the wizard said as he indicated another alcove near the baroness. He flicked a single bloody finger and a table rose from the floor.
Henri placed Adem upon it.
“I have a small knife to use but no fire or boiled water to cleanse it,” Henri confessed as he brandished one of Mia's needle-like daggers.
“Let me see it.” Vex took the blade and flicked his finger in the air. Pulling down the veil goggles, Henri could see green and red symbols in the air which the wizard drew a glowing circle around. The symbols then shrunk down and seemed to bury themselves in the blade.
“There. A cleansing rune. You can use the blade any time now. The rune will make it safe.”
“Thank you,” Henri said, taking it back. He moved to pierce his son but Vex stayed his hand.
“One moment,” Vex said. “We need to get a few things over here.”
“Including me I presume,” said a familiar voice from the floor. Henri looked down to see the golden haired doll.
“Harald! Back to your old self I see!” Henri said with a wide smile.
“Yes, most amusing,” the sorcerer said. “I'm assured this will be temporary until another homunculus can be found.”
“Ah here we are,” Vex said, feasting his red eyes upon a set of items brought over by two of the skull creatures that the baroness had called acolytes. Henri recognized the items as ones he'd seen before. Vex had been trying to fill them with energy from his machine.
“Didn't you fill these earlier?” he asked.
“I did. Unfortunately when the kagal exploded it sucked all the power out of everything it didn't outright ruin,” Vex said.
“What about the communication device you were using?” Henri asked.
“Intact, I believe,” Vex said. “Please begin.”
Henri used the tiny dagger to make a pin size hole in his son's tender skin and watched as blood poured forth. Through the veil goggles he could se
e far more however. Streams of golden energy raced out of Adem, pulsing into each of the arcane onlookers. Vex and Harald absorbed the energy as did the table's array of items, though oddly nothing moved toward the baroness.
When the flow ebbed Henri used his kerchief to wipe off his son's arm. Again, once the blood was removed only the barest suggestion of a piercing remained.
“What now?” he asked.
“We need to address the dragon in the room, so to speak,” Harald said.
Vex nodded, his long blood stained nose bobbing up and down. “The salave have their own kagal, they must. If it caused ours to rupture it is unstable, dangerous.”
Harald spun around. “For once, the Salmu is correct. Whomever has done this must be stopped. They're meddling with forces they cannot possibly understand.”
“I'm all for that but who... Veil.” Henri said.
“Precisely,” the baroness said as she approached, flanked by a stone faced Mia.
“If we can find their facility and get to it, there may yet be hope to free your son of his... curse,” Vex said.
“I may be able to help you,” Henri said. “I used to work there. You just have to promise me one thing.”
“And that is?” Vex asked.
“You have to try to get that woman to cure my son. We have to bring him,” Henri said.
“That was going to happen anyway,” the baroness said, folding her arms.
“What do you mean?” Henri said.
“The boy is required. He'll be necessary to start their machine if it's inactive,” Harald said.
“So you promise you'll try to help him?” Henri said.
“Yes,” the baroness said.
Vex nodded, his pupils seeming exceptionally red.
“Then we're in,” Henri said, stroking his sleeping boy's forehead.
Chapter 18
"The excavation on the shores of Loch Voran has unearthed some deeply fascinating shards. From what we can tell, the vessels they came from depict ancient gods as yet unknown.”
-Letter to Veil Institute archaeology department chair Damian Anczok, 1574
Chester Buckley sat upright in his luxurious leather desk chair signing the last of a large stack of papers. The barest touch of a smile curled at the edge of his thin lips.