by Plum Pascal
The angel look at him an’ nods, like she real pleased he standin’ up for her. He don’t look back at her, though.
I don’t care if Pretty Boy is mad; all I care ‘bout is findin’ out where Anona is an’ makin’ sure I’m somewheres far away from wherever the fuck that place is.
“So, Variant an’ Anona ain’t got no clue wheres we are?” I ask. Facin’ Anona again ain’t somethin’ I’m lookin’ forward to. Fact is, I could live the rest o’ my days very happy never seein’ that foul bitch agin.
“I don’t know,” Dragan starts. “The scene Eilish and I saw could have taken place days ago, for all we know.”
“It was light,” Eilish say to Dragan as she tap his hand. He glance down at her fingers an’ then at her face, an’ it’s like his whole expression change. It’s like he ain’t mad no mores. I’m really hopin’ this angel be on our side ‘cause if she a bad angel, she got Dragan playin’ right into her little plan, pretty as she please.
Dragan nod an’ face everyone in the room. “That’s right. It was daytime in the throne room, so the vision couldn’t have taken place in real time.” That’s ‘cause outside, it be darker than a night hag’s tit. An’ it ain’t jist ‘cause we in the Shadow Realm. Night is still the darkest time, whether you be in Shadow, Fae or the Mortal Realms.
“But whether it’s a vision of the future or the past, we don’t know,” add the angel.
I gulp, ‘cause I scared. Last time I got on Anona’s bad side, she was two seconds away from rippin’ my wings clean off. My right one’s still torn from where that son-of-a-bitch Dravon pulled it.
Anona’s an ugly bitch, but she a smart bitch. An’ usually when she want somethin’, she get it.
Everyone gits real quiet-like.
“Shouldn’t we stay here, then?” I ask King Shadow Butt ‘cause he the biggest one outta all of ‘em. “I mean, they ain’t found us yet, right? That gotta mean somethin’?”
The vampire answer. He spook me, ‘cause he move real fast an’ he got this darkness ‘bout him that don’t seem right. Like the shadows surroundin’ him are part o’ him. Like they be one an’ the same. Yeah, Dragan’s got shadows, too, but his are different somehow. They ain’t quite so dark. An’ Dragan don’t go ‘round drinkin’ people’s blood… well, that I know of, anyways.
“You can’t stay here,” the vampire say like he’s king o’ the fuckin’ universe.
The dumbass elf nods like the vampire just said somethin’ way wise. He musta said whatever the wise part was real quiet-like, ‘cause all I heard was him suggestin’ we leave the one place where Anona ain’t been to find us.
“We need to get you out of shadow, anyway,” Dragan says as he look down at Li’l Miss Muffet. “You can’t stay here much longer. The darkness is eating at you, little by little.”
“Any o’ youze know what a tuffet is?” I ask but no one even look at me.
Dicks.
“I’m thinkin’ it be some kinda dessert,” I answers myself. “Like one o’ them custard-filled things.”
“He’s right,” Baron say.
“I am?” I ask, but that vamp just give me a real annoyed look. Well, fuck you, too, cum-muncher!
“All of you need to leave this realm,” the vamp finishes.
“Aren’t you coming with us?” the angel ask him.
“We need your help,” the elf king start, but the vamp interrupt him.
“I’m not the man you once knew,” he say. “I’m no king. I have no stake in your battle.”
“Ya know, I gotta say, I agrees with him,” I tell them, ‘cause I wanna lose this bloodsucker, like, yesterday. “He ain’t the man y’all once knew an’ he ain’t no king, an’ you all are kings, know what I’m sayin’? We should probly find someone else fer our battle.”
The vamp frown but he don’t have no response to that. It’s probly ‘cause I made a good point. ‘Bout time someone started makin’ some sense ‘round here.
“You’re after the same thing we are,” the elf king say. “Defeating Variant.”
The vamp nod. “But not for the same reasons. I don’t care about balance. All I care about is revenge. And I will get my revenge, with or without you.”
“We would be stronger with you,” the elf king goes on. “You would be stronger with us.”
“I work alone.”
“No,” the angel say. Her voice sound stronger now. An’ her face look better. Not that it looked bad before or nothin’, but she looked real tired-like. Now she look like she got more life in ‘er. An’ judgin’ by the way Dragan be lookin’ at her, he thinkin’ ‘bout puttin’ somethin’ else in ‘er, too.
“We need to stay together,” she say. “All of us… together.”
“And if you say no, they’ll knock you out and take you anyway,” the elf king grumble, like he rememberin’ the time Dragan did ‘xactly the same to him. I laugh, but I don’t think no one hear me. Or maybe they just don’t give no shits.
Dicks.
Dragan speak up now. “They’re right. It’ll take all of us to bring down Variant.”
“I work alone,” Vamp Bat repeat.
“Not for the immediate future,” Dragan say. “We have to make up for the past, Baron. We have to restore the balance that existed before, and we can’t do it without you.”
“My name isn’t Baron,” Baron argue.
I make a joke ‘bout it but no one even looks at me. But I’m used to that. When you be small, everyone discount you an’ yer opinions. Anyways, they’re all too busy starin’ at each other. I’ve never been one for long, dramatic pauses so’s I speak up. “Well, where we goin’, then?” I ask the elf an’ the gargoyle. Fuck the vamp an’ his bloodsuckin’ ways.
“Our first priority,” declares the elf, “is restoring Eilish and Baron’s memories. I can create a Transmutation Stone to try to accomplish that, but I need tools.”
“What kind of tools?” ask Dragan
“Minerals, supplies, things I can only get in the Fae Realm.”
“You wanna go back to the Fae Realm?” I holler at him. “That’s the first place Anona gonna look for us! Goin’ back there be the dumbest shit you said all night!”
Oh, these asses.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with the sprite,” say the gargoyle. “Returning to the Fae Realm now is a suicide mission. You know Variant’s men are waiting for us.”
The angel’s eyes are wide, an’ she turn to the elf king. “You know of something that can restore my memories?”
“Are you even listenin’, doll face? We ain’t goin’ back there, so don’t go gettin’ yer hopes up,” I say, ‘cause I don’t want her sidin’ with no prissy-ass elves.
“Would someone please shut him the fuck up?” asks the elf, an’ I decide right here an’ now that I ain’t likin’ him one bit. Nope, not even a speck. Then, he talk to the angel. “I can’t be sure it will work. We still don’t know what’s blocking your memories. But I can try.” Finally, he turn to Dragan. “Nowhere is safe. Variant will be searching all three realms for us. We have to keep moving.”
“Eilish isn’t strong enough yet,” say Dragan. “She needs rest.”
“What she needs is to know who she is and why she’s here. We all do. There’s no choice now, Dragan, we have to go,” elf boy argues.
“You’re forgetting one very important detail,” say Dragan an’ he eye the elf real narrow-like. “If we leave the Shadow Realm, Thoradin and I will turn to stone.”
“No, you won’t,” Eilish say. “Not if you’re with me.” Then she look confused an’ it’s almost like someone else was talkin’ an’ just borrowin’ her mouth.
“What do you mean?” ask Dragan as he turn to look at her, real confused-like.
“I… I don’t know why or how I know that,” she say, an’ her eyes go real wide again. She look like she hopin’ Dragan just gonna believe her, ‘cause she ain’t got much o’ a good reason why he should. “I… I just have this feeling th
at if you’re with me, you’re safe.”
These be big words comin’ from a chick who’s spent most o’ her time passed the fuck out. I’m pretty good at tellin’ when I’m ‘bout to get slapped, though, so’s I stay quiet this time.
Dragan’s eyebrows push together. “When we left Cambion’s in Geldingstock, I began to turn…”
“Because I was unconscious,” she answer. “But I’m awake now. And Cambion is right. We have to return to the Fae Realm. The sooner I have my memories back, the sooner I can answer all your questions and some of my own. Right now, I don’t even know what I know or why I know it. Maybe my memories hold the key to defeating Variant, once and for all.”
Dragan nod like he agree, an’ in that moment, I hate all of ‘em equal. “Last time I checked, in order to get to the Fae Realm, we gotta first cross through the mortal world,” I say an’ they all look at me like what be my point. “Um, the mortal world’s Anona’s playground!”
“So?” the elf king ask.
I glares at him. “Are none o’ you dimwits aware that we can’t do shit if we’re captured or dead?” There be a few alternatives before bein’ captured an’ dead that I ain’t exactly thrilled ‘bout, neither. Disemboweled, imprisoned, put in a stew… I ain’t one to doubt Anona’s creativity.
But, as always, no one care ‘bout the opinion o’ a sprite. Funny, considerin’ I’m the only one here who know the woman lookin’ for us. Maybe one o’ these pea brains’ll realize I might have some valuable information on the subject? No such luck, everyone start movin’ closer to the door an’ I’m left shakin’ in my boots an’ feelin’ all kindsa sorry fer myself.
Dragan help Eilish fix her cloak. How’s it that the girl is always buck-ass-nekked? I been nekked ‘xactly zero times since we started this mess an’ it ain’t been that difficult.
We leave the nice, warm room an’ make our way out to the front room again. Both the bald man an’ the guy from the cot are gone. Everythin’ is real quiet-like, all’s you can hear is the fire still roarin’ an’ cracklin’. Shadow Bat open the door an’ we file out; no one says a word. Not even me, which is difficult, ‘cause I got lotsa words to describe how I feel ‘bout this whole mess.
Outside, it be so dark, it hard to make out anythin’. I can barely even see my own hand in front my face.
“Dragan, I can’t see,” say Eilish an’ I hear the sound o’ him pickin’ her up. How romantic. Makes me wanna barf. The rest o’ us are left to fend for our own selves. I fly into the stone wall more than once but no one gives no shits.
Dicks.
Then, I gives up flyin’ on my own, an’ I float over to Eilish an’ take me a nice seat on her lap. Dragan glare at me but I just shrug. Ain’t my fault he can’t fit.
“This way,” say the vamp. I can’t tell which way we’re goin’, but the air feels all cold an’ stale-like. Wet, too. I don’t think we’re goin’ out the way we came in, ‘cause there’s no stairs, but I can’t see a thing so I dunno where the hells we are. My mind starts to wander an’ I start seein’ things in the dark shadows. A hand reachin’ out to grab me, a figure that look like Dravon standin’ in the corner, somethin’ crawlin’ on me. But when we walk by, there ain’t nothin’ there. Still, I’m sweatin’ like a pig in July just imaginin’ all that scary stuff everywheres. It don’t matter that I’m travelin’ with the four buffest guys in the three realms, I’m shakin’ I’m so scared.
“Keep your eyes on the ground,” the vamp say. “If you see anything… misty, don’t look it in the face.”
“Why?” I ask.
“I imagine you’d like to stay alive?” he respond, all sarcastic-like.
I jist gulp.
They walk for, like, ten minutes ‘fore we see a fire torch lightin’ our way. The more I look at it, the more I realize it be a street lamp, but lit by a flame, not by electricity like you’d see in the Mortal Realm. I fuckin’ hate this place. Monsters an’ life-suckin’ ghosts aside, I’m missin’ me a TV an’ a phone real bad.
We keep walkin’ along an’ still, no one’s talkin’. We ain’t seen anyone but we can hear all sorts o’ sounds. Some faraway screams, sometimes we hear one from real close, like jist on the other side o’ the darkness someone’s soul is gettin’ sucked up Satan’s straw. Sometimes, there’s scratchin’ noises, too. An iron bar bein’ dragged across the stone alleys. My heart’s beatin’ so fast, I wonder if it just gonna up an’ stop.
I think it’s weird that durin’ the day, this place is busy as a whore on ‘er back, but now there ain’t no one out at all. I decide ta get off the angel’s lap to inquire. I fly right up to the Vamp Bat King’s ear an’ talk real quiet-like, ‘cause I’m afraid o’ what’s out there.
“Where’d everybody go?” I ask him.
“Hiding.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re scared,” he answer in a whisper. He motion for everyone to come up to where he be standin’, an’ then he point to the right. Then, he start walkin’ agin.
“Scared o’ what?” I ask but he ain’t really payin’ attention to me. He wave his hand lazily over his shoulder an’ nearly knock me over.
“Ghosts,” he say, still walkin’.
Then, as if on cue, we hear a scream right in front o’ us. It’s comin’ from beyond the street lamp an’ I can’t see nothin’, but I know someone is gettin’ their ass handed to ‘em. Then, the scream stops an’ we hear somethin’ movin’ ‘round—somethin’ big.
It growls.
TWENTY-FIVE
Baron
Grimreap
Shadow Realm
Two days ago, I was headed to Grimreap with the sole intention of securing poisons and gathering intelligence. Due to one fateful moment of indecision, I’m now marching along the alleys of the city with five of the most wanted beings in the three realms. If I weren’t terrified that we may never get out of here unseen, I might find some humor in the situation.
As it stands, I feel for the first time (in the history of my known memory) like I have something to lose. With this knowledge of my new, or rather old, identity comes a hope I’m holding in my chest—a feeling so alien it takes more than a moment for me to identify the sensation. My lifelong need to understand the context of my resurrection fuels me forward, along the dark corridors.
Yes, I told them I work alone, and I do. I fully intended to part ways, but at the idea that I could have my memories restored to me by this Transmutation Stone of which Cambion spoke, I decide to stay. At least, until he creates the stone and we learn whether my memories can be made available to me…
Venturing out at night in the city is something I try to avoid. There’s no such thing as superstition and lore in Grimreap—there’s only truth. And that truth’s a monstrous one. Grimreap is, indeed, a city of ghosts. In this place of dread, countless dead men walk, dragging their crude weapons through the shadows and looking for mortals to challenge their territory.
At night, Grimreap is silent—eerily windless, like the breathless undead. Its stillness feels sinister, almost mocking—its preternaturalness rising out of an apparent resentment of the life it lost. The battle that was fought here is the most infamous in the Great War’s history. A century ago, beings from the three realms perished here as they fought against one another. We were a land divided—some wanting the balance the three kings promised, others swayed by Variant’s propaganda, believing they would benefit from a single leader. The three kings were forced back and Variant and his followers took control not only of Grimreap, but of the entire Shadow Realm.
Because Variant is a creature of light and, therefore, can’t exist in the Shadow Realm for long, he gifted the realm to the King of the Unseelie, Theren. And Theren’s nothing more than Variant’s flunky, who does whatever the bastard tells him to.
What a sad day it was when the three kings failed.
And you were once one of those kings, I remind myself.
That is, if I believe the stories the strangers tell.
And I’m not convinced I do. I don’t trust them. Perhaps I trust the angel. But only because I’ve seen her wings and witnessed the vision that passed between the two of us. What she revealed to me was as true as I can remember.
I wonder why she didn’t mention the woman’s voice, I think to myself. Why didn’t she tell the others? I have no answer, so I don’t ponder the question long. Instead, I allow my shadows to radiate around me, detecting my surroundings, trying to determine where the threats lay ahead and around us. I’m more than sure Dragan is doing the same, as he’s extremely quiet.
Being undead, though, I’m even more perceptive at detecting my shadow kin’s presence. Faint whispers, voices from another time, barely audible memories travel across the still air and it appears I’m the only one to hear them. I doubt the others are aware of just how many spirits linger outside light’s reach. What’s more, I doubt they realize all such spirits are unfriendly.
I lead our group through the weaving alleyways of the city with more confidence than I feel. When I enter a cold patch of air, I turn a different direction. When I sense a creature nearby, I double back. Mercifully, our journey moves us forward with relative ease, and I’m even starting to believe we have luck on our side. My focus is so intense I barely hear the thin, almost metallic buzzing of the small sprite near my ear. Barely, yet I hear it all the same.
The sound of his wings distracts me, as do his questions. Still, the answers are important, because all of them should understand what they’re up against. Their reaction to the manticore made me realize they have no real idea where we are. Well, the gargoyle might; he’s a creature of shadow as I am. Yet, he hasn’t seen the true darkness I have. He hasn’t been to the other side. None of them understands this darkness—it’s an emptiness that encapsulates me, that drives me, that eats me. It’s an emptiness that defines me.
When I think of their frightened reactions to the manticore, I want to laugh—and then I want to shake sense into them, to make them understand. There are creatures here that are truly worthy of their fear, and manticores aren’t among them.