Arcane Dropout 5

by Edmund Hughes

  And, much like a broken mirror, the scattered shards were sharp. Lee learned that first-hand from a few that were thrown outward like shrapnel, slicing tiny cuts into his cheek and neck. He wiped a few droplets of blood away and grinned as he stared into the newly revealed hallway, illuminated by beams of pale-blue light.

  CHAPTER 24

  They only managed to get a dozen feet along the continuing path before a new obstacle blocked their way. Lee stared at several massive slabs of collapsed ice that had all but sealed off the route forward.

  “A cave-in,” he muttered. “You’d think a place like this would be beyond that type of thing, with all the magic.”

  “Oh well,” said Toma. “I guess we can head back to Primhaven. We’re done, right?”

  “We could try using the same tools that got us through the ice wall. I’m sure Thumper could pulverize this ice, too, not to mention the blasting rod.”

  “No, look up.” Willow gestured with her finger. “Trying it could just trigger a worse cave-in. It might very well get us killed.”

  “There’s still a way forward.” Eliza had moved to the right-side edge of the obstruction and was kneeling by a gap in the ice about half the height of a grown adult. “This looks like a tunnel. It seems like it widens after a few feet, too.”

  All eyes turned toward Lee. Kuh-Matton had been fairly creepy in places up to that point, but the stab of claustrophobia he felt upon staring into the craggy crawl hole brought his sense of foreboding to a new level.

  “Well, I suppose we don’t have much choice, do we?”

  “Don’t we, though?” Toma held up a finger. “It’s not as though any of the trolls that gave you this mission would be able to get past this, either. What if you just told them you reached the end of the accessible parts of the tomb, and…”

  “So your suggestion is to lie outright, then?” asked Willow.

  Toma’s shoulders sank at her words, and he let his objection collapse along with the hallway.

  “I’ll go first,” said Lee. “If my shoulders can make it through this tunnel, then you guys should be fine.”

  He started off. As Eliza had pointed out, the tunnel widened after no more than twenty feet of crawling. It meandered, shifting to the left, whereupon Lee and the others were forced to climb onto a higher slab of ice and begin the crawl anew, this time through a gap that was narrow enough vertically to force him into wriggling along on his stomach.

  The experience was terrifying and seemed to force the breath straight from his lungs. He realized, in a moment of panic, that it was actually the ice, and he’d pushed into a squeeze he might not be able to come back from. He kicked a leg and squished forward, breathing a sigh of relief as the tunnel widened again and exited into the hallway.

  “Ah!” Willow’s sudden scream tore Lee’s attention back to his friends.

  “What is it? Are you stuck?”

  “No, Toma, just…” She muttered something sounding like a curse, or an insult. “He grabbed my butt. Hard.”

  “I thought it was a chunk of ice,” said Toma. “My mistake. Way too soft. Waaaay too soft. And a lot less cold.”

  “That’s not really what I meant when I told you that you could bring up the rear,” said Lee.

  “Oh, you’re hilarious.”

  Lee crouched by the exit to help each of his friends out. There was a troll-sized archway ahead of them, looming high enough overhead to make him feel like he was stepping into a giant’s parlor.

  He came up short as he stepped through it and felt Eliza gasp as her body collided with his. The chamber was simple and unadorned, with a massive double door made from intricately carved metal on the far side. There was no furniture, no statues, no ancient tapestries hanging from the walls.

  Instead, there were bones. Human bones, death on a scale that felt like a scene from a movie. Dozens of wretched skeletons still wearing the ragged, frost-burned clothing they’d died in, were assembled in all four corners of the space, stacked into piles as though intended to convey a message.

  “Who would have thought there’d be bodies in a burial tomb?” quipped Toma. “What’s with you, Lee? This is nothing after some of the shit we’ve been through.”

  The bones were nothing. The ghosts, possibly specters, which currently filled the chamber and blocked their way forward in similar numbers… were something. A big, volatile, dangerous, pain-in-the-ass army of something.

  “Get back,” he said, quietly. “Wait in the other chamber while I…”

  He fumbled for an excuse but it was already too late. A few of the ghosts had moved to either side of the doorway they’d entered through and were already surrounding them from behind. Lee watched in horror as one of the entities reached out and cupped Willow’s face. Her eyes rolled up into the back of the head and she swayed on her feet.

  “Whoa!”

  Toma moved to catch her but only served in that capacity for an instant before the ghost had drained a similar amount of vitality from him and rendered him equally unconscious. The two fell into a tangled heap across the cold stone floor.

  “Lee!” screamed Eliza. “What’s going on?”

  Another entity put her to sleep before Lee could get a single word out in reply. The only thing saving him from a similar fate was pure reflex, his hands drawing dagger and pistol and swirling about before he’d consciously decided to react to the threat.

  The specter that had been reaching its long fingers toward his head took half a foot of silver to the chest, letting out a high-pitched death rattle as it dissolved into ambient essence. Lee moved in a circle around his fallen friends, forcing the ghosts back before they could do any more damage.

  There was an empty interval where Lee watched his enemies and they watched him. There were close to thirty of them, equally split between men and women, though he could only guess from the hair. All of them had gaunt, sunken eyes and bony physiques, obvious even under the effect of the ethereal blue appearance. They wore long, ragged smocks, almost like hospital gowns, but Lee suspected most hospital patients didn’t end up as ritual sacrifices.

  “We seeeerve the Unavowed Queen!” hissed one of the ghosts. “The Queen!”

  The rest of them joined in, and the sound of it was like a horde of hissing, rustling cockroaches. Lee tapped his fingers along the hilt of his dagger and raised an eyebrow at them.

  “Are you finished?” he asked. “If you’re done, we should really get started.”

  The specters stared at him, almost in disbelief. They weren’t mindless, he could tell that much from their expressions and eyes. It made the situation easier in some ways, and harder in others.

  “There’s really a lot to be said for picking the right man for a job. I guess in this instance, it happened accidentally. I want all of you to understand, in these last few moments, that what’s about to happen has nothing to do with your numbers, or your individual strength, or even your loyalty to the Queen, or whatever.”

  He grinned at them.

  “I used to do this for a living, and I was damn good at it.”

  He brought his pistol up and fired off a silver round into the center clump of ghosts. It brought down three of them in an instant, ethereal bodies dissolving into essence like popped balloons. The sound of the shot was dampened by the acoustics of the ice, but it was still enough to trigger the rest of the specters into attacking.

  They came at him in desperate waves, heedless of the danger Lee’s silver weapons presented. Despite his confidence, there was only so much he could do against the sudden flood of supernatural entities.

  He swung his dagger in sweeping arcs, knowing he couldn’t just banish them one by one and stand any chance at holding them back. One of the specters sank ethereal fingers into his left shoulder. Pain stabbed through the joints of his arm, which then went completely numb. He couldn’t tell if he was still holding his pistol or not, let alone make a valid attempt at aiming it.

  He roared and brought his dagger back and forth, s
cything through the ghosts like a farmer reaping a crop by hand. He wasn’t the only one screaming. The ghosts rattled on about their queen, only stopping to let out hissing shrieks as they met the edge of Lee’s silver.

  Another grasping hand got by his defense, this time briefly slapping across the side of his face. The pain pulsing through him was enough to make him forget everything else, squeezing his temples and skull, stabbing into his teeth. He growled and spun and slashed and flailed. Specters screamed and died their true deaths.

  He was sweaty as the battle drew to its end, which was dangerous in its own right, given how cold it was. The last two ghosts made him chase them through the chamber. He almost tripped over one of the skeletons as he stabbed it down.

  He panted and collapsed next to his fallen friends. After putting his weapons away, Lee moved from Willow, to Toma, to Eliza, confirming they were all breathing and giving himself no small amount of relief. He stretched out next to them, half-tempted to close his own eyes.

  CHAPTER 25

  One by one, Lee’s friends woke up, and one by one, he explained what had happened without really explaining anything.

  “Fumes, maybe?” he suggested. “The tunnel might have kept them from spreading to the rest of the burial tomb.”

  “Fuck,” muttered Toma. “Should we breathe through cloth or something?”

  “Nah, I think we’re fine now.”

  Willow looked suspicious, while Eliza had a thoughtful, knowing smirk. They spent a few minutes recovering their bearings before pushing forward through the chamber, coming to a stop in front of the massive set of metal doors blocking their way.

  “Do you boys think you can pull these open?” asked Willow.

  Toma grinned and flexed his bicep. “Allow me.”

  “As much fun as it would be to watch you struggle with this, Toma,” Lee began, “I think—”

  “You forget what spells I’ve been playing around with lately,” he countered. “Alteration buffs. Not just for defense, but strength, too.”

  He took hold of the troll-sized door rings and gave them a test pull. They didn’t budge, didn’t even groan in their frame. He rubbed his hands together and fell into the alteration-casting stance. Green light briefly flashed brightly over Toma’s body before dimming to a more subtle glow.

  He took a slow breath, gripped the rings again, and grunted with exertion as he tried again. It reminded Lee of one of the ridiculous challenges often attempted by champion weightlifters. The massive doors screeched across the floor as they ever so slowly opened, inch by inch.

  “There!” Toma stopped as soon as he’d gotten them far enough apart for a person to squeeze through. He fell to his knees and flexed his fingers, grimacing and in apparent pain.

  “You okay?” asked Lee.

  “The handles are fucking cold. I think I have blisters from the frost.”

  “That was pretty impressive,” said Willow. “I didn’t realize you had that up your sleeve.”

  Her praise seemed like salve enough for Toma’s suffering. He grinned and ran a hand through his hair.

  “Oh, you know, I have lots of things up my sleeves,” he said. “Widest sleeves in all the land. I got so much stuff up them that, uh—”

  “Cool your jets, Toma,” said Lee. “We aren’t done here yet.”

  It was true, but as Lee entered the next room, he got the sense they were close. He sucked in a quick breath as the cold sapped at his body heat. The entire burial tomb had been cold, but it felt as though the ambient temperature had dropped by ten degrees as he stepped forward into the new space.

  The chamber was circular, a stone pillar rising from a dais in the center. Shallow alcoves were set along the curving wall, each with a statue of a hulking troll standing within. A few ancient wooden chests sat in between the feet of the troll statues in the very back of the room. There was no other doorway beyond the one they’d entered through, which was somewhat of a relief.

  “Is this it?” asked Willow through chattering teeth. “Did we reach the end?”

  “God, I hope so,” muttered Toma. “Let’s check out those chests in the back. Maybe they’re filled with gold coins.”

  “As much as I think the effort we’ve put in deserves a reward, I somehow doubt it,” muttered Lee.

  Willow and Toma had ignored him and were already hurrying around the edge of the room. Lee stared into the face of one of the statues to the left. There was a surprising amount of detail set into the troll’s expression. The wrinkles and lines of its face had been carefully recreated, and he couldn’t help but wonder what the society of the trolls had looked like at the time of its creation.

  “It’s warmer over here,” said Eliza. “Weird…”

  She’d climbed up on the dais and was frowning at the pillar. Lee slowly started making his way over and felt the warmth she was referring to seep in through the seams of his jacket.

  “Is there writing on the front of it?”

  “Yeah. It’s carved in and covered with dust. I don’t recognize the language, though. It’s not even close to anything modern.”

  Eliza reached a hand forward. Lee felt a sudden stab of premonition. He tried to shout, tried to warn her, but her finger brushed one of the symbols before he could utter a syllable.

  Red light pulsed from the pillar, blindingly bright and imbued with that same strange, impossible heat. He heard Eliza gasp, and Willow and Toma issue shouts of surprise. He blinked, his vision refocusing through a few lingering splotches across his field of view.

  The entire dais was wrapped in a barrier of crimson energy. Eliza was frozen in place, her hand stuck to the pillar as though affixed by glue. There was someone with her, wrapping her into an embrace from behind.

  It was a woman, or at least an entity with the vague shape of one. She was naked, with long white hair and pale skin. Red lines ran through her body, almost like visible veins or cracking flesh, ruining what would have otherwise been an attractive, voluptuous figure.

  More important was the fact the woman was still hugging Eliza, her lips moving as she whispered silent words into her ear. Lee wasn’t interested in waiting to see what happened next. He hurled himself forward, wincing as he drew close to the barrier of crimson energy and felt the intense heat emanating from it.

  He used his dispel ability on reflex, stilling his mind and wrapping both of his hands in a countering veil of anti-magic. The barrier seemed to fight against him for a few seconds before wavering against his assault. Lee pushed a gap through it, holding it open for long enough to wriggle himself through.

  “Eliza!”

  She didn’t turn when he called to her, didn’t so much as react, but the woman behind her swiveled her head around. Her eyes were crimson red, ominous in their own right, borderline terrifying when combined with the furious, hungry expression on her face.

  Lee’s hand went first for his dagger before hesitating. It was too dangerous, given how close Eliza and the demoness currently were. He grabbed his wrist instead, throwing his palm forward and casting his force spell.

  The woman vanished as the wall of kinetic energy made contact with her, which unfortunately left Eliza to bear the brunt of the spell. She flew forward, cracking painfully against the pillar before falling backward onto her butt. Lee swore under his breath. The barrier had dissipated, so he accepted the tradeoff of friendly fire and hurried over to help his friend.

  “Hey,” he said, pulling her into his lap. “Are you okay?”

  Her lip was bloody, and she was unconscious but still breathing. Lee gently brushed her hair back and checked for any visible head wounds, finding nothing. He cursed his own stupidity under his breath, even though he wasn’t sure he’d done anything wrong. It was impossible to know what might have happened if he’d waited even an instant longer before intervening.

  “Jesus Christ,” muttered Toma. “What just happened?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Is she…” Willow wrung her hands together, finger
s fidgeting.

  “She’s alive,” said Lee. “I think she’ll be okay.”

  She had to be okay. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to live with himself if she wasn’t.

  “We should head back,” said Toma.

  “Yeah.”

  Lee wanted to say they never should have come in the first place, but it felt petulant and childish as a thought, let alone to put into words. He gently scooped Eliza up in his arms and followed his friends out of the chamber.

  CHAPTER 26

  The next few hours were some of the longest of Lee’s entire life. Eliza didn’t wake up. They managed to slip her through the collapsed hallway section with no small amount of effort, and Lee rode his snowmobile slowly with her unconscious form seated in front of him all the way back to Primhaven.

  Nurse Susie’s reaction to him carrying Eliza into the infirmary was familiar and reassuring. She had Lee set her down on one of the beds and proceeded to take her clothing off, asking him questions through the closed privacy curtain as she did her initial assessment.

  “You say you saw some type of demoness behind her,” said Nurse Susie. “Can you be… a bit more specific?”

  “I didn’t see anything,” said Toma.

  “Neither did I,” said Willow. “The barrier was there, but there wasn’t anyone behind Eliza, from my angle, at least. I still think you did the right thing with your spell though, Lee.”

  She gave him a sad smile and reached over to squeeze his hand.

  “The barrier might have just obscured your view,” said Lee with a shrug. He knew it was more likely his mystic sight was what had let him see what he’d seen. Nurse Susie was also aware of his true nature, and she nodded sagely.

  “Regardless, I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of the mystery eventually,” she said. “For now, Eliza simply needs her rest. She doesn’t have any life-threatening injuries, and aside from the fact she hasn’t woken up yet, she appears to be doing alright.”