Jack took in the devastation and wondered what could have caused such widespread damage while Brian gazed upon the wreckage as if he'd somehow been transported back to his own, zombie infested world. Tears rolled down Katie's cheeks, saddened by the destruction she saw and the charred faces of the people wandering the streets in an effort to clean up.
Shaking his head sadly, Edward knew he would need to find his resolve. Having been overly emotional lately it was absolutely essential that he become the strong, confident leader his group could depend upon. I only hope the elders can steer me back onto the path I should be on.
Stopping abruptly, the guard turned toward them. "Do you know where to find Jonas?"
"I believe so," Edward replied, somewhat confused by the question. "I would imagine he'd be in the council chambers."
"Then you aren't aware," the escort stated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he prepared to deliver the news to Edward.
"Aware of what?"
"Jonas is the only elder still alive," he confessed sadly. "I don't think I've seen him come out of his chambers since the others passed on, other than to grab a few items from one of the vendors."
"How did the others die?" Edward gaped, his jaw hanging open in disbelief.
"Perhaps Jonas can fill you in on the details. I don't feel it to be my place to do so." After a slight pause he continued, "I can look after your ... strange-looking mounts while you are inside."
"I don't think they will wander off, but thank you." Sliding down from the back of the metallic steed, Edward walked to the entrance and waited for the others.
Once everyone had dismounted, Edward led the way through the arched stone hallways, trying to remember which floor of the castle Jonas' chamber was on. Their footsteps echoed through the damp, stagnant air, stirring the eight-legged inhabitants to life within their webs near the vaulted ceilings.
Traveling up several flights of stairs in silence, they finally exited into another long hallway. Near its end they came to a stout, wooden door with a lit torch ensconced on either side of it. Strange symbols were carved into the surface of the entrance, which Edward knocked lightly upon.
After a few moments, Edward raised his hand to knock again, but stopped short as the door cracked open. Barely visible through the opening were the pale blue eyes of the elder, his waist length gray hair, both on his head and his chin, swaying in a gentle breeze from inside. "Jonas?"
The old man's eyes narrowed briefly, as if age had clouded his memory and he didn't recognize his caller. He glanced nervously at the trio behind Edward and started to close the door.
Sticking his foot out to prevent it from shutting completely, Edward spoke softly, "Jonas, it's Edward. Don't you remember me?"
A glow flickered in his aging eyes for a split second, then his lips parted in a thin smile. "I was wondering if you would come," he replied in a cracking voice. "Come in," he invited, opening the door.
The four of them shuffled inside and gathered around Jonas. "Before you get to why you summoned me here," Edward began, "I would like to know what happened to the other elders."
Sighing heavily, Jonas gazed into Edward's piercing gray eyes. "Ulric passed away in his sleep," he started. "It would seem that old age finally caught up with him, but Cassius was an entirely different matter. I didn't see it with my own eyes, but rumor has it that he was mugged in the marketplace."
"Mugged?"
"Yes. You know, beaten over the head with something and stripped of his possessions?"
"Didn't anyone see the incident and try to stop it?" Though his brow was raised questioningly, Edward's mouth hung agape, appalled by the fact nobody had intervened on Cassius' behalf.
"I don't think anyone saw it happen. One of the sentries found him during a patrol, lying in an alleyway with blood pooled around him on the cobblestones. At first they had thought him to be merely unconscious, but they soon discovered he was dead," Jonas replied sadly.
"I see now why the guard I spoke to a short while ago informed me that you don't really leave the castle anymore," Edward stated grimly.
"Your mother and I are the only people still living inside the walls of the castle, and lately I worry about her state of mind," he confessed.
Confusion crossed his face at the mention of his mother. The tone of Jonas' voice suggested she might be suffering from some sort of dementia, but surely that couldn't be true. She wasn't nearly as old as the elders, though Edward couldn't recall her true age. He'd always thought her to be about twenty years older than him, which would only put her into the mid to upper sixties. A far cry younger than Jonas, who was the oldest, and now the only, elder who was surely pushing one hundred, maybe more.
"Why is that?" Edward inquired.
Jonas seemed thoughtful for a few seconds before responding, twining his crooked fingers in his beard nervously. "I'm not sure how to explain her recent actions, other than that her behavior has been strange the last day or two. She doesn't seem to be herself, if that makes any sense."
"Perhaps I should check in on her then." Turning away, Edward strode toward the door.
"Don't bother, Edward," Jonas spoke loudly, just as Edward was about to leave. "She left the castle yesterday and I haven't seen her return."
Glancing over his shoulder at the elder, he considered his words. "It won't take but a few minutes," Edward insisted, spinning on his heel and disappearing into the hallway.
"Willful ... just like his mother," Jonas muttered, sitting heavily into the chair at his desk and brushing a long strand of gray hair from his face. "I would offer you a place to sit, but I've never gotten around to acquiring more furniture. It seemed pointless to do so because I never have any visitors." Looking from face to face he offered them a thin smile.
"It's not a problem, really," Katie stated politely. "We've been riding for days, so standing for a while is a welcomed change."
***
Not bothering to knock, Edward barged into his mother's chamber and immediately stopped in shock. "Mother?" he called out in a loud voice laced with worry as he quickly surveyed the room, which looked as if it had been ransacked. Stepping cautiously over a chair tipped onto its side, he moved inside and shut the door behind him. "Are you in here?"
When no response was offered, Edward methodically inspected the chamber, bending down and sifting through the huge pile of clothing on the floor near her vanity. The drawers hung open with garments dangling from them as if the dresser had vomited her belongings all over the floor.
Checking the closet, under the bed, and behind the drapes softly billowing inward from the chamber's only window, he found no trace of her. Where are you, Mother? Did you leave of your own free will, or did someone come in here and abduct you? Determined to get to the bottom of this, he strode purposefully from the room.
***
"Ah, you're back," Jonas stated, glancing up and noting the distraught look on Edward's face as he reentered. "I tried to tell you."
"What the hell happened in there? It looked as if a cyclone had blown through her chamber," he blurted out angrily, almost as if accusing the elder of doing the deed himself.
"Calm down, Edward. As I said before, she left yesterday. I heard shouting coming from down the hall, but it was only her voice. Originally I had dismissed the occurrence as a nightmare she was having, but when I gazed out my window a short time later and saw her storming out onto the streets below, I began to think something else may have been at work."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Edward's look did not soften. Instead, his brows drew down and his eyes narrowed, blazing with emotion. "He's only trying to help, Edward," Katie whispered in his ear, softly touching his arm in an attempt to diffuse his anger.
"As I indicated in my letter to you, though I didn't dare give too much detail in case it were to fall into the wrong hands, Elysia has come under attack recently," Jonas continued. "Just the other day, there was an incident in the streets with a machine like no other we've seen before. It
bore the resemblance of a human male, but we later discovered it to be a mechanical device disguised in synthetic, but very real looking, flesh."
After sparing Katie a brief glance, Edward turned his attention back to Jonas as he realized the attack the elder referred to was caused by a creature similar to what they had encountered in the zombie wasteland, posing itself as Katie's friend, Julie.
"The soldiers and castle guards were able to thwart the attack, but many innocent lives were lost that day. A great deal of the city is now smoldering in ruins in the aftermath," Jonas stated grimly.
"If the soldiers repelled the attack, then why the urgent message to bring me here?"
"True, we earned a small victory in that battle, but I fear it is only the beginning of something far worse. I've had visions." He paused briefly to collect his thoughts. "In them, I have seen a much larger force invading the city. Nothing we did had any effect. At the conclusion of my vision I saw the entirety of Elysia in ashes, the castle we are in now nothing more than dust, waiting to be blown to the far corners of the world."
"It was only a vision though, right?" Edward asked. "There is no solid evidence something of that magnitude will ever occur."
"Look out the window, Edward. Isn't that enough evidence? Time is precious. We shouldn't waste it by squabbling over the possibilities," Jonas argued, his cracked voice rising in anger with each word.
"What would you have us do?" Edward sighed, not bothering to gaze out to the street below, knowing the elder was right. "There are only four of us. What could we possibly do that would hold back an army of machines?"
Finally! It's about time he came to his senses! "You don't have to fight off the invasion yourselves," he chided. "What I want you to do is travel to the throne of the Gods, plead with them for aid to turn back this tide of evil."
"What if our request falls upon deaf ears and the Gods refuse to intervene on our behalf?"
"Then, my dear boy, the world as we know it will cease to exist. Let us hope they don't turn their backs on us in our time of need," Jonas replied grimly.
Chapter 26
Slipping through the window like a draft, George entered the darkened room. Scanning the chamber he discovered it only had one occupant, an older looking woman, snoring softly in her bed. Deciding he didn't really want to trap himself inside a female body, he left the room in search of a more suitable host.
Drifting down the hallway he noticed a pair of torches flanking a sturdy wooden door with strange symbols inscribed on it. He passed through the wood effortlessly and thought, I could really get used to this. Gazing around he saw this room only had one person inside as well, but the individual seemed to be an even less desirable one to possess than the last. This guy looks old enough to fart dust!
Knowing the castle's most prominent residents likely dwelled in the upper floor of the structure, he passed through the door into the hallway once more and considered delving deeper into the building, perhaps using one of the servants. After a couple of minutes, George dismissed the idea. I've been someone else's puppet before and have no desire, whatsoever, to willingly enter the body of one who's accustomed to playing that part.
Relatively sure he wouldn't find anyone useful to inhabit, George searched the remainder of the castle for the next hour anyway. When the last nook had been appraised, he found himself returning to the old woman's chamber. Slipping inside the room he glided over to the bed. Standing above her and looking down he felt disgusted, as if he were somehow degrading himself by even thinking about using her body as a tool. What the fuck am I doing? I kill people like this!
As he floated above her, arguing with himself, the woman's eyes suddenly popped open and she screamed. Flailing to get from beneath her blanket, George struggled to get inside and take control before she managed to alert the entire castle. How the hell am I supposed to get into her body if she doesn't hold still long enough for me to seep through her skin? Frantically he worked the options out in his mind, hoping to find an answer quickly.
Suddenly, an idea came to him. It didn't seem like the best way to go about it, considering he'd only seen it done in cheesy horror films, but what did he have to lose? Allowing his form to lose cohesion, George drifted toward her open mouth as she continued to scream.
Victoria's eyes bulged in terror and she began to choke, coughing repeatedly in an attempt to expel the spirit. She grasped at her throat as if she could claw through her flesh and rip the entity from her body. Within a few short moments her quick, panicked, hyperventilating breaths caused her to pass out.
***
Insistent pounding on the door and shouts coming from the other side brought Victoria back to consciousness. Her body suddenly sat straight up of its own accord and her mouth opened. "Just a minute. I'll be right there," came calmly from her vocal cords, though the words seemed to come involuntarily. Panic seized her mind as she recalled her ghostly visitor.
On wobbling, unsteady legs she stood, forced to watch in silence as her body betrayed her wishes and strode to the opposite side of her chamber. Cracking the door open she saw the haggard face of her friend, Jonas, his hair and beard making him look like a giant gray bush. In her mind she pleaded with him to help her, but again her voice uttered something completely different. "Why are you banging on my door at this late hour?" she snapped, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
"I apologize for disturbing you, Victoria. I heard yelling and wanted to make sure you were all right." Something didn't feel right to him. Beyond the doorway he caught a glimpse of her bed linens, which looked carelessly tossed on the floor near her window. Glancing back to her face it seemed as if her eyes had a horrified expression in them, but yet her voice sounded more like he had awoken her from a peaceful dream, one that she was upset about having interrupted.
Looking into the old man's nervous blue eyes made George wonder if his new disguise was holding up. "Well, if you're done ogling my goodies I'm going back to bed," he responded, pushing the door closed. Once it was shut he walked over to her dresser and began tossing garments aside, searching for something to cover the old woman's wrinkled skin so he didn't have to be reminded of the body he possessed every time he glanced down. The state her attire was in at the moment made George feel like a cross-dresser, perhaps even a transvestite, and that simply would not do. It was bad enough that he had to be inside her body, but the last thing he wanted was a constant reminder.
Chapter 27
After dealing with the stupidity of the formless ones, the Black Knight had turned off the monitor in disgust. He had no more than sat down upon his throne when a blinking light from one of the other screens caught his attention. "What now?" he growled under his breath as he got up and walked over to the monitor relegated to the Factory.
As he stepped before the screen, the voice of the man in charge of his operations there came through the speakers. "My Lord, I have a dire request. I am nearly out of workers and need more if production is to continue."
Studying the man's face the Black Knight glanced at the workroom behind him. "Where are all your workers? I only see two of them," he hissed.
"That's what I was trying to tell you," the supervisor stammered. "They have been rebelling lately and I've had to send the majority of them to Cemetery Hill."
"Idiot! You need to keep better control over them," the Black Knight roared. "Do you think there is a tree which they grow on that I can just pluck them from any time you need more?"
"No, My Lord." The man paused briefly, his mind reeling. "Will you be able to send more?" he asked meekly, hoping the Black Knight wouldn't suddenly show up and rip him to pieces.
"It will take some time, use what you have until I come up with a solution."
"But," he began to protest, "with only two workers we won't be able to keep up with your demands."
"Then use the guards to help," the Black Knight snapped. "And if that isn't enough, then maybe you should join them!"
Switching off yet another monitor, t
he Black Knight returned to his throne and sat down heavily. Disgusted by recent events he was forced to consider an alternate method to carry out his will. Glancing over his shoulder, he considered the impish creatures cowering in the back corner of the chamber.
"You, there," he pointed a long, skeletal finger at the one he considered to be most reliable. "Come here."
Hesitantly, the creature resembling a gnome padded over to where the Black Knight sat. "Yes, My Lord?"
"I want you to lead the others," he began, indicating the huddled group, "over to the Factory. They are running low on workers and it will give all of you something useful to do until such time as I come up with a way to bring more humans into the place."
"Yes, My Lord," the creature replied, happily returning to his fellows to deliver the news. As the group exited the room, they whispered excitedly to one another, thankful to be out of immediate danger. The Black Knight watched them file into the tunnel beyond, hoping his idea would solve his current dilemma. For a while at least.
Chapter 28
Stepping from the shadows of the castle where he'd grown up into the midday sun should have cheered Edward, but it didn't. Seeing the smoldering remains of so many homes turned his stomach. After speaking briefly with the guard watching over the mechanical beasts they had rode into town, Edward strode to the north to acquire more foodstuffs to fill the depleted saddlebags. Katie, Jack, and Brian followed silently in his footsteps as if they were dogs on a leash.
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