It was not the face he remembered. His hair and beard were disheveled and wet, his face lined with weariness and the endurance of pain. The pale scar on his cheek looked as if he'd had it since childhood. He looked much older. More strands of gray lined at his temples—where had they come from? And his eyes—so cold, so piercing—he almost felt the mirror held not a reflection, but a window where another man looked back in a puzzled manner. He was almost sure if he reached out he would touch not a glass surface, but the face of a stranger.
The rustle of silk disturbed his study.
He turned to see an angel. Evelina's robe was only half on as she ran to him with open arms. He opened his mouth, but words escaped him, leapt back into his throat for fear of a mirage, for fear of waking up from a dream and finding himself back in the dungeons of Bruallia awaiting execution. He could only catch her softness as she leapt in his arms, feel the touch of feathers as her red-gold strands brushed his neck, smell the clean scent of her skin, hear her choking words of love in his ears as he clutched her tightly. The world spun and blurred, but all that mattered was in his arms.
A shrill, girlish voice screamed with joy. "Papa!" Marcellus separated slightly from his wife to scoop his daughter up. "You came back! I thought you'd be gone forever."
She wept as she gripped his neck tightly. Tears ran down his face as well. She had grown since he left; some of the baby fat thinned out. She was leaner and taller than he pictured her. Just as quickly her tears vanished, and she tugged at his beard in her familiar way. She wrinkled her nose. "Your hair stinks."
He could not help but laugh.
"Yes, your father needs a good bath." Evelina smiled. "Tell the girls to get a tub ready." Alexis scurried away shouting orders, and they laughed once more. Looking into Evelina's sky-colored eyes, he knew he would never leave her alone again. He opened his mouth, but she placed a finger over his lips.
"It can wait, my love. I know you have much to say, but it can wait. All that matters for now is that you're here, safe with me, with us again. You will bathe and eat, and after you rest you can tell me all that has happened. Come with me now." She took his hand in hers and led him into the warmth of homecoming.
Time drifted on peaceful wings as he bathed, dressed and ate. All the while, he recounted what had happened to him, from Lucretius' betrayal to his capture and escape. He told of meeting Nyori, and how she had brought him back from certain death.
"She saved my life. I knew the Shama were powerful healers, but this was something new. That staff she possessed..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. Since then all that I thought about was getting here. Getting back to you."
They reclined on a cushioned divan in an upstairs room where they often came to relax. He leaned against her bosom while she clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.
The room was adorned with elegantly carved furniture. A bust of Reynar the Frey wore a trickster's grin from its pedestal in the corner. Moonlight streamed through the set of stained-glass windows and painted the burnished coat of arms on the wall in rainbow colors.
"And you brought a young, beautiful woman along such a long trek and expected me to believe nothing happened?" Evelina smiled, her eyes deviously playful.
"It's...nothing like that. She's too young, and—" Marcellus was stopped by her laughter.
"Do you truly think I would think that of you? Marcellus, I know you from the inside out. You are ever the gallant knight. Trust that I will see the Shama receives the full hospitality of House Admorran."
Her hands softly stroked his face, and her face grew somber. "I am so sorry for your losses, my love. Especially Jaslin. I know how much he meant to you. But they were soldiers, just as you. You cannot take the blame for their deaths."
"Someone will answer for what happened." Anger blazed; his fists tightened until the knuckles cracked. "I will go to Lucretius himself, and—"
Her hands pressed on his chest. "You will rest. You need time to think things over. Then you will go to your king."
"Something has to be done..." His protests weakened as she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes.
"No more talk of the dead. For now, let me enjoy that my husband, whom all thought had perished, has come back to me." She drew closer. "Let us love one another."
All other thoughts vanished as he pulled her to him and felt her mouth melt on his. His hands ran over her body, sliding down the silk and caressing the skin that was even smoother.
"Marcellus!"
He paused with a frown. I know that voice. It was Nyori's...it sounded like an urgent whisper from behind the door.
"What is it, my love?" Evelina touched his face. One of the straps of her nightgown had slid off, exposing much of her full breasts. Her blue eyes were full of hunger.
"It's nothing. I thought I heard—"
The door burst open. Nyori stood in the doorway, bathing the entire room with the golden glow from the crystalline staff she favored.
"Marcellus, get away from her!" Her voice was powerful, almost commanding. In confusion, he turned to Evelina.
What he saw was a nightmare.
What lay in his arms was no woman. The staff's blaring light revealed a blurred, insubstantial figure. Its ghostly limbs wrapped around his; the chalk-white face barely visible save for the flare of its eyes, flickering torches in twin caves. Marcellus shoved the creature away from him with a startled yell.
As it fell backwards, a look of terrible rage contorted its face even further. Its brows furrowed so heavily that its eyes became tiny dots of fire, its mouth widened grotesquely, a pit of razor-lined blackness that tried to swallow the entire room. What emitted from the bestial throat was a scream, the wail of a thousand banshees skinned alive, as though the creature vomited all of its hatred and rage into sound.
The shriek resounded throughout the manor walls, buffeting Marcellus to the floor as he clutched his head. The orb winked out, Nyori shrieked as she toppled as though struck.
The stained-glass windows behind them crashed outward; a broken rainbow that fell to the snow-covered grounds outside. A shard fell beside Marcellus. Even then he saw the reflection of the monstrosity as it reached downward and seized him with a clawed, ghostly hand.
"It could have all gone so well."
When he lifted his head, Evelina was before him with all of her beauty intact. But he knew it was not his wife that spoke. His wife was dead, and some creature wore her flesh. She held him easily by his collar; his toes barely grazed the floor.
"Your life is useless—all you loved is lost. You should have died in the wilderness, Marcellus of Kaerleon."
Words weren't necessary. Marcellus punched as hard as he could, wincing as his fist crushed her face and snapped her head backward.
It whipped back just as quickly. Blood smeared across her reptilian smile; her eyes glowed with heinous amusement. "You'll have to do better than that, my love." She shoved, hurling him across the broken slivers. "Especially if you plan on living beyond the next few moments."
Marcellus' back struck the wall, rattling a hanging coat of arms. He sprang to his feet and snatched one of the swords from the display. He risked a glance at Nyori, who appeared completely dazed as she tried to raise herself erect. At least she was still alive. Which might not be the case if he couldn't stop the specter that approached like swift death.
He couldn't think of her as his wife, despite the beauty of her nearly unclad form, the angelic contours of the face he saw in his dreams. The eyes betrayed her, the icy blue fires of the wraith within. Her bare feet crushed razor slivers of broken glass, but the pain was either unfelt or ignored as she left behind crimson footprints. Her mouth twisted in hatred that contaminated her beauty.
"You are a fool, Marcellus. What do you fight for? Your king has betrayed you, the noble principles you believed in are ground to dust. Yield, and you can find the peace that has been robbed from you. Yield, and we can be together for eternity. You, me, and ou
r child."
His heart stopped. "No. You wouldn't do that. Not to a child. Not to my daughter."
She smiled the way a cat might at a cornered mouse. "Do? My love, it is already done."
Red-hot blades stabbed into his leg. Marcellus gritted his teeth and looked down. The sight was almost more than he could bear. Alexia had wrapped her arms and legs around his leg, much like she did in times past to greet him. But her fingers were hooked into his flesh, sending waves of fire through his veins. Her eyes were flickering candleflies, her grin a snarl of clenched teeth.
Marcellus threw back his head and howled like a man gone mad.
A glowing-eyed shadow streaked toward him. He roared and swung the blade, but Evelina bent as though her backbone was made of mist. Her head grazed the floor when she glided under the sword. Launching forward, she raked at him with fingers curved into claws. He gasped at the sting when her nails slashed through his shirt and raked bloody furrows across his chest.
Still hampered by the child-creature on his leg, he snatched the bust of Reynar and hurled it. It exploded against Evelina's head in a blast of white powder. As she reeled, he snatched the childish fiend by her hair and hurled her to the floor. She sprang to all fours with her teeth bared, hissing like a cat.
Even then he could not use the blade's edge. He struck with the flat of the blade, crying out with the child at the bone-splintering crack. The momentum carried her upward and out the broken window, where she fell with a pitiful wail.
"My child!"
The cry that tore from Evelina's throat was raw and so human that Marcellus gasped at the crime he committed. His sword fell from his hand as she brushed past him and without slowing, hurled herself out the window. The back of her shift exploded just before her body passed from sight, dark shapes unfurled from her back and fanned out. The moonlight revealed the cartilage between the stretched membrane and the veins than ran across the leathery surface of her wings.
Marcellus fell to his knees and vomited. The world swam around him, and darkness circled, sought to pull him into its clammy embrace.
His hand fell on the hilt of the sword.
The room slowly stopped spinning, and his vision shimmered back into focus. His lungs were sagebrush, his breath thorns that tore at his throat. Nothing that happened seemed real. But what lay under his fingers–the cold, unfeeling, uncaring metal forged into a killing weapon–that was real. It seemed the only real thing in the world as he let the cool steel rest against his forehead. He was surprised it did not hiss when it touched the fiery drops of sweat upon his brow.
"Marcellus...are you all right?" Light flooded the room once more as Nyori regained the staff.
His eyes snapped open as screams and footsteps raced by. There were other sounds too, ghoulish laughter like the hells of Narak might disgorge, maniacal hilarity from an inhuman throat. He motioned Nyori to stand behind him before he drew a deep breath and burst out the door with his sword raised.
Even then, noting could prepare him.
Lily gurgled as Master Huib seized her by the throat. The Chief Steward's other hand held Lily's hands above her head. Even as Marcellus stared, the veins blackened in her flesh as Huib drained the very life from her.
Marcellus didn't know whose howl was more terrifying, Huib's or his own as he sank the sword into steward's side. Lily hit the floor in a lifeless heap as Master Huib furiously turned. Ignoring his wound, he seized Marcellus with one hand. Marcellus gagged and tried to break the iron grip that cut off his windpipe. His legs kicked helplessly, a full span above the floor.
A spear pierced Huib's chest, almost grazing Marcellus. Huib snarled and dropped Marcellus, seizing the spear that impaled him.
Dradyn held the shaft firmly. His teeth clenched, his brow knitted into a look of pure fury. "Quickly, milord. You must take off the head!"
Marcellus didn't hesitate. The blade hummed, slashing through meat and bone. Huib's severed head thumped off the ground and rolled down the hall. Immediately the same bluish flame that Marcellus saw as Murdon died enveloped the body, blackening the flesh until only a pile of ash remained.
"Well done, milord."
A scrabbling noise drew their attention to Lily, who twitched in her death throes. Nyori had already knelt, but before she could touch her, Lily gave a violent twist and laid still.
"Too late." Nyori made it sound like a curse. "I can do nothing for her now."
Dradyn threw a fearful look over his shoulder. "We will be next if we do not move. We must go quickly. Come."
He led the way down the dim hall. Nyori wisely kept her staff darkened as they looked about warily and kept their weapons raised. At one point they ducked behind the pillars of the Great Room as several figures passed, heads swiveling as they searched.
Marcellus' heart froze as he heard Evelina's voice.
"Find him, you fools–or Vivienne will have your heads. They can't have gone far!"
Marcellus' hand tightened on his sword, and he started forward.
Dradyn restrained him with a strong arm. "Milord, please. All you will do now is go to your death. In daylight we will have a chance, for the sun makes them as mortal as you and me. They will go underground before sunrise. We must stay alive until then."
Marcellus wavered for a moment, then finally nodded. They hurried outside and streaked across the wintry fields, all too aware of their visibility. Dradyn led them to the small abbey at the end of the fields, where in fair season clerics visited to assist the servants and workers who could not make the trip to the chapel. Dradyn snatched open the door. "Here, milord."
He pulled Marcellus and Nyori inside. The air was dank, the floor dusty. Only a small platform stood before a row of benches where the Sword of Deis hung in the center of the wall. Marcellus staggered over to stand before it.
"They cannot enter a holy place?"
"It is not that, milord. This abbey is old, is it not?"
"Yes. It was here when I inherited these lands. I was told it dates back to the Age of Chaos."
"The doorway is lined with Banestone. Did you not see the runes? In the days when the Elious roamed the earth, men had only one protection from their powerful Crafts. The Aelon left the Banestone, which repels the powers of the akhkharu and makes them vulnerable. They will not come close if they can help it. We should be safe until the morning."
Nyori nodded as though she knew what Dradyn spoke of. Then again, Shama probably were schooled in such things.
Shouts were still audible in the distance, but Dradyn's word proved to be true. Although footsteps approached, they retreated just as quickly.
"Marcellus!"
Marcellus ran to the doorway at the sound of Evelina's voice. He peered through the cracks in the timber.
She stood in the frosted snow, diamond dust that glittered in the moonlight. The cold did not appear to touch her even though she was still nearly unclad and barefoot. Her skin was ivory, her eyes cobalt gems.
Marcellus was drawn and repulsed at the same. The memories melded together, making her as enticing as she was vile.
She seemed to see him as if no door separated them. "How long do you think you can hide behind such a flimsy shield? You do realize that we could burn the building down around your heads, don't you? But my mistress wants your lady friend alive. She has something that the High Lady values."
Marcellus turned to Nyori, who clutched Eymunder to her chest with wide eyes.
"For that reason alone you live. Hide or flee; it doesn't matter. We have your scent now. There is nowhere you can go where we can't track you down. Huddle behind your Banestone shelter. Thralls are plentiful, and Banestone will not bar their way. You are already dead, Marcellus Admorran, and your Shama belongs to the High Lady."
She turned and strode toward the manor. The wind rustled against her silk shift and billowed her hair. Other akhkharu joined her, crossing the fields and entering the doorway like living shadows.
Dradyn joined Marcellus. "Dawn approaches. Th
ey dare not remain in the sunlight, or they will be robbed of their powers and easily slain. We are fortunate. This gives us the edge that we need. Perhaps we can get to them before they send for reinforcements."
Marcellus gave Dradyn a sidelong glance. "How is it that you know so much about them?"
Dradyn hesitated before answering. "From...my days as a soldier, milord. I was on border patrol at the foothills of the Dragonspine opposite Komura. Out of nowhere, we were attacked. Most of my battalion was slaughtered before we found out our assailants were not human. Fortunately, one soldier knew how to kill them. He taught us what he knew, and we managed to get back alive. No one truly believed our story, but I've had nightmares ever since. I never thought I'd come against them again, especially not here. Not in Leodia."
"You should have told me they had taken my family, Dradyn. You should have said something!"
Dradyn dropped his head. "I honestly didn't know, milord. I had just noticed some of the servants acting strangely. Some disappeared altogether. We thought they'd run away. It wasn't until I saw one feeding behind the stables that I knew. I never thought they had already taken your wife and child, milord. I tried to warn the others, but they laughed, said I was losing my mind. I was not permitted to see Lady Admorran. I could not get word to warn her. Forgive me, Lord Admorran."
Nyori placed a hand on his shoulder. "He told me of what he knew. It confirmed what I suspected, though I did not know it was your family who threatened you. I only knew to act when Eymunder led me to where you were. I'm sorry, Marcellus."
Marcellus was silent for a moment. "There's nothing to forgive. You both acted to save my life. You have my thanks."
"An honor, Lord Admorran."
"I am a lord no longer, Dradyn. You must call me by my name from now on. It is Marcellus."
"Milord Marcellus."
Marcellus sighed. "You must tell me all that that has occurred since I've left. I must know everything."
Dradyn placed a hesitant hand on Marcellus' shoulder. "Milord. You just lost your wife and child. You must take the time to accept your grief. For now, you must rest. You've already been through much, and tomorrow you must be strong. I will stay awake."
The Eye of Everfell Page 24
