by HP Mallory
My anger started flaring up at his dry recitation of the facts. He’d witnessed such horrible things and all he’d done was watch? And remain with the army that inflicted the murders to boot? My outrage was so overwhelming this time that I couldn’t keep Donnchadh restrained.
I only had one question for my prisoner, and it needed a damn good answer. “Did you kill any of them yourself?”
He glanced back at me and shame washed across his eyes like an acid bath. “Ja… although I tried my best to make their deaths as quick and painless as poss—”
I’d heard enough. Actually, I’d heard way too much. My temper exploded before Manfred could finish his sentence and I grabbed him by the throat from behind. His hands struggled to pry my fingers off his larynx but he couldn’t lessen my grip. If anything, his struggles made it more exciting. I didn’t want to kill him without a—
No, Lily! A voice screamed from within me.
At that moment, I realized we were about to fall off the Fury’s back. I tried releasing Manfred but my fingers refused to cooperate. Neither did the rest of me. My conscious mind was suddenly shoved into the backseat as Donnchadh fought to take control.
Just as I feared, we soon toppled off the Fury and took the express elevator straight down to the ground level. Panic made me rebel against Donnchadh. But I couldn’t stop Donnchadh any easier than Manfred could stop me from choking him. The vengeful spirit had chosen this moment to wrest control from me and there was nothing I could do to prevent him.
Still, the warrior spirit wasn’t as unaware of our situation as I feared. When a rooftop came too close to us on the right, he suddenly tossed the falling pilot straight towards it. I could hear Manfred crashing into the roof while Donnchadh used my arms to hang onto the nearest windowsill. We were dangling about three floors below the roof but the empowered wraith didn’t care. Like a salmon climbing a fish ladder, I scrambled to survive, using my arms to thrust me upward with each clean pull.
My prisoner was conscious but still out of it by the time my interior companion vaulted us onto the roof. Manfred barely got an elbow under him when Donnchadh pounced on his chest, knocking the breath clean out of him. He started pummeling Manfred right in the face, my fists landing as fast and hard as a jackhammer. The punches grew harder and swifter with each passing second while Donnchadh grew angrier and angrier.
After a few more seconds, Donnchadh grabbed Manfred by the collar and snarled through my mouth, “You call yourself a man? Fight back!”
The Red Baron’s eyebrows rose up in surprise, his face covered in bruises and cuts. His left eye and lips were swollen. But his voice came out as clearly as if we were still on the Fury’s back. “I am a man who is getting exactly what he deserves.”
Donnchadh made my eyes blink. He was unable to understand Manfred’s words. That momentary confusion finally gave me the toehold I needed. Mentally, I reached out and imagined the runes on my body glowing with the power I required to return my body to myself.
Donnchadh, I banish you! Do not to return until you are directly summoned! I yelled internally.
I felt the anger within me start to abate and my own power began to thrum through my veins, restoring me to myself. The first thing I noticed upon my spiritual reentry was the pain encompassing my entire body. My arms felt like someone had ripped them out of their sockets after Donnchadh’s little stunt at window climbing.
I released Manfred’s collar to give my sore muscles some relief. For his part, Donnchadh’s latest victim sighed as he said, “Welcome back, fraulein.”
“How did you—”
He coughed up a wad of blood before answering. “I have had the great disadvantage of witnessing many spiritual possessions during my service in the Malebranche. When your eyeballs suddenly turned completely black, it was hardly a leap of faith to conclude that you were in the throes of such an episode.”
Crap, at this rate, he would know my whole life story by the time I found Tallis and Bill. If I found Tallis and Bill… “Yeah, about that possession thing… it’s a long story and not one I like to talk about.”
He slowly propped himself up on his elbows to face me. “As you have respected my privacy on personal matters, I shall respect yours. I am, however, relieved to see that you have some influence over the beast that inhabits you.”
I rubbed my face self-consciously, exacerbating the pain in my shoulder. “I don’t suppose you know any handy exorcism rituals to get rid of this guy, or do you?”
“That realm of knowledge is something my superiors have deemed beyond my grasp.”
The way he said it made me laugh out loud. I pushed to my feet, wincing in pain, and gave him a hand up. He looked at my still-sheathed blade. “I must admit my amazement when you refrained from using your sword to cut me down.”
His comment made me pause as I considered it. I was surprised Donnchadh hadn’t gone for my sword. He could have easily carved Manfred up like a Thanksgiving turkey. So why hadn’t he? “I can’t comment,” I said with a shrug. Then I faced him. “How badly hurt are you?”
Manfred palpated his tenderized face with light, careful fingers. “Just a bit battered. Neither the beating nor the fall inflicted much of an injury.”
His mention of the fall made me look up at the skies. There was no sign of the Furies anywhere. I whistled, hoping they’d hear me. After a couple of seconds of seeing nothing but clouds, I whistled even louder. I got exactly the same response as before. As in… nothing.
I slapped my thighs in frustration again as I put my hands down. “Dammit! Now we’re stuck here.” Looking around, I tried to get the lay of the land. “I’ve got no idea where we should go.”
The captain scanned our surroundings with a discerning eye. “If you are willing to trust me, I know where we could go.”
I studied his face. Yes, he’d been truthful and honorable ever since he’d become my prisoner. But being back on the ground might give him ideas, the kind that could land me right back in Alaire’s clutches. “Where would that be exactly?”
“The laboratory of a married couple whose allegiance to the Malebranche is even more conditional than my own.”
His reply evoked my Dr. Frankenstein fears. “But they’re still working for the same dukes as you are, right?”
“Technically, but like me, they too have suffered this place’s horrors. It has resulted in an immense compassion for all those in need. On more than one occasion, they even defied the Malebranche in order to sustain their ideals.”
I didn’t need Donnchadh to convince me how convenient this all sounded. Seeing damn little kindness in all of the Underground City, the thought of finding it here and now seemed like a bridge too far. But what else could I do? Wander aimlessly until I got caught? Remain on the rooftop until I got caught?
“How far away are they?” I asked.
“Your doom fix’d deep within me…”
- Dante’s Inferno
TEN
TALLIS
I peeked me head inside the building, the stookie angel and the French girl immediately behind me. The cavernous space beyond was about the same size as the cubicle labyrinth we’d been dragged into. The steel walls were replaced by heavy stone but just as sturdy and durable. A collection of nozzles were scattered about the walls, giving the place the look of a public shower. A quick check of the iron door beside me confirmed ‘twas solid. Three battering rams would be hard-pressed to make so much as a tiny dent.
The angel started frantically tapping me leg and hissing at me as though to warn me of something lurking. I glanced behind meself to see no one following us and gave the stookie angel a stern look. Aye, I knew remaining out here was dangerous. But there was nae sense in walking straight into a trap, for such could be far worse.
Finally, I was satisfied this old facility was as deserted as it appeared. I walked into the building and waved the angel and the girl inside, sheathing me blade. Our heroine had not said a word since we escaped the mess with Cauchon and th
e Spites. Of course, I wanted to ask her questions but we needed a place to lie low first, a location we now had.
The stookie angel gave the empty room a suspicious glance as he looked about himself. The bullet hole in his chest had long since closed and the burn on his face was nearly faded completely.
“You sure this place is safe, Tido?”
‘Twas a tricky question. “’Tis deserted an’ as safe as any place ‘tis likely tae be… at least we can catch our breath an’ figure out where tae go from here.”
The angel’s eyes lit up at the sight of the shower nozzles. “Finally! I can address my Eau de Garbage aromasol!”
I had to admit he reeked with odor. But I snatched his hand away before he could touch the nearest faucet handle. “Ah wouldnae do that. Them metal monsters shoot out fire, nae water… Ah highly doubt sooch is the sort o’ bath ye got in mind, eh?”
The wee fellow took it as well as I expected, yanking his wrist away and punching the nearest wall. “Fuck! Can’t we ever catch a break?”
The girl’s lilting voice cut through his anger like a surgeon’s scalpel. “We have managed to escape our captors as well as the torments of those who came for them. Isn’t that reason enough to be grateful?”
“Sounds like you gotta be careful of preclapulation, girl,” the angel said as he eyed her with the expression of someone who knew something she didnae.
“Preclapulation?” she questioned him and soon faced me with eyebrows arched.
“Ah dinnae oonderstand most things that come from his mouth,” I answered with a shrug.
“Preclapulation, girl,” the angel repeated. “Clappin’ before you know the outcome o’ your situation.”
“Ah,” she said with a quick nod. “Do not count your chickens before they’ve hatched?”
“Not sure what you’re goin’ on about but whatevs,” the angel replied as I shook me head.
I carefully swung the thick, metal door to the point of nearly being closed, but nae quite. A quick peek through the crack revealed that all was still well. Settling next to the wall sae I could keep an eye on the goings-on beyond the crack in the door, I kept me ear cocked while inspecting our newest traveling companion. “Ah’m afraid Ah never did catch yer name, lass.”
She bowed her head and half-curtsied. “Jeanne, mon seignour.”
Me French wasnae as fluent at the stookie angel’s but I knew enough to understand. “Ah’m nae nobleman, jist a blademaster who calls the Dark Wood me home.”
The angel looked at me with genuine confusion. “What? Are ya sayin’ the whole ‘Lord of Fergus Castle’ schtick don’t still applicate?”
Before I could rage at him for being so dense, Jeanne stepped between us and took me hands in hers as she looked up at me with genuine admiration in her eyes. Her hands were delicate and soft.
“What may I call you, then?”
“Me name is Tallis. That’ll do.”
She looked confused. “Tallis? Not Tido?”
Naturally, the stookie angel held back a snicker. I looked over Jeanne’s shoulder at him and frowned. “That jist be a nickname the walloper angel calls me… mayhap because he couldnae pronounce me true name. Sooch is whit happens when yer nae able to graduate primary school.”
Jeanne held a dubious look upon her bonny face before releasing me hands and turning to face the wee fellow. “So… your name is really William?”
The squat angel looked about the rest of the room as though his mother had caught him fornicating with the milkmaid. “Uhm, yeah… But, I go by Bill or Billy or you can call me Billy-Bob.”
“I am pleased to meet you both,” the girl said with a smile for each of us before she turned to take in her surroundings. “Why would anyone make a room with contraptions such as these?”
The angel shrugged. “Well, sweets, it looks ta me like it’s ‘sposed ta be a shower room. Now, I dunno how long ya’ve been dead-ceased but a shower—”
Her interruption was so smooth, it seemed like she replied between his breaths. “These contraptions are meant to clean people?” She glanced between the stookie angel and me, seeing the expressions of surprise on our faces. “And before either of you ask, no, I never saw such a thing while I lived.”
“Jist how long ye been dead, lass?”
She shrugged. “I cannot say. I have wandered the Underground City for countless years. But the passage of time here is not the same as in the world above us.”
I glanced out the crack in the door before saying, “Well, as Ah said, these showers are nae fer cleanin’ oneself. When this place was used proper, it housed those leaders what exploited their people’s love an’ troost.”
The angel stepped in front of me and the stench of him made me wish there were a proper shower for his use.
“I gots a better in-quietry fer ya, honey… how’d ya make the Black Death Bee Swarm ignoramus to us?”
She hesitated to answer, giving us both a nervous glance. The daft angel came closer to her and took her hand. “Hey, yo, we’ve already determinated that I’m an angel, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then ya knows ya can trust me, right?”
I couldnae keep me eyes from rolling backwards. If this lost child had an inkling of the true foolishness of the angel, I doubted she’d invest any trust in him at all.
When she spoke again, her voice trembled. “Pardonne, mon ami, but I dared to speak of such matters only once before… with Cardinal Cauchon. I have since vowed never to speak of it again, as it only managed to bring me harm.”
I nodded toward the door. “Goin’ by the prayer ye muttered back there, Ah’m thinkin’ some higher power watches o’er ye?” She attempted meeting me eyes, but couldnae quite do it. I sighed and reassured her, “Ye dinnae hafta answer, lass. Ah think we can agree yer silence makes the answer plain enough. Boot tell me this: whit’s the cardinal doin’ commandin’ demons?”
Fear filled her eyes, mixed with a burning hatred that only the truly faithful can manage to control. “He is a member of the Council of Simon. They broke free from the Fourth Ring of this Circle and started a rebellion against the Malebranche. Some of them command powers great enough to rival the dukes of this Circle, providing the motivation for ambitious demons to flock to the Council’s banners.”
The dunderheid nodded right along. “Yeah, that makes sense… it weren’t just the leaders that got sent here. I seem ta Total Recall that this was the spot where the alchemists, prophets, sorcerers an’ the occasional mad scientist got punished.”
“As according tae Dante anyway,” I corrected him. Of course, I knew the truth of those who had and did populate this level of the Underground City but I didnae care to expound. ‘Twas better Jeanne nae find out that once my role was master of this dismal place.
I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Brave lass… ye saw whit they could do tae ye an’ ye still managed tae save the pair o’ oos.” I gave her small shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Ah’m proud tae have ye by me side, come what may.”
She looked up at me with unmasked gratitude. “Were you a father in life, Tallis?”
Her question took me back to the days I lived upon the earth and dashed me spirits instantly. “Nae.”
Her eyes shone with regret. “That is a shame. I believe you would have been a good one.”
“An’ what about me?” the angel asked, giving the girl a “woe is me” expression. She immediately turned to approach him, calming his wounded pride with her sweet words.
As I heard the two of them talking, I maintained me post next to the door, unsheathing me blade in the off chance we were overheard. Up until now, no one followed but we couldnae stay here forever. If we’d had Besom with us, our next stop would have been this Circle’s shortcut back to the Dark Wood. Me heart ached to think I still had nae idea where she could be in the midst of this war zone. Or if she were even still alive.
Me blade suddenly grew warm in me hands. I felt it vibrating as though I’d struck a solid piece of ir
on, making me bones rattle. I instinctively shut me eyes whilst tightening me grip…
…and just like that, I was back on the heather moor outside Fergus Castle. It was a bonny scene that stretched before me: clear blue sky, bright, shining sun, peaceful waters of the loch lapping the shore. No one, friend or foe, shared this space with me.
I noticed a faint sound floating on the breeze. It had a harshness about it, like sandpaper mixed with a bird’s whistle. As it came from the direction of the castle, I moved toward it. The noise grew a wee bit louder with every step I took, becoming more distinct.
I was halfway across the field when I finally recognized what I was hearing: wireless static. At that moment, I saw the source: ‘twas coming from a bluebird. The bird began moving its beak, speaking, “Tangent to Sapphire, come in...”
A harsh shake of me arm brought me out of the vision. I opened me eyes and found Jeanne clinging to me forearms, and she had a stricken look on her face. “Are you unwell?”
I shook me head. “Ah’m fine, lass.” I took a breath. “Jist went someplace in me mind that’s helped me from time tae time.”
Her attention shifted over to me blade. One of her delicate hands caressed the side of the metal like a lover’s cheek. “I have never seen a claidheamh mor like it.”
I raised me eyebrows in unbridled surprise and appreciation. “Ye surely know yer arms.”
Her expression was caught between embarrassment and shame. “A long time ago, I led many men into battle, carrying nothing more than a banner…”
“A banner?” The angel said with a mocking laugh. “Who’d you hope to kill with that?”
“No one,” Jeanne replied as she looked back at him. “I do not believe in killing.”
I studied her with rekindled interest, having figured out the nature of her identity though I kept it to myself. “Ah feel the same way, lass, aboot firearms. The simple click o’ the trigger an’ a life ends. Death should ne’er be sae easy or convenient.”
The angel gave her a pat on the arm. “Well, I Dream Of Jeannie, yer not gonna hear any arguments to the contraband from either of us.”
