A Manifold of Bindings (The Scrolls of Azbel Book 2)

by John Mangold

  “Join us, and you will command the very hearts and minds of every being in Santilis, yoking their collective will and strength for our glory. Work with us, and you will become one of the most powerful beings in all of Azbel. Deny us, and what we leave of you will never be identified as human. So, there is your choice. What say you, Maluem? Do you choose to join us in power, or join the refuse in rot?”

  The nausea was now unbearable, assailing her with as much force as when she stood in the Coliseum’s dungeons. However, Maluem now believed she knew the real source of her anguish. Even with this knowledge firmly in mind, it took a great deal of her willpower to keep this discomfort under control. She could only hope that they would take her silence to be a matter of deep conflict. At last, when she felt that she had mastered her own revulsion long enough to speak, she gave them her reply.

  “Please permit me to respond to your proposal in a rather unorthodox fashion,” Maluem began. “I am certain that you, like myself, are well versed in a multitude of diverse languages. As such, I am sure you are aware that each dialect has a unique term whose definition translates to ‘unstoppable slaughter.’ Allow me to add to that list of expressions by way of an introduction. Letifer, Skylla, meet Cruentus.”

  Punctuating Maluem’s statement, a ventilation cover crashed to the floor, its impact echoing through the cavernous chamber. Directly following the ruined grating debris fell a shadowed body, landing in a coiled position, much like a feral cat. As the woman uncurled to a standing position, it was easy to see the origins of Maluem’s earlier agony.

  Cruentus’s tattered gladiator clothes were even more ragged than before, with most of their colors overrun with bloodstains. Here and there, rips in the cloth revealed synthetic muscle beneath, with considerable disruptions in their surfaces. Considering how quickly Cruentus’ cuts had healed in the Gladiator Pit, Maluem knew that these wounds had to have been severe in nature. It was a testament to her fortitude that Cruentus could move at all.

  “Release her now!” Cruentus bellowed in the common tongue, her posture taking on a very threatening stance. Although her voice and appearance were indeed grim, it appeared that the reactions to her arrival were not what she or Maluem would have hoped. For all of Cruentus’s ferocity, the only response Skylla and Letifer showed was one of dark amusement.

  “Oh, how delightful, a Furaxis Assassin,” Skylla exclaimed, bringing her hands together in a clap of approval.

  “It seems the Furaxis factories are not completely demolished, my dear,” Letifer responded. “Your vaunted Gorgons were not competent enough to complete the task you assigned them.”

  “Those facilities are indeed destroyed, my husband,” Skylla replied with her eyes locked on Cruentus. “I viewed their demise personally. But this is no ordinary specimen, to be sure. Could it be? Might this be the usurping sister returning to finish her work? Mara, Mara Cephas, is that you? How wonderful, and here I thought I would have to contend myself with murdering a pale imitation. The fates have truly smiled upon me!”

  Throughout this exchange, Maluem could feel Cruentus’ rage building, expecting this was born from incomprehension of the language of the royals. However, it became clear Cruentus was grasping more than Maluem would expect from someone in her vocation. With an expression of shock as though she had been slapped, Cruentus turn to Skylla at her last remark. The use of the name Mara Cephas had clearly struck a nerve.

  “I do not know who that is,” Cruentus replied in halting Royal. “And I don’t know either of you. Just release Maluem, and no one else needs to die.”

  As she spoke, Cruentus began to step sideways, circling the Santilis royals so that she might work her way to Maluem. However, Skylla and Letifer had no intention of allowing this to happen. As nimbly as their opponent, both stepped in sequence with Cruentus, blocking her path to her goal. As they did so, Skylla and Letifer separated from one another, taking advantage of their superior numbers to flank their opponent.

  “But you are so very wrong, Mara,” Skylla replied with a tight grin. “There are so many who need to die. Right now, we are only concerned with the two of you. Maluem needs to die, for she now knows that which no commoner may be privy to. This will be achieved when we have grown tired of her pleas for release. You, on the other hand, Mara, have trod where you do not belong. Your house, our house, is dead by your own hand. I will now repay you for your betrayal by sending you to join my family.”

  “That is not my name-” Cruentus began.

  “Do you not know me, Mara?” Skylla broke in, her evil smile spreading across her pale face. “I know I am not as I once was since I shed my mortal coil, but can you not place my voice? Do you not realize that we once shared the same last name, the same loving parents, and the same royal court that so foolishly placed you above me?”

  Cruentus eyed Skylla closely as she continued to try to work around them. However, Skylla was now aggressively moving in on Cruentus. Though draped as it was in her royal garments, her mechanical body betrayed a great deal of tension within it. She was ready to strike at any pulse.

  “You can’t be…” Cruentus started, her eyes widening in disbelief, “You can’t be my…sis…sister?”

  “Sister only in name and word of law, mudlark,” Skylla screamed as she lunged, catching Cruentus across the face with a spiraling sword-hand attack.

  Cruentus spun with the blow, using the momentum to bring her left hand around for a strike to the torso, but Skylla perceived this. Moving with impossible grace, the Empress swayed around Cruentus’ blow, striking her opponent in the knee with her trailing foot, knocking Cruentus off balance momentarily. Skylla then performed a nimble backward summersault, catching Cruentus under the chin with her feet as she did so. The resulting impact knocked Cruentus flat onto her back.

  Cruentus was not there long before Letifer was above her, his mass plummeting upon her to deliver a blow to her chest with his leading knee. Cruentus did not wait for his attack to arrive, rolling to the side and up onto her feet, quickly achieving a defensive stance. Skylla gracefully continued her motions as though they were merely part of an elaborate waltz. At the same time, Letifer casually regained his posture and began to stroll towards the other side of Cruentus.

  Maluem, for her part, watched all this playing out with increasing frustration. Restrained as she was, she could do nothing to assist her would-be savior. She knew the collar was impeding her casting ability, but she could not be sure if it would loop her spells back on her as the previous collar had. What made matters worse was that, every time Cruentus took a hit, Maluem felt the blow as though her hide was being pummeled. She had to release herself from her bonds, or things were going to get much worse very quickly. Where the devil was her staff, and for that, matter Volo? Had the Crystals failed so utterly?

  “You can’t be my sister…my family is…” Cruentus managed as she tried to keep the two royals from working themselves on either side of her.

  Skylla stopped in an improvised pirouette to stare at Cruentus with blazing eyes.

  “Your family?” Skylla nearly spat. “How dare you, Mara? It was my family, my parents, my aunts and uncles, my servants, my home! Do you really remember nothing? Can you not picture those who cared for you, nurtured you, and raised you above their own blood, the rightful heir?”

  With this, Skylla launched into what at first seemed like a graceful side jump, leading into a second bound, turning midflight into a lunge at Cruentus. Dodging the immediate strike, Cruentus spun to deliver a counter strike with her elbow, but Skylla was already there with her own. It was only through a swift block with her forearm that Cruentus was able to keep her head. This left the pair locked together momentarily, clockwork eye staring hatefully into clockwork eye.

  “You should have died in the Coliseum where I put you, Mara,” Skylla spat.

  “I told you, stop calling me by that name!” Cruentus screamed, trailing the last words into a banshee wail that shattered glass lenses and fixtures throughout t
he chamber.

  To Maluem, the screech made her desperately wish she could free her hands to clamp them on her ears, but on Skylla, the effect was far more devastating. The woman crumbled to her knees, clutching at the sides of her head with her gloved hands. Whatever augmentations she possessed, acoustic dampening was clearly not amongst them. Cruentus wasted no time exploiting this opening, delivering a savage kick that sent Skylla sprawling across the floor.

  Letifer, on the other hand, seemed to suffer no such deficiency. No sooner had Cruentus struck than Letifer attacked Cruentus full in the back. Cruentus let loose only a grunt as she fell to her knees, but the shared pain extracted a strangled scream from Maluem. Falling forward, Cruentus used her right arm for balance as she lunged backward with her right leg, but Letifer was far too fast. His augmentations obviously had given him incredible speed.

  Before she could retract her leg, Letifer had it fast within his grasp. Wrenching it backward, he pulled Cruentus prone, coiling his leg up to deliver a savage kick to her side, knocking Cruentus to the floor. Once more, Maluem howled in agony in Cruentus’s stead. Cruentus rolled away from Letifer, swinging herself back onto her feet while lunging outward with her fist, but Letifer dodged this easily, already making ready for a second assault.

  “Stop!” Maluem screamed, hopeful that she might distract Letifer for a moment, at least. “I will agree to assist you. Just let Cruentus live!” Of course, Maluem did not mean a word of it, but if it would make them relent for a moment, it was worth a try.

  “No, we are far past that, Bocor! Mara dies tonight!” Skylla raged as she strode towards Maluem.

  In her thrashing, the woman had knocked free the masquerade mask she had been wearing, revealing the flesh of her upper face. It was easy to see why she had struggled to conceal it. At every border where her skin met with metal, there were advanced signs of decay. Her face's very texture was dissolving as what was left of her natural body rejected the mechanical replacements within it.

  Without stopping, Skylla marched up to Maluem and struck her hard in the stomach. The pain was unimaginable as Maluem strained against the straps in a vain attempt to double over. Through her tear-filled eyes, she could see Cruentus do the same as the pain was passed between them. For the first time, the chamber echoed with the torment of both sisters.

  “You will join us, Maluem,” Skylla said. “I do not know why you share the same face as my mudlark sister or how you feel each other’s misery, but I shall make use of it nonetheless.”

  Turning to face Cruentus, Skylla continued.

  “Just so you know, before you die, Mara, I do not lament the deaths of my parents. Their murders were inevitable. But, as I was the blood heir, their lives were mine to claim! Tonight, I will grant you the payment you have so richly earned for stealing my birthright!”

  As Maluem watched, she could see Cruentus struggling to recover from the shared injury. However, Letifer was already on her, delivering a vicious blow to her midsection. Cruentus went down once more, striking the floor hard. She wheeled her legs around to catch Letifer in the stomach, but this only managed to drive him back a few feet. He would be on her in a pulse to finish her off.

  Maluem’s mind reeled through the fog of pain. She had to do something, but what? Her hands and feet were lashed to the table, her neck held in place by the restraining collar. She was utterly helpless. If only Volo was here, he might be able to distract them or possibly loosen her bonds. It was then that she heard a dimly audible click from her collar. Was it what she thought it was? There was no time to second guess.

  “Volo, the hand straps, release the hand straps!” Maluem blurted out.

  “Silence, Bocor!” Skylla bellowed, her back-hand swinging to strike Maluem across the face.

  As her hand impacted, Maluem wrenched her neck with the blow praying the collar would give way from the force. Her wish was granted. The restraint fell away as the latch popped open, falling to the floor with a clang. Violently thrusting her arms forward, Maluem threw her weight against the shackles, smiling as the restraints popped open, her limbs lunging out to grasp Skylla’s head with both her hands.

  Skylla had no time to realize what had transpired before Maluem’s fingers tightened around her face. The sensations which flowed through her were overwhelming as her mind mixed consciousness with the corrupt being, but Maluem pushed these savagely down. She had to pull this off; it was their only chance. In a rush of incantations, Maluem chanted the most potent healing spell she could think of. The reaction from Skylla was horrifying. The woman screamed as though Maluem had driven a dagger into her skull, flailing wildly as she staggered back from Maluem, her hands concealing her features.

  A pulse later, Skylla’s hands fell listlessly to her sides, allowing two ornate orbs to fall heavily to the floor with two wet clanks. Her eyes, those magnificent clockwork eyes, had slipped from their mounts, leaving empty, rotted sockets behind. As Maluem witnessed, the metallic supports wringing Skylla’s eyes began to slough from her skull, the flesh beneath struggling in vain to regain lost territory. Skylla started to scream in a way Maluem had never heard before, gut-wrenching in its intensity as the woman clutched at her disintegrating head. Nothing could stop the collapse now, a balance had been disrupted, and only death would resolve it.

  Letifer flew to Skylla’s side, trying to see what Maluem had done, but he could make no sense of it. Turning his rage towards the restrained Bocor, he strode up and clutched her neck, pulling her entire body up from the gurney. His motions were so brutal that, had the leg straps not been unlatched, he would have torn her feet from her ankles as he whipped Maluem’s body into the air like a rag doll.

  “Undo your witchery, Bocor, or I will crush your throat!” Letifer bellowed.

  “Here is a counter-proposal, join her,” Maluem choked through his throttling grasp as she clawed at his neck. As she suspected, a bit of ulcerous flesh remained where the artificial muscle met the underside of his chin. She let loose the incantations as her fingertips brushed his cadaverous flesh, gasping at the results of her efforts.

  The agony was apparent, even in those mechanical eyes. However, Letifer was made of sterner stuff. Even though his augmentations were peeling off of him like skin off of a rotted onion, his grasp remained firm on Maluem’s throat, slowly increasing in intensity. It seemed he was intent on taking Maluem with him on his journey to the perdition of royals.

  For Maluem, consciousness faded as the room began to spin, her vision clouding over. Just as Maluem thought her throat would burst, there was a loud crack like a melon exploding, and Maluem’s face was showered with metal, bone, and flesh. When she finally could open her eyes once more, Maluem gazed up to find Cruentus standing above her, the remains of Letifer’s skull still hanging from her gore strewn knuckles.

  Turning to face Skylla, Maluem could see that the woman was already dead. It seemed that her spell had healed just enough to push the delicate balance between flesh and machine to the breaking point. Neither could survive with the presence of the other, so both failed. From the look on Skylla’s twisted features, hers had been an agonizing death. However, Maluem was confident whatever pain that woman experienced in this world, it was but an appetizer for what she would receive on the other side.

  Looking down, Maluem could see those magnificent eyes lying on the floor between Skylla’s outstretched feet. They were indeed masterworks of mechanical genius. Yet, what caught her attention was a set of runes etched into the frames of the devices. They were nearly identical to the runes that had been crafted into Cruentus’ control unit's workings. It would seem even the royals had not escaped the controlling hand of their lord.

  Maluem struggled to her feet; the pain in her chest was like a fire-eating out her innards. She knew she had lost some ribs in that last hit, but it could not be helped now. As she prepared to straighten, Maluem noticed that the restraining collar that had been holding her casting abilities in check now lay at the foot of the gurney. It was indeed
a refined piece of technology, much more advanced than the one that had temporarily held Volo. In a knee-jerk decision, Maluem grabbed it up, deciding such an artifact should be examined more closely. As she returned her intentions to regaining her posture, Cruentus held out a hand to assist her, but Maluem managed to pull away from it.

  “In our current condition, I fear I would only manage to pull us both over,” Maluem offered through gritted teeth.

  Glancing around, Maluem found her staff leaning against the wall behind the restraining gurney. In a few staggering steps, she reached the device, grasping it tightly in her hand to help pull herself up to nearly her standard height. It felt wondrous in her hand, the comforting feel of the warm crystals at its core washing a small amount of pain from her body.

  “Volo, are you here?” Maluem inquired of her staff. The crystals pulsed once, which she took to mean yes. “Thank you, you did well, my acolyte. Rest now and let the crystals recharge.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Cruentus asked, looking at Maluem as though she had gone mad.

  “It is a long story,” Maluem managed. “I will explain later. For now, let’s find out how we are going to escape this monstrosity.”

  Maluem could still feel the nausea of Cruentus' presence in her mind, but somehow it did not seem as intense as it had been. Considering the shape of her body at the moment, though, Maluem could not help but feel that this might her body prioritizing a laundry list of agony. Right now, the discomfort of Cruentus’s presence just did not rate high enough.

  “Do you think…do you think she and I were ever…sisters?” Cruentus asked Maluem as she gave Skylla’s corpse one last look.

  “I doubt it,” Maluem said after a long pause. “I was granted a quick view of that thing’s mind, and even that brief glimpse was more than I would wish on any sane creature. That twisted soul lost any grasp on reality a long time ago. Put no more thought to her ravings.”