by Jesse Teller
“Dran is in there right now. Maybe being tortured,” Rayph said.
“Yeah, but you’re not ready yet, so answer me. Will you be okay without Lorinth?”
“I don’t know,” Rayph said. He hated the idea, but he thought very often he might not be able to leave this place.
“You’re ready now,” Smear said. “Call the fight.”
“Wait, I need to talk about it for a minute,” Rayph said.
“No, you don’t. You’re ready. You don’t need to talk about it, you just needed to hear it. Call the fight, boss.”
Smear was right. Rayph did feel better. “I hate you,” Rayph said.
Smear laughed and pointed at Radamuss’s. “Let’s go.”
Rayph walked across the cold street through the mild snowfall, gripped his sword, and ran through the spells in his mind. Immediate spells that would need to be fired as soon as they walked in. A crisp gust of wind slapped his face and he knew they would be okay. He had this completely in hand. He had five of the Chaos Syndicate in bars. There were only two left. He reached the door and grabbed the handle. Smear slipped in, and before Rayph could follow him in, Smear was screaming.
Rayph froze. He heard Smear cry out in agony and heard glass break. Something big impacted against the wall far to the right, and Rayph felt his fear, solid and terrible, fill him and weigh him down. He heard Smear cry out again. Then a hearty laugh. He felt as if lead had been poured in his body, stopping him completely. His limbs weighed too much to move. He could not make it.
Rayph stared at the back of the door and heard Blade Silvertooth talking. “Tell them how bad it hurts.” Blade growled. “Tell them now or I will make it worse!” Rayph felt his body go hot and sear his mind and his nerve.
“Oh my gods it hurts, it hurts, please,” Smear screamed through the fetish. “Please stop.”
Rayph gritted his teeth. He stepped forward and placed both hands on the door. He pushed and looked in. Smear was across the room draped across the bar. Blade stood over him, his hand gripping a sword buried deep in Smear’s gut. Blade looked up and smiled. His one hand dug into Smear’s belly and Smear screamed. Blade swiped the hand across his face, Smear’s blood dripping red and angry from the white tiger’s face.
“Come on, Rayph. We are about to get started,” Brody said. He sat in his throne in the corner of the room. He patted the one sitting beside him and she screamed. Her head and shoulders were red. Rayph stumbled in, wondering who they had painted. He could see small breasts. It had to be a woman. Brody slapped her on the back and she screamed again.
Rayph took a long time staring at the face before he realized it had been flayed of all its skin. The face, the shoulders, all skinless and raw. “She is about ready to arrest us all, I’m sure,” Brody said. “I think if she had her way, I would spend a night in that Crown. What do you think, Rayph?”
The strength ran out of his legs as Smear screamed again. Blade Silvertooth laughed a terrible belly laugh of glee and Rayph dropped to his knees.
“How about this one?” Brody said. “This one right here.” Brody kicked something at his feet and a body rolled out and off the platform. “He is not one of yours, so I figure you might not care.”
Rayph stared at a man with drool running down his mouth and chin. He was burning with fever and sweating. His body spasmed and writhed, and his eyes were rolled back in his head.
“I told Shiv. I told him not to use that damn rusty sword of his. But man, he loved that thing. I'll talk to him about it when he gets home. I'll chide him about this, I promise you,” Brody said.
“Jon Jon?” Rayph said. He crawled across the floor as Brody smiled.
“Now wait, you have so much crawling to do with the rest of your life. I don’t want you to get tired of it already. You might want to go to her,” Brody said. He pointed, and Rayph saw Tawny strapped to the wall. Her legs were gone, one from the hip, one from the middle thigh.
“Maybe not. Maybe you want to talk to her. She could use some reassuring, Rayph. Tell her the baby will be fine,” Brody said, pointing at the figure hanging from the balcony upstairs.
Smear screamed and fought to get to his feet. But Blade jerked away the sword and drove his clawed hand into Smear’s gut. The man screamed and Rayph fought to hold back his vomit.
“She really made me,” Brody stood and jumped onto the table. He curled his fingers and howled. “She got to me.” Brody jumped from table to table until he stood just beneath Trysliana. He slapped her in the clavicle and she growled. “She worked for me. She got me drinks. She flirted with me even. I kinda liked her. I was going to take her upstairs one night and slip her my cock. But man if she didn’t stab out my gorgon’s eyes and run around with the wrong crowd.”
“Don’t hurt the baby,” Rayph said. He needed to spit a spell. Needed to say something. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t think, couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“You really think I’m a monster, don’t you?” Brody shook his head. “Don’t hurt the baby? How dare you, Rayph? I would never hurt a harmless child. No, I have plans to love and care for that baby. Teach it the ways of life. Of death. Of servitude.”
Trysliana whimpered and Rayph saw she had been stabbed with a dagger in the breast. She dangled above the ground, and if he cut her loose, the dagger would plunge into her chest.
“I want Cable in here. Call for her. Tell her her brother wants to see her,” Brody said. “Blade, go get the girl’s brother.”
Blade dropped behind the bar and grabbed Ty by the throat. He slapped him on the top of the bar like he was a slab of meat. Ty dropped on his back and coughed blood. His hands and feet had been sliced from his body and he had been beaten. If he had other wounds, Rayph could not make them out through the wicked amount of blood the man wore.
Rayph cried out for Cable.
“Louder, Rayph, she needs to get in here and say goodbye. You wouldn’t rob her of that, would you?”
Brody walked over to Rayph and kicked his sword away. “Friends are the enemy, Rayph. You are one of the most powerful, brilliant people in the world, but you love too much. All I did was rip your friend in two and you curled up. Now I’m going to kill a few people. I’m going to open a few bodies, and I want you to watch. I’ve been collecting people just like you.
“You have my people,” Brody said. “You took them from me and you didn’t kill them. Man, you’re smart. But you’re going to take me to them, and we are going to cut your friends loose. The only one who needs to die here is you. And of course, I get the baby. After that, I think we can all go home happy.”
Rayph fought his way to his feet. Brody pulled a hand crossbow from his back. He pointed it at Dran and grinned. He looked at her and turned back to Rayph. “She said you practically raised her. Said her dad died when she was young, and you kept her safe and taught her to be a soldier. She loves you, Rayph. Did you know that? I think she loves you like a father. Let her know you’re going to miss her. Tell her now before you do whatever stupid thing you’re planning to do.”
Rayph slumped to the ground again.
Brody smiled.
“I’ll be right back.” He walked away, stopping to snap his fingers. “Almost forgot.” He bound Rayph’s hands and gagged him. “No casting.”
Brody opened the door and yelled out of it. “Cable, if you want to see your brother before I kill him, come in here! But throw your weapons in first. Thanks!”
Brody turned back to Rayph. “You had the insane guy. Man, I just love that one. He is fun. I’m going to let him watch all this from where I have him. I’m going to play with him for a while before I cut him loose. I’ll send him out into the streets on his own. Let him beg for scraps from the lowlifes of this city.”
Blade ducked behind the door to the back room and Rayph saw Sisalyyon slide the door open. Blade kicked it hard and it slammed into Sisalyyon’s face. She was dazed and Blade was on her. Claws and fists, and he had her on the ground. He grabbed her by her ankles and
tossed her over the bar.
She hit the floor groaning and turned her skin to wood. She was dazed. Before she could get to her feet, Brody had her bound. He sat down behind her and pulled her into his lap. “This one is so lovely. I hear she has a longing for my insane guy. I’ll bring him in here soon and he can watch, but first, Blade, where is that axe?”
“Right here, boss,” Blade Silvertooth said as he tossed a chopping axe across the room and Brody snapped it up.
“Legs or head, Rayph? If you don’t pick, I will. Nod once for legs and twice for head.”
Rayph closed his eyes and Brody tsked. “No, no, no, that won’t do. You have to watch. Open your eyes, or I will put Blade’s claw back in Smear’s gut.”
Rayph opened his eyes.
“There we go. Head or legs?” Brody asked. “Which one do I chop?”
Rayph started to talk, but the gag muffled any words he could say. Brody shook his head. “Nod, all I need is a nod.”
Cable tossed her weapons in and walked into the door. Rayph turned to see her crying. Brody gasped.
“By the gods,” he said as he looked at her jaw. “You are breathtaking. How did you get that jaw? It is magnificent.” Brody dropped the axe and walked across the room. He grabbed her by the sides of the face and kissed her chin. “Did Rayph do this to you?” he asked in awe.
“Yes,” she answered, her voice ringing like a bell with the words, and Brody wept.
“Rayph, you are an artist.” He looked back at Cable. “You might be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I want you to sit where I can look at you, and I promise, if you are good and just watch, I will keep your brother alive. I’ll find something to do with him, but I won’t kill him. Just sit next to Dran and I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Rayph closed his eyes and kept trying to talk. They weren’t even words. They were just the mumblings that might have been words, but it was all he had. It was his only hope. He decided if he was going to die, this is what he would do first.
“You’re praying, aren’t you, Rayph?” Brody asked. “Are you praying?”
The door to the back room opened and closed again but no one came out. No one could be seen. Rayph realized who had just come in, and he started to get a plan.
“You are praying.” Brody rushed to Rayph’s side and pulled the gag free from his mouth. “This I have to hear.”
Rayph cleared his mind and continued to pray.
“Father, I know not what else to call you, for you have been that and more for me in the past. I am coming home. Through pain and terror, I have come. Through darkness and misery, I will walk. But until I get there, I will be yours. Service is all I ask. I will not defend the things I have done, or the mistakes I have made.”
“Oh, but Rayph, there have been so many. So many things you should have done differently,” Brody said. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t want to interrupt. This is a wonderful moment. Ask him for mercy. Ask him to save you.”
“I will not defend myself from your judgment, for I know I do not have to. My sins are forgiven even as I commit them, for you are mercy. You are light. And you are life. You made me, formed me for purpose and duty. You had so many plans for me, and I know you have given me everything I need for the completion of those plans. I have them all right here. Right now, before my enemy, I possess the power you gave me. For that I am grateful.”
Here in this place, in this darkness, Rayph felt a returning to himself, as if from ten thousand years away, he felt himself come home to the man he used to be, to the instrument of the divine. He felt himself settling in to the will of Vanyel Eteral. From so far away, he returned to the potential to grant life, to soothe pain, and to provide succor. Rayph finally, in the face of this enemy, in the face of this horror, found his true power. Rayph found his faith.
“Reach out now and grant my loved ones your light. I beg this only if it is your will. I understand that now.”
Rayph felt his head swell. He felt his mind fill with light. He held it in before letting loose.
It flowed out from him in every direction. Like a wave, like a ripple in water after a stone. The power flowed from Rayph and out into the room. He opened his eyes as a crystal jaw flew across the room. It struck the bar beside Brody’s legs and shattered. The sword in Smear’s stomach flew from his gut into the air to spin. It stuck embedded in the ceiling and vibrated there. Smear rolled over and hit the floor. His belly visible from the tear in his armor. Where once was a wound, now pure white flesh shined.
Tawny wept as her legs grew. Dran growled as her skin crawled its way back over her body.
Brody pulled the chopping axe from the ground and held it above his head.
Rayph whistled.
Buddy leapt from behind the bar and slammed into Brody’s back. He dropped to the ground and jumped to his feet.
“Hands, Buddy.”
Brody pulled the axe back and swung as hard as he could at Buddy. The axe collided with the dog’s head and chipped his ear. He snarled at Brody.
Blade Silvertooth jumped to his feet as Ty’s hands and feet grew back onto his body. Smear tripped the raksa and the beast hit the floor. With a twist and a leap he was back on his feet. And Smear grinned.
“Rematch,” he said.
Brody turned and walked away. He headed for the stairs that would take him back to his room and laughed.
Smear and Blade began. Blade swung with savage brutality. His claws came at every angle, and every time they got close to Smear, another finger flew from Blade’s hands.
“You’re going to pay for that dagger,” he said. “See, that’s my wife, and that’s my kid.” Then the world’s greatest spy began slicing Blade to the ground.
“Buddy, Dran, hands.” The stone dog bounded away.
Brody whistled and thugs flooded the room. Rayph turned to Dran and threw her his sword. She shoved the table aside as Cable got to her feet. Her jaw was completely healed, her beauty once again intact.
“Smear, do you need me?” Rayph asked.
“Go finish it,” he said. Blade grunted in pain and Smear kept slicing.
Dran cut people free and faced off against the worst of Brody’s hard cases. Rayph ran upstairs. He thought he knew where Brody might be. He stepped up to Brody’s personal chambers and knocked.
“Come in,” Brody said politely.
Rayph stepped in and smiled. “That got ugly. Good plan. But you got too gruesome. Wanting to watch as I prayed for help. That was dark, even for you.”
“Well, I am a bit of a bastard,” Brody said. “But what can I say? I have a way about me.”
“Indeed you do.” Rayph walked to the window and pulled the drapes open. He sighed as he looked outside and turned.
“Now you try to kill me or capture me,” Brody said. “I can’t be hurt by magic or blades. All you have is spells and a dagger. That will not serve you as well as you think.”
“Trapper,” Rayph said.
“What?”
“I have a trapper. His name is Fanhon. He is really quite good.”
“You are going to stop me with a trap? I told you once already I am a wizard this time. Spells so powerful as to crush you three times over. You are outmatched. You were when you walked through the door.”
Rayph touched his fetish and smiled.
“Fanhon, I’m ready,” Rayph said. He stepped out of the way of the window, and it exploded as a beast swung in from the roof. It was massive and muscled and covered in fur. It had the shape of a man but stood eight feet tall. Its head was that of a bull and it brayed in Brody’s face.
It stood grunting and gasping in front of Brody. The man stared at it. He pulled his hands out before him and spoke the words of a spell. Nothing happened.
Rayph laughed. “Lyceanias calls it his bull, but it’s not a bull.” The beast snorted and stomped its foot. “See, it’s a minotaur. They negate magic. And they don’t use blades.”
Brody cursed and he screamed. “Blade, to me now!”
Rayph held a finger to his mouth and shushed Brody. “Doesn’t like loud noises,” he said.
Rayph walked up behind it, slapped its back, and the beast roared. “You know, he taught this thing to obey commands,” Rayph said. “Simple things like, ‘Beat, don’t kill.’”
The minotaur roared and grabbed Brody’s body. The man screamed and Rayph sat in the corner. It would be a satisfying show.
The Brothers
Roth knocked but there was no answer. He pounded until his fist hurt and he cursed.
Gale hated curse words and had tried to teach them they were unnecessary. But Thrak worked in the medium of the curse word the way some artists worked in clay or stone. He had whispered a cuss to them all their lives, teaching them the perfect phrase and the correct tone to wield it with. Roth cursed now as he kicked the door.
He was exhausted. His preparations had been exacting and grueling. He had worked his summoning room perfectly and had laid spell over spell to get it exactly how he wanted it. He had briefed all the participants on what he wanted from them. All of them save Tate, who was not answering his door.
Roth cast a detonation spell on the tip of his finger and tapped. The spell blasted the door with one concussive pound after the next. While the booming echoed in the room beyond, Roth reached for the door handle. He tried it and it was not locked. This infuriated Roth all the more. Tate knew that even if the door was propped open, Roth would never enter uninvited, and the fact he had left the door unlocked was all the more insulting.
When Roth was a breath away from exploding the door to splinters, Tate casually opened the door, and Roth pulled back in horror.
The words to his spell rose to his mouth but he bit them back, not knowing what effect the spell would have on his brother if he cast it. A beast was perched on Tate’s shoulder.
“What in the name of the gods is that?!” Roth shouted as he stepped back.
