Queen of Swords and Silence

by Carrow Brown

  Leader turned my head back to him and stared into my eyes. His golden orbs, so similar to my own, bore into me. I felt as if he weren’t looking at my physical form but tearing me apart from the inside. They say eyes are windows into the soul, and in Leader’s eyes I saw images of worlds devoured and physical manifestation of chaos. It took everything in me not to turn into a blubbering mess before he broke eye contact and said, “This is not Walker.”

  Dreamer’s head shot up. “Yes, it is. Look at him.”

  They don’t see things the same way you do, Silence had said. Maybe he hadn’t been bullshitting me after all.

  The man fixed his stern gaze on Dreamer who hovered away. “I am looking at her. It is not Walker, but…” His hand cupped the back of my head as he leaned in to press his forehead against mine.

  I could hear my babbling as memories of my life passed through my mind. The invasive feeling rubbed me wrong as if he were touching me in places that left me small and dirty. Memories of those I loved and those I slaughtered danced along my mind’s eye as he continued to tear through my mind. Even past traumas I’d buried surfaced and flicked through with all the interest of a man reading the morning paper. My hands clawed and pushed at him in the attempt to both get away and cling to him. When he pulled away, he held me up while I found myself sobbing.

  “It is not Walker, but it can be a Walker.” His eyes met mine with an impassive expression. “We will respond accordingly.” A free hand lifted to point to the side. “Fighter.”

  The tall lanky form turned toward the man, his white mask almost glowing as he spoke. “Yes?”

  “Assist. Too much is at stake to allow us to lose our Walker.”

  The masked figure swiveled to me, the lone dark eye resting on me as rage heated my chest and face. I turned away from Leader and staggered to my feet before facing the group. “I don’t know what’s happening right now, but I don’t want your assistance.”

  The masked figure, Fighter, tilted his head to the side. “Alone?”

  I lifted my chin. “If I have to.”

  Leader appeared at my side, inspecting my arms and legs, and I looked down to see the shackles heavy along my limbs. “We are never alone,” he said, his tone reminding me of how I spoke to children. “We are Cluster. There is always each other.” His hand traced over my face, endless eyes peering into mine, minus the descent into whatever chaos lay within. “Interesting. What is it you want if not our aid?”

  What did I want? My mind raced as I tried to narrow it down it down to the core thing I sought. The thing I wanted more than anything else.

  I placed a hand to my chest. “I want my freedom.”

  His eyes trailed over my arms. “That is under your control.”

  “If I could’ve done it, I would’ve already!”

  Both his brows rose. “You could have, but you did not want to. Remove your self-delusion.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound left my lips. What was it I’d told David back in the pub? It was for the best this way. Had I ever actually tried to resist? I brought up all my memories of being commanded to do something and never once did I resist or fight back. I’d submitted like a beaten dog.

  “Okay, fine. Maybe you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I want to leave one slavery in favor of another.”

  Arms looped around my neck as something soft pressed against my back. “Walker always presents interesting arguments.”

  Leader’s eyes shifted from me to Dreamer. I could sense a wave of displeasure at the pair of us, and how troublesome Walkers and Dreamers were when together.

  I blinked as additional thoughts filled my mind. One from the Thousand Voice—no, Mender was his name—as he continued to study Silence. I felt his intrigue at how an Edge with a singular purpose could develop personality and thought. Fighter’s boredom filled my mind next. He was looking for a challenge and watched me, sensing something had changed that could make me fun to “play” with.

  “Walker is reconnected now,” Dreamer purred in my ear. “Now everything is how it should be.”

  “Indeed,” Leader murmured.

  More thoughts and feelings danced along my mind in the same way Silence’s will merged with mine. Tension left my shoulders as the group’s will and thoughts mingled with my own. Several more voices joined, and I looked to my left to see the wire fence from my dream with four shadow figures staring at me. One took on the form of Kathy with her ladle and another appeared as Carl holding a scythe. Their anger and frustration radiated off them in waves. They’d been waiting on me for too long to open the door for them.

  Dreamer’s arms tightened about me, and I felt her relief through the connection. “Welcome back, Walker.”

  Her words left my chest tight, and I patted her arm. I didn’t have it in me to argue against their misunderstanding at that moment. Looking at Leader, I said, “If you want to aid me, do something about them.” I pointed to the group by the tear in the fence.

  The group turned as one to look at the four by the fence and the figures flinched away from their attention. As one, they took several steps away from the hole. Leader’s golden eyes returned to me. “You are already behind your deadline, but we cannot allow the Harvesters to be pushy.” He waved a hand at me in a shooing motion “We will watch and see what you do.” He pressed a finger to my forehead. “But you are not Fighter. You are Walker. Take action as you were meant to.”

  I pushed the hand away. “What does that even mean?”

  “It means”—he leaned in—“do what you are good at. Walker never moved alone as he formed new paths for us to follow. His flock always assisted him.”

  His hand pressed against my chest and the world around me returned to darkness.

  * * *

  “It is beautiful,” Caldrin said.

  I jerked, eyes looking everywhere as I turned my head to find myself back in the magic circle with Caldrin looking up at the Outer One. Had I imagined the conversation with the group? The magi still surrounded me, as did men with guns pointed at me, while Silence lay out of reach. A small tug showed my grotesque hands remained fixed to the floor. Nothing around me had changed, but something in me had.

  In my mind, the whispers continued, only now I could make sense of them.

 

 

 

  More than that, I could feel them at my back. Four presences, close enough to touch, but a quick look over my shoulder showed I remained alone.

  Never alone, Leader’s voice said, evoking a calm over me.

  Dreamer, Mender, and Fighter all repeated, Never alone.

  “Never alone,” I muttered, turning my face back to Caldrin.

  My eyes lifted from Caldrin’s back to the Outer One. The magic binding it to Caldrin constricted around it and yanked at its limbs. Its body was long and slender, ending in a serpent head with multiple eyes moving across each human in the room. Multiple tongues darted out to taste the air. I knew what scents it picked up since they coated the top of my mouth—sweet fear and adrenaline. Unlike the one from Oaken Staff, the mask covering its face was fully formed, which served to somehow accent the horror of its features. Its hunger and instincts touched my mind, but where the prior encounter drove me feral, this encounter left me focused. Its gaze remained on Caldrin, its voice a deadly rumble. Eat you.

  Leader’s words surfaced in my mind. Remember, you are not Fighter.

  Caldrin’s words snapped my attention to him. “This is the beginning of everything. A new age.”

  More whispers filled my mind, all speaking at once.

 

 

 

  The Outer One shifted and turned, its attention fixed on Caldrin. Movement around it caught my eye as more shapes, seven, stepped around the monstrosity. A little shorter than I, they walked on two hind legs that ended in three-toed feet. I half expected to see scales
, but they all had the same dark gray rubbery skin I did when I shifted. They walked, their tails helping them stay upright while their upper bodies leaned forward to inspect the room. One with a beak caught my attention as its head bobbed up and down at the figures close to it.

  Or rather the teddy bear on its back caught my attention.

  My hearts beat faster at the sight of Peaches’ mangled fur with cotton peeking out of the seams. How had it gotten there? Did the creature return to the portal and take it along? Its head turned and button eyes met mine.

  “This is the beginning!” Caldrin said again. “Everything has been for this moment—this redemption.”

  The bear tapped the side of the Outer One’s neck to get its attention and then extended a stubby arm in my direction. The smaller Outer One I’d jokingly named Fred swirled its head in my direction. When it saw me, Fred opened its beak to shriek. Another creature by its side looked at me and hissed in greeting.

  “Hey,” I said, but to my ears, it came out as a guttural hiss. When Fred took a step closer, I added, “Eat the prey.”

  Every creature, except the massive Outer One, extended their heads toward me. Their voices spoke as one.

  “Yeah, they taste good.”

  Caldrin turned to face the room with a wild smile. “From this point on, it will be as it was meant to be.”

  “Master,” one of the robed figures said. He waved a hand between the small creatures and me. “I think they’re communicating.”

  Caldrin’s expression faltered. “What?”

  “Now!” I roared. “Do it now!”

  The creatures moved faster than I could track. Robed figures went down before they could even scream. Behind me, rifles fired, and voices yelled as the hum of gathering magic tickled my skin.

  The force holding me in place disappeared, and I pushed myself up to jump from the circle only to slam into an invisible force. Stumbling back, I looked to see the magic circle holding even while the magi who cast it lay in bloody heaps about the room. I spotted Silence in his own circle, so close and yet so far. Turning my attention to the concrete, I raised both my monstrous hands and pounded them down on the ground. Cracks in the cement webbed out from where I struck, but not enough to break the circle. I did it again and more cracks widened and splintered outward. I held my breath as I watched the magical circle flicker and die away.

  “Gods blast you!” Caldrin yelled. “I command—”

  My hand reached out for the closet thing, and I threw a severed arm at Caldrin before he could finish. It hit him in the head, and I rolled over to snatch Silence. His will flooded me with the intent to control me until he realized who held him. He started to speak, but I lifted him up and brought him down on my forearm, cutting through my command rune and severing my sword arm.

  A deafening boom filled the room and gave pause to the chaos happening around me, before the roar of the large Outer One attacking the smaller creatures renewed the fight. Silence yammered in my head as I watched my arm fall to the ground, blood spurting from my wound. My severed appendage twitched and flopped onto the ground as a pounding grew in my head. I focused on my wound and willed the bleeding to stop. A maddening itch spread along my arm, and I knew I wouldn’t bleed out as my body struggled to heal itself.

  Are you insane? What have you done? How can you—

  I pressed Silence’s hilt against my bloody stump and spoke through gritted teeth. “Make it work.”

  Slave driver. Wires erupted from Silence, weaving into and around my arm as his form altered faster than I could track. In seconds he’d gone from machete to prosthetic sword-arm.

  Fingers flexed as he connected to nerves inside my flesh, and the world around me rippled. I looked down at my remaining hand, lacking pink digits, but they weren’t massive paws either. Some kind of mingling of the two shapes left me with hands that ended in talons sharp enough to rip flesh and claw into stone. The rest of my body felt lighter, and a quick inspection showed strong and powerful limbs lacking the bulking mass of my monster form. My six eyes took in the slaughter around me. The sweet screams of dying men filled me with satisfaction as the group feasted.

  I lifted my gaze to see Caldrin’s shocked expression and pulled my lips back to expose my teeth. “C’mon! Fight me, bitch!”

  I charged at Caldrin, bringing Silence up to slice at him. Caldrin lifted up an arm and a blue wall of magic came up between us. Silence collided with the wall, and the impact sent Caldrin stumbling backward. The barrier began to tear and rip like fabric as Silence consumed the wards.

  Caldrin held up both hands, magic swirling and weaving around his body. “Stop this! You’re ruining everything.”

  “Cry me a river.” I brought Silence-arm up in a protective stance.

  Fighter said, This looks fun. I want to play, too.

  Much like when Silence took control of my body, something rose to push aside my will and control. A dark chuckle sounded in my mind. Fun. My lips moved, the bestial voice coming through, though the words weren’t mine. “You mean to harm us?” My head lifted, and I felt my lips pull back in a grin. “You cannot hurt us. Only itch. Scratch.”

  Piss off, Silence and I thought at the same time, and together we shoved the presence out of us. Shock and surprise rippled through Fighter, but he didn’t renew the attempt to control us.

  Caldrin’s eyes widened further as his face bleached of color. “Gods above.” Spinning on his heel, he rushed for the door out of the room.

  “Oi!” I yelled, turning to chase him.

  The large Outer One swiped a limb at me, and I brought my good arm up in time to cushion the blow. I still flew through the air before landing on my feet with a grunt. I watched the Outer One plow through the bloodied chamber and toward the door after Caldrin.

  “You coward!” I rose to my feet, my blood becoming fire in my veins. “Turn around and fight me!”

  The Outer One turned in the direction from where I entered the chamber as Caldrin faced me. “You have a choice. I’ve commanded the creature to kill every mythic imprisoned here. You can either chase me or you can go save your people.” His grin widened. “Which is it going to be, Shepherd?”

  The Outer One’s roar sounded in the distance; panicked screams followed it.

  Caldrin’s laughter followed me as I raced after the Outer One.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Pack Hunt

  Dead bodies littered the ground—some whole, others in bits and pieces—as I ran down the corridor. The scent of blood and terror filled my nose, making my hearts pound with the glory of the hunt. On either side of me, the pack of Outer Ones let out excited chirps. The desire to track down prey in the building flooded my mind. Several spread out from the group toward open doors in the corridor.

  “Focus!” I snapped.

  The formation tightened around me, and I felt the group concentrate on our objective: Caldrin’s summoned creature.

  one of my pack boomed.

 

  As one, they all said,

  We leaped over and jumped through broken doorways with a fluid motion. The one with Peaches clinging to his shoulders moved next to me, his button eyes fixed on me with a red glow at their center. The roars of the Outer One shook the walls followed by the higher-pitched cries of the prisoners.

  I rounded the corner to the corridor of cells as the Outer One crushed one of the guards in its teeth. In each cell, the mythics screamed and banged on the bars. Sasha kicked her cell wall, the magical wards flaring each time.

  the Outer One said, its head turned toward the cells, blood dripping from its mouth.

  “No!” I shouted.

  It turned to face me. All about its neck I could see the magic binding at the creature, tightening into its flesh.

  A growl rose in my chest as I hurtled toward the Outer One while the screeches and chirps sounded behind me. Landing on his back, I pulled Silence-arm
back and started to stab at the top of its head.

  It roared, jerking backward. I lost my footing and fell to the ground with a grunt. Its head swirled to me, sickly yellow eyes flashing.

  Its tail slammed into me, and I screamed from the impact. The Outer One moved to strike me again, but I rolled out of the way just as it slammed into the floor.

  Movement blurred out of the corner of my eye, and I looked up in time to see one of my herd lashing out at the creature’s face. More joined in with claws and teeth, their small forms darting in and out, nimbly avoiding the monster’s lethal swipes.

  I rolled to my feet and readied myself to attack once more, but hesitation and Leader’s words halted my progress.

  You are not Fighter. You are Walker. Act accordingly.

  How the hells was I supposed to do something as a creature I’d never been before? My eyes focused on the magic controlling the creature and then to the group shifting side to side behind me. Caldrin had referred to Silence as the Shepherd’s Crook. Perhaps with our powers combined, we could do something.

  Silence said, I sense what you are thinking and it’s a bad idea.

  “Nothing to lose,” I said and pointed my blade-arm at the creature. “Get him!”

  The group let out a unified screech and charged toward the creature. It turned and thrashed at them, but they were small and agile, whereas it was large and cumbersome. Within seconds their snapping jaws and vicious claws nips forced the creature back despite its swipes and attempts to smash them.

  My eyes shifted over the room to see if I could find a way to release the mythics, but there was nothing immediately obvious.

  Sasha’s voice boomed at my side. “Draugrrökkr!”

  I looked over to see her eyes wide and frantic. The scent of her terror reached my nose and drove my senses wild. In a split second, I slashed at the bars of her cell with my Silence-arm. Metal and magic sparked and flared as he destroyed them both.

  “You get everyone out,” I said, turning back to the chaos. “I’ll distract it.”