Grimoire Bound

by Jeff Sproul

  "I'm from Wake," he said. "But I only woke up there about two days ago. So far, everything's been pretty shitty. There was a merfolk attack and I was poisoned. Giant cyclops, a diseased man, something called a spectre, and then I was killed by Lord Karnith. That's my entire history."

  Verun turned to Chaxin and rushed to kneel right beside him, his eyes wide as he looked down into Chaxin's. It was only now that Chaxin could see the emerald green of the man's eyes.

  "You've seen a spectre?" he whispered. "And Lord Karnith? The same Lord Karnith of the Kajura continent? Or, I suppose more precisely, of Grittin?"

  Chaxin’s jaw lowered. "Um, yeah," he whispered, weirded out by Verun's sudden closeness. "You're from Wake?"

  "Oh yes, I very much am. So interesting that you are as well. Very interesting, in fact," he seemed to repeat himself as he tapped at his chin slowly with an index finger, before he squinted. "So tell me of this spectre. Large, almost humanoid? Ghastly appearance? Wearing shadows as if they were clothing? That is what you saw, is it not?"

  "Yeah, that's what I saw," said Chaxin. "And Lord Karnith killed me and my friend because of it."

  "What more do you know of these spectres?" asked Verun.

  "I saw it, just as you described it. It threw bolts of dark energy from its hand, I think. It was able to kill several of the nearby people, and it completely broke down several shields and swords that it hit."

  Verun nodded. "Hmm, interesting. And how did you come to see this creature?"

  "Well, there was this ship," said Chaxin. "It was stranded on the shore near Kamber. That's a few hours from Grittin, if you're familiar with the city."

  "Yes yes, I know of it, please go on. What about this ship?"

  Chaxin inhaled and released the breath slowly. "There was a ship on the beach. It was burning when I awoke, and then there was a merfolk attack. At some point the fires were extinguished. About a day later, me and some others went to investigate it because a man named Daxar knew of some special cargo held within. It just so happened that the special cargo was two sarcophagi. The ship was apparently from Trillin, according to the manifest. It had some problems out at sea, and the only person aboard was the captain. He was diseased and attacked one of my companions. Eventually, Daxar and his people came. During the unloading of the cargo, one of the sarcophagi broke, and one of those spectres came out of it."

  Verun's eyes were wide as Chaxin described the tale. "Fascinating, yes… a sarcophagi, of course. A perfect entrapment, if enchanted correctly and made of the proper materials. Very fascinating. And the other sarcophagi? You said there were two?"

  Chaxin shrugged. "The other was still locked when we brought it to Grittin. I don't know what happened after that. I was killed."

  Verun tapped a bit more rapidly at his chin, then slowly stood. "Tell me, was there any other notable feature you can remember from this spectre? Anything it might have possessed?"

  Chaxin shook his head. "No, not really? I mean, it happened quickly. It was tall… left a streak in the sand, and it looked as though it could glide or float or something. It was really fast. It deflected attacks pretty easily and—" Chaxin stopped momentarily. "There was one thing."

  "Yes? What was it?" asked Verun.

  "A glove of some sort," said Chaxin. "It was fingerless, some sort of dark metal. That's all I know."

  "Hmm." Verun turned his back to Chaxin, his arms crossed. "Hmm."

  Chaxin watched Verun. "Does any of that mean something? I feel like I somehow know more than you, which seems pretty ridiculous."

  "Oh, don't worry. You know next to nothing, compared to my vast knowledge of the Graymos," said Verun as he slowly turned around. "But the Graymos is… inconceivably limitless. As far as anyone is aware."

  "Why are you so interested in the spectres?" Chaxin asked.

  "Because they are indeed a mystery to me. But more than that, they are actually a large piece of a puzzle, of an even greater mystery."

  Chaxin frowned and slowly scooted back against the wall. He shook his head. "None of that makes any sense, and you know, I don't think I care. It doesn't matter. None of it matters. I'm glad I could help sate your curiosity a little."

  "Indeed," Verun murmured. "I'm surprised that a random encounter such as this proved to be so fruitful, despite your uselessness."

  Chaxin looked up at Verun, as the man seemed to both compliment and insult him in the same statement.

  The dull sound of shouting could be heard down the hall. It grew closer and closer.

  "No! Stop! I can't be here! I was tricked!" came a man's voice.

  Chaxin turned his head to watch the hall as the frantic voice got closer and closer, until the towering gray beast stood outside their cell. It held a flailing man by the leg. It turned its head and looked into the cell across from the one Chaxin was in, then, it looked to Chaxin's cell. It unceremoniously pulled a key from an attached chain on its belt and unlocked the cell door. The monster tossed the man in, then promptly locked the door behind him before continuing down the hall.

  The man had long blonde hair and pale skin. He was thin, but by no means frail. He was also quite naked, just as Chaxin had been minutes before. Before Chaxin could even speak, the new arrival leapt up and grabbed the bars. "Someone, help! Please! Is anyone out there?"

  "Um, I'm here," said Chaxin. "What's your name?"

  The man turned to Chaxin. "What does it matter? You're stuck in here with me! There has to be someone out there that can save us!"

  Chaxin's brows lifted, and Verun slowly stepped into view, seemingly having been hiding in the shadows. "Perhaps I can be of assistance, dear fellow. Now, this is utmostly important… what level are you? It could save our lives."

  The man's eyes widened at Verun's words. "I'm level twenty-two, or at least I was when I died! How? How can that save us? You're going to save us?"

  Verun nodded slowly. "Yes, Twenty-two, one death… perhaps… eighteen, or nineteen, perhaps… hmm, I suppose it'll have to be enough."

  Verun stepped closer to the frantic man. "Yes, I, Verun, will save us." Without further word, he reached up to hold the new arrival's head between his darker hands. He smiled warmly and looked into the man's eyes. Then, he smashed the man's head against the bars.

  "Agh!" the man cried out. His arms came up to grapple with Verun, but Verun didn't give a moment's pause. He gripped the man's head and sunk his thumbs into his eyes, causing the gore to seep out as he rammed the back of his skull against the bars again and again.

  "What the hell!" Chaxin yelled as he quickly scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide. His arms came up as if he wanted to reach out and help the poor man, but he wasn't sure what to do. "Stop! You're killing him!"

  "Of course I am!" said Verun, as the man's skull cracked against the solid bars. "And if you wish to survive, you'll not intervene!"

  Chaxin stared with wide eyes as the new arrival groaned and flailed, seemingly unable to get a strong hold of Verun as he repeatedly slammed his head against the bars, over and over. It was only when the man's body went limp and crimson-stained gray matter from his skull began to leak out that Verun released his hold and let the man fall limp to the floor.

  "Quickly cover your ears!" Verun said, as he knelt by the man and held his gore-stained palm up into the air.

  Chaxin was frozen in place as he watched the horror unfold. Despite Verun's warning, he couldn't bring himself to obey that command.

  Verun took in a deep breath and then released it. Then, he spoke, "Nameth'na ahn namushuno. Ahn penuthi ahn halosgray quih'lucinuhn. kari'vaskar ahn pahn'gin tramunusno. Tramunus crovithnu halosgray poifunus consik ous yahh'kahz."

  The moment those mentally repulsive words ended, a deep pain entered Chaxin's head. He reached up as he winced. The words Verun had spoken seemed to echo in his mind.

  In the same instant, Verun choked, coughed, and spit up blood that drooled down the corners of his lips before he wiped his mouth against his bare shoulder. A dark shimmer appeared
over his hand, and then in the blink of an eye, a crystal rested on his crimson-painted palm.

  Verun breathed in and out slowly. He turned his head and spit blood on the floor. He looked at Chaxin, whose hands were on his head, and not his ears.

  "You shouldn't have listened," said Verun. "Such words were never meant to be spoken, let alone heard. But in this place, we have no choice but to resort to such accursed machinations."

  Chaxin's headache slowly subsided, but despite this, it felt as if something remained in his mind. Not a pain or ache, but a mental scar that he was strangely aware of. "What did you do? How did you—" He stopped and shook his head. "What was that?"

  Verun wiped his bloody hand on his pants, and then placed the crystal into it. It looked just like the crystals that Chaxin had looted from the dead back in Kamber. It was a pale transparent crystal, about the size of a finger.

  "I did what needed to be done," said Verun, his voice worn and weary. "Now we have our means of escape." He looked to Chaxin, and with a smear of blood on his cheek, he smirked.

  Chapter 18: Last Chance

  Chaxin could only watch with uncertainty as Verun took the crystal and wrapped his fingers around it to secure it firmly, while his thumb pressed to one end. He placed the tip of the crystal to his arm, and began to slowly write.

  As the crystal touched his skin, it glimmered at the contact point and left a residue, much like the scrawl that was on his chest.

  Chaxin's brows lifted. Was his scrawl—

  He looked down to his chest, having not even considered the idea until now. But the scrawl that had kept the poison at bay was gone. But also, so was the poison. He had an entirely new body now, and all its previous ailments and benefits had been washed away.

  He returned his attention to Verun. "What are you writing?" he asked. "How do you possibly think we could escape this place? I've only seen a few of those spiked monsters, but surely there are more?"

  "Those 'spiked monsters' are called imps," said Verun. His gaze remained on his arm as he continued to slowly trace the crystal against his bare skin, leaving behind the silvery remnant of the runic writing. "Do you know what a golem is?"

  "No," said Chaxin.

  "Ugh, you're going to be hopeless, I just know it," Verun sighed, shaking his head. "Golems are creatures born of dirt, clay, stone… whatever you have lying about. You can find golems on many different spheres, I'm sure. They are entities with very primitive intelligence. Now, an imp is the same sort of creature, but demonic in origin."

  "Demonic?" asked Chaxin. "As in… demons?"

  "You know what demons are, but you don't know what a golem is?" asked Verun, finally lifting his head and giving Chaxin a strange look. "You need to read some books, and, well, quite a few other things, I'm sure." He looked back to his arm, and continued to apply the scrawl.

  Chaxin didn't say anything at first, but then realized that Verun hadn't entirely answered his question. "So how are we going to get out of here?"

  "Have you noticed that the torches in this place aren't burning with actual flame?" asked Verun. "They're magical in nature, which means they're not actually hot, nor are they fire."

  "What does that mean?" asked Chaxin.

  "Well you see, Imps by their very nature, are—" Verun stopped a moment and took a slow glance back over to Chaxin. His eyes narrowed. "You know, I'm not sure why I would bother explaining anything to you. You barely comprehend half of what I've told you already. So we're going to skip some of the finer details." He looked back to his arm. "Imps 'should' be very susceptible to actual flame. They're very physically tough, as I'm sure many humans have discovered first hand, but with fire, yes, with fire, we can kill one."

  "So you're going to attack the next imp that comes along?" asked Chaxin. "And then what? Do you know the way out? How do we even escape a place like this?"

  "That part is quite a bit more complicated," said Verun. "But also, exceptionally easy!"

  Thump, thump, thump.

  Chaxin's eyes widened as he looked to the metal bars, hearing the slow, distant sound of an imp's footfalls. "One of them is coming. Are you ready?"

  "No, I'm not ready!" Verun hissed, as his head shook, his own eyes widening. "I hate being rushed!"

  "You better finish quick, or hope they don't come in here," said Chaxin. He then noticed that the dead man was still against the bars. He knelt down near the man's feet and slowly dragged him away into the darkness, hoping that the imp wouldn't notice.

  "How perceptive are those imps?" asked Chaxin.

  "Who knows?" said Verun. "Now shut up!"

  Chaxin looked over as Verun continued to write. He couldn't quite make out the words, and therefore, he wasn't sure how close Verun was to actually finishing. His heart beat swiftly in his chest, and he could hear and feel his pulse throbbing in his ears.

  Thump, thump, thump.

  The sound got ever closer as the imp closed the distance on their cell. It hadn't stopped yet, which meant that it hadn't decided to stop at another cell.

  "Are there even people in the other cells?" asked Chaxin in a whisper. "The three people across from us haven't even moved. They really are dead, I think."

  "Have you heard anyone else talking?" asked Verun. "No, you probably haven't, because it's just us! I wish it were just me, at least then you wouldn't be slowing me down with your constant prattle!"

  Chaxin grit his teeth. He didn't mean to be hindering their chances of survival, but his anxiety was getting the better of him. He didn't know what to do, he felt useless! There had to be something he could do.

  His eyes scanned the room. The two of them each had a pair of pants. There wasn't a third pair of pants, oddly. He then looked to the dead man, who was still oozing brain matter and blood onto the floor. Chaxin's eyes ran along the floor, following the streak of gore that had been left when he dragged the man away from the bars. He saw bits and chunks of gray material near and on the bars that had to be part of the man's brain.

  "Fuck," Chaxin muttered, as he knelt down next to the man's head. He swallowed once and then took in a slow breath to compose himself. He lifted the man's head and then began smashing it against the stone floor.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  Crack.

  More of the man's brain matter spilled onto the floor, out of the caving-in section of his skull. Chaxin felt a sick feeling rising in his stomach as he pushed the man over and slowly, ever so slowly, reached out and began to scoop the material from the back of the man's cranium.

  "Feeling peckish?" Verun chuckled.

  Chaxin seized up. "Your turn to shut the hell up."

  He collected two handfuls of the gray gore and slowly rose to his feet, tearing his gaze away from the man.

  "Oooh, I see. Apparently you are capable of thought," said Verun, as he continued to draw out the runic words.

  Seconds later, the tall, lanky imp lumbered in front of the cell. Its face was heavily drawn down, and seemed to be incapable of expression. Its dark black eyes never seemed to actually 'look' at anything. It pulled out a key and sunk it into the lock of their cell, then slowly pulled it open.

  Verun was in the corner, his back turned to the imp.

  Chaxin was breathing quickly, hiding the dark material behind him as he watched the imp.

  Without words, the creature shifted into the cell and reached out for him with those elongated fingers.

  Chaxin pulled his right arm from behind his back and threw the dead man's viscous brain matter at the imp's face. It flew through the air for less than a second and splatted against the monster's eyes, slathering its already gray face with the dark, ichorous gore.

  The imp's hand clenched into a fist, seemingly taken aback by the sudden attack.

  Without pause, Chaxin took the gore from his other hand and placed it into his right, and threw the second helping. This time, it slopped against the imp's forehead and slid away, leaving a trail of ichor as it fell to the floor.

  "I'm
out of ideas!" said Chaxin.

  "Almost… done," Verun said, as his own anxiety rose.

  The imp shifted further into the cell and brought its arm up to wipe away at its face, clearing its black eyes. It blinked away the muck and reached out to grab Chaxin, but this time, its hand went right for Chaxin's neck.

  Chaxin pulled out of the way, but the imp's hand and arm seemed to twist at the last moment, seizing his neck.

  He could feel that strong grip, tightening and tightening on his throat, cutting off his air as he tried to gasp and breathe. Inch by inch, he was pulled toward the towering creature.

  Verun spun around and held his arm up and his palm out toward the monster's face. With his other hand, he pressed a finger to the scrawl on his arm, where an X was drawn into a square box. A line of writing went from a part of the runic sentence all the way to a small drawn circle on his palm. Upon contact with his finger on the X, a billowing flame shot forth from the drawn circle.

  The imp flinched as its face was buffeted by the intense flames. Its hold on Chaxin released, as its arm swung at Verun, while its other lifted to protect its vulnerable face from the searing flames.

  Verun dove to the side, having seen how easily the imp had seized Chaxin. The imp's arm smacked uselessly against the wall as Verun pulled his arm up and aimed it at the imp's chest. He pressed his finger to the X rune, and another bout of flame poured from his palm and engulfed the imp.

  Verun's hand trembled. There was nothing to alleviate the intense nearby heat that was so close to his hand. "Ah!" he gasped, and pulled his finger from the X. He swiped his hand about, then blew on it repeatedly to try and cool it off as best he could.

  The imp swung its arms wildly, smacking its fists against the walls and grasping at its own body in a futile attempt to rid itself of the flames. The creature stumbled and fell to the floor, still swinging and flailing about.

  Verun quickly got to his feet, as Chaxin moved closer to the gate.