Empire of Rust Complete Series

by V. J. Chambers

  Leah abandoned the chair. She wasn’t going to get it to move.

  She cast a glance at the door to the hallway. Maybe she should just make a break for it?

  But no, there were even more revenants outside in the hallway. She needed that damned sword.

  She turned back to it. How to get it down?

  The revenants were closer. The one in front used to be a man. Its chest was bare, smeared with bright red blood. There was blood on its fingertips as well, and it was reaching for her.

  She seized a poker from beside the fireplace and hurled it at the sword.

  The poker completely missed, dashing into the wall next to the sword and leaving an indentation in the wall. It fell to the floor with a clatter.

  Wait a second. What do I need a sword when I have a poker? I could jam that in revenants’ faces easy enough.

  But the poker had fallen closer to the revenants than to her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to get that close to them.

  They were now barely three feet away. They’d be on her any second.

  Her heart was pounding. She turned to look at the door again, wondering if she needed to run…

  She grabbed the broom used to sweep up the fireplace.

  Stay calm, she admonished herself. Aim.

  She chucked the broom at the sword.

  It struck the sword and the scabbard. The end of the sword came loose from its fastenings and swung down.

  But the hilt of the sword was still attached to the wall.

  Leah let out a cry of frustration and rage.

  And then one of the revenants grabbed her shoulder.

  Her cry turned to one of fear. She kicked the revenant, driving her good foot into its midsection.

  The revenant lost its balance and fell back into the others behind it. The revenants stumbled. Some fell down.

  Leah reached up for the sword again. This time it was lower, and her fingers brushed the cool metal of the scabbard.

  The revenants were getting up again. They were coming.

  She stretched her arm, stretched it so far that it hurt all the way down her torso.

  And she yanked the sword off the wall.

  The revenants reached out. They took shuffling steps towards her.

  She backed up, holding the sword in front of her like a talisman to ward off evil. She had to get it out of its scabbard. She grasped the hilt and pulled.

  There was a bit of resistance at first, as if the sword was too old to be separated from its protective covering.

  But then it came free with a satisfying ringing noise. The sword gleamed dully in the morning light, but the end of it still looked plenty sharp.

  The revenants were still advancing.

  Leah leveled the sword at the first one and drove it into its face.

  The sword went in cleanly, but it made a horrible slurping noise.

  She pulled the sword back right away. It came back with the revenant’s eyeball skewered on the blade.

  The revenant fell to the floor, dead.

  Leah retched. She was way too pregnant to have to look at disgusting things like that.

  She backed up, dragging the sword after her, still retching.

  Oh, no. How could she throw up? There was nothing in her stomach.

  But it came up anyway, nothing but bile and saliva.

  She stumbled.

  The revenants were coming.

  She was still vomiting. She clutched her stomach with one hand and swung the sword wildly with the other.

  The sword went sideways into a revenant’s skull. It stuck there, embedded in the bone.

  She tugged at it.

  No, don’t let me lose the sword…

  And it came free.

  She backed up more. She wiped the sword against the wall, sliding off the revanant’s eyeball.

  That made her retch again, but she managed to keep herself from throwing up.

  What was she going to do? She could kill all these revenants and be safe inside her room, the doors closed against the threat.

  No, because there will be dead revenants in here, and I’ll never stop throwing up.

  She went for the door as quickly as her wounded foot would take her. She had a weapon now. She’d have to take her chances against the revenants in the hallway. Besides, the only way to get help was to go out into the mansion.

  Sword at the ready, she flung open the door.

  * * *

  Gabriel’s head was pounding.

  Someone was shaking him.

  He was dreaming that he and Michal were on a boat on the ocean, heading out to the other side of the Gulf of Mexico, as they used to call it before the Scourge. They were traveling out into the world to see if there were other human survivors besides those in the empire, and she wouldn’t have to marry that necromancer. She was safe.

  But that was only a dream.

  Because someone was shaking him, and he was waking up.

  Gabriel blinked against the harsh light of the morning. Why did his head hurt so badly? Had he been drinking last night?

  No, last night had been the wedding feast, and he’d fully intended to stay sober, because he was waiting for a moment when he could get to Michal and try again to convince her to leave. He never would have—

  “Wake up, boy,” said the voice of his father, the emperor. “We’ve got to get out of here now.”

  His father was waking him up? Since when did his father ever get his hands dirty? Gabriel didn’t think his father had ever even been in his bedroom, let alone—

  He sat straight up. He wasn’t in his bedroom. He was in a guest room near the banquet hall. “How did I get here? Where’s Michal?”

  “Never mind that,” said the emperor. “Just get up. We’ve got problems.”

  “Never mind Michal?” said Gabriel. “She’s my sister. She’s your daughter. What’s wrong with you?”

  “Would you get up out of bed, you fool?”

  Gabriel shoved aside the covers and slid a foot out onto the floor. “You drugged me, didn’t you? Someone put something in my drink so that I wouldn’t interfere with Michal. You knew that I wouldn’t—”

  “Oh shut up about it.” The emperor glared at him. “I’m trying to save your life, and you don’t even care.”

  What? His father wasn’t making sense. Gabriel squinted at him. “Is Michal alive? Can you tell me that?”

  “I don’t know yet,” said the emperor. “Now get out of bed. There are revenants in the capital city. Revenants everywhere.”

  “Revenants?” That made even less sense.

  His father pointed at the window across the room.

  Gabriel got out of bed and went there. He tugged open the curtain. Sure enough, there they were. Dirty revenants in rags. He could see four or five of them wandering around in the streets.

  The emperor shoved a sword into his hands.

  Gabriel looked down at it, feeling confused. He’d never used a sword in his life. Not for anything.

  “Let’s go,” said his father.

  Gabriel swallowed.

  * * *

  Leah charged out of her sitting room, holding the sword above her head with both hands.

  She brought it down on the first revenant she saw, plunging the tip into its skull and pulling it out again. This sword was much better at piercing than it was at slicing. The tip was sharp—sharp enough to penetrate bone. But the blade itself wasn’t quite that deadly.

  The revenant crumpled to the ground.

  Leah let out a triumphant noise and brought the sword down again.

  It crunched through a revenant’s nose. Black blood spurted out of the wound.

  It smelled foul.

  Leah felt sick to her stomach again.

  On the other hand, maybe running was a better idea.

  She yanked the sword out of the revenant’s face and took off towards the staircase. She didn’t manage much of a run, not exactly, because her toe was still throbbing and painful.

  The
revenants had been in a clump in the hallway, heading towards her bedroom, but now that she was free, they turned to come after her.

  One tangled its fingers in her hair, stopping her short.

  Leah screamed. She turned around and drove the sword into it. The revenant had its mouth open, and the blade went up into the roof of its mouth and out the back of its skull.

  She yanked the sword out.

  The revenant fell.

  And Leah ran. Her toe jammed angry sparks of pain up her leg, but she ignored it. She scrambled down the steps and away from the revenants.

  “Help!” she yelled. “Someone help me!”

  The hallway at the bottom of the steps was empty. The only creatures that seemed to hear her were the revenants above, who were now all heading back down the steps after her.

  Leah barreled down the hallway, stilling yelling for help. This mansion was full of people. There had to be someone else around. Unless they’d all evacuated, and no one had thought to tell her. That would be just like Gabriel to forget that he even had a wife.

  Her toe ached, but she kept pummeling her feet into the floor, moving as quickly as she could.

  “Help!”

  She stopped. She hadn’t made that noise. “Hello?” Leah called.

  “Lady Leah. Here!”

  Leah spied the source of the voice. It was one of the servants, a girl named Deborah who often brought Leah’s breakfast. The girl was braced against a door, sweat pouring down her face.

  Leah ran to her. “Are you okay?”

  “They’re in the servants’ quarters,” said Deborah. “I got away, but they followed me. They’re behind this door.”

  “They? You mean the revenants?”

  Deborah nodded.

  Leah held out her hand to the girl. “Come on. We need to find help.”

  Deborah shook her head. “There’s no help, my lady. The revenants are everywhere. And the dead people are all getting back up again, and I ran and ran and ran—”

  “Shh.” Leah grabbed the other girl’s hand and tugged her away from the door. “Don’t think about it.”

  Deborah cast a wary glance over her shoulder at the door.

  “Come on,” said Leah. “There’s more coming down the stairs of my wing.”

  Deborah saw the other revenants then. They were far down the hallway, but they were coming. The sight of them seemed to spur her forward.

  The two women hurried down the hallway. They stopped at the door to the receiving room.

  Leah looked at Deborah. “This room’s usually kept closed up at night, right?”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  Leah eased the door open and peered inside. The vast room was lit only by the light streaming in through the windows, but she could see that it was empty. Nothing in there but the emperor’s throne, a few tables, and empty chairs for the council.

  “It’s clear.” Leah pulled Deborah inside, and they bolted the door after themselves.

  For a minute, they just rested their backs against the door, catching their breath and allowing their pounding hearts to slow a bit.

  Then Leah stood up straight. “We should check all the other doors. Make sure they’re secure.”

  Deborah nodded.

  The receiving room had sets of double doors on every single wall. They set off for the doors adjacent to them.

  Those doors were locked.

  Leah’s foot was killing her. She attempted not to put too much weight on it as they started for the net set of doors.

  “Lady Leah,” said Deborah. “You’re hurt.”

  “I stepped on some glass,” said Leah. “I’m fine. Come on, let’s check the other doors.” She reached for Deborah’s hand again, but this time, she touched something sticky and warm.

  Leah recoiled, looking at the blood on her fingers. “You’re hurt too.”

  “Am I?” said Deborah. Then she shook her head. “No, it didn’t get me. It didn’t get me. I know it didn’t get me.”

  Leah’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Let me see, Deborah.”

  Deborah shook her head harder. She backed away.

  Leah grabbed the other girl’s hand forcefully. Her gaze traveled over Deborah’s skin until she saw the wound. Just below her elbow, on the fleshy part of Deborah’s arm were two sets of distinct teeth marks. They were bloody, but there was no mistaking them.

  Leah dropped Deborah’s arm in horror. “You’ve been bitten.”

  “No,” said Deborah. She thrust her hand behind her back. Tears formed in her eyes.

  “Deborah, those are teeth marks.”

  “It didn’t get me. I know it didn’t.”

  Leah lowered her voice. “It got you.”

  Deborah’s face twisted. A sob escaped her throat.

  Leah didn’t know what to do. She’d heard of people being bitten by revenants, but she’d never actually seen one. She tried to remember everything that she knew. One bite in a nonlethal place meant that the person would have a few days, right? Deborah wouldn’t turn into a revenant for some time. It was still safe to be around her.

  Except that wasn’t always true. Some people turned quickly, even from a small bite. Leah remembered her mother telling her that it was better to kill anyone with a bite right away, rather than take a chance.

  Leah lifted her sword.

  Deborah held up her hands in front of her face. “Please, my lady. Please. It didn’t get me. I know it didn’t get me.”

  Leah lowered her sword. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t kill Deborah.

  But she wasn’t going to stay inside here with an infected person either. When revenants first changed, they were a good deal faster than the ones who’d been dead for some time. And Leah only had one good foot.

  She unbolted the door.

  “What are you doing?” said Deborah.

  “Just… stay in here,” said Leah. “That way, if something happens to you, then you won’t hurt anyone.”

  Deborah’s face fell. She started to cry again.

  Leah opened the door and went back out into the hallway.

  Empty.

  She could hear the slow approach of the revenants she’d left behind. They were still down the hallway, around the corner.

  She headed in the opposite direction. Around the next corner, she’d be near the entrance to the mansion. Maybe the best thing to do would be to get out of this building entirely.

  But when she did round that corner, she saw that the door was blocked.

  There were ten or twenty revenants there. They were all kneeling down on the ground and feasting on the dead bodies of the guards. The revenants had torn at the guards’ guts, had strewn their organs out over the floor. Everything was spattered in blood and gore.

  Leah felt sick again. She started to back away.

  But then two of the guards began to twitch.

  No, she thought. She moved backward, back around the hallway.

  But she heard the pound of the dead guards’ feet on the floor.

  They were running.

  * * *

  Gabriel weighed the sword in his hand. “Father, how did the revenants get past our walls?” The capital city was surrounded by walls that were thick and high, not like other places where the only thing that kept out the revenants was a flimsy bit of barbed wire. The walls were too high for the revenants to climb, and they were too strong for the revenants to knock over. The only way in or out was through the gates. “Weren’t the gates closed?”

  “Now’s not the time to worry about that, boy,” said the emperor. “Let’s go. I want to keep you alive, even if you are an embarrassment to my name and lineage.” He opened the door to the guest room.

  Gabriel followed him out into the hallway. He could see into the banquet hall through a doorway. It was still messy from the previous night’s wedding feast, cups and dirty plates lining the tables. He supposed the servants hadn’t had a chance to clean up this morning. “Don’t we have guards on the gates, Father? Don’t they tri
ple check to make sure the gates are closed?”

  “Gabriel, do I look as if I want to have a discussion about this?”

  “Did that necromancer do this? Did he kill Michal and then open up the gates to expose the city to other monsters like him?”

  “I don’t know about your sister, all right? And I don’t know how the revenants got into the city. When I saw we were in danger, my first priority was to find my children, not ask questions.”

  “Well, what about finding Michal?”

  “My next stop!” The emperor’s eyes flashed.

  Oh. Gabriel looked at his feet.

  The emperor sighed. “Listen I do care about the both of you. I always have. But you weren’t cut out to be my children. You’re both very badly suited for this kind of life. Still, I didn’t want you to be dead.”

  Gabriel nodded. “I’m not dead. Let’s make sure that Michal isn’t either.”

  They cut through the cluttered banquet hall to the other side of the building, and then went outside into the morning air. It was balmy but breezy. To their left, the path to the mansion. To their right, the path that led down to the ocean and the place where Michal had been left with the necromancer.

  Gabriel tightened his grip on his sword. He took the lead, his father behind him.

  He didn’t see any revenants around. That was probably a bad sign. After all, revenants could smell human flesh, and they were attracted to anyplace where a live human might be. If they weren’t in this area, then that probably meant that Michal wasn’t alive anymore.

  Gabriel shuddered.

  The emperor slapped him on the back. “Faster, boy.”

  Gabriel picked up the pace. They came to the grove of palm trees where the test of the necromancer was performed. He and his father sprinted down the path.

  But when they got to the rock that jutted out over the water, no one was there. Not Michal, not the necromancer, not a roving revenant. Gabriel looked for signs of blood or struggle. He didn’t see any. “Where is she?”

  His father was smiling. “She must be alive. She survived, Gabriel.”

  “But how do you—”

  “This is Simon’s plan. I wasn’t sure. The boy could have told me he was—”

  “Simon’s what?”