by Tobias Wade
“You’re cheeky,” Visoloth replied at last. “Arrogant, even. You should have stayed a demon. No more sure than Salice though; there is nothing in our contract to forbid me from telling his secrets because it never occurred to him that someone could understand them.”
“It’s a deal then?” Noah said hopefully. He inwardly cursed himself for sounding so eager, but he was also keenly aware of the vastness of nether around them and didn’t want to delay in this place any longer than was necessary.
Visoloth had completely circled Noah several times, but now he had stopped directly in front of him. “What’s it like, being human?” he asked. “Is it worth it?”
Of course it is, Noah thought. But the thought of trying to explain exactly how was more daunting than he expected. To explain what it was like to be alive—to feel yourself grow and learn—the warmth of falling in love—the pride of helping someone achieve something they never thought was possible. And yet reconciling that with all the doubt, and regret, and grief of loss that all sounded unpleasant until you lived it, before you realized life wouldn’t have been worth living without these things giving life meaning.
“What is so great about being alive?” Visoloth hissed, its words trailing away at the end to leave the heavy thought floating beside them in the nether.
“Do you remember the first time you were summoned into the spirit world?” Noah asked. Visoloth said nothing, so Noah continued. “I guess you were so used to being in the netherworld that you thought that’s all there was. Then you set foot in the spirit world and suddenly reality got bigger than you could have ever guessed. There were more things to see, and more to discover, and more spirits and histories and cultures—more than you could have ever guessed existed when you only lived here.”
Visoloth cocked his head to the side, silent.
“But you were still a demon—an outsider—and seeing it wasn’t good enough, was it?” Noah continued. “No-one could understand you, and you weren’t allowed to do all the things that the other spirits were doing. It won’t be like that when you’re human. When you’re human you aren’t just watching the show—you are the show. You can do everything that can be done, and learn everything that can be learned—you can spend your whole life finding out more about life, or you can find one thing you love more than anything, or one person you love more than anything, and spend all your days with them. And once you’re done you’ll get to live again as something else and everything will be new again. Being alive is the best thing there is, because the world is only as big or as small as what we think is possible. And everything is possible only when you’re alive.”
“I want that…” Visoloth growled. “Very well, I will hold you to our deal. You are correct in your assumption that Salice needs at least two Chainers to host the demon he wishes to summon. The Rasmacht would destroy any single mind which tried to contain it. Even Salice cannot claim to control such a creature.”
“The Rasmacht?” Noah prompted hesitantly.
“You’ve met it once before, on your way back from the living world,” Visoloth said. “I watched it chase you back to the Whispering Room. Professor Salice wants to summon it into the spirit world. We best keep moving though, unless you’d like to risk meeting it again. I still received a direct order to take you to the living world, and that’s what I intend to do.”
“That cold thing?” Noah said, swimming hastily through the nether after Visoloth. “What could Salice possibly want with that?”
“The Rasmacht is only ever summoned for one reason,” Visoloth said, “which is why it is better known as ‘The Soul Eater’. Those consumed by it are gone forever, not leaving even so much as a shade behind. Every life they’ve ever lived, every life they ever will live, all erased so that no one will remember they’ve ever been. The Matriarch will be devoured and all her teachings will be undone. She who has claimed to have lived a thousand lives will cease to exist, and every soul she has ever painted will shed her colors. Now, where was that exit to where your family lives?”
Qari Olandesca Illustrations
The Matriarch’s Wrath
When Noah was a child, he used to believe that good and evil existed. There were noble knights and champions of justice who fought the brigands and cheats, always conquering the wicked. Not one of his favorite stories contained a darkness so dark that it could continue to exist when the light was shone through it.
As he grew older, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Even good people did things out of pure self-interest, and even evil men had their own principles and people that they loved. He figured that everyone was doing the best that they could in a mixed-up world, and that even when they were cruel to each other, they were only doing so as reflections of their own pain.
Now more than ever he decided that evil must exist, and that its name was Zandu Salice. The Matriarch had devoted her entire existence to helping souls come back to life, yet Salice was planning to destroy her and steal her teachings from the myriad of souls she had touched.
Visoloth didn’t know exactly why Salice was set upon this path, but Noah didn’t think such heinous act could ever be justified. Perhaps he was jealous of her power, perhaps he wanted to run the school himself, or even preferred that demonology was the only lesson to be taught. Salice made no effort to hide his disdain for the ‘lesser domains’, especially reincarnation, and it was no great leap of faith to assume he’d abolish them altogether if he was in charge.
“You know he’s watching you, right?” Visoloth asked, rousing Noah from his thoughts. They had arrived at a folded corner of nether, a pocket of space that Noah had come to recognize as an opening into the living world.
“Yeah, I figured,” Noah said. “You’ve brought me here, that was your job. You were also ordered to bring me back when I was ready.”
“Not even a step into the living world? Not even going to say hello?”
“It’s too much of a risk to bring him that close,” Noah said. I want to go back now.”
“He won’t be happy to see that,” Visoloth said. “He’ll know something is up.”
“He’ll know anyway. We need to hurry,” Noah said. “You’re not afraid of him, are you?”
“I’m not afraid,” Visoloth said, pacing restlessly before the folded nether pocket. “Fear is just the anticipation of danger. I have been in danger since I spoke to you, and it is no greater now. We will run together, on my count. We must be well on our way before he realizes what has happened if you ever want to make it back.”
“I’m ready,” Noah replied, grinning despite himself. It felt good to have his suspicions proven, even though it was to his detriment. A known enemy was so much more reliable than a suspected one.
“Three, two, one,” Visoloth said, coiling its body in preparation to spring. “Let the fire in your soul give wings to your flight.”
And they were away, the nether flowing against them without dampening their speed. The omnipresent chittering seemed to grow louder, and dark shapes began to curiously orbit their race. It felt so liberating to hasten through this void, and Noah couldn’t help but swerve and soar for the pure joy of the infinite feeling.
Visoloth kept a direct course as straight as an arrow. His legs sprang ceaselessly forward as though he ran on solid ground. Watching him, Noah realized that with concentration he too could harden the nether around his feet and thus launch himself more effectively forward. He still preferred a swimming motion though, as that made him feel like he was flying.
“Stay straight,” Visoloth called.
“I am! Basically. I’m keeping up with you.”
“Our destination is directly ahead. If you are facing even a few degrees off, then you won’t find it.”
“I’ve got you to follow,” Noah replied stubbornly, twirling dexterously as the nether rushed over him.
“Seven minutes, directly this way,” Visoloth said. “The pocket you’re looking for will have three folds in a triangular shape, each lighter than the last.
That will take you directly to The Matriarch’s chambers.”
The severity of Visoloth’s tone gave Noah pause. “You’re coming with me all the way, aren’t you? Everything looks the same here, and I don’t think I’ll find it —”
“He’s here,” Visoloth interrupted. “I’ll take you as far as I can, but I cannot overpower my contract. As soon as he catches up with us you must not trust me anymore.”
As if in answer, a booming crack rippled through the space. The nether stirred chaotically, rising up into waves which beat against Noah and disrupted his flight.
Visoloth stopped dead as though rooted in place. Noah slowed too, but Visoloth roared with a ferocity quite unlike his usual calm tone. “Get away from me! As much distance as you can!”
Noah oriented himself against the turbulent waves of nether and pushed onward, aware once more at the enormity of the space around him. If he wasn’t going exactly the right way, then it would be only too easy to get lost forever in these endless folds.
“Visoloth!” boomed Salice, his voice deeper and more powerful than it had ever sounded in the spirit world. “The boy is escaping! Hunt him down.”
Visoloth’s effortless grace which Noah had admired before transformed into a predatory and lethal blur. The demon was lunging and bounding through the nether behind, his tentacles flailing from his mouth in ravenous anticipation. Noah hadn’t realized that Visoloth was moving slowly before in order for Noah to keep up, but now the demon was gaining swiftly.
“Three folds, triangle,” Visoloth panted. “Don’t stop. Don’t watch me. You’ll never escape if I catch you.”
Noah had never gone faster in his life, but it wasn’t fast enough. He couldn’t help but watch Visoloth closing in as his awareness extended even behind him. Every passing second brought those grasping tentacles closer. Soon one was already brushing against his ankle. Noah surged away from it, snarling in pain as a ragged patch of his skin tore free to remain attached to the suction cup.
“Faster!” Visoloth howled. “I’ll have you next time.”
“Stop him!” roared Salice. “Rabie!” Again the nether bucked and heaved in response—an underwater storm in an alien sea. The ripples were spreading throughout the nether, smothering the chittering sounds which encompassed them. A moment of terrible silence, then all the sounds came back at once, this time with a screeching intensity that sounded like the whole world had turned against him.
The dark shapes at the periphery of Noah’s awareness were now swooping in from every side. Flocks of imps, rubbery Lava Salamanders, fleshy Gobblers, and others of more hideous deformation which Noah couldn’t recognize. Serpentine creatures slipped smoothly through the nether, open mouths lined with razor teeth which gnashed their way toward him. All the while screaming, gurgling, bellowing, frothing with frenzy born of the impetus of Salice’s command.
Three folds, a triangle, that must be it ahead. But the escape seemed so far that Noah would never reach it in time. Already he could feel the tentacles snaking their way around his ankle once more, this time securing a stronger hold with dozens of suction cups latching against his skin. If he pulled free this time he might have to rip his entire foot off.
He wouldn’t stop though. Couldn’t. He strained against the implacable grasp, dragging Visoloth’s whole body along as he staggered onward. Another tentacle latched hold onto his other calf, dragging him to an almost complete stop. The demons swooped and shrieked in from every direction. Three folds in a triangle—unobtainable far —now blocked from view completely by a thick mass of imps which swarmed over one another and bit each other to be the first to descend upon him.
The sight was too horrendous to bear, but even closing his eyes did nothing to shield him from the churning madness around him. He was forcibly aware of each grasping claw, each slimy tooth, each razor spine, all converging on him from every direction. Helpless, terrified, and utterly alone, Noah called out for the last thin hope which he could conjure.
“Rasmacht!” Noah called, funneling all the power he had into one desperate shout.
He might as well beg a wild lion to help him against a pack of wolves, but there was no denying that the name had power over these teeming creatures. “Rasmacht, Rasmacht, Rasmacht!” His shouts were obdurate, the word cutting through the frenzy and giving pause to even the most ferocious of the flock. Even Visoloth’s vise grip seemed to have slackened for a moment. What was this thing that could inspire such fear with the first mention of its name?
“Seize him!” Salice commanded. “There is no Rasmacht.”
The demons shook themselves as though breaking from a spell and began to converge once more. They had barely begun to move again before a familiar numbing chill stole over Noah’s senses. Whether summoned by his call or simply curious to the commotion, the Rasmacht was here. No command could overcome the blind panic which set into the teeming masses at the arrival of the soul eater.
The imps broke first, shrieking and scattering in every direction like a flight of startled birds. Demons tore at one another as they crawled over each other to escape, and Noah braced as the swarming things dug into his body to push away. Salice was shouting something, but Noah couldn’t make out the words over the commotion. A shock of pressure released as Visoloth relinquished his grip to bound howling back the way he’d come.
In a matter of seconds Professor Salice was clearly visible turning in an angry circle in the nether, his strained face contorted in anger as he shouted at each fleeing demon. He completed the circle to face Noah once more, his red eyes boring into the boy.
“You don’t understand,” Salice growled. “Your daughter isn’t doing any good in the living world. You must let me kill her.”
Three folds, in a triangular shape. Noah had to focus. His mind was already so cold that his thoughts moved as ponderously as a glacier. The Rasmacht had idly floated into view, its toothless mouth gaping like a whale filtering the ocean. Webbed fingers and toes spread luxuriously through the nether to propel its sleekly closer. Noah pushed away and drove his body toward the exit.
“I won’t let you!” Salice bellowed. “You are my apprentice, and you will do as I say. I order you not to—”
Noah flew headfirst through the pocket and tumbled onto something hard. A stone floor. His skin prickled with the shock of exiting the nether, and his body wouldn’t stop trembling.
“Goodness me,” The Matriarch said, quite bewildered. She was sitting on the other side of the room in a generously cushioned armchair with an open book on her desk. Will-o-wisps floated idly around her to illuminate dark wooden bookshelves stuffed with dusty leather volumes, each shelf rising so tall that it curved at the top to meet in an arch without spilling the books. There was a real fireplace in the corner, although it was only inhabited by another pair of wisps which lazily chased each other in slow circles.
Noah jolted upright and turned to see the hole into the nether closing swiftly behind. He barely had time to rise to his feet and leap out of the way before Professor Salice came tumbling after him.
Noah pointed a trembling finger at the Professor. “He’s trying to kill my family!” Noah shouted as soon as he could fill his chilled lungs.
“Calm down, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” The Matriarch replied, her voice warm and patient. “Professor Salice would never—”
“He needs more Chainers to summon the Rasmacht. He wants it to eat you!” Noah spluttered, diving away as Salice snatched at his leg from where he lay sprawled on the ground. A moment later and Visoloth bounded through the hole and fell into an immediate crouch, ready to spring.
The Matriarch snapped her mouth shut and narrowed her eyes. She lifted the book from her lap and set it calmly on the desk in front of her. “Is this true, Zandu?”
“Preposterous…” Salice moaned, lifting himself unsteadily to his feet. “Who would believe such a thing—”
His words were interrupted by a loud smacking sound. Just as the hole to the nether was closi
ng, a blank rubbery face rose into view. It continued floating past through the nether, giving everyone a clear look into its toothless mouth before the hole completely closed with a pop.
“Thank you, Noah Tellaver,” The Matriarch said softly, not taking her eyes from Salice as she spoke. “I see that you have gone through considerable personal risk to warn me. You will find that I do not forget those who have been loyal to me. Nor forgive those who have not.” Her voice completely changed when speaking this last line, twisting into something cold and biting.
Salice scowled ferociously. His fingers began to dance through the air, a new glowing circle stitching itself into existence.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” The Matriarch said with iron in her voice. “The Rasmacht will be waiting for you.”
Salice’s fingers fumbled for a moment, and his circle of light dissipated into a sparkling nova. His eyes darted to The Matriarch before beginning again with redoubled focus. The old woman rose from her chair.
“I’m speaking to you, Zandu,” The Matriarch said. A casual flick of her wrist prompted hurricane force wind to lift Salice straight off the floor and slam him into the stone wall behind. He crumpled to the ground like a marionette doll with severed strings. The circle of light he’d been spinning flared briefly with defiance before being extinguished by the torrent.
“Visoloth! Attack her!” Salice demanded, prompting the dog to release its tension and lunge through the air. As soon as his feet left the ground that same wind flared to life and knocked him spinning. Both dog and master collided violently by the force they were helpless to resist.
“You cannot silence us,” Salice hissed. “You will not survive another purge.” Then to Noah, his stretched eyes wild and pleading. “Don’t walk the road from death while that woman is—”
