WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE

by Bramble, Casey

  Amanda and Brian laughed loudly. “Seriously, now really isn’t the time for lectures.”

  “Come on Raven, at least die with some dignity.” Brian was tired of waiting.

  Raven grimaced, “It’s not a lecture. It’s a fundamental fact I’ve been thinking about for years.” She spit a large glob of blood on the floor. “Witches use the world’s energy to create spells. A sorceress uses her own energy to create magic. That’s how we inscribe runes.”

  Amanda yawned. This was all basic stuff they learned in school. “Get to the point, sis.” She made a hurrying motion with her hand that Raven ignored.

  “Don’t call me ‘sis’ anymore and the point is the runes in this room don’t negate magic, they force it to dissipate into a vacuum.” A coughing fit racked Raven’s body and more blood spurted from her mouth. Wiping the back of a hand across her chin, leaving a crimson swath, she smiled viciously. “Knowing this, would it be possible for a sorceress to inscribe a weapon that could act as a focal point for her power, a weapon that would ignore the affects of outside influences? Like say a sword that her business partner made in case hers was stolen.”

  Understanding mixed with rage rolled over Amanda as she saw Raven’s pained grimace, “Stop her!” she shouted but it was already too late. Raven fell forward with all of her strength and plunged the sword deep into the ground. A ring of eldritch energy erupted from the hole, knocking the Tully’s backward.

  CHAPTER 28: DARKNESS FALLS

  The girl wasn’t paying attention. She was wounded but none of them seemed to be life threatening. She watched as one of the portraits, the one named Mandy, slowly slid across the walls of the room. Other portraits moved out of its way and back into position. Another portrait was following the same general path as Mandy’s but she paid it no mind. A tear fell from the girl’s eye when the pictures ceased their migration and settled under a sign that had just appeared. The sign read, “Enemies”.

  The girl wasn’t paying attention. She was wounded and watching something on the wall. That’s why she never saw the shadow close the shutters. That’s why she never turned until the last possible second and the darkness washed over her like a wave.

  Malleus raised her head and stared at the two mortals.

  At the top of the castle, Sarah stopped to rest for a second then cursed under her breath. The torches along the wall turned a sickening shade. Elspeth looked around and asked in a weak voice why everything was blue.

  “Because things just got a lot worse.” Sarah explained cryptically, before kicking open the battlement door and screaming for Stephen

  Malleus barely acknowledged the gaping hole in its shoulder. Fire bled from the wound, along with the others that covered the vassal, instantly healing them.

  Something caught the demon’s attention and she turned her head slightly to the right, facing Vestavia. She could sense it, even from this great distance. The Fallen was running amok in this realm.

  Malleus stood. When she whispered, “I’m free.” the world roared in protest.

  Outside, near the ruins of the city fountain, Rebekah and Felicity stood triumphant. Things looked grim at the beginning of the battle but Bryson, who was currently circling overhead shooting flame at the retreating invading army, took down the airships with ease. Dozens of dead men lay scattered before them with hundreds more they couldn’t see littering the city streets.

  “We sure showed them, didn’t we?” Rebekah hooted.

  Felicity smiled, “Good thing Bryson showed up when he did or it could’ve been much worse.”

  Rebekah answer was drowned in a rumble of thunder. She turned to look at the sky but something wasn’t right. It took her a second to realize what it was, disbelieve showing on her face. The sun seemed to have disappeared though it couldn’t be later than four in the afternoon. Black, heavy clouds rolled tumultuously across the sky, darkening the day. Lightening streaked over the fat underbelly of the storm, meeting in the center before dissipating in another crash of thunder.

  Felicity screamed Bryson’s name and the dragon veered back over the battlefield, racing towards the two sisters, a swift shadow darting through the gloom. Rebekah grabbed the nearest Valentria soldier and ordered him to get all the survivors who could walk to the castle. The man hurried to obey as she and Felicity were swooped up by the dragon’s powerful talons and carried to the top of the walls where Stephen waited.

  Bryson sat the girls down and they rushed to Stephen who was working with Daniel on someone they couldn’t see. Sarah stood a few feet away, wringing her hands anxiously.

  Felicity and Rebekah cried when they saw their mother lying on the cold stone ground. Blood still seeped from a wound in her stomach, soaking through the expensive silk shirt she wore, turning the white fabric black in the waning light. They both dropped to their knees, tears springing from their eyes.

  “Mom?” Rebekah whispered as she reached out and held Elspeth’s hand.

  “Mom?” Felicity echoed as she brushed a strand of hair off her mother’s forehead.

  Elspeth managed a wry smile. “I’ll be fine.” She whispered weakly. “Sarah and Raven got there just in time.”

  Felicity and Rebekah looked up as Daniel gave their wounded matriarch a shot for the pain she was obviously in. Liz wanted to know what happened but Sarah was already running for the door. A fireball sped through the darkness and exploded a few yards in front of her. The blonde skidded to an abrupt halt.

  “Tell us exactly what happened, Sarah.” Rebekah spoke in a soft tone but her words were as threatening as the storm laden atmosphere.

  Sarah didn’t know what to say. How could she tell them their sister was responsible for the attempt on their mother’s life? “It was Amanda and Brian,” She started, “they tried to kill your mother but Raven attacked them. She told me to bring Elspeth to Stephen.”

  Felicity started to ask something but Sarah cut her off and continued, staring intently at Rebekah. “I’ve got to go back. Bekah, she’s free.”

  Bekah started to ask exactly what she was talking about when a realization struck. Dawning terror etched itself on her blood stained features as she watched the fire from her attack turn slowly from bright orange to blue. ‘NO!’ was all she could think of as Sarah raced back into the castle. Bekah meant to give chase but Daniel grabbed her by the arm, demanding that he would need her help if they were going to save Elspeth.

  “It won’t matter” she whispered under her breath, “there’s nothing anybody can do.”

  Five stories below, in a stone chamber buried beneath the mountains, Brian and Amanda took defensive postures, their swords pointed at the creature. The thing that looked like Raven tried to smile, lips twisting into a gross mockery of human expression. Black lines crawled beneath alabaster skin, moving up and towards the face. Amanda didn’t notice any of that. Her attention was drawn to its eyes. Blood, she thought at first, but that was stupid. There was no way possible for someone’s eyes to be made of blood. Whatever passed for this thing’s eyes showed no emotion, no feeling, no anything. It was as if she was looking into a hungry, bottomless pool. The girl suppressed a shudder.

  Brian chose that moment to leap forward and attack. “Raven!” He screamed, as his blade traced a deadly arch through the air. The creature gracefully sidestepped the sword, grabbed him by the collar and slung him across the room where he landed with a bone jarring thud.

  “I am not Branwyen.” The creature spoke with a raspy voice as it walked unhurriedly around the room, running its fingers over the rough stone pillars. It had only seen the same tiny cell for years.

  “Who, or what, are you?” Amanda dropped her weapon. It was obvious that strength or skill with a sword wouldn’t be enough to beat this thing. She would need magic.

  The monster, for that is what the young would-be murderer knew it to be now, stopped pacing. “I am called Malleus Maleficarum-- the Witches’ Hammer-- in your language.”

  Amanda swore silently, knowing there had been th
e slightest chance of Raven being the vassal. Surely she could figure out a spell to stop this thing. Trying to buy some time, she asked what Malleus wanted.

  “To fight; to kill.” The demon flittered easily through the shadows. Amanda threw a fireball, thinking to catch the creature off guard. Malleus simply raised her hand and swatted it away. It burst on the floor but she paid no attention. Mandy attacked again with the same results. With calm measured steps the monster began to advance on the girl.

  Amanda pressed her hands together, the middle fingers extended and pressed between her eyes, thumbs under her chin, knowing this was her only chance. It would take all of her strength but this was one of the most powerful entrapment spells known and she had been planning to use it on Branwyen if needed. The witch threw her hands out and bands of light erupted in the small cavern. The energy coiled around Malleus, turning to iron and ensnaring her arms and legs. Stones from the cavern floor flew into the air, circling like a swarm of bees before colliding together with a crunching noise, completely surrounding the demon. More coils of iron looped around the rock pile, fastening securely to the ground.

  Mandy laughed; a high pitched, nervous peal that echoed from the walls. “Guess you’re not as tough as the legends say.” She took five steps towards her husband, who was moving weakly, when a soft noise stopped her.

  A stone tumbled from Malleus’s prison, skittering and cracking on the way down. An arm shot out of the pile. Rocks and bits of iron chain exploded into the air, making Amanda duck for safety. When she looked up, the eyes of death were staring back.

  Slowly the monster raised its left hand, allowing the girl to see the black, dagger like talons that extended three inches from the finger tips. Before Mandy could speak, Malleus raked her nails across her chest. Blood sprayed in a fine mist, coating the demon’s face, as the victim hurtled backwards. With a satisfied look, Malleus licked a drop of crimson liquid from her lips. Human was tastier than she remembered.

  Seemingly unnoticed, Brian managed to stand up. He lowered his shoulder and rushed forward, crashing into Malleus and knocking her sideways.

  “You killed her!” He raged, holding his wife’s limp form tightly. Tears were flowing down his cheeks.

  “Not yet. I like my food to scream while I eat it.” The calm surety of that voice sent chills down Brian’s spine. Gently lying Amanda’s head on the ground he stood, his sword glinting wickedly in the blue light.

  “I’m going to kill you.” He promised. Brian was a master swordsman who never met an enemy he could not defeat and that record gave him a level of calmness in battle that was almost as important as his fighting skills.

  A noise like ice cracking on a frozen pond came from Malleus. A sharp and ominous should that filled all who heard it with instinctive fear. Brian realized the creature was laughing. He steeled his nerves. This thing could heal wounds in an instant, which meant he would simply have to kill it quick.

  “What is it that makes you so confident Brian?”

  “I’m the best.”

  Another of the icy attempts at laughter, “Yes, I can tell from Branwyen’s memories that you are held in high regard as a warrior. Too bad I prefer the more tender morsels.”

  Brian sliced at her with his blade, so fast that a normal human eye couldn’t follow. Malleus parried with a twist of her wrist. Brian kept the momentum of the attack and lashed out with his left boot, trying to knock the demon off its feet. She easily leapt over the kick, clawed hands swinging down to the area his chest had been a split second before. The two spun and danced around each other, the demon enjoying the exercise and building up an appetite.

  Finally Malleus felt the sword pierce her chest. Brian sneered into the ashen face and blood red eyes. “I told you, I’m the best.”

  Daniel bent over Elspeth working furiously. That potion of Raven’s managed to close the wound a little but the countess was still bleeding too much. There wasn’t much time. He commanded Bekah and Liz to place their hands on his shoulders. With a quizzical glance they did so.

  “Do you trust me?” He sweat dripped from his forehead.

  Bekah didn’t answer but looked at Liz. “With my life.” The brunette whispered with a soft smile.

  “You have to focus all the magic you can into me. Can you do that?”

  In response the two girls closed their eyes. Immediately Daniel felt energy coursing through him.

  Daniel opened his eyes to a world he never expected. One of Valentria’s flags snapped sharply in the rising wind. He stared transfixed. Despite the deepening gloom of the storm overhead he continued watching the frayed bit of cloth he had seen a thousand times before. Small beads of light were quilted into its fabric, almost hypnotizing as they shimmered and danced. This ragged and time worn flag was the perfect example of all that should be, a pinnacle for everything to aspire. The stones of the parapet they were on pulsed azure beneath his hands, each a wonder to behold. Above him the storm flashed an angry, violent red as he watched in rapture. Then he felt Felicity’s hand on his shoulder and turned, stunned but not surprised to see her glowing like a sunset in his eyes, multi-hued and glorious. Gossamer strands of color were interwoven, connecting everything. With care he stroked one of the fragile lines like a harpist. It thrummed gently and a lilting music filled the world; a symphony felt more than heard. Softer than a cloud the sound brushed his cheek and caressed his heart. Words formed on his lips but he was too amazed to breathe them. He knew the name of this song but dared not speak for fear of breaking the spell; The Whisper of Creation.

  Something else was there. No, Daniel corrected himself, something wasn’t there yet still pulled his eyes to a spot beneath the lowest floors of the castle, a nothingness that drew all to it. He almost missed it at first, and most certainly would have had it not been for the bands of light bending and arching towards it, among the webs of color crisscrossing the world. It was a white shapeless mass from which tendrils terribly bright extended and snaked their way around the richly tinted fibers. Slowly, searchingly one crept along the diaphanous strand he plucked. As the emptiness brushed ever closer, another sound could be heard over The Whisper. A discordant, terrible shriek crashed against his ears, the death throes of a universe given voice, demanding to be heard. Daniel bit his tongue. He refused to utter the name of that abominable emptiness as it pierced his chest. To give it a name would be to give it power. Yet in the end a name did fall from his lips; The Hymn of the Void.

  Then a voice called to him, quiet at first, barely heard in the cacophony of sound. It rang more clearly. Daniel looked past the glow and saw a woman bleeding. Slowly he pressed his hands to the wound and the energy flowed between the two of them. Focusing himself Daniel forced the energy to do what he needed. It rushed over the wounded woman; damaged tissue healed itself, severed veins and arteries reattached, stemming the flow of blood.

  At last the magic vanished. Elspeth looked up, her eyes clear and smiled at her surrounded family. Her daughters cheered, Stephen smiled and Daniel promptly passed out from fatigue.

  Sarah rounded the corner to hallway where the entrance to the secret room was located at full speed and pulled up short, nearly stumbling. She hadn’t realized it on the way out but there had to be twenty statues of knights that all looked exactly the same lining the right wall. Reaching the nearest one she tugged on the sword the statue held in its hand. It slid down easily but before she could be thankful, she heard a barely audible click from behind her. She ducked at the last second as a spear thudded into the wall where her head had just been.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” She muttered. “Booby trapped?”

  Wrenching the spear from the wall Sarah carefully used it to pull down the sword the next statue was holding. Another click and this time a trapdoor opened at the feet of the knight. Sarah carefully walked around it, glancing to see if there was a bottom and tried the next.

  The demon looked calmly at the weapon sticking out of it. “Well done, Brian. Your blade pierced
one and a quarter inches to the inside of my breast, neatly between the ribs, not even touching the bone. Exactly the center of where a human heart would be.” It hissed, “How fortuitous that I lack such a thing.”

  He barely registered what those words meant when Malleus punched out with her right palm. The swordsman slid a few steps backwards still clutching his sword. Blue fire sprang from the hole in Malleus’s chest, searing the wound closed. Calmly the creature walked to Raven’s sword stuck in the center of the destroyed rune. The grating sound of metal on rock made Brian wince as the weapon was slowly withdrawn.

  A look of surprise twisted Malleus’s features. The runes inscribed on this allowed the weapon to bend to the power of who ever wielded it. “You’ve surprised me, Branwyen. I didn’t think you were capable of crafting such a thing.”

  “What are you talking about?” Brian lurched forward but a puzzling sight stopped him. The sword Malleus held was changing shape.

  The runes drank the power Malleus poured into them greedily. Slowly the handle elongated as the blade curved, bent and expanded.

  Brian stared. He never heard of magic that could do this. The sword was now a massive war hammer. It looked about two feet long and the thick head was at least half that. A single link of chain crafted from a heavy looking metal attached to the base.

  “W- what?” He stammered.

  “I am known as ‘the Witches’ Hammer’, but it isn’t my name. That’s what mortals called me after seeing this.” Malleus tugged at the link of chain and more chain slid from the handle. Almost lazily the demon swung it in tight circles.

  Without warning Malleus released the weapon. Brian jumped aside and the hammer buried into the wall with enough force to shake the room. He meant to attack while the creature was defenseless but before he could move, the demon was once more idly swinging the hammer. Again the heavy weapon whistled through the air and Brian knew he couldn’t dodge this time so he held up the unbreakable sword taken from Raven. Like a rock breaking a pane of glass the hammer smashed through the feeble defense. Shards of metal stung Brian’s face and he felt his internal organs crushed to a pulp.