Ghost in the Glass

by Jonathan Moeller

Her third thought was surprise because it was actually working.

  The reveniri fell back from the doorway in fear of the sunlight from the crystals. Sophia and Theodosia and a half-dozen other people had told Caina that the light from a sunstone could repel minor undead, and she had used the sunstones of Kostiv to dazzle and surprise Razdan Nagrach and his mavrokhi. Yet Caina had never seen that many sunstones used against the undead, and it was working. The reveniri retreated, shying away from the light, and fell back to the street.

  Some of them remained in the street, trying to force their way forward against the light.

  Others turned and ran to the side, and Caina heard the thumps as they started climbing the wall.

  “They’re going to go through the windows on the second floor,” said Kylon.

  “I’ll stop them,” said Caina, stepping back from the door.

  Kylon nodded and slashed down another reveniri, his valikon flashing with white fire.

  Caina ran up the stairs to the balcony and faced the windows. The balcony encircled the common room, but on the side of the inn that faced the street, there weren’t any guest rooms. Instead, narrow windows looked down onto the street, likely to admit sunlight during the spring and summer. In the dead of winter, they were closed to keep the chill at bay, the windows sealed behind thick wooden shutters.

  One of the windows was rattling as the reveniri pounded on the shutters.

  Caina set herself, the valikon ready in her right hand.

  The shutters burst open, and the reveniri pulled themselves onto the balcony, their freezing claws digging gouges into the wood.

  Caina stepped to the side and struck, her valikon shearing through the neck of the first reveniri. Her ghostsilver blade pulsed with white fire, and the reveniri collapsed and fell out the window as the valikon destroyed the carrion spirit. A second undead creature started to climb up, and Caina swung the valikon again, driving the edge into dead flesh. The blade flared with white fire, and the reveniri jerked and fell to the street below.

  She jabbed the blade into a third reveniri and held it in place long enough for the white fire to flare and the creature to fall.

  Fighting undead with a valikon was far different than fighting living men. Caina needed only pierce the flesh enough for the valikon’s power to destroy the carrion spirit. Of course, fighting the undead without the valikon would have been far harder. She would have had to take off their heads or might have wound up luring all the undead into the Szlacht’s Sword and burning the inn down with them inside.

  How Morgant would have laughed at that.

  Caina destroyed a fourth reveniri, and the creatures withdrew, pulling away from the window. She hesitated, and then risked a look out the window, making sure to look up first since most people never thought to look up. No reveniri clung to the wall above her. But she saw a half-dozen of the creatures skittering along the wall like spiders, clinging to the bricks and timbers with ease.

  They were going to go through another window.

  Caina cursed and stepped back, shooting a look at the common room. Kylon and Seb were still battling the reveniri at the door, Laskar and his family holding their sunstones. The glow from the crystals threw harsh shadows across the common room, though their light was beginning to fade. Caina turned, watching the windows overlooking the street. Likely the reveniri would come through one of them…

  Another window burst open, the shutters flying wide, and the reveniri scrambled onto the balcony.

  At the same moment, Caina heard Sophia shouting.

  She turned and saw Teodor running towards them, a club in hand. Gone was all trace of the fear and confusion. His green eyes all but blazed with rage, and his expression was hard and focused. Sophia was running behind him, trying to reach for him, but Teodor was too fast.

  “Sophia!” said Caina. “Get back!”

  Sophia stopped, looking back and forth between Caina, Teodor, and the gathering reveniri. Teodor paused, braced himself, and attacked the reveniri. Caina cursed and hurried towards him, expecting that the reveniri would dispatch the old man with a flick of their claws.

  But something else happened.

  One of the reveniri slashed at Teodor with its claws, and he danced aside, the blow missing him by maybe half an inch. He swung his club, and the reveniri’s head snapped back. Before the creature could recover its balance, he attacked again, the club hammering into its knee. The reveniri collapsed, and Teodor jumped back as the others closed around him. Claws slashed for his face, and he snapped the club left and right, deflecting the blows with an ease that was almost contemptuous.

  By then, Caina had recovered from her surprise, and she attacked from behind, stabbing and slashing as fast as she could. Teodor seized the opportunity that she offered, and he knocked the undead off-balance, letting Caina dispose of the creatures.

  The last reveniri fell, and Caina met Teodor’s gaze over the destroyed undead. There was still a hint of confusion in the green eyes, but there was also a hard focus that hadn’t been there before.

  “An Arvaltyr,” said Teodor in wonder. “I thought I beheld an Arvaltyr in my dark dreams, but to see one in the waking world…” He shook his head. “But you are a woman. None of the ancient Arvaltyri were women.”

  “I’ve had a very strange life,” said Caina, looking at the windows. None of the reveniri were trying to climb up the wall, though she saw Seb and Kylon battling before the door to the street. “Sophia, go get Theodosia and Ilona. Keep an eye on the windows, and start shouting if any of the reveniri try to get inside.” Sophia nodded and ran back to the guest rooms. “Teodor, do you feel well enough to fight?”

  Teodor drew himself up. “I am a witchfinder of the Temple of the Divine, sworn to protect the faithful from…”

  “That’s a yes, then,” said Caina, beckoning with the valikon. “Follow me.”

  Teodor nodded, and they ran down the stairs to the common room.

  ###

  Kylon blocked the slash of a reveniri’s claws with the valikon, and the creature recoiled from the touch of the blade. Before it could recover, Kylon slashed, taking off its head. The ghostsilver sword crunched through the neck and sent the head rolling away, the corpse slumping to join the others on the floor.

  They had destroyed about half the reveniri, but the rest of the creatures kept attacking. Kylon heard boots thumping against the stairs and risked a glance to the side. Caina ran down the stairs, and Teodor followed her, his face grim and set, a club in his right hand. His emotional aura felt steadier, somehow. Perhaps his mind had started to heal from whatever damage had been inflicted upon it.

  Kylon raised the valikon to strike again, and the remaining reveniri fell back into the street.

  He blinked in surprise. The reveniri withdrew towards the theater on the far side of the street. Had they given up? Kylon and Seb had held fast against the undead creatures, and whoever was commanding the things must have decided not to throw away any addition minions. Yet Kylon could sense the carrion spirits within the undead flesh, and the spirits seemed eager. Almost like jackals that had caught the scent of rotting meat.

  “Are they retreating?” said Seb, puzzled.

  “Maybe,” said Kylon. He drew on the sorcery of water, extending his arcane senses. Kylon reached further with his power, and the emotional aura of humans washed over his senses. Six of them, he thought, three men and three women. The auras of the men burned with lust and need, while the auras of the women were simultaneously annoyed and bored and calculating. Kylon had traveled to enough different port cities in the world to recognize the sense of prostitutes with their customers.

  “They’re going after someone else,” said Caina. She had reached his side, Teodor hovering behind her.

  In a flash, Kylon understood. The reveniri were inhabited by carrion spirits. The carrion spirits were scavengers, and they preferred to attack prey that was weakened. Or distracted…and a man enjoying himself with a prostitute was likely as distracted of
a pair of victims as the carrion spirits were likely to find.

  “Hurry,” said Kylon, and he charged out the door, Caina and Seb and Teodor following him.

  ###

  Caina ran after Kylon, her valikon trailing white fire.

  The mob of reveniri disappeared into an alley between the theater and another building. Likely the creatures had found easier prey than a man with a valikon and an Imperial battle magus. Caina suspected that the prostitutes she had seen earlier in the common room of the Szlacht’s Sword had found some customers among Theodosia’s stagehands and carpenters.

  And unless they hurried, the reveniri would tear them all to pieces.

  Kylon surged around the corner, and Caina followed him, Seb and Teodor behind her.

  The alley was wider than she would have expected, high brick walls rising on either side. A stack of empty barrels rested against one wall. The three prostitutes she had seen earlier stood against the wall, and three of Theodosia’s stagehands stood in front of them, trousers around their ankles. Evidently, the men had been too cheap to hire a room rather than use the freezing alley.

  They were about to pay for that because the reveniri were going to tear them apart.

  The stagehands and the women scrambled back, tugging at their clothes, their eyes wide with fear. They were going to be too slow. Kylon dashed forward, valikon raised. Caina cursed and ran faster…

  Then the end of the alleyway exploded with sunlight, the glow washing over the reveniri. The creatures flinched, and Caina squinted into the sudden glare, raising her free hand to shield her eyes from the light. The glare diminished, and in the reduced light, she saw two men running past the stagehands and the prostitutes, swords in hand. The first man was grizzled-looking and middle-aged, wearing chain mail and a leather jerkin. The second man was in his late fifties, stout and red-faced, a brown cloak thrown back from his shoulders and the golden chain of office marking a High Brother of the Temple of the Divine hanging from his neck.

  It was High Brother Basarab.

  The big man moved with remarkable speed for his size, his sword blurring in his hand. In an instant, he had beheaded two of the reveniri, and the gaunt man next to him took another of the creatures. Kylon sprang forward in a blur, his valikon chopping right and left as he attacked, the glow of water sorcery shining around him as he drew upon his power. Seb and Teodor both threw themselves into the fray, and Caina attacked as well.

  In short order, the battle was over.

  The prostitutes and the stagehands shrank against the wall, trying to pull their clothes back into order. The lean man watched everything with cool wariness, and Caina recognized the stance and balance of a veteran fighter. High Brother Basarab sheathed his sword, a sunstone giving off a dying light in his left hand.

  He stared at Caina and Kylon, and then looked at the stagehands and the prostitutes.

  “I suggest,” he said in Ulkaari at last, “that you return to your homes immediately.” His voice was deep and commanding, the voice of a man accustomed to giving sermons. “Consider your lives, and rejoice and give thanks that the Divine has given you a second chance to amend your ways.”

  Both the stagehands and the prostitutes hurried towards the Szlacht’s Sword with commendable haste.

  “Calugar,” said Basarab to the lean man. “You should send word to our friends among the Voivode’s men. If we don’t have these corpses off the street by daybreak, we’ll cause a panic.”

  “I’ll see it done, High Brother,” said Calugar, who bowed and ran off.

  Basarab turned his attention back to Caina and Kylon.

  “So,” he said, “a man and woman bearing the holy valikons of the Arvaltyri knights of old, accompanied by an Imperial battle magus and my old friend Teodor. I imagine there is quite a tale.”

  “You…you know me?” said Teodor. “I…think I can remember you. I’m sure I can remember you, but…”

  “Ah,” said Basarab with a grim shake of his head. “I feared that the sorceress might have damaged your memory.”

  “Sorceress?” said Caina. “Pardon, High Brother, but you know this man?”

  “Certainly,” said Basarab. “This is Teodor Valcezak of Risiviri, and he and his daughter Svetlana have long been friends of mine and allies in the Temple’s struggle against the cults of the Temnoti.”

  “I think,” said Caina, “that we should have a conversation, High Brother.”

  Chapter 9: Masquerades

  In the end, they met on the stage of the theater.

  Neither Caina nor Basarab nor Theodosia wanted to talk in the common room of the Szlacht’s Sword. It was too public, and Basarab did not want to be seen by the Voivode’s spies. For all his reputation as a drunken wastrel, the High Brother seemed capable of quick and decisive action, which was a marked contrast with his public face.

  Caina wondered if that public face was, in fact, a mask concealing something far more formidable. A drunken wastrel would not have been able to destroy four reveniri in short order.

  Calugar disappeared to arrange disposal of the corpses. In the end, a small crowd gathered on the stage of the theater. Caina and Kylon stood at one end of the stage, Theodosia, Seb, Ilona, and Sophia with them. Teodor stood a few yards away. He seemed more lucid than earlier, but confusion still flickered on his face as he looked at Basarab. Kylon had said that his emotional aura was more stable, but likely he still had memory loss from whatever had been done to him.

  Basarab stood a few yards away. There was a faint sheen of sweat on his face despite the chill. He looked like a jovial old man, but Caina noted the calluses on his fingers, his easy balance despite his bulk, and the steadiness of his dark gaze. This was a man accustomed to violence.

  “Well, High Brother,” said Theodosia. “It seems we have a great deal to discuss.”

  “Do we, madam?” said Basarab. “Well, I have seen many strange things in my life, but I confess I did not expect to see a theater company attack a group of reveniri.” The dark eyes turned towards Caina and Kylon. “Especially with a pair of Arvaltyri. If you are actors, I must commend you for the excellent performance.”

  “They’re not actors, and it wasn’t a performance,” said Theodosia.

  “The valikons,” said Basarab. “Might I see them again?”

  Caina glanced at Kylon, shrugged, and then held out her hand. Her valikon assembled itself out of shards of light, and Kylon’s followed suit a moment later. Caina held up the sword, the white fire throwing harsh shadows across the stage. Basarab took a few steps forward, gazing at the blades.

  “If it is a trick,” said Theodosia, “it’s a very good one, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” said Basarab. “But a trick could not cut down a reveniri with a single slash of a blade, could it?”

  “No,” said Caina.

  “Two Arvaltyri,” said Basarab. “The Arvaltyri went extinct a hundred and fifty years ago when Iramis was destroyed. Now the Empire is split in civil war, the Temnoti cults are coming out of the shadows …and I find two Arvaltyri hiding with a theater company from the Imperial capital. A strange, strange tale.”

  “I’m not an Arvaltyr, High Brother,” said Kylon. He had the flat expression and unblinking stare he used when he might have to threaten someone. It worked – he looked stark and hard and intimidating. “I just have a valikon. She is a valikarion, though.”

  “You?” said Basarab, his eyes focusing on Caina. “I thought you were one of the…”

  “One of the what?” said Caina, though she guessed the answer.

  A wave of irritation went through her. It seemed the family resemblance was strong in House Scorneus. It was hard to be anonymous when her mother’s family was so famous (or notorious) in this part of the Empire.

  “One of the daughters of House Scorneus,” said Basarab. “Truth be told, you look either like a younger version of Rania Scorneus…or a lot like Talmania Scorneus. Just like her, to be blunt. She’s passed through Vagraastrad often.” He sighed.
“She’s been the cause of many of my problems. When I saw you in that alley…I was sure I was about to die, that Talmania had finally discovered my interference and come to rid herself of me. But Talmania Skull-speaker would not wield a valikon. Who are you, madam?”

  “Before I answer,” said Caina, “why were you in that alley?”

  Basarab blinked. “I was tracking that band of reveniri. I knew they would hurt someone. Calugar and I caught up with them just as they attacked those whores and their customers.”

  “There were just two of you,” said Caina. “Against twenty reveniri. You couldn’t have fought them all.”

  Basarab shrugged. “I take care not to look the part, madam, but I can handle myself in a fight. And I know some of the Words of Lore the Warmaiden taught the Temple in ancient days.” He lifted his hand and whispered under his breath, and Caina saw the familiar glow of the arcane Words of Lore wielded by the loremasters of Iramis. “And I had a fully charged sunstone.”

  “But you didn’t know you would win,” said Caina. “You attacked anyway.”

  Basarab met her eye. “Yes. Some things cannot be allowed to pass.”

  Caina glanced at Kylon, and he gave her a shallow nod. As far as he could tell, Basarab was telling the truth.

  “Very well,” said Caina.

  Basarab snorted. “Did I pass your test, girl? You look young enough to be my daughter.”

  “What you’re saying,” said Caina, “is that you look old enough to be my father. Or possibly my grandfather. Which you do, but that is irrelevant.” Basarab laughed. “My name is Caina Kardamnos.” His eyes widened a little. “My mother was Laeria Scorneus, Talmania’s youngest sister, which is why I look like her.”

  “The Balarigar?” said Basarab. “The one who killed Cassander Nilas?”

  “There’s no such person as the Balarigar,” said Caina. “This is my husband Kylon of House Kardamnos. My half-brother Sebastian Scorneus, battle magus of the Imperial Magisterium. My liegewoman Sophia Zomanek of Kostiv. My friend Theodosia, the owner of the theater company, and her maid Ilona.”