Fate's Hand

by Lynn, Christopher

  “This is your town, so it’s your call,” Asher said.

  Val looked around at the bodies and abandoned buildings. The day was already more than half over and his house was on the other side of town.

  “We need to get to our house. That’s where they would have buried Uncle Pent.”

  Daria tilted her head in curiosity. “Shouldn’t we look for more survivors?”

  Val turned his back on her and stooped to collect the leather straps he used to carry his sword.

  “She said we were cursed. That this, all of this, was Uncle Pent’s fault. I don’t know if that’s fear talking or the truth, but I want to go find out before dark.”

  He used a rag to wipe the blood and mud off his blade. He began to walk through the empty streets, weapon in hand. Rylan walked over to one of the bodies and removed a small sword from its scabbard. He trotted back over to Daria as the group moved out behind Val. She gave him a weak smile of appreciation as he handed her the weapon. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick hug before walking on again.

  It took the four of them more time than they wanted to make it through the town. Besides the muddy ground, there had to contend with barricades made with carts and burning furniture. As much as the group looked, they never saw another soul. Val’s shoulder began to cramp from resting the weight of the sword on it, so he had re-wrapped the weapon and instead carried a dagger, letting Asher take the lead. Once they finally made it about a block away from Pent’s house, Val waved the group to halt. They huddled together.

  “Do you hear that, Asher?” Rylan asked.

  “Yeah, sounds like there's quite a few of them around this next corner.”

  Asher dashed across the sloppy earth, never making a sound. He got to the edge of the building and peered around. His head jerked back and looked straight ahead. He let out a silent breath as a woman, hunched over and limping, stumbled across his path. The tall man removed a dagger from within his cloak and prepared himself to attack. When the woman caught her bearings, she looked up and saw the other three crouched and waiting in the middle of the road. She opened her mouth and began to let out a long and raspy moan. Asher swept up behind her and slipped his dagger into the base of her skull, wrapped his arm around her waist, and gently let her down into the mud. He held his hand to the others to wait and wiped his dagger on her dress. Asher took a moment to survey the streets, then returned to the group.

  “They are not human,” he said in a hushed tone. The others crouched in silence and waited for him to explain. Rylan replaced his daggers into their belt and began rolling his fingers across his leather holsters.

  “Undead,” Asher whispered.

  Rylan nodded and removed a vial, looked at its contents in the fading light.

  “I suspected as much.”

  “There are several around the next corner. Feeding.”

  Daria legs went weak and she began trembling as she looked over at the blood-soaked woman in the street. Rylan put his arm around her and rubbed her arm. Val looked at Asher.

  “How many are out there?”

  “About a dozen.”

  Val’s head lowered in defeat. “We can’t get past or fight that many.”

  Asher looked at Rylan and nodded his head again. The archer then looked around and spotted something he wanted and walked off. Rylan stood up and uncapped the bottle he had removed.

  “You’re right about that. There is no way we all could. It's tight in these streets, and we would only end up bashing each other. But Rylan and I can handle it. You stay here, protect Daria, and take out any stragglers.” He dabbed some of the blood on his finger and ran it across his neck. Val began to protest, but Asher took his place next to his brother as he began to transform.

  “It’s already done. There is nothing we can do to help these people but end their cursed existence. There is no cure once you are turned. Now, Val, don’t expect your sword to stop them. You would have better luck using the broad side and hitting them with it. Aim for the head. It is the only thing that will put them down.”

  Daria looked up and down Rylan's body in amazement. “You’re...You’re a...”

  Rylan shrugged. “I’m actually not sure what it’s called. It’s not from this land. All I know is it is massive, strong, has one long horn, and skin like hardened leather.”

  Daria reached out and touched Rylan’s stomach.

  “That’s the thing with the undead. You can’t let them scratch or bite you,” Asher told Val. He slapped his brother's arm and handed him a second hunk of wood. Rylan gave an assuring look to Daria and stepped off with his brother. Val and Daria walked up to the corner of the building as the two men began to make their way through the street. Rylan took the lead, his massive bulk catching the attention of all the creatures in the street. He let out a challenging yell and took a stance.

  As the first two corpses came close enough, Asher jumped out from behind his brother and slammed his weapon across the head of one, then spun back behind the protection on Rylan, who was already coming through in an uppercut attack with his board against the other.

  A wet crack echoed across the building walls as the dead man flew back and landed, unmoving. Rylan waded farther into the street as more of the undead came toward him. A man with his neck broken stumbled out from between two buildings. Val issued out a warning to the approaching threat, but as he did he only changed the man’s attention. Val spun the blade of his sword around as he walked into the street behind Asher. The corpse’s jaw hung open, with his tongue lazily flopping around. Val’s stomach almost turned as he got a whiff of his rotting flesh. He internally issued an apology as he swiped across the man’s shoulders.

  He looked away from the grim scene and watched the brothers work their way methodically through the streets. More than half the attackers were already down and out of the fight. One was severely smashed and broken, but continued to crawl behind Asher. Val cracked his sword across the back of the man’s head, putting him out of his misery. He quickly looked up as Rylan let out a loud grunt.

  A group of the undead had swarmed his massive arms and one was biting at his wrist. The undead’s teeth cracked as it bit down but was unable to break his thick leathery skin. He swept his arm across with tremendous power and sent the broken corpse spinning into the stonework of a nearby building. Once again, Asher struck out with his makeshift club, taking out another attacker with accuracy and speed. Rylan put his head down and stabbed one of the undead in the chest with his horn and lifted it high into the air. Asher jumped up and smacked the man in the head as he made his way behind Rylan again. The massive armored man jerked his neck and sent the corpse bowling over more oncoming undead. He turned to the closest threat and used both hands to bring the plank down on it. The force of the strike almost split the man in half.

  The two brothers set upon the downed corpses and smashed their skulls as they tried to regain their footing. Rylan, breathing heavy, threw his plank across the street at the last standing attacker, sending it to explode into splinters. Asher finished off the last corpse then leaped over to help Rylan. Asher dropped the sticky plank and put his hands on his knees and shared a grin with his brother.

  Rylan immediately rose off his knees and looked on in consternation. Val saw the same face on Asher and followed their gaze to Daria, on her knees, visibly shaking and crying. Her eyes were transfixed on the scene in the street. She looked past them all and pointed to a single standing figure, silhouetted by the twilight.

  Asher tossed his board to Rylan and removed his sword.

  “No, Rylan, please,” Daria cried. She whispered something and Val stepped closer to her.

  “What’s wrong, Daria?”

  She never took her eyes off the figure as she answered.

  “That’s Uncle Pent.”

  The group looked to the shadowy figure, but saw only the coming darkness.

  “How could you be sure that was him?” Val asked, picking his sister up off the muddy str
eet.

  “I could see his face right before the sun began to set. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t speak.”

  Rylan was reverting back to his normal form as he removed torches from his pack.

  “He didn’t attack us, he might be okay,” he said.

  Daria grabbed at Val’s shirt as she pleaded.

  “No, he wasn’t just watching. He was smiling. He was watching you and smiling as you slaughtered those people.”

  Asher cleared his throat. “Daria, those weren’t people, they were—”

  “No, I know that Asher; that’s not what I meant. I know you had to put them down. He looked like he was enjoying it. And his eyes…they were…”

  Val looked off into the distance as the sun gave away its last rays of light. “Okay, guys, we need to find shelter. If that was my Uncle Pent, then he ran off in the direction of our house. We need to find a place we can hole up for the night. A woodcutter lives nearby. It isn’t spacious, but we should be able to keep a good fire going all night.”

  “Lead the way,” Asher said.

  Val woke up from a blurry dream and listened as Asher put another cord of wood on the fire. Val got up and walked out to the front porch, looked out across the mud, and smiled. Asher had been taking half-burned pieces of wood and throwing them out into the open area.

  I would have never thought of that. There is no way for anything to get close to us without crossing one of the flames.

  One by one, the flames were being snuffed out. Val heaved his sword and banged it against the front door. In a flash, Rylan appeared in the doorway, daggers out. Asher tossed a flaming cord in the general direction of the dark line.

  Pent’s face was awash in the flickering light. He stood tall and still with his hands clasped before him. His lips were curled back to showcase long rows of sharp teeth. Val took a step closer to the fire and relaxed his sword arm.

  “Uncle Pent?”

  “Hello, dear boy,” Pent said, voice cracking.

  As he spoke, black blood dripped from the edges of his mouth. Val took a step back.

  “No, you’re not him.”

  Daria walked from the cabin with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Pent let out a blood-curdling screech as his long clawed hands flickered around, and clawed at his arms and chest.

  “And my sweet niece Daria. Oh, how I’ve longed to see you again. Come here and give me a hug.” He reached his bloody hands out to be illuminated by the fire light.

  Rylan stepped in front of Daria, blocking her view.

  “Please go inside. We'll take care of this.”

  She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, gripping the blanket at her chest. Rylan reached out, touching her hand, and slowly pushed her into the house before closing the door. He turned around with rage in his eyes. He began to remove one of his vials of blood and storm off the porch, but Asher held him back.

  Pent flipped his fingers around and twitched in anticipation. His smile widened at the man’s anger filled eyes.

  “Why are you doing this?” Val asked.

  Pent took an extremely fast step forward toward Val, startling all three men. The man stood at the edge of the fire, fully illuminated. His eyes were dark black and yellow, his features grotesque and elongated. His clothes were tattered rags, all soaked in new and old blood. His face was covered in lacerations and scars, apparently self inflicted.

  “This?” he asked as his voice trailed off into another screech into the night’s air. He snapped his head back, bones cracking violently.

  “This is all I know now, Val. A gift from the abyss. I may have only been in the ground for a short time but it seemed like forever.” His fingers tore at the rags across his chest and opened the cloth, exposing a gaping hole where his sternum used to be. Val gripped his sword for courage.

  “The devil that took my hand?”

  Pent’s lips curled into an evil smile. “He is nothing in comparison.”

  Val lifted his sword up to rest on his shoulder. Pent smiled and looked to the three men one at a time.

  “Come when you are ready,” he said, and slowly walked backward to let the darkness swallow him.

  Rylan spread on a little bit of blood and looked out into the darkness as he began to transform. He cut it short, wiping the blood off.

  “He's gone.”

  Val saw Daria watching from the window. Asher threw out a few more logs of wood and replaced them with new logs.

  “I am good here. Go talk to her.”

  Daria was wiping tears from her eyes, but only cried harder when she looked at her brother.

  “It is him, isn’t it?” she asked.

  Val put his sword near the front door and sat down in front of his sister.

  “No, The Pent we knew and loved is dead. That thing out there is something created by evil. And tomorrow I will end it.”

  Daria fell out of her chair and wrapped her arms around Val’s neck.

  “I already watched him die once before. I can't do it again.”

  Val hugged her and she held him even closer. “He tried to save me, Val. Even when the slavers beat him for trying to defend me, he stayed strong. He did his best to keep everyone in the group strong and healthy while he waited for the right moment to try and escape. Even the ones that had been in the group for a long time found a new hope in his strength. We truly believed he would get us to safety. But then they caught him trying to steal a weapon and took turns beating him till he was dead.” She put her head into Val’s arm and began sobbing.

  Rylan began to walk from the room, but she reached out and grabbed his pant leg. “I just want you to know he was a good man. He was a quiet and hard man, and I know we didn’t always like living with him. But he was a good man. He doesn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve for that to be his end!”

  Val cried with his sister and she eventually released Rylan’s leg. He walked out on the front porch with Asher and sat down on a cutting stump. Asher looked out over the small fires in silence for a long time. “She knows we have to kill him, right?”

  Rylan ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep breath. “Yeah. She knows.”

  Asher nodded and looked on into the darkness. “You love her?”

  Rylan let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, I guess I do. Why don’t you go rest? I’ll keep watch.”

  As Asher walked away from the fire, Daria passed him and sat next to Rylan. She threw out one side of her blanket and covered his shoulders as she put her head on his shoulder.

  Val finished up the watch and kept the fire going as the morning sun came out and tried to fight off the low sitting fog. The sky was still grey and the clouds were thick in the sky when the rest of the group came out of the cabin. Asher and Rylan checked their gear as Daria went through the kitchen and looked for something to make for a quick meal.

  “How are we going to leave her behind and make sure she is safe?” he asked quietly.

  “We can put her up on a roof. That’s about all we can do. Give her a sword, hide her away while we fight the ghoul and then come back to get her.”

  Val shook his head. “That’s pretty much what I was thinking. I just don’t want that thing to use her against me. I can’t fight and defend her at the same time.” The three shared a look and nodded in agreement. Daria came out through the cracked front door with her sword and pack. She tried to put on a strong smile, but it was obviously a lie. “There really isn’t any food. Let's go find me a roof.”

  Val, Rylan, and Asher walked together toward Val’s home. Rylan had put on panther's blood. For the first time, Val saw him in his transformed state and didn’t not smirk or find humor in the sight. His large golden eyes flashed a predator's guile. His exposed skin was covered in smooth, black fur and he had a long, sleek tail that made his walk seem more balanced and steady than the other two. Asher was armed with his bow, but had his sword tied on with a breakaway string for back up. Val felt under prepared for the fight.

  Judging b
y what they'd seen the night before, they determined that speed would ultimately be Pent’s main advantage. Asher made Val fully aware what would happen if he was scratched or bitten by the ghoul. As the three neared Pent’s house, they could see where he had been buried some time before. A fresh mound of dirt and broken wood laid under the shade of a large tree on Pent’s property. When Val looked back on the house, he felt like it had been forever since he had been home. Memories good and bad came flooding into his mind.

  The door was still kicked in. Since then, the elements had made a mess of the inside of the house. As Val stopped and looked in, Pent came sliding out from the other side of the door. Val immediately brought his sword out before him, preparing to attack the undead monster.

  Pent looked different in the morning light. His skin was a pale greyish hue with dark veins running under his skin. He stepped quietly outside the house and onto the open grass. Asher started to circle around to the right of the men as he drew his bow string. Rylan took a step away from Val to stay out of his greatsword's reach, but stayed close to the man. Val looked at Pent’s eyes and realized there was a complete loss of reason or humanity. Val tightened his grip and threw away the reservations against harming his beloved Uncle.

  Pent opened his arms wide and three walking corpses came shuffling from the inside of the house.

  “Welcome home.”

  Pent leaped out across the ground and sprinted toward Val. Asher kept his arrow nocked and paced the ghoul's run as one of the undead from the house neared him. At the last moment, Asher let his arrow fly and dropped his bow, drawing his sword and driving the pommel into the temple of the attacker. The arrow flashed a hand's width in front of the ghoul’s eyes. Val saw the arrow coming and anticipated the attack At the moment the arrow blocked his view, he slashed his wide blade across Pent’s left shoulder. He tried to follow the attack with a sweep into the creature’s body, but Pent dove sideways to avoid the blade.

  Rylan leaped into the reach of Pent’s claws and the two exchanged a flurry of strikes, each one blocked by claw or dagger blade. Val ran after them and tried to match their footing, and almost ran into one of the corpses stumbling into the fight, quickly smashing the monster down with a chopping strike. As Rylan came through with a double downward strike at Pent, he immediately had to dive and roll backward. Pent read the attack and reached in behind his daggers to claw at Rylan’s arms. The man narrowly escaped the attack thanks to Val jumping at Pent’s side with a wide slash. As Pent and Rylan leaped away, Val steadied his arms and legs for another attack. As he locked eyes with Pent, one of the walking dead slowly made its way at Val. Val stayed calm and stared into Pent’s black eyes as the ghoul waited for him to break his stance, giving him an opening. In the last moment, an arrow struck Pent in his already wounded shoulder.