Dirge of the Dead

by Reed Logan Westgate

  “Tell me what you will do when you have no nightmares to feed on Baku,” Ertigan shook her again violently by the throat like a doll in the hands of a giant. The edges of her vison blurred as her oxygen cut out. She felt helpless, alone, and lost. “Tell me!”

  “Let me tell you about a nightmare,” Xlina gasped, remembering the man in the alley. The mugger. The darkness she had seen in the man, strong enough to bury his hopes and dreams. She had consumed it, but it was not gone. She felt it in her gut, seething like a black stain within. She drew on it now, calling it from deep within.

  “It’s not possible,” Ertigan growled as her hand burst into violet flames. She grabbed his muscled arm, burning his bronzed skin.

  “Where? How?” Lexxes looked around the island, searching for a break in her shielding but finding none.

  “Share in his pain, demon,” Xlina coursed with nightmare energy, her entire body sheathed in violet flames as she bent his wrist back, snapping the bones effortlessly. She felt her feet land on the dock as his clawed hand flopped lifelessly on the broken limb. “This is our realm monster.”

  She walked forward; her body engulfed in the nightmares of the man from the alley. A powerful collection of fears and doubts she had consumed. They lived in her. She could feel them again as if his memories were her own, and she pushed those feelings out in all directions as she stalked the demon.

  Ertigan swiped at her with his good arm, but the burning nightmare energy engulfed his hand. He shrieked in pain as the violet flames jumped from Xlina to his arm. Scorching and burning his bronzed flesh.

  “The only power you have here, demon, is that which you are given,” Xlina allowed the nightmare to surge forth, engulfing the brute in a crackle of energy that arced out, sending violet flames spreading over his muscled torso. He wailed in agony. “And I’ll allow you none.”

  “Xlina,” Amber called from behind the brute, her face half burned away as she fixed eyes with the woman. She saw Amber’s skull in the moonlight, as if half her body was an undead monstrosity. Amber reached for her with her good arm and called out.

  “You will not have her,” Xlina spat defiantly at the demon as he retreated into the waters of the lake back toward the dark circle below.

  “I will not let you keep her whelp,” Ertigan crashed into the water, splashing a hasty retreat. “You cannot stay in the dream realm forever, Baku.”

  “Come back to my realm again, demon,” Xlina stood on the dock threateningly, “And I’ll show you the meaning of torment.”

  Ertigan descended into the lake, a burning, smoldering mass of flesh. For the second time in a year, she had tested her mettle against the demon and won. It was a narrow victory, but a victory none-the-less. Xlina turned as Ertigan retreated to the infernal realm to look at Lexxes. Her bear spirit diminished to but a flicker as her barrier spell engulfed the dream island, blocking them both from accessing their full power in the dream realm. Unlike Lexxes, whose power was quickly waning as she exiled herself from the dream realm, Xlina had internalized the nightmares. She carried the man’s suffering in the depths of her soul. While the barrier drained Lexxes magical reserves, Xlina’s power shone like a beacon in the night.

  “There will be consequences,” Lexxes let her arms down, exhausted from the barrier spell.

  “Of turning you back on a friend. Of that I am certain,” Xlina stalked the dock slowly, gauging Lexxes’ intent. With Ertigan defeated for the moment, would Lexxes, even in her diminished state, still make a play for Amber’s soul?

  “We are not enemies, Baku,” Lexxes raised her hands defensively.

  “Nor are we friends I see, dream walker.” Xlina crossed her arms, confidently shifting her weight to her right and leveling a daring glare at the shaman.

  “I have a duty,” Lexxes threw her hands to the side in frustration, “Don’t you understand what you are doing?”

  “I am spitting in the eye of fate.” Xlina lowered her hands and turned back to the edge of the dock, where poor Amber’s soul languished between life and death.

  “You spit in the eye of the natural order,” Lexxes stomped heavily on the dock, drawing Xlina to look back over her shoulder.

  “Perhaps the order should have gotten more involved,” Xlina reasoned, her voice laced with venom. “Where was the order when I was being marked? Where was the order when Amber fell? Where was the order when the Burnished Rose attacked the Hearth? Seems to me like the order serves only to protect itself and your own power. To hell with the people below.”

  “That’s not how it works, Xlina,” Lexxes followed down the dock, her arms extended pleadingly. “I beg you, lets set this right. Send Amber back where she belongs.”

  “I can’t do that,” Xlina shot a glare back over her shoulder. “You see, Amber is back where she belongs already. She is among her friends while your natural order would see her burning in the pits of hell.”

  “Don’t you care?” Lexxes stomped again, extending her arms as if to display the world around them. “Don’t you care about anyone but yourself? Or has the mark finally corrupted the person? Is there nothing but your selfish petulant desires?”

  “I care,” Xlina hesitated to look over Amber, her tanned skin burned away on half her face. She shivered and trembled on the dock, mumbling incoherently, lost in the demonic torment of the mark. Ertigan’s invocation of the dark bond bringing back the painful memories of hell.

  “You care about her,” Lexxes pointed to Amber threateningly. “It’s one soul X. One girl. What makes her so damn special?”

  “What makes anyone special,” Xlina’s voice trailed off softly. Her words no longer meant for Lexxes. “I love her.”

  “That’s foolish romanticism. You’ll upend everything for love?”

  “If not for love, then what? What cause is so righteous Lexxes? Power? Wealth? Prestige? What do you fight for if not love? What!”

  “The natural order,” Lexxes shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “All that is.”

  “Awful, convenient,” Xlina kneeled down and wrapped Amber’s trembling body in a hug. “How those who benefit the most from the ‘Natural Order’ happen to be its staunchest defenders.”

  “You sound like a fool,” Lexxes voice rang with an air of superiority.

  “You sound like a demon.” Xlina cradled Amber’s head in her arms, gently stroking her singed blonde hair back over her ear. She gazed into her face, half human, half a grotesque mask of burned flesh and bone. “At least I am still human and serve my human desires. Tell me Lexxes, which gods or devils are you serving?”

  “That’s a low blow, Xlina.”

  “So is luring me here to coax out Amber’s soul, Lexxes. Ertigan knows, he knows we survived Oxivius’ soul bomb and now he is going to come. As if the Angels and Druids weren’t enough.”

  Xlina hugged Amber tightly and focused on her nightmare magic. It was time for the soul to return. Her energy danced about them as the dream body faded away, leaving only the white spectral form of Amber behind. Xlina noted the dark spot forming in the center of the soul and remembered the spawning room. When the light was gone... she would be ready to be reborn a soulless demon. She would not let that happen. The soul mingled with hers, joining in her embrace until at last it was just Xlina kneeling on the dock.

  “Many will pay the price for your ‘love’ Xlina,” Lexxes warned, stalking down the rickety wooden dock.

  “Many already have,” Xlina rose from her crouching position on the dock, looking back at turtle island, her eyes filled with sadness. “There was much I still wanted to learn from you, Dream Walker.”

  “There is much you still can, Baku.”

  “Not anymore.” Xlina turned and stepped off the dock into the cool water of the lake. She felt herself falling, tumbling through the dream realm once more.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Color of Envy

  Xlina’s eyes fluttered open as she rolled over in the luxurious bed. She cast her arms wide, st
retching like a cat among the silken sheets. Finding sleep came easily after Owen left Pandora’s. She let out a sigh as the events of the prior evening replay in her head. The meeting with Tamera in the Cathedral, the battle with Archam, and the meeting of the Druid Owen, Lexxes luring her to the dream realm to take back Amber’s soul. It was all simply too much for her to bear. The tangled web of fate had closed in on her, and she could feel the chaos unwinding around her.

  Oxivius had left her the coins needed to summon Styx and cross into Otherworld to the Necropolis. He had once described the Necropolis as an otherworldly place where the forgotten graves ended up. The cauldron had been the grave of the man responsible for its destruction and was now lost in time. Could that be Oxivius’ real motivation for living in the mausoleum? Could he already possess the cauldron? If so, why hadn’t he said as much from the outset?

  “Sleep well?” Valeria purred from the foot of her bed. She snapped her gaze on the demon. She stood in human form, dressed in a black lace nighty. Her porcelain skin was smooth and completely unblemished, as she placed her hands on her hips and made a sultry pout with her lips. That was the Valeria she had come accustomed to.

  “Not really.” Xlina grabbed the black silk sheets and pulled them up around her defensively.

  “Bad dreams,” Valeria purred once more as she sauntered seductively around the bottom of the bed. Her bare feet making delicate patter on the marble floor as she twirled like a ballerina making her way to the side of the bed. Xlina cringed as the demon stalked closer, feeling the tangible lust from the Succubus in the air.

  “Is now really the time for that?” Xlina pulled the sheets up over her head and scrunched up like a child avoiding a nightmare.

  “X, you have been busy,” Valeria cooed, sitting delicately on the bed and patting her head through the covers. “You have barely made any time for me.”

  “We could watch a movie,” Xlina quipped reflexively. “A nice rom-com, perhaps? I’ll make popcorn.”

  “Oh, so we’re friend now? We can snuggle down and have some girl chat?” Valeria squealed with mock excitement. “Why don’t we start now with all the things you have been hiding from me?”

  “Hiding?” Xlina’s stomach churned at the demon’s accusation. Had she too learned about Amber’s soul?

  “Yes, hiding,” Valeria pulled on the sheets, yanking them down over Xlina, exposing her. She lay in bed, just an athletic top and bikini briefs. Valeria eyed her exposed mark and licked her lips hungrily. Xlina knew if she fed on her soul, the demon would quickly discover Amber lurking within.

  “I’m sorry,” Xlina blurted, covering her mark with her hands, and turning away, feigning embarrassment. “I didn’t listen and I’m sorry.”

  “Go on,” Valeria slid closer to her the bed. She could feel the warmth of the demon’s skin on her back. The mark pulsed from the proximity of its master, sending waves of pleasure through her body, enticing her to be compliant.

  “I entered the Cathedral from my dream on the way to the Hearth,” Xlina added quickly as she drew her knees up to her chest in a fetal position trying to insulate herself from her demonic master.

  “You did?” Valeria cooed, running a red painted nail seductively down Xlina’s arm. It sent a shiver of excitement through her body, but she knew it wasn’t real. It was the magic of the Succubus. The allure.

  “There was a man there,” Xlina trembled under the demon’s hypnotic touch. “Archam, the priest called him. He repelled magic like none I have ever seen. I saved the Haitian girl from him, and we hid in the Hearth.”

  “You survived an encounter with the Heavenly Host, that’s a good girl. Your powers are growing.”

  “Then when I returned to Pandora’s,” Xlina hesitated, not wanting to put her brother in danger, but at least as an acolyte he could defend himself whereas Amber’s soul was prime for consuming. “There was a druid in the Club.”

  “I know,” Valeria cooed and made a pouty expression, puckering her cherry red lips. “But more importantly, who are they?”

  “The one I met is Owen,” Xlina reluctantly sighed, finding no point in delaying the inevitable and if Valeria thought for an instant she was not being forthcoming, she would rip the memories from her mind. Instead, she had to play on the demon’s ego. She needed Valeria’s pride to blind her. “He travels with my brother, Arrivan. They have come to purge the demons from this area after hearing what happened with the council.”

  “And they know about the mark?” Valeria allowed her nails to trace down Xlina’s sides, tickling her ribs and abdomen. The sensation building in Xlina was one of pure lustful desire as the demon imposed her allure on her will.

  “They do.” Xlina squirmed on the bed under the careful teasing of the demon. She had to find a way out and quickly, before her body betrayed her to her infernal master. “They are coming for you.”

  “Let them come,” Valeria poked her nail sharply into Xlina’s hip just above her bikini brief. The sudden turn from tantalizing to pain caused her to yelp involuntarily. “I can still smell the stink of pine in the club. I can taste their righteousness on my tongue, and it revolts me. In the end, they will kill you, you know that, Xlina?”

  “No, not my brother.”

  “Your brother? A devotee of the order? His loyalty is to the Druids, else he would have come long ago. He is a guardian of the mist first and foremost X, and you threaten the mist. It’s his life’s work. His singular purpose. Do you really think your blood is thicker than the years of indoctrination?”

  “He loves me.” Xlina shied away from the demon’s touch, drawing a stern look from Valeria.

  “He does? Then where was he when daddy abandoned you in Boston’s psych ward?” Valeria’s barb struck deep, causing a swirl of emotions to brew in her. “Did he condone daddy’s punishment of the rogue Baku? Was it in your best interest to live in a strait jacket drugged until all coherent thought eluded you? Is that the extent of your brother’s love? He could not even be bothered to show up at the hospital and at least wipe the drool from your lip. But we cared... we saw your potential X.”

  “And just like that,” Xlina’s voice sank in despair, “Just like that the proud druid, will end the threat to his order.”

  “Just like that,” Valeria barbed again, snapping her fingers for effect. “They will all turn on you. They will all leave you. First your Father, then dear sweet brother, then Amber sold her soul to Ertigan for power no less.”

  “Ox cared,” Xlina held on to one last ray of hope in denial of the demon’s words. Valeria couldn’t know about the dream realm and about Lexxes turning on her as well, but her words couldn’t have been better timed. The raw feelings of betrayal still lie fresh in her heart and Valeria was peeling back her layers like a skilled potter working a vase.

  “Oxivius? He cared?” Valeria merely laughed as if she were in on a grand secret that everyone was privy to but her. “Ox didn’t care about you. Silly girl.”

  “The book,” Xlina flung up wall after wall, thinking of all the times the necromancer had saved her. Had been kind to her.

  “I traded him the book long before he met you.” Valeria crossed her arms over her chest and arched her back, so she loomed over the prone Xlina. “He didn’t get the book for you.”

  “No, he got the book,” Xlina turned away, grabbing a pillow and pulling it close to her chest in a massive hug.

  “He got the book hoping to travel to hell to free the soul of his dead wife,” Valeria stabbed her with her words. Her delivery was cold and callous, as if driving an icicle through her heart.

  “No, we went to save Amber.” Xlina buried her face in the black silken pillow, wishing to hide, to disappear from the taunting demon.

  “Really? In and out, right? What went wrong? A detour, perhaps? What was it he needed to see in that room where my kind are born?”

  Her words hit like a punch to the gut. Oxivius had insisted there was something he needed to see. He led them to the spawning chamber. He
agonized over the soul racks. She had thought he meant to see what would happen to her, but if Valeria were telling the truth.

  “Your lying,” Xlina hide, like a small child, as if the monster in the room would just vanish and everything would be okay.

  “Oh no, I am not. Not when the truth is so utterly delicious.” Valeria licked her lips, enjoying the torment she was inflicting. “Oxivius returned from his exile to save his dear, precious wife. Meeting you was just a happy accident. Everything, all his grand designs, all his schemes, they were not meant for you. They were meant for her. He was trying to save her.”

  “How would you know?” Xlina, in her rage and denial, threw the pillow at the demon. Valeria raised two fingers, and the pillow incinerated in midair, falling to ash between them.

  “That’s the best part X,” Valeria hovered above her menacingly. She paused for dramatic effect, letting the moment linger in the room. “I know because I am her. I am the lost wife he returned to save. I am the one he intended to free from the demon clutches. You? You’re just baggage tagging along for the ride.”

  Her heart snapped. There were no words, there were no thoughts other than the lonely emptiness that filled her heart. Her feelings roiled below the surface. Rage, disappointment, denial... they all danced through her as the truth of the demon’s words penetrated her. It was as if Valeria had held her heart in her hand and crushed it. She felt it profoundly inside and realized she would forever have a new understanding of the phrase ‘a broken heart’.

  Xlina just lay cold and vacant. Her jumbled emotions fought against her thoughts as a storm welled inside. Valeria smiled venomously above her, enjoying the moment. Drinking it in.

  “I told you X,” Valeria placed a hand on her head, softly stroking her hair. “I’m the only one that truly cares.”

  “You’re a demon, you don’t have the ability to care.”

  “About your feelings? No, not in the slightest. If you want to lie in bed and sulk, then wallow in your pity. I care about your potential. I care about what you can become. I care about what you will become. That is more than any of the rest of them can say. At least with me, you know I will always tell you the truth, no matter how much it hurts.”