by Charley Case
Finn shook his head. “How far?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s a long way. If they aren’t here, then something’s up.”
Reaching over, Finn flipped the light switch, but nothing happened. He flipped it up and down a few times before giving up on the idea. The dwarf descended the narrow wooden steps one at a time. He sensed Mila behind him, then felt her hand touch his back to keep balance.
What he could see from the light filtering down from the kitchen showed a bare stone floor and unpainted cinder block walls. He figured the basement was never used for more than storage and, if the musty smell that accompanied the rot was any indication, maybe a washing machine.
There was a muffled, repeating squishing sound barely audible, making Finn heft Fragar a few inches higher.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, Finn's eyes began to adjust, his dark vision finally kicking in. While he could see better than Mila, who he guessed couldn't make anything out, the darkness was thick enough, he was having trouble picking out details.
“Screw this,” Finn mumbled before kneeling and putting his palm to the stone floor. He focused his magic and breathed a word. “Aotrom.”
The entire floor glowed softly with white light. Over a few seconds, the room went from pitch black to bright as a cloudless noonday.
Mila and Finn gasped as they saw the source of the rotting smell. Dozens of half-eaten rats littered the floor. Small pools of blood surrounded the discarded half bodies, looking particularly ominous as the only light was coming from below.
“I guess we know where the smell is coming from,” Finn said, standing.
Mila squatted in front of a rat. “Something bit this in half. See here? Those are from human teeth.”
Finn frowned and scanned the room. There were no other parts to the basement, just the one place. An old washer and dryer sat to one side, with a large slop sink next to them. It looked like a pile of dirty clothes was stacked waist-high between the appliances and sink. An extended workbench was built into the opposite wall. Next to it, an overturned stool and some spilled paint cans. A metal cabinet on the back wall had a bent door where it looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.
“Doesn’t look like much down here,” Mila said, standing and backing from the half-eaten rat. “Someone came down here and ate a few dozen rats then left? What the fuck is going on?”
Finn shook his head. “I have no clue. Let’s check the rest of the house.”
Penny sniffed the air again. “Chi.” She held up a hand, indicating they should wait. After a second, she spread her wings and pushed off Finn's shoulder. Slower than should be possible for a creature her size, that was beating its wings as quiet as she was, she hovered around the room, sniffing out whatever it was that her extra sensitive nose smelled.
“What is it?” Finn asked.
Penny held up a hand, forestalling the question as she approached the washing machine. She sniffed and lowered herself towards the pile of clothes, her eyes narrowing.
The basement was silent, even Penny's magical wings weren't making a sound. Finn cocked his head, listening for the squishing sound that he had heard on the way down the steps, but he couldn't hear it anymore. He looked at the dead rats, and his eyes went wide. The sound had been something biting into raw meat.
“Penny, get back!” Finn shouted, stepping forward, and whispering Fragar’s power word. The ax folded open in a flash of blue and purple magic just as the pile of clothes twisted and stood.
Penny shot backward as a dark brown, melted hand snatched for her, missing by a few inches. The thing wasn't a pile of clothes at all, but a half-melted human shape with the remnants of clothes hanging off of it. Deep red eyes were set in what looked like melting clay. It opened its mouth far more than a human could, and a keening sound pierced the air, making Finn flinch as the sound threatened to rupture his eardrums.
Turning, the abomination locked eyes with Finn. An evil grin showed a row of blood-covered human teeth, and a half-eaten rat fell from its bloody hand to plop on the floor.
Faster than Finn thought possible, it leaped across the room and slammed into him. On pure instinct, Finn raised the flat of Fragar between them, using the full blade as a shield from the thing's mouth. Mila was shoved to the side as Finn and the creature slammed into the wall.
The clacking of teeth let Finn know if he hadn't gotten Fragar up, the thing would be chomping into his neck.
Bony fingers dug into Finn's shoulder and arm, making him grunt in pain. He shoved as hard as he could, but the creature wouldn't budge.
“Shit, this thing is strong,” Finn grunted, shoving for all he was worth.
Suddenly the abomination's right arm went limp, and he was able to shove it off. In the split second that it flew through the air, Finn saw Mila had used Gram to slice its arm clean off. The detached arm fell to the ground and melted into a pool of black and brown muck that hissed on the stone floor.
To their horror, the creature got to its feet, its right arm already growing back, but this time it was more bulbous and deformed, the hand ending in short talons instead of fingers.
Penny swooped in from behind, blasting it with dragon fire that engulfed its head and shoulders. When the flame died out, the creature, while burned black, seemed to be in no worse shape than before.
Finn roared and charged.
Chapter Ten
Mila stepped back to give Finn room to fight, but she was against the steps and had little opportunity to help.
Finn was grappling with the horror, having gotten his ax stuck in the thing's midsection, where the brown putrid flesh healed over the blade, essentially swallowing the weapon. Now only the handle protruded at an odd angle from the thing's torso.
As far as Mila could tell, the fight was not going in Finn's favor. Usually, he was the strongest guy in a row, but Finn was struggling to match the creature. His face was red, and a blood vein pulsed on his forehead as he descended into the rage.
Finn spun and lifted the creature off its feet. He slammed it into the wall beside the stairs. Mila took the opportunity to stab the thing in the neck, but she couldn't tell if it did any good, besides eliciting a gurgling hiss that shot black blood from its mouth and onto Finn's face.
“Not helping,” Finn grunted, shaking his head to get the black fluid out of his eyes.
“Sorry!” Mila shouted when she saw the goop running down his face and into his beard.
Penny landed on Mila's shoulder and blew another thin line of fire into the creature's face. It was either not affected by magic or fire, in particular, was ineffective. Penny hissed in annoyance and launched herself at the abomination’s face. She raked her talons deep into the flesh. It roared and hissed, but otherwise, it never lost its focus on overpowering Finn.
“Going to need a hand here. It keeps getting stronger for some reason.” Finn was down on one knee, his teeth grinding.
“Should I shoot it?” Mila shouted, jumping off the steps and putting a little distance between them.
“Whatever. That sounds good. Shoot it in the face.” There was a distinct snapping sound, and Mila could see one of Finn's fingers bent at an odd angle, as their interlocked hands twisted back and forth for an advantage.
Finn growled, his face turning redder, and his eyes narrowing. He let out an animal roar, forcing the creature up the wall as Finn stood to his feet. Now that his rage was in full swing, he became stronger, yet he still couldn't tear the thing apart, like he wanted to. Instead, it looked to Mila like a slow-motion dance as Finn overpowered the creature, but was still forced to move its arms slowly. Mila couldn't imagine the forces being used.
She folded Gram back into its handle and snapped it into her holster, before pulling the Ivar pistol out. She checked the safety and aimed the runic, black steel pistol. With Finn on his feet again, she couldn't get a shot without hitting him. The weapon’s blast radius when her celestial power washed through it was unpredictable, making precision impossibl
e.
“I don't have a shot, Finn. You’re in the way.” Mila tried to find an angle, but Finn was now in the thing’s face, growling more than the creature, and Penny was doing her best to turn the thing’s head into flesh ribbons by flying around it and digging long furrows in the molten, clay-like flesh.
Seeing it was not going to win this war of attrition between its two foes, the creature screamed and pulled its hand back hard enough, it ripped off at the wrist. The move unbalanced Finn. He stumbled to the side, slamming into the dryer, denting it with his hip. The detached hand melted in Finn's grip, while the creature’s stump grew a deformed, twisted replacement; this one with four-inch talons.
It jumped, wrapping its legs around Finn's midsection and began ripping bloody chunks from his shoulder with the new talons.
Mila’s heart jumped when Finn screamed in pain and rage. Blood arced from him and splattered across the floor and walls each time the creature's hand came down.
Penny slashed at the creature with talon and tooth but to no avail. She huffed flame and smoke, as her attacks picked up speed.
Mila dropped the Ivar. She held her hands in front of her like she’d seen casters do. She had no idea how to use her magic, but if she didn't do something, Finn was going to die. Not knowing what to do, she tried to will an answer into her hands, whatever that might be, but nothing happened.
Glancing up, she saw Finn had gone to one knee, his face pale and sweating.
Mila redoubled her efforts. She had to make this work. If Finn died, that thing would be free to tear her apart, too, eating her like it had the rats. The magic was there, she had used it before, she just needed to use it again.
Once again, she tried to will something into happening. It felt too broad of a request for her to focus on. Mila needed to be more specific. She visualized the drooping face screaming at Finn. Imagined it burned to ash. She wanted the power to banish the horror, to make it stop ripping chunks out of her love. She wanted it destroyed utterly.
She drew upon the power to destroy the creature. Mila gasped as her hands glowed soft white. She felt the flow of energy. It shot outwards from the back of her head, through her core, and out through her hands. She had no idea what the power would do, but she was excited that it was doing something. The intensity began to make her hands tingle after a few seconds, and she set her jaw, glaring at the creature as it stopped attacking Finn to stare at her glowing hands.
“You want some of this, bitch?” Mila sneered.
In a surprise move, it backed away from Finn, and Mila stepped up behind the groaning dwarf. Finn still had a grip on the creature's arm, and he was not letting go.
“Where you going? We haven't finished our dance.” Finn slurred, pulling the arm in his hand back towards him.
The red beady eyes exhibited signs of panic, glancing around the room, looking for a way out. Finn's vice-like grip on its arm was too mighty. It raised its taloned hand to strike at the dwarf’s fist.
Mila came forward, pressed up against Finn's ruined back, her teeshirt and leggings soaking his blood. She reached over his kneeling form and grasped the abomination’s head between her glowing hands.
“Fuck you,” she growled, before pushing her power through its skull with everything she had.
The creature screamed, its jaw sagging before falling off as the whole body crumbled to black ash in the blink of an eye.
Finn fell backward, no longer able to hold himself up. Mila did her best to catch him, but he weighed too much and knocked her on her bottom, his head falling into her lap.
Penny landed on her back and pulled a healing potion out. Mila opened Finn’s mouth while Penny scurried around to Mila's front and pried the stopper loose. Mila took the vial from Penny and poured it down Finn’s throat.
“There you go.” She soothed, watching him swallow the red fluid down.
“That was close,” Finn croaked as the healing potion repaired his back.
“What the hell was that thing?”
He cleared his throat and began to move his arm, flexing the shoulder that was, a few seconds ago, no more than ground beef. With a little help, he sat up, pulling his bomber jacket off and looking it over with a frown.
“A homunculus.” He peered at the pile of black ash.
“What’s a homunculus?” Mila pulled scraps of Finn's black tee-shirt apart to get a look at his mending flesh. She wanted to make sure one healing potion was enough.
“Like a flesh golem, or a man created from spare parts. Usually, they need a constant feed of magic to remain alive, either from their creator or a device of some kind.” Finn frowned. “It’s not a spell used in polite society. It tends to be cruel for the homunculus, who is, by all metrics, alive and a real person. Something alive like that should not be held to the whims of a master.”
Satisfied he was healing well, Mila focused on the conversation. “Then what happened to this one? Who would make a man that was so…grotesque?”
“I think this was Herman, but the spell keeping him alive got twisted somehow.”
“Shir shee, squee,” Penny suggested.
“I suppose it could have something to do with the way magic is acting up,” Finn said, thinking through the process. “Maybe the spell that maintained the poor thing somehow got twisted. Then, in turn, it twisted the form. Either this was intentional and happened because Hellena was trying to kill us, or it was an accident, and we happened to be the ones that came across it. Either way, she needs to pay for what she did to this poor person.”
Chapter Eleven
Penny surprised both Finn and Mila by casting a spell that not only cleaned the clothes they were wearing but also mended them. Finn's ruined shirt crawled over him like an octopus caught on land, the tentacles of shredded cotton reaching across the holes to join together and thicken until there was no hole left. Blood and gore that coated Mila’s clothes and Finn's face and beard evaporated, leaving only the pleasant smell of fresh-cut grass.
“Why the hell have you been hiding that spell all this time?” Finn asked, overjoyed that he wouldn't have to smell the bloody puke that had seeped into his beard during the fight. “Do you know how much we could have saved on new tee-shirts?”
Penny smiled, her teeth gleaming. “Suqee. Shir shee chi.”
“Gwen? How did you get her to teach you something for free? I know I never gave you enough cash to convince her to teach you a spell. And I’m pretty sure she doesn't take credit cards.”
“Shir. Chi, chi.”
“Why would she bet against you being able to eat five tooters at once? That’s like saying garbage disposals are only good for coffee grounds.” Finn laughed. “Well, I must say, it’s a damn good spell, and if you got five free tooters out of the deal, then it was even better.”
Mila appeared a bit green at the mention of the sweet blue larvae. “Can we change the subject? I just got clean, I really don't want to puke.”
“I can't believe you don't like tooters, just because they’re larvae,” Finn said in disbelief.
“Seriously, you need to stop.” Mila’s cheeks puffed behind a curled fist as she dry heaved.
Finn laughed and climbed to his feet, pulling his mended bomber jacket back on. “We should check the rest of the house. Maybe there's a clue that can lead us to Hellena.”
Mila took his offered hand and pulled up, brushing dirt and dust from the seat of her leggings. “Good idea. Do you think there are more of those things around? I don't know if I could do that spell again.”
Finn sniffed the air deeply, closing his eyes. “I don't think so. The corruption is dissipating now that it’s gone. Plus, the power it takes to create a homunculus is ridiculous. I seriously doubt she made more than one.”
Penny landed on Mila's shoulder as they started up the steps. Mila took one last look around, raising her eyebrow.
“What is it?” Finn asked, standing a couple steps below her and watching her think something over.
She pointed to th
e relatively empty basement. “This just looks, I don't know, too empty? My dad is pretty much a neat freak, and his basement has more in it than this one.”
“Two things. First, it’s good to know that your tidiness is hereditary and not some sort of pathology. Second, I don't understand what it is you’re pointing out.”
Mila rolled her eyes. “First,” she mocked, “if I wasn't a neat freak, between you and Danica, we would be drowning in piles of dirty clothes and discarded mail. And, second, from what Preston told us, this brother of hers has been around for a long time, even has a daughter. Someone that has a kid and owns a house doesn't keep it this clutter-free, no matter how neat and clean they are. Besides, the dusty kitchen was enough to convince me a real person didn't live here.”
Finn blinked. “I forgot about the daughter. It can't be his, he was a creature. Homunculi can't have kids.”
Realization dawned on all three of their faces.
Mila put it into words. “The daughter isn’t his. It’s Hellena’s!”
“Looks like we’re heading to the university. Let’s check the rest of the house. At this point, we can use every clue we can find.”
They headed up the steps and spread out in the house, Mila taking the upstairs and Finn checking the rest of the first floor. Penny stayed in the basement to do a few spells on the homunculus’s remains, looking for any kind of residual spell thread that could lead them to Hellena.
Finn walked up creaking, loose steps to find a short hall with one bathroom at the end of the building and three small bedrooms. Finn put his head into the first room—it was empty, as was the second, but the third was lined with transparent plastic sheets like some kind of serial killer den.
Finn raised an eyebrow, taking in the stainless steel autopsy table and trays of surgical tools so foreign to anything he had ever seen before he couldn't even guess at their purpose.
He stepped in and saw a large freezer chest against the wall and a desk with several dry-erase boards and corkboards on the wall above it. Finn hesitated, unsure he really wanted to see what was in the freezer. Overcome with curiosity, he opened it slowly. Finn was half relieved and half horrified to see that there were no human body parts in it, but there were bodies. All manner of animal carcasses filled the chest, from a whole suckling pig to what looked like the haunch of a horse. He even saw a ziplock bag full of half dissected squirrels.
