Thea sat in a horribly uncomfortable metal chair outside a doctor’s office, unable to stop her leg from bouncing. There had to be something she was missing in all of this, something she would catch if she could step back and take in the whole picture. In no logical way could Ales’ wound heal that completely in an hour. She had seen the state of it when the nurses changed the bandages, the blood and the bruising and the stitches. She hadn’t left his side except to get the nurse, and in those couple minutes, her friend had gone completely mad.
Just like the soldier.
Perhaps she had hit her head harder than she first thought, and she was the one seeing things a little wrong. The nurse hadn’t reacted to Ales’ wound healing, and now after all this mess, the people in charge wanted to talk to her; that might have been the best conclusion, but to prove it?
‘Miss Sherrard?’
The constable stood in the doorway next to her, watching with a blank expression. Thea got to her feet, wobbling slightly as her nerves tried to pull her from her body. The constable offered a small smile.
‘It’s alright, you’re not in trouble,’ she said. ‘We’re just trying to understand what happened.’
Thea nodded and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She didn’t know if she could explain, and wondered in that moment if she could blame her head injury for a hole in her memory. Yet she knew the real reason her nerves were screaming at her to run - it was all too familiar. A room full of men in well pressed army uniforms, and the head of the medical force standing with them, and those words that made an already bad day even worse. Miss Sherrard, it is within the best interest of the Shihoan Army that you be discharged and return home to Crowfell. This is non-negotiable.
The man at the desk in the little office wore the same kind of uniform as the man who had said those finalising words. He even looked similar - shaved, dark stubs of hair on an otherwise leathered face, and dark eyes shadowed by something Thea didn’t want to know about. He was joined by a doctor wearing her long white coat and a stern face, and a man in a fine pressed suit. This stranger had paper-white skin and dark hair which curled around his jaw in a purposeful dishevelment, his silver eyes watching her evenly. On the mahogany desk in front of them, resting on top of the paperwork and files of patients, was the sword.
The army man motioned to a stuffed chair across from him, and Thea sank into it, aware of the constable taking a position by the door behind her. Her heart pounded in her throat.
The army man glanced down at a paper in front of him. ‘Theodosia Sherrard?’ he asked.
Thea nodded. ‘Theo is fine.’
‘Theo?’ The stranger in the suit tilted his head in question. ‘Isn’t the feminine version Thea?’
‘Only my friends call me Thea,’ Thea said.
He nodded.
‘I am Lieutenant Major Decker Firkul,’ the army man said. ‘And I’m sure you know Head of Residency, Doctor Marjorie Lillian.’
The doctor gave a small bow of her head, which Thea returned. Thea had never met the doctor before, but she had heard the name and the opinions on how the “Viper of Crowfell Med” ran her shifts. She looked the part, with her narrow face and hollowed cheeks, her light hair pulled back hard enough to stretch the lines of her face.
‘This man to my left is Lieutenant Inspector Aurilo Calpornius,’ Firkul added. ‘His job is specifically crimes that happen within army ranks.’
‘Is that what this is?’ Thea asked. ‘A crime?’
‘We don’t know that yet,’ the stranger - Aurilo - said. ‘We’re just trying to get the full picture. Aside from the nurses, you and your friend were the only ones in the room when it happened.’
‘How is he doing?’ Firkul asked. ‘I heard he was rushed to emergency surgery.’
‘He was,’ Thea said. She tested her next words on her tongue, seeing which ones would work best. ‘He’s awake,’ she decided, ‘but still with the nurse.’
‘My condolences,’ Firkul said. He sounded genuinely sincere. Dr Lillian pulled a face that he didn’t catch, a sour twist of her lip that reminded Thea that this man was not here to be her friend.
‘If we could just get your side of what happened,’ Aurilo stepped forward. ‘I was told by the captain of this regiment that you were the one to bring in the two soldiers? One of them had this sword on him?’
‘We didn’t know about the sword,’ Thea said quickly. ‘It was buried in a whole lot of rock. We assumed it was just that and didn’t think anything of it.’
‘You weren’t concerned about him using a rock of that size against you?’ Firkul asked. He gestured to the sword in front of him. ‘It wasn’t exactly a small thing.’
‘He turned violent when we tried to take it,’ Thea said. ‘He wouldn’t even let my boys touch it. We decided it would be safer to just let him hold onto it, otherwise all hell would break loose.’
‘It was a communal decision?’ Firkul asked.
Thea flinched. ‘I made the final call.’
Firkul nodded, and Thea ignored the deja vu that sent a bile taste rising in her throat. She had made the call, on her own judgement, and made a decision against the rules she was meant to follow, and people had died for it. Again.
Firkul nodded. ‘You were made aware of the sword after you arrived here?’
Thea nodded.
‘Captain de Singh told us that he wanted the names of all of your co-workers to follow up on what this thing was, and that was when you sought out your friend, Mr…’ he glanced down at the paper. ‘Alesander Belthaire.’
Thea nodded.
‘I follow you so far,’ Firkul said. ‘Relax, Miss Sherrard. You’re doing fine. You’re not in any trouble.’
‘This isn’t my first time,’ Thea mumbled.
Firkul nodded. ‘Yes, I saw your file. This is not the same as that though. Sometimes these decisions have to be made and you had to make a call. Given the circumstances, I don’t see how you could have known what would happen.’
Thea nodded, but didn’t say anything.
‘What about the other victim?’ Aurilo said. He glanced over Firkul’s shoulder. ‘Elsbeth McCullins. She doesn’t seem to be involved with any of the others from what I can see.’
‘She was a friend of Ales’’ Thea said. ‘Alesander. They were catching up when I found him.’
‘Friends?’ Aurilo said. ‘She’s a bit old for him, isn’t she?’
‘It’s not like that,’ Thea said, though she couldn’t say for sure what their friendship actually was. She didn’t even know what preferences Ales had. ‘She volunteers here a lot, and we do the morning call outs. They cross paths through the day, and… I think that’s all there is to it.’
‘You can’t say for sure?’ Firkul asked.
‘I don’t stick my head in the business of the people I work with,’ Thea said. ‘Ales shows up and he does what he needs to, and that’s enough. What he does on his own time is his own thing.’
Firkul nodded, but Aurilo continued to watch her, as though waiting for something to jump out that would catch her in the act of doing… something.
‘That explains why she was with Mr Belthaire,’ Firkul said. ‘What was she doing in the room with the soldiers?’
‘I don’t know,’ Thea said. Did she explain that Elsbeth had charged in like a hungry dog smelling meat, that she and Ales had tried to stop her from barging in with no success, and it was the reason they were in that cursed situation to begin with? Did she sully the name of a woman who had already paid with her life, or explain the truth if it meant she and Ales could be freed of blame? All she did know is that none of it mattered now. Elsbeth was dead. Ales was dying, rejecting the blood that was supposed to save him, and she had somehow travelled back five years to repeat the same mistake that had almost cost her life. She didn’t know why Elsbeth charged in, why her mood had changed so drastically at the mention of the thing, and she knew those questions would be what came next. ‘She stepped in to help when the soldier went mad,’ she said instead.
‘You all did?’ Firkul asked.
Thea nodded.
‘I see.’ Firkul glanced up at Aurilo, and Dr Lillian shifted uncomfortably. Thea tried to read the woman’s expression, but she wouldn’t meet her eye. If either of the men noticed, they didn’t say anything.
‘There was someone else in there.’ The memory snapped into Thea’s head so suddenly she couldn’t stop herself from blurting the words out. ‘A man. He said something before it all happened.’
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Firkul raised his eyebrow in question.
‘What did he say?’ Aurilo asked.
He had told her to duck. Somehow, he had known what was about to happen. If she hadn’t have ducked, the roof would have struck her first, and if Elsbeth had gotten out of the way instead, it would be here crushed under the roof and not the other woman. The thought made her shiver. Though, he had said something else beforehand. ‘He said my skills were needed elsewhere,’ she said.
Firkul glanced up at Dr Lillian, then at Aurilo, each of their faces creasing in varying levels of confusion. Thea shifted uncomfortably. She couldn’t bring the man’s face to the surface of her mind, even though she had looked straight at him, even though she had taken in the details of his face. She didn’t even know what skills he had been talking about. Had he known Ales would need a medic? Or had this sword - and whatever it was meant for - only signalled the start of something else?
‘There wasn’t anything else happening at the hospital at the time,’ Dr Lillian said. ‘There was one call out to the Valley a few hours ago, but the other crew were here to deal with that while you were resting.’
Firkul reached for a pen and made a small note on the page in front of him. ‘This is all very helpful, Miss Sherrard. I believe Lieutenant Calpornius has a few more questions to ask, but otherwise, we have all we need. Are your contact details still up to date?’
‘Yes,’ Thea said.
‘Good. If anything comes up, I’ll be in touch, but otherwise we just have one more thing to take care of.’
He glanced up at Dr Lillian, who fixed him with an angry, steely stare.
‘This will only take a second,’ he said. ‘Please. Confidential stuff, I know you understand.’
Dr Lillian huffed, and Thea wondered if she was about to see the infamous “viper” come down on the Major. ‘I didn’t complain about you sitting in my chair, Mr Firkul, but I will not be kicked out of my office.’
‘Please,’ Firkul said. ‘Only for a minute, I promise.’
Dr Lillian huffed again, and when Firkul got to his feet, she simply stepped out of the way to let him passed. With a gentle hand against her back, he guided her towards the door, but she stopped next to Thea, then reached out and squeezed her shoulder in a surprisingly soft gesture. Thea felt her tongue dry up as the doctor grimaced, and before she could process, both of them were gone.
Aurilo stepped around the desk and sat against the front, pulling a case of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one. He offered one to Thea, and as much as she wanted one, she shook her head. Something was wrong.
‘I just want to ask about the sword,’ he said. ‘Since you only picked it up yesterday, I imagine this will be short.’
‘What’s the deal with it?’ Thea asked. ‘It’s a rusty old relic.’
‘Relic, yes,’ Aurilo said. ‘Old? Very. Do you know your history, Miss Sherrard?’
‘Beyond the history of Shihoa, not really?’ Even that was a stretch; Shihoa had only been a nation for the past century and a half, aside from colonisation and a few territorial disputes, there wasn’t much history to know of.
Aurilo only chuckled. ‘Well, this sword is older than Shihoa,’ he said. ‘I’m curious as to how it ended up in some mountain out in the valley.’
‘I wouldn’t have the slightest clue,’ Thea said.
‘Oh, I don’t expect you to,’ Aurilo said. ‘I just want to know if the soldier did anything, or said anything that might have suggested where it came from or how he got it?’
‘Just that he tried to pull it out of a mountain and couldn’t,’ Thea said.
‘You mentioned that he wouldn’t let anyone touch it,’ Aurilo said. ‘But did you? Did either you or Mr Belthaire come into contact with it?’
Thea shifted in her seat. She could still see the constable on the edge of her peripherals, guarding the door. With this stranger so close, she knew she wouldn’t get far if she tried to run. Yet, it was hard to ignore every one of her instincts screaming at her to get out of there. ‘Ales took the rock when the soldier was in the wing,’ Thea said. ‘But he put it down and walked away. I’m sorry, I don’t—’
‘And what about after it was freed from the stone?’ Aurilo asked. ‘I’m talking about the sword itself, Miss Sherrard. Who held the sword?’
‘I don’t understand,’ Thea said.
‘If you’re not read up on your history, perhaps your folklores,’ Aurilo said. ‘An ancient sword kept in an impossible tomb, only to be ripped free by the one meant to wield it. Did you ever hear a story like that?’
Thea balked at him. ‘You can’t be serious.’
‘Oh, I’m dead serious,’ Aurilo said. ‘I can’t wield it, but it appears someone has already bonded to it, and I need to know who.’
‘I think we’re done here.’ Thea slowly got to her feet, and Aurilo only chuckled, blowing a long plume of smoke into her face. Thea turned for the door, but the constable stepped in front of it, blocking her path.
‘Pick up the sword, Theodosia,’ Aurilo said.
Thea whirled around to face him. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Did you at any point pick up the sword?’ Aurilo asked. ‘The easiest way to know is for you to pick it up now. Either it’s power will drive you to madness, or you will be the one to hold it.’
‘You’re insane.’ Thea could feel her heart trying to break from her ribs and she considered her options. She was on the ground floor; if she leapt out the window she’d only have to worry about shards of glass, but it again depended on how fast Aurilo moved to stop her. She glanced down at the sword sitting on the table, it’s blade worn away, the gems in the hilt discoloured and faded. She knew if she picked it up it wouldn’t do anything; it was a hunk of metal after all, but other things were running through her head. The soldier had gone mad, and Ales wasn’t far off. Not to mention his wound - caused by the same rock - had impossibly healed.
This whole situation was madness.
‘You are wondering about Mr Belthaire,’ Aurilo said. ‘You just admitted that he too, had touched the rock. I want to ease your anxiety and state that you will be sharing the same fate.’
A chill ran down Thea’s spine.
Aurilo glanced around her to the constable. ‘He should be dead by now, yes?’
The constable sighed. ‘A man recovering from near death in a hospital bed? No-one will question a nurse by his side.’
‘Good.’
No. Panic seized her chest as her flight instincts kicked in. Ales wasn’t dead. She had been the one to track down the nurse and explain he was awake, and she had left him with her. He wasn’t dead. Not after everything the hospital had done to keep him alive. He couldn’t be dead.
‘It’s alright, Miss Sherrard,’ Aurilo said. ‘My ghouls work fast. He wouldn’t have felt a thing.’
‘Why?’ Thea demanded. ‘Why do this? If you’re worried I’ll tell someone, I won’t. I won’t tell anyone about any of this.’
‘I know you won’t,’ Aurilo said, ‘but you see, it’s the bond. I cannot release the sword from its bond unless the one who is bonded to it is dead. The only way to prove your innocence is to try the power for yourself, and I don’t see a deteriorating mind that would come of it to be any good to you or anyone else. I’d consider it a mercy.’
‘I am not touching that thing!’ Thea cried. ‘I never touched that damned thing! It’s a hunk of junk! The soldier who bought it in had shrapnel in his face — of course he was mad! You’re mad. You’re insane!’
‘And yet, these things still must be done,’ Aurilo said. He stamped out his cigarette on the desk, staining the otherwise polished wood, then gestured to the constable. ‘I mean what I said, Miss Sherrard. My ghouls work quick. You won’t feel it.’
A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Thea threw her elbow back as hard as she could. It collided with what felt like solid brick, sending a shock of pain through her entire arm as an ear-splitting shriek sounded behind her.
Thea turned, then screamed.
The constable was no longer human. Her face was long and paper-white, her nose smashed into a concave hole that sent thick, black cracks across her face. Long, sharpened canines protruded from her mouth, and her eyes had turned a dark, solid black.
The constable-creature hissed at her, then lunged. Thea leapt back and her hand closed around something solid, which she whipped around to smash against the monster’s head. Another explosion of cracks caved in the side of her head and the creature fell sideways, collecting herself against the wall.
Thea gave a shout of surprise. She had grabbed the sword. The sword was in her hands. She shrieked and threw it to the ground, where it bounced harmlessly against the carpet. Behind her, Aurilo chuckled.
‘Got you,’ he sang.
The door was clear. The constable-creature still stood by the wall, the cracks in her head receding as her nose popped back into its usual shape. Thea bolted for the opening, throwing the door open and running down the hall. She turned a corner and immediately crashed into a figure, a man wearing a long coat and a bowler hat, who yelped with surprise. He then grabbed her arms tight, pinning her in place. Thea rammed her heel into his foot, and he swore.
‘Shit, Thea!’ Ales cried. ‘Watch your heels! That hurt!’
Thea could have cried then. She could feel heat prickling against her eyes as Ales’ familiar face came into focus under the hat. Beneath the coat, he still wore the scrubs of the hospital gown. He looked petrified, and she didn’t need to ask why; he was supposed to be dead.
Ales gave a cry of alarm, and Thea threw them both to the side, whirling around as the constable - now human once more - rushed down the hall towards them. Behind her, Aurilo walked calmly towards them, watching with a sly smile.
‘I’d ask how you’re alive, Mr Belthaire, but it makes no difference,’ Aurilo said. ‘Whatever friend is watching over you is not going to come now.’
Ales stepped forward then, putting himself between Thea and the constable. Thea made a noise of protest, tugging him back, but he wouldn’t budge.
‘Don’t,’ she hissed. ‘She’s not… she’s a monster. She’s not human.’
Ales shifted, but didn’t move. ‘All this for a sword?’ he demanded. ‘You have it. Leave us alone.’
‘I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that,’ Aurilo said. ‘I’d say I only need the girl, but if you bested a ghoul in your condition… I’m afraid I can’t pass up the challenge.’
Ales visibly flinched, and Thea gripped his arm tight, yanking hard. He swore and pulled away, pushing her backwards down the hall, easing them away from the monsters in front of them.
‘I’m curious about what happens next,’ Aurilo said. ‘Kill them both.’
The constable pounced. Ales threw his hand up, and the hallway exploded.
A bright, blinding light filled Thea’s vision as a wave of white hot fire washed over her entire body, igniting against her bones and her skin, enveloping her completely with a wave of pain. A force of heat slammed into her chest and sent her stumbling back, where her boots skidded against the floor and she fell hard, her tailbone stabbing against her spine in a burst of pain. Ales cried out somewhere in front of her, screaming out like a wounded animal before he too collapsed next to her, hitting the ground hard.
The light faded, and Thea blinked the spots from her eyes as she saw the constable and Aurilo on the ground at the other end of the hall, thrown by the same force and dazed. Ales snapped into a sitting position next to her, breathing heavily. Thea realised her breathing was just as laboured, and though the pain faded as her vision cleared, her skin still buzzed with the effects of whatever had just happened.
Ales lifted his hands and studied them, and a small squeak escaped her. His hands were glowing. Lines of white light danced in and out from under his skin, leaping from a soft orange fuzz that enveloped his fingers. Ales shook his hands violently, and the effect disappeared. He let out a shaking breath.
‘What the hell?’ Thea breathed.
‘That’s cheating, Miss Sherrard.’ Aurilo had pulled himself into a sitting position, and was glaring at her. Whatever game he had been playing had left his face, leaving only a chilling hatred in it’s place. ‘Finding a sorcerer this early in the game. That’s not fair at all, is it?’
Thea stared at Ales, who was still staring at his hands with wide eyes. The colour had completely drained from his face, and she realised he was shaking violently. ‘We… we…’ her words escaped in a harsh breath. ‘We have to go.’
Ales blinked, and all at once the expression was gone, and he nodded. He leapt to his feet with a surprising energy, then held out his hand and pulled Thea after him. He didn’t let go of her hand, and didn’t say a word as he dragged her from the hall and towards the hospital’s exit.