Chapter 61
“I can come back and haul you -” Helsket said, taking a single step back towards Mikel, “It’s tough, I know, but you have to -”
Mikel stepped forward and the sensation vanished from his body - he gasped in relief. He’d almost not made it.
“That’s a good lad,” Helsket said as Mikel walked towards him, picking up the pace with each step, “Just come on now. I know it’s weird, but we’re almost halfway through the trip to Stennin. We’ll get a few hours of sleep - let the sun climb good and high into the sky and then we’ll take off. After the beasties go back to sleep. They’re going to be hungry this time of year, and irritable - they only get a few hours of hunting time before the light drives them back to their holes. We don’t want to come across any Gigants. Hel, we don’t want to come across anything. We’ll hope something else fills their bellies tonight.”
His words sounded hollow on the wind-strained air, as if the meaning were sucked away.
“Let’s just get inside,” Mikel said as he reached Helsket and then passed him in a rush. The crawling Dread had abated - but it had been replaced by a most familiar sensation - the one of being watched from unseen eyes. Mikel meant to get out of sight as soon as possible, and if Helsket said the house was safe, well then that was good enough for him - just as long as he could escape the eyes.
He wasn’t afraid of the Achos or Philander finding them - they’d already beaten them back once, but he was worried about dying without a fight. The first time he and Metrike had interacted had been her trying to kill him - and she would have succeeded had it not been for The Time Demon’s timely intervention.
As he walked he tried not to think of the thing's scabrous, wrinkled, skeletal frame or how Achos mirrored its looks perfectly.
The empty buildings scrolled by Mikel’s peripheral vision. The ruined, empty windows and shattered doorways seemed to call to him, invite him in, as if the people who’d inhabited this old place were still in residence in some small way - and offering him hospitality.
He knew better though - the hospitality might be offered, but it wasn’t fresh water to wash your face and food to slake your hunger waiting within. No, what waited within was something better left unsaid - some deep sense in his body knew that to be true. If he went into any of these houses except the one Helsket had pointed out, he would be lost.
Mikel beat Helsket to the house by several yards, on the last stretch running to the doorway.
He passed the threshold and paused within as his eyes adjusted to the dimness.
Helsket joined him and nearly bounced into his back, as Mikel had stopped so suddenly in the doorway of the building.
“What in the hel,” Helsket cursed, “You don’t make a good door boy - move into the house already.”
It was impossible for Mikel to not hear the edge of dread in Helsket’s voice as he pushed Mikel into the shadows of the old building - Apparently, his old friend was feeling The Dread just as bad as he was.
Within moments his eyes had adjusted and Mikel took in the interior of the small structure.
The bottom floor was open, with a few suggestions of portable dividing walls having been propped up once long ago to give the room a structure and pattern. There was no furniture and no sign of habitation except for a loose ring of rocks, which were in reality the shattered remains of the fallen gray bricks of another house in the area. The inside of the rocks were charred black and a lumps of desiccated charcoal lay in the center of the ring - a testament to an attempt to ward off the fleeting Dread following both Mikel and Helsket.
A staircase sat on the left side of the room - it stretched up the wall and terminated in a hole in the ceiling which gave way to the upper floors apartments. Mikel couldn’t see anything beyond the dark veil cast across the top of the stairs and so looked to Helsket instead.
“Do we have anything to start a fire with? I’d feel better with a fire. I know it’s hot, but the assassins will probably find us anyway - better with fire and warm food.”
Helsket shook his head slowly as he pulled Mikel into the room and then sat them both down around the cold pit, careful so that both looked at the door and window, with their backs to the wall. They sloughed their packs off and positioned them for easy access should the need arise to leave… in a hurry. Helsket took his time with Metrike, and with unusual care settled her on her back with his pack as a pillow. He folded her arms over her chest and shook his head.
“She’s a pretty thing. Too bad she’s rotten to the core - although, now that I think about it, some women are like that no matter who they are. At least she’s honest about stabbing you - you should think about dating someone like her. Honesty is always best after all.”
Mikel groaned, “She just tried to kill us and you’re trying to get me to marry her?”
Helsket shrugged, “In my experience, most women will try to kill you at some point. Like I said, at least she’s honest about it.”
Mikel rolled his eyes but glanced over at Metrike anyway.
It was obvious she was young - probably Mikel’s age or a bit older at the most. She had pretty brown curls atop a heart-shaped face with a cute nose and freckles splashed under her closed eyes. Her lips were red, but nothing like the red of the blood that had been soaking Mikel so much recently.
He pulled his mind away from thinking about what had happened in the white void. Too much had gone on in the past few days - too much by half.
“Making a fire wouldn’t ward off The Dread? That’s what this is called by the way. It’s what I felt in the library in The Market.”
“No. and it wouldn’t help,” Helsket said as he scooted up against the wall further so he sat bolt upright, his eyes fixed on the door they’d come through, “And I don’t care what it’s called. It’s clawing its way into me, just the same as it is you.”
“You mean…”
“I feel it too,” He confirmed as he turned to look at Mikel and Mikel gasped at what he saw. Helsket's face was drawn tight against the underlying bones and his pupils were tiny specks in his eyes although it was dark enough to warrant their complete expansion. “Everyone feels it here - but in this house, for whatever reason, people feel it less. Don’t ask why - I don’t know. Maybe Cal would - but this isn’t that bad, try staying in one of the other buildings.” He shivered and sniffed before crossing his arms in front of his chest and pushing up against them with the backs of his legs.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Mikel looked out onto the darkened street and to the west, where the sky burned a somber orange color as the sun had sunk below the mountains separating this part of The Continent from the tidal plain beyond. The buildings opposite the street were covered in shadow and as Mikel watched, the darkness seemed to shift and move as if alive.
“I’m good. I’ll take your word for it,” he said in a dry tone.
Helsket’s smile turned grim, “What? No sense of adventure? Your old man ran out into the street the first night we stayed here and shouted at the shadows to come out and fight. It was a damn sight funnier than what we’re up against tonight though. That trip was a damn sight funnier too - It had been just me and him. No hostages like now.” He glanced at Metrike and shrugged.
Mikel shook his head at hearing about more of his dad’s exploits. The stories seemed endless and although he’d heard many growing up, more always came and they were always the same - about how brave, how brash, and how strong his dad had been.
Plus, he’d already tried fighting shadows. Neither time had really worked out for him.
The stories only punctuated the fact he’d been pulled down into himself by The Rot, deteriorated to the point of scarce life.
“Would it do any good if I did that? Ran out into the night and threatened the darkness?” Mikel asked.
“Might make me laugh - it did that night and it took the edge off of things… But I’d caution you to not go out there. The sun is fully set now… and things feel much different than they did the night your father and I traveled through here the first time. Something feels… Different.”
He paused before shooting Mikel a wry smile, “On second thought, if you can don that red armor again - you’d be just fine. Mind showing me how that works?”
Mikel’s eyes dropped and he cleared his throat, “I’m… Like I said, I’m not ready to talk about it. Some things happened on the outskirts of the city involving The Callisto Jewel. I think… I think I might be in trouble Helsket.”
The big man shifted, concern etched onto his face, “Why’s that? You saved my sorry keister and your hide. What’s to be scared of?”
“How I got the power,” Mikel muttered, barely audible above the licking wind whistling through the place, “I did some things. Saw some things. Talked about some things. It nearly killed me to do what I did. I’m afraid of doing it again.”
Helsket gazed at Mikel with a strange light in his eyes, “If that’s the case, you need to sit down and think about what to do. If things are… As bad as you say, then there’s not much to be done except to face the danger head-on.”
Mikel grunted an affirmative then looked at Metrike.
“Do you think we need to see to her medical needs? I saw her arm, it is mangled pretty badly.”
Something I did. Mikle thought That was what I did to her… I would have done worse had I not managed to assert control.
Although Mikel didn’t want to admit it, he’d not been himself while encased in the blood-red armor. He’d been… Different... More powerful and sure. It was as if all doubt had been drained out of him and only surety of purpose remained.
His duty then had been to kill the assassins before they killed Helsket and him - and he’d succeeded in his task… but at what cost?
Metrike mumbled something a twitched, obviously feeling The Dread even in sleep and Mikel turned back to Helsket to continue the conversation from earlier.
“What feels different than before? This feels just like The Dread in the library where I met Librarian. Is this worse than you experienced before?”
“This is worse. This place feels more oppressive - It feels like I’m having a hard time even getting a breath in and each beat of my heart feels like it’s last.”
Mikel barked a harsh laugh, “I was wondering why you wanted to stay here with this horrid sensation crawling over the place. I guess it explains something if it wasn’t this bad before… But, that begets the question of what changed since the last time you were through?”
“Time,” Helsket said as if the one word summed up the entirety of the situation they found themselves in.
They sat in silence for a while before Helsket spoke, “I’ll take first watch if you want to get some sleep.”
Mikel considered and shook his head. “I’ve been sitting for twenty minutes and I feel wide awake. I can’t imagine sleeping right now.” Although the sensation he’d felt outside of being watched, had diminished, it hadn’t completely left and the small hairs on the back of his neck stood upright and straight and he was unable to relax.
His thoughts turned to dark clothing and a darker intent. It was obvious the assassins had been trying to kill Mikel - to what end he couldn’t say, but as his hand found its way to the Callisto Jewel, he ventured a guess.
This gem shall only pass from hand to hand bathed in the blood of the preceptor.
In the interim, the darkness had grown outside. The long shadows that had stretched out from the sinking sun had welded together into a blanket of inky darkness. Not even the moon, full tonight and high overhead, could penetrate the thick darkness that lay over everything. The smell of smoke still hung heavy in the air and every breath Mikel and Helsket took tasted of ash, char, and death.
“Well, close your eyes, at least for a bit. The sun will be up in a few hours and we can move again.”
“You think the sun will help with the feeling of this place?”
“It did every time up to this one,” Helsket said in a hush, his eyes fixated on the door, “we just have to -”
A scream from outside interrupted him and both men were standing in a heartbeat.
“You heard that?” Mikel asked in a coarse whisper.
“Couldn’t miss it,” Helsket said, “Don’t go running out there. It’s not a -”
The scream sounded again and Mikel jumped as he recognized it as the scream belonging to a girl.
“It’s a little girl - I know it. Somehow there are people here, just like in Three-Way. We have to save her.” Mikel jumped up only to have Helsket slam him down again beside him, a puff of dust going up as he crashed down.
The jarring pain of the impact ripped through him and he grunted and rolled away from Helsket as soon as the older man let him go.
“Why’d you do that?” Mikel asked as he winced while trying to shed the ache in his rear.
“You’re going out there for a girl who doesn’t exist. Maybe this place has made you madder than usual. It did for your father.”
Mikel was about to say something when the scream came again, closer this time and if possible, even more blood-curdling.
“Blast it,” Helsket said, “Blast it, I knew something was off.”
“What do you mean?”
Helsket’s eyes never left the doorway, “That’s not a real scream, it’s -”
The scream came again, this time with words full of pleading, pain, and sorrow, “Please help me! It’s hurt me! I’m bleeding and I’m going to die! Come save me, please!”
“We have to go help her!” Mikel said, his blood surging up, ready to fight, “Listen to her, she’s dying!”
“Shut up, fool boy!” Helsket roared, “You don’t know the half of this place - and that voice is not a girl and she’s not being hurt… At least not right now. Whoever cried those words is long dead. Mark me on that.”
Mikel was taken aback, he’d rarely heard Helsket yell and even then the anger had never been directed at him, “But -”
The screams came again, “Oh, for the love of the gods, save me! It’s found me… and its claws! Its teeth! Help me! Help me! Help -”
The cry cut off in a dull, wet gurgle. Then silence dominated the scene again, even the wind quiet for the time.
“What was that?” Mikel asked in a hushed tone.
“A ghost of a ghost,” Helsket said under his breath, “a memory of someone long gone - of a time when this city still lived and thrummed with good, solid life. Long before the pulsing morass which animates it now came to be.”
“You meant it when you said that voice belonged to someone…”
“Many thousands of years ago - yes. Someone young and someone who was attacked the night this city, like the many other cities, fell to ruin under the press of monsters from HelGate.”
Mikel's blood ran cold, “You mean… you know what caused the Sunken Folk to disappear?”
Helsket shook his head, “A theory, one your father and I put together. But a good one.”
“Tell me,” Mikel said, “Tell me and let’s be done with this place as soon as we can be.”