“I think this is it,” Vivian smiled. Pushing through the underbrush, stepping into a sunlit glade. Stone pillars lined the decrepit pathway leading toward their target. The stone temple had become overgrown with vines and moss; the attached tower erected higher than the trees themselves.
Ancient writing had been carved above the entryway. Vivian thought back to the lessons with her father. He’d taught them to read a variety of languages, but it became difficult when some shared characters. Brimborne, she mouthed at her realization. This caused some hesitancy in her. Torrik and her brother had already begun to make their way towards the temple. “Wait,” she called after them. Eyes wide as they scanned the inscriptions. “Let those who pass through know the Weaver.”
“What’s this all about now?” Torrik folded his arms. “We need to know someone who can make baskets?”
“Not that kind of weaver, the Weaver.” The dwarf seemed confused still.
“She means the Night Weaver,” Kai sighed. “Fuck.” He turned to face their destination. “This place was built to worship the Night Weaver. It’s a place of death.”
“What does that matter?” Torrik asked.
“Well,” Vivian answered, “gods are fickle. She might no—”
“If we don’t do this, then we don’t get paid and your brother remains cursed.” Neither twin seemed pleased to agree with him at that moment. There was no avoiding this. “Besides,” he readied his weapon, “we can handle anything sent our way.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Kai spoke. The first to head towards the temple. Vivian stayed back, watching her companions head towards the mouth of the unknown. While she had trouble understanding religious people, she knew one thing: the Night Weaver was one god you should never cross. Still, she followed them in.
Passing the threshold, Vivian felt a sudden chill overtake her. Limbs now felt heavy as stone. Her voice shook with each word, “B-Brother, do you—”
“I do,” Kai seemingly gasped for air, “I feel that, too.” Torrik looked at the two like they’d grown an extra limb. Whatever was affecting the twins seemed to leave him alone. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? “The air here,” Kai swallowed, “is heavy.”
“I think the two of you are broken,” shrugged Torrik. “There’s nothing wrong with this place.” The twins gave one another a quick glance. Was the dwarf right? They found it hard to believe. There was something happening there. Whether he could pick up on it or not. For now, they would leave it alone. All three of them took off in different directions. Each inspecting a different corner of the room.
The temple’s foyer was a simple room. What truly baffled Vivian was the lack of doorways. There seemed to be no way into the other rooms—let alone the tower—from where they stood. It wasn’t just the lack of doorways that confused Vivian. It was the emptiness of the room itself.
A few Brimborne words had been carved into the structural pillars, and there was a strange pattern carved into the walls. One that almost seemed to move the longer you stared at it. Like a series of threads undulating. It made Vivian sick if she looked too long. Her attention was drawn to the one piece of actual décor in the entire room. A statue of a woman. One who must have been the Night Weaver.
Vivian had expected the goddess of death to be some hideous creature. Deformed or rotting. But the effigy left by her worshipers was beautiful. They had carved this depiction of her to be knitting. Interweaving the threads of fate into a tapestry. For some reason, this all felt familiar to her. Staring seemed to throw her into a trance. Unable to look away from the Weaver’s face. Vivian’s eyes grew heavy. Her breathing slowed, and before she knew it; all sound around her began to muffle. Darkness inching into the corners of view.
She tucked her head to her chest in a jerking motion. Hands slapped to her temples as sharp pains pulsed through her head. Feverish heat overtook her for the briefest of moments. She hated this place. Her attention turned to her brother. Hoping he’d have found something. He’d given up his search. Supporting himself against a pillar. “We need Mira,” he sighed.
“We can do this, brother,” he said. Mostly for her own sake. Vivian didn’t want to believe herself that useless. Unable to find something as simple as a door. Mira’s knowledge of religious types would be useful, sure. Maybe she even knew how the Weaver’s followers went about building their temples. But there were three of them to figure this out. Vivian made her way to one of the pillars, “Help me translate what these say. It might be a clue.”
“Translate?” Kai huffed. “Sister, remember how I used to fall asleep when father taught us these things? I don’t remember enough Brimborne to order dinner.”
“You never fell asleep, brother,” she corrected him. “Maybe you fell into a daydream, but you never slept. You were always so excited to learn.”
“I don’t remember it that way.” He was done arguing anyway. So, he at least tried. Which was all Vivian could hope for him to do. “This is pointless,” he scoffed not even three minutes into reading. “Can’t we just have Torrik break down a section of the wall instead?”
“Not a bad plan,” the dwarf laughed. He directed their attention to the floor. Scuff marks had dug into the stone. Clearly, he’d found a section of the wall meant to be opened. All they needed was a way to trigger the mechanism. Or they could follow Kai’s plan, and break their way in. Hammer raised overhead, it was clear which plan he’d chosen.
“There will be no destruction!” Vivian called out just in time for Torrik to stop his swing. “Just give me a moment. I’m sure the answer is written here.”
Torrik leaned against his hammer, “And if it’s not?”
“It has to be. How else would Jorn, or even his men know how to reach the Eye?” That was good enough an answer for the dwarf.
Not enough for her brother, however, “And if he withheld information?”
“Then shame on all of us,” Vivian continued to inspect the writing, “for not questioning him enough.” One might not think it, what with her punch-first attitude and boisterous attitude. Vivian was quite the scholarly type. Sure, she was far from one who would spend entire days couped up with their nose in a book. She’d rather spend her nights enjoying herself. Whether that meant a good fight or a drunken stupor. In some cases, both. But there were brains as well as brawn and today she’d chosen to follow her brain’s instincts.
“Brother, come here,” Vivian commanded. Once her brother was by her side, she pointed towards a line of inscriptions, “What do you think this means?”
“I’m telling you this is…” Kai inhaled quickly as though startled. “To venture into my lair—”
“Offer to me the forbidden wine.” Vivian turned her head. A smile as she watched her brother scan over the Brimborne. His skill at reading ancient script wasn’t as terrible as he led on. Though she could tell he was far from fluent by the way his brow furrowed. “Well, brother? What do you think we need to do?”
“I’m not sure,” he rested his hands on his hips. “Forbidden wine. That’s the key. But we don’t have any wine on us.”
“We don’t, but I don’t think the Weaver is asking for literal wine. Maybe it’s poison? You would poison someone’s wine to kill them. And death is her thing.”
“Would we need to mix the poison into something then? I might have a vial or two of poison, but I’d hate to waste it.”
“Now’s not the time to be frugal.”
“If I may interrupt,” Torrik placed a hand on each of their backs. The twins shared a look of shame. They’d gotten so wrapped up in their thoughts, they both had missed the sound of him walking up. “Forbidden wine, it’s your blood.”
“Blood?” they simultaneously questioned.
“Yes,” the dwarf nodded. “The Night Weaver is also the Mother of Vampires. Kind of their thing.” Now that he’d said something, Vivian did remember once hearing their father tell that story.
Vivian turned to face the statue, “If she wants our blood—”
“The question is, where do we put it,” Kai finished the thought. The twins stepped to the statue. “There’s no cup to hold her wine, sister.”
“And there doesn’t seem to be a drain or anything near the base. Which could only mean…” Her gaze went to the Weaver’s face. Noticing her lips parted, but just barely. “We are the cup. Brother, your dagger. Now.”
“Careful,” Kai laughed, “it’s sharp.” Vivian rolled her eyes at his lazy attempt at humor. Running the edge along her forearm, Vivian winced from the sudden sting. There were some things you could never prepare for even when you knew it was coming. Blood dripped to the floor; crimson streams rolled down her skin. That familiar warm, sticky sensation. One she’d always had mixed emotions toward. She hoped they’d solved the riddle and that this was not for nothing.
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She pressed her arm to the Weaver’s mouth. Black light danced across her blood. Not just the self-inflicted wound, but the streams running down her arm as well. As the light receded, all traces of the blood vanished. Even the cut had sealed itself shut.
Stone ground against stone: the wall turned, revealing the portal to the next part of the temple. Before they could begin to celebrate, the wall had started to close. Their window was short. Torrik managed to take the lead. Crossing the threshold with time to spare. Vivian found herself needing to dive through the ever-narrowing gateway. She had no time to check for her brother.
With a heavy thud, the stone slab fell back into place. That sound snapped Vivian back to reality. She spun, hoping to find her brother right behind her. Her heart pounding, threatening to beat out of her chest. Her brother was there. Sullen look plastered across his face.
“Brother?” her voice somewhere between teary and stern.
“It got me,” his expression turned grim. Vivian darted her gaze across his entire body. Looking for possible injuries. He’d said the wall got him, yet she saw no sign of that. Every inch of his body was where it was supposed to be. The quizzical look upon her face got his attention. Kai ran his hand along his cloak. Leading her to realize the tail of it was wedged between bricks.
“Brother!” the concerned tone had died. “You scare me half to death, for that?! Unhook that thing and be serious.”
Kai unclasped his cloak. Letting it fall from his shoulders, “I liked that thing. I hate to leave it behind.”
“It will be here when we leave.” She watched her brother fiddle with the cloak for a moment. Barely catching a glimpse of…was that parchment? He slipped it into his boot as though she hadn’t seen it. Hiding secrets, are we? Vivian would worry about that later.
Further into the temple, Vermilion Wing stumbled upon a burial chamber. Sarcophagi lined the walls. Each an unmarked grave. “Well, lovely,” Kai laughed. Making his way toward one of the stone tombs. He ran his hand over the slab. “Strange,” his gaze never left his hand.
“What’s so strange about a grave, brother?” Vivian walked over. Eyes growing wide as she looked at her brother’s palm. Not a speck of dust. “That can’t be. Unless…”
“Someone’s been cleaning in here.”
“Who would be mad enough to live down here?” Torrik questioned.
“Maybe a priest of the Weaver?” Kai speculated. It was as best a guess as any of them could make.
I can’t help but worry, Vivian went from tomb to tomb. Checking each one. Just like the first, they all were in pristine condition. “We shouldn’t linger,” she suggested. Her companions agreed. Now they had a choice to make. Two tunnels stood before them. Neither lined with any clear indications of what lay ahead. What’s that? Vivian stepped closer to the leftward path. Is that… It seemed her brother had heard it as well. Vivian’s skin crawled and her brother paled. Humming. They could hear the sound of a woman humming, trailing from deep within the temple.
“I think we found our caretaker, sister,” Kai reached out. Hand trembling towards the threshold.
“There you go, acting crazy again,” Torrik scoffed. Pushing them aside. “Seems this is the path we’re taking.” No hesitation, he strode forth. Willing to leave the two of them behind.
“We should leave,” Vivian was shocked to hear her brother speak those words. “It’s unsafe to search this place without Mira.” He went to call out to Torrik.
Vivian stopped Kai, “No. We…we can do this, brother. We have each other. The dwarf, well he might die. But the two of us can make it.”
“Viv,” Kai narrowed his gaze. “Why is it so important to keep moving on? You feel it, too. This place is…”
“I know, brother. But we can’t let it get to us. Trust me.”
Kai flashed a smile, “I always have. Well then, ladies first.” Vivian just rolled her eyes. Taking the lead as she would have anyway.
The humming continued to grow louder the deeper in they went. Neither twin knew whether that was an omen or a sign they had chosen right. Why does Torrik not react? From the moment they stepped foot into the temple, the twins had experienced things the dwarf could not. Was it because he was a dwarf? Was there something more to it? With the dwarf a couple steps ahead, Vivian finally took the time to speak with her brother. “Why did Jorn pull you aside?”
“Is now the time for this?” Kai averted his gaze.
“Brother.”
“He…he wanted to make a deal. We promise not to kill him, and he helps us find the one who razed our home.”
“Brother, this is no time to joke,” Vivian’s fist shook; knuckled turning white.
“That’s what he said.”
“And how did you answer him?”
“I told him I’d consider it. But I don’t trust him. Or any of his kind.”
“Then we don’t listen to him.”
“But, sister. What if…”
“He’s not telling the truth,” she scolded. “The Aranea Syndicate are not to be trusted. Any information he gives us would be false. A trap.” Her brother silently agreed. Or at least pretended to, putting an end to the conversation. She thought of questioning that parchment. But held her tongue. Her brother was done with that conversation. No need to push the issue, yet. Plus, the two of them had caught up with the dwarf. And she’d rather keep that matter in the family.
“We got an issue,” the dwarf combed fingers through his beard. Two paths once again stood before them. They could either choose to ascend to the next level or make their way beneath the earth. Vivian tried to listen for the humming. But it had come to a halt. “Tossed a rock,” Torrik informed them. “Heard it bounce a few times. Nothing responded.”
“No way to test if anything is up there,” Kai turned his gaze upward.
“Not without climbing the stairs, no.” They both turned their attention to Vivian.
“Why are you looking at me?” she pressed her fingers to her temple. “I’m just as lost as you.”
“But,” Torrik reminded her, “you’ve taken charge since we arrived. Now you want to tell us to make the choice?”
“There’s one solution we could do,” Kai began to climb upwards. “I’ll check the upper floor, and the two of you can go down.”
“You want us to split the group?” Vivian nearly yelled. “Brother, that’s insane. We don’t know what we might run into.” No matter which path she turned to, a feeling of unease overtook Vivian. Pinpricks climbed her spine.
“That’s why I elected to go alone. I’m better at running than either of you. I’ll be fine, sister.” Kai gave no chance for her to argue. Ascending the stairs.
“Don’t be a fool,” she called after her brother. Vivian turned to Torrik. Hoping he would be able to help talk sense into Kai. To her shock, he had already begun to descend the stairs. “Torrik? Are you serious right now?”
“Come on now, we should at least inspect the lower floor.” Vivian couldn’t believe how calm Torrik was. “You can go with your brother if you like. I can handle myself just fine.” What was it with these two? Death could be waiting behind every corner. Vivian followed the dwarf. Putting her faith in her brother to take care of himself.
Vivian was unsure what to expect to find beneath the temple of a death god. Of all the guesses in the world, she had never expected a dungeon. In retrospect, she wondered why that idea never crossed her mind. Like with the foyer, the air seemed to grow heavy. A chill bit to her core.
The pair trudged through stagnant water that rose ankle-deep. Rusted shackles hung from the walls; tools of torture left to rust littered the floor. As they traversed the dungeon, Vivian inspected the cells. Most had been left abandoned. Others still housed the bones of those kept in captivity.
Scratching echoed from above. Rats scurrying along the rafters. Vivian’s heart jumped into her throat as a shadow swooped inches from her face. Disturbed water brushed against her leg; disgruntled squeaks snapped her from her fears. Torrik had continued on without her. Now several cells down, continuing his search. To her left was a branching pathway. Forgotten barrels stacked at the end of the hallway. Nothing better to do; Vivian took this path. Perhaps splitting the group would aid in their search. And the sooner they found nothing, the sooner they could get back to her brother.
Prying open the first barrel proved difficult at first. Splinters dug into her flesh while she tried to get her grip. Disappointment swept over Vivian when she found her efforts pointless. The thing had been empty, the same as the next two. When she opened the third, however, she came across something swaddled in bloody rags. She had planned to call out to Torrik. Before she could, his voice carried through the hallway, “Better get over here, now. This one’s alive.” Forgetting all about the bloody bundle, Vivian made her way to where the dwarf stood.
Arms bound behind his back, there sat a man garbed in black leather armor. His ashen skin, silvery hair, and burnished curled horns marked him as Brimborne. Vivian had never seen an actual Brimborne. Only the images in the books her father had owned. His tail—narrow as a snake and ending with a pronounced point—flailed around like an excited dog. Staring at him only intensified the feeling Vivian got from the temple. For a moment, she would have sworn her breath wisped before her face.
His voice was deep as shadows; warm as burning coals, “Well, I never thought I’d be rescued from this place.”
“Rescue?” the dwarf scoffed. “Presumptuous. Leaving you to rot might be the best course of action”
“What my partner means,” Vivian cut in, “why should we save you? Why, we don’t even know who you are.”
“Then allow me to tell you my tale,” the Brimborne smiled. His canines elongated and pronounced. “My name is Lucian d’Teilo. And as you can clearly see, I am blessed to be touched by divine grace.”
“Last I heard, Brimborne bore demon’s blood,” Vivian raised a brow.
“Divine does not mean holy,” Lucian turned his gaze to her eyes. Pools of black housing rings of frosted steel. “Now, where was I? Ah, right. You see, I am a caretaker of sorts. It is my job to keep the temple clean. As well as to keep trouble makers away from my matron’s treasures.”
“Not very good at that,” Torrik said. Clearly he held back a laugh.
“I assume the graves above were your predecessors,” Vivian raised a brow. “And it seems there’s another doing your job. Not a speck of dust to be found in the catacombs.”
“There are no others,” Lucian spat. Words coming out almost like a hiss. “I am the last worshiper of the Weaver on this forsaken island. And I am a fool for believing those men.”
“You met others?” Vivian leaned closer to the bars. “When? And where are they now?”
“A week ago,” Lucian answered. “They told me they wished to be blessed by the Weaver. They bore her sigil, the twin needles. Etched into their skin. But they were no followers. Just more pawns of Aranea.” Lucian spat as though the word left a sour taste on his tongue. “They ambushed me and locked me away to rot. Not before asking me about something called the Eye of the Storm.”
“Do you know of it?” Vivian pressed. So long as he was behind bars, they had the advantage. He relied on them more than they relied on him.
“Never. But they stole my key to the vault.”
“We were hired to find these men. Dead or alive. Tell me, is the vault trapped?”
“No need,” Lucian said with a smile. “Not when it lives inside.”
“We should just leave,” Torrik suggested. “We have no need to free him.”
“You’ll need me if you wish to get out alive. And if they opened the vault, it might be free.”
“And what is it?” Vivian pulled away from the bars. Ready to leave.
“A demon! One that will leave its victims trapped in stone. Draining away their lifeforce until they crumble. And if you get caught, I’m the only one who can cure you from that curse.” Lucian laughed as he saw Vivian grow pale.
Brother!