FIFTEEN
Baron
The Castle in the Sky

 

I walk softly on the rotting wood of the stairs, inching my way through the library without alerting my companions. There’s more going on in the castle limits than any of us truly knows—I can feel it deep in my bones. A thick, heavy facade covers the whole of the capitol. I ease open a broken window and climb onto a small balcony before shimmying down the side of the building. I land with a soft thud and I hurry through the alleyway. Citizens flinch at the sight of me and I remember I’m dressed as one of Variant’s men.

I slow my pace, watching the citizens with the same arrogance I’ve seen from the soldiers—it’s important I fit in and not draw undue attention to myself.

I join a cluster of Variant’s men, walking in their formation and observing their actions. The armor allows me to blend in perfectly without having to worry about being discovered. Variant has recruited enough men that my presence goes entirely unnoticed.

The commandant points to several Fae citizens who appear to be prisoners, owing to their coarse garb and the fact that each of them is restrained by roughly hewn rope, wrapped round their wrists. The soldiers shove the Fae to their knees before binding them and clapping them in irons.

“Take this lot to the gateway,” the one in charge announces to the other soldiers. “The rest of you are to patrol the castle limits. Any slander against the king’s name will be viewed as treason. Search for the usurpers and report to me immediately if you see anyone or anything suspicious.”

Variant’s soldiers pound their right fists over their hearts and move through the streets to do his bidding. This whole situation doesn’t sit well with me, especially the part about the soldiers arresting citizens. These citizens were mostly women and children and all appeared to be in a lowly state.

I walk at a brisk pace and catch up to the soldiers heading for the gateway. They throw a few small faeries into cages before disappearing through the door. Why is Variant arresting Fae women and children? A strange sinking feeling settles in my stomach. I can’t follow the soldiers through the door without tripping the wards that are spelled to identify our magical signatures.

I have no choice but to return to the library, hopefully without drawing attention to myself in the process. That hope proves unfounded as one of the soldiers takes notice of me and grabs my arm, asking, “You hear me?”

I just nod.

“Then why the fuck aren’t you out looking for the usurpers?”

“I… I got confused,” I answer, hoping I can defend myself by means of idiocy.

The soldier points toward the south end of the castle limits. “Head that way and you’ll find a pub most stowaways and mercenaries frequent. That’s the easiest place to start your search. Don’t get caught wandering again.”

He leaves me and I head south for a few paces before checking that the coast is clear and taking a sharp turn in order to circle back toward the library. Once I reach the dilapidated structure, I bust through the door and slam it behind me.

“This place is crawling with soldiers,” I announce as I pass Dragan.

“How do you know?” he demands.

“I just did a quick reconnaissance mission along the streets, and the soldiers appeared to be rounding up Fae people and imprisoning them, taking them somewhere called the gateway.” I pause for a second or two. “Mainly Fae women and children.”

“Why?” Cambion asks, eyeing me with interest.

I shake my head. “I don’t know.”

“What the hell were you doing out there?!” Dragan demands, his eyes narrowed and fuming. “You could have led Variant’s men back to us!” His anger is palpable and I’m more than sure it’s merely a result of the hatred building up within him—hatred he harbors for me. I’m sick of all of them, it’s true, but I’m sick of Dragan the most.

“Didn’t you hear what the fuck I just said?” I snap as I glare at him. “Last time we were taken to the palace we were unconscious.”

“So?” he demands.

“So, I had to find a way to get inside the castle without risking any of you.”

He’s quiet for a moment or two as he apparently chews on the information I’ve just given him. “You should have at least told one of us what you were doing,” he says, clearly trying to save face. The bloody bastard.

I glare at him and spit out, “I don’t answer to any of you.”

“We are all in this together, Revenant,” Cambion corrects me, eyeing me in that scholarly way of his that makes me want to punch him.

“Revenant took a risk for us and we should be thanking him, not berating him for it,” Eilish says, much to Dragan’s chagrin.

“It was reckless,” he argues.

“It was smart,” she replies bitingly. I don’t need her to defend me. Lust and hunger between us is one thing, but I won’t make myself vulnerable to her in any other way. Furthermore, I’m a man and I don’t require a woman to stand up for me.

“As I was saying,” I mumble irritably. “There’s a safe route through the alleyways that leads to the castle, but I’m not sure how many of Variant’s men will be active after sunset. We’ll have to be careful.”

Cambion searches through a wall of water-damaged scrolls, pulling them from their slots, one by one, until he comes across a map of the castle limits. He grabs a quill from the back room and a jar of long-dried ink. It’s too risky to cast a spell when the wards in this place are much stronger than before, so he spits into the container and swirls the quill around, trying to breathe second life into the ink. I move closer, watching as the elf hands me the quill so I can mark the route we’ll take after sunset.

“When the soldiers gather, they do it at the center of the market square,” I begin, drawing an x to mark said location. “When they transport the captured Fae, they take this alley…” I drag the quill across the old map and place a dot at each end of the line to mark the stop and start of the path. “Each time they search, they take one district at a time. This morning they were covering the east. I assume they’ll still be there tonight, but it’s not a guarantee.”

“Did the Fae put up a fight when the soldier’s captured them?” Dragan asks.

“No. As I said, they were mostly women and children,” I explain and Cambion’s jaw grows even tighter. These are his people, so of course it makes sense that he would feel this threat the most. “They fell to their knees. Just submitted without question. I figure they’ve given up fighting against Variant and his forces.”

“And the soldiers?” Cambion asks.

I turn to face him. “There’s more of them than I thought. Most are demons, some elves, and many orcs. From what I can tell, they separate rank by species.”

“Playing to their strengths,” Cambion says with a clipped nod. “I take it the orcs do all the grunt work?”

“Exactly. Also of interest was the fact that the commander of my small unit mentioned something to the effect that anyone speaking ill of Variant will be tried with treason.”

“Treason?” Eilish repeats in shock.

“Treason usually equates to beheading, according to Variant’s edicts,” Dragan adds, his jaw tight.

“It’s ridiculous to behead someone over such a childish act of name calling, but Variant doesn’t seem too concerned with appearing like a rational being,” I explain.

“He’s losing his wits, it’s true,” Dragan says with a nod. Then he catches my eye and looks away, before adding, “When we break into the castle, I believe we should attempt to take Variant out.”

“Pyre said,” Eilish starts and he gives her an expression that could freeze water.

“I know what Pyre said,” he barks in response, before taking a deep breath and adding in a more civilized tone, “But, I also know that if we’re given a chance to assassinate him…”

“And what the fuck makes you think we’ll even be given that chance?” Cambion interrupts. His question is a good one. “If Variant is going so far as to try people who speak against him, you can bet your ass he’ll be protected by as many soldiers as he deems possible.”

“I said if we’re given the opportunity,” Dragan responds angrily.

“We won’t be,” Cambion says.

“We get in and we get out,” I agree.

“Revenant is right,” Cambion says with a brief nod. “We get the Midnight Queen and leave. Simple as that.”

Dragan shakes his head as he looks over at Eilish and the two share a meaningful expression that makes little sense to me. As I watch, Eilish begins worrying her lower lip as she shakes her head, her eyes still focused on the gargoyle. “You don’t get to go after Variant on my account,” she says in a soft voice. I don’t understand her meaning but it appears Dragan does. When I look to Cambion, I notice he seems to understand Eilish’s meaning as well. Clearly Cambion and Dragan are privy to something I’m not.

“Why is Dragan so keen to go after Variant?” I demand. “Beyond the obvious reasons,” I add. “What aren’t you telling me?” I rotate my determined expression between Cambion and Dragan, but neither looks at me. When I face Eilish, she glances down.

“What the fuck is going on?” I hiss, irritated that the three of them are keeping secrets from me. Eilish should know better...

She mumbles incoherently as though she’s searching for a lie.

“I thought he knew,” I hear Dragan curse. I glare at him and he raises his hands in mock surrender, but still offers nothing. Cambion looks right at Eilish and she nods her head, giving him permission to speak on her behalf, I assume.

“Variant used compulsion on Eilish when he first called for her when all of us were imprisoned.”

“Compulsion?” I repeat, shaking my head to say I don’t follow. “Compulsion for what purpose?”

Cambion clears his throat. “He forced her to... pleasure herself while he rutted against Anona and then killed her.”

I’m quiet with my own rage as I allow it to simmer within me. Why didn’t Eilish tell me this before? Why is it fucking Cambion who tells me now? I turn to face her. “We aren’t supposed to keep secrets from each other,” I say icily.

“It wasn’t that I was trying to keep it from you,” she starts.

“Yet Dragan and Cambion already knew?”

“Cambion saw what happened in a vision,” she argues as she shakes her head. “And Dragan came to me to ask what happened so I told him.” She swallows hard and then clears her throat. “What happened in Variant’s bed chamber isn’t something I enjoy revisiting,” she explains.

“We must all be above board with one another,” I say angrily. I expected more of Eilish than this. I thought we were close enough that I would be the first person she came to with such information. The fact that it was these other two bastards eats at me.

“We need to focus on finding the Midnight Queen,” Eilish says in a soft voice. “We can’t let anything else get in the way of that.”

“FUCK THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN!” I yell at her.

“Hey!” Cambion responds.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Dragan adds as he takes a step forward.

I’m fuming. I can’t help it. “Either the three of us have open communication or I’m done with this fucking suicide mission,” I seethe.

“I’m sorry, Revenant,” Eilish says in a mouse voice. “I should have told you.”

Dragan takes another step closer and pins me with a stare that says this conversation will end in blood if I don’t settle down. Part of me is curious to see which of us would win.

“Do you want to alert the soldiers to our presence?” he demands.

“We need to wait for Pyre and go from there,” Cambion says. “Everyone just simmer down and wait for sunset.”

 

###
Flumph

 

After sunset finally hits, Shadow King demand we leave an’ head to the castle before it get too late an’ I agree.

We back to movin’ through the alleys like rats, gettin’ closer to the far end o’ the castle. Pretty hangin’ her head real low an Vampy still gots on the soldier armor he stole from the downed soldier. The two o’ thems are real angry with each others and it look like they ain’t talkin’ to each others no more. As if Vamps weren’t scary enough, now I gotta look over my shoulder an’ keep wonderin’ if he one o’ Variant’s men.

When we gets ta the far end o’ the castle, I see me a whole lotta Variant’s men walkin’ ‘round like they’s patrollin’ the place an’ doin’ them a fine good job o’ it. Pretty give me a look that say she real scared an’ I’m glad I ain’t the only one with the heebie jeebies.

We hidin’ in the shadows near the rear entrance to the castle when this loud ass woosh push all the air down to the ground. It go real silent like an’ I can barely breathes ‘cause the air suddenly gets real thick an’ heavy. Red light flashes through the sky, right above them soldiers, damn near burnin’ my eyes out. Then everythin’ go even quieter an’ the guards not movin’ no more. They’s looks like they be passed the fuck out.

“That ain’t right,” I say as I inhale real deep an’ try ta get some o’ the air back in me lungs.

The gargoyle glare at me. “Pyre’s spell should be triggered by those red flashes,” he say to the others. Then he look at me again. “Flumph, fly over to the soldiers and report back.”

It ain’t like I wants ta fly over to them soldiers an’ report back, but I don’t argues. I jist do as I’m told an’ fly my sorry ass over to one o’ them soldiers an’ looks him in the eye. He jist stare past me like he be dead. I wave a hand front o’ his face, but nothin’. No reaction.

“They can’t see me! It fuckin’ work!” I call back an’ Gargoyle swat at the air in front o’ him like he tellin’ me ta keeps me voice down.

 

###

Baron

 

The red flashes die and I push forward with the others behind me. I can hardly believe Pyre was able to craft such a spell. The necromancer clearly has powers beyond our understanding. I stand tall as we move past the guards. Their unblinking gazes are foggy and the rigidness of their posture is unnatural—they don’t put up a fight.

I push open the door to the castle and find myself in the servant’s entrance. Cambion passes me first. Then Eilish and Flumph with Dragan taking up the rear. Cambion continues down the long, narrow corridor, passing the charred walls I left behind during my first extravagant escape.

Dragan and Cambion stand on either side of the door as I crack it open. I allow my eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness of the hall.

“Straight through,” I say in a low tone, still facing forward.

Dragan nods. “We can cut across the throne room and head to the North Tower from there,” he finishes as Eilish moves past him. Flumph flies ahead of her, his little crossbow aimed in front of him. Six guards line the hall but they’ve fallen under the influence of Pyre’s spell just like the guards outside the castle. We hurry past them without notice or incident and the sprite sticks his tongue out at them as he flits past their heads. Bloody annoying thing.

At the end of the hall is a door leading to the throne room. It’s quite interesting that there is no one manning the door. I have to assume it’s protected by wards and yet, the closer we come, the more I notice a lack of humming electricity that would point at protection wards.

Cambion takes the lead once more with Dragan and me flanking his advance. We move like a well-oiled machine, predicting one another’s movements before they even occur. I begin to feel like my old self again—the old Revenant, that is. My strength has returned along with a feeling of excitement that wells up deep within me. It’s moments such as this one, when facing danger, that I enjoy the most. My life has otherwise been quite the humdrum and dull existence. But, truly, nothing can compare to the sense of fear mixed with the anticipation of a dangerous exploit. And as I recognize the feelings billowing through me, I realize it has been too long since I’ve found myself in such a situation. Truly, I thrive on danger and I… need it.

I watch as, up ahead, six guards step out of the shadows. I lift my hand to stop the others in their progression and we stick to the walls as we take refuge in the protecting shadows. These soldiers are... gargoyles? I can’t help my surprise.

“Pyre’s spell must not have worked on them,” I whisper.

“Gargoyles,” Dragan grumbles at the same time. There’s disbelief in his tone that matches the same wonder rippling through me. God knows these bastards weren’t here when I escaped last time.

“Can you do anything about them, Dragan?” Eilish asks.

“Look at their eyes,” he replies and as I do, I notice their eyes are as black as night, not the usual gray of the gargoyle race.

“They’ve been out of the Shadow Realm for a long time,” Dragan continues. “Whatever Variant has done to them, they’re no longer under my command. I know them though. They fought with me on the battlefield and that’s where I thought they’d died.”

Of course, the gargoyles take notice of us and advance almost immediately. As I’m dressed as one of them, I step away from my crew and shake my head, pretending to have been taken hostage.

“Good thing I ran into you,” I say to the gargoyle soldier in front. He gives me a quizzical expression but then shakes his head, clearly not believing my artificial story.

The largest soldier steps beside this one and swings an enormous axe in my direction. I dodge the blow and retreat, only to come face to face with another stone beast. Even though this one is much thinner than his comrade, he possesses sharp talons.

Cambion and Dragan draw their swords as I reach for my satchel of potions around my waist. If I can find Petrifying Draught, I can return the gargoyles to their solid stone shapes, thus disabling them. At the sound of a gasp behind me, I turn to see Eilish as she kicks another gargoyle away from her. He drops to the ground and I immediately see the signature of Eilish’s dagger drawn across his neck.

She crawls between the legs of another, who appears locked in the net of her Succubae trap, and stabs her blade into the fleshy part of his thigh. He roars and grips her round the neck, lifting her off her feet until she dangles in front of him, flailing and kicking at him as she struggles against his hold. Flumph shoots at the large beast with his bolts, but they bounce against his armor and clatter to the floor uselessly.

“You!” Dragan roars at the creature who makes the mistake of turning to face him. Cambion takes advantage and strikes the lanky gargoyle across the head with his broadsword. The gargoyle releases Eilish immediately as he falls back and lands on the ground. She lands beside him and massages her neck as she breathes in deeply and the color returns to her cheeks.

“Close call,” Cambion says with a curt smile while he looks down at her and offers her a hand. She takes it and he pulls her to her feet as she nods her thanks.

“We’re running out of time, Revenant!” Dragan growls at me. At the same time, I locate a vial of Gelsemium Pulvil. Petrifying Draught is nowhere to be found so I’ll have to rely on the Gelsemium, instead. I dump the contents of the jar into my hand. Fine, red powder coats my palm as the others battle the remaining four gargoyles.

“Get down, cover your face and hold your breath!” I shout as I watch the others hit the floor hard and follow my instructions, facing the ground as they cover their heads with their arms. I waste no time in blowing the fine, red dust, watching as it spreads through the air in front of me, causing a red cloud of dust that grows pink at the edges. Each of the gargoyles clutches their throats as they fight for breath they won’t be able to take. Fairly soon, they drop at my feet.

“It’s safe to get up,” I announce once the Gelsemium has dissipated and the gargoyles are no longer a threat.

Eilish looks up at me with questions in her eyes as she pulls herself to a seated position and then stands. I simply shrug and explain, “It’s a type of paralysis powder.”

I was actually quite impressed with Pyre’s extensive apothecary and made use of whatever I could.

Dragan shoves his shoulder against the large door leading out of the throne room and heads toward the north wing of the palace. I’m surprised we’ve encountered no wards in crossing the threshold into the north wing. We stumble upon a nest of five or so guards but they appear passed out—clearly, Pyre’s spell seems to still be potent. I imagine we have another forty minutes or so before Pyre’s enchantment will dissipate altogether.

Dragan circles back from scouting up ahead. The gargoyle looks as though he’s taken a few hits—there are cuts and bruises marring one side of his face and his forearms. “There were three more gargoyle guards up ahead. I took them all down, and it looks clear all the way to the tower’s entrance,” he growls through his teeth. “This place is too fucking quiet. It’s giving me the creeps.”

“Yes, there’s a surprising lack of obstacles in our path,” I agree as I wonder about the magnitude of Pyre’s enchantment. I had imagined it might not work on all creatures within Variant’s employ, case in point: the gargoyle soldiers. But, so far, it appears the enchantment has worked on all the others, with the exception of the gargoyles.

“It’s not my manner to question a blessing, so let's keep moving,” Cambion says as he then turns to Eilish. “You’ll soon need to act the part of maid and gain access to the North Tower.”

She simply nods and gives him a smile that says she’s ready for her role.