Lasaro

I stood alone in the halls of my Mistress. I looked around me confused. Normally she would have greeted me and begun her punishment, but at this moment she was nowhere to be seen. Where was she? Was this to build anxiety within me?

I approached her throne and kneeled before it. “Mistress, have I offended you once more?” I asked. I was met with silence. I lifted my head and that’s when I noticed a difference to the throne. Instead of marble it was made from rough cut green quartz.

I stood up swiftly and looked around again. Where was I if I wasn’t in the halls of death?

A scream reverberated against the walls and I covered my ears to lessen the deafening sound. Just as suddenly as it started the scream stopped as if the sound had been cut. I heard a soft thud behind me and turned on my heel swiftly to find a woman laying listlessly on the floor.

Her skin was an olive color, but her hair and robes were white. “Miss?” I said softly as I approached her. She didn’t move so I kneeled beside her and turned her over. I sucked in my breath when I saw how beautiful she was. “Miss?” I said again. She lay unresponsive so I stood up and looked around the hall for an exit.

I didn’t know how long I had been in the hall before I had woken up. Where was Sol and Melinde? Were they safe?

I felt an unease in my chest. I needed to get back to my body soon. The longer I stayed here the more danger they were possibly in. Sol lacked a weapon, but could fight easily against these untrained men. The problem was Melinde, who could barely use her own powers and recently learned how to heal. She was our weakest link, but strongest trump card.

Hopefully Light Foot had carried her far away from the fighting and she found a place to hide.

I placed my hand on the marble walls and found them warm to the touch; the veins flowing through it reminding me of clouds. I pressed my ear against it and tapped with my left hand. I continued to move along the wall, tapping and listening for a hollow thud.

“That won’t work,” a feminine voice said behind me. I turned to find the woman awake and sitting up. I noted that her silver eyes were round making her face look young.

“My lady,” I said bowing to her. “Are you alright?”

“You can skip the formalities, Lasaro, I’m not a god,” she said with a smirk. “Though I’m flattered.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve traveled with you for a week, it would be remiss of me to not learn it. I am Fix.”

My eyes widened in surprise. Fix was a woman? Had she been enchanted to look like a spear or was she a spirit? Did this mean that Cleave also had a human form? This meant that my original thought of them being only sentient was completely wrong. They were truly alive and had personalities

“How are you here? Why are you here and not with Melinde?”

The woman frowned and crossed her arms. “That abomination ripped me out of my spear and ate me.”

“So, you’re dead?”

“No,” she scoffed while shaking her head. “I am not like you mortals. He has only sealed me within the body he was borrowing. If he wanted to kill me, he would have shredded my spirit instead of swallowing it whole. I think he hopes to corrupt me.”

“I see…” This was interesting to know. “Does Cleave also have a spirit?”

“Two actually, twins.” The woman began braiding her hair. When she was done she inspected her nails. I watched as they grew longer and took on a marigold color. Could she change her appearance at will or only certain parts? Did this mean that her hair color could also change?

“Why didn’t our Mistress tell us you existed?” I asked while drawing closer. She rolled her eyes as if it was a bother to answer.

“It wasn’t important to tell you,” she said in a sing song voice. “Trust me, if it were up to me I would tell you a lot more. My mother is used to being alone so sharing anything, especially information, is hard for her.”

I sat beside the woman and watched her intently. Was it possible that she was lying to me? Did she work for the demon? Was this test? A trap?

“You say you’re not a god, but call the Mistress mother. You claim to be a spirit of Fix, but offer no proof. How can I trust you?”

She hid her mouth behind her hand as she laughed. “You shouldn’t trust me, I’m a stranger. I could be a servant of the abomination trying to corrupt you, but I’m not.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t do anything here, this is not my mother’s domain. No, I should say I’m limited in what I can do here.”

We sat in silence for a moment.

“Do you know of a way out of here?” I asked

“He lets us out, not likely, Mother comes and frees us, if she knows we’re here, or we die.”

“How does dying help us?”

The woman rapped her knuckles against my forehead. “My mother is Death! As her champion you have a mark on your soul. If you enter a state of near death she’ll intervene. Not to mention she favors you.”

I had doubt she favored me when she punished me nightly. When would it stop? I could feel my body getting weaker as sleep deprivation caught up with me. If this continued I could be useless in the upcoming battle, that’s if I could get free of this hall. I looked around the closed off room and wondered what I could do.

The floor began to tremble beneath me and I stood up swiftly. Fix, as she called herself, stood up with me and looked around. “Looks like my mother knows you’re here,” she said.

I doubled over in pain as it felt like my intestines had been gripped by a large hand and twisted. I groaned and clutched my stomach. “Don’t fight it, this may be your only chance to get free!”

I forced my body to relax. As soon as I did I felt an invisible force yank me off my feet and drag me through the wall as if it didn’t exist. I found myself curled and gasping on the floor of a familiar hall with a familiar woman clothed in the color of death.

“My child,” my Mistress said kneeling beside me. She picked me up and carried me to the room with the golden waters. “I have limited influence in Illuria at the moment. That abomination is blocking my perception with his miasma.” Her lips turned down in a frown.”

“What about Fix?” I asked.

“I can’t move her until you destroy the body that devoured her. Hurry, Melinde has been fatally wounded.”

I felt cold. My partner was dying while I had been trapped by the demon. Chances were Sol did not know. “What about Eminence Sol?” I asked.

“She is guarding your body.” She dropped me into the water and I floated, feeling its warmth fill me as motes of light collected over me.

“Why didn’t you tell us about our weapons?”

“Because it wasn’t important!”

“Just like telling me about my sister?” My Mistress dragged me up by the collar of my robe and glared at me. For the first time I felt true fear as her normally shifting face stilled. It was like being under the watch of a deadly predator that wouldn’t hesitate to tear out my throat.

Her eyes looked like molten silver that gave off such an intense heat that I thought my spirit form would be scorched. I trembled as she held me over the water, my toes barely touching its surface.

“You call me your mistress, but continue to show me disrespect. I should send you deeper into my halls and be done with you!”

“Mistress, please, it’s important to me. I can’t concentrate because I’m worried about her.”

She stared at me for two more moments then her face began to shift again and her eyes dimmed. “I’ve forgotten how closely you humans hold your familial ties.” She sighed and placed me back in the water. “Your sister is still in the capital. News of your father’s death have not reached her; your family is keeping it secret as they plan their coup. She’s safe for now, but your step-mother has her own connections in the capital.”

"I will deal with them when I return."

"If you return..."

"If I return?" I had considered the possibility before. Our victory was not guaranteed, afterall we were mortals facing a fallen god. His powers may be greatly weakened, but that made him no less deadly. His influence was widespread in Illuria, evidenced by the spread of miasma. I imagined that in his stronghold the miasma would be at its most potent and deadly.

Would one breath kill us? It seemed possible, but we had our Grace which protected us, but it could easily be ripped from our heads during close combat. I wished there was a way to make an armor or helmet that could not easily be torn from us.

And what would happen to my sister if I fell in battle? I was the only one she could rely on for support. Our people had split loyalties to my father and step-mother. If my father's former loyalists sided with my step-mother, my sister had no chance to rule. She would be cast out if she was not executed first. The advisors and lawmakers of High Hold would probably make my father's succession choice illegitimate.

“I am keeping Melinde’s soul from passing on, but with each moment that passes, the abomination weakens my influence.”

“How is he so strong? I thought Death was the strongest god?”

The Mistress’s lips turned down in a frown. I thought I had angered her again as she stared at me silently, the rush of faces slowing down.

“There were three of us born of a dying god. I was carved from the bones of my father, my sister from his marrow, but our brother came from his final breath. It was once said that the majority of our father’s power had been expelled in that breath.”

She gritted her teeth and sat down in the water. She exhaled a white vapor as if to demonstrate the birth of the fallen god.

“You must go now.”

I blinked and found myself looking up at Sol while the sound of trumpets blared across the sky. Her face was swollen and bruised in places from her fight with the warped man. I saw a smear of what seemed to be black blood on the corners of her lips and eyes. As she stared down at me in surprise I saw a black trickle make its way down her right cheek.

“What happened to you?” I asked. She turned her head to the side and coughed into her elbow. Her body shook as it tried to expel what was in her lungs.

“That scum breathed miasma into my face,” she said when the coughing fit was over.

“We have to find Lady Melinde, she’s dying!”

Her eyes widened and she helped me to my feet. “I guessed that she was in trouble, but I didn’t want to leave you alone.”

“That’s fine, Eminence.” I turned my head, trying to pinpoint the direction that the trumpets were coming from. I felt something bump my hand and looked see Sol handing Cleave to me. I took the sword from her and it began to glow in my hand.

Were there really twin spirits sealed inside my blade? Had I really met Fix? If so, I needed to rescue her which meant that I had to defeat whatever had consumed her. Or whoever had consumed her.

I shook my head clear my thoughts then began running in the direction the horse had fled. The sound became deafening as I came across what appeared to be a splatter zone of white sand in the field. At its center I saw three curious shapes. One appeared hound-like, the second appeared man-like and the third looked like a horse laying on its side. All of them seemed to be made of stone, but the stomach churning feeling emanating from the man and hound convinced me otherwise. My Mistress must have merely sealed the two creatures in stone, immobilizing them until I and Sol could reach them

As I drew near the stone shell began cracking and chunks of it fell away on the ground. As each chunk fell, the trumpets’ sound lessened. I lifted my sword and dashed forward. I brought it down in a slash. As soon as my sword connected the shell burst apart pummeling me with rocky debris while a wave of silence flowed over me like a viscous liquid. I closed my eyes to protect then felt something hard and heavy slam into my shoulder and knocking me to the ground.

I was immediately on my feet and dodging the next blow that came at me. Sol ran up behind the man and wrapped her arm around his neck in a choke hold that did not seem to faze the man. He continued walking forward as if she was not a hindrance then punched at me. I blocked both strikes and nearly missed the kick that he had aimed at my ribs.

Sol began to glow and grow into her giant form when suddenly the man reached back with his hands and grabbed her by the throat. Then in a move I could hardly follow, he swung his torso down, kicked up with his legs and flipped forward. Sol came down hard on her back and I rushed forward as he jumped up into the air again and came down on her middle.

I was already slashing with Cleave as his feet connected with her. He dodged then lunged and grabbed the blade of Cleave. The metal began to bubble under his touch and I feared that the spirits would be hurt within. I pulled away, noting that the blade was dull where it had been warped.

I felt anger rise in me like a fire, but I hung back looking for an opening. Sol had rolled away and was growing into her giant form once more. I pressed forward when I saw his eyes shift to her and swung. As he dodged to the left I switched Cleave to my right hand and punched him in the jaw. His head snapped down and Sol grabbed his body and crushed it in her hands.

The man’s body went limp in her hands. She grabbed him by the arms and I was reminded of a little girl holding her doll’s arm out with her fingers. I slashed the man across the chest and Cleave glowed. Sound instantly returned and suddenly the wind was too loud in my ears.

We turned our attention to the horse. Only now could we see a rotted stick poking out of the ground on the other side of the horse and what appeared to be a leg draped over its ribs under the hound’s belly. “Is that… Melinde?” I asked Sol.

She nodded slowly, her eyes wide in shock. Her grip tightened on the body. Before I could react I heard the sickening tear of flesh as she ripped the man’s arm off and tossed it away. “How could he!” she screamed. I rushed around Light Foot and saw that Fix had been driven through Melinde’s throat. Her skin was gray while her hair and clothes were died red from the blood. Her eyes were glazed over, staring at the sky while her arms were arranged in a cross over her chest as if the man had laid her out for burial.

I felt like a volcano on the verge of eruption. How could I have let this happen to her? I should have chased after her when the horse had bolted, but I had thought she would be able to get away from the fighting. How could I be so wrong? I had failed her as a leader and partner. She was the weakest of us and most inexperienced, why did I think she could out run our battle?

My jaw ached as I clenched my teeth so hard that I thought they would break. I was a foolish man. I wished that I could turn back time, but I could not. I had to deal with the consequences of my poor decision.

Sol picked up the solidified hound and smashed it to pieces against the ground before gently picking up Light Foot’s lifeless body. It looked like the horse had bled out from its gun wounds after being attacked by the monstrous hound.

‘She is barely alive. Use Cleave on Fix to restore it,’ the Mistress said. I pulled the spear from Melinde’s throat and ran the sharp edge of Cleave against it, transferring Fix’s spirit. The spear let out a burst of light that blinded me. I dropped to my knees and covered my eyes as the light continued for a few moments more.

When the light died I opened my eyes to find the spear fully restored and Ryaa kneeling beside his sister’s body. ‘I tried to go for help,’ he said looking up at me. He pointed to the dead man. ‘That thing ate me!’ His ghostly hands hovered over the wound in his sister’s throat. ‘I couldn’t do anything for her.’

Dorotea knelt beside him and hugged him. ‘Our Mistress will not let her die,’ she said as she held him.

I put down Cleave then held Fix over Melinde’s body. “Please heal her,” I said. The spear felt warm in my hands as the symbols carved into its shaft lit up. Melinde’s back arched as she gasped. Color flowed back into her skin and the wound on her neck closed. She coughed into her hand as she sat up. Sol immediately hugged her and buried her face in the crook of her neck.

“Hi,” Melinde croaked. “I thought I was dead.”

“No, but you were close,” I said quietly. I bowed my head; it was my fault that she had almost died. We were weaker split up. Our spirit companions were helpful in their own way, but they lacked the ability to protect any of us. What was the point of having them travel with us if they could do so little for us on the physical plane? Yes, they could scout, but relay abilities became hindered when the abomination used silence against us. They couldn’t move objects, but could offer advice.

I turned my attention to the broken body of the man that we had fought. Was he the abomination that we had been sent to fight? If so, our fight had been too easy. I expected a fallen god to be powerful, and if what my Mistress had said was true, he was supposedly more powerful than her. Even if some of that power had been diminished four hundred years ago, using the minimum of our powers should not have overwhelmed him. Which meant that this wasn’t the abomination. Was it possible that this was simply a man possessed?

I looked toward the hill where Sol had left the deformed giant man. His transformation was like the bastard version of our own giant form. There were probably more men out there with similar abilities to that one. Our path to Naomi would be more perilous from here forward. The abomination was changing tactics, probably testing our skills and abilities.

He might have a way to remotely monitor us even though he was stuck on the mortal plane. He knew to separate Melinde from us, distract Sol, trap our spirits, and incapacitate me. Was it possible that he could see through the eyes of his servants? We needed answers.

“Fix, Cleave, come out,” I said. Everyone looked at me questioningly. I stood up and looked at our weapons. “Please, I need to talk to you.”

Both weapons glowed and white vapors rose from them. Two from Cleave and one from Fix. They solidified into human looking bodies and faced me. I noticed that Fix’s skin was no longer olive. She looked as if she had been carved from a single white block of stone. The twins that stood beside her appeared male with hair just as long as Fix’s. Their chests were bare, with only a type of loose fitting trousers belted at their waists. They did not have the shifting faces of my Mistress, but did have her silver eyes.

“Who are they?” Sol asked. Her body looked tense as if she was ready to fight.

“I don’t know, though I’ve seen her before,” Melinde said pointing to Fix. The spirit turned slightly and waved before turning her attention back to me.

“Thank you for saving me,” Fix said with a smirk on her face. I bowed to her and the twins.

“I have a few questions,” I said.

“Oh, and you think you can simply ask us?” Fix crossed her arms and threw her hip to the side. Her brothers both frown at me. She had the same arrogant tone that she had in the abomination’s hall which meant this was normal for her.

“If one of you could please tell me if that body belongs to the abomination?” I asked while pointing to the body of the man that Sol had tossed aside. Fix looked at it then shrugged.

“Just an empty vessel. He was using it like a puppet,” Fix said.

“The real abomination has a rotting soul that corrupts everything it touches,” the right twin said. He went over to the corpse and kicked it over. “It was not unusual for him to create temporary champions for which he could ride.”

“Are you sure we’re not telling him too much?” the left twin asked.

“Don’t be silly this, knowledge would be useful to him,” Fix replied. “What else do you want to know?”

Should I ask about the demon tracking us or our spirit companions?

“What purpose do our spirit companions serve?”

Fix grinned widely and threw her arms wide. “They are the beginning of your army,” she said. I raised an eyebrow and she winked at me. “Thousands of souls are sealed within Cleave, ready for me to turn into grunts.”

“Are you the reason why I could slap Ryaa?” Melinde said. We all looked at her. “When we were in Locksin I smacked him without thinking and my hand connected.” She mimed the motion that she had performed while Ryaa nodded beside her with an annoyed look.

“You are the champion of Death and my wielder. Our souls are connected which means you have limited access to my powers as long as we are in the same vicinity.” Fix walked over to Melinde and placed her right hand on the woman’s head. “I will always protect you.” She turned her attention to Sol. “Your foot.”

Sol shifted and lifted her robe to show an ankle swollen and bruised. Had she run across the hills and fought with her foot like that? How much pain was she in? I had been so caught up in getting answers that I hadn’t stopped to take the time to make sure everyone was healed. What if we had been attacked at this moment? Sol would be limited in her mobility now that her adrenaline would be wearing off.

What was wrong with me? Why was I having difficulty being a leader? Was it because I was still grieving over the death of my father? Was it my worry for my sister?

My Mistress was right; I was being distracted. I couldn’t afford to fail my god, my team or my people. Duty came first and in this case my duty included taking care of my team.

Fix placed her hand on Sol’s head. Sol exhaled and visibly relaxed. The swelling went down and the bruises disappeared from her foot. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome.” Fix walked over to me and placed her hand on my cheek. My body was filled with a relaxing warmth and I felt the pain in my hip and side receding. I moved aside my robe to see that all of my wounds had healed. Fix pulled her hand away clutching something small between her fingers. “You still had a bullet in you,” she said. The bullet disintegrated and the dust was carried away by the wind.

“Are we done here?” Left twin asked.

“Are we?” Fix asked addressing me.

I sighed and nodded. They had given me enough information for now, but we needed to find a defensible shelter before the day ended. After that I could ask our three “additions” more about our situation. I was thankful that Fix was more informative than her mother.

The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet and I swayed before catching myself. It seemed that even though Fix could heal injuries, she could not heal fatigue.

(You should give up. You’re exhausted. The Mistress is cruel.)

I should give up on this quest. My Mistress punished me every night, preventing me from getting enough sleep. Soon I would collapse and not be able to get up. What kind of god punished her champions when they were tasked with defeating an abomination?

No, I couldn’t get angry with my God. She was not acting out of maliciousness. I had attacked her when she was controlling Sol. Though I couldn’t harm her, I had acted defiantly. Any other god would have smote me as soon as the blade had crossed their skin.

(She doesn’t need to punish you every night.)

“Well, if you need us we’re only a call away,” Fix said with a smirk on her face; she and the twins dissolved into vapor. Sol and Melinde gained their feet then looked at Light Foot.

“We should grab our things,” Melinde said softly. She kneeled and stroked the horse’s mane. “I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you.”

“We could get another…” Sol said.

“I don’t think that’s wise. I don’t want to see another animal get hurt.”

Sol circled around then placed her hands under the horse’s back. Bracing her legs, she grunted and lifted the animal partially off the ground. Melinde immediately began unbuckling straps and bags. The saddle and bridle were also stripped with the promise to sell them in the next town we came across.

“It feels wrong to just leave it in the open. Shouldn’t we bury him?” Melinde asked.

“We don’t have the time,” I replied. “Let his body feed whatever animals are left here.” I looked around noticing the black veins in the grass blades; hopefully nature would be able to recover from the demon’s blight.

(You can’t win.)

What if we couldn’t win? Should we succumb to the corruption and let the demon win? My grip tightened on Cleave. I felt useless being trapped in the abomination’s hall. Our enemy was strong, stronger than my Mistress.

No, I couldn’t think about how strong he was, after all the Mistress had managed to subdue him before. If we could not destroy him, maybe we could find a way to imprison him permanently.

“Eminence, Lady Melinde, we should go now,” I said gently. I don’t know what look was on my face, but Melinde’s looked worried before she hugged Sol and me closely.

“We can do this right?” she said. “We can beat this demon?”

“I don’t know,” Sol said. She pulled away quickly. “But I’ll tear out his throat if I get the chance.”

What was going through her mind? Since seeing Melinde injured I had felt more hostility emanating from her than when she had been upset with me over attacking her with Cleave. Did it have something to do her prior relationship with Ryaa?

If it had been my father or sister bleeding out on the ground, I probably would have felt the same. At this moment, I was grateful that my father had a somewhat peaceful death, but what my capture had taught me that his soul was not safe from the influence of the abomination. If I wasn’t careful he could be trapped and tortured.

Would I be able to continue my duty if my family was held hostage? I know my father could, he’d done it before with one of his nephews. His brother had since disowned him. Could I make a similar decision if I were in his shoes?