Kastien stood in the bright, empty expanse. It was everywhere around him. Am I dreaming? Dead, more than likely. A small stream started flowing endlessly through the blinding light, right next to him. There was a childlike figure across the water, and he squinted, trying to recognize who it was. He saw a much younger version of himself blissfully smiling. Then the expanse below his feet became a green field, trees appeared, and the sky became darkness. It started raining, thundering, and the child’s smile vanished. He recognized this memory. His body trembled, his face frowned. He was no longer the man but that child across, and the storm raged and raged.

  “No, no, no… Not this again please…” Kastien whimpered, his voice drowned out by the thundering storm.

  Lightning struck, and a Ghoul appeared in its aftermath. Then another strike fell, instantly followed by the monster’s pounce. It snarled and brandished its teeth at him. Death was so close to his face that he could smell its rotten breath. Then it was not there, replaced with blood, but not his own. It was everywhere on him.

  “No, Cathal! No!” he yelled.

  Then it all stopped, and he was a child no longer. There were no more trees, no stream, and no grass. He stood alone on a barren ground, bloodied and bruised. A white mist now engulfed everything. It was so thick he could almost grab it. He moved his hand forward, and the mist turned crimson where his hand had passed. Then those whispers returned, but now so loud he could hear the words.

  “Wake!” they echoed. “Wake!”

  Kastien’s head snapped forward, back into reality.

  From sleeping nightmare, straight back to a waking one. How lucky of me. But at least I’m still alive.

  He was indeed alive, but he could not tell if it was a good thing anymore. His body ached all over. Every breath was agonizing, his vision blurry from blood and impact; it was not good. He tried to wipe the blood off, but the piercing pain rushed through his right arm. Damn it. It was precisely for these reasons that he hated leaving his house.

  Wait. Where is the girl? Frantically, his eyes darted around before settling on her; a few paces away, she lay on the ground as a ghoul crept toward her. In his state, there was nothing he could do but watch.

  Again? No. I am not just watching. I am done with this. I do not care about this pain; it will not stop me.

  There were tools scattered on the ground all around him. Tynan’s words from earlier stuck with him, and he pushed himself up from the wall and took that damn wrench in his left hand and sprinted towards the monster. He plunged, right shoulder first, into the monster’s body as hard as it had plunged into him, taking the thing by surprise, elevated cobble pricking him all over as they rolled. The world was spinning around, and when they finally stopped; he was the one that now stood above it. At last, their roles reversed, and he started wrenching that damn monster’s skull in. He hit it once, then twice, each time harder and faster. Die you filthy monster! Die! His pain was gone, and the wrench felt almost weightless in his hand as it came down and up, and down again. Dark blood from the creature’s head was splattering all over him. Finally, it stopped moving, yet Kastien relentlessly continued his barrage. It was payback for that time, and for all nightmares since.

  “Enough, Kastien! Enough! It’s dead. Now move!” Alecia tore him away from the monster and shoved him towards their position behind.

  “The girl?” Kastien asked.

  Alecia stayed silent as they ran.

  “No…no…”

  “Run and do not look back,” Alecia said. “Just run.”

  Shots from Tynan’s rifle blazed past them at a Ghoul chasing behind, stopping it in its tracks. Others ignored them, busy feasting on the flesh of broken people lying on the street.

  “Go to the left, now! We did all we could here! House is a few streets away.” Tynan pointed to the passageway.

  ***

  Sweat poured down Cathal’s forehead. They’ve encountered no Ghouls since that avenue, a lucky break if you asked him, as he doubted they would survive another ambush in this state. All that running and fighting, he felt his legs gradually going numb. His eyes were strained from the deep redness of the world around. It truly felt like this was the end of it all. He wondered how those Relic hunters can spend months at a time within the Shroud and not completely lose their mind. Cathal missed other colors: blue, yellow, green, well, any other color would do. Even orange sounded good. Damn it me… Now I’m both exhausted and hungry. Cathal glanced at the others in the group, and they weren’t faring any better. Even Tynan was eerily quiet for the first time in his life. But none were worse off than Kastien, his left arm slung around Tynan’s shoulder, his eyes vacant as he trudged forward, dragging his feet. He was moments away from toppling to the ground. It was a long night, and Cathal could tell it will be much longer still. That punch didn’t help the situation either, as the heat from the valves was still burning the skin around his shoulder implants.

  “That looks painful. Are you okay?” Alecia broke the silence, glancing at the steam escaping his shoulder.

  “I’m fine, my lady,” Cathal forced a smile. “A little heat from core.”

  He wondered how many times he ignored Kastien’s warnings about using that much power at once. He could stand the burns, even the fatigue from losing that much Aurelium at once, but it was all a breeze compared to Kastien’s lectures. Those were genuine pain.

  “Please, call me Alecia. We have gone through enough tonight to be that formal,” Alecia said.

  “Yes, my… Yes, of course.”

  “Tell me, that arm of yours,” Alecia paused. “I have never seen a model like that. It must have cost a fortune?”

  “Some would say it cost an arm and a leg,” Tynan rattled, looking mightily proud of himself. “Well, at half price, of course!” he continued, but neither Cathal nor Alecia reacted, and he shrunk back into silence.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “Kastien made it from scratch.” Cathal’s face lit up. “Some parts came from old machines we found, others we bought from merchants and passing relic hunters. He has a knack for machines, you see, so it was much cheaper than it should have been.”

  “And much better, from what I saw,” Alecia added. “You certainly have a good friend, don’t you?”

  “Yes, it seems I do. Thank you, Alecia…” Cathal nodded.

  “You are welcome, Cathal.” Alecia nodded back; a slight smirk appeared on her face. It works wonders for a mood of a man when a beautiful woman smiles at him, even in times like these. Made one forget how dire this situation truly is.

  Cathal could see the two-story mansion peaking above the mist, right at the end of the street. As they drew closer, he saw a couple of armed men in uniforms that stood in front of the doorway, guarding it. Another was keeping watch from the window on the second floor. He noticed the remains of Ghouls scattered across the iron fence. It was not a good sign.

  “Saige! Saige!” Cathal yelled. His step quickened towards the house; his heart thumping hard.

  “Stay right there! In the name of Bastion Knights, I order you to halt!” squire pointed his sword towards Cathal.

  “Stand down! Let him through!” Alecia yelled in a decisive tone.

  As the squires were lowering their swords, Cathal rushed past them through the gate, opened the door, and found Saige dressing the wounds of the woman on the floor. “Saige, thank Aur…” a deep sigh left him as he felt his legs giving out. Many wounded people lay scattered across the floor of his house. Some received care; others waited. He was no stranger to the sight of blood, but this was different.

  “Cathal! Are you alright?” asked Saige.

  “Yes, I’m good. Well… Better than most here. Kastien is in terrible shape, though. You should look at him quick.”

  “Where is he?”

  Alecia and Tynan were carrying unconscious Kastien between them. They came next to Cathal and lay Kastien on the floor. Saige rushed to them and kneeled next to Kastien.

  “Tell me! What happened to him?” asked Saige, her brows dropped.

  “He got banged up bad. His right arm is probably broken, and it wouldn’t surprise me few of his ribs are as well,” said Tynan.

  “He took a blow to his head and back as well, but he held out bravely until now,” added Alecia.

  “You must be lady Alecia, right? Sir Brennan is waiting for you in the study. Cathal, please take them there. Leave Kastien to me.”

  “Brennan? What happened to lord Bayle?” asked Alecia.

  “It’s better if you spoke to Brennan, my lady.”

  Cathal mustered his remaining strength to get up, pushing himself with both arms and legs. Alecia helped him, and Tynan followed behind. They started walking up the spiral stairs, Cathal’s left hand pushing off the styled baluster. He never noticed how many stairs there were until now. Too many. The staircase ended at a gallery overlooking the floor below; many doors lined the walls.

  “I haven’t been here in years. Old man could never restrain himself when he saw shiny things,” said Tynan. And he wasn’t wrong. Cathal’s father liked the grandeur of it all: high ceiling, imposing staircase, huge open hall, galleries, balconies, and walls filled with extravagant paintings. And of course, antique-styled furniture. He loved those damn chairs. He was a strange man, a genius merchant without question, but Cathal doubted his taste.

  “Few places rival this level of luxury, even in Bastion,” Alecia remarked.

  “You know, even after he passed, deliveries kept coming to the house for an entire year,” Cathal explained. “He was a merchant alright. Spend money to get money, as he put it.”

  “He was a busy man, no doubt, but he looked out for four of us, as much as he could anyway,” said Tynan. “We were a bit of troublemakers, you see.” Tynan grinned.

  “You don’t say?” Alecia turned towards Tynan, raising her hand as if she was going to hit him. Tynan hunched down, trying to evade the hit that never came.

  “Good old days, still miss the old man,” said Tynan.

  “Indeed. Study is up front.” Cathal pointed to the door at the end of the hall.

  As they came closer, he could hear loud voices coming from inside the study. Those reminded him of those good old days when his father held meetings there. If you asked Cathal how luxury looked like, he would say that it looked like that room. A shining collection of rare books, housed in bookcases as expensive as the collection itself, artifacts displayed on intricate stands and wall shelves, a gilded desk, and, of course, the world’s most magnificent chair. As a child, he loved to go in uninvited, and sit in his father’s lap to hear news and stories from travelers all around the world. He knew that now neither his father nor any good news awaited in there. It was a fierce argument from what he could tell. He was not surprised, given the situation they were in. As Alecia opened the doors, the room went quiet. Five men stood around the gold and silver-decorated desk in the center, their eyes locked on Alecia. Most of them looked the same in those uniforms, except for the one in the middle. He looked like a person in charge of things, distinguished, kempt brown hair and beard with a few whites that showed age and experience. The man was from a noble family, and judging by the markings on his collar, he was the knight’s personal attendant, the same as Tynan. Although he was everything, an officer should be, unlike Tynan.

  “My lady,” they all bowed. “We’re glad you’re safe,” spoke the one in the middle. Tynan stood silent in the corner, but one could hardly miss the gaze he was shooting at the man. They didn’t like each other one bit. Cathal could tell these things.

  “I am also glad to see you, sir Brennan.” said Alecia. “Where is lord Bayle?”

  “Leave us please,” Brennan gestured to the men. They quickly withdrew outside, and Cathal was about to follow them out.

  “Cathal, please stay. We are your guests here, after all.” Alecia said.

  “But my lady, we…” Brennan couldn’t even finish the sentence before Alecia interrupted him harshly.

  “Do we chase out the master of the house from his own study? Is that how we treat our host?”

  “No, my lady, I apologize…” Brennan lowered his head as he spoke. “I must apologize to you as well, master Cathal. It was unbecoming of me. My name is Brennan, knight-attendant.”

  “Please, lift your head,” Cathal said awkwardly. “The pleasure is all mine.” There was no pleasure in this at all. He would rather avoid situations like these. He had a distaste for politics and intrigues, one of many reasons he never became a merchant. The only thing he wished for now was that he left the room with those four.

  “Now tell me, what is going on? Where is lord Bayle?” asked Alecia.

  “I am sorry, my lady. Lord Bayle has fallen.” answered Brennan with a sullen face, his hands shaking as he spoke those words. “I failed him. Forgive me.” It was not something Alecia wanted to hear, Cathal was sure of it. Death of a knight, even in these circumstances, was no small matter.

  “Stop apologizing and tell me what happened! How does a knight die with twenty soldiers around him!?” Alecia slammed her fist on the desk, hard enough to shake that oversized thing.

  “We were terribly unprepared.” Brennan paused for a moment. “Ghouls came from all sides, a couple dozen of them in a first wave alone. Three soldiers were killed before they could even draw a sword. New recruits panicked, but we quickly rallied and killed the monsters.”

  “Dozens? First wave?” Tynan asked.

  “We were in the open, with only two charge rifles between lord Bayle and I, it was undefendable, and we had to find better ground. Normal swords our men had weren’t nearly as effective against Ghouls. Lord Bayle ordered a retreat. We fought in narrow alleyways, and it worked for a while, but clever bastards started climbing the roofs and jumping on us. We lost a couple more to those.” Cathal didn’t like where this story was going. There were only eight soldiers in the mansion now. “We pressed on, the plan was to get to our destination quickly and hold our ground once we got there, and we were several streets way… But then…” Brennan stopped, his face went as pale as a silk sheet, eyes filled with sights he would rather forget. Sir Brennan was a true fighting man, and very few things could frighten such a man to this degree.

  “I am truly sorry, sir Brennan.” Alecia’s harsh attitude was now completely gone, replaced with a soft, calm tone. “Please, take your time.”

  “No, no. This is far too important.” Brennan collected himself. “You see, there was a lull. No Ghouls attacked us for a while, and we thought we killed them all, we almost celebrated. Arrogance at its finest, and we immediately paid the price. The reason Ghouls didn’t attack is that they didn’t want to get in its way, you see,”

  “In whose way, speak old man, what was it!?” Tynan lost all his patience.

  “A Chimera, young lad. Chimera.”

  And the night just got a whole lot longer.