Soulrazor (40 page)
Authors: Steven Montano
Ronan leapt to grab Cross. There was no way to get to the mage without passing through the spinning black maelstrom. Arcane blades ripped through Ronan’s skin. Blood sprayed from his body like a spinning fan, but he still managed to grapple Cross and pull him back to the ground.
Wraiths flew at the men where they landed, but Black blasted them away with her spirit.
Hollow growls clawed at her mind. The world pulsed and throbbed. Stones flew at her. Her spirit cast them aside and wrapped round her body. Pain seared her skin and drove her to her knees.
Kane shouted to her. He and Maur were lifted into the air. Red had become a razor storm. She pulled them towards her core, an orifice of grinding teeth.
Danica crawled. Every motion was a trial of pain.
Ronan lay face-down. The skin on his arms had been shredded, and his body gushed blood. Cross lay next to him, barely conscious, and he struggled to rise as Red seized Ronan’s body and picked it up off the ground.
Pain gripped Danica’s stomach with such force she could barely move. She knew she’d been wounded, that something protruded from her abdomen and that she poured blood onto the ground, but she refused to look at the injury.
She pulled herself close to Cross and grabbed him just as she was whipped towards the vortex to be devoured along with Kane and Maur and Ronan. Cross came with her. She had his wrist, and they dangled in the air like puppets.
With every last vestige of her strength, Danica pulled him close, opened the vial with her left hand and put it to his mouth. She forced the fluid down.
The liquid congealed the shadow vapor. The spirit gained density. It became fluid, and lost its gaseous body. It slowed and thickened. The air around it lost its rigidity. The shadow howls dimmed and faded. Black wraith minions dissipated and fell away.
Slowly, everyone sank down out of the air. The spirit’s tenebrous grip loosened as its tendrils turned to clay. The tornado spirit became solid. It turned into Red. It congealed and melted into a humanoid form that shrank away, no longer alive. She collapsed into a pile of dust.
Black and Cross and Kane and Ronan and Maur gently came to ground, all of them wounded, maybe even dead.
Danica couldn’t feel her legs, and she came to rest on her side, as if ready to wrap herself into a deep sleep.
The fluid was a spirit sedative: Narcosm, she thought. She’d heard of it when she’d been with The Revengers. It was a dangerous substance, and she knew Cross’ dose had been crafted by Ilfesa Warfield. A single drink of Narcosm would sedate a spirit, and render it lethargic. An entire vial would be the equivalent of putting a spirit into a coma.
Danica turned and looked at Cross. The pain that wracked her body was intense, but she had to see him, had to make sure…
His eyes stared back at her. They were glassy, and filled with fear, but the look on his face was serene.
Somehow, he’d been trapped there with Red since the fall of Shadowmere Keep. The Cross they’d known had wound up in the past, trapped, a prisoner of his own spirit, both of them refugees in time. Why had she kept him there? Why hadn’t she taken the vial of Narcosm away?
“
Is he…” Kane asked as he stumbled over. “Is he alive?” His chest and arms bled. He looked at Ronan. “Oh, fuck!!!”
Is he…” Kane asked as he stumbled over. “Is he alive?” His chest and arms bled. He looked at Ronan. “Oh, fuck!!!”
Kane and Maur, both badly hurt and at the edge of death themselves, ignored their wounds and tended to their teammate, whose flesh looked like he’d fallen into a pool of razors. Ronan coughed and sputtered up blood. He screamed out in pain as he came to.
Cross lay there, quiet, as if asleep. He looked so ragged, and so old. So time beaten and weathered.
You
are
,
Danica thought.
We
all
are. That was why you saved me, maybe…both me and Kane. You found other people who were like you. People who’d been beaten down, stretched thin…always doing, always going, always fighting.
are
,
Danica thought.
We
all
are. That was why you saved me, maybe…both me and Kane. You found other people who were like you. People who’d been beaten down, stretched thin…always doing, always going, always fighting.
“
You wanted us…to help you…” she said. It hurt to speak. She didn’t realize until a moment later that blood trickled out of her mouth.
You wanted us…to help you…” she said. It hurt to speak. She didn’t realize until a moment later that blood trickled out of her mouth.
She looked down. Her stomach had been torn open. Shreds of meat and bone were visible through her ruined skin. Kane came and wrapped her in his arms. The most frightening thing she’d ever seen was the look of fear on his face.
“
We did it, Mike,” she smiled.
We did it, Mike,” she smiled.
The air seemed brighter.
She smelled beer and wine and cigarillos, and the smell reminded her of Cross, and Kane, and the first night they’d spent together in Thornn, the three of them, the new team, the mercenaries, laughing and drinking and thinking maybe, just maybe, there was a place for them in the world, that there were friends who’d cherish them…that there was some hope for tomorrow, after all.
She held onto that memory as her eyes grew heavy.
There in Kane’s arms and with Cross’ hand held tightly in her grip, she fell asleep.
TWENTY
SLEEP
Waking.
She stares into a storm of stars. The universe has folded in on itself. Black and grey squeeze together in a shimmering mirror-glass filled with maelstroms and cataclysms, molten meteors and the dense filigree of angel’s dreams. She hears singing, and she sees whirling patterns of light. She feels like she could fall into the arms of the sky, and she will be safe there.
Black was wrapped in blankets, and she rocked back and forth as the train sped along. Light fluttered through the open grill of the passenger car. They had a private suite, which she later learned hadn’t come cheap, but it was the only way she and Ronan could each have their own private cots, where they stayed buried in blankets made of brown and grey wool.
The air was filled with dust. The ancient clock on the wall rattled. Outside lay a desert landscape made deep red by the setting sun. Cobalt clouds hung like predators frozen in the sky.
“
Where are we?” she asked.
Where are we?” she asked.
Ronan didn’t answer. He was fast asleep. His face was covered in bandages, and the white linen wrapped around his arms was soaked through with blood. Tufts of dark and unruly hair stood up from beneath his face-wrappings, and his bruised eyes twitched fitfully beneath his lids.
Danica sat up. Pain rested deep in her stomach, hard and sour, like a ball of lead fused to her spine. Her throat was raw and cold, and her face and arms throbbed with pain.
She felt for her spirit, and was relieved to find him there. He danced around the periphery of her thoughts, brimming with vitality.
She had no doubt he’d saved her life, probably several times since she’d lost consciousness during the battle. The fact that she was wracked with hurt and that every last inch of her body was sore only attested to the level of injuries she’d sustained.
Danica pushed the blankets aside and lifted up her shirt. Her smooth stomach bore a vicious scar that ran from her waistline up to just beneath her breasts. The wound was ugly, jagged and tender, but she knew for a fact that not long ago it had been much, much worse.
“
Maur hopes this show of skin is for his benefit.”
Maur hopes this show of skin is for his benefit.”
The Gol sat on a small stool between Ronan and Black. He re-assembled a Glock 17 on a small work bench. Danica couldn’t imagine how he managed to keep that bench from falling over with the train’s rocking and relentless motion.
She pulled down her shirt.
“
Little pervert,” she laughed. Her voice was cracked and dry. Maur quietly handed her a flask that she was disappointed to learn contained only water. “Kane?”
Little pervert,” she laughed. Her voice was cracked and dry. Maur quietly handed her a flask that she was disappointed to learn contained only water. “Kane?”
As if on cue, the door to their shadow-drenched compartment slid open. The roar of the train drowned everything out for a moment as Kane, swathed head to toe in a heavy wolf-hide cloak, stumbled in with a small pot that he held by a thin metal handle.
He slid the door closed and clumsily set the miniature cauldron down, while Maur produced a set of bowls and wooden spoons.
“
Don’t expect much,” Kane laughed.
Don’t expect much,” Kane laughed.
He wasn’t kidding. The swill tasted like dishwater, but it was hot and filled with chunks of flavorless vegetables, and in spite of its foul aroma Danica felt rejuvenated after just a few bites.
Ronan woke up and ate, as well, though it pained him to do so. He barely spoke.
“
So where in the hell are we?” she asked.
So where in the hell are we?” she asked.
“
The Dubrackki Railway,” Kane answered.
The Dubrackki Railway,” Kane answered.
“
Holy shit,” Black said through a mouthful of soup. “We’re all of the way down near the Bleeding Straits?”
Holy shit,” Black said through a mouthful of soup. “We’re all of the way down near the Bleeding Straits?”
“
It was the only safe way to get us out of the borderlands,” Kane said. “The entire countryside around the Shadowmere was crawling with Ebon Cities patrols. We wound our way up the coast and kept out of sight until we met some Mektesh traders willing to give us a lift.” He looked at Ronan and Maur. “We’re a long way from home, folks.”
It was the only safe way to get us out of the borderlands,” Kane said. “The entire countryside around the Shadowmere was crawling with Ebon Cities patrols. We wound our way up the coast and kept out of sight until we met some Mektesh traders willing to give us a lift.” He looked at Ronan and Maur. “We’re a long way from home, folks.”
Black’s stomach twisted in knots. She’d suddenly lost her appetite.
“
You said the Keep was…so that
was
the real world. That place where we found Cross.”
You said the Keep was…so that
was
the real world. That place where we found Cross.”
Kane looked at her silently for a moment, and then stood up. Danica had thought the third cot was empty, since no one had stirred there, but Kane gently offered his hand and helped her walk over to it.
Danica’s side and stomach burned when she moved, and she hadn’t realized until then just how long she’d been motionless, because when she stood she was incredibly dizzy. She steadied herself, then went with Kane and looked under the blankets of the third cot.
Cross lay there, asleep and utterly still. She saw that he was breathing, but only barely. His bushy beard and unkempt hair looked like they belonged on a mountain man. His skin was pale.
“
He should be fed,” Maur said.
He should be fed,” Maur said.
“
Yeah, I know,” Kane grumbled.
Yeah, I know,” Kane grumbled.
“
Jesus,” Black said. She rested her back against the wall. “You guys hauled me and Cross all of the way from Shadowmere Keep to the Dubrackki Railway? That’s over a hundred miles.”
Jesus,” Black said. She rested her back against the wall. “You guys hauled me and Cross all of the way from Shadowmere Keep to the Dubrackki Railway? That’s over a hundred miles.”
“
One-hundred-and-fifty, thank you very much,” Ronan corrected. His voice sounded like gravel and glass. “And they were carrying
me
most of the way, too.”
One-hundred-and-fifty, thank you very much,” Ronan corrected. His voice sounded like gravel and glass. “And they were carrying
me
most of the way, too.”
Kane shrugged.
“
We were only two days out from the Keep when we ran into the Mektesh. They took us the rest of the way.”
We were only two days out from the Keep when we ran into the Mektesh. They took us the rest of the way.”
Black watched him, and something inside of her warmed.
You could have left me there
, she thought.
Maur wouldn’t have been able to stop you, and Ronan was in no state to. You could have finally paid me back for all the suffering you went through in Black Scar. I
can’t
repay you for this, Kane. You and Cross are both much better people than I could ever be.
, she thought.
Maur wouldn’t have been able to stop you, and Ronan was in no state to. You could have finally paid me back for all the suffering you went through in Black Scar. I
can’t
repay you for this, Kane. You and Cross are both much better people than I could ever be.
“
Thanks,” was all she said out loud.
Thanks,” was all she said out loud.
“
Well, don’t thank us all at once,” Kane said. The train jerked, and he was forced to sit down. Danica lowered herself onto the cot. Kane nodded to Maur. “Show her.”
Well, don’t thank us all at once,” Kane said. The train jerked, and he was forced to sit down. Danica lowered herself onto the cot. Kane nodded to Maur. “Show her.”
Maur reached under the bench and pulled out a cumbersome item wrapped in cloth. He unwrapped one end.
It was Avenger, and Soulrazor. Two blades fused together, a black and white enigma of a sword. Shards or aspects or representations of The Sleeper and the Woman in the Ice, whoever or whatever they really were.
Danica reached for it, and her spirit felt nothing. It bore no magic of its own, not anymore.
So many questions.
And they had no answers. Not yet.
The train was three days out from a border town called Blacksand, a way-station for settlers, explorers, pirates and thieves. They’d fit right in.
They were at least 200 miles west of Glaive, the Southern Claw city-state located closest to the Ebonsand Sea. The Dubrakki Railway ended in Blacksand and stretched west towards the Mektesh clanholds, a wildly dangerous place controlled by tribal people with primitive magic who did their best to stay out of the influence of both the Ebon Cities and the Southern Claw.
Danica understood Blacksand was a dangerous place, not so much for its crime but because of its proximity to the wilderness, as well as its lack of a true ruling authority. It was a place dominated by need, and people only stayed there until they could afford to go somewhere else.
The chance of their finding quick passage back to the Southern Claw was unlikely. The railway didn’t run directly into Claw territory, but if they got lucky there was a small chance they’d find an airship willing to offer space for passengers. More likely they’d have to settle for a north-bound caravan that could take them through the dreaded Razortooth Hills.
Danica later learned she’d been in and out of consciousness for several days, lucid and barely coherent, which at least partially explained why she couldn’t remember much. Now that she’d woken, Black had trouble sleeping.
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