The spell allowed one to completely reshape a corpse but did not grant any life to it. First, she made the skin split and cleanly fall off the body. She then let the head fall off. It was too disconcerting seeing that, the flesh and bone parting cleanly under an invisible knife. She grabbed it by the ear and flung the head away into the woods. Some animal would probably enjoy the meal. Finally, she got to the parts she’d be able to eat. She vacated the guts from the rabbit and threw those away as well, gagging as she did, leaving only the meat: breast, back and the upper half of the legs. She’d at least eaten enough rabbit to know what parts usually went into the meal.
With the rest of the rabbit discarded into the woods, Syline placed each piece of meat into a little mound of snow nearby to keep them fresh. She fetched one of her cleaner and straighter sticks from her collection of firewood and pierced each piece of meat with it, making herself a little rabbit kebab. Separated from the rest of the animal, it was much easier to just consider them food rather than some poor little creature she’d just killed.
As she began to rotate the meat over her roaring fire, the impact of what Syline had done finally started to affect her. She’d never killed anything in her life, and today she’d killed both a man and a rabbit. She hadn’t even really thought about killing the rabbit other than satisfying her own hunger. What was she turning into? She didn’t stop rotating the meat – the smell of her coming dinner was simply too good to ignore – but as she did, Syline felt tears begin to gather in her eyes. Sure, she could rationalise both of them, but still, she had killed the rabbit so easily. Would killing other animals, or even people, be so easy in the future? Would killing hellblooded, dwarves, elves, or even humans be as easy to her as killing this rabbit? Just an act to satisfy her needs? Sure, plenty of men and women in the world killed things every day, but Syline had never had to before. It was hitting her just how coddled a life she had had until now.
Her father raised her brothers to be huntsmen from childhood, but she and her sisters had an easy life. Yes, she’d trained constantly as a duellist, but she was never expected to have to fend for herself, let alone kill. They were supposed to run the city side of things, whilst her father and brothers were forever holding back the dark of the wilds. She only got to see her father once or twice a year. He’d never seemed to know what to do with her. Kat kept up with her brothers easily, but Syline? She was soft, she was born for city life, she didn’t belong out here. No one else would think twice about that rabbit, but all she could see when she looked at her dinner before her was the rabbit’s empty, dead eyes. The guard’s empty dead eyes. His lips, trying to say words that he had not the air to speak. His life probably flashed before his eyes. Gods, what if he had a family? What if the rabbit had babies that would starve without it? Is this how the world was? Kill or be killed every day, regardless of who you left behind…?
Syline’s tears and thoughts of self-hatred were interrupted by something landing on her leg. Looking down, she found a small raven sitting on her and staring up curiously. In shock, Syline screamed, rearing back from the bird. The raven reacted similarly, flapping up into the air with angry caws. It landed a few feet from Syline and went back to staring at her.
Her shock abating, Syline stared back. She wondered just why a raven would come – of course, she had a fire, food and soft robes. She probably looked like a fantastic nest to it right about now. She looked at her kebab of rabbit meat. Surely, she could afford to give up a little bit at least. She wanted her meat to cook a bit longer, but she didn’t think the raven would mind its part being a bit undercooked. She brought the stick out of the flames and peeled off the top piece, the little bit of meat the back had provided. She wasn’t sure what was left would really fill her up that much, but right now, a little companionship would really do her about as much good as that meat would.
She placed the meat down right by her leg, returning the kebab to the flame. The raven eagerly bounced over and snapped it up. Then, showing absolutely zero fear of her, it leapt right back into Syline’s lap. It nestled down between her legs and into her soft robes.
Syline’s eyes budded with fresh tears as she felt a giggle overcome her. What a ridiculous bird. The raven looked up at her and made its best facsimile of her giggle with a warble deep in its throat. Warily, she reached out and began petting the raven down its back. Her family owned ravens as messenger birds. She knew they were intelligent and affectionate birds once they got to know you. Kat had one as a pet and she’d been begging her mother to let her make one her familiar.
The raven continued its gentle warbling, finishing its meat and resting its head under its wing, perfectly at ease. Maybe, she’d just found her familiar. She’d always heard animals had a certain sense for mages, and sometimes it was the familiar who chose the mage, not the other way around.
‘Is that what this is?’ she asked the raven. It lifted its head, staring at her. ‘Do you want to be my familiar, little one?’ She didn’t know what kind of reply she expected, but it seemed this raven had already taken a liking to her and had definitely made its decision. It hopped up onto her shoulder, and affectionately butted its head into her cheek, making that same warbling noise deep in its throat.
‘I’ll… I’ll take that as a “yes”.’ With the raven on her shoulder, Syline got out the master spell-book. Forming a pact with a familiar was a spell in and of itself, and she was sure she had spotted it in there. Scanning through, she let out a little victorious ‘aha’ as she fell upon the page.
‘Ready, little one?’
She didn’t wait for a reply this time, the bird gave her one anyway though. Climbing down from her shoulder, it took roost in her scarf, small enough to comfortably sit there just above her breast, only its head poking out as it looked up and let out a caw. She ran through the incantation. The spell could be resisted by the animal if it wished. They could sense what it would do and, if they didn’t wish for the bond, they could refuse. The raven most certainly didn’t, and small runes appeared from its head to the tip of its tail, running down its form. The runes formed her name in the tongue of magic, naming the raven as her familiar. They faded just as quickly. The moment the bond was formed, she could sense it. She didn’t know what to expect, but she could feel the raven’s presence with her in a new light, as if, in its own small way, the raven was present in her very mind.
She could sense how it was feeling as if they were her own emotions. She could feel warm, easy contentment from it, along with the fading traces of loneliness. The raven was able to communicate with her in a primitive way through their bond, and it sent to her mental images of two other ravens, far larger than it, being torn apart by a large, white mass of fur she picked out as probably being a lynx or some other wild cat. She sensed it had been wandering for a long time, looking for somewhere it belonged, but ravens on other islands had rejected it. Ravens had their own languages in a way, and each murder’s dialect was slightly different. It didn’t fit with any of them and was again and again left isolated until it eventually found her.
Once more, Syline bit back tears. She pressed her head down and kissed the top of the raven’s head.
‘Don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me from now on, dear.’ She pulled out her rabbit kebab from the flames, pulling off a piece of the breast and giving it to the raven.
Her heart felt a great deal lighter now. She might have killed the rabbit, but in her own way, she felt like she had rescued this little raven. The rabbit was delicious and each bite eased her heart a little more. She told herself she couldn’t feel bad for killing a rabbit; it was just part of the food chain. If she hadn’t killed it, something else would. If she was going to provide for herself and her new little familiar, she’d have to get used to doing what needed to be done.
As her raven fell asleep in her scarf, Syline finished off her meal, feeling much better. Tomorrow, she could go to one of the lumber towns, try and find herself a bodyguard to help her find somewhere to hold up more permanently, until she figured out a plan to go home. Right now though, Syline closed up her satchel and pulled Malir out of her pocket. She placed it in her scarf next to the raven for her new familiar to cuddle up to and nestled into the tree behind her after adding a little fuel to the flame. Syline soon fell asleep, doing her best to ignore the ache of her tired muscles and bruised body. She was feeling like she might really be able to do this.
She might really be able to succeed in this adventure.
Chapter 6
Descending into the darkness of a demon-filled catacomb with only a half-devil to guide her was, perhaps, not the greatest decision Amberly had ever made. But, so far, it wasn’t going all too poorly for her. Laes would occasionally reach back to guide or use one of his wings to nudge her in the right direction when they had to round a corner or suddenly double back.
Amberly was deprived of her sight down here, but the scent alone told her the demons were near. That same pungent stench, like rotten eggs and faeces mixed in some awful concoction over a fat-fuelled flame. That scent was one she would never forget, not since the day those who bore it slaughtered all she ever knew. She remembered it so vividly, overpowering even the stench of blood as she had lain there, hidden beneath a blanket and her mother’s corpse. The demons had killed both her parents then, and only her mother’s body had kept her safe and hidden. Stifling tears, she was bathed, enveloped in the stench of demons, with nothing but their laughter and her mother’s paling features for company until the Furies came.
‘Turns the stomach, doesn’t it?’ Laes whispered to her. He paused for a moment, then shook her gently.
Amberly turned to look at him as if waking from a dream. ‘What?’
‘The stench, demons. Turns my stomach, at least. A lot of devils are… sort of allergic to demons, being near them makes us ill. It’s the best weapon the wild dogs have against us. Anyway, get your sword ready. If the stench is this bad, they must be close.’
For the longest time, the only light had been the deep ruddy-red that emanated from Laes’ blade. She kept hers ready by her side as the pair slunk around another corner. They could see torchlight now, growing against the walls. Laes gave one last look back at her before pushing forward. On impulse, she gave the half-devil’s shoulder a light squeeze – a show of solidarity – before releasing him. She could see now. Slinking forward beside Laes, she made her way down this last hallway. They emerged into the half-light of a large crypt lit by three torches burning in the mummified hands of the owners; corpses propped up in garish poses with wire and nail.
In the centre of the room, three children stood, all with bizarrely serene smiles on their faces, eyes vacant, their backs to one another, forming a loose triangle. Abasing themselves on their knees before them were figures in simple brown, satin robes, seemingly praying to the children. Beside them, propped up in the empty coffins of the crypt, were the corpses of other children, their bodies devoid of skin. The ground all around was splattered with blood and scattered with vicious-looking hooked, bladed tools. At the back of the room, Amberly spotted eyes glinting in the dark, another figure, hidden in shadow, watching, but not participating. All Amberly could make out of them was a feminine figure and a shock of white hair.
Amberly felt the hate rising in her; it was all that stopped her vomiting then and there. She had never been somewhere that smelled as utterly horrid as this place. Piss, ash, shit and that awful, invasive smell of demonkind. She began praying repeatedly to Soel to give her the strength to crush these cultists, to stand strong and not give in to her body’s own weakness, to slaughter them before they could harm any more of these poor children. She started to raise her blade when Laes caught her bicep. He nodded off to the left. In the shadows of a side room, they could just make out other children peeking out fearfully, arms wrapped in chains.
‘You get their attention and try and get them away from the children,’ Laes began. ‘I’ll start –’
‘Can you help us, miss? Please?’ A small voice at Amberly’s side interrupted. They looked down. It was a fourth child with the same serene smile on his face as the three by the cultists.
‘Of course, dear.’ Amberly’s instincts had taken over. She reached for the boy and placed an arm around him. ‘I need you to hide for now though, ok–’ Her voice cut off, strangled when the child grabbed her wrist. She felt the bones crack under the crushing grip. Far, far too strong for any child.
She screamed.
‘Shit!’ Laes cursed beside her and his hellforged blade lashed out at the boy’s wrist, taking off the arm at the elbow. The child hissed like an angry cat, leaping backwards. Seams showed around its eyes and lips, like its skin had been stitched onto it. ‘They’re skin stealers Amberly! Protect the side room!’
Spots played across Amberly’s vision at the pain as she stumbled back from the thing in a child’s skin. Its serene smile turned vicious as the skin peeled off its form. What stood up from within the child was far larger than it had any right to be, considering its diminutive host, standing easily six feet tall. The awful thing seemed made of little but sinew and bone, its eyes nothing but lights within a terrible, predatory skull, somewhere between a big cat and a bull. The smell hit Amberly full on now. Even Laes grimaced in her peripheral vision. Only her fury kept her stomach in check. They well and truly had the cult’s attention now. The cultists were yelling and rushing for their weapons as Amberly and Laes retreated to guard the door to their remaining hostages.
‘A good eye, devil,’ hissed the first of the demons, now missing an arm but flexing its other long, clawed appendage as its fellows broke free of their child hosts, advancing towards the duo.
‘Please, your kind might think themselves clever, but you can’t hide how ugly you are, no matter whose skin you wear.’
The beastly demon cackled as it leapt at Laes. The devil dipped low, his blade carving a long line through its gullet as Amberly’s stabbed viciously into its shoulder. Her blade burned with the holy flames of her god as she roared a battle cry.
‘Fear, darkness! For the dawn has come!’
The first of the demons screeched, crippled on the floor, before Amberly decapitated it with a vicious swing.
‘Not bad, knee-scuffer,’ Laes complimented her with an easy smirk, turning properly towards the advancing foes. The cultists seemed eager to hide behind their demon lords. They’d be easy pickings once the real threat was dealt with.
