Shades of Grey

VIKKA— AUGUST 1844

Forma and I ran through the doorway and up a set of steps made from twisted buildings and bits of the cobblestones that had once been the main road of the city.

“There’s a ladder ahead of you,” Forma cautioned. I heard her snap out her wings and leap over me, flying to the top of the ladder to assess any dangers that may lay in waiting.

“Is the coast clear?” I asked as I ascended the ladder.

“It’s a long tunnel made from morphed metal buildings. There’s a faint light at the very end, but it smells odd, almost devious.”

I sighed as I reached the top of the city level after little over five seconds of ascension. The vampires were playing with me: of course it would smell devious.

I tapped the ground with my Flamesword until I heard the clank as it made contact with the metal tunnel. I then heard a shiver pass through the tunnel from my swordpoint, as though traps inside were being activated. I then barely touched my Flamesword to the tunnel, listening to the activity beneath.

Forma and I both flinched as a sharp ripping sound broke the air followed by the thunderously rhythmic clanking of metal teeth clashing together in a hideous canon. The process repeated instantly, echoing in the silent, mutated city. I lifted my Flamesword from the floor and the sounds stopped.

“Forma, does this tunnel have teeth?” I verified.

“Yes, very sharp and very large bloodstained teeth,” she replied promptly.

I cracked my neck.

“Well, let’s do this.”

Forma shrank to her natural size and settled on my shoulder, eliminating the extra trigger weight for the hungry tunnel. I took a careful step forward, listening as the teeth began to clang together, echoing off the metallic surfaces. I listened to the whining and protesting as the machine prepared to strike, I could hear each movement before it actually happened, allowing me time to wait for each part of the machine to move before I took another step. I easily manoeuvred through the stomping vertical plates and the sporadically clashing teeth, emerging unscathed at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, the tunnel ended in a vertical chute: an obstacle I had not foreseen.

Forma and I fell abruptly through the chute for what felt like ages, colliding into the walls as the tunnel seemed to curve and move as it pleased before we flew out of the end and landed on a hard, stoney ground. I grimaced as I felt several bones in the lower half of my body fracture.

“Forma? What does it look like?” I asked as I slowly pulled myself up.

“Erm…” Forma struggled as she stood. “It’s a massive graveyard. The mausoleums and tombstones all sit at least half a yard taller than you, each one decorated with a roaring gargoyle face or the mug of some sort of snarling demon. I—”

A rumble amidst the deathly stillness of the graveyard stopped us both. I next heard creaking as the gates to the mausoleums and the grainy protestations of the stone graves slowly swung open, followed by the slow dragging of heavy footsteps. My pulse quickened and I withdrew my Flamesword in anticipation. The sooner I disposed of this lot, the sooner I could get to Evan.

“Oh God,” Forma exhaled under her breath.

“What? What is it?” I asked, listening for any identifiable sounds.

“The animated corpses are stepping out of the graves. It’s revolting: some are decayed beyond recognition, it’s like looking at a living version of Géricault’s ‘Raft of Medusa’…it’s horrible...”

I heard the quickened heartbeats of the humans amidst the weighty footsteps of the corpses as they approached. I had a sinking suspicion as to what I was supposed to do and not seconds after I had verbalised this thought, a Vanguard vocalised instructions and confirmed what I thought.

“Put away your sword, youngling. For this challenge, you must display your mighty archery skills,” called the mystery vampire. “If your arrows manage to pierce the heads of the corpses, they will fall and the human will go free. If you miss…then we Vanguards will have an early dinner.”

The familiar cackles of the other Vanguards echoed off the malformed walls, distorting my equilibrium.

“Fine,” I spat, reaching for my bow and arrow.

“One more thing,” he added. “No cheating.”

Forma gave a brief cry of alarm and I heard her attempt to transform amidst the alarming sounds of a struggle. After several seconds, all was silent.

“What did they do to you?” I asked her quickly.

“Several vampires leapt out of the ground to cover my eyes and restrain all of my limbs. Don’t worry though, it’s not as uncomfortable as it sounds,” she replied with characteristic sarcasm. “No rush or anything.”

I sighed and sheathed my Flamesword.

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “I’ll be done with this before you know it.”

“Well, I don’t mean to pressure you, but please hurry.”

“Do we make you nervous, dog?” taunted one of the vampires.

“You know, even though she reeks of dog, there’s enough Maisling blood running to still smell appetising…”

I heard them all laugh through clenched teeth as they inhaled her scent. Forma took in an anxious breath but quickly quelled it.

Through gritted teeth, I pulled an arrow out and prepared to aim at the first corpse.

As I held my bow aloft, I tuned my ears in to the quickened heartbeats of the human prisoners, to the rapidness of their breathing… if I aimed my arrows just above the sound of their breaths, they should pierce the heads of the animated dead.

I released my arrows, listening to the satisfying ‘swish’ as they pierced the first corpse and it dropped to the stone floor with a gratifying ‘thud.’ The frightened human immediately ran in the opposite direction, eager for a way out of the city.

“How do I know you will allow the humans to freely leave the city?” I called to the distant Vanguard.

“We have many, many more prisoners along with several animals foolish enough to enter our territory: the loss of a few will not be a detriment to us,” laughed the Vanguard.

I struggled to hold down my increasing rage as Forma fought under the grip of the Vanguards behind me. I drew three more arrows and focused on the breathing of the next human and the position of the corpse holding them in place. As soon as I was positive of their exact location, I released the arrows, each time successfully hearing the dead corpse drop to the ground and the terrified footsteps of the humans as they scurried away.

The final corpse, however, had observed my pattern of success and learned from the others’ mistakes. As soon as I released my arrows, I heard the frightened shrieks of the human as the corpse moved him directly into the path of my arrows.

“NO!” I shouted, withdrawing one of my dirks. Acting entirely on instinct, I threw it slightly on a curve and successfully knocked the arrow away. I even managed to slice the neck of the final corpse and heard it fall to the ground, the hilt of my dirk lodged in its neck.

“Good,” sneered the displeased Vanguard as the human ran away. “You have passed the first test. The next one, however, will not prove to be so easy.”

I heard the Vanguards restraining Forma quit the scene within the blink of an eye; leaving Forma to stretch her crushed limbs and recover her composure.

“Forma, what do you see?” I asked quickly.

There was a quick pause as Forma scanned the area, searching for any anomalies. I then heard what sounded like a door opening.

“A doorway just opened in one of the mausoleums. It looks like there is a chute just beyond. Come on.”

She grabbed my hand and we ran across the rooted field and entered the chute, only to find that it was an upward chute and we were stuck at the bottom.

“There has to be a trick to it,” I said after she had told me our dilemna. “Can you see any false knots in the tree or anything?”

Forma began to feel the tree, knocking in various places and entering the chute herself. I heard her shrug.

“Nothing.”

There was then a stark rumbling from the base of the tree and I heard Forma shriek in surprise as something pulled her sharply upwards through the chute. I wasted no time in entering the tree after her and the crypt wasted no time in propelling me to the exact spot where it had sent her, taking all of four seconds before spitting me out of an obscure opening and onto a hard, dirt floor.

“Ugh, Forma? Are you alright?” I groaned, gripping my throbbing legs.

“Fine,” she said in a breathy, pained voice. “You?”

“Fine,” I said in a similar tone. “What do you see?”

I heard Forma stand and examine the space, which, judging by the echoes our voices created, was large and barrenly cavernous.

“For lack of a better word, it’s a large cave made out of the twisted Vanguard buildings,” Forma said plainly. “Ugly, cold and—”

Forma then uttered a loud shriek and I heard her leap into flight.

“Transform!” she ordered. “Get into the air!”

I obeyed without a second’s hesitation, changing smoothly into my Dragon form and hovering beside her as I heard a low collective hissing begin to rise in volume.

“What is that?” I asked her. “Where did the snakes come from?”

“The ground,” she answered. “They appeared out of nowhere, lunging at me with fangs the size of your Flamesword.”

Seconds later I heard a distinct and thunderous crash as whatever had crawled through the earth broke through the concrete floor, emitting a roar that was so loud and hideous that I felt the foundations of the room shake. The roaring lasted for several seconds before ceasing, followed only by a low, insidious growl.

“What was that?” I dared to inquire. “It sounded like a demon.”

Forma was silent and as I listened, I understood why.

The searingly evil heat emanating from the demon was almost unbearable, irritating the scars on my face and burning the air in my lungs. I had a sinking feeling that I had to fight this beast and in my present state I was not sure I could do so. Evan was doing this on purpose. He wanted to exhaust me so that I would be an easier kill…the coward.

“Describe it to me, quickly,” I ordered.

“Fire…that’s all you need to know…fire and charred, steely muscle.”

I took a decisive gulp and landed on the ground. I transformed into myself, withdrawing my pistol and loading several ice bullets inside, when a bellowing voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Brilliant deduction,” snapped the malicious voice of another random Vanguard. “However, it is incorrect.”

“What?” I shouted over the rumbling movements of the great demon. “Then what is this?”

The Vanguard laughed.

“This is a battle for your pet.”

My stomach lurched and I instinctively turned towards Forma, listening as she flew back down to the ground, ignoring the leaping snakes with ease. I felt her stop strongly at my side, almost eager for a chance to kill something.

“How big is it?” I asked quickly.

“You just worry about your Vampire friend, leave the hideous demon to me,”

“Well, I must thank the Vanguards for this opportunity,” she answered with an almost audible smile. “Demons have long since fascinated me and I shall take the utmost joy in destroying one.”

The Vanguard laughed uproariously.

“You would do well to form those sarcastic words of bravery into a goodbye to your Hunter, filthy dog-Fairy; for regrettably, you shall likely never see each other again.”

Before I could protest, the floor beneath me suddenly turned into a sort of quicksand, pulling me down into an unknown abyss.

“What?! NO! NO! FORMA!” I struggled, fighting against the floor.

“No!” Forma shouted. “Grey, fight it!”

I heard Forma turn instinctively to try to rescue me but the demon loudly punctured her wing with his large flaming claws and threw her loudly across the room. I swallowed my guilt as I heard her cry out loudly in pain and resolved in that brief, fleeting second to not call to her again.

I tried to activate the small crossbow on my wrist to possibly create a safety line and pull myself out, but the quicksand floor was too fast and I fell through the floor, powerless.

I dropped down into what sounded like a room made of stone, landing with a sudden shock in a deep pool of cold water. The heaviness of my uniform and all my weapons increased my weight and I sank quickly below the surface. I slipped further and further from the oxygen I had had no time to inhale until I was forced to transform and raise my long neck out of the water, listening to the sounds of the room as I tried to surmise where I was.

From what I could decipher, the room had not been affected by the morphing city outside at all: it stood tall and proud, made of shale and smooth marble that curved upwards into a domed obelisk. It sounded like a church, but a church in a city of vampires? It seemed a strange notion.

Then I felt them.

Below the water, along the floor of the cathedral, I felt several vicious ripples in the water: something was moving below me.

I don’t need to see, I tried to encourage myself. I am strong: I don’t need to see exactly what it is…

Just as I began to believe my own words, the mysterious creatures made their move and I was able to identify them. I heard the growls of several vicious Iku-Turso monsters as they swam upwards through the water with unnerving ease, reaching me within seconds and plunging their teeth into my Dragon skin and ramming their massive moose-like antlers. My roars of pain rattled the water as I tried to ignore the curt sting of my lacerations. I could concentrate on one thing only: victory.

I roared in anger and began to quicken my movements, despite the debilitating effects of the water. I smashed several Tursos into one of the marble columns with a swing of my long neck, which dislodged several tons of debris over the heads of the beasts, crushing them.

Several more Tursos leapt suddenly from the floor and attacked me, ripping and tearing into my skin with their hideous teeth and wrapping their scaley tentatcles around me, blocking my access to the surface and preventing me from taking a breath of air. I roared again as the pain intensified, which only fuelled my enraged attacks. I swung my claws at them, gouging and decapitating several as I did. Finally, I brought my spiked tail through the mass of Tursos in one decimating blow, breaking their hold.

I then heard a click echo in the water as a latch opened somewhere. The Iku-Turso beasts stopped instantly at the sound and I felt the enormous pool begin to drain.

In their desperation, they locked their teeth onto my skin in order to fight the suction of the drain. I cried out as the drain pulled them away, ripping me slowly as it did. I began to move faster, successfully pulling off a good portion of them with my teeth and claws, but I was losing a lot of blood and my stamina was waning. The cold grip of unconsciousness, which had become very familiar to me in my travels, was quickly coming over me…

I summoned the energy to exhale fire and began to scorch the beasts that still held their grips on my skin. Together with my flames and my claws, I ripped all of the sharks from my flesh in a matter of minutes, just as the last few gallons of water disappeared into the drain and left me alone in the silent, cavernous cathedral.

I transformed swiftly, tending briefly to my bleeding gashes while listening to the echoes that the dripping blood created in the still chamber. Using the acoustics of the cathedral to pinpoint my location, I heard a sudden burst of noise as the echoes reached a wooden door at the far end of the room. Once I had bandaged my gashes, I ran to it promptly and threw it open.

The thick door fell off its hinges as soon as I touched it, the sound it made echoing upwards through what sounded like a circular stone stairway. In the distance, I heard soft singing that sounded vaguely familiar.

Dark flashbacks of fire….Evan’s face…the fearfully determined glances shared by my parents just before he killed them…

He was here: Evan was waiting for me on the next floor.

I ascended the stairway cavern with ease, traversing it in no time at all. Upon reaching the top, I held my hand in front of me, walking forward until I felt the cool steel of a large door. I ran my fingers over it; stopping when and I felt a sudden chalky, rough texture of what seemed to be a message written in dried blood. I felt around for the beginning of the message and ran my fingers over it, picking it up perfectly.

Salvete domus, Echo.

“Welcome home Echo…” I translated in an irritated whisper as my rage at his arrogance increased to an uncontainable level. I slammed my fists repeatedly into the door, beating on it until the entire staircase began to quake under the force of my blows.

After several moments, I leaned against the door, my beaten and wounded body throbbing in irritated exhaustion. There was not much more of this I could take…

“Come in,” said a familiar sardonic voice from behind the doors.

My exhaustion faded as I heard him. He was waiting for me. I drew my Flamesword, the sound of his voice reigniting the fury inside of me and recalling the revenge that I was moments away from attaining. I inhaled in preparation and pushed open the door.