Garish Smudge's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Garish studied the glowing doorway frame at the back of his wagon, pipe smoke curling from his jaw. The Moonglow silk on his work table pulsed with steady white light, but he needed more—rolls and rolls of it. This doorway had to be the entrance to the Veil-Between, where the worms actually lived. He'd collected what they left behind in the mist, but that wasn't enough. Real tailors went to the source. He pressed both hands against the frame's surface and felt warmth spread through his finger bones. The glow strengthened, then dimmed again. Not ready yet. But soon. Soon he'd step through and have access to more luminous fabric than any tailor in history. The Duchess would beg to be buried a second time just to wear what he'd make. He pulled back and turned to survey his Grave Threads stagecoach wagon. Bolts of shadowsilk lined one wall, shimmering purple-black in the dim light. His tailoring tools hung from hooks above the workbench—enchanted shears that cut through bone-thread, needles that never dulled. The doorway frame hummed behind him, calling him back. He took another pull from his pipe and set it down. The frame needed something more to open fully. Blood, perhaps. Or bone dust mixed with that scrap of Moonglow silk he'd already found. He reached for the glowing fabric on his table and held it against the frame's edge. The warmth flared hot enough to make his bones tingle. The doorway rippled like water. There. That was the key. Enough Moonglow silk pressed against the frame, and the Veil-Between would split wide open for him. Garish pulled the fabric away and watched the ripples fade. He needed more silk before he could force the doorway open completely. The small piece on his table would only tease the entrance, not break it wide. He tucked the glowing fabric into his coat's inner pocket and felt its warmth against his ribs. His wagon would serve as his base while he gathered what he needed. Every scrap of Moonglow silk he found in the mist would bring him closer. Once he collected enough, he'd activate the doorway and step through into the Veil-Between itself. The worms lived there, spinning their luminous thread in quantities no tailor had ever seen. He'd return with enough fabric to outfit every corpse and noble in existence. The thought made him tap his pipe against the workbench with satisfaction. But finding silk in scraps would take too long. Garish turned to the device he'd constructed last month—a loom built from bones and sinew, threaded with silver wire. If he could catch a live worm, he could harvest the silk directly. The bone loom sat in the corner, its frame assembled from finger bones and reinforced with cow femurs. He'd need to bring it through the doorway once he forced it open. Catch the worms, harness them to the loom, and let them spin while he worked. The living ones would produce more silk in an hour than he'd find in a year of mist-walking. He ran his hand along the loom's bone frame and felt the silver wire hum under his touch. Everything was ready. He just needed enough Moonglow silk to unlock that doorway, and his dream would finally be within reach.