Arden Kole's Arc

Chapter 5 of 8

Arden stared at the empty surgery table. The gray husk of her copy lay beside it. Her hand worked again, but she had nothing to build with. Then she remembered the source. The wanderer that gave her the first tissue still walked the ward. Its composite flesh did not rot. If she could take it whole, she could start over. She grabbed her bag of tools and left the sealed room. The wanderer stood at the end of the corridor. It was tall and thin, sewn from mismatched limbs. Its smooth, faceless head turned toward her. One yellow eye caught the light. It had blocked her once before. Now it just watched, silent, as if it knew her. "Easy," Arden said, fast and low. "I only need part of you. You won't miss it." She stepped closer. The creature backed away, dragging one stitched foot. A warm voice stopped her. "You'll wear yourself out chasing that." Arden turned. The undertaker stood in the ward doorway, black suit clean, hands folded. He volunteered here among the dying, and the sick asked for him by name. He smiled at her like a friend at a funeral. She had seen him drift through these halls before. She never trusted the calm in his face. "Stay out of this," Arden said. "I'm here to help," he said, unhurried. "That thing is frightened. Corner it and it fights. But it trusts a steady hand." He stepped past her. He did not reach for the creature. He only stood still and spoke soft nonsense to it, the way you'd calm a horse. The wanderer stopped backing away. Its shoulders dropped. Arden's heart raced. This was her chance. She pulled a blade and a wide restraint strap from her bag. "Hold it there," she whispered. "I can do better," the undertaker said. He laid one pale hand flat on the creature's chest. The wanderer shuddered, then folded down onto the floor, limbs loose, the yellow eye going dark. It lay still and whole. Arden dropped beside it and pressed two fingers to its arm. The flesh was firm. Alive. She could harvest all of it now. She looked up, grateful and afraid at once. "How did you do that?" His smile did not change. "The same way I help all of them rest." He crouched across from her, the body between them. "I'll give you the whole creature, Arden. Every stitch. Enough to build your brother twice over." Her breath caught. "What do you want?" "When your brother wakes," he said gently, "I want to be the one who greets him. A small thing. We'll settle it later." He stood and walked out, leaving her alone with the sleeping wanderer and its promise. Arden looked at the body under her hands. She had her material back. She also had a new debt, and she did not yet know its price.