Creusus's Arc

Chapter 33 of 43

The chains lay dead on the floor where Malachai had stood. The void beast shuddered and grew. Its hide split along the spine and a mouth opened along the length of it. The mouth screamed. The sound was a woman's cry torn raw and held there. Creusus dropped to one knee. The scream went inside his ears and stayed. He saw Kallista under the fig tree. He saw the dirt on her hands. The temple walls of black stone bled at the seams. Red light ran down the columns like water. Thane fell beside him with his hands on his ears. Blood came from his nose. "I can't," Thane said. "I can't hold anything." Smaller shapes broke off the beast's back. They dropped to the floor on wet legs. One had Kallista's face and a wolf's jaw. One was a child with no eyes, walking on hands. One was a shape that was only teeth. They came fast. Creusus swung at the wolf-jawed thing. His fist passed through it. It bit his shoulder and cold ran down his arm to the bone. He staggered. Another one hit his back and he went to the floor. The teeth-shape crawled onto Thane's chest and Thane screamed a mage's boy scream. Creusus could not get up. His hands were shaking. The black wrappings on his knuckles felt like dead skin. He thought, I am going to die here. He thought, this is what he did to the squire. He thought of Kallista and his arms would not move. "Thane," he said. His voice cracked. "Thane. Look at me." Thane turned his head. His eyes were wide and gone. "They are him," Creusus said. It was what Malachai had told them. He said it again. "They are him. Every one of them." Thane's mouth moved. No sound. Creusus pushed his palm flat against the floor. The stone was warm and rotten. He remembered the hum from the black armor a long time ago. He hummed. It came out broken. He hummed louder. The wrappings on his knuckles woke. He drove his fist down into the stone. The floor cracked. The temple lurched. The wolf-thing on his back thinned and pulled apart. The teeth-shape on Thane's chest snapped like a dry stick. "Push," Creusus said. "Push the ground." Thane put one hand up. His fingers shook. The air above them bent. The smaller shapes were dragged toward the ceiling and pinned there against the red-lit vault. They writhed. The scream from the beast's long mouth cut short.