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Inhuman - Chapter 1
Synopsis: Murdered by his wife, a man meets Peyra, the goddess of mischief and lust, who saves his soul. While her motives remain unclear, the murdered man becomes her pet, a ghoul called Grym the Faceless. Grym carries the insatiable appetite for human flesh, but he also carries the frightening power of a dark sorcerer.
Chapter 8
“It’s amusing actually. I learned your story from a whore. Still, you could have lied to me. We both know those bones along the road don’t reveal whether they’re your enemy or your kin. Death makes us all equal.”
His irritating cackle twisted into her heart.
“So, a renowned healer stood by and watched as they beheaded children in front of their mothers. You should be proud your unit upheld the standards of the emperor.”
The silence between them stayed for a while, only interrupted by the steady pound from the horse’s hoofs.
“During my planning to find you, I heard a tale that your family raised you in a town near here,” the inhuman let out a tired sigh. “When you and your comrades came this way, did you stop and say hello to your old friends?”
“Why would you ask that?” She came out of her thoughts.
“No reason in particular,” he smirked.
He directed the horse onto another path, cutting through a row of trees. Valary paid no attention as she thought about the long slog to the remote territory from the principal base outside of the capital. The trains filled with five thousand troops stopped in Barab, yet she did not bother to take time to see her mother. She held that privilege. Yet, as a hero of the empire, Valary told herself her mother would not want the attention. The reality was far different. Embarrassed by her humble origins, Valary kept the location of her childhood a secret from her friends. Since most Infinites were nobles, she knew they looked down upon her humble origins. There was no reason to have them twist that knife further.
“Well, it’s expected,” she heard Grym said. “In my journeys through the empire since becoming a ghoul, I find humanity filled with such hypocrisy in every town. I saw it before but, like most things in life, I skipped over it to remain content in my shell.”
“I don’t understand why nobody’s returned to this place,” Valary tried to change the conversation. “The emperor promised to rebuild the areas damaged during the war. Even if this is a remote area, he needs the support of the duke.”
“I believe he also promised things to the heroes well before you became a threat to his power,” Grym mocked her. “What noble cares about the plight of the people that he rules over? It’s the same thing when someone like you becomes a mindless beast who follows orders while throwing away any moral code they knew.”
“You don’t have to remind me of my past!” She suddenly exploded as she nearly lost her balance. An icy rage enveloped her as she lashed out at her tormentor.
“My heart is cold enough to kill you if I had my hands. I swear upon my dying breath that torturing me won’t turn me into your puppet. It only makes me want to destroy you along with the others.”
His monotone whisper came to her ear.
“That’s what I’m counting on, my dear!”
~~~
The two travelers reached the train station at Frola the next day as the sun reached its peak. To call the stop on the Empire’s main line a town was too generous. Aside from a water tower and the brick station, half a dozen wooden buildings made up the rest of the hamlet. The wide-open landscape held only a few large trees as the grasslands extended to the uplands in the distance. Valary barely recalled traveling through the area by train once before.
Grym steered their horse to the fenced area outside of a shack where several dozen Auroch oxen wandered around the pen. He helped Valary down from the horse, then went to the building where a stable owner waited. She noticed the man greeted him without a change in his expression at seeing Grym’s mask. After the two men spoke for a while, Grym returned.
“We’ll take the train that stops tonight. I’ve sold the horse and saddle. We’ll wait under that tree by the water tower. It’s in the shade and we can fill the water bag.”
“I can’t help with no arms,” she replied sarcastically.
“If you keep complaining, I’ll tie it to your body, and you can carry it on the train along with the other bags,” the inhuman glared at her.
Valary went quiet as Grym unpacked the saddle. She noticed Grym appeared even more distant than usual, but she did not bother to ask the reason. The traveling proved difficult, but her natural immunity, as well as food and rest, brought her back to full vigor. Even the fake legs she used no longer required careful supervision to operate. Still, the woman hated her lack of arms and hands.
“Put the bag of water over my neck and I’ll carry it,” she suddenly told him.
Grym looked at her, then did as she asked. He pulled off his musket in its leather scabbard and threw the leather bag, carrying their supplies over his shoulder. As they walked across the dusty road, she grew curious.
“I noticed that the guy who bought the horse did not react to your appearance. Have you done business with him before?”
For a moment, he appeared not to hear her question.
“No, I simply put an illusion spell upon my mask,” he finally explained. “It’s similar to the way your golem legs work. Another sage, or even some healers like yourself, can still see the reality on the other side of the illusion.”
“That explains why I didn’t notice the change.” She nodded.
“No, you should notice any changes in the aether used by a spell. You failed to notice because of ignorance.”
Her face flushed at the insult.
“I suppose your skills surpass even the best court mage!”
“Rulli would not make that mistake,” he replied with an uncaring shrug as they reached the windmill.
The slight breeze spun the vines of the windmill a few feet above them and the rhythmic thump of an iron rod lifting and dropping was the only noise around them. An iron pump spit out water into a wood trough while lifting the rest of the water to the wooden tower next to them.
“You act like you know her. I doubt she meets with inhumans regularly.”
Grym glanced over and shook his head.
“During your time in that labyrinth, I would hope that you noticed your failures. First, you still carry arrogance, which reminds me you don’t realize your weakness. It led to your betrayal. No doubt brought on by your own stupidity. Second, you never learned the skills to become a weapon with your aether. You took your role as a savior without reflecting upon the history of human cruelty and folly. Humanity always follows the path of those who stand in power over them.”
He dropped the bag next to the wooden water trough under the tower used by the trains. Grym slid down next to the trough under the shade of the tree.
Valary stood over him for a moment, unable to think of a rebuttal. At times, she wondered if Grym could read her mind.
“Curse you. I spent months in darkness and pain. Do you think I couldn’t remember every detail which led to my eternal grave? I recounted every shortcoming, and I remember the faces of those who betrayed me.”
She grumbled with disgust and used the wood slats of the water tank to slide down into a sitting position a few paces away from him.
“My time in prison while the guards used me for entertainment turned me against the gods. I prayed for intervention until I could pray no more. Finally, I realized the gods wanted me to pay for something. But I didn’t understand it.”
“Did you finally understand?” He asked.
Valary looked at the sky and shook her head.
“No, I’m still blind to what the gods want of me. My friend warned of a plot against the Infinites. Yet I stood at the height of arrogance. I just didn’t believe the bastard would arrest us. I thought we were too valuable. Even after the empire hailed us as heroes, those damn bastards did that to my unit. That son of a bitch took away my friends in the snap of his fingers. That’s why I want to see them drown in their blood.”
She dropped her head.
“It’s so frustrating! You’re right, I only learned how to use a musket or a sword for defense. Even as a so-called hero, I stood behind others.”
Grym remained quiet behind his mask. After a while, his voice reached her.
“So, you latched on to me so you can turn your frustration into something else. But you’re still afraid.”
She looked at him.
“Afraid of what?
“Death.”
He looked up at the tree above them. She noticed the reflective tone in his voice.
“Although, in your case, I suppose that’s expected. Most mages carry an underlying fear of necromancers. Those who use dark magic to use the dead as puppets scare those without magic. Besides, someone with your capabilities focused upon healing the near dead. You’re nearly immortal, so you’ve never really experienced anything close to your ultimate demise.”
“That’s not true!” Valary protested. “I saw more death than you can imagine.”
“But Valary the Infinite is dead in name only,” he turned to her.
“Yes, you saw many dead, and you witnessed people dying. But you did not truly experience it. The closest you got was in your tomb. Those who betrayed you expected you to live in agony long after their bones turned to dust. I grant that keeps you in turmoil and rage. But that’s different from throwing your humanity away to achieve your vengeance.”
He lifted his withered, bony figure and pointed at her.
“In the end, you can only imagine death. The puppets of the necromancer carry no consciousness when they come back. Only the inhuman can understand this.”
Grym turned his head back to the sky.
“Like you, betrayal came for me. Before you go into the blackness, you experience every second of your death. Your mind realizes you are dying while your body lies in your blood. You cannot stop waves of pain that keep rolling in. Unable to move while you experience each heartbeat, all you can do is listen to the voices of your killer. Cold slowly fills your body, starting from the limbs. You know there’s no escape as the blackness descends over your mind. However, I was lucky in a way. I found that my failure gave me a path to avenge myself.”
Grym closed his eyes like he was in prayer. Valary stared at him as she glimpsed the first real understanding of his terrifying past. He described something so unlike what she read from the books. A dark mage who died from betrayal to rise again as an undead monster. She decided the goddess must have a use for him.
“Death became a way for me to achieve my retribution,” his words brought her out of her thoughts.
“The goddess gave me a chance. Perhaps you’re under her guidance as well. However, I’ll have no other opportunity, so I will finish what I start. And I’ll use you to do this. To the world, Valary is dead. Nazalath and his cronies killed you. The very people you wished to save turned against you.
He turned toward her.
“So tell me, do you still follow the teachings of the temple who gave you to Nazalath?”
“Of course not,” she immediately spat out the words.
“As I shivered in the darkness, I remembered how the priestess kept warning me about my soul if I failed the holy order of the emperor. Now I want to see them burn in the underground fires.”
Grym smiled happily.
“You’ve begun the process of reclamation. You’ve seen butchering and slaughter. And you have the fury in you to pull the beating hearts from your opponent’s chest. Beyond a healer, you carry aether which you can use against anyone with some training.”
He held out his hand with his palm held up. A blue flame rose from his hand.
“When I give you the golems for your arms, you can take this flame to warm you.”
Her eyes widened at the blue aether. The priestess warned her repeatedly about finding such a mage.
“This flame will slowly enter your heart to take away the doubts in your path,” he continued. “Accept the hatred and inspire retribution into the deepest parts of your soul. Everything else becomes easier. Use your humanity to its fullest.”
Valary watched the handle of the windmill pump come down like an ax with each thump of the rhythmic sound. The image suddenly made her re-live the time when the axe cut off her arms and her legs. The woman remembered her screams, the crowd’s laughter, and the pain come back with stunning clarity.
“I want that blue flame!” Valary finally whispered.