Offering
The morning sun burns against Ennui’s pale cheek. The injuries she had suffered from the scuffle with the creatures the night before left her exhausted. The moment she had secured Augustus in his bed she had begun to drift. Her dreams were plagued with childhood horrors, of shooting stars, and roaring fires.
The tattered sheet around her had barely served to keep her warm, but it still felt like a comforting embrace. The tip of her finger runs along the length of the curtain, the sun fills the room with light while it parts. Augustus’ cheek rests against his shoulder, his chest rises and falls with his heavy, unseemly snoring. A smile flickers across her lips at a particularly roaring snore. I slept through the whole damn night. It is hard for her to admit how exhausted she was. Days of training had taken their toll, the evening of combat pushed her over the edge. The snowy courtyard had not changed overnight, the gate still shut.
Pulling the curtains closed, Ennui pulls herself from bed. The stiffness of her muscles nearly beckons her back to the mattress. With an audible groan she crosses the room and tosses the hallway door open. Mido sits a distance away, the back of his head against the wooden wall, a ratty cover pulled up to his chin. The pointed ears wiggle at the sound, before sitting still again. At the opposite end of the hall, a paned window, which looks out over the city filters light into the hallway. The sky has an unusual gray tint, a smoky air about it. The door snaps shut behind her. Mido’s ears wiggle once again, his eyes flit open.
Ennui’s mouth sits ajar, from what she can see of the city beyond the forest is gone. The ships along the docks have sunk into the harbor. Homes as far as she can see are nothing more than ash. Her tail snaps through the air while she is filled with concern. Mido approaches her from behind, his light steps cause her to twist to greet him.
“What happened?” Ennui asks, disbelief clear on her face.
Mido shakes his head, “We can talk about it later. Neither of them have woken up yet… I’ve been waiting all night.”
Ennui sighs after another glance at the city. “Have you checked on them?”
“Yes. I have. Several times.” Mido replies, wrapping himself in the blanket. “I-I’m doing everything that I can, Ennui!”
Everything you can? You’re supposed to be a fucking acolyte.
Ennui shoves past him, “Do more,” she growls.
Mido grabs her wrist, his expression is grim. “Ennui, I am trying. Really.”
Ennui pulls away, her exhaustion melts into anger. The whip-like tail snaps behind her while she enters Lumi and Khimi’s bedroom. A quiet calm, a faint crackle of flames from the ancient hearth. Lumi rests on his side, his breathing is uneven and ragged. Khimi still had not moved, his back flat against the mattress, his chest rising and falling with even, calm breaths. She sits at the edge of the bed and turns to the fire.
“Hells, you’re both absolute idiots,” she says under her breath. “Idiots. We’re barely into the north and you both already tried to get yourselves killed.”
Mido stands in the doorway, “Khimi is on the mend. His skin doesn’t feel as clammy, and his breathing has normalized. I don’t know anything about Lumi. He’s still hot to the touch.”
“Tell me what happened.”
Mido regales her with the tale of what transpired. How he had followed Lumi through the night and into the forest, sure to keep his distance so that he may not be heard. He explains how he had watched the whole scene unfold before his eyes. He falters briefly in his explanation on his arrival back at the manor. But Ennui does not press him.
“My understanding of the Faith is limited at best,” Ennui whispers, her voice breaking at the end. “Can anything be done?”
“I think we just have to wait and see if he recovers…”
Ennui rises from the edge of the bed. Near the window, she looks back down over the city. “I’ll go find us something to eat. I know everyone is starving.”
Mido remains quiet, his head bowed towards the wooden floor. “I’m sorry,” he whispers in response. “I should have stopped him.”
Ennui’s laughter leaves her lips without consent. “Mido, you couldn’t have stopped him if you tried. Not because you’re not strong enough, but because Lumi is a monster when it comes to getting what he wants.”
“What would you have done differently?” Mido questions, his ears twitching.
“Knocked him out, carried him back. But I don’t know if in this instance that would have even been viable,” Ennui replies, passing Mido in the door frame. “I need to find a bow.”
Ennui leaves the room in silence, skirting past Mido and down the stairs. The draft blows through the remaining part of the manor. She bundles the wool jacket around herself and pulls up the fur lined hood. Bursting through the front door, she sucks air through her teeth and turns her head to the sky. The cool air fills her lungs, the scent of smoke is thick around her. The remnants of the manor cast an oppressive shadow over her.
“Not much longer now,” Ennui mutters up at the house. “Hopefully we never have to look at each other again.”
At the center of the courtyard, she turns back to the manor and indulges in another look at the haggard structure. What once had been beautiful is now nothing more than a shell of its former glory. There is a part of her that wants to raze the remaining parts of the building, to see its memory burned to ash. Her fingers sweep along her forehead in thought. Khimi, you better wake up.
Through the snow, Ennui makes her way to the city, the scenes of destruction unfold before her eyes while she nears the top of the hill. Most of the fires had dwindled down to ash, leaving the skeletal remains of many of the buildings. The only buildings unmolested are those few outliers that sit above the hill. From the base of the hill down to the docks is nothing but rubble and ash. Smoldering embers and trailing smoke is all that remains. Near the center of the town, in front of the shrine, Ennui kicks through the rubble. There has to be something.
Along the docks, she comes across the house they slept in on their first night in Cochon. The fire had partly consumed the building. The door sits ajar, black ash covers everything inside. Ennui taps her foot while she racks her brain, she recalls the layout of the city from her youth. It takes her a moment to realign her sense of direction before she finds what she had been looking for. Though most of the building is destroyed, the massive forge remains in the center. The wooden floor crumbles in parts beneath her feet. Metal spear tips, half-finished swords, and arrowheads are all that remains of the objects around the forge.
Pushing through the forge, she finds what she is looking for. The front of the metalworker’s shop still remains intact. A wall displays an assortment of blades and weapons, nothing extravagant, but plenty of useful all the same. There, among the mixed assortment of objects, she finds a shortbow without a bowstring. The bow is light in her hand, similar to the one that Mamir had held. Among the shop, she manages to find a quiver among a few dozen arrows. She searches through cabinets and drawers for a bowstring. Defeated, she strolls through the city. The destruction is unlike anything she has ever experienced, even among her years as a mercenary, she had never witnessed anything of this caliber.
The hours whittle away from her while she surveys the scene. Back among the center of the city, she stands in front of the destroyed shrine. The entry still remains, bits of stone and rubble lightly obscure the pathway. Her lips purse together, a soft whistle sounds throughout the area. At the center of the shrine she stops to survey her findings: a stringless shortbow, twenty-six arrows, a leather quiver, two daggers, and a decent saber. Shoving the daggers into her boots, and slinging the quiver over her shoulder, she continues her exploration.
“Now, Samael. How the hells am I supposed to bring you back under these conditions? You wanted me to come to Cochon. Send me a sign. OR maybe you can get one of your other loyal followers,” she says to the sky. She can not help but laugh, “Samael, it’s not my fault this time… it was the aslan!”
A crow caws at the top of the shrine. Ennui rolls her eyes and looks up at the crow. It squawks again and turns its head towards the forest. Other crows join in the calls from a distance. A racket of sounds piercing the constant quiet.
“Alright, Samael,” she mutters while she follows the source of the sound.
The crow flies before her, zigzagging from burnt timbers to rubble until they draw closer to the source. A clearing opens before her, a spot where a market had likely been in the past. Wooden stalls are burnt out, the cobbles are charred. But what catches her eye is the murder of crows staring down from their perches.
A woman looks up from the cobbles, clinging to a corpse in her arms. At a glance, the girl in the woman’s arms had been dead for hours. Her skin had turned ashen, her eyes seemed to be sunken into their sockets. Scratches along her neck and shoulder reveal the cause of her death. The woman’s wounds look just as grisly. Bites upon her neck and shoulders tell just how bad of shape she is in.
“Can you stand?” Ennui says to the woman. “You should let her go… she’s long dead.”
The woman does not respond, but looks up to the sky, sobbing.
The crows call out, drowning the sobs in their laughter. Ennui casts a look of reproach at the flock.
“You were bitten,” Ennui whispers, her feet carrying her over the cobbles without thought. “Is that your daughter?”
The woman does not reply. Her eyes twinkle on the verge of tears.
Samael’s return requires a sacrifice; a loss of innocence. I can spare you from the pain. She kneels beside her, and coaxes the woman from her grip. The pale corpse rests over the stony street. Based on the woman’s features, she is likely the girl’s mother. They bear similar dark hair and sharp features.
Without the corpse in the woman’s arms, Ennui can see the wounds across her shaking arms. Her ankle is twisted and misshapen, the bones clearly broken. Is this what you wanted, Samael? Ennui takes the woman’s hand and turns her palms over. Her hands are covered in burns and soot. Dirt and dried blood cover her forearms.
“Devil,” the woman whispers, her eyes shaking with fear. She rips her hands back from Ennui. “You’re all devils!”
That’s right. I am a devil.
The crows drop onto the streets. They squawk uncontrollably, the screeching in Ennui’s ears is deafening. Just like with her first offering, her hands move to the back of the woman’s neck. She presses her cheek to her shoulder. The woman’s weak sobs mix with the cries of the crow. The dagger sighs ceremoniously while it is withdrawn from her boot. The screeching caws grow louder in her ear. The sobs become muffled, Ennui forces the woman’s nose and mouth firmly against her shoulder.
Ennui’s lip quivers just once before she clenches her jaw. Any resistance lessens with a final scratch against Ennui’s thigh. She lowers the woman beside her daughter and backs away. The crows become silent simultaneously, a stunning silence after their roaring fit. Like vultures, they descend around her, longing to feast on the corpses.
A Devil’s Return
Nearly an hour later, Ennui had finally managed to secure a basement, untouched by the flames. The stone walls around her are barren, no light touches the darkness. The gray skies had returned with the rapidly passing daylight, the midday sun hiding behind the cloud cover. She steps back and looks down at her handiwork. The circle of blood covers a length of the stony floor. The arcane sigil had been taught to her when she was still a girl. Throughout her life, she had learned to use it in times of need, but summoning Samael was never something she enjoyed.
The circle on the floor is marked with various symbols and scripts. Written in the beautiful language of the devils, the writing petitions for the devil’s appearance. To finish, Ennui stands before the circle and drags her dagger across the tips of her fingers. She flicks the dripping blood across the circle and recites the words from her youth.
“I am of the blood, and of the blood I will always be. Samael, my guardian,” she recites, pausing before she finishes. “I summon thee.”
Ennui had always hated that her devilish heritage was tied to Samael. Just like the stories, the devil is possessive, controlling, but most of all, needy. There had been times he had required Ennui to perform tasks simply out of pettiness. A part of her is certain that his wish to be summoned in Cochon is just another example of his pettiness. You’re too late, Samael. Cochon already got fucked.
The circle illuminates before her eye, a violet hue pulses through the room. The air heats around the circle, the violet hue shifts to a crimson red. The stony floor inside the circle shifts to a moving sea of crimson. A pair of gnarled hands appear on either side of the ring. A grotesque birth as the devil claws its way out of the circle and back onto Talmus. Curved horns and snarled teeth, his goat-like features no longer cause her any fear. His dark fur-covered haunches climb through the liquid. Covered in ichor, the devil stands in the basement, his neck bent to fit in the room.
“My sweet, sweet, Ennui. You never disappoint,” he says, his voice, harsh like a grindstone.
Ennui closes her eyes and waves her hand before her. “I’m beginning to think you’re trying to get yourself killed, Samael.”
The gooey liquid drips down his body, pooling at his feet. He offers a horrific smile. “You have my gratitude.”
“Do I get anything more than your gratitude this time?” Ennui snips.
“Have I not given you everything you could ever want?” Samael growls.
Ennui rolls her eyes and taps the wet blade against her palm. “Come now, don’t be greedy. I’ve always done everything you ask.”
“You’ve grown too confident in yourself.”
“Well… I mean, you have a whole slew of daughters and cultists and for whatever reason, you always come to me. Either you love me, or you need me,” Ennui replies, a glimmer of a smile on her lips.
Cold laughter fills the small space. “What do you need, child?”
“A bowstring, or food. Coin for our journey?”
Dumbfounded, Samael steps outside the circle, the crimson hue fades, the room returns to darkness. “For your efforts,” he whispers. His hands rub together then pull apart, pulling a string from one hand to the next. “If you’re so starved, feast on the crows.”
Ennui pushes her tongue against the top of her mouth, then whistles. “Wouldn’t want to eat your eyes now, would I?”
“I have plenty of eyes across Talmus, losing a few won’t do any harm,” he mutters. The bowstring slips from between his fingers onto the ground. “Anything else?”
“Some gold… ? I’ll take some silver even.”
Samael scoffs, rubbing his hands together again. A handful of coins clatter to the group. “Will this suffice?”
Ennui’s eyes scan the floor for the coins. Not wanting to seem desperate she remains still, her arms crossed. “If you planned to come take your vengeance on Cochon, you’re a day late.”
“Destruction is never my goal… did you locate the sun priest?”
“No luck,” Ennui snips. “Just a lot of vampires… but they aren’t here anymore.”
“Because of your…” Samael pauses. A cruel twist to his lips. “Lion.”
Ennui sighs, her fingers glide over the smooth horn. “Not mine… but sure. He’s a traveling companion.”
“Dangerous company for a devil. His gods may ask to slit your throat one day,” Samael replies, his hooved feet clop along the stony floor. “You’re a devil just like me.”
“As if I could forget,” Ennui responds, biting her thumb while he walks past her. “Samael, one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Khimi was bitten… by one of those creatures,” Ennui whispers. The thought of asking Samael for anything else causes her stomach to squirm. “Can he recover?”
Samael’s silence is unbearable. The deep breaths, the clatter of his hooves. The dripping ichor over the stones. His words are quick and pointed.
“If the one who bit him expires first, he will not succumb to that fate,” Samael replies before he turns back to her. “It is unlike you to hold feelings for anyone, Ennui. Are you well?”
“Peachy,” Ennui replies swiftly. “I just need to find a way to get us past Winterholt.”
“I would suggest taking a vessel to Rennes… or heading to the north and finding another harbor along the cape. Otherwise, you will have a long journey to Rennes,” Samael replies while he climbs the stairs.
“Can’t you take us?”
Samael laughs, his body vanishing from sight while he exits the basement. “I can. But I won’t.”
“After all this?” Ennui groans and hurries behind him. At the top of the stairs, the basement exits into an empty alley.
Samael looks about the destruction, his curious slit-like pupils survey the scene. “I’ll make the same suggestion I just made. North of Cochon, on the western side of this cape, is another harbor. It isn’t large like Cochon, but many of our ilk use the port for travel. You can secure passage there to Rennes.”
“And from Rennes?”
“You have gold enough to secure passage through most of the north, you can find your way from Rennes,” Samael whispers without looking back at her. “One of you must have a map?”
Ennui laughs softly, hiding the nervousness in her voice. Unsure if they ever had a map to begin with, she continues. “We were shipwrecked… I lost my blade, my gold, and just about everything else. But you have my thanks… for the hounds.”
“You’re thanking me? Something horrible must have happened to you,” Samael chides quietly, while they walk towards the shrine. “I know all about your little wreck, about your blossoming friendship with the minos and the aslan.”
“He’s really only part minos,” Ennui begins in a whisper. “Either way, he’ll make me plenty rich in time. I-I find them interesting, is all.”
“Lying to a devil?” Samael clucks, rounding a corner ahead of her.
Ennui follows behind, rounding the corner only to have lost sight of the devil’s hulking form. She glances up and down the alleyway, searching for any trace of him.
“I wasn’t lying!” Ennui shouts into the sky.
A flock of crows takes flight, and their mocking laughter echoes throughout the desolate city. Hells if we’re going to any harbor!