“
Shut up Malice, I found him I’ll kill him how I want,” Odium snapped pulling the mace from the wall with apparent ease. William’s mind raced, there was no way he would escape this, but the baby, he had to find a way to get her out of the Manor. These creatures would not make a trade, a life for a life; they would kill both of them for the sake of it he was sure.
A loud yell brought William back to reality and he realised Odium and Malice had begun to fight. They couldn’t decide the most painful way to kill him. William knew it was now or never, if they caught him sneaking away death would be quick, no arguments about how to kill him, he had to disable them. With an energy he never knew he had he kicked Odium in the stomach and shouldered Malice out of the way and ran out of the door and kept on running, out of the double doors, down the steps, on the beaten path and didn’t stop running until he had reached the square.
The night air was thick with fear, something was happening in the town. The windows in the cottages were black, like closed eyes, and the night offered no more than a silver haze of light. The lanterns had blown out. Everything was silent; William tried not to breathe for he feared it would give away his position. He looked around for any sign of life, in the opposite direction from Oprend Manor lay Lumber Forest, above the roofs of the cottages in the distance. The trees were silhouetted against the night sky. A winding path up a small hill led to the forest and William knew that was where he was needed. He moved the baby around in his arms, it was still sleeping, a deep unnatural sleep, and ran over to his tavern, unlocking the door, fumbling with the key.
The tavern was pitch black; he dashed over to the bar and set the baby – in an empty box, first lining it with his jacket – behind it. Using the cloth he had put over the glasses as a blanket. Above her on the wall was a sword, he gently eased it off of its hooks and raced out of the tavern, locking it as he went. William had no idea what he wound find the moment he stepped from the square, keeping the baby with him would only put it in danger, though leaving it in his tavern seemed no less risky. He stood by the door for a moment, torn between keeping the infant with him and leaving it. If more of those
things
appeared could he really defend them both? No, it tore at his heart and he questioned his logic with every fibre of his being, but it was safer to leave the child in the tavern. He was no warrior, he could fight if need be but he had no chance against those creatures or whatever else waited for him in the shadows.
A dog whined a street away and Williams head snapped round in the direction of the noise.
“
Eat it! It is there on a platter what more do you want?” An angry voice yelled, in the same direction as the dog. William winced, it was more of
them
.
“
Shut it Crass,” another voice shouted back, “it’s not exactly a feast, Malice and Odium are lucky, they get to eat that Elina woman when Aerona is finished with her.”
William froze; it took a few minutes for what the creature had said to sink in; he had completely forgotten about Elina and her baby, Wynn.
“
Where are they anyway?” Crass asked. The voice was becoming louder, as though they were walking in William’s direction.
“
Yeah they should have been here. If Aerona had chosen me there would be no foul ups.” The second voice was also becoming louder. They were going to turn around the corner any moment and find William standing in the middle of the square, sword in hand, mouth open in fear.
“
You, you couldn’t even kill that dog properly, you’re pathetic Spite, Aerona only lets you tag along because you were the first one she turned. A reminder of how never to –” the voice was cut short as a scuffle broke out and the sound of windows breaking echoed around the streets.
William couldn’t move, he was completely paralysed by fear, there were hardly any places to hide in the square, and even if he found one he knew that it would be any minute before they stopped fighting and found him. A breeze whipped up and his clothes flapped in the wind as his eyes darted around for any form of hiding place. In the last cottage before the forest, a candle burned. It had not been there before; William took a chance and ran towards the light. The front door was open; he ran through it just as the creatures stopped fighting and turned the corner.
“
I could have sworn I heard footsteps,” one of the creatures remarked, “running.”
William was pressed against the back of the door. The hallway in front of him was in darkness, he could just make out the walls and floor from the light of the moon shining through the windowpane on the door. The creatures continued to bicker amongst themselves, walking down the beaten path towards Oprend Manor. William let out a sigh of relief; slowly he felt his heart slow down. Looking around William saw the cottage he was in was the one opposite his tavern, Widow Mason’s. It was unusual for Widow Mason to leave her door open; William brushed himself off and walked cautiously down the hall, poking his head into every room. They were all pitch black. The last door on the right of the corridor was shut; he put his head to the wood and heard the sound of muffled voices. Straining he could just make out what the people inside were saying.
“
What brings you to Woodstone mistress?” A man was asking, his voice quavered as though utterly terrified.
“
Business. Where will I find Elina Fillamenth?” The woman sighed, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. William held his breath, wondering if the man would betray Elina to the woman.
“
Her home, in the middle of Lumber Forest, I thought you would have Moved yourself there,” the man replied. William was not surprised that he had revealed Elina’s location, even though Elina was the kindest person alive it seemed some still wished her harm.
“
Do not talk of Moving as though you understand it, carrying myself vast distances with magic is not foolproof. Elina has placed a protective spell around her and her little brat, therefore if I want to find her I must go to her in person, the knowledge of her location exact in my mind.”
The woman’s voice was a question, but no answer came. A long silence stretched and was followed suddenly by the sound of metal clashing and a thump. No cry floated through the air but William was sure that the man was dead. He scrambled away as footsteps walked towards the door but before he could run a strong arm had grabbed him around the neck. He dropped his heavy iron sword to the floor with a clatter.
“
Who are you?” Aerona asked him, her grip tightening.
“
W-William,” William stuttered, he made the mistake of glancing behind the woman and saw a decapitated man sprawled on the floor. Blood soaked into the wooden floor, he could not see the head anywhere in the room.
Aerona’s eyes flashed red again, drawing William’s gaze back to her. “I remember you, the nosey old man. You didn’t fall for my Charms.”
William’s face paled as the grip tightened, his eyes darted again to the room which Aerona had left, evidence of how easily this woman killed people who displeased her but Aerona shook him and forced William to look at her. She stared into his eyes and for a moment he felt as though she was inside him, looking at his deepest regrets and fears. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever experienced, she clawed at him and he could not escape her gaze. She saw everything and he was powerless to stop her. Agonising, raw, ripping pain tore through him like a razor. With all his will he moaned and managed to close his eyes.
“
You’re strong,” Aerona whispered, “but all fall eventually. You fear I will find Elina and her daughter, which means you care about them, and you know where they will be. That crowd were useless really, only a few could tell me where Elina lived and even fewer knew any exact location, and I had to kill most of them for wasting my time; they will serve me well, but you, you will be most useful alive.”
William felt his life ebbing away as her hold on his neck grew tighter, his limbs had gone numb. Aerona sneered as William began to stop struggling; eventually she dropped him to the ground just as his heart was failing. He gulped at the air, tears spilling from his eyes. He stared at Aerona, the long black robe, the pale skin which it swathed, the long red hair which seemed to writhe like flames, the grey eyes which watched him suffer.
“
Are you quite done?” Aerona snapped at him, “I’m in a hurry.”
William slowly stood up; afraid his knees would buckle under his weight. The floor seemed to dance beneath him. The walls quavered as his eyes focused again. Aerona grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the cottage into the square. He saw a massacre before him. Bodies were piled high, a mess of limbs and gore. There was no pattern to the way the corpses lay; it was as though they had all dropped to the ground atop of each other in the same instant. The air stank of blood and William vomited violently, his stomach turning as he recognised the faces; men, woman and children, all ages and genders viewed him with cold, dead eyes. Yet it was not the corpses that made William retch, it was the... the
things
that surrounded them.
Malice, Odium, Crass and Spite, William remembered their names despite everything. They looked identical in the moonlight, soulless, rotting bodies that should be dead, yet lived as easily as William. They stood guard over the bodies, arms crossed. When William stood and glanced over at them they nodded their heads, as though to imply that they would be waiting. William shivered.
“
Where is she old man?” Aerona snapped.
William glanced at her fearfully. How had his life taken such a drastic and dangerous turn? Only a few hours ago he had been dancing in the carnival, drinking ale and celebrating the New Year with his closest friend, Elina and her daughter. Now he was standing beside a murderer, leading her straight to Elina, what kind of a friend was he? How could he do this to her?
“You do not have a choice,” Aerona purred, “now think of the location.”
William slowly raised a shaking arm and pointed towards Lumber Wood, the forest which lay in the opposite direction to Oprend Manor. Aerona nodded and placed a hand onto William’s shoulder. William frowned and saw Aerona concentrate in the direction of the forest, using William’s exact knowledge as a guide. He felt as though someone had dragged him through brambles, his skin tingled and his head rushed and when he looked around he saw they were now standing outside of Elina’s cottage in the centre of the forest. They had moved such a distance in the blink of an eye. William shook his head and decided he had finally gone mad... around him the forest was quiet; the sound of small animals running in the opposite direction echoed around the silent trees.
Beside him Aerona studied the cottage, it was a modest place made of stone; ivy crawled up the walls and flowers grew around it. Through a window at the front of the house, she could see a figure in front of a stone fire. The amber light from the flames cast shadows around the small room. The laughter that echoed from inside mocked Aerona. She scowled and placed her palm on the window pane, a tiny crack appeared then suddenly it exploded, shards of glass went flying, a few hit William’s face and blood slowly poured down his cheek, he felt each cut tentatively, finding everything hard to understand. The figure inside the cottage froze and shouted out.