A Different Kind of Despair (8 page)

"Funny how Fate works," said
the devil. "He won his bet through a rather shady channel, and as a
consequence, Lady Galatea was saved... for about five seconds. Oh I
can tell you're dying to know more, great Shaman. And I
would
love
to
fill you in on the details."

I tensed my jaw.

"You've said more than enough
already."

"Oh don't be like that," he pouted, reverting
to his human facade. "Rather, since it's you, I can arrange a
meeting. Why not hear the story from the woman herself?"

I blanched.

"You... you can do that?"

"My dear... I can do things
you can scarcely dream of. Think
bigger
, my Lady. Any two-copper
magician can summon a spirit for a minute or two. I can cure
diseases, save lives, even...
avenge your
family
."

It was enticing. I'll even admit that I
considered it for a fraction of a second, but not before a smile
lit up my face. It was genuinely, horribly amused, and Koronos was
taken aback by the expression -probably because he was shocked at
the contrast between my mirth and the murder in my eyes.

"How much of an idiot do you take me for?" I
asked him. "If you think I'll trust the words of a devil then
you're better off looking for some other profession."

"My Lady, I did not mea-"

"I will never allow some
honorless filth to get involved in this matter. I
will find the Kurai, I will demand answers, and
if those answers do not satisfy me then I'll see that every man,
woman, and child gets their throats cut by my own two
hands."

The words lingered of my lips, and
the only thing that frightened me more than the fact that I'd
uttered those words was that I meant them -every last
one.

The shocked look on the devil's
face quickly turned into a curious mix of awe and admiration. His
ghostly arms pressed the envelope of the veil as I felt one snake
around my waist, the other coiling across my chest so his sharp
nails grazed the space above my jaw.

"It's been some time since
I've seen so much raw... potential." His voice grew more
otherworldly as he went on. If I could speak, I would've cried out
for help -anything to get his disgusting touch off of my skin.
"You'll grow to be a fine woman someday, my sweet,
sweet
Shaman. Truly, one
after my own blackened heart."

I mustered every ounce of my will, shivering
in effort.

"
Release me,
pig
."

And he did, but before
Koronos let go completely I felt his lips kiss the base of my neck.
It burned intensely, its heat traveling through my bones like warm,
molten honey. I clutched my arms around my body, feeling hot and
deeply violated. How
dare
he make a fool out of me this
way?

In my mind, Kurai was at the top of my list of
people to kill.

But Koronos had just become
a
very
close
second.

I did my utmost to dispel his presence from my
mind.

Nethermountain, once I paid more attention,
was an astonishingly beautiful place. Its walls were made of solid
quartz; they diffused the glow of torchlight in such a way that
entire hallways shined with a gentle ambiance. It reminded me of
the snow we would sometimes get on the steppes by the mountains. It
was like a fluffy white fog, enigmatic and omnipresent.

I also noticed what wasn't
present.

People.

"Uhm," I started, feeling on edge. "Where is
everyone?"

"This is pretty normal for
Nethermount," said Marvin, falling in step beside me. "Necromancers
don't usually come out of their labs unless we're having dinner in
the main hall."

"But aren't you family?"

"In a... loose sense," he hesitated. "We're
more like an enclave, a group of people with a very specialized set
of skills. As for where we're going, that entrance we came through
belongs to House Soma -Leo's home, and yours."

I furrowed my brow at the surroundings. "My
home?"

"I know it's nothing like the Cascadian
Plains," he said apologetically. "But at least you'll be safe here,
and you won't have to worry about food or shelter under our
roof."

I pet Tully on the head, smiling a bit as he
snapped at my fingers.

"How long has it been since you've last come
home?" I wondered.

"A little over two years, give or
take."

"And you didn't go back once?"

"It's a bit of a trek, and frankly, I was
pretty happy to leave." He looked around the hall of cloudy gems.
"Just being here makes me feel like a failure."

"A genius," I said, recalling what Will had
mentioned earlier. "How is it possible for a genius to be a
failure? Especially among his own kind?"

Marvin smiled ruefully. "Let's call it a
talent."

"Alright," said Leo. We turned and looked to
him. He motioned to a set of double doors with skeletons on either
side dressed in brown robes. "This is the main living area for
House Soma. Miraj, you pay close attention, since this is your
House too."

The skeletons opened the doors for us, and our
procession entered the den of necromancers in a single file
line.

The cavern House Soma called home was actually
warm compared to the dreary halls. There was a great fire pit in
the center of the space, smelling strongly of natural gas. Couches
and gigantic pillows littered the room in a seemingly errant
fashion, with piles upon piles of books stacked in every feasible
cranny.

A pair of children, both with gray and white
hair, held an intense debate over a heart in a glass jar,
scribbling notes at intervals in between. Another old man hummed to
himself as he scratched his head, flipping through research logs on
his lap.

I'd expected to see all manner of grotesque
experiments -but instead I found a den of quiet scholars who
couldn't be bothered with casual attention.

"It's normal," I muttered.

Leo huffed, "Well duh. We keep intense
projects in the morgue or chilled labs. It's just unsanitary
otherwise."

"I
saw
how you scarfed down lunch. Half
the meal went on your shirt and you want to lecture me about
sanitation?"

"Food is food, work is work," Leo
insisted stubbornly. I laughed a bit. First a rusalka helped me
learn about my heritage, and next I came to a den of necromancers
to find that they weren't nearly as bad as stories made them out to
be.

Marvin tousled my hair with his hand. "See?
It's not that bad, is it?"

"
BUSTINGMYBALLS
!"

I choked. Marvin's face drained of what little
color it had. Leo raised a finger at us to wait.

"Hey! Uncle Larry!" we heard him call around
the corner. "Uncle Lar- GODS DAMMIT, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO
TOUCH MY SAMPLES?!"

"
I
didn't touch them you hackneyed
brute! Bustingmyballs-"

"Bustingmyballs?
Bustingmyballs
is a
golem. GO-LEM. YOUR golem. He listens to what you tell him to do!
Go on, try to pin it on Bustingmyballs again -I'll bust YOUR balls
in a second!"

I was torn somewhere been horror and
amusement. Marvin was red up to his ears at the
exchange.

"So much for good first impressions," he
sighed.

After some more squabbling, Leo
finally dragged Uncle Larry out into the open. Like most
necromancers, he had a head of gray hair and a wiry beard. He moved
his thick goggles off his face and onto the top of his head,
squinting at our group in his lab coat.

"So what's this thing I have to see?" he
asked, the irritation palpable in his voice.

Leo waved me over.

Tully knelt so I could dismount. I approached
the men cautiously.

"Uncle Larry," Leo said. "This is Miraj. Your
daughter."

"My
what
?"

I straightened my back. "I'm the only child of
late Shaman Mother Suna of Hikari."

Larry's staunch expression softened at the
mention of my mother's name.

"Suna," he repeated, speaking of her with a
tenderness I never knew could be conveyed in words alone. "Late
Shaman? You mean she's dead?"

I looked down. "Murdered."

Marvin placed a hand on my back,
the first to notice that we were finally starting to draw
attention.

"Let's take this somewhere a little more
private," he suggested.

Larry blinked at him. "You're the Heir of
Thanos, correct? I thought you'd gone on an expedition. Why are you
here?"

"He's here," I cut in, determined not to be
separated, "because he's my husband."

Larry sputtered just a bit, his
eyes zeroing in on the totem around Marvin's neck. He quickly
ushered us into a private room I could only assume was
his.

It was filled with the scent of pipe tobacco
and mounds of paperwork. I couldn't even see the bed beneath the
piles of books and fountain pens scattered across the parchment
dunes.

Larry quickly cleared off the chairs at a
seating area by the fireplace.

"Please, come in. Tell me everything that's
happened."

Leo, Marvin, Will and I all took a
seat at the desk, with Larry at the farthest end to evaluate our
overall condition.

Marvin recounted the events that led up to our
abrupt departure. He was creating a new potion when Leo and Will
came to visit two days prior -days when I was busy carving the
totem I would later give my unwitting spouse.

He glossed over the particular exchange that
led to our status as husband and wife, skipping to Will's report of
riders in the distance. We stayed long enough to identify the
attackers as the Kurai horde, and then we fled south, skirted
through the Moor of Souls, and arrived here in a matter of tireless
days.

Larry sat back in his chair, processing the
order of events with the eyes of a haunted man. Finally, he looked
at me directly.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Miraj.
Marvin, Leo and Will did the right thing in bringing you here." He
paused then, rubbing the back of his head. "Honestly, Suna and I
had an arrangement. We would see one another every so often, but
she insisted in keeping me out of your life... at least until you
were an adult. It just seemed cruel for you to have a father for a
few days every couple years."

I raised my hand.

"Among the Tribes, and further
west, it's fairly common to be raised solely by women, with many
children not knowing who their fathers are all their lives. If you
think I'm upset with you in any way, you're mistaken," I explained.
"Truthfully... I'm glad just being able to put a face to the
name."

He smiled with evident relief, running a hand
through his hair. "Gods, my very own daughter, here in the
flesh."

"With her very own husband," Leo reminded,
flicking his eyes towards Marvin. "Heir to Thanos, Inval's
Inheritor; your daughter did pretty well for herself, don't you
think?"

I squinted at Marvin myself. "What's with
these titles? Are you actually someone important here?"

Larry gaped at us.

"Miraj... Marvin
runs
Nethermountain, at
least when he chooses to be here, otherwise the Crone does a pretty
good job of it."

Marvin winced at the reminder. "It's a fluke,
that's all."

"So you're Shaman here?" I asked, my wonder
growing.

"The Inheritor," he muttered uncomfortably.
"But in standing I guess it's about the same."

9: The Grey