The first thing I see is a pale human hand crawling out of the gloom, followed by—
My breath hitches.
“Talysse,” Gale calls me softly, “run.”
Then he turns to face the abomination, armed with his chair leg.
The creature towers twice as tall as a man, a grotesque mass of intertwined corpses. Human limbs jut out at unnatural angles, and the stench of death clings to it. Its torso is a horrifying tapestry of melting faces, each one frozen in a mask of agony. With eyes wide and unseeing, mouths open in silent screams, the skin on these faces sags and drips like molten wax, merging into a monstrous collage of flesh. The abomination’s legs are a tangle of bones and sinew, each step it takes causing the floor to tremble under its weight. Its movements are both lumbering and unnerving. The creature’s head is an ever-shifting mass of features. A gaping maw, filled with jagged, broken teeth, dominates it. A set of bloodshot eyes burn with madness and hunger, a feral intelligence shining through.
I am not sure if it is the skull shape or the thick golden amulet hidden amongst the rotting skin folds, but it bears an uncanny resemblance to a man I’ve seen before. His eyes still follow us from countless decaying portraits and murals. Is this the lord of this mansion? I have heard that human mages of old were able to prolong their lives with spells and dark enchantments, making them nearly immortal as Fae. This one here seems to have done the same by absorbing the intruders in his unholy sanctuary.
“Run, Talysse! Get into the tunnel—” Gale points with the chair leg at the gaping trap door, too narrow for the monster to pass. But I cannot just leave him here. Not when the terror is already upon him.
“Hey, you! Ugly one! Yes, you!” I taunt. The mountain of reeking flesh changes direction and lumbers toward me. I dash left and right without a plan.
Great job.Resourceful, Myrtle used to call me. I wish I had a brilliant idea now to save us.
“Keep him busy for just a moment, Talysse!” Gale shouts. Risking a glance over my shoulder, I see him struggling to flip a massive bronze table. A loud rumble signals his success. What is he up to?
No time to think as the abomination, surprisingly swift for its size, is so close that its hot, reeking breath brushes my skin. Claws reach for my doublet. Sweat trickles into my eyes. I run in frantic circles around the hall, praying to all Elders that Gale’s plan works.
How long can I keep this up?
“Hey, you! I know who you are! Mage Ornatus!” So Gale has also noticed the fleeting resemblance with the portraits around here? The heavy steps and dragging flesh behind me suddenly cease. Gale was right. This abomination is indeed the legendary mage Ornatus.
“I’m here to take your most precious one, Ornatus! Look, I’ve found where you hide it!” Did Gale go mad? I skid to a stop and turn around, breathing heavily. The nightmarish tangle of legs and arms glides over the stained tiles toward Gale.
And this crazy, amazing man stands between the overturned bronze table and the monster and looks at it with a snicker.
Elders, I’ve never seen someone grinning like this in the face of certain death. Gale is one remarkable man.
“Talysse, quickly,” he hisses to me. “Bring that chandelier down!”
One look and I see through his desperate but brilliant plan.
I slip behind the abomination as quietly as possible and make my way up. There it is—the rusty chain I’d spotted earlier, connecting the chandelier to a wall crank. Probably an old mechanism to lower the chandelier when needed. I yank the chain with all my strength. Nothing. It doesn’t even shake.
Heroy, help me! I wrap the chain around my forearm and pull, but it doesn’t budge.
“Talysse, hurry!” Gale’s strangled voice urges me. Elders above, the monstrosity is at him.
There! A heavy cabinet stands next to the crank. I slip my hand between its back and the wall and push, muscles bulging, joints burning, sinews straining. Every last drop of strength in my body I pour into this, praying it’s not too late. Finally, the cabinet shakes and topples. It lands on the chain and raises clouds of dust. Sharp pain pierces me as I land on my knees, but the sense of triumph soothes it. The chandelier sears up, hits the ceiling, sending bricks and stones to the floor, then the chain holding it breaks.
It crashes down with a deafening rattle, followed by an agonizing shriek. I leap to the railing, pressing my ears.
The monstrosity lets out a final, blood-curdling howl. Its carcass is crushed under the chandelier, pierced by the table legs; its grotesque limbs twitch one last time and go limp. Next to it, covered in white dust, lies Gale.
I fly down the stairs, taking three steps at a time, and kneel next to him.
“Gale!” I shake him. “Gale, say something!” He blinks and rubs his reddened eyes.
Praised be Heroy, he’s alive.
“Did we—” He looks at the pools of blood staining the mosaic black. “We did it, Talysse!” He slings his arm around my shoulders. For a moment, we sit on the dirty floor, laughing like lunatics.
“That was quite the plan, Gale. Now—”
“Oh, give me a break, Talysse. I just had a brush with death, and you want us to go into that tunnel?”
