Though the sun's light was not yet visible through the trees, Gylon could feel the morning coming. It was the stirring of songbirds that told him first, their first chirps of the new day. Still, Atyet had not returned.
He had not once wandered away from Ilshi to enjoy a lonesome walk in the dark since the day of Feddin's betrayal. Every night was spent watching over Ilshi and Atyet as they slept. Ilshi slept peacefully, but she was easily woken if he moved around. The necromancer would drift in and out of sleep multiple times a night whether he moved or not. When she lay awake she would stare vacantly into the sky, and when she slept she tossed and turned. She made him question whether or not he was envious of those who became tired and rested.
Ilshi was facing away, all of her concealed under her blanket but her hair. When the sun rose, the light peeking through the trees would make that white hair seem to glow. He thought of taking her and Sarel back to Delith alone if Atyet never returned. He believed he could do it, provided no terrible luck struck them down. However, if Ilshi insisted on coming with him when he leaves again for Venedi, he did not think he could refuse her. So Gylon would stay there in Delith, with Ilshi safe and protected.
"Gylon." He nearly jumped at the soft utterance of his name beside him. Atyet had appeared without making the slightest sound. She held out her hands, and in the first dim beams of morning light he could see they were full of mushrooms. "They are all edible. Please, give them to Ilshi." He let her release them into his hands, and looked at her face to understand. She seemed normal and calm, if only a bit cautious. "I am sorry. I promise that you can trust me." She did not look up at him as she spoke.
"I trust you." he assured. Atyet unloaded something else that she had been transporting: a slain rabbit with its hind legs tied. Gylon imagined that it would be nice for Ilshi to have some fresh food again. Hopefully she would accept it.
A strange detail did reveal itself to him then, as Atyet took a knife to the dead animal. The huntress had performed the impressive feat of hunting a rabbit while her bow had been left sitting beside her blankets, unstrung.
The red halls of Delith twisted and shook as Patro stumbled by paintings and busts, each face melting into the background. He would have called it a headache, but he was a corpse, freed from such ailments long ago. This was no ache either, not pain but disorientation and distortion. Insanity, perhaps.
He threw open a door and took refuge in his old chambers, last used by Gylon. The passages of the castle would likely be empty for as long as he needed them, but this room definitely would be. Aiming to let himself drop on the bed, instead he missed and found himself slumped over beside it.
The features of the room swam and abandoned their depth, like he was only observing a poorly designed tapestry. He was quickly losing track of which way was up. To Patro, who had learned to rely on the stability of his corpse for nearly a century, this was a horror he never could have imagined.
There was something else there in the room, perhaps he saw it or only felt it, but he knew. "Make yourself known, or I will make you know dust." he threatened, unsure if he could really follow through. He waited minutes in silence for a response from an empty room. When the response did come, it came not from some hiding place in the old bedchamber, but from within himself.
SWORDSMAN
BLOODSMITH
GUARDIAN
The voice was loud, heavy, and all-encompassing. Already, Patro was sure he knew what it was.
TRUE RULER OF THE CITY OF LIFE
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The Banishment of the Thief
FantasyContinuation of my previous stories, Delith, and The Witchslayer and the Whetstone. The portrayal of Vos Ly in this story is somewhat different from the version exposited early in Delith. This is somewhat explainable as in-universe ignorance, but I...