Guild Of Zeroes

Chapter 23

I was leading one of the lost horses back to the stables when a darker patch of shadow sitting between the trees caught my attention. The shadow moved and my hand fell to the hilt of my knife. Why in the names of all the gods and devils in the planes beyond didn't I bring a better weapon with me? Quin had litterally sat a dozen swords in front of me before heading back to the pier. Would it really have been that difficult to grab one?

"Parsnip?" the shadow called out. It's voice was hoarse, but familiar.

I took a wary step forward. Had one of the apprentices made it out of the fire? Or was this another one of Wraith's mind games?

"Parsnip," the shadow called again. "Please. There's not much time."

I said a silent curse at my own foolishness. If this really was one of our apprentices I had to help. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try. Drawing the knife, I stepped under the shadow of a barren, dying maple tree and found a young Guildsman crouched in the underbrush tangling around the base of the tree.

"Parsnip, please help," he whispered.

"Gut hook?" I asked. "Is that you?" Before he could answer I bent and grabbed the collar of his cloak. With a grunt of effort I drug him clear of the tangle of vines and thistles he'd gotten mixed up in. Probably earned him a few extra scrapes doing that. "Can you walk?"

He lay on his back breathing hard and blinking slowly up at the sky. Dark, dry blood crusted his nostrils and upper lip, beads of sweat stood out on his brow, and his eyes were glassy and unfocused.

"Gut Hook," I said, snapping my fingers in front of his face. "Can you walk? We need to get out of here. The Tower ... The Tower is gone." The words twisted a blunt knife in my stomach. I knew the Tower was gone, but saying it out loud made the pain too real to deal with.

"I know," said Gut Hook. "I was there when it fell. I set the fire."

"You what?"

"It was him, Snip. That wizard. He ... was inside our minds. He made us do things, terrible things, that none of us wanted. I started the fire. I killed the quarter master. Oh Gods, Snare. Snare was in the Medica Hall. He was lying there. Too sick to fight. Too sick to stand, but he wouldn't take the wizards offer. He wouldn't save himself." Tears glistened at the corners of Hook's eyes. "I cut his throat, Parsnip. He wouldn't listen, so the wizard made me kill him. You have to get out of here before he comes back. You have to run."

"Oh gods," I said. "Hook, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You run. He's coming."

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Are you sure? Hawk fought him, and ran him through. You're sure he's coming?"

Gut Hook jerked like a marionette at the hands of a mad puppeteer, and his breath came in quick, ragged gasps. "He's here. Can't stop him any more." He fell still and his breathing stopped.

I shuffled back towards the lost horse. "Gut Hook?"

His eyes snapped open and he shot to his feet. "Yes," he said. His voice was flat. Emotionless. Like all the colour had been drained from it.

"Hook, please, you have to fight him."

A slow grin spread across his face. The apprentice's lips were so dry they cracked and bled when he smiled. He didn't seem to notice. He didn't seem to care. "Why would I fight? I am free now, Parsnip. Free."

"No," I said. "No you aren't. You're not yourself."

"I'm more myself than I've ever been. I have nothing weighing me down now. Nothing stopping me from doing my work."