Villainous [Wattys 2021 Shortlist]

35: Deathless

She nearly had to jog to keep pace with him as they flew along corridors, everyone diving out of their way.

"They don't trust you or like you," Dante said in a low voice. "They will most likely try to attack you soon. You must earn their respect soon - and their fear."

"How?" Sweat was running down her back, and she decided that this armour was too heavy.

"It's not for me to decide. I'm telling you to be prepared for anything."

"You mean - like an assassination attempt?"

Dante shouldered into his office and unlocked an ornate metal cabinet. "I told you - they kept trying to bring my father down when the war ended, and eventually it worked. They hated him, thought it was his fault we lost. They were partly right - he was a vicious old fool. I do not want to see the same happen to you."

Delilah leaned against his desk. "Because you care?"

He grimaced as he tried to shove the Opals into their sockets. "Because I don't want to choose a new Lieutenant, and I do not want to appear weak. So far my decisions have been turning out well."

"Charming," she said dryly - and lunged forwards as the Fire Opal tipped back out of his crown while he was focusing on the other two. She caught it and reached up to place it securely back. "This crown has a few design flaws. Imagine if that happened in battle."

"I'll make sure it doesn't."

"Dante... are you going to use all three? The wraiths..."

"They're getting stronger, yes." Their eyes met and Delilah took a hasty step backwards. "But I'll need to use them all if I want to convince the undead to follow us. Fang's mind seems to work like a normal dog's, just a little more vicious, so I'm hoping it'll be the same with the dead soldiers."

They left the office and began to walk to the stables.

Delilah felt like her throat was full of needles as she said, "I'll stay by your side the whole time. If anything happens - if the wraiths get to you - I'll distract the captains. I'll try to make it so that they... don't see any weakness."

"Yes."

"Why are they only soldiers, the ones in the Spectral Realm? Will I go there when I die - will you? Why is there an in-between - and what determines who goes there, and who goes straight to the afterlife?"

Dante shrugged. "There may be other areas of the Realm we haven't found yet. I've researched it, using books that were written during the time of the Sentinels, and haven't found much."

"What have you found?"

They were entering the less well-lit tunnels now, climbing steadily higher to the massive stables and the trapdoors, but Dante's crown emitted a red, blue and green glow that bathed the space around them in eerie light.

"Have you heard the story of the founding of Vale?"

"No."

"It was during the Red Age - Vale is the oldest kingdom, but still young in terms of how long it's been inhabited. The first Vallahan was a man called Mordred - Mordred the Hunter. He hiked to the Monmouths in search of the legendary Black Phoenix."

"That's the symbol of your house, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's also a myth - like Shahmaran."

"So it exists?"

"Mordred heard of the creature and its coldfire - the ability it has, to cleave flesh from the bone with one breath. He wanted to find it, perhaps use it to defeat the Sun Warriors who, even then, were intent on burning everything in their path as an offering to Kane."