Inhuman - Chapter 2

Grym the Faceless

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Chapter 2

A growl echoed inside the tunnel, reminding them that the creature drew closer. Valary heard the distinct sound of the Dalax sliding steps when the echo subsided.

“I can understand your sentiments. However, we need to pause our conversation. No need to get up.”

Valary wanted to lash out, but her throat hurt too much. Still, curiosity got the best of the woman. Amid neck spasms from lifting her head, she attempted to watch the events unfold. Through the tears filling her eyes, she could barely make out the outline of the stranger with his back to her. However, she noticed his tall figure nearly reached the low ceiling as he walked. The man wore an unusually long coat, and his hair dropped over the collar midway down his back.

Just out of the light, Valary caught a shadow of familiar movement. She felt the icy pit of fear. The woman forced down the raising revulsion at the coming terror. The first time she saw the monster’s sickening appearance, a lantern still burned inside the passage. She tried to forget the creature slowly walking on two legs toward her. The coming agony of feeling its rough skin with the look of bark cutting into her happened with each attack. Involuntary shudders started when she recalled seeing the beast’s enormous mouth. Looking like a huge suckerfish filled with small teeth, four glistening black tentacles extended from the lips.

Every time, Valary endured the misery when Dalax’s tentacles wrapped around her. It tried to pull her miserable body out of her cage while its hundreds of small teeth embedded into her skin. The mucus covered tentacles probed for openings in her body to insert a paralyzing toxin while monster fed. Few normal humans survived from the amount of blood and Aether lost from a Dalax attack. Each time, she screamed out the same prayer while it fed on her.

Please let me die!

Of course, no gods heard her as she wondered when her mind would break. Her head dropped as she expected the stranger to let the monster feed upon her aether again.

The blinding flash suddenly lit up the tunnel. A blast of air struck her as she automatically closed her eyes. The brilliant light from the inferno pushed through her clamped eyelids and Valary cried out in pain. A glowing fireball filled the surrounding air with a growing warmth. The heat sent into her cold, devastated body gave her an odd comfort. When the light disappeared, the woman opened her eyes. Valary recognized the screaming and trembling Dalax outlined in a bluish flame. An instant later, the hellfire incinerated the monster. Her mind went blank for a moment.

How?

The nauseating smell of musty ash from the monster corpse drifted to her, along with the sound of boot steps. Her eyes focused on the man’s expressionless face; now highlighted by the light of a crystal orb he held in his hand. He stopped and crouched to put his face close to hers. The woman tried to back away, only to strike her head on the metal grill surrounding her body.

A flesh-colored alabaster mask tightly covered the entirety of his face. The clay eyelids blinked, and she noticed the glint of violet coming from the eyes. An icy fear filled her as the stories came back to her. The unusual mask, the earthen color, and the symbol on one temple embedded on the cheek confirmed her apprehension.

“You’re an inhuman!”

He stared at her for a moment, apparently deciding on his response.

“You know the real meaning of the term?”

She looked away from those intense eyes. Valary sighed and turned her head back toward him.

“No, you can’t be. Inhumans can’t control magic. Unless...” her raspy voice stopped in terror.

“Unless you give your soul to Peyra,” he finished her sentence with an amused chuckle. “Next, you’ll tell me that only darkness awaits me. It’s the worst thing a human can do.”

He belted out a hearty, bitter laugh at her fearful expression.

“I’ve seen the worst humans can do and gods mean nothing to me.”

The stranger pulled the mask from his face and leaned close to her. Even after all the battles Valary endured with her comrades, the disfigured face stunned her. She saw every form of twisted and mutilated bodies from her time as a healer, but he came so close she looked away. His jawbone showed through the decayed muscle of his cheeks. The ripped, greenish flesh covered over most of his features made him look as foul as the other creatures inside the labyrinth.

“I believe you’re experiencing a far worse fate than me,” he sneered as he leaned away from her.

The man stood as he placed the mask over the missing skin and scars. Valary watched as the enchanted clay immediately formed to become his face again. Still expressionless, his eyes danced with joy as he looked at her again. He pushed back his long black and white over his shoulders.

“I have no fear of priests, so you have a choice to make. You’ll become my slave to get your revenge against those who wronged you. Or you’ll stay here to enjoy your time.”

She remained silent, her expression turned stony while staring at him.

“Woman, make your choice! I won’t ask again.”

“No one can grow limbs back,” she finally answered. “What chance do I have once I become your slave?”

The man crouched down, his piercing eyes revealing nothing to her. His fake lips curled up with a devious smile.

“You obviously lack foresight. I can make you far more powerful than a healing witch. Perhaps you can become a mage of the netherworld. As you said, I’m a follower of Peyra. Use your brain and you’ll realize that I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

He paused for effect.

“First, I’ll give you a complete human body, along with blond hair and the pale blue eyes of a court goddess.”

His smile turned bitter.

“I’ll even break my slave curse on you once you finish the work. But never forget the most important item of our contract. Whatever you do with the magic spells I give you will always follow my decisions until I’m satisfied enough to give you back your freedom.”

He placed his hand on the cage that held Valary’s body off the floor. Valary’s mind remained in turmoil. She recognized she had no choice.

“Make up your mind, Infinite one! Do you become my slave or remain here in torment for your emperor?”

Tears suddenly poured and streamed down Valary’s face. She shook her head, her filthy blond hair covering her face. Finally, she relented.

“I’ll be yours to command!”

Suddenly, the bolts on the cage holding her body snapped and Valary felt her body drop. She landed face down on the cold stone amid her excrement. The force of the blow knocked the wind from her. She wriggled around in pain, unable to even turn herself when using the stubs of her limbs.

The stranger placed his hand in the middle of her back, and she immediately screamed out in pain. Valary’s grotesque stumps thrashed around as the slave bond between them seared into her spine.

“Accept Grym the Faceless as your master!” He shouted over her screams.

Valary somehow got the words out, and the pain quickly faded. He lifted his hand, and she collapsed.

“I cheated a bit to get this done,” he chuckled while she gasped for air.

“Now, let’s get your carcass out of here.”

Grym pulled off his cape and wrapped it around the grime covered woman. With unforeseen strength, the lean man threw her over his shoulder while Valary let out a yell. He went over to the wall to retrieve the rifle he left as he arrived. Quickly, he slung over his other shoulder and began the long walk back to the entrance. Each step he took caused Valary to groan.

“Grit your teeth or pass out, but stay quiet. I don’t want to fight the monsters to leave this cursed labyrinth. Your healing magic will return once we leave.”

Hours later, Grym arrived at his makeshift camp inside the dark forest with a silent, semiconscious woman draped over his shoulder.

As expected, Valary’s abilities worked to restore the woman’s battered body after they left her external grave. The constant agony inside her after so many months inside her tomb slowly withered away. Before she realized it, the woman fell asleep as Grym walked through the forest.

Her new master surveyed the camp just before he arrived. His enhanced senses identified prey around the camp but no humans to worry about. When the ghoul stepped into the clearing, he found things as he left them. His canvas tent stretched over a line strung between two trees. A horse calmly stood hitched to one tree. It began kicking at a bucket of grain at its feet.

“Yes, Cavalier, I know you’re hungry. You’ll get more in a little while,” the man replied with a smirk.

His soothing words surprised the waking Valary as she felt her body lifted and lowered to the ground. The man walked over to a nearby tree and he placed his hand on the trunk. Nodding with satisfaction after using a short chant, he then went to two other trees to verify the barrier’s operation. Valary recognized the magic technique. It hid the camp from monsters from following their aether. She had seen this used many times before. However, she couldn’t believe what she had witnessed. He cast another spell at the same time.

“You can double spells as well?”

He grunted at her reaction. For a moment, she thought he would ignore her.

“It’s a bit like using a summons. The insects in the area to warn of approaching visitors by increasingly their mating calls.” He continued working while his words drifted over.

“You can combine as many spells as you want if they don’t cancel other incantations you’ve used. Your new body, when combined with my teaching, will give you such abilities.”

Still, what does he mean about giving me a body?

She lay on her back, feeling the tug of desperation at her total lack of ability to even roll over. Valary’s lack of pain throughout her body felt comforting. Still, she remained worried as she stared at Grym. What he told her was impossible.

In a way, she already witnessed the impossible. An inhuman’s use of magic was the stuff of evil legends. Even giving his soul to Peyra did not explain his powerful skill. To cast a dark alchemy spell to kill a monster was difficult to imagine. Now he talked about casting multiple spells at the same time, like it was nothing. His ability to link hotspots around a camp using the trees and insects showed expert knowledge.

Maybe a dark sorcerer before becoming a ghoul?

The thought alarmed her. It was the opposite of a healer. Dark sorcery held no more power than hers but it created creatures immune to her power. The priestesses warned her about Peyra and never investigated the forbidden chants of the ancients. To become one with the dark spirits led to immediate and painful death. Her world of a healer came from the magic of light given upon them by the gods themselves. When the chaos of the past fell away and the dark world no longer haunted the people, the blessings of the gods brought the New Age. An age enjoyed for over a dozen centuries, even as the use of magic slowly faded from many human endeavors.

How could he know the ancient rites?

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