The Warlock

Those who gain power always fear to lose it.

I still wonder why she said this to me. Atop horseback, looking down on me, as I held back my tears. I didn’t want my father to see me cry; although I swear, I saw him wipe away a tear that day. The paper read the next day that Lady Cantrell had “unexpectedly vanished,” on a study trip. Yet she said goodbye that last night. Not see you soon, not even I love you. Goodbye. And that warning.

And now I was headed back there for the first time in years. The last place I ever saw her or my father, who doesn’t know I’m coming. In fact, I intended for him not to know I was ever here. It will only make things harder when I leave again. Two years feels much longer when someone you used to see daily leaves your life. But the memories of the last days are too overwhelming. All I remember is him grieving, and his grieving mind wouldn’t speak to me. No answers to my questions, though I could sense that he knew. I just needed proof of it.

Haskaborg didn’t hold the answers I thought it did. I had always heard their research was the only one to rival Irilyth’s university. Yet I had no such luck. Texts dating back centuries to a time before even the angels had come to protect us. Accounts that have been verified by very old vampires even within the last few years. And yet nothing about what I had heard from mother. All we know is that the moon rises, and it falls. It grants silver its magical properties because it is of the same base material. And for some reason or another, the wider its image in the sky, the more powerful werewolves and other magical beasts become.

So why was she so obsessed with it?

A gruff voice came from the front of the carriage. “Alright, son, that’ll be eight electrum.” I scrambled through my layers of tattered coats to find my money pouch. I only had a gold piece and three electrum left. “Hello?” the voice echoed back, more annoyed than before. I handed him the gold piece. “Keep the change,” I said, desperate to avoid a confrontation. My nerves were running high as is. I’d find another way out of here.

Stepping out into the snowy tundra was a sight I’d hoped never to see again. The old manor towered over me. It didn’t feel like home anymore; it was more like walking into a haunted house. Which I had the unfortunate privilege of having done. Gone were the azalea bushes my mother used to tend to. The apple tree from which I had eaten every summer had withered away into a skeletal memory. I could see rotten apples covered in snow littering the ground. Clearly they hadn’t been tended to all season. I wondered where Alesia might be. She used to come by even when we were in university to pick apples with me. I never told her I was leaving… I wonder what my father might have said to her.

The front gate was locked. I tried my key but to no avail. He must have changed the lock. Perhaps not because of me… but I have a feeling that’s exactly why. No matter, though. I spent the first fifteen years of my life hopping over the gate using the rocks to the right, and that still worked today. I had no reason to assume the front door would be the same, but I tried it anyways. And it opened right up.

I pushed it open only a bit. Once it got open most of the way it creaked quite a bit, so I snuck in and closed it as much as I could. The latching would awake father too, so I left it cracked, praying that it stay exactly where it was.

I went straight for the library under the stairs. To my surprise, the lanterns were still lit in the room. Yet it seemed untouched for the most part. My mother’s favorite candles still filled the room with a cranberry scent. The books and scrolls lay about in what looked reckless at first glance, but at a closer look were organized just right for an unorganized mind. Not knowing where to start, I went straight for her desk, where I found the first note of any change in the room. The chair was fairly clean and not dusty compared to the rest of the room. It looked recently used and wasn’t tucked in neatly the way mother would when she left the office. I touched my fingers to the scratched end of the left arm. She used to scratch at it when she was reading.

The scratched away arm rest was dyed brown with blood.

Something had been bothering her that night. The blood was old, almost certainly from that day when she left. I remember her sucking on her finger when she was leaving the house. She had hurt herself in her distracted reading. But she must have taken the reading with her. Leaving me at a dead end.

I wandered around the room, looking up and down the bookshelves at the various works. History filled these walls, layered between anatomy books, arcane studies, and spell tomes mom never learned, but was intrigued with understanding. She had a very specific system. The history books were in a particular order, starting on the left when you entered and wrapping around the back of the room to the right of the door. Between each history book lay the various mentions in said book. So, when vampires originated, many books sat between the two chapters of history explaining vampires, so that by the time you get to a place where vampires are fully involved in history, you’ve already read up on their anatomy, their origins, their strengths and weaknesses, and what each house is doing in this point in history.

Knowing this organization method, I had to wonder… why was there a book with her house insignia immediately after the genesis of humanity?

I didn’t have time to question this when I heard the front door creaking. The wind had pushed the door open and the creaking wasn’t stopping. I snatched the book and raced for the door to the library when I heard my father’s bedroom door opening and the click of a crossbow being loaded. I wasn’t getting out the front door unless I showed my face. And if I didn’t, I’d probably end up with an arrow in my spine. Instead, I turned and leapt out the window, praying the snow had piled high enough to ease my fall.

I flipped on my back and sat upright. Unfurling my coat, I found the black leather book still safe, not a fleck of snow on it. I turned and went for the stables, hoping I could duck into one of the stalls before he made it to the window I had left open. I slowly and quietly opened and closed the door behind me, keeping my head low. I was about to beeline for the back stall when I spotted a figure in the stables.

I turned and leapt over the first stall to my right. The empty stall was just tall enough to cover me, and I was able to peek out to see the figure from across the way. It was Alesia, my childhood friend. And more.

She was stunning. Her flowing black hair contested with a silky white dress I’d never seen her in before. She was angelic, far beyond caring for horses anymore. Perhaps ones with wings like her own.

She turned to look around and I ducked back slightly, waiting to see if she’d noticed me. There were bags under her eyes. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. She let a slight smile come to her face when she turned back to Selino. She leaned her head right up to his as they both closed their eyes. She laughed slightly. I could barely hear her, but I’m pretty sure I heard her say “I miss him too.” I don’t know. Maybe that’s just what I wanted her to say.

“Alesia,” I heard my father’s voice boom from outside. I ducked low behind the door, hoping if he swung it open it would either hide me or knock me out so I could prolong confronting him. Alesia rushed off outside into the snow where my father waited with a lit torch, a silvered sword, and a loaded crossbow strapped to his back.

“You didn’t happen to let anyone in the house tonight, dear?” he asked sternly. I heard jangling jewelry like she was shaking her head no. “I’ve been out here all night, sir. Just tending to Selino.” There were a few moments of silence, where I imagine my father was giving her his infamous “I know you’re lying,” stare.

“Do me a favor then, dear,” he said, an unfamiliar kindness coming to his voice. “Take one of the horses, ride into town, and ask them to send a few guards to the house. I believe we’ve had a break in.” “Of course,” she replied. “I’ll be back with them in no time.” The snow crunched under her feet as she turned back to the stable, and I remained still as could be. I heard Selino’s familiar whinny he did when he was ready to ride. “We had our fun tonight, Selino,” Alesia teased. “Have some rest.” I smiled. It was the same candor she’d use on me when I was up late studying.

The door across from my stall opened and she took off on another horse. When I heard the clopping fade off, I peeked my head fully out and leapt back over the stall. I went straight for Selino who whinnied in excitement. “Yeah, it’s me, boy,” I mused as I pet his face. “You wanna go on a trip?” I unlocked the door and led him out. I grabbed my old gray saddle and got him prepped, slinging my travelling pack over him.

Finally, I opened up the book. At the very front was my mother’s familiar handwriting. “The Intricacies of Aether,” it was titled. And at the bottom, her beautiful signature. “Asimi Cantrell.” I skimmed through the pages, detailing the nature of the fifth element and its connections with the moon. All I hoped for was some explanation to her departure, so I flipped to the end.

“The answer lies in an ancient temple in Rokfraer. I depart tonight to seek answers. I just pray… I hope, so dearly, that Chiros understands. And that Cato will one day too.”

I tucked the book into the satchel and rested my head against Selino. “I’ll understand soon, mom,” I muttered, lifting myself up onto the saddle. “I will understand… everything.”

***

My face had been numb for hours by the time I arrived in Rokfraer. It took me all night and then some, and I hadn’t eaten since I left Eldueio. I found somewhere to tie up Selino and went into the first tavern I found. It was quiet. One young man was wiping down tables when I came in shivering. He looked me up and down and smiled politely. “Can I help you, sir?” I stepped further in, hoping the candles around me would warm me up. He was standing in the way of the fireplace behind him.

“Uh… yes,” I got out, teeth chattering between words. “I could use a hot meal and something to drink.” He nodded. “Hot meal’s going to be three electrum. Mead will be two.” I remembered how little money I had left and cursed myself for not snooping around the house a little more. “Just the meal, then,” I responded. He nodded and gestured around. “Have a seat anywhere.”

I sat down on a couch in front of the fireplace, the smoldering logs barely letting off any more heat, but it was enough for now. I thought about Selino out in the cold and figured I could maybe find a local stable to house her temporarily. If I had any money. For now, I would have to stay focused.

The young man came back with my meal swiftly and I handed him my last few electrum. “Thank you,” I said, getting up off the couch to go find a table. “You’re welcome to sit in front of the fire,” he said, a moment after I’d begun to move to do so. “Worse messes have been made,” he joked. I smiled and sat back down as he went over to poke at the logs a bit.

“So, what brings you to town?” he asked. He waited patiently as I chewed on the toast he’d just handed me. “Visiting family,” I replied, mouth still a little full. “Ah,” he nodded, closing up the gate in front of the fire again. “You from Rokfraer then?” I shook my head, wiping away flecks of food from my mouth as I finished chewing again. “No. Just visiting.” The man sat down on the arm of the other chair. “Well, I hope you enjoy your time here. You know what neighborhood they’re in?”

I shook my head again, taking a swig from my canteen to wash down the food. “Actually, I could use some help with that.”

“Oh,” he responded. “Go ahead, I know the city right well.”

“My mother would have been here about two years ago. Traveled alone, on a black horse with a brown leather saddle. She had short brown hair and green eyes.”

Discomfort entered the man’s face. He stood up and looked around awkwardly for something to do with the napkin in his hand, eventually deciding to dust the place his rump had just been. “I think you’d better talk to my father,” he said. “He’ll be up in a few. I…” he paused, mouth agape. “Enjoy your meal.”

He walked away and I stared into the fire, now lighting up the room before me. I finished my meal and set the plate aside before opening up the book again. The pages I had skipped are nearly illiterate. There are characters that have the essence of writing yet as far as I can tell are not. Drawings of various things that seem unconnected to me dot the pages, quite a few of them appearing vaguely like land or maps, with lots of scribbled flowing lines over them. Then there was the various characters and creatures. Adrienne and her angels, the Helavault, demons, werewolves, vampires, ghouls, and countless undead. And at the top right corner of every page the moon casts its light upon the words below, turning its face as it went. From what words I could read, it seemed she came to Rokfraer in the wake of an increase in Werewolf attacks, and the word “shifting,” used multiple times over.

“Hello, son,” a gruff voice came behind me. I stood as a large man with an apron and a beard came to stand before me. I could tell by his hair it was the young man’s father, a blonde that seems to want to be orange and is so curly it may never look clean. “I hear you’re looking for someone.”

“Yes, sir,” I responded, “My mother. Short brown hair, a black outfit covering leather armor…” he put his hand up to stop me. “I met your mother,” he said. Hope filled my heart and a smile spread my face. I finally had a lead. I finally had something, something my father never told me something I could prove for once.

“I think you’d better see the authorities,” he said, “The town Inquisitors, in fact,” he added. “They might have the answers you need.” Suddenly the feeling washed away. That brief moment of joy that I had finally done something. And it was gone.

“My son will show you the way,” he said, putting his hand out towards the door where his son awaited me. I nodded, muttering a “Thank you,” before turning to follow the son, tucking the book back into my coat. The polite smile of his son pierced my soul. I wasn’t in the mood for mannerisms.

We stepped out into the snow. The sun was just barely beginning to rise, but the cold of the night had yet to take leave. I walked up to the hitching post next to the tavern where Selino waited. His breath was clearly visible in the early morning air. “Lovely horse,” the young man said to me as I tucked the book into his satchel. “Thank you,” I said. He was circling around Selino and looking him up and down. “We’ve been in the market for one,” he said. “What breed is he?” I shook my head. “I don’t really know,” I replied. “I had a lot of help raising him.” He raised his eyebrows at me. “You raised him?” he asked. I nodded. “With help,” I repeated. He smiled and nodded.

“Where did you say you came from?” he asked. “Eldueio,” I replied. “I’m a courier for a noble family,” I added, worrying I was being too honest about who I was. “Horse made the journey from Eldueio? How long did it take you?” I shrugged. “A night?”

He nodded, looking impressed. I looked at Selino and thought about what I was doing here. Clearly whatever my mother had come to look into was dangerous. I knew that much for years. But it seemed like the people here didn’t even like talking about it. For all I know, I was going to die here too. And Selino would be left alone in the snow.

I detached my bag from the saddle and went around to the young man. “Tell you what,” I said. “Seven gold and he’s yours.” He raised his eyebrows. “Seven? This horse is like royalty. You sure?” I nodded. “I’m not taking him home and he needs somewhere warm to be. Can you do that?” He nodded and shuffled through his pockets, taking out some gold. “Ah… here you are.” He handed me the gold and I pocketed it with a polite smile. I looked at Selino who turned to stare at me. I rested a hand on his head and put my face to his.

“I love you,” I muttered, before turning back to the barkeep’s son.

“So. We were going to see the guard?”

***

The Inquisitor’s building was like its own little fort within the city walls. In the front of it a large tower rose up with a stained glass Adrienne symbol at the top of it, a stake with angelic wings coming out of each side. Huge wooden doors bound with iron stood above three large stone steps, making sure anyone who stood before it felt small before its might. Exactly the sort of thing the peacekeeping angel wants you to feel, I suppose.

“By the way,” I said to the barkeep’s son before turning away. “I never got your name.” He smiled and reached his hand out “Ross,” he replied. I adjusted my bag on my shoulder with one hand and shook his hand with the other. “Cato,” I said. “And the horse is Selino.” He nodded and smiled. “Beautiful name. What does it mean?” I looked down at the snow and thought for a second, realizing, “I don’t know… my mother named it.” He smiled kindly at me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I hope you find her,” he said. I smiled and patted his shoulder as he did mine, and then walked up to the towering front doors.

In front of me, an old balding man sat behind a desk writing with a quill. He looked up over his little spectacles. “Can I help you?” his raspy voice echoed through the stone chamber. His question drew my attention back down from the architecture of the ceiling above me. I’d hoped I could see the stained glass from here, but I imagine it was through the staircase to my right.

“Yes,” I said. “My name is… Cato,” I said, opting to leave out my surname. “I came to town looking for some family, and I was told by the barkeep that I should start here.” The man put his quill down and pulled out a book from his desk. “What’s their surname? Do you know their exact address or street?” I shook my head. “No, I don’t…” I paused as he looked over at me. “It’s my mother. She was here about two years ago.” He put the book down and set his spectacles down on the desk.

“She had short brown hair, a black cloak with leather armor…” I stopped as I did my explanation for the third time today. I could see it in his eyes he already knew who I was looking for.

“Son… this won’t be easy to tell you.” A lump formed in my throat. I should have known this whole time this journey was fruitless. People die every day in these woods. What made my mother more prepared than others? Why did she go off that day? What was I supposed to understand?

“I believe your mother was a victim of a werewolf attack….” My whole body felt stiff. Of course it was werewolves. My mother, the scholar, the reason I read books rather than practice swordplay, the woman of peace who hated the fear the Church spewed. Of course she would fall victim to this fate.

“…I can show you, if you’d like…” After a second of wrestling with my thoughts, I snapped back to attention. “Show me?” I inquired. He stood and grabbed his coat. “The grave,” he replied.

***

In the forested outskirts of the city, one stone stood out among the frosted trees. A huge stone Adrienne symbol. The symbol of hope to humanity. Right now, though, it felt as though it was sucking away all the light in the woods. Six names were carved into the stone.

“You see her name?” the man asked me. I shook my head slowly. “Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “There was a seventh body. Not a resident of these parts and carrying no identification.”

“It couldn’t have been her,” I said. The man sighed. I think even I knew I was in denial. But that was the easiest thing to believe in the moment. The man moved closer to stand next to me and gestured to the grave.

“Perhaps you recognize that?” I looked up at the stone monument. Hanging from the right of the symbol was a glint of silver. I unlatched my legs from the bounds of my grief and walked towards it slowly. I scooped it off the grave and held it up before me.

And there it was. Everything I needed to know. A silver teardrop on a thin silver thread. My mother’s necklace, the one she wore every day, hanging from an unmarked grave outside of a city not our own. For two years had the silver necklace laid here, and yet it gleamed like it had just been forged. I held the chain and stared in to the teardrop for a long time, like I expected something. To see her reflection or hear her voice. I know I should hope she was resting in peace, but if her soul had been here, at least I would have seen her. But the necklace gave me nothing… except a sense of gutted wanting.

Finally breaking my gaze, I put the necklace in my bag, and I turned back to the man. “My mother came here to do research,” I said. “She sought an ancient temple near the town. Would you maybe be able to lead me there?”

He sighed and thought for a second. “I believe I could, but my boss, our Archmage, may not be happy with me sending you out on your own.”

I stared out into the snowy forest as anger swelled in me. I knew I shouldn’t take it out on this man, but I had a better chance of not being turned to ash if I shouted at him rather than an Archmage. Instead, however, I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye.

“Can I speak to the Archmage?”

As if the Inquistor’s castle wasn’t intimidating enough, the Archmage’s office had doors I could have sworn were bigger than the front doors. His round office was lined with armor and heads of various monsters. The tall, armor-clad man was looking out his window when the man from the desk led me in. He turned and looked at us as the other man bowed.

“Stanton, who is this?” the Archmage inquired. Stanton stood up straight and said, “This is Cato… ehm…” he looked over at me then back at the Archmage whose eyebrows were acting curious. “This is Cato. He came seeking a woman we believe to have been a victim of that large Werewolf attack two years ago.”

The Archmage nodded and bowed his head to me. “I’m sorry for your loss. Now, what can I do for you, Cato…?” He said, clearly asking for my last name. “My mother came here seeking an ancient temple,” I said, ignoring his silent request. “She was studying its history for some reason and I intend to find out why.” The Archmage nodded and gestured for Stanton to leave. He bowed his head and went on his way.

The Archmage sat down at his desk that might as well have been a throne. He gestured to the seats across from him and I obliged. He analyzed me for a second before starting. “Cato, I met your mother. And I know it was your mother because she was as inquisitive as you.” He smiled at me, to which I didn’t return the favor. He took a sharp breath before continuing.

“She believed the temple outside of town held the key to her research. Despite us having had that temple locked down from study for many years, I allowed her to go in and take a look around.” He paused, his eyes locking with mine. I knew what he was doing. Not allowing his eyes to wander so I thought he was confident about what he was about to say.

“Go on,” I said.

“The people who died in that werewolf attack were innocent civilians,” he said. “Yet I do believe her interference at that temple did… something to rile up the werewolves.” I stood up. “Are you implying my mother is at fault for their deaths?” He sighed and stuttered as he considered his words. “No, Cato I… I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Then how did you mean it?!” I demanded. Anger swelled in my gut, but something else was there. I felt it in the moment but didn’t realize it until after. Some invisible force was egging me on.

He stood up too. “Please, calm down, son…”

“Don’t call me son,” I shouted. Two guards burst through the doors with their hands on their blades, but the Archmage put his hand up to calm them. “He’s unarmed,” he said. “At ease.”

I turned back to the Archmage with a fire in my eyes. He adjusted himself to stand upright. I guess he did really tower over me, yet it didn’t bother me in the moment. I was in pain, and I felt like I could’ve taken on all three of them.

The Archmage looked down at my chest and stared. I looked down, realizing that the button holding my cloaks together showed the House Cantrell crest. I turned it over to hide it and looked back at him like nothing happened. The Archmage sighed. “Clearly there’s no stopping you,” he said. “So, I’ll make a deal. We’ll point you to the temple and provide you with a guard escort. You will also be allowed to go through our confiscated weapons, as I see you have no weapon or armor of your own.”

I relaxed my shoulders slightly, allowing myself to breathe normally again. “I don’t blame your mother, Cato,” he said. “But I most certainly don’t want to lose anyone else to the monstrosities of the woods.”

***

The guards led me on the path towards the temple. They insisted it was close enough to walk to, but the sun seemed to be setting by the time we got there. I had taken some leather armor and a sickle from the confiscated weaponry. I’d trained with leather armor and weapons like the sickle, and I’d always been interested in the unique weapon. The Archamge also gave me a spare wooden stake in case we ran into any werewolves. The signature werewolf killing weapon; though I’m not positive it’s actually that effective.

Finally, we made it to the temple. Yet it resembled more of a cellar now. The building around it was so crumbled, overgrown, and snow-covered that all that was left was the staircase leading downward. And that now has some recently placed trapdoors over it that clearly aren’t part of the ancient design.

“We’ll await you out here, boy,” said one of the guards as he and his partner lifted the trapdoors. “You be careful.” I stared into the deep staircase below us, the darkness beckoning me to continue. Even as I held my torch out over the staircase, there seemed to be little light down there. I looked up over the skyline, only to see exactly what I didn’t want to see. “Full moon out tonight,” I said. The two guards looked up and then to each other. “If you decide to go home, I won’t blame you.” I smirked at one of them who pretended to have a brave face, then ventured on down the staircase.

The torch did very little to help me see. I ended up lowering it down in front of me to see the floor, as I feared what kind of unholy traps and tricks a temple that seemed to attract werewolves held. The walls were lined with text that I couldn’t read, until I came across one part of the hallway that had a hole in the ceiling. At this point the moonlight was the only thing peeking through, though it shone perfectly on some text on the wall. I couldn’t read it, but it seemed… familiar.

I hooked the torch on the wall and pulled out mom’s book, flipping through until I found a page with a map. Under the drawn-in full moon there was one of her drawings that appeared like a landmass, but I couldn’t discern where it was. But there was the same text as was on the wall. Word for word, letter for letter. Whatever language mom had been writing in, this temple used it too.

Then I heard a howl. It echoed through the chamber as I tucked the book away. I picked up the torch and looked down the way I was headed. I could see no end to this hallway yet, but I could still see the moonlight streaming down the stairs I came from. “Fuck,” I muttered, and ran for the stairs.

There were no werewolves in sight, yet I could hear them barking and howling in the distance. Nor were there any guards. “Damn it,” I mumbled. I suppose giving them permission to go home was the wrong idea. The head of the Inquisitors sending me out with two town guards. Typical.

The howling and barking bellowed up around me. I drew my stake and spun, trying to get an eye for where they might be. Very soon, I heard it. Thump thu-thump thu-thump. I spun towards the temple and leaping over the ruins a Werewolf dove for me. I rolled, miraculously keeping the torch alive, yet cutting myself a bit on the stake I held. I knew I should have been combat training these last two years.

The werewolf spun back and clawed at me as I stood up. It cut me right across the chest. I screamed and reeled back in pain, getting just enough space to force my stake forward and jam it into the werewolf’s neck. It howled, giving me time to leap into the temple and shut the trapdoors behind me.

I raced down the hall, covering ground a lot faster and a lot less curiously than before. I passed the window I had been standing under before only to see a werewolf race by above me. I hoped werewolves were as dumb as people make them out to be and that they didn’t know another way in where I would be cut off. I heard a bang come from behind me. Now there was a pack behind me for sure, and possibly one in front of me.

As the pattering of werewolf claws came closer to my back, I saw in front of me my once enemy, a booby trap. The ground was slick with oil and I caught the glint of a tripwire. I figured the tripwire had never been loosed, but the decay had let the oil slip. So, I tossed my torch into the oil and made a long jump over the flames. Yet again, my unpracticed acrobatics failed me, and I stumbled through the fire. I patted out the coats on my side. The leather armor I took had protected me enough, but I could still feel I had a burn going up my right side.

I stood up while patting my side to see my plan had worked. A werewolf that had been following me was writhing on the ground trying to put out the flames. And as it looked up at me, before it could react, I drove my stake through its skull.

Although I believe I’m the one who was deceived, as another werewolf came leaping over the flames. This one was much bigger than the other two. I yanked my stake out and stabbed at it. Despite driving it into its shoulder, its momentum continued, knocking me backwards onto the ground. Dizzied, I stood up and ran. I heard a snap of wood, and assumed my stake was no more. I ended up in a big open room at the end of the hall with holes in the ceiling allowing the moonlight to get through. And in those holes, the glint of wolf eyes stared back at me.

I turned at the altar, drawing my sickle and turning to defend myself. Two more werewolves had already come through the walls, and even if I could make it up the wall to the holes, many more waited for me outside. They slowly approached me, growling as they came. After a deep breath, I sheathed my sickle and allowed myself to collapse on the altar. The ceiling creaked over me, and silence suddenly overtook the room.

I assumed, at first, this is what happens when you die. Your hearing goes as your spirit leaves your body, and you just get to witness your last moments in beautiful silence. But then, the silence was interrupted by a bloody yelp from one of the werewolves. Moonlight streamed in from the holes in the ceiling behind me, and the werewolves ran off howling. I stood and turned, putting my hand before my face as the light engulfed me.

“WHAT ARE YOU?!” I shouted. A ringing had overtaken my hearing, a stark contrast to the peaceful quiet of death I just heard. Then a voice entered my head.

“What do you seek here?” it whispered to me. The voice was unfamiliar. It sounded vaguely feminine, but the raging headache and the echoing voice made it hard to discern.

“Who… who are you?!” I asked again. It hissed back, “What do you seek, Cato?” I paused as I thought. “I seek knowledge!” I shouted back. “I seek to understand this world and all its cruelties!”

A hand beckoned to me from the silver light. I don’t know if it was a trick of the light, an illusion, or my mind creating the image to understand the temptation. Then the voice returned.

“Then it seems we need each other,” it said.

I looked around me. Time had slowed. The werewolf that had broken my stake lay dead at the end of the hall, but another now with burnt fur had come lunging down towards me. I now had a choice. Death or answers.

I reached for the hand. Then I woke up in the snow.

***

A name echoed in my head. “Esmond,” the voice kept saying. “Go to Esmond.” “No!” I thought back to it. “Not yet.” I could feel the temptation. I knew I had to do what the voice told me eventually. To disobey would be… I don’t even know. Something just makes me feel that there might be… consequences. But I had a stop to make first.

I found a carriage outside of town. The driver was unpacking bags for some people as I approached, limping down the road. “Woah,” he said when he saw me. “You doin’ alright pal?” I nodded and gestured to the carriage. “I need passage to Eldueio. Cantrell Manor.” He looked me up and down and nodded. “If you’re sure you’re alright, it’ll be ten gold to get there.” I laughed and shook my head. “Ten gold? Are you out of your mind?” He laughed back and said, “This here’s a noble carriage service. Only for the highest of class. I assumed with your emblem there you’re of House Cantrell.”

I looked down. The button that held my cloak was visible again. This time, I ripped it off and looked at it. I was tired of seeing this family crest. The one that had cost me so much. I threw it in the snow and looked the man dead in the eyes.

“You’ll take me there for free,” I said. I could feel my eyes burn hot, and his eyes glowed silver for a split second. When his pupils returned, they were dilated, and his veins were slightly more visible. “Sure, yeah you got it, kid.” He got in the cart and I hopped into the back.

As the carriage took off, I put my hand to my side to feel where I had fallen in the fire. Burns traveled up my left side, almost to my chest. And something else had changed. I unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt and ran my fingers along my once bare chest.

I was wearing mother’s necklace.

***

Two guards stood at the gate of the manor this time. One came forward to stop me, and I lowered my hood and revealed the seal I kept in my bag. “Cato Cantrell, son of Chiros. May I?” The guards looked at each other in shock. Clearly, they knew I’d been missing for two years.

“Master Cantrell,” said the further one. “I’m afraid we’ll have to talk to your father before we let you in. There was a break-in, and…”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” I said, staring at the closer guard. His eyes glowed just like the driver and his pupils dilated. “Yes,” he said. “Of course not. Go right in, Master Cantrell.” The other guard frowned as I sauntered past through the gate. I passed multiple other guards and groundskeepers staring at me as I entered, throwing open the front doors.

My father was standing in the doorway to the study when I entered. A guard captain was with him as they discussed the break-in, and both looked shocked to see me stepping into the center of the room.

“Cato,” he finally blubbered, stepping out into the hall. “You’re here.”

“I am,” I responded. The howling of the wind outside filled the hall, the guard captain standing awkwardly in the doorway. Finally, father realized he was still there and turned to him. “Captain, you can wait for me in the study or outside. I’ll… I’ll be right there.”

The guard captain opted to walk outside the house right past me. He kept his head down and avoided eye contact before shutting the door behind him. Suddenly, it was just me, my father, and silence.

“How long has it been?” he finally said. He had such a way with words. “Two years,” I replied. “Almost to the day.” He nodded, looking at the ground before he started pacing. I matched his pace, and soon we were circling each other.

“Where have you been?” I shrugged. “Here and there. Odd jobs. Taverns. Brothels. The likes.” He snorted, shaking his head. “You used to be such a bookworm like me. When did you turn into your mother?” I stopped, standing in front of the doorway of the study now, and he at the front door. “Since she left,” I retorted.

He looked at me sadly, no words leaving his mouth for a few minutes. “I…” he said. And I laughed. “What? You’re sorry?” I teased. “For what? You didn’t do anything, right?” He shook his head and stared at the floor. “I stepped away too soon,” he said. “I know that. And I…”

“You should have been with her that night,” I said. “We both should have been! But you wouldn’t let me.”

“That is not fair, Cato,” he said. “I wanted to go but she wouldn’t allow it. She knew what she was getting into and decided to keep it a secret. I had to respect that.”

“She was your wife!” I shouted. “You should have been there to protect her. It should have….”

“What?” he said. “It should have been me?”

“No!” I shouted. “It should have been me!”

He tilted his head at me, tears in his eyes. “No, Cato…” he said. “It… it was always going to be her.”

“No!” I screamed, tears filling my eyes too. I began to walk slowly towards him. “The only reason she’s dead is because we allowed her to. And now she’s buried in an unmarked grave outside of Rokfraer. And it’s our fault.”

I paused, breathing heavily as I stared him down. “But you didn’t know that, did you? Because you didn’t even go to look.” His expression went from sadness to anger. “Because I was able to accept it, Cato!” he responded. “I acted like an adult, when you still act like a child!”

“I was a child!” I shouted. “A child who lost his mother. A child who never got to say goodbye, who never even saw her grave!”

“And you still haven’t!” he said. “And you never will! She’s gone, and you’re just following false leads to make up a story for her! Your mother studied mysterious things and died in a mysterious way. These things happen.”

I pulled out the necklace and held it out to him. “Then what about this?” I said. “Hung from the grave she spends her death in. What about it? Someone else’s? Just a coincidence?”

Father was breathing heavily. Something else clouded his brain now that the necklace was out. Not anger nor sadness. Fear.

“Cato…” he said. “You should have left that there. It’s… it’s dangerous.”

“No,” I said, slipping the necklace back under my shirt. “I am.”

With a BOOM and a bolt of silvery blue light, I blasted him through the front doors. He went tumbling into the snow, spiraling onto his back by the front gate. All the guards came running towards him, then turned their weapons on me as I descended the stairs. “Stop!” he yelled. “Don’t hurt him!”

“Cato!” the guard captain shouted. “Stay where you are.” He and the others helped father up. I wasn’t finished. I drew my sickle and marched towards him, unfocused on the guards I was sure to be overwhelmed by. But I froze before I reached him. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a figure standing at the front gate.

Alesia had watched as I lashed out against my father. I looked at her, terrified of the man I’d become. I looked back to my father, equally as frightened with the guard captain shielding him from me. I stared at the ground and let my shoulders relax.

“Take him!” the captain shouted, and the guards converged on me. My eyes flashed and suddenly there were three of me. Two guards tackled the mirror images, and I fired another blast at the captain, sending him backwards into my father, pinning them both on the ground. I leapt over them and took off into the wilderness, snatching the coin purse off of him as I went. I turned back to look at Alesia one last time.

“I’m sorry,” I thought. And to my surprise, her voice echoed back into my head.

“I understand,” she came back. I turned, raising my hood and walking off swiftly to make the cover of the trees before the guards could catch up.

“Alright,” I thought, assuming the new voice in my head would hear it. “Esmond it is.”