Paths Heavenly, Earthly, and Demonic

chapter 6

I

“Okay, all set,” Hiki said, clapping his hands together. He was sitting cross-legged, with thin fabric reminiscent of a gossamer wing stretched across his knees.

“What the hell is that?” Pikk inquired, sneaking a peek at his work.

“Nothing that concerns the likes of you. Now, go tell the lady I have a present for her.”

“No way. Tell her yourself.”

Just as the boy turned around, he bumped right into Annette, who’d just come over.

Until a few hours ago Hiki had been working on horseback, but then he’d dismounted, saying that soon he’d be done with something really useful and he wanted to just plow right through it. “Why?” the girl had asked with visible distaste as she was about to ride on, and for a moment she donned a sad expression that quickly vanished.

Pikk bared his pearly teeth. “The jerk’s working on something weird. I say we leave ’im and keep on going. Haven’t liked him from the get-go.”

“I think having him around is preferable to being left alone with you.”

“The hell you say! Little girlies don’t know what to look for in a man.”

“What’s that?!”

“Never mind. Let’s just go. You’re being followed, right? We can’t afford to waste time.”

Annette fell silent. Pikk had a point.

“What in the—?”

Pikk turned what could only be described as a look of loathing behind Annette. Here came Hiki, the fabric of his gossamer wing in hand.

“Well? I’ve finished our new transport! Miss, you’ll fly with me on this.”

And saying that, he made a light sweep of the breeze-filled fabric.

“What in heaven’s name is that?” Annette asked, eyeing both the fabric and its owner suspiciously.

“A magic carpet. I’ll have you home in a day. And no foe will be able to lay a hand on us.”

“Really?” The question exploded from Annette, her expression equal parts expectation and suspicion.

“Forget it,” said the boy. “There ain’t no such thing. Besides, just because you’re flying through the sky, that don’t mean you’re safe. The Nobility made all sorts of monstrous birds, and they’re always on the lookout for fresh meat!”

Pikk’s remark made Annette stare at Hiki. Her eyes were heavy with the glint of doubt.

The skinny man nodded. “I’m well aware of that, thank you. Harpies, dead man doves, and death clouds are all creatures of the skies. But I’ve committed to memory the times and places where each such species appears. Avoiding them will be simple enough. Just relax, and leave everything to me.”

“Really? We’ll be okay?”

As Annette leaned forward, the agitated boy said, “I’m telling you, don’t do it. On the ground, there’s a bunch of things we can do if your pursuers come. But in the air, you can’t run or hide!”

“If they catch up to you, you’re finished anyway.”

“I see,” the stern-faced Annette said, giving Hiki a nod. “I’ll go with you. Start the preparations immediately.”

“Hey, hold up there!”

“Hold your tongue. You’re in my employ.”

Somehow managing to restrain his feelings of misery, Pikk showed his teeth.

“Oh, so that’s how it is? I see. Do what you like, then.”

Smirking, Hiki said, “Well, here’s where we part company. You’ll get your wages for today, and then you can go wherever you like.”

“Whaaat?!” A fierce killing lust exploded from every inch of the boy. And it wasn’t on account of his own circumstances.

“Wait just a minute,” said the flustered Annette. “We’re supposed to leave a child alone out here? That’s simply too heartless!”

“Sorry, but this carpet can only carry two. Just a single passenger and one other—the pilot.”

Her expression mournful as she looked at them both by turns, Annette then shut her eyes. When she opened them again, she nodded at the same time. The wishes of one of them had been discarded.

“I see,” Annette began. “Well, be careful out there, little one.”

“Don’t do this,” Pikk said in a low voice. It was the voice of a man who’d been through blood-soaked hell as a child. “Sorry, but if you’re hell-bent on going alone with him, I’ll stop you by force if need be. I gave you my word, so I’ve got a duty to protect you.”

“Which is why I’m saying your contract ends here. If it’s about the money, I’ll give you ten days’ wages.”

“I ain’t talking about the money!”

“This punk really doesn’t know when to call it quits, does he?” Hiki jeered. “So, ten days’ wages aren’t enough for you? Or could it be you’ve fallen in love with—”

The boy impacted on Hiki’s chest like a fireball. With a dull thud Hiki hit the ground and rolled around. Pikk delivered a series of kicks to the man’s side, and on the second one there was the crunch of breaking bone.

“Stop it!” Annette screamed, throwing cold water on the boy’s rage and madness.

When he stopped, Hiki’s hand latched onto the boy’s now motionless ankle.

“Whaaaa—?!”

Pikk’s cry of astonishment rose toward the sky. Fingers reaching out for the ground caught only dust. The boy’s body was effortlessly lifted a good thirty feet. His ankle was gripped by Hiki, and Hiki was rising thanks to the thin fabric in his left hand.

“Ground-crawling rat! Thanks to wonderful me, you get to fall from the sky to your death, for which you should be thankful.”

“Let go of me, you beanpole! Screw you and your stupid tricks!”

“Oh, you mean it’s okay if I let you go?”

His fingers opened.

“Wha—!”

Quickly grabbing him again, Hiki sneered, “Now, unless you want to be smashed flatter than a frog, swear you’ll never interfere with me again. Go on, swear it!”

The boy twisted frantically, saying, “Like I’d ever promise you anything! If you don’t set me down on the ground like a little angel, you’re gonna regret it!”

“Oh, your wish is my command! I’ll set you down just as kindly and gently as an uppity little shit like you deserves.”

Now the two of them were at a height of over a hundred and fifty feet. Animosity intertwined in the sky, and insults flew between the two.

“This is your last chance. Swear it!” Hiki shouted, teeth bared.

“Screw you. I ain’t promising you squat!” Pikk repeated, but he then immediately shouted, “Hey—wait a sec!”

“Finally scared, punk? Well—”

“No. Behind the girl—it’s a dust creeper!”

“Don’t make me laugh, you little coward. That line’s as old as—”

“Look, you idiot!”

“I’m not falling for—what the hell?!”

What Hiki saw was an elliptical shape latching onto Annette from behind as she looked up at them. Three pairs of limbs from the dozens wriggling on the creature’s abdomen robbed Annette of her freedom, pulling her underground before she could even scream.

“Damn it all!”

The instant the airborne Hiki lost focus, his grip slackened.

“Whaaa—!”

Pikk fell, his scream leaving a long, perpendicular tail.

Just as the boy was about to slam into the ground Hiki came diving down, scooped him up with expert timing, and landed about ten feet from the dust creeper’s hole. At the same time Pikk kicked at him, saying, “Saving me was all your idea. I didn’t ask you to. Of course, I suppose you want me to help rescue the girl now, don’t you?”

“Right you are,” Hiki replied, peering down into the blackness of the perfectly round hole.

It was ten feet across. The sides were terribly smooth. While traveling through the earth, the dust creepers actually secreted a fluid that hardened the walls of their tunnels.

“So, it should be easy enough to follow,” Hiki said in conclusion to his explanation, tossing his chin in the direction of the hole.

“Of course I’ll go,” Pikk said, and contrary to what you might expect, he was delighted to finally have an opportunity to prove himself as her bodyguard.

Going over to the cyborg horses, Pikk got the submachine gun and rifle from where they hung on the saddle horn, slinging the former over his shoulder and gripping the latter with both hands.

“Dust creepers aren’t so quick to eat people. They like to keep them in storage as a live snack for the next time they hibernate. You might still be in time. Go give ’em hell, okay?”

“Ain’t you coming?” Pikk inquired, eyeing the man in an intimidating fashion.

Feigning ignorance, Hiki replied, “The skies are my specialty. A cramped place like this hole in the ground is a spot suited to rats. Okay, get cracking.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me! But once I’ve rescued the little lady, I’m gonna take her to her destination alone. This is where you hit the bricks. You okay with that?”

“Sure, I’ll even wash your condition down with a whole bottle of Tequila High.”

“You’re on!”

That settled, there was nothing more to discuss. With all the fight and determination of a ball of fire, the boy threw himself into the hole.

After a ten-foot vertical drop, the tunnel ran parallel to the surface. The boy ran like a man possessed. Dust creepers could weigh more than two hundred pounds. No matter how rough he got, Pikk didn’t have to worry about collapsing any tunnel built to support them.

Dust creeper activity was generally focused in a three-mile area around their den.

“Shit, I hope it’s less than a mile from here,” the boy said to himself.

Suddenly there was nothing but air beneath his feet.

“What the—?!”

Down a nearly forty-five-degree incline the boy slid at frightening speed, with nothing to grab hold of and no place for his feet to find purchase.

Somewhere a shrill noise rang out. As if that had announced the twilight, the lids of the coffins lashed to the cyborg horses’ backs opened and three figures came to stand in the moonlight.

“That sound—I recall hearing it somewhere before,” said Xeno Gorshin in his fabulous jacket, his aquiline nose testing the air. Apparently this particular Nobleman could differentiate sounds by smell.

“Ah, yes,” replied Xeno Braylow. He gripped the hilts of the pair of crossed longswords he wore on his back. Their minor twitching ceased. “It’s the Iron Castle. A curious thing. It is said the vehicle was built to travel around the world by some Greater Noble whose name is lost to us. It would seem it yet lives.”

“But who would bring such an ancient construct back to life, and toward what end?” murmured the one known as Benelli. With the thin, focused face of a monk he looked out over the wilderness, then shifted his eyes to Braylow. “Gray Soldier and Blue Soldier are rattling, are they not? Were it only one of your swords, that would be another matter, but both? Braylow, what manner of foe is approaching?”

Xeno Braylow’s longswords ceased trembling, but they made a sound like steel weeping.

“Someone to be feared,” he replied.

“As much as D?” Xeno Gorshin asked.

After a short pause, he said, “No,” shaking his youthful yet nihilistic face from side to side.

The other two watched him intently.

“Who, then, is aboard the Iron Castle?”

The question was a frosty murmuring that came from neither of the two.

Having picked up too much speed, the boy felt, This can’t be good, and just then there was an opening right in front of him. Sliding across the ground with tremendous force, he was headed toward the center of the open area—but didn’t get that far.

The instant Pikk realized he was out of the tunnel, his body reacted, preparing him for any potential situation. Muscle and bone fought the law of inertia to apply the emergency brakes, turning him hard to the right before he stopped. He’d halted in under three feet.

“Ow . . .”

The boy stifled the scream from muscles about to tear loose and bones close to shattering.

Directly in front of him was a boulder large enough to conceal him, and beyond it spread the dust creepers’ den. Those on the surface referred to it as “hell.”

II

Pikk madly fought to control his breathing. Inhaling as much as he could, he filled his lungs and belly, holding it a short time before slowly letting it out again. The elderly actor from the east who’d taught him how to do that guaranteed that doing it twice would be enough to calm even the most ragged breathing. Once sufficed.

His nose was assaulted by the stench of putrefying flesh mixed with something that smelled like sulphur. Proof that something there ate and excreted.

There was light. It trickled in from somewhere. As demonstrated by the way they went to the surface to capture other creatures, the dust creepers weren’t like earth bugs or stone snakes, both of which operated wholly underground. And the dust creepers’ sense of sight required light.

About twenty yards ahead, a number of what appeared to be dust creepers were wriggling around. Their size was quite different from the earlier one.

What, kids?

Ice water ran down the boy’s spine. That dust creeper had been searching for food for its young. Annette might already be—?

Suddenly a scream rang out. The startled bugs backed away. They’d never heard a human scream before.

Joy flooded Pikk’s heart. That was Annette’s voice. She was still alive! At the same time, he had to groan.

“You dope, don’t make any noise!”

The cries of their prey only stimulated the violent nature of predators.

Looking around to either side, Pikk grabbed a rock that would just fit in his fist.

“There ya go!” he said, throwing it on the other side of the bugs without taking particular aim.

The reaction was unexpected. At the sound of the impact, the bugs turned in unison. To face Pikk.

“Oh shit!”

A stubby one was barreling toward him with terrible speed.

“Haaaaaa!”

Letting out his breath and keenly focusing himself with the same cry, the boy braced the rifle against his shoulder. He had experience with similar sorts of guns. But this time it went quite differently. A kick several times as strong as he expected slammed the butt into his shoulder, and the barrel jumped up. He managed to hold it down to forty-five degrees.

Through the flame and purplish smoke he saw the dust creeper crumple forward. There was a small hole through its elliptical carapace.

“Hoooooly!”

They swarmed toward him. At first he thought there were perhaps five or six dust creepers, but now there were ten, twenty, no, fifty of them!

Pikk made a snap judgment. Discarding the long gun, he grabbed the submachine gun hanging around his neck and squeezed the trigger. He also had experience with this. Vibrations jogged his elbow and there was a pleasing staccato of gunfire as he lightly swept the barrel from side to side. The vanguard fell, those behind them tripped over the fallen and followed suit, at which point the submachine gun riddled them with bullets. And as the last one fell—the gun ran out of ammo.

I did it, the boy thought with relief, and after making sure none of the bugs were still moving, he called out loudly, “It’s me! Are you okay?”

“You? Is that you, Pikk?! I’m so glad you’re here!” Annette said, her tone the complete opposite of its usual.

“Can you make it over here? There’s a way out.”

“I’m on my way.”

Due to the heaped dust creeper corpses, he couldn’t see over to the other side. Still, he could hear her footsteps and sense the girl’s presence.

Finally, he thought. Relief flooded through every inch of him.

At that very moment, a sharp cry escaped the girl. And Pikk knew the cause.

From beyond the remains, an enormous arthropod riddled with holes and streaming greenish ichor leapt up to menace Pikk. But even as the boy slipped into despair, he didn’t give up. His every move was out of reflex. When one of the legs in the foremost pair touched him, his fingers became steel and power coursed through his body.

The dust creeper’s movements carried it in a corkscrew around the boy’s body, and when it reached the top the bug was released. That nearly-ten-foot-long body being thrown thirty feet was quite a sight to see. The instant it hit the ground there was the sound of eggshells shattering. Worse than that were the grating squeals of agony that made the boy grimace as he shouted, “Little lady, where are you?”

From behind the remains of the creeper young he heard a helpless-sounding voice.

“Come on!” he shouted.

“But, I don’t want to . . . These bodies are covered in blood . . . It’s disgusting!”

“Damn, this girl’s a lot of trouble!”

Pikk went over to the mound of corpses. Regardless of the fact that some of them were still twitching, he kicked them aside, rolled them away, and finally saw Annette standing there stock-still. Just as Pikk spotted the girl, her legs buckled under her, making her sit, but the boy raced over and pulled her up again.

Suddenly Annette shuddered and escaped the boy’s grip.

“What’s your problem?”

“Don’t touch me. You’re filthy!”

“Huh?”

On closer inspection, Pikk saw that he was covered from head to toe with sweat, dirt, and gore from the dust creepers. Apparently their blood had splattered all over him as he laid waste to them with the submachine gun.

“Don’t get hung up on a little thing like that. I can’t help that I’m filthy. After all, I came down into a dust creeper den to rescue you!”

Thoroughly perplexed eyes fixed on Pikk. She was still terrified.

“Okay, seeing as how you almost ended up a meal, I suppose it’s understandable.”

“Don’t call me a meal!” Annette said, doubling over and starting to cry.

Looking up toward the heavens, Pikk said, “At any rate, if we don’t get out of here fast, there’s no saying another dust creeper won’t come by. Okay, on your feet now. Come on.”

No matter what encouragement he offered, Annette only sobbed. The shock had been so great it’d ruined her mental equilibrium.

Ordinarily, he’d have knocked her unconscious and carried her out. But for some reason Pikk couldn’t bring himself to do it. Looking down at the weeping girl with her lost expression, he found himself also standing there like a stone.

It wasn’t through any effort of theirs that the situation changed. From the depths of the den, more high-pitched screeches were heard.

“Oh yeah—dust creeper dens aren’t always alone,” Pikk remarked, horror chilling his blood as he recalled the particulars. “Old Man Hammond used to say that sometimes they were connected to the dens of other dust creepers. And the others have come back!”

Suddenly Annette shot up like she was spring loaded, saying, “Let’s get out of here—they’re coming!”

“Hurry up and go. We’ll take the tunnel back!”

After shouting that, Pikk let out a despairing groan. There was no way Annette would be able to crawl up that slope. Nevertheless, there was only one thing he could say.

“There’s a hole over there. Go!”

Annette started running. She trampled her way across the bug remains without any qualms. She didn’t even look back for Pikk.

“That figures,” he said with a wry smile. “I’ll do what I can. The rest is down to luck.”

He started to reach for the trigger of the submachine gun, and then remembered it was out of ammo. The other clips—he’d forgotten to bring them! There hadn’t been anything on his mind except saving Annette.

“Shit!” Pikk spat, tossing away the submachine gun and getting a tight grip on the rifle. He didn’t know how many shots he had left. All he could do was pray he had more bullets than the number of new dust creepers.

They came. Wriggling to and fro, they crawled along.

Pikk closed his eyes. Though he tried to remember a prayer he’d learned at school, he didn’t fare well.

At least let the girl get away!

When they were thirty-five to forty feet away he fired the rifle. Three or four of them pitched forward in rapid succession, but with the next shot the hammer fell with an empty clack.

Out of bullets!

The dust creepers were over the corpses and closing on him.

“Son of a bitch!” Pikk snarled, taking a tight grip on the barrel of the rifle. Though the hot steel burned his skin, he didn’t even notice. He had to buy Annette enough time to escape. Though he didn’t know whether or not she’d get away, he was willing to give his life so she could at least try.

A gray mass filled his field of view. Then suddenly it sank. Another mass had piled on top of it. The instant he realized it was the ceiling, Pikk leapt back.

Though the rumbling of the ground told him it was a cave-in, the swirling clouds of dust kept him from seeing what fell and gauging the extent of the collapse. This was no mere cave-in. A tremendously heavy object had fallen in.

Before the cloud of dust had settled, Pikk heard a man’s voice say, “Oh, I didn’t know there was a dust creeper den around here. It would appear we’ll need quite some time to extricate ourselves from this.”

Another man said, “Why, with all the Iron Castle’s horsepower, we’ll be out in no time. Okay, back in your seat.”

“Wait. In addition to the dust creepers, I smell a human,” said the first voice.

“Now that you mention it—ah, there’s a woman as well. Both young. At least, judging by the scent of their blood.”

Pikk was frozen from head to toe.

Those guys—they’re Nobles?! But if they can only move by night, we ought to still have enough of a lead on them. When and how did they ever catch up?!

By this point the wild swirls of thick dust had subsided, and through the thinning veil of ochre several figures and an enormous black shape began to come into focus. There was a man with a hooked nose in dazzling finery wholly unsuited to this place, across from him was a figure with long hair wearing a threadbare cape and well-worn robes, and finally there was someone with a pair of crossed swords on his back.

When their hazy shapes began to take clearer form and two gleams the color of blood graced the face of each, it came as no surprise that blood-chilling terror came over Pikk, and he ran for the sloping exit tunnel without a backward glance.

Annette was standing in front of the hole looking utterly lost. Pointing up at it, she cried, “I can’t climb up to the hole!”

“You’ve got to—Nobles are coming.”

Annette fell silent. She was so scared she froze solid.

“Okay, get going!” the boy said, giving her a shove, but still she showed no signs of moving.

Three figures were approaching. The pair was cornered in the most literal sense.

“Oh shit . . .”

As he braced the rifle butt against his shoulder, a rather disturbing laugh crept into his ear. Due to that, Pikk didn’t notice the sound of a silver cylinder rolling over to the Noblemen’s feet.

“Shut your eyes!” said a voice that sounded muffled, so the Nobles wouldn’t hear it.

A split second before Pikk’s eyelids closed completely, a dazzling light burst forth in all directions.

III

“Grab on!” he heard someone say amid the strobing darkness and light.

Eyes still shut, Pikk turned in that direction and said, “That you, jerk?!”

“Well done. Congratulations.”

Hiki stood in front of the hole with Annette clinging to one arm, and as his other arm wrapped around her waist he flashed his teeth in a grin. Though he’d made it look like he was sending Pikk into the hole alone, undoubtedly he’d gone in after and seen all that transpired. And now the thin man’s time had come.

“You just have to stick it out a little longer now and buy us some time to get away. We’re counting on you, kid.”

“To hell with that! Wait, damn you!” Pikk shouted, his eyes now open as he ran.

Just in front of his outstretched hand, Hiki and Annette were sucked right up the hole.

“Wait!”

Jumping for all he was worth, the boy reached out his fingertips and caught hold of some cloth. It was the hem of Annette’s skirt.

“Let go!” Hiki shouted.

“The hell I will! God’s telling you you’ve gotta take me with you. Let’s go!”

“Damn it . . .”

Hiki hesitated, but Annette urging him to hurry up was the last push he needed.

Pikk was tugged toward the hole.

“Yes!” the boy cried out with joy, but a second later that turned to horror. He was no longer moving. It wasn’t that Hiki had stopped. Rather, something had latched onto Pikk’s collar to stop him. One arm—that was all the strength he or it needed to counter the weight of three people and the flying capability of Hiki’s cloth.

“Where do you think you’re going, boy?” asked the first voice he’d heard through the dust cloud. “I may not be able to see, but I can tell by the scent. There’s a woman nearby. Now, come back here.”

“Who the hell’d listen to a Noble—run for it!”

Pikk let go. Or at least, he tried to release Annette. But his fingers wouldn’t move.

“Your tongue and vocal cords are the only things that work now,” the voice said.

Why did it seem to have a gentle ring to it? It was like the grim reaper being made of candy.

“Never could I have imagined that we would catch our prey in this hole in the ground. This we owe to whomever set that ancient iron fossil into motion. Wherever you are, I, Xeno Gorshin, give you my thanks!”

And as soon as he’d finished saying that, he hauled Pikk back. Not just Pikk, but Annette and Hiki were pulled down as well. With a brief scream Annette belly-flopped to the floor. Her weight was enough for her to pull free of Hiki’s fingers.

“I can’t believe it . . . He pried my fingers loose . . . to save his own skin . . .”

Still lying on her stomach, the girl looked up at the hole in disbelief.

“See? I told you. He’s shown his true colors,” Pikk spat venomously. “Don’t you ever trust him again. But don’t worry. I’ll save you for sure!”

“Such a spirited child.”

Feeling chill breath on the back of his neck, Pikk was silenced. The voice belonged to someone else—and this second speaker sounded terribly grave.

“If you are more concerned for others than for yourself, you have the heart of a man. Perhaps I should make you my servant?”

Terror split Pikk from head to crotch. Even Annette turned to look.

A servant of the Nobility? Am I gonna wind up a vampire, too?!

“No, don’t!” he cried, thrashing violently. Swinging his arms and legs, he even jerked his head around hoping to deliver a head butt. Not a single hair was out of place.

“The girl must be handled in keeping with Lord Gillian’s instructions, but this stripling should be another matter. As the one who caught him, I should receive the privilege of the first taste—there are no objections to that, I take it?”

“Yes, there are.”

“What?”

Pikk felt the Nobleman who’d captured him—Xeno Gorshin—turn in surprise. When the Noble shifted position, Pikk, too, was swung around.

Of the trio, two were facing the same person—staring at the third. It was the young man who wore a pair of swords on his back. Though pale skin was characteristic of the Nobility, this man was far whiter than that. It looked as though not a single drop of blood flowed through him. Perhaps he could be said to be more Noble than any other.

“What is your objection, Braylow?” Xeno Gorshin inquired.

“That child—I want him,” he replied in a voice devoid of inflection. It was even more intimidating than Gorshin’s tone. However, the instant it reached Pikk’s eardrums, the boy felt as if he’d been plunged into a frozen sea.

“This is most unusual. I didn’t think you cared for human blood.”

As Gorshin broke into a grin, the stark white Nobleman replied, “It’s not blood I want. It’s his skill.”

“His skill?” said the last—the Noble who called to mind a monk—as he furrowed his brow.

“The boy’s movements, his footwork—had he not tried to flee through that hole, I doubt you would’ve caught him.”

His remark was addressed to Gorshin.

“What do you propose?”

“Allow me to have some fun. Actually, Gray Soldier and Blue Soldier are begging. Please let us cut him, they say.”

“What the hell?!” Pikk shouted. “I ain’t your lousy plaything! Before you cut me—forget that, no way in hell I’ll let you cut me. Before you can, I’m gonna drive wooden stakes through the hearts of all three of you bastards!”

“Feisty, is he not?” Braylow said, his lips twisting. They formed a smile.

Pikk felt his mind slipping away.

“Were he not, it should hardly be worth the trouble of cutting him down. Gorshin, set him loose.”

“Though that might be nice, it still seems a shame,” said the boy’s captor, hesitating. “Look at him! So young, with all the spirit of a ball of fire. The blood that runs in his veins must be quite hot, too. I think I should slake my thirst after all. I won’t allow you to have your way.”

Pale lips hissed Gorshin’s name. The words that followed carried a will like a colossal block of ice.

“Would you stand in my way?”

“I believe I would.”

“Oh no,” Annette murmured.

“I have no qualms about facing you,” Braylow said, both arms rising straight from his sides.

Gorshin’s expression stiffened. Annette reeled. The unearthly aura that adorned Gorshin had knocked her unconscious. Even Pikk was frozen with fear, all thoughts of escape or expectations at seeing a battle between Noblemen forgotten.

Just then—

“Both of you, stop this.”

The monk, who’d watched in silence up until now, intervened.

“Stay out of this, Benelli,” Braylow said sullenly.

“Let us not forget that one of them escaped. Most likely it’s the bounty hunter Gorshin knocked out of the sky. Even now, he should still be after us.”

“We have the girl,” Braylow said, his finger pointing at Annette where she lay crumpled at Gorshin’s feet. “That flash bomb earlier might well have been a napalm charge. It’s the safety of the girl he has in mind. He can’t do anything to endanger her.”

“There is the other one!”

At Benelli’s morose tones, Braylow’s killing lust dissipated in an instant. Even Gorshin had stiffened.

“D,” Annette murmured.

“Ah, yes. Where has that fearsome man gone?” Braylow groaned, and mixed with his words was what sounded like sobbing—the crazed cries of his blades.

Three pairs of undead eyes focused on Pikk, then quickly shifted to Annette.

“Where is he?” Gorshin inquired.

Annette’s eyes were tinged with red. For they reflected the eyes of the Nobleman.

“How the hell should we know?!” Pikk shouted. “The jerk dumped me and the little lady and went off somewhere. We don’t know where he’s gone, and he’s a stranger to us.”

The blazing eyes of the Nobles focused on the boy. Grabbing hold of the boy’s chin, Gorshin lightly turned it up in his direction so he could peer into Pikk’s face.

“Hmm. Even scared, he hasn’t lost the will to resist us. Such a nice face. It would seem he’s not lying.”

“In that case, have we seen the last of that one?” Braylow asked, clear disappointment surfacing on his pale face.

“No,” the monk called Benelli said, shaking an evil countenance ill-suited to such trappings from side to side. “He’ll come. Or we’ll go to him—but I assure you we shall meet. And my instincts are telling me it’ll be quite soon.”

And then the three Noblemen performed a strange action. They turned in unison to look at the fallen object from which they’d appeared. The sense of evil emanating from it paralyzed Pikk and Annette. Within the vehicle was someone hostile toward these fiends. A certain name flashed through the minds of the two humans.

“Wrong,” Gorshin murmured as if he’d read their minds. “As I said before, it’s not him. In some respects, it’s someone far more fearsome.”

And who’s that? Pikk wanted to ask. It had to be D they were talking about when they said “him.” But someone or something even scarier was inside the vehicle. And despite the fact that they clearly considered it their foe, these Noblemen still wanted to get onboard with it?

“Gorshin, relent on the issue of the child,” Benelli said, turning his deeply creased face toward his compatriot.

“Why?”

Not replying, Benelli looked at the other Nobleman and said, “And in return, you mustn’t touch him either, Braylow.”

“Why not?”

“He shall serve as a decoy. Bait to lure out the one in the Castle.”

Pikk’s blood froze. Bait? What kind of bait? Fireball though he was, even the boy couldn’t fathom their meaning.

Gorshin protested. “Just a mouthful?”

“Are you yet half asleep? Would you meddle with another’s servant?”

Gorshin fell silent.

Even Pikk could recall hearing about this before. Nobles wouldn’t put their fangs into a human another Noble fed upon.

“If you desire this child, first dispose of the one who lurks within when he appears from his unknown location. Only then may you leave your kiss on the boy’s throat. For the time being, hands off. What say you, Braylow?”

The pale Noble nodded.

“That’s two against one, Gorshin.”

“Do as you like, then,” the third Nobleman conceded. “However, we must act swiftly! This girl—she’s not to be harmed in the slightest before she’s handed over to our lord Gillian, but the one inside won’t honor that wish. He’s certain to target her.”

“This plan is to guard against that.”

Approaching Pikk, the monk stroked his head softly. Though his touch seemed nothing but gentle, the boy felt his consciousness start to slip away.

“Now, let us return. On with our dangerous journey in the Castle.”

At Benelli’s words, all three of them looked at the vehicle. No one moved. And the very thought of encountering whatever rooted their feet to the ground turned Pikk’s soul to ice.