Vaughn Heppner - Assassin of the Damned

— There came a whispery noise from outside. I hurried to the nearest window, stood flat against the wall and peered out the shutter. There was a flicker in the air like a candle’s flame. Yet there was no source for it. The whispery, breezy noise occurred again. I had the sensation that the flicker called with an ethereal voice. I listened carefully. It called for me!

This had been the Angelo District, the people here hardy supporters of House Baglioni. Could one of their spirits have survived the city’s destruction? I climbed out the window and approached slowly. The unattached flame stretched taller. Then it zipped to me, circled once and floated near my head.

“Follow,” it whispered. Then it drifted down the street.

I drew my blade and followed warily. The faint voice had sounded familiar. Still, Erasmo had lured me into a trap once already. To allow him to do so again would be unbearable.

“Hurry,” the flame whispered, and it floated faster.

I lengthened my stride. It soon darted into the Golden Inn, a place much frequented when Perugia lived. As the flame darted to a rear room, it grew into a ghostly outline of a small woman. A cap appeared on her head, one with bells on the ends.

“Lorelei?” I asked.

She beckoned me toward a room, and walked through the door.

I tried the handle. Locked. I pushed, but it was sturdy oak. So I lowered my shoulder and charged. Wood splintered. The heavy door thumped into a dusty room. If I’d breathed, I would have been coughing amongst all the dust.

Lorelei’s ghost pointed at an old chest in the corner. I tried it and found it locked, and smashed a hole with my fist.

“There’s a silver dagger,” she whispered.

I rummaged through moth-eaten rags until I found it.

“Pick it up, please,” she whispered.

I hesitated, and then picked it up. Immediately, her form gained greater substance. Her hat’s bells tinkled as she nodded approval.

“Good,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Lorelei?” I asked.

“This is my wraith.”

I frowned.

“That’s the wrong nomenclature, isn’t it? This is my spirit. I’m locked in the castle, a prisoner of the priestess of the Moon.” She grimaced. “Through the ages I’ve provided for various contingences. If I could send my spirit hither and yon, without aid, I’d be akin to a goddess. The dagger is my focus.”

I only half listened. “What happened to my city?”

“The plague began there.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“Listen-”

“Where’s my wife?”

“You’ve badly frightened Erasmo. There are signs-that doesn’t matter.” She glanced over her shoulder, faced me again and spoke faster. “He’s summoned the black knight-”

“He can’t be Orlando Furioso,” I said, “Charlemagne’s old champion.”

“My jailers could interrupt us at any moment. So you must let me talk. I think I’ve discovered Erasmo’s secret. How he found out-that doesn’t matter, either. Prince Gian, there are other Earths than ours. How and why this is so I have no idea. Erasmo employed an ancient spell, a terrible and dangerous thing. He opened a door to a destroyed Earth, one where Perugia, Rome, all Italy never existed. Armageddon came early there, or so I suspect.”

“That’s lunacy,” I said.

“Yes,” she agreed. “Erasmo took a terrible risk.”

“No. The very idea of…of other Earths is madness.”

“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “All I know is that he returned with the Black Death, which he released in Perugia. The millions of dead-you’ve seen the results. Erasmo and his cohorts now possess a dreadful sorcery, and through it, they reshape men as if they were wax.”

“Erasmo must die,” I said. “Where is the Tower of the East?”

“He built it on the ruins of Venice.”

I swayed. Great Venice with its mighty arsenal, its merchant galleys and sea captains and its maze of canals was gone?

“How did that happen?” I asked.

Lorelei nodded. “Erasmo and the other Lords of Night are reshaping our world. The how is related to his single journey. Yet he lacked the sorcerous power-he plans to return there.”

“Return where?” I asked.

“The door lies in Perugia. I’m certain of it. I think Erasmo moves sooner than he wanted. Your appearance has frightened him. The priestess agrees with that. This time he desires help, the reason why he summoned Orlando Furioso. The destroyed Earth is reputed to be a grim place. The journey is perilous, yet the rewards for Erasmo are apparently tremendous.”

“You wanted me in Perugia,” I said.

“You hate Erasmo, yes?”

“Are you the Moon Lady in disguise?”

“I wish it were so,” she said, “for my sake. No. I am the third way, as I told you before.”

“I saw the black knight in Velluti,” I said. “He came to collect creatures called lycanthropes.”

Her spirit paled, becoming fainter so I could see through her.

“Erasmo is mad, as you suggest. Lycanthropes,” she shook her head. “Erasmo seeks the Trumpet of Blood. He needs it for his Grand Conjuration. If he can complete it, we, you, the Earth is doomed with him as its new god.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked.

“I’ve heard the oracles,” she said. “Listen and you’ll understand. ‘ The first angel sounded his trumpet and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the Earth. A third of the Earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up .’ Erasmo seeks the trumpet used on the dead Earth, the one where Armageddon has already taken place. He must believe he has sufficient sorcerous strength to bring the dread object into our world. How he thinks he could wind it here-”

Lorelei’s spirit clutched my wrist, or she tried. Her hand passed through me, although a numbing sensation caused me to drop the silver dagger. She faded as the blade hit wood.

I snatched up the dagger.

“That almost broke the spell,” she whispered, her spirit solidifying by degrees. “Don’t drop it again.”

“Where’s my wife? What happened to my children?”

Lorelei turned her head and looked at something I couldn’t see. Fear washed over her elfin features. She turned back to me.

“You must stop, Erasmo, or these terrible changes to our world will become permanent.”

Lorelei twisted around, raised her arms and spoke a harsh word. The knife grew hot. I let go, and as it fell, I saw Lorelei as she stood in a small room. A door opened there. I think it was in the castle that grew. I glimpsed a silver robe. Then the dagger clunked onto the table and Lorelei, the room and the image of the moon priestess vanished.

***

I climbed rotted stairs and seemed to have developed a sense for which ones would creak. Those I avoided. It was slow going, but soon I reached a trapdoor. I pushed, and winced as the hinges s-q-u-e-a-l-e-d . Above me, a startled bat flapped away.

I crawled into a watchtower that was moldy with bat guano. Floorboards groaned at my weight. I reached an arch filthy with webs. In the corner, a spider bit the thorax of a squirming bug. I concentrated on the road outside Perugia’s main gate.

The black knight had hobbled his horse there and tended a fire. Strange creatures crouched nearby, although farther away from the flames. Two lay like lions, curled in sleep. A third hunched like a primitive man and gnawed on a bone.

Lorelei’s spirit…could I believe her? I believed the black knight knew the whereabouts of my wife and children. I would trail him and await my opportunity to touch him with my knife and learn exactly where Laura was. And if Erasmo arrived, I’d kill him.