Matt Forbeck - Ghosts of Ascalon

Rather than armor, this ghost wore the rich and elegant clothes of a royal courtier. He was balding and potbellied, and his eyes bore the weight of having seen far too many things for too damned long. He carried no weapon-other than the handle of a ghostly knife still jutting from the wound in his chest.

Riona raised her blade, but Dougal held up a hand to stop her. Mortals and ghost viewed each other, and Dougal found his voice.

"Savione," he said. "You're the king's servant, Savione."

The ghost in ornate dress frowned and sniffed. "Chief courtier, thank you," said the ghost. "But I am Savione. And it is about time you got here. Or someone like you."

From the doorway near the head of the stairs, there arose the racket of the approaching mob. The ghost of Savione turned and walked back through the dressing screen, disturbing it less than a gentle breeze. Dougal could no longer see him, but the courtier's voice carried throughout the room.

"How dare you burst into the king's private quarters unannounced?" Savione said, his voice commanding and firm.

The ghost soldiers chanted at him, "There are invaders! We must protect Ascalon! We must protect the king!"

Savione scoffed at them. "I have been in these chambers this entire day, and have seen no brigands, no raiders, and no bandits. Off with you!"

The ghosts' voices became more subdued and confused. "We saw invaders!" said one, but they were unsure of themselves now.

Savione did not raise his voice, but his words dripped with menace. "Leave now, or I shall summon His Majesty, our great King Adelbern, to deal with your intrusion personally. Do not tarry, but hunt your invaders elsewhere."

The ghosts were cowed by the invoking of the king's name, then encouraged by the idea that the invaders were still at large somewhere else in the city. The soldiers' chanting faded as they left the chambers and went off in search of prey someplace outside the king's private rooms.

The ghost poked his head through the screen. "I believe it's safe to speak now," he said as he emerged wholly before the others. "Their dedication to the king is nearly as mindless as their bloodlust, and I can confuse them easily."

Dougal got to his feet and stared at the ghost, stunned to see that something of the man had survived for so long.

"See," Ember said, elbowing Dougal in the shoulder. "Fireburn was right. Savione."

The courtier didn't smile-he frowned less-but it had the same effect. To Dougal he said, "Yes. I am Savione, in the… well, not flesh, exactly. But I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir…?"

Dougal blinked. "Keane. Dougal Keane."

"Keane." The ghost's eyes lit up. "No relation to Lieutenant Dorion Keane?"

Dougal's breath caught in his chest. "Ancestor."

The ghost nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. I think I see some resemblance. A good man. We could have used him here, but other duties called."

"How is this possible?" asked Riona. "I thought all of the ghosts in Ascalon City had been driven mad by the Foefire?"

"Remember the story I told," said Ember. "This is the Savione I spoke of. He was dead before Adelbern had used Magdaer to ignite the Foefire. I assume that this man certainly had unfinished business to attend to."

"This reunion is all very touching," Kranxx said, his voice rising to a furious stage whisper, "but we have bigger problems right now!"

"As long as they do not hear or see you, the soldiers will not enter here," said Savione. "They fear the king's wrath more than anything."

"Is he here?" Dougal's head snapped around as he looked for any sign of Adelbern.

"Oh, dear, no," said Savione. "He patrols the battlements of the North Wall night and day, waiting for any sign of another charr assault." At this, the ghost gave Ember a sidelong glance.

The wailing of the ghosts outside grew louder as these thoughts spun through Dougal's head. "Those ghosts seem like they're still hungry for blood," he said.

Savione grimaced with regret. "I've rarely seen them this agitated. No outsiders have ever gotten this close to the royal chambers since the Foefire. It is possible that they will eventually choose to ignore my orders and charge the tower on their own initiative if they realize you are here."

Riona frowned. "I wonder if they would be so quick to follow your commands if they knew you betrayed your king. If the charr's story is true, you fought against him, with the charr at the very gates."

"Untrue and unkind." Savione looked down his nose at Riona, offended. "I was doing my best to save the soldiers His Majesty was determined to murder! Adelbern was desperate to keep the charr from taking Ascalon City, and he was prepared to do anything to stop it. He was furious at our soldiers for failing to stop the charr advance, and thought them cowards."

"But they weren't cowards," said Dougal.

"Hardly! They were the bravest men and women I ever knew. But we were arrayed against an implacable foe with seemingly endless resources and arms."

Savione scowled at Riona. "The Searing drove us from Rin, and the shame of that imbalanced His Majesty. He began to argue with Prince Rurik, his only child, who advocated making peace with Adelbern's old enemies in Kryta and taking shelter within its borders. Then Rurik broke with the king and perished while leading a faction of Ascalonians into Kryta."

The ghost sighed at the ancient loss. "His Majesty was devastated by his son's death, but he became more determined than ever to stand up against the charr and prove his son wrong-that he could save the kingdom, single-handedly if need be. When it became clear that Ascalon City would fall and that he could not stop it, he… I think he went mad."

"I don't know," said Kranxx, his voice ragged and worn. "Looks to me like he got exactly what he wanted."

The others, including the ghost, gaped at him.

Dougal looked at Kranxx and could have sworn the asura had been crying. Still, he was an asura, and his logic outran his feelings. "What? Haven't any of you ever studied game theory? If you can't win, you do the next best thing: you make sure your enemy can't win, either. It works more often than you'd think, because it changes the parameters of the game without your opponent's permission. Often even without their knowledge. You're not playing to win any longer. You just want to keep them from winning, and that's a lot harder to stop."

The ghostly courtier blinked. "What sort of creature are you?" he said.

"I am asura," said Kranxx. "I am after your time."

"Indeed, but you impute a great deal of rationalism to a man who had clearly gone mad." Savione's chilly glare froze Kranxx solid on the spot. "I was there with him. I heard his rants. I saw the insanity dancing in his eyes, by the way, as he drove this dagger into my chest!"

As he spoke, Savione advanced on the asura, the ghostly dagger embedded in his vest. Kranxx shrank behind Dougal rather than face the ghost's naked wrath. "Point taken," he squeaked.

"Death has done nothing to improve His Majesty's condition." Savione crossed his arms over his middle, resting just under the blade in his chest. "In death, his madness grows. He speaks as if Ascalon City were not in ruins, as if the charr have been pushed back, and as if his son still lived."

Dougal knew they needed to get moving fast. If Adelbern found them, Savione wouldn't be able to protect them. To the ghostly courtier he said, "We came here for a great treasure mentioned on an ancient map. Do you know where such a treasure would be?"

"Ah," said Savione, and now the ghost allowed himself a grim smile, "you got my note."

" 'Your note'?" said Dougal.

"During the first few years of my… undeath, I thought I could gain my revenge on Adelbern. I created maps and notes describing the city and the treasures in the vault. I cast them loose on the winds and watched them carry beyond the battlements. My hopes were that someone would arrive and dispatch Adlebern's ghost. There were those who came, driven by avarice and promised gold, but the army of ghosts and the mad king repelled them. Eventually I ran out of ink and patience, and I abandoned the effort."