Tales of Dark Fantasy

  ***

  That night, Geleon lay tossing and turning on a hard mattress. A lone candle cast flickering shadows about the stone chamber, and a sinister feeling hung in the air. A noise like a groan drove him from his bed, but he found the door was locked by some unknown method--sorcery that was beyond his comprehension. He cursed Drezian for locking him in his own chamber as if Geleon were still a young apprentice who didn't know what was good for him. He stood trembling, with his ear pressed to the cold metal. More groans reached him, coming from below in the direction of Drezian's room, followed by loud thumps. Then all went silent.

  Geleon sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. Now it was Geleon's groan that quivered in the air, as the years unreeled in his mind. He could do nothing but sit there and wait, his chest tight with worry and sweat burning his eyes.

  Mercifully, morning came at last along with a knock on the door. "Geleon?" Helen called out. "Are you awake yet?"

  He tried the door. It opened easily.

  Geleon strode out and shoved past Helen. "Go to the laboratory," he said. "Wait there until I come for you."

  "What's wrong?" she asked, her brown eyes widening. "Drezian...?"

  "Go now!" he shouted, pointing.

  Throwing up her hands in frustration, she ran down the hall.

  Geleon walked down a flight of stairs. At the bottom, in front of Drezian's door, his corpse warrior lay torn to pieces.

  Geleon swallowed, trying to steel his nerves for what he expected to find. At last, he forced his legs to carry him into the chamber. Drezian was missing.

  Geleon saw no blood or other signs of a struggle in the room.

  "Where is he?" a voice whispered in Geleon's ear.

  With a cry, Geleon whirled around to find Helen. His breath rushed out, and he slammed his fist into his palm. "I told you to wait in the laboratory!"

  Her face fell. "I was worried about Drezian. Do you think someone...?"

  "Abducted him?" Geleon said. "I don't know. Go home for the day, Helen."

  "But I want to know if Drezian is okay," she said, tears springing forth.

  Geleon nodded and leaned against the wall, the strength gone out of him. The assassin had taken apart his warrior, which meant Drezian was almost certainly dead.

  And then the old man came limping down the stairs, using his cane to help him along. He bore his usual scowl.

  "Master!" Geleon cried, stepping toward him.

  "Stay back," Drezian snarled. "I'll not have you embracing me, by the gods. Yes, I'm alive. I slept in a hiding place last night, where the assassin couldn't find me. But rest assured, my foes will eventually learn where it is."

  Geleon motioned to the remains. "The red hydra's teeth were wasted. If only I could pull them from the flesh and use them again!"

  "But you have more," said Drezian, "and you had better start implanting them. He rapped his cane on the floor. "You need to reach deeper than you ever thought possible, Geleon, or I'm not going to last much longer."

  "But why don't you build the warrior, Master?" Geleon said. "Or at least help me place the teeth? You're far better at this art than I could ever dream of being."

  "But I'm old and weary," said Drezian. "And you have potential you haven't yet realized. You can do what I cannot--by strength of imagination alone."

  Geleon reached up and tried to yank on his hair in his usual subconscious gesture of anxiety, but Helen clutched his arm nervously in a bear hug. Geleon shook her loose. "Annoying girl!" he muttered. "And an equally annoying old man. This is what I end up with after four decades of life--resurrecting dead bodies when they should be resting beneath the soil and trying to save an old fool that I am forced to call Master. I regret the day I asked to be your apprentice."

  Drezian turned away. "I suggest you get started with your task, or you won't have to worry about this old fool much longer." He headed back upstairs.

  Geleon turned to Helen, who stood with her hands in her apron pockets looking miserable. "We'll get the remains packed on ice so they can be returned to the family," he said, "and then we'll go see what we have to work with."

  Drying her eyes, Helen stooped and lifted a severed arm. "I don't want Drezian to die," she said. "I just want things to be normal around here again."

  Geleon said nothing.