The Veil Page 54

  “Okay.”

  I couldn’t see anything in the pitch-dark cell, so I had to do everything through feel alone. I pushed my hands into my mouth and pulled open the wound again, wincing as the blood filled my mouth. I took hold of the lock pick and then spat out the blood. Taking a few deep breaths, I steeled myself and then pushed the sharp end of the pick down into the base of my right palm. I had to stifle a scream as it slid through the skin and flesh, until the tip settled near my wrist. The warm flow of blood seeped over my hand; I pressed my palm to the wound until it clotted.

  “It’s done,” I breathed.

  “Great. We can use that when we escape.”

  “So how do we get out?” I asked, hearing the slight note of desperation in my voice.

  “The only real chance of escape is during a Spectacle Event. It’s the only time when the Pitguards are distracted, and there are more than one Chosen together at the same time. Plus out there in the arena we have weapons and we have relative freedom. It was how the other Chosen were able to break out some time ago.”

  “How did they escape?”

  “As I said it was during a Spectacle Event. Dozens of Chosen – including me – were sent out into the arena together to fight a massive selection of horrors that Lilith keeps under lock and key. We all worked together, Kinesists bringing down the Spectator stands, Levitators and Teleporters scaling the walls and attacking the crowds to cause mass panic, Pyromancers setting fire to everything. Lilith was terrified – she hates fire.”

  “Then why does she use a fire sword?” I interrupted.

  “Because the Scorched Knight is a contradiction. As much as fire frightens her, it also fascinates her. I think that by controlling it, she hopes to cure her innate fear of it.”

  I made a mental note to use fire when I ended the sinister bitch’s life. I’ll make the flames the last thing that she sees before she dies.

  “Sorry, you were telling me what happened, carry on,” I said.

  “So, I was among them, doing my part. It was utter chaos and a lot of good people died trying to secure their freedom. Lilith sent hordes of her elite soldiers – the Quiet Ones – into the arena and we rushed them, managing to break out of the arena before they could close the doors. Some Chosen were so desperate they headed straight for the exits and managed to escape, which I don’t blame them for at all. However, others – including me – went back to free other prisoners. That was our mistake.” He gave a deep, regretful sigh. “A lot of people escaped that day. I wasn’t one of them.”

  “I’m so sorry, Peter.”

  “Don’t be. If I’d escaped that day I might have died in the wilderness of Pandemonia as I suspect many of the escapees did. Or I might have been forced to spend my days in some hellish part of this world, never knowing what happened to my son. But I didn’t get out, and now you’re here. Fate is definitely involved.”

  Peter’s words were stoking the fires of my own determination. “So we’re going to get out together?” I said.

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “As the others did, during a Spectacle Events. You know what I said about fate being involved?”

  “Yes.”

  “There is one due to take place tomorrow in this very colosseum.”

  Adrenaline hit my stomach. “Really? How do you know?”

  “Because when Pitguards see you as part of the fixtures and fittings, its easy to overhear things.”

  “Surely it won’t be the same though? They won’t allow a repeat of what happened before?”

  Peter made an agreeing noise. “You’re right. Spectacle Events haven’t been the same since that day. For one, there will be less Chosen - there just aren’t that many left in the Abyss. Either way it means it’ll be much harder to escape. But the one good thing that I know for sure is that both you and I will be fighting together in the event, which will help a lot.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “Because I’m Deathbreaker and you’re a Huntmaster that Lilith knows is close to my son…a person who by your accounts has been a major thorn in the Umbra’s side. There is no way that we won’t be displayed for the pleasure of the colosseum’s special guest.

  I pressed up closer to the gap in the wall, feeling the breeze play on my face. “Who is the special guest?”

  “The Demon King himself. Hades.”

  *

  The torture started again. It began with Grey’s head, which the Pitguards mounted on a spike and placed right in front of me in my cell, igniting a flaming torch next to it and shortening my neck chains so that it was the only thing I saw when I opened my eyes. I screamed and fought against my restraints, and not even Peter’s attempts to soothe me could keep the hysteria at bay.

  The image of Grey’s blank eyes staring at me was so horrific, I was thankful when the Pitguards collected me from my cell, barely registering their blows as they half-dragged me up the catacomb stairs. I was taken to a small stone room with a nasty-looking metal chair fitted with adamantine bindings. They threw me down onto the chair and used the binds to secure me. They pressed their faces against mine and swore at me, telling me how I had killed their friends during my attempted escape and that they were going to make sure I suffered. They made no mention – or weren’t aware – of Lilith’s involvement in the whole thing. That it was the Scorched Knight who had given me the means to escape and allowed her guards to be the bait along the way. I didn’t mention it either… all I could think about was the image of Grey’s severed head that had seared itself into my brain.

  They guards left eventually, and in their place came Physicker Agorias. Seeing him walk through the door with a wide smile on his malformed face made me feel physically ill.

  “Good afternoon Huntmaster,” he said with a small bow. “How was your first foray into the colosseum’s fighting arena?”

  “Fuck you.”

  The Physicker walked over and patted a clammy hand against my face; I jerked my head away from him. “Such language!” he said. “Although I can’t really blame you for being angry. I heard what happened to your friend.” He tutted and wagged a finger at me. “That was actually your fault believe it or not. Lilith wasn’t planning on killing any of you herself…just yet. But then you attacked her and made her look foolish in front of the Populace. So obviously something had to be done about that.” He stopped speaking and stood silently for a moment, regarding me with his twisted little face. A moment later there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in!” he said in a cheery voice.

  The door clicked open and two of the naked, malnourished Succubi shuffled in. One carried a metal stool, and the other wheeled in a tray full of black surgical tools. My stomach twisted with dread as I saw the array of horrifying utensils sitting in rows on its surface. The Succubi cast apologetic glances at me as they set the trolley and stool into place and then left the room again, closing the door quietly behind them.

  The Physicker jerked a thumb in the direction of the door. “Were you related to any of those beauties?” He gave a chuckle. “No, I doubt it. But see here’s the thing. I analysed the DNA of those fascinating sections of skin I peeled from your back, and the results were very interesting. It seems that you have some Succubus genetics. Now I find that very, very peculiar as you are a Chosen.” He bounced two fists together. “And the two species do not combine well at all…or rather at all. So, my dear, Lilith wishes to know just how it is that you came to exist. Something that I must admit, I am somewhat curious about also.”

  Physicker Agorias dragged the stool across the stone floor until it was right in front of the chair and then sat down on it, leaning in close. “They can hear, so I’ll have to be quick and quiet,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you escape when I gave you the chance? Do you know how risky what I did for you was?”

  “I don’t believe you! You lied to me!” I hissed back through gritted teeth.

  The Physicker gave a snorting laugh and slapped my thigh as if w
e were sharing a hilarious joke. “Okay, you got me! I had to try though didn’t I?”

  “I am going to kill you.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I have heard that so many times it is frankly a little tedious.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, all this talk of escape reminds me.” He wrenched open my mouth, peering inside at my cheek. He shook his head and let a chuckle. “Stupid girl, you didn’t even try and keep hold of the lock pick.”

  I closed both hands tightly together.

  “So, do you care to share the secret of your heritage?”

  “I’ll never tell you anything,” I hissed and spat at him. I was so dehydrated that barely anything came out, but it was still enough to speckle his lenses and cause his smirk of a smile to vanish from his face.

  “That is not very cordial now is it Guardian?” Physicker Agorias slapped me with the back of his hand. The blow was far harder than I expected it to be and I felt blood seep into my mouth. “Now I am going to ask you some questions and…” he glanced at the tools laid out on the trolley, “I would advise you to tell me exactly what Lilith wants to know, or things will become very unpleasant for you.”

  Don’t let him see weakness. I gave a dark grin, feeling the blood spread over my teeth. “You think this is my first time being tortured, little man?”

  The Physicker raised his eyebrows. “Why my dear, of course I don’t think that at all.” He ran a hand up my thigh in such a way that it made my skin crawl. “The difference is that you have never been tortured by me.” Reaching out to the trolley, he picked up a small, curved adamantine scalpel, making it dance around his hands with considerable skill. “Since this is a room where secrets are shared, I think I’ll share first. You see, I wear the hat of colosseum Physicker here most of the time – a sort of resident surgeon if you will – but that isn’t where my heart lies.” He leaned forward. “The truth is that I am more of a collector.” He smiled. “I collect body parts.”

  A mixture of fear and nausea rolled through me.

  “Bodies fascinate me, you see,” he continued. “The way that each species is different, wonderfully made up of all of these complicated and unique elements, all bound together in a single structure. When you think about it, it’s actually quite beautiful.” He rolled his tongue slowly over his lips as his mind wandered, producing a sticky sound from his mouth. “What amazes me is how every species can be so complex, yet simultaneously so vulnerable. Take Bloodseekers for example. That subspecies of Vampire is the product of evolution spanning countless eons, separating them from the primitive cognitive function of their Hivemind kin in order to produce a deadly predator that can oversee and ensure the survival of an entire pack. But then the Ageless War arrived and removed their natural prey through migration and disease, and the very thirst that made them strong became the very thing that made them weak. Add to this the introduction of sunlight and fire for the first time, and they are no longer something to be feared. The perfect predator has been undermined by a new set of circumstances, and it will take countless more eons for them to adapt.”

  The Physicker flicked a thumb back and forth across the blade of the black scalpel, producing a scraping sound. “Or take the Chosen as another example. A wonderfully complex being formed when the human soul transforms into something far more powerful. It is suspected that this anomaly of human evolution is created through your Earth’s need to protect itself from an outside threat. Us,” he added pointed the scalpel at himself. “Now there was no conscious thought involved, your world simply changed its own natural rules to protect itself – a primordial instinct that you or I could never hope to truly fathom.” He gestured the scalpel back at me and I felt my throat tighten as the blade winked in the torch flame. “You are this wonderful creation of strength, intellect and skill that would put you very close to the top of the Pandemonian food chain were you native to this world.” He leaned forward and slid the blade down the length of my forearm. “But, yet you are still vulnerable.”

  I let out a shriek of pain as blood bloomed from the wound. The Physicker placed a hand over my mouth and my cries were muffled. “Shush, shush now. It’s only a shallow wound, look.” He grabbed a bottle of clear liquid from the trolley and cast it over my arm. The pain tripled and a deep scream escaped my throat as the substance fizzled on the skin, producing coils of foul smelling smoke as it burned my arm. It took over thirty agonising seconds for the pain to subside.

  The Physicker grabbed my head, which was pouring with sweat, and made me look down at the cut. A snake-like welt ran from the crook of my elbow to my wrist, raised and dark red in colour. “Look at this, the seemingly perfect creature who can heal almost all of its wounds, undone by the simple combination of adamantine metal and Myaline Salt. I’m afraid my dear, that whilst I have stopped the bleeding, that wound will never heal.”

  He let my head go and sat back in his stool, wiping the back of his hand across his damp forehead. His face was red with excitement and a grey substance had formed at the corners of his mouth. “To continue with my point, the painful truth is that evolution didn’t favour me. I should have been a strong, powerful Troll, but instead I became a Trollite, the bastardisation of our brethren. Granted, I am less disfigured and far more intelligent than any of my kin, but I am also weaker. My body is flawed. So that is why I collect. I collect the body parts of those Lilith no longer needs, because I am fascinated by what makes a creature strong and what makes them weak.”

  “Is there a point to all of this?” I said, my teeth chattering with the shock of the intense pain I had just experienced.

  “Absolutely.”

  He set down the scalpel and picked up a large, serrated knife. “The point is that right now, you are strong. Relatively speaking of course.” He raised a finger. “However, if you don’t answer the questions I am about to ask you, you won’t be strong for very long. Huntmaster, I have perfected my skills over a very long period of employment. Understand that when I return you back to your hole in this abyss, you will be alive but unrecognisable…no longer a woman… someone that even the strongest hearted would struggle to behold.” He opened his arms wide. “Just like me.”

  My heart thundered in my chest. He’s serious. He’s going to mutilate me if I don’t tell him what he wants to know. But if I do then I’m dead anyway, it won’t take them long to work out that I am the second twin from the Elementals’ words. I can’t do it. I have to do something...I have to get the hell out of this room.

  And the one thing that could get me out of my situation Peter Eden had ensured – through his knowledge of the Abyss and the people who operated it – stayed in my position. I curled the fingers of my right hand up towards my palm and felt them scrape over the slight bump of the lock pick.

  “So, let’s begin,” said Physicker Agorias. “My first question is, who were your parents?”

  “Go to hell.”

  He sighed and then stabbed the blade down into my thigh, twisting it with a flick of his wrist. Agony fired up my leg and my mouth parted into a lung-ripping scream.

  “Now what did I tell you!” he said, ripping the knife back out of my leg. “Look at what you forced me to do. Now I am going to give you a moment to recover and then I am going to ask you again.” He glanced at the Myaline Salt container. “You know what comes next.”

  I tried to clear my mind, tried to separate it from the intense agony that was radiating up my leg in pulsing waves. Instead, I focused on my hand, digging my fingers into the wound as I rocked back and forth from the pain. I could feel the skin pulling apart as I started to inch the lock pick out of its hiding place.

  “Time is up, my darling,” said the Physicker. “Who were your mother and father?”

  “Let’s talk about your parents,” I said. “Were they little freaks like you, or were they ashamed by what they produced? Did they abandon you because of the shame you brought on them?”

  The Physicker’s face turned into a snarl and he grabbed the container, pouring the liqu
id salt over my wound. I screamed as the searing burns consumed my leg. I tried to move my mind away but the pain was far too intense. The leather of my battle outfit melted and mixed with the burned flesh, until the two bonded together. As soon as the acute pain started to subside, I scraped at the lock pick with my curled fingers. My hand tremored and agony radiated up my wrist as the metal slid against my nerves. Then finally, I managed to pull the lock pick free into my palm.

  “You are very non-compliant.” Physicker Agorias sighed, setting the container back down. “But you won’t be for very long. I have all afternoon to work on you, and I am very good at my job. My orders from Lilith were to keep you alive, well and pretty enough to take part in a special event tomorrow. However, my master said nothing about your body parts under the clothes. When I am done with you, you will want to die in battle, because your life will no longer be worth living. I am going to ask you one final time. Who were your–”

  There was a loud hammering at the door. “Physicker Agorias!” someone shouted from beyond. “Physicker Agorias!”

  “What is it?” he said in an irritated tone. “I am busy in here!”

  The door swung open and a panicked Pitguard burst into the room. “I’m sorry to bother you Physicker Agorias,” he said breathlessly. “We have a situation.”

  “What situation is that?”

  “It’s Deathbreaker. He was being moved to check his battlesuit fittings with Solomon in preparation for tomorrow’s event and he stole one of our weapons. We managed to subdue him, but he killed three in the process. The Scorched Knight told us that when she isn’t here, you are to reprimand him if he ever acts out.”

  “Incompetent fools!” barked the Physicker. “How can you allow yourselves to become so lax in securing him?”

  “Because he never tries to fight us! We didn’t expect him to do anything like this!”