REVILED

Bartholomew stepped into the darkness of his cellar. The only light came from the lantern in his left hand. His cellar was like any other, except for the thick steel door at the back. Decker pulled out a silver key from his pocket and unlocked the first of three locks. He reached to the dial above the keyhole and spun it to input the code that unlocked the second lock. The third, and least impressive, was the giant wheel that retracted two locking bars. The door opened silently.

The vault room impressively displayed the treasure that Bartholomew didn’t want others to see. Just owning one of the relics in this room would earn him the hangman’s noose, but that’s what made them so valuable. He stood in front of the vault’s center piece, the Tome of Elithis.

The tome sat in a glass case on a singular podium with magic runes carved into it. The runes were needed to mask the books intense necrotic energy. That didn’t stop the ivory, queen ant motif from glowing unnaturally in the low light.

Bartholomew chuckled. The monster decorating the book, the queen ant, was closely tied to the Dead God due to the monster’s unique abilities. The monster was known for enthralling creatures into its hive mind by using its venom. You could tell someone was enthralled because the queen’s stinger left a nasty mark on the body that never healed. With so many similarities, the church officially changed the monsters name to the queen elithan ant.

“Thinking of using it pops?” Bartholomew turned to see his son standing in the door. Baron’s robes were opened at the chest revealing defined muscles. Bartholomew couldn't help but be a little jealous of his son’s youth.

“I’ve already been burnt once,” Bartholomew said staring at the book, “I’m not foolish enough to try it again. No matter how tempting compulsion magic is.” And it was tempting, but looking at the book caused the scars on his back to itch. “Why aren’t you with your…friend?”

“I didn’t want to leave her,” Baron said with a smile, “She’s just as cute sleeping as she is tending to books. But master Aberny sent a message from Solomon,” Bartholomew turned fully to his son. “The monster escaped but is severely damaged.”

Bartholomew walked to one of the desks and opened a drawer. “I would have preferred it’s destruction,” he said pulling out a leather folder, “But this will work. They’re no possible way Reviled Legion can repair itself.”

“Are you sure?”

Bartholomew laughed heartily, “Of course, it cost over two hundred gold in parts alone. Not to mention, I have Melgareth’s schematics.” He waved the folder, “It won’t be able to perform any repairs without these.”

“So, what are you doing with them?” Baron said yawning.

“I’m striking while the iron’s hot,” he said, “But you should be focusing on your own interests.”

Baron chuckled, “You’re right. Mine’s prettier to look at.”

Bartholomew watched his son leave, then turned back to the tome. Finally, after six grueling months I can finally be rid of it.

Six months ago.

“Mama, I want to go home.”

“I know sweetie.”

Bartholomew tried to ignore the little girl’s incessant whining as he led the group down the damp tunnels of the sewers. He didn’t know the five people behind him, but their debt to him was quite the sum. So much so that they wouldn’t be able to pay it back. Three of the debtors were family.

The mother held her daughter close while glaring at her husband, “Damn you and you’re gambling addiction.” She grumbled. The husband hadn’t looked at his wife throughout the trip.

The fourth man was a blacksmith. He was the most difficult to wrangle. The many years at the forge made him large and burly, and he had to be bound in chains to keep him secured. Bartholomew was grateful that he brought a good number of guards with him.

The last man was being dragged along the floor. Baron had suggested him. Apparently, he was a bard who borrowed a large sum just to waste it whoring around. He tried putting up a fight, and now he’s being dragged through the sewers with a swollen face.

“This is a mistake pops,” Baron called out, “The quack’s going to turn on you.”

“Why do you think I brought so many guards,” Bartholomew said holding tight onto the leather package, “You’re to kill Melgareth if he tries anything.”

“Yes sir!” the guards replied.

“And I thought you brought them for the rats,” Baron snickered.

Bartholomew sneered at the comment. It had taken him years to chase the wererats out of the upper city sewers, and it was important to keep them out. Especially when the Duke paid well for Bartholomew’s business to “maintain” the city’s sewers. It also meant Bartholomew had free reign to modify the sewer how every he saw fit, and the steel door in front of them was proof of that.Bartholomew banged on the door. After several loud thuds, the door swung open. Bartholomew stepped into madness.

Madness was the only way to describe the lab. There was a desk with papers haphazardly strewn across it, and magical formulas scribbled onto the walls. Five copper chambers sat along one wall with copper wires running up the walls and along the ceiling to a magical apparatus that hung over a tarp covered table.

“Welcome, master Decker,” Bartholomew turned to the man standing next to the door.

Melgareth’s appearance was just as chaotic as his laboratory. The man’s shaved the right side of his head, but let his hair grow long on his left. White-blond bangs covered the left side of his face, but the right was marked with self-imposed scars and tattoos. There was a disturbing light to the man’s hazel eyes, partly because the man never blinked.

Melgareth clapped joyfully, “Excellent, you brought the last thing I needed,” his eyes fell to the pouch, “And the tome of course.”

“You better deliver Melgareth,” Batholomew said pushing past him, “I didn’t spend a small fortune on a failure.”

“I understand,” Melgareth said with a twisted smile, “I would be disappointed if it failed too, since this is my life’s work.”

Bartholomew scoffed, “You’re telling me the academy backed this?” he said.

“Of course not!” Melgareth tore at his arms, “Those fools hate progress! Look at them. Fighting the armies of the undead with the living. True idiocy. But you’re no fool, are you master Decker.”

“We’ll see,” Bartholomew said handing over the pouch.

Melgareth let out a wheezy laugh, “Of course,” he turned to the guards, “Put the sacrifices in the chambers. One per each.”

That caused an uproar. The blacksmith did his best to fight, but he couldn’t do much bound in heavy chains. The family broke out in horrendous crying. The husband tried to fight but was quickly subdued, and the wife screamed curses at both her husband and the guards as she tried to keep them from taking her crying child. Even the bard moaned in protest despite his condition. Bartholomew suppressed the shiver running down his spine as the chamber hissed shut.

Melgareth hummed happily as he pulled the Tome of Elithis from the pouch and placed it on the podium in front of the covered table. He pulled off the tarp. Laying on the table was some kind of monster, that was the only way to describe it. It was humanoid in shape with a head, torso, two arms and legs, but the hands and feet were monstrous claws, and its entire body was made of metal. Cloudy glass covered the upper face of the metal head, and Bartholomew could make out the silhouette of the skull underneath. That request disturbed Bartholomew the most.

“Are we ready?” Melgareth said with a huge smile. His tone gave Bartholomew goosebumps.

Bartholomew cleared his throat, “Proceed,’

The air became heavy the moment Melgareth opened the book. The shadows grew darker, and a thick blanket of silence fell around them. Bartholomew felt like he was being watched. That he was the amusement for something powerful and ominous. Melgareth’s chanting drew his focus.

Bartholomew didn’t recognize the words, but he could feel the power behind them. Two magical sigils appeared above and below the table, glowing angry red with the symbol of Elithis in the center. Five more sigils appeared on each of the chambers. Bartholomew could make out strange runes circling with the sigils. Lightning arced from the apparatus striking the monster on the table. Then came the screams.

The people in the chambers were screaming in pure agony. The cries muffled, but Bartholomew could guess what they were saying. Electricity ran along the copper wires where it continued to strike. There was a battle between Melgareth’s chanting and the painful screams.

“Do you see that?” Baron said gesturing towards the ceiling.

Bartholomew looked and his eyes widened in shock. There looked to be a hole in the ceiling above the apparatus, but it opened into a place he had never seen before. It was dark. Darker than anything he had seen before, and yet, Bartholomew could make out a throne in the darkness and a woman sitting upon it. The woman’s features were hidden but he knew she was smiling. A smile that rivaled Melgareth’s.

There was a loud thunderous snap, and the screams from one of the chambers intensified. The brightest bolt of lightning struck causing the body to arch its back before laying back down. The screaming died down as did one of the sigils. This continued. Snap. Scream. Flash. After the third snap a cry erupted from the monster, and Bartholomew took a step back. The monster’s lower face opened, cheeks parting to the side and the jaw dropped, and out shot a bladed tongue. A fourth snap, and this time the monster moved. Not out of a reaction from being struck but it struggled against its bonds. The fifth snap. The lightning and screams stopped and were replaced by the breaking of chains.

Red eyes glowed from beneath the monster’s glass visor. Slowly, it retracted its tongue and closed its mouth, then it rose from the table. Melgareth cackled in delight as the monster approached and turned to his audience.

Pure joy radiated from him, “Behold! I give you, Reviled Legion!”

Melgareth’s laughter echoed through the room as Bartholomew took another step back. Then it stopped, and blood ran down Melgareth’s face. The monster, Reviled Legion, threw Melgareth’s body to the side, and the woman’s laughter filled the silence.

“D-destroy it!” Bartholomew said, “We can’t let that thing escape.” No one moved. “Fine! A hundred gold coins to the person who brings me its head.”

Greed overtook cowardice and the guards charged all at once. Despite just being born, the monster moved gracefully. It dodged cudgels and deflected blades and struck back with its claws. Three men out of twenty laid dead.

It can’t get the book! Bartholomew ran past the fighting to the podium and slammed the tome shut. The woman’s laughter ceased as the portal vanished. Bartholomew ran back to the door dragging Baron as he passed. One of the guards followed behind.

They ran, but the monster’s shrieks sounded close. A side tunnel appeared.

“We need to split up!” Bartholomew said and turned to the guard. “Keep going straight. Try to get to the surface.”

Bartholomew and his son took the side tunnel and darkness overtook the path behind them. An agonizing scream came from the tunnel behind them. The tunnel continued, but they couldn’t find any gates that led outside. Growls echoed throughout the tunnel, and the clash of metal on stone grew louder. The tunnel opened into a large chamber that housed the city’s largest water reservoir. Metal pipes ran along the walls and into the ceiling above.

“Dammit, we’re under the castle!” Bartholomew said looking around. He noticed the door on their right. “That must be the controls for the flood gates. I have an idea,” he opened the door and pushed Baron inside. He pointed to the largest lever on the wall. “Pull that lever on my mark.”

Bartholomew approached the edge of the reservoir and turned towards the tunnel. Glowing red eyes pierced the darkness as the monster stepped into view.

“Now!”

Gears creaked and the roar of rushing water filled the room. The monster growled and fell to all fours as it ran at him. Bartholomew waited. Then the moment he was waiting for happened. The monster pounced with its claws outstretched, but Bartholomew dove to the ground. He felt the monster’s claws rake his back, but it flew past. Water splashed behind Bartholomew, and he rose to his feet to watch as the monster was pulled into the massive whirlpool.

“That was close.” Baron said watching.

“Agreed, but we need to go back to the lab,” Bartholomew said, “We need to gather anything of value before it comes back.”

Present.

Reviled stood in the remains of the lab. Decker cleaned it out. The only things that remained were the five copper chambers, the apparatus on the ceiling, and the table. There was also Melgareth’s body thrown against the wall, bloated, decayed, and gnawed on by rats.

Reviled barely remembered the lab. Most of its early memories were fragments of feelings and instincts. It wasn’t until the third week before its consciousness fully developed. That’s why it took three days to locate this place.

“Whats dat!” Cappy said point to the chambers.

“Open it,” Reviled ordered the skeleton that accompanied them. It hated relying on the undead warriors, but it wouldn’t take any chances. Not in its current state. The skeleton opened the chamber to reveal a pile of ash. Nothing remained of the sacrifices except for a few bones and a child’s skull. “These were the first to join us. From them, we were born.”

Her hands covered her mouth, “How horrible,” Meridith said staring at the skull.

“He was indeed,” Reviled said stepping past them, “And Bartholomew is just as guilty.”

“What did they want?”

“A weapon,” Reviled said staring at Melgareth’s body, “Our creator sought to rival the Wight King, and Decker wanted to cleanse the wererats. So, they joined forces,” It chuckled, “But Melgareth bit off more than he could chew. He thought using Elithis’ magic would bind us, make us a slave. The fool didn’t account for us having five souls.”

Meridith hugged herself, “Are you certain the schematics are here?” she said, “This place is empty.”

“They are,” Reviled slid its finger along the wall and tapped on a brick. It scratched at the mortar and pulled out the brick. Two books sat in the cavity. “We should be grateful Melgareth was so paranoid.” It said pulling out the books.

“Two?”

“A wizard is nothing without a spell book,” it passed the books to Meridith, “It should prove more useful than Ilan’s spell book. Melgareth loved collecting necromancy and compulsion spells, despite them being illegal.”

“Pwetty pictures,” Cappy said tugging on Meridith’s dress, “Let me see!”

“Later sweetie,” Meridith said despite Reviled’s growl, “You can look at them after Reviled.”

“Okay!” Cappy said with a cheerful smile. She started sucking on a finger bone.

“We have what we need,” Reviled said heading to the door, “Let us return to camp.”