Izzy had led them into the laboratory through a side entrance, from the unattended gardens. It had been overgrown with ivy, barely noticeable in the gloom that hung to the stones of the Helmut family home. He had said that hundreds of years before, the gardens were meticulously tended by alchemists and servants, occasionally human biologists, who used to live with the Helmut household. They cleaned and tended the main house, called the lab, as well as the large grounds. The head gardener had been an alchemist trained at the council house, chosen by Malus to cultivate magical agents and components for his experiments. Izadore did not say what had caused the loss of the servants but Finn assumed Malus had become bored of them or required additional subjects for his continued experiments. Whatever their fate, she guessed it was grizzly.
They made their way quickly through the labyrinth of corridors and hallways, Izadore only steps ahead of her, until they reached their destination. Izzy pressed his index finger to his mouth to indicate that Finn needed to stay silent. Her back was pressed against the cold stone wall of Malus' laboratory, she tried to focus on the feeling to ground herself in the moment. She had only been here once before in her life and those memories were some that she tried to bury the deepest. As her anxiety blossomed within her, Carter called out to her again. She winced in pain but it was enough to right herself in the moment. She ignored the terror that gripped her insides, pushed the link with her mate down, and turned her attention to her brother.
The reference library was beyond the doorframe her brother stood in, his eyes flicked from right to left. Eutus had told them he would return to the council for supplies. He promised he would state he had been away on business, to keep some semblance of peace. He'd meet them at their determined rendezvous when he was done. She wasn't sure they'd make it, but Izzy was pleased at least his lover was safe.
"The vault is under the library, accessed through the back most shelves. Father keeps his dark tomes ensconced there. Normally he has one of us on guard duty, despite the fact no one has ever entered this place uninvited by Malus."
"Until now," she corrected.
"Yes, little sister. Until now."
"Izadore, when did you get back?" A voice called out from within the darkened room, hidden by a display cabinet.
Izzy froze for a moment. He cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Just now, Ramsey. Malus sent me as your relief."
A quiet chuckle rumbled out, "Oh? Really. Then why is our little sister with you?"
Izzy cursed under his breath. Ramsey had limited scrying, he must have seen them enter the lab through his mind's eye. His eyes glanced at Finn and he lightly nodded his head.
Finn shifted quickly, screaming out in pain at her fast transformation. She ran into the dark room. Her new, sharper eyes immediately saw the outline of her brother Ramsey, a look of shock on his face. She dashed as fast as she could push her muscles, making the distance between them shrink in an instance. She grabbed him by the face, covered his mouth with her large clawed hand. She pulled him to her and hissed out, "if you wish to leave this room as anything other than an empty husk, I'd suggest you keep quiet." He pulled desperately at her hand with his fingers, but it was ineffectual.
She had never seen Ramsey close up before. He was as tall as Izadore, had the same hair,but his eyes were green and currently wide with fear. His ears were slightly pointed which indicated his mother had to have been an elf or a recent descendant of an elf. Finn knew elves did not willingly breed with humans, even high status enchanters. He was dressed in a long robe, deep purple, with some dark embroidery around the collar and hems. The sleeves of his robe pooled at his elbows as he tried to free himself from his little sister's grasp. Under the robe, his skin was covered in fabric wrappings to conceal the state of his ruined skin. Finn twisted her neck painfully backwards to look at Izzy for direction. She wanted to crush his head in her hands, to feel the warm ooze of his vacant mind. She hesitated and felt doubt. She didn't know what he had gone through or if he truly deserved it, death at her hands. She didn't know much anymore, she thought to herself grimly.
"Ramsey," Izzy said as he stood beside his siblings. "Brother. We need access to the safe. Will you grant access to us? Please hold up a hand if you will comply."
He stared daggers at them both, his green eyes alive with rage. After a moment, he stopped fighting Finn and put one hand in the air. She lowered him to the ground but did not remove her hand from his mouth.
"Thank you, little brother," and held out his hand for the key. When Ramsey relented, he deftly removed a signet ring with his fingers and placed it into their brother's outstretched palm. Izzy held up a small potion bottle to him. "Please drink this. You will go to sleep and wake in a few hours. Father will not be able to fault you for our actions."
Finn removed her fingers from his mouth, one by one slowly. She dropped her hand to his neck and dug her fingers into the sides of his throat with force. "If you scream or try to cast, I will slit your throat and you will bleed out before you can finish."
Ramsey slapped her hand away, taking the potion from Izadore. "You better kill him or we are all doomed," he said. Tipped his head back and drank the liquid in one quick gulp. Its effects were almost instantaneous. Finn grabbed his body as it drooped and fell, his soft breaths indicated he was fast asleep. She carried him to a chair, hidden from the door and gently lowered him into it.
She shifted back, shaking with the adrenaline. "That was easy!" She smiled at her older brother. He did not return it. He turned and walked towards the back of the vast room.
Izadore stopped at the back most bookcases, casting his eyes behind him anxiously. He slipped the ring into an almost hidden indentation in one of the books, a keyhole Finn couldn't see. The shelves slowly parted, revealing a dark stone staircase. The stone steps slowly began to glow, illuminating the way down. Finn made to start her descent when Izzy's hand shot out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him. She cast him a look of warning and he quickly removed his hand. He raised both in the air to signal surrender. "Wait!" he said softly. "Please!"
She frowned but stayed at the top of the stairs, waiting for an explanation.
"We call it a vault or safe but... it's more."
"What is with you wizards and your inaccurate naming tendencies? The council house isn't a fucking house, it's a mansion. This," her arms making exaggerated motions, "isn't a lab, it's a fucking castle. And now the safe isn't a safe?" Her voice was soft but filled with exasperation.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Look, I'm just trying to explain that. Yes, he keeps his precious books down there. But! He also keeps other things down there. I don't know what you're going to find. I just wanted to warn you."
"What 'other' things, Izadore?"
"Failed experiments..."
"Are there guards?"
"No. No one is stupid enough to break into his house and vault."
"Then I'll be fine."
"You need to be cautious," he hissed. "Or we are all dead."
"We are all dead if you don't stop prattling on! I will be fine. I will meet you here, shortly," she replied, walking down the first step.
Izzy looked pale, "good luck, little sister." He disappeared behind some stacks of books. She continued her descent.
(2)
Finn's toes stepped tenderly onto the cold cobblestone floor of the vault. It was dimly lit, torches lined the perimeter and radiated a soft purple glow. They cast menacing shadows over the walls and floor. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the gloom, allowing her to make out the room. It was massive. Plain in decoration. No reanimated corpses or grotesque statues like she had imagined decorated secret places of Malus Helmut. Mostly empty walls, the occasional shelf filled with glass vials and ampoules was the only ornament.
In the middle of the vault sat small raised stone tables. Each individually housed a single book. There were ten in total. She also noticed that there were five old wooden doors at the back wall, numbered in roman numerals. She returned her attention to the tomes, her main objective.
She crossed the gap between herself and her goal as quietly as she could. The search began for the one she wanted. In the middle sat the volume she had come for, The Necromancer's Soul. As she reached for the book, an odd noise startled her. She stiffened, her muscles tensed painfully. She looked around again to ensure she was alone. In the quiet, Finn heard only her own heart beating quickly. Thump. Thump. Thump. Her ears strained for the tiniest indication of another. As she grabbed the book, a soft sound punctuated the quiet and alarmed her. She gripped the musty tome to her chest, glancing around. She began to tiptoe towards the back of the room, to the doors. Cautious as a feline. Her toes made no sounds on the cold stone as she inched forward, willing herself to be quiet. Inaudible.
She stopped outside of the enterance marked II and listened. The world was once again silent. As she was about to move off and return to Izzy so they could leave, another small wail caught her attention. She tiptoed to the door marked III and stood, pressing her ear to the cold wood. She heard nothing but she waited. And then an odd sound, wet. Movement. She heard laboured breathing. Without thought, Finn reached her hand out to the old knob and turned it slowly. The door gave way with a creek that bounced off the stone walls. The sound made her jump. She grimaced at the gloomy room as she looked around. Finally, steeled, she pulled the door open a crack.
There were no light source in the room. Finn couldn't quite make out what caused the noise. She was about to shift, to sharpen her vision, when a small broken voice wheezed out in pain, "N..o mo...re..."
She instinctively stepped backwards.
"Let... me di...e..." The voice came again. Finn closed her eyes, pulled in a deep breath and shifted. She bit back a scream from the pain, her tongue took the brunt of that force. Blood filled her mouth. When she opened her eyes again she fell backwards. Her limbs scrambled backwards away. Her mind refused to accept the horror before her.
In the middle of the small room was a form. A body. At least it once had been a body, she thought. It was anchored to the floor through large railroad spikes. A single one driven in each of its hands and feet. A magic circle had been drawn around the creature with blood. It was dried and old but there was no mistaking it. Finn didn't know what magic this was but she knew it was wrong. Corrupted.
"Pain..." Came the voice. Finn stood, slowly moved closer to the figure. Her mind had a hard time deciphering what she was seeing. Had it once been a woman? She wasn't sure. It had rotted away, most of the skin had fallen free from the bones. The hands and feet appeared to be paws, like a wolf. No, not a wolf. A werewolf. Not the human hands and feet she had initially assumed. A few strands of dirty hair clung to the exposed scalp, but most of the flesh was gone. The jaw was only attached on one side. The other side had been eaten away with time or trauma. When it spoke, a tongue fell out of the mouth and hung from her half attached jaw. It was longer than a human's. The remains of the organs were a rotting mess below her. The eyes were only white. No, her eyes, Finn chided herself.
Finn gagged at the smell that assaulted her.
"Please..." Called the abomination.
Finn slowly righted herself on her haunches and walked back to the door.
"What are you?" she asked, unable to hide her disgust.
"On...ce... a wolf... Once... a wi...fe. Now... a mon...ter..." She said, liquid dripped from her decayed mouth. It made a sickening sound as it hit the stone floor. Splat.
