I detected the bodies in the same way I’d found the animal carcasses in the woods outside the ruins; their presence appeared to me as eerie glowing lights that could be seen through walls and other solid objects. There were six corpses, all young women, and all freshly killed. Very freshly killed, perhaps in the last hour, even. They were in a large chamber at the far end of the crypt.
I walked through the crypt, still using the magic of the Beauty Mirror to disguise myself, and soon encountered two more guards. While the magic fooled them into thinking that I was the actor, they still drew their swords upon seeing me.
“What the fuck are you doing in here, cocksucker?” a guard snarled. “You know you’re not allowed in this part of the crypt!”
“Yeah, get the hell out of here! Are you fucking crazy?” growled the other. “You know that if you take one step closer, we have full authority to separate your head from your shoulders. Turn around and get back to your ruins, or your chamber in the castle. Now!”
So, the actor had been telling the truth; my uncle had been keeping the killings a secret from him. Still, even though he was innocent of being involved in the killings, and didn’t even know about them, he had willingly participated in the ruining of my reputation, and that was a crime I didn’t want to allow to go unpunished. That was something to be dealt with later, though. Right now, I had these two clowns to take care of.
“And what if I don’t turn around, asshole?” I asked. “What if I wanna go in there? What are you gonna do to stop me?”
“Grown yourself a pair have you, eh? I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do. Gut you like a pig at a slaughterhouse, you pantywaist. And I have complete authority to do it. We both know that.”
“Go for it, you goblet of gnoll jizz,” I said, taking a step forward. “Give me your best shot.”
“Thank you, gods, thank you,” the guard murmured, his eyes bright with violent delight. “I don’t know what’s made you wanna commit suicide like this, you flamboyant prick, but I’m very, very glad that you’re doing it. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time.”
“Me too,” the other guard said. “Every time I saw you prancing around the castle, I wanted to stick my blade through your guts, and now, you’ve finally given me an excuse to do that.”
Both guards rushed me at once, their swords raised above their heads. They thought they were dealing with a weak, cowardly actor who’d never raised a finger in violence in his life. I couldn’t wait to show them how wrong they were.
The guard to my left aimed a clumsy lunge at my midsection, which I dodged with laughable ease, at the same time ducking under a wild vertical swing that the other one swiped at my neck. I sidestepped the first guy and caught his elbow in the crook of my arm, and with a swift jerk, I broke it. He screamed and dropped his sword as the bone cracked, and I shoved him away just as the second guard came running at me.
This time, the asshole realized that I was no stranger to fighting, and he was more cautious in his attack, which consisted of a downward diagonal slash. I parried the cut with Grave Oath, darting in at the same time and ramming my knee into his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending him staggering back.
I then backflipped, burying Grave Oath in the side of the first guard’s neck. As he died kicking and gasping, I faced the other one, who was recovering from my kneeing, empty-handed.
“I may not have a weapon in my hands,” I said, “but the odds are still very much in my favor.”
With a roar, he ran at me, lunging forward rapidly, but I jumped over the blow and smashed his head with a spinning back kick. He staggered to the side, stunned, and I fly-kicked him in the chest, sending him hurtling backward. He dropped to his knees, stunned, and I darted forward in a slide and turned it into a rapid forward roll. When I came out of it, I rocketed a powerful jab into his nose, snapping his head back.
He was now reeling and on the verge of losing consciousness. I whipped a potent right hook across his jaw, and that was it, lights out for him. He flopped to the floor, unconscious, and I got up, walked over to the first guy, who was now dead and wrinkled up like a 110-year-old, and plucked Grave Oath out of his throat. I took it over to the unconscious guard and slammed it between his ribs.
The shock of the pain woke him up, and he cried out, his eyes white and protruding, but he wasn’t awake for long, because my magic weapon soon began to do its deadly work. In a few seconds, his soul had been siphoned from his body, which was now as dry and withered as that of his companion.
Now, only one door stood between me and the dead bodies in the next room of the crypt, which I knew from memory was a large, cavernous space, and a sacred one. It was where the bones of my noble ancestors, including my father, were interred. I was itching to smash the door open and find out
