Chapter 56 Excerpts From Malam
EXCERPTS FROM MALAM
Islam the knife into the human’s throat, stepping to the side carefully to avoid the spray. Of course, I am already covered in his blood, but I may as well avoid the amount an arterial puncture would add.
This wasn’t a kind death. He’s been bleeding for me for nearly a day now, but it was worth it. I finally have the last piece of the puzzle.
I’m in a small basement space, a sort of bunker, which has fully stone walls, a stone floor, and a stone ceiling. It makes cleanup easier.
I walk to the edge of the room where I’ve set up a small changing station. I strip and clean myself as well as I can. I will still need a shower later, but I want to avoid bringing this much blood back to the stronghold or Lily’s home.
I chuckle to myself at still thinking of the apartment as Lily’s home. I spend so much time at the stronghold or on tasks such as this that it is not as though I’m fully living there. I do spend more nights there than anywhere else.
Once I have removed all traces of the human’s blood and changed into fresh clothing, I walk into the hallway.
Pointing through the open door at the magic circle, I drew on the floor of the bunker, I send my energy to it, and the fire begins.
The magic will cause the fire to quickly consume everything in the room without needing more air.
It will burn hot enough that nothing will remain other than a little ash.
I press the door shut quickly and trace a rune on its surface to lock it. Despite my general ambivalence regarding their kind, I wouldn’t want a human to mistakenly open it while the fire burns. They must be guarded against their own stupidity.
With that done, I dematerialize, transporting myself to our stronghold to gather the last pieces of information I need before I speak with Chaosta.
I stumble as I materialize and nearly fall.
That isn’t like me. Resisting the band’s summons just over a fortnight ago was agony, physically and mentally, and it clearly depleted my energy.
I have continued to struggle with transporting myself ever since, though it does seem to be improving with time.
I hope they don’t try to summon me again. If they do, someone is going to end up dead, and it is less likely to be me.