Dirge of the Dead Read online

  Dirge of the Dead

  Reed Logan Westgate

  Copyright © 2020 Reed Logan Westgate

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN:

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter One | The Road to Hell

  Chapter Two | The Paradox

  Chapter Three | Fortress of Fire

  Chapter Four | The River

  Chapter Five | Soulstealer

  Chapter Six | The Sanguine Sword

  Chapter Seven | The Spawning

  Chapter Eight | The Soulforge

  Chapter Nine | The Garden of Weh

  Chapter Ten | The Heavenly Host

  Chapter Eleven | Druid of Morrigu

  Chapter Twelve | Consequences

  Chapter Thirteen | The Color of Envy

  Chapter Fourteen | Choir of Angels

  Chapter Fifteen | The Trickster

  Chapter Sixteen | Family Feud

  Chapter Seventeen | Hawke and Mouse

  Chapter Eighteen | The Dead Road

  Chapter Nineteen | Heart of Granite

  Chapter Twenty | Dirge of the Dead

  Chapter Twenty-One | Ertigan The Defiler

  Chapter Twenty-Two | Fates Folly

  Chapter Twenty-Three | And The Sky Wept Tears Of Blood

  Chapter Twenty-Four | The Well Of Souls

  Chapter Twenty-Five | Guardian of the Cauldron,

  Chapter Twenty-Six | The Prince of Nightmares

  Chapter Twenty-Seven | Aftermath

  Epilogue

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  A word to the READER

  DEDICATION

  To my darling wife Amanda, whose patience and support make chasing this dream possible.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to all my beta readers for your valuable feedback and contributions.

  Special thanks to the talented Micha Cole, aka Lady Pirotessa for illustrating my characters and bringing them to life.

  Finally, a special thanks to Jason Gibeault at Splintered Brush Studio for making the isolation of the pandemic a lot less lonely. You were a friendly voice in a world of silence when I needed it the most.

  Prologue

  The stylized sign’s flickering neon light illuminated Valeria’s porcelain white complexion in a vibrant green hue. She winced as the sign reading New Pandora’s danced between the words New and Pandora not entirely sold on the aesthetics of the club’s new design. Despite the marketing firms’ assurance that it matched the tone and vibe of the Techno themed night club, she held her reservations.

  Valeria twirled a long strand of black hair around her finger as she studied the exterior of the newly rebranded night club while anxiously awaiting the necromancer. She was thoroughly uncomfortable in the cool spring evening air, adorned in a simple yet chic retro black pencil dress with matching black stiletto heels, she preferred the warmth within the club, but did not want to confront the powerful necromancer in such a private setting.

  “Not your best work,” a male voice chimed in from behind, snapping her attention from the club. She turned to meet the familiar visage of Oxivius Soulforge, the Lamian necromancer, strolling casually down exchange street. He was well dressed, as usual, with a crimson red mandarin collar shirt under a black crushed velvet vest with matching black slacks. His cane tapped the cobblestones under his feet in a rhythmic unison with his footfalls as he approached. His long black hair hung about his shoulders, bouncing with each step. He was dapper, one might even say, dashing for a filthy human. Valeria’s lips curled into a seductive smile as she drank in the sight of the man approaching.

  “I prefer more enticing work,” she purred in response as Oxivius came to a stop before her. His piercing, ice-blue eyes fixed on hers as his brow furrowed and his normally pleasant demeanor faded.

  “I assure you Val,” Oxivius answered in a low and firm tone, “I am not on the menu tonight, demon.”

  “Why Ox,” Valeria purred once more, crossing her arms about her chest, and pouting in reply, “I thought we had moved past the unpleasantries between us.”

  “Oh, of course,” Oxivius spread his arms and his voice dipped in a low warning growl, “I mean it’s not like you hold dominion over my friend’s soul.”

  Valeria raised an exquisitely manicured eyebrow in response as her pouty lips curled back into a devious smile. She enjoyed the necromancer, despite the threat he posed to her and her patron’s agenda. He represented a wildcard, uncontrollable, and perhaps that intrigued her the most about the enigmatic man. His loyalties were his alone to harbor, for better or worse. He had no love for humanity, nor did he hold any outward malice toward her kind. At least not inherently. He was, for the moment at least, averse to her marking the Baku pup Xlina. The awakened young girl he had grown so fond of, but the mark was merely good business for the demon. Overall, Oxivius was a neutral entity that just wanted to be left alone. Naturally, in the plotting and machinations of Valeria and her patron, there could be no benchwarmers. Sitting on the sidelines in the clash between her patron Malek and his rival Ertigan, simply was not an option.

  “Your wrong about me, Oxivius,” Valeria teased, looking back at the newly restored club. “I have no interest in being nursemaid to Xlina. I was happy in Boston, feeding on souls. The mark on Xlina is my patron’s desire, you realize, not my own.”

  “Semantics love,” Oxivius waved a hand in dismissal, matching the cadence with his derisive retort, “You have something I require.”

  “You can’t have her soul,” Valeria snapped firmly, turning her back on the necromancer.

  “Many have made the mistake of misjudging what I can and cannot do, Val,” Oxivius’ voice dropped low as his teeth clenched.

  “Are you threatening me, Ox?” Valeria looked back over her shoulder with a smirk. “I thought we were past all that?”

  “Xlina’s freedom, Val.” Oxivius tapped his cane on the walk for emphasis, his tone cold. “That’s the extent of my dealings with your kind. Then we part ways and to the gates of hell I swear, if you threaten my friend again, I will make you suffer a fate worse than all the torment in the nine hells.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, love,” Valeria echoed back, mocking his usual verbal tone and cadence.

  Anger swirled in his eyes; a storm of emotion raged within those blue orbs. He carefully studied the demon. Her movements, her voice, all lingering reminders of what she was so long ago. Before she had fallen to hell. When she was mortal. When she still had a soul.

  “Val,” he continued, his voice a mix of emotion, “Please... I just want her freedom.”

  “You wish to do for her,” Valeria spun back, raising her voice in a scathing tone. “What you failed to do for me? You want to keep her from falling. You want to stop her from becoming... me.”

  “I am so very sorry I couldn’t save you Val,” Oxivius replied solemnly, “But if there is any part of you left in that demonic shell that remembers your human life, then help me.”

  “Help you?” Valeria scoffed coldly. “I like who I am, Ox. Don’t you understand that? When my human form died, I suffered in hell, soulless and alone. I waited for you, but you never passed on, did you? Hundreds of years ebbed by, and I was alone. Instead, Ertigan tortured me... in ways you cannot even fathom. When my patron offered a chance to be reborn as a demon... I welcomed it. I embraced it. I was no longer the victim, Ox. I was the one holding the souls in my hands. I was the torturer. I was the powerful one, and I reveled in it.”

  “I am so sorry, Val,” Oxivius whispered with a shake of his head in disbelief.

  “You consume
flesh, Ox,” she quipped cruelly. “You’re a Lamia, a death eater. Was I supposed to wait forever for you to get around to dying?”

  “It wasn’t like that, Val,” Oxivius retorted. “When I lost you, I wandered alone, adrift in my failure. Madness took me. If not for the Burglecuts...”

  “It’s so easy for you, isn’t it Ox,” Valeria leaned forward, locking eyes with her own icy stare. “You were saved, and now you wish to save Xlina. But just like before, you cannot. She belongs to my patron now, Ox. He will use her as a weapon, wielding her like a sword, for that her value to us. Just a weapon to be used until broken.”

  “No,” Oxivius answered back defiantly.

  “” Valeria closed the remaining inches between them until she was mere inches from his face. “She will die eventually, of course, falling in battle for my patron. Her soul will descend to the nine hells, where it will be consumed. In the end, she will face years of torment and suffering. She will know... you couldn’t save her.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Oxivius matcher her intensity with a frosty glare of his own.

  “Oh, we shall.” Valeria placed her hands on her hips smugly. “You and Xlina did such a bang-up job protecting Amber, after all. I wonder how she is faring as Ertigan’s new plaything? After his defeat at the Council of Magic, I am sure he is just a bastion of restraint.”

  Her words twisted in his gut like a knife, cutting deep and shearing his innards. Valeria’s cold demonic glare showed no signs of humanity. Not a shred of her former self remained. He steeled his emotions, remembering the Val he loved had burned away in the pits of hell. This creature before him was just a demon wearing her face.

  “Our deal is complete, Val.” Oxivius’ eyes were stern and his expression flat. “I will save her. I will save Amber. If I have to storm through the very gates of hell myself.”

  “How long will you survive out there, Oxivius?” Valeria responded, raising an impeccably trimmed eyebrow. “How many years will Oxivius Soulforge wander the Earthrealm before he finally meets his end? Centuries perhaps? Death surrounds you, necromancer, but its sweet release eludes you. You are cursed, Ox, to watch everything you hold dear, everyone you love, grow old and wither to dust around you. You will carry your failures in your heart and wallow in your despair. That is all the vengeance I require.”

  “You’re not my Val, demon,” Oxivius spat. “Whatever good there was in you burnt away in the pits.”

  “Finally, something we agree on.” Valeria smiled in return, but her smile lacked warmth. It was the ruthless smile of a predator.

  “My deal with you is complete,” Oxivius replied, returning to the matters at hand. “I fulfilled my end of the bargain; the tome belongs to me now.”

  “Indeed,” Valeria agreed. “You played the part perfectly and put Xlina on a collision course with Ertigan.”

  “I never would have made the deal if I knew.” His blue eyes cold like steel daggers boring into her.

  “You came back to earth realm looking for the tome,” Val cooed cruelly. “You were willing to do anything to get it and thus I put my vengeance in motion putting that lost Baku pup Xlina in your path.”

  “I am done with you, Val,” Oxivius replied coldly.

  “Hardly,” Valeria teased through her crimson lips.

  Oxivius gave her a fleeting look, then turned, walking away from the club. His cane tapping in sync with his steps as he went, a slow macabre whistle erupted from his lips as he strolled casually down exchange street. Valeria watched him go, and her stomach roiled. She closed her eyes and for a moment she remembered his scent on the summer air by the creek where they had lived. The sound of the children playing as he held her in his arms. She remembered feeling... content. As quickly as the thoughts came, they fled, replaced by the torment and flames of hell. The hot embers of the abyss burning in her mouth filling her nostrils with sulfur and burning flesh. The memories of torment grounded her, and her eyes fluttered open once more, replaced by soulless, empty black pools.

  “He is going to be a problem,” the dominant voice of her patron Malek echoed in her head.

  “No,” Valeria answered aloud. “The fool will protect your weapon. He’ll do anything to save her.”

  “I allow you your petty vengeance, Valeria,” Malek’s powerful voice rocked her body, “But see to it your vengeance doesn’t lead to a mistake. I guarantee you my retribution... will be far worse.”

  She did not answer. She did not need to. Her patron had broken the telepathic link. She turned, cursing the gaudy neon sign once more as she returned to the warmth of New Pandora’s. Xlina would arrive soon, and she had preparations to make for the Baku pup.

  Chapter One

  The Road to Hell

  “OXIVIUS!” XLINA CRIED in protest as the hearse’s engine roared to life. The streets of the Old Port in downtown Portland, Maine, faded on the other side of the glass windows as the magic within the vehicle pulsed around them, transporting the vessel through the mist and into Otherworld. She reflexively braced herself, flinging both hands to slap hard on the red leather dash as her stomach dropped. The sensation reminded her of the rollercoaster at the amusement park in Massachusetts where her father had taken them on a family vacation when she was eight. The tumultuous twists and turns followed by the sudden drops and plunge of the coaster had left her stomach feeling like it was about to come up her throat. She closed her eyes against the welling feelings inside as her body adjusted to the sensation of traversing the planes of existence. Just as she seemed to collect her bearings and steel her resolve, the sensation ceased just as abruptly as it had begun. She chanced a peek, slowly opening her eyes to see the quaint streets of the old port replaced with a ravaged landscape of barren stone under a red hued sky.

  “Not quite what I was expecting,” Oxivius mused, letting loose a low whistle as he peered out the windshield of the hearse.

  “A little warning next time,” Xlina scolded quietly, in almost a muted whisper. She stared in awe at the barren wasteland before her, which seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions.

  “If I had warned you,” Oxivius replied coolly with a sidelong glance in her direction, “You would have said no.”

  “You’re damn right,” Xlina answered, looking back at the Lamian necromancer. His deep red shirt seemed to darken under the red hue of this strange sun in the sky. He looked back at her with a knowing grin that stung her heart. Those icy blue eyes peering out over red tinted sunglasses resting at the end of his nose begged for her to trust him. They longed for things to be like they were before. Before the vile demon Ertigan’s schemes, before the Council of Magic’s destruction, before she had been forced to kill her only human friend, Amber, in front of her demonic master, Valeria. They pleaded for her lost innocence to meet their gaze, for her to signal that everything would be okay. It was not okay. She was not okay and so she merely turned away, looking out the passenger side window.

  “It might be crazy, love,” Oxivius continued, his voice low and the pacing of his words slowed. “But we can do this. We can find Ertigan’s palace, steal Amber’s soul, and slip away before the lout even knows we were here.”

  “Oxivius Soulstealer,” Xlina mused with a shake of her head in dismay, “That’s what they called you.”

  “In my youth,” Oxivius answered, “Long has it been since I was last that feral savage Xlina.”

  “Yet now you propose we just waltz into hell and steal her soul?” Xlina countered, looking back to see his devilish grin beneath his neatly trimmed black goatee.

  “Precisely.” Oxivius nodded as he motioned his index finger to the center of his tinted glasses and pushed them from the end of his nose up to conceal his eyes once more.

  “Is such a thing even possible?” Xlina protested, “Can’t Ertigan just take her back? Her soul is bound to him... isn’t she?”

  “One step at a time,” Oxivius answered, “First we find her, then we whisk her away from this wretched place, then we worry about keepin
g her.”

  “That’s a lot to risk,” Xlina countered, “With no guarantee Amber won’t just get dragged back to Hell the moment we leave.”

  “Listen, Xlina,” Oxivius continued firmly, “We are going to free you from the mark, and we will bloody well free Amber too while we are at it. Even if just a temporary reprieve...”

  “Even if we fail and she ends up back in Ertigan’s clutches?” Xlina finished with a sour expression.

  “It is not about eternal salvation,” Oxivius explained slowly, trying not to sound impatient. “That is beyond our abilities, love. It is about you coming for her. She will know you tried to save her. Even if we fail. Even if her soul is doomed to an eternity of torment in that vile bastard’s clutches... she will know you loved her enough to try. It is something you can give her; something that she can hold on to instead of regret and self-loathing. That means something, love, trust me.”

  “You didn’t see her eyes, Ox,” Xlina turned back to the window, her voice cracking as she held back the emotions that had been fermenting under her gruff, detached exterior for months. “Hate, malice, jealousy, they consumed her...”

  “That was the wraith’s despair, love,” Oxivius replied, his voice soothing. “I am sorry. I should have seen the signs of the Wraith’s chilling despair in her. I failed you. I failed Amber.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Xlina turned back on him quickly, a tear rolling down her cheek as she balled her hands into fists. “Don’t you go there, Oxivius. You warned me not to drag her into our world. It was me. It was all on me. I can’t...”

  “You will not,” Oxivius slapped the steering wheel ruffly. “You wish to bear this albatross. Xlina, the martyr, but that is simply not the case, love. You were not alone, and the failure is not yours alone to bear.”

  “She was my friend, Ox,” Xlina replied, shaking her head as if to deny his words as the tears flowed down her cheeks. “Gods be damned, Ox. She was my only friend, and I killed her. I blasted her heart from her chest.”