Free A Whisper After Midnight by Christian Warren Freed Page B

something out of the ordinary. His sight may have been taken, but he’d been locked in darkness for so long the cell took on a haunting glow.
    “You cannot see me, but know that I watch you,” a hideous voice said.
    Argis felt his heart clutch and his skin flushed cold. “Who are you?”
    “I have had many names, none of them important to one in your position. Just know that it is through my urgings that the One Eye has brought your kingdom to the edge of permanent chaos. Does that satisfy you, Lord Argis?”
    “Set me free so that I might put blade to your throat and I’ll be satisfied,” he replied. Every syllable was a struggle to maintain what little composure he had.
    A foreign sound mocked him from the dark. Laughter? “If a mortal blade could kill me we would not be having this conversation.”
    “What do you want from me?”
    There was a pause, as if his confronter was in thought. “Want? There is nothing a Man in your position can offer me. Now if you were a free Man….”
    Argis never believed in demons. Superstitions were for the weak and old. But the creature in his cell gave him pause. There was an inherently evil quality emanating from the creature. So strong it turned Argis’s stomach. So strong he was sure demons did exist.
    “A free Man is capable of a great many things. The power of the human mind can transcend physical strength. Take you to unexplored heights. Strength and power lie at your feet if only you had the courage to reach out and claim them.”
    Tears broke from the corners of his eyes. “Leave me, demon. I am not the Man you seek.”
    “Demon? Would a demon offer you the opportunity to rise above all of your peers and become the Man you should be?”
    Weeping freely, Argis replied, “Yes.”
    “You know so little of the true nature of the world. Ancient dogmas mire your race in decrepitude. I offer you the future and you rebuke me out of what? Spite? Fear? I have no need of such emotions.”
    Darkness strengthened, threatening to cast Argis into unconsciousness. He swooned. The eerie combination of madness and darkness claimed his mind and when he regained control of awareness he discovered he was alone.

     
EIGHT
    The Hags
    The screaming began shortly after midnight. A door broke open. Splinters flew through the front room of the small home. The rush of wings blew out the already cooling fire. Smoke and ash filled the air. Claws ripped and slashed. A sword gleamed momentarily in the cold, pale moonlight before falling to the floor, the severed hand still gripping the hilt. Blood, hot and bright red, splashed across the walls and furniture. The attack ended almost as quickly as it began. Three bodies lay in ruined heaps of flesh: the parents and a small daughter. Each body was grasped by one of the Hags and dragged away to the foothills.
    Those foolish enough to venture into the streets watched the three monstrous shapes take flight and disappear into the clouds. Whispers spread quickly. Demons had come to Fedro, claiming the damned and condemning the rest. Grown Men and Women fell to their knees while performing gestures intended to ward off evil spirits. Some cried. Others slammed their doors and bolted them. Still others went for weapons, anything they could use to defend against the monsters. Fedro became subsumed by paranoia. It didn’t take long before those with clear heads turned towards the strangers in town. Blame was only a matter of time.
    “They are here,” Rekka Jel said from her post by the window.
    They’d taken rooms in the back of the first floor, close enough to the rear door to make an escape if necessary. Their foul experience in Praeg set everyone on edge, heightening security and apprehensions. Sleep came lightly even after their time spent in the forge of Giants. Bahr remained filled with suspicions. Having a traitor among them kept him on edge.
    Fresh screams rippled through the sleeping village, drawing the weary band to action. Ionascu cackled