Chapter V: Screams in the night
Once again, Carn found himself in front of the door of Larkarsky's cell in the labyrinthine Hyrk Asylum for the Demented and Insane. Wordlessly the same Doctor as before, Speltz! That was her name! unlocked the door and opened it, stepping back and fading ethereally into the darkness. Carn stepped forward into the Adept's chamber, pulling the Aquilla from his pocket and holding it in front of him. Even though he could barely see the crouched muttering figure of the Adept ahead of him in the gloom the Aquila glinted and shone as if light were falling upon it. Carn also fancied that he heard a keening from the dangling charm but that was impossible.
Or prehaps not, for Larkarsky's head snapped up instantly. He stood, cocking his head like a bird and advanced on Carn, emerging from the gloom. Carn stepped back but the door had closed behind him. He wanted to turn but couldn't take his eyes off of Larkarsky, stepping jerkily toward him with his arm outstretched like some kind of undead horror. He backed up against the door holding the Aquila charm ahead of him like an offering whilst steeling himself to defend against any attack.
Instead, Larkarsky stopped just in front of Carn. His eyeless sockets glowed like burning embers, and he straightened, regarding the pinned Prefect. He reached for the dangling charm, still shining in Carn's grip but instead of taking it, pushed it back towards Carn's chest.
"Keep it Alistae, you will need it more than I" Larkarsy's voice resonated in Carn's skull, permeating his very mind and echoing through his brain. "Much work lies ahead of you, you must discover the truth, the truth of the Yellow King" He smiled beatifically, stepping back and dipping his head before raising it again. The embers blazed with new fury.
"They are coming, I can feel them, in my head, in my soul. They scratch and scream and writhe." His mouth approximated sorrow. "I was too weak, Emperor forgive me. I was too weak at the time. Now I am more prepared. Yet, even now, my time grows short. I wish I could tell you more, but they are listening, they have been since the start. They are in my head you know, did I mention that?" He tapped his temple for emphasis
Carn, could do little more than nod dumbly, he gripped the chain tightly, his knuckles white as Larkarsky continued;
"I have faith in you Alistae, i know you will succeed. You are looking in the right place, the answer is there. I believe you will find the answer before you reach Endomaw, I was so close, too close. I have left clues in my logs, find them. Find them and save us all. You MUST uncover the truth about the Yellow King! I have faith in you" he repeated. "I know you will succeed, the Emperor Protects, Alistae. He protects us all."
Carn nodded again, he tried to say something but could not form the words. Why could he not speak? This all seemed so unreal.
Larkarsy turned his head abruptly, sensing something. "We are out of time Alistae, I knew it would not take long, but I had to take the risk, you understand?" Carn didn't but Larkarsky continued regardless; "It is up to you now, this task falls to you, and with that, I am free. Thank you Alistae, thank you for coming back for me, may the Emperor watch over you." The beatific smile returned and suddenly there was a knife in his hand. He drew it across his throat sharply. The light in his eye sockets went out.
Carn flinched, but instead of the gush of bright arterial blood there was nothing, just a yawning expanse as Larkarsky's head tilted back. He was still smiling. Carn stared in revulsion as yellow writhing tentacles emerged from the ruin of his neck, expanding and writhing and reaching. Now Carn found a voice, and that voice was a scream.
He was still screaming when he awoke. He was reclining in a comfortable chair on the shuttle. A glass rested on its side on the table from where he had upset it when he started. The remnants of its contents tricked onto the floor via Carn's leg. Carn ignored it, it was the cheap synthesised stuff anyway. The dreams were getting worse. There was no denying it. Always the yellow tentacles, not only in his dreams either. The nightmarish images were infiltrating his waking thoughts too. It was getting stronger the closer he got to Endowmaw. He pulled the compact Autopistol from his chest holster and checked that it was fully loaded. It was a high powered custom model, packing more stopping power than a standard issue Autopistol at the cost of a slower firing rate. In actuality, it was more like a mini bolt pistol than anything else, finished in a brushed dark gunmetal with crimson finials and etched grip. Like all good guns it had a name and this was etched along the casing 'Furore Imperatoris' Emperor's Fury. It was a good solid gun and it had been a long time since it had been fired.
Carn had retrieved it from his desk drawer upon his return to the administratum building. Deftly avoiding Ralscon, (though he had left a conciliatory message updating his earlier report) he had feverishly grabbed as many supplies as he could, casting furtive glances at the shadows. He had then booked a transport shuttle and left, charting a route via Hyrk to Endowmaw. Now he was no more than an hour from the Asylum and as the monotonous tones of the cybernetic pilot confirmed this fact he sat up and reached for the satchel at the side of his seat.
It had seemed so REAL, more so than any other dream. His head still swam and he was dizzy and disorientated. He also had a headache, a pounding pressure in his skull that made him wince. Worse, still, he could feel something trickling from his nose and wiping his hand across the liquid saw it was a deep crimson. That couldn't be good. Shakily he withdrew the dataslates from the satchel. He'd already reviewed the final log. It had contained nothing of note, just more of Larkarsky's exhaustively detailed prose and further meetings with Ganvan Seris which had left the Adept even more unsettled than before. His final audio log had similarly suggested little more than a more defined unease, though he would not specify the source of it. He'd ended the vidlog with a comment that something was very wrong in Endowmaw and that he should write a book about it some day. A somewhat more sardonic comment than Carn had expected to be honest. He put this down to Larkarsky's state of mind. The man was clearly extremely disturbed and agitated, his anxiety was clear to see
Even so, there was no denying that there was something he was missing. Perhaps his dream was his subconscious telling him this, he had certainly been rattled of late. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. There was so much still to do, so many mysteries still to be solved. He went back over his notes and the latest few logs, both written and video. However, despite analysing each passage and even going over the videos frame by frame he still could discern or glean no further information. He went as far as to watch one of them backwards in the hope of uncovering a hidden message even as he chided himself for being so naive. Nothing.
He sighed and abandoned his studying as he noticed the drone of the engines turn into a pitched whine, indicating that the shuttle was beginning its descent. Right on cue the pilot announced their imminent arrival at Hyrk. Carn hastily gathered up the dataslates, stuffing them back into the satchel before fastening it. He just about had time to tidy himself up a little before the shuttle landed and he swiftly chartered a ground transport to take him to the Asylum. He became lost in thought as the coach proceeded up the rickety darkened path the the asylum, recalling his bizarre dream and Larkarsky's words. He was suddenly jolted from his reverie as the coach ground to a halt at his destination. He hadn't noticed that it had started raining and he was quite soaked by the time he reached the large door. His approach had not gone unnoticed however and he was greeted before he had a chance to knock. He smiled to hide the unease he felt when he saw who was behind the door.
"Doctor Speltz, good evening" he nodded and was rewarded with a flash of a return smile as he was ushered in by the aged psychiatrist. The door eased to a close behind him and he stood in a small puddle as the rainwater dripped off of his overcoat onto the tiled floor. He removed it, grateful for the sudden reduction in weight, and hung it carefully on a nearby rack while grasping the satchel in his other hand. He ran his hand through his wet hair and gratefully accepted the towel that Speltz proffered. Drying himself he followed the Doctor as she headed for Larkarsky's cell with purpose and swift steps despite her hunched posture. Carn hurried to catch up, tossing the damp towel onto a nearby gurney. He left a trail of droplets as he walked, his boots squelching slightly in time with his hurried footsteps.
"So how goes your investigation Prefect?" she asked without looking back, "and what brings you back here? Surely you don't think you'll be able to get anything more from Mr Larkarsky?" Her voice echoed slightly, they were not yet deep enough into the asylum to hear anything of the inmates.
Carn waited till he had closed the distance to a couple of foot before answering, "Indeed no Doctor, I am actually here on a personal errand. A mission of conscience if you will. My visit will not last long I assure you. I have urgent business in Endomaw that I cannot delay for long. As with regards to my investigation I am afraid that is classified. All I can say is it is proceeding. Endomaw is the next step. I can tell you no more." He paused as they negotiated a winding set of steps. "How has Larkarsky been?"
"Calmer," she admitted, "I would hesitate to say improved, he is still mostly non responsive, withdrawn, but i have noticed a stillness about him that we have not observed before. I find it unlikely that he will ever leave. It is unfortunate but perhaps a mercy, the man inside is still very much lost." Her voice was drowned out by maniacal laughter, screams and wails, and nothing more was said until they got to Larkarsky's cell.
"What was it you wanted anyway?" Speltz asked as she fumbled through the heavy bundle of keys at the end of a chain attached to her waist, tutting as she sometimes missed a key in her search. Her hands shook slightly, making her task that much harder.
Carn opened the satchel and removed the Aquila charm, shaking it free of its chain and allowing it to dangle from his hand. "Just to return this" he admitted, "I felt that he should have it. I'm not sure why, it just seemed important. " He shrugged, "It's hardly going to help him, it just seemed the right thing to do" Speltz looked up as she finally located the right key, her face was sympathetic and sorrowful.
"You might be surprised", she said softly, just about audible over the backround soundtrack of the hopelessly insane. "I'm sure he will appreciate it, even if he cannot express it. As I said, he has been... " her words turned to a strangled gasp as she wrenched the door open and she crashed to her knees, bringing a trembling hand to her gaping mouth.
Wordlessly, Carn stepped past her. With careful footsteps he walked over to the body in the middle of the floor. Larkarsky was on his back, a beatific smile plastered across his features. His throat was raggedly cut, a sharp sliver of stone in his hand the obvious cause. Blood pooled around his body, sticky and deep crimson. Though sightless, his expression was one of utter contentment and peace. He actually looked happy. Suddenly the charm shone in Carn's hand, glinting strongly despite the absence of a significant light source to cause such a reflection. In the increased illumination granted by the Aquila he could see that beyond the pool surrounding Larkarsy's body something was written, something red. He stooped and held the gleaming charm over the words. A chill ran across his body as he read the message in blood.
CARN FLAVO REX VERUM
Carn, Yellow, King, Truth.
Below that was a crudely drawn Aquila, the bloody smears fading out at the wing tips. Carn stood up again and sadly regarded poor Larkarsky and his final message hastily scrawled in his own lifeblood. He fancied that he could hear a keening from the charm but as his shock faded and reality reasserted himself he realised that the noise was actually Speltz who apparently had remembered or discovered how to scream. Carn stood there reeling, as the Doctors despair and horror blended with the wails of the myriad patients. He recited a prayer for the dead Adept, and then turned and left the cell, passing the doctor without a glance. He leaned against a wall and stared intently at the suddenly quiescent charm as he was left with his own thoughts and screams in the night.
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