Book 1: Delirium: Chapter 6: A Bone to Pick

A Bone to Pick

            “Max?” Captain Kruler whispered hurriedly. “We’ve got company my good man!”

            Looking into the chamber of his Le Matt, the doctor replied, “Looks like I’ve got to make every shot count too.”   

            “Well, then make them good ones damn it!  I don’t know if we even can kill these things!”

            “We have to if we’re going to get to whatever’s been left waiting for us at the end of this tunnel.”

            Nodding, Demetrius loaded his revolver and fired towards one of the skeletons.  Kruler did likewise and the pair watched two of the group fall to pieces, the bullets finding their marks and causing the targets to break.  It seemed that these unholy abominations were as brittle as the finest china when hit with a metal spoon.  The duo pressed forward, guns blazing, as the remaining skeletons fell prey to a spray of gunfire.

            “I don’t see any other logical explanation, short of, well, sorcery or black magic.”

            “Could it be possible that these… creatures; arose out of some alchemic means?  That seems more feasible than some fairy tale magic.”

            Unholy matriarchs of death behind them, the friends stood in front of a coffin at a dead end corridor.  Unlike the previous coffins, which were crafted from stone and elegantly designed, this one was metal and held no beauty to the eye. 

            “There’s no other passageway down here, Max.” Kruler spoke aloud. “This has to be what we were meant to find. Remember that strange invention that he was working on the last time we saw the bugger? He had said it held the key to unlock the minds of men…” he trailed off. “…no, no that makes no sense…”

            “Of course!  The machine! That machine is what Charles encased in this tomb! Here, in this very enclave, is the key to saving our dear friend!  His very own marvelous invention is what we require to save his brilliant mind!” Doctor Demetrius exclaimed, then, when his prodding and pushing on the coffin was to no avail, “Damn and blast if we could just get it open!”

            “Stand aside Max. I’ll open it.” Kruler took one swing with his chainsaw cutlass and sliced through the lid of the coffin.  Inside they saw a brass helmet with tubes connected too it.  Around one of the tubes was a note. It read:

                        Max and Delvin,

                                    If you are reading this then all hope is lost, and I am forever mad.   My helmet, which I intended to be a device to unlock the dream world to the wearer, malfunctioned and I am slowly losing my mind as I write these lines.  By the time you reach the coffin my decent will be irreversible.  Madeline will be okay, she’s a smart young woman now.  Watch over her for me would you?  She’ll need someone to help her continue my legacy, and the servants aren’t much good for company.  I’m starting to hear the voices now.  It’s driving me mad, the voices.  And the visions, these terrible visions.  My every nightmare simultaneously.  They never stop, they never−

            “We’d best inform the girl gently.” Kruler said after a time.

            Demetrius nodded in solemn agreement.

            When the two men resurfaced, Madeline was waiting for them.  As they approached, she spoke.

            “I-is my father going to be alright?” she stammered, fearful of the response.

            Demetrius and Kruler glanced at each other, unsure of how to proceed.  This, as it were, was enough for the young girl to understand what had happened.

            “N—no…no, it can’t be.  First mother and now father… I… I...” she broke off, tears welling into her eyes.  It was clear to her now; she was to be truly alone.  After a moment, she composed herself.   “Please, come with me Uncles.  There is something father would have wanted to give you, I believe.”  She turned, still shaking slightly, and led them up the cobblestone path towards the house.

            They walked in silence, with only the sound of their feet on the stones cutting through the air.  When they reached the mansion, Madeline led them to Charles’ study.  Inside, under the oak desk, was a small wooden case.  Opening the latches on the sides of the case, she lifted the lid and turned towards her uncles.  Inside the velvet lined case lay two items. 

            “I believe father would have wanted you to have these, his most prized possessions, aside from his inventions.  Please, accept them in his memory.”

            Captain Kruler reached for one of the weapons that lay inside the box.  Examining it, he spoke.  “Winchester’s Katana.  He brought fear and death with this as elegantly as I.”  Grasping the suede wrapped handle, he removed the sword from its brass sheath.   The twenty-six inch long blade was still razor sharp.  The weapon was light in his hand.  Sheathing his new blade, he noticed a brass cap on the butt of the handle.  Lifting it he noted the small compass underneath.  “I will count this among my personal effects from now on, Niece.”

            Doctor Demetrius carefully lifted the remaining weapon from the case.  The four shot revolver was a force to be reckoned with in the hands of an expert marksman.  “Charles’ Peace Keeper,” he stated.  Checking the weapon, he noted that it was loaded.  The seven inch long barrel meant that the weapon was rather accurate at a medium distance.  Holstering the weapon, he nodded in thanks to his Niece.  “I shall use it well.”

            Kruler and Demetrius stayed the night, and then returned to the Sky Skimmer.  With a final farewell to Madeline, the ship began its trip back home.