Supreme Magus novel Chapter 42

When Lynna woke up, she discovered she wasn’t in her bedroom anymore. The moon was covered by clouds, and with only the dim light of the stars, she couldn’t figure out her new location.

Lynna only knew she was now in the open. The cold night breeze and the rough feeling of the earth under her hands left no space for doubts. As her eyes started to adjust to the penumbra, she noticed some humanoid forms laying on the ground, only a few meters away.

Glad of not being alone, she slowly crawled towards them, while trying to remember what had just happened. Lynna was about to shake her roommates, when the moon shined through the moving clouds, revealing them to be skeletons.

Lynna started to scream, and when she recognized the nightgowns they were wearing as those she had seen countless times on her friends it turned into a shriek.

Around her, multiple figures started to move and moan. She tried to run away, but tripped into something soft and squishy, tumbling on the ground. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at a tombstone where was engraved:

"Here lies Croblan Lark, beloved father and husband."

Lynna suddenly realized what was that place, why it did feel so familiar. That was Lark’s family burial ground, were all the forefathers of Count Lark lied in their eternal rest.

In that moment, she remembered everything: the poisoning, the twisting knob, the ghost. She wanted to believe it was all a bad dream, but her foot still hurt after the fall. Lynna was about to lose her mind, when the moonlight revealed that the moving figures weren’t undead, but other members of the staff she knew all too well.

Two of them were actually her accomplices, Zamon, the second oldest butler after Poltus, whose loyalty actually lied only with the Countess, and Bisya, a young maid that had been planted a couple years ago to keep an eye on the Count’s private quarters.

The three of them had been tasked by the Countess to ensure her return to power, by eliminating all possible obstacles. It was only thanks to Zamon’s and Bisya’s help that she had been able to slip the poison in the food unnoticed, even when she wasn’t supposed to be in the kitchen.

Either by relying on Zamon’s authority or Bysia’s flirting charm, she had managed to complete every task assigned to her after the Countess forced departure.

There were also two more staff members with them. Refia, a young valet she had often worked with, and Olmund, one of the many butlers of the household.

"Lynna, is that you?" Bisya looked confused, shaking her head, trying to regain her focus. "That scream of yours almost made my head explode."

"Where in the gods’ name are we? Why I’m not in my room? I clearly recall..." Zamon’s voice was cut short, the blood draining from his visage as he remembered the last events.

"The Count!" He exclaimed.

At those words, all five of them froze up in place, swept away by the terror caused by the unnatural encounter.

"The Count is back!" Refia said with a choked voice.

"And the gods know why, but he believes I’m responsible for his death!"

Soon they all started looking around, finding the corpses of their roommates. Their clothes were unscathed, while their bodies seemed to have aged centuries.

"Rorryk, why did this happen to you?" Olmund feel to his knees, near the remnants of his oldest friend, crying desperately.

"Shut up, you fool!" Zamon forced his mouth shut with a hand.

"In case you haven’t noticed we are in a cemetery! Is better not to wake which can eternal lie." Zamon didn’t dare emit more than a whisper, he was very superstitious.

Usually Lynna would mock him for his cowardice, but that night was different. She could feel her guts twisting and turning in fear, her body begging her to run away.

Suddenly the ground trembled, and a raging fire erupted from an open grave.

Count’s Trequill Lark grave.

"How could you do this to me?"

The Count’s spirit slowly emerged from the flames.

"Prepare to be judged by my ancestors."

From the tombs nearby the Count, three skeletons arose, unearthing themselves up to the waist.

"Murderers!" Wailed an old man’s voice.

"Traitors!" Yelled a woman’s voice.

"Vermin!" Said a man’s voice.

The three skeletons were struggling to get free from earth’s embrace, while announcing their verdict. The dirt, tattered clothes they wore kept ripping apart.

"The die is cast!" The Count’s spirit said with an otherworldly deep voice.

"Confess!" He was pointing his finger towards Refia, who suddenly felt pushed down on the ground by an invisible force.

"I’m innocent! I swear!" He said, sobbing uncontrollably.

The three skeletons started to wail as one, in a cacophony of indistinguishable voices. Their hollow orbits emitted a red glow, like a candle had been lit within, and like the Count, blood tears started to endlessly flow along their cheekbones.

"Liar!" The Count yelled, and Refia was dragged by the invisible force towards the Count’s open grave, whose flames started to rise and roar loudly.

The others tried to hold him by the arms, but the spirit’s pull was too strong. When Refia was thrown into the fiery pit, he emitted an inhumane shriek while the flames turned from bright red to an ominous purple.

"He will serve me in the netherworld, to atone for his sin." The Count’s spirit said.

"Confess!" This time he was pointing at Olmund, who promptly complied.

"I confess! I confess! It was me stealing the silk bolts, exploiting my inventory duty. That’s why there was never enough."

"And how do you atone?" Said the spirit, its eyes reduced to two flaming slits.

"I’m so sorry! I swear!"

"Words are not enough!" The corpses on the ground arose, their orbits brimming with a red light. They lifted Olmund with their skeletal hands over their heads, and threw him into the pit.

"Rorryk, why?" Was his final scream before disappearing in the flames.

Before the ghost could pass his judgment, Lynna kneeled deeply, head on the ground, begging for forgiveness.

"I confess! It was me poisoning you, and those two are my accomplices!" She said pointing at the two survivors.