Revenants: Haunted: Revenants series, #2

By Ryan Sherwood

The war for the soul claims its first victims.
Targeted and on the run, Ezra joins the small separatist Luciens to keep safe from the murderous might of the Holous. As the ancient and magical history of revenant-kind is opening up to him, he desperately tries to stay ahead of current sweeping war, malevolent revenants and his old teacher’s plots. Ezra must also discover his history as well as his former might for a chance to fulfill his fate. All souls depend on it, especially his.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ryan Sherwood
• Release date: Jan 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507001141

Ryan Sherwood

I'm a big fan of zombies, comic books, horror, dark sci-fi & fantasy and even literature (can be darker than horror!), as you will see in my books. Yet, I want to help keep genre fiction honest and create stories that build something new and challenging to concepts, not just rehashing someones good idea from a century ago. Fun side fact: I designed all my book covers and website, as I am a visual/web designer by day and author (ok, maybe sleeper too) by night. Best time to write dark fantasy/horror books probably is the night anyway. You tell me - share your opinion with me and especially with others!

Book preview

Chapter 1

The soul gives life just as the sword takes it, yet neither possesses what they give.

Only the wielder does.

Ambrose felt terribly uncomfortable in his body. Such fevered blood ran through his veins that he wondered if he was actually human again and not a walking corpse. His limbs were like sleeves and his head like a hood – his body a mere drapery over what was really and truly him.

His Ghost restlessly tossed and turned in the pit of his stomach, the back of his mind and bottom of his heart, stirring at once in all the internal places that rouse feelings. His soul paced wildly about the small enclosure of his body, as if it were a caged animal pounding faster and faster at the boundaries of his skin, fighting to be free of its confines.

I am free. I did escape, Ambrose confirmed aloud. Right?

Dull pains nagged at him from a great distance, like he was under water and his aches were yelling from land. Ambrose questioned his pain, curious why it was so dull, and then questioned why he was questioning less pain. But the more he pondered, the more pain came. His ears rang, his forehead throbbed and his arm stung. The notion of pain, seemingly so far away a moment ago, came flooding back. The wave crashed onto him and was an avalanche in his ears.

Ambrose, are you alright? a familiar yet muffled voice asked.

Ambrose released his Ghost, scared to be swarmed by Holous in his glass cage again. They had always seemed to know when he was up to prodding about his Ghost. His tense muscles waited for dozens of needles to swarm in.

Ambrose? the muffled disembodied voice said from behind glass.

Where am I? Ambrose asked the air. Ghost, what is going on?

Ezra opened the door, raced into the room and wrapped Ambrose into a hug.

Ambrose flinched, still awaiting stabs and prods, but loosened with the soft embrace. He opened his eyes to see a different room than he expected. It was sterile and uninviting, stinking of the dust of lengthy vacancy – didn’t smell like the Holous glass room. He lay on his back, watching the mote dance in the florescent glow of the ceiling lights with Ezra – like the glass cage. He was still confused.

Ghost it’s good to see you, Ambrose, Ezra said as he pulled back from Ambrose’s flinches. How are you? What did they do to you? Are you okay?

Phoebe slowly sulked behind Ezra and didn’t enter the room. She leaned against the doorjamb instead, wringing her hands as she stared in. She almost seemed frightened. Ambrose began to worry he was sick or contagious.

I – I think so, Ambrose said uncertainly and turned to Holous, Where am I? Am I sick?

No, no, Ezra answered. You’re in a Lucien base.

Ezra shook his head and realized that wouldn’t help Ambrose identify much, beyond not being in the glass cage. Or Hell. But that was all Ambrose needed to know.

You are fine and free, Phoebe said. She looked at Ezra and continued, you’re boy looks healthy, Ezra.

Ezra ignored her for the time being and focused on Ambrose. He looked in his eyes and assessed his boy’s pains. Ezra understood Ambrose’s soul without a single word exchanged, easily reading those blank pearl orbs implicitly. A pit of uncertainity was opening up wider within Ambrose and it would swallow his confidence whole if Ezra couldn’t build his boy some kind of foundation of trust and reassurance. 

But I don’t remember, Ambrose admitted. Things are blurry. Portions come... all I remember is you... Ezra. And the glass cage... thought I was back there again... and the ones that stuck needles in me were coming back... all the pain. All the...

It’s ok now, Ezra said as he gently placed his hand on Ambrose’s shoulder. You’re safe with us. I’ll protect you. Don’t worry.

Ezra had never spoken with more sincerity. His words felt like they came directly from his Ghost and stirred more than emotion. Ambrose smiled with a light of hope in his eyes that Ezra swore was tinted blue, though it was gone in a flash. But that flash was enough to show a crack in the darkness. To expose the flaws in the woeful construct he thought was fused shut all around him.

Ezra beamed in the moment of when his boy began to believe.

I know, Ambrose said and smiled. It’ll be ok. I guess I just need to think and remember.

Good, great, Ezra said. "But, what do you remember?"

Bits. Pieces. None of it makes sense. Confusing...jumbled, Ambrose said in installments. The only coherent stuff is - is right now. What I see and hear right now. The past is strange. It’s weird and kinda scary, actually. Only fragments left. Doesn’t make much sense.

Well, his Shatner impersonation seems intact, Remi said from the doorway.

You’ll be fine, Ezra said sympathetically to his boy, ignoring Remi. We’ll find out what happened together. I promise.

Ambrose fidgeted with his fingers then sat up straight on the examining table. He looked about the room and felt calm knowing Ezra was there. Ambrose’s eyes pleaded for Ezra’s promises again. Ambrose believed in Ezra, trusted Ezra. He would never let Ambrose down. Never.

Now come on down from there, Ambrose, Ezra said as he assisted Ambrose down to the floor.

Ambrose’s bare feet softly clapped to the floor and echoed for a moment. Ezra noticed that Ambrose had a slight shiver, probably cold from wearing only a loose pair of black slacks. He looked about the room for more clothes and found nothing but gadgets and plain cabinets. Ezra thought the place did look a bit like the glass cage they kept Ambrose in at the Holous school.

Then the shivers hit him. Both places had a marginally sterile look and an unshakeable, highly unsettling feel that it was more a butchery than hospital. Ezra removed his Lucien long cloak from his shoulders, draped it over Ambrose and walked him to Phoebe at the doorway.

Her eyes had become soft, almost forgiving, with the tiniest flecks of blue speckling her eyes. She smiled at Ezra and Ambrose

Phoebe? Ezra asked very nicely. Could you find Seraphine and Janna, please? We need to figure out what’s next.

His question narrowed her eyes and hardened her with residual anger. Ezra’s brow furrowed in response just as she wiped her frustration away and became strangely courteous. Her face beamed with fake complacency.

They’re coming right now, Phoebe stated with an over jovial tone that dripped with sarcasm, coming to save us all. Any other errands you want me to run?

Ezra sighed.

Well, Manus was not in either barn so he must have retreated to the forest, Janna said to Seraphine as they walked down the hallway toward them. The army must be there with him. What is left of it.

We should wait here until nightfall and rally every revenant here, Seraphine stated. We need to assess damage. And ourselves.

True, Janna agreed then added, and night is not too far off. We wait here for the army to rendezvous. Ghost, they should have been here already. You should Harness and call out to Manus again to see where he and his troops are. Where the Hell is he?

I am certain Manus joined his troops, Seraphine responded. He hates being away from them and Cethlin...Ghost...Ghost! Manus must be beside himself knowing that Cethlin stayed behind in Hell, even if the purpose was to destroy it. They were close, Manus looked up to Cethlin. Learned from him... Seraphine paused and put the pieces together, a little peeved she hadn’t earlier. ...well, I know where Manus is. Seraphine paused then continued. "‘Where the Hell is Manus’ was almost right, Janna. Hell is where Manus is. I bet my hilt he rallied the troops and is probably finding a way to rescue Cethlin. Holy Ghost, he has no idea what he is walking into. I didn’t explain everything to him."

What? What do you mean? Janna and Ezra asked in near unison. They looked at each other curiously then shook it off to listen to Seraphine.

I pleaded with Cethlin not to do it, to find another way, Seraphine recalled aloud, but once the best way comes to him, there is no way to uproot him from it. Stubborn man. Well... we all knew we had to destroy Hell and Cethlin and I figured out a way to attempt that. But it meant leaving one behind. Cethlin made me teach him the ways I use to control my nanites with my Ghost. He said he and I would teach it to someone who proved his or her ability to do it on a large scale. We just never found anyone...

"To do what? What is it?" Phoebe asked, as fully engaged as the rest and now driving the conversation.

Harnessing to destroy technology. I do it on a very small scale to my nanites, sweeping myself periodically to destroy as many nanites as Eth... as I can. So they cannot retake my body. I can also use the nanites to do certain things. Not a great deal, only a few select simple instructions that are already programmed into their software. But Cethlin had been learning to do this with his Ghost on a much larger scale to help me blast my nanites once and for all. I never knew how far he had got on it until Ezra and I were overrun on our way out of Hell. I could not figure out why Cethlin would risk many lives to save a complete stranger... no offense, Ambrose.

Ambrose coughed and raised his eyebrows along with an uninterested smirk.

He risked all our lives to save one new reborn revenant Ezra was fond of. Not a good enough reason in my opinion, but, he is, well, Cethlin. As we were forced out of Hell, I realized that he gave himself to Guillon.

Who’s Guillon? Ezra interrupted.

Your old Elder.

Ezra’s and Phoebe’s brows raised with surprise, but they saved theirs questions and listened to Seraphine.

Well, where was I? Oh yes, Cethlin stayed to be captured to destroy Hell. He is going to set off , well, basically an EMP.

An electromagnetic pulse? Janna asked as Seraphine nodded in affirmation. Only a nuclear weapon can do that. Or a big bulky machine, right? How?

I am not certain it is an EMP, to be completely truthful, Seraphine admitted. But it seems to have a similar effect. Nearby technology...well, namely nanotechnology, drops dead within the Ghost’s blast radius. It is tiring, I nearly drop from the effort, but since Cethlin is so much stronger...he figured he could do it on a large scale. We never found any revenant stronger than he – well, other than the Pleroma. Anyway, there is no telling what will happen when he pulls it off. Portions of Hell could go down, for good, or all of it. Or the entire region. Or none of it. It may have gone off already, for all I know.

Does that mean no more Narcs? Janna said a bit too eagerly. Can he kill them all?

I do not think so, Seraphine said, disappointedly. There are far too many Narcs scattered about for that to be true. But Hell could be severely crippled by someone as strong as Cethlin. The affected technology would never work again. The nanites would just stop working and die, I guess.

Does this EMP hurt revenants? Ezra asked, half asking if Cethlin would be alright, half asking if his old Elder would be alive enough to hunt down and kill himself.

Not really, no, Seraphine explained. "But it will leave Cethlin dead tired. He might be able to escape. And if Manus finds him, he probably will escape – he knows Cethlin’s Ghost quite well. That place could explode with the most erratic and dangerous activity after Cethlin sets it off, though. The Narcs will either fall dead or run amok. Forgive me, but all Hell will break loose."

Oh, Remi sighed. I’m so sick of the Hell puns. I thought I was the funny one.

Can we do anything? Ezra asked, his anger still burning to find Guillon and punish him. What can we do?

We leave it to the Holy Ghost, Ezra, Janna said cutting off Seraphine before she could speak. There is enough to prepare for. Things are different now. We have a weapon that can defeat them.

Seraphine shook her head, knowing what she meant. This was Janna’s eye for an eye retribution. She had seen hundreds of Luciens give up their Ghosts and not nearly enough Narcs do so in return. Hope had been slowly whittled away from them all, so Janna did the next best thing and clung to revenge - and it glowed in her eyes a sharp navy blue. Seraphine tried to prepare herself to watch Janna closely now. Whenever Seraphine saw that in Janna...well, that kind of harsh revenge tends to destroy more than the enemy.

We should be safe, Seraphine said and smiled meekly. The hatches are manual and do not rely on electronics. We should leave when we can, under the cover of the Harnessed blast, or EMP, or whatever you call it - if it goes off and retreat to the mountains.

What! No chance, Janna blurted, her Ghost churning with vengeance. Not on your Ghost. We need to gather as many Sols as possible and pounce on the Narcs while they are defenseless! When Cethlin...

"You mean if Cethlin pulls it off, Seraphine interrupted. We have no idea what Harnessing on such a scale will do. Or not do. When the Pleroma did such massive Harnessing, it affected all souls in the vicinity. All souls! Revenant and human. It may have even touched the whole Cycle itself, like Necal suggested. We could give the Holous exactly what they want, for all we know and break the Cycle!"

Preposterous. Impossible. How could...

"Impossible?! Impossible in the same way a soul can inhabit and regenerate a dead body? Huh, Janna? How can we Harness our Ghosts to do what we do? How about all the impossible things we do on a daily basis, that we take for granted? We will not be as careless as the Holous! Never!"

Fine, fine, I understand, Seraphine, Janna said, subduing her excitement. Settle down. I’m sorry. I did not mean it like that, I just meant we could strike at them were it hurts.

Cethlin will do just that and hopefully Manus will report it back to us, Seraphine said as her irises lost their azure tint. I pray.

Silence hung between them all, stifling any attempt at conversation. Every soul in the hallway had a mind full and hadn’t the words to release the pressure. Tension grew in the silence – Janna with her vengeance, Seraphine’s anger at Janna’s need for vengeance, Ezra with his reprisal for Guillon and Phoebe spouting her irritation at all nearby.

Each and every revenant’s blood slowly cooled and the tension began to dissipate.

Holy Ghost, Ambrose, Remi’s voice rang out from behind and made every revenant jump with the sudden outburst. They have books even older in here than the Holous have.

Ghost, Remi! all but Seraphine exclaimed together.

Remi skid to a halt along the dusty floor with his eyes wide, curious like a child who didn’t know why he was in trouble. A book fell from his arms. The clap of its landing was thunderous. The echo shook all away from their thoughts and dragged them into the moment. The leather bound book that had tumbled from a pile of the like that Remi cradled in his arms like babies. He stared apprehensively at the fallen book, praying it wasn’t hurt.

Bah! Janna blurted and stormed off. I will be on lookout.

I will try and contact Manus again, Seraphine said shaking her head with a smile.

Dammit, Remi! Phoebe said and stormed off behind Seraphine, following her back to the common room they had been huddled in for hours beforehand.

What? What did I do? Remi asked with genuine confusion.

Nothing, Remi, Ezra said, picking up the book and putting back atop of Remi’s cradled stack. Now what about these books? Why do you want Ambrose to see them?

Well, first off, Remi stated. I’m glad to see you’re alright Ambrose.

Ambrose nodded in thanks.

Secondly, Remi continued, I figured since he got burned... I mean, I accidentally caused that so I... I figure I’d show him the cool library I found. It’s amazing. Come on, you two, lemme show you.

Chapter 2

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The only reason someone would call the room Remi found a library were the a few dozen or so books scattered about. Otherwise, it was a tomb. An ancient one. With a single step through a doorway Ezra had walked out of the sleek black and gray technology laden hallway and into an early Roman sepulcher. The air smelled a thousand years past stale. Ezra and Ambrose stared in awe, mouths agape, coughing some as they walked down the spacious high arched stone tunnel. Every dozen feet stood a blackened wooden torch cradled in a cobwebbed sconce bolted to the crumbling stone façade. Ezra pondered lighting one, Ghost, if the wood didn’t desiccate in his hands, but the torchlight wasn’t necessary, there was a shimmering and waving glow ahead. The gently descending tunnel gave way to a tall round room that could have been a cathedral or a silo. The space was far too enormous to be physically possible. The height of the ceiling was higher than the downward climb they took to get underground. Ezra swore that the roof should be poking out above the ground, yet he never remembered seeing a silo-like structure this far out. Puzzled with the physics, he turned his attention to Ambrose.

Ambrose’s eyes were drawn to the high ceiling and what looked like frescos decorating the walls. He squinted, trying to study the story playing out through the shadowed depictions, but it was too dark to decipher as the light failed the further it went above eye level. In fact, it hovered about their heads in a lumanicent mist and separated from the shadows like like oil and water.

Ambrose returned Ezras puzzlement and shook his head, confused with where the light was really coming from. He followed its growing intensity to Remi, who ran ahead to pour over the books he scattered across a heavy stone slab table in the dead center of the circular room. With a second, look the slab was more a cement cap resting atop a round well, standing a few off the stone floor. Strangely, the worn stone surface shimmered like the light, or with it, as if the stone were struggling to become translucent yet never quite able to. Shimmering hints of blue and undulating lazy teal bent around their eyes and surroundings and rippled under a gentle breeze of wonder. It was spellbinding in its slow roatation around the room just as a shadow lamp shapes would dance to the wall.

Ambrose was utterly enthralled with the stone table’s secret spinning glow and how it was able to light the sizable room from nowhere. He slowly pivoted, following the rotating contours of the alluring sourceless light along the faded frescoed walls, trying to guess what the vague shapes looked like.

How did you find this place, Remi? Ambrose asked, slowly spinning. It’s, the light, it’s beautiful...

I know! The way the light moves... it’s so relaxing. And enough to read by. But I was on my way to see if you were alright when the door to this place distracted me. It was wrong. Every door in the hallway had windows around it. This one didn’t. That means no one’s supposed to see in here. And that’s just an invitation to me. I just opened the big wooden door, which seemed way outta place, and walked right in. Everything was dark so I let my eyes adjust for a second and could see pretty well. Yet it became brighter and brighter the closer I came to this table. Once I saw the books, I mean, I had to share.

Ambrose smirked and returned to follow the shapes along the wall. His smile grew larger with each passing moment. As did Ezra’s. It was great watching his son enjoy himself after all the hell he’d been through.

So what books have you found? Ezra asked Remi, not nearly as interested in the dancing light, though still not immune to its effects.

He was more intrigued with Remi and this new side of him. Ezra knew Remi was a fan of books, but he was a fan of Ambrose too. His first friend. Ezra wasn’t certain about this.

Do not trust any soul until you grow a pair of eyes in the back of your head. No. No. I can’t let paranoia run me. Watch your ass, bub."

And more old books than I could ever find at the Holous school! Remi examined the spread across a stout stone table. Nearly twenty tomes were scattered about, some opened, some shut for centuries. I spent so long reading anything I could get my hands on at the Holous school, sneaking into their secret library several times a week. But this - I don’t even know where to start. It appears to be, for lack of a better word, the entire history of revenants...I think. I’m too excited to settle down and really study them.

Well, I’ll leave you to your reading, Remi, Ezra said with a smirk as he turned to the inclining tunnel.

I think I’ll help him, Ambrose asked Ezra’s permission.

Feel free, Ezra responded. Pride welled in his heart. I’ll be up there. But keep your ears open, both of you, because for all we know, we may have to leave this place in a blink of an eye. Remember what’s going on up there.

Ambrose leapt to join Remi flipping through pages with an abandon only reined in by reverence for their aged fragility. Parental pride swelled within Ezra as he walked up the ancient hallway and closed the old wooden door behind him.

This book is amazing, Remi said as he slid it to Ambrose across the stone. It’s all handmade – hand written. It’s an account of the Luciens, I think. It progresses in different hands, passed down through the centuries. And look, there are a bunch of blank pages at the end to write on.

Ambrose took the book and ran his hand across it. It was a foot tall, nearly three-fourths a foot wide and just over a half a foot thick. The cover was a carved dark wood with gold outlines curving about the edges in ornate vine-like designs. The rest of the cover was flat except for a simple raised bowl shape in the center and a stump growing from the center of that, a circumpunct, stained a deep maroon. Flipping through the tome he found wispy writing accompanied by crude drawings. As the pages progressed, so did the drawings and calligraphy craftsmanship. He examined the language, yet was taken by the feel of the pages - they didn’t seem to be paper, but very thin wood.

Put that book aside, Ambrose, Remi ordered. I’ll be taking that with us. No way I’m not leaving that one behind. Let’s try and cram all the rest of the information in the rest of these books in while we can. Ya know, on second thought... give the book to me.

Remi reached across the smooth stone tabletop to grab the book from Ambrose. Stretching his arms out, he rested his weight on the table and its top shifted. The heavy stone grinded forward and it sounded throughout the room. The watery light erratically danced about the walls, shaking like a boulder had been tossed into a calm brook. Remi froze. His hands halted immediately