The Price Of Humanity (TMOE #3)

Chapter 14: The grim

Lucius still hesitated as he was handed a shovel. It was customary for the one claiming the bones to be the first to pierce the earth, and he supposed that was him, but it didn't stop his hands from trembling as Father Runar began chanting words in old Traquian.

"Alright," he whispered to himself, sending a silent, hopeless prayer to Dyris before plunging the shovel down, burying the blade in dirt before bending it back up again.

He waited, listening intently to any sign of trouble, but nothing happened. Father Runar nodded and gestured for him to stand aside while he continued his blessing and Aldrik's men stepped forward to begin the real work.

He let out a grateful sigh and exchanged a smile with Tom who only momentarily looked away from the ritual.

Then someone spoke to him in Hrimska. At least Lucius thought it was aimed towards him, but he couldn't find the source. Aldrik's friends were busy digging and talking between each other and the voice did not sound like Father Runar, nor his acolytes. It was a high pitched, feminine voice, and it just came out of nowhere.

No, not nowhere.

Lucius' heart stopped in his chest as the rustling, flapping sound of wings reached his ears and he slowly tilted his head upwards.

Three ravens sat perched on a tree branch near the graveyard's fence, staring down at them with dead eyes while one of them repeated the previously uttered words.

Goosebumps prickled Lucius' skin. Night ravens did not appear on their own. They followed their guardian, but said guardian had no reason to appear. They weren't doing anything wrong. They were in the company of a priest.

"It's alright," Lucius whispered to himself, trying to breathe normally before looking around. He was being ridiculous. He'd encountered grims before, barely acknowledging them at the time just like they barely paid attention to him so what was different now?

It was like his skin began shrinking. Tugging and tightening around his limbs as the dark veins sank deeper into his chest, and an urge to flee drowned his breath.

Why aren't you running?

With that, Lucius finally spun around to scan the graveyard. He didn't want to see it, but his body wouldn't obey him until he did. He looked on top of headstones, on the roofs of crypts, and on the very fence itself. Nothing. It didn't make sense. Grims were hard to miss at the best of times, and if it really was there it should have made its presence known already.

Then he spotted it, and his neck tensed up at the sight.

It was peeking out from behind a crypt not far from there. Unlike the hollow face Lucius was used to associate them with, this one had large, rust coloured eyes bulging to the point of almost popping out of its skull. Its yellow fur was thin with spindly human limbs visible underneath it and its lips appeared to be too small for its mouth, revealing just a hint of its front teeth. What was worse though, was that it was moving. It was moving towards them.

Lucius had never seen a grim move before. Its head occasionally perhaps, when following him with its gaze, but never its limbs. Never moving from its spot. Not while someone was looking.

His body didn't want to move though. A haze fell over his thoughts, making them near impossible to comprehend, but his instincts still told him enough. He had to get out of there.

"Tom!" He groaned as his sight got disoriented, flipping forth and back between what he'd seen recently and the actual view in front of him. "It's here! The grim is—"

Another agonised gasp was torn out of his mouth, but Tom had been quick to catch on and as soon as he spotted the creature he yelled something to the others before grabbing Lucius to run.