21 – Stag

Priest Tristan acted a lot like he hadn’t seen the entrance hall before.

This wasn’t true, he’d been led through it on his way to the meeting room yesterday, but maybe he hadn’t had time to properly admire the mosaic.

After half a minute or so of having his gaze glued to the floor, looking suitably impressed, Tristan looked up and noticed me.

Part of why I wasn’t immediately obvious was the large, lowered chandelier blocking the middle of the room. Also, I was standing far away and the room was as dimly illuminated as the rest of the manor. That in combination with coming in from a bright day would’ve ruined the man’s vision.

Now that he had noticed me, the priest hurried over.

“Good day, Lord Steelheart. I have to say, that’s an impressive piece of art on the floor. I couldn’t properly appreciate it yesterday.”

I nodded at the man, his eyes still shifting to the floor behind him.

“Good day to you as well, priest Tristan. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for art right now. There’s been a number of additional incidents, which I need your assistance with.”

“What kind of incident? Did the demon return? Is someone hurt?” Worry was warping his face.

“The demon didn’t return, but it does relate to what happened. Some guards of mine decided it was a great idea to fall in league with the beast and attack me. Luckily Sir Lars, my bodyguard – you met him yesterday – was able to subdue the traitors. They are imprisoned but refuse to share any information.

“Still, those men aren’t the issue. I’ll just hand them over to the demon hunters. No, the much bigger problem is another traitor, former steward William.”

A flash of recognition lit up Tristan’s face. Apparently they’d had interactions before. Not a surprise, William had worked here for over a decade. It was unlikely he’d never gone into town, much less the local temple, in all that time.

“That rat thought it was a good idea to not only ally with the demon, he also stole the cursed knife used in that abominable ritual and then tried to stab me while I interrogated him on his allegiances. He even succeeded, though Lady Noctin deigned to heal me.” I touched my pendant, which shimmered dimly in response.

Tristan entwined his fingers and closed his eyes for a second. When he reopened them, he said, “I am glad you are unharmed then. What assistance do you require? This is a serious matter, so I am willing to aid you in whatever way possible.”

“First of all, I would like you to repeat that blessing to detect demonic influence and check my former wound. And then the two guards who were nearby at the time and my personal attendant, Mia. Mia! Are you done yet?”

Mia hurried over, scowling at me from behind the priest’s back, though the expression disappeared immediately when he turned around.

“Yes, Lord Steelheart. Both the chandelier here and in the meeting hall have been properly dusted, as you ordered. Do you need anything else?”

“Let the priest check you. Then, I’ll need you to guide him over to the prison and explain in detail what happened.”

“Are you not coming along?” Tristan seemed a little confused.

“Aside from wanting to stay away from that dreadful prison, my eyes and skin really don’t enjoy going outside during the day. It’s like I’m blind while someone stabs burning daggers into my face. And if I step out of the shadows, I’ll turn into a sunburned mess in short order. No, I’d rather avoid that.”

“I understand. I apologize for my insensitive comment.”

“Not an issue. Once in the prison, please not only check the guards, but also that bastard. He handled that knife with his own bare hands, not to mention cutting his own wrists while shouting the name of his master.

“Also, if at all possible, I’d appreciate it if you could move the cursed knife in a safe manner. That interrogation room is basically unusable with an object like that lying around. Mia will explain more.”

After a quick check that confirmed I was free of demonic influence, the two of them departed into the brightness.

In the mean time, I waited. Waited and felt for changes in my body. I had to be vigilant not to consume too much blood with my strengthening.

The two remaining maids finished the last touches on the chandelier, then raised it back up to the ceiling via a crank inserted into a hidden slot on the wall. The metal artifice clanked a little when it returned to the proper height.

Yup, not walking underneath that. Don’t trust heavy things hanging high up even when I know they haven’t been intentionally rigged.

I couldn’t tell at a glance, nor with further inspection, that the chandelier had been tampered with. I could only hope Mia knew what she was doing.

When they were finished, the maids bowed to me and then swiftly fled the room.

Now that it was no longer partially obstructed, I spent my time waiting with taking in the mosaic again.

After a few minutes, I noticed something unusual. I’d started pacing back and forth a few meters and the view of the total had changed. Some trick of the light or special shape of the tiles or something allowed an effect similar to a holographic picture back on Earth. As the angle changed, the image I saw also shifted.

With this discovery made, I spent a few minutes circling the room to see how each angle differed.

While most of the back and sides showed a shifting image of a deep forest, there was a big difference when I stepped in front of the entrance.

The impression created by that last step was as though I found a gap between branches, opening up a view of a clearing. In the clearing, head raised as though it had noticed me, a silvery form took up most of the hall’s floor from this angle.

Muscles were visibly corded under its metallic coat of fur. Still, somehow, the imposing form gave off an impression of otherworldly grace. Its dark eyes fixed on me with surprising intelligence and not an ounce of fear or concern for my presence lay within them. A beast of this power didn’t have a need to fear me, after all.

Its deer-like head was adorned by many-pronged antlers of metal spikes, their regal, crown-like appearance fitting naturally to the rest of the creature. Each of the twisted prongs was a match for any master-crafted sword or spear.

A steel-hearted stag. It looked so real, like I’d actually stepped into the deep forest.

Where before I’d thought the complex, beautiful patterns were breathtaking, now my breath actually caught in my throat.

For a fraction of a second I felt held in the gaze of a deadly creature of inhuman might. My hair stood on end, heart racing. Almost without noticing, my fangs and claws extended.

Then the moment was over. I shifted a little and the image lost most of its grandeur. It still looked grand, but I could see it was just a bunch of mosaic tiles reflecting silvery light. It wasn’t even a high-resolution image, I noted. The tiles were of differing sizes and shapes and each was easy for my eyes to pick out of the whole.

All in all, the image had a certain abstractness to it, like pixel art on Earth. Just with non-uniform ‘pixels’.

No matter how much I shifted around, I couldn’t find that same angle again. I was left wondering if it was all an illusion of some kind, either some form of magic or a simple mental trick.

Approaching heartbeats made me snap out of my daze and quickly right my appearance. Only belatedly did I realize I was standing right in front of the entrance. While I was hurrying away, I cast a glance downwards, but the stag had already disappeared into the greenery shown by different angles.

I was near the room’s center when the door opened, letting in Mia, Tristan and the two guards I’d met in the prison. Though I did avoid the chandelier even while retreating.

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The guards were carrying the black and gold demonic knife via two pairs of tongs, held as far away from themselves as possible. The priest’s hands were entwined again, his mouth moving in silent prayer. At a closer glance, the tongs were ever-so-slightly iridescent. Some form of protection against the knife, no doubt.

The group didn’t stop in the entrance hall.

As I trailed behind them with Mia, she revealed their destination to be the northern tower.