Wylock and the Spinal Strand

By: Brianna Lee Hubler

Copyright © 2022 Brianna Lee Hubler. All rights reserved.

(Warning: This story contains graphic content. The protagonist performs a medieval autopsy on a magical creature. If concerned, skip paragraphs 24 through 32.)

__________Wylock awoke with a thought. He shot up from his bedroll and settled on his knees. His eyes darted about the chamber after his misplaced satchel. His jaw and shoulders drooped when he found the satchel at the head of his bedroll. He swiped the satchel from its place and clamped his jaw shut. How could he have forgotten the satchel acted as his pillow the night before?

__________The dreams distract, Wylock rationalized.

__________He shook the dirt out of his long, untamable hair. Dust plumed around his face, but he ignored the cloud, and patted his satchel. The satchel coughed as much dust into the air as his hair spun out. Wylock cast the strap of his satchel over his head. Halfway between slinging his satchel across his body and adjusting its strap to a tight fit, he sneezed. His hand lurched sideways. The spasm ripped an attached, metal ring through the cloth strap Wylock adjusted. Wylock hissed through his teeth and examined the tear.

__________It’s done for, he decided, but Sindleflawkin howl to awaken the dawn; time is short.

__________Wylock stuffed the satchel under his arm, snatched his pointed cap from the head of a boulder, and scrambled to his feet. He paused at the cave entrance, turned his head away from the exit, and checked if he left anything important behind.

__________Miniature rainbows bespeckled Wylock’s bedroll, as the morning’s first light leaked into the cave. Wylock’s eyes traced the rainbows to their source: the crystal flute he nailed to the ceiling the night before. Wylock briefly nodded to the crystal flute. He retrieved it from where it hung and stuffed it behind one of his ears. The point of Wylock’s ear secured the flute against the rim of his cap.

__________Wylock turned and ran. He exited the cave and slowed to a jog. He weaved through a grove of ponderosa pines. The fire-resistant trees stood tall and proud, like desert sentries posted before the mouth of the cave. They guarded the cave from malicious intruders and shielded its entrance from unwitting wanderers. Wylock trusted the trees to protect the scarce belongings he stored within their ward. He trusted his Elvish blood to maintain his affinity with the will of the desert woods, but he blamed that same, immortal blood for his misconstrued sense of time, which waylaid his time-sensitive search.

__________Despite his handicap, Wylock stepped out from the desert woods, onto the shaved stoneface where the Sindleflawkin choir gathered, before dawn passed into day. Wylock stopped and rubbed his ears. He dropped his hands and scanned the stoneface. The site was barren of sounds and of souls. Wylock paced the dusty flat from corner to corner.

__________Wylock scratched his head. I tracked them for weeks. Where have they gone? What did I miss?

__________Wylock peered over the far edge of the flat. Far below the sacred plane, mangled carnage laid. Wylock’s stomach churned. He steadied himself against the shock, which pulled his heart and body downward. He sat upon the edge of the flat, closed his eyes until his head cleared, and then slid down the slope to grim sight below. He kneeled aside the corpse of his quarry.

__________Wylock set down his satchel and inspected the Sindleflawkin’s remains. Although male Sindleflawkin often shed their packs to search for mates, this stoneface was a meeting place, a sacred plane claimed by a single pack; no lone males dared enter.

__________A female then, Wylock suspected.

__________He lifted the slain creature’s rear leg and swiftly confirmed its femininity. He lowered her leg back down and peeled open her eyelids. Her eyes were clear of parasites and of blindness. They were neither blurry nor tarnished; they were merely frozen from shock. Wylock closed again the animal’s eyelids. He ran his palm over the side of her head to her shoulder, and then across her foreleg to her middle. There he found her hunter’s strike point.

__________The hunter’s arrow left a bloody slit in the animal’s body. Wylock swallowed and looked away. He stretched out two of his fingers and drove them into the animal’s wound. He was unable to locate the arrowhead. The tips of his fingers touched the grass beneath the corpse. Wylock cringed. He slid his fingers out of the animal’s wound, wiped them on the edge of his robe, and gazed at the rim of the stoneface above. His mind replayed the incident that took the Sindleflawkin’s life.

__________The female arrived ahead of her pack, unaware of her hunter’s pursuit. This was her first trip to the stoneface as a recognized adult. She scouted the area to please her pack, but the eagerness of her youth betrayed her senses. She missed the turn in the wind that silenced the birds. She ignored the twinge that nipped at her ankles and urged her paws to run home.

__________The hunter leaned out from behind a row of ponderosa pines. He set his arrow and pulled back his bowstring. He aimed at the young female’s heart. The arrow’s feathery flights tickled the hunter’s fingertips. He released the bowstring. The arrow flew with a twang, struck with a squelch, and zipped through the Sindleflawkin’s heart. The hopeful creature died instantly.

__________The impact launched her from the stoneface. She dropped to the ground below. Her bones cracked and parts of her body were smashed against the earth. With a thud, the apathetic arrow stabbed the trunk of a tree beyond and above the corpse it abandoned.

__________Wylock’s eyes estimated and traced the arrow’s descent. Wylock peered across the grass to a row of trees. There he spotted a sap-spewing wound in a tree. Blood from the slain Sindleflawkin stained the golden sap of the tree an unsettling, fiery orange. Tears wetted Wylock’s eyes. He rubbed his eyes against the sleeves of his robe and returned his attention to his fallen quarry.

__________Wylock stroked the animal’s head. “The pack sniffed the injured tree. They mourned your demise. Your alphas urged them away. They returned home before they called forth the sun,”Wylock accepted.

__________He looked again to the rim of the stoneface. “But why did the hunter retrieve his arrow and not his mark?” Wylock wondered. “Why did he abandon your corpse here?”

__________Wylock sighed. His eyes trailed back to the fallen creature.

__________“Some humans are averse to eating other predators,” Wylock recalled, “and more are averse to magic. None are averse to power.”

__________He stroked the animal’s head once more, as he reached for a wrapped knife buried in his satchel. “There is but one justice I can do for you now,” he announced.

__________He retrieved the knife and unwrapped it. He flattened its cloth wrapper against the grass. He turned the animal’s corpse onto its back, raised the knife over its stomach, and sliced it open from chest to navel. He set down the knife and pulled the flaps of flesh aside.

__________Wylock took up his knife again. One at a time, he severed the animal’s magical organs from its body, and gingerly set each one down upon the cloth. Next, he severed the animal’s spinal cord, and carefully pulled out a glowing, blue strand from within the animal’s spine. The strand wriggled like a worm, as if it planned to leap from Wylock’s fingers. Wylock tossed his knife aside and pulled an empty vial from his satchel. He guided the strand into the vial and cupped his hand over the open top. He rummaged through his satchel until he found a cork. He corked the vial. Then he raised it to the sunlight and examined the dancing strand.

__________“Your thread of the Cloak of Divinity,” Wylock recognized. “I will safeguard it from wicked hands.”

__________The soles of shoes tapped the stoneface above. A hunter appeared at the rim. He peered over the edge and spied Wylock and the bloody mess below.

__________“Necromancy!” the hunter shouted to his comrades, who trailed behind him.

__________An uproar of disturbed and angry voices arose.

__________Wylock stashed the vial in his satchel and folded the corners of his cloth over the Sindleflawkin’s detached organs.

__________“We must hurry,” he said to the animal’s corpse.

__________He pulled his sewing kit from his satchel, set it aside, and placed the wrapped organs in its place. Wylock threaded a needle as the men above scrambled to find a way down to him. He tied off the thread, folded the flaps of skin back over the Sindleflawkin’s body, and stabbed the needle into the animal’s flesh. He sewed her wounds closed, as the footsteps of his pursuers closed in on him.

__________The men reached Wylock as he bit the end of his thread loose. Wylock tossed his sewing kit into his satchel. He grabbed up the satchel and turned to face the men. One of them pressed the tip of an arrowhead to Wylock’s forehead. Wylock recognized the cut of the arrowhead as the one that pierced his quarry.

__________“Like monsters, do you?” the hunter mocked. “Soon you’ll lie with this one in Hell.”

__________“Belmero zilf elturai estrahsas zelth Rel,” Wylock commanded.

__________A resounding boom surged out from Wylock. The force of the sound blasted Wylock’s assailants off their feet and shoved them backward. They slammed into the ground. Wylock hoisted the Sindleflawkin’s corpse over his shoulders and fled.

__________He returned to his cave, passed by his bedroll, and trekked to an alcove deeper in the cave. He carefully placed the Sindleflawkin’s body in the alcove.

__________Wylock twisted his hands in a sign of respect and whispered, “Goodbye.”

__________He cleared his throat and added, “Rel emour hemest.”

__________The stone beneath the animal’s body crumbled. The sand swept over her, buried her, and finally, reformed as stone. Wylock retrieved the crystal flute from behind his ear. He turned the flute from side to side, as if he studied it.

__________Wylock sighed, Such darkness came of such a bright thought. I wanted to absorb an ounce of your howl, store it within this crystal flute, and play your song to heal.

__________Wylock brought the flute to his lips and played a sorrowful dirge. The song carried through the cave, into the woods, and across the stoneface. It dropped beneath the stoneface and awakened Wylock’s unconscious assailants. Most of them fled. Three remained. Among the three was Wylock’s accuser.

__________The hunter rose to Wylock’s tune. He spied Wylock’s knife atop the grass, snatched it from its place, and searched along the blade and hilt. He found an Elvish letter beneath the crossguard.

__________The hunter scratched his head. “What do you make of this?” he asked another man.

__________The other was the local historian. He swiped the knife from the hunter and studied it.

__________“It’s Elvish make,” the historian decided.

__________The hunter tapped the Elvish letter with his index finger. “What does it say?” he demanded.

__________“W, I think,” the historian replied. “Not sure why that matters.”

__________The hunter grinned. “Because we’ll need a name for the bounty poster,” he said.

__________The mercenary among them laughed. “What a threatening moniker W is!” he mocked.

__________The hunter threw an arm around his mocker. “It’s not the W,” he explained. “It’s what we make with it.”

__________“Warlock,” the historian realized before the mercenary.

__________The hunter smirked. “I can’t wait to watch the son-of-a-witch burn.”

__________The trio stalked the tune that woke them. They climbed the stoneface, passed over it, and weaved through the desert woods. Their guiding song overcame the woods’ defenses and led the trio to the mouth of the hidden cave. Wylock heard their encroaching footsteps. He dropped his melody before he completed the dirge, and he pulled his flute from his lips. He searched the alcove for a place to stash his instrument. The footsteps of his pursuers grew louder, closer.

__________Wylock spied a nook in a corner of the alcove and stashed the flute within. Then he threw his hands up when his pursuers wandered into view.

__________“I surrender,” Wylock offered.

__________The hunter cackled. “What lousy prey you’ve made!” he exclaimed.

__________Wylock dropped his gaze and frowned. “You killed her for sport,” he muttered.

__________He looked up and added, “None can reason with the unreasonable.”

__________“Indeed,” the hunter acknowledged, “so the maddened warlock burns.”

__________Wylock raised an eyebrow. “You’ve mispronounced my name,” he noted.

__________The hunter laughed. He retrieved Wylock’s satchel and tossed it to the historian.

__________“Check for his papers,” he joked.

___________The historian rummaged through Wylock’s satchel. He touched the wet cloth that contained the organs Wylock removed from the Sindleflawkin’s body. The historian wrinkled his nose, closed the bag, and shook out his hand.

___________“Incriminating,” the historian announced.

___________The historian grabbed hold of the torn strap of Wylock’s satchel. He ripped the strap from the bag. He gagged Wylock with the strap. Wylock glared.

___________Afraid I’d vindicate myself in court? Wylock challenged in thought. You should be.

___________The historian stepped aside. The mercenary stepped forward. He grabbed Wylock and restrained him. The hunter tied off Wylock’s wrists and ankles. He and the mercenary guided Wylock out of the cave, past the desert wilderness, and into a city courtroom. The historian followed with Wylock’s satchel.

__________Wylock stood bound before the judge. The historian dumped the contents of Wylock’s satchel onto a table. The Sindleflawkin’s organs spilled out from the cloth. The vial with her spinal strand clinked as it dropped out of the bag. Wylock cringed. He squinted at the vial. He relaxed when he realized it had not broken in the fall.

___________“Evidence of necromancy, your honor,” the historian announced.

__________He turned from the table and gestured to his companions. “And two additional witnesses of this man’s crime,” he added.

__________The courtroom judge eyed the contents of Wylock’s satchel. He turned to the historian’s companions and nodded. He lifted his gavel. He brought the head of the gavel down upon his lectern.

__________“Gutting an animal is not a crime, but keeping the organs warrants suspicion,” the judge declared. “The trial for witchcraft commences. Tie the defendant to the stake.”

__________The hunter and the mercenary led Wylock outside the city walls to a tall, wooden stake that jutted out from a pile of kindling. A few feet away from the stake was a pond. Bags of stones tied off with long ropes sat aside the pond. The mercenary shackled Wylock’s wrists and ankles, and then untied the ropes around those same extremities. He and the hunter bound Wylock to the stake. They stepped aside and the historian stepped forth. The historian poured oil over the kindling and struck a metal rod against a flint rock. The strike spat sparks onto the kindling. The kindling erupted in flames. The flames climbed the stake. The rim of Wylock’s robe ignited.

__________The curious eyes of citizens jumped towards the flames. They gathered in groups to witness the trial. The mercenary, the hunter, and the historian watched greedily. They hungered for the coin Wylock’s escape and recapture could earn them. They yearned for the anticipated wealth more than they yearned for Wylock’s swift demise.

___________“Free yourself, Sorcerer!” the trio shouted. “Prove the strength of your wickedness!”

__________Wylock’s eyes darted away from the crowd. Not for wickedness but by Anmor, Wylock confessed. By the strength of my bond, I’ll free myself.

__________Wylock’s attention returned to the crowd. These sorry souls will never know the difference.

__________The flames climbed Wylock’s clothes and whipped across the cloth gag in his mouth. The cloth gag ignited and disintegrated. It fell as ashes into Wylock’s mouth. He spat the ashes into the flames below. The eyes of the crowd widened. Wylock’s face was untouched by the flames. The crowd looked to Wylock’s robe and gasped. The skin of Wylock’s toes, of his legs, of his arms, and of his chest remained unblemished, though his robe burned. The ropes, which bound Wylock to the stake, disintegrated. The ashes fell away from him. Wylock stepped down from the stake, clothes aflame, walked across the mound of kindling, and dove into the pond.

__________“Go after him!” the judge yelled. “The defendant proves guilty of witchcraft before the court!”

__________The citizens looked around. Each urged the other to act. None answered the judge’s call.

__________“I cannot swim. Can you?” many voices murmured.

__________The judge crossed his arms and turned to Wylock’s accusers. “Retrieve the warlock!” he ordered them.

__________“Gladly,” the mercenary answered for the trio.

__________Then he looked to his companions with knowing eyes and silently requested their agreement to amend their original plan. The hunter and the historian nodded. The mercenary smirked. His gaze met again with the judge.

__________The mercenary added, “As soon as the writ is posted for this man’s bounty.”

__________The judge sighed. “Find me a pen and parchment!” he ordered.

__________As the crowd scrambled to meet the judge’s demands, and the judge scrambled to draft a legal writ for Wylock’s capture, Wylock swam to the far shoreline of the pond. He escaped into the woods beyond. He returned to his cave, retrieved the crystal flute, changed into a second set of robes, and packed his belongings.

__________He snapped his fingers. A palm-sized portal opened, absorbed the vial of the Sindleflawkin’s spinal strand, and dropped the vial into Wylock’s hand.

__________One can never have too many return enchantments, Wylock affirmed.

__________Wylock stashed the vial between the tip of his ear and the rim of his cap. He exited the cave. He travelled north, towards the Obsidian Caverns, where the Vaoskatheermor—the Wind elves—danced and sang along the peaks of the tallest mountain ranges known to elfkind.

__________By evening, Wylock’s accusers trained their hounds to Wylock’s scent. The bounding, barking, howling dogs traced Wylock’s path late into the night. The hounds led their handlers through the woods, and across the desert, but by the tenth day, the chill of the mountains overcame the heat of the desert and masked the scent of the dogs’ quarry. Wylock’s dissatisfied accusers called off their dogs and turned back. The bounty on Wylock’s head raised from five hundred to two thousand, but Wylock protected the prize he rescued from the slain Sindleflawkin’s spine, so the Warlock Academy’s anthology of their founder’s misadventures gained another riveting chapter.