Glamour

by Matthew Ilseman

in Issue 123, April 2022

Strange things come out of the East-  An Old Saying.

    

Ceran ran through the forest. He paid no heed to any path. He ran through areas thick with growth. Leafless tree limbs reached out like skeletal hands cutting him as he ran. Ceran paid no mind; he just kept running. 
    
As he ran, he prayed to every god he had heard of. He begged the Seven for protection. He prayed even to Kersaises despite being raised to view his worshippers with suspicion.
    
“Save me,” he said between gasps for air. “Someone save me from it.”
    
He ran through the dense wall of branches until he came out onto a path. He tripped over a root and fell. He caught himself before he hit the ground. His hands stung.
    
“Careful there, child,” said a voice.
    
Gasping for breath, he looked up. Before him stood two people. One was a tall man with a boyish face. A large crimson cloak covered his body. A sword hilt protruded from beneath the cloak.
    
The other was a female shrinya. Her skin was gold. Her hair was as red as flame. She wore leather. A bow and quiver were slung on her back. An axe hung at her side.
    
The man bent down toward him and said, “Take deep breaths.”
    
Ceran recognized the cloak the man was wearing as the symbol of the warrior-priests of Kersaises. His mother had warned about them. They had waged wars against the worshippers of the Seven.
    
Now, however, his family was probably dead.
    
“It killed my family,” said Ceran as he regained his breath. 
    
“What did?” said the shrinya revealing sharp fangs. He had been warned too about the shrinya. Though his father had traded with various bands, Ceran, like most settlers in the East, feared their raids.
    
In normal circumstances, Ceran would not trust either of them, but he had no choice now.
    
“She did,” he replied.
    
“Who?”
    
“I don’t know. She was a monster. She looked like my mother, but she is dead. My mother that is. I think they all are.”
    
The man in the red cloak placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword. He said, “You may want to start at the beginning.”
    
“My mother died a year ago. Since then, I have lived alone with my father and brother. We live deep in the forest. We rarely see anyone. My father is a hunter. One day he went out to hunt, but he never returned. Then she came.”
    
“Describe her,” said the priest.
    
“To me she looked like my mother, but she looked different to other people. My brother thought it was a girl from Freetown he was keen on. He let her into our cabin. I warned him that she was some sort of demon, but he did not listen. She then killed him.”
    
The man was quiet. He stared at the boy.
    
“Aleron,” said the shrinya. “What are you thinking?”
    
“Travelers have been disappearing of late.”
    
“So?” said the shrinya. “Travelers are always disappearing. Usually, it’s bandits.”
    
“Yes, but there have been more than normal,” Aleron turned to Ceran. “What is your name?”
    
“Ceran,” he said.
    
“All right, Ceran,” said Aleron. “I am going to your cabin to investigate. I want you to stay with Krya here. She may look fierce and…well…she is fierce, but she will protect you.”
    
“Aleron,” said Krya. “Are you sure you should go alone?”
    
“No, I’m not, but I don’t want to take the boy with me to investigate and someone has to protect him.”
    
“It may be better if we take the boy to Freetown together,” she replied.
    
“Perhaps, but someone must check on his family,” said Aleron. “That said, you probably should take him there yourself.”
    
Aleron asked Ceran where his cabin is. The boy told him.
    
“Aleron,” said Krya. “I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling about it.”
    
“So do I,” said Aleron.


    
Aleron marched off through the woods. Unlike the boy, he followed a well-trodden path. It did not go straight, but twisted like a snake through the trees.
    
His thoughts were on the boy’s story. There were many strange things in the unexplored East. From the explorers and traders that crossed the Great Plains and into the forest, there came stories of supernatural wonder and terror. Aleron did not know how much of what he had heard was true, but he had seen too much to consider anything impossible.
    
The path turned around a bend and came to a clearing. A log cabin sat in the open. It was a single story but had three or four rooms. Outside the cabin hung the pelts of various dead animals.
    
From what he had understood, Ceran’s father had made his living hunting and trading pelts.         
    
Aleron walked up to the cabin. He knocked on the wooden door. There was no answer. He tried the handle. It opened without resistance.
    
As soon as it opened, a stench floated out. Aleron knew the stench well. He had smelled it many times in his life.
    
It was the smell of death and decay.
    
His hand on the hilt of the sword, he entered the cabin. It was dark inside. The only light came in through the windows. Aleron took a moment for his eyes to adjust. Once they did so, he saw at once what the stench had come from.
    
A corpse sat at a table in the center of the cabin. It was the body of a young man. Aleron walked over to it. 
    
The corpse was pale. There was a wound on its neck. It had been drained of blood. As he got closer, Aleron saw another wound. Part of its leg was gone. It looked to have been eaten. 
    
Aleron assumed this was Ceran’s brother. 
    
Aleron then made a quick search of the cabin. He found no one and nothing of interest. He came back to the corpse.
    
Staring at it, he began to talk aloud. “Well, it looks like you were gone long before I came here. I wonder what killed you.”
    
“A bandit would have used a weapon. A shrinya might have killed you with their claws or teeth, but they would not have cannibalized you and there would be more blood.”
    
As it was, there was little blood on the corpse.
    
“Whatever killed you must have drunk your blood like a vampire, but I don’t believe in vampires. I promise you, though, I will find out.”
    
Aleron prayed to Keraises for the lost soul. He suspected the boy’s family were worshippers of the Seven. There had been no place for the sacred fire of Keraises, though he had seen none of the idols of the Seven either. Still, he hoped Keraises would welcome the man’s soul to his bosom.
    
He left the cabin. He examined the ground outside for tracks. He wished he had brought Krya with him. She was an expert tracker.
    
Still, he examined the ground. He saw large boot prints that could be from the boy’s father or brother along with smaller ones that must have belonged to the boy. There were other tracks. They did not look like any tracks Aleron had ever seen before.
    
The tracks went into the trees. Aleron, knowing not what else to do, followed them. They led to a path through the forest. It was a small path. As he followed it, the forest got denser and darker. Aleron felt he was not alone.
    
He kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. He felt as if eyes were watching him. Every once in a while, he looked back to see if he was being followed. He saw no one.
    
He eventually came to a shaded grove. Cobwebs hung from branches as if they were white sheets. Strangely, there were no spiders in the web. 
    
Aleron went on into the grove. With a wave of his hand, he swatted away the cobwebs. Though it seemed empty, his apprehensions grew worse.
    
He looked up. Overhanging him was a spider web larger than any Aleron had ever seen. It reached from branch to branch. The web could only have been made by a spider just as big.
    
Aleron had heard stories about spiders the size of humans. He had never known what to make of them, but now he believed he knew what had killed Ceran’s family. 
    
Aleron heard someone say his name. He looked to see Krya standing before him. She was alone.
    
“Krya,” he said. “Where’s the boy? You could not have gotten to Freetown and back so soon.”
    
Krya did not respond except to walk closer to Aleron.
    
“Krya, what about the boy?”
    
“Never mind the boy,” she said. “It is just us.”
    
She placed her hands on his chest.
    
“I want you, Aleron.”
    
“You know I took vows of celibacy.”
    
“Never mind the vows. Never mind the boy.”
    
Aleron felt lust rise up in him like he had never felt before. Part of him that he had kept hidden even from himself had longed for her touch. Now, that part of him seemed to take control.
    
He wrapped his arms around her. 

“This is wrong. I know this is wrong,” he said.
    
“Give in,” she replied.
    
He bent forward to kiss her. He stopped. Something was wrong. He felt like he was being enfolded by too many arms.
    
With that the illusion crumbled. It was not Krya before him but a creature like he had never seen before. It resembled a spider with multiple arms and yet it stood upright like a man. Krya’s beautiful face had been replaced by a monstrous one. It had multiple black eyes and large mandibles.
    
Aleron screamed. He tried to break free of its grip, but it was too strong. Its head came down biting him in the neck. Everything went black.


    
Krya and Ceran walked through the dense woods down a twisting path which lead out of the forest to Freetown. There they would wait for Aleron. If Aleron came back.
    
As Krya walked, she kept her hand on the hilt of her battle axe. Some instinct, honed by a lifetime of hunting and war, told her that they were not safe.
    
She kept looking at Ceran. The child brought back memories. Painful memories. Years ago when she still lived with her tribe, she had lost her own child. A plague had killed most of her tribe. Then their tribal enemies swooped in and slaughtered the rest. Krya alone survived.
    
A torrent of emotion raged in her, though she appeared calm on the outside. Even though they had just met, she felt a great desire to protect the child. Aside from Aleron, she cared little for anyone grown, but a child in danger twisted her insides. She also felt fear. She feared for the safety of the child, but also for Aleron’s life. The warrior-priest was her comrade-in-arms, but more than that she saw him as the last member of her tribe. If not for his vows of celibacy, they would have probably been lovers.
    
Ceran came to a halt. He said, “Do you hear that?”
    
She had been lost in her thoughts and had heard nothing. She scolded herself. She needed to be more aware of her environment. 
    
“What do you hear?” she asked.
    
“I heard someone calling me. There it is again.”
    
Krya, whose hearing was more acute than that of a human’s, heard nothing.
    
“I hear it again. It’s a woman. She’s calling me,” said Ceran.
    
“I hear nothing.”
    
“She’s calling me. It’s…it is my mother.”
    
A chill went down Krya’s spine.
    
“You said your mother was dead.”
    
“I thought so, but I hear her calling me. I have to go to her.”
    
“Ceran, don’t go. Stay with me. It is a trick.”
    
“No, it’s her. She’s alive. I have to go to her.”
    
With that Ceran took off running. Krya called for him to stop, but he disappeared between the trees. She had no choice but to run after him.
    
Krya chased him through the dense forest. Branches like claws scraped her golden skin. Thorns pierced her flesh. Despite her being a swift runner, Ceran kept ahead of Krya.
    
Eventually, Ceran stopped. Krya stopped after him. Panting, she said, “That’s enough.”
    
The forest around them was dense. Sunlight barely pierced the interwoven branches. Cobwebs hung low.
    
“My mother is here.”
    
Krya felt a pang in her heart. “Your mother is…We need to take you to Freetown. There you will find your uncle.”
    
“But my mother is here. I can hear her calling me.”
    
Krya heard nothing. She took a step toward the child. Something blocked the sun. The child looked up. Krya heard something move among the branches.
    
“There’s my mother,” he said.
    
Krya looked up. Descending toward her on a silken thread was an abomination. It looked like a giant spider: Eight legs, eight eyes, hideous mandibles. Yet, the upper torso was that of a woman. Dark brown fur covered it.
    
Krya reached for her axe. The creature dropped down upon her slamming her into the hard ground. Its arms pinned her shoulders. Krya slashed at it with her left hand, her claws carving into flesh of one of its arms.
    
It did not make a noise, but in her mind she heard a voice. It said, “You will pay for that.”
    
As they struggled, the creature bit down with her fangs into Krya’s shoulder. Pain ran through her body. Everything went dark.


    
When she awoke, she found she could not move. At first, she thought she was floating in air, but then she realized that she was strung up in a cocoon of webbing. She was in a large cave. A fire burned in the middle. Ceran sat beside it staring into the flames. 
    
“Krya?” She heard Aleron’s voice. She turned her head, the only part of her that could move, and saw Aleron hanging beside her. He too was covered in webbing.
    
“It got you too,” he said.
    
“It ambushed me from above.”
    
“Interesting,” he said. “It used a spell on me.”
    
“A spell?”
    
“It has a glamour about it. I think it can cast an illusion making it look like whoever it wants. Ceran seems to think it is his mother.”
    
“How grotesque.”
    
“Yes. It is odd that it did not use it on you, though. Anyway, we found out what
happened to the travelers.” Aleron nodded at a corner of the cave. 
    
There sat a large pile of bones. Bits of flesh still clung to them. Krya counted ten skulls among the pile.
    
“How long has this been going on?”
    
“Long enough. Sometime ago, it started using the child as bait. When I found the body of his brother, it was too decomposed for him to have been slain recently. That should have put me on guard, but I failed.”
    
“Never mind that, Aleron. How are we going to get out of this?”
    
“I don’t know.”
    
“I think I can use my claws, but I can barely move.”
    
She extended her claws. Slowly, but diligently, she worked at clawing through the web cocoon. Eventually, she got her arm free. She then was able to free herself by ripping through the webbing.
    
Finally, she pulled herself free from the cocoon.
    
“Do you see our weapons?” asked Aleron.
    
“No.”
    
She walked over to Ceran who sat staring unblinking at fire. She knelt down beside him. He did not seem to notice.
    
“Ceran?” she said. “Are you all right?”
    
The child did not respond.
    
“Do you know where our weapons are?”
    
He did not answer. Krya waved her hand in front of his eyes. He turned to her and said, “You should not be free. Mother would not like that.”
    
“That thing, whatever it is, is not your mother,” replied Krya.
    
“Krya, the child has been under the creature’s control for a long time,” said Aleron. “The only way to help him may be to kill it. Help me out of this.”
    
Krya began to tear chunks of web off Aleron. Eventually, he was free though webbing stuck to his long red cloak.
    
They searched the cave until they found their weapons among a pile of trinkets. These must have been taken from other victims. The sword and axe were there but Krya’s arrows had been broken. There were no other weapons.
    
“Let’s grab the child and get out of here,” said Krya.
    
“No,” said Aleron. “If we just leave, it will keep preying on travelers.”
    
“So?”
    
“How many more children like Ceran will it create?” responded Aleron. “More orphans controlled by it?”
    
“We can lead hunters back to the cave.”
    
“By which time, it might have fled. To say nothing of its power to lay glamours. No, we need to kill it now.”
    
“Very well, but how?”
    
Aleron was quiet for a moment.
    
“We will hide in the forest outside and ambush it,” he responded. “Krya, the thing mesmerized me for a short time. Ceran is under such a spell that he thinks it is his mother. Yet, it did not use its powers on you.”
    
“So?”
    
“I think you may be immune.”
    
“Why?”
    
“I’ll tell you later,” he replied. “Find a hiding spot.”
    
As they left, they passed by Ceran who did not seem to notice them. He just sat starring into the fire. They exited the cave.
    
The sun was low in the sky. Night would fall soon. Aleron took to hiding behind a tree. Krya found a spot in the dense bush. They waited.
    


Night had fallen and the stars had just begun to appear in the black sky when the creature returned. To Aleron’s eyes, it took the form of Krya.
    
Aleron watched as it passed the real Krya’s hiding spot. Without making a sound, she leapt out and swung her axe. With astonishing speed, the other Krya caught the shaft of the axe.
    
Aleron rushed out from behind the tree. He drew his sword from his scabbard. He hesitated.
    
The two Kryas grappled together. They fell to the ground. They rolled over and over. Aleron lost track of which one was real. He stood poised over them. Both seemed identical. They bit and clawed at each other. Eventually, one of the Kryas pinned the other to the ground.
    
“What are you doing, you idiot, kill the thing,” said the Krya on bottom.
    
“No!” shouted the Krya on top. “Kill it. I love you. Kill it and we can be together.”
    
Aleron stepped forward. He slashed downward, cutting through the neck of the one on top. Her head rolled off. Aleron’s heart stopped beating. Then, like dissipating mist, the glamour was lifted and he could see the creature’s head. He released his breath in relief.
    
Krya pushed the eight-armed corpse off her. She was covered in green ichor from the creature.
    
“That was unpleasant,” she said.


    
The next day, Krya and Aleron sat in a tavern in Freetown. Neither had slept after their experience. Krya was doing her best to drink herself into a stupor, while Aleron had copiously written down their experience as a warning to other travelers.
    
Krya staggered over to the table Aleron was writing at.

“Do you think Ceran will be alright?” she asked.
    
They had taken the child to his uncle. The child had come out of his daze, but he seemed horrified by what he had done.
    
“I don’t know,” said Aleron. “The glamour lifted after the creature’s death, but he knows what it made him do. That will haunt him for life.”
    
“The power of the creature was so strong. It controlled poor Ceran. It fooled you. Why did the glamour not affect me?”
    
“I think it could only affect men and boys. It seemed to take the form of the women who were closest to its victims. For a child like Ceran that was the form of his mother. For me it was you.”
    
“Uh-huh, you sure of that?”
    
“No.”
    
“How did you know which was the real me?”
    
“That was easy. For one, I suspected the creature was stronger than you are so it would have probably ended up on top. The other thing was…well…you called me an idiot. The creature said what I wanted to hear. I know you well enough to know what you would say.”
    
“What exactly did the creature say to you?”

Aleron did not reply, instead he changed the subject. “There is something else.”
    
“What?”
    
“The monster could not have been the only one of its kind. There has to be an entire race of them deeper into the forest. More and more settlers are coming from the West. They are pushing deeper into the forest. We are going to encounter more of these creatures.” 
    
“That is a scary thought.”
    
“It could be even worse. The East is mostly unexplored. We do not know what other horrors are waiting for us.”

Krya did not respond.  Instead, she merely drank from her cup. Outside the tavern, a cold wind blew.

©April 2022, Matthew Ilseman

Matthew Ilseman was born in Texas and lives in Colorado. His work has appeared previously in Swords & Sorcery.