Death Dealers by M.G. Gallows

Author:M.G. Gallows [Gallows, M.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M.G. Gallows
Published: 2021-04-12T22:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

The Society lounge was clean, inviting, and quiet. No infinite staircases or unseen observers, just plush chairs with low tables between them. I could hear rain washing against the opaque windows, further relaxing the atmosphere.

My ‘appointment’ had yet to arrive, so I sank into a chair, glad to be off my feet. The comfortable ambience threatened to pull me into an impromptu nap, but I reminded myself I was there for a reason.

When the door opened, I rose to greet my guest, but felt a chill run through me. My guest had the same piercing gaze and dark complexion as Samuel Kincaid. They could have been brothers. Twins. But the newcomer had a head of wiry black hair, a trimmed beard, and his tattoos—while also depicting cigar-smoking skeletons in top-hats—looked more jovial than sinister.

Like the mages I’d seen at my trial, he dressed in a way that both spoke of pride in his traditions and a lack of concern for modern norms. He wore trousers frayed off below the knees, a top hat rested on his head, a tattered black dress coat with tails hung over his otherwise bare torso. He carried a cane with him, capped with an ivory skull.

“They tell me you needed my guidance, gravedigger. I am Papa Williams.” He had a heavy Creole accent, unaccustomed to English, but confident and forthright.

I recognized the name. “You’re the mage Jocelyn spoke of. The representative from Port-au-Prince.”

He finally blinked, and his eyes swept the room in thought. “The one seeking her brother? I fear she will not find the man she seeks.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him. I’m Alex Fossor.”

“You have questions about my former companions.”

“Yeah, like why Haitian mages went into the drug trade, and what they hope to get from it.”

He shook his head. “Not simple mages. Bokor.”

“What’s the difference?”

“That depends on how much you know about Vodou, Mr. Fossor.”

“Very little. But I try to keep an open mind.”

“We shall see. The mages of my faith enjoy a rare tutelage under the Iwa, or Loa. Passed down by the very spirits we serve. But mortal men—even we mages—must choose how to use that knowledge. The bokor are those who abuse that bond. To use their knowledge to harm others. You know of the Loa?”

“Spirits who serve God?” I asked.

He offered a slight smile. “In Haiti, they are the servants of Bondye, the Creator. So yes, and no. Our beliefs stem from traditions older than the Christian God. Or perhaps they are the same God? There are many nachons, many families of Loa. Some are Immortals, the primal beings who exist in the Far Lands, what you Society types call the ‘Outer Layered’. Others were once mortal, but Ascended. Do you know what this means?”

I had to puzzle over what I knew for a moment. “The Visatori explained that mages accumulate magical power over the course of their lives. Sometimes, a mage becomes so powerful that they transcend mortality. Ascend into the Layered as a kind of lesser god.”

“Or a devil,” he added.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.