City of Ruin - Mark Charan Newton [160]
So then, another conspiracy that goes right to the top . . . Just how much corruption makes this realm what it is? I’m too old for this. I can’t fight an Empire like this one.
But who could he tell about this discovery? Jeryd didn’t know anyone in Villiren well enough to trust them.
He pocketed the journal and the loose pages, and wondered what he might do with them.
Then he went down further steps, carrying the lantern towards the basement where a strange metallic smell lingered. He found a wall-hung cresset and lit it, more for peace of mind than for anything else. It was damn eerie down here, so the more light the better. Along the constricted path, winding around a corner, and there was now a change in the way the air moved, signifying to Jeryd that he had arrived in a vast chamber.
Light was lost to the corners, so he found a coloured lantern and some matches to light it. Metal implements hung from the walls, and there was a dripping sound from the far end.
Suddenly he spotted several dark figures lined up against the wall to his right. He moved tentatively in their direction, before raising a hand to his mouth in shock. His tail became perfectly still.
Seven corpses were suspended with hooks driven through their throats, their tongues hanging out uselessly. They were naked and bruised, and streaked with dried blood. One was even skinless, the muscles and veins exposed horrifically. On the body at the far end, a rip in the throat caused by the weight of the body dragging on it suggested that it had been hanging there for some time.
Further along on a workbench stood two massive metal trays that reminded him of those he’d seen at Doctor Tarr’s mortuary back in Villjamur. He wasn’t surprised to find them full of internal organs, which he assumed could only be human. As he moved the lantern over them, they glistened slickly, confirming they were relatively fresh. An inert eyeball stared up at him and he drew back with a shudder.
None of this was set out as if to aid a crime investigation, however, with Jeryd being called in to look at some remains. These cadavers were destined for the dinner plates of ordinary people across Villiren, and it was possibly the most despicable activity he had ever witnessed. He was standing inside a human meat factory.
The smell was overpowering and he turned away, to prevent himself from gagging. Reluctantly, with a handkerchief over his mouth, he began jotting down notes and making sketches, detailing every horror on display.
*
In the dim light of the obsidian chamber, Commander Brynd Lathraea faced Jeryd across the table with a despairing smile. A small tray of refreshments had been brought to them, and Jeryd eyed the food suspiciously. ‘No thank you . . . I’m, uh, on a diet.’ I don’t trust anything now that I haven’t seen being prepared.
He had just informed the commander about the fate of the missing people, and what it probably meant about the missing Night Guard soldier, revealing every detail and nuance about the case.
‘I find this all rather difficult to believe,’ Brynd murmured.
And who could blame him? Jeryd spoke of the confessions. He showed the commander Voland’s journal, then his own notebook, tilting it sideways and pointing out the corpses and the various implements he had sketched.
‘Human flesh, distributed through the city? And, you suspect this was all at Urtica’s request?’
‘I do,’ Jeryd confirmed. He revealed the incident concerning the refugees back in Villjamur, where