The Corpse Candle

Myorka was away, arranging important paperwork and saving them money, and Spade and Serenica had the cabin to themselves.

There was a bathtub in the middle of the room.

There was a body lying in the tub.

Serenica had seen so many incredible things in her life that she was only mildly shocked by the corpse itself. The man had had his throat slit very neatly, there was a single dark red line of dry blood running across his neck, but there were no other signs of violence. Around the body there was black liquid, enough for a proper bath, but Serenica did not know what it was.

What Serenica was worried about was the possibility of Spade trying something funny. He seemed like a man who would do something funny when given the opportunity. Perhaps he would make the dead man walk again. Serenica didn't want to see that. She didn't want to draw any attention to herself. She was already sought after by earthly forces. She didn't need the supernatural to come after her as well.

"Now, don't be scared, this is a routine operation to me. I've done this hundreds of times. I'm somewhat of an expert."

Serenica sat down and put her head between her knees.

"Are you having a hard time?"

"Yes," she said.

Spade hardly even listened to her, it seemed. He put a black candle on the table and lit it.

"This is a corpse candle. While it is burning, we can do all sorts of things without the body noticing anything. I will write a contract to make it move according to my will. It will not move while the candle is burning. Take these matches. You just scratch any surface and…this is how…it's burning now, light the candle, yes, like that. When I blow the candle, the corpse will start doing things, but you mustn't panic. I am in control. When I give you the order to light the candle again, you will do it. You will do nothing else. Do you understand, Serenica Ingram? I want you as my witchcraft companion, don't let your healer sensibilities fool you."

Serenica held the box of matches. Even the matches seemed dangerous, like they could be lit on their own by a wrong kind of friction.

She breathed in deeply.

The candle was burning and the lighting was pleasant. The cabin was painted all red, in a Karshaan fashion, and the captain's perfume smelled nice. If it weren't for the body in the bathtub, it could have been a good moment for some tea or coffee, yes, they could have talked about anything, but Spade wanted to be doing things.

Serenica remembered how his skin felt and a taste of bile came up in her mouth.

The captain wrote a contract with a special mixture of blood, ink and twitchleaf.

"Is that your blood?" Serenica dared to ask.

"Whose blood should I be using? Yes, it is my blood. You can't just go around asking people for their blood."

"You've got bottles of your own blood lined up?"

"Once again, Ingram, would it look good if I had someone else's blood in bottles?"

Spade folded the vitalizing contract and put it inside the mouth of the dead man.

Serenica's heart was beating so loudly, she could hardly hear Spade say some reassuring words to the corpse.

"Why does it need encouragement?" she dared to ask.

"You need encouragement to get up each morning, don't you? Some say this isn't needed, but those people are liars who are too lazy to even talk to their own plants."

Serenica agreed that it was probably very hard to get up after a particularly nice death.

"I will blow the candle out now. Whatever happens, stay in your chair."

The captain blew out the candle.

The room was still illuminated, even as the heavy curtains were covering what little sunlight reached through the clouds, there were ordinary candles, but the light was dim and it set a terrifying atmosphere.

Serenica stared at the dead man.

The corpse was still. It didn't make a sound. It would have been hard to speak with a slit throat, anyway.

Serenica began to think that Spade was pulling her leg. She almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

The captain was a man with a sense of humor. He had convinced Serenica that the dead could be awakened with a few drops of blood and some twitchleaf. It was as hilarious as it had been terrifying.

Feeling victorious about this realization, Serenica turned towards Spade, smiling widely.

Spade smiled right back at her and nodded towards the bathtub.

The corpse was now sitting upright.

Serenica screamed.

The dead man coughed, and a very nasty red lump flew from his mouth.

"I'd like you to tell me where the men of Theod have gone," Spade said, but he wasn't speaking to Serenica.

"They jumped ship just south of Aja," the corpse said, its throat very obviously making its voice hoarse and quiet.

"I'd like you to tell me if they would gladly take the offer of the crown or if they're honest outlaws."

"Honestly? Those men have no honor, and piracy pays well," the dead man said with a shrug that seemed so inhuman that Serenica very nearly screamed again.

There was something so badly off about the whole demeanor of the corpse, it was almost tangible, but not quite, and Serenica could not for her life point a finger towards any specific gesture. She felt uneasy, more so than she had ever felt before.

"Do you have any other valuable information about those men?" Spade asked.

"Oh, for bilge's sake. They're about as trustworthy as you'd expect. Better not to leave one alone for the watch of midnight…"

"Are you insinuating they're mutineers?"

"How else would they end up in Aja Vana without their captain?"

The captain sighed and looked at Serenica. He seemed to forget the dead man was there at all.

"See, I'm the captain because the crew wants me to be the captain. Mutineers, unruly bloodhounds, men who have to be controlled – not my thing at all. I lead with love in my heart. But I'll bite it for the wonderful opportunity you've given us all. They can do what they want after that."

"What are you even talking about?" Serenica asked.

"We need men. Theod seems to have misplaced some of them."

"Hello?" the corpse hollered. "I'm still here! Could either of you please let me sleep?"

Serenica shuddered.

"You may now light the candle," Spade said.

"Why me? What if something goes wrong?"

"You know how to operate a match, do you not?"

Serenica scratched one stick covered with a volatile mixture of something that was probably made of things that once belonged to dragons. She bent down and lit the candle.

The corpse fell back into the embrace of the strange liquid and looked properly dead.

Serenica tried to even out her breathing.

She expected the captain to laugh at her. Instead, he sat down next to her, silently watching as she calmed down.

"Are you remotely all right now?"

"I think so," she replied. "Why? Why do you do this?"

"A man doesn't have to be alive for me to interrogate him."