Convergence

by Joe Jackson

  Eve of Redemption, Book VII

  Convergence

  Copyright 2018 by Joe Jackson

  All rights reserved

  Cover Art by Andreas Zafeiratos

  Follow the author:

  http://Citaria.wordpress.com

  www.Twitter.com/shoelessauthor

  www.Facebook.com/shoelessauthor

  Mailing List: http://eepurl.com/cbviiD

  The Eve of Redemption Series

  Salvation’s Dawn

  White Serpent, Black Dragon

  Serpents Rising

  Legacy of the Devil Queen

  The Huntresses’ Game

  Preludes to War

  Convergence

  The Awakening (due 2018)

  Gods and Kings (due 2018)

  “There are no coincidences in life. The work of Divine Providence brings all men to the place where they need to be. From there, it is the duty of man to recognize the position he is in, and to work it to the good not just of himself, but of his fellow man.”

  -- Luranar Proverb

  To the shepherds:

  Jim, Bob, Billy, Ed, John, Joe,

  And all the others tending the flock

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter I – Patience

  Chapter II – Breaches

  Chapter III – Rifts

  Chapter IV - Declarations

  Chapter V – Through the Glass

  Chapter VI – Casualties

  Chapter VII – Women of the People

  Chapter VIII – Warning Signs

  Chapter IX – Alpha Strikes

  Chapter X – Evasion

  Chapter XI – Divergence

  Chapter XII – Diversion

  Chapter XIII – Decisions

  Chapter XIV – Refuge

  Chapter XV – Retribution

  Chapter XVI – Reunion

  Chapter XVII – Convergence

  Chapter XVIII – Sign of the Times

  Epilogue

  Thank Yous & Acknowledgements

  Appendix A: The Many Unique Races of Citaria

  Appendix B: The Merged Citarian-Koryonite Pantheons

  Appendix C: Geography and History

  Appendix D: The Kings and Races of Mehr’Durillia

  Prologue

  Erik knew only pain. He finally struggled free of the bonds of unconsciousness, only to find himself in physical bonds. His shoulders, triceps, elbows, and knees were afire, his stomach demanding something simply so it could eject it in protest of the agony. He was vaguely aware that he was hanging from a crucifix of some kind, though thankfully, he was not nailed to it. His arms were wrapped over the crossbeam backwards, tied by leather thongs to his upturned ankles so that he was bent in a backwards circle, his weight supported by his awkwardly-posed arms.

  Pain began to flood in from other areas. He realized he was naked on top of everything else, his wings stretched down and bound to the post of the crucifix. He was caked in dried blood, yet his wounds seemed to have mostly healed. But he’d been stabbed, sliced, and beaten all over, and he couldn’t recall how long he’d been here. He felt as though he’d been run over by a stampede of bison, and smelled like it as well.

  Erik looked around, trying to get his bearings and remember how he’d ended up here. He recalled being stationed in Anthraxis, awaiting word from Kari if she needed any sort of help. He did his best to avoid becoming a nuisance, since the inability to speak or read any of the Mehr’Durillian languages meant he couldn’t do any real research. He’d taken in as much of the city as he legally could, biding his time until he received word from Kari one way or another. Then something had happened… he had met someone. He had seen…

  He had seen another Tilcimer. In Anthraxis.

  Erik struggled against his bonds to no avail. He looked about himself, strapped devoid of decency in the courtyard of a castle. There were beshathans out and about, mostly the jackal- and hyena-folk: elestram and mallasti. The occasional harmauth or erestram made appearances in the courtyard, but the ram- and wolf-folk were less common. Most notable among the latter, however, was what appeared to be a diminutive erestram strapped between two pillars on the battlements – was it a child? Erik couldn’t tell from this distance. He strained to turn his head so he could look at the inner keep, but he didn’t have the flexibility.

  I’ve got to figure a way out of here to warn the others, he thought. Though the rest of the Silver Blades knew there was another Tilcimer somewhere, to find it in Anthraxis was more than a bit concerning. To have such a dangerous creature working for the demon kings could mean only disaster. The Silver Blades – most notably Erik’s sister-in-law, Kari – had to be warned as quickly as possible. But how to do that when he was captured and bound here, wherever here might be?

  And not just a Tilcimer, Erik thought as the memories came back to him. Taesenus, too.

  It was trouble enough to find another Tilcimer, but to find the son of the archdevil Seril in the same place, possibly working with his mother’s last creation, was even worse. Taesenus had led Erik into a trap, but he didn’t recall the specifics. Erik had followed the Demon Prince to see what he was up to, and been waylaid by some unseen assailants. And now he was here, far from safety, much less home, and with no way to escape or warn his friends and family.

  The beshathans around the courtyard straightened out, looking past him to the keep, and Erik tried again in vain to look that way. There was no need. After a minute, the ugly, horned visage of Curlamanx appeared. The demon noble, all red skin and thick, corded muscle, came to attention before Erik, looking like a horribly misshapen mockery of a serilis-rir. His pugish face set into a scowl only briefly before his features melted into what could have passed for a smile. It was not a pleasant sight.

  Erik knew this demon noble. Curlamanx had been part of a two-pronged effort by the demon king Arku to invade Citaria during the Apocalypse. Erik and his siblings had foiled the demon duke’s plans, and forced him to retreat home to Mehr’Durillia. It left little mystery why Erik was now in this predicament or what the duke’s ultimate goal was. Erik had a lot more pain in his future, he was sure of that.

  “Finally awake, are we?” the demon duke asked in a broken attempt at the Citarian trade tongue. “Good. It’s always more enjoyable when a victim is awake to scream.”

  “You won’t think so when my friends come for you,” Erik said. In the back of his mind, though, he honestly hoped they didn’t try. If he was being held by Curlamanx, he was deep in Arku’s realm, far behind enemy lines, and way too much of a risk to bother trying to rescue. But he knew his family and friends well. They would come for him.

  “You mean when I have all of your siblings lined up beside you?” he asked with a gesture toward the other empty crucifixes beside Erik. “I think it will only multiply the effect. Oh yes, young hunter: I know they’re coming. And we’re ready for them. Soon, I will have all of you… Silver Blades… hanging here to do with as I please. And I very much look forward to adding your sister to my collection.”

  “I suppose when someone looks the way you do, prisoners and slaves are the only women you can put your hands on,” Erik quipped. It was out of character for him, but he realized there was indeed a time and place to be as annoying as Typhonix at his snippiest. Curlamanx was going to torture him either way, so why not try to cost the duke some face with his servants?

  The demon’s knee landed squarely between Erik’s legs, and he could do nothing but grit his teeth and try to ride out the waves of pain. Having his arms and legs bound tightly didn’t help matters, though.

  “Oh, he stops laughing,” Curlamanx said. He punched Erik hard, just below the sternum, blasting the wind from the demonhunter’s lungs and crushing him against the post.
“Let’s see how amusing you are after another session of bloodletting. If it wasn’t for the exquisite pain that can be inflicted through it, I would relieve you of your manhood as well.”

  The demon duke called for someone with a gesture, and a female elestram stepped beside him, staring at Erik with cold, dispassionate yellow eyes. “See to it you go slowly this time. I want to hear him scream well into the night. Hurt him as badly as you can, but don’t do any permanent damage… yet.”

  “As you wish, my lord,” the elestram woman said coldly.

  “Your Grace,” Curlamanx corrected her. “It’s Your Grace in their tongue.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.” Her eyes never left Erik. “This is going to hurt considerably.”

  She pulled forth a razor-edged blade and dragged it up Erik’s thigh, eliciting a hiss of pain from him, and Curlamanx walked away laughing as Erik screamed.

  Chapter I – Patience

  The rest of Kari’s family began arriving at the orphanage, but with the kids up and about, it wasn’t going to be a convenient place to meet and plan. They’d found refuge from the attack the prior night by staying within the bounds of the wards around the orphanage, but they couldn’t stay there. Kari’s home having been burnt down continued to prove a problem on so many fronts, and she hardly had the time to process it all.

  She and her family relinquished the fireplace room and dining area to the caretakers and children, and filed outside to the porch. Kari leaned up against a post and cast her gaze across the many faces before her: the Silver Blades and their allies. These people were about to go to Mehr’Durillia and attack the very home of a demon king to try to rescue one of their own. But to do that, Kari had to make sure every piece was in place and most – if not all – contingencies were accounted for.

  She looked to Kris Jir’tana, her former commander and, possibly, hopefully, her future mate. He gave no indication to the others about what had transpired between him and Kari just a couple of hours before. He was tall, nearly six and a half feet, but still managed to look average standing among Kari’s family. He had served as a brigadier general during the Apocalypse, and had a long tail of black hair down his back that said he hadn’t been bested in combat in some time, if ever. His eyes were a deep blue, and watched her curiously, signaling that he was willing to take over the efforts of organizing and strategizing if Kari wished.

  Beside him was Corbanis, Kari’s father-in-law, a mountain of a man that stood a few inches taller than Kris. Though he, too, boasted long black hair and blue eyes, he managed to look different than Kris, broader and with that same imposing chin that his son was known for. Corbanis was ready to go at a moment’s notice and rescue his son, and Kari understood why he’d been so hesitant to become her second-in-command and end up tethered to a desk, or at least the city. His left wing was folded behind him, but his right was wrapped around his wife.

  Kyrie was beside herself with grief. A little more than six months before, the blonde priestess had lost one of her sons: Kari’s husband Grakin. Now the very city she lived in had been attacked by enemies from Mehr’Durillia, and one of her other sons was being held captive somewhere on that demon-controlled world. What made it all worse was that she would not be going with the others to aid in the rescue effort, and Kari could well understand her anxiety: Kari wouldn’t be going, either.

  Aeligos, another of her brothers-in-law, sat in one of the patio chairs, his foot tapping as quickly as his thoughts were flowing. He was the group’s spy and infiltrator, probably the most intelligent man Kari had ever met, and she could see he was already considering many of the variables they’d face on Mehr’Durillia. Kari was glad that he and Kris would be working together, their two tactical minds no doubt much more cunning when combined. What caught Kari’s interest for a moment was his hair: the long tail was gone, hanging now only to his shoulders. His black eyes caught hers, and he managed a crooked, nervous smile.

  Kari’s sister-in-law, Sonja, would be invaluable to the group’s efforts. The scarlet-haired woman could speak the infernal tongue, was familiar with the layout of Mehr’Durillia, and was now a confirmed archmage. The more she used her sorcery, the more confident she became, and that only lent power to her proficiency – which most wouldn’t even see coming from the six-foot-seven, muscular woman. Her ruby eyes were full of worry, but Kari could also see the determination in them. Sonja would do almost anything for family.

  Serenjols, Kari’s eldest brother-in-law, rounded out the group. The largest of them at over seven feet tall, he was the one Kari felt the worst for. The sometimes shy and gentle giant of a man kept trying to retire from adventuring, to settle down at his smithy with his wife and new child, but life continued to conspire against him. As a half-guardian, he had the protective nature his kind were known for, and rarely sat idle while friends or family were in danger. But with a wife and newborn daughter, he had probably the most to lose besides Erik himself, and Kari could see that recognition in his red eyes when they met hers.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Kris finally asked.

  “Never thought I’d see the day when you asked that question,” Aeligos put in.

  “Well, Kari’s clearly got something on her mind, so whatever plans I had are probably about to get changed. So what’s… wait, here come Eli and Danilynn.”

  Kari turned and watched the half-corlyps and his fures-rir mate cross the front lawn and ascend to the porch. The morning sky was brightening and the day felt like it was going to be warm. That would help with relief and repair efforts around the city, but Kari felt the weather was still ruined by her mood. If the sky had been black and thundering, it would’ve suited the way she felt much better. Still, the sight of her friends did chip away a bit at the ice around her heart, especially when Danilynn immediately excused herself to go upstairs and get her baby.

  “What’s going on?” Eli asked, taking in all the serious faces. “Aside from the obvious.”

  Kari glanced at the others, but they shook their heads. “Kris and Corbanis are going with the others to see if they can rescue Erik. What Taesenus said was no idle threat: Erik’s been taken prisoner.”

  “Need another hammer?” he asked the group, patting the head of his weapon.

  Kris’ eyes narrowed for a moment, and he stepped forward and lifted the sleeve of Eli’s tunic, revealing the tattooed pentagram made of five swords. “You were Five Clans?” he asked rhetorically. “I’ll say we could use you. What do you know about Mehr’Durillia?”

  Eli shrugged. “Not much more than the rest of you. Probably less. But I know how to make corpses,” he said. There were some scattered chuckles. “When are we leaving?”

  “Not until I’m satisfied we know who you’re going after,” Kari answered before anyone else could. “I have several prisoners in the Order’s jail, and Amastri is trying to get us whatever information she can. I don’t want you going there blind and kicking a hornet’s nest in Anthraxis to try to find out after the fact. Get your things and be ready to go, but understand: I won’t let you go until we have a definite answer.”

  “You really think the prisoners will tell you anything?”

  Kari shrugged. “I learned a lot while I was on Mehr’Durillia this last time. I have an idea of how we can try getting some information out of at least one of them. But I can’t say for sure just yet. It’s going to involve threatening him with something that’s not true, but he won’t know that. So, we’ll see.”

  “Where’s Gil when you need her?” Aeligos muttered.

  Kari chuckled darkly. Having the werewolf on hand to try threatening the prisoners might not work as well as it had against a human, but she imaged beshathans probably wouldn’t be keen on being chewed up, either. She wondered what the beshathans might know about werewolves, if anything. Would they be afraid of contracting lycanthropy, ignorant to the fact that Gil’s kind couldn’t spread it? She thought of beshathans worrying about suddenly turning human during phases of the moon, and she had to make an e
ffort not to laugh despite her mood.

  “When is Eliza supposed to come take you to Anthraxis?” Kari asked.

  “Later today, but I’m sure she’ll wait until we’re ready,” Kris answered. “We’d best send word to Markus and the rest that the plan may be delayed by a few hours or even a day.”

  “Can you see to that?” Kari asked her mother-in-law, who nodded. Messages could be sent back and forth between the temples quickly through guided prayer, so the priesthoods were invaluable for getting important information where it needed to go. With one bit taken care of, Kari turned her attention back to Eli. “I hate to ask, but…”

  “You’re all homeless,” he finished. “Our door is always open. Mrs. Kyleah, you may want to put a ward around our house like you did for this one, but we’ve got plenty of rooms. You took care of us for a while, the least we can do is return the favor. Best make yourselves at home before we all end up homeless on the road again, heh.”

  Danilynn returned with Damansha by her side, their daughters Amayalou and Jessirra in their arms. Eli nodded westward and told them, “Why don’t you two head to the house? We’re going to be hosting everyone until Kari gets her house rebuilt.”

  “I can’t even do that,” Kari said. “We didn’t keep that kind of money on hand, and I already have loans outstanding with the merchants’ guilds as it is.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Kyrie said.

  “I still can’t believe they torched my house,” Kari said, shaking her head. She blew out a sigh. “Worries for later. Erik’s our priority right now. Kris, why don’t you and Aeligos go see Amastri and find out if she’s heard anything new? Corbanis, you’re with me. I want to go have a little talk with our beshathan prisoners. Sonja, if you could get in touch with the High Council of Wizardry, can you request that they look into whoever keeps summoning these attackers here? Things were quiet after Eli, Danilynn, and the others were attacked, and I was hopeful the wizard summoning them might have been killed or left the area. But this was a sizeable force; we need to find this person quickly and eliminate them.”