by Joe Jackson
Erik pulled his knees up to his chest. His leg muscles complained, but he was able to bend his knees with only moderate pain. “What’s going on in Sorelizar?”
“A vulkinastra started a revolution, and her cause was taken up by King Emanitar who, as I have heard it, has bisected Sorelizar and is pushing ever farther north.”
I hope Kari didn’t get caught in that, Erik thought. He wondered if she might still be here on Mehr’Durillia and joining with his family to search for him. If she is, they might have a war on their hands here in Si’Dorra soon enough.
“Well, sorry to say, but it’s probably still going to be a couple of days until I can walk, much less at a pace that will get us safely to the border,” he said after a short pause.
“The longer we wait, the farther away from us our pursuers will be. We will come to a point where the odds turn against us, but by then, we should be close to the border of Ekkristis, King Lestanaek’s realm. We do not want to cross into King Ouraggra’s realm, so we must take care when we reach our pursuers’ ranks and attempt to pass through.”
Tarra crawled over and grabbed the last of the meat skewers and handed it to him. “Eat, drink, and rest as much as you can. We should be quite safe here for a while.”
“One last question,” Erik said. “Any chance the Ashen Fangs will help us?”
“They will, though not as overtly as you are likely hoping. Be patient; as I said, the odds are with us for the time being. I know this realm fairly well, and I am certain I can get us to the border with only the pursuers farther east presenting any trouble at all.”
Erik met her eyes evenly. “Thank you,” he said, enunciating the purity of his emotion as much as the words would allow.
She took his hand in hers and gave a tight squeeze. It was at once both an odd and yet familiar sensation. Though her hands were covered in fur, they didn’t feel that way; he could hardly tell his hands weren’t directly touching skin. She had claws like him, though they were a little different, and short enough that they didn’t mitigate the contact. He could sense it coming this time, and he made no move to dodge or do anything else that might insult or upset her.
Kuritarra leaned in and kissed Erik on the end of his snout, and though it wasn’t the way his people did so, he returned the gesture.
Chapter XI – Divergence
Progress was slow. Sharyn, thankfully, had quickly passed beyond the vocal range of Sonja’s enchantment, but the sorceress was tracking the werewolf eastward. Sharyn may not have been boastful about her speed, but she had every reason to be. She was far outpacing the rest of the Silver Blades, and Kris had little doubt she would find Erik long before they did, assuming she could find some hint of his scent to follow.
Fortunately, the fact that Erik was a rir – and a serilian-rir to boot – on Mehr’Durillia, a world where there were few of their kind, would make it easier. That left only the possibility that they were harried and eventually captured before the rest of the Silver Blades could reach them. That was the most concerning thing to Kris. They were impeded by what had been, at the time, a perfectly good strategy: They had made little secret that they were coming. Now that Erik had escaped, their enemies’ goal was no longer to draw them into a trap.
Now, their goal would no doubt be to capture as many of the Silver Blades as they could, anywhere they could.
Agivak was only a few more hours’ travel to reach, though that likely wouldn’t happen until the following day with the light failing. Kris had to plan for the weaknesses of his many companions, not just their strengths. The humans brought with them the power of the gods as highly trained and capable paladins, but they couldn’t see well in the dark, and darkness fell much earlier in the deeper portions of the forests of Si’Dorra. They made what progress they could after nightfall, but Sonja couldn’t brighten their path using arcane power without making them an obvious target.
Stamina hadn’t become much of an issue yet. His team was in great shape, and they kept up a rugged pace for most of the days. These were almost all war veterans, and they knew what to expect from the rigors of their travel and sojourn in the land of their enemies. At the same time, they each knew and accepted the dangers that awaited them when they took on this mission. In the end, Kris only had to issue one order with regard to that: Should the worst come to pass and capture seemed imminent, Sonja was to grab as many of their companions as she could and take them back to Citaria. There was no sense in everyone being captured or killed.
Gabrius turned and his eyes flashed in the failing light. He made a brief gesture, and Kris nodded. It was time to make camp; the humans’ vision would be virtually useless soon enough, and travel through the forests was tough enough at times even during the day. He didn’t like feeling the hours slip through his fingers, but there was only so much they could do, unless he wanted to leave the humans behind and start pushing through the nights. And that was an idea that had already been suggested, discussed, and quickly discarded.
“Aeligos,” the Warlord said, attracting the rogue’s attention while the others began to set up their camp. Kris put a hand to Aeligos’ shoulder and walked him a short distance away. “I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. Obviously, we’re not going to give up on rescuing Erik, but I don’t think we’re going to get to him before our enemies do.”
“You thinking diversion?”
Kris smiled and chuckled quietly. He loved the analytical, tactical mind of this younger Tesconis son. Kris had learned tactics from an early age, training under his father and Celigus Chinchala, but he wondered where Aeligos had developed his instincts and flair for planning. In the rogue, Kris found a great companion when it came to differentiating options and strategies to find the absolute best course of action.
“I’m thinking we do something drastic enough that it forces the people hunting for Erik to come back here. We’re only a few hours’ travel from Agivak, I think, and seeing as that’s both Arku’s seat of power and where we’re supposed to think they’re holding Erik… maybe we hit them with unforeseen consequences for a change.”
Aeligos put a hand to his chin. “Agivak is still going to be well-protected, but I wonder if they think we’ll have heard that Erik has escaped by now? The trap may still be there, but they may not be expecting us to walk into it anymore. Are you thinking of an attempt on Arku?”
“Not an attempt.”
Aeligos’ eyes widened at that, but then a grim smile crept across his face. “No wonder Kari’s attracted to you,” he said with a snort.
Kris twisted his mouth to the side. “Listen, about that…”
“Don’t worry about it,” the rogue said. “It’s your business, not mine. We’ve got more important things to think about right now. And on that note, do you really think we have what it would take to kill a demon king?”
Kris got the impression that Aeligos had something to say about his relationship with Kari, but the rogue didn’t see fit to bring it up now. Accordingly, Kris let the matter pass for the moment. “In all honesty, I’m not sure. I know Arku is supposed to be one of the weaker kings, but you have to bear in mind, that’s relative to the other kings, not to us. I’ve only seen glimpses of what power Celigus commands, and he’s really not that much older than Arku, so I won’t lie and say I know we can do it. But if the opportunity presents itself, I’d sure like to give it a try.”
Aeligos nodded. “I’m not keen on that kind of fight. That’s not where my strengths and usefulness to you are going to lie,” he said with a short gesture. “But if we can make enough of a showing against the seat of his power, they may have to pull back a lot of the people searching for Erik, like you said. The question is: How do we do that without ending up in some drawn-out battle of attrition, especially if we don’t want to hurt any more people than we have to?”
“Surgical strike?”
The rogue shook his head. “Different races; we have nearly no chance of sneaking our way through a town, much less the capital.�
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Kris bobbed his head at the expected answer. “Skirmish tactics?”
“A better option; lets us seem like a much bigger force than we actually have. You let Gabrius, Eli, and myself scout out the weakest positions before each strike. Still, if they get the feeling it’s not a lot of attackers, they may just send out the better part of their garrison to either capture us or run us down.”
“Inside man, then?”
Aeligos considered him a moment. “You know someone in Agivak? Or are you thinking of using Liria?”
Kris indicated the syrinthian girl with his head. “We have an unusual advantage here. I don’t even think she has to speak beshathan fluently; infernal is their go-to language, despite the fact that it’s not the native tongue of any of these peoples. We dress her up – and it won’t take much effort – to play the part of a bounty hunter. That should get her into the capital without too much scrutiny. From there…”
“We have her start sowing the seeds of discord,” Aeligos mused. “Sort of the same thing I did to Curlamanx back during the War. That would be rather ironic, wouldn’t it? They may not see it coming from a syrinthian, especially one who has a legitimate reason to be there.”
“How do you feel about coaching her? The girl seems a bit naïve despite her training with the Order. I don’t think she’s suited to the task as is, but I don’t imagine you’d have much trouble getting her ready in a hurry.”
The rogue shook his head. “All I have to do is tell her a few choice things to say, and who to say them to. We don’t need to start a fight, just the rumblings of disorder, and Arku – or more specifically, Curlamanx after Arku has left – will bring as many soldiers home to keep the peace in the capital as he can. He’s a coward; I’ve no doubt that’s how he’ll react. The key part is the timing of Arku leaving for the Council session.”
“Which should be in the next couple of days, according to the erestram we tangled with before we met back up with you all. And he can’t sit around dealing with grumbling when he’s expected at the meeting; he has to be there on time. All right, then. Liria!”
The entire camp looked at Kris, then at the syrinthian girl, who came running without the slightest delay. “Yes, Kris, what do you need?” she asked, making a valiant effort to keep from calling him sir again.
“How do you feel about committing suicide?” he asked with a straight face.
The girl’s eyes went wide, then her brow came low. “I think you need to be either a little less humorous or a little less direct in your assessments.”
Kris laughed, and Aeligos chuckled with him. “Honestly, how do you feel about going into Agivak and spreading some rumors and lies, if Aeligos coaches you on what to say?”
Liria looked over her shoulder, presumably in the direction of Agivak. “If that’s what you need me to do, I’ll do it. At the very least, I’m fluent in infernal, which is what most of the people are going to speak on a day-to-day basis. And if they want to speak beshathan, it won’t be all that surprising if I’m a bit poorly-spoken with it. I’ll just need Aeligos to be very specific on what to say.”
“And who to say it to,” the rogue added.
The Warlord folded his arms across his chest. “You’re not looking to start a war, or even a fight. All we need you to do is get people talking, make Arku and Curlamanx uncomfortable in their own city. That might force them to pull back some of the soldiers that are currently after Erik and whoever helped him.”
“Understood.”
“Can you pass for a bounty hunter? I’d say you look the part, with your equipment and the training you’ve received from the Order.”
“If we were to somehow put the mark of the Ashen Fangs on my breasts, that would be the only touch we need to add, I think,” she answered.
“Can Sonja do that?” Kris asked the rogue, who bobbed his head. “All right, you three get to it, then. Send Corbanis over. We’re going to make this really interesting for Arku and Curlamanx.”
The Tesconis patriarch came walking over to Kris shortly after. “What do you need?”
“How do you feel about committing suicide?”
“Depends who we take with us.”
Kris clapped the larger man on the shoulder. “We’re going to let Liria go in and do some of Aeligos’ work, get the swarm buzzing inside the nest. Then you and I are going to hit them – or him would be more appropriate, I suppose, since Arku is due to leave the city soon. I don’t want any of your kids involved in this, though. They’re an incredible bunch, but you and I have experience they don’t. And I assume when you say you’re willing to put your life on the line to rescue your son, you truly mean it.”
“I do. But what is Liria doing, exactly?”
“I’ll explain that with the others in a minute. I just want you to be prepared. Normally, we’d have Aeligos, Gabrius, and Eli handle something covert, but it’s going to be you and me this time around. How comfortable are you flying in your armor?”
“I can manage well enough.”
Kris nodded. “We’re going to give Liria a day or two, and then you and I are going to swoop into that city and give Curlamanx a good reason not to sleep for a few days.”
Corbanis scowled. “Or a good reason to sleep for the rest of time.”
“Or that. Come, let me explain what Liria’s going to be up to tomorrow.”
*****
Things were slowly coming under control again. It was difficult for Kari to see the debris of her old home being cleared away, but it was the removal of the old and the dead in preparation for new life to take root. It was the way of things according to the philosophy of the elven people she had lived amongst for a short time in her prior life. Grakin’s tree still stood, and he was ever a part of her; the house was an object, only a physical representation of their love that could, no matter how much it might sting at the moment, be rebuilt.
What truly touched her heart were the efforts of so many people to join in the rebuilding of her home. Her old foreman, John Schultz, had taken charge of the project without even being contracted, and he and his men set out at a brisk pace to get her home rebuilt. They also had the assistance of Kari’s workers, including the syrinthians, when their normal duties allowed. There were a number of laborers and craftsmen from the city adding their assistance as well, and not once had anyone stopped Kari to ask about how they would be compensated.
Kyrie was handling the money for Kari, and the demonhunter asked her mother-in-law to keep close track of everything spent. Her oath to repay the workers two-fold for their kindness was not an idle promise, and she wanted to make sure everyone shared in the bounty of her home being rebuilt. It might cost her considerably in the short-term, but Kari wanted all those involved to receive bonuses of some kind as well.
Duke Bosimar and Eryn had been removed from the city the night before, on their way to Streka to undergo some trials. Gil said Eryn was going to be recruited, not killed, and that left Kari confused about how she was going to explain everything to Aeligos when he returned. That being said, the Blood Order was gone, and Kari could already sense a difference in the general feel of the city. People were nervous, but now it was because of the political upheaval and not due to there being an assassin’s guild running the underworld of the city.
Lord Stanley was close to lifting martial law already, and many of the earls of Brunswick were on their way to have a grand meeting to choose a proper new duke. Kari was just glad she was far enough down the proverbial totem pole that she wouldn’t be considered. She already knew what she’d say if they asked, but she didn’t even want to think about it. She had enough to deal with already, and if war with Mehr’Durillia’s kings was truly coming, she wouldn’t have anywhere near the time or energy to devote to properly managing the city, much less the duchy.
Repairs on the campus, too, were proceeding, though by Kari’s orders, the administrative building was being left for last. Clearly, the repairmen and her hunters found that odd, and Kari found
she couldn’t quite explain it even to herself. Part of her said it was because she wanted her hunters and the other staff taken care of first. But that wasn’t the entirety of it, if she was honest with herself. The burned and damaged administrative building kept Albrecht Allerius fresh in her mind every time she saw it, and that was the bigger reason for her hesitation.
She tried not to dwell on it, especially not with her current destination. She crossed the grounds of the campus with sure strides, headed for the warded prison. There had been a bit of a development where her prisoners were concerned, and she wanted to see what effect it had on their demeanors. Still, her eyes were drawn to the training recruits on the campus square, and after a moment, she changed direction and approached.
The recruits and Headmaster Campbell all stopped to face her, snapping crisp salutes in the demonhunter way. “What can we do for you, ma’am?” the instructor asked.
“Cadet,” Kari said, indicating a young human who stepped forward and saluted her again. “You’re too twitchy. You’re going to lose a hand the first time you go into serious combat. If you can’t figure out what to do with that hand, either strap a shield to it or pick up another sword. Watch your elbows, and concentrate on efficiency of movement. You’re wasting a lot of energy looking like a chicken instead of a hunter.”
There were scattered chuckles, and the cadet sucked in his lower lip. “Yes, ma’am.”
“What are the rest of you laughing at? Is the thought of one of your brothers or sisters getting killed funny to you? Maybe you don’t belong here.”
That silenced the entire class, and Kari turned and pointed to the ruined husk of the administrative building. “One moment of failed teamwork leads to that,” she said, meeting every pair of eyes before her. “You’re not just here to learn to be a hunter, you’re here to be part of a team, and that means pushing each other to be great. Don’t leave everything on Master Campbell’s shoulders. Push each other, encourage each other, and learn to live and fight for each other. War is coming, and the things we fight? They don’t discriminate.”
