Serpents Rising (Eve of Redemption Book 3)

by Joe Jackson

  After a couple of days, they approached the road that served as border between Pataria and Tess’Vorg. Uldriana continued her lessons with Sonja, and Kari’s sister-in-law seemed to pick up something new every day. Sonja was being very cautious about exploring her powers, though, only practicing the things Uldriana showed her, to avoid overextending herself or tapping into things she couldn’t properly control. Both of them were satisfied with Sonja’s pace, and Kari was glad to see her sister learning power and control in equal measure. Considering her teacher was a mallasti, that wasn’t what Kari expected.

  To Kari’s surprise, Danilynn requested that they spar together when time allowed, and when they were confident that Sonja’s masking spell would keep their activities quiet. Kari was quite impressed by Danilynn’s skill, and found the priestess had a peculiar style that Kari hadn’t encountered before. Among Garra Ktarra’s areas of control was skill at arms, as he was one of the greatest fighters among his people when he lived, and among the pantheon after he ascended. His priests, by extension, sought mastery of melee combat when they were of the adventuring type. Danilynn had adventured for years before the Apocalypse, and then fought for eight years among Jir’tana’s brigade, and so she was quite familiar with weaponry and how to use it.

  Her preferred weapon, in honor of her deity, was the axe. She had a great two-handed decapitator that she kept on her back, but most often she used a pair of wicked twin-bladed axes when sparring. Her style was nothing like Typhonix’, and in a way, it actually reminded Kari of her own style: primarily defensive, utilizing offensive flurries timed to counter or react to her opponent’s mistakes. Danilynn would often hook one axe back on her belt and concentrate on parrying blows with just the other, but then she would explode offensively, pulling the second axe off her belt and unleashing a flurry. Kari adapted to it quickly, but she was left with little doubt as to how useful Danilynn would be in melee.

  Kari glanced side to side, trying to see how busy the road ahead was. It seemed deserted, and Kari wondered when, if ever, it saw considerable traffic. Despite being a dirt road, it was well tended, with virtually no overgrowth encroaching upon its expanse, a detail Kari could see even from a respectable distance. Pataria had turned to flatter, open land near its border with Tess’Vorg, and the neighboring kingdom looked to be golden plains as far as the eye could see. Without Sonja’s masking spell, Kari would’ve been nervous about crossing such flat, open land in the midst of enemies. As it was, she still didn’t like being out in the open and exposed.

  They crossed the road and into Tess’Vorg, and Kari asked, “So Tess’Vorg is ruled by King Emanitar Te’Mordrin, right?” It was small talk, but she wanted to get any additional information she could from their mallasti guide. If it turned out Se’sasha was unwilling to talk, Kari figured she could still bring back a good amount of information from their semi-talkative guide. With what little the Order actually knew about the demons and their kings, anything would be helpful.

  “That is correct. What do you know of King Emanitar, hun…Kari?” the mallasti girl returned, catching her own error.

  “Not all that much,” Kari admitted. “Hmmm, he’s a mallasti, he’s the eleventh on the Council, and from what I’ve heard, he’s friends with King Morduri.”

  Uldriana’s brows rose momentarily, and she shook her head lightly. “Ketava, you know even less than I suspected. Where to begin…? I suppose I should expand on what you already know. Do not mistake King Emanitar’s low position on the Council for weakness; he is one of the oldest kings, and is nearly a god in terms of power. His low position on the Council is due to the Overking’s belief that he lacks ambition; the fact that he will not attack the higher-ranked kings around him is the so-called evidence of that. In truth, we believe it is because he has seen his land ravaged by war for far too long as it is, and he knows that invasion will visit far more suffering on his people than on whatever king he seeks to depose.”

  That opened up so many questions for Kari, but she remembered Uldriana’s indignant reaction when interrupted. She stayed quiet and let the mallasti girl continue. “Tess’Vorg is also called the Fields of Gold; it is flat plains of golden grass almost throughout the realm, save for the more northern portion, where the pine forests of Si’Dorra encroach. Since King Emanitar is himself one of my kind, as you know, our people are the most populous of the races within his realm. Most of the settlements are like my village of Moskarre, but there are a few large cities built by the elestram. The most prominent of these is the city of Rulaj, where King Emanitar’s palace is located.”

  “Like King Morduri, King Emanitar does not wield his power any more than is required to keep order and make certain his population – and thus his army – thrives,” Uldriana continued. “Tess’Vorg is bordered almost entirely by the realms of kings who cannot legally invade: King Sekassus to the west, King Morduri to the east, and the Overking to the south. Only King Arku to the north can legally invade, but as I said, King Emanitar is one of the oldest kings and could crush King Arku in battle with little trouble, whether that battle be single combat or a full-scale war. King Emanitar does not get on well with any of his neighbors save King Morduri.”

  “You recall the manner in which I told you King Morduri gained his throne?” the mallasti girl asked, and Kari nodded. “King Emanitar was nearly murdered by King Sekassus in a similar incident some time ago. It was believed that he had been murdered, and that King Sekassus was going to claim Tess’Vorg as his own at the next Council session, but King Emanitar arrived at that session alive and well, putting to rest rumors of his death. Since then, relations between King Sekassus and King Emanitar have understandably been volatile, but Prince Vassiras, in the city of Saristor, has been working to patch things between the two to at least keep the peace. Before you ask, it is because Vassiras’ holding lies on the border between Sorelizar and Tess’Vorg, and not because of any love of peace.”

  Uldriana stopped speaking, and Kari took the opportunity to pose a question. “I’m just curious: why don’t your people live in Tess’Vorg if King Emanitar is one of your kind?” she asked. She was more than curious: she wanted to know how the kings viewed the various types of demons, and whether the demons had any tendency to gravitate toward kings of their own species. Sekassus seemed to have the greatest number of sylinths and syrinthians – whether they were demons or not – and so Kari wondered if Morduri attracted more elestram, Emanitar attracted more mallasti, and so on.

  “It is our ancestral home,” Uldriana answered as though it was a strange question. “As you may have inferred, the elder of my village is older than your race. If my people are not mistaken, then the rir people were first created a little more than three millennia ago? The eldest of our village is approaching the fourth millennial anniversary of his birth. Our people, those who sired the bloodlines of my village, have lived in that place since before Morduri’s great grandfather claimed it as his own.”

  Kari’s head nearly swam trying to put such long years into perspective. Standing before the elder of Moskarre, she hadn’t gotten even the slightest feeling that he might be nearly four thousand years old. She could only imagine the knowledge and the wisdom that came with such age, and as she thought about it, it made her realize why the demon kings were so dangerous. On top of the knowledge and wisdom that came with thousands of years of rule, was the power they amassed during that time. There was simply no way for a mortal to compare.

  “Would you rather live under King Emanitar’s rule, though?” Kari pressed.

  The mallasti girl considered the question with a slightly furrowed brow. “Personally, I would not be opposed to it, but I find little difference between the kings,” Uldriana answered. “Certainly they are more gracious to their people than any of their neighbors, or any of the other kings in general, from what is said amongst my people. Pataria and Tess’Vorg are both fairly peaceful, prosperous realms that rarely see war or famine visit them. Were it not for the laws against migration, I
am certain their populations would swell accordingly.”

  “Laws against migration?” Danilynn echoed. “You mean the kings don’t allow their people to move to other realms? Probably to avoid espionage or the bolstering of enemy armies, I assume?” The mallasti girl nodded but didn’t expand on the subject.

  “So what does ketava mean?” Kari asked.

  “It does not translate specifically into your tongue,” the mallasti said with a shrug. “That is why we say it in ours, even when we speak your language. I think the best way to explain it is to say that our language contains no expletives. Your people say curse words to express surprise, anger, or dismay; our language has no such words. We say ketava instead; it is a meaningless word, but is considered proper enough for social situations, even with a noble or a king.”

  “No shit,” Kari said jokingly, and the mallasti girl actually snickered in response: a rapid, cackling chuckle that sounded a bit like that odd sound hyenas made. It made Kari laugh openly, along with Sonja and Danilynn. Uldriana’s cackle was one of the funniest things Kari had ever heard. She composed herself quickly and added, “Honestly, I try to stay away from talking like that myself, especially since my mother-in-law took me and my mate into her home.”

  Sonja leaned over and half-hugged Kari, and Uldriana took in the exchange with great interest. “You two are sisters by marriage?” she guessed. It wasn’t exactly accurate, but Kari simply nodded, and Sonja didn’t correct them. “I should have sensed that sooner. How is this other one related to you?”

  Kari followed Uldriana’s glance to Danilynn. “Good friend,” Kari said, and Danilynn gave a warm smile in response.

  The mallasti girl nodded. “Well, if I have explained enough about King Emanitar, I will continue with teaching your sister-in-law,” she said.

  Kari was agreeable to that and nodded. She spent some time thinking about Koursturaux and whether – or rather, how much – she should worry about being drawn into the demon king’s service further. If someone as crafty and sharp as Amastri was a servant to the female demon king, then Kari had to assume that Koursturaux was exceptionally skilled in the ways of words and wiles. Kari had no delusions that she could hold her own in a contest of wit or will against something as powerful or ancient as a demon king, but at the same time, she was fairly certain the demon king couldn’t trap her into service beyond what she was currently doing. In any case, she reminded herself that she wasn’t to implicate Koursturaux under any circumstances.

  She thought about Taesenus’ sword and what the demon king could possibly want with it. Obviously, it was a vorpal sword: a blade reputed to be honed so fine that it could cut through virtually anything, including incorporeal spirits. It was the kind of weapon warriors and soldiers alike dreamed about: one that would let them cut down their enemies regardless of armor or skill. Kari couldn’t wrap her head around what a demon king would want with such a weapon, aside from equipping a champion with it. That thought gave her pause, and she wondered if another warrior like Taesenus was going to rise up and began decapitating people with that sword. If that came to pass, it would be Kari’s fault.

  Kari’s mood turned somber with that thought, and she glanced at her companions to try to take her mind off of it. Kari wondered if Uldriana or her people truly had any idea what their kin did when they went to Citaria; the whole village seemed rather passive, even docile. They didn’t seem like the type of mallasti Kari had hunted and killed in the past, or like those a king would send to do their dirty work. It was possible that was just what they wanted Kari to think, but she doubted they could all put up such a charade, or that they even cared enough about what Kari thought to do so. It was possible that they were ‘soldiers’ in the same sense that Kari’s own people were: when not at war or under war-like command, they were regular people. If that same concept held true for demons, it was quite a revelation to Kari.

  She was really at a loss as to what to make of Uldriana or her people. The concept of demons that were not completely rotten was baffling, but that thought brought to mind Celigus Chinchala. If it was possible for a demon king to turn coat and ally himself with the gods of another world, who was Kari to say it wasn’t possible for the rank-and-file demons of this underworld, Mehr’Durillia, to do so? Kari had mentioned the idea of cultivating insurgents among the demons: all the better to help the Order combat the schemes of the kings. Now that thought seemed less far-fetched. If Uldriana really was what she appeared to be on the surface, and there were more like her beyond her village, then there was hope that Kari and her Order could find allies among their enemies.

  Kari was mindful of such thoughts; Uldriana had recognized that Sonja was empathic and partially telepathic, so Kari was suspicious that the mallasti girl might be so as well. Kari turned her attention to her friends. Sonja took in Uldriana’s lesson eagerly, and Danilynn scanned from horizon to horizon while they walked. Kari thought she would have to get Danilynn to teach her the infernal language: the priestess’ fluency was apparent when she spoke. Kari wondered if Uldriana would be willing to teach her some of the mallasti dialect, if the length of their journey would permit it. At the least, those two languages would make interesting additions to those Kari already knew: the Citarian trade tongue, the rir tongue, elvish, and czarikk. Kari thought it also might help in the future, should she need to visit the underworld again, or else converse with demons that showed up on Citaria. To Kari, it was amusing that the Citarian trade tongue she mostly routinely used was the one she was the least fluent in.

  “I was thinking maybe you could teach me the infernal language,” Kari said to Danilynn, and the priestess wasn’t the only one to give their attention to her. Uldriana looked at Kari, too, so she added, “Maybe you can teach all of us some of your own language, whatever it’s called.”

  “It is called beshathan,” the mallasti girl said. “I can teach you some of it if you like, but I doubt this journey will be long enough for me to teach you enough to make much use of.”

  “Why’s it called beshathan?” Kari prodded.

  “That is what our people are called,” Uldriana answered. “We are mallasti, elestram, and erestram, but all together we are called beshathans by the others. Accordingly, our three races share this tongue we likewise call beshathan.”

  “But what does the name mean? Where did it come from?” Kari pressed.

  Uldriana made a dismissive gesture. “That is a topic for another time, perhaps,” she said. “I would rather not speak of such things with you. Not at this time, anyway.”

  She went back to speaking with Sonja, so Kari and Danilynn exchanged a glance and shrugged. “Infernal can be a pretty tedious language to learn, but I’ll do my best to teach you,” the priestess said. “It’s much easier to teach when one can learn to read and speak it at the same time, but we can start with the alphabet, common words and phrases, and how to at least express that you’re not fluent in it, for practical applications. Gods know Aeligos picked most of that up in a few hours.”

  Kari chuckled and the women walked on into the later afternoon. Kari was adept at detecting trailing parties, and she was pretty sure there wasn’t anyone on their tail. Sonja was able to confirm it when they made camp for the night, when she and Uldriana used their life-detection enchantment to explore the plains around them. They seemed to still be safe and undetected, and though she kept her guard up, Kari was satisfied with that.

  Chapter XIII – Uldriana’s Trust

  Early the next morning, two large creatures appeared on the horizon as the women got underway. It didn’t take long for Kari to make out enough detail to recognize that it was a pair of harmauths, the massive, muscular ram demons being quite distinctive in appearance even at a distance. She pointed out their approach to the others, but Uldriana didn’t seem concerned at all.

  “Do not be alarmed, harmauth patrols are common near the borders of Tess’Vorg,” the mallasti girl said. “If you run, they will take you into custody. Better we take a leisurel
y pace and allow them to stop us if they choose to. Sonja, you may drop your masking enchantment; they will not be fooled by it anyway.”

  Kari looked to Sonja, and her sister-in-law nodded; Uldriana wasn’t trying to deceive them. Kari had never seen a harmauth before, and she wasn’t looking forward to doing so for the first time when she was in hostile territory. Uldriana didn’t seem all that concerned, so Kari took that as a minor comfort, and tried to stay calm. A sudden look of doubt crossed Sonja’s face, and Kari picked up on it and guessed her sister-in-law didn’t know how to summon her greatsword just yet. Danilynn seemed to sense Sonja’s trepidation, too, and she tried to subtly hand Sonja the decapitator she had strapped to her back.

  Uldriana watched the exchange of weapons with a furrowed brow. “Be at ease; they are not coming to harm us,” she said almost soothingly. “Even if they were, your weapons would likely do little more than annoy them.”

  Kari nodded but rested her hands on her belt just in front of the hilts of her blades. The two ram demons called out something in infernal as they closed the distance to the group of women, and Uldriana answered. Sonja and Danilynn didn’t look to be alarmed by the exchange, so Kari waited to see what else would happen. It was aggravating to always be the odd one out, unable to understand the bulk of what was being said around her, but Kari tried to keep those feelings from her features.

  The harmauths were both close to or just over ten feet tall when their long strides straightened out their bent legs, and they were absurdly muscular, such that they made even Kari’s in-laws look normal. Their hides were a dull brown that faded to a lighter shade across their bellies, and their horns were pearly-white. Kari couldn’t tell if they were male or female at a glance; they had long tufts of hair in various places to hide gender and accent their forms. They didn’t have pronounced breasts, but Kari knew so little about them that it told her nothing. Their red eyes blazed, but they didn’t appear angry when they drew closer. One blew out a loud snort that startled Kari.