by Joe Jackson
The Council nodded and acknowledged Aeligos’ right to speak, so Kari’s brother-in-law stood and approached the center of the floor where she was. He smiled at Kari and then waved the journal around for emphasis when he turned to the Council. “I’ve gone through Jason’s records for the better part of two months now,” he said. “The first thing I have to tell you is that there is a vast difference between the way most of his journals are written, and the way this one detailing the syrinthian incident was written. Jason was a well-educated man and he was very, very thorough in his record-keeping…except when he was writing this particular journal.”
“After Eli, Danilynn, and their friends brought Se’ceria to Gnarr to meet with Jason, he apparently spoke with her at length in private,” Aeligos said, glancing to Danilynn and Eli for confirmation. They nodded, so he continued, “Something happened in that private meeting that made Jason let Se’ceria go, to return to her people and continue with the plan to bring Sekassus to Citaria.” There was more muttering and whispering among the gallery, but Aeligos ignored it as best he could. “Initially, when I talked to Kari about it, I’d come to the conclusion that she must have told Jason who her real deity was, and that he knew of that deity and therefore chose to trust her. The more I’ve thought about that, though, I don’t think Jason knew who the Great Mother was, or that worshipping her made Se’ceria trustworthy. But then something else I read made more sense.”
“In going through Jason’s other journals, the ones that followed the syrinthian incident, I kept coming across this saying that he’d never used before, either in the syrinthian journal or any of the ones from before then,” Aeligos said. “It states: we must sell the future to pay for the sins of the past. Now, I’ll admit I have no solid proof of this, but I think that’s what Se’ceria told him when they met in private. Kari says that Se’sasha standing here before us right now is either the biggest coincidence in the history of the Order, or…it’s exactly the end result Se’ceria planned toward when this entire incident began.”
Kari put her hand on Se’sasha’s shoulder. The girl reacted every time she heard her mother’s name, and she was trying to hold firm despite the fact that Liria had no time to translate what was being said. Kari returned her attention to Aeligos; she was quite impressed with his conclusions. He just seemed to be able to read what was hidden between and beyond the words in Jason’s journals. If he was correct, and Jason had trusted Se’ceria based on those words, then there was only one logical conclusion to be reached from all that.
“Prophecy?” Master Bennet asked before Kari could.
Aeligos half-nodded, half-shrugged. “We have to keep in mind, we’re now dealing with completely alien deities, or even pantheons,” he said, obviously thinking of the pendant Kari had returned to Se’sasha. “Even more so than the Koryon deities who joined our own pantheon just before the Fifth Demon War, we now have to consider that the god or gods of the syrinthians and the demons may have prophecies of their own that go back thousands of years, before our race was even born upon this world.”
Kari coughed delicately to interrupt, and Aeligos and the others turned their attention upon her. “Um, not to sidetrack this discussion, but let’s stop referring to Mehr’Durillia as the underworld, and its people as demons. Just trust me on this for now; I’ll explain more later.”
Silence fell in the Council chamber, and Kari felt the trepidation and confusion of her fellow hunters and Zalkar’s priests as their world was turned upside down again. To find that the serilis-rir weren’t demons had come as enough of a shock to Kari and her Order. To now find that the people of Mehr’Durillia weren’t demons set the wheel spinning out of control yet again. On the one hand, it meant that Kari’s hope of finding insurgents in the future to help fight against the demon kings might be that much easier, but it also meant that steps would have to be taken to gauge the intentions of beshathans and other “demons” who showed up on Citaria, much like they’d done with the serilis-rir.
Kari gestured for Se’sasha’s pendant, and the priestess took it off and handed it to her. Kari ran her thumb across it lightly, trying to put the pieces in place. She thought of what she’d heard, what she’d seen in her dreams, and how the events of her life since being resurrected had played out. She was Salvation’s Dawn, the lynchpin in some grand scheme of Gori Sensullu’s, and the involvement of demons, Mehr’Durillians, and alien gods all played into it somehow. The fact that Sakkrass had adopted her as his daughter now held infinitely more significance, and Kari’s breath nearly caught in her throat as the enormity of it all hit her.
“All right, we’ll take your word on that for now,” Aeligos said, apparently voicing the feelings of most of the gathering. “We were talking about the possibility of some prophecy of Mehr’Durillia being in play here; I think we should focus on that. We need to follow the road and not start jumping all over the place, or nobody’s going to figure this out.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Kari said.
Se’sasha spoke, and Liria translated, “My lady says she wishes she was of more help.”
Aeligos laid a hand on the syrinthian priestess’ shoulder. “Lady, your very presence is already a lot of help in putting everything in perspective,” he said, then turned back to Kari and then the Council. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, but keep in mind that Se’ceria sacrificed herself over a dozen years ago, so this has all been a long time in coming. There’s no rush to figure this out in a day.”
There were appreciative nods all around, and Kari was glad to have brought Aeligos with her. He had such charisma and a calming influence even on large groups of people. As much as he may have disliked being in charge or the center of attention, Kari had only ever met one man who had held peoples’ attention and inspired them as well as, if not better, than Aeligos: Kris Jir’tana. Of course, Aeligos didn’t have the advantage of being the son of a deity, so even that worked more to his credit.
Se’sasha said, through Liria, “If you will but bring me to the place where my mother was laid to rest, I believe many of the answers to your questions will be there.” Kari pressed her for more details, and the syrinthian priestess elaborated, “If I can commune with my mother’s spirit, she may be able to tell me many of the details that have been lost.”
Kari glanced at the Council and saw the trepidation in their gazes. “We’ll discuss that in a few minutes,” Kari said, and she gestured for Liria to translate it for Se’sasha. The priestess nodded her agreement and went silent again.
Aeligos suggested they let Danilynn and Eli fill in the details of everything they’d done for Jason Bosimar during his tenure. They began with the innocuous mission to go speak with the Beast, and how it had led to finding Se’ceria imprisoned at the hands of dark elf marauders. They then filled in details about bringing Se’ceria back to Gnarr, but how Jason then released the woman and sent their group to investigate the plundering of Turik Jalar’s tomb. It was clear that with the story being put into chronological order and the proper context, even the Council started to see that something else was at work behind Jason’s actions and orders.
Eli went into detail about a battle that had taken place outside of DarkWind involving a number of syrinthian operatives. That battle brought Amastri into the picture, and drew a clear line between Amastri and Se’ceria, which made sense since Kari already knew that Koursturaux was behind the sabotage of Sekassus’ plan. There was brief mention of the Celestial Token, which drew the interest of virtually every warrior in the room, but Eli and Danilynn both brushed that aside as an inconsequential side plot.
Danilynn then took the center of the floor and painted a broad picture of Emma and the mallasti girl’s involvement. Even Se’sasha apparently knew who Emma was, her ears perking up as the mallasti’s name was mentioned. Danilynn spoke of how Emma had aided their group in small, indirect ways, and Eli brought up the fact that Emma had been involved in the foiling of other plans, as he was told by Kari. Thus, their tale now tied tog
ether Bosimar, Amastri, Emma, and Se’ceria – and it wasn’t even complete yet.
Danilynn took the time to describe rescuing the czarikk from being sacrificed by the syrinthians, and how it had been Se’ceria who had facilitated doing so. She spoke quite honestly but favorably of Se’ceria, and it nearly brought Se’sasha to tears when it was all translated. Kari kept her hand on Se’sasha’s shoulder while Danilynn spoke of her mother, and the fures-rir priestess made it absolutely clear that their entire countermeasure would’ve failed if not for Se’ceria’s aid. In the end, she painted a picture of Se’ceria not just as a saboteur, but of someone who had laid down their life to protect others – even in the face of having summoned something as dangerous as King Koursturaux.
Kari thought on that for a few moments, but tried not to get lost in a daydream while the entire scenario was being so perfectly laid out. Koursturaux was a demon king, one of the most dangerous of them, one of the Ancient Ones that killed Be’shatha, and an enemy to every living thing not already under the Overking’s control. It didn’t make sense that the demon king didn’t try to conquer Citaria while she had the chance, unless she wasn’t powerful enough to do so: if the gods or their avatars were stronger than Koursturaux, then she had been wise to flee. Kari had to take that as a good sign until she got the absolute truth of the matter.
Eli spoke briefly of the battle to take the temple, and how without Se’ceria sabotaging the summoning ceremony, it would’ve been a disaster. Again there was that verbal evidence that the syrinthian woman had saved lives at the cost of her own, and every time such a nuance to the story came up, Kari could see people look at Se’sasha with a new level of respect.
Danilynn finished the story by speaking of the summoning of King Koursturaux, how Se’ceria had asked to be allowed to die to protect her daughter, and how the priestess had asked Danilynn and her friends to rescue Se’sasha from Mehr’Durillia. Danilynn concluded the story by saying that King Koursturaux had left without further incident, of her own accord, though for reasons unknown.
Aeligos piped in before the scribes had even finished taking down the tale or the Council could begin asking questions. “And that’s what worries me,” he said. “There’s no denying that everything worked out, so to speak, but that Jason allowed a demon king to be summoned isn’t even the worst part. I can’t wrap my head around why something as powerful as Koursturaux is reputed to be would manage to set foot on Citaria, but then just leave without a fight.”
“Maybe she was afraid of the gods and their avatars,” Kari ventured, giving voice to her own thoughts just minutes before. “It’s not like she brought her army with her, so if the gods took direct action, she might’ve been in for a lot of trouble.”
Aeligos shook his head. “I understand that, but I’m trying to put this all in context with Se’ceria’s sacrifice,” he said. “Think about it: Se’ceria agreed to work for Koursturaux in all this, but to what end? Koursturaux is no fool; she has to have known Se’ceria had something in mind when she agreed to summon her here. Se’ceria took a big risk, and she probably knew she was going to get killed, and that it might cost her daughter Se’sasha her life, too. That’s not something you do for a demon king, not just to stick it to Sekassus. Se’ceria had some ulterior motive the whole time – this alleged prophecy we’re talking about – and Koursturaux has to have known that. So that leaves two questions: did Koursturaux know about the prophecy or whatever Se’ceria’s ulterior motive was, and is it something she wanted to come to pass anyway?”
“We ought to call him ‘the Calculating,’” Master Arinotte muttered to Master Perez, and the other Councilors joined the two in a laugh.
“Not to get off topic, but get in the habit of saying king before you say their names,” Kari said. “Folk on Mehr’Durillia were very thorough about that, and a slip of the tongue on such a matter can get us into a lot of trouble, even here, speaking to someone like Amastri.” Liria agreed with that, and the others all nodded silently.
“I’m honestly curious where you all stand on what Jason did,” Aeligos said, folding his arms across his chest. “I know he’s a hero and was a very popular Avatar of Vengeance, but the man did allow a demon king to be summoned here on his watch. That could’ve turned out to be a total disaster, especially so close to the Apocalypse.”
“There’s little sense debating that, or posthumously reprimanding Lord Bosimar,” Master Arinotte said. “Do I agree with his methods? No, certainly not, but it is hard to be angry at the results, given where we stand today. I, for one, see little point in dragging the name of a good man through the mud after his death.”
Aeligos shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” he said, but he made an apologetic gesture with his hands and softened his tone. “What I meant was to ask if he did what he did under orders, either from you or from Zalkar himself, possibly related to this prophecy?”
“Not under orders from this Council, no,” Master Bennet said. “Whether he had some specific, covert orders from Zalkar that we were not privy to, I cannot say. Remember that though we think of the Avatar as being such only in title, they do share a direct connection with Zalkar, and his power flows directly through them. I find it unlikely he did what he did to aid in some unknown prophecy, but with the connection he had to Zalkar, he may have seen things from a perspective that you and I and our companions simply cannot appreciate.”
“I think it best if we concentrate on where we go from here, and don’t worry so much about how we got here,” Danilynn said. “We’ll find out more details when Se’sasha has had time to commune with her mother’s spirit, and the rest we’ll learn in time. What I would suggest is that we begin pooling the resources of our collective clergies, and try to find out if there’s any prophecies out there that haven’t become common knowledge. It’s possible that before Gori Sensullu – or even Seril, for that matter – met their ends, they gave a prophecy to someone, and it simply hasn’t been passed on to others yet.”
Kari was glad for that suggestion: it would give people something to focus on rather than hand-wringing while they waited for Se’sasha to fill in more details. “Danilynn’s right; let’s get the clergy of all the churches here talking, start gathering information from around the world, and see if there’s something out there that might help keep us from stumbling around blind. In the meantime, I’m going to issue orders to all of our hunters: Mehr’Durillian ‘demons’ are to be apprehended, not killed, whenever possible. Let’s see if Master Maelstrom and some of the other resident wizards in the area can assist in creating more of those anti-magic shackles that were on Se’ceria so many years ago. That should help a lot with capturing them.”
Kari turned to Se’sasha and Liria. “I want her to talk to your people; see what they’ll tell us and whether they’ll pledge loyalty to her as a priestess now that they’re out of King Sekassus’ clutches. Hopefully Sonja will tell us whether or not she can transport us to where we need to go so Se’sasha can commune with her mother’s spirit.”
Liria translated quickly to Se’sasha, who nodded her agreement, so Kari turned to Lord Allerius. “I’ll be putting you in charge again in the next few days; we have somewhere we need to take Se’sasha so she’ll be able to tell us more,” she said. “When I get back, though, I’ll be staying here on campus for a while, because…” She paused and looked at the Council. “I’m having another baby.”
“Lady Vanador, this is wonderful news!” Master Bennet exclaimed to the polite applause of the other Councilors and officers in the chamber.
“And you’re all right to travel?” Lord Allerius asked. He may have been her subordinate, but he was once her commander, and often looked out for her like a friend, or even brother.
“Assuming we’re not gone for months, yes,” she answered. “I think my sister-in-law will be able to take us where we need to go using arcane means, so it should save us a lot of time.”
“Well, you heard your commander,” Lord Allerius
barked to the officers in the Council chamber. “You have new orders to issue to the recruits and our hunters, and those orders have to be passed on to those on assignment. Let’s get moving!”
There was a flurry of activity in the chamber, and Kari moved close to Se’sasha and Liria to keep her voice down. “Tell her I’d like to be there when she speaks with your people,” she said, and there were no arguments from either syrinthian woman after Liria translated Kari’s words. “Let’s go take care of that. I’m interested to hear what your people might have to say.”
“As is she,” Liria answered.
*****
For all of the work and preparation that went into its construction, the prison on the campus of the Demonhunter Order was typically empty. The cages were made of cold-wrought iron, infused with both arcane and divine power to keep any of their occupants from escaping by any means. The entire prison was also surrounded by enchantments to prevent any sort of magical breach, whether from the outside or the inside. Still, not many “underworld demons” had been captured in recent years, and with the changes in policy regarding serilis-rir after the War, even they weren’t taken captive anymore.
It made the prison a quiet place, and the sound of Kari, Liria, and Se’sasha’s soft footfalls seemed thunderous in the open, echoing, silent halls. The syrinthian prisoners were being held all together in the large, general holding cell toward the back of the complex. General holding was usually only used until the Order could determine how best to separate its demon prisoners, but since the syrinthians were neither demons nor very likely to attempt escape, Kari had let them all stay together.
