Preludes to War (Eve of Redemption Book 6)

by Joe Jackson

  The woman was gorgeous – no surprise, being a succubus – but her milky white skin was contrasted by the black dragons tattooed up her arms and thighs. She was dressed for trouble, wearing a set of leather armor that at least covered her vitals while leaving her unencumbered for dodging and evading her enemies. The succubus was a master sorceress, one strong enough that she had nearly brought Kari’s rescue mission to ruin single-handedly. This was going to be a test of another kind.

  Her eyes fixed on Kari briefly before she unleashed a blinding flash of lightning. Kari fully expected to be blasted away, laid out upon the ground barely able to control her body or the spasms it would be wracked with. The electrical charge did nothing to her, however, other than to amplify that little voice in the back of Kari’s mind. Kari recalled the duel between Turillia and Emma in Barcon, and how the mallasti sorceress had absorbed electrical attacks aimed at her. In that brief moment of clarity, Kari also remembered being shocked in the rear end by a playful mallasti child. Electricity was their plaything; if that was the best The Vandrasse had to offer, then perhaps Kari would be able to destroy her through martial prowess.

  Mindful of her ineptitude, Kari considered the voice in her mind carefully. She focused on what she wanted it to do, and pushed it outward softly. No explosions or bolts of lightning came forth, neither did the windows explode or any of the other effects she’d conjured blindly in Saovonn. Kari pushed it out and around her just as she would with her faith, and just as she imagined Sonja did when she conjured her arcane shielding.

  When the follow-up fireball came, Kari’s shield deflected it into the air, where it disappeared into the morning sky harmlessly. The Vandrasse growled loudly enough that Kari could hear her from across the road, but she turned as several townspeople moved on her. She stomped her foot and the ground heaved and shook, throwing Kari to her knees along with everyone else in the area. Kari’s shield did nothing to deflect the indirect attack, just as she remembered was the case when she, Sonja, and Danilynn had faced The Vandrasse in Si’Dorra.

  Kari tried to leap free of the ruins as she realized the obvious follow-up attack, but the shell of the building collapsed on her before she could get out. She felt her left ankle break under the weight of a beam that pinned it in a pile of scorched rubble, and she bit her canine lip to keep from yowling in pain. The Vandrasse was momentarily distracted by a melee that broke out between the soldiers and townspeople that had recovered from the initial blast, and Kari turned to free herself.

  Another mallasti woman threw her weight against the beam and managed to shift it enough for Kari to pull her broken leg clear. Upon looking up, she saw it was Seanada, and with but a nod, the assassin drew her elestram longswords and charged out to confront her mother. Kari could only imagine how badly Seanada wanted to drop her own shape-change, to face her mother one-on-one and make the woman give account for everything she had done. Seanada held firm to the plan, though, and would hopefully buy Kari enough time to recover. That seemed unlikely, though, as Kari realized her ankle was broken and would take several hours, at least, to heal fully.

  Sparks flew in the central square as several mallasti brought their own arcane prowess to bear on The Vandrasse. The succubus hardly seemed perturbed. She spoke to some of the people in whispers, and though a few of the mallasti were able to shake off whatever it was, others fell under the succubus’ sway and began to attack their comrades. The soldiers joined in, putting many of the overwhelmed townspeople to the sword, and others to rout. The situation was quickly turning against Kari and Seanada.

  Kari got to her feet despite the broken ankle, which she couldn’t put any weight on. The mallasti may have been dense and hardy, but a broken ankle was a broken ankle. Kari thought of the arcane power, and wondered if she could splint the damaged limb using that. It worked to some degree; Kari could put some weight on it and manage a stuttering walk, but she couldn’t fight on it. It needed to be properly set, and then Sakkrass’ gift would heal in hours what would normally take weeks.

  Even before Seanada could engage her mother, fortune swung back in her and Kari’s favor. The beasts that had been hitched to the wagon, now free, hurt, and angry, turned on anyone too close to them. The soldiers took the worst of it initially, and Kari watched as one of the beasts slammed the officer, launching him clear through the front window of the inn. There was no indication he was getting back up after that, but the beast paid him no mind either way, turning and looking for another victim.

  One of the mousivas made straight for The Vandrasse, but she lifted a hand to swat it aside with arcane power. She was far from the only one surprised when her power hardly fazed the creature and it barreled into her and then Seanada. The Vandrasse was sent spinning through the air, and she barely got herself under control with her wings to avoid coming down hard on a tethering post. Seanada backflipped with the momentum from the impact, an impressive feat to behold from a stocky mallasti body.

  The beast turned back on Seanada, but she lifted a hand and then slowly brought it down, almost in a slow pantomime of slapping it on the forehead. The mousiva slowed and then came to a stop before her, and, keeping strong eye contact, Seanada made another motion, directing it toward a knot of soldiers fighting in a small phalanx formation. Bellowing in anger, the beast tore at the ground with its hooves before barreling off in that direction.

  The Vandrasse electrocuted one of the beasts, dropping it in the middle of its charge to crash into the dirt in a smoldering heap. The woman called out something in syrinthian, and soon all of the snake-folk abandoned their fellow soldiers to go form a wall of bodies in front of the succubus. She pulled one of them close and bit him on the neck; Kari had little doubt what the demoness was doing. She either needed more power to fuel her arcane prowess, or she was trying to absorb martial combat knowledge from the hapless soldier.

  Kari felt exposed and a bit defenseless, but a number of townsfolk formed a defensive circle around her, just as the snake-folk did for The Vandrasse. “We need to drive her off, my brothers and sisters,” Kari said with only a slight tinge of pain in her voice.

  “We need to kill that witch,” hissed one of the other mallasti women.

  “I will be of little help with that; my leg is broken,” Kari said, gesturing down as all eyes fell upon her.

  “Get her to my home, quickly,” one of the males said, and two others lifted Kari up and began to carry her away.

  “Isharra, be careful! Fall back to us when you can,” Kari called over her shoulder, and her companion looked her way briefly and nodded.

  Seanada was in good company. Many of the townsfolk were armed now, and a number of the mallasti stood poised, likely to do arcane battle. The soldiers, meanwhile, were split: some had rallied to The Vandrasse’s side, but others shied away from her now. Between blowing up the wagon without warning and then draining some of the vitality of one of them, the succubus had clearly shattered the loyalty of her own cohorts. Though the angered soldiers didn’t rally to the side of the townsfolk, they stood separate, apparently considering themselves friendly with neither side.

  The mousivas were running less frantically now, calming as their pain subsided. Once one of them ran off to find quiet pasture, the others followed suit. They were large and powerful, but they were docile creatures by nature, Kari mused, and though they could defend themselves, their primary instinct was to simply avoid trouble. She was rather glad for that; the beasts were just as likely to hurt townspeople as the soldiers or The Vandrasse.

  “Bring her back here!” the succubus shouted when she saw Kari being carried away. “Give her to me, and the king may forgive this temporary lapse of intelligence on your parts. Continue to defy his will, and I will lay waste to your town and make you watch while I drink the lifeblood of your children. Do not trifle with me.”

  “Put me down,” Kari said.

  “Lady, you are injured; we must get you to safety. We can handle the witch.”

  “I am counting on th
at,” the disguised demonhunter said. They set her down, and she hobbled back toward the center of the town, where succubus, townsfolk, and soldiers all faced each other in a three-way staredown.

  “Don’t you see?” Kari yelled at the soldiers. “Your king cares nothing for you. Does he hold your loyalty by threat to your families, as he does with so many others? Your freedom may be bought in blood, but is it not better than this?”

  “Kill her,” came the voice of the officer as he emerged from the inn. His breathing was labored, his words coming out in a wet hiss, and just at first glance, Kari could tell a number of his ribs were broken from the hit he took from the mousiva’s charge.

  Kari held her arms out to the sides, unarmed, and the townsfolk behind her started to rush in front of her. She held them back, though, and swept them gently behind her again. “Yes, kill me. Kill me and return to your life of slavery and uncertainty. Return to Sekassus’ good graces and hope he doesn’t kill you, or your family, or give any of you to this blood-sucking demon to fuel her attacks on your people. Kill me and watch the light die, to lay beside your sleeping goddess while you hope for her to miraculously awaken.”

  The demonhunter turned and pointed at The Vandrasse. “Or kill her, stand with me, and take back some semblance of pride and freedom.”

  “You dare mention their goddess?” The Vandrasse hissed.

  “Kill her,” the officer repeated. “Let us deliver the skin of a vulkinastra and gain the favor of our king.”

  “You have slain enough of our sacred daughters!” shouted one of the mallasti on the other side of the road from Kari.

  “Soldiers, fall in!” shouted one of the other elestram. There were only a dozen of them left standing, and three of those were syrinthians. Still, two of the syrinthians rushed to the elestram’s side, and they formed up. “This may get ugly, men, but I cannot ask you to throw your lives away for this demoness who is just as likely to take them as our enemies.”

  The newly-appointed leader had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth before he was struck down by a lightning strike from The Vandrasse. The other soldiers roared and charged at the succubus, who took wing, headed up to the roof of one of the few two-story buildings still standing. She alighted there, intent on raining down arcane death upon all who opposed her, but it was Seanada’s turn to strike.

  The shape-changed half-syrinthian shattered the edge of the roof with a gesture of arcane power. The Vandrasse lost her footing and slipped off the edge, but managed to catch the lip and begin pulling herself up. Seanada used a short-range teleport and appeared up on the roof, which amazed all of those watching. That surprised Kari; she expected all of the mallasti could do such a thing, but then she remembered why they generally didn’t.

  Seanada drove a sword through her mother’s hand and The Vandrasse screamed. She didn’t panic, though, reaching up and grabbing one of Seanada’s shins with her other hand. Seanada cried out; was it possible the succubus could drain vitality with just an open-hand touch? It certainly seemed to be so, as Seanada swooned and then fell off the roof. Kari felt helpless to stop her fall, but several of the soldiers managed to catch her and let her down to the ground slowly. Arcane blasts began shattering the lip of the roof, but direct attacks were being rebuffed by an unseen shield from the succubus.

  The Vandrasse pulled the impaling sword from her hand and cast it aside, then struggled up onto the roof. “All of you are now marked for death!” she shouted, cradling her wounded hand. “Prince Amnastru has no doubt sensed this arcane outburst, and will now come himself to put an end to your pathetic little uprising! This time, you will not receive the mercy of the stocks. You will all die, and your families and friends with you! He will wipe this town from the face of his father’s lands, and bury all of you in dung!”

  “Good,” Kari called back, stepping forward. She kept her force of will in front of her in as powerful an arcane shield as she thought she could produce. “And when Prince Amnastru lies dead at my feet, you can return to your king and explain both failures. I am certain he will be lenient with you. He would not harm his personal harlot, would he?”

  Many of the beshathans in the area cringed when Kari said the word harlot. She thought perhaps she had used the wrong word; she was still far from perfect with this tongue, despite how much use she was putting it to recently. When she glanced over at Seanada, there was that subdued twinge of humor to her expression, but she didn’t say or do anything to correct Kari.

  “Oh, you have no idea the depths of pain I will save just for you,” the succubus growled. “I will drink your blood, but not before I skin you alive and wear your pelt as a cloak.”

  “Come down and make good on that promise now,” Kari said, gesturing toward the street. “Between your hand and my ankle, I think it would be close to a fair fight. Or are you only a sorceress, and one that becomes powerless with an injured hand?”

  “She would not dare to come down here after what she threatened to do to our children!” growled a greying mallasti matriarch. “I say set the building ablaze and force her down, and we will cut her apart and decorate an eventide tree with her!”

  The Vandrasse threw a hand forward, unleashing a lightning strike, but it did nothing. The mallasti matriarch absorbed it without moving a muscle. The soldiers and elestram sought shelter when they realized she was still a threat, but Kari stood in the center of the street, leaning on her good ankle. It seemed absurd that none of the beshathans had a bow or crossbow to try taking shots at her, but Kari thought perhaps they didn’t need them when they usually solved problems such as this with arcane power.

  “Just leave,” Kari said, and the succubus tilted her head. “We will have our reckoning, but it clearly will not happen here and now. I can see the uncertainty in your eyes; you think Prince Amnastru is going to kill me and rob you of the pleasure. I assure you, he will not. And you will not enjoy fighting me when I am ready for you. Perhaps you should find another king to kneel before.”

  If Kari had any doubts about the double entendre in the beshathan language, the reactions of everyone around her would’ve erased them. Whatever The Vandrasse thought of herself on account of being a succubus, she clearly didn’t like being called a whore. Surprise and anger had given way to a cold stare, one that said she was envisioning doing exactly what she’d promised to Kari when the opportunity presented itself.

  “I hope you are correct,” was all the succubus offered, standing up straight. “I very much look forward to seeing you again, and soon.”

  “Well, you never did strike me as being very bright,” Kari taunted her one last time. She made a dismissive gesture, then, and hobbled toward some of the fallen townspeople to check on them as if the threat had completely passed. There was a light rumble of thunder and then a pop to punctuate The Vandrasse teleporting away, but Kari didn’t even bother to look.

  The soldier who had assumed command to turn his fellows against The Vandrasse was dead, electrocuted by the lightning strike. When Kari turned to see what the others were doing, she watched as Seanada stabbed the officer through the side, dropping him lifelessly. Seanada hardly even paused, and her confident stride backed the other soldiers up by Kari, where they stood ready to defend themselves.

  “You lot – go release the people from the stocks,” Kari ordered. Many of them glanced at each other, but then they ran off toward the edge of town. No one moved to stop them; these were trained soldiers, and it was pointless for the townsfolk to engage them when they were not a threat.

  Kari was surprised when she was shoved onto her side, and she reached for the hilt of one of her waushims. She calmed when she saw it was that greying elder mallasti female, and a few others came to tend to her broken ankle. “Do not worry too much about it,” Kari assured them. “Merely set it, and the Great Mother will heal it in a matter of hours.”

  It wasn’t exactly the truth of the matter, but no one argued – certainly not Sakkrass. They snapped the bone back into place, drawing a h
owling bark from Kari, but soon the wound was splinted and wrapped. She remained on her posterior, though, letting others come to her to give her thanks or reports on the state of things. The people of Haestronn were excited, but terrified at the same time. Kari had brought war to their village, and the encounter with The Vandrasse had not built much confidence in them.

  “Did you really kill Prince Fesarri?” one of the elestram soldiers asked when he returned. The people looked at him suspiciously, but he drew his weapons out and laid them at Kari’s feet. That seemed to appease them to some degree, and as the other soldiers returned from freeing the prisoners, they did likewise.

  “I did,” Kari answered. “Along with a younger prince who did not live long enough to give me his name. Saovonn is free for the time being, but they – like you – are in danger. I think it would be best if all of you gathered what you could and traveled with me to Gaeshokk. If Prince Amnastru has abandoned that town, we will make our stand there, and begin our march north to free our people. But I cannot do this alone; I can kill the princes, but that will not free you. Along with that, you must show you are more trouble than it is worth for a childless king to try to control.”

  “How can we trust these ones?” asked another of the townsfolk, gesturing to the soldiers.

  The elestram soldier answered, “We chose your side. No doubt The Vandrasse will report all of this to Prince Amnastru, if not to the king himself.”

  “Have we not fought amongst our own for long enough?” Kari asked, struggling to her feet. She wanted to stand on her own, but considering what she was in the process of saying, she accepted all the help that was offered, from townsperson and soldier alike. “We are all brothers and sisters, children of Be’shatha. The Overking may call it a crime to speak her name or speak of her at all, but this does not mean we cannot still treat each other as siblings. Let us pool our strength, and fight together, and cast off the chains of the Cobra Lord.”