by Joe Jackson
“You will do no such thing!” the prince yelled. “If you destroy one more building or take one more life apart from my father’s enemies, I will see to it that you are the one he skins alive in front of his court! If you cannot best these two, then retreat and take word back to my father that you have failed – AGAIN!”
“You would order me?” the succubus shrieked. “You will not survive to tell any tales. I will see to it that you are left under the rubble to be picked at by scavengers along with all these others – especially these two!”
“Last offer, Your Highness,” Kari said over her shoulder. “Kill her and I’ll see to it they let you go free.”
“With pleasure,” the prince said, his eyes set in narrowed fury.
The people weren’t happy, but their anger was directed more at The Vandrasse than at the prince. As soon as he was free from the throng that had held him backed up against a wall, he raised a hand and called forth stony arms from the cobblestone street to grasp at the succubus’ legs. She tried to cast something at him, but the tattoos up his arms began to glow, and whatever she had tried was blocked. Kari knew she was a canny caster, though, and would resort to area effects once direct assaults failed.
“You are about to learn a one-time lesson, you ignorant whore,” the prince hissed. “This is my father’s realm, and I am his prince! You are but a soldier. You dare raise your hand to or threaten me? Your service to my father ends here!”
The prince’s tattoos weren’t the only ones that began to glow in some fashion. The black dragons adorning The Vandrasse began to writhe and take on a life of their own, seemingly swimming in the blood that streaked her body. She spoke in low tones, “Fool. You are a reptile, and I am the master of reptiles. You bow to my will.”
The prince stopped his approach. Kari was about to yell some words of encouragement, strange as it felt, but didn’t get the chance. All that came forth was a gasp of shock as the prince lifted his blade and shoved it through his own chest. He missed his heart, but it mattered little as all the strength drained from his body and he collapsed, the blade still embedded in his armor and flesh. Kari rushed over to him; she couldn’t have explained why if anyone had asked.
Seanada, by contrast, let forth a scream of fury and charged at her mother. The succubus used a short-range teleport to appear up on the nearest rooftop, from which she looked down at the gathering. It felt disgustingly familiar to the stalemate in Haestronn, and apparently, she felt the same way as Kari and Seanada did looking up at her.
“Enjoy fighting off their dead,” she said, calling forth her arcane power. “I will see you in two days, with Prince Amnastru by my side and a legion at my back. King Sekassus will never get the pleasure of taking your life, for I claim that as my right.”
She disappeared once again in a sorcerous display, and there was a terrified chorus of cries from the beshathan people as the dead began to rise. It was bad enough to see desiccated old corpses rise under necromantic power, but to see recently slain women and children begin to rise made Kari want to vomit again. She took in a deep breath, reached back into her mind, and brought forth that little voice of power.
“Sleep, my brothers and sisters,” she said, almost not of her own accord. Fortunately, she remembered there were true demons in the area, and she avoided saying anything that could be construed as treasonous to the Overking. “Return to the embrace of peaceful slumber.”
She stretched out the arcane power to its limits. Instead of falling lifelessly back to the ground, the dead curled up as if going to sleep. It was as much as Kari could do, but it didn’t feel like enough. It didn’t feel like anything. She let forth a biting sob, but then turned her stare down upon the fallen prince, slowly dying with a sucking chest wound. Kari knelt beside him and put her hand over the wound, but it was far beyond her power to heal, and honestly, she had little reason to do so.
“She was…sworn to never…use that power…against a royal,” the prince rasped through bloody lips. “Should have…never trusted her. Then again, there…were a…great many…things Father should have…never done. Forgive me, vulkinastra…”
He held his hand up to her with what little strength he had left, and Kari took hold of it. She leaned down and whispered in his ear. “If you are a child of Ashakku, then ask him for his forgiveness. I am but an instrument; I hold no power to forgive.”
He nodded and started to speak again, but it came out as gibberish. It wasn’t even the syrinthian tongue; he was simply so out of his mind he couldn’t properly speak. The last few attempts at words came out in a bloody, gurgling sigh, and the life left his eyes while Kari knelt beside him and watched. Another of Sekassus’ children was dead, but this one didn’t bring Kari any sense of accomplishment or pride. All she felt was tired, dirty, and far too bloody.
This is war, she thought. And this is the price we pay for freedom.
Many of the beshathans and syrinthians were seeing to their dead, but when Kari looked up from the prince’s corpse, she saw that most of them were kneeling and waiting upon her. She got to her feet, and all eyes came back to her. Kari sighed, paced a little bit, and wondered just what she should say. What could she say? These people hadn’t just lost soldiers or even fighting males, they had lost women and children, too. The sounds of sobbing and crying surrounded her, and Kari didn’t think any words would do this situation justice.
“Forgive me; I brought this upon you,” she said at last.
“Is it true?” called one of the mallasti males hovering over a fallen loved one. “Is King Emanitar truly coming to aid us in your overthrow?”
Excited chatter broke out everywhere around them, but all eyes remained on Kari. “Yes, it is,” she answered. “My task is to kill Prince Amnastru. When that is done, I will defer to King Emanitar to lead your people to victory over Sekassus, and the freedom to become the Spotted Lion’s people. I’m sorry to say, but unless you choose to remain under Sekassus’ rule, the fight does not end here today. There is more blood and death to come. If you wish to avoid it, please, leave the city and head north. It will not be held against you. You’ve suffered enough.”
“Yes, we have,” growled an elestram as he stood up. Seanada moved before Kari defensively, but the jackal-man made no move to attack. “He has set loose a demoness to attack and kill our women and children, and now his servants murder his own children! What sort of a ruler is this? Let Prince Amnastru come; I will stand and fight with you, lady.”
“Leave the prince to me. The true fight, however, will be won with words and hearts,” Kari said, weariness threatening to ruin her train of thought. “The legion that will come with Amnastru – they are your brothers and sisters. We must convince them to join the fight, and then when King Emanitar comes, our numbers will only continue to swell.”
“You must also harness your most practiced arcane adepts and prepare them to neutralize The Vandrasse should she return,” Seanada added. “You must not give her another opportunity to turn our syrinthian brothers and sisters against us.”
The wariness left many of the eyes; the mere mention of The Vandrasse’s power over the serpentine folk seemed to ease all the anger that had bubbled up before the brawl. No one here looked like they maintained any loyalty to Sekassus, but Kari didn’t take that as fact. Not yet. There was a lot of work to be done, but first…
“Come, let us get you cleaned up, fed, and rested,” said the syrinthian priestess who had helped get Kari back on her feet. “My home is just a short distance up the main road here. You may bring any number of our beshathan neighbors if you harbor any doubts about my loyalty.”
Kari scoffed. “You saved my life, and many others with it. I will come with you.”
“We cannot properly take care of our dead with these servants of the Overking about,” the priestess said. “It will have to be done privately, and mostly in our hearts.”
Kari nodded. “I have one favor to ask,” she said, gaining most of the citizens’ attention again. �
��Do not defile the prince’s corpse. He did what he thought was the right thing in the end. Give him the honor of a proper burial, or however his kind are normally sent off.”
“It shall be done as you ask, sister,” the syrinthian woman said, and she gestured for some of her servants to do as requested. With a final sigh, she waved for Kari and Seanada to accompany her, and set off to the north along the main road. Kari paused only long enough that her hesitance gained the people’s attention once more.
“Epaxa chi’pri,” she said, and was echoed by hundreds of voices.
*****
Kari stayed awake just long enough to bathe and have a proper meal. The home of her syrinthian host was immaculate, its walls, floors, and ceilings a sparkling white. She thought of the woman as a priestess due to her ability to heal, but nothing in the home suggested it was so. It seemed far more likely she was a potter, her domicile decorated with porcelain vases, flatware, and decorative items. It was such a stark contrast to the homes Kari had visited since her arrival here – or even during her prior visits to Mehr’Durillia.
The syrinthian woman, Vrissi, didn’t bother Kari or Seanada with questions. She cooked them a meal, allowed them both to use her bath chamber, and offered her own bed for either or both to get some rest. Seanada, of course, declined sleep, intent on standing guard while Kari got her rest. After getting cleaned up and enjoying a steamed fish dinner, Kari did just that. She cast all her concerns by the wayside, trusting in her faithful companion, and let her body and mind heal.
She had hoped and prayed before she settled down to sleep that she might experience one of the spectral visits either to or from one of her divine benefactors. Even Zalkar, who she now had a direct connection to as Avatar of Vengeance, had been unusually silent in the last couple of weeks. Busy as she was, Kari hardly noticed, but with a fight looming against Prince Amnastru, she wanted to be sure all their interests were aligned – gods, Kari, and their allies.
She received no such blessing, but when she woke, her mind was completely clear. The house was dark and silent as a tomb, only the soft glow of Seanada’s eyes showing in the gloom. It was hard to tell what time it was, but it was dark outside, and when Kari started to turn over, she realized the syrinthian woman was asleep beside her. The demonhunter got out of bed as quietly as possible, and Seanada followed her from the bedroom.
“He’s going to be here today,” Kari whispered.
“Prince Amnastru?” the assassin asked with a cocked brow.
The demonhunter nodded. “With those beasts of burden, he can get here in a day, and I can feel it: he’ll have left Yugava the moment The Vandrasse told him I was here. He’s on his way, if not here already. This is it, Seanada. The entire plan hinges on us being able to kill him. If we fail, King Emanitar might still be able to conquer Sorelizar, but the price is going to be much higher.”
“We will not fail,” the assassin said confidently. “These princes have been calling down every considerable power they have, and none have managed to strike you down. Strangely, it is my mother who has struck the greatest blows against us, and yet I do not think she will set foot here again. She has made enemies of this entire city. We will have our reckoning with her, as you said, but I do not think it will come soon. She will watch and wait, and attempt to strike at you when you least expect it.”
“Terrific,” Kari muttered.
They sat and waited for the dawn, and Vrissi rose and made them breakfast. Kari was thankful that she didn’t get sick this time. It was as if her body had passed the point of anxiety by so much that it had become numb. Whatever the case, she didn’t much care: she didn’t feel frazzled, her mind was clear of any haze from the prior day, and she could keep her food down. Small blessings added up quickly.
“Lady, what do you know of the prophecy that King Sekassus received that makes him kill my kind?” Kari asked their host when the meal was finished.
“Hmm? Oh, not much, sadly,” Vrissi answered. “As I understand it, it is a long and complicated tale, not a prophetic reading as we consider them. Most of it is long forgotten, for the king focuses solely on the latter portion. Therein, it is detailed that a vulkinastra would bring death to his doorstep, and she would bring about his deposition. He has slain your kind ever since, in the hopes of avoiding just this – just what you have done.”
“Anything you can tell me of Prince Amnastru?”
The syrinthian woman took a sip of tea and sighed. “Only that he is very, very powerful. Do not let this concern you. If you truly have the might of King Emanitar behind you, it is most unlikely you will face Prince Amnastru alone. A great deal of pain and death were dealt to the people of this city yesterday, and it may well be that Prince Amnastru pays restitution with his own blood. It will mean a high cost in the blood of our people as well, but after what happened yesterday, they may not care.”
“Are you a priestess?”
“Me? Oh, no. I have been but a humble potter and shopkeeper since the death of my husband. There is no priestly blood in my family, and never has been.”
“But you healed me yesterday,” Kari insisted. Vrissi drew away with concern, but Kari reached across and laid her furry hand atop the syrinthian woman’s. “You are the only reason yesterday wasn’t a total disaster. If I slay Amnastru and these people know freedom, it will be because of you.”
“If you were healed, my lady, it was not me, but my god, Ashakku. You call out the words of the beshathans in epaxa chi’pri; the light from without has many sources. We may not be allowed to speak our creators’ names in public for fear of the demons and their Overking, but many of us have faith regardless. I have not, and never will abandon my faith in Ashakku.”
Kari wanted to spill everything and tell the woman that she was technically Sakkrass’ daughter, but she had to keep that tucked away. It could only damage her cause at this point. But the woman’s declaration of faith stoked the flame in Kari’s heart. Ashakku’s faith was still alive and well here on Mehr’Durillia, as limited and subjugated as the syrinthian population might be. That led Kari to wonder if they might be common elsewhere, in other realms, but those were questions for another time.
“And your faith has served you well. Served us all well,” Kari finally said.
Vrissi nodded. “If you truly plan to stand and fight Prince Amnastru, I would advise you to go out and begin preparing now. If he was stationed nearby in Yugava as Prince Massu said, then he will arrive today. He will seek to strike the head from the rebellion before he turns his father’s might upon the invading King Emanitar. Go. Should you need me, you have but to ask, my mallasti sister. Go and do what must be done.”
Kari got dressed and armed and left the house with Seanada. The city streets were quiet and nearly empty in the hours of dawn. Kari could only imagine the nights of fitful, restless sleep the people had gotten. She recalled the first few weeks after Grakin had died: Kari had dreamt of him often, usually scenarios of losing him somehow, and her sleep would be sweaty and oft-interrupted. She thought of Seanada’s lesson and of the Wraith’s tale: how the mallasti and elestram females only went into season once every century or so, and how devastating it must be for them to lose children. And then she felt more keenly for Cestriana and Amalikor for the death of Uldriana.
If only they could receive some boon, like the czarikk after I killed Ressallk, she thought. Sakkrass had blessed his people with a second season for their females after they had lost their children at the hands of the serpentine prince. Still, that was on Citaria, where Be’shatha’s holy siblings still had some power. Here, though, subjugated as Mehr’Durillia was, Kari didn’t think there was any way such a boon could come to pass. Not until they reawakened Be’shatha.
Those awake and about bowed respectfully toward Kari as she passed through the streets. She walked the city, trying to get a feel for this battleground for the coming fight. She had the feeling that no fight with Amnastru would be so straightforward as to take place toe-to-toe in one spot.
She thought of her many games of chess with King Koursturaux, of setting her moves up well in advance while anticipating those of her opponent. She may not have ever come close to beating the demon king, but she had learned a lot.
What I’d really like are my weapons, though.
One more fight. One more intense, life-or-death struggle was all that stood between her and being able to shed this shape-changed form, as much as she’d grown accustomed to and even appreciative of it. Only the death of Prince Amnastru remained before she could go home and be with her children and family again. How she looked forward to that: to playing with Little Gray and Uldriana, taking some time away from her job, and making sure she was a mother to her children and not a stranger that came home to put them to bed.
Seanada looked at Kari every so often, so she made certain to smile. The half-syrinthian was apparently as attuned to the feelings of others as Kari’s empathic sister-in-law, and the roil of emotions in Kari’s heart must have been registering like an alarm bell. Only then did it occur to Kari that she had a question to ask her friend.
“Do you want to stay here with your family when we’re done?”
Seanada considered the question. “What was the Wraith’s directive, did he tell you?”
“He said the choice was yours.” The assassin grimaced, and Kari chuckled. It was always easier to let someone else make a tough decision. She put her hand to Seanada’s shoulder and said, “Stay, then. Spend some time with your family while I spend time with mine. He said you can return to my side when you’re ready.”
“And this sits well with you?”
“Being apart from mine makes me appreciate my family more and more each time,” Kari answered. “So yes, it will sit well with me if you choose to spend time with yours.”
“Very well, then. I will return to your side in a few weeks’ time, assuming my Master does not require something else of me before then.”
“Of course.”
