The Huntresses' Game

by Joe Jackson

  “Good afternoon,” Kari greeted them with the Order’s salute, tapping her fist over her heart as she bowed her head. “Karian Vanador, Hand of Zalkar, by his grace. I’m on a hunt, and wondered if I might trouble you for some information.”

  “A Hand of Zalkar? Gods above,” the sergeant remarked to the lieutenant.

  “Lieutenant Pascoe, at your service, ma’am,” he said by way of introduction. “This is Sergeant Hoskins. What can we help you with?”

  “Well frankly, lieutenant, I haven’t been on Terrassia in a few years. Is there anything major going on that we should know about?”

  “Other than tensions running high in Aurun Ch’Gurra, things are fairly quiet. The north is as wild as always, ma’am, and the elves still don’t like visitors. Apart from that, I can’t think of anything that might affect your hunt.”

  “So there hasn’t been any trouble with demons, vampires, or anything of that sort?” Kari prodded.

  The two men exchanged a look. “Not that we’ve heard about, ma’am,” the lieutenant answered. “If there’s trouble of the sort that you’re here to fight, then you may want to talk to the more regional governments. Little of note has happened anywhere near our city here, and as you may know, we are not affiliated with any of the major kingdoms. If they’re having issues, you’ll need to ask them or find talkative travelers and merchants from other areas.”

  Kari nodded. “What about the Red Mask? Are they still around?”

  The sergeant pointed up the main road. “Their headquarters are just off the main square. Can’t miss it, ma’am. Building has stylized red masks painted on both sides of the front door.”

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Aeligos, anything you wanted to ask?”

  “What’s going on in Aurun Ch’Gurra?” the rogue asked.

  “Ah, the usual troubles with the nobility, I think,” Lieutenant Pascoe answered. “Too many noble families and powerful factions for one monarch to keep them all in check, if you ask me. But if you want specifics, I’m afraid you’ll need to follow the same methods I already told you about.”

  “Thanks,” Aeligos said.

  Kari saluted the men again, and they returned their military salutes and waved for the guards to let the two through the gate without delay. “We have no time to investigate whatever’s going on in Aurun Ch’Gurra, and it’s really not our responsibility,” Kari said as they walked toward the main square of the city.

  “Oh, I know. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t something to do with Annabelle,” Aeligos answered.

  “Hmm, hadn’t even considered that.”

  They found the headquarters of the Red Mask as easily as the sergeant had suggested. The building was large, suggesting that the guild wasn’t just still around, but doing quite well for itself. During Kari’s prior life, the Red Mask was an adventuring group of nearly a dozen self-proclaimed vampire hunters. The building that stood before her said that there were far more of them now, and that they were well-organized. It was entirely possible they were a farce now, more show than results, but Kari was hoping they would be the muscle she might need to finally take care of Annabelle.

  Kari mounted the steps and entered, the door unlocked. The entry floor was a gym, with practice dummies, weightlifting equipment, and sparring circles spread out across its breadth. Several men in boxing shorts and sleeveless shirts stopped their fisticuffs to look over, as did a pair of warriors dressed more like soldiers practicing their swordplay. In those brief moments of Kari taking in her surroundings, she got the feeling the adventuring company might be as large as its guildhall suggested.

  “Eugene! New recruits on deck!” one of the pugilists bellowed, and then he tagged his partner with a cheap shot right across the nose. There was some scattered swearing, and then the two began bludgeoning each other with renewed fury.

  Kari chuckled along with Aeligos, and they exchanged amused glances while they waited for Eugene to come greet them. There were footsteps coming down a staircase in the corner, a dark-skinned human warrior making an appearance. His short black hair and closely-trimmed beard were peppered with grey, but he was muscular and fit, like he could go and apply to the Demonhunter Order and be given serious consideration regardless of his age.

  “Glad to see my initial thought about them being a bunch of beer-swilling braggarts was wrong,” Aeligos whispered to Kari.

  Eugene approached, his brow furrowed. “Williams, you idiot. This is a demonhunter, she’s sure as hell not here to join us.” He offered his hand and shook with Kari and Aeligos. “Eugene Ingram, Major of the Red Mask, at your service. What can I help you with, ma’am?”

  “Karian Vanador, Hand of Zalkar, by his grace, and this is my companion, Aeligos.”

  “Karian Vanador? As in the Karian Vanador?”

  “Yea, that’s me,” Kari said, and all sparring around the gym went quiet. “I remember your company from back in my first life, so when I got an assignment to hunt a vampire, you folks were the first allies that came to mind.”

  “You’re going after Annabelle, aren’t you?” Williams the boxer asked as he approached.

  “That’s the plan,” Kari confirmed, eliciting some good-natured swears under the breath of the vampire hunters. “But the last I dealt with her was, well, in my prior life, so I was hoping for two things from you folks: updated information, and some muscle when it’s time to strike.”

  “She’s been the crowning achievement we’ve failed to complete for as long as this company has been together,” Eugene said. “We’ve lost more than a few men trying to take her down, root her out, or even just get her away from that black dragon she keeps as a pet.”

  “Or that keeps her as a pet,” Williams added.

  “So she’s still based up in Fort Sabbath?” Kari prodded.

  “Sure is. Why don’t you come up to the office, and I’ll show you our files about her? There’s not going to be a lot I can tell you that’ll prepare you for what you’re up against, but I’ll tell you what we know.”

  “You want us to come help?” Williams asked the Major.

  “No, you boys get back to training. If, uh…Lady Vanador is going after Annabelle, you’re going to need it more than ever. Ma’am, if you’ll come with me?”

  Kari and Aeligos followed the Major upstairs while the others got back to training. Kari watched for any cheap shots this time around, but the men behaved themselves, it seemed. The upper level of the building was barracks and offices, and Eugene led them to an efficient square room with a desk and one chair. He offered his chair to Kari and went to get two more from an adjacent office, and soon all three were seated around a simple oak desk. Eugene pulled some papers and drawings from a drawer and spread them across the top of the desk.

  Kari studied the drawings first, and was dismayed to see her old friend this way again. She was gaunt and terrifying in the drawings, though Kari wasn’t sure how much embellishing the artists did when rendering the images. Annabelle otherwise looked much like Kari recalled, wearing a breastplate and greaves, bracers, and carrying a pair of longswords. Annabelle had tried to emulate Kari’s fighting style, but they were usually too busy and didn’t spend enough time together for Kari to ever teach her. At least, that was what Kari had told herself.

  After Liria’s inquiry about why Kari had never taught any of her fellow hunters to use Tumureldi’s style, though, Kari began to question that. Part of her wondered if Annabelle might have survived fighting whatever turned her into a vampire – whether it had been Zaliskower, the black dragon, or not – had Kari just taught her to fight a little better. And she couldn’t think about that without wondering how many of her fellow hunters – particularly those who had fallen to the blades of the Demon Prince, Taesenus – might still be alive had Kari trained them.

  “So what do you know about Fort Sabbath?” Kari asked, breaking free of her thoughts. “The last I saw of it, there was an army stationed there, but that was almost two centuries ago. What sort of forces does Annabel
le have now?”

  “That is where our help to you is going to be limited,” Eugene said. “She knows our company well enough by now, her and that damned dragon. They sniff us out and attack us whenever we get too close, or if we try to marshal our forces to attack. Plenty of militias have tried to take the fight to them over the years, but not one has ever made it as far as the fort and had survivors to tell the tale. Thankfully, she and that dragon seem content to rule the fort and the area around it, and have never made any push to conquer additional territory. Whether that’s got to do with our resident silver dragon or not, I can’t say.”

  “Alamarise?” Kari prompted.

  There was silence for a moment, the stares of both men fixed firmly upon her. “Aye, so you know him?” Eugene asked at last.

  Aeligos seemed amused that Kari knew another dragon, but the demonhunter shook her head. “No, I don’t know him, but I’ve heard plenty about him. Worse comes to worst, I may go to him for help, too.”

  Eugene looked sideways at Kari and smirked. “Well, if you think your wings can take you that high up, good luck.” He laughed when he saw their reactions. “They say he lives in a castle up in the clouds, high over Emerald City. But no one’s ever gotten up there to see him. At least, not that I’ve ever heard of. You know dragons…all reclusive sorts.”

  “Well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, anyway,” Kari said. “My first goal is to get close enough to scout Fort Sabbath and see what we’re up against. Once I have an idea of what she has as far as soldiers and the condition of the fort, I’ll probably call upon the Red Mask, and maybe that dragon, and who knows what else. But you said your men have trouble getting near the fort?”

  “But she knows us pretty well,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get her for generations.”

  “True, but she was my partner once upon a time.”

  “Two hundred years ago?” Eugene asked, waving a hand. “Not to mention you live over on Askies these days, don’t you? She probably knows less about you than you do about her.”

  “We can hope,” Kari muttered. “Anything else you can tell us?”

  “We’ve been hearing about some trouble with gnolls to the north, but the knights of Dira Ch’Tori have been handling that, I think. Sometimes we get hired to take care of problems like that, but you know, the gnolls have a kingdom or nation or something down in the southeast. Last thing we want at this point is to garner a reputation as gnoll-hunters and end up at war with them. Or anyone else, for that matter. So we solve smaller problems where we can, but try not to get involved in anything political, or that could turn political.”

  “Heard anything about the problems in Aurun Ch’Gurra?” Aeligos queried.

  “Same story. Too political. And the shakna-rir empire is not to be trifled with. Now and then they call upon us for aid with undead problems…you know, minor necromancers and the like. But we stay far away from affairs of state.”

  “Ever have any problems with the reds of the Dragon Mountains anymore?” Kari asked.

  “Fireblade still lives there, still patrols the plains. None of the kingdoms claim anywhere near the mountains to avoid coming into conflict with her. And there’s another one that lives south of Aurun Ch’Gurra in those mountains. I think they call him DoomFire for short. Dragon names are usually nigh-unpronounceable. Nasty sorts, though from what I’ve heard of you, you gave ‘em what for way back when.”

  “Yes, well, I had a lot of help,” Kari said, suppressing a smile. “All right, we’re probably going to set out tomorrow morning toward Fort Sabbath. If things haven’t changed too much, I remember the city of Jade was closest to Fort Sabbath? How long would it take you to marshal your forces there if I need your help with Annabelle?”

  “I can send out messages this very day,” Eugene offered. “If you’re heading to the fort on foot, I figure we can probably marshal most of the company by the time you returned to Jade with your report. That’s about sixty or seventy men.”

  “That’s a good number, assuming she doesn’t have an entire army,” Aeligos said. “I don’t exactly have a lot of experience with them, but I figure sixty or seventy armed men will give even a dragon pause.”

  “And that’s really all I need…a distraction,” Kari said. “If I can just fight Annabelle, and kill her, the dragon might leave, or we can try a concerted effort to get rid of it altogether.”

  “But for now, we’re just scouting, yes?”

  “Absolutely,” Kari said. “This isn’t a suicide mission.”

  “Still, if you said Annabelle and the dragon usually sniff you out if you get too close, do you want to marshal your men in Jade so soon?” Aeligos asked of the Major.

  “No, we don’t, that’s true. I can at least send out messages asking the men to get ready to be called upon. We can wait for your preliminary report and then find a way to bring our forces to bear without sending up flares and other warning signals for our enemies.”

  “You probably just want to have your men get somewhat close, taking care of little issues in the areas around the fort in a wide circle. When the times comes, you send out word and tighten that circle like a noose.”

  Eugene smiled broadly at the rogue and rose to his feet. “Even the Colonel would be proud of that plan, I think. Well, good luck to you. I’ll get that message taken care of, and make sure the men are as quiet as they can be in encircling the fort. Won’t do to get there only to draw Annabelle’s attention bumbling around. Can I offer you two a place to stay?”

  Kari recalled the look of the barracks, and though she didn’t want to come across as a snob, neither did she want to bunk in a room full of strangers. Not when she needed a bath and time to talk to Aeligos. “We’re going to stay at the Pyre Peaks if it’s still around,” she said.

  “Oh, too fancy to stay with us grunts, eh?” he grumbled, but then he laughed. “Just kidding. Though I think you’ll find the ole Pyre Peaks is a lot classier than you remember.”

  “That’s okay, he’s paying,” Kari said, pointing at Aeligos.

  “Go with the gods,” Eugene said, gesturing toward the stairs back down. He showed Kari and Aeligos to the door, and waved a polite farewell as they left. Kari and Aeligos hadn’t even taken two steps away from the building before they heard Eugene hollering something to the men, and then a cheer broke out from within.

  “Gotta say, I feel a little better about this after that,” Aeligos admitted.

  “Easy money?” Kari teased.

  “Any idiot that bets against you is always an easy mark,” the rogue smirked.

  They walked to the main square, then up the north road a bit to where Kari remembered the Pyre Peaks being located from her prior life. It certainly looked more upscale than she recalled, but she still saw it the way it was in the past. It was the place she’d shared drinks with Seril; it was the place she had met Carly Bakhor for the first time; and it was where she had first met her erestram friend, Trigonh. It was the home of many of her most pleasant memories from her prior life, and she was looking forward to a stay there, though she mused that she’d much rather spent the night there with Grakin than Aeligos.

  The interior was set up like she remembered, but redone and much more pristine. Kari gazed across the room and the years, seeing her younger self sitting and talking with Carly and her companions over a drink. She could so easily picture the strapping, ten-foot Trigonh approaching her for the first time at the bar. And she could well remember the gorgeous, golden-eyed, snowy-locked terra-bengal form of Seril offering to buy her a drink in exchange for some conversation.

  “Bring back memories?” Aeligos asked.

  “You have no idea,” she answered, striding forward to take a seat at the bar.

  Even the barkeep was meticulously groomed and dressed, his service impeccable. Kari and Aeligos enjoyed a light dinner and a couple of drinks, and opted to share a room rather than waste money on separate accommodations. They took turns using the private bathtub, shared one more late-ni
ght drink, and then turned in for the night. Come the morning, they would be on their way to Fort Sabbath to scout the enemy.

  Chapter X – The Huntresses’ Game

  Kari dreamed of flying. The wind rushed past her face, heavy with the pall of smoke, but the sound of its caress was lost to that of her wings beating powerful blasts of air to keep her aloft. She rarely dreamed of flying since, in reality, she couldn’t. Her wings were sufficient to glide, but she weighed far too much to get airborne using them. She looked around for the source of the smoky smell, and then she heard the screams.

  Kari sat up quickly in bed and found Aeligos already getting dressed. “What’s going on?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Looks like a fire,” he said, and Kari noticed the brightness outside the window.

  She heard it, then: that heavy beat of massive, leathery wings. She hadn’t dreamt that, she realized, and she met Aeligos’ wide-eyed stare. “Dragon,” she breathed, on her feet in an instant to get her armor and sword belt on as quickly as possible.

  With Aeligos’ help, she was dressed in her paluric armor in just a couple of minutes. They rushed from the inn, its common room crowded with scared folk watching through the windows. The streets were utter chaos, screaming people running to and fro, silhouettes against the raging inferno that burned to the west. The city watch was yelling above the din, trying to organize a bucket brigade to begin combating the fire.

  Kari and Aeligos instinctively ducked as the thunderous rush of wings passed over them, a smashing wall of wind hitting their faces in the dragon’s wake. Its long, sinuous neck craned and unleashed another torrent of fire, igniting a two-story structure that the dragon must have understood would be much tougher to extinguish. It then arced up into the night sky, virtually invisible against the starry backdrop thanks to the cold ebon scales that encased it.