Duel With A Demoness (A Huntsman's Fate Book 2)

by Liam Reese

  Collise let herself be led, content to be guided for the time being. Branisi considered their plight and wondered when the king might return to deal with this situation. She hoped it would be soon but hadn’t received word from him for some time.

  “I haven’t really ever been good at making friends,” Collise said as she and Branisi sat down on a sofa. “I know I’m not the cleverest person in the city but why should that make a difference?”

  “It should not,” Branisi said.

  Despite the girl’s actions she sounded so sad that the housecarl felt a pang of sadness for her. It was obvious she was lonely, her harridan of a mother had more than likely kept her in a virtual prison her whole life and now she was free Collise probably thought she should be able to have all the things she wanted.

  “When I told the people in the market that Tiernon was my father they shouted at me, told me to go away. Why?”

  Her eyes searched Branisi’s face earnestly looking for an answer and the housecarl realized no one had bothered to tell her what her father had been like.

  “Have you ever heard about your father?” She asked. “What he was like?”

  Collise shook her head.

  “Ah, well there is no nice way to put this but he was a very bad person,” Branisi nearly choked on her own understatement. “He killed many of his own people and did despicable things to others. You realize he forced himself on your mother to get you?”

  “I knew that,” Collise said in a small voice, “but not the other things.” Her face screwed up in thought. “So people hate me because Tiernon was evil?”

  “That’s part of it,” Branisi said, cursing her words as soon as she uttered them.

  “What else is there?” Collise demanded with a furrowed brow. “Why do they love King Besmir and not me?”

  “The thing is...” Branisi started. “The King is...he has done many things for Gazluth. Good things that have made people’s lives better and helped the whole country grow. Understand?”

  Collise nodded eagerly her face alight with childish glee.

  “Yes, I understand,” she said. “I understand we should throw a big party, invite everyone in the city for food, drink and dancing.” Collise stood and twirled. “And I’ll pay for it all!”

  Besmir could no more begin to understand the workings of northern Boranash than he could attempt to decipher the female mind. Until now the weather had been almost unbearably hot, sapping the strength and will of even the Corbondrasi brothers who lived here. The last day had brought cold winds and torrents of rain that caused flash flooding over massive areas. He looked on in dismay as an inch of water deepened until a completely new lake had formed before them. Rivers that had not been there a few hours previously, feeding into the proto-lake and swelling it.

  Even then he had tried to push them on, tried to continue his hunt for Porantillia but the very land around them conspired to stop their progress. Again he was shown how well the daasnu had adapted to life in this land as their large feet spread their weight out making it possible for them to traverse the boggy ground. The horses, on the other hand, began to get stuck in deepening mud as the rain continued to fall. They were forced to stop and dig hooves from the sucking earth as icy rain beat down on them.

  “I can’t do this,” Arteera said as she shivered uncontrollably atop her daasnu. “If I freeze to death what good am I to Joranas?”

  Besmir swore beneath his breath.

  “Ask if the Trin brothers can find us shelter!” He called to Founsalla Pira who had wrapped himself in a deeply hooded cloak.

  Besmir carried on laboring to pull one of their recalcitrant horses free as Pira whistled and tweeted back and forth with the Corbondrasi.

  Half an hour later they were all huddled in a small cave, horses and daasnu included. The ceiling was low and conditions were cramped but they were dry and free of the sucking mud that plagued every step. Besmir’s only solace lie in the fact that if they were having a hard time, Porantillia would be even worse off on foot.

  What little dry items they could pile between them was set alight and everyone there held their hands out to the small blaze in an attempt to absorb some heat. Besmir smiled at the odd selection of palms, some with feathers, others without as he shivered beside his wife.

  “Cal Trin seems to think this will be over by the morning and suggests we take as much rest as we can until then,” Pira translated. “I was aware the weather could be fickle up here but not to such an extent.”

  Besmir nodded and pulled some fresh clothing from his pack, stripping his wet attire off and changing into the welcoming warmth. Arteera lay staring into the glowing embers of the fire, mesmerized, so he left her with her thoughts and moved to the mouth of the cave, staring out at the rain swept plains before him.

  Showers of raindrops swept over the surface of the standing water as he watched, creating patterns almost as hypnotizing as those his wife studied. His eyes followed the path of a floating bush as it drifted across the floodplain, twisting and turning in the current and wind before disappearing from his sight.

  “I hate this land,” he said as Zaynorth approached from behind.

  “There is beauty here,” the old man grunted, “yet it comes at a high price,” he added holding his hand out to the rain swept landscape. “I have some concerns,” he said after a few moments silence.

  Besmir turned, fixing his old friend with a look of half amusement.

  “You have concerns?” he said in a tone of disbelief. “I have more than a few myself. Go on then, let me have them.”

  Zaynorth scowled at Besmir for a moment, not appreciating his tone but made nothing of it as he spoke.

  “I have no idea what we are actually doing out here,” he started. “Are we trying to rescue Joranas or after Porantillia?”

  “Both,” Besmir said. “Next?”

  “What are you planning to do to Porantillia if you actually catch up with her?”

  “I really don’t know,” Besmir said. “If I come up with something I’ll be sure to let you in on it.”

  “None of this is my fault you realize?” Zaynorth snapped. “So moderate your tone, boy.”

  Besmir felt the sting of his words before he smiled and allowed a little laugh.

  “I’m sorry old friend,” he said. “These things have been plaguing me for a while now and I still don’t have the answers. I desperately want Joranas back but I also know Porantillia must be stopped. Yet to stop her must I end Keluse? Is Keluse already doomed? Gone? And what does Porantillia want that’s all the way out here any way?”

  Zaynorth shrugged, his face becoming passive again.

  “I doubt you’re likely to approve of this but what about attempting to seek the Gods for advice?”

  Besmir felt bleakness creep into his soul. What would the point of that be? The Gods were ineffectual, powerless against Porantillia. He shook his head.

  “No. If anything is to be done I think it’s down to us,” he murmured.

  The pair fell silent until Besmir turned to his old friend.

  “Do you think people speak to Vi Rhane the way you just spoke to me?”

  Zaynorth grinned and turned his back on his king.

  True to his prediction the rain ceased overnight and by the time the silver, pre-dawn, light had spread over the land, the surface water had drained away. It was still a few hours until the knee deep mud was dry enough to walk over and by that time the air had grown hot and humid.

  Besmir stared out of the cave in wonder, however, when his eyes took in the sight that greeted him. Where there had been a foot of standing water the day before, the desert was now a riot of color with billions of small flowers all vying for the kiss of an insect to pollinate them.

  “Come look at this, love,” he called to Arteera, his voice a quiet whisper.

  She joined him and he heard a little gasp escape her throat as she took in the sight.

  Every color imaginable was represented by the little flowers,
patches of them flowing into other patches of color with blue and red mingling and purple flowers sprouting between. An orange and yellow section was so vividly bright it looked as if the sun was rising again just before them. Flies and even butterflies drifted from flower to flower doing their job of pollinating them as they filled up on the sweet nectar the flowers offered.

  “It is beautiful,” Arteera breathed, her hand creeping into his.

  Besmir said nothing, turning to study her face as she stared out at the floral display nature had created. His heart still beat a little faster when he looked at her and he felt enormously grateful for that fact.

  “We should be off,” he said, squeezing her fingers gently.

  Besmir was surprised to discover the ground was virtually as hard as it had been before all the rain and they made good time, heading northeast towards the base of a mountain range, the largest of which spouted smoke and ash into the air.

  “Mount Ashod,” Pira said. “Lies on the border with Aristulia.”

  The sight of the grumbling volcano spurred Besmir on, knowing they were within sight of the strange country where his son was supposedly being held. By midday it looked barely any closer to his eyes and he slumped in his saddle, an air of defeat draping itself around his shoulders.

  The following day brought them close to the base of the mountain. Gray soil saturated with sulphurous waters rendered the ground completely devoid of any life while geysers and hot springs jetted either warm or boiling water dozens of feet into the air. Besmir felt the sting of hot water on his face as the wind brought some of the hot spray to him and wondered how hot it must be coming from the ground to still scald him now. Some of the earth was jagged with rock while just a few feet away lie soggy bogs that had to be skirted for fear of losing a horse. All the while they were being gradually coated with a fine layer of ash and grit from the rumbling monster beside them.

  Besmir saw the danger just before it hit them.

  Porantillia strode on through the deluge. The rain didn’t bother her in the least, a simple flex of her power and Keluse’s body would be restored. Plus, the woman was waterproof so what did it matter if her clothing was wet? Still, the hot water at the base of the mountain felt pleasant against her skin and brought memories flooding to the surface of Keluse’s mind.

  Porantillia watched as a younger Keluse lowered herself into a hot tub, relaxing in the water until someone else, a man, joined her. She examined the feelings of apprehension and desire Keluse had had at the time, unable to understand them.

  Speak of this.

  No. It’s private.

  Porantillia laughed.

  Nothing remains private between thee and I any longer. Why did thee fear this man and want him simultaneously?

  If we haven’t got any secrets you should know. Keluse thought stubbornly.

  Porantillia felt one of her eyebrows rise. This was truly galling. Before her incarceration within the absence she had borne virtually limitless power. To manipulate the mind of such a simple creature as this would have been the work of a thought. Now forced to share the body of that simple creature she found herself powerless to affect it in any way and that limitation brought anger.

  She flashed through Keluse’s memories, searching for anything that she might be able to use as a lever to force her to explain. Eventually the Goddess settled on an intimate memory, playing the scene over and over in an attempt to embarrass Keluse.

  Sadness rose in her chest, making Porantillia’s throat close as she walked between the hot springs and she reached up to hook a tear down from her eye.

  Why?

  I loved him more than life. Keluse thought.

  Porantillia rifled through Keluse’s memories of Ranyor and saw the moment when Besmir had explained he had perished at the hands of Tiernon. Porantillia frowned as the feelings of despair, grief, loneliness, loss and misery pulled at her afresh. Keluse’s feelings affected Porantillia this time and she didn’t like them at all.

  Besmir again. Porantillia thought. Thy mate perished as a result of Besmir.

  Porantillia watched as Keluse looked through her memories then, seeing into her plans to control Tiernon in order to bring him to the absence and inhabit his body as she had done to Besmir.

  Tiernon murdered my husband. Keluse spat the thought at Porantillia. But you drove him mad with your demons and that damned altar! You killed Ranyor. No one else.

  Porantillia felt blazing hatred explode through her from Keluse. A raging torrent of negativity all aimed at her. Her face fell as she realized she had caused this to be and a minute part of her began to consider how many others she had hurt in her vengeful quest.

  Her pondering brought her to the far side of the volcano and the rough transition between Boranash and Aristulia. There was nothing to mark the border between the countries, no marker stone or signpost yet the feelings that sprung up within the Goddess signaled everything she needed to know.

  Warmth spread through her and not from Keluse. Satisfaction swelled within her when she saw the land she had started to cleanse so long ago. A shiver of trepidation followed this as the recollection of the four children of Gratallach had appeared to seal her in the ice cold nothing of the absence.

  “Not this time,” she said aloud. “Thee hast nothing to bind me with on this occasion.”

  “Run!” Besmir screamed as the creatures charged for the small party.

  He wheeled Teghime, drawing the blade that hung at his side as he was far too close for his bow, and slashed at the fist beast that neared.

  “Oskapi!” he heard Zaynorth bellow. “How can there be?”

  Yet the semi-human creatures were there and in number. Blunt faces with flattened noses and inch long, yellow tusks that jutted from their lower jaws. He heard his wife scream when she saw them lumbering towards her, the shrill sound whipped away by the wind. The shock of impact jarred his upper arm when his sword bit into the shoulder of the lead creature.

  Besmir stared directly into the creature’s eyes when his blow landed, clashing deeply into the muscle. Pain exploded across the thing’s brutish face and it bellowed an oddly human scream. Besmir recalled the story Herofic had told them about how these animals had once been men and how they had murdered the only woman Zaynorth had ever loved. He cast a quick glance at his old friend as he dodged between the beasts. The illusion mage wore an expression of disgust and anger at the appearance of the Oskapi, but a sword had appeared in his hand and he was making sure Arteera was protected.

  Oskapi flowed at them, at least twenty in number, some female. Each carried some kind of crude club or even the large bone of something they had killed or found. Their grunts and excited squeals rang in his ears as they chased him down. He thrust the blade of his sword at a second creature, lancing it in the throat and sending it tumbling down in front of the others. A few stumbled over their dying comrade but soon rejoined the chase.

  In a desperate bid to try and turn the tide, Besmir threw his mind at one of the Oskapi. It was filled with a savage joy. Driven by the need to kill and smash, the thing was capable of rational thought and Besmir shied away from the thing as soon as the image of Keluse came to him.

  Porantillia! I should have known.

  As he re-entered his body something slammed into his shoulder knocking him from the back of Teghime to land painfully on the ground. Breath refused to enter his lungs as he rolled on the floor and all he could see was legs. One of the Oskapi kicked him in the ribs as it ran past but another paused, half a tree raised in both hands ready to smash the life from him. A light brown blur shot over the top of him, the deep bellow of a growl exploding from its throat as it smashed into the Oskapi. Teghime sank her teeth into the thing’s thick neck, ripping through skin, muscle and cartilage, blood spraying as she bore it to the ground.

  Struggling to his feet the King of Gazluth turned to see Col and Cal Trin, along with Founsalla Pira, charging towards the Oskapi. His heart swelled to see them coming to his aid but he also
knew they did not stand a chance against the ravening monsters, especially driven by whatever madness Porantillia had installed in them.

  Fire leaped from his hands flowing over the nearest Oskapi and making them scream horribly. Both dropped to the ground in an attempt to douse the flames searing their skin but Besmir would not allow it and they died in horrible agony. Lightning flashed into another three, felling them as Besmir turned his attention to them. The trio fell writhing to the ground shaking and fitting with the electricity flowing through them. Some of the following Oskapi paused, staring at their fallen comrades with dismay when they saw them twitching on the floor.

  The Trin brothers and Pira slammed into the stationary creatures, stabbing and slashing at them as they stood there apparently confused. Besmir realized his attack and murder of their comrades had shocked them out of whatever spell Porantillia had put on them.

  “Hold!” He cried when he realized the fight had gone out of them.

  At the same time as his order rang across the earth one of the Oskapi lashed out with her club. A half hearted blow it nonetheless caught Col Trin on the temple hard enough to knock him from his horse to land hard on the ground. Besmir stared at the Corbondrasi as he lay there not moving, a pool of blood spreading rapidly across the earth.

  Cal Trin screamed when he saw his brother fall. He threw himself from his daasnu, hurling his sword at the Oskapi that had attacked his brother. It bounced off the creature harmlessly and stuck in the soil. The Oskapi glanced at it absently before stooping to grab at one of her fallen comrades.

  Besmir watched the creatures as they cleared their dead, astounded by the fact they did it. He realized they were far more man than animal and must have feelings for their dead. One passed by close to where he stood, ignoring him completely in order to scoop up the charred remains of one of his tribe. Besmir watched the play of muscles beneath the thing’s skin as he moved. With their dead supported between them the strange humanoids shuffled back the way they had come.

  Besmir turned his attention to the fallen Corbondrasi, pounding over to where his brother knelt beside the feathered man.