He trailed off. Silence.
“Why did you kill Digby?” I finally asked, breaking the silence.
He spoke without turning. I approached closer, not knowing why. He smelled like pipe tobacco and Old Spice. He must have started smoking again.
“Because I could. Because I’d grown bored of him. Because he tried to harm me. Because he disrespected me.”
He paused. “Or because I’d decided that it was time to end the charade.”
“You were never really his servant, were you?”
He looked at me, a hint of a smirk on his lips, and then turned back to the city.
“Why didn’t you kill me?” I asked.
A gust of wind caught my coat. It did nothing to his hair or suit.
“There was nothing to be proud of in victory over you. I delight in a challenge. A fight with you, a mortal, was not fair.”
“Well, thanks for the affirmation.”
He turned towards me, and his expression was stern.
“Do not misunderstand me, hunter. You are greater than most of your kind. A broken soul…perhaps, no longer. Broken once but forged anew. Stronger, this time. But as strong as it can get, you will never be able to defeat me.”
He looked away.
“No one can.”
The question had been on the tip of my tongue for a while, but finally, I asked it.
“Who…who are you?”
He smiled, showing a row of white teeth.
“A wonderful question. One with many answers. One that could easily be answered with a word. A name. But a name is such a powerful thing. Yet so weak. With it, you can control. You can destroy. It is our greatest vulnerability. But…it is also the source of our pride. We want the ages to know our name. To know of our existence. We want to etch our names onto eternity. For all to see. Yet, if we do so, we risk everything.”
He stared out for a few seconds. “But that is what makes it so interesting a thing. Something to be proud of. For something is only worth it if you can lose it. And the greatest folly only comes from the greatest accomplishments.”
We gazed out over the city for moments more. Moments turned to minutes. The sun shifted its position across the blue sky.
“Digby was not the only one,” the demon finally said. “There are others moving in the dark. You heard him speak to them before his death.”
“What do they want?”
“To play God.” He shrugged. “To shape reality to their whims. What else do we all want?”
I glared at him, only thinly realising the danger of that. He only laughed.
“That expression. That is why I didn’t kill you.”
His stern expression returned.
“The enemies in the shadows are numerous. Even I do not know the extent of their reach. Step carefully. Digby may have failed to awaken Adamastor to achieve his religious fantasies, but there are others who are much smarter and more capable. They are coming.”
“I’ll stop them.”
The demon stared at me, impassive, before a grin lit up his face.
“I’m sure you will.”
He walked forward, towards the edge. I did not move.
“That is all I can answer.”
“Can, or will?”
He turned, with a mischievous smile.
“I don’t lie.”
“Just what a liar would say.”
He laughed.
“Goodbye, Katherine Marigold Drummond. Until we meet again.”
He disappeared. Treth and I did not speak for a while after. We observed Hope City, stretching out into the horizon. Our city. Our home.
“Was he evil?” I asked, finally, to Treth and to myself.
“I think he was more than evil,” Treth said. “A force that predates evil.”
“Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. You’re the philosopher type.”
“I’m an historian.”
“Little difference where I’m from.”
I smiled, faintly. For the first time in a long time, it was a truly happy smile.
“Let’s go home, Treth.”
My Thanks!
Thank you for reading book 3 of the Kat Drummond Series! If you enjoyed this episode of Treth and Kat’s adventures, please make sure to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Preferably both!
If you would like to keep in touch, have the opportunity to get free books, and find out about new releases, make sure to sign up to my mailing list.
Finally, pick up book 4, Necrolord, to continue the action-packed saga. Available on Amazon.
Afterword
As of writing this, this book is probably my favourite of Kat’s adventures. The most notable reason for this is probably that this story allowed me to explore not only some more emotionally intense parts of Kat’s backstory, but also some of her philosophy, beliefs views on morality.
Kat is a complicated character. Yes, she’s snarky and a bad-ass (two essential characteristics!) but she also has an intense melancholy about her, stemming from her background. This story, I feel helped to illustrate something implied in previous books, but not explored too much. Kat’s intelligence.
The archdemon in this book is by far my favourite of Kat’s (not so adversarial) adversaries. As a writer, I felt he provided a great foil for Kat to figure out her own beliefs and argue them.
And for those reasons, and others, I loved writing this book, and I hope you loved reading it!
All the best
Nicholas Woode-Smith
Acknowledgements
While books are (often) the work of a single person, they take a veritable organisation to produce. I’m an independent author because I value my freedom and am sceptical of the traditional publishing industry. While this makes some aspects of my business easier, it also means that I lack a certain connection to an institution. Succinctly: this is a lonely career.
But there are people in my life who have helped me along and have been integral to the creation of this book and series.
It takes a lot of patience to write six books before releasing a single one, and without the feedback and conversation of my beta reader, Chelsea Murphy, I would have gone insane a long time ago. Thank you!
I would also like to thank my mother for providing her editing skills to get these books into a condition fit for human consumption, and for being someone I can always natter to about Kat, Hope City and necromancy.
Thank you to Deranged Doctor Design for the wonderful cover art. I advise them to any author looking for a professional design.
And finally: thank you. Without you, this book would not be read and enjoyed. Without you, these words are just the scribblings of a half-mad author.
So, thank you!
And until next time.
Nicholas Woode-Smith is a full-time fantasy and science fiction author from Cape Town, South Africa. He has a degree in philosophy and economic history from the University of Cape Town. In his off-time, he plays PC strategy games, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons & Dragons.
Follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nickwoodesmith/
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