“Did well? With that?” Aryn pulled at his captured hand. “Wait. At the tavern—”
“That was Ilan. You'll like him. He's like me and one day you'll join us.”
“Join who?” Aryn asked, exasperated. He saw the man who had rousted him approaching fast. “Tania, wait—”
“Easy, Aryn.” His tormenter raised his hands. “That was a test. The things I said were awful, unwarranted, and designed to show Valar you were still the petulant noble you were in Locke. I did not mean any of it.”
“Petulant?” Aryn straightened.
“I'm Ilan,” the man said. “My task was to make you angry, and I did, but you kept your head and walked away. I have no doubt your mother was a fine woman and it seems she raised you right.”
Aryn's face heated. “You were goading me.”
“Thank her for that.” Ilan pointed at Tania. “She spoke highly of you. I gambled she was love-struck.”
Tania snorted. “You owe me silver too.”
“If I may ask,” Aryn said, straining to keep from shouting at them, “what am I training for?”
Ilan exchanged a glance with Tania, then turned his dream world head to Aryn. “That's not my question to answer. Good luck.” Ilan thumped Aryn's shoulder. “No hard feelings.” He vanished into the crowd.
Aryn looked for Ilan and could not find him, a trick worthy of Jair's legendary disappearing acts in Solyr. How had the man vanished so fast? Was he a mage too?
“I recommended you because you're like us,” Tania said quietly. “You have no home to call your own.”
Aryn wondered then if she was right. He kept telling himself he was going home, but that hope grew more distant with each passing day. “Where are your loved ones?”
“Dead,” Tania said, “parents and now younger brother. Demons killed my parents. My brother died later.”
Aryn wanted to hug her. “I'm sorry.”
“Everyone is. You know how your life is now? It's empty. Are you willing to keep it that way to aid your province and your king?”
Aryn offered her a heavy sigh. “Sure.”
“I need a better answer than that.”
Aryn saw the truth for the first time. “I have nothing left.”
His family would never take him back. Even if he returned, Valara would urge Dupret to banish his crippled, possibly demonic spawn. Aryn's father would do it. He had no future at Solyr, no future in Locke.
Yet for the first time since Aryn clawed his way from the Underside, he saw a possible future here. “If it's to aid King Haven, aid Mynt, I'll do anything.” He made himself believe that. “You have my word.”
“Terrific.” Tania led him to the tavern. “You also have something you didn't mention.”
“What's that?”
“Me.”
No one in the tavern challenged them. As Aryn took in the many dream forms he noticed small black sticks inside boots, inside jackets, or up sleeves. He wondered how many were drunks and how many were guards. Even the barmaids had daggers strapped to their thighs.
Tania led him to the back of the tavern and knocked. The door opened. They walked down a short set of spiral steps until they reached a cellar, judging by the damp smell and cool air. He saw no stored goods of any kind.
A man waited in the middle of the cellar, dream form arms clasped behind his back. He wore no weapons that Aryn could see but held himself the same way as Trell. Balanced and ready to fight.
“Hello.” The man greeted Aryn with a soft, raspy voice. “Close the door.”
Tania closed it. She did nothing else.
“Come closer,” the stranger rasped.
Aryn wondered if an injury had damaged his voice. He obeyed, palms open and arms spread. There was nothing yet to say.
“Pull back your hood,” the man whispered.
Aryn laid his blistered flesh bare, cool air dancing across his skin. He kept his charred lips closed. He had nothing to hide any longer.
The man looked him over. “How did you survive?”
Aryn understood this test. If this man was Valar, Tania had already shared everything he told her after Davazet.
“Heat took me as his champion,” Aryn said. “That's why I'm alive.”
“Is Heat with you now?”
“Never coming back, so far as I know.”
“You stopped Davazet by using a demon glyph.”
“I did.”
“Yet you bear no Demonkin taint.”
That was a relief to hear, even though Aryn had been relatively certain he did not. “You can see that?”
“We all can,” Valar rasped. “The taint of demonic energy is upon all souls marked by the Mavoureen.
“Why don't I have it, then?”
“That,” and when Valar paused, it reminded Aryn of Tania, “is an interesting question.”
Aryn remembered something Melyssa had said to him at Terras, something he had barely thought about at the time. “I've been to the Underside. My pact is complete.”
“That is one possibility. If you may now scribe demon glyphs without losing your soul, that makes you unique among all those living today. It makes you an asset to someone, and I’d like that someone to be me.”
“I’ll help however I can.”
Valar crossed his arms again. “Then I accept you for training.”
Tania offered a quiet, fervent “Yes!”
Valar leaned sideways, looking at Tania, and even without turning Aryn knew she had hunched down.
“Apologies, master.” She did not sound very sorry.
Aryn wished he could see any detail of Valar’s face. It was difficult to read people when their faces were featureless orange blobs. He would simply have to learn other ways. He had always been good at learning.
“Normally,” Valar said, “I explain our calling to those who come to train with us, but Tania has asked to train you herself. Given your advanced age and your shared blindness, I've agreed.”
“I'm honored to be chosen.”
Valar brushed past Aryn and walked to the door. “You lie well. Practice that, but not on us.” The cellar door opened and closed.
Aryn turned to Tania. “Now, can we finally—”
She slipped into his arms and kissed him again, not caring one bit about his charred lips. As his head spun pleasantly he realized exactly where he was. He was in a dark cellar, alone, with her, and she felt wonderful.
Tania broke their kiss. “That was for not disappointing me, and for being such a good sport.” She stepped away. “Now sit.” She sat herself in front of him. “We start training at once.”
Aryn sat. She took one of his hands in hers. If her broken arm bothered her, she gave no sign. He wondered if Valar knew any Bloodmenders.
“I'm Valar's first hunter,” Tania said, “which means I'm authorized to recruit others and trusted above all the rings below. Think of me as Valar's second-in-command. I even get to train those I deem fit.”
“Do you always kiss them like that?”
“Only the ones I like.” She laughed in a way that made him warm. “I liked you the moment I saw you, but that’s one thing that's ending now.”
“Ending?”
“You're a good man and I'm quite taken with you, but if I'm to teach you, there will be no kissing. We're allowed to take lovers from our order, even encouraged to do so, but not during training.”
“Oh.” Some of his old caution returned. Was she still after something? “I just thought—”
“After you're done training, of course,” Tania said, “I can do whatever I want with you.” She squeezed his hand. “We're going to do many things.”
Aryn grinned before he could stop himself, but his stubborn worry eclipsed that. What if she was toying with him, as so many had done? He pulled his hand away. His skin felt cold where hers had touched it.
Tania tilted her head. “You're tensing up again, as you've done too often on this trip. Is there something you haven’t told me?”
A
ryn wanted to tell her all the reasons she might be lying to him — she wanted his money, she wanted his family name, she wanted the ear of Dupret Locke — but those accusations felt hollow and wrong. He had none of those things now. He had nothing to offer her.
“I just ... I don't understand why you're interested in me. How can you be attracted to me, given how I look?”
“Because you're a good person?”
“Is that the only reason?”
“Oh, I see.” Tania's tone grew taut. “You think the only reason I can stomach your new appearance is because I'm blind. Is that it?”
That was exactly what he had been thinking. How could anyone be attracted to him as he was now? He was hideous.
“So the poor blind woman can't find herself a healthy man,” Tania said, “and settles for the cripple with the melted face. I'm desperate, is that it?”
Aryn flinched. “That's now what I—”
“I am quite capable of intriguing any man who interests me,” Tania said. “You aren’t unique, and you aren’t even close to the first.”
Aryn felt like he had done something horrible to her, shoved her or hit her or worse. “I didn't mean that. I—”
“You’ll want to stop digging your hole now.” Tania leaned close. “I understand you've endured horrific circumstances, and I know you think less of yourself as a result, so I'll say this as clearly as I can. You are the same person you were before you gave yourself to Balazel.”
Could it be true? Could she believe it?
“I find that person attractive for reasons entirely my own. That's as complicated as our relationship need be.”
“I know that.” Aryn grimaced. “I'm an ass.”
“Sometimes.” Had she smiled? “I won't deny that I've considered the less romantic benefits of our relationship as well. Should you join us, we'll be part of the same order, which means I don't have to keep things from you.”
“Right.” That made sense. That made a whole lot of sense.
“I know the secret of your journey to Terras, which means you don’t need to hide things from me, either. There’s more than a few calculated benefits. But my attraction came first, not the other way around.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” Aryn decided to start digging himself out of his hole. “And, just so we're clear, I'm interested in you because everything you've done since we met shows me you're talented, level-headed, and intelligent. Not because you're the first woman to speak to me since I returned.”
“I’m so relieved.” Tania sat back. “For now, accept that I'm your teacher and friend. Trust me, and if more comes from that, we'll both benefit.”
“You make a great deal of sense.” Aryn breathed deep. “I’m sorry. For questioning this, and for doubting your motives.”
“You can apologize again later.” Her tone grew lighter. “First, I have a question for you. I've told you quite a bit about myself and you've seen enough to draw conclusions. So tell me. What is it we do?”
Aryn pushed away the heat of her kiss, his guilt about doubting her, and the tingle caused by her hand in his. She was trying to muddle his mind and he could not have that. He focused on the facts he knew.
Tania was sworn to Valar, who, from the deference his name raised among the Mynt army, must serve King Haven directly. Tania had trained at a magic academy and fought both Mavoureen and Demonkin — Aryn was certain of that now. She and every other person with her could also see the Demonkin taint on another's soul, in the dream world.
“You hunt Demonkin,” Aryn said.
“Why don't we talk about it?”
“Because you don't trust the magic academies.” Aryn frowned as he spoke. “King Arden made the decree that any mage who uses demon glyphs, or aids one who does, must be put to death.”
Aryn remembered Sera and what he would do, even now, to stop someone like Tania from finding her. He remembered how Kara had lied to Prince Beren about Terras. Everyone who loved Sera had lied for her, and why would friends of other Demonkin be any different?
“You enforce the dead king's laws because his son, King Haven, doesn't trust Solyr's elders or its students to do so. They’re too close to the problem. Therefore, no one in the academies can know you exist.”
“If I sent you to kill Sera,” Tania asked, “could you do it?”
“No. Do I fail?”
“You're simply being honest, which you must always be with me. The fastest way to be thrown out of our order is to lie to me or Valar.”
Aryn nodded.
“Besides,” Tania said, “you'd never be in that situation. I’d send someone else. That's why Valar send Ilan to kill my brother.”
Another piece fell into place. “That's why you swore never to come back.” Aryn understood her sadness better now.
“I said awful things to Valar after he had Kal murdered. I swore I'd never serve him again, even though I knew why Kal had to die. Kal scribed demon glyphs. He killed the bastard that took our parents.”
“Kal was your brother?”
“My youngest and only.”
“And when you walked out, Valar let you live?”
“I earned Valar's trust above all others, even those like Ilan. We're a small group. Valar knows I would never betray him, even to save my own life.” Tania settled her working hand on her knee. “You'll swear the same to him, someday, if you survive what's ahead of you.”
Aryn mulled that over. “Why me?”
“You've seen the Underside. You've faced Demonkin. You have no one the demons can hold over you and you're one of the bravest men I've ever met. You can see into the dream world, and you can use a staff almost as well as me.”
Aryn smiled. “Almost.”
“One last question and then we're done with this cellar.” Tania stood. “If I told you a man stood outside that door, a man who had scribed demon glyphs but not yet turned, could you go murder him right now?”
Aryn stood as well. “Why did he scribe the glyphs?”
“You can't know that.
“I have to.”
“All you can know is he broke the law and he's a threat to our province. There is no cure for the Demonkin curse. If you don't kill him, his body will turn into something horrible, and the Mavoureen will torture his soul for an eternity we can’t put in words.”
“I don't know if I could murder someone based on that alone.”
Tania led him to the door. “Good.”
“Good?” He followed. “That's not the right answer.”
“There is no right answer. There's just your duty and the law, and you must learn to balance those in your heart. Once you do, you'll become like me. Andux orn.”
“Demon Slayer.” Aryn translated from the ancient language. “That's ... rather dramatic.”
“I know. I like it too.” Tania opened the door. “Now come. We're going to speak with King Haven.”
“To find Kara.” Aryn felt a surge of relief.
“That too. Also, I'd really like to get my arm fixed.”
Chapter 13
THE SUN WAS LOW ON THE CALM SURFACE of Pale Lake when Jyllith Malconen and her brave new horse descended into the foothills surrounding the lake. She had bought the horse at Highridge Keep using her stolen coins, and though the animal had a name, she had not asked it. She would not be keeping it much longer anyway. Davengers loved fresh horses, and this one deserved better than being torn apart.
Ahead of her and beyond the flat surface of Pale Lake stretched a mountain range known as the Green Ridge. Trees clung to the west side of the mountains, facing the verdant grasslands of Rain, and were sparse to the east, facing the great Tellvan deserts. Constant storms from the western sea blew in over the thick jungles far to the west, home to the tree dwelling Children of the Forest. Few storms crossed the Green Ridge.
The small town of Knoll Point would be near the foot of the larger mountains, easily another half day's ride. Jyllith was more than a week gone from
Terras and had perhaps seven days to complete her mission. She would discover how these Demonkin had opened a portal to the Underside, discover how to close it, and end them.
Then she would kill herself.
As the setting sun lit the lake she sensed her twin davengers stalking the forests, ranging ahead and behind. They had killed no one since she stole them from Malkavet, and she was grateful they did not need to feed or rest. Demon corpses required no sustenance and killed because they enjoyed it. It took constant vigilance to keep them off her oblivious horse.
Once she reached the start of the rise leading into the mountains she dismounted, leg muscles tight. She could not ride the horse up this terrain and each step sent knives through her knotted legs. Riding for twelve hours a day was tough, even for trained soldiers.
It was time to make camp. Jyllith hated stopping, but she would only injure herself or her horse in the dark or worse, push one of them beyond their limits. She also had to eat something, even if she had no appetite. The demon clawing at the inside of her head left her nauseated.
Dusk fell by the time she prepared her camp. She left her horse hobbled and stalked away before calling her davengers — no need to terrify the poor animal. Her demons bounded up, snorting and pawing the grass like excited dogs. Jyllith tried not to think about what the Mavoureen were doing to the souls of these corrupted people.
“You.” Jyllith pointed at the first davenger, slightly smaller than the second. “Range one hundred paces to the west. If you find animals, ignore them. If you find humans, come back to me. Go.”
The davenger bobbed its horned head and loped off up the forested hill. From the distance, one might mistake it for a massive wolf. She hoped no one got closer than that.
“You.” Jyllith pointed at the second demon. “Range—”
A blast of demon hate assaulted her mind as something burst from the copse behind her. She spun in time to see the wide, slavering jaws of another davenger. She had no time to glyph, no time to take cover or run away.
So much for stopping this Demonkin cult.
Jyllith’s davenger slammed into the attacker. The two of them snarled, hissed, and rolled across the muddy hill. They could almost be dogs fighting over a bone if not for the black blood spewing from each new wound and the hellish, sawblade shrieks that filled the forest. They tore each other apart.
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