by John Hook
Azar stood. I had never thought about demons having names before. I’m not even sure what made me ask him. There was something oddly different about him. Physically, he was not that much different from other demons other than skin color. He was bulkier, and it was all muscle. He would be a powerful adversary in a fight. As I watched him try and shake out the pain in his limbs, I could see he had other differences from the other demons. He had only one row of teeth, uppers and lowers that were less needle-like, but were thicker and stronger for tearing. At several points longer fangs extended, pointed slightly inward. If they grabbed on, you would have a heck of a time withdrawing whatever they held. The talons were thinner and shorter, little more than injurious cat claws. There were claws on the feet. Now that he was standing, I could see that his arms were disproportionally long. I was beginning to think this demon might be adapted to tree climbing. I immediately scanned the trees above. I heard a chuckle in my head.
“You needn’t worry. There aren’t many of us left.”
“So you promised to tell me why they hate you.”
“They hate us because the Angel tells them to. And because we think it is unclean to cohabitate with humans.”
“Unclean?”
Azar studied me.
“The blood. The addiction to others’ pain. Makes them stupid. Impure. Humans are impure.” He paused a moment. “We told the Angel no.” If a demon could leer, Azar leered.
“Tell me about telling the Angel no. What did the Angel want?”
Azar was completely surrounded by Roland’s Dark Men and both Zaccoran and Rockvale fighters. Azar stood quietly for a moment and suddenly he wasn’t there. There was a blur of motion straight upward. We looked. Golden eyes stared at us from the branches above.
In my head I heard: “You have my thanks for my freedom, but not my trust. Another time maybe I will tell you what you want to know, when I am not surrounded by the enemy.”
And then the eyes were gone.
I looked at Roland and Izzy.
Roland shrugged. “Never seen one of those before.”
The Dark Men who had first attacked us were still under guard. We crossed back around to them.
“What was that demon?”
“Never seen one like that before,” the leader said.
“Why did you capture him?”
“We didn’t. The Grays picked up his trail and trapped him. Maybe if we hadn’t delayed we could have finished our mission here before the traitor could interfere.” The leader eyed Roland accusingly, but immediately had to deflect his eyes down. I fell back on my old tactic with the Dark Men. I slapped him. The Dark Men were very much into appearances and discipline. Slapping them was humiliating.
“Pay attention. What did they want with the demon?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. They tortured it every chance they got. Whatever their reason for hating the Purple, it is deep. I’ve seen them treat humans with more respect.”
“And you work with the demons?”
“To preserve our lives and prevent the torture of our people, yes! Others can protect themselves… or not. If you don’t take care of yourself in this place no one will.”
“Maybe if we took care of each other, we could stand against the demons instead of helping them.”
I didn’t wait for an answer. I turned to Roland.
“What do we do with them?”
Roland turned to his men. “Bind them up and leave them here. We’ll see if any of their ‘friends’ want to rescue them.”
Roland, Izzy, Anika and I walked away from the rest.
“Now what?” I asked.
“We need to get back to Zaccora. I have a lot to tell you on the way.”
6.
We decided to keep with my original plan to get some rest. We made camp and left a light guard on the renegades, as I thought of them. I wanted to find out everything from Roland, but Izzy and I were tired. Although apparently Izzy wasn’t so tired that he didn’t wander off with Anika some distance away from where most were sprawled out on the ground. There was definitely some chemistry happening there. Good for Izzy.
In the morning, Roland made sure the renegades were bound tight and then placed a sharp rock about 100 yards away. They would have to inchworm their way across rough ground to try to use the sharp rock. It would free them, but between the struggle to reach it and the difficulty of using the rock while bound, it would take hours.
“Tell Gerod that if he wants to come after us, he’d better send some real soldiers.” Roland held their resentful glares for a moment, smiled, and then walked back over to me. We headed down into the valley that would take us to Zaccora. As we walked along, scouts traveled through the trees, a trick they had learned from their able mentor, Kyo.
“I take it none of the retribution visited on Rockvale came to Zaccora.”
“What happened?” Roland looked at me. “We have been worried not hearing from you. Kyo and Blaise were getting pretty restless to go back and check.”
“Yeah, sorry, have been a bit occupied. Rockvale doesn’t exist anymore. I can tell you they have some pretty powerful juju in their arsenal if they decide to pull it out. There is also some question about whether they grabbed Guido or not.”
“Question,” Roland said, clearly intrigued.
“He’s gone. It’s just not clear if that is part of the retribution or he is just not making himself available.”
“Maybe Saripha’s death was too much for him,” Roland offered.
“Maybe, but she’s back. She returned here as one of us.”
“A former human?”
“And if I’m not mistaken her powers have increased some.”
Roland looked around. “Where is she?”
“Back in Ohnipoor, the abandoned city.”
“You left her alone?”
Izzy giggled. “It seems only fair for whomever wants to bother her.”
“She wasn’t offering choices, Roland. She’s as stubborn as I am. I think she’ll be all right.”
Roland looked amused. “I remember.”
“There is a new Shade or Manitor or something operating in the territory.”
“Which is it?” Roland asked.
“All of the above, I think,” Izzy offered.
I told Roland about the spider-headed man who showed up riding two platforms. I left out the part about the fire monkeys or demons or whatever they were. I didn’t know why. There was still something I was trying to figure out about them, but I wasn’t sure what. Izzy didn’t step in to tell me I left out something important, so maybe he was feeling the same thing. It made my story about why he left when he did a little vague, but if Roland noticed he didn’t react.
“Knightshade?” Roland turned it over in his mind. “What do you think he wants?”
“What everyone seems to want. Me. Or rather, the blue whatever-it-is alien thing inside me that I barely know how to use.”
“You working on that?” Roland looked at me.
“I never was much of a student.”
“That what you were doing with Saripha?”
“More or less.” It was the only answer I could think of to cover my uneasy training.
“We’ve seen nothing of this new Shade, but we’ve had our own problems.”
“Anything to do with the renegades back there?”
Roland raised an eyebrow. “I and my men might be the renegades, depending on who you ask.”
“Tell me.”
“We had been working to release all the Zaccoran prisoners, when suddenly the Dark Men who still served directly under Gerod blocked us from entering that part of the city. I was told I had exceeded my authority and was stripped of my rank. They invited ‘loyal Dark Men’ to return to serve under Gerod again, but only if they did so right away, after which point they would be considered traitors. Gratifyingly, none of my men chose to take the invitation.”
“What do you think is going on?”
“It has to be
Gerod. He knew about the tower when he sent us up there. He expected me to keep you from getting in. He has no intention of uniting with the Zaccorans.”
“Once a despot…”
Roland’s face was stormy, but I could tell it wasn’t aimed at me. “You are right, of course, but it saddens me deeply. Gerod mentored me, was positioning me as heir apparent. It was why I was so well brainwashed against seeing what was really going on.”
“Until I screwed everything up.” I grinned.
Roland shook his head. “I was going to be more polite than that.”
“So he is going to just hunker down and keep his Zaccoran sex slaves? Why?”
“Our scouts who travel up in the hills tell us he has made contact with the Grays that escaped and joined with other Gray tribes. I think there is more to that relationship than any of us ever knew. Not sure why the other Dark Men are willing to go along with it other than blind loyalty and Gerod’s skillful brainwashing.”
“And when they need more slaves?”
“They already make raids on our side of Zaccora. We are getting better at stopping them, though.”
“I warned him he couldn’t keep doing this while I was around.”
“I don’t think he believes you can stop him.”
“People never seem to take me seriously.”
Roland snorted a quick laugh.
“So what brought you over to where we were?” I asked.
“Had we known you were there, we would have been there sooner. However, scouts spotted a large group of Dark Men and gray demons exiting the city from an old formerly abandoned gate. Got our interest and we decided to follow.”
“So you didn’t know they were headed my way?”
“We didn’t know where you were for sure. Otherwise, we would have come to get you sooner.”
“Why?”
Roland looked at me with amusement shining behind his eyes. “The Zaccorans want their king, of course.”
“King?” I stopped. I must have had a very odd expression on my face because Izzy started snickering.
Roland shrugged. “The Zaccorans don’t entirely trust us.”
“Can’t really blame them,” I said.
“Granted. However, they trust you. They want to know that you are in charge. That the chain of command goes through you. In essence, they want you to be our king.”
“How do you feel about that, Roland?”
“Are you going to give me orders?”
I laughed. “Probably not. Although I probably will come up with plans you won’t like.”
“You did that before you were king. So, no, I don’t mind.”
When we arrived in Zaccora, the buildings and the streets seemed deserted. As we moved closer to the area of the bridge across the winding river of lava, buildings were actually showing damage. I noticed people keeping watch from rooftops. Some of them, I realized, were from Rockvale. As soon as we were spotted they started waving.
“When we first started interfering with their excursions into Zaccora, Gerod’s troops would sneak over the bridge and destroy property, using lava to set fires.”
“Nice.”
“Most people now live in the part of the city that had been occupied by the demons. We close the gate at night.”
As we moved through the area of small shops, including a certain pub called the Dirty Glass, Zaccorans thronged and began cheering. I looked at Izzy and rolled my eyes.
Izzy held my gaze, serious for a moment. “Stop avoiding this. This is the role you took on. Everyone risked everything because they believed in you. You gave them hope. You need to step up and keep it going.”
“I was kind of hoping someone else would step in once I gave them the idea.”
“The Zaccorans are looking to you.”
I sighed and started to wave more enthusiastically to onlookers. As we entered the gated part of the city, although the gate was wide open, people crowded along the top of the wall and cheered.
I had only battled my way through the walled city so I hadn’t ever explored it much. The gray demons had lived here before. Buildings were smaller and much better cared for. We walked down a twisting street to a group of three-story apartment buildings which were common in Zaccora, but these were pristine. Roland took us to the top floor and first showed Izzy his apartment. Then Roland took me to mine and held the door.
“I notice Rox isn’t with you.” Roland must have seen something in my face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“It’s okay. I’ve managed to keep my mind off it for a while. The Angel took her. I don’t know where.”
“Anything you need, just let us know.”
“I need to know where she is,” I snapped.
Roland nodded. “Do you want to rest?”
“No, I want to do something.”
“Bring Izzy down in five minutes. We’ve set up a planning room in the basement. Kyo and Blaise will be there.”
I entered the apartment and Roland left without saying anything more. The apartment was simple. A grass mat for a bed, a chair, a clay stove for heating water for grass tea in the corner. Bare shelves, empty walls. Lifeless. It reminded me of Rox’s old apartment in Rockvale. I banged the wall with my fist. I only hurt my hand. I turned and walked out.
Izzy was already waiting for me in his doorway. We went down the stairs to the basement.
The basement had two small storage rooms without doors. Not that Zaccorans had much to store. The rooms sat empty and I wondered what the demons had stored there. I often wondered who created the architecture of Hell. It seemed as if we all, human and demon alike, were like hermit crabs occupying architectures that no longer had a real purpose.
There was a narrow hallway and finally a large room that had been furnished with a large table and chairs. As soon as Izzy and I walked in, Kyo and Blaise came up. Blaise beamed and gave us each a bear hug. Kyo was always more restrained and settled for a quick bow, but there was no less warmth. Anika was there, as were Roland and Cesare. Cesare clasped my hand.
“Welcome back, sir! I hope you will be with us a while.”
We sat down. I was already uncomfortable. I had never felt like much ever got accomplished sitting around a table.
Mostly we exchanged what we knew about the current situation. I told them what had happened at Rockvale, about Guido being gone and the new Shade or whatever he was.
They told me that nothing seemed to have happened elsewhere in terms of what happened at Rockvale. Kyo had visited the tower where Paul and the original citizens were still hiding out. She had left them a few extra soldiers for protection. She had also been up to Haven, the other place the diaspora from Rockvale headed. Some were living in the cave system because there wasn’t enough room in Haven, but everyone was all right. There were some scattered in the mountains, but she had no idea how to account for them.
“Typical pattern,” I said.
“You mean doing something badass to you and then nothing?” Blaise looked at me. He almost looked like he was half asleep, but I knew from experience he was taking in everything.
“Right. Waiting. For what?”
“For you to show them what you are going to do,” Kyo suggested.
“Tell me what’s going on here.” I looked at Kyo when I asked this. I was hoping Roland wouldn’t be put off by my not going back to him, but I needed Kyo’s analysis.
“Basically, we’re on the brink of civil war, but neither side seems to want to make the first move. We certainly don’t and neither do the Dark Men despite their raids. We use the term ‘Dark Men’ exclusively for Gerod’s forces. The Dark Men here have adapted to thinking of themselves as Zaccorans.” Kyo motioned at Roland. “His idea to push that. Brilliant ploy, as it really helped cement a better if not perfect relationship with the formerly exploited Zaccorans. They still feel better with us here as intermediaries.”
“Do the Dark Men still fear what the remaining demons might do?” I asked.
Kyo, being respectful, looked at Roland. He nodded. Kyo continued.
“I don’t think Gerod fears anyone. He seems to have his own agenda, which puts him in an alliance with the remaining gray demon tribes. While the Grays in the walled city ran things, they are still populous in the mountains to the east. He seems to command enough loyalty that the men remaining with him question none of this.”
“Could Gerod’s men be afraid of the gray demons? Could Gerod be threatening them?”
Roland answered. “No, they seem to be truly loyal. There was a lot of dissension in the ranks when Gerod seemed to be making moves to change things, allowing me to work with you. They became disloyal to me. Of course, I’m now pretty sure Gerod was just setting us up to be delivered to the Manitor at the tower.”
“So it’s a standoff.”
Kyo spoke again. “So far, tactically, it is hard for them to make the first move. The only way into this side of the city is that one narrow bridge over the lava. It is heavily guarded by us. What they don’t know is that Taka has rigged up three of his arrow cannons—those Gatling gun-like arrow launchers he builds—in the windows of abandoned buildings near the bridge and he has trained full-time operators for each. Anyone coming over the bridge to attack would be massacred.”
“They might know they don’t know. Figure we must have something hidden,” I said.
“Probably,” Kyo said thoughtfully. “Taka also has some of those rocks that explode when they mix with lava. Some have been made into bombs like he used against the tower. He’s working on a catapult mechanism.”
“So, basically, they are refusing to free Zaccoran prisoners and we can’t stop them because we face the same problem.”
“Only one way in.” Blaise finished my thought.
“And we don’t know what they have.”
“Especially,” Roland added, “if there is a new, more powerful Shade hanging around.”
“There is no other way in?”
“The gray demons originally maintained their control by making sure there were only a few ways in or out that could be monitored. Most of the city is sealed off by the river of lava. They have opened up a sealed gate at the other end of their side of the city, but it is heavily guarded.”
