by Joe Jackson
Kari considered the wizard for a minute, and she glanced at Eli to see if he was thinking the same thing. He didn’t seem to know what was on her mind, so Kari asked Dominick, “Do you think it could have been a dragon?”
“A dragon?” the human repeated. “I’m not certain; I’ve never encountered one myself.”
“Are they headed this way?”
“I’m not certain,” Dominick answered. He picked up his spell book and returned it to the shelf he’d taken it from. He still looked concerned when he returned to the center of the room, but at the same time, he seemed ready for trouble. “Since I didn’t finish the spell, it ceased to function when I broke my concentration. They were certainly aware of its presence, though I am not entirely sure they know my home was its source.”
“Did Emma know? The source, I mean,” Kari pressed.
“Oh yes, I sensed her looking in my direction as the spell passed over her. I suspect that had she wished, she could have dispelled my seal like a child popping a bubble,” he explained.
“Did you get an idea of where the succubus and her...friend were located?” Kari asked, in no mood to hear more about how powerful Emma was. She suspected Dominick was already fascinated with the mallasti girl’s strength and knowledge, but Kari was only interested in Emma’s intentions.
“The southwest district,” Dominick said, “though I’m afraid I cannot be more specific than that. And, of course, they may have moved the moment they sensed the seal.”
“Are you safe?” Kari asked simply, and Dominick nodded, apparently sure enough of the succubus’ power – or lack thereof – that he believed his home’s wards would hold her off. She wondered if the wards would also protect the wizard’s home against other intrusions, particularly if the succubus was with BlackWing. “Even from her friend?”
“As I said, my wards protect me from creatures of an arcane nature. With what my spell detected of her companion, I believe my wards should keep them at bay as well,” the wizard assured her.
“All right, I think we’re going to go explore the southwest district,” Kari said. “Do you feel safe running an errand for me, or should you stay here within your wards?”
“At the risk of sounding like a coward, I think it best if I stay here,” Dominick said.
Kari waved off the comment. “Be safe. I’ll try to stop by tomorrow and let you know what we find. Thank you for your help,” she said, and she gestured Eli toward the door. The half-corlyps opened the door for her, and once Dominick bid them farewell, they made their way out to the darkened streets, ready for the assassin to strike at any moment.
To Eli’s surprise, Kari headed further into the heart of the northeast district rather than toward the southwest, where the succubus supposedly was. “Maybe Aeligos was wrong,” Kari commented as they walked. “Could be this succubus has a second assassin friend, or maybe it was just BlackWing with her.”
“Either way, we’ve got our work cut out for us, especially with Emma in the city,” Eli replied, watching the shadows warily as they walked. “Where are we going?”
Kari glanced at him. “Relax; if she comes after us, my Blood Oath will let us know before she gets close enough to strike,” she started.
“With her swords,” he interrupted.
She conceded that point with a bob of her head. “Anyway, we’re headed to The Roosting Griffon, where Sherman, Katarina, and Sharyn are staying,” she answered. “If we have a chance to pin the succubus down, I want as many people as I can get with me to cut off any chance of escape.”
Eli nodded appreciatively, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. The streets weren’t busy like those of DarkWind after dark, but there were people out and about under the street lamps and the pale light of a single moon. Kari was pleased to not hear the howls of any werewolves, though it could’ve just been their distance from the southwest of the city. Barcon was quiet and almost peaceful at night, at least here in the northeast district, and Kari wondered when the Black Dragon Society plied its trade. She supposed she shouldn’t think about it, and rather concentrate on one problem at a time. Right now, she had a demon to hunt and a vague idea of where to find her for a change.
It took only a few minutes for them to reach The Roosting Griffon, and Kari entered without hesitation, assuming there were guards on the nearby rooftops watching for trouble. So far, Marshal Saracht was doing everything in his power to keep Kari and her friends safe, and that was invaluable to her. As much as it pained her to think it, she had to admit that Kaelin Black was also being as helpful as could be expected from a ruler who hated her Order. She was sure that if any trouble came to The Roosting Griffon, it would find more than it bargained for in terms of resistance, though what she saw when she entered the inn’s common room made her rethink that surety.
In one of the chairs near the fireplace, Sherman sat with Sharyn in his lap, and the raven-haired woman was kissing the young paladin quite a bit more passionately than Kari would’ve expected to see – if she’d expected it at all. While a part of the demonhunter was always happy to see her friends possibly find love, her protective nature took over in the case of the young paladin. Paladins were a particular class of knight: holy warriors expected to not only be a zealous flame against the darkness, but a shining beacon and example to the common people. Kari knew the passions of young love could very quickly land a paladin in trouble with their order and their deity, and ruin a promising career before it really started.
“Are we interrupting?” Kari asked. Eli came around her, put a hand to his mouth, and chuckled.
“Kari! We weren’t expecting to see you again tonight,” Sherman said. Sharyn rose from his lap so he could stand. He approached with his usual smile, but embarrassment showed in his eyes. His expression became more serious when he saw the look on Kari’s face.
“Sherman, I...,” Kari started, but she bit back what she was going to say when Sharyn approached and stood beside Sherman, her arms folded across her chest. “Dominick, the wizard, gave us a promising clue of where to look for the succubus, and I need your help – both of you. Where’s Katarina?” In the back of her mind, Kari simply hoped Katarina wasn’t upstairs with a date of her own.
“She went to speak with the priests of Kaelariel after we left your church, and she hasn’t returned to the inn yet,” the young man answered. “Give me a moment to get my armor and sword, and we’ll come with you straight away.”
Kari nodded, so Sherman made his way upstairs hastily. The terra-dracon woman met the unashamed, intense stare of the ranger, and wondered what Sharyn was thinking. She seemed to be daring Kari to say something to her, but at the same time, she seemed to have too much respect for Kari to say anything snide. It didn’t come as much of a surprise: rangers were woodsmen, and most didn’t spend a lot of time in cities or permanent dwellings. In much the same way as Kari had used the services of mules – male prostitutes who’d been fixed – in her previous life, many rangers found love and comfort where they could, and were not ashamed of it.
Eli seemed to harbor no such understanding. “Hey, don’t screw that kid’s life up so you can have a few nights of fun,” he said evenly to the ranger woman.
“Shut your mouth, half-breed,” Sharyn shot back.
“HEY! Not here, not now,” Kari said, glaring at each of them in turn to stop the fight before it got started. Eli seemed more amused than insulted by Sharyn’s words, but there was fire in both their eyes, and the demonhunter was not interested in dealing with dissension among the ranks. “You’re here to help me; if you want to cause problems, go home. That goes for both of you.”
The other patrons in the inn’s common room watched the exchange with no small amount of surprise. Somewhat embarrassed, Kari gestured for Eli and Sharyn to wait outside, and the terra-dracon woman apologized to the patrons once her friends left. With her apology and her dog tags out and clearly visible, she was answered with mostly smiles, and the patrons went back to their drinks or late dinner
s. Soon, Sherman returned to the common room in his chainmail and tabard, and he had both of his weapons with him. Kari could see from his expression that he had heard at least part of what had happened, but he didn’t say anything about it.
Kari led her three companions toward the Temple District, fully intending to get Katarina and possibly the two half-elite priests to go with them. While it opened the possibility that the succubus and her companion would be gone when they arrived in the southwest district, Kari knew that to go in unprepared could spell disaster. She was satisfied with knowing that Emma was in the city, and that the killings would likely stop if indeed Emma was what the succubus was after. Now she could concentrate fully on pinning the succubus down and killing her, without worrying about what unfortunate soul would turn up dead next.
They passed through the eerily quiet bazaar and into the temple district without incident, but when they approached the intersection where One Small Favor sat at the end of Temple Street, the entire area was suddenly aglow, almost as if by daylight. Kari sprinted the remaining distance to the intersection, and turned to look down the road for the source of the magnificent light. There, in the center of the street, lay Deirdre, motionless, her brother Piotyr kneeling over her and using what Kari instantly recognized as deeply powerful healing magic. Only a dozen paces from them stood BlackWing – or was it Lord Black? – the massive serilian-rir scowling and showing his fangs, ready to pounce but somehow held at bay by the source of the light.
For there, between the half-elite priests and the serilian-rir assassin, stood Katarina, her silver longsword aflame with holy fire, and her glowing chainmail casting a nimbus of light like the rising of the sun.
Chapter XVI – Faces of Evil
“Ease up, she's just been poisoned,” Eli said. He closed the distance to Deirdre and Piotyr quickly, and dropped to one knee beside the fallen priestess. Piotyr looked like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard, but Eli put a hand to Deirdre’s shoulder and met her brother’s eyes. “Trust me, I’m pretty sure I’ve felt a similar effect before, and I was able to shrug it off. Healing isn't going to help, you need to neutralize the venom first.”
Piotyr still seemed skeptical, but he ceased his healing magic, and he bit his lip as his sister’s entire body tightened in a painful spasm. He began to channel his healing magic again, but used a different sort to assist Deirdre’s body in neutralizing the poison. It took only half a minute for its effects to fully take hold, and though there was some froth around her mouth, Deirdre’s eyes opened and fixed on her brother. As Eli had promised, she was able to shake off the poison’s effects with her brother’s help, and though her body was still limp as though from an electric shock, the danger seemed to have passed.
Kari drew her swords and approached Katarina, who still held BlackWing - it had to be him, if Eli was correct and he'd poisoned Deirdre - at bay with the aura she was projecting like a pocket of heaven’s light. Kari had rarely seen a paladin manifest such power, but she knew it was a definitive sign of how far along her chosen path Katarina had come already. Barely over twenty years of age, the young woman was already showing signs of angelic strength. Kari was impressed, though at that moment, she didn’t have the time to express it. Still, in the back of her mind, she wondered if Katarina might receive an invitation to join the Avenger Order of Gnarr.
“Stay back with me,” Katarina said with authority, and her free hand came up to block Kari’s advance toward BlackWing. The young woman held BlackWing’s glare, keeping him away from her companions with the strength of will that projected the nimbus of light. After a few moments, she broke eye contact with BlackWing long enough to meet Kari’s own stare. “I…I think he’s a demon, Kari.”
“You mean he’s a full-blood?” Kari asked.
“No, not a serilian demon; I’m not sure how to explain it,” Katarina said. “My circle would not hold him at bay if he were simply a serilian-rir. He’s some sort of underworld demon, or undead, or maybe possessed by one of those two. I don’t know.”
“Zaliskower,” Kari said, and she turned an unblinking glare to BlackWing.
“What’s that?” Katarina asked.
“A vampire dragon I came across in my past life,” Kari explained. “Lord Black said he suspected BlackWing is actually a black dragon taking his form to try to take over the city. Zaliskower was a black vampire-dragon; it would make sense.”
BlackWing simply laughed, a venomous cackle that drew the attention of all those before him, but still he made no move to try to force his way through Katarina’s barrier. “Pray to your pathetic gods,” he said. “The trap is set, the time of the sacrifice draws near, and still you haven’t figured out a damned thing. You think you’re so smart, so important, but you are nothing. You think we seek to kill you, or to take over this pathetic city? You cannot even comprehend how deep our ambitions run. But you will learn soon enough, and a flaming sword will not save you from the darkness that comes.”
“Katarina, stay with the others,” Kari said, and she began to stalk forward. Katarina started to say something but then simply nodded, and she paced backward to keep the barrier around the others. Kari felt the change in temperature as soon as she left the warmth of Katarina’s light bubble: outside of it, the cold had a vicious bite to it. Kari dashed in quickly toward BlackWing and opened with a double slash followed by a deep thrust, and she was thankful that he backed out of range and dodged. She figured if BlackWing was Zaliskower in humanoid form, he’d have to shift forms back to his dragon body in order to fight her effectively. With the width of Temple Street, she knew he’d barely fit between the rows of buildings, and have virtually no maneuverability unless he could take to the air – which the two-story buildings would also make near-impossible.
BlackWing didn’t shift forms. He dug his hands into the deep folds of his ebon cloak, and when he drew forth his fists, he had bladed cesti on them. He bared his fangs in a menacing grin, and Kari could see they were dripping with venom, which he promptly pooled on his tongue and spat onto the bladed backs of the gloves. She wondered if he really thought he’d be able to fight her effectively, bladed gloves against scimitars, but she guessed if he was as confident as he seemed, he knew something she didn’t. He stood several paces away and seemed to take account of her armor and defensive posture, so Kari took up the scorpion-like pose she had learned from her master, Suler Tumureldi.
BlackWing’s odds decreased greatly when Eli approached with his ornate warhammer in hand. “Where’s your girlfriend?” the half-corlyps asked.
“Turillia?” BlackWing returned. “She is busy preparing the ritual. Oh, but you’re too hell-bent on killing me to worry about that, aren’t you? Fools. The pattern has been right in front of you all along, but now it’s progressed too far for you to stop it. You have already lost.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?” Eli grunted, and he went in at an angle and tried to force BlackWing toward Kari with a wicked swing of his hammer.
“No one that still draws breath,” BlackWing returned, stepping into Eli’s swing to catch the haft of the hammer. He stopped Eli’s swing easily, and his balled right fist struck Eli across the jaw with a vicious backhand. The bladed cestus turned the right side of Eli’s jaw into a torn, bloody mess, and BlackWing grabbed the half-corlyps by the throat.
Paying his injury little heed, Eli drove his knee into the taller serilian-rir’s groin, and without his foot returning to the ground, he put it across and behind BlackWing’s other knee and threw him to the ground effortlessly. Kari was only slightly surprised: Eli had explained to her that over the years, when he traveled and sparred with Tormaar, he’d grown accustomed to tripping and throwing much larger, heavier opponents, and that served him well in fighting BlackWing. He stepped on BlackWing’s crotch when the massive serilian-rir landed on the street, and Eli slammed his hammer across BlackWing’s face, a powerful blow that would’ve killed nearly any other man. “Go find the succ…Turillia!” Eli sho
uted hurriedly to Kari. “I can handle this. He’s nothing without his poison.”
“Sherman, Sharyn, with me!” Kari called, and she started toward the southwest district at a run. Sherman regarded his sister for only a moment, and with her nod of agreement, he and Sharyn chased after Kari.
Eli watched their egress, and he turned his attention to the fallen half-demon at his feet. “So, the trap is set, is it?” he asked. “Too bad you won’t live to see it sprung.”
BlackWing was on his feet in an instant. He didn’t stand up, didn’t roll or kick up to his feet; his body simply rose to a standing position in the blink of an eye, and Eli backed up in utter disbelief. “Typical mortal,” BlackWing said, rolling his head to the side, and he flexed his jaw. “The moment you think you have the advantage, you throw it away in arrogance.”
BlackWing approached and Eli swore under his breath. He’d hit the larger half-demon in such a way that nothing mortal would’ve gotten back on its feet before the next day. The way BlackWing called him a ‘typical mortal,’ he understood that Kari and Katarina were at least partially right: they weren’t dealing with a serilian-rir at all. Eli felt the burn in his veins of the “half-demon’s” poison, but his system was fighting it off, just as it had when the succubus had bitten him. It was potent, but cowardly as they were, the corlypsi were designed to take punishment in combat and not be easily killed – a trait that their children inherited to a degree. Eli wasn’t sure why Deirdre had nearly succumbed to it, but he suspected she might’ve been bitten and not received the poison through a secondary wound such as the one he’d received from the cestus. It meant BlackWing’s poison was more potent than the succubus’, even if she had drawn it from him.
