by Joe Jackson
Kari held her swords up defensively, her legs tensed, but she woke up suddenly to find Eli shaking her by the shoulders. The half-corlyps’ face was illuminated by the light blue glow of Zalkar’s symbol, and as soon as Kari’s eyes opened, Eli took up his hammer and shield and left the room. Kari was naked, so she had to take a few minutes to pull on her undergarments, padded clothes, and armor before she followed after Eli. Alyssa and Chelsea were in the common room when Kari came down the stairs, and they were apparently trying to get a glimpse of Eli or something else outside.
“Back in your room, now!” Kari yelled at them. Zalkar’s symbol had ceased glowing by the time she descended the stairs, but she didn’t want to take any chances or let the innkeeper get lulled into dropping her guard. “Wait for us to get back before you open the door for anyone!”
The innkeeper did as she was instructed, ushering her child into their shared bedroom. Kari opened the front door and collided with Eli just outside, nearly knocking him to his rump. She caught him as he lost his footing and she skipped forward a couple of steps to keep him on his feet. He was soaked from the rain, his hair already sopping wet and dripping down his back, and he’d been using his wings as a makeshift umbrella. “What happened?” Kari asked him.
“I don’t know. I heard you say something in your sleep, and I woke up when I realized the room was glowing from Zalkar’s symbol,” he answered. He glanced down the street to the west but shook his head. “I got out here as fast as possible, but I didn’t see her anywhere. Not that I can see very much at all with this rain, but I checked with some of the guards posted nearby, and they didn’t see anything, either.”
“I wonder how far away she can invade my dreams from,” Kari mused. “She was right in my room when she did it in Lajere, so I assumed she had to be close. But it’s possible the Blood Oath reacted to her presence in my mind, and not her physical presence nearby.”
Eli nodded. “Did you have better luck fending her off this time?” he asked. He grabbed his lengthy tail of hair in both hands and began wringing the water from it.
“Yes, but she’s very good at what she does,” Kari said. She headed back inside with Eli in tow. She walked over to the door to Alyssa’s room and knocked, and let the woman know it was all right. “All clear,” she told Alyssa, and the innkeeper poked her head out the door. “Go on back to sleep; the danger’s passed.”
Alyssa nodded and hugged Chelsea tight. She bid her guests goodnight and closed the door again. Eli passed into the bath commons to get a towel and dry off, and Kari followed him. She was amazed at how quickly he’d been on his feet and ready, though at the same time she questioned the confidence that led him to go out and possibly challenge Turillia on his own. Kari knew Eli wanted revenge for the humiliation he’d felt after Turillia disabled him in Lajere, but she thought he’d know better than to rush headlong into a fight with such a deceptive enemy.
“This is actually a good sign,” he said while he finished drying off. “She’s afraid of you. I think she knows she’s in trouble if she has to fight you sword-to-sword.”
“I’m not sure she’s afraid, but she’d definitely be happier either having me as an ally, or else killing me when there was no personal risk involved,” Kari returned. “She did offer to help me kill Emma, but that just shows she’s definitely afraid of Emma.”
“Smart girl. If only we could get them to fight each other,” Eli said. “I have a feeling Emma would win, but that’s rather the result we want anyway. Then you could try capturing her, though I think that’s going to prove tricky.”
“Maybe,” Kari said cryptically. “But I brought something from home that may help with that. Come on; let’s get some sleep. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.”
Once Eli was sufficiently dried off, they returned to their shared room and separate beds. Kari was a bit perturbed by the invasion, but at the same time, her mind latched onto the part of the dreams involving a daughter. She remembered the beautiful little girl and the way the bright, warm sun had shone down on them, and she sighed wistfully and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter XX – Setting the Snare
The rain continued through the following morning. Kari trudged down the muddy streets toward the northwest district and Kaelin Black’s tower. She felt well-rested despite her dreams being invaded during the night, and she tried not to let the incident or the rain bring her spirits down. As she’d hoped, the storm fronted warmer air, and the rain wasn’t the typically cold spring drizzle. Kari’s cloak kept her mostly dry, and she kept her cowl up to keep the rain from drenching her hair.
Traffic was light in the rainy, muddy conditions, and even the bazaar was fairly empty when she passed through it. Many of the merchants had tents and awnings up around their stalls to keep them, their products, and potential buyers dry. There were a fair number of people braving the rain to pick up produce and meats from the bazaar vendors, but the pressing throng that usually populated the area was absent. It was a creepy contrast to the usual scene at the bazaar, but a welcome break from the dangerous crowd.
Kari felt conspicuous crossing the open area, and she reminded herself she needed to get in the habit of always wearing her helm. Under her cloak, her hands dropped close to the hilts of her scimitars. She wouldn’t see the glow from Zalkar’s symbol under the cover of her cloak, so she stayed on the alert. She swept the plaza with her eyes but tried to keep her head facing straight ahead, except for the occasional sideways glance that allowed her to look over her shoulder. She would almost welcome the succubus to attack her here, in an open, sparsely populated area where Kari could bring her full sword-fighting expertise to bear. The slick, muddy streets would be an issue, but with Kari’s dexterity and that of her attacker, she wasn’t sure it would make all that much difference.
Eli’s words came back to Kari as she walked, and she considered that maybe Turillia was afraid to fight her hand-to-hand again. Kari didn’t think so; in her first encounter with Turillia, the two had seemed pretty well-matched. More likely was Kari’s own suspicion that Turillia realized she couldn’t beat Emma, and so she was trying to turn Kari’s sights to the mallasti girl. If that were the case, it would mean Turillia didn’t know Kari’s intentions toward Emma and vice versa, and that the succubus was afraid the mallasti girl might actually help Kari.
Kari had no delusions that such would turn out to be the case. She was fairly sure Emma didn’t want her dead and wouldn’t help Turillia. At the same time, if Emma didn’t consider Eli a friend and wasn’t willing to help him, Kari saw no reason the mallasti would help her. If it turned out Kari was Salvation’s Dawn, then she supposed Emma might at least be willing to step in and make sure she wasn’t killed. All the same, Kari wasn’t about to make any assumptions where being Salvation’s Dawn was concerned, and she certainly wasn’t going to put her life in the hands of a demon under any circumstances.
Well, unless maybe it was Trigonh, she thought with a smile. It suddenly dawned on her that her erestram friend could also be a great source of information for the Order. She sighed as she considered she’d probably have to give him quite an apology before he’d tell them anything, but apologizing to him was something she’d wanted to do for years now. When she had first been resurrected – against her will – she was furious with him for bringing her back to a life she’d been all too happy to let go of. After her relationship with Grakin blossomed and they had their first child, though, she started to appreciate Trigonh’s gift more and more.
She wondered where Trigonh was, and why she hadn’t seen him again since that fateful day when he’d used a favor from the gods to have her resurrected. Kari figured Kaelariel most likely knew where to find the erestram: Trigonh served the god of freedom and death, and had for many years. She resolved to ask Piotyr and Deirdre if they had any idea, or if they could let Kaelariel know that Kari was looking for Trigonh. Kari wasn’t sure how old Trigonh was, but she knew he had served Celigus Chinchala for centuries in the underworl
d before coming to Citaria. She figured his knowledge of his home and its indigenous demons would be vast, and if he still loved her as much as he had, he’d likely be willing to share.
Kari returned her attention to the task at hand when she reached Lord Black’s tower. She had no idea if the guards posted at the entrance were the same ones who’d made the disrespectful wolf-whistles when she’d passed it years before, but that was an incident that stuck in her mind. The attitudes of Black’s primarily human guards were much better on this visit, and Kari had to give credit where it was due: to Kaelin Black and Marshal Saracht. Kari hadn’t thought much of Lord Black upon arrival, and he hadn’t thought much of Kari or her Order, but she had to admit that he was doing everything she could reasonably expect to be helpful – and honestly, he didn’t have to. When she approached, the guards nodded respectfully to her, and allowed Kari inside.
Marshal Saracht was sitting on the couch before the fireplace, and he looked up and greeted Kari when she entered and wiped her feet thoroughly. He gestured toward the stairs but made no move to join her, so Kari began walking up slowly. She worked to get her thoughts in order; she had to be convincing in her act, or the demon might recognize it was a trap. While that wouldn’t put any of them in more danger than they already were, it would mean more research, tracking, and planning to try to draw Turillia into a web. The longer it took, the greater the risk that she would kill again, and possibly gain the strength to challenge Emma.
Lord Black invited her to enter as soon as she knocked, and Kari blew out a quiet sigh before opening the door. She stepped in quickly and closed the door behind her. Lord Garant was seated before the Earl’s desk, and he regarded Kari with a polite nod. She returned the gesture but hesitated near the doorway, and Lord Black waved Kari forward. She glanced briefly at the fire in the hearth and wondered why there was still a chill in the air. Between the warm air outside and the fire, Kari expected it would be comfortable on the tower’s topmost floor.
The thought of playing poker with Aeligos and his siblings flashed through Kari’s mind an instant before her face changed, and she worked to keep her expression the same. It all made sense now: the chilly room when they’d met with BlackWing on the Order’s campus; the same chill that pervaded Black’s office two nights ago and today; and the fact that Katarina had described the shadow demon as a mass of darkness that seemed to absorb light and warmth. The young paladin had meant the last figuratively, but as Kari approached Kaelin Black’s desk, she recalled how deeply the chill bit when she’d stepped out of Katarina’s nimbus to approach BlackWing in their encounter on Temple Street. She came to the conclusion that Katarina’s words were true in a literal sense: the demon was sitting right in front of her and Markus Garant, and it was nearly impossible to detect but for that chill.
“What can I do for you, Lady Vanador?” Lord Black asked.
“I wanted to let you in on how my investigation is going. How’s your head?” Kari asked. She tried to mask her anxiousness; pulling off this bluff was the key to her entire plan.
Black rubbed the back of his head absently, though there was no indication he felt any pain. “Well enough, I suppose,” he answered. “I have put the marshal and his men at your disposal; you may make all reports to them.”
“I already have, I just wanted to make sure you knew what I was planning, in case one or both of us get killed,” Kari returned. “I’m sure the marshal was going to tell you everything anyway, but I figured I owe you the respect of telling you personally.”
Lord Black leaned to the side in his chair, crossed one leg over the other knee, and fixed Kari with an appraising stare. The Earl glanced to Lord Garant for a moment and his expression softened, but Kari could see in his eyes that he was suspicious. No amount of playing poker with her in-laws or listening to the way Aeligos so casually prodded into his siblings’ lives could have prepared Kari for this moment, locked in a game of wits with a shadow demon. Kari stuck to her plan, and skipped any further pleasantries to get straight to the heart of the matter.
“We haven’t had any luck locating Turillia, but we’ve found Emma,” she said. “I know the last time we spoke, I told you that Emma is very powerful, but we’ve come up with a plan to catch her off-guard, and I have something that should disable her. Once she’s disabled, we can kill her and then focus all of our effort on rooting out Turillia.”
“Curious; why not let Emma kill Turillia, as you suggested she is likely trying to do?” he returned evenly.
Kari felt as though she was silent for ages. Only the crackle of the fire and the tapping of the rain on the large window behind Lord Black broke the stillness. She blinked once and turned her gaze to Lord Garant, who watched her with interest. The demon was clearly suspicious, and Kari realized she was not a good enough bluffer to lie to its face and have it believe her. She remembered Aeligos telling her that the truth was often a better weapon than the biggest web of lies, and she realized that might be the only thing that worked.
“If Turillia somehow bests Emma and drinks her blood, she may become as strong as a demon king, or even a minor goddess,” Kari said. “If that happens, I’m not sure my entire Order could bring her down.”
“That’s what this has been all about? Stealing power and then trying to become a demon king?” Lord Black asked, sitting up straight.
Kari wasn’t sure who she was even speaking to; while she was sure the demon was present, she wasn’t sure it was in control. She had told Kaelin Black about what she thought Turillia was doing, but the demon had been in him, if not control of him, at the time. What she didn’t know was if they shared memories: if the demon was able to read Lord Black’s mind, and if it could also impart to him what it wanted him to know. Kari sighed to stall, and she gestured toward one of the chairs for permission to sit. Once granted, she moved around Lord Garant to the empty chair while she considered the situation quickly.
She had to wonder: did the shadow demon even know what Turillia was up to, or was this entire scenario a giant game to it? It got death, destruction, mayhem, and personal power from her killings; did it even care what she was taking from it in return? It occurred to Kari that the shadow demon might be planning to take control of Turillia once she sealed all of that power inside herself. If that was its goal, then Kari was sure it would go straight to Turillia once she left the tower. If not, and the demon was unaware of Turillia’s ultimate goal, Kari wondered if the demon might feel betrayed and seek to kill the succubus on its own.
“That’s our best theory right now,” Kari said at length, once she was comfortable in the chair. She looked back at Kaelin Black and noticed that his stare had dropped down toward her legs. That left little doubt in her mind: the demon was in control, and clearly still thinking of how close it had come to taking her two nights before. Kari worked to keep her breathing steady and her mind focused on the demon’s ultimate destruction. She was actually more worried that Lord Garant might take offense to the demon’s behavior, and spoil the trap to attack it now. Fortunately, the paladin seemed to be keeping a level head, and stuck to Kari’s plan.
“So where is Emma, then?” Black asked. “I will have an entire squad of my best men meet you there to assist in capturing her.”
Kari shook her head. “No, this has to be a subtle strike, or she’ll sense it coming before we ever get near her. Against the wishes of my friends, I’ve decided to go in alone. As I said, I have something that will help subdue her, and if I’m alone, I think I have a way to get close to her without provoking her right away. Your marshal is coming up with a contingency plan if I get killed; you’ll want to talk to him about that later. I know he wasn’t happy when I said so, but you’re both going to have to trust me on this.”
“Who am I to argue with a demonhunter?” Lord Black returned with a slight smile.
Kaelin Black, Earl of Southwick, that’s who, Kari thought. “I’ve a pretty good idea of Emma’s schedule, and I think tomorrow night will be the ideal time to st
rike,” she said. “As I already explained to the marshal and my friends, we need to be cautious about spooking her, so we don’t want a lot of people anywhere near the old city hall tomorrow night when I make my strike. At the same time, we don’t want the streets to be empty, so I’ve asked the marshal to maintain his normal patrol routes and schedules in that area. Like I said, it has to be subtle.”
“I understand,” Black said. He rose after a moment and moved to look out the large rear window, and Kari knew he was looking at the old city hall. She wasn’t sure if the demon had taken the bait, but he was sniffing it, and that was as much as she could hope for.
“I have other preparations to make for tomorrow night, so by your leave, Lord Black, I’ll go see to them,” Kari said, rising to her feet.
“Yes, of course; do as you must,” he said absently. He turned around after a moment and bowed his head to her, and then he gestured toward the door.
“Farewell, Lord Garant; it was nice to see you again,” Kari said amiably, and she nodded to him respectfully before she made her egress.
Kari shivered involuntarily as she descended the stairs to the ground floor, despite the fact that the air inside the tower grew noticeably warmer once she’d left Black’s office. She still wasn’t sure how much the demon knew of Black’s memories and vice versa, but she was starting to suspect the demon could only read certain parts of the Earl’s mind. It was oblivious to Kari’s relationship with Eli, but then so was the Earl, but that the demon didn’t understand the tense relationship between the Earl and Kari pointed to its limitations. Kari was glad for that; the demon would’ve been so much more suspicious if it knew everything the Earl knew. Marshal Saracht stood up when Kari reached the main chamber, and his eyes were questioning when she came to a stop before him. “Has the bait been laid?” he asked.
