by Joe Jackson
“I couldn’t have handed it to him any more plainly if I’d punched him in the face with it,” she said quietly, wary of her voice carrying up the stairs. “He was suspicious; I had to tell him that Turillia’s plan is to drink Emma’s blood, so dance around the subject if it comes up. As far as he knows, I am going in alone, and you are coming up with a contingency plan in case I fail.”
“Understood,” Marshal Saracht said. “I actually am coming up with a contingency plan should you and your friends fail, but it is based around saving my lord from this demon first and foremost. We will have little luck salvaging control of the city from this succubus otherwise.”
“I know he and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, but I give you my word, Marshal: I will do everything in my power to help the Earl once Emma and Turillia are dealt with,” Kari said.
“I know you will,” he returned. “That is why I am following your plan to the letter. I have instructed my men to keep to their normal patrol routes, but to keep a wary eye out around the bazaar tomorrow evening. I figured the best way to keep them from bumbling around the city hall was to give them another target to potentially botch.”
Kari chuckled. “Good thinking. Thank you, Marshal.”
Marshal Saracht smiled the first true, warm smile she had seen from the man, and he extended his hand. “Call me Everett,” he said as they shook hands. He then excused himself, and headed upstairs to speak with Lord Black as planned.
Kari took to the streets. The rain was tapering off, and though the roads were muddy, Kari no longer needed her cloak to keep dry. She kept the garment bunched between her wings, and strode back southeast toward Temple Street. The city, and the bazaar in particular, were coming more to life as noon approached and the rain came to an end, but Kari kept a good pace and people continued to get out of her way without being asked. She was still wary of being attacked in the open, but at the same time, she figured Turillia would be trying to minimize her personal risk for now. The succubus was close to reaching her goal, but an ill-advised fight with Kari and possibly a half-dozen watchmen would bring her plans to a crashing halt all too fast.
With her trap set to be sprung the following night, Kari knew she had less than a full day to prepare herself for any possible confrontation. She was confident she could beat Turillia in a sword-fight, but the presence of magic made her leery. Kari needed some way to protect herself from magical attack, either by Emma or by Turillia. She decided it was time she had a lengthy chat with one of her deity’s elder priests regarding the Blood Oath, and what other powers it bestowed besides combat prowess. When she’d fought Ressallk on Tsalbrin, her Blood Oath had helped sweep aside the sylinth’s mental attack, and completely blocked it when Ressalk tried to use the ability a second time. Kari had a suspicion that Zalkar’s power might block or at least help her defend against magical attack, if she just knew how to wield it better.
*****
“The key to defending against magical attacks, of either the arcane or divine variety, is the strength of your faith,” Devin told her. “While agility may allow you to avoid the attack, and a hearty constitution may allow you to survive the trauma an attack causes, magical energy can usually be deflected or annulled by a strong will.”
That wasn’t exactly what Kari was hoping to hear. While she believed her strength of will to be considerable, it didn’t help stop Emma’s lightning strike in the graveyard, or countless other magical attacks she’d been subjected to in her lives. Kari understood little about divine power – even that which she was able to wield – and she knew next to nothing about the arcane. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to deflect attacks of either variety when she didn’t even understand how they worked. Her impatience flooded up and flushed her cheeks, but she kept her mouth closed and waited to hear the old priest out before she asked any potentially silly questions.
“Obviously, this brings up the question of how to properly focus your willpower to do so,” the elder priest continued. He paced back and forth across the floor in the center of the horseshoe-shaped benches, his hands folded behind his back. It seemed to Kari he found explaining the theory just as difficult as she found understanding it. Still, he hadn’t hesitated at all when she asked him if he could teach her to better use the power of her Blood Oath. “Do you know why Zalkar became the first ‘true’ demonhunter?”
Kari tilted her head to the side; she didn’t expect this exercise to turn into story-time, but she played along. “As I understand it, almost his entire battalion was lost in an ambush by serilian demons, and he was one of only a handful of survivors. So he dedicated the next several years to gathering all the information our peoples knew of the serilian…serilis-rir so that he could form a military unit dedicated to slaughtering them,” Kari recounted.
Devin nodded. “Essentially, yes, that is the gist of it,” he said. “However, this basic story does not include some of the more important details. Few people realize that Zalkar was not just an angry young man filled with rage who took up slaughtering the serilis-rir as his life’s goal. You see, Zalkar was not just a soldier: he was also the chaplain for his battalion, a priest in the service of Gori Sensullu. When the minions of Seril killed his men but he survived, he took this as a sign that he had been chosen by Gori Sensullu to enact justice.”
“To be Gori Sensullu’s avatar of vengeance…,” Kari mused aloud.
Devin nodded. “Yes, very perceptive,” he encouraged. “Zalkar was only one man, but his tale of survival and status as a priest of Gori Sensullu allowed him to attract followers: other military veterans who saw Seril’s cowardly attack as an insult. The battalion to which Zalkar belonged was part of the ducal army, a defensive unit that was on maneuvers in preparation for future Demon Wars. For Seril’s minions to have ambushed and slaughtered them when there was no formal war taking place was seen as an act of cowardice and murder.”
I can’t disagree with that, Kari thought. She assumed the tale would come back around to her Blood Oath, and how to properly wield and fulfill it. She had sworn Blood Oaths before, most recently against Ressallk on Tsalbrin, but they were something of a hands-on learning experience. There wasn’t a class on how to swear them or wield the power they granted when Kari studied at the Academy as a young woman. A Blood Oath was a means of “taking a mission personally,” and in effect, asking Zalkar to do so as well: to strike down the offending demon through his hunter. On that note, they were taken very seriously by the hunters, the Order as a whole, and by Zalkar himself. Once sworn, an Oath could not be abandoned until either the hunter or their quarry perished.
“Zalkar then spent several years compiling information from many sources: from those paladins of the Ghost who’d sworn to the destruction of demons – known as Avengers – he learned the martial prowess to counter the demons’ physical violence. From the rangers of the Sandur Jungle and its network, he learned how to track the demons through various means. From the priests of mighty Sechre Tori, he learned to bless his weapons to inflict terrible pain and wounds upon his demonic foes. And from the priests of Garra Ktarra, he learned the strength of will to be fearless in the face of his enemies, and to both destroy them and leave survivors in turn so that his name would be whispered among them in tones of fear.”
“Equipped with this knowledge of tactics, martial prowess, and psychological warfare, Zalkar became the first true demonhunter our world has ever known,” Devin said. “Within months, he began training others to become like him, and he headed the elite class of warriors and soldiers now known as the Demonhunter Order. Between the wars with Seril, your Order has served to weaken the ranks of the serilis-rir and demons that cross the dimensional barriers to invade Citaria. As the years have passed and the victories have piled up, the Order’s knowledge has expanded to such an extent that, well, it has molded warriors like you.”
Kari smiled, but Devin continued. “That being said, there came times during Zalkar’s own years as a demonhunter when he encountered atrocities t
hat pushed him beyond the bounds of his normal hatred for the serilis-rir. Just as with the slaughter of his own men, the work of these particular demons would fill him with a rage that could not be quelled until those demons had fallen. In those times, he would swear an oath to Gori Sensullu that he would not rest, change the focus of his hunt, or retire from his life here on Citaria until that demon was dead. This became known as the Blood Oath.”
“Obviously, Zalkar did not imbue himself with divine power when undertaking one of these oaths. Gori Sensullu would bless him, protecting him from harm and filling him with divine power to keep his sword arm strong and true until the oath was fulfilled. Nowadays, your Order draws this power from Zalkar, as he is our patron. And this has made the Blood Oath even stronger, for Zalkar knows the rage that accompanies the swearing of such an Oath, and the drive and focus that must fill the demonhunter to see the Oath fulfilled. His symbol glows beneath your skin to show that he is with you, and it glows upon your skin and through your clothing when you face the demon, so that it knows it faces not just you, but your patron as well.”
“Now, you have sworn a Blood Oath to destroy Turillia, and to avenge all those she has harmed or slain in her quest for power,” Devin said. “Zalkar’s power resides in you. You need only focus your thoughts so that you may wield this power along with your own. Lady Vanador, all the world knows of your martial prowess and the list of deeds you have accomplished in our lord’s name. But have you ever truly wielded his power, or did you only taste of it, and use your own power to defeat your enemies? Did you submit to his will, or simply allow it to accompany you on your vengeful journeys?”
Kari’s brows rose and she blinked several times; she wasn’t even sure. She had certainly felt Zalkar’s presence with her before, and she knew that he had bolstered her when she fought against Ressallk. But had she fought Ressallk any differently than she would have had she not carried Zalkar’s spirit – and Sakkrass’, for that matter – into battle? Devin’s question was quite on point: she remembered drawing upon Tumureldi’s style first and foremost when she fought Ressallk. True, she had been stronger and faster thanks to Zalkar’s vengeful spirit being upon her, but as she thought about it, she realized she hadn’t really called directly upon his power.
“I guess I haven’t,” Kari said somewhat sheepishly. “I guess I always assumed his power would just flow through me when I went into battle. I always felt like it did.”
Devin nodded. “It does, to an extent, but to put it in a way you would understand, Zalkar is a gentleman. He does not take control of you, or force his power to act through you. He grants you the power of his avatar, but when, how, and how much of that power you use is completely in your control. Not to flatter you, my lady, but frankly, it’s understandable you have yet to truly call upon Zalkar’s power.”
Kari waved off the comment. “From everything I’ve seen in the last few days, I’m going to need it now more than ever,” she said. “So how do I call upon it, through prayer?”
“No, it is at once easier and more difficult than that,” the priest replied. “In order to truly unlock Zalkar’s power, you must call upon the rage that caused you to swear the Oath in the first place. Tell me, Lady: why did you swear this Blood Oath? While I have no doubt that Turillia deserves whatever form of death you visit upon her, what exactly was it she did that drove you to swear the Oath?”
Kari had to think about that for a moment; was it the fact that the succubus had indirectly hurt Serenjols? Zalkar had answered her request, but did that really mean he was satisfied with her reasons, or did it just mean he was satisfied with the goal? Grakin had told Kari that she shouldn’t doubt her motivation, and that no one else would either. But Kari couldn’t push the thought of Serenjols from her mind, particularly the sight of him kneeling beside Damansha as she fought for her life. Kari couldn’t deny that her desire to kill Turillia went far beyond duty. Her intention of ridding the world of a very dangerous demon was pure, but it was not her sole reason for swearing the Oath, and she was hesitant to tell the priest.
“All my life I’ve been a loner,” Kari said quietly, and Devin took a seat on the bench facing her as she began to open up to him. “Even when I travelled with my old partner and friend, Annabelle, or with Saint Bakhor, I’ve always been hesitant to let people into my life for very long. After Trigonh had me resurrected, I guess that continued through the Apocalypse, and into my mission to Tsalbrin for the Order.”
“That all changed when I got to know Grakin Tesconis,” she continued. “I found a kindred spirit in him, partly because he…better understands what I went through in my previous life, and partly just because he’s a gentle, caring person. And as I got to know his family through him, I realized I had found a family I could be a part of, and was happy to be a part of. They took me in as one of their own, and have been very protective of me since. And I return that feeling: I’m very protective of my family.”
Devin nodded but didn’t interrupt. “So when Turillia hurt Serenjols, the gentlest of my mate’s brothers, I…it…,” she stuttered, and she blew out an impatient sigh. “I’m ashamed to say it, but it became personal to me. I don’t just want to kill her, Master: I want her to suffer. I want her to know the terror she’s brought to her victims, and make her beg for death.”
“I can understand the sentiment,” the priest said, no trace of judgment on his features. “I imagine it is bad enough to deal with the things demons do without them being done to our own. You must remember, however, that our lord’s tenet of love justice, but do mercy applies to demons as well. While you do not grant them mercy in the traditional sense, you do not visit undue suffering upon them. You do not use the weapons that your enemies use, as it were.”
“I know,” Kari said. She dipped her head and closed her eyes, but she reminded herself that Zalkar had granted her request. Kari sighed and looked up to meet Devin’s eyes. “So, how do I use Zalkar’s power so I know I do this the right way?”
The priest reached over and touched Kari’s breastplate over her heart. “This is why I said it is both easy and difficult; you must draw upon that rage without letting it blind you to your true motivation and goal. You fight to defend, first and foremost, and you draw upon the rage to keep yourself single-minded in that desire.”
“I don’t understand,” Kari said.
“Love, Lady Vanador,” Devin answered, taking her hands in his. “Your rage is not fueled by hatred; it is fueled by love. When your love for your family, for those you defend – in this case, for your brother-in-law – when that love is the driving force behind your rage, then you will know Zalkar’s power, and it will ignite within you. Zalkar’s rage was not fueled by his hatred of the demons; it was fueled by his love of his countrymen, his fellow soldiers whose lives were lost defending their friends and loved ones. When you look into Turillia’s eyes, or even Emma’s, you must focus your thoughts on one thing: you confront them because of your love for your friends, your family, and your people. They are fueled by hatred, but their power will pale and ultimately fail in the face of your love.”
Kari thought about it for a minute. She tried to imagine that Damansha hadn’t been hurt, and that she wasn’t in the city to avenge Serenjols or his girlfriend, but she found she couldn’t convince herself of that. She thought better of it, and instead reminded herself that she was here to make sure Turillia didn’t do the same to anyone else. Kari realized she was at least twenty-nine murders behind on fulfilling that promise, and the prospect of having twenty-nine other families to avenge made it a little harder to focus on what Devin had told her. All of the harm the succubus had caused certainly evoked rage in Kari, but it was not fueled by love.
It dawned on her when she thought of her encounter with Turillia in the prior night’s dream. The succubus had threatened Kari’s family, and though the threat was empty, it had awoken Kari’s maternal defensiveness in addition to her fire as a demonhunter. She thought of the threat the succubus represented to
her family, to the friends – new and old – working with her, and to the people who’d volunteered to help since her arrival in the city. Turillia was a threat to all of those people, and to Lord Black, Alyssa and Chelsea, Marshal Saracht…
If Turillia managed to succeed in becoming a demon king or minor goddess, she was a threat to everyone. Zalkar’s symbol began to glow on Kari’s chest when she came to what she thought should’ve been an obvious conclusion. Kari had an entire world to defend from the succubus, and her personal vendetta held no weight when compared to that. With that kind of threat, everything else had to be secondary, and she imagined that even when there wasn’t such a threat, she had to treat situations as though there was. “I think I understand now,” she said.
Devin nodded. “Now you understand how to tap into Zalkar’s power,” he said. “Think of your faith in Zalkar as a shield with which you can deflect the attacks of demons. Keep your love – and your rage – wrapped tight in your heart, for it is there you will find Zalkar’s power. Imagine it as a bubble that surrounds you, shielding you from magical harm. Project Zalkar’s grace around you just as your young paladin friend did with the Ghost’s power, for though it is different from Katarina’s aura, it can protect you in much the same way.”
Kari rose to her feet and walked to the center of the room. She drew her blades and crossed them before her chest, and she tried to concentrate on creating an aura about her the way Katarina had. Zalkar’s symbol continued to glow brightly through her breastplate, but if she was projecting an aura, there was no sign of it. She called Devin’s words to mind about projecting Zalkar’s grace: his grace was his protection, which extended to all those threatened by demons, so Kari thought of herself in the same way. Under the effects of the Blood Oath, she was his avatar, full of his grace and power, defender of the entire world in the face of the threat this demon posed. For the first time in her life, Kari understood that Zalkar gave his power to her because he loved her, and she wondered how she had failed to realize that when she carried Sakkrass’ vengeful spirit into battle. As Devin had said, Zalkar was a gentleman, and he didn’t force himself into Kari’s life any more than she wanted him: the same way Sakkrass treated her.
