by Joe Jackson
Emma raised a clawed hand to unleash another spell, but Turillia vanished, only to reappear directly in front of the mallasti. Apparently fed up with their magical duel, the succubus attempted to run the mallasti girl through. Emma’s arcane shield absorbed the blow, and she threw her hands forward, hurling Turillia backward with arcane force. The succubus got control of her unplanned flight using her wings, and was able to come back down on her feet, skidding to a stop a dozen yards away. She bared her fangs in a grin that was easy to see even from Kari and Eli’s vantage point, and then she turned and loosed a lightning bolt at Kari.
Kari only had time to blink, shutting her eyes momentarily against the bright flash of the discharged lightning, but her breathing stayed steady and calm, her faith firmly placed in Zalkar’s ability to protect her. The bolt dissipated when it collided with Kari, but she was vaguely aware that it had split off and caught Eli. He grunted in pain but stayed on his feet easily; whatever the difference was between Emma and Turillia’s lightning bolts, Eli was able to shrug this one off for the most part. Kari paced toward Turillia, whose grin disappeared when she saw Kari was unharmed. The succubus looked from enemy to enemy, apparently trying to decide her next move.
There was no sign of the black werewolf, and Kari wondered if the creature had already been killed, reduced to ash, or else flung far over the city walls by the demons’ magic. Kari started pacing to her right to try to flank the succubus, and she gestured for Eli to fall into position between her and Emma. He seemed to be the person least likely to be harmed by Emma, so Kari was comfortable putting him closer to the mallasti. The demonhunter picked up her pace, but made sure not to lose her footing in the deepening mud, and she saw that Turillia’s golden eyes were following her primarily.
The succubus tilted her head to the side and sighed briefly before she unleashed another lightning bolt, this one aimed squarely at Eli. He was nearly able to dodge it, thanks to reacting instantly to Turillia’s motion, but the bolt struck him in the upper chest near the shoulder, and he dropped to his knees. With a thought, Kari extended Zalkar’s grace outward to form that bubble again, and she tried to get between Eli and Turillia to shield him. She threw caution to the wind as she saw Turillia preparing to unleash another spell at Eli.
Surprisingly, Emma conjured a glowing sheet of arcane force in front of Eli to protect him, but Kari quickly realized the mallasti girl’s error. Turillia had only hurt Eli as a feint, and Kari’s own protective nature reacted too predictably. It was strange that Emma had reacted similarly, but it was apparent that was what Turillia had counted on. With the mallasti’s focus on protecting Eli, the succubus vanished once again, appeared behind Emma, and impaled the mallasti through her right side with a long, straight blade.
Emma let out a blood-curdling cry and collapsed in a heap, but Kari could see that Turillia hadn’t assassinated her. The succubus needed Emma’s blood, and apparently it had to come from the mallasti while she was still alive. Still, the sword had penetrated Emma’s shielding from the back, and the wound was grave enough that the mallasti lay clutching at the mud beneath her in shock. Turillia drew the blade out cruelly and stepped over the mallasti girl, and she flashed that confident grin in Kari’s direction again.
A callous thought crossed Kari’s mind as the succubus approached: if Kari could draw the battle out long enough, Emma would die from that wound, and Turillia’s plan would fail, whether Kari bested her or not. Just as quickly as it had come, though, the thought faded, and the memory of Makauric bleeding out on Kaelariel's altar took its place. No one deserves that, Kari thought, and she tightened her grip on her swords.
Eli got back to his feet, but Kari could see by the way he looked at Emma that he was going to be of little help against Turillia, at least initially. He staggered over toward the fallen mallasti, and Turillia regarded him with a chuckle and continued to approach Kari. Kari supposed that perhaps it was better this way: Eli could make sure Emma survived, which might mean Kari could get some answers from her when all was said and done. It also meant Eli would be out of harm’s way, which would allow Kari to focus on Turillia. Kari was confident in her ability to defeat Turillia, but at the same time, she knew it was foolish to attempt to do so alone. She hoped that Sharyn, Sherman, and Markus would arrive soon; as it stood, Kari had seen no sign of the senior paladin since arriving in the stable square.
Turillia unleashed another spell at Kari, sending a torrent of flame at the demonhunter, but Kari’s faith held strong, and she stood unharmed. She got her swords up as Turillia came in and tried to catch her while she was still partially blinded by the fire’s light. Kari turned aside the succubus’ attack, and she sidestepped and began testing the ground beneath her feet while she had a moment to breathe. The mud was slick, but not completely unreliable. Kari began her nimble dance, and as she and Turillia circled each other, the demonhunter could see that the succubus’ footwork remained impeccable even in the poor conditions.
Kari drove in with a simple routine at first. She wanted to get her muscles warmed up and ready for what she assumed would be the fight of her life. She began with a combination that Tumureldi had taught her to gauge an enemy’s defenses and how quickly they returned their own weapons to a ready position after parrying. To Kari’s surprise, Turillia didn’t simply parry: she stepped in on Kari’s combination and riposted. Her straight blade thudded hard against Kari’s belly, just as it had when they’d fought in DarkWind, though the succubus didn’t attempt to sidestep and decapitate her. Were it not for the girdle of Kari’s armor, Turillia would have impaled her through the stomach, finding that seam between breastplate and loin guard. Kari realized she had to be much more measured in her approach, or it would be a short fight.
Turillia wasted no time after the stunning jab, and she countered with a combination of her own. Even barefoot in the mud of the stable square, the succubus’ footwork was amazing, and she was able to turn her feet and thrust sidelong at Kari, overextending her normal reach to push the demonhunter away. Kari swept the thrusts aside and sidestepped, but she couldn’t get close enough to Turillia to counterstrike, let alone try to strike from Turillia’s rear, where she’d have a tougher time making an effective parry. The succubus moved in time with Kari and closed the distance between them, and she unleashed a short flurry that put Kari on the defensive. Kari was able to keep pace with the succubus’ attacks and parry each one in turn, but she was giving up ground too fast. She relaxed and fell into Turillia’s rhythm, and she allowed the succubus to back her up toward the gates. Deirdre and the other guards were either already there in the shadows or soon would be, so Turillia wasn’t helping herself by backing Kari up.
As though she was reading Kari’s mind, the succubus stopped pressing her attack and began moving sideways, and Kari realized she was heading back toward Emma. Kari began to give chase, but as soon as her feet began to churn in the mud, Turillia stopped and moved back in on the demonhunter. The succubus gave a short uppercut with her right blade, and it split Kari’s chin wide open and bit into the bone of her jaw. Kari hissed in pain, but she got her feet back under her, established her distance, and assumed a defensive stance. Silver blood trickled down her throat in a warm rivulet, a testament to the fact that Kari simply had to get in the habit of wearing her helm at all times. Her lower front teeth felt loose under her tongue, and she wondered how far through her jaw the succubus had cut.
Turillia snickered at her. “You had best hope your friends arrive before mine do,” she said in her otherworldly voice. “You have vastly overestimated your fighting prowess.”
Kari wasn’t sure who Turillia meant by her friends, but she guessed it was a ruse or distraction, and paid it little heed. If the succubus meant BlackWing or her duplicate, she was in for a very rude surprise. If she meant someone else, Kari was confident they weren’t powerful, or they would’ve registered to Dominick’s arcane sense. Kari flashed a countering smile, undeterred by the pain in her chin or the blood that trick
led from the wound. “You haven’t seen a damned thing yet,” she challenged.
Kari assumed the scorpion pose that was the trademark of Suler Tumureldi’s fighting style. Far behind Turillia, Kari could see that Eli had his hammer in hand and was slowly beginning to creep up on the succubus. The rain continued to patter Kari’s face and shoulders as she stood completely still in the scorpion pose, and she raised her wings slightly to block some of the drizzle. His style, your power, she prayed quietly to Zalkar. She didn’t feel any surge of power or anything to that effect, but she kept her presence of mind: she wanted Zalkar with her.
Turillia’s face lit up when she beheld Kari’s pose, and though the succubus chuckled, it wasn’t spiteful like usual. “At last, Tumureldi’s gift appears,” she said. “Let us see which master was the better teacher, then.”
“Who taught you to fight?” Kari asked; her curiosity had been piqued. She couldn’t help but run her tongue down the wound in her lower jaw from the inside after speaking. It was quite painful, and she realized she was bleeding inside her mouth as well. Turillia had cut deep.
“His name would mean nothing to you,” Turillia returned, “but you will die knowing he was a better teacher than your own.”
Turillia took up a pose of her own, and Kari went on the offensive, something that was unusual under Tumureldi’s style. She drove forward with great, arcing, hacking strikes, forcing Turillia to simply dodge or give ground for fear of losing one of her blades under the weight of Kari’s attacks. Once she had Turillia backing away, Kari began weaving her left blade in front of her in a dazzling pattern while her right blade did the same behind her. Turillia seemed to know what Kari was up to, and she swung her own left blade across to force Kari to parry while she moved right and attempted to stab Kari under the arm with her other blade.
Turillia staggered back as Kari’s left foot connected with the side of her face. The succubus clearly had no idea that Kari also trained with Aeligos at his master’s dojo. It hadn’t taken Aeligos long to teach her the front roundhouse kick, and Kari found it mixed into Tumureldi’s style quite well. She followed up on the stunning kick with an inside crescent swing of her left scimitar, going for the artery in Turillia’s right thigh. Her scimitar cut into the armor there deeply and drew blood. Turillia hopped back with a startled cry of pain, but Kari knew she hadn’t gotten deep enough. The succubus looked down at her leg and the streaks of blood running down from under her armor, and the look she turned on Kari was one of complete and utter surprise.
Kari drove in once more, but Turillia recovered quickly from her shock and growled with rage. The succubus stymied Kari’s attacks and reestablished distance between them, and once Kari ceased pressing her, Turillia turned and loosed another lightning bolt in Eli’s direction. The half-corlyps saw the succubus’ motions and was able to dodge before she loosed the stroke, and he landed flat on his belly in the mud halfway between Emma and Turillia. Turillia didn’t turn back toward Kari right away, but the demonhunter knew what the succubus was thinking. Kari turned around and swung at neck level, and she nearly decapitated Turillia when the succubus reappeared behind her.
Kari wasn’t sure who was more impressive in that instant: herself for anticipating the succubus’ move, or Turillia for that snake-like agility that let her dodge before she was even conscious of Kari’s attack. Even while off-balance from her dodge, the succubus still managed to threaten Kari with her blades, and she kicked the demonhunter hard in the side of the knee. Kari’s leg nearly buckled, and she hopped gingerly to the side, testing the leg with her weight before she reassumed her fighting stance. Turillia took in Kari’s armored form but her gaze lingered on the demonhunter’s knee. Soon she met Kari’s stare, and a smile crept onto her face.
Paluric armor had one major weakness: though it was virtually impervious to piercing and slashing attacks, it didn’t do much to absorb blunt force. Kari wore padded clothing under the armor to mitigate that issue, but the joints in particular were vulnerable. It was obvious from the look on Turillia’s face that she now understood that, and Kari was thankful the succubus only seemed to carry a pair of straight blades. She could batter Kari with her fists and feet all day, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective as if she was wielding a hammer or a mace.
Deirdre started to approach from the gateway, but Kari held her off with an upraised hand. “Go and check on Emma, if she’ll let you,” she called to the priestess. “Keep Eli with you.”
Turillia shook her head lightly, but smiled in recognition of Kari’s intention. Kari wanted to keep her hammer and mace-wielding friends away from the succubus, lest they be disarmed and inadvertently give Turillia the weapons she needed to turn the fight against Kari. The two seemed very evenly matched in more than just battle prowess: they also thought alike, and Kari wasn’t sure if that made her more content with her own intelligence, or concerned because she could think like a half-succubus assassin.
Kari assumed her scorpion pose once again, but this time Turillia scoffed before she came in to reinitiate the battle. She caught Kari’s downward swing with her left blade and thrust up under Kari’s arm, aiming for any seam or weak point in the armpit of Kari’s armor. Kari anticipated a counterattack, as the succubus seemed most adept at counterstriking – much like Kari. The demonhunter turned to her right as she swung downward, and she tried to cut off Turillia’s hand with her other scimitar. The succubus narrowly avoided Kari’s attack, but Kari then swung her tail up and hit Turillia in the side to distract her, and followed that by buffeting the succubus with her left wing.
Kari stepped in behind her tail- and wing-buffets to unleash a pattern of crossways half-swings and short thrusts, but Turillia recovered quickly and began parrying them easily. The demonhunter couldn’t help but wonder who had trained the succubus; her master had clearly been a phenomenal swordsman. Kari was getting used to Turillia’s quirks as a fighter, but in terms of style, the two were so evenly matched that Kari wanted to spit. She nearly laughed at her own foolish pride: thinking she was somehow the greatest of all swordfighters because she’d learned from Tumureldi. Kari swallowed that pride. She had thrown Tumureldi’s and Aeligos’ training at the succubus, mixed with Zalkar’s strength, and she still had yet to claim supremacy.
The demonhunter continued trading routines with the succubus, with neither able to gain more than a momentary advantage over the other. Kari’s paluric armor kept her well-protected, though Turillia didn’t land many blows upon it anyway. The succubus, conversely, had only some sparse leather armor on, but she was deft and agile enough to keep Kari from landing many blows upon it, let alone upon her unprotected flesh. Neither slowed or showed any sign of fatigue: Kari was fueled by the Blood Oath, evidenced by the furiously glowing symbol of Zalkar upon her chest, and Turillia, even with the bleeding wound on her right thigh, had the hellish constitution of a demon.
Call her an abomination, it will shatter her will, Emma spoke into Kari’s mind.
No, Kari thought in return. Kari knew what it meant to be hated by her own father, and the pain that Turillia carried with her was the kind Kari could identify with. She already felt bad for saying such a heartless thing when she’d faced Turillia in her dreams. Like Devin had told her, Kari knew that she fought and killed demons to defend people, to defend her world; not to make the demons suffer, or torture them by their own means and measure. If anything, Turillia’s pain made Kari pity her. She would kill the succubus to defend her world, but she would not make sport of her enemy’s personal wounds. That was not who Karian Vanador was.
Zalkar’s symbol glowed ever brighter and more furiously, and Turillia’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Kari. “Do you understand what you’re up against now?” Kari asked.
“I understand that I have so much more to steal from you than I’d initially suspected,” Turillia returned with a scowl. “I will take your power and your angel blades, and I will carve my name into this pathetic world of yours.”
The
succubus came in, playing right into Tumureldi’s style, but she surprised Kari by kicking up mud into the demonhunter’s face. It was apparent Turillia was done with trying to find out which of them was the superior swordfighter, and was going for the kill. Kari closed her eyes and ignored the instinct to wipe the mud from her face. Instead, she backed up slowly, laying one foot behind the other again and again while she began weaving her blades in a very quick yet precise pattern. It was a routine Suler had called his nightmare, and Kari recalled the tale that had gone along with the lesson.
In his recurring nightmare, Suler explained, he’d faced some demonic beast with many arms, each wielding a vicious sword. Each night he was attacked by the creature, and it would overwhelm him before he would awaken moments before being killed. Over time, the shakna-rir king had developed a familiarity with his enemy’s style, and as the weeks passed, he found that he could survive longer and longer against his many-armed foe. Eventually, he perfected a routine that completely stymied his enemy’s attacks, and he fittingly called it Suler’s Nightmare. He had admitted to Kari that he’d never bested the demon, but after months, the creature – if it was even anything more than a figment of his fears – stopped attacking him in his dreams, frustrated by his prowess.
Kari began to emulate that routine, but she didn’t simply execute the same pattern that Tumureldi had taught her. She’d now fought Turillia several times, and she was accustomed to the succubus’ attack angles, the speed and depth of her strikes, and the fact that she liked to go for Kari’s weak points. Even blinded by mud, Kari weaved her blades in such a way that the succubus couldn’t penetrate her defenses without giving up her position. The sound of the rain made it tough for Kari to focus on the succubus’ footsteps, but by giving up ground and walking backwards slowly, Kari was confident she could keep Turillia in front of her long enough for the rain to clear the mud from her face.
