by Joe Jackson
“Aye. So this Amastri, she wasn’t able to tell you anything specific yet?” Kyrie prodded.
Kari shook her head. “Apparently she has to ask her king for permission before she can tell us anything,” she said.
“Her king? Who and what are you talking about?” Erik interrupted.
“A…woman named Amastri living here in DarkWind,” Kari explained. “She’s been here since Jason Bosimar was the head of the Order. She serves Koursturaux, but apparently Jason knew that and let her stay so he could use her for information. Eli and Danilynn have dealt with her before; she’s not really a threat, but she’s basically a spy.”
Kari could already see the confusion and concern on the faces of everyone present. She wasn't really comfortable talking about these things in front of Damansha, but Kari decided to trust that the captain of the guard would use discretion and keep things quiet.
“So what were you talking to her about? This Turillia you killed, or the syrinthians on the campus?” Erik prodded.
Kari waved her hand dismissively, started to speak, but stopped. She took in a deep breath and let it forth in a long sigh, and she took a sip of her drink before she spoke. “Turillia was only a part of what happened down in Barcon. I don’t want to get into messy details, but I ran into Emma down there: the same Emma that was behind the Tsalbrin incident.”
“Mallasti, reddish-brown fur, glowing orange eyes…?” Aeligos prompted, referring to one of the hyena demons. Eryn regarded him only briefly; Kari remembered Eryn had seen the mallasti female a few times on Tsalbrin.
Kari nodded. “Yes. She’s found Salvation’s Dawn,” she said, letting that declaration hang in the air for a few moments. “But so have we…because it’s me.”
“Son of a bitch,” Typhonix blurted, and he hardly noticed when his mother slapped him on the end of his snout.
Aeligos and Eryn exchanged a glance, and Kari wondered if the two of them had figured that out a while before. “Is that why Turillia drew you down to Barcon?” Aeligos asked, but in his expression and the sound of his voice, Kari could tell he already knew the answer.
“Not exactly,” she replied. “She needed me to flush out Emma. Emma was Turillia’s actual target, for reasons I won’t get into now. Emma came to protect me, because she knows I’m Salvation’s Dawn, and she needs me for whatever she’s up to with the Temple.”
“So why did you talk to Amastri?” Erik asked, his arms folded across his chest. “Surely you didn’t ask a demon about Salvation’s Dawn or the Temple…?”
Kari glanced at Damansha. The woman was clearly interested in the conversation, but she looked as confused as anything. “No, my conversation with her had nothing to do with that. It was about…ugh, there's no easy way to tell you all this. I’m going to need your help,” Kari said, looking around at her in-laws. “You are not going to like what I’m about to suggest, but at least hear me out before you tie me up and lock me in Little Gray’s bedroom.”
There were chuckles around the table, but Grakin’s was conspicuously absent. Kari had her in-laws’ full attention, so she began to tell them Eli and Danilynn’s tale. She filled them in on Se’ceria’s sacrifice, the implications surrounding Koursturaux’ involvement – though she left out the demon king’s actual arrival on Citaria for the time being – and the unfulfilled promise to rescue Se’sasha from the depths of the underworld. From the expressions on her mate’s and her in-laws’ faces, Kari could see they understood just what was coming. Still, that didn’t make it any easier to say aloud.
“Assuming the information Amastri gives us is reliable, and rescuing Se'sasha is actually possible, we’re looking at a short, subtle trip to the underworld to see if we can free this girl,” Kari said.
Surprisingly, it was Typhonix who got in the first word. “How subtle? Who did you plan to take with you if you actually go through with it?”
“As many as are willing to come,” Kari said, glancing around at each of her friends, her mate, and her in-laws. “And I stress willing. I don’t want anyone coming if they really, truly don’t want to go. I know what I’m asking of you, and I know what’s at stake, so don’t bother telling me it’s crazy or suicide or that I don’t know what I’m walking into. I’m well aware of that already.”
“No,” Grakin said with a shake of his head, pretty much the reaction Kari was waiting for. “Whatever this Se’sasha can tell you, it is not worth the risk. There are other ways to get this information, and other people who can get it. Certainly there are other hunters equally as capable who do not have a family to consider.”
“Like Erik and Typhonix?” Kari countered. “Or maybe I should send someone who has no mate, no children, no parents, no family at all? That describes me three years ago, Grakin. I won’t drop this in someone else’s lap. I may not be the Avatar of Vengeance, but I’m the head of the Order now, and something this important would only be entrusted to someone of my rank if we did have an Avatar.”
“You’re the head of the Order now?” Ty interjected. “Son of a…” Kyrie slapped the end of his snout before he could finish this time. The others laughed, but it was uneasy, the weight of Kari’s intentions hanging over them. “What did the Council have to say about this?”
Kari shrugged and took another sip of her drink. “They don’t like it, but they also don’t want to, uh, contradict my first decision as head of the Order,” she said. “I think on one hand, they’re happy to see me take the…initiative, trying to get some information so we know what we’re dealing with when these underworld demons come here. On the other hand, though, they’re just as afraid as all of you that walking into the underworld is a suicide mission.”
“Kari, you cannot seriously be considering this,” Grakin said, making an obvious effort to not grow too upset in front of the others. Kari and Grakin rarely disagreed, let alone fought, in front of the rest of the family. “It would be foolish enough to walk into the underworld, but to do so at the advice and direction of demons…is madness.”
“None of the people I’m getting our information from are actually demons. As Eli and Danilynn explained, syrinthians aren’t demons…they’re mortals native to the underworld that are stuck there serving Sekassus. And whatever Amastri is, she’s part elf and part something else, but it’s not demon. She said angel, but my gut tells me that’s not true,” Kari explained.
Erik picked up his drink and swirled it around in his glass, and the others waited for him to speak his mind. Erik was Kari’s subordinate among the Order, but among his siblings and friends – collectively called The Silver Blades – he was the leader. Kari respected his opinion and his insights, for even though he could be headstrong and was usually resistant to change, Erik was probably the most objective of all of the siblings. If there was reason that overrode sentiment or desire, Erik would point it out. “Well, we obviously have to consider that Kari’s learned a lot since she left for Barcon, and the rest of us haven’t been briefed on that by her or the Order,” he said at last. “I don’t think we should jump to any conclusions until she’s had time to actually get some information from Amastri.”
“Well, I’ll go with you,” Aeligos said. “If you’re going for subtlety, you’ll want to only bring a few people with you, and it seems there’s already three of you going. I don’t know what we’ll be dealing with down there, but if there’s a chance we can talk our way through situations, then I should be able to help you with that.”
Kari nodded. “We have very little to go on right now. We'll see how much that changes after I meet with Amastri again tomorrow night. But when I consider that Turik Jalar went there and came back to tell the tale – whether he actually laid a list of demands at the Overking's feet or not – there’s got to be something to the claims. Everything, though, is going to hinge on where Se'sasha is, if Sekassus has her in custody, and whether or not we can negotiate for her release if she's in prison. If Sekassus won’t negotiate, there’s no point to going at all.”
“Let
me find out if my arcane spells will work the same way in the underworld,” Sonja offered. “I’m still not having much luck advancing under Master Maelstrom, but if my spells can be of some use, I’d be willing to help you, too.”
“Mother, please talk some sense into them,” Grakin said.
Kyrie sighed lightly. “Grakin, right now there’s nothing to talk them out of,” she said. “At this point, it honestly can’t hurt to ask questions and gather information. Even if Kari decides against going, she will have learned something.”
“I would…,” Serenjols began, but Kari cut him off.
“Oh, no. I’ve already almost come between you and Damansha once, I’m not going to make that mistake again. You’re staying put no matter what.”
Serenjols was clearly surprised by Kari’s words, but unlike his headstrong younger brothers, he simply nodded in acceptance of her decision. Jol was very protective of his siblings and friends, but Kari meant what she’d said. If she took Jol to the underworld with her, she’d be putting Damansha through the same thing Jol had gone through when his half-elite girlfriend was nearly killed. Kari could understand his half-guardian nature and would normally welcome his help, but she wanted to see him develop his courtship of Damansha much more. Aeligos wasn’t in the same situation: Eryn was an assassin, and with the skill sets those two possessed, each knew the risks and possible fates that awaited them. Jol had a gentle heart, and Kari felt inclined to push him away from a life of danger if she could.
Damansha was smiling, and Kari knew well what the woman was thinking: she was happy to have been so readily accepted into Serenjols’ family. Kari had felt much the same once her in-laws had finally accepted that she really was the resurrected hero from two centuries before. Kari didn’t know what sort of family life Damansha had aside from her relationship with Serenjols. She had no idea whether the half-elite woman had any parents or family to speak of. In such a case, Kari knew being accepted by Jol’s family would mean so much more to Damansha.
Grakin was staring at Kari, and though his expression was far from a scowl, she could see that he was not pleased and she was going to hear about it once they retired to bed. Kari and Grakin were very careful about arguing in front of the rest of the family, particularly their son. The rest of the family seemed to take that to mean the two never fought, but they were a mated pair and they had disagreements just the same as any other couple. Each had a great deal of not just love, but respect for the other: Kari respected Grakin as her mate and as a gentle healer who saved and changed lives on a daily basis, and he respected her as a staunch protector of the entire world as a demonhunter.
“I’ll be meeting with Amastri again tomorrow night,” Kari said, breaking the silence. “She’s either going to tell me that her king forbids her from telling me anything, or she’ll be giving me what will hopefully be some useful information. I'm also waiting to hear from Eliza Chinchala about whether she can tran…eh, send people to the underworld with spells. If we have no way to get there, then the entire idea is wasted. But really, the whole thing is dependent on what Amastri can tell us about a safe landing point; I’m not interested in being captured the minute we set foot down there. And, again, Se'sasha has to either be free and in hiding, or else Sekassus has to be willing to negotiate her release.”
Aeligos nodded. “Do you want me to come to the meeting with Amastri? Maybe I can get more out of her than even her king would prefer.”
“That would actually be very helpful,” Kari agreed. “You keep up with helping me and I’m going to have to deputize you. Did you end up finding anything else in Bosimar’s journal?”
He nodded again. “I did, but most of what I found was things your friends here were able to expand upon already,” he answered. “Like I’d said before you left, he kept just enough notes to look complete while leaving out all the major details that would’ve pointed to what he was up to. There was something between him and Ciceria that he left out of the journal and your friends were unaware of, but I’m still not sure what it was. Nothing romantic, obviously, but like I said before, she told him something that made him trust her, and I don’t know what that was yet.”
“Romance, with a syrinthian? That’s gross,” Ty interjected, and there were chuckles around the table.
“I don’t know, there’s definitely something exotic about them,” Eli said. “Not that I’d go asking one for a date, but they’re not all that different than humans, and those eyes….”
Danilynn shrugged. “I think they’re an attractive people.”
Kari glanced around and sighed. “Aeligos, when you were going through Jason's journal, did you ever get the impression he had a family he was trying to keep a secret?”
That pride flashed in Aeligos' eyes, and he smiled. “You recognized it too?”
Kari shrugged. “It's the only thing I could think of that would make him keep everything a secret,” she said. “I realized maybe he wasn't hiding everything from the Order so much as from its enemies, so they wouldn't go after his family if his plan with Se'ceria failed.”
The rogue nodded. “Makes sense,” he said. “Do you want me to look into whether or not he had a family, and maybe try to find out who and where they are?”
Kari saw that the topic had drawn an interested look from Danilynn, but the demonhunter shook her head. “Not right now,” she said. “That's something we can look into when we don't have so many demons and demon servants nosing into our business.”
There was a silent accord, and then Kyrie spoke up. “Do you two need a place to stay?” she asked her new guests. “I have a guest room down here, but it has only a single bed.”
“Single bed’s fine,” Eli said, looking to Danilynn with a smile, and it quickly dawned on Kyrie what he meant. Eli and Danilynn had kept their relationship to one of kissing and holding hands while they travelled with Kari, but she’d been able to tell that they were looking forward to exploring intimacy. It wouldn’t have bothered Kari if they’d done so while the three travelled together, but she knew her point of view on that was one most people didn’t share.
“We would very much appreciate that, Ms. Kyleah,” Danilynn added.
“All right, kiddo, time for night-nights,” Kari said in the rir tongue to Little Gray, and she scooped him up and rose to her feet. “If you’ll all excuse me.”
“Nite-nite everybody!” Little Gray said over Kari’s shoulder as she carried him toward the stairs. Laughter and wishes good-night followed them, and Kari took her son to his bedroom.
Kari checked the position of his reading chair when she entered the room, but it was where it was supposed to be. Her footsteps slowed as she crossed the room toward his bed, and her heartbeat sped up when she recalled she’d nearly been murdered in that exact spot several hours before. There was still a stain on the floor where the syrinthian assassin Irressa’s body had lain; neither Kyrie nor her children had gotten around to cleaning it up yet. Kari was pretty sure the body would’ve been taken to Kaelariel’s temple to be given last rites that would ensure it didn’t rise again under the power of a necromancer in the future.
Little Gray seemed to pay no mind to the bloodstain or the harrowing events that had taken place in his bedroom earlier in the day. “Little Gray, is the Fuzzy Man here?” Kari asked, referring to the elestram assassin that had saved Kari from Irressa for some unknown reason.
“No, mama, no Fuzzy Man,” he replied.
Kari sighed, but she wasn't even sure if it was one of relief or disappointment. She had encountered elestram before in her previous life, and fought a few of them to the death. Though tall, the jackal demons were very graceful, and their intellects could be staggering. They made for excellent assassins, spies, and very powerful wizards. The Wraith, or “The Fuzzy Man” as Little Gray had dubbed him, was an assassin: sent on a counter-mission to stop the syrinthians from killing Kari. It created so many questions in Kari as to what he was up to, who he served, and what that person’s goals might be. She s
upposed it somehow tied back into the fact that she was Salvation’s Dawn. Kari sighed again as she realized there might be more than one king in the underworld that knew she was Salvation’s Dawn.
She tucked Little Gray into his bed and knelt down beside it, and Kari folded her hands before her when he sat up to say his prayers. Little Gray was serilian-rir by all rights, and his father was a healer of Kaelariel, who was the unofficial patron of serilis- and serilian-rir alike. Kari was fine with her son learning to worship the god of freedom and death, and she quietly prayed along with him as he recited his prayers to Kaelariel. When he was finished, Kari kissed Little Gray on the side of his snout affectionately and tucked him back in. “Nite-nite, mama,” he said happily as he closed his eyes.
“Little Gray…do you know why mama goes away?” Kari asked, trying to keep her eyes from welling up with tears.
He opened his eyes again and smiled. “To fight monsters!” he said happily. “You beat up the bad monsters, right mama?”
“Yes, but are you sad when mama goes away?” she asked.
“I miss you, mama,” he replied a little less exuberantly, but then he smiled again. “But we play when you get back! Grandma makes cookies when mama is away.”
Kari kissed him again and he closed his eyes. She walked around his bed to close the curtains, and then left his bedroom. Grakin was waiting before the door to their bedroom, and Kari entered to get out of her armor and change her clothes. She wasn’t sure if Grakin wanted to make love or not, but she had planned to go back downstairs and spend a little more time with her in-laws and friends. When she started removing her armor, she glanced at him over her shoulder and saw that making love was not what was on his mind.
