by Joe Jackson
Aeligos piped in before the scribes had even finished taking down the tale or the Council could begin asking questions. “And that’s what worries me,” he said. “There’s no denying that everything worked out, so to speak, but that Jason allowed a demon king to be summoned isn’t even the worst part. I can’t wrap my head around why something as powerful as Koursturaux is reputed to be would manage to set foot on Citaria, but then just leave without a fight.”
“Maybe she was afraid of the gods and their avatars,” Kari ventured, giving voice to her own thoughts just minutes before. “It’s not like she brought her army with her, so if the gods took direct action, she might’ve been in for a lot of trouble.”
Aeligos shook his head. “I understand that, but I’m trying to put this all in context with Se’ceria’s sacrifice,” he said. “Think about it: Se’ceria agreed to work for Koursturaux in all this, but to what end? Koursturaux is no fool; she has to have known Se’ceria had something in mind when she agreed to summon her here. Se’ceria took a big risk, and she probably knew she was going to get killed, and that it might cost her daughter Se’sasha her life, too. That’s not something you do for a demon king, not just to stick it to Sekassus. Se’ceria had some ulterior motive the whole time – this alleged prophecy we’re talking about – and Koursturaux has to have known that. So that leaves two questions: did Koursturaux know about the prophecy or whatever Se’ceria’s ulterior motive was, and is it something she wanted to come to pass anyway?”
“We ought to call him ‘the Calculating,’” Master Arinotte muttered to Master Perez, and the other Councilors joined the two in a laugh.
“Not to get off topic, but get in the habit of saying king before you say their names,” Kari said. “Folk on Mehr’Durillia were very thorough about that, and a slip of the tongue on such a matter can get us into a lot of trouble, even here, speaking to someone like Amastri.” Liria agreed with that, and the others all nodded silently.
“I’m honestly curious where you all stand on what Jason did,” Aeligos said, folding his arms across his chest. “I know he’s a hero and was a very popular Avatar of Vengeance, but the man did allow a demon king to be summoned here on his watch. That could’ve turned out to be a total disaster, especially so close to the Apocalypse.”
“There’s little sense debating that, or posthumously reprimanding Lord Bosimar,” Master Arinotte said. “Do I agree with his methods? No, certainly not, but it is hard to be angry at the results, given where we stand today. I, for one, see little point in dragging the name of a good man through the mud after his death.”
Aeligos shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about,” he said, but he made an apologetic gesture with his hands and softened his tone. “What I meant was to ask if he did what he did under orders, either from you or from Zalkar himself, possibly related to this prophecy?”
“Not under orders from this Council, no,” Master Bennet said. “Whether he had some specific, covert orders from Zalkar that we were not privy to, I cannot say. Remember that though we think of the Avatar as being such only in title, they do share a direct connection with Zalkar, and his power flows directly through them. I find it unlikely he did what he did to aid in some unknown prophecy, but with the connection he had to Zalkar, he may have seen things from a perspective that you and I and our companions simply cannot appreciate.”
“I think it best if we concentrate on where we go from here, and don’t worry so much about how we got here,” Danilynn said. “We’ll find out more details when Se’sasha has had time to commune with her mother’s spirit, and the rest we’ll learn in time. What I would suggest is that we begin pooling the resources of our collective clergies, and try to find out if there’s any prophecies out there that haven’t become common knowledge. It’s possible that before Gori Sensullu – or even Seril, for that matter – met their ends, they gave a prophecy to someone, and it simply hasn’t been passed on to others yet.”
Kari was glad for that suggestion: it would give people something to focus on rather than hand-wringing while they waited for Se’sasha to fill in more details. “Danilynn’s right; let’s get the clergy of all the churches here talking, start gathering information from around the world, and see if there’s something out there that might help keep us from stumbling around blind. In the meantime, I’m going to issue orders to all of our hunters: Mehr’Durillian ‘demons’ are to be apprehended, not killed, whenever possible. Let’s see if Master Maelstrom and some of the other resident wizards in the area can assist in creating more of those anti-magic shackles that were on Se’ceria so many years ago. That should help a lot with capturing them.”
Kari turned to Se’sasha and Liria. “I want her to talk to your people; see what they’ll tell us and whether they’ll pledge loyalty to her as a priestess now that they’re out of King Sekassus’ clutches. Hopefully Sonja will tell us whether or not she can transport us to where we need to go so Se’sasha can commune with her mother’s spirit.”
Liria translated quickly to Se’sasha, who nodded her agreement, so Kari turned to Lord Allerius. “I’ll be putting you in charge again in the next few days; we have somewhere we need to take Se’sasha so she’ll be able to tell us more,” she said. “When I get back, though, I’ll be staying here on campus for a while, because…” She paused and looked at the Council. “I’m having another baby.”
“Lady Vanador, this is wonderful news!” Master Bennet exclaimed to the polite applause of the other Councilors and officers in the chamber.
“And you’re all right to travel?” Lord Allerius asked. He may have been her subordinate, but he was once her commander, and often looked out for her like a friend, or even brother.
“Assuming we’re not gone for months, yes,” she answered. “I think my sister-in-law will be able to take us where we need to go using arcane means, so it should save us a lot of time.”
“Well, you heard your commander,” Lord Allerius barked to the officers in the Council chamber. “You have new orders to issue to the recruits and our hunters, and those orders have to be passed on to those on assignment. Let’s get moving!”
There was a flurry of activity in the chamber, and Kari moved close to Se’sasha and Liria to keep her voice down. “Tell her I’d like to be there when she speaks with your people,” she said, and there were no arguments from either syrinthian woman after Liria translated Kari’s words. “Let’s go take care of that. I’m interested to hear what your people might have to say.”
“As is she,” Liria answered.
*****
For all of the work and preparation that went into its construction, the prison on the campus of the Demonhunter Order was typically empty. The cages were made of cold-wrought iron, infused with both arcane and divine power to keep any of their occupants from escaping by any means. The entire prison was also surrounded by enchantments to prevent any sort of magical breach, whether from the outside or the inside. Still, not many “underworld demons” had been captured in recent years, and with the changes in policy regarding serilis-rir after the War, even they weren’t taken captive anymore.
It made the prison a quiet place, and the sound of Kari, Liria, and Se’sasha’s soft footfalls seemed thunderous in the open, echoing, silent halls. The syrinthian prisoners were being held all together in the large, general holding cell toward the back of the complex. General holding was usually only used until the Order could determine how best to separate its demon prisoners, but since the syrinthians were neither demons nor very likely to attempt escape, Kari had let them all stay together.
There was quiet chatter coming from the general holding cell when Kari and Se’sasha turned down the final hall that led to it. The syrinthians had been in prison now for roughly two months, and Kari imagined they must be tired of being crowded together in a room with virtually no privacy – at least, not from each other. It was one thing to be held in prison, and quite another to be in a room full of people when you had to do your business,
and couldn’t bathe regularly. Kari knew her enemies well, and was using that against her prisoners as much as possible.
Kari regarded Se’sasha as they made the final approach to the prisoners. If the prisoners regarded Se’sasha as their high priestess, they might swear fealty to her in whatever way their people normally would outside of Sekassus’ rule. If they did that, and Kari could trust Se’sasha, then that meant she would not only have no prisoners to worry about, but she would, in fact, have a bunch of new allies at her disposal. Se’sasha could put them to good use and get them out from underfoot on the campus.
The conversation among the syrinthians came to an abrupt halt when they heard the approaching footsteps. As soon as they saw Kari, they shied away fearfully, but then Liria went ahead and approached the bars of the cage. The eyes of her companions went ever wider when they beheld Se’sasha beside Kari, and Liria gripped the bars of her cage. “Lady Vanador has returned with our priestess,” she said with wonder still in her voice.
The others rose to their feet in the presence of another syrinthian lady. Se’sasha gestured toward the door. Kari unlocked it and then followed Liria and Se’sasha inside, though she kept her hands as inconspicuously near the hilts of her scimitars as possible. If her hopes were poorly placed, Kari had to be ready to defend herself. The syrinthians may have been dressed in plain clothes and unarmed, but there were still almost a dozen of them, and such a group of people could subdue Kari, weapons or no.
Se’sasha greeted her people with a welcoming gesture, and Kari heard the name Se’sasha Aesiasi Solaristis among her words, along with that name Ashakku. There were muffled gasps when she spoke Ashakku’s name, but the syrinthian prisoners hesitated, as if it might be some trick or deception. Slowly, though, one after another, beginning with Liria, the syrinthian people knelt before the priestess. Once kneeling, they bowed their heads to her, but their eyes came back up quickly, still staring and searching for some further proof that what they were witnessing was real. Kari turned to the syrinthian priestess to see what she would do or say next.
Se’sasha opened her robes and let them hang loosely from her arms so that the tattoos that had appeared when she’d stood under the sun showed. Only the belly tattoo was invisible, hidden by the slip she wore, but the ones on her hands, upper arms, and shoulders were clearly visible. The silent awe of the syrinthian prisoners turned to excited chatter, and they spoke in their quick, sibilant tongue to each other. Kari may not have understood their language, but there was no misunderstanding their tone and their excitement.
Se’sasha spoke with her people at length, and it was Kari’s turn to listen to a translation from Liria afterward. “I must be plain with you,” Se’sasha had said, according to Liria. “You have failed the Cobra Lord, and so one of two results holds true: either your families have been murdered in retribution, or they yet live but you can never return to our ancestral home. So you have this choice before you: return home to the Cobra Lord’s realm and accept the consequences of your failure, or renounce your allegiance to him. Swear fealty to me and to Ashakku, and we will build a new life for ourselves here, and work to free our people from the grip of the Cobra Lord, with the help of this hunter and her people. But this decision must be made, and it must be made now: there is no time left for dallying.”
The others had all offered what had to be their promise of fealty, and when Liria finished telling Kari what was happening, she followed suit. “I have pledged myself to Se’sasha Aesiasi Solaristis, Daughter of Ashakku, and to whatever course she guides us to,” Liria translated for Kari. “As have my brothers and sisters.”
Kari was a bit skeptical: it wasn’t like the syrinthians really had much of a choice. It was easy for them to choose to “follow” Se’sasha and claim to follow Ashakku, but it would be quite another thing for them to prove it was true. Kari was content to keep them under arrest on the campus grounds until she felt she could trust them. She was pretty sure she could trust Se’sasha, but these syrinthians had infiltrated the Order itself under Sekassus’ will: there was no telling if they would betray Se’sasha to get back into Sekassus’ good graces. Even Se’sasha had to understand that it would take time for the syrinthians to be able to earn any sort of trust.
Se’sasha spoke again, and all the eyes of the syrinthians went wide when she finished. Liria stared at Kari, and the gazes of the rest of the syrinthians fell upon her as well. Liria then translated for Kari, “This I tell you also: what you have done against Lady Vanador and her Order, you did at King Sekassus’ command and in ignorance; it will not be held against you. In the future, however, you will defer to her just as though she was my sister, for it is so.” Kari’s brow rose in confusion, but then Liria added, “I pledge obedience to you, Daughter of Ashakku, and sister of our high priestess.”
Kari nodded to their words; Ashakku had to be the same deity as Sakkrass. It didn’t mean she believed the syrinthians yet, though. To her, it was still a little strange to find that the syrinthians were children of Sakkrass. It wasn’t hard to believe, given that they’d been enslaved to Sekassus for however many generations, but with what Kari had heard regarding the relations between czarikk and syrinthians, it was weird to think of them as siblings or cousins. It left Kari to wonder why the czarikk were native to Citaria but not Mehr’Durillia, while the opposite held true for the syrinthians. She supposed it would be something to pester Sakkrass about when she spoke to him again, or something Se’sasha could explain after communing with her mother.
“I am not truly a high priestess yet,” Se’sasha admitted, with Liria translating when she finished. “I have been in King Sekassus’ dungeon for the last dozen years, so I have been cut off from our father and from the priesthood. However, Lady Vanador and her companions have agreed to take me to my mother’s grave so that I can commune with my mother’s spirit. Once I have done that, I will return to you, and we will see about building a temple to Ashakku.”
“Is there any way we can help, Your Eminence?” one of the males asked in their language.
Se’sasha shook her head but deferred to Kari to answer once Liria had translated. “The best way you can be of help is to just be as easily managed as possible while you’re here,” Kari said, and the syrinthians nodded, though they didn’t appear happy with her suggestion. “As I’m sure you know, our people don’t trust yours and never have, so it’s going to take time before you can walk the streets of this city without getting killed. The more easily managed you are while you’re here on campus, the easier it’ll be to convince the Duke that he can trust you to some extent. I know you probably want to go out and do some things to try to prove your new loyalty, but that’s not going to happen. As it stands, you’re here because you infiltrated my Order to cause harm; so accept that it’s going to be slow-going for a while.”
That seemed to bring things back to reality for the syrinthians, and they agreed with Kari’s orders. One of the other females spoke up, “May I be so bold as to ask a favor of you, Lady Vanador?” Kari nodded and gestured for her to speak freely. “May we take a bath?”
Kari suppressed both a smile and a chuckle; she certainly did know her enemies well. She called for the guards, who rushed to the cell in moments, probably assuming there was a problem. Kari ordered them to take their syrinthian “guests” to the bathhouse and let them shower, and then to bring them to the Council chamber for a meeting. There were profuse thanks from the syrinthians, and all of them but Liria followed the guards out of the cell and toward the campus proper. Liria stood straight before Kari and hesitated a moment, but then she saluted Kari in the demonhunter way.
“Thank you, ma’am, for not putting us to death,” Liria said. “If it takes me the rest of my life, I will earn that from you. I swear this in front of my high priestess and our deity.” She then repeated her words to Se’sasha in their language, and the priestess nodded curtly.
Kari nodded and returned the salute. “Go get washed up,” she said. “We’ll see you in t
he Council chamber soon.” Liria looked to Se’sasha, who dismissed her with a nod, and then she followed her comrades out of the prison complex.
Kari gestured toward Se’sasha’s necklace, and the priestess took it off and held it out to her. Kari took it and gestured toward the cobra-like countenance. “Ashakku?” she asked, and Se’sasha nodded and repeated the name, followed by something that sounded eloquent in the sibilant language of the snake-folk. Kari then gestured toward the cobra-like countenance again and said, “Sakkrass,” followed by the word “father.”
There was no hesitation: Se’sasha nodded and smiled openly. She touched Kari over her heart and said something, and Kari returned the gesture and said, “Sister.”
Kari smiled and wrapped an arm around Se’sasha’s shoulders as they walked, and the priestess did the same. The daughters of Sakkrass emerged from the prison complex together, and all of the syrinthians saw them as they came out. For just an instant, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter on the campus of the Demonhunter Order.
*****
When the meetings were complete and the syrinthians had made it clear to the Council that their allegiance now lay with Se’sasha, Kari returned home. They hadn’t told the Council anything; Se’sasha asked that they be patient and let her explain when she could, so that all blame would fall upon her alone. People were anxious to hear the syrinthians’ story, but the Council had agreed with Se’sasha’s request.
The sun was hanging low in the west, shrouding the sky in pink and purple, and the city in long shadows. Kari was getting hungry again, and hoped that there was some food left over from the family’s proper supper. When she approached the house, she found Sonja and Grakin sitting on one of the wide swings on the porch, and her sister-in-law was lying so that her head was on Grakin’s lap while he stroked her hair.
