by Joe Jackson
“What was the significance of this place?” Aeligos asked. “Did your mother give any indication of why this valley was chosen? I understand Sekassus wanted to be summoned here to Citaria, but when we dealt with one of his schemes a few years ago, it was to be summoned on Tsalbrin. During the Third Demon War, your kind invaded Terrassia. I’m curious why his plans don’t all focus on the same place.”
The syrinthian priestess thought to herself for a minute. “I believe it was the proximity to the great forest and the elves who live within it,” she offered. “Sekassus believed that by taking this valley, and then possibly allying himself with the nearby elves, he could take the great forest without too much notice. He then apparently planned to sire a child with my mother to give him an anchor here on Citaria, and use the ever-growing populations of my people and the elves to eventually bring war to this land.”
“That seems rather un-Sekassus-like,” Aeligos mused, but he didn’t say more.
“No, it makes sense,” Sonja said. “Think about it: if there had been fighting here on Askies between our people and the combined syrinthians and elves, we would’ve never been sent to Tsalbrin. His son and Emma would’ve been completely unopposed there, and he might’ve been able to capture that other portal he was interested in.”
“Oh, you’re right,” Aeligos said. “Good point.”
“We have to keep in mind that the kings – most of them, anyway – look at everything in the long-term,” Kari said. “Whatever it is Emma’s truly up to, she’s been at it since Eli and Danilynn and their friends worked with Se’ceria. Who knows how long before then she was skulking around Askies and wherever else, laying the Overking’s plans?”
“All right, so let’s go destroy a temple,” Ty said, and everyone got to their feet, excited.
The group searched the village for hammers, mauls, or anything serviceable for such use, and they found some of the simple tools of the czarikk. Had they known they would be trying to dismantle a temple and portal, they could’ve bought appropriate tools in Atrice before making their way to the valley. Still, between the three priests and Sonja, Kari was sure they’d manage one way or another. In all honesty, she was curious to see what sort of damage of an arcane nature her sister-in-law could cause.
They trekked to the west but lost the sunlight before they reached the temple. They camped the night a little ways into the forest so as to stay out of sight of anyone or anything that had claimed the temple ruins as its own. Danilynn and Eli mentioned having seen a white dragon from time to time while passing through the mountains near the valley, but there weren’t any obvious signs that it was living in the valley, if it was still in the area. They kept their dinner fire small to stay on the safe side, and kept watches throughout the night.
When the sun rose the next morning, they reached the end of the valley jungle and stood staring at the former temple of Sekassus. It was vaguely pyramidal in shape like the one Kari had seen Sakkrass stand on in her dream. It left her to wonder if there was some relationship between Sekassus and Sakkrass, and whether either of them would ever tell her. She stared up at the statues of the snake-men at the pyramid’s flat top, their tips poking above the mists and catching the first rays of the sun as it crested the eastern mountains.
With a grim smile, Kari approached to destroy the temple of her enemy.
Chapter XXIII – Vengeance
The temple was well-constructed and quite impressive to behold. The entire structure was designed as a single, large pyramid with multiple levels. Archways led inside at each level, and at the top there were several smaller pyramidal buildings. Down the center of the long, steep stairway leading to the pinnacle was a waterway, apparently once fed by a fountain at the top. Even from the base of the structure, the friends could see the snake-man statues at the top, and the very upper portion of the circular stone-arch portal.
Marring the architectural beauty of the pyramid were the many skeletons on its stairs, half-buried in the soil at the base, or laying along steps or the walkways at each level. Eli and Danilynn hadn’t given much detail regarding the final battle that had taken place here, but Kari could see dozens of skeletons just from the base of the stairs. She guessed there had to be three score or more dead lying about the area, but as she considered the martial prowess of her friends, she also remembered them saying that Koursturaux had “torn the souls” out of those who hadn’t died in the conflict itself.
Most of the skeletons were dressed in rags, all that remained of their stylish clothing, though there were some that seemed out of place. The naked skeletons of the sylinths drew the most attention, as did the occasional canine skull of an elestram. Some of the skeletons showed the trauma of the wounds that had struck them down, but most appeared unmarred, having either been slain by flesh wounds alone or by having their life-force snuffed out. Not surprisingly, after the amount of time they had laid here untended, not a shred of flesh or even hair clung to a single one of the long-dead Mehr’Durillians.
Se’sasha gestured up the wide main stairway, and Typhonix took the lead, using the broad blade of his axe to sweep the remains away. The temple showed no signs of disturbance, its wide steps and walkways covered with a fine layer of silt or soil and weeds. Just for safety’s sake, Sonja used her life-sense, but didn’t come across anything in or near the temple aside from rodents and other small creatures. The companions ignored the walkways and the doors into the temple itself, and made their way to the pinnacle.
The top of the pyramid was a flat, wide space with four pyramidal buildings in the corners, the twin statues, the arching portal, and an altar. The four corner pyramids appeared to be preparatory rooms, or else single-person dormitories. The statues were large and impressive, nearly fifteen feet tall, depicting two syrinthians but with the cobra-like heads of their king, and they held their arms out to each other so that their fingertips touched. In their collected palms sat a wide bowl, likely for burning offerings. If there had been a ladder to reach the brazier, it had long since been stolen or rotted away.
The portal was masterfully constructed, and appeared to have been cut from a single mass of granite. It had the shiny surface of granite with mottled undertones, and stretched neatly into an ohm-like shape (Ω). The center of it was circular and hollow, the outer ring engraved with writing in the infernal tongue. Danilynn moved closer to read the inscriptions, and Sonja joined her. Se’sasha ignored the portal for the most part, her attention drawn elsewhere.
Kari followed the syrinthian priestess’ gaze to the altar. Contrary to Kari’s initial belief, the “waterway” down the central stairs was nothing so beautiful. It was clearly for the flow of blood from sacrifices made upon the altar. The altar was wide and flat, large enough for even an erestram to be stretched out and slaughtered upon it, and its single drain led onto the slope of the “waterway.” Even though the rains had long since washed away any evidence of blood in the stone channel, Kari could well imagine it running red with the blood of sacrifices, and a shiver coursed through her.
“My people were not always like this,” Se’sasha said to Kari’s reaction. “After millennia of being under the rule of Sekassus or his forebears, we have become twisted and cruel, and lost our way. I am loathe to admit such to you, but this was not an anomaly among my people, Kari. My mother was an anomaly. Scenes like this are all too common where I come from, and my people have lost not just their hope, but their innocence.”
Kari nodded, but before she spoke, she saw Eli crouched down across the way at the other end of the altar. He looked up under Kari and Se’sasha’s scrutiny, and then he got to his feet. “Your mother wanted to change that,” he told Se’sasha. “She was willing to die to see that it happened, and Kari bringing you here to us means she succeeded, to some degree.”
“You are very kind,” Se’sasha replied with a bow of her head. “Unfortunately, restoring the hope and will of my people will take more than a single priestess who is free from the rule of Sekassus. To truly free them, we would h
ave to strike some blow against Sekassus – perhaps even kill him. Such a feat is far beyond our capabilities at this point, but I will not lose hope or faith. I will help you in any way I can, and if that means we anger, hurt, or humiliate Sekassus in some way, then so much the better.”
“I can still see those two harmauths stepping through the portal,” Danilynn said with a gesture toward the archway. “I remember thinking that was bad enough, and then Koursturaux came through. I don’t think I’ve ever had to try so hard not to wet my pants before or since.”
“She brought harmauths with her?” Kari asked. She glanced over both shoulders and saw that Grakin was showing Little Gray around, trying to keep the boy away from the altar or any of the remains of the dead.
“Two females,” Eli answered. “From what we’ve heard, they’re her ‘bodyguards,’ and accompany her virtually everywhere.”
“Why would a demon king need bodyguards?” Kari mused.
“More for show than for actual use,” Se’sasha said. “Just as Sekassus has a harmauth and many sylinths and erestram to ‘guard and protect’ him in his throne room. Frankly, anyone or anything capable of threatening Sekassus himself would not be intimidated by mere harmauths, sylinths, or erestram.”
“What’s this say around the arch?” Ty asked. He tapped the head of his axe against the edge of the stone, but seemed to reconsider hitting the dense rock with his prized weapon.
Danilynn and Sonja both looked to Se’sasha, and the syrinthian girl obliged; apparently, her mother’s spirit had imbued her with the knowledge of several languages. “And in those days, destruction shall come forth from the inner circle. As death consumes life, so does the darkness consume the light, bringing forth the despair of men. Look upon the face of death and cower, all you mortals.”
“Charming,” the blonde warrior muttered.
“It is part of an ancient prophecy,” Se’sasha said. “I believe it dates back some eleven thousand years, and is thought to have been the catalyst for the Overking’s invasion of our home world. You will note, however, that in this place, evil was defeated by evil. Prophecy is a strange creature, for whether one works for or against it, they usually force it to come to pass.”
“You think maybe that’s the prophecy you were talking about with the Council?” Kari asked Aeligos, but the rogue shrugged.
“Hard to say,” he replied. “Aside from Kaelariel’s birth, our people have never really had much in the way of prophecy or put much stock in it. Like Se’sasha said, when it comes to prophecy, you generally have two types of people: those who work to make it come to pass, and those who try to stop it from coming to pass. The thing of it is, if you believe that what prophecy says is real and true, then whether you work for or against it, the prophecy has to have taken that into account, right? If a prophecy is true, it will come to pass, and the work of mortals or demon kings alike won’t do a thing to stop it. The very nature of prophecy assumes it’s coming from the omniscient viewpoint of a deity, and that it considers past, present, and future events.”
“You just completely lost me,” Kari muttered, and several of the others laughed. They weren’t laughing at her, she could tell; Aeligos’ words had apparently confused them, too.
“Basically he’s saying that if you try to make it come to pass, you will, but if you try to stop it from coming to pass, that might be what makes it happen,” Ty explained. “It makes a certain bit of sense, and a lot more when you consider the source is an omniscient being.”
Kari looked at Sonja. “All-knowing,” her scarlet-haired sister-in-law explained, and then it made more sense to Kari.
“Do your people have any prophecies that you know of?” Kari asked Se’sasha.
“No, nothing that my mother was aware of,” the syrinthian priestess answered. “Too long have we been cut off from Ashakku and Be’shatha: thousands and thousands of years. Even if there was some ancient prophecy, I doubt any of us would remember it, or have any written record of it. Frankly, I am much happier to go my own way and serve the whims of Ashakku now, rather than something that was prophesied in ancient times. To me, prophecy rather suggests the absence of free will.”
Kari had never really considered that, but in large part that was because, as Aeligos had said, her people had never really had much in the way of prophecy. She did know a bit about the theories of free will, though. Much of the senses of duty and responsibility that were impressed upon cadets of the Order were built upon the foundation of free will: that people were born neither good nor evil, but had to choose to act as such. They were taught that nobody was born a demonhunter, but it was a life they chose because they had a desire to do what was right and to protect others. It was true nobility, and as Kari thought of that, it brought the words of the Duke of Sutherland back to mind.
Kari hefted one of the makeshift mauls they had brought from the village, and that drew immediate protest from most of her companions. She waved off their concern and approached the portal archway, and she swung the massive stone weapon sideways awkwardly to strike the inner part of the ring. It crashed against the granite ring with a crunch, but seemed to inflict no damage to the archway itself. The infernal lettering around its perimeter began to glow a ghastly shade of red, and Kari grunted and staggered backwards. There were calls of concern from her mate and friends, but before they could even reach her, Kari straightened out and the glowing blue symbol of Zalkar appeared through her breastplate.
“Do not strike it again; the portal is protected,” Se’sasha warned as she moved toward Kari. “I could sense it the moment you swung the weapon.”
“Me, too,” Sonja said. “It has some sort of arcane protection around it to keep it from being destroyed by manual means. There must be something in the temple that powers the shield, or it would’ve long since collapsed.”
“Hang on, let me give it a try,” Ty said. He gripped the maul and swung it back and then over his shoulder, and slammed the ring with tremendous force. It struck with a resounding thud and the head of the makeshift czarikk maul shattered, though it didn’t so much as scratch the ring itself. The writing around the portal’s edge reacted the same way, though Ty showed no signs of injury or being otherwise affected like Kari. Sonja smirked at him, so Ty shrugged. “Hey, Kari swung it all wrong; I was just making sure she actually hit it hard enough.”
“Well, excuse me, I don’t normally go around swinging big two-handed things,” Kari shot back jokingly.
Without missing a beat, Ty turned to Grakin. “Sorry to hear that,” he ribbed his brother.
Kari’s eyes went wide and Sonja gasped, but shockingly enough, Grakin was the first one to start laughing. Eli and Aeligos both laughed aloud too, though Sonja was surely blushing and Danilynn kept shaking her head. Se’sasha figured out what they meant after a few moments and tried to hide a smile, but she didn’t have much success. Kari simply put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot while she stared at her blonde brother-in-law.
“Maybe we should poke around and find the source of power before I lose my tongue,” Ty laughed, turning to Eli and Danilynn to avoid Kari’s playful glare. “You two have been here before, do you know where we should start looking?”
“I’d suggest the interior, obviously,” Danilynn said. “I believe the first level down from the top was Se’ceria’s personal quarters and study, and I know the bottom level was the prison and general quarters. I’m not sure what’s on the second and third levels. Se’sasha, any idea?”
The syrinthian priestess shook her head. “Either my mother’s spirit did not know, or she simply did not spend enough time in those other levels to remember properly,” she said. “I think that simply doing enough damage to the pyramid itself might weaken the protection around the portal. There is nothing in my mother’s memories that suggests an actual source to this arcane shield you describe.”
“Let’s try this,” Ty said, hefting one of the other unbroken mauls. He approached the altar and everyone cleared away
from it so he could try smashing one of its suspended corners. He reared back and let forth with another mighty swing, but it had no more effect on the altar than his previous one had on the portal. It did, however, cause the writing around the portal to begin to glow again.
Aeligos approached and studied the portal and then the altar, and then he went back to the writing on the portal’s ring. He didn’t give voice to whatever he was thinking, and the others left him be for the moment. Kari turned to Sonja. “Anything you can do to destroy some of this place with your magic?” she asked.
Sonja glanced around. “Not that I’d be very comfortable with,” she said. “I’ve got to consider that I could hurt your son or anyone else with exploding bits of stone and metal. It’s probably best we do this the old-fashioned way, if everyone wants to join in. If not, and you all want to go back down by the forest, I’ll see what I can manage.”
“That sounds better than spending a week breaking stone blocks,” Ty said. “As much fun as smashing things may be, better we get it done and move on. I’ll stay here with Sonja while she works, though.”
Kari nodded, and Sonja was agreeable to having Ty stay with her. The others all started to head back down toward the edge of the clearing to hopefully be safe from any flying debris. Down near the forest, Kari sat down and began to play with Little Gray. Soon there were the sounds of stone cracking and breaking apart, though Kari couldn’t see any obvious damage being done from where she and the others were. It reminded her of the arcane and divine magic used by the priests and wizards of Jir’tana’s brigade during the taking of Atrice.
“Could you help with an earthquake or something?” Kari asked Danilynn.
“Bad idea,” the priestess said with a shake of her head. “I’d thought about it myself, but then I remembered Aeligos saying that there was probably volcanic activity below. I don’t want to risk breaking through into something like that and destroying this valley, not to mention us.”
