Eve of Redemption Omnibus: Volumes 1-3

by Joe Jackson

  Kari tried to block him from making his way to the portal, but she was suddenly wary of being pinned between them. If something came through the portal, she’d be flanked and at risk of being killed. Kari glared at him as he walked warily past her, mindful of the fact that he had already survived being clubbed in the back and slashed across the arteries in his throat. If those attacks hadn’t managed to kill him, and Sonja’s magic was of no use, Kari thought that perhaps a stalemate was the best outcome she could hope for at this moment.

  She let him make his way to the portal, but he stopped before passing through the liquid-shimmering field of power. He turned that baleful red gaze upon Kari, and the black teeth showed again in that terrible grin. “Enjoy your miscarriage, bitch,” he spat. “The next time we cross paths, you will not have so many friends with you.”

  Taesenus stepped through the portal, and Kari dashed forward and slashed through the rippling field with one of her blades. It came back through streaked with fresh black blood, but she backed away. Taesenus, on the other side, could alert other demons –or Mehr’Durillians, whatever the case may be – that the portal was open.

  “How do we shut this down?” Kari barked, though she wasn’t sure she’d even get an answer: everyone else was rather busy.

  “Sonja, use fire to burn off the blood on the altar!” Danilynn said. “The portal will only stay open as long as some remnant of the sacrifice remains on the altar.”

  “No, wait,” Se’sasha said, jumping to her feet. She dashed over before the portal and her eyes searched the inscription around its outer edge. She began to speak quietly in the sibilant language of her people, what sounded like a prayer to Ashakku-Sakkrass. She opened her robe and let it fall to the ground, revealing her many sun-themed tattoos, and then a radiant light exploded from her in a fantastic corona that enveloped the portal.

  Kari dashed away from the artifact when she heard a cracking sound, and she went to check on Eli and Aeligos. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the portal shatter under the assault of light from the syrinthian priestess, and soon it collapsed. It didn’t just collapse in a typical sense, though: it collapsed in on itself, the stonework of the portal getting sucked through to wherever Taesenus had gone. When it was gone, Se’sasha hardly even paused before she gathered up her robe, re-donned it, and then ran back over to Typhonix.

  Kari was almost afraid to go over there. She had a sinking feeling in her gut, a presence of mind that understood if three priests were tending to him even still, then there was little hope. She crouched beside Eli, who was still doubled over in pain. When she touched his shoulder, he raised his head and tried to cover up the grimace of pain to smile. He’d told her before that his kind, half-corlypsi, were made to be able to survive heavy trauma, and the wound through his gut that must have surely hit his liver left her with little doubt that was true. He may have gotten the worst of the fights he was in while helping Kari, but he always got back on his feet – something not everyone could say.

  Aeligos’ injury seemed fairly superficial up close: a nasty laceration on the back of the leg that didn’t seem to have gotten any tendons or ligaments. He could walk gingerly, and the bleeding had all but stopped by the time the fight was over and they had a chance to breathe. Kari laid a hand on both Aeligos and Eli and sent out what healing energy she could. It wasn’t much, but it would start the healing process for Eli, and probably finish it for Aeligos. Once she was spent, she patted their shoulders, and made her way over to Ty.

  When Kari got close enough to Ty, she knew the situation was as dire as she’d thought. The priests had him on his belly, and Kari could see that however Taesenus had hit him, he’d cut into Ty’s neck and down his spine. Bone showed through the lacerated flesh in several spots down his spine, and only the shallow rise and fall of his ribs while the priests worked gave Kari any sense of hope. Ty was a fighter, and had survived quite a bit of punishment in their ordeal on Tsalbrin, but this was something Kari wasn’t sure was fixable. She was simply glad Grakin was keeping Little Gray behind him so the boy couldn’t see how badly his uncle was hurt.

  Sonja looked up at Kari, and the demonhunter realized she wasn’t the only one feeling hopeless. Sonja got to her feet and strode to where the portal had stood, clenching her fists, and Kari realized what she must be thinking. Kari picked up Little Gray, approached Sonja, and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t do it,” Kari said, drawing Sonja’ gaze to meet her own. She hoped the sight of Little Gray sitting worried in his mother’s arms might snap Sonja back to thinking clearly. “We need to concentrate on your brother and getting everyone home safely. Taesenus is gone; leave it be for now.”

  “Kari, I...,” Sonja started, and then she simply began to cry. “Oh, gods.”

  Kari wrapped her sister-in-law in a tight hug. “He’s a fighter,” Kari said. “He’s a fighter, and he needs you to be, too. Hang in there, sis.”

  Sonja got herself composed and then went over to check on Aeligos and Eli. Kari returned to Typhonix’ side and saw that much of the deeper damage had been healed. Grakin was the most experienced healer of the priests, and with his direction, Danilynn and Se’sasha were able to apply their own abilities much more efficiently. Se’sasha seemed to be a natural healer in much the same way Grakin was, and though Danilynn was primary a battle-cleric, she was helping as much as she could. Ty didn’t appear to be bleeding anymore, and Kari could no longer see bone, but he wasn’t conscious, and there was still a lot of damage to the flesh.

  “Eli could use some help once Ty’s out of danger,” Kari said.

  Danilynn looked across the way at the half-corlyps and scoffed. “That’s nothing,” she said. “You should’ve seen what he looked like after we fought the erestram. I’ll get to him soon, but he’s not in any danger, I can tell you for sure.”

  Kari nearly laughed at that, but she was too busy chewing on her lower lip while she watched the priests work, Taesenus’ parting words ringing in her mind. It was interesting for her to see three priests of different races and different deities – heck, from different worlds – all working together in common purpose. Ty was very lucky to have such good friends, Kari realized, because if there had only been either Se’sasha or Danilynn there and he suffered such trauma, there’d likely be little they could do. Kari knew just from her first glance that her own healing power would’ve been near-useless in the face of such damage.

  Grakin grunted deep in his throat, and Kari realized he was vastly overextending himself. Before she could even say something, though, Se’sasha took one hand off of Typhonix and laid it on Grakin’s shoulder. “That is enough,” she said. “He is stable; that will have to do for now. It will do none of us any good to injure or deplete ourselves trying to complete an impossible task. For now, he will have to rest, and we can tend to him further when we have done so as well.”

  “Yes. Yes, you are right,” Grakin said, but he put a hand over his face in exasperation. Se’sasha patted the side of his face and kissed his temple, then she rose to her feet and moved over toward Eli. Danilynn followed with her, and Kari went and sat beside Grakin. He looked at her after shaking his head, and his gaze softened as it passed over their son.

  “What happened to uncle Ty?” their son asked in the rir tongue.

  Kari nearly burst into tears, but she bit down the sob that preceded it and took a deep breath in behind it. “He got hurt, but he’s going to be okay,” Kari said softly. “He just needs some sleep, and he’ll be much better in the morning.”

  “You okay, mama?”

  Kari pulled her son in tight so he wouldn’t see her cry. Taesenus had hit her hard in the belly, but she was pretty sure the armor and padded clothing had shielded her enough. “Mama’s okay,” Kari lied, and Grakin wrapped them both in his embrace as well.

  “We will not be able to move him, for practical and other reasons,” Grakin said, and Kari understood he meant because Ty weighed a lot more than any of the rest of them. “With that portal destro
yed, I think it should be safe enough to camp the rest of the day and the night up here. Do you agree?”

  Kari nodded. “Stay with Ty. We’ll get the rest of our things and bring them up here so we can get settled in for the night, at least,” she said. Sonja came over and knelt beside them, and Kari touched her sister-in-law’s hand. “Sonja, how did he get here? I thought your life-sensing magic said there was nothing here but rats.”

  Sonja shook her head, clearly at a loss for words. When she finally found something to say, it sounded apologetic. “I don’t know,” she said. “All I can tell you is that even when he was standing right in front of me, I got no sense of life from him at all. He could’ve been here the entire time, and I wouldn’t have sensed him. I have no idea how that’s possible. It was like there was no one there.”

  “I don’t get it,” Kari said. “How can he possibly be alive? Kaelariel said he’d killed him personally.”

  Se’sasha and Danilynn returned with Eli and Aeligos. The rogue was already walking fine again, and though Eli was favoring his right side, he seemed more like he’d been in a fight in a bar than run through by a katana. Everyone looked to Kari, and she guessed they were all hoping for some orders or something so they wouldn’t feel so listless. What she wanted to do was step out of her skin and go hide somewhere for a while to get her thoughts in order. She was a commander now, though: head of the Demonhunter Order and, she realized, the unofficial head of the Silver Blades in Erik’s absence.

  Kari rose to her feet holding her son. “We’re going to camp up here for the rest of the day and night,” she said, and most of her friends’ heads bobbed in agreement. “We’re staying here until Ty is up and about; I don’t want to risk moving him, even by arcane means, while he’s hurt and unconscious. Eli, Aeligos – see if you can go find some firewood so we can keep him warm and cook up some dinner. Danilynn, Sonja – I’d like you two to check the rest of the empty levels of the temple, but stay together and be very careful. Grakin will stay here and keep an eye on Little Gray and Typhonix, and Se’sasha – you can stay with them and keep an eye out for trouble, or an ear out for anyone who needs help.”

  “Are you staying here too?” Aeligos asked hopefully.

  “I’m going to take my bow out and see if I can find something we can have for supper,” Kari said. No one looked entirely happy with that, but she was the most proficient pathfinder and hunter among them. Everyone agreed with their assigned tasks, and Kari was glad that her decisions weren’t questioned.

  The others moved off to complete their tasks, and Kari took out her folding bow and got it ready for a hunt. She kissed her son and her mate, and strode down the stairway of the temple purposefully. She tried not to think about the possibility of hearing calls for help again. She had to trust that now that her friends were wary, there would be no more surprises. Her sorrow gave way to anger as she walked, thinking about how casually Koursturaux had betrayed her, and she resolved to kill Amastri when she got back to DarkWind, the Council’s wishes be damned.

  Once she was out in the forest away from anyone else, Taesenus’ words rang in her ears loudly again. Kari put her back to one of the trees and sank down to her rump. The anger gave way to sorrow, and she touched her hand to her lower belly and cried.

  Chapter XXIV – Safeguards

  Typhonix woke the following morning just after Kari did, and he only managed to curb his desire to scream with considerable effort. His pained grunts woke the others in short order. Ty managed to roll onto his stomach, but once in that position, he had no luck holding back the pain. Tears spilled from his eyes and he showed all his teeth in a grimace of agony. It took Kari only moments to realize he wasn’t moving his legs at all.

  Grakin, Se’sasha, and Danilynn returned to their healing ministrations immediately. They didn’t even take the time to pray with the dawn as they usually did: Typhonix was in too much pain, and they couldn’t keep him waiting. Kari moved over to him and fed him what she could manage of her own healing energy, which felt meager and inconsequential when she didn’t see any immediate effects. When she considered that he wasn’t moving his lower body at all, the reason her healing seemed useless was fairly obvious: it was.

  Once she felt drained, Kari moved to sit on the edge of the altar and touched her hand to her lower belly again. She suddenly realized that everyone was looking at her, even the three priests working on healing Ty. Her movements and her concern weren’t lost on anyone, and Grakin excused himself to go to his mate. Kari clutched tightly at him when he embraced her, and it was all she could do to contain her own emotions so as not to frighten their son.

  Grakin drew away slightly after a minute and gripped Kari’s face. “The baby is fine,” he said quietly. “You were armored, and the baby is well protected. I know you are afraid, but do not be: the baby is fine. There is no need to worry.”

  Kari closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. Grakin would certainly know more about it than she would, and his words did relieve her of an immense amount of worry. He hugged her tightly again but soon excused himself to return to Typhonix. Kari wiped the traces of tears from her eyes and called Little Gray, and her son dashed over and hopped into her waiting arms. He hugged her tightly, too, sensing his mother’s distress despite the fact that he didn’t know what his parents were saying. Kari held tight to him and tried to rest easy in Grakin’s promise.

  She got to work putting together something nutritious for Little Gray’s breakfast, and Sonja began helping her. They got food together from everyone’s packs and tried to lay out a buffet of good food to get everyone ready for the day’s trials. The priests in particular would likely be working from sunrise to sunset, ministering their healing arts to Typhonix, and they would need to be taken care of while they did so. Little Gray was happy to be of “help,” but mostly just dropped raisins, nuts, and berries everywhere. It was a welcome bit of humor among the darkness that hung over them.

  Once they had bowls of food for everyone, Kari and Sonja began passing them out. Eli and Aeligos expressed interest in returning to the czarikk village to search for useful things like rope, vines, and some linen to make a litter if they had to carry Ty anywhere. Kari agreed with their idea, and dismissed them to do as they pleased once they ate. She brought the bowls of food over to the three working priests and implored them to take turns having something to eat while they worked.

  Ty looked bad, but he wasn’t groaning or crying anymore. There was a look in his eyes that said he was embarrassed to have cried at all in front of his friends, but nobody else shared in those sentiments. He had suffered a terrible wound, virtually a mortal one if not for the presence and work of the priests, and Kari knew that no one doubted how much pain he was in. Much like Danilynn had done for Kari on Mehr’Durillia, the priests had soothed the pain with their healing arts, letting him get rest even while they worked on him.

  “I guess there’s no tip-toeing around this,” Kari said, kneeling across from Grakin. He had his hands to either side of Ty’s wound, and Se’sasha and Danilynn were taking turns washing the area, placing their hands atop Grakin’s to lend him their strength, and eating when they had the opportunity. “How is he?”

  “Ready for one more round, sis,” Ty said through closed teeth, trying to manage a smile.

  Kari seized the opportunity to lighten everyone’s mood. “Of fighting, or beer?” she asked, and her blonde brother-in-law’s shoulders rose and fell with a chuckle. The others smiled, too, with the exception of Grakin, who tried to mask impatience with his brother’s movements.

  “Well, he cannot move his legs, so I suspect there is significant nerve damage,” Grakin said somberly. “I am doing my best to heal it, but damage to the nerves…” He paused, sighed, and put one hand to his brother’s shoulder. “This is not something that can normally be fixed.”

  Ty folded his arms under his head and let out a long sigh. “Shit,” he muttered. “Maybe you should just have Sonja take me back to DarkWind. The priests o
f Tigron can patch me up as well as Grakin can, and then the rest of you can go to the Temple and poke around without having to drag me along.”

  “Give me some time to see if I can get you ambulatory again,” Grakin insisted. “Arcane travel may jolt you and cause even more problems. We are safe here for the time being, so let us work and see if we can at least get you walking again.”

  “We are relatively safe, are we not?” Se’sasha asked no one in particular.

  Kari glanced at Sonja, but her sister-in-law sighed. “I’m not sure,” Sonja said. “I didn’t sense anyone here when we arrived at the temple, but Taesenus didn’t register at all to my life-sense. We searched the place out, so I’m tempted to say that we’re safe, but I don’t know how Taesenus got here in the first place, or if he might return.”

  “Not if he’s smart,” Kari muttered. She moved to lean against the altar again and folded her arms across her chest. Little Gray was content to play with some sticks near the remnants of the prior night’s fire, so Kari left him be for the moment. “Still, this is a bad development. We were told that Kaelariel killed him near the end of the War. If that’s not true, I can’t help but wonder if his mother is really dead, either.”

  “You think Kaelariel lied?” Ty asked, trying to swivel his head to look at Kari.

  “No, of course not,” Kari answered. “I’m sure he thought he’d killed Taesenus, but if the Demon Prince…” She paused and knitted her brows. “Wait; you said he didn’t register to your life-sense, Sonja? Would that not detect undead, maybe? Is it possible he was killed, but now he’s just undead?”

  “It would register as necromantic power,” Sonja answered. “He wasn’t undead; he was just…I don’t know how to explain it. He didn’t register as a living creature. It was like he had no soul or spirit.”

  “And if his mother was the same…,” Kari began. The others were clearly alarmed by her words except for Se’sasha, who didn’t seem to understand what they were talking about at all. “Grakin, you need to talk to Kaelariel about this tonight when you meditate. We need answers, and if he doesn’t have them, then he needs to know the possibilities we’re dealing with.”