Order of the Fire Box Set
Page 48
The man stopped speaking and all four sets of eyes locked onto Kate, dressed in her black uniform, with her sword strapped to her back. Her deathmask hung from her belt as it normally did unless she was actually in combat.
She was used to people staring at her. She was in the Black, but more than that, she was the only woman to have that honor. Besides that, she was younger than any of the others in the unit, by far.
Her mouth dropped open when the men sneered at her, turned their noses up, and faced away from her.
She and Wilfred kept walking. When they turned the next corner and had gone a fair distance, Kate stopped and faced her friend.
“What just happened?”
Wilfred looked uncomfortable. He fidgeted and examined his feet.
“Wilfred?” she said.
His eyes swung up to meet hers. Sadness oozed from his expression. “Some things have changed since you were gone. I hear men talking as I go about my tasks. For some reason, the reputation of the Black is suffering. I’ve even heard some say that the Black should be dissolved.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense. What would cause people to suddenly turn against us? What did we do? What happened while I was gone?”
“I don’t really know,” Wilfred said. “It started happening around the time you left. There were short comments, here or there, no big deal. But then I started hearing them more often. No one ever said anything to me, but I heard.
“It’s mostly the Red, though I have heard things from Blues that I never thought I’d hear. It’s almost like something is poisoning everyone’s minds. I’ve never seen someone show disrespect to a Black like that, though.”
“Hmmm. I think I’m going to have to ask the captain about this. Or Molara. It’s not good. The Black have always been revered by Order soldiers. I don’t like thinking of what it means that they have this attitude.”
“Maybe everyone is tense because of the increase in demon attacks and the big battle lately.”
Kate considered that and nodded absently. “Perhaps.” She shook her head and faced Wilfred. “In any case, thank you for having lunch with me. I should get some rest, or Chirurgeon Nere will make me take some horrible medicine because I’m not resting enough.”
Wilfred laughed. “I bet he would. Okay, then, get some rest. Thanks for coming to get me for lunch. I’ll see you around.”
The young man started walking away, but Kate called out to him. “Wilfred.”
“Yes,” he said, turning.
“Be careful, okay? With people’s attitudes changing, some may be bolder than calling you names or shoving you so you spill what you’re carrying.”
His smile nearly split his face in half. “I will. Thanks.”
He left Kate to ponder what exactly happened since her mission in Hell. She needed to find out. She had a feeling it was bigger than people being concerned about changes, or even worry about demon attack.
4
When Kate got back to her room, Koren Merklen was waiting in the hall. Kate had grown up hearing stories about Koren, one of the heroes of the Black in current times. He was known for his forays into Hell, many times alone, as well as his heroics in the face of masses of demon forces.
He was a rough-looking man with skin that looked to have been in the weather for too many years and eyes the color of a freshly polished sword, orbs that seemed to be able to look right through a person. Since getting back from Hell, he had cleaned up, but he still looked ragged. Or was rugged a better word? His hair trimmed, and almost completely healed, he was as imposing as any of the Black had been before Kate was one of their number. He was still impressive, but not quite so intimidating.
He smiled and the gruff exterior seemed to transform before Kate’s eyes. Standing before her was not a demon-slaying monster or an aloof hero who was unapproachable to common mortals. With this man, her friend, she had literally gone through Hell and come out the other side.
“Kate. I see you still have that toothpick. Are you feeling better?”
“I am, Koren.” She returned the smile. “I’ll get rid of this in the next few days and then start training in earnest. How are your injuries doing?”
Koren shrugged. “Some may never heal, but my body is about as sound as I can expect it to be at my age after decades of abusing it. Thanks to you and the team, I have another chance to grow older. At least for a time. Maybe I’ll just retire and make a life somewhere else.”
“Ha. Not you. You’ll be itching to explore and enter into combat with whatever you can find. You’ll be dueling the neighbors’ pigs if you can’t find anything more suitable to fight.”
Koren showed her all his teeth. “You’re probably right there.” He reached down and picked up a pack resting next to his feet. “I wanted to bring these to you.”
“What are…” Kate started, but looking carefully at the pack in Koren’s hands, she realized what he held. “Oh, the books. The books we took from Arkith’s and Thozrixith’s strongholds. I completely forgot about them. I wonder if the demon mage and demon lord ever realized they were gone.”
“Before you killed both of them?” Koren asked. “It doesn’t matter, but I hope they did. The more pain those bastards felt, the better.”
“We forgot to mention those when we told everyone the story of our journey in Hell,” she said, nodding. “I’ll have to get them to Molara. They may hold information that could help us in the war.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Koren handed the pack to Kate, but then realized at least one of her hands was full with the walking stick. He looked at her blankly.
“Here,” she said. “Let me open the door and you can bring it in for me.”
Once inside, Koren put the pack on one of the unoccupied beds. Kate’s room had four of them, meant for any women who were in the Black. Since she was the only woman in the group, she had the room to herself.
“Peiros looked over them briefly,” Koren told her. “He thinks he can translate some of it.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll take them to Molara and see if she can work with Peiros on them. I don’t think the Order has ever found demon books before. This may be a very important thing.”
“I agree. About the being important part. As for what the Order has or has not done, there is a lot of secrecy in the organization. It wouldn’t surprise me if others have been found. Still, these came from two pretty important demons. I am anxious to know what information the books hold.”
“Me too,” she said. “I will let you know as soon as they tell me anything.”
“Great,” Koren said, heading for the door. “I will leave you alone now. Heal and rest. I’ll see you in the practice yard.”
“You will. And Koren? Thank you.”
The man’s eyebrows drew down. “For what?”
“For coming back for me. You know, when I was alone and outnumbered.”
“You would have done the same for me,” he said. “In fact, you did. I believe that’s how we met.” He winked at her and left, shutting the door quietly after him.
Kate opened the pack and began removing the contents. They had seven books and ten scrolls remaining, the others destroyed or lost in the battles. She picked up each one and turned it around in her hands, inspecting it from every angle.
The material from which the scrolls and the pages of the books were made had a strange texture. It was thin and pliable like paper, but different. Some type of leather? She put one of the books up closer to her face. It was definitely some type of skin from something that was previously alive. It could be leather, but she had seen no cows in Hell. It could be human skin, for all she knew. She shivered at the prospect.
The sturdy books were bound in some manner Kate could not guess at. There were no stitches to be seen, but the binding kept all the pages together and tight. Maybe it was some kind of glue. She had often wondered if that would work. These books seemed to confirm that it could.
The most remarkable part of the books was th
e covers. Sharp, angular designs mixed with curves were carved on them, so complex that Kate couldn’t tell the difference between illustrations and the runic language of the demons. It could have all been writing. They were beautiful, though she hated to use the word in any connection with the demons. She didn’t think for a moment that their message was so, but she could appreciate the artistic flair of the intricate designs or writing swirled over the book covers. Who knew demons were capable of such things?
She would take them to Molara in the morning. She was too tired to venture out of her room again. At least, she would not venture out of the area. There was a bath in the room down the hall with her name on it.
The next day, Kate found Peiros and took him to Molara. Kate’s friend was fingering books on one of the shelves at the edge of her personal area of the hidden library.
“Oh, Kate,” the Purple said. “I wasn’t expecting you. And I definitely wasn’t expecting you to bring Peiros. How are you two? Can I do something for you?”
“I would guess that it is a matter of opinion as to whether you can do something for me or if I will do something for you,” Kate said with a smile, swinging the pack up onto the table near Molara.
Molara raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
“I thought that, just maybe, you might be interested in something we forgot to tell you about.”
Molara looked from Kate’s smiling face to Peiros’s grinning visage.
“Okay, out with it. What’s going on, Kate?”
“Oh, fine.” Kate pouted. “Ruin my surprise.” She pulled out one of the books and placed it on the table.
Molara’s eyes lit up. “Is that…? Did you…? Can I touch it?”
It gave Kate joy to see her friend so excited. “Of course. I brought them here so you could go through them. Well, you and Peiros.”
Molara didn’t seem to hear Kate after she gave the Purple permission to touch the book. The pretty mage stroked the cover as if it were some kind of pet, her eyes doing an excellent job of caressing the runes scattered across the front.
“Can you read it, Peiros?” Molara asked.
“That one? No. There are others I think perhaps I could decipher. In time. I was unable to spend much time with them after we came back from Hell, and I had but a moment to glance at them when we first found them.”
Molara tore her eyes away from the book to meet Kate’s gaze. “How many do you have? I won’t even ask why you didn’t mention them before.” The frown that sprang to her face let Kate know how her friend felt about not being informed sooner.
“We’re really sorry about that, Molara,” Kate said. “In the excitement, we simply forgot we had the books. We collected them with you in mind, however.”
That seemed to mollify the Purple to a certain extent. The frown disappeared, replaced first by a neutral expression and then a happier one as her eyes skimmed over the book in her hand.
“Oh, fine. I guess I can understand. You did have a lot to think about.” Molara’s voice sounded giddy at the end. The fact that she had access to a scholarly treasure that no other human ever had seemed to be sinking in. She motioned for Peiros to join her as she opened the book and began to ooh and aah over it.
Kate took the hint and finished pulling the books out of the bag, and then quietly left the two as they began discussing the intricacies of the demon script. They were raising their voices when Kate went through the door to the normal library. Kate smiled as she headed back to her room.
In the following week, she spent a good amount of time in the practice yard, regaining her full strength after her injuries and striving to become even better. She saw most of her team members there.
“Aurel,” she said when she spotted the dark giant of a man hacking at a demon-shaped practice dummy with his enormous sword.
“Ah, Pretty Kate,” he said in return. “How are you? Are you at full strength now after your injuries?”
Kate smiled at the man. He was as intimidating as a man could be, very tall and more muscular than anyone she had ever seen. He was also the kindest, most gentle person she had ever known. Right up until he entered combat, at which time he became an irresistible killing machine. He always had a smile and a nice word for Kate.
“I’m almost at full strength now,” she said. “A little training, and I’ll be even better than I was before. Are you well, Aurel?”
“I am well, Pretty Kate.” He looked toward the ground. “In my body, I am. My heart is in turmoil, though.”
“Why?”
“The deaths of the brothers, the way things are, the strange ways the Order and the demons are acting. I don’t recognize any of it. It seems like while we were in Hell, the whole world changed.”
Kate thought her large friend was exactly right. She felt the same unease but hadn’t been able to put it into words.
“You know, Aurel, you’re a genius.”
The way the man’s eyes widened, increasing the white space around his brown irises twofold, made Kate laugh.
Kate continued, “I have been trying to figure out why I am out of sorts, like I don’t belong here at Gateskeep. I thought maybe something changed in me when we were in Hell. Now that you put it so plainly, though, I realize you are correct. It does seem as if everyone around us has changed. Or almost everyone, anyway.”
“Some of the brothers have been treated rudely,” Aurel said. “Some of the Red have even said insulting things about the Black. I don’t understand it.”
“Nor do I, my friend, but I want to. Maybe the captain can explain it. He has been here the whole time while we were in Hell.”
“What about the captain?” a voice said.
Kate turned to see Visimar and Benedict entering the training yard. Kate was happy to see how they were rarely apart since they had made peace and cleared up the misunderstanding that had caused them to feud for many years.
The men looked similar, with brown hair and brown eyes. They were only an inch or so apart in height, both slightly shorter than Kate. Visimar had scars on his face from a skin condition he must have suffered through in his youth. His smile was sincere and friendly, whereas Benedict’s had always looked fake to Kate and, to be honest, a little creepy.
Both men were smiling now, and Benedict’s almost looked normal. Kate thought that maybe his former smile had been a product of losing his best friend and taking comfort in killing demons at every opportunity. He seemed to have turned a corner and was settling down into a routine that included his childhood best friend.
“We were going to ask him about the changes while we were in Hell,” Kate answered. “A lot of people seem to be against the Black now, many more than when we left on our mission.”
“I’ve noticed that too,” Visimar said. “Some stupid Red actually said some things to me that could have gotten him beat up. Badly.”
“Oh no,” Kate said. “You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”
“No, he didn’t,” Benedict said, giving what Kate thought must have been the sincerest laugh she had ever heard from the man. “A couple of his buddies put their hands over his mouth and dragged him away. They had better sense than he.”
“But what is causing it all?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know,” Visimar said, “but I don’t like it.”
Kate nodded emphatically. “Me either. Do you two want to go with us to talk to the captain?”
They did, and the four of them headed to Captain Achard’s office.
Gehrig Jint, Captain Phrixus Achard’s secretary, sat at his desk, making sure Achard was not bothered by those without appointments or not of the Black. The office door was open, and Gehrig nodded as Kate and the others passed. For the elite soldiers under his command, the captain always made himself available.
Someone was already inside the office, sitting opposite the captain. Kate thought she recognized the shaggy mop of brown hair and the wide back, but she wasn’t sure until the man turned around as she and the others entered
the office.
“Bernar!” Aurel said, confirming Kate’s guess.
The large man stood and met Aurel, clasping wrists with him and hugging him with the other hand. The two were of a size, with Aurel a bit larger all the way around, but Bernar wasn’t quite as toned as Kate’s friend.
Bernar Giron was another hero of the Black. Kate had heard stories of him long before she ever set foot in Faerdham Fortress to train. He was also the one who met Kate at her sickbed after that fateful battle and escorted her to see the captain and the rest of the Black.
He inclined his head to her, his deep blue eyes seeming to pierce her skull and lay bare her thoughts. Even with his eyes drilling into her, she had no doubt he had seen and registered everything else around him. She dipped her head in greeting.
“We’re sorry, Captain,” Kate said. “We didn’t know you had a visitor already. We can come back.”
“No need,” Achard said. “Bernar has just returned from a mission. He had a few more details on things he checked on since his original briefing. You are all welcome to stay and listen. I’ll be telling the rest of the Black anyway. Once that’s done, we can discuss what you came here for.”
Kate marveled once again at the difference between Captain Achard and the other officers she had dealt with since becoming an Order soldier. She wondered how much better the Order would be if they were all like him.
“Thank you, Captain,” Visimar said, tilting his head in that odd way he did.
Aurel swept his arm out to offer Kate the chair in front of him. She thanked him and sat down as he did the same with another chair for Visimar. Then the big man raced out of the door and came back carrying two more chairs, one for Benedict and one for himself. Kate smiled at her friend.
Bernar began. “As if you could not tell from my slight accent, I am from Cebet. It is true that not many come from my homeland to join the Order. In fact, we are so far south from the gate, most people there do not know of the Order, or do not care.”