Demons and Kings (Hartland Book 2)

by J. B. Jenn

  “So, there is an army in front of us,” the king said as he took his own seat. Ogden nodded. “Good. I was hoping we wouldn’t be too late.” He fell silent for several moments as he stared at the floor, refusing to meet Ogden’s gaze. “I made a mistake and am here to see it is corrected.”

  “A mistake?” Ogden asked. “Did it have something to do with the other Servant sent to seek your aid?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened?”

  Ogden sat there listening to the man explain the part he had played in Mercea’s capture. He closed his eyes, praying she would survive Queen De’Nae’s plans.

  “I’m sorry I let it happen. I was foolish. Fear…”

  “We have all done things we regret,” Ogden interrupted. “You were in a difficult position. Nothing you did or didn’t do would have changed the outcome.” Ogden rose. “I’ll ride ahead and inform King Maik you’re an ally.”

  King Flynn nodded, though he still looked troubled. As Ogden pushed back the flap, the king spoke again. “I never believed in the Old Gods. I do now. I wish to beg forgiveness from Them for turning over one of Their Servants.”

  Ogden looked to the man. “That’s between you and Them.”

  Mercea

  She was standing in one of the towers of the palace, staring out across the battlefield. Early this morning, just as the sun peeked over the horizon, the two armies had attacked. A sneer parted her lips at the bloodbath below. Her demons were tearing into the pathetic humans. The only problem was they were still being pushed back, despite being outnumbered. She had thought it was impossible. She had thought it would be an easy victory. She wasn’t certain what was driving the humans forward with such wrath. They were severely outnumbered.

  Mercea let out a scream as she freed herself of Verite’s thoughts and control. There was less and less of her. Verite was winning. Mercea fought him again, pushing him further away from her.

  She knew she had to go down there and fight through the demons, help clear a path for the armies. She had to locate Ogden, explain everything. He was the only one who could help her now.

  Yes, he’s down there, and we will kill him.

  She placed her hands on the sides of her head. Every time Verite broke through her barriers it left her with a pounding headache. Blinking back the pain, Mercea raced down the stairs, hoping she could keep Verite at bay while she fought. At the bottom of the stairs, she paused, wondering if she should even try to fight. What if Verite took control again? How could she live with herself if she cut down humans when she was supposed to be their protector?

  Mercea took in a deep breath. She didn’t see much choice. She had to find Ogden before Verite took control again. She needed Ogden to kill her, so they could stop this and whatever other plans the demon had for Hartland. She didn’t know when he’d take complete control of her again.

  The cool breeze of early spring hit her, sending a shiver down her spine. Her skin burned from the inner turmoil. Down below the steps were the demons who had been ordered to protect the palace. It was as good of a place as any to start.

  Her sword work was precise. After centuries, Mercea could kill people blindfolded. She could hear their footwork and their breathing. It didn’t mean she was invincible though. She couldn’t be careless.

  Part of her felt thrilled at killing such evil. The other part of her, the part where Verite resided, was outraged. Every once in a while, a deep, fuming scream would come forth. He couldn’t stop her though. She had found a higher purpose, which wouldn’t allow him to break through. Yet.

  She just had to hold onto it long enough for Ogden to do the right thing.

  Flynn

  King Maik had waited for their army to reach him before leading a full assault on Dawn Stone. Flynn thought Maik was relieved for the extra soldiers, even if they were all exhausted. He knew he shouldn’t have pushed his men so hard, but as his sword cut down demons, he was relieved he had. He had never imagined it being this bad.

  As he cut down a rather large dark purple monster who slithered on a scaled tail, he glanced toward his brother. The man was killing as many monsters as he could. He was being boisterous about it, too. Flynn was thankful for the grueling lessons their father had made them take as young children. He’d have never suspected they’d use the knowledge. He had always thought it pointless to learn. Maybe it was why his brother was better at this than he was.

  Flynn allowed his gaze to flow across the battlefield. In that time, he saw ten of his men cut down. The thought of all the death around him sickened him, threatened to make him vomit. He pushed the feeling down. He did not have the luxury of time to think. As he cut down another demon with orange, glowing eyes, he felt overwhelmed. How were they supposed to fight through this and get to the source? There were too many.

  Among the soldiers, wytches were flinging fire, ice, and electricity against the demons. Although he viewed wytches as abominations, today they served a good purpose.

  A low growl to his right made him turn. A monstrosity of a creature, standing at least ten feet tall was there. The demon’s muscles bulged. The veins across his arms twitched. Flynn gulped, uncertain what he was supposed to do against it.

  Before he engaged it, someone saved him. The monster surged forward. Flynn dove out of the way to keep it from smashing him against the ground. On the other side of the monster was his brother. Aull flashed him a grin before turning back to fight more.

  Flynn stared at him for a few moments in disbelief. He would have never thought his brother would save his life, not after he had attempted to take it a few years ago. As he started to turn to continue to fight, he stopped. A scream stuck in his throat.

  A wicked looking claw had run his brother through. The claw had come from a large creature, hovering about fifteen feet back. Its wings were a crimson color. Its cold eyes glowed burgundy. Flynn watched his brother hit the ground, blood pouring from his mouth. The demon who had killed him was laughing. The claw that had disappeared from the creature’s hand had already regrown. Everything around Flynn seemed to go quiet.

  Flynn sprinted across the blood soaked plains toward the demon. Unfortunately, the demon noticed him. It sent his razor sharp, needle-like claw hurtling through the air at him. Somehow, Flynn managed to dodge it, but he didn’t dodge the second one. As it pierced through his shoulder, exiting out the other side, he yelled. There was a burning sensation spreading throughout his entire body. He ignored it.

  Flynn launched himself forward. The demon was still laughing arrogantly as it killed soldiers around him. Flynn brought his arm up and ran it through, thankful he had succeeded. He went to pull the blade free, but it was stuck. The demon kicked him. When he landed on his back, he thought he was going to die, but a group of wytches had taken notice. They were now flinging their magic at the demon. It took only moments for the fifteen-foot monster to vanish in smoke. Flynn’s sword hit the ground. Most of the blade was destroyed.

  Groaning, Flynn went to pick himself up off the ground, but he couldn’t. His muscles refused to respond. When he looked down, he saw the demon had skewered him right through his center. There was blood everywhere. Flynn breathed heavily, closing his eyes. He had never thought it would end like this.

  Trester

  Men were falling all around him despite everything he did. Querra was beside him, keeping the demons from his side. He had lost track of Galtrand some time ago. Knowing the man and his skill, he was confident Galtrand was still alive, even with the chaos around them. Henter was behind him, fighting. Nealik had been struck down only moments ago. The horrified expression on the young man’s face wasn’t something he’d forget soon.

  Trester hit another three demons in the chest with his ice crystals, but five more replaced them. It was never ending. After he had identified himself as a wytch, he had become a target. Trester didn’t mind too much. The more demons who targeted him, the less were targeting the soldiers.

  As he turned to make a push to the en
trance of Dawn Stone, he hesitated. There was a small child in front of him bearing both the traits of a demon and a human. In his hesitation, the small creature launched at him. Querra’s longsword snapped out from somewhere beside him and cut the small monstrosity in the side. The small demon child still raked him. He cried out. Demon blood sprayed him as Querra’s sword finished cutting through the child-like demon.

  “Are you alright?” he heard Querra shout as she continued to fight off more demons coming their way.

  Trester looked at where the blood had landed. “I think so.”

  As he spoke, a burning sensation spread throughout his entire body. He looked down at his raked arm, covered in blood. It pulsed angrily. He continued forward, ignoring it. As he summoned another spell, targeting a particularly large enemy, ice burst in every direction from him. Querra screamed as a few of the crystals caught her side. Trester fell to his knees, disoriented. All around him, demons and humans lay dead in a spiral pattern.

  “What did you do?” Querra asked through clenched teeth, clutching her side.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  As she stared at him, fear sat in her yellowy-orange eyes. Her face was splattered with blood. As it wasn’t burning her, he assumed it was human blood.

  “Trester, you exploded with magic. I have never seen anything like that. What did you do? You killed five of my men!”

  “I don’t know!” He shouted. “That has never happened before.” He looked toward the men he had killed. It was just like when he had accidentally killed that family. Too much power, all at once. “Come on, we don’t have time for this. We have to get into the palace. We have to end this.”

  “I…” Querra paused, looking at him again. Trester looked at her bleeding side guiltily. “Okay.”

  Trester was well aware his magic had increased in power as they moved toward Dawn Stone. Ordinary blows were coming from him in stronger form, killing demons outright. The only thing he could think of was the demon blood mixing with his, but he didn’t have the time to explore the idea. All he had time to do was think about surviving and saving others. He couldn’t think about those men he had killed either.

  “Galtrand! Henter!” he yelled. “To me!”

  Trester kept moving, hoping they heard him over the din of battle. He used his sword occasionally to cut down those he hadn’t noticed in time. Querra was still beside him. Galtrand and Henter hurried over, cutting demons down on their way. Trester’s fierce gaze turned to the palace, planning to reach it and kill King Barend and his wife, De’Nae. No matter what was happening to his magic, he had to remain focused on the goal. He had to stay in control.

  “Once we’re inside, I can lead us straight to the king’s room.”

  “How do you know so much?” Querra asked.

  “I used to work for these people before this began. Just stay close to me. I’ll see you through this.”

  “What about the rest of the soldiers?” Querra asked.

  “Hopefully by killing King Barend, it’ll send the demons into a frenzy and give our men an advantage. It’s all we can hope for at this point. There are too many of them.”

  Maik

  Just as they had suspected, the worst had happened. Flynn’s men helped stave off major losses, but they were still losing men. As Maik fought alongside his men, he had seen it happen. He had watched a group of soldiers from Golden Valley transform into their demon bodies and turn on unsuspecting soldiers.

  He was no closer to understanding the demons and their various shapes. All he knew was they had to be killed. They were evil and didn’t hesitate in killing any of them. He also didn’t understand how they had remained human for so long. By all accounts, they should have been demons as soon as the essence entered them. Maybe it didn’t work like that. Maybe the essence had more control than he had thought.

  Maik looked toward the palace and noted a group making their way to the entrance. A burst of ice erupted from one of the men, killing friends and foe alike. As curious as he was about the incident, he didn’t have time to think about it. There were too many around him to focus on anything but them.

  Maik noticed his men had spread out a little too far. “To me!” he shouted.

  Within moments, his men had formed up around him. They made a push against the demons within their ranks. The battlefield was deafening. Men screamed. Demons made guttural noises. The screams and cries of the dying were announced on both sides. It fell deaf on Maik’s ears. There were too many trying to swarm them, but he cut down as many as he could. He would continue until they forced him to stop.

  As he finished running his sword through the closest monster, he turned to engage the next. He saw Flynn attack a large demon and take a needle like claw through the stomach, but the man continued. There was even a claw sticking out of his shoulder. Maik wasn’t certain how the man was still on his feet. When the demon smacked the man to the ground, Maik’s heart lurched, fearing the man was dead. Despite his earlier mistake concerning Mercea, Maik felt the man was a good man.

  Maik continued to fight for his life and for the man next to him. It was all they could do. He had known this was going to be a difficult fight when they had come here to meet the threat head on. He hadn’t thought it would be this difficult. This discouraging. This terrifying.

  Ogden

  He looked about the battlefield and at the dying men. He knew there was only one way to end this. He had to reach King Barend and Queen De’Nae. Once dead, he hoped the demons would disappear.

  As he raced through the demons toward the palace, he kept focused on what needed to be done. While in the palace, he hoped to find Mercea and find that she was well. He still had a horrible feeling something had happened. It was a feeling he hadn’t been able to shake and it had only grown stronger the closer they had come to Dawn Stone.

  There was already a group heading toward the palace. From what he could see between the swarms of demons, it was Trester. His ice shards were traveling swiftly, hitting demons unaware.

  Four demons appeared in front of him. Ogden barreled through them, cutting two of them down. The other two turned toward him, but someone from within the army cut them down. Ogden continued his race toward the palace, hoping he could catch up to Trester.

  Remain on the battlefield. You are needed here. This isn’t for you.

  Ogden paused, furrowing his brow. He knew they were orders from the Gods, but they didn’t make sense. Staying on the battlefield, cutting down demons wasn’t going to end this. It would help some of the soldiers, yes, but it wasn’t going to end the battle. Something didn’t feel right.

  Stay. This must happen, Ogden. Have faith.

  The command came again, only this time stronger. Ogden took in a deep breath and turned back toward the fight.

  Arem

  Once in King Barend’s personal chambers, they found both Barend and De’Nae dead. Arem rushed over to the window. The battle was still raging on outside. Turning back to their dead bodies, he took note they had been dead for a few days now.

  It didn’t make sense. What had happened? He had thought if they killed Barend, it would stop the attack, or at least disorient the demons below. Something had changed. Barend wasn’t the possessed man he had thought him to be, though looking at him, it was easy to see he had been. When he had fled Carthoda, King Barend had been a man a few years shy of forty. Now, he looked ancient.

  He looked toward the glass globe sitting in the corner. Normally it was glowing angrily, but it was black now. Seemingly dead. His heart pounded. The demon was in someone, but who? It was someone who could kill De’Nae. The woman was more powerful than he was when he had demon blood inside of him.

  “What is it?” Relyck asked seeing the panic on his face.

  “Something bad,” Arem answered. He didn’t want to voice what he believed had happened, as if somehow saying it would make it true. When Relyck frowned at him, he knew he owed the man an explanation. “You see the globe over there?” The man nodded
. “It used to contain a powerful demon. Mercea, centuries ago, placed it in there, so it could never walk Hartland again. Somehow, it escaped its prison and is inside of someone right now. I have no idea who or how it happened, but it did. The globe is lifeless unlike the last time I saw it.”

  Arem looked out the window again. Down at the base of the steps, he saw someone cutting a path through the demons. As he stared at the form, he knew who it was. Watching her for several more moments led him to an awful realization. She was cutting through the demons easily because they were parting for her. Some were even groveling. It could only mean one thing. Arem looked toward Relyck.

  “We’re in more trouble than I thought.”

  “Why? What happened?” Relyck hurried to the window.

  “You see the woman down there with the purple sword and how the demons are responding to her?” He allowed Relyck to watch for a few moments.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, she is one of the Servants of the Old Gods and she has a demon inside of her. That demon,” he said, pointing to the dark globe. “King Barend wasn’t strong enough. It was killing him instead of letting the demon have his body. It needed someone stronger. Who better than the Servant who put him in there?”

  He knew he sounded sad. Despite their differences and her arrogance, he had respected her. He knew she was the one who could have stopped this. It was why he had done what he had done. Now, it seemed as if she was going to be the ruin of them all.

  “We have to try to stop her.”

  “I’m sure there’s something else we can do,” Relyck protested. “She’s a Servant. We can’t just kill her.”