Empire of Demons (The Moonstone Chronicles Book 4)

by Sara C. Roethle

  “Fire!” she shouted to Rissine. “They fear fire the most!”

  Rissine slashed her rapier through the air, sending flames barreling toward the next demon. The elves had fallen back behind her, fending off the demons who had circled around them.

  She heard a grunt of pain, turning toward it just in time to see one of the demons pouncing Celen. Giant pincers clamped down around his arm.

  The shrieking demons closed in. There were too many of them. Elmerah fisted her hands in her hair, squeezing shut her eyes as she tried desperately to summon her magic. They were all going to die.

  A trickle of fire built in her heart, quickly swelling to the size of a fist. She opened her eyes just as a demon loomed over her, then her fire exploded outward.

  She screamed, trying to reign it back in. She couldn’t explode right in the middle of everyone. But there was no stopping it. Her eyes slammed shut as her fire cut across the air all around her. She waited for the screams, but nothing came.

  She crumpled to the ground, her heart crying out inside her. What had she done? She couldn’t open her eyes to look. She didn’t want to see. No one could’ve survived the flames.

  Something gripped her arm, then Alluin’s voice. “Elmerah. Elmerah it’s alright, it’s over.”

  She opened one eye just a crack. Everyone was staring at her like she had just sprouted two extra heads, but they were mostly unharmed. They hadn’t been burned alive.

  She opened the other eye. The demons had not been so lucky. They were nothing but empty charred exoskeletons.

  She looked up at Alluin, unable to stop her tears. “The fire, it didn’t touch you?”

  Alluin shook his head. She didn’t like the haunted look in his eyes. He knelt beside her and gingerly lifted her hand for her to look at. It wasn’t as bad as last time. She hadn’t nearly burned the flesh from her bones, but she had burned away the bandages and the sleeves of her coat. She used her free hand to pull her hair forward over her shoulder. Parts of it had gotten even shorter.

  Alluin helped her to stand. He looked her over for other signs of damage, but it seemed like it was just her clothes.

  Some of the others were pretending not to look now, but Rissine eyed her boldly. “You could have burnt yourself alive.”

  Pulling away from Alluin, Elmerah lightly brushed flecks of ash from her hands and wrists. “The demons are gone,” her voice shook. “Let’s get on the ship before more come.”

  Some of the elves had turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.

  Elmerah froze, wondering if more demons approached, then her heart sputtered.

  “Saida?” she gasped.

  Outlined in the slowly clearing smoke were Saida, Malon, and a female Makali warrior. Elmerah had only seen a few of her race before, but they were easy to recognize. Saida tugged against Malon’s grip on her arm.

  Unsteady on her feet as she was, Elmerah stormed toward them, her mind not fully registering that perhaps Malon was keeping Saida back from the potential of more fire. All she saw was Malon manhandling her friend.

  Saida tugged away from Malon, then stepped in front of him as Elmerah reached them. She lifted her hands, watching her friend warily. “He’s on our side, don’t kill him. He was just keeping me back in case there was more fire.” Saida glanced around at the fallen demons, then up to her friend. “Did you do this?”

  Elmerah let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Yes, and I am so drained now I couldn’t kill a fly.” She stared at Saida, hardly believing she was real. Yet here she was, dressed in fine yet simple clothes, unharmed. The Crown of Cindra glinted at her belt, and the Crown of Arcale at Malon’s. What in Ilthune’s name was going on? Elmerah could feel the others watching her, probably thinking she had gone mad, but she didn’t care.

  Seeing that Elmerah wasn’t about to murder Malon, Saida finally lowered her hands. “We were forced to open another demon portal to reach you. Unfortunately, a few other things slipped through before we could cave in the entrance.”

  Elmerah blinked at her. Her gaze lifted momentarily to Malon, his lips a tight harsh line across his face, not arguing with what Saida had said. Saida had traveled through a demon portal to reach her. She had faced demons with only Malon and one extra warrior.

  “You could have been killed,” she rasped.

  Saida shook her head. “It was worth the risk.”

  Feeling like she might collapse, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend. “I missed you,” she breathed.

  Saida returned the hug fiercely. “I missed you too.”

  Saida

  “I don’t like this news about the Akkeri,” Malon said.

  Saida could barely hear him over the water lapping at the sides of the ship. By the time they had reached the port, word had spread about strange creatures infesting the island, and the pirates were more than ready to depart as soon as supplies were gathered. They hadn’t even questioned their strange group of passengers, including Merwyn hunched beneath a cloak.

  “They all could have been killed because of me,” she sighed.

  “Should have been killed,” Malon countered. He held up a hand at her suddenly rage-filled expression. “I don’t mean it like that. But why did the Akkeri not hunt them down? Why stop at sinking their ship?”

  She gazed out at the island growing smaller in the distance. She could still smell the smoke from Elmerah’s fire on her clothing. “I don’t know. I agree, it makes little sense. Hotrath will stop at nothing to reclaim me.” She narrowed her eyes at two blond figures walking across the shore. “Is that—” She glanced at Malon, but he was looking in the other direction, out across the sea.

  When she looked back, the two figures were gone, but she could have sworn . . .

  “What is it?” Malon questioned.

  She shook her head. “I must just be tired.” She looked further down the ship’s railing toward Brosod. “Are you well?” she called above the waves.

  The Makali woman looked positively green, but nodded.

  Malon leaned near Saida’s shoulder. “Only Lukali traders are used to ships. Most of the nomadic Makali have never even seen the sea. But back to the Akkeri—”

  She sighed. “I do not know Hotrath’s plan any more than you. He is able to sense the Crown of Cindra, but he chose not to hunt me across the Helshone, nor did he try to apprehend me during the time I was in Faerune.”

  “I won’t let him have you,” Malon said evenly.

  Before she could reply, Alluin approached Saida’s other side to lean against the railing. “Elmerah finally went to sleep. I imagine she will be out for a while. Last time . . . ” He shook his head. “It takes a lot out of her, using her fire in that way.”

  “She’s dangerous,” Malon interrupted. “She could have just as easily burnt you alive.”

  Alluin glared at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Saida gripped the railing tightly. She had only witnessed the edge of Elmerah’s fire, but she had fully seen the aftermath. It was almost like what they could do with the circlets, but on a larger scale. How the fire had avoided Elmerah’s allies was anyone’s guess. She could have easily killed them all.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she decided. “We are together now. It’s time to put an end to things.”

  She wondered if their army of Makali was even necessary. She’d been told about what Elmerah did to the Dreilore. She could decimate Egrin’s militia all on her own. Of course, without Isara . . .

  She squirmed when she realized Malon was watching her. She still felt a bit embarrassed about the night before, sitting so close to him by the fire.

  “Perhaps you should go rest with your friend,” he suggested.

  Rest sounded nice, though it would not come easily. “I fear if I leave you alone, you will be tossed overboard.” She gave Alluin a poignant look.

  He lifted his hands in surrender, his brown hair streaming in the breeze on either side of his face. “I admit, I
considered it, but I would not act so rashly.”

  Malon sighed dramatically. “I think the one true threat to my life is currently passed out below deck.”

  His words managed to make her smile, but it was short-lived. He was right, she needed rest. “Just don’t stand so close to the railing once I’m gone.”

  She cast one final glance toward the island, now just a speck in the distance.

  “I’ll escort you down,” Alluin suggested.

  She only nodded. Now that rest was a prospect, her weariness overcame her.

  Malon patted her arm, then made his way closer to Brosod.

  Saida followed Alluin toward the ladder that led below deck. The pirates they passed dutifully kept their gazes averted.

  Once they were below deck, Alluin led her toward the cabin where Elmerah rested, then paused beside the door. “You seem different now. Different from when we last saw you.”

  She smiled softly. “I apologize for how I acted in Faerune. I didn’t know how to cope with my mother’s death.”

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “I understand, but that’s not what I mean. You seem older now. Less frightened.”

  “A trek across the Helshone will do that to a person.”

  He squeezed her shoulder, then let his hand drop. “You will have to tell me about it sometime.” He opened the door and stepped back. “Are you sure we can trust him?” he asked before she could enter the room.

  Too many different answers warred within her. She settled on the most practical one. “I cannot tell you who to trust, so you will have to make your own judgment where Malon is concerned.”

  “But do you trust him?”

  She thought about all she had been through, from the fall of Faerune, to her kidnapping, to barely escaping death at Urali’s hands. She had somehow managed to survive it all. “I don’t need to trust him. I have finally learned to trust myself.”

  Alluin watched her for a moment, then nodded. “In that case, I promise to make sure no one pushes him overboard.” He gestured for her to walk into the dimly lit cabin, then gently shut the door behind her.

  Once she was alone with Elmerah’s sleeping form, she took the time to just observe her friend. Her singed hair, her freshly bandaged hands, and her stained, charred coat. She realized then that she wasn’t the only one who had been pushed to her limit. Elmerah had been pushed to the edge, then off a cliff. Her friend needed her now more than ever.

  Elmerah

  Half-awake, Elmerah froze when she realized someone was sleeping right beside her. Cracking one eye open, she slowly turned her head toward the other person, then relaxed. Saida’s sleeping face was serene in the lantern light.

  Elmerah rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow. She watched her sleeping friend, struggling to believe she was real. And she had hardly changed, at least in appearance, save a few light bruises along her jaw that Elmerah sincerely hoped Malon hadn’t given her. Something opalescent caught her attention, drawing her eye to the Crown of Cindra looped around Saida’s belt. Malon had ordered it stolen from Ivran’s cellar, only to return it to Saida’s possession. Elmerah couldn’t help but wonder what his true aim might be.

  Saida’s pale eyes opened. “You know, it’s odd to watch people while they’re sleeping.”

  Elmerah gave her a rueful smile and shook her head. “What happened, Saida? What changed your mind about Malon? He kidnapped you, and now you travel with him willingly? You expect us to share our plans with him?”

  Saida lifted one hand to rub her eyes. “I told you about the Helshone, and the Makali.”

  Elmerah stared her down. “You know what I mean. You blamed Malon for your mother’s death. You wanted him to pay for it. Now you are allies? Perhaps something more?”

  Saida rolled onto her stomach, bracing her elbows on the sleeping mat to hold up her head. Elmerah realized she had moved a second mat right next to hers. “He thought my mother would be safe with the rest of the High Council. He was a guardsman, he knew about the secret chambers where they were supposed to hide, and he didn’t tell the Dreilore about them.”

  Elmerah sat up, her sore limbs protesting the movement. “But he still let them into the city.”

  “They would have come regardless.”

  She watched her friend closely, hardly believing her words. “Are you just repeating what he told you?”

  Saida squirmed, looking down at the mat beneath her. “Perhaps, but that does not make it any less true.”

  “His actions led to your mother being killed,” she reiterated.

  Saida abruptly turned over and sat up. “You blame Rissine for your mother’s death, yet here you both are.”

  Elmerah frowned. “That does not mean I have forgiven her. It seems like you have forgiven Malon.”

  Saida hunched her shoulders, peering down at her lap. “I have not decided that yet. Not for sure. But a lot of things happened in the desert.”

  Elmerah waited for her to continue, wondering what could’ve possibly happened to change Saida’s mind so completely.

  “Will you tell me about it?” Saida asked softly. “About what happened with your mother? Why you believe it to be Rissine’s fault?”

  Elmerah’s gut clenched at the thought of answering the question. She took a moment to consider her next words. It was time. She knew it was time, but it didn’t make it any easier.

  She took a deep breath. “Very well. As you know, my mother was killed by my people.” Even just saying the words out loud made her panic, made her want to run away. “Rissine thinks I don’t understand that she was just trying to protect me that day,” she forced herself to continue. “The other clans had agreed to eliminate Shadowmarsh witches, just to save their own necks. They might have been cowards, but they were still just people like you and I. They wanted to survive, but they didn’t want to kill children.”

  She looped her hands around her knees and looked down at her bare feet, then continued, “Rissine was older, so she was the one they told. They told her our mother would die, and there was nothing she could do about it. I think my mother knew too. I think she asked Rissine to watch over me and keep me safe. Rissine agreed. She took me fishing that day, and we stayed away until nightfall. When we returned, my mother was dead. At the time, I thought Rissine was just as shocked as I. But she lied to me, she knew what was going to happen and she didn’t warn me. She didn’t let me make my own choice.”

  Saida’s jaw hung slightly agape. “You were both basically children. How difficult must it have been for Rissine to be placed in such a situation? Not strong enough to save her mother, but doing the only thing she could to keep her sister from dying too.”

  Elmerah hunched forward further, pressing her chin to her knees. “Now you know why I don’t share my story. I expected your reaction, but I cannot forgive Rissine. If I knew my mother was going to be killed, I would have fought.”

  “And perhaps your mother was well aware of that, and that’s why she didn’t tell you. She wanted to protect you, and Rissine.”

  Elmerah gripped her calves with her burned hands, squeezing until it hurt. “I should have had a choice.”

  “You would have chosen to die.”

  Elmerah’s chest swelled with anger, not just at Saida, but the anger she had been holding onto her entire life. “And what would you have done if you knew in advance that your mother would be killed? If you had been well enough to go into Faerune that day to face the Dreilore, what would you have done?”

  Saida was silent for long enough that Elmerah finally looked at her. The young elven priestess sighed. “I would have thrown myself into the Dreilore’s path. And I would have hated anyone who got in my way.”

  “Malon got in your way.”

  Saida shook her head. “He didn’t know that my mother would die. He thought she would be safe. He dosed me with bloodflower extraction to protect me.”

  Elmerah shrugged. “Or so he says.”

  “What do you want?” Saida s
napped. “Why are you pressing this?”

  Elmerah watched her friend. Saida obviously didn’t realize the way she looked at Malon. Lust, love, whatever it was . . . it was foolish. And it was blinding her to the truth, whatever the truth might actually be.

  “I just want you to be careful,” she explained. “You have allied yourself with him, and I will respect your judgment, but please just remember that he did many things against your will.”

  Saida was silent for a long moment, then nodded. “I will think upon what you have said, but for now, it changes nothing. Together Malon and I can use the circlets. Egrin fears them. I believe we have the power to defeat him.”

  “And what of your army of Makali?” Elmerah asked.

  “They march toward the Capital. Egrin has the Dreilore and the militia to protect him. His armies are greater than ours, but with the circlets . . . and with you and Rissine . . . ” her voice cracked with emotion.

  Elmerah reached over and took her hand. “We’re going to make him pay for all he has done.”

  There was a fierceness to Saida’s eyes that Elmerah had never seen before—a certain measure of defiance that she also recognized in herself. As much as she detested Malon, she had to admit, whatever he had done to Saida had made her strong.

  Chapter Eight

  Alluin

  Alluin watched the sun slowly setting, its vibrant colors reflecting off the calm sea. Two tense days had passed without incident. He was relieved to see Elmerah’s wounds slowly healing, and her energy returning. It seemed with Saida’s arrival, a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. And yet, there was a new tension there, and he wasn’t sure what it was about.

  Then there was Saida, always speaking closely with Malon or the Makali warrior, Brosod. Alluin was sorely regretting his promise to not push Malon overboard. The elf had lied to and manipulated them all. How could they even begin to trust him with their plan?