Empire of Demons (The Moonstone Chronicles Book 4)

by Sara C. Roethle

  She gritted her teeth. Even avoiding the demon portals, with Saida’s compass, they might still catch up. Hopefully with Vessa and the others remaining behind to tell her they’d gone willingly, she would take the hint and not follow.

  Alluin put a hand on her arm, startling her out of her thoughts. He held a finger to his lips for her to be quiet, then tapped one pointed ear.

  She stopped and listened, catching the occasional sound of voices in the distance. She turned as Zirin and Rissine caught up, gesturing for them to listen too. They all stood still and silent. By the time Celen and Killian reached them, both had already caught on.

  Alluin patted Killian’s arm, then pointed in the direction of the voices. With a nod, Killian followed him into the trees.

  Elmerah’s heart pounded as she waited. The only voices one might hear in woods where demons prowled were either Dreilore, or the militia. The Valeroot elves had all escaped south, and no simple farmers or city folk would be risking their necks out here.

  Her palms began to sweat, itching to draw her cutlass and go after Alluin. She looked to Rissine, seeing her own worry echoed in her sister’s eyes. There was another option for who might be prowling these woods. Surely the Arthali still hunted them both.

  Her shoulders relaxed when Alluin and Killian reappeared, heading back toward them. Alluin gestured for them to hurry in the other direction.

  Rissine grabbed the sleeve of Elmerah’s coat and spun her around, shoving her ahead to go first.

  They all moved quietly through the trees for a long while. Elmerah’s breathing was harsh by the time she finally stopped and turned to Alluin. “What did you see?”

  His green eyes shone with worry. “Some of the same Arthali from Port Aeluvaria, and others, along with a pack of Dreilore. We need to keep moving.”

  Her fire danced within her at the mention of the traitor Arthali. “We need to go wipe them out.”

  Rissine shook her head. “They have magic nullifying shackles, and the Dreilore have enchanted blades. We cannot risk it.”

  “Their blades did them no good against my fire before,” she hissed.

  Rissine grabbed her arm and squeezed. “And your magic may very well draw demons right to us.”

  She gnawed her lip. Rissine was right. As much as she wanted to teach the traitorous Arthali a lesson, it wasn’t worth it when they had bigger eels to roast. She nodded once.

  Rissine looked at each of them. “We must continue on quietly. If the Brambletooth witch picks up our trail, they will hound us all the way to the Capital.”

  “She picked up your scent the moment you stepped foot on shore,” a voice said from ahead.

  Rissine moved in front of Elmerah, blocking her view of the woman, but she had seen enough. She remembered Tunisa’s curly hair, golden eyes, and magic just like Zirin’s.

  “I hope you recall what happened the last time you tried to apprehend us,” Rissine said evenly.

  Elmerah peeked around Rissine’s shoulder to see Tunisa crossing her arms and jutting out one hip, her brown leather pants straining against her skin. “Yes, I recall, but I don’t see Isara Saredoth amongst you.”

  Elmerah rested one hand on her cutlass, glancing to Alluin and Celen. If it was just Tunisa, they could easily best her.

  Several more Arthali moved in from the surrounding trees. It was warm enough that some had their tattooed arms bare. Elmerah counted three from the Winter Isles clan, like Tunisa and Zirin, two Greenleaf, and one Brambletooth. They would have been no match for two Shadowmarsh witches at full strength, but moving in behind them were Dreilore—and Ayperos. The Dreilore walked beside the giant spiders like they were pets.

  Tunisa examined her fingernails, waiting for the sight of the Dreilore and demons to have its full effect. “Dinoba knew you would return to the continent, and he also knew you would make way toward the Capital.” She looked up from her fingernails. “Unfortunately for you, Rissine, you are terribly predictable.”

  Rissine backed up until she was nearly touching Elmerah. “When I tell you to go, I want you to run,” she muttered. “I have a plan.”

  “Not a chance,” Elmerah hissed through gritted teeth. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of her new cutlass. She could do this. On the island, her fire had not touched her allies. She could cut the Dreilore and enemy Arthali down where they stood.

  She started to draw her blade, then her fingers slackened. Her hands reached up to her throat, but she couldn’t breathe. She looked frantically to her companions, but she was the only one struggling. Then Rissine fell to her knees in front of her, and she realized it was her sister too.

  Someone approached her side as she fought to stay standing, but her vision was beginning to go gray. Finally, she collapsed, then looked up at Egrin Dinoba.

  “Your magic is impressive,” he said, “but it does not work when you can’t draw air.”

  He was right, she tried to reach for her fire, but it fizzled to ash within her. The Dreilore had closed in around them, and as Elmerah watched, they put magic nullifying shackles on Rissine, binding her hands in front of her.

  Egrin let up long enough for Elmerah to draw one harsh breath.

  “Reach for your magic, and I’ll kill your sister,” he said coolly.

  Elmerah took another ragged breath into her burning lungs, looking behind her to see the others disarmed and being shackled. She darted her frantic gaze back to Egrin. “Let them go,” she rasped. “I’ll go with you.”

  Egrin ignored her. He was looking at Tunisa. “Bring them all to the Capital.”

  Relief flooded her that at least Egrin would not take her here and now. Then he knelt beside her, wrapping one hand around her arm. Moonstones glittered on his fingers, adding to his magic. He would be more powerful now than when she last faced him.

  She cast one final glance at her companions. Alluin’s terror for her was a dagger through the heart. On her knees, Rissine was lifting the little silver whistle from around her neck in her shackled hands.

  Elmerah thought she heard the whistle’s high-pitched call as she and Egrin disappeared in a cloud of darkness.

  “Put her in the cage,” Egrin ordered the two Dreilore who had descended the stairs of the keep with them.

  Elmerah bucked her legs as the Dreilore tugged at her arms. The torches in the windowless stone room flickered wildly with her movements. She tried to reach for her magic, but the shackles cut her off from it.

  Her heart screamed at the idea of being put back in a cage, but the Dreilore were strong. They dragged her across the stone floor, then tossed her inside, slamming the grated door shut behind her. The clang of metal echoed through her bones.

  With his arms laced behind his back, Egrin approached the cage. The flickering torchlight cut strange shadows across his face. “You won’t be escaping this time, witch. You will help me, or your friends will die.”

  She staggered to her feet, then pressed her shackled hands against the door to her prison, leaning toward him. “My friends aren’t here you white-bellied wyrm.”

  His mouth twisted into what some might consider a smile. “Their journey will give us time to talk.”

  She sneered. “I have no desire to converse with a demon.”

  He leaned even closer, so that his face was nearly touching the bars between them. “You’ll do what you’re told, or I’ll crush the air from your lungs over and over again until you go mad.”

  “You will be wasting your time,” she hissed. “I cannot grant you the secrets to my magic any more than I could explain why the sea exists, or by what trick the stars manage to hang in the sky.”

  “Yes,” he said, stepping back. “I have reached that same conclusion. I cannot pluck your magic from your soul like a moonstone, but your priestess friend gave me a better idea. She was able to draw on the power of the Crown of Cindra to walk the dream realm. Such magic would have been previously out of her reach.” He looked her up and down. “I wonder what would happen if I simply drew from y
our magic, rather than trying to steal it.”

  “I’m not a moonstone,” she spat.

  He tilted his head, his eyes roving across her body. “No, you are better than a moonstone. You have a massive well of magic within you. You don’t amplify power, you are power. If you give it to me willingly, you can join the other Arthali in our alliance. Fight me, and not only will you die, but your friends and sister will die.”

  She gritted her teeth. There had to be another way. Saida and Malon. They would still be coming toward the Capital with an army of Makali. They could—

  A lump formed in her throat. They couldn’t do anything. They didn’t even know she had been taken because she’d abandoned them. She had only wanted to protect Saida, but now it was clear she needed Saida to protect her. If the only thing Egrin feared was the circlets, then Saida and Malon were her only hope.

  “Take some time to consider it,” Egrin said. “Help me, save everyone you care about, and join the new Empire . . . or die.” He turned and walked stiff-backed toward the door, then left her alone with the two Dreilore.

  She knew better than to even try communicating with them. They watched her with predator’s eyes. Once Egrin was done with her, they would chew her bones clean.

  Alluin

  Alluin staggered, his spine itching with the presence of the blade pointed at it. But at least he wasn’t in Rissine’s shoes, being shoved and kicked by the other Arthali, especially Tunisa.

  Rissine’s nose was bleeding and she had a fresh bruise blossoming across her jaw. “You’re all cowards,” she growled. “Egrin Dinoba will kill you all once he has what he wants.”

  Tunisa gave her a shove from behind, knocking her to her knees. “Oh I don’t think he will. We are just as valuable to him as the Dreilore, or even more so, really.” She cast a disgusted glance at their Dreilore companions. The Ayperos had scattered into the woods as soon as everyone was shackled.

  “Too prideful for your own good,” Zirin muttered, earning a kick from one of the other Arthali.

  Celen and Killian wisely kept their mouths shut.

  Alluin watched it all with a growing feeling of dread. Their situation was dire, but what was happening to Elmerah? He had noticed Rissine blowing into the Akkeri whistle as Elmerah was taken, but then nothing happened.

  At least they were being taken to the Capital. At least he had that small hope of seeing Elmerah again. They were walking toward the sea, so there must be a ship waiting for them, that’s why they didn’t head back toward the camp he and Killian had spied upon.

  For now, all he could do was bide his time and look for an opportunity to escape. He hated to think it, but if that would require leaving Rissine and the others behind, he would do it. He would abandon them all if it meant he had some slim chance of prying Elmerah from Egrin’s demonic clutches.

  Chapter Eleven

  Saida

  Saida held her compass out in front of her, leading the way toward their army. She stepped lightly, well aware of her surroundings with Malon walking to her right and Brosod to her left. The other elves followed, speaking amongst themselves words too quiet for her to hear. Which meant they were probably talking about her.

  She forced herself not to think about them. The dial on her compass was twitching more frequently now, changing her course. They were getting closer. Something about it felt wrong. She should be leading the way toward Elmerah, not an army—but that wasn’t what her friend wanted. She had left intentionally, making it quite clear that she didn’t need Saida to save her.

  “It’s odd,” she said to Malon as they walked. “The compass is still leading us roughly east. It should be pointing south. Our army could not have moved so quickly.”

  “My people move efficiently,” Brosod said. “Especially with antlioch. Warriors will take turns running and riding.” She gazed outward and took a deep breath. “And with such cool air and plentiful water? The Makali could put any of your armies to shame.”

  “We will see just how far they have traveled when we reach them,” Malon interjected. “And they will likely need rest before marching on the Capital.”

  Rest. Rest sounded good. Though she doubted she would get as much as she needed. “And after that? After we tear down the Capital and destroy Egrin?”

  Malon stopped walking and turned toward her, placing a hand on her arm. “Alluin’s plan to make Isara empress was a good one. Now, with both her and Daemon gone, there will be the question of who is to rule. Faerune is far too weakened to be up for the task, and Rissine’s Arthali are too few.”

  She looked up at him pleadingly. There had to be other options. “And what of the Valeroot elves? What of Alluin’s people?”

  He shook his head. “Better off in Faerune. After all of the distrust Egrin has sewn, the other races of the Capital will never follow elves. Any elves.”

  Brosod cleared her throat, drawing Saida’s eye. “In the Helshone, if someone kills the old clan leader, they may take charge of the clan. But if they have no loyal followers, they will soon be killed and replaced. In that way, we choose our own leaders. If someone does not have the support of the people, they will not rule for long. As flawed as Urali was, she had the support of the people.”

  Malon glanced back at the elves quietly waiting behind them, then turned his gaze to the surrounding shrubs and grass. “Through lies and manipulation, Egrin has the support of the people within the Capital. We will be viewed as villains when our task is done. None of us will rule there, so let them rebuild and elect their own leader if they so choose.”

  His words made a wave of nausea course through her. She had already seen her homeland torn down, but they would rebuild, they would persevere. Part of her wanted vengeance on the Capital, but it wasn’t the people who lived there who had attacked Faerune. It wasn’t the fisherman, or the families with small children. “If we aren’t going to rebuild, then why tear down the Capital at all? If we have no ruler now to take Egrin’s place, then we have no need to threaten the people of Galterra. Perhaps Elmerah’s plan to covertly assassinate the emperor is better.”

  Malon’s silver eyes narrowed. “Because Egrin’s armies will march from Galterra. On the full moon, they will march to destroy Faerune. We cannot risk Egrin eluding us, only to send his armies forward, so we will attack his armies first. The Capital itself is not the issue. The issue is the Dreilore and the militia. We will face Egrin once that threat is neutralized.”

  “But the Dreilore—” she began.

  “Will fall before the power of the circlets,” he finished. “And when Egrin’s armies are destroyed, he will have nothing left to threaten us with, and nowhere left to hide.”

  Her blood went cold at his words. She had known all this. She had known all along what they planned, and in fact she had pushed for it. But now that they were so close, faced with the reality of battle and bloodshed, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it. She wanted to kill Egrin, yes, but she didn’t want to go to war. If Vessa could show them into the city . . . but that would still leave Egrin the possibility of escape. Once she made it clear she would not bargain with him, his armies would march.

  Her one small hope of avoiding such bloodshed was for Elmerah to succeed in assassinating the emperor before the Makali reached the Capital. Though she was worried for her friend, part of her was glad Elmerah had run off ahead. She sent a quiet prayer to Cindra to aid Elmerah in her endeavor, and to guide them all through the trying times ahead.

  Elmerah

  Elmerah lay curled up in her cage, her back pressed against the bars with her shackled hands tucked under her chin. She wasn’t sure how long she had been there, all she knew was that she had given up trying to escape—at least for now. Her Dreilore guards had been changed out several times, she’d lost count of just how many. Sometimes they would march her out to relieve herself, confident the shackles would keep her magic in check.

  She wondered how long it would be before Rissine and the others arrived. Egrin must st
ill not be at his full power, even with the moonstones, or else he would have just transported them all here himself.

  Or maybe he just wanted to make her wait. To draw out her suffering.

  The door leading to her prison opened, making the torches flicker. A female Faerune elf entered, carrying a plate of food. It took Elmerah a moment to realize it was Thera. The last time she had seen the elf was the last time she was in one of Egrin’s cages. Elmerah’s stomach growled at the scents wafting from the plate. She couldn’t remember when she had last eaten.

  Thera avoided looking at Elmerah as she approached. Her long, white-blonde hair was pulled back into a tight braid, leaving her gaunt face bare. She looked like she needed the meal upon the tray even more than Elmerah, and she could have it too. As starved as she was, she had no intention of eating the food. It was probably poisoned to weaken her further.

  Thera knelt to set the tray of food on the ground just outside the bars where Elmerah might be able to push one hand through far enough to reach it.

  Elmerah sat up, observing Thera’s frame through her loose black dress. The color didn’t suit her. “Serving a demon doesn’t seem to agree with you.”

  Thera’s pale eyes darted up. “At least I am alive, and not in a cage.”

  “Not in an actual cage, but I imagine you’re just as trapped as I.”

  Thera wrinkled her dainty nose. Dark circles marred the skin beneath her eyes. “I’m supposed to look at you and see if any of your magic persists despite your shackles.”