“I’m sorry Lorbin, you’ve been a good friend. I wish there was something more I could do for you.”
“Verilien, I-” His words cut off, and she felt his essence tear free; entering her body with a feeling as if a line of fire streamed up her arm. Benny screamed then as his soul invaded her own, leaving a trail of fire everywhere it touched. A moment later, a blessed coolness radiated outward from her core, and she slumped forward; collapsing onto Lorbin’s corpse.
Noraz shook her shoulder. “Verilien? Are you ok? What happened?” He asked, voice filled with concern.
Benny’s brain felt as if it received a jumpstart, and her eyes snapped open. “Wow, what is this? I feel.... So good.” Benny mumbled. A moment later, she rolled off Lorbins corpse, and jumped to her feet. Everything was crystal clear in her mind. She could see every detail of every face in the room, many of which were now turned her way. She looked at Noraz, kneeling over Lorbin’s corpse, and smiled. “Noraz, I feel so good. Why didn’t you tell me it felt so good? I can’t… I….” It was at this point that her brain caught up to the fact that her euphoria had come at Lorbin’s expense. Her mood instantly switched from euphoria to a burning, all-consuming rage. Gripped once again by her mana-induced psychosis, Benny lost all consciousness.
……………………………………
When Benny awoke, it was to a nightmare. Corpses were strewn in a ring around her. Some lacked heads. Others had been gutted. Still others had been ripped into two parts as if two giant hands had snatched opposite ends of their bodies, and pulled. As she became more conscious, she realized that the corpses were all humans. If she had to guess, the entire human force that had been assembled in the hall was decimated by someone. Benny rose to her knees, then to her feet, only to slip in a puddle of blood, landing directly in the puddle. Shaking the cobwebs out of her head, Benny stood more carefully, managing to rise fully to her feet.
Looking to the rear end of the hall, Benny found that Azel, and Judas were still dueling. Her father seemed to have gained the upper hand though, even as he shouted “What did you do to my daughter? What did you do?” Over and over like a mantra. Azel was hard-pressed to match Judas’s berserk ferocity. A small sound caught Benny’s attention, and she looked, only to find Noraz cowering in the corner, whimpering.
Slowly, cautiously, Benny made her way towards him. When she got within ten feet, he scuttled away from her on all fours, eyes filled with panic. “Milady, Verilien, Benny, please don’t, not me.” He begged.
“Noraz, what’s going on, why are you acting like that?” Benny inquired, confused.
Noraz pointed, fingers trembling, to a corner of the room, and Benny saw a pile of corpses; Demon corpses. She thought she recognized them as the Demons who had been standing behind the throne with Noraz and Lorbin.
“Are you… Are you sane again?” Noraz asked, voice quivering.
Benny sat down in front of him, brain still trying to catch up with what had happened. “I think so. Was I not sane before?”
“No, Verilien. You were…. Terrifying. You single-handedly destroyed the human army. Then you turned on Azel’s attendants, and slaughtered them. You... ripped people in half, and then laughed while tying a knot around their neck with their own innards. Even as an experienced warrior, I have never seen a battle more gruesome or terrible.”
Benny blinked at him in shock, unable to comprehend what he was saying. “I did? Why don’t I remember?”
“It was… I think it was the ritual. I remember how it felt, the power, and impulses, but this…” Noraz pointed at the room-full of corpses. “This is beyond anything I have ever heard, felt, or seen.”
Benny looked at the pile of Demons. She realized that someone, likely her, had placed the corpses into obscene poses while piling them. “I’m sorry for scaring you. That… that wasn’t me. Not the real me. I’ll explain later, but-”
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud clang, followed by a triumphant roar. Benny looked up to find that her father had disarmed Azel, and was backing him up with a blade to his throat. Benny stood, just as Azel tripped, falling ungraciously backwards into his throne.
“Whatever you did to Beneficence, undo it right now.” Judas growled at Azel.
“I am as shocked as you. It is nothing I did I assure you.” Azel protested.
“Lies.” Judas lifted his blade, and left a long gash in Azel’s cheek. Azel offered no resistance, merely staring Judas directly in the eyes.
“Stop.” Benny interrupted, lifting her hand.
Judas hesitated. “Benny. Honey. Are you back with us?” He asked, face a mess of conflicting emotions.
All of Benny’s anger, and resentment toward her father fell away for the briefest moment.
“Yes, daddy. I’m back.” Tears streamed from her eyes, and she had neither the power nor the desire to stop them.
“Come home honey. Come home. You don’t have to stay here any more. I’ve rescued you.”
For the first time, Benny saw her father weep. All her illusions of him as the implacable, stoic warrior god shattered under the weight of his tears.
“I can’t daddy. You know I can’t. It’s too late.”
Judas’s face morphed into a rictus of rage, and grief. “After all this, you’re staying? Why? For him?” He spat, pointing his sword at Azel.
“No. Not for him. Don’t you see all those corpses? How can I go back with their blood on my hands? The church would execute me as a traitor the moment I set foot on their territory.”
“I don’t care about that. I’ll protect you. Just let me bring you home. Let me make up for everything I did wrong.”
“Daddy, you can’t. That’s not how this works. I can’t go back, and neither can you.”
Judas’s face hardened. “Then I have no choice. My official mission here is to kill the Demon Lord. If I don’t have you, then all that’s left is my work.”
Benny jumped around the throne, and stood in front of Azel. “No, you can’t kill him. If you do, the Demons will start fighting us for real. I don’t know what would happen.”
“Beneficence Church, move out of my way, or I will make you move.” Her father growled.
Benny drew her sword from its sheath, only to find it broken at the halfway mark, tapering to a jagged point on one side.
“Shit.” Benny muttered, knowing that even with the power boost she had received from Lorbin, she couldn’t defeat her father with a broken blade. Backing up, Benny bumped into the throne. Looking down at Azel, sitting defenseless in his throne, Benny had a sudden inspiration.
Benny put the point of her sword to Azel’s throat. “Azel, would you say that I’ve successfully kidnapped you?” She asked.
“Yes.” Azel said, resignation in his tone.
“Noraz, will you stand as witness that I’ve successfully kidnapped Azel?” Benny called out.
“Yes, Verilien.” She heard from behind her.
“Then daddy, that makes me the Demon lord. Now, are you going to kill me?”
Judas looked lost. “You… What? I can’t. No.” Judas threw down his blade in frustration. “Fine, Benny. You win. All I wanted was to be a family again. I just wanted my daughter back.” Tears streamed from his eyes freely, and Benny’s heart broke.
“Daddy. I’m sorry. I love you. Even if I also hate you a little.” Benny moved forward several steps, and hugged him. She allowed him to cry into her shirt for several minutes, before releasing him.
Stoic mask falling back into place, Judas nodded. “Send me home honey.”
Benny looked away from his gaze for a moment, then nodded. The jagged spike on the end of her broken sword pierced his temple a moment later, killing him instantly.
Benny sighed as his corpse dissolved.
Looking at Azel, she felt incredibly vulnerable. “Now what?” She asked him.
“That is up to you… Lady Verilien.”
Epilogue
Benny watched as twelve Demons dropped, slowly st
rangled by the noose around their necks. It was said that it wasn’t the strangling that killed you when hung, it was the fall breaking your neck. Demons seemed to be made of stronger stuff as each took several minutes before they went limp. Benny sighed, and turned away as the last Demon went still.
“Was that enough for you?” She asked Betsy Leigh, the town council treasurer.
Betsy nodded. “Yes. It was perfect.” The quiet, mousy girl next to her nodded.
“I’m glad. Dem- no, I mean people like that deserve everything they get.” Benny stated forcefully.
Both women nodded, and turned to leave. As they walked away, Azel appeared, moving to stand by her side.
“Well-handled, Lady Verilien.” He commented. Benny still hadn’t decided whether her called her ‘Lady Verilien’ mockingly, or if he was serious.
Deciding it didn’t matter, Benny shrugged in response to his question. “It was the right thing to do.”
“Politically, or morally?” Azel asked.
Benny thought about that for a moment. “Both?”
Azel smiled. “I am glad to know my lessons on politics haven’t been wasted.”
“Lessons? Do you mean you throwing me at the town council the other day?” She asked sarcastically.
Azel smirked “When it comes to politics, you will find that there is no real system. Eighty-five percent of the job is pretending you know what you’re doing.”
“What’s the other fifteen percent?”
“Sucking up to your superior.” Azel grinned at her broadly.
Benny snorted, and flicked him lightly on the forehead. The pair fell silent. Looking out at the rows of noosed corpses, Benny mused aloud. “Is it enough, do you think?”
“Enough?” Azel questioned.
“If we’re going to integrate humans, and Demons. Is this enough to convince people that we mean it?”
“I think it is a good start.” Azel answered seriously. “The rest will come with time.”
Benny sighed, and turned, walking to the podium where she would give her inaugural speech. Standing on the podium, Benny looked out at a sea of faces, Demon and human. She sighed slightly, when she realized the two races had self-segregated. Demons occupied the right half of the space, while humans occupied the left.
Clearing her throat self-consciously, she switched on the microphone in front of her. “We have been through a lot in the past month. I know that most of you would rather not be here. A month ago, I wished I could be anywhere else but here. Still, I’ve come to realize that the Demons are not the existential threat we thought they were. They’re just people.” She pointed at the corpses dangling from rope. “People are flawed. They have the potential for violence, and for evil. But everyone, human or Demon, also has the potential for greatness. For goodness. For kindness. We face a difficult road ahead, learning how to be the best people we can be. I only hope you’ll walk that road, both with me, and with each other. In the spirit of that journey, we have decided to name this town Morning Star, in the hopes that it will guide us to a new beginning. Thank you for walking this road with me.”
With that, Benny stepped off the podium, and walked into the keep; flanked by Azel, Lilian, and Noraz.
……………………….
Commandant Rogers could feel that something was off the moment he reached the door to his office. There was nothing he could point to as a reason he might feel uneasy. The door seemed undamaged, the nameplate was properly aligned, and no ominous sounds came from the other side of the door. Still, something made him pause, a slight hitch forming in his stride as he neared the door.
Shaking the feeling off, he entered his office. “Close the door Commandant.” Judas growled, pointing a miniature crossbow in his direction.
The Commandant’s hands went up instinctually in the universal gesture of someone with a weapon pointed at them. “I said to close the door. I won’t ask a third time.” Judas repeated.
Tamping down a burgeoning sense of panic, Rogers closed the door gently with his foot, careful not to slam it from fear that a sudden noise might cause Judas to fire.
Judas sighed. “I always knew you were a coward, but I can’t imagine how you made a career in the military if one man with a crossbow is enough to put you on the verge of shitting yourself.”
“It’s not the crossbow I’m afraid of. To be honest I know you well enough to know that even at this distance you would probably miss. It’s what comes after you miss that worries me.” Rogers said, seeking some hint of the comradery the pair of men had once shared.
Judas fired. Instead of firing straight, as one would expect, the bolt curved upward as it flew. By some quirk of fate, it pierced the Commandants left palm, pinning his hand to the door. Rogers screamed in pain.
“Oh shut up Randy. You know that you soundproofed this room, you paranoid bastard, so the only thing you’re doing is giving me a headache.” Judas groused unsympathetically. “You should feel lucky. I was aiming for your heart just now.”
Rogers, hyperventilating, suppressed his scream, landing instead on something between a sob, and a chuckle. “Good to know your curse is still going strong. What do you want, Judas? Money? Rank?”
Judas laughed with him for a moment, then reloaded the crossbow from a bag of bolts hidden under the Commandant's desk. “Did anyone ever tell you about my original power?”
Randal Rogers stared at Judas blankly. “The resurrection power? What about it?”
“No, my real power. The one that made me strong enough to fight a Demon Lord.” Judas said, grinning widely.
“No, I honestly hadn’t thought about that.” The Commandant replied, confusion overriding some of the pain on his face.
“The Demons call me a Verilakir, or soul drinker. For them, it’s essentially the greatest taboo one could break. You don’t technically need a special power to do this, but I have an easier time than most. You see Demons believe that their souls live in their blood, and for all intents and purposes, they’re right. So then, it’s very easy for one to absorb the soul of a Demon by simply drinking their blood. The problem is that if you drink too much their soul fights back, and you die.”
“What does this have to do with me?” The Commandant asked, squirming in pain.
Judas continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I was born as a gifted. One of those rare few individuals who develop natural gifts when they are exposed to magic. Do you know what gift I discovered?” Judas paused for a moment, but the Commandant didn’t respond. Judas fired his crossbow again, this one curving left to land harmlessly in the wooden wall.
“My innate gift is called vampirism. I grow stronger by drinking the blood of others. The stronger the blood, or the more blood, the more power I gain. It even reverses my aging a bit. Let me tell you, at first I was scared of this gift. Then one day I realized that I could drink as much Demon blood as I wanted, and no one would care. I joined the army, and drank Demon blood whenever I could. Then, one day, I drank too much, and it ripped me apart from the inside. I thought it was a miracle when my body reformed at the nearest temple a week later. So did everyone else actually.”
“Just get to the fucking point already!” The Commandant roared at him.
“The point is that I’m going to use you as target practice.” Judas pulled the bag of bolts from under the desk, and dropped it on top. It was an extremely large bag of bolts. “I’m going to fire every single one of these bolts, then I’m going to eat you alive, bone and all, because we both know I won’t be able to hit you properly. The church will never find your body. They won’t even be sure that you’re dead. And when I’m done eating you, the backlash from absorbing your soul will kill me. I’ll resurrect in the temple, and no one will ever know I was here.” Judas punctuated his point by firing the crossbow again. Somehow, it landed in the doorway an inch from Rogers crotch.
“You… sick bastard! Why are you doing this?” The Commandant whined, struggling to pull his hand free from the bolt that pinned it to
the wall.
“You cost me everything.” Judas said fiercely. “Taking your soul is a small price to pay.”
Over the next twenty-four hours, no sound passed the Commandant’s doorway. Several people knocked on the door, but when no answer came, they left to search for him elsewhere. Judas revived in the church the next day, and reported that the Commandant had stabbed him in the back with a sword. Even Judas was surprised when a search of his office turned up evidence that the Commandant had been working as a spy for Demon Lord Zenas.
When Hell Froze Page 15
