The Lost Duke

by Kristen Gupton

  They hoped Father Beezle was all right.

  * * *

  Keiran and Garhan stared at Jerris in disbelief while Kanan and Stepan made their way up the staircase.

  “On fire?” Keiran asked, turning around and looking toward one of the windows. With the sun down, the flickering glow of the fire was just becoming visible through the boarded windows.

  “Aye.” Kanan neared them after running up the stairs. “They moved away to give us the illusion they were going to just let us be. Meanwhile, they were circling around the back of the building and lighting it up. They then threw something into the doorway, igniting most of the entryway instantly. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

  Stepan shook his head. “Fire-bottles. Quick and nasty.”

  “We have to get out,” Keiran said, looking up and down the corridor.

  Without saying anything further, Garhan jogged down the hallway, coming to a stop before one of the rooms that had been boarded up after the previous fire. Knowing part of the wall and ceiling beyond was missing, he’d tried to force his way into the room in the past, but he’d never been successful. He started to kick at the planks, though there wasn’t much strength behind his attempts in his current state.

  Soon, the other three rushed over, sensing the urgency in Garhan’s actions. Keiran felt anger starting to course through his blood, and after a few kicks of his own, he simply reached out and tore one of the planks away, casting it to the side. Kanan and Jerris joined in, and they were able to get several others removed. Soon, there was a gap sufficient to let them get through.

  Garhan scrambled in first, already having a plan. The others followed him, but he stopped them from going past with outstretched arms.

  “Follow me, but be very careful. This room is missing most of the floor,” he said, making brief eye contact with each of his companions to make sure they heeded his warning.

  Smoke began to make the air thick, but the hole in the floor was quite visible as the flames on the lower level licked upward into the void. The house was burning quickly, all of the leaking water throughout the structure adding a noxious, tainted steam to the atmosphere.

  Garhan skirted around the hole and toward the exterior wall of the mansion. Once halfway across the room, the ceiling opened up to the night sky above, the roof burned away with most of the outside wall from the original fire the structure had suffered.

  Kanan went last. He realized he outweighed the other men by a good amount. If anyone was going to break through the floor, he’d most likely be the one to do it. The others were standing near the end of the building already when Kanan made his approach. The floor creaked loudly beneath him and started to give way, rubble cascading down into the growing inferno below.

  Kanan jumped away as the floor went slack beneath him. He didn’t shout out or make any sound, the shock of the building collapsing under him cutting off any verbal response he might have made.

  Jerris was the only one to see Kanan start to go down, the others looking outward. He ran forward a few steps and grasped for his father, managing to get a hold of his right arm.

  Keiran’s senses were keyed up to the point he felt Jerris’ sudden spike of anxiety and Kanan’s outright terror at the thought of falling into the flames. He spun around and caught hold of the back of Jerris’ shirt, preventing the redhead from being pulled down with the old man.

  Stepan and Garhan both turned to look when Keiran rushed away, and they moved forward to help as well. Kanan was pulled back up by the other four men in short order, his left boot and pant leg smoldering.

  Embarrassed, Kanan quickly stood up after slapping away the last embers from his leg. “So, now what do we do?”

  Everyone stood there staring at him, getting their collective nerves back under control. Jerris looked like he was nearly on the verge of tears after the incident and stood close to his father’s side.

  Garhan turned away from them and pointed upward along the remains of the exterior wall. “We climb. The tree overhangs the building, and, if we get into it, there is a place for us to regroup and think.”

  Keiran quirked a brow at the thought of leaving the burning building to sit in an adjacent tree, but he didn’t have any better ideas. The smoke was coming up worse, poisoning the atmosphere around them. It had driven the guards on the ground back and away from the building, making it likely they wouldn’t be seen.

  “All right, lead the way,” the vampire said, motioning toward the wall.

  With his lithe frame, Garhan quickly climbed the upward slope of the remaining exterior wall. He then disappeared from view as he hoisted himself up onto the roof.

  Keiran looked at his companions and gave a nod before following Garhan. Though the smoke couldn’t kill him, it was irritating his throat, and he had to halt his climb at several points to keep hold of the wall while he struggled to breathe. The others came up behind him and fought the same battle.

  Nearing the roof, Keiran accepted Garhan’s help to get pulled the rest of the way up. Together, they managed to get everyone up safely. The smoke was becoming unbearable, all of them choking, and their eyes becoming blurred from the acrid fumes.

  Garhan reached back and took Keiran’s hand to begin leading him. Keiran, in turn, reached out and took a hold of Jerris. Soon, they were all linked up to keep from losing anyone as visibility continued to worsen.

  Garhan moved across the slate-tiled roof quickly, having a good sense of direction, despite the conditions. On the other side of the house stood a massive tree, its branches fanning out over the building.

  The branch Garhan took them toward was as thick around as a man’s thigh. The smoke was thinner on this side of the building, the wind blowing it back behind them. Still, the heat from the fire as it climbed the sides of the house would do them all in if they didn’t move quickly.

  Garhan hoisted himself up onto the branch and began to shimmy his way toward the trunk of the tree. The difference in temperature once he got just a short distance away from the building was profound, and he took a deep breath, trying to clear the remaining smoke from his lungs.

  With the light of the fire below, he was able to see the dilapidated tree house he’d discovered long ago when he’d first been brought to the palace as a teen. He didn’t have time to worry about the soundness of the structure or whether it would hold all of them or not. It would have to do, or they would be killed by the fire or guards below.

  After a few minutes of pulling himself along, Garhan reached the edge of the platform the old tree house rested upon. He pulled himself onto the ledge and stood up, waiting for the others to come along behind him.

  Slowly, everyone made their way down the branch. When all five men were safely onto the platform of the tree house, Garhan turned and led them into the interior of the small structure.

  The five of them sat on the floor, trying to catch their breath and clear the burn from their eyes. Though they’d gone a relatively short distance, the conditions of the trip had cost them all much more than it should have.

  “So what do we do when this tree catches fire?” Jerris asked, breaking the silence.

  “It won’t burn,” Garhan said, shaking his head. “It withstood the last fire just fine. These old redwoods aren’t bothered by such things. This little tree house saw the last fire, too. We just need to hope the smoke keeps blowing the other way, and we’ll be fine for now.”

  “We’re still on the palace grounds, though,” Keiran said, quirking a brow. “We’re not free yet. Those guards aren’t very far away, either.”

  “They didn’t see us get in here,” Garhan replied. “I don’t think anyone really knows about this little place besides me, so we have time to come up with our next plan.”

  “They’re just down on the ground right now all watching that house burn. No one will be able to go inside of it until well into tomorrow to look for our remains.” Stepan pulled a rag from a pocket and wiped the soot off his face. “If she even bothers t
o have anyone search. I don’t know what’s going through her mind anymore.”

  “Are you saying there will be guards around until tomorrow at the least? I don’t really want to stay in this tree for an entire day,” Jerris said, frowning.

  Kanan got up from the floor and went back to the doorway, looking out at the scene. The mansion was completely engulfed in flames, and there weren’t any men on the ground he could see. The tree was on the backside of the house, and most of the men were lingering toward the front, not wanting to get caught between the inferno and the compound’s wall if the wind changed.

  “They’ve all retreated toward the front of the house,” he said, looking back at the others.

  Stepan got up and went over, studying the scene as well. “They’re not looking around for us. They think we’re all inside and dead by now. If we were to go down and stay near the palace wall, we might evade them. Their night vision is shot from that fire, and if we get away from it and into the dark, they won’t stand a chance at spotting us.”

  “Then what?” Kanan asked, knowing his Alerian counterpart had more knowledge of the palace.

  “We can’t go back into the passages,” Stepan said, mentally scratching that off a list. “Going into the palace itself isn’t going to get us in the right direction. It would be best for us to simply get over the wall as quickly as we can manage.”

  “This tree house is higher than the palace wall,” Garhan added, getting up from the ground and dusting his hands together.

  “Yes, it is,” Stepan agreed, nodding.

  Garhan smiled and moved over to the corner, picking up a rotted tarp. Coiled underneath was a rope he’d brought up long ago, in case the ladder up the tree were to break. “If we go back out onto the branches, we can tie this off and drop right down over the wall.”

  * * *

  Father Beezle had moved out into the main portion of the cathedral, and he looked up at the dome over the center of the space. Large chunks of stone and plaster had broken away, but the building hadn’t yet been breached.

  His feet crunched on the remains of the ceiling’s fresco as he moved beneath the midpoint of the dome. He fished around in one of his robe’s pockets, pulling out something that looked like a large stick of chalk, but it was made of salt.

  Randall stooped and reached out with the salt stick, his hand shaking badly as he drew a small circle on the stone floor. Afterward, he stood up and moved out several paces. He got onto his hands and knees and started to draw a larger circle, matching the circumference of the dome above.

  This was new territory for him. While it had been his duty to study the old rites of demon banishment, this was the first time he’d needed to do so on this scale. Exercising the nonphysical demons involved in possessions was a far different affair, and nowhere near as dangerous, for the one doing the banishment.

  He went as quickly as he could, the pain in his knees from crawling muted out by the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The demon still worked above, fragments of the inner surface of the dome raining down around him. Randall paused to look up a few times, worried something large enough to harm him would fall down before he finished.

  When he returned to the starting point of the circle, he stood up and looked over his work. The larger circle was crude and imperfect, the design a far cry from the intricate designs drawn up by those who summoned these demons into their realm, but it would have to do.

  Randall gave a nod and moved away, getting out from under the dome. The demon was slamming into the top of the structure high above, constantly knocking down more material. Just as he stopped walking and turned around to look up, the demon struck down hard enough to knock a significant block of stone out of the ceiling, sending it tumbling downward.

  It hit the floor in the center of the circle he’d drawn, cracking into four sections and sending up a cloud of gritty dust. Smaller fragments of stone shrapnel shot out in all directions, some punching holes through pews, one shattering a window.

  Randall covered his head with his hands when it hit, turning away from the scene. A sudden sharp burning in his side warned him he’d been hit with a piece of the stone, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. In his excitement, he was able to push through the pain and remained focused on the task at hand.

  As he lowered his hands and looked up, he saw the demon already climbing in through the hole she’d broken open. She had dropped her human façade, taking on her more reptilian form. She crouched on the underside of the dome, twisting her neck to look down at Father Beezle, her narrow tongue slipping forward and lapping at the air as she debated her next move.

  Thana skidded to a halt at the end of the corridor, looking at Father Beezle to see if he was all right. He didn’t immediately pay her any attention, his sights focused on the ceiling far above. Thana followed his line of sight, and her lips parted when she saw the demon’s unnatural pose on the interior of the dome.

  Corina had followed her out, and she, too, spotted the demon. “What a horrible thing! It’s gotten through!”

  The demon’s attention snapped from Randall, and she glared down at Thana, her jaws parting with a deep hiss.

  Randall glanced over at the women and lifted a hand toward them. “Don’t move.”

  Thana and Corina did as ordered and froze in place. However, they were realists and already understood the monster would find Thana even if she did run.

  The demon focused on Thana, recognizing her intended target with ease. She crawled a short distance across the ceiling before letting go of the stonework and lunging downward.

  However, her leap was short lived. Where she should have crossed over the boundary of the circle Father Beezle had drawn onto the floor, she hit in invisible wall and was sent tumbling backward to the floor. She landed amongst the fragments of stone and plaster she’d knocked down earlier, shrieking loudly.

  Seeing the demon crash amongst the rubble, Father Beezle’s confidence in the plan solidified. He dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together, focusing his mind. Randall then started to recite the prayer-based spell he’d memorized.

  Thana’s entire body tensed with the instinct to run away when the demon had let go of the ceiling and started toward her. However, seeing the beast strike the invisible barrier, unable to reach her, she calmed. Thana reached out with her left hand, taking up one of Corina’s for reassurance.

  The demon got up and shook off in a canine fashion before lifting her head and staring straight at Thana again. She crouched down, her whip-like tail audibly slicing through the air behind her as she prepared to lunge.

  The prospect of tearing into Thana had overtaken the demon’s mind. Though she was momentarily stunned from her failed attack, it had already been forgotten as she wound her body up for the next attempt.

  Corina pulled on Thana’s hand to try and get her to go back to the office, but the younger woman remained firmly in place.

  In her peripheral vision, Thana had seen Randall drop to his knees, and she felt keeping the demon’s attention away from the priest was the best course of action. Not that she wasn’t scared of the monster, she absolutely was. The terror welling up inside of her at the thought of what the demon would do to her if it escaped its confinement overtook her mind. She actively fought it, though, summoning up all of her courage to remain there, locked in a stare with the creature.

  Father Beezle closed his eyes halfway and entered a trance, repeatedly reciting the short prayer. His voice was flat, the words beginning to overlap and making the chant into a rhythmic drone, slowly increasing in volume with each recitation.

  He felt an odd warmth begin to pool around his knees and the faintest hint of a smile came to his lips as he believed it to be energy coming up to channel through him.

  The demon paid him no attention, finally launching from the ground. As before, she struck an invisible wall when she tried to cross the boundary of the circle, being sent sprawling onto her back.

  Thana flinched whe
n the demon hit the barrier, her grip on Corina’s hand tightening more. Still, she refused to run, determined to hold the demon’s attention.

  Corina’s heart raced, her breaths sounding harsh as her fear continued to grow. While she understood Thana’s resolve not to back down, the older woman’s desire to get the pregnant queen away from the demon was nearly as strong.

  “Thana, please, we should leave this place while it can’t get out!” Corina gave Thana’s hand another tug, hoping the girl would relent.

  “No, not yet,” she whispered back, refusing to let any expression show on her face. “If we go and it gets out, it will simply follow.”

  Randall slowly unclasped his hands, feeling something welling up within him. He outstretched his arms and tipped his head back, continuing the chant.

  The demon dragged herself up from the floor and let out another cry. In her frustration, she moved toward Thana yet again, this time clawing out with her forelimbs, trying to tear away whatever was holding her from her target.

  Thana and Corina both winced at the increasingly frustrated shrieks given out by the monster. Their ears rang as the cries echoed through the vast stone structure. Neither of them had ever heard anything as loud before. The sound resonated within their chests, causing an unwelcomed rattle, which only compounded their anxiety.

  The demon’s vocalizations came to an abrupt halt, and she quit trying to claw through the invisible barrier. She took a step back and slowly turned her head toward the priest, the nature of what he was doing finally drawing her attention through her bloodlust. She watched him for several seconds, remaining perfectly still.

  Randall didn’t stop or move at all, holding his pose and continuing to recite the spell, his mind absorbed in the task. There was a tense air over everyone, Father Beezle’s chant the only sound echoing in the cathedral.

  His eyes finally opened, and he leveled his gaze on the demon, his expression stern. He brought his hands together quickly, clapping them once before his chest, his chant ending.