The Rise of the Demon Prince

by Robert Kroese

  “Hold, Konrad,” said a voice. “You’re among friends.” The man who had spoken turned to face his comrades. “Casualties?”

  “None, sir,” replied another figure.

  “Good. Finish the Barbaroki. We don’t have time to take prisoners.”

  “Aye, sir.” Shadows moved around us, slitting the throats of any Barbaroki who remained alive. Ilona, still holding her stick at the throat of a prone man, started to protest, but was brusquely shoved aside. The man who shoved her ran his sword through the throat of her captive. Ilona looked away.

  The man who had known my name neared, and the firelight caught his fierce, angular face, framed by locks of dirty blond hair. I recognized him as one of the men who had been in my squad in the Scouting Corps.

  “Byrn?” I asked.

  “Aye,” Byrn said, grasping my hand. “Then it is you, Konrad. I could not be certain in the dim light, particularly with those strange markings on your face. Were it not for Rodric’s telltale braggadocio, I would not have recognized you at all.”

  I nodded but did not respond. Byrn, obviously unsettled by my appearance, turned to Rodric. “Good to see you, old friend. You’ve lost none of your skill, nor your flair for the dramatic.”

  “The wind was with me,” Rodric said. “It is good to see you as well.”

  “Who are your companions?”

  I answered, “This is Ilona, an acolyte of Turelem. And this is my, ah, protégé, Vili.”

  While Byrn greeted them, I considered the his words. I had seen the figures lurking in the shadows behind the Barbaroki and come to the same conclusion as Rodric: only a Janissary Scouting Corps unit would be bold enough to ambush a party of a dozen Barbaroki a few miles from the Barbarok camp. Had Rodric spotted them before I did and identified himself in an attempt to prompt the Scouts to attempt a rescue? If so, he had deliberately forced my hand, sabotaging my efforts to warn the Barbaroki.

  Byrn’s men, having evidently finished their grim business with the Barbaroki, fanned out to make sure there were no more of the enemy about. I recognized none of them, but by their appearance and demeanor it was obvious they were members of the Scouting Corps. Byrn, who had been in my squad along with Rodric, had evidently been promoted to captain.

  I felt a little foolish, having drawn both the Barbaroki and Byrn’s men to our location with our fire, but the truth was that if the Barbaroki were patrolling the hills in the vicinity of their camp, they’d have most likely found us anyway.

  “I’m surprised to see you this far east, Rodric,” Byrn said. “There was a rumor….”

  “That I deserted, yes.”

  “Then it’s true?”

  “I’m afraid so. If you intend to take me prisoner, I won’t put up a fight.”

  “We’ve no time for such niceties,” Byrn said. “The Barbarok army is encamped just over that ridge, as you probably know. It is urgent that General Bertrek be informed. We followed you because I thought you might know something about the Barbaroki’s plans, and because we were heading for the Plain of Savlos anyway.”

  “How long have you been following us?” I asked.

  “A few hours. I was about to reveal myself when one of my men spotted this squad of Barbaroki. We held back until Rodric’s diversion.”

  I wondered how much of our conversation Byrn had overheard. “We are grateful for your assistance,” I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. The truth was that Byrn and his men had—wittingly or not—foiled my efforts to parlay with the Barbaroki. If we strolled into their camp just as they were expecting a squad of scouts to return, we would be unlikely to get back out alive.

  “Sadly,” Rodric said, “we know no more about the Barbaroki’s intentions than you do. We came upon them by accident.”

  “Then you are not here on orders from a janissary officer?”

  I needed to be careful. Byrn wasn’t stupid, and he was already suspicious of us. There was simply no good reason for civilians to be in this area.

  “Rodric and I are working as mercenaries,” I said. “We were charged with escorting Ilona to Magas Komaron.”

  “The mythical sorcerers’ refuge? You must be joking.” Byrn turned to Ilona. I tried not to let my agitation show as I waited for Ilona to confirm my story.

  “Konrad speaks the truth,” Ilona said.

  “You are saying Magas Komaron is a real fortress? Not just some mountain peak will-o’-the-wisp?”

  “The acolytes believe so,” Ilona said. “I was sent to deliver a message. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the way.”

  “No one ever has. In all likelihood because it does not exist.”

  “So it would seem,” Ilona said. “We were desperate.”

  “Oh?” Byrn said. I raised an eyebrow at her as well, wondering what Ilona was up to.

  “The acolytes have become increasingly concerned about the threat of a Barbarok attack,” Ilona said. “My superiors hoped to come to a truce with the sorcerers at Magas Komaron so that we could turn our attention to defending ourselves from the Barbaroki.”

  “The acolytes would ally themselves with practitioners of magic?” Byrn said doubtfully.

  “As I say, we are desperate. A great deal of our resources are spent tracking down sorcerers who remain at large in Orszag. Although there is of course no organized guild of sorcerers, my superiors thought that if we could get word to Magas Komaron, we could come to an understanding that would hold until the threat of Barbarok invasion has passed.”

  Byrn rubbed his chin, clearly dubious. “Then you are headed back to Delivaros?”

  “That’s right.”

  “By way of Nagyvaros?”

  Ilona looked to me.

  “Perhaps,” I said. “Why?”

  “Be wary of the Torzseki,” Byrn said.

  “The Torzseki?” I asked. “They don’t travel as far north as Nagyvaros.” I had some personal experience dealing with the Torzseki; their chief, Nebjosa, had hired me to rid the Maganyos Valley of specters.

  “Ordinarily they don’t. When my squad spotted the Barbarok army coming through the Kozepes Pass, we traveled to Erod Patak and secured a horse. You remember Artok, who used to be in our squad?”

  “Of course.”

  “I sent him across the plain to warn the Governor at Nagyvaros that the Barbaroki were coming, and that the Fourth Division would not reach them in time. By now, even that fool Bertrek will probably have figured out that the Barbaroki slipped past him, but it is too late. The Governor will have no choice but to reach out to the Torzseki.”

  “The Torzseki are savages,” Ilona said. “They are little better than the Barbaroki.”

  “Aye,” said Byrn, “but they are allied with us against the Barbaroki.”

  “That alliance has frayed lately,” I said.

  Byrn shrugged in resignation. “Be that as it may, they are all that stands between the Barbaroki and Nagyvaros. Assuming that Artok reaches the Governor, and the Governor has the sense to appeal to Chief Nebjosa. You may well encounter Torzseki on your way to Nagyvaros, and they will be suspicious of anyone traveling west.”

  “Thank you for the warning,” I said.

  “You’re welcome,” Byrn said. “I’ll also give you another: Rodric, you are fortunate that you are a friend and I am in a hurry. I will not ask your reason for desertion, but it is a serious offense, and I remain loyal to the janissaries. I suggest that once you reach Delivaros, you turn west and do not stop until you hit the sea. Next time we meet, you will not be so fortunate.”

  “Understood, Byrn,” Rodric said. “Must you leave already?”

  “Aye. If we stop for the night, we risk missing the Fourth Division as they march past tomorrow—assuming Bertrek isn’t still gazing at his navel. I’d suggest you pack up as well. You’ll want to put some distance between yourselves and these corpses before somebody comes looking for them.”

  With that, Byrn turned and rejoined his men. Dark forms moved away from us and then were gone.<
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  “Put out the fire,” I said. “Let’s move.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “That was quite a story you told Byrn,” I said to Ilona the next morning, as we rode our horses across the plain toward Nagyvaros. We had made camp about two hours’ ride south of where the we’d met Byrn and spent a cold, miserable night without a fire, worried that the Barbaroki would find us. But the night had passed without incident and we were now well away from them. The ground was clear and flat enough that we could travel four abreast. Ilona was to my left, and Rodric was to her left. Vili was to my right.

  “He wanted an explanation,” Ilona replied. “It seemed like a good idea to portray the acolytes as allies against the Barbaroki.”

  “Are they not?” Vili asked.

  Ilona shrugged. “As far as I know, the Council has no official position on the matter.”

  “You’ll develop a position quickly when the Barbaroki are at your gates,” Rodric said.

  “I doubt it will come to that,” Ilona said.

  I wanted to ask her what she meant, but Rodric changed the subject.

  “It is good news about the Torzseki,” he said. “Perhaps they can hold off the Barbaroki until the Fourth Division arrives.”

  I nodded but did not reply. The Plain of Savlos was certainly going to get crowded over the next few weeks. If Artok made it to Nagyvaros, the Torzseki would probably be waiting east of the city. In a few days, the Barbaroki would arrive. Maybe a week after that, Bertrek would come with the Fourth Division of the janissary army. Another week would bring the full moon and Voros Korom.

  If all these armies could be brought to bear against the demon, they could probably overwhelm him with sheer numbers. There had to be a limit to the number of souls the wraiths could absorb in a given amount of time. If thousands of men rushed Voros Korom at once, a few would get through, and eventually they’d bring the demon down. Unfortunately, there was little chance of that happening.

  The most likely scenario, as I saw it, was that the Barbaroki would slaughter the Torzseki and then besiege the city. Nagyvaros was protected on the west side by a bow-shaped section of the river Zold; to the east was a stone wall, some ten feet high and six feet thick. The wall was intended to keep out bandits and raiders; it was never meant to stand against an army of ten thousand Barbaroki. Nagyvaros’s primary defense against invasion were the archery platforms affixed to the dozens of spires that towered over the city. The platforms could accommodate nearly two hundred archers, who could rain arrows down upon attackers from a distance of several hundred yards. Against an army of a thousand men, this would be devastating. Against ten thousand, it would be an annoyance. It was always assumed the janissaries would stop any invasion before it got to that point.

  The Torzsek warriors and the city’s archers could wear the attackers down, but they could not stop them. The Barbaroki would break through the gates with rams and surmount the wall with ladders. They would slaughter the gendarmes, seize the spires and garrisons, and execute the Governor and his staff. They would loot and pillage the city until word arrived that the Fourth Division was marching across the plain. Then another battle would start. The outcome of this battle was less clear to me, but whoever had control over the city at the end of it would command an exhausted and greatly depleted army amid a ruined city with major gaps in its defenses. And then Voros Korom would arrive.

  I did not speak these thoughts, allowing my three companions to convince themselves that with the help of the Torzseki, the city could withstand the Barbarok invasion until the Fourth Division arrived. It was a harmless delusion.

  It took us nine days to get across the plain. We did not speak much of our plans while we traveled, but as we neared Nagyvaros, it became clear that we had some decisions to make. We were now only about twenty miles out from the city, and we had not yet run into any Torzseki, which suggested that either the Governor had not yet sent his appeal to Chief Nebjosa or the Chief had spurned him. I announced my intention to turn south toward the main Torzsek encampment.

  “Should we not continue to Nagyvaros to warn the Governor?” Rodric asked. “Artok may not have arrived.”

  “You may do as you wish,” I said. “I intend to turn south.”

  “You mean to go to Chief Nebjosa.”

  “Yes.”

  “To warn him of the Barbarok attack?”

  “To tell him the truth. If you think it will do any good to warn the Governor, please do.”

  Rodric scowled. “Konrad, please don’t do this. Let us go to the Governor together and warn him of the threat. If he can raise a defense force and rally the Torzseki, the city may be able to hold off the Barbaroki until Bertrek’s force arrives.”

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Rodric. My decision is made. Go to the Governor and warn him. But do not mislead him about the dangers they face. If he is wise, he will evacuate the city.”

  “Evacuate Nagyvaros! Where will the people go?”

  “Anywhere else. If all goes well, they can return after Voros Korom is defeated. That goes for you as well. Leave Nagyvaros before the Barbaroki arrive.”

  “How will we find you?” Vili asked.

  “If I survive my battle with Voros Korom, I will not be difficult to find.”

  “Your battle!” Rodric cried. “Konrad, we are your friends. We will face Voros Korom together!”

  “No,” I said. “I have been thinking about this since we spoke with Byrn. Without Domokos to aid us, we have no defense against the wraiths. I must focus my attack on Voros Korom and hope I can kill him before the wraiths get to me. You cannot help me, and your presence will be a distraction. Leave the city before the Barbaroki arrive and do not return until you have heard that Voros Korom has been defeated.”

  “Konrad,” Ilona started, “are you certain—”

  I ignored her. “Vili,” I said, “I promise you that I will see to it that your parents are at peace. Rodric, I thank you for your friendship and your loyalty, but this is where we must part.” I nodded curtly to Ilona and she, stunned into silence, nodded back. Knowing that if I hesitated, I might give in to their pleas, I jerked Ember’s reins and dug in my heels. She wheeled about and carried me away from my friends. Rodric called after me, but I did not heed him. I rode Ember south toward the Torzsek camp.

  Why did I leave Rodric and Vili so abruptly? Yes, it was in part that I feared I would change my mind. But I also did not want to give them the chance to come with me. I didn’t want them—Rodric in particular—to have anything to do with what I was going to have to do. As it was, he might never forgive me.

  I reached the outskirts of the Torzsek camp just before dusk. There was no sign of any mobilization; the well-worn paths in front of the tents told me the Torzseki hadn’t moved in many weeks. Animals grazed loose in the meadows nearby. I was intercepted by a group of Torzsek scouts on horseback, who recognized me from my previous visits to the camp. They brought me directly to Chief Nebjosa’s tent without even waiting for me to ask.

  Chief Nebjosa lay half-reclined on a rug inside his tent, drinking beer from a large silver mug. He did not seem surprised to see me. He got up, poured me a mug, and gestured for me to sit. I took a seat on the rug and he sat across from me.

  “The sorcerer returns,” Nebjosa said. “How have you been, Konrad?”

  “Well enough,” I replied. “It seems that you were expecting me.”

  “Ominous events portend your arrival.”

  “Then you have heard about the Barbaroki?”

  “Aye, and the demon moving across the plain, accompanied by a retinue of wraiths. These would seem to be the same wraiths that you claimed to have dealt with at Romok.”

  “The situation was more complicated than it appeared.”

  Nebjosa laughed. “It always is. Where is the demon now?”

  “I faced him a week ago at Magas Komaron. He will soon turn his attention to Nagyvaros.”

  “On the heels of the Barbaroki, it appears.”

/>   “An agent of the Governor has come to you already?”

  “Yesterday. The Governor has pledged to give us seven hundred pounds of silver if we join in the defense of the city. I have not yet given my reply. I assume you come to plead on his behalf?”

  “No. I come only to give you counsel.”

  “Counsel about what?”

  “The Barbaroki number at least ten thousand fighting men. Even with your help, Nagyvaros cannot hold them off until the janissaries arrive. And if by some miracle you do, your depleted force will then face Voros Korom and his wraiths.”

  “You wish to convince me not to fight for Nagyvaros?”

  “As I say, I only offer counsel.”

  “What is your interest in the matter?”

  “I am sworn to defend Nagyvaros from Voros Korom.”

  Nebjosa chuckled. “But not from the Barbaroki?”

  “There is no stopping the Barbaroki. They will plunder the city but leave it standing. Voros Korom will not. The only chance anyone in Nagyvaros has is to let the Barbaroki take the city as quickly as possible. When they do, I will go to them with a plan for defeating Voros Korom.”

  “You believe you can defeat the demon?”

  “I must.”

  “But you failed to stop him at Magas Komaron.”

  “I did not have time to prepare. By the time he arrives at Nagyvaros, on the night of the next full moon, I will be ready for him.”

  “You will forgive me for being skeptical.”

  “You asked my motivation. I must try to stop Voros Korom. My task will only be made more difficult if the city has already been torn apart by battle. My hope is that if you do not intervene, the Governor will see that he has no choice but to surrender.”

  “Even if he does, the janissaries may try to take the city back.”

  “Doubtful, as the Barbaroki would likely be holding the Governor hostage. In any case, General Bertrek commands only four thousand men. He cannot execute an effective assault on the city against ten thousand Barbarok defenders. If he tries, he will still be on the plain when Voros Korom arrives.”