by J E Mueller
“It’s foolish to believe that someone could suddenly kill someone who sold their soul. They’re basically a demon and are no longer mortal. I cannot believe that someone of normal blood could do such a thing, and I’ve heard Cursed born cannot kill a demon. They can injure them of course, but they heal too rapidly to be killed.” she said when it was just us, David, and Zarek left in the room.
Lee glanced at me before turning and facing Sandra. “To be honest, it’s a secret for reasons I’m just learning. Blessed blood can kill demons.” He informed her. “It wasn’t a lie that I killed the first one and another Blessed killed the second. I didn’t learn until after the first demon died that my mother had kept a single secret from me my entire life.”
He held up his hand before more questions could be asked. “I don’t know many details, so I can only tell you what I’ve learned. Angels and humans can have a child which can create Blessed blood. I don’t know who my father is or why he left but it was likely to keep me out of the demon hunting circle. I may have chosen that path had I known about this when I was younger. It is not the path I choose now. Will I help with local conflicts? Of course, how could I not? But I’m not going crusading and hunting them of my own accord.”
“What extra gifts does this give you?” David asked curiously, venturing into some safer to ask questions.
“It gives me strong healing powers, but I’ve yet to figure out how to tap into that power. I can also make anything I wear or wield blessed so that it can kill a demon. It’s an odd thing to attempt to master,” he replied honestly.
Zarek nodded. “I hope we never have to request your help,” He said sincerely. “Thank you for your honesty. I hope you will find a way to learn about your new gifts.”
“I hope so as well,” Lee agreed, not mentioning his minor bit of training. “I’ve had some tips on where to get started, but it’s always harder than it sounds.”
“Are there more like you then?” Sandra asked carefully.
“Yes.” Lee nodded, sticking to the simple facts. “I don’t know where they are, though. My only advice is to not bring them to light. Those who know about their gifts are likely using them. We don’t need a demon rebellion on our hands here. Let them sneak in and think they’re making progress. The hunters will find and destroy them.”
Sandra leaned her head to the side and nodded as she slowly thought over the advice. “Understood… However, it would be nice to have a line of communication with members of such an order. We hear many complaints and relevant stories daily. I’m sure there's information there that would help them, and in return it helps us and our people.”
“If I run across any, I’ll give them your suggestion,” Lee agreed as neutrally as possible.
“Fair enough.” David smiled, wrapping up the discussion. “This is more than we could have hoped for.”
“Now back to other important news…” Zarek said as everyone turned to him. “We still haven’t agreed upon on how to combine our normal ceremonies with Jameson’s province’s traditions. We’ve got to figure a good way to blend them together. We’re supposed to be unifying us and them both symbolically and physically.”
Thankful for the distraction, we dove into discussing our ideas to help.
The week was whisked away with an abundance of festivities and family time. Flowers and food filled the air with sweet and savory scents and I was excited that the wedding day had finally come.
As was the custom in what seemed like every part of the land, neither soon to be spouse was to see each other before the ceremony. David was in charge of Zarek, and Jameson was with his family.
The beginning of the ceremony was the most unique part. Neither waited for the other at the altar. Instead, they both entered from different sides of the room and walked down the aisle together. Their faces were filled with a happiness that warmed everyone who saw them.
It was a nice change to be crying happy tears for my family.
The first part went as planned and then as a show of unity they each had a jar with a mixture of sand, dirt, and stone from their respective birthplaces. Slowly, they poured them together into a much larger jar. Mixed together, it was impossible to see where one ended and the other began. The symbolism touched many in the room, and I was glad they had decided to use this idea.
After they made their vows, we met them outside for a wonderfully cool evening reception. As was custom for Jameson’s homeland, they jumped over a broom before stepping out into the world together. Their next change was more fun than symbolic. Instead of observing their usual custom of a sword fight for the bride, they dueled one another. The winner got to cut the wedding cake first, but the loser had the right of a rematch if desired at anytime beforehand. Traditionally the groom would let the bride win, but with no bride, it was a fun match to watch. Zarek dazzled the crowd, but Jameson won which caused much laughter and many cheers.
The food was served and soon after the dancing began. I finally noticed that most of the guests were not nobles but were instead almost entirely the soldiers that the two spent their days with. Every single warrior not on duty or leave was there. I quickly came to learn that most of the nobles were our immediate family and a few were extended family. The two wanted only the people they cared for there. It was nice to see that they were able to do so.
As the dancing picked up, Lee asked me to dance. I hesitated, having completely forgotten that I had actually agreed to this.
“I really can’t dance,” I warned him as I got up, hoping it would be easy to get out of this.
“You don’t have to dance well, and I will lead anyway.” He smiled, not giving me an easy out, “Besides with how much everyone has had to drink, no one’s going to remember anyway.”
“Zarek will,” I said as we got out on the floor.
Zarek, having quickly noticed that we had gotten up to dance, cheered for us. Jameson, instead of helping me, implied that no one could hear him, causing Zarek to cheer louder.
“At least they’re having fun.” I sighed. It was a bit funny, though.
Dancing was very awkward at first, but once Zarek was distracted it got better. Eventually Zarek did cut in, and shortly afterwards, Jameson asked me for a dance as well. Not caring to let them have all the fun, Sandra joined me for a dance, and later so did David.
Somehow I managed not to trip over anyone, and my magic was well enough under control that no one died. I could not express how grateful I was to have learned how to not kill people who accidently bumped into me. It still took effort, but it was no longer the hardest thing for me to do. It was still a relief to finally call it a night and let down my guard. Physically at least. Not so much magically.
Chapter 32
The next week went by quickly and soon we were departing once more with promises to visit again in the fall.
As we made our way home we sensed something strange in the air. We soon stopped in our tracks.
“Do you have the same feeling I do?” Lee asked with concern.
I nodded, “It’s the same feeling I had when my brother and the troops were ambushed,” I said, easily recalling it.
Lee’s eyes shifted into their magic state and I saw his face flush.
“What is it?” I demanded, worried.
“My mother was caring for someone with a stab wound who was holding a letter covered in blood. I haven’t got the slightest idea what this could mean.”
“How far out is this event?” I asked.
“We’ll just miss whatever caused it.” He sighed. “Let’s get going.”
“Is this set in stone?” While part of me felt terrible to see one occur, another part of me was excited to learn more about it.
Lee’s expression said it all, but he answered anyway. “Yes. There’s no changing that.”
We fell silent and continued home at a quickened pace. When we arrived and rushed in the house Juni was surprised to see us. The person was tall – much too tall to lay on the sofa – and his wound look
ed terrible, but Juni did not appear to be overly concerned about it.
“What’s going on?” Lee asked. The tension in his voice filled the room.
“It’s a long story.” She took a deep breath as she prepared to explain, but the man on the sofa held up his hand.
“I’ll explain. He should hear it from me,” the man replied.
“But your wound…” I protested.
He waved my concern away,. “It’ll be completely healed within the hour.”
“So, you’re who I think you are?” Lee asked softly, and then his face darkened with anger.
“I wish we were meeting on better terms, son, but life isn’t always kind,” he agreed, handing him the letter.
Lee took it and tossed it on the end table before crossing his arms. “Explain.”
“Your mother’s being watched. Hunted. They know you’re Blessed born and want you to suffer. They want you to lose her,” he explained carefully. So much for a reunion.
“And you’ve come out of the shadows to tell us this.” Lee’s fury was palpable
“No, I came because now I can help your mother. But I am afraid I can’t help you. There is a small group that knows who you are and who you care for. They’ll use that knowledge as leverage against you.”
“We can handle it,” he assured his father.
“Not without help.”
“We’ve got it,” Lee replied firmly. His lips were tight, and arms were crossed. It was clear that we weren’t going to get a better answer from him.
His father sighed and shook his head. “The envelope contains a series of fixed points. I understand you know what that means.”
“And what can you do to help, then?” Lee asked with an exasperated sigh. He was tired from the rushed journey and from hearing more bad news. “There’s no changing them, whatever they are. So what can you do to help?”
He looked at me. “When the time comes, the Willow’s Gate is where you’ll find your answers.”
The words struck home with me.
“That is the most help I can offer you right now.” He looked at Juni. “I’m sorry… so sorry to leave so soon, but they know I’m here. If I stay, I will be putting everyone in this village in danger.”
“I understand,” Juni replied, sadness filled her eyes and voice.
With no further warning, he vanished into thin air.
“You shouldn’t be mad at him,” Juni told her son, moving to comfort him.
“I can be mad at anyone who upsets my mother. Even more so at someone who can never stay,” Lee retorted.
“I’m not upset with him, dear,” she insisted.
“Even when you told me your lie I knew it hurt, and now knowing that he wasn’t honest with you from the beginning… He upset you, and that can’t be easily forgiven.” Lee shook his head.
Not wanting to argue, Juni left for her own room.
Picking up the envelope, I handed it back to Lee. “We should at least see what it says.”
Lee sighed but opened it. His jaw dropped and I rushed around him to read it as well. The first one on the list was going to happen this week.
Juniper goes missing.
Kegan is injured.
Lydia is used as bait.
“How can my mother go missing?” Lee asked. “Didn’t he just say he could protect her?”
“It is very vague,” I pointed out. “It just says that she goes missing. I think he would have told us if we would be unable to find her again.”
“Who are Kegan and Lydia?” Lee asked, confused.
“I don’t know who Lydia is, but Kegan is an old friend of mine. An inn keep in Faraden,” I explained, feeling a pit growing in my stomach. “Her inn is called the Willow’s Gate. That’s why he told us.” Whatever was to come was going to quickly lead us there.
“I don’t like where this is heading,” Lee confessed, tossing the letter aside once more.
“Me neither, and I have the feeling it’ll start soon.” I looked at him, his eyes widened and he rushed to check on his mother.
He came back after a few moments. “She’s fine,” Lee informed me while taking a deep breath. “But we don’t know how long that will last.” He groaned, sat down, and let magic fill his vision again. “By the end of the week.”
“We should see if Emmyth is around. Maybe he can help,” I suggested.
“Can you find him? Please?” He asked me. “I need to talk to my mother.” Lee got up and left to speak with her.
Just my luck it would seem. Things had just been looking up. While I didn’t think it would last forever, I hadn’t expected any sort of demonic forces to regroup so quickly.
I left the house, trying to ready myself for whatever was to come our way.
There was no use dwelling on the the events of the past year. It seemed like a century ago I was constantly on the move, hiding myself because of my curse. Things were somehow the opposite now. Instead of running from my fire I was using it as a gift. Instead of hiding I was often among friends. The only thing that hadn’t changed was that I was still on the move. Luck liked to have it’s way. I could only hope that with help from Emmyth we’d get answers.
Much to my dismay, when I found him, he was already heading out of the village.
“Where are you going?” I asked, surprised and slightly breathless from my search.
“I’ve been given a new mission.” he replied simply. “What’s wrong now?” He asked, glancing me over, assessing how bad it could be.
“It’s really weird that you get a new mission right when we learned of imminent disaster.”
He looked thoughtful. “Okay, explain.” We continued walking for a bit, stopping a few feet from the village gate where we were just out of earshot of the guards.
“Lee’s mother is going to be taken. It’s a fixed event. We’ve been given three fixed events by Lee’s father and a message that the demons are watching. They know Lee’s Blessed. ” I rambled it off. My sentences felt jumbled together but I hoped he understood the gist of it.
Emmyth considered my ramblings for a moment. “The demons are a problem. If there is only a small group of them, they can be hunted and banished and Lee will be forgotten about again.” Emmyth thought about what he had said, “But Lee’s skills are just blooming, and he has no idea what he’s getting into.” He sighed. “I knew I should have left this morning. Now I’ll feel bad if I don’t help, but I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“We’d really appreciate it.” I told him pleadingly.
Emmyth thought for a moment. “When’s the first fixed event going to occur?”
“Later this week,” I replied.
“It will take me at least a week to complete my task.” He grumbled to himself for a moment, “You said there were more? When is the next one going to occur.”
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “But somehow it’ll take us to Faraden and my friend Kegan’s inn. The Willow’s Gate.”
“Are you certain?” Emmyth asked carefully.
I could hear the hesitation in his voice. “Yes. Positive. Are we going to see you there?”
“Yes… So it seems our two tasks are connected. This can’t be a good start to my mission.” He dropped his sack, pulled out a sheet of paper, and handed it to me. “While I will be in the area, I don’t know if we’ll run into each other. Do you remember what I told you?”
“Valeon’s Lullaby is the saddest song I’ve ever heard,” I said recalling as best as I could.
“Close enough. That’ll get you where you need to go.” He tapped on the paper he had handed me. “We’ll meet up again soon.” Emmyth picked up his bag and continued on his way.
I looked at the paper he had handed me. It was covered in symbols I couldn’t read and I had no idea what to do with it. Apparently it was important. In that moment I decided to take it everywhere with me just in case I would need it. For now, I had to get back. I was disappointed that Emmyth wasn’t going to stay, but the fact that our events w
ere connected gave me hope that everything could be resolved in our favor.
With this new information gained I headed back to Lee. I took my time getting back. It had only taken an hour to find Emmyth, if that, and our conversation had not been long. I knew Lee needed time to talk with his mother.
Chapter 33
Arriving back sooner than I wanted, I sat down and tried to work on my crochet project that was slowly but surely nearing completion. I kept pausing to see if I could hear anything, but I didn’t. It was several hours later before Lee came out.
He sat down next to me. “Any luck?” he asked.
“Yes and no,” I replied and relayed to him my conversation with Emmyth.
“That really doesn’t sound good, but I guess it’s not the worst news we could have received,” Lee agreed with my thoughts. “And I already hate that I can’t stop whatever’s going to happen to mother.”
“We’ll just have to solve it quickly.” I paused. “Since we know she’s going to be taken anyway, and there’s nothing we can do… Can we go onto the next step early? Will that matter?”
Lee looked upset at first but considered it, “I actually don’t know what that’ll do.” He thought for a moment, “I would rather set up a game plan first, though. If mother’s going to be missing, I don’t want anyone here to think that demons can just take people. It’s happened in the past, but it’s more of a bedtime story to make small children behave. No one remembers such a thing happening, but these stories are often based on truths. We’ll need to plan for a reason to be away, and then we’ll get ready to go.”
It wasn’t hard conjuring up a reason to leave, especially since we could still tell people details that were true. People knew we’d be traveling to Faraden and that we had friends there. What was hard was coming up with a story that could convince Tella of our need to leave. She had a natural curiosity and asked twice as many questions as anyone else. After some debate, Lee told her he had a secret mission and would be back as soon as he could.
“Is it about the demons?” she asked, surprising us.
