“I know. That means that they’re either done and word hasn’t spread, she’s more difficult to deal with than normal, or that they’re plumbing her for as much information as possible,” Kanae replied softly, letting out a soft sigh. “No matter which it is, I don’t have high hopes that your friend will be able to resist for long.”
“I have to help her, then! If I can get her free before they can make her change too much, then—” Isalla began, only to be interrupted again.
“The only thing that would happen if you intrude would be for you to join her, Isalla. If I went with you, the exact same thing would happen,” Kanae said flatly, turning to look at Isalla, worry in her eyes. “You don’t understand just how dangerous they are, not really. There are very few things in this world that scare me, but they’re among them. Perhaps scare isn’t the right word, but they certainly worry me.”
“Kanae…” Isalla began, then paused, studying the demoness for a long moment, and grew more concerned. Then she spoke softly. “How do you know this? It almost sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
“That’s because I am,” Kanae replied simply, shivering as she looked away again. “It was a long time ago, but I was one of those stubborn young women I told you about. My mother… well, she sent me there. What happened to me was relatively mild compared to what others undergo, but my feelings haven’t changed since then. Do you understand what I’m saying, Isalla? In a thousand years what they’ve convinced me of hasn’t changed, despite me knowing what they did.”
Isalla froze in place, her mouth half-open, then she closed it and swallowed. She hadn’t considered that, not until Kanae had mentioned it. The thought was both terrifying and shocking, since she couldn’t imagine someone being changed that thoroughly. If Roselynn had something like that happen to her… the thought made Isalla shiver in fear. It also made her internally curse herself for flirting with Kanae when her old lover might be fighting for her sense of self. It wasn’t Kanae’s fault, but even so…
“I… what can I do, then? I can’t abandon her, Kanae. I just can’t,” Isalla said helplessly, her emotions in turmoil. “I believe you when you’re warning me that we won’t come out again if we go there, but I don’t know what else to do.”
“I’m not certain myself. I don’t see there being any options to rescue her, to be perfectly honest with you. The only thing I can recommend is that we might be able to rescue her when they bring her out of the spire,” Kanae explained. After a few moments of hesitation, she continued. “I don’t know what condition she’d be in, Isalla, but it’s the best chance we have of not being captured ourselves.”
“But doesn’t that mean they’ll have completed whatever it is they’re doing?” Isalla protested, her worry growing still stronger, and a hint of rage sparking at the demoness.
Kanae let out a soft sigh and nodded slowly. “Yes, it does. I’m sorry, but most likely it’s already too late, Isalla. I wish I had a good answer for you, but I don’t.”
“I see,” Isalla said, her mood sinking slightly. “I’m… going to go outside. I need to think about this for a bit.”
“As you like,” Kanae agreed, sighing softly.
With that, Isalla took her sword and belted it on before heading outside. She wanted some fresh air while she thought. The choices she had weren’t something that made her happy, which was unfortunate after her hopes that morning.
“Well, damn,” Thomas breathed. “I thought the lead had to be a red herring, but it looks like we just got lucky.”
Watching the blonde woman slowly meandering down the hillside, Samantha nodded in agreement, a smile slowly blossoming on her face. “The others won’t believe it when we tell them. I mean, this is our first lead after coming through the portal.”
The trip through the portal had taken longer than Samantha had hoped, and once through the gate they’d had to choose which demonic domain to go to. Most of the others had chosen other domains, reasoning that someone seeking to hide would go to the less likely regions. Samantha and Thomas had chosen to go to Estalia, and they’d heard gossip about the healer’s guest while at the tavern. She could hardly believe that the woman they were after was just standing there in the open, almost like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Their loss, our gain,” Thomas replied with a grin. “How do you want to handle this?”
“You head back and ensure that a message is delivered. I’m going to take a shot at her and see if I can’t take her out. Either way, I’m going to take off afterward. Meet you at the rendezvous point tonight?” Samantha suggested.
“Sounds good. Good luck, and give me a minute to make sure I’ve got a clean getaway?” Thomas asked.
Samantha nodded, pulling out her bow and stringing it. Thomas patted her on the shoulder as he left, and Samantha waited, watching the wingless angel carefully. Her position would make it difficult to sneak up behind her, which was a shame. Samantha preferred to use her daggers to eliminate targets, but she’d still use whatever weapon worked.
The angel didn’t seem quite as carefree as Samantha had thought initially, and the assassin considered the woman as she paced pensively, wondering what had her so concerned. In the end, it didn’t really matter, though, and Samantha drew back an arrow, taking aim at her target.
Chapter 25
Pacing through the grass around Kanae’s home was calming. It didn’t help Isalla figure out what she wanted to do about Roselynn, but it at least was enough to keep her from panicking or breaking down in tears.
It was that same calm that helped her notice how quiet the woods were, and to spot the hint of movement among the trees from the corner of her eye. Perhaps she hadn’t noticed consciously, but the second the arrow hissed out of the trees, Isalla ducked. Cursing, Isalla glanced over to see the arrow buried in the hillside. In the same moment, she drew her sword and her thoughts grew calm, the same way they always did when she was participating in a real battle.
“Kanae!” Isalla called out, and at the same time, she began racing toward the spot where the arrow had come from. A flash of movement among the trees allowed her to barely see the shadow of someone darting away, and the angel swallowed a curse. It was better than being shot at again, but it made things more difficult for her.
“Isalla? What—” Kanae began, stepping out of the house.
“I was shot at!” Isalla exclaimed, then raced into the woods after the shadow, a tiny part of her relieved at the distraction. A larger part of her was upset, though.
Behind her, she heard Kanae curse, and then she was among the trees, chasing after the shadowy figure darting through the forest.
Once again, Isalla missed her wings, since if she had them, she’d be able to catch up quickly. As it was, it felt like she was losing ground.
Samantha cursed internally as she moved through the forest, frustration rushing through her. She hadn’t thought that the angel would react that quickly, and she really hadn’t expected to fail. Worse, somehow the angel could see her in the shadows of the forest even when Samantha magically blended into the shadows. That was an unpleasant shock, as was the demon following her.
Glancing back, the assassin could see the pale-skinned demoness moving through the trees almost like a ghost, silent and faster than the angel was. If it weren’t for magic speeding Samantha up, she’d be losing ground incredibly quickly rather than slowly. Which really meant that Samantha needed to focus on running and hiding, not on her pursuers.
With that in mind, Samantha hopped over a fallen tree and dodged behind several bushes as she kept going, trying to shake off the women behind her as she redoubled her pace and channeled more mana into the magical techniques she’d learned.
Isalla swore under her breath as the person who’d tried to kill her started to open the gap slightly. She’d caught a glimpse of Kanae passing her, which would have startled Isalla if it hadn’t been for some of the things she’d seen the other woman do before.
Jumping over
a log, Isalla nearly stumbled as she hit a patch of uneven ground, but she managed to regain her balance quickly enough, and she saw Kanae stoop slightly. An instant later, a pair of stones flew after the shadowy figure, one of which missed, and the other just barely clipping a shoulder, causing the figure to change course.
At least Kanae wasn’t losing the attacker, and despite the way her muscles were complaining, Isalla hadn’t lost her endurance yet, so she could keep going for a while. Longer than her legs would be able to handle, in fact, which was frustrating.
Kanae tried to hit the figure a few more times, but the speed they were moving at made that difficult, and eventually she gave up, instead settling for closing the gap between them, as the two slowly began to leave Isalla behind. Only by putting everything she had into running was Isalla able to keep them in sight, and—
Kanae stopped quite suddenly as the other figure darted past a couple of the dark trees and into a patch of head-high bushes that bore scarlet thorns. Isalla blinked in surprise, but as she approached, Kanae spoke.
“Stop,” the demoness said, her breath coming quickly but evenly. “You don’t want to follow her in there.”
“What? But they might get away!” Isalla gasped incredulously, slowing and panting.
“No, she won’t,” Kanae said, her lips pressed together tightly. “Going in there was the worst decision she could’ve made. I’ll be able to get her remains, but we’re not going to be getting anything out of her.”
“Huh?” Isalla asked, growing perplexed.
The next moment, she heard the branches ahead of them hiss.
Samantha’s spirits rose as she lost the two pursuers. She’d decided that going through the bushes was a risk, since there might not be an exit and she could be forced to go through the thorns, but obviously it had been worth it. There were other exits as well, which would make escaping easy.
As she took another step, Samantha heard a rattling sound from below as her foot rocked, and she looked down for an instant as her eyes went wide. Below her, she saw bones buried in the dirt, almost all of them from animals, but they were piled on top of each other, some of them yellowed with age.
“Shit,” Samantha murmured, her instincts screaming to get out of there, and she bolted for one of the exits.
The branches of the bushes rustled at that moment, and an instant later, the crimson thorns seemed to explode off the branches, trailing thin tendrils that connected them to the bushes behind them.
Samantha managed to dodge a few of them, but there were hundreds, and as they struck home in her flesh, she screamed.
Isalla flinched as she heard a woman scream, recoiling slightly as she asked, “What was that?”
“Those are vampire bushes. A particularly nasty plant, they gain most nutrients from a creature’s blood. The thorns build up a gas, and when the bush senses prey nearby, it launches the thorns at them, where they lodge in the victim’s flesh and drain the blood from it. Once there isn’t any more fluid to drain, it draws the thorns back and prepares for a new victim,” Kanae explained, her voice grim. “The foolish woman, and it was a human woman, ran straight into the middle of the bushes. She might have survived skirting the edges and getting hit by a few thorns, but that was all but suicide.”
The blood drained from Isalla’s face at the description, and she looked at the bushes in horror, taking a few careful steps away as she said, “That’s horrible! Why are they even this close to town, then?”
“They’re a nasty weed, and it isn’t like we have time to root out every weed in the forest,” Kanae chided, frowning. “Children are taught to look for dangers, and if they get too close to town, they’re dealt with. As it is, once you know what to look for, they’re pretty much harmless.”
“I… I suppose,” Isalla said, swallowing a hint of bile as she looked at the plants. She’d have died like the other woman if Kanae hadn’t stopped her. “You said you would be able to get her remains, but how? Those are terrifying!”
“There’s another plant that is highly toxic to the bushes. If it scents the plant on a creature, it won’t target them,” Kanae said, wrinkling her nose. “I have some of its sap in the lab, so I can heat that and smear it on my skin. It’s unpleasant, but I’ll be able to get to her body. For now, there’s nothing to be done.”
“Alright, if you say so,” Isalla said, still in a bit of shock. She shivered, then asked, “Do you have any idea why she tried to kill me?”
“Nothing for certain, and I don’t feel like guessing, not when we might be able to find evidence soon enough,” Kanae replied and nodded back the way they’d come from. “Come on, let’s go get that sap heating, and then we can see whether we need to guess or not.”
Isalla nodded, taking a deep breath to help steady her nerves, then started back toward the house. “Okay. That seems reasonable. I’m just… it’s been a crazy day.”
“I know. If I could have made it easier, I would have, but I never expected that someone might try to kill you,” Kanae said, and her eyes went cold as she added, “Considering that the caravan just got to town today, I suspect some pointed questions might be in order.”
“That… is a very good point,” Isalla agreed, shivering as she realized how much of a coincidence it had been. And at the same time, her blood chilled as well.
She really hoped they’d be able to figure out why the woman had come after her. As for Roselynn… her decision would have to wait for a little while.
Chapter 26
Isalla waited impatiently as Kanae washed, wanting to look over the things the woman who’d tried to kill her had carried, but also unwilling to do so without the demoness. The sap had smelled somewhat foul, Isalla admitted, but seeing the corpse of the woman had been sobering.
Hundreds of holes had pierced the clothing and skin of the woman, leaving her drained of virtually all fluid. Her skin had been drawn taut against the bones, and Isalla had felt queasy at the sight, as she wouldn’t have known the figure was a woman if Kanae hadn’t told her it was, and she hadn’t heard the woman scream. She’d also seared the appearance of the vampire bushes into her mind, because Isalla really didn’t want to run into them by accident.
The body had been left in the woods after Kanae had looked it over and determined that there wasn’t much to identify it. Most of the clothing had also been abandoned, though Kanae had removed the leather armor which had survived mostly intact, even if enough thorns had gotten around it to render the armor useless.
All the items they’d taken were sitting on the table, and Isalla glanced over at them again, still stunned. The short sword and four daggers the woman had worn were all enchanted, mostly to keep their edges, and the sheaths bore enchantments that made it so a weapon could be drawn silently. Similarly, the composite bow was enchanted not to make a twang when fired, and it seemed to have a stronger draw than it should. The arrows in her quiver were a mix of enchanted ones and mundane arrows, while the armor was also enchanted to be silent and to resist damage more readily. Those were just the runes that Isalla knew, and additional ones that Kanae had picked out as well, it was entirely possible that more of the woman’s gear was enchanted, and that was moderately terrifying to Isalla. Weak as the enchantments might be individually, they added up to an enormous value, and the question of why someone like that might be after her was concerning.
The sound of the bath door proved a welcome distraction, and Isalla turned to face the second door as Kanae stepped out, her hair glistening and damp. Kanae let out a sigh and smiled at Isalla as she spoke. “There we are. Sorry it took so long, but the sap is hard to get off.”
“No, no… thank you. We wouldn’t have been able to get her things if you hadn’t known how to get to her, anyway,” Isalla replied quickly and frowned. “I’m just a bit worried. A lot worried, really, considering how many enchanted weapons she had.”
“I don’t blame you. The weapons she has, and the enchantments they bear… I think they have all the indications
of her being an assassin, and if that’s the case, we’ve got more problems than I thought we had,” Kanae said, frowning. “I don’t know if you noticed, but she didn’t leave much of a trail, either. I suspect she was using a spell to conceal it, and that’s yet another clue.”
“I hadn’t, but it doesn’t surprise me. If you’re right… well, it doesn’t bear thinking on,” Isalla replied, shaking her head as she approached the table. A tiny part of her wondered if this might be Haral trying to ensure that Isalla had died. It was entirely possible that the woman had been able to use a divination to figure out that Isalla wasn’t dead.
“Indeed. I had a few ideas while I was bathing, but I’d prefer to go through what we have before voicing them,” Kanae said steadily, approaching the table and draping the towel over the chair to dry, then taking another seat. “Let’s look this over, shall we?”
“Sure,” Isalla agreed, taking another seat to go through the things, even though the only real thing of interest was the woman’s belt pouch.
Kanae started going through the items calmly, starting with the pouch. There was mostly coin inside, along with an eating knife, a touchstone, a few ceramic pellets, and a folded note. Kanae opened it, looked the paper over, then handed it over wordlessly. Isalla flinched on seeing the description of her inside, including her name and a rough sketch of Isalla, along with mention of an unspecified reward. It didn’t mention she was an angel, but what she was reading was quite bad enough. Meanwhile, Kanae went through the other items.
“This is bad. If they know my name, I figure they have to know I’m an angel, yet there’s no mention of it here, or of the reward amount,” Isalla said, biting her lip nervously.
“Almost certainly. I’m thinking that your old acquaintance, Haral, has a long reach,” Kanae said calmly, her words causing Isalla to flinch. The demoness was examining one of the daggers and shook her head. “At a guess, the woman was from Hragon. All her gear is the same style I’ve seen from there over the years, so that isn’t too surprising. As well-used as it is, she’s probably experienced, too. In fact, I’m wondering…”
Heaven's Fallen Page 17
