“I didn’t realize you had that kind of reputation,” Isalla said, feeling a little chagrined.
“Not many people travel as much as I did. It was a decent way to make some money at the time, and it worked out for the best. I would’ve thought everyone forgot about me by this point, but apparently not quite,” Kanae said, shrugging. “In any case, we may as well eat and rest. We can make inquiries about Orla tomorrow.”
“Alright,” Isalla agreed and focused on her food. It really was quite good, and among the best food she’d had since coming to the hells.
Their visit around town the next day was quickly productive. While their inquiries into the fake Orla didn’t get any answers, they did hear quite a bit about the rumors of Roselynn, which helped Isalla relax slightly, since her friend must still be in the spire. On the other hand, she also was growing concerned, because Kanae was as tense as a tightly wound spring. She didn’t show it much, but Isalla had never seen the demoness look quite so poised and ready to strike. It worried her and made Isalla wonder just how dangerous the spire was. Most of the people in the town barely seemed to care, but Isalla trusted Kanae.
Kanae was also interesting to others, though, which led to an interesting development of people coming to them with information. Most others approached Kanae, and Isalla could see that at least four of the demons who approached were tentative suitors, though Kanae didn’t appear interested in the slightest. She was asked many things, and after a while she began to tell stories of her time traveling the hells, and the stories were enough to fascinate Isalla as well as the locals.
Sea serpents pulling ships across ink-black oceans where titanic, predatory fish dwelled, strange jungles atop volcanic islands, and realms where no demon lords made their homes, places where the demons believed angels and mortals to be nothing more than figures of myth and legend. Kanae spoke of a city grown of coral, other gleaming cities of rubies and sapphires in a land where they were common, and another where there was virtually no water, and the handful of inhabitants lived around a few rare springs in the midst of a vast desert. It was spellbinding, and many answered virtually any question Kanae had in order to hear more.
A few of the demons also approached Isalla, trying to learn more about Kanae, and it was somewhat difficult for her to avoid answering their questions, though she managed. She didn’t have permission to tell them about what Kanae was doing, and she wasn’t going to tell them in Kanae’s place. A couple were interested in Isalla herself, but she fended them off relatively easily.
After two days, things settled down a little, but despite that, Isalla was nervous. She didn’t dare talk too much with Kanae, as they worried that the others in the inn would be eavesdropping. The question was how long it would take before Roselynn left the spire, and then she worried that they might have difficulties getting to her. She knew that Kanae had a plan, but Isalla couldn’t help but wonder if it’d work.
Still, there wasn’t much Isalla could do but wait and fret.
Chapter 37
“I’m going to miss you, Anna,” Rose said, giving the angel a quick hug and kiss. Anna hugged her in return, laughing softly as she smiled.
“I’m glad you enjoyed your time here, Rose. I like you as well, but there’s a time when too much comfort is just as bad for you as not having enough,” Anna said, her voice gentle as she looked Rose in the eyes. “I think it’s time for you to go out into the world and make your decisions. I’m told that Her Majesty had your armor refitted, so it’s waiting for you along with Ember.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Rose admitted, looking down at the sword hanging at her side, still feeling a little uncertain about it. She kept mulling over Estalia’s advice, but couldn’t decide what she wanted to do yet. “I’m not sure I want to take up the sword again, honestly. Her Majesty made a few excellent points, but even so… In any case, may I ask why you felt the need to give me one for the trip?”
Anna’s smile faded as she followed Rose’s gaze, replying quietly. “I understand, whatever you choose is up to you. But as for why I gave you a sword, Rose… while you are going to have skilled escorts for the trip to the capital, I don’t want you to be without recourse. Some people have attempted to kidnap those who’ve left the spire before, and they might do so with you.”
“Truly?” Rose asked, blinking in surprise, and feeling slightly confused. “But… why? I’m not anyone important.”
“Ah, but are you really? Your line is well-known in the hells, for the wielder of Ember has been one that many speak of when facing the Order of the Phoenix. For millennia, your line has been often at the forefront… and to many, that would make you someone they wish to possess,” Anna said, shaking her head sadly. “While I’ve done my best to show you that most demons aren’t as bad as they’re made out, some are as bad or worse than you can imagine. Additionally, some are so filled with rage from those they’ve lost that they’d lash out at any angel they could find, let alone someone of your renown. I don’t wish for you to be hurt, Rose.”
“Oh,” Rose said, frowning and mulling Anna’s words over. It made her a little sad, yet at the same time she wasn’t really surprised.
A part of her had known that already, Rose realized. The weight of her family’s expectations had been something she’d dealt with her entire life, even if she’d managed to mostly discard it while she was here in the Spire of Confession. Anna, Coral, and Tina hadn’t seemed to care about it, and that was… comfortable. It had made her feel better about herself, generally. Yet as she considered it now, Rose realized that she was comfortable with herself, in a way she’d never felt before. She was at peace, and if even demons had their views of her… what did it matter? Rose was who she was.
The pieces fell into place, and Rose took a deep breath, then smiled. She looked at Anna and nodded slightly as she spoke. “I think I understand, now. While I might wish that they didn’t view me that way, I can deal with it. And if I must defend myself, so be it.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that,” Anna replied, her smile reappearing once more. “Now, here’s your cloak. It isn’t perfect, but at least it’ll keep the rain and ash off you.”
Anna offered a dark brown cloak, one which looked like it’d been woven of silk. Rose looked at it skeptically, then asked. “Will it even fit? My wings…”
“It’s enchanted, so it’ll fit, I promise,” Anna explained, smiling even more.
“That would certainly do it,” Rose admitted, her mood improving as she took the cloak and swirled it around her back to put on. As Anna had indicated, the fabric stretched effortlessly to accommodate her wings while still covering her properly, and the angel smiled as she secured it around her neck and looked at Anna. “Thank you, Anna. You’ve been lovely from the first time I met you, even when I… wasn’t.”
“Oh, don’t give me that,” Anna scolded, shaking her head quickly as she reached up to adjust the cloak slightly. “You were always lovely, Rose. It’s just that you needed to believe that you were beautiful, and we helped you find it. Now, why don’t we get you going? The sooner you go, the sooner you reach the palace.”
“True, true. I hope to see you again relatively soon,” Rose said, and she gave the other angel a quick hug and another kiss.
Anna returned the hug and kiss, then broke away with a laugh, her eyes almost dancing as she spoke. “I know, Rose! Now go on, get moving before the day is over.”
Rose laughed, smiling as she turned to leave. She wasn’t entirely happy to be leaving the spire, but another part of her was looking forward to it.
Soon she’d see Queen Estalia again, and if that weren’t enough, the thought of meeting Isalla made her even happier. So she laid her hand on the door and slowly pushed it open.
Chapter 38
Kanae looked up as she saw a man rush into the inn’s common room, and when she saw the expression on his face, her eyes narrowed. He looked far too excited as he ran to his employer, an augur demon with an extra eye set into
his forehead. She’d already learned that the demon in question was here in an attempt to lure the Flame of Ember to his stronghold, and that gave her a very good idea of what was going on.
She sat back, lifting her glass to sip at the liquid in it as she saw more servants start rushing into the inn. Then she glanced over at Isalla and murmured, “It appears that the sought-after Flame of Ember has appeared at last, Myra.”
“Oh? Is that why all of them are rushing?” Isalla asked, looking around with comprehension dawning on her face. There was also a little worry, but the angel hid it admirably, in Kanae’s opinion. That was good, since Kanae’s stomach had felt like it was tied in knots since they’d arrived. It wasn’t just because they were so near the spire, either.
The other patrons were hastily preparing to leave, Kanae noticed, many of them settling their bills quickly as other servants ran to pack their things. It wouldn’t be long until the building was mostly empty at this rate.
“That’s my guess. I don’t see any other reason for them to be vacating the premises this quickly,” Kanae said, and she shook her head. “That being the case, it’s likely best that we go.”
“What?” Isalla asked, obviously startled as she looked at Kanae. “But… well, what about Orla?”
“If we haven’t heard anything more about her by this point, we’re unlikely to find out in the near future, especially with so many visitors having left,” Kanae said, shaking her head. “That being the case, I’m thinking our best bet is to go to the capital and inquire about her at the High Temple. If we can learn about her anywhere, it’d be there.”
“I suppose so. Should I go pack, then?” Isalla asked, frowning.
“I’ll settle the bill, then we can get going,” Kanae said, nodding and standing. As she headed for the counter, her stomach tightened still more. This was going to be the most dangerous part of their trip, and she wasn’t looking forward to the results.
Isalla glanced back as they left town, heading back the direction that they’d originally entered from. Kanae was leading the way, and since she could see most of the other patrons heading the other direction, including Wysterith, she had to wonder what Kanae was thinking. Still, she didn’t say anything yet, instead following Kanae closely.
They passed several rocky outcroppings, and a couple of farmhouses, then they were climbing a trail in the hills. In short order they reached a fork, and Kanae promptly turned left, taking a different route than they’d originally come down.
“Where are we going?” Isalla asked at last, glancing back in concern. “Everyone else is going the other way…”
“I know they are. They aren’t going to have any luck, though,” Kanae said, her voice quiet. “Roselynn will have escorts, and the chances of her agreeing to any of their propositions… well, I wouldn’t expect that to happen in this century.”
Isalla fell silent for a long moment. She was slightly reassured, but it still didn’t explain why they were going this direction. It made little sense to her, but she knew that Kanae wouldn’t be this route for no reason.
“What if they attack the guards and try to kidnap her?” Isalla asked softly, voicing one of her fears. “You said that could happen, right?”
“It could, but any attempt like that…” Kanae’s voice trailed off, then she laughed and shook her head. “It’s a quick form of suicide, Isalla. The one who is in charge of the spire is powerful. Incredibly powerful, in fact, to the point that I’m not sure just how strong she might be. Attempting to kidnap one of those who’ve attended the spire is sure to bring down her wrath if it’s done nearby.”
“Oh. That’s why we’re going somewhere else, then?” Isalla asked, blanching slightly at the thought of someone that powerful being in the spire. She did wonder why this was the first she’d heard of it.
“Exactly. I’m fairly certain that she wouldn’t kill either of us, but I prefer living free to undergoing her tender ministrations again,” Kanae said, nodding as she glanced over her shoulder. “That’s why I’m heading for where the escorts usually stop for the evening. I remember being taken through a hidden cave, one that leads to a teleportation circle. We should be able to use it to get a good part of the way back to Hellmount in an instant, and to throw them off our trail.”
A sense of relief flooded through Isalla at the explanation. She half-wished that Kanae had explained earlier, but she understood why the other woman hadn’t said anything in town. The other demons hadn’t felt trustworthy to Isalla, even those who were relatively friendly.
“That sounds like a wonderful plan to me!” Isalla said, smiling suddenly, then asked, “How do you plan to deal with the guards? It sounds like you think they’re quite skilled, right?”
“I’m sure they are, but I have my ways,” Kanae replied, glancing over her shoulder and smiling. “There are a few fungi in the Fungal Abyss that can force others into a hypnotic state. I know how to make a cure, so I brought a sample of the fungus with me, along with several doses of the cure. I’m going to plant it where they’ll come too close, and if any fight it off, we’ll be able to knock them out before they can fully recover. I’ll destroy the fungus before we leave, but it’ll take them out of the picture until after we’ve made our escape.”
“Alright. It sounds like that would let us convince Roselynn to come along with us, too,” Isalla said, letting out a breath of relief. She nearly tripped due to her distraction, but she caught herself in time. At least the only thing injured was her pride, and Isalla focused on picking a stable path.
“At least long enough to get out of the area,” Kanae agreed, and her voice grew grim. “Then we get to figure out just how much she changed, and if she’s recoverable.”
It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on Isalla, and she swallowed hard. Then she nodded and spoke softly. “You’re right. I hope she isn’t too changed.”
“As do I. As do I,” Kanae murmured.
Rose dodged as the spiny demon lunged toward her, but she shouldn’t have bothered. Before it could get close enough to be a threat, the nearest of the guards had spun and cut the demon down with his axe, grunting as he did so.
Around her were the bodies of nearly twenty demons, most of them dead or dying, and she was stunned by the variety of them, or that they’d attacked so fearlessly. Even more startling were the skills of Rose’s guards, and she looked at them in admiration. Any one of the five would have been an opponent to be wary of on the battlefield, though she was confident she’d have had decent odds of defeating them.
There were five guards in total, three men and two women. One was an elven man who wielded a pair of short, wickedly sharp swords, while all the others were demons or part-demons. The greataxe wielder was big, had scaled skin and claws, along with an inhuman head with a pair of large horns that curved out and upward. He wore heavier armor, as did one of the women who wielded a sword and shield, her demonic features as pronounced as his were.
The bone demon was startling, as the woman wielded a rapier with skill and speed, often holding back and moving to support her companions, and Rose found it surprising how beautiful her movements were. But last was an incubus, and the handsome man wore light armor while wielding predominantly fire magic to support the others. He also had used some enhancement spells to make the others still more dangerous, which had intrigued Rose, but in all the five worked together like a well-oiled machine.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t disappointed by the attack, though. The number of well-dressed demons that had approached her with offers of employment, a new home, or even a position leading a small army had been shocking, especially as they appeared not long after she’d emerged from the immense Spire of Confession. She hadn’t been interested by any of them, as she was far more focused on the darkness of the hells, as well as the sheer size of the spire. She must never have seen more than a fraction of the rooms on a single floor, which stunned her.
After rejecting most of the offers, the demons had backed off
somewhat and allowed them to continue on their way, at least for a little while. Just as they’d left easy line of sight of the spire, the ambushers had lunged out of the rocks and bushes that were on either side of the road, to the current, gory results.
“Well, it looks like that’s the last of them,” the incubus said, shaking his head and sighing. His name was Ithik, and the dark-haired man glanced at Rose and smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, this was at least somewhat expected this time around. I wish we hadn’t been attacked, but there’s nothing to be done for it.”
“They knew the risks when they chose to attack here,” Ethan said, the elf’s voice heavy as he cleaned off his weapons and sheathed them. “We may as well get going.”
That made Rose blink in surprise, then she asked. “We’re leaving already? Aren’t some of them still alive, though?”
She gestured toward the battlefield, where she could see at least four of the fallen demons were moving. Rose doubted much more than half of them were dead, though she didn’t think most of them would recover on their own. Simply leaving them would be quite cruel, from her point of view.
“They are, yes. Lady Anna will be sending a group to collect the survivors shortly, to grant them succor and find out who attacked, as well as why,” the man with the greataxe explained, his voice deep and resonant as he slung his weapon. He’d introduced himself as Ataron, and had been a gentleman so far, something quite at odds with his appearance. “I wouldn’t stand for leaving them like this, otherwise. If aid couldn’t be granted, the merciful thing would be to grant them quick deaths. Too many creatures in the hells are willing to eat the fallen.”
Heaven's Fallen Page 25
