by Dave Gross
"The figures I showed you?" Beguiled by the succubus's offering, Kasiya trailed from suspicion to distraction.
"I might have peeked once or twice." Yavalliska dimpled. As Kasiya glided toward the haul, she turned to me and winked.
Surprised, I fought to keep my expression neutral.
Obviously, Yavalliska would not allow Kasiya to use the books' power to gather the aspect of a god or greater demon about him—not alone, anyway. The question was not whether she meant to betray him, but how and when. If I struck too soon, her mob of demons would surely overwhelm me. Even without their help, she might be capable of fending off my attack, lacking as I did a weapon. She was no common succubus, just as Kasiya was no common vampire.
As the prince sifted through the salvaged druid lore, Yavalliska turned to receive the compliments of her fawning minions. I moved to stand near Kasiya, adopting the posture of a bodyguard even as I kept in mind his relative position and the several ways I might steal away his sword or snap his neck before he could cast a spell.
A desire for justice told me to act now, but a deeper wisdom cautioned me to wait. It was still too soon.
Or was that the voice of cowardice wringing another moment of life out of my will? Was I willing to make a martyr of myself here, alone, surrounded by the most abominable foes imaginable? Could I face with peace the prospect of an obscure demise, my last sacrifice unknown to those I left behind?
Yes, I decided. I could face that fate. And still the doubts niggled at my mind. Was it enough to slay Kasiya? Was there any hope that I could kill him and Yavalliska both before the horde dragged me to pieces? Could the death demons destroy my soul before Pharasma weighed and judged my life?
Despite my resolve, I was afraid.
Kasiya selected pages of wood and stone from the texts Shaorhaz's demons had gathered. He laid his choices upon the Lexicon of Paradox, seeing which best fit the torn binding.
To me the process appeared to be an idiot's mimicry of a scholar's work, yet the magic of the Lexicon responded to the proximity of its missing contents. Each time Kasiya lay a page beside it, the book's rough binding swelled with violet energy. Soon it reached out arcane tendrils, leading Kasiya's hand to pages chosen not by the vampire but by the book itself.
When it was done, the cover of the Lexicon regenerated, the bark cradling its missing pages and sending out green shoots to bind the missing pages back into its spine.
Kasiya held open the Lacuna Codex and lay the Lexicon upon it. The text of both tomes glowed white and red in affinity for each other and their bearer. Behind the golden mask, the vampire's eyes reflected the writing.
"I shall require a sacrifice." Kasiya spoke the words as plainly as a diner asking another to pass the salt.
"Did you not yourself bring the perfect offering?"
The flames of the symbol of Zura flickered on Kasiya's golden mask as he looked at me. "Indeed, I did."
I had not known the true depth of fear until that moment.
It was not time. I was not ready, and yet now Kasiya looked upon me not as his spear-bearer but as his sacrifice. If I were to act now, I could never take his weapon away before his undead reflexes allowed him to cut my throat and drink my blood.
"My prince," I said. Bright goddess, I prayed, give me the strength for one last deception. Fleetingly I thought of Aprian and his advice that deceiving the enemy was not only just but obligatory. "My life is yours. I await your command."
Kasiya's head moved. Even obscured by his mask, his gesture told me he was pleased with my response. He turned to Yavalliska.
"Such lovely submission," said the succubus. "Your spear-bearer's gesture makes me jealous that I have no further gift to offer you. Or perhaps I have: Take Ommors. The daemon will do as I bid. Test your ritual upon a disposable subject before endangering yourself with the undertaking."
Kasiya lowered his chin, considering the succubus's offer.
"My prince," I said on impulse. Yavalliska was too subtle to use such a simple ruse again. However she intended to manipulate Kasiya, I had to ensure the opposite outcome, even if it meant placing myself in the position of a sacrifice before striking my enslavers. "Do not believe her. The succubus tries to fool you again, as she did with the hearts of her rivals. If you make a god of Ommors, the daemon will remain in her thrall. She will use him to destroy you and then use the ritual upon herself."
"Silence, slave!" hissed Yavalliska. "You would say anything to save your wretched life."
"No," said Kasiya. "She warned me about you before, and I have seen the proof of your treachery. No, you will stand back and witness my ascension. Afterward, we shall see whether I am in a forgiving vein. I no longer see you at my side, Yavalliska. After this new deception, you may pray to me that I allow you a place at my feet."
"My prince, I assure you—"
"Silence, harlot!" said Kasiya.
My body tensed, preparing for the succubus to unleash her minions upon us. Instead, she bowed and backed away, the very picture of contrition.
I did not need to see a secret smile upon her face to realize what had happened. Yavalliska had anticipated that I would persuade Kasiya to refuse her suggestion. She had manipulated me as well as the imbecile vampire.
"I shall have as my sacrifice this insect." Kasiya pointed at Ommors, who continued gnawing at the blood demon.
"What?" said the daemon.
"Do as the prince commands," said Yavalliska.
"As you wish."
After falling into the succubus's trap, I could not escape. To reverse my warning now would only put me back in danger of becoming the sacrifice. Besides, I thought, what did it matter which of them destroyed the other first? I would spend the last moments of my life destroying the other.
Or failing.
"Here," said Kasiya. He stood beside the rebuilt druid's circle and pointed to its center. "Prostrate yourself, daemon."
Ommors did as Kasiya bade, laying down its swollen red body and letting its eight wet legs droop upon the stones. "If Yavalliska wishes it."
Kasiya beckoned to me. I went to him, but he beckoned me closer still. Suppressing a shudder, I leaned close to his mask. I smelled his grave-sour breath, felt its cold upon my face. "You, my spear-bearer, keep your eyes on the succubus. At the first sign of treachery, break her neck. Under no circumstances is she to approach me until the ritual is complete."
In his bloodshot eyes I saw no recognition that he had already been betrayed. The succubus had a far greater hold on him than I had realized, or else by deflecting his trust from herself to me, she was a more subtle manipulator. Perhaps she was content to remain the power behind the throne—or, in this case, behind the god. "Yes, my prince."
I turned my back to him, watching as Yavalliska gestured for her demons to surround the circle. At her signal, they prostrated themselves before Kasiya.
At the first sign of their obeisance, Kasiya cast a spell upon himself and read from the Lacuna Codex. The words were none that I knew, not even the babble of the Abyss which I had come to recognize from the mouths of demons. As he completed the first phrase, the book rose to hover before him, leaving only the Lexicon in his hand.
As he recited more of the ritual, demonic energy illuminated the pages. The figures from the page reflected off his golden mask, the beams of their unholy light tracing across the stones of the summoning circle. Once they touched the stone, the lights moved as of their own accord, swirling around the daemon at the center, drawing closer and closer until they entered Ommors's blood-swollen body to illuminate it from within.
"Kasiya!" called Yavalliska. I watched her carefully, but she did not approach. Instead, she continued calling the vampire's name. Her demons joined her in the chant.
I glanced over my shoulder to see the ritual. The vampire turned his attention to the Lexicon. As with the Codex before it, his first reading caused the book to rise before him, its text glowing as he activated its powers by reciting each passage. Both books cast
lighted characters onto his mask, which reflected them onto the circle. He was not simply speaking the words—he was summoning them into the world from their prison on the pages.
A red aurora appeared in the southern sky, dancing above the Worldwound. As the light grew brighter, I realized it was approaching the circle, rising up from the mouth of the Abyss to plunge back down into the circle behind me.
Once more I looked. This time I saw the blinding red light of chaos pouring into Ommors's body, swelling the daemon to gigantic proportions. In an instant the fiend's body burst, painting Kasiya and the bindings of his books in fresh blood.
"We are privileged to witness the birth of a new god," said Yavalliska. She knelt and raised her arms to praise the vampire. "No longer shall we commend our sacrifices to Zura. After tonight, we make them in the name of Kasiya, God of Blood."
I could wait no longer. I offered a silent prayer to Iomedae that Gemma's soul might find rest, for I knew now it was not my fate to liberate her from the Tower of Zura. Turning, I reached for the sword at Kasiya's side. No sooner did I touch the hilt than his hand clamped down on my wrist.
He turned gracefully, the blazing pages of the book casting him in silhouette. His body levitated half a foot from the ground. From beneath his golden mask, red light shone out the eyes and mouth.
Releasing me, he took his mask in both hands and raised it from his face. The red light dazzled my eyes. For an instant I saw a ruined visage, but his old face melted away to reveal the perfect features of an exquisitely handsome Osirian man, brown skin suffused with the glow of blood.
"You, too?" His voice filled the air and shook the ground beneath my feet. He raised a hand, the bandages falling away to reveal perfect skin beneath. He slapped me, the blow more powerful than an ogre's. I fell to the ground, my head reeling.
Vaguely I saw Kasiya turn around to bask in the warm radiance of the energies pouring into the circle from the Worldwound. I struggled to stand, my thoughts as deranged as if I had been surrounded by vescavors.
"You cannot defeat him ...not outside the circle," someone whispered in my ear. I turned, recognizing Yavalliska's voice. The succubus remained kneeling some distance from me, her hand cupped by her mouth. She winked at me.
Kasiya resumed his recitation from the tomes. I staggered to my feet, shook my head, and rushed him. Throwing all my weight and strength against his body, I bore him to the ground inside the stone circle. As we fell, I pulled the khopesh from its half-scabbard and rolled away.
Kasiya's recitation interrupted, the lights from the books cast spears of light into the night sky.
Kasiya leaped to his feet, nimble as a cat. The rest of his bandages had fallen away to reveal a fully regenerated body, flush with the vigor of youth and health. Only his red eyes betrayed his undead nature.
I lunged, sweeping the unfamiliar weapon in an arc toward his neck. He slapped away the blade as easily as he had knocked me to the ground earlier. The weapon flew from my hand. "You cannot turn my blade against me," he said. "Your own holy blade is drowned. You have no weapon to defeat me."
I threw myself upon him, fingers encircling his neck. The sinews beneath were tough and strong. Even as I squeezed, I realized my giant's strength was not enough to break his neck.
And yet, I realized then, I was not the Inheritor's warrior.
I was her weapon.
"Iomedae!"
The goddess filled me with her radiance. It pulsed through my veins and poured out of my fingers and into the vampire's throat.
Kasiya struggled and choked. His implacable grip crushed my arms, but only for an instant before the light of the Inheritor withered his strength.
His sensuous lips moved in silence. The light shriveled his skin, cracking his fleetingly perfect face. I held him down until his struggles slowed. Before he stilled completely, the demonic light burst out of him once more. The force of it hurled me aside, but I did not fall to the stones. Instead, I floated above them as ruddy light poured from Kasiya's body toward the place where he had stood.
"I told him you were perfect," said Yavalliska. I looked up to see her standing in Kasiya's place before the Codex and the Lexicon, her bare feet floating inches above the ground, her expansive wings opened behind her in exultation. The Abyssal energies flowed into her.
The demons about us altered their chant from the vampire's name to hers: "Yavalliska! Yavalliska! Yavalliska!"
The succubus took up Kasiya's recitation. The text of the books shone now on her face, and from their pages came a chorus of insane verses. Vescavors swarmed above us, adding their mad jabbering to the celebration of a new goddess of blood.
All around, flames rose from the labyrinth of thorns. Behind the conflagration rumbled a sound of thunder, closing in like doom.
Chapter Twenty
The Five Devils
Radovan
I was hoping we'd showed up just in time, but it was looking like we were just too late. Sometimes they look about the same.
Through the flames, I saw Oparal's body floating a couple feet over a stone circle. There was another body lying beside her, red energy flowing out of it and into a succubus standing beside the circle. Surrounding them, demons waggled their limbs in what I guess passed for worship among the fiends.
The boss had landed to fight beside Jelani. Together they'd thrown so much fire into the maze of brambles that the whole thing had gone up in flames. These days I wasn't fireproof, and I was willing to bet no one else was, either.
All around us, the Kellids and crusaders fought to control their horses, which reared and shied away from the fire. Even Arnisant was feeling antsy, shifting around at the boss's feet as he whimpered and moaned. Tonbarse handled it better, but Alase couldn't stop wiping her eyes for all the smoke.
"Boss, we got to get up there," I said.
He pulled a few more riffle scrolls from his bandolier and shook his head as he looked down at them. Time was, he knew where every one of them was stored, but he was losing his touch. It was hard to blame him, since he was running out of spells. He wasn't bad with that Shadowless Sword, but it was spells that made him dangerous in the field, not his blade.
He called Jelani over. "I can lay down a sheet of ice, but that's the best I can muster. Do you have anything to douse the fire?"
"Nothing strong," she said. "Fire and sand are my—"
The boss snapped off his scroll and sketched a rectangle with his hand. Where his fingers traced the shape, a wall of ice formed over the fire he and Jelani had started. The flames hissed on the ice. A cloud of steam rose up from the fight between fire and water.
Aprian's horse shifted side to side, ready to rush in.
"Wait," said the boss. "It's still dangerous. You'll be scalded to death."
Soon we couldn't see a damned thing on the other side of the fog. The crusaders with lances tucked them under their arms. The Kellids raised their swords and shouted their own names or those of their clans. A few looked back over their shoulders, no doubt wishing they'd never left Gundrun.
The boss and Jelani saddled up. I pulled the last of my phony pony scrolls out of my pocket and thought about a horse. I snapped off the scroll.
Nothing happened.
"Desna wee—" Another wave of smoke rolled over us, choking me.
"They come!" shouted big Kronug.
Out of the steam flew the first of the fiends.
I recognized the death demons first and looked away from their eyes. The boss had already warned me that wouldn't protect me from their soul-stealing gaze, but I couldn't help it. The Kellids did the same as me.
The crusaders charged the ones that came close enough. Tonbarse ran in to help, while Arnisant stayed close to the boss, who snapped a scroll, pointed a finger, and shot a ray of ice at a demon. Jelani did the same, but I could tell they were both running out of their best stuff.
Me, I filled my hands with darts and waited for my shot. The first one came when a big vulture demon swooped close to m
e, screeching to panic the horses. The spores coming off its wings filled my eyes with tears. I threw the blades, but I didn't hold out any hope I'd hit it anywhere that hurt.
Brimoraks came running down the hill next. The little fiends didn't give a damn about the fire still licking at the brambles. Their cloven hooves left burning prints wherever they stepped. Naia knocked one down with a short charge. Before it could get back up, I put the big knife through its eyes a couple or six times until it stopped squirming. My hands came away raw from burns.
That was an awful lot of effort to kill such a little demon.
Around me, the others weren't having any easier a time. Some horse-shaped demon charged out of the steam. It overran Barek and his mount together, pausing only to stab two scorpionlike tails into the Kellid. Blood and scalding venom splashed across my chin on the back-stroke of the tails.
Venom, I thought. Smoke and flame. And, judging from the Kellids and me, more than enough fear to go around.
Sigils, I thought. The sigils of my devils.
In the middle of the fight, I couldn't remember the others off hand, but those might be enough.
"All right, the timing couldn't be worse, but here goes: I, Radovan Virholt, summon my ancestors to me." I took a deep breath, hoping as much as fearing my gamble would pay off the way I hoped. Quang wanted me to call only his name, but I had a surprise for him. "Fell Viridio Dokange the Flaying Tongue Gharalon Eriakne and Quang you little shit."
I don't know what I was expecting, but like with my last riffle scroll, all I got was a lot of nothing.
"That little huckster tricked me. When I get my hands on you, you little imp—"
Something hit me hard. I was on the ground before I heard the boss call out my name in warning. Stunned, I rolled away until I hit the burning hooves of another brimorak. The goat-faced jerk raised a flaming sword to cut me a new groove. I shot an elbow to its knee and felt the joint snap under my spur.
The demon dropped its flaming sword and bleated in pain.