Demorn: City of Innocents (The Asanti Series Book 2)

by David Finn

  ‘I hope so,’ Demorn said dreamily. ‘And I hope you stop calling it a parlour.’

  Interlude 5

  Country Songs

  Demorn raised her head from the pillow, the soft smell of jasmine surrounding her. On the sheets next to her lay the imprint of a small, lithe body.

  Always alert on first waking, she felt somebody leaving the house, a white robe around their body and concealing their face.

  The lake house was utterly silent. Demorn descended the stone steps, treading lightly on the soft sand. Her feet were bare. She wore tight blue jeans and an old t-shirt she’d found up at the house. She saw a white robe thrown carelessly on the sand.

  Kate was floating above crystalline water, her blonde hair long and soft on the wind. She wore a soft pink t-shirt, emblazoned with the letter K. The air was very still, slightly cold.

  The deep lake was a stunning sparkling blue. A light breeze began blowing. The glare of the sun was dazzling, bouncing off the deep water.

  She had a feeling of complete and utter peace, such as she had not felt in years, not since her earliest childhood memories of Asanti. Demorn looked up toward the high cliffs rising from the basin of the massive lake. Tall green trees covered the hills. Upon the rising cliffs, Demorn could see large, beautiful ornate stone temples.

  Demorn felt like she had come to a dream at the very end of the world, the deepest part of her. Perhaps she had.

  Kate opened her eyes as Demorn came to the edge of the water, which was very cold. Demorn’s mouth opened, but her tongue felt hard and flat and dry and her heart beat wild and fast.

  Kate regarded her with dazzling blue eyes which were so clear and intense Demorn felt both naked and embarrassed. But then Kate smiled, fierce and irrepressible.

  Demorn flung herself into the cold lake water. Kate caught her and held her in a tight hug.

  Finally, Kate said, ‘It’s been such a long time. I would not have expected you to find me this deep.’

  Demorn said, ‘I just wanted it so much. I even prayed, and I don’t pray.’

  Kate lowered to the ground, stretching her legs into the chilly water. ‘I know your friends don’t get me. They think I’m just the crazy slut who broke your heart.’

  Demorn’s voice caught. ‘I don’t care what my friends think. I don’t care about what anybody thinks. Not about this, not about us.’

  Kate gave her a tight hug, and a soft, lingering kiss. She smelt of orange trees.

  ‘I wish I could be so brave. Sometimes I am the crazy slut who broke your heart. Just because I can’t help breaking things.’

  Kate looked haunted, she looked like a ghost. But her blue eyes were the most alive Demorn had ever seen, and her neck pulsed madly as she spoke.

  ‘I don’t even feel properly, Demorn. I’m as transparent as glass.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  She brushed her hand across her pale neck. ‘Everyone in Paris could see everything, see what I was feeling, who I kissed, who I fucked, who I fought with.’

  They’d drifted across the middle of the water. This was much higher than Kate normally levitated. The air was cold and clear, her long blonde hair splayed across the sky.

  ‘It’s like they want you to be something, but never quite tell you what. It’s not enough to be a model who does a bit of acting, they prefer me to be a vacant little coked up whore. Every night, in the hotels, all over my phone there’s messages from reporters I barely know, wanting quotes, stirring up rumours about my past, faking like they cared. How can they know so much and not know anything?’

  ‘Forget them, they’re strangers,’ Demorn said, holding her hard. They kissed again, harder, with an urgency born of a strange starved love. Kate gave as much if not more than Demorn.

  Demorn whispered savagely, ‘I don’t care about Paris, I barely watch the news. It’s always depressing stuff about the War. I don’t give a damn about headlines. I don’t care if the Tyrant comes Home.’

  Kate moaned in agreement, kissed her hard.

  Demorn growled, ‘I love you so fucking much, Kate, it hurts,’ as she grabbed at Kate’s soft pink shirt, holding her body tight. They spun upward, the glittering light of the sun spilling onto them, reflecting in the still waters.

  After a while, they slowed. Demorn’s eyes were full of happy tears as they slowly circled the dazzling lake. Kate’s hand was across her chest, glowing with purple energy.

  Her heart felt like it was beating again, scarred from horrible, ancient wounds, but alive in this light sun.

  Kate looked up at the distant temples, set high amongst the thick forest trees. ‘Do you ever wonder what those big buildings are?’

  Demorn looked at the forested mountain slope. Shadowed and huge, set opposite each other, they set an ominous, powerful tone across the sweeping beauty of the basin.

  ‘They are old mysteries. Ancient temples to forgotten gods,’ she said.

  Kate drifted across the sky. ‘I want to fly to them. I want to walk inside, I want to kneel before the old altars.’

  They gently picked up speed, and then suddenly they were in full flight. A grin splayed on Demorn’s face. Kate held her hand and they soared across the sparkling water.

  ‘You’ve learnt to fly,’ Demorn whispered, and just in that moment, it felt like the most wonderful thing, the most heartbreaking part of everything, the part she missed the most, the part she never knew.

  They gently touched down in the stone courtyard.

  Kate said softly, ‘It’s so much easier in here, Demorn, I’m closer to the powers. All of them.’

  The trees were tall and dark surrounding the temple. Demorn felt a cold flicker of fear pass inside, for she could feel the black magic in the trees, untamed and loose. These woods are wild, Demorn said to herself, these woods are wild.

  She could feel the warm breath of the Dead King, his hand upon her shoulder, in Firethorn, so long ago it was like a dream, warning her about the dangers of the hot jungle, as they descended into it . . .

  Demorn looked out at the sea, suddenly flickering red with the sunlight. With her own eyes she could sense the shimmering magic, the knowledge that this was a special place, a special time.

  Kate had walked to the great stone temple doors, brushing the smooth surface with her pale hands.

  Demorn kissed her on the cheek softly. ‘They are death, my love. Locked tombs for dead gods.’

  She playfully put her hand in front of Kate’s blue eyes, who was gazing at the tall doors. ‘Don’t look at them too long, don’t wish upon them.’

  Kate smiled wistfully, a light finger tracing through her long hair, her fingers touching Demorn. She looked at Demorn, and her eyes were pale intense stars.

  ‘I don’t care. One day I will say the secret words and the stone doors will open. I will walk into the stale darkness without a single light. I will shed this shirt, my clothes, I will walk naked into the dark.’

  Kate’s voice drifted off. She walked across the stones. She stood in the shadow of the great door. ‘But right now I don’t know the words, I have no idea. It’s weird that way, isn’t it? You can be so close to the dream, to your future, but there is no way to unlock the truth.’

  She held her hands out, one rising to the sun. A tiny green flame sprang from her fingers. Demorn watched with careful eyes. She had never understood Kate’s powers, they seemed so random, born of her moods, both delicate and terrible.

  She only knew how beautiful Kate looked, her blonde hair framed against the setting sunlight, her light pink t-shirt ruffling in the breeze, the black stenciled letter K upon it. Somehow so funny, so wise, so sad.

  Kate said, ‘Perhaps in the future, perhaps we know then . . . can you hear the music, Demorn?’

  Below them, a single dark ship had entered the basin, sails unfurled as it travelled swiftly across the great lake.

  Demorn choked as she saw it bore the standard of Kate’s Revenge.

  ‘No, I can’t hear anything at all.’
<
br />   As she watched the dark ship come closer, Demorn knew that they were both going separate ways, far across the distant seas, never to return . . . or to return so changed they would not recognise the other.

  Oh fuck, Demorn thought. Is this just a dream? Is this all just a fucking dream?

  Kate whispered, ‘It’s not a dream. I’m here with you. At times like these, there’s no place I would rather be.’

  Her hands filled with power, and Demorn’s body pulsated with the power of the connection. She shuddered as Kate sent image after image, throbbing electro-clubs with loud music, beautiful girls in tiny dresses, guys with bronzed skin and thick tattoos, anonymous backrooms of delights with a thousand kisses and soft hands, places where desire was a currency, and it didn’t seem like anybody died, they just left and came, like friendly ghosts at a forever party.

  It didn’t even end when Demorn found her shaky voice, as the feelings and movie kept playing through her mind.

  ‘What can I give you? Why would you prefer to be with me, when they can give you all that?’

  Kate dropped deep. ‘It’s not a forever party. The sun comes up, all these people want cash. They all treat me like a piece of ass and the music sounds like shit when you’re sober. I wanted something real.’

  Demorn said playfully, ‘Like magic lakes and romantic moments that might be dreams?’

  Kate grinned. ‘Hey, how ’bout a decent movie collection. A big bed. A cool house by the lake. And a damn cute bodyguard girlfriend with pretty eyes and great hair.’

  Demorn laughed. ‘You’ve got a way with words, party girl.’

  Kate turned her back on the temple, grabbing Demorn’s arm, rushing violently up into the air, high and fast, soaring into the brilliant blue, wildly somersaulting across the sky. They landed smoothly on the deck.

  Tears ran down Kate’s face.

  And Demorn knew. ‘Are you going away again?’

  ‘I am.’

  Demorn looked around the empty, silent deck. The dark ship sailed soundlessly over the water. Her magic eyes could pierce most things, and she caught glimpses of the truth, of bone-men at the oars below deck, of the tinkle of chains wrapped around their feet and souls, dark magic powering them across endless oceans, driven on by their dark queen, driven on and on.

  ‘You would sail with ghosts and dead men. Why?’

  Kate passed her fingers across her pink t-shirt, it was suddenly emblazoned with CHOOSE LIFE.

  Her voice was thick with emotion, only semi-controlled. ‘I told you, Demorn. I’m a glass. My feelings are transparent, I shatter when I hurt. In Paris, I OD’d twice, they pumped my stomach, and I don’t even like drugs. When I was in Babelzon, how many times did your enemies kidnap me? How many times did they try? How many times did I almost die?’

  Demorn voice was somber as she looked over the lake. Bad memories, bad memories. ‘I saved you. I killed everybody.’

  Kate looked at her with tender eyes. ‘I know, hon. I know you did. But your kind of enemies don’t stay dead. And I remember how the lair of the Cat Dragon stank, his breath on my face, and his damn weird hands . . .’

  Demorn gripped the wooden railing hard. The breeze blew hard into her face. ‘Is that why you left me? You don’t feel safe from the goddamn Cat Dragon?’

  Kate’s voice was very distant. ‘You protected me better than anybody could, better than anybody could hope for. But we both know about the storms to come.’

  Demorn looked at that cloudless sky, turning to crimson dusk. She imagined terrible things, hoping they would never come true. She murmured, ‘Ultimate Fate hasn’t happened yet, Kate.’

  Kate whispered in her ear, ‘You know where we are, don’t you? I worked it out when I was mediating above the lake.’

  Demorn smile was twisted. ‘Are we all trapped in a god’s head? I really wouldn’t mind.’

  Kate slipped something into her hand. ‘Somewhere far more unlikely, hon.’

  Demorn looked down into her palm. It was a small grey key, cold on her skin. She could see magic flickering off it, spidery nightingale spells inscribed into the metal, written in half forgotten languages that moved as she watched.

  Demorn gasped, looking at Kate with shocked eyes. ‘I know what this is, it’s very dangerous—’

  Kate’s blue eyes were intense and sad. ‘And very rare.’

  She leaned down to Demorn. ‘It’s a Soul Key. I got it off the Banker. It unlocks this place.’

  ‘FUCK!’ Demorn said loudly, as the entire lake rippled. She felt nauseous and sick to her stomach. The sky churned. She swayed on the railing, willing her hands not to shake.

  Kate held her firmly, didn’t let her fall into the water, which shimmered and burnt with steam, filled with ghostly images of old victims and bad memories.

  Demorn closed her eyes. ‘I know the Banker. What a costly thing to hold.’

  When she opened her eyes Kate was watching her closely. ‘It was no gift. The debt is wholly mine, not yours. I’ve travelled a long way inside this world, Demorn. Do you know what I found?’

  Demorn looked at her with curious eyes. ‘What, it led you to Buddhist-lite meditations at the lake, where you found All Things are One? Or is everything meaningless, and we pass into a void of nothingness?’

  Kate shook her head. She slowly levitated off the deck, her legs folding beneath her. ‘Nothing so boring. I found many things of meaning in my journey.’

  The breeze came, and Demorn saw the Sea beyond the huge lake basin. She could feel the sea wind rushing onto her face, she saw the huge glowing stars that drifted through the night sky deep in the waters, the brilliance of the burning lights making her shield her eyes.

  ‘I journeyed the Sea of Many Stars, so deep in the wild ocean, which I dreamed of when I was young. I drove my bone creatures to exhaustion, and myself close to madness, on that long journey.

  ‘I came to the shores of Firethorn itself. I trod the inner walls of your White Fort, where the sisters saw me only vaguely and cursed me as a ghost. Your throne room was empty, Demorn. The Innocent sisters mourned you as lost or dead. I could sense great evil lying in the shadows of the Court. I left and did not wait for you.’

  Demorn was quiet. ‘The shadows always come back, no matter what I do, no matter who I kill.’

  Her voice wanted to be shaky but she made it strong. She could feel a spell pulling across her. ‘I saw you in Firethorn before I left, Kate. You, or some ghost image of you, called me, begging me to save you from death.’

  Kate looked at her with alert eyes. ‘Do you believe somebody can vanish from their own life?’

  Demorn wore a weary smile. I’ve seen you die, Kate, she thought, I’ve slept with your skeleton, I’ve brushed her blonde hair and pretended it would all be OK, and that was you in your favourite blue jumper. But it wasn’t OK and it wasn’t you. And I ran away, barely escaping with my own life.

  ‘Yes. Sometimes I think that’s all I do. Vanish from my life.’

  Kate giggled softly, gesturing to the lake and the magnificent surroundings, which cleared suddenly into a perfectly fine day.

  ‘Then here is as real as anywhere else, Demorn. Even though there is nothing to shoot. No Clubhouse. No Innocents.’

  She floated softly back to the deck of the ship, nestling her blonde head on Demorn’s shoulder. ‘What do your friends say about me?’

  Demorn smiled. ‘My friends think I need to get over you. They don’t see this side, they never did.’

  Kate laughed. ‘That’s the curse of love. It’s selfish, it only makes sense to those in it.’

  Demorn shrugged. ‘I don’t care what anybody else thinks. Where will you go?’

  Kate looked into the distance. ‘I left a note. In case . . . you didn’t unlock the door in time. Didn’t make it to the Lake.’

  It was too much. ‘Well, I damn well did get it!’ Demorn said with a hungry anger. ‘I got out of the Grave and you’d broken up with me!’

  Kate held to her tight. ‘De
morn, anywhere I want . . . remember . . . it’s a Banker’s Key.’

  Demorn laughed, loudly and with genuine humour as she realised what Kate had done. ‘You stole it, didn’t you? You actually stole it!’

  Kate smiled, her face joyous and her eyes dancing with wildness and fun. ‘Oh, I robbed him blind, honey. I was shameless, hun. We dated for months, on and off. Then I lifted the Key from his cosy apartment overlooking the river while he slept late . . . oh, it was all very romantic.’

  Demorn grinned. ‘I’m sure.’

  Kate kissed her on the cheek, and then the lips softly. ‘He’s a generous man. He’s not even really chasing me yet.’

  Demorn closed her eyes, savouring her perfume, savouring everything, because she did not know if or when she would ever see her again. ‘He will. In the end, we all do.’

  Kate’s voice tinkled.

  ‘Probably! I wore it right over my boobs and everything,’ she whispered, making Demorn laugh, as her hands idly caressed Kate’s breasts and the cold, metal key which lay on a thin golden chain.

  ‘But I don’t need it anymore.’

  The kisses stopped. There was just the traces of perfume left. Kate had gone. Maybe to Dodge. It all felt years ago. All the lights had gone out, everything was dark. Not a single star shone in the sky.

  The thin chain was cold in Demorn’s closed hand. The small golden key reeked of wild sorcery, echoing and bouncing off dimensions. Demorn placed the chain around her neck. It was almost weightless. Everything felt like a dream and always has.

  That was her final thought before she woke in the Suicide Sue’s parlour, ambient electronic music playing.

  End Interlude

  Part 3

  1

  * * *

  She was outside the Babelzon Core, travelling fast in the Jag. The outer suburbs burnt with summer heat and the flash-points of civil war.

  Demorn hadn’t been out this way in a long time. There had been fighting then too. The Tyrant’s grip across the Core was absolute, but he kept a looser grip on the suburbs. He could be both fickle and vicious. He didn’t mind letting the outside burn.