Serpents Rising (Eve of Redemption Book 3)

by Joe Jackson

  “That’s not exactly reassuring,” Kari muttered.

  “Have a little more faith in yourself,” Morduri countered. “You’ve made it this far, and managed to get one of the most powerful kings to put considerable resources to helping you. I think there may be more to you than I suspected.”

  “Yea, well, I’ll try to make sure I survive, but not for the sake of the favor I owe you,” Kari joked, surprised when the demon king actually laughed.

  “Well, I look forward to the news of your success,” he said rather amicably. “And I will contact you when the time is right for you to return your favor.”

  Kari bowed respectfully, and the elestram king took up a jog and headed away along the side of the hill. She wondered where he was off to, and marveled at how quickly his long strides took him away toward the far edge of the hills and out of sight. For a moment, she wished she could do the same: run for the hills, or rather back to Anthraxis, and safely home to her family. She envied Morduri his free-spirited lifestyle to a degree, wishing she could wander around like she’d done in her prior life, solving problems wherever she went, but never tied down to any one place. It would be an odd thing, she knew, with a mate and child in tow, which confirmed the foolishness of the thoughts to her. She still found a certain charm in the wanderer’s ways.

  She walked up to the top of the hill where the sentries stood, and the two mallasti males stared at her with those impassive gazes. Without the nearby protection of their king, Kari felt a little bit exposed, but malice and viciousness were just as lacking in their stolid gazes as any kind of empathy or grace. They turned back to their vigilant watch after a few moments, and Kari took the opportunity to look over the sleepy village of Moskarre under the light of dawn. Only a few mallasti had emerged from their tents so far, some of them relief for the night sentries, others bringing out the remnants of the prior night’s meals to add to the fire pit in the village center.

  Kari headed back down to the village and studied the mallasti who went about their morning tasks. There was so much more to them as a people than Kari had expected, though as she thought about it, she realized it was because she’d had no idea what to expect. What had she really thought about the underworld before setting foot here? That it was full of demons, sitting around in fortresses or rubbing their hands together in dark corners, plotting and scheming? To find that they lived and worked – and even played – in much the same way as the societies on Kari’s own world was a strange twist, but then she wondered how else it could be. They weren’t demons in the mythical sense: they had to eat and sleep, they reproduced, and thus they had a working society not all that unlike Kari’s. It was strange, but it also made a certain sense.

  Kari suppressed a smile; she didn’t want the people of the village to think she found them amusing or was trying to insult them. She had already begun to find what she was really looking for on this journey. She didn’t just want to find and rescue Se’sasha; she wanted to find out the nature of her enemies and the world they came from. As strange as it was, she was taking in the world and its “peoples,” all the better to learn to fight and counteract them when the time came. And if some time came when her Order and the armies of her world were strong enough to strike here, in the home of the demons, then everything she learned would aid in that. It was a long-term goal, but Turik Jalar had laid the ground work, and Kari was proud to be able to add to it.

  Kari ate her fill of breakfast while the rest of the village was beginning to wake up. She had just finished eating when Sonja, Danilynn, and Uldriana awakened and joined her out near the central fire pit. Kari glanced around at all the naked mallasti, but with their heavy coats, Kari somehow didn’t really see them as being naked. As a rir, nudity didn’t faze her anyway; she had a habit of walking around naked when she could do so without upsetting humans or serilian-rir. “Your people don’t wear clothes?” she asked Uldriana.

  The mallasti girl shook her head. “We do when we go to the cities, but out here in our own village, it is not a concern. Our people are not sensitive to it, but the elestram, erestram, and syrinthian people are more prudish on such matters, so we do as they do when among them.”

  That seemed an interesting development to Kari; she hadn’t really considered there would be societal differences between mallasti, elestram, erestram, valirasi, syrinthians, sylinths, and harmauths. She started to see herself – not to mention her Order – as quite naïve and ignorant where the demons were concerned. That further helped to reinforce her reasons for coming, as she was tired of these creatures just being threats to be killed when they showed up on Citaria. Kari wanted to know what it was that made them such vicious invaders, but now she also wanted to know what made their societies run.

  There was little time to pursue the subject, however, as the entire village gathered in the central circle. The elder mallasti from the day before sat with four other elder-looking males who weren’t quite as grayed as he. The eldest-looking one began to speak, and the mallasti all sat and went quiet, as though he had called a meeting to order. Uldriana gestured for Kari and her friends to stay seated and wait. She then moved up to stand before the gathered elders.

  They held a conversation for several minutes, and every so often Sonja would quietly say anger, fear, or anxiety. Kari wished the mallasti would simply converse in the infernal tongue; at least Danilynn and Sonja would be able to translate those words. “Do either of you know an enchantment that lets everyone hear everyone else’s words in their own language?” Kari asked her companions quietly. “I remember Sakkrass using one when–”

  She shut up, fixed by nearly every pair of mallasti eyes in the village. There was a long, uncomfortably silent stretch as the hyena-demons simply stared at Kari, and she realized she’d somehow offended all of them. Whether it was simply by speaking out of turn, or because of her mentioning Sakkrass’ name, she wasn’t sure. “Tell them I’m sorry,” Kari said to Uldriana. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Uldriana seemed to sigh, and she began speaking to the elders. Kari caught the word ketava among whatever it was Uldriana said, and she wondered if Amastri spoke the language of the mallasti people. Whatever Uldriana said, it seemed to appease the elders and, therefore, the rest of the gathered mallasti. They went back to their conversation, and Kari looked to Sonja and Danilynn for an answer.

  Sonja simply shook her head, and Danilynn tried to whisper, “Not my normal area of expertise. I might be able to ask for such a power…”

  She closed her mouth, too, as the mallasti all went silent again. Kari had wondered if it was her mention of the name Sakkrass that had offended the hyena-demons, but as they fixed Danilynn with their impatient gazes, Kari realized that wasn’t the case. Danilynn stood up and bowed her head apologetically toward the elders, and then she spoke slowly and calmly to them in the infernal tongue. The impatience of the elders didn’t seem placated at all by the infernal dialect, but the eldest nodded grudgingly when Danilynn finished speaking.

  “What did you say?” Kari asked her, seizing the opportunity when no one was speaking.

  “I told them that if they expect us to sit here and stay silent, then they should speak in a language we can understand,” the priestess said as she sat back down.

  “I will explain what is being said when we are done here,” Uldriana said to Kari and her friends. “For now, simply be patient; we are not discussing whether or not we will help you, but rather how we shall fulfill the wishes of the king.”

  “Do you mind if we move to the field in the east, then?” Kari asked. “I’d rather not keep aggravating your elders.”

  Uldriana posed Kari’s question to the elder in their tongue, and the eldest of the mallasti nodded his head and waved for the three rir women to take their leave. Kari led her two friends to the football field, where there were a handful of older youths. They looked to be adolescents, and they were playing a different sport than the football game the youngsters had played the day before. The teenagers
wielded long sticks with curved baskets on the end, and they were hurling a small, hard-looking ball between them. Kari had heard of a similar sport before, but the name of it eluded her; it had been some time since she’d seen it played.

  “What do you two make of all this?” Kari asked. “Is this all a mirage, or is there more to the mallasti than we’ve always suspected?”

  “It’s not a mirage,” Sonja said. “Not in either a figurative or literal sense. If these people were merely acting or putting on a show to help deceive us, I’d sense it. They couldn’t all fool my empathic senses, especially the children. Maybe this is an aberration among the mallasti – we do seem to be far from ‘civilization’ as we know it, so maybe these are simply a different breed than the ones you’ve hunted in the past.”

  Danilynn folded her arms across her chest. “Don’t forget that Amastri told you that the realms of Kings Morduri and Emanitar are different from the others; we may be in a place where these demons are a little less…barbaric than is typical. Things could change very quickly once we reach Sorelizar, or even Tess’Vorg, or perhaps even when we leave this village.”

  Kari nodded. “I guess you’re right. I had a hard time believing Amastri when she told me that some of the kingdoms aren’t as bad as others. I assumed they were all terrible, and that the ones they considered bad were a living nightmare. To find this place so beautiful and its people, well, not friendly, but at least not hostile…I wasn’t expecting this. Makes me wonder what they think of King Morduri and how he rules them.”

  “Well, they respect him, but I’m not sure what that really amounts to, given what they are,” Sonja said. “I can sense that while they want to do as he asked, they’re quite anxious about giving up whatever the king ordered them to give us.”

  “I still can’t guess what it could be,” Kari agreed. She went quiet when there was a loud, vicious collision between two of the teenaged mallasti practicing their sport. It was shocking just how hard the two had hit each other; Kari had heard her brothers-in-law, who were muscular and bulky, throw each other around wrestling. The two mallasti colliding sounded like that, but they were nowhere near as large or bulky as Kari’s in-laws.

  One of them lay on the ground for a minute, but eventually he rose to his feet, shook his head, and patted the one who’d hit him on the shoulder, exchanging a brief but not unkind word. They went back to their game as if nothing had happened. Kari half-expected a magical duel to break out, or at least a fistfight, but if there were any hard feelings for the walloping the one had received, it didn’t show. Kari had to imagine that if it had been Typhonix or even Erik on the receiving end of such a hit in a game of sport, they’d have come up swinging.

  Kari and her friends watched the practice session for a while. Kari felt as though she was wasting precious time, but she also had to admit to herself that without the help of the mallasti, the only place she and her friends could really go was back home. To have to stay in the village for even one more night seemed like a prison sentence, but Kari had to trust that King Morduri’s and King Koursturaux’ plan took everything into account. Uldriana said the people were willing to help, they were just trying to figure out how to do so, and Sonja had confirmed that.

  After a while, Uldriana came and joined the three rir women on the edge of the ball field. She sat on a large rock near the three rir women and watched the practice session for a couple of minutes before she finally spoke. “It is decided; the elders have decreed that we will honor the wishes of our king wholly, as is right,” she said. “I will accompany you on your journey to see King Sekassus, and I alone will be in possession of the offering until it is time to give it up.”

  “You’re coming with us?” Kari repeated.

  Uldriana beheld Kari curiously for a moment. It was apparent that the nuances of the common trade tongue of Citaria were quite different from those of the mallasti language, and the mallasti girl was trying to keep that in mind when speaking with Kari. “Yes; the elders do not trust that this thing they give up by order of the king will be properly handled by you and your friends. So I will accompany you to Sorelizar, and to your meeting with King Sekassus.”

  “Is that what all the arguing was about with your elders?” Kari asked. “Did they not want you to go with us, or did they not want to give up whatever thing that King Sekassus wants?”

  Uldriana shook her head. “There was no argument; the king spoke, and though the elders tried to determine how best to honor his wishes, King Morduri’s word will be heeded and carried out. They simply, as you say, do not want me to accompany you: Sorelizar is a dangerous place, the land of our king’s enemies, and my people fear for my safety.”

  “Well, you can tell them that as long as you’re helping us, you’ll be under my protection. It may not mean much, given we’re going to talk to a demon king, but–”

  “Your protection?” Uldriana scoffed. “You hunt and kill our kind! No, I will not speak these words of foolishness to the elders. They will think you are either a fool, or that you seek to murder me the moment we are away from the village. If you want our help, I would advise you to simply keep your tongue stilled and your mouth closed. Do and say nothing in this turning of the sun that will make my people reconsider the help they have agreed to provide you.”

  Kari had to concede the point; would a demonhunter telling a demon that its child was under her protection really come across in any way other than as an insult? She couldn’t help but think of her mission on Tsalbrin, when she’d promised the brys Makauric that he would be safe under her protection. She had led him to his death, and though he hadn’t blamed her for it, Kari had always held it as the truth. She wondered how she could even begin to pretend she could protect a mallasti from the wrath of a demon king…let alone explain why she would.

  She followed Uldriana silently into the village, and Sonja touched Kari’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. Kari guessed her emotions were setting off Sonja’s empathic sensitivity like a gong. She hadn’t even known that Sonja possessed such ability for a long time, and she simply hoped her sister-in-law wouldn’t read her thoughts without permission. Kari assumed she knew Sonja well enough to know she wouldn’t do such a thing. She looked at Sonja, and her sister-in-law gave a subdued but sincere smile to try to comfort her. Kari was glad for it.

  “How many of your people speak our language?” Kari asked the mallasti girl.

  “Not many,” Uldriana answered over her shoulder. Her mood already seemed better, or at the very least, she had returned to that impassiveness that was common among the mallasti. “I take a great interest in languages, so I understand yours, though I am not quite accustomed to actually speaking it. Other than the elders, you will find few others in the village who can understand your words.”

  Not sure I mind that at all, Kari thought. As long as a few of the mallasti could speak with her, Kari was just as glad that not all of them would be eavesdropping on her conversations. The four women took seats near the fire pit in the village, and though the mallasti people cast their appraising stares over Kari and her friends every so often, they didn’t impose or make any hostile gestures or remarks. Kari wondered how much the mallasti themselves would tell her about their world, their people, and their kings. She didn’t want to be too inquisitive, but at the same time, if she was going to be spending time among them, and then travelling with one of them, she figured it was pointless to avoid interacting with them.

  “What can you tell us about your king?” Kari prodded. She didn’t want to seem like she was taking notes on her enemies, but she was honestly curious what the mallasti thought of King Morduri. If his realm was close to what Kari and her friends might call “free country,” and the demons respected rather than feared him, it made him an interesting character in Kari’s mind.

  Uldriana seemed surprised by the direct questioning, but with how broad a subject it was, she didn’t get defensive. She shrugged. “King Morduri Irrasitus is lord of this realm, Pataria, also call
ed The Eastern Meadows,” the mallasti girl began to explain. “He is nicknamed The Reluctant Prince among his peers on the Council of Anthraxis.”

  That was the first time Kari had heard that. “The Reluctant Prince? Why’s he called that?” she prodded.

  The mallasti woman raised her eyes skyward and muttered something; Kari was pretty sure it was that word ketava again. “You outsiders, do you always talk over and interrupt everyone who speaks?” she asked irritably. “When I am finished speaking, you may speak. Do you wish to know about King Morduri, or do you wish to continue interrupting me with questions you have not given me opportunity to answer?”

  Sonja held her hand up, drawing Uldriana’s attention for a moment. “We come from a large family where it can be tough to get a word in around the supper table,” Sonja piped in. “Kari didn’t mean to be rude. Please, tell us more about your king.”

  Uldriana accepted the explanation with a nod. “Unlike most of the other nobles among the peoples of Mehr’Durillia, Prince Morduri never wanted to be king. He is a hunter and a sportsman, and he was more content to be a spokesman and ambassador for his father among the neighboring kingdoms. Not many years ago, his father, King Ansular Irrasitus, wound up in a dispute with King Baphomet, our neighbor in the kingdom of Teradda to the east. The dispute led to a fight in which King Ansular was killed, but the blame for the conflict fell upon him, so King Baphomet was held free of consequence among his peers on the Council.”

  She paused for a few moments, and Kari spoke. “So King Baphomet outranked King Ansular on the Council? That was why it was important that King Ansular attacked first?”