Serpents Rising (Eve of Redemption Book 3)

by Joe Jackson

  “Calm down, everyone,” Danilynn said, stepping forward. She glanced at the elf. “This priestess is going to the summer valley to put an end to what happened there, not to cause any more harm or grief. I’d consider it a favor if you went back to your people and let them know that. We don’t want any part of trouble while we pass near your people’s lands.”

  “You are fools to trust these creatures,” the elf said, gesturing toward Se’sasha. “If your leader is a hunter of the Order, we shall trust you for now. But we will be watching you. If she betrays your trust, her life will end swiftly and mercilessly.”

  You have no idea, Kari thought, but she brushed such thoughts aside as quickly as they'd come. She had no reason thus far to not trust Se’sasha, and she didn’t want to start thinking about the likelihood of betrayal or having to put an end to the priestess' life. Instead, she simply nodded, and the elf moved off without any further trouble. The guards continued to stare at the group before them, though, on the one hand being respectful of Kari’s position, while on the other hand seeming unsure what to do about the syrinthian’s presence.

  “Where is the baron’s home?” Kari asked, trying to get the guards’ minds off of Se’sasha and also get some useful information from them.

  “Which baron? There are several,” one of the men returned.

  “Lord Jacob Morrigan,” Kari said, and though there were several strange sounds from her friends, no one spoke up before the guards answered.

  “With all due respect, ma’am, Lord Morrigan is the Earl of Montgomery, not a baron. You can find his state house up the north main road,” the guard answered.

  “My apologies,” Kari said, and after returning the stiff salutes of the guards, she led her friends farther into the city to try to find the Earl’s home. She glanced over her shoulder at Ty and he chuckled at her, but Kari simply rolled her eyes. Nobility and titles were things she was still trying to get a grip on. She didn’t even know what her official title had been when rising to Sword of the Heavens had given her a minor noble status; she couldn’t keep track of any of it.

  They passed through the city, and Aeligos and Typhonix broke off from the rest of the group to pick up supplies for their pending trip into the mountains. Kari had little doubt that the two could find the Earl’s home when they were finished. She led the rest of her friends west and then north up what seemed like the main road. There was little doubt after they took to the north road, as farther along there was a large, stately house situated on a rise. It wasn’t a mansion or a palace by any stretch, but it was a sizeable home, and Kari recognized it from her time in Atrice during the War. The city had changed a bit, but the house looked as she remembered it. She wondered how she didn’t remember the Earl’s title, though; had he never corrected her when she’d called him Baron before?

  The Earl’s steward seemed quite surprised to have such a large group show up at the home unannounced. Kari introduced herself and asked the steward to tell the Earl she was there to see him. Dannilyn asked him to further inform the Earl that she and Eli were there, and Kari remembered that they’d found the Earl’s missing daughter before the War. Once he knew who to announce, the steward had the butler lead the group to the fireplace room. Kari sat beside Grakin, and the others took seats where they could, but no one sat in the nicest of the seats near the fireplace. That certainly had to be the Earl’s, and no one wanted to make the mistake of taking the lord of the county’s seat. Little Gray kept trying to go to the fire, but Kari kept yanking him back by the tail. Serilian-rir or not, she didn’t want her son playing with the fire.

  “Oh my,” came a voice from the hallway after only a couple of minutes. The Earl was in his sixties but in good physical shape. He looked like he could pick up a sword and help defend his own city and county if he had to. He was pale-skinned with short white hair and bushy brows, and he had a well-kept goatee that helped offset his pointed chin. There was such fire and life in his green eyes still, and Kari got a full measure of it as his gaze swept from her to Danilynn and Eli and back again. “How it warms my heart to have such visitors, and without even inviting them.”

  Kari rose to her feet, as did the others. “Your Lordship,” she greeted him formally, but she saluted him as a demonhunter.

  “Please, please,” he said, approaching quickly and taking Kari’s hand in a firm shake. “The woman who helped liberate my city need not be so formal. Call me Jacob – and that goes for the rest of you as well while you are my guests here. Lady Vanador, it is such an honor to have you in my city and household again.”

  “Well, if I get to call you Jacob, then I insist you call me Kari,” she returned with a smile.

  Jacob chuckled and turned to the others. “Danilynn, Eli: it is good to see you again.” Danilynn bowed to the Earl but Eli went for the more casual handshake, neither of which drew any protest from the old Earl. “The people who saved my daughter’s soul and the woman who secured my peoples’ freedom, in my home at the same time. I should say, this is a blessed day, but such a group…”

  He paused as he met Se’sasha’s eyes, and the syrinthian priestess bowed politely. “Your Lordship,” she said, echoing Kari’s greeting and surprising her traveling companions.

  Jacob nodded politely but his eyes turned back to Kari. “I must assume you are here on business, to bring such a creature to my city and my home.”

  Kari held her hand up. “Jacob, I know you’ve probably heard a lot about the syrinthians, but this priestess, Se’sasha, is a turncoat. She’s come to Citaria at great personal risk to help us fight against their king.”

  “Is that so?” the Earl asked, and Se’sasha bowed her head curtly under his gaze once again. “Fortunately, our city was spared any disaster related to whatever it was her people did up in the mountains. I have Danilynn, Eli, and their friends to thank for that. But if you ask me to trust any of her people, I am going to politely inform you that such is unlikely to ever happen. I am an old man, quite set in my ways, and I have seen too much to change where I lay my trust.”

  Jacob walked over and uncorked a glass ewer of whiskey or scotch, and poured himself a short glass. “Help yourselves if you would like a drink,” he said, and he made his way over to sit by the fireplace with his spirit. “So tell me, Lady…Kari: do you take this woman back to the valley where her people were causing such trouble before?”

  “Yes,” Kari answered. “There’s one thing left to do to put that entire matter to rest, and Se’sasha is the only one who can do it. While we’re there, we’ll take a look around and make sure there aren’t any stragglers that might still cause your county trouble.”

  Jacob chuckled. “After this many years, if they have not already, it seems unlikely they will ever do so,” he said. “I do, however, regret that the czarikk are no longer in the valley. I always found them to be curious but fascinating neighbors, and I, for one, took great pleasure in those few times when they came to the city to trade.”

  “The czarikk came here, to Atrice?” Kari asked, shocked. Czarikk weren’t particularly fond of outsiders; to visit their cities seemed well out of character for the reclusive lizardfolk.

  “Very rarely, but at times they would, yes,” the Earl said. “They knew that we typically have an abundance of food and textiles, so in seasons where they had shortages of either, we would occasionally see them come to the city to trade.” Little Gray walked up and tried to hop up on the Earl’s lap while he spoke, and Jacob laughed. “Whoa! And who is this young man?”

  “This is our son, Grakin junior,” Kari said, placing her hand on Grakin’s.

  Jacob smiled and stared at Little Gray for several long minutes. “It is good to see that the War has not had a lasting hold, even on its fiercest fighters,” he said. “I think you, of all people, deserved a blessing like this. So, anyway, getting back to our discussion, the czarikk would come to the city with trinkets and odds and ends made from wood, or jewelry made from wood and plant fibers. Their works were curiosities to t
he people here, mostly, but they were always able to find buyers, and then use their coin to buy the things their people needed. They never made any effort to establish diplomacy, but they were agreeable people, all things considered.”

  Kari smiled but didn’t bother to start talking about her own experiences among the czarikk, or the fact that she was their deity’s adopted daughter. Aeligos and Typhonix arrived and quick introductions were made. As Ty stood in the doorway, Jacob saw the hilt of the katana across his back, and Kari could tell that the Earl knew what and whose it was on sight. The katana was not a common weapon, and just the sight of one tended to remind people of Seril’s murderous son and the ones he carried. Kari tried to gesture for Typhonix to put the sword somewhere out of sight, but he didn’t notice or didn’t pick up on what she was trying to tell him.

  “That…that is Taesenus’ sword, is it not?” the Earl stammered after a minute. “I know you took it from him, Lady Vanador, but…why would you carry such a horrible thing with you, let alone bring it into my house?”

  “Jacob, I’m sorry,” Kari said quickly. “We’re taking it somewhere to get rid of it, and it slipped my mind that we shouldn’t let you see it. I’m sorry.”

  The Earl stayed silent for a minute, his eyes unfocused. Kari knew the look on his face: he was trying very hard not to cry in front of his guests. She wanted to kick herself for not even thinking about what bringing the sword into his presence might do, and she wondered that neither Danilynn nor Eli had thought of it either. The Earl stood up. “I have things I must see to,” he said. “Please, show yourselves out.”

  He left the room without another word, and Kari sighed and shook her head. Grakin laid his hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t bother to take the time feeling sorry for herself or the Earl. She got to her feet and gestured for her friends to follow, and they left the Earl’s house solemnly. After only a brief walk, they found a suitable inn and arranged for rooms; the day was still young, but Kari was all too happy to take a rest before any mountainous forays. She wasn’t sure if she should return to the Earl’s house the next morning and apologize again, but it was on her mind for the rest of the day.

  After supper, Danilynn and Eli took the time to explain where they were headed. They said it would likely only take two or three days to reach their destination – four, if Kari needed to stop for rest often. Kari was nervous about taking Little Gray to the valley itself, but the others figured they should be safe in such a good-sized group. The valley was southwest of Atrice, and there was a climb to reach the lip of the valley, but Danilynn assured them that the travel wasn’t that difficult: she and her friends had gone there several times without the aid of climbing gear or pack animals.

  Kari sat in bed with Taesenus’ sword in her lap later in the night, and Grakin watched her curiously while she ran her hand back and forth along the scabbard. She’d held onto the sword all through the War in the hopes that Taesenus would return for it. She wished she’d had the opportunity to kill him: to avenge the slaying of her Order’s Avatar and all the other people the Demon Prince had murdered before and during the War. Now, as she looked at it, all she could see was a symbol of the pain the Demon Prince had caused, and the memory of Jacob Morrigan doing his best not to burst into tears in front of his guests flashed through her mind again.

  “It was an honest mistake,” Grakin said. “Do not concern yourself with it too much, my love. The Earl will see that it was an accident in time, and his anger will fade.”

  “I know,” Kari said. “I’m just trying to imagine what the sight of this sword would do to me if I’d actually lost a loved one to its blade.”

  Grakin laid his hand on Kari’s wrist. “No one else will ever have to worry about that, and that is due in part to you,” he said. “Kaelariel may have killed the Demon Prince, but you were the one who weakened him enough that his murderous spree slowed to almost nothing. It will be good to be rid of this sword, yes, but in the meantime, you should look at it for what it is to you: a trophy of your accomplishment.”

  Kari shook her head; her feelings would not be soothed so easily, even by her mate. “Am I a fool to be giving this to King Koursturaux?” Kari asked. “This is deadly, and it’s already got a horrid history. If I give it to her, how much worse is that going to get?”

  “If you did not give her the sword, she would find some other way to accomplish her evil ends,” he assured her. “If I am being completely honest with you, my love, then giving this sword to that demon king is not the wisest course of action. What she does, though, is not your responsibility, and her bargaining this sword out of your hands may simply be a ploy to make you believe it is so. Never let her convince you that her actions are your responsibility.”

  Kari leaned over to kiss Grakin. Soon Little Gray came and jumped up in her lap, and she was all too happy to let her son take the place of the sword. She laid it up against the wall, letting it slip from her mind as easily as it slipped from her hand. With her mate beside her and their son in her lap, Kari began to sing a bedtime lullaby. Little Gray was getting a little too old to fall asleep to such songs when she sang them, but she imagined the little one growing inside her being lulled to sleep by her singing and rocking.

  Chapter XXII – Communion

  The Earl didn’t want to see Kari the next morning when she stopped by his house. She took his reaction in stride: Grakin was correct, and one day the Earl would realize that it had all been a simple mistake. She swallowed the guilt and shame she felt over her foolish error instead of wasting any time feeling sorry about it, and Kari led her friends from the city. Danilynn and Eli took over leading the group once they left the confines of the city, and they followed the road west into the mountains.

  Kari looked back over her shoulder once and found the city didn’t look the same as it had after she’d helped to liberate it. In her mind, it had always been the first and biggest victory of her time under Kris Jir’tana, and one of the most telling victories over Seril in the entire War. It was also the city where she and Kris had spoken of their feelings for each other, and where she had very nearly made love to him. The city of Atrice had long been a bittersweet memory, but now she found the memories stung a little bit. Now, with the Earl not wanting to see her and Kris Jir’tana all but a distant memory, she saw it as a place where friendships died.

  Kari tried to push away those thoughts. She has happy with where she was in her life, and if Kris and Jacob chose to go their separate ways from her, that wasn’t something Kari could control. She recognized that she had to take the positives from her relationships and not dwell too much or too long on the negatives. One day, Jacob would realize he had taken an honest mistake too personally, and hopefully he would reach out to Kari again. And, she mused, one day she would probably come face to face with Kris Jir’tana again, and when he saw her children, he would probably wonder why he’d ever walked away from her.

  Kari looked at Grakin and smiled; walking away had been Kris’ idea and, consequently, his loss. She had found a man who loved her and treated her well, and in him she had found the family she had long desired. She would likely outlive Grakin, something she was ever trying to prepare herself for, but by then she would probably be too old to be of interest to Kris. She wondered if the fact that he was serilian-rir made him forget that not everyone had the potential to live for hundreds or thousands of years. Kari reminded herself one more time that in the end, it was his loss, and she turned her thoughts to the road ahead.

  The main mountain pass was a steady incline, and Kari didn’t have to rest all that often along its more gradual rise. After several hours, Danilynn and Eli led the group south along a rocky path into the higher elevations. The path was little more than a narrow goat trail, but it passed through rock instead of along cliffs, so it wasn’t particularly dangerous travel. The going was steep in places, and Kari had to deal with fatigue and rest often, but the group was able to keep a decent pace, and reached the lip of the valley after only four
days. When they crested the final rise and looked over the edge into the misty valley below, they all paused to take in the sight, and Danilynn and Eli were both apparently assailed by memories.

  “You can see the top of the temple from here,” Eli said, pointing off to the northwest. It was hard to make out much detail, but there was what appeared to be the tips of statues and the tops of pyramidal buildings poking just over the mist. A heavy jungle showed through on the close end of the valley, but the mist obscured most of the view of the rest of the valley. “The czarikk village is in the northeast corner. Follow me.”

  The sun was still fairly high in the sky, but like in the pine forests of Si’Dorra, the light was cut off by the trees and the mist. Unlike Si’Dorra, however, the valley was balmy on its floor, and the dark, rich soil was warm under the companions’ feet as they walked. Aeligos pointed out that there must be volcanic activity underground, which would mean steam vents and hot springs throughout the area. He explained how that likely kept the valley nice for czarikk and syrinthian alike, which had to be why both races were drawn to this place.

  “You could have a farm that grows food all year long in this valley if you could work it right,” Kari mused while they walked. She was still considering her own lands: how much work they would require, how much income they would generate, and how much of a headache all of it would cause her.

  “Already thinking of expanding the one you were granted?” Ty joked, and he nudged Kari in the shoulder.

  “Gods, no,” she returned with a chuckle. “I’m already overwhelmed with the thought of having to run the one I have. I don’t know the first thing about farming or running an estate. You read all those eco…economics books; any advice?”

  Ty half-shrugged. “Well a lot of it will depend on what sort of income you’re looking at bringing in, but I can give you some basic advice that’ll help you avoid the typical problems people run into,” he said. “You don’t strike me as the kind of woman who’s all that interested in becoming rich, so I think a lot of this will come as second-nature to you. What I’d suggest you do is keep a ledger of how many people you’ve got working for you, how much of your income is going to go to taxes, and, most importantly, how much money you need to live the way you want to live.”