Serpents Rising (Eve of Redemption Book 3)

by Joe Jackson

  “Well, I’ll just end up with whatever’s left after I pay everyone, including the Duke, won’t I?” Kari asked.

  Typhonix shook his head. “No, that’s the trap most landowners fall into,” he said. “The best advice I can give you is to pay yourself the same way you’d pay anyone working for you, and base that on how you want to live and how much that costs. Then you pay your taxes, and take the rest of the money and either pay it as additional wages, or else invest it into improving your farm. The better you pay your people, the more of your own products they can buy – so the money comes around full circle, right back to you, and you have a cycle. The other merchants in the city will sell more to your employees because they have more money to spend, and then those merchants can buy more of your products…you see?”

  Kari’s eyes widened. “So everything increases…exponentially, is that the right word?”

  Her blonde brother-in-law clapped her on the shoulder. “You’ve got the idea,” he said. “But the key is that you can’t get greedy. That’s not who you are, so I don’t think you’ll ever need to worry about it yourself, but since you’ll probably be a little busy running a household, raising kids, and trying to stay in charge of the Order, you’ll probably have to hire someone to run the estate for you. And that’s where you can run into trouble: if you hire someone to manage the estate, you’ll have to keep a close watch on them to make sure they’re not skimming or over-working your employees.”

  “I was hoping you and Aeligos would help me, at least at first,” Kari said. “You two both have good heads on your shoulders, and I figured you could at least help me take over control of things from the Duke.”

  “Yea, sure,” Ty said, and Aeligos agreed with a nod.

  That helped to set Kari’s mind at ease a bit. She honestly knew little about running a household, a farm, or a business. To have her two smarter brothers-in-law help her out where that was concerned would take a lot of the burden from her shoulders, and let her concentrate more on the things she would learn from Se’sasha. She still had to figure out who to ask for a loan to get the capital to repair the estate house itself, and to also upgrade whatever living and working quarters her employees used. While the Duke seemed sure the Order itself would be willing to aid her in that regard, Kari wasn’t sure she wanted to take church funds to pay for a private business, whether she paid it back with interest or not.

  The valley proved to be easy travel and not quite as big as it seemed from the rim high above. The group reached the czarikk village before the sun retreated over the distant peaks. The sunlight was still muted, lending a haunted air to the still and silent remains of the lizardfolk homes. The grass- and vine-covered huts were well-preserved, apparently hardly disturbed in the long years since the czarikk fled the valley. From the droppings and tracks throughout the village, though, Kari could see that many woodland creatures had decided to commandeer the czarikk homes.

  Sonja paused at the village’s edge and her eyes went wide. Kari called for the rest of the group to stop while she waited to see what had gotten Sonja’s attention. Sonja let out a long, subdued sigh after a minute, but her head swiveled back and forth, her ruby eyes taking in the ruins suspiciously.

  “Anything wrong?” Kari asked her at last.

  “Nothing recent,” Sonja answered, starting forward again. “I just got the feeling of pain and misery; my empathic senses were open, and I could feel the sorrow of the czarikk as they abandoned their homes. Now I’m getting vague senses of fear and terror, the remnants of some battle or battles that took place here.”

  Eli nodded. “Yea, the syrinthians from the temple attacked the czarikk from time to time to capture them for sacrifices,” he said. “We took part in a vicious fight here one night, after we rescued a number of the czarikk from the temple itself. They sent a bunch of syrinthian guards and warriors, but also an elestram wizard that was an unholy terror to deal with.”

  Danilynn nodded but gestured for everyone to follow her before she spoke. They walked to the center of the village to its fire pit, and the priestess dropped her pack and set out her things. The others followed suit, and after they worked quietly in tandem for a short while, they had a nice bright fire going with some freshly-caught game roasting over it. Kari was glad to rest her weary haunches, and she sat cross-legged on her bedroll, massaging her aching thighs with Little Gray sitting nestled in her lap.

  Once everyone was comfortable, Danilynn continued the story. “Once the syrinthians realized there were czarikk in the valley with them, they started capturing their hunters and gatherers to use as sacrifices to power the portal,” she said. “With the telepathic connection I had with Se’ceria, she contacted me and asked me to come put a stop to it. It seemed like it could’ve been a trap or, at best, a suicide mission, but when we got close enough to scout the temple, she called everyone to prayer at the pinnacle, which left only a handful of guards between us and the czarikk prisoners.”

  “But you didn’t get them all out?” Kari asked, remembering some of the story from the first time she’d heard it.

  “No; when the syrinthians and sylinths realized what was happening, they rushed to the defense of the temple,” Danilynn confirmed. “Several of the czarikk stayed behind and bought us time with their lives, and we were able to get the rest of them to safety. Rhiannon was fairly sure she’d killed one of the sylinths with a lucky head-shot from her bow, but whatever the case, none of the guards followed us right away…not until that band with the wizard came.”

  “We killed most of the syrinthians and drove off the elestram eventually,” Eli said. “The czarikk got better at defending themselves once they knew what to expect from the syrinthians and sylinths at the temple. Se’ceria never forgave herself for what she had to order her people to do. When she died, she said to us, ‘I deserve this.’ She died willingly to protect Se’sasha, but also because she felt she deserved it after everything she did. She didn’t accept that she hadn’t really had any choice in the matter; she took full responsibility for it.”

  Se’sasha sighed and closed her eyes. Kari said, “We can find her grave in the morning, when we’ll be able to see better.”

  The others nodded to that, and Aeligos spoke up, asking, “So who exactly is Sakkrass? I know you met his avatar on Tsalbrin, but I’d never heard of him before then. You said he also goes by the name Ashakku to the syrinthians? Is he specific to just the syrinthians and czarikk?”

  “As far as I know,” Kari said. “Se’sasha will hopefully be able to tell us more once she’s had time to commune with her mother’s spirit. The only other thing I can say is that Sakkrass’ world is under attack by the Overking and his armies. Right now, I’m not really supposed to speak of this, so what you hear, if you haven’t heard it before, should stay between us for the time being, until we know what we’re dealing with.” There were nods of agreement from everyone, so Kari continued, “The beshathans – the mallasti, elestram, erestram – and the other peoples of Mehr’Durillia are not demons, they’re just people who’ve been conquered by the Overking. Some of them have been pressed into his army to attack the world of Irrathmor, but his primary soldiers – the real demons – are what we used to call shadow demons. In fact, I just fought one when I was in Barcon.”

  “That is why rescuing Se’sasha was so important,” Grakin mused.

  “Irrathmor? That’s the name of Sakkrass’ homeworld?” Ty asked.

  Kari nodded. “We’ve been chasing our tails for way too long; first with the serilis-rir, and then with the people of Mehr’Durillia. Now that the demon kings are taking an interest in the Temple, we can’t just react to their schemes anymore. We had to find out just what they’re up to, and if they plan to attack Citaria the way they did Mehr’Durillia, and now Irrathmor. We’re completely unprepared for them, and Se’sasha is the only one that can help change that.”

  “I must admit that I am confused on one thing,” Grakin said. “If the various people of Mehr’Durillia are no
t demons, how many of the kings themselves are actually demons?”

  Kari glanced at Se’sasha, and the syrinthian girl stared at her, completely oblivious to what was being said. “It’s hard to put an exact number to them, but from what our mallasti guide on Mehr’Durillia said, there are at least five: the Overking, Baal, Koursturaux, Baphomet, and Abaddon. Even she wasn’t sure if Celigus, Arku, and Arlerase are demons; no one seems quite sure just what species they are.”

  “But what of the others?” Grakin asked.

  “Many are powerful nobles and royals who rose up from among the people,” Kari said. “At the moment, I’m still calling them demon kings, because whether or not they’re actually demons, they’re as twisted and evil as the real demon kings.”

  “Some are not as bad as others, but that doesn’t really affect your assessment,” Danilynn said. “Regardless of who and what they are, one basic truth holds: they cannot be trusted. If we want to prepare our people to defend Citaria against them, then we must treat them as enemies.”

  Kari shook her head. “Not just them, but everyone: we have to treat all the people from Mehr’Durillia as enemies until we’re sure some of them aren’t,” she said, and she turned her attention specifically to Se’sasha. “Even Se’sasha’s people are still our enemies in a basic sense, as long as they’re under Sekassus’ rule. Any we can rescue or bring back here we can try turning to her service, but as long as they’re under Sekassus’ rule, they’re enemies.”

  Ty tossed a crumpled stick into the fire. “You’re not planning to invade Mehr’Durillia, are you?” he asked.

  “Gods, no,” Kari answered. “Not for a very, very long time at the least. Right now, my highest priority is to gather as much intelligence as we can. Se’sasha will be our primary help in that, but any Mehr’Durillian ‘demons’ we can capture, and who’ll talk, can also help. We need to find out everything we can about Mehr’Durillia before we even think about doing anything there. You have to remember something: the demon kings are enough of a problem with just the mortal races of Mehr’Durillia under their control. The things we’ve dealt with…those aren’t even the real demons. The demons and their leaders are on Irrathmor making war on Sakkrass and his people.”

  “You know, you’re already growing into this leadership role very well,” Aeligos said, and the rest of the companions agreed heartily. “I know you’re pregnant and would really like to get back to DarkWind, but I think it might be a good idea to continue west to the coast, and then take a boat over to Morikk. It might be an immense help to actually get a look at the Temple; by then, Se’sasha will have communed with her mother and found out about the Temple one way or another.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Kari said. “I’d just be concerned about going there since…well, you know.”

  “True, I suppose if there’s one place Emma might go looking for you, it might be there,” Aeligos mused.

  Kari still hadn’t told anyone else that all of the kings knew she was Salvation’s Dawn; it was the sort of thing that would get her tethered to a desk or hidden in a cellar. If they all knew about Salvation’s Dawn, then it was likely they all knew about the Temple to some degree. Not that it mattered much: the Overking alone knowing about the Temple and being interested in it was enough of a problem. Aeligos’ suggestion that they go take a look at the Temple made a lot more sense in light of Emma’s involvement. Unless the mallasti girl had collected the other six seals required to open the locking mechanism, Kari’s presence as Salvation’s Dawn wouldn’t serve to help her at all.

  Kari looked around at her companions. Even if Emma was there and did have the other six seals, Kari was pretty sure the mallasti girl could be subdued or killed by the strong people around her. If not, Kari wasn’t sure it would even matter: if a single mallasti girl could take out so many trained defenders, the Temple was in more danger than anyone could do anything about.

  “All right, that settles it,” Kari said at last. “If the Temple is that important, we’ll take a short trip over there to see it ourselves.” Grakin didn’t seem entirely pleased with that, but he nodded in deference to Kari’s decision. “I hope Little Gray takes to traveling on a ship well. For that matter, I hope Se’sasha does, too.”

  The syrinthian priestess glanced at Kari but didn’t say anything. After sharing a meal, the group set up watches and started to sleep in shifts. The valley was still populated by wild animals, but nothing bothered the camp during the night. Kari and Se’sasha were allowed to sleep through the night on account of their different health conditions, though Kari woke before dawn as usual. Everyone else except for Ty was asleep in the pre-dawn hours, and the blonde was leaning against a hut, his glowing green eyes sweeping side to side, watching for trouble.

  Kari began her morning routine, but found she couldn’t do her stretches and exercises the way she normally would. When she looked at her naked belly, the reason why was obvious. It meant for certain that this would be her last foray away from DarkWind for some time. Her only hope was that she would have a little girl so that she and Grakin would have one of each. She already had a name picked out if it was a girl, but she hadn’t given much thought to boys’ names just yet.

  Little Gray woke up to his mother’s stretching and the unintentional grunts that were now a part of it, and his excited morning chatter woke many of the others up. Se’sasha and Grakin were the first to actually get up and move about, and they walked to the brightest section of the lightening village to greet the dawn together. Kari wondered if she should be doing the same thing as a daughter of Sakkrass; did he expect anything from her on such matters? She usually felt his presence in her mind, but she realized she wasn’t in the habit of doing much to keep their relationship close. As it was, she hadn’t “spoken” to him in her dreams for some time. When she saw that Danilynn was beginning her morning prayers, Kari moved over by Se’sasha and Grakin quietly and knelt down by them to pray.

  Kari closed her eyes, but her mind was torn about to whom she should be praying. On the one hand, Sakkrass was her father, but Zalkar was supposed to be her deity, and at the very least, he was the one she served directly as the head of his Demonhunter Order. Prayer was something she only did every so often, usually when she needed the strength of the gods or wanted to give them thanks for receiving it. There was no denying that she didn’t feel the same way about the gods as her mate or any of the other priests or priestesses she knew. Kari began to wonder if that was a problem.

  She brushed the thoughts aside; Zalkar was all too happy to lend her his strength, and had never protested her rise through the Order or her becoming its head. Similarly, Sakkrass spoke to her when he needed to, and he never said or even suggested that she wasn’t keeping in close enough contact with him. She recognized that she was here now, thinking of both of them, and she hoped that it was enough. Sakkrass was like her father, and Zalkar was like her boss, and she trusted both of them with her life and, she mused, even her soul. Which would lay claim to the latter when she passed, she couldn’t say.

  A short way behind her, Kari could hear Little Gray playing with his aunt and uncle. Ty and Sonja were all too happy to watch out for the boy when Kari and Grakin were busy during the trip. The sound of her son’s laughter set Kari’s heart aflutter as it usually did, and she gently touched her hand to her lower belly while she continued to think of Zalkar and Sakkrass. There were no tingles in her mind, no reliving of memories as she’d experienced before, and neither of the two deities “spoke” to her in any quantifiable sense. Still, she felt better for having shared a morning moment with both of them, expressing her thanks and her happiness.

  Kari returned to the rest of her friends before Se’sasha, Grakin, or Danilynn had finished their prayers, and she helped cook some food for everyone. She took a seat by the fire and fed her son, and Typhonix made a sweep of the village around them to be sure no one was lurking among the huts. Sonja’s life-sense detected only animals in the vicinity, which helped satisfy T
y’s suspicious nature, and the group took their morning meal together. While they ate, Kari saw that Se’sasha’s skin was already beginning to look better, though it would take some time before the girl’s flesh filled back in.

  Once breakfast was finished, Eli and Danilynn led the group through the village. They had a hard time pinpointing where Se’ceria’s grave was: it had been about a dozen years since they buried the syrinthian priestess. With the czarikk village abandoned, though, they were eventually able to get their bearings, and they found the gravesite at the northwest edge of the village. Several dozen graves were arranged in neat rows there; though the czarikk typically didn’t bury their dead, they had to take the simpler method of honoring their peoples’ remains when they were forced to flee.

  Se’ceria’s grave was a little different than the others: it had a marker, whereas those of the czarikk were designated only by a stony covering to dissuade animals from digging. A wood plank was stuck in the ground at the head of Se’ceria’s grave, and had been carved simply with the syrinthian priestess’ name and the year of her death: 3049. It was covered in stones just as the others were, and it didn’t appear as though anything had disturbed the site in the years since its construction. Most curiously of all, it was in the center of the many czarikk graves around it.

  Se’sasha didn’t approach the grave right away. She watched curiously while Eli and Danilynn crouched by its stony cover and apparently offered their respects. Kari had wondered how close Eli and Se’ceria were when the half-corlyps initially told her the tale, but there was no doubt left. Between the way he described holding the woman in his arms while she died, and the way he paid his respects to what was, by all common knowledge, an enemy, Kari could plainly see the truth of the matter. Danilynn paid her respects as well, but Kari saw there was something different there: Danilynn had spoken with Se’ceria a number of times, and knew the priestess’ hopes and dreams even better than Eli did. And there was also the fact that Danilynn was a priestess: if anyone had a clear perspective of whether reward or retribution awaited Se’ceria’s spirit, Kari was sure it would be Danilynn.