by Joe Jackson
They continued their tour of the city, noting the changes in attitudes whenever they passed through an area where the demons were present. Kari was tempted to kill the rest of them, but that would only draw more of them here along with the Overking’s attention. Thus far, she had been more than successful in avoiding drawing the Overking’s ire; it was best if she kept things that way. She ignored the demons as best she could, but kept aware of the feeling of their presence so she would remain mindful of what she said.
When they returned near the city center, Kari’s nerves hardened to icy steel. There he stood, at last, surveying the damage from the prior day’s battle. Amnastru had only a few of his servants with him, and no citizen of the city dared go anywhere near him. He was particularly curious about the wreckage of the inn; had he planned to stay there? Apparently, The Vandrasse had left out a few details of the prior morning’s fiasco.
His head swung in Kari’s direction suddenly, and a fanged grin split his cobra-like face. It was a grin Kari remembered well, the one he’d displayed after his father had slain Uldriana. He strode confidently toward Kari and Seanada, and brought a vicious-looking greatsword to bear, its edge serrated with barbs sticking out at random points. It looked brutal, but being the weapon master she was, Kari shook her head; it was a stupid weapon to wield. All those barbs and that serrated edge ensured was that it would snag and get caught on anything it bit into.
“So, we meet at last, my little rebel,” he taunted in an ironically gentle voice. “There is nowhere left to run.”
“Run?” Kari repeated. “We’ve been chasing you for weeks, not running. If we were running, there wouldn’t be a trail of dead siblings for you to follow.” Amnastru hissed, but Kari held her hand up. “Before we get started, those ones behind you – those are your retainers?”
“What?” he balked.
Perhaps I used the wrong word? she thought. “Your servants…can one of them take a message to your father?”
“I will not waste time listening to your nonsense. I am going to beat you into submission, then I am going to have my way with you, and then – if you are lucky – my father will kill you. If you are lucky.”
“You may not want to listen, but your father certainly will. It concerns The Vandrasse.”
“What of her?” Amnastru asked, beginning to pace around the two mallasti females in a wide circle. “Speak quickly before I lose my patience.”
“Your brother, Prince Massu, was killed by The Vandrasse, not me. She dominated his mind and made him kill himself. She also blew up this inn,” Kari said, indicating the destroyed building behind her with a thumb, “and killed several dozen of your father’s citizens. I’m sure your father has greater concerns than a building or these people he doesn’t care about, but you may want to tell him that his servant is actually working against him, and has killed his son.”
Amnastru halted his circling and swung his head about. “You there!” he yelled, taking one of his hands off the hilt of his greatsword just long enough to point at a nearby syrinthian. “Is this true? Did The Vandrasse kill my brother?”
“Y-yes, Your Highness,” the syrinthian male said, going weak in the knees under the prince’s burrowing gaze. “It happened just as the vulkinastra said.”
Amnastru turned to his servants, pointed at one, snapped his fingers, and then gestured north. “Ah, well,” he said with a shrug, turning back to Kari. “I had long hoped to find some reason to pull that one’s fangs out and put her to her proper use. Perhaps if Father doesn’t have her killed outright, I will get my chance. I know not what you hoped to gain by telling me this, but if it was some ploy for mercy, you have wasted your time.”
“I just like watching my enemies kill each other,” Kari said. “Why put forth the effort to kill The Vandrasse when your idiot father will do it for me?”
The prince hissed in fury, his eyes narrowing, and he began to approach again. “Your little rebellion ends here, harlot.”
It suddenly occurred to Kari why the people reacted so to her use of that word: they used ketava as their sole “curse word.” Harlot was not just some casual insult, but a truly vicious thing to call someone in a language that had no expletives. It didn’t even faze her, as used to such insults as she was in her native languages, but it made her more aware of what she might say in the future.
“On the contrary, it’s just beginning,” Kari said. “You see, I realized something when I heard the prophecy your father was given: it’s already come to pass.”
Chapter XVIII – The Prophecy Be Done
“Oh, spare me,” he said, lifting his sword and resting it on his shoulder. “My father may give credence to the stupidity of your so-called holy people, but I have no time for the words of false prophets of dead or powerless gods.”
“You see, your father misunderstood the prophecy,” Kari continued, not letting the Prince interrupt what was truly intended for the people watching. “It says a vulkinastra will bring death to your father’s doorstep, and that she would lead a rebellion that ends with his demise. But you see, language is a funny thing. The she that would lead the rebellion that ends with his demise is not a reference to the vulkinastra; it’s a reference to Death.”
That stopped the prince cold in his tracks. “What?”
“A vulkinastra would bring Death to his doorstep, and Death would bring about his deposition. That’s not a reference to me, you fool. It’s a reference to Uldriana Te’Strikk, the young vulkinastra he killed more than a year ago. She brought Death to his doorstep: Karian Vanador. And she is going to bring your father to his knees.”
Amnastru’s head whipped around in sudden uncertainty. No one knew it was Kari in this mallasti body; they were still looking for her, especially after what Seanada said in Haestronn. It was all falling into place now, all these feints and false whispers and gambits. Now Amnastru felt trapped, at once wanting to kill this troublesome vulkinastra before him, but also wanting to rush back to his father’s side. Whether he wanted to return to his father to protect him or simply to make an attempt on Kari was a mystery, but one Kari thought she knew the answer to.
“Come, then,” he said at last, approaching. “I have a demonhunter to go ravage, and have little time to waste on the likes of you.”
Kari pulled forth her waushims and took up the stance the Wraith preferred. She tensed and then relaxed her muscles several times in rapid succession. Amnastru was incredibly strong; Kari had felt his power when he’d struck her across the snout at her meeting with King Sekassus. Since then, Kari had dueled with King Koursturaux who, she suspected, was even stronger than Prince Amnastru. She was aware of his strength, and knew what to expect. And what was more, this mallasti body was heavier, denser, and had a lower center of gravity. It would take him even more of that considerable strength to try knocking her down.
He chased Seanada out of range with a wide slash, then brought it back and over his shoulder to try overpowering Kari. She deflected his chop harmlessly and without too much effort, but reach was going to be her enemy. He was still a good six feet away from her after his blade touched ground, and the experienced warrior stepped back and dragged his weapon to a ready pose to keep his guard firmly in front.
Seanada stalked sideways to try to flank him, but he circled in turn, keeping the women before him. Amnastru didn’t reach immediately for that royal power over the realm; he seemed content to try to overpower Kari and Seanada with his martial prowess. Realization hit Kari again as she thought of the Wraith “perfecting” her style: to try to fight Amnastru defensively wasn’t likely to work with his strength and reach advantages. She had to take the fight to him, and the Wraith had taught her to do that – just as he’d taught Seanada.
Without so much as a nod or a word spoken, both danced in at the same time and began their offensive routines. The prince brought his power to bear, shoving Seanada away with a short gesture before he met Kari’s attacks with some expert parries that flowed into a massive riposte. S
he was able to deflect it, but even prepared as she was for the attack and the strength behind it, his blow still sent her staggering a few steps back.
Amnastru pressed the advantage, setting the cobblestone street to become his ally against Seanada in almost the same way Massu had against The Vandrasse. Seanada hopped about to keep out of reach of the grasping hands, but more and more erupted from the cobblestones to try to pin her down, eventually chasing her to a dirt alleyway. That didn’t seem to be much better, the mud churning and trying to suck her in.
Kari lost sight of her, too focused on the prince bearing down on her. He used the long arc of his swings to keep Kari on the outside, but each time she dodged backwards, he would halt his swing and hop in with a crushing overhand chop. He was battering her despite doing no real damage; fatigue would become Kari’s undoing long before the prince grew tired. Kari calmed and centered herself, realizing he was falling into a predictable routine. She bided her time and waited for his movements to come full circle again.
With his next broad swing, Kari stepped barely an inch out of the way, the blade cutting close enough to her that she felt the wind of its passing. She feigned a step back, but stepped in on him, turning so that his crushing blow missed her by a few hairs’ breadth, just as the Wraith had done to her. She slashed, spinning with the motion to bring both weapons back around and double her attack a moment later. Her first connected but failed to pierce his armor, while the second and third met the blade of his own weapon.
She had forced him into a defensive posture, though, and she stepped back and taunted him with her blades out to the sides. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, but before he attempted his attack, Kari slammed both of her blades on the ground and shouted, “Epaxa chi’pri!”
The ground trembled beneath her blow, and the cobblestones cracked between her feet and those of the prince. He swayed slightly on the unsteady ground, but then he looked at her incredulously. “You would seek to turn my realm against me? This is my land, fool, and it will favor me over you!”
He lifted his hand again as he stepped back out of her range, and more of the stony hands rose from the cobblestones. Kari pushed out with her faith, but also sent forth the arcane power of this mallasti body with it. Rather than cancel the prince’s hold over the land, Kari usurped it, and had the stone hands make the rude gesture so common among the humans back home. She then flexed that arcane might, and the hands joined, then rose further out of the ground in a latticework of hands and arms, until there was a stone wall behind Kari.
“One less avenue of escape for you,” she said evenly. “Care to try again?”
“Avenue of escape?” he spat disdainfully. He turned toward Seanada, dancing out of the way of grasping hands and sucking mud, and called up a wall of hard-packed earth to seal off the alleyway. “You think I would run from you?”
“I know you will,” Kari answered. “You have no idea of the forces that have aligned against you. You think you fight but two mallasti women? When you run, and when you lay dying at my feet, you will see the error of your thinking.”
Amnastru glanced around and made a gesture, then flashed his fangs in a grin. “Your bluffs will not save you, little woman. I am not some minor prince you may intimidate. This southern portion of my father’s realm has been prepared for me to rule over, and I know it and its feel as I walk its lands. No living thing is going to come to your aid without me knowing well beforehand. And considering your companion cannot even escape the most basic of powers, you are now very much alone.”
“Never,” Kari said, and the prince tilted his head. She tapped her scaled breastplate, under which was the symbol of the Great Mother, under which was the unseen tattoo of Zalkar’s symbol. “Never alone.”
The prince snorted. “Already I can feel my legion approaching. Do you hear the distant sound of their footfalls? Forced march from the moment I received word you were here. Even should you manage to injure me, they will tear you apart, and put down any other fools that see fit to join your little uprising!”
The others in the area cowered a bit as the prince raised his voice, but Kari circled him, getting the newly-formed stone wall away from her back. “If I hurt you badly enough, they may just turn on you,” Kari said. “Just like all the other towns I’ve been through where I’ve killed your brothers and soldiers. The sad thing is you don’t even realize how much your own people hate you. All they need is the slightest act of defiance, the smallest glimmer of hope, and they turn on you and your father without hesitation. So what do you think is going to happen when your legion arrives, and they and the people of this city see me take you apart piece by piece? How long do you think your father will last after that?”
Amnastru threw a hand forward, but the push of his will had barely touched Kari before she pushed back. Her faith was amplified by the arcane power of the mallasti, and she pushed in return. She couldn’t move him, but neither had he moved her. With a snarl, he took up his blade again and came at Kari quickly but with disturbing calm. He raised it to overpower her again, and Kari started to sidestep instinctively.
His foot connected with the side of her head, and sent Kari sprawling to the stone streets as her blades clattered away. She moved on instinct, launching herself back the way she had fallen, the prince’s massive sword barely missing the tip of her ear as it chipped a cobblestone. He turned and pursued, and Kari hardly got to her feet before he slammed her across the chest and sent her skidding across the plaza. His sword hadn’t penetrated her breastplate at that angle, but he’d bruised her ribs at the very least.
Amnastru approached, cocky, as Kari staggered to her feet with no weapons. Kari looked about for Seanada, but she was gone, walled off from the fight by that hardened dirt. Had she been captured by the grasping ground beyond the wall? Or was she searching for some way to get back to the fight? Kari tried to circle left and then right, but Prince Amnastru stepped in time with her in both directions, keeping her from getting back to her waushims.
“And you thought I was going to run?” he taunted her as he came into attack range.
“I’m not running,” Kari said, remaining calm. “We’re just getting started.”
She pulled the Wraith’s goggles over her eyes and willed herself to fade from sight. The prince’s eyes widened, but Kari was sure he’d have some means of detecting her, just as Seanada could when they traveled. She wasted no time rushing to her blades, and scooped them up and got to a ready position just as the prince homed in on her. By his posture and mannerisms, he still couldn’t see her, but he had an idea of where she was – or was that just because she had picked up the waushims?
Kari let herself fade into sight as she strode past him at a safe distance. “Why Prince Amnastru, you almost looked frightened there for a moment,” she taunted him back.
He smirked now, and stepped in, then sidestepped and spun. Kari crossed her blades to catch his, shocked when his sword struck her from the other side, ripping into armor and flesh and throwing her violently to the side. Her shoulder jammed awkwardly when she tried to stop her momentum from making her slide all the way to the wall, and there was a fire in her left breast from the sword’s bite. She didn’t know what had happened; it was like she’d seen him in a mirror, and reacted in the wrong direction.
Kari got to her feet again, but her left arm was weak from the wound. What I wouldn’t give to be in my paluric armor right now, she thought. Or have my scimitars, for that matter.
Amnastru came at her again. This time, Kari fended off the attack from the “wrong” direction, but took a blow to her right side instead, sending her skidding across the ground the other way. She grunted and whined in pain as she stood, her waushims drooping to her sides. A couple of the townsfolk moved as if to help her, but Kari shook her head to warn them away.
She reached up and put the Wraith’s goggles on again. Now she could see Amnastru’s heat and blood flow; there would be no fooling her with his mirror-trickery. Of course, now both of her s
ides were injured, and it was going to be a challenge simply to keep her guard up or put forth any sort of offense. At that moment, however, that wasn’t a pressing concern.
Seanada landed, in her normal form and armor, on the prince’s back and managed to arch around his hood and sink her fangs into his neck. He screamed and cursed, grabbed a handful of her hair and ripped her free of her perch before throwing her to the ground. Seanada’s head bounced off the cobblestones and she looked stunned for a moment, but even as the prince raised his greatsword to finish her off, those golden eyes opened, and Kari’s jaw dropped.
In the span of the second that it took Amnastru to swing, Seanada sprang to her feet and struck him in the chest with both hands, throwing him backward. He got his footing quickly and swung again from distance, but Seanada slid several paces to her left in a blur, leaving behind a shadowy form that the prince’s blade passed through. He kicked the shadow, though, and it sent the real Seanada to her back, even far away from him as she was.
Kari didn’t waste her opportunity. She faded from sight and made for the distracted prince. Ducking low, she swung at the inside of his far knee and ripped through the buckles of his greaves. Spinning back the other way, she destroyed his other leg plate and the straps that held it in place. His legs were exposed now, and she backed out of range and let herself fade back into sight. She’d told Seanada she was no assassin, and though she had to grab what few opportunities she was given, she didn’t want to kill him with a cheap shot.
Why not? she wondered. What difference did it make in the long run? Her goal was to kill him, not give him a fair fight. Koursturaux had warned Kari that the kings and their princes would not afford her the luxury of a fair fight, so why was she so dead set on doing so for them?
I’ve got people to influence, she concluded.
“The legion; it’s almost here,” Seanada said, glancing to the east over her shoulder.
“And your time is almost up,” Amnastru said with a fanged grin. “Very resourceful of you to try stealing my power, but it will not be enough for you to turn the tide.”