“Oh? And who in all the gods do you even think you are? I never saw any information about that!” Slaid retorted angrily.
“My name is Wenris, and while the Archon serves the Demon Queen of Chains, I serve one of her direct opponents. Not that she knows that, given that I’d spent three millennia building up a solid cover in her service, a cover which I’ll have you know that I just threw away for you mortals.” Wenris’ voice was deadly calm, and she smiled at him as she continued. “As for the information, I made sure to leak it to the spies that you rebels, Sifaren, and Yisara have in place in Kelvanath. It isn’t my fault if you’re incompetent.”
“Well, if you’re a demon, you can go ahead and—” Slaid began, his hand dropping to his sword, and Diane’s heart almost stopped as she saw Serel’s hand tighten on her own hilt, the soldiers surrounding her tensing.
“Stop it!” Skylark’s words startled everyone, and Diane glanced over at the woman in shock. Skylark’s eyes were puffy from shed tears, but her gaze was fierce as she continued. “We don’t have time to fight among ourselves, and she helped us, Slaid!”
“Thank you,” Wenris told the elf with a smile, but Skylark just turned a baleful look on the succubus.
“Don’t thank me. I don’t trust you, not really, I just don’t think we have time for this,” the soldier almost spat.
“Nonetheless, I thank you. I was directed to help all of you… at least a little. I’ve done somewhat more than anticipated, but I’m certain Milady would have corrected me if she was unhappy with my choices,” Wenris replied, then paused, looking behind them, and her frown intensified. “Though… we may have a problem.”
“What might that be?” This time the speaker was Vendis, who’d stayed out of the discussion until then, her voice subdued.
“An angel is coming after us. If I’m not mistaken, it’s Zenith,” Wenris replied absently, reaching up to toy with the necklace she was wearing. “That could be… interesting.”
“What? Why would she be after us?” Jaine protested, her voice taut with disbelief.
“I did not think she would help the Archon,” Diane agreed softly, looking at the succubus in worry, not just because of the revelation that Wenris had been doing what she had under orders.
“That’s far too long of a story to explain just now. Let’s just say that not everything regarding Tyria is as it seems,” Wenris demurred, clicking her tongue as she glanced at the group and sighed. “It seems I’ll have to take a much more direct hand in this. You might survive Zenith’s assault, but she’s all but guaranteed to recapture Diane and Jaine, and I can’t have that.”
“Wenris, while I know you’re more powerful than I am, you don’t feel anywhere near as powerful as the angel does,” Serel spoke softly, frowning at the demoness. “I’ve seen her fight.”
“Yes, you have. On the other hand, you haven’t seen me fight, so you may be making false assumptions. I also don’t wish to have my investments damaged.” Wenris laughed, grinning as she looked at Slaid. “You might want to get ready to move, though. This could be… violent.”
“I should certainly hope so,” Slaid growled, still obviously unhappy, but with a nod he set the others about getting their horses ready again.
“Wenris… does that mean that our… deal was just another deception?” Diane asked softly, staring at the succubus.
The woman didn’t respond at first, her body shimmering as she changed from her apparently elven form back to her natural shape. In an instant the pale-skinned succubus was nearly nude, her bat-like wings spread wide and tail lashing behind her, and she gave Diane a smile as she reached out and seemed to cut open space once more. She pulled out what looked like a charm bracelet, her voice soft and pleasant, almost gentle. “Of course not, Diane. I was perfectly honest with you all along. When I was given my directions by My Lady, she stated that I needed to be out of Kelvanis by the summer solstice. It would have been far easier for me to simply have left you and Jaine behind to make my escape. This was riskier, and thus the bargain. Do you regret it?”
With a snap of her fingers, a charm disappeared from the bracelet and a suit of form-fitting mithral armor sheathed Wenris’ body from head to toe. With another snap, another charm turned into an adamantine staff, the purple-hued metal glittering with inset runes. The sudden change startled Diane, who took a step back, licking her lips as she tried to decide what to say.
“I… part of me does, and part of me doesn’t. You terrify me, and yet… you’ve forced me to change over the winter. I don’t regret making a deal to get Jaine out, though,” Diane finally said, her voice trembling as she looked at her daughter, swallowing hard.
The succubus giggled, sounding odd from within her armor, then spoke in amusement. “Apparently I do better work than I thought. I’ll be back soon, Diane. You’d best fall back, though… Zenith isn’t going to back down politely.”
“Oh. Okay…” Diane swallowed, falling back to the horse, and she almost jumped as she saw Serel holding its reins.
“We’d best hurry, Lady Diane,” Serel murmured, glancing over, and at last the elf could see a faint light in the distance streaking toward them. “I believe this is going to be dangerous.”
“What did you mean about a bargain, Mother?” Jaine asked, already seated on her mount, frowning at Diane.
Quickly getting seated herself, Diane shook her head and sighed loudly. “I… made a bargain with her to get you out of Kelvanis, in your right mind. Apparently I’m getting to come along more due to happenstance.”
Any further commentary was cut off as the succubus took flight, and the angel suddenly appeared in front of her, looking stunned.
“Wenris? What are you doing?” The angel’s voice rang out incredulously. “Why are you helping these miscreants kidnap Diane and Jaine? They’ve been blessed by the goddess!”
“I’m helping them because I made a bargain, you poor, deluded angel.” Wenris’ voice was mocking, pity almost dripping from her words. “Why, you honestly believe that they’ve been kidnapped, don’t you?”
“Why else would they be here? Hand them over, and I’ll leave the rest of you unharmed, mortals!” Zenith spoke so loudly that Diane trembled at the sound of it, hearing the birds flee the area, squawking loudly as they went. She and the others quickly began to move away, even as Wenris laughed.
“I think not,” Wenris demurred, while Diane rushed to move still farther away from the two. As their horses broke into a gallop, she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Zenith’s face darken.
“Then I shall do what I must,” the angel growled, and she shot forward at the succubus, her sword clearing its sheath and igniting with white-hot flames.
Even more shocking than the sword was that Wenris didn’t wait for the angel to reach her, but instead lunged forward with a laugh, grinning as she did so. With a resounding crash that echoed through the woods, the demon blocked Zenith’s blade, and their battle began in truth.
“Your Majesty, hurry! We don’t want to be too close if she fails to stop the angel!” Vendis urged, and Diane swallowed and nodded, turning to focus on their escape instead of the battle raging behind them.
“Serel! How… how strong is the angel? You said you saw Zenith fight before, right?” Diane called out, the horses ahead of them slowing to a trot as they made their way down a game trail.
“I did. She is… potent. Enough so that if she weren’t taken by surprise, five Enforcers would not be her match,” Serel replied, a hint of nervousness to the normally impassive woman’s voice. “I’m worried that Wenris may be a touch overconfident.”
“That just means we should move more quickly,” Slaid replied flatly, not seeming happy at all. “I don’t trust a succubus.”
Diane didn’t say anything more, turning her focus to their escape. As they continued onward, the echoing impacts and explosions of the angel and demon fighting continued for several minutes, before finally going silent after nearly a quarter of an hour. No
one said much, but Diane couldn’t help but swallow, wondering who she actually wanted to have won.
Wenris let out a breath of relief, popping her back as she descended toward the crater in the middle of a grove of burning trees. Zenith was more powerful than she’d expected, marginally anyway, and if she hadn’t been concealing her power for centuries the succubus might’ve been in trouble. As it was, the collateral damage was extensive.
Several dozen craters from spells that missed or where one of them had been thrown into the ground adorned the landscape around them, and many of the trees were on fire, while others were simply snapped like twigs. Most of the wildlife had wisely fled, which meant that aside from the howl of wind and crackle of flames, the area was quiet.
Zenith was struggling to rise from the crater she’d been embedded into, her armor cracked and partially caved in from the last staff-strike, and her face pale, even as blood bubbled from her lips. Even with an arm broken she was still trying to fight, and Wenris sighed, dropping onto her, one foot on Zenith’s good arm while her other was on the cracked armor, likely making the pain of the angel’s broken bones worse.
“Enough of that, dear. I haven’t been trying to kill you, you know. If I had, I would have charged my staff with unholy energy,” Wenris advised her calmly, smirking. “That would not have gone well for you.”
“I’m… I’m going to get you for this, you traitor…” Zenith gasped, then coughed more blood as she stared malevolently at the succubus. “Unless… I die, I’ll do it… even if you are stronger than you should be.”
“I think not. That would require you going free, but I have no intention of allowing that, either. No, I made preparations for this some time ago, just in case,” Wenris murmured, reaching up and pulling out her necklace, the one with the golden birdcage on it. She smiled, murmuring several words that caused the cage to begin glowing with faint azure light. She extended it toward Zenith, whose eyes went wide as streamers of azure light extended from the cage, starting to wrap around her.
“No! What… what is that?” the angel protested, trying to struggle and flee, but Wenris simply pressed down harder, pinning the angel as the spell wrapped around her.
“This is a dimensional prison, Zenith. Within this tiny little birdcage is a space that could fit even a dragon, but it’s its own separate world, one where you’ll heal, but be unable to interfere or communicate with outsiders without my help,” Wenris replied brightly, smiling. “Unfortunately it’s rather… slow to use, so I had to use it after subduing you.”
“You psychotic demon! Tyria will get you for—” Zenith’s voice was filled with pain and anger, but in the middle of her sentence the spell completed, and with a flash of light the angel vanished, and Wenris almost stumbled as her feet fell to the dirt beneath where the woman had been laying. The azure glow had vanished as well, and Wenris held her necklace up to examine the cage more closely, her eyes narrowing as she did so.
A smile crossed her face as the succubus saw a tiny angelic figure inside the cage, no taller than half an inch in height, who was weakly grasping the bars. The succubus nodded, her voice soft as she murmured, “There we go, that’s a major problem dealt with. Now to go claim my prize.”
Slipping the necklace back under her armor and into her cleavage, the succubus took flight once more, following the path that she knew the elves would be taking.
“Alright, I think that’s as far as we can make it today. We’ll camp here for the night,” Vendis decided, looking to Slaid.
“I agree. We’ll try to keep it short, but if we want the horses to make it all the way back to Beacon we can’t push them too hard.” Slaid nodded, taking a deep breath and scowling. “Question is, if the succubus comes back, what do we do about her?”
“That’s a very good question,” Vendis admitted, and hesitated, frowning before she continued, looking at Diane nervously. “Your opinion, Your Majesty? I’m inclined not to trust her, but I felt the same about Sistina, which could have ended badly.”
“Sistina? No, never mind that,” Diane quickly corrected her inquiry, taking a moment to steady herself and consider the elven captain’s question. She was torn, but after glancing at Serel, who looked far too confident, she continued. “I think that we’d best let her be. If she’s strong enough that she could defeat Zenith, any conflict with her would be devastating for us as well, and I’d really rather not imperil our escape.”
The group began to dismount and tend to their horses, and Diane looked around at her rescuers with interest. The woman Skylark was looking particularly unwell, but beyond her were a full hundred of Sifaren’s soldiers, along with nearly double that of Kelvanis’ rebels. Most of those present had been outside the city and had helped them in their escape, but it was a much larger group than she’d expected. While they began setting up a basic camp, Serel helped Diane dismount.
“Mother… but what did you promise her? Wenris, I mean,” Jaine asked, looking worried as she frowned, and Diane was startled to see that her daughter was holding the hand of Meredith tightly, even after the maid had helped her dismount. Whether they were friends or something more, this wasn’t the time or place to address it.
“That’s…” Diane paused, frowning as she tried to think of how to explain things. She hesitated, and it was at that moment that Wenris’ pleasant voice interrupted.
“While maintaining my cover as one of Irethiel’s servants, I was tasked with entering the dreams of yourself and your mother, Jaine,” the succubus spoke up, stepping from the woods in a human shape, ignoring the sudden tension of the soldiers who’d been keeping watch. Wenris strolled toward them, smiling as she explained. “There I was to brainwash the pair of you into willing puppets of Kelvanis, and I had no reason at the time not to carry it out. However, Diane somehow was able to detect my presence, which intrigued me, so I made an offer to her, which she accepted. I did as little as possible to you without directly disobeying my orders, and she would speak with me each night, while keeping this secret.”
“What? But that doesn’t make any sense! I don’t remember anything like that,” Jaine protested, taking a step toward Diane nervously, and prompting a soft giggle from the succubus.
“Of course you don’t. You were exceedingly vulnerable, Jaine, and it only took the barest hints to get results out of you. To make a long story short, in desperation Diane begged me to save you, and offered me anything that she could give in exchange. I agreed, with the price being your mother herself. She would give herself up to me, if I helped you escape,” Wenris explained as she stepped behind Diane and gently embraced her. While Diane couldn’t see the demon’s grin, she could all but hear it as she spoke. “This morning I ensured that your thoughts were clear of all the fell influence of the past winter, and that you could consider your situation properly. I leaked the information necessary to lead a rescue party here, and had plans in place to get us out of Westgate should the rebels fail. I made myriad plans, and all of them risked me far more than was strictly necessary. So now all that’s required is for Diane to carry out her part of the bargain.”
“What? But… no! You can’t do that!” Jaine spat, the young woman seemingly floundering as she stared at the demon and Diane in shock. Looking down, Diane flushed in shame. “Why should she go through with something like that?”
“That’s an excellent question. Why should she?” Slaid asked, the dark-haired man taking a step closer and settling one hand on his sword hilt. Diane’s tension suddenly grew at the sight, realizing just how the situation was starting to spiral out of control.
“Everyone, stop it!” Diane startled even herself when she spoke, glaring at them and breaking free of Wenris’ grasp, turning and putting her hands on her hips as she looked over the others. Only Wenris didn’t look shocked, the demon seeming amused while even Serel betrayed a hint of surprise.
“Your Majesty—” Vendis began, but Diane cut her off, pointing to the south.
“I am not a queen anymore, Capta
in Vendis. I deliberately stepped down to ensure that Kelvanis wouldn’t be able to get their hands on a rightful monarch of Yisara, and though it wasn’t made public, it was a contract before Fate. I am no royal, nor will I ever be one in Yisara again.” Diane replied more calmly than she felt, and lowered her arm, taking a deep breath. “As for the bargain, I find that I honestly don’t give a damn anymore. I gave up my life and freedom for Yisara’s next generation. I was willing to give anything to give you a chance, Jaine, and I don’t regret it. Wenris could have claimed me then and there, but she chose not to. As for going through with it? Wenris… did you actually break the brand linking yourself to this… Irethiel?”
At the question, the eyes of Diane’s rescuers went wide, turning to the succubus, who was smiling radiantly as she nodded. “I see I made an excellent choice, Diane. Yes, I did. I will add that I don’t know how I did so. My Lady created the spell and planted it within my mind, I do not possess the knowledge or skill needed to understand or teach others how to use it.”
“That… but you can break the brands?” Skylark asked, her eyes wide with shock. “But… but not even Sistina has been able to do that!”
“I know little about this dungeon of yours, but I doubt that her knowledge amounts to more than a tithe of My Lady’s. She is old and powerful… and no, I’m not telling you who she is,” Wenris replied, shaking her head.
“You see? I’m not going to upset someone who serves another who is that powerful. So can we just get on with camping, and not making a scene with Kelvanis on our tail?” Diane demanded.
“I… I suppose so.” Jaine slumped slightly.
“I do have one question. What happened to the angel?” Vendis asked Wenris, who paused in stepping toward Diane again, raising an eyebrow.
“Zenith? Oh, I beat her into submission, then captured her.” The succubus pulled out her pendant and held up the cage as she spoke brightly. “See?”
Halls of Power (Ancient Dreams Book 3) Page 22