I landed behind the demons and started blindly swinging. There was no chance to strategize or size up the enemy. There were simply too many of them in one small space and too few of us. I wondered where Yara was now, whether she was observing the carnage from a safe place or had fled to safety.
“Cassia, behind you!” Zeph’s voice rang out.
I turned in time to block a blow from a horned demon and his mace. He snarled at me, angry that I’d thwarted his plan to bludgeon me.
“I need help over here,” Rylan yelled. I couldn’t see her anymore. And where was giant Barris? Sweat pearled on my forehead and upper lip. My loved ones were like lambs to the slaughter and it was all my fault. Rafe was right—the demons outnumbered us by far too many.
“Someone get to Rylan!” Although I screamed at the top of my lungs, I had no idea whether anyone heard me. Even worse, my visibility was now hampered. A haze seemed to settle over the room, probably courtesy of a particular gnarly demon corpse.
Across the great hall, a light burned. It grew brighter until a figure cut through the smog, her wings slicing away the thick vapors. Her sword was aflame and her clothing was covered in black goo.
“I brought a few friends,” Liesel said. “Hope you don’t mind if we crash your party.” Behind her stood dozens of fae, armed and dressed for battle.
My jaw unlocked. How she’d managed to persuade them to join the fray, I couldn’t begin to guess. The fae tended to be even more isolated than the seraphim.
“Where’s the king?” Liesel asked, as the fae warriors fanned out to fight.
Zeph lifted a finger. “A little update on that. The king is dead and Yara’s the one trying to kill us with her demon squad.”
Liesel blinked. “Wait, Yara switched teams? Aren’t we here to rescue her?”
“She didn’t switch,” I said. “She’s been on her own team this whole time.”
Liesel raised her sword as lesser demons swarmed us. “What a…”
“Liesel!” Rylan’s joy was impossible to contain. She broke through the line of demons, her hair bloody and matted to her cheeks. I was so relieved to see her alive that I kissed her cheek anyway.
There was no time for a proper reunion. The demons were relentless and I caught sight of Yara across the great hall—whether she’d been here the whole time, I wasn’t sure. She rode on the back of a creature I didn’t recognize. It had the body of a bull and the head of a lion. Its footsteps thundered as it carried her across the room.
“Rise up!” I heard Sage’s voice somewhere in the chaos, bold and assertive. “Rise up!”
Bones creaked.
The haze cleared and I could see more corpses rising to answer to Sage. She directed them at Yara and her mount. I fought on instinct, slaying and slashing. I ignored the pressure in my head and the itching of my hands. I couldn’t use celestial powers in the middle of this mess. If I inadvertently hit one of my friends, I’d never forgive myself.
A massive demon with legs like tree trunks hooked Sage under his arm and yanked her off the ground. Her corpse puppets dropped to the floor.
“Sage!” I tried to fly to her, but multiple demon hands latched on to me and kept me grounded.
I caught sight of a silhouette racing through the crowd toward Sage. When he reached Yara and her mount, he used the bull’s body as leverage and bounded over it to reach the demon holding Sage. He smashed his body into the larger demon’s and Sage fell to the floor, her hand clutching her neck. The new demon was stronger than he appeared. He was about six feet tall with defined muscles, but nothing that suggested super strength.
I seized the opportunity to race toward Yara, who seemed distracted by the demon’s sudden appearance. I raised my sword and the blade blazed with celestial fire. “Your briefest reign in the history of reigns is over.”
“You speak too soon, child,” Yara said, remaining astride her mount. I noticed that she clutched the king’s staff in her hand.
Two hulking demons grabbed me on either side before I could launch into the air. Their muscles bulged and one of them sported thick antlers that were sharpened at the tips. Portable stakes.
“Her hands,” Yara said. “Do not let her access her seraph magic.”
The demons’ beefy hands gripped my wrists and held my arms at my sides. My whole body throbbed and I felt the pressure building in my head.
“What about the cambions?” the antlered demon asked in a rumbling voice.
“I’m a benevolent ruler. I shall offer them a choice,” Yara said. “Serve me or perish.”
I cut a glance to see what had happened to Sage and the mystery demon, but they’d both disappeared from view.
“Find the nephilim and kill him,” she hissed. “Make it painful.” Yara’s gray eyes glinted in the dim light. “My niece is young and her soul is weak. His death will break her.” Her lips parted in a cruel smile.
The hulking demons laughed in response to her vile statement and rage swelled within me. Yara was a poison that had seeped into the heart of the Nether.
“Why don’t you do it yourself?” I said. “At least your father did his own dirty work.”
She flinched and I realized I’d hit a nerve. The fact was that I hadn’t seen Yara do anything on her own. She was a shakti demon from the most powerful family in the Nether, yet she relied on others to fight and attack on her behalf.
“Why don’t you have powers?” I asked.
Yara’s mouth twisted in anger. “Why do you think?”
“Genetics?” I had no idea. Maybe powers skipped certain royal demons the way white hair and celestial flames skipped certain royal seraphim.
“Your stupidity is maddening.” She towered over me. “My father, the king. He is the reason I have no powers. He grew so paranoid after the prophecy that he stripped me of my powers in an attempt to further insulate himself from harm.”
“He could do that?” I didn’t even know such a thing was possible. “Did he take my father’s too?”
She threw back her head and laughed hysterically. “Absorb the powers of his son and heir? He wouldn’t dare. Even with the prophecy, he considered my brother to be his legacy. I was nothing to him.” Her anger was palpable. “He underestimated me to his detriment, wouldn’t you say?”
The gryphon wings of a sitri demon flapped overhead and deposited Rafe on the floor between us. My chest tightened and my head throbbed. His shirt had been shredded by claw marks and one eye was swollen shut.
Yara whistled and a mhasoba demon stomped toward us. His top half was a horned buffalo and his bottom half looked human. He loomed over the other demons, his wide frame knocking over his comrades along the way. In one swift motion, he lifted Rafe by the wing and tossed him in the air. I tried to pull my arms free as his body careened toward us. The antlered demon bent his head forward and impaled Rafe with his sharpened antlers before flinging his lifeless body across the hall. Silent fury gripped me and energy burst from my hands, scorching the demons’ legs and feet on either side of me. I tore away from them and lunged at Yara.
“I shall see you in the next life, child,” Yara said, with a wicked gleam in her eye. As she raised the staff to strike me, someone leaped between us and knocked the staff from her hand. Pain bloomed, practically blinding me as fire tore from my head and encased Yara in a haze of blue. The flames swirled and licked her until she began to dissolve along with her demonic mount. In a surprise to no one, the Flames of Judgment had deemed her unworthy.
I gazed at the pillar of salt on the floor. “See you in the next life,” I whispered.
The powerful demon appeared at my side. “You won’t see her again, I’m afraid. She’ll be lucky to return as an ant.” When he fixed his gray eyes on me, I knew.
Before I could speak, a roar shook the walls of the great hall and prompted my father into action. He climbed onto the shoulders of a large demon to address the room.
“The king is dead,” he proclaimed and silence rippled across the hall. “And P
rincess Yara too. As your new king, I command you to return to your homes and leave the palace at once. The revolution is over. No more blood will be spilled on my watch.”
A long pause followed until someone shouted, “Long live King Tarquin.” The other demons responded in kind. Lesser and greater demons alike began streaming from the great hall in deference to their new leader. Sage fought against the tide to reach me.
“Cassia?” She noticed the pillar of salt on the floor. “Is that Yara?”
I nodded. “The prophecy didn’t mention this part.”
“It’s not a how-to guide,” Barris said, appearing behind her in his normal size. “You did it, though. You saved us.”
“We saved us,” Sage corrected him.
My throat thickened. “Not all of us.” I spun around to search for Rafe’s body. I’d fly it back to Philadelphia and give him a proper sendoff like Elder Sam’s. He deserved it. He deserved so much more—like a long and fruitful life—but a good funeral was all I had left to offer him.
I pushed my way through the throng of demons until I found Liesel. She kneeled on the floor, cradling a cocoon of gray ash.
“This is…Rafe?” I asked.
Liesel nodded. “One of the sniffer demons told me. They have an acute sense of smell.”
“I’m so sorry, Rafe.” As I sobbed against his ashen shoulder, I could have sworn I felt a slight movement.
“Good idea. Let’s get this disgusting tomb off him,” she said. “I don’t know how this got on him, but it’s gross.”
Before either of us could touch him, tiny fragments of ash began to slide from his body. We scrambled backward as a familiar head pushed its way through the ash, followed by shoulders and wings. Finally, the gray dust cleared from his face and I crawled back to him.
“Rafe!” I didn’t wait for his reply. I pressed my hands against his dirty cheeks and kissed him.
“How?” Liesel’s jaw couldn’t have dropped any lower.
“I’m alive,” Rafe said. He seemed as shocked as the rest of us.
“That was amazing,” Rylan said. She stood behind Liesel, observing his metamorphosis with wonder in her eyes. “It was like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.”
I frowned, studying him. “Or a phoenix rising from the ashes.”
Rafe blinked in astonishment. “Huh?”
“The phenex demon.” I wiped more debris from his shoulders. “His flames burned you when you fought earlier. I think it saved your life.” I thought of Henlo’s explanation that a phenex demon’s fire was restorative rather than destructive.
“I’m not burnt anymore.” He examined his arms, which were now fully healed.
“You’re not dead anymore either,” I said. I remembered seeing the phenex demon with cuts and bruises. “I think he’d been trying to heal himself when you ended up fighting him.”
Rafe shook more ash from his hair. “I’ve never been so grateful to be attacked by a demon.”
Liesel hugged him from the side. “If that phenex demon were still alive, I’d marry him and I don’t even want to get married.”
I started to laugh and cry at the same time. Rafe pressed his forehead against mine and I kissed him.
Barris bumped Sage’s hip. “I love you, by the way. In case you were wondering. I’m glad we’ve gone public.”
“By the way?” Liesel echoed, releasing her hold on Rafe. “You can’t tack on ‘by the way’ to a declaration of love.”
“P.S.?” Barris suggested.
“Thanks for the help,” Sage said. “Sorry, I don’t know your name.”
I glanced up to see my father again.
“Prince…King Tarquin.” He smiled down at me. “And I believe I haven’t been properly introduced to my daughter.”
“Cassia,” I said, rising to my feet. “And this is Rafe.”
My father extended his hand and helped the Watcher to his feet. “A pleasure to meet you both.”
Rafe’s eyes darted from my father to me. “How did I miss this?”
“You were inconveniently dead,” Liesel said.
“I can’t believe it’s really you,” I said. “I saw you in a memory, with my mother. You were in New Hope together.”
His eyes shimmered with emotion. “I dream of those days often. The happiest of my life.” My father glanced in the direction of Yara’s remains. “Not exactly the day for a happy family reunion though, is it? I never knew my sister harbored such hatred in her heart.”
“Not that I’m excusing the horrible things she did, but it seems like she didn’t have it easy,” I said. Her anger and resentment had twisted her heart into something unrecognizable. It gave me pause—that I could easily have wandered down the same path with my difficult history.
My father clasped my hands in his. “Whatever else, this prophecy has brought you to me after all these years.” His mouth split into a grin. “I see so much of your mother in you. Your voice even sounds like hers.”
“Did you know about me this whole time?” Although my mother had decided not to tell him, he could have discovered the truth by other means.
He shook his head. “I wish I had,” he said. “Perhaps things would have turned out differently.”
“My mother was only trying to keep me safe,” I said. “She did what she thought was best.”
He squeezed my fingers gently. “When I heard about her passing, I went into seclusion. I couldn’t bear to face the realms knowing that she was gone.”
“It sounds like you’ve been in seclusion for a long time,” I said. “No one ever seems to know where you are.”
He seemed slightly embarrassed. “Yes, that’s been by design.” His gaze swept the great hall. “Though I suppose that’s all over now.”
“How did you end up at the palace today of all days?” I asked.
“Imagine my shock when word reached me a few days ago about an upcoming celebration in Dominion,” he said. “That King Gustav and Queen Felicity were about to welcome an eighteen-year-old halfling as their granddaughter.” He paused. “Helena didn’t have any siblings and the timeline fit with our time together.”
“Did you go to Dominion?”
My father shook his head. “As much as I wanted to find you, I thought it best not to seek you out there. I put out feelers to an underground network and managed to make contact with a chanda demon earlier. He said he’d been trying to find me.”
Crest.
My father cracked a smile. “He seemed very confused when I insisted that Yara was not, in fact, your mother.”
“How did you know to attack Yara when you arrived?” I asked.
“Du was the first demon I saw when I entered the palace,” he replied. “He told me everything.”
I craned my neck to see past him. “Is Du okay?”
“He’s fine.” His hand was warm on my shoulder. “You fought well, my daughter. It seems you’ve had training.”
I stared at him blankly. My father just paid me a compliment. “Thank you,” I finally said. “I had amazing teachers.”
“I should very much like to know more about those who raised you and kept you safe so I can thank them,” he said.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “Maybe another time.”
“I can control corpses,” Sage blurted.
Barris smacked his forehead. “Nice attention grab.”
My father smiled at Sage. “I’ve met many rakshasa demons in my travels. An enviable skill, to be sure.”
“Maybe you’ve met my father in your travels,” Sage said. “I don’t know his name though. Only that my mother was human.”
“A common refrain,” he said, with a trace of sadness.
“My mother is a demon,” Rylan said, squaring her shoulders. “My father is human.” She hesitated. “But I don’t know his name either. I don’t even think he knows I exist.”
“A pity.” My father patted her shoulder. “You’re a brave young lady with a wonderful spirit. He would be proud to know you.�
�
Rafe looked from my father to me. “I see the resemblance. You have his eyes.” He motioned to my stomach. “She has your birthmark too.”
I lifted my shirt to show him the small blue star on my torso.
My father folded his arms and regarded Rafe. “And how do you know the location of this birthmark?”
“I showed him accidentally,” I said. “I’d been attacked in a graveyard. It’s a long story.”
“Sounds like you have a sense of adventure,” my father said. “You must get that from me.”
“I bet I get a lot of things from you,” I said.
And I couldn’t wait to find out what they were.
Epilogue
In the common room in the main spire, the Elders mingled with the graduates in their golden cloaks, the only day of the year that they donned these particular garments. One Elder was, of course, noticeably absent. It was hard to see them as a group without seeing Elder Sam’s scarred face among them. I imagined what Mariska would say to me now. She’d encourage me to visit after graduation, I knew that much, but she’d also want me to live life on my own terms. The Elders’ goal had been to keep me safe. Mariska’s goal had been to nurture me. In the end, they were both successful.
“How does it feel to have your key to freedom, Cassia?” Elder Alastor asked.
“Strange.” I held the symbolic key in my palm. I’d waited years for this moment and, now that it was here, I had mixed emotions. I couldn’t even begin to count how many hours I’d spent staring out the spire windows dreaming of my future—when did that future become my present?
“You’ve made us very proud, Cassia,” Elder Kali said.
Elder Asago moved to the front of the room and clapped his hands. “And now we have an announcement to make,” he said, and waited for a hush to fall over the room. “After much consideration, we have decided to relocate.”
My kenzoku’s expressions seemed to mirror my own confusion. “Relocate…the academy?” I asked.
Elder Bahaira was practically bursting at the seams, pleased to tell us more. “We would like to improve our integration process. We’ve kept our pupils too separate from the realm—any realm.”
Demonspawn Academy: Trial Three Page 19