Preserving the Ingenairii

by Jeffrey Quyle

  Alec let his next set of knives fly, killing the rest of the guards around the niece, and he prepared to throw more at the guards around the sorceress whose demon was now present. Before he could release those knives though, he felt the arrival of another demon on the opposite side of the plaza square. He spun around, briefly glimpsing the screaming imperial niece, now all alone, surrounded by a flower-like pattern of bodies spread about her on all sides. She was a young girl, he thought for a moment, then realized that she was probably only slightly younger than his body suggested he was. She was small and thin, truly petite, and had blond hair in a braid piled on top of her head.

  “Jeswyne! Run! Run, your highness,” a voice shouted. A whispering noise caught Alec’s attention, and he realized it was the whispering sound of arrow fletchings whirling through the air. Another noise made him whirl, and he saw two demons were charging towards him.

  Alec pulled out knives to throw, and felt the arrival of a third demon in the plaza. He was vaguely aware of chaos and screams, as bystanders and others in the plaza and nearby streets began to run and shout and flee in panic.

  There were more arrows flying, and Alec prayed they might find their marks. He released all four of his knives in the direction of one demon, somersaulted and came up throwing four more at the second demon, pulled his swords loose, and twirled around to begin to assault the first demon, who he hoped was blinded in one eye by now.

  The third demon was unexpectedly in his path, and swiped an incredibly fast paw at Alec, one claw ripping the shoulder of his robe and another claw painfully slicing the tip of his ear. Alec slid on the ground beneath it, reaching up with his swords and slicing deeply into its thighs as he passed below it.

  He found himself on the blind side of the first demon, while the second demon was unscathed by his knives somehow. He was acting and reacting based on instinct and faith, hoping that each move was effective at keeping him alive and harmful to the demons.

  Alec stabbed his sword into the blindside ribs of the demon, then swung himself up and across its back, pulling his sword free, and swinging the other sword in an arch as he rolled across the demon’s back to freedom on the other side. His sword swing cut the unharmed eye of that monster, and suddenly one demon was completely blinded and screaming loudly in pain and anger, though a lucky swing by the demon had laid open Alec’s back as he flew away, cutting so deeply as to expose part of a rib, making Alec whimper momentarily. The things were huge and vicious and fast, and Alec knew he was in grave trouble. He was aligned with all three demons in front of him for the moment, and he took a moment to feel the painful tip of his ear. He dropped his warrior power, engaged his healing power, and found that the top of his ear had been sliced completely off. Had the claw reached another inch closer, it would have torn his skull. He brushed his hand across the top of his back, reducing pain there as well.

  One demon in his field of vision flickered and grew smaller, a welcome sign that Lewis’s archers had hit one target. That demon was the second demon, the one he hadn’t harmed yet. The third demon, despite the horrible wounds to its legs, was now circling around Alec, while the blinded first demon was lashing out unpredictably in all directions, trying to randomly inflict damage.

  And Jeswyne, the imperial niece was running in blind panic, not towards the palace gates as Alec had expected, but directly towards the demons, where death awaited her.

  Alec dropped his healing abilities, re-engaged his warrior powers, and ran directly towards the girl and the demons. He stooped as he passed a knife on the ground, scooped it up, and stuffed it in his bandolier for later use, then he pulled his right sword out of the scabbard and swung at the distracted demon. The living sorcerers were retreating towards the safety of the palace, Alec absently noted. He hoped Givens and the others would find their way to safety, because he realized now that their planned approach to the niece was impossible. Faced with three demons, and holding no fragment of the Cross, he knew his was a hopeless situation.

  Another demon stopped in its tracks just as it was about to pounce on the screaming girl, flickered and shrank, indicating to Alec that someone had killed one more of the sorcerers. That’s a good thing, he thought to himself, as he jumped high to avoid an attack, landed, and flipped hard to his side, but received another deep claw across his calf, leaving his flesh open and painful.

  Alec landed next to Jeswyne, who was petrified in place by her horrific surroundings. Alec threw his sword high in the air then reached out his hand, grabbed the girl’s arm, and snatched her away from the demons. He shoved her down on the ground, stood directly over her, caught his flying sword as it returned to earth, and turned in all directions looking at the demons.

  The three monsters, one blind and two reduced, were circling him, and he was spinning madly, striking his swords out to knock their attacks away; mostly he succeeded, but some small slices were accumulating on his arms where he was just a tick too slow. His plan was going to fail, but very well might ultimately be a victory for the Dominion even after he lost. He wouldn’t be able to hold the imperial family member as a hostage to negotiate with, but her death here, at the hands of the empire’s own demons would rattle the internal dynamics of the army and the imperial palace and the sorcerers. The disunity would be to the advantage of the Dominion. “Why didn’t you run for the palace, stupid girl?” he snapped in exasperation. “This wasn’t the plan!”

  “Thank you, thank you,” he heard the girl beneath his feet whimper inappropriately.

  “Yes, thank you Lord for letting us accomplish this at least,” Alec said out loud. And as he did, an idea was divinely implanted within his mind.

  He sheathed the sword in his left hand and crouched down over the girl, still waving his right hand sword. “Pull the glove off my hand,” he said as he waved his left hand in front of her face.

  Without comprehending why, she reached up and tugged hard on the glove, removing it. Alec stood up and raised his left hand high, then engaged his spiritual powers while his warrior powers remained in use simultaneously. He felt his body shudder, and pain wracked him. He dropped his right sword, which clattered on the ground, until Jeswyne reached out and desperately pulled it in next to her body.

  Alec’s left hand began to glow with pure, intense white light. He felt an extraordinary energy building up in his hand, and he bowed his head to concentrate on keeping it held high even as his body trembled in pain. Three shining ropes of light burst out of the wound on his palm, each beam striking a demon and causing them to cry anguished screams of hatred.

  Alec felt the beams radiating the purity of purpose that was God’s plan, and the light was destroying the hatred and emptiness that composed the demons. The demons were glowing and pulsing as the beams began to create fractious realignment within them, freezing their ability to control their own movements. The beams controlled the demons, and began to pull them closer and closer to Alec.

  They moved in as they continued to circle, and their rate of movement increased. They were speeding around Alec’s hand, drawing in so close Alec could hear only the sound of their screams and feel the movement of air as they passed. The energy level in his hand ratcheted up another level, and Alec realized a climax was about to occur.

  He knew what was about to happen, and he felt a key turn in his mind, revealing what he had to do.

  “Stand up!” he screamed at the girl on the ground.

  She looked up fearfully, questioningly.

  “Stand up! Stand up! Now! Now!” he said and he stretched his right hand down, shuddering with pain and the anticipation of what was about to occur.

  The imperial niece took his hand and was yanked upward, off-balance. She was light as a feather, and the force of his pull made her fall against Alec, after which he instinctively wrapped his arm around her. “Ecce elongavi fugiens: et mansi in solitudine,” he prayed.

  And as soon as he did, multiple actions occurred virtually simultaneously – his hand sent out a tremendous surge
of energy that travelled as a bursting wave of spiritual healing and loving reconciliation. The demons collapsed inward towards Alec and into one another as the wave of energy transformed the malign nullity that motivated them.

  Alec focused his mind on a calendar of dates, and made the mental image spin backwards in a blur, moving as fast as he could imagine, looking for a date that would be safely away from this moment. The other energies around his hand were starting to set off their chain-reaction, and he abruptly triggered the capacity to move through time. Then there was a momentary flash of blue light, but few people who were watching saw it.

  For there was almost simultaneously an enormous explosion, and a pillar of energy and light erupted upward. The ground shook, and the stones within it thrust towards the sky, jetting a fountain of water above them. The demons disappeared completely, their hatred converted to nothingness by the spiritual power of God.

  And Alec and Jeswyne were gone, transported by Alec’s time ingenaire capabilities a split second before the demonic explosion occurred.

  Chapter 31 – The Return of the Queen

  Bethany sat side saddle atop a white horse, leading the ceremonial procession of Dominion dignitaries who were officially returning to restore Oyster Bay to the control of its rightful ruler. The army had been in the city in force for three days, marching in unmolested as Michian forces had mysteriously abandoned the city through withdrawal.

  There was a story, and Bethany believed it. The Dominion forces outside the city had seen a group of soldiers appear and walk unarmed towards the Dominion lines, waving a white flag. They had claimed to be Dominion soldiers who had infiltrated the enemy-occupied city. The story they told was fantastical, beyond belief. Yet Bethany had met with them herself, and believed what they told her. Worn out and tired though she was, her heart was full of both joy and renewed sorrow after hearing the story.

  One of the five soldiers was acknowledged to be a captain in the Goldenfields Guard. Bethany had recognized the woman as the daughter of Inga and Lewis, officers she had known in Goldenfields. The familial resemblance was evident. “I knew your parents,” Bethany said as they were introduced.

  The story Lewis and her companions told was unbelievable, yet Bethany did not doubt it. Alec had returned to Goldenfields, and in only a few short months of battle, had defeated demon after demon, just as he had defeated the demon in the ingenairii energy realm. His cataclysmic battle there had led to the return and renewal of the ingenairii, though he had never returned to receive the thanks he was owed.

  Bethany felt tears in her eyes when she heard the story of Alec emerging healed and whole underneath the cathedral in Frame, and she laughed when she heard the story of his being drunk in a tavern in Oyster Bay “He got drunk one time with some sailors in a small port once,” she shared. “He got a tattoo on his shoulder.”

  “I saw that!” Stracha said. “I asked him about it once, but he didn’t talk about it.”

  “I’m sure he didn’t!” Bethany laughed. “He and I and most of our friends were on a ship going to Bondell. There was a sailor on board who had seen the whole thing; Alec getting drunk; Alec singing in the bars; Alec flirting with the barmaids; Alec getting the tattoo. And poor Alec couldn’t remember the first thing! All he knew was that he had the tattoo! We teased him mercilessly!

  “And then a few days later we were in the mountains of Bondell, and he fought the demons, and I never saw him again,” she whispered.

  After a pause, the conversation continued, and she listened to the rest of the story.

  She had lived long enough to learn of his return. He had survived through who knew what. But she hadn’t seen him.

  He had returned young and whole and healthy. What would he have thought if he had seen the elderly woman she had grown into? He had saved her life, and the lives of all the other ingenairii. What had it cost him, Bethany wondered. He’d needed fifty years to return from that battle; it must have been incredible.

  And now she was leading the Dominion back into its capital, where he had been just days ago. He’d been that close to her, and they hadn’t seen or talked to or touched each other. The day she had dreamed of for most of her life had been just outside the door, but she hadn’t known to open it.

  The city was in dismal condition, she noted, as they approached the palace plaza. Then she rounded a corner and came into sight of the plaza, and forgot all her other thoughts, as she saw the stony monolith that interrupted the stony pavement. She rode her horse directly towards the fountain, ignoring the plans to ride to the doorways of the palace. She felt drawn to the upthrust monument that bubbled with water.

  It was Alec and it was her. His energy and her element, she decided to herself. She halted her horse and dismounted, then walked over to the stone. With her eyes closed, she used her other senses to be aware, and she stretched out her hand to touch the stone.

  There was a serene euphoria. The water was washing down over her hand, running along her arm, dripping from her elbow. The water gave spiritual peace. It was calming and tranquil. And the stone brought a sense of Alec. She could feel some elemental remnant of his presence in the stone.

  Bethany opened her eyes, with a blissful smile on her face, and walked regally towards the palace doors.

  “The Dominion has returned to Oyster Bay, and the rule of the Tarnum dynasty is restored to our city,” she shouted out to the assembled crowd as she faced her audience. It was not what had been planned for her to say, but her connection with that spirit of Alec had reminded her of his claim to the throne.

  “We thank all our allies for their good works and great sacrifices on our behalf,” she said. “We will hold a mass of thanksgiving and commemoration in this plaza tomorrow morning, and then resume our duties of removing the invaders from our land while cleaning up and restoring this great city.” And with that she walked into the palace. She hadn’t seen Alec, but she would carry on her reign in his name, as his queen.

  Chapter 32 – Stranded Without Rescue

  Jeswyne was screaming and stunned and frightened. Her senses were momentarily numbed by whatever had happened, and she couldn’t gain a feeling of control over her limbs. She was suddenly surrounded by trees in a forest that was thick and lush, with an understory of shrubs and ferns and plants that made it hard to see far in any direction. Then the warrior collapsed, and she weakly fell with him. On top of him. He was unconscious, and possibly bleeding to death.

  Jeswyne stopped screaming, and heard a beast snarl somewhere in the botanical distance. The world was whirling around in her head, and she thought she was losing her mind. Minutes ago she had been practicing her imperial dignity, representing her uncle in the ceremony to make the city of Oyster Bay an integrated participant in the Michian Empire, to forever be incorporated and represented in the Councils. The sorcerers had been calling forth the three demons of the greater gods of Michian. It was a rare ceremony, and she was honored to be the imperial witness; it spoke well for her father and brother in the scheme of succession to the throne.

  Then death had run through the plaza. Guards had begun to fall. This warrior had blurred into the plaza. The demons had emerged, called to perform ceremonies, and suddenly battling as though in combat. And this warrior had battled back against them. She had heard vague rumors that the natives had a demonslayer; it was apparently a demon who arrived in human form. She didn’t know or care much about warfare, but she had heard that her uncle’s army had suffered defeats. Humiliating defeats. She had seen the heads on the pikes, and knew that leading men had been punished for the losses. But she had never experienced a war scene, or cared to know anything about battle other than to daydream that a great leader might return victorious someday from a successful campaign to sweep her off her feet.

  She had been stunned by the moments in the plaza. There was nothing like this, no experience, no memory, no advice that she could call upon as she reacted, and so she had panicked. She had run blindly, and had run right towards the dem
ons. She felt her stomach flip, and suddenly she felt terribly sick as it hit her – she had run towards the demons. Their evil had been around her, and had made her ill. They were terrible to behold. She has seen her own death about to occur, until the warrior jumped in to save her.

  “Those demons,” she muttered as she recollected the sight of them, and vomited the fear and pain out.

  “I have the same reaction,” a voice said.

  She wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand, humiliated that anyone might see an imperial family member do such a thing.

  “When I know I’m about to go fight the demons, I get so afraid I throw up,” the warrior was speaking, she saw as she turned and looked at him. His eyes were amazingly gentle, not like a demon in human form at all. And then he passed out.

  “You have to save him,” another voice said. Jeswyne screamed again, startled by the voice behind her. She fearfully turned around.

  There was a man standing ten feet away. He was small, and swarthy. “Where did you come from? Who are you?” she asked.

  “My name is John Mark, and that will mean nothing to you. You have to save our friend here, or he is going to die very soon, and that would be very bad – bad for you personally, and bad for the whole world,” the man told her. “Listen to me closely, with your heart.

  “There is a small stream over there,” he pointed. “Run over there and gather up ferns along its bank. Look for the ferns that have red spots on their fronds. Pick as many as you can. Then when you come back, look for the tree that has green and white splotches on the bark. Pick as much of that bark as you can. Use two rocks to mash the bark and the ferns together, then smear the mix on all the wounds. All of them,” John Mark emphasized. “You are a good girl, with a good soul. Do this and you will reap the rewards,” he added, then disappeared.