by James Wisher
“Go easy. It may be in the back or it might be just past the opening. It’s putting out so much power I can’t tell its exact position.”
They fell in shoulder to shoulder. Jen wanted to say how much it meant to her that they were doing this together, but when she tried her throat closed up and no words emerged. Maybe she’d tell him after.
The two of them stopped a few feet from the cave entrance. Just inside, two glowing dots hovered in the air at head height. She couldn’t make out any details of the creature. Damien drew his flask out, but he didn’t have a chance to do anything before the creature stepped out into the light.
Jen gasped. This was no creature of smoke and haze. It was Dad, or at least his body.
That thing was using her father’s body. The flesh had a waxy look and brown liquid leaked out of his nose, mouth and ears. The eyes had long since deteriorated. In their place glowed crimson pits, like someone had put burning embers in his skull.
Rotten lips split and spilled stinking fluid down his face as they pulled back from yellow teeth in a mocking smile. A sword of black energy, an exact duplicate of the demon blade he’d carried in life, sprang to life in his right hand.
Jen had her own sword drawn in an instant. Her rage boiled over and a torrent of soul force flowed from her core through her body. Not a moment too soon either. The thing inhabiting her father’s body accelerated to warlord speed and rushed them.
Jen tried to block the black sword, but it passed through her blade like smoke. Only her enhanced speed allowed her to dodge at the last second.
She raced to put some distance between her and the dead thing in front of her. She spun to face the creature.
It leered at her, clearly enjoying her panic. How could she fight if her weapon was useless?
She barely completed the thought when a golden glow surrounded her blade. A safe distance in the air, Damien was pointing at her, his hand glowing. Her sword vibrated as the power he left in the weapon at its forging resonated with the new energy he provided.
The monster wearing her father’s body shifted its expression from a leer to a rage-filled snarl.
That’s right, you ugly son of a bitch. You’re going to pay for using my father’s body.
They accelerated at the same instant. When she went to parry this time her sword hit with a satisfying crash.
Thank you, little brother.
They hacked at each other, making ten passes in as many seconds.
The monster had speed, but lacked both the demon sword to augment its innate power and her father’s natural skill. If it had possessed either she would have been dead already.
As it was Jen stayed even with it. Her anger pushed her to be too aggressive. She needed to calm down and fight like her father had taught her.
Jen didn’t attack.
Deep breath.
She didn’t parry.
Deep breath.
Her mind calmed. She flowed around her opponent’s blade.
It was so clumsy. How’d she ever imagined this pale fraud retained any of her father’s spirit?
Each time she dodged the monster’s attacks it grew more aggressive. It swung with all its might, giving no thought to defense.
Jen spun away from an overhead slash and countered. Her glowing blade hacked the creature’s arm off at the elbow.
Black mist sprayed from the wound. Jen raised her hands to cover her face.
The mist never reached her. When she lowered her hands the darkness was surging into the air. She looked up to see Damien with the flask in one hand, Lizzy in the other, both pointed at Dad’s corpse.
A golden tornado ripped the darkness out of his body through the wound she’d made. The monster pulled back, trying to stop Damien from tearing out its essence.
Jen knew exactly what she had to do. Her sword flashed and the monster’s limbs fell, one after another, to the ground. Soon only a stump remained and black mist sprayed from each wound before flowing up into the flask.
Chapter 18
Damien conjured a soul force seal over the mouth of the flask and landed beside Jen. She’d handled the battle with Dad’s animated corpse better than he feared when he first saw it. He’d expected her anger to get the best of her, but she mastered it. That horror was a poor imitation of their father, but if she’d gotten careless it would have killed her all the same.
“That wasn’t so bad.” Jen leaned on her sword, her core almost empty, gasping for air.
Damien couldn’t help smiling at her attempted bravado. He doubted she could fight again if their lives depended on it. The smile faded when he thought about the massive amount of corrupt energy pulsing in the cave. “That was only a fraction of the demon’s essence. The majority of it is still inside. I’m afraid our work is nowhere near done.”
Jen pushed herself straight and rested her sword on her shoulder. “We’d best get to it.”
She wobbled when she took a step toward the cave. Damien guided her to a flat boulder and helped her sit. “Why don’t you rest here and let your soul force recover?”
“We’re doing this together.”
“Yes. You finished your part, now I have to do mine. It’ll be a fifty-fifty split. You can’t ask for a fairer deal than that.”
Her face twisted like she wanted to argue some more, but exhaustion defeated stubbornness. “If you haven’t returned by the time I recover I’m coming in after you.”
“Deal.” If he wasn’t back by the time Jen recovered he’d never be back, not alive anyway.
Damien paused on his way to the cave and waved Lizzy at Dad’s dismembered body. It disintegrated in an instant. No one would defile his father’s remains again.
He had barely set foot in the cave when the oppressive presence began to bear down on him. Damien pushed through, sending more power to his shield just in case the demon tried to attack before he reached its main body. That was the problem with an opponent that lacked a physical form: it could attack from anywhere.
Damien reached the end of the tunnel. The instant he entered the final chamber a hazy curtain formed over the exit.
That’s what it did last time.
Yeah, but unlike Dad, Damien had more weapons at his disposal than Lizzy. Ahead of him the smoke demon began to take on a humanoid shape. Before it fully coalesced Damien conjured the same tornado he used outside. The small end emerged from his flask and it grew wider as it spun toward the demon.
Particles were sucked into the vortex. Damien felt the corruption in the flask getting stronger and more dense. He divided his power, using a portion to reinforce the flask. If it broke then his efforts were for nothing.
The moment he withdrew a portion of his strength the demon pulled away from the vortex. Damien snarled and leveled Lizzy at the creature. Streaks of gray fire mixed with the golden vortex as she infused her power.
The demon’s form bent and stretched as it fought the suction. Soon, instead of a human-sized, broad-shouldered form it resembled a piece of overstretched rubber. A third of it was inside, but the rest still resisted.
“Give it all you’ve got!” Damien shouted.
Lizzy’s power rushed out. The tornado expanded and engulfed the demon, drawing it into the flask. Damien spun and pointed the flask at the haze blocking the exit. The barrier vanished instantly. When he no longer sensed any corruption, Damien capped the container with a plug of dense soul force formed from the remains of his portion of the vortex. He didn’t dare try and use Lizzy’s power to reinforce it. He needed more practice weaving their power together before he’d trust that he could maintain the dual flows.
Lizzy’s gray flames vanished. Damien allowed himself a moment to breathe. The hardest part was over. A slow, steady stream of power would gradually shatter all the bonds holding the monster in this world. It would take time, but that he had.
When Damien had collected himself he trudged back down the tunnel. Jen was silhouetted in the opening as she strode up the little slope to find him, he
r core mostly refilled. She looked no worse for her battle.
“Is it done?” she asked.
Damien nodded and offered a weary smile. “It’s caught. All I have to do now is finish it off.”
“Halt, villains, and accept your judgment!”
Damien spun toward the unexpected voice. At the base of the hill stood a woman similar in age to Damien and Jen. She had strawberry blond hair and wore shining mail with a white tabard bearing the device of a blue shield surrounding a black fortress. In her small hands she held a maul. The weapon’s haft measured five feet and its head alone must have weighed fifteen pounds.
The young woman lifted the weapon like it weighed nothing and charged. It seemed they were about to meet their first paladin.
Chapter 19
Angelic soul force filled the paladin’s core to bursting. She had been chosen by an angel to be its mortal representative, much the way a warlock served a demon lord. The only difference was an angel would only agree to work with the most pure-hearted mortals, while a demon lord would make a contract with any mortal stupid enough to risk their eternal soul.
If only the woman would listen for a second Damien could explain that they weren’t villains and in fact most likely were working toward the same goal: destroying the demon. He didn’t have a chance to speak before Jen raised her sword and accelerated to warlord speed.
In short order the clash of steel on steel rang through the meadow. Damien groaned at the pointless fight. He and Jen weren’t enemies of the holy warrior. If he could just explain…
The force of their impact sent a shockwave through the air and shook the ground. The two women skidded away from each other, slowing down enough for Damien to see them.
“Excuse—”
Warlord and paladin both raced back together. At this rate one of them would kill the other. Damien needed to end the fight before then, but how? Neither of them seemed interested in listening to him. If they'd just stop fighting for half a minute! He could stop them easily enough, but all his power was going to maintaining the integrity of the flask.
Did you forget about me?
Damien grinned. In fact he had forgotten about Lizzy’s extra power. That should be enough to get the job done. In response to his silent request Lizzy’s power flowed into him. Damien sent it down the outside of his leg then stomped on the ground.
The earth shook.
Jen and the paladin both staggered and fell to their knees.
“Enough!” Damien said.
“What are you doing?” Jen asked. “She threatened us.”
“This trick won’t save you, villain,” the paladin said, her face set in a grim line.
Damien ground his teeth. What had the world come to when he was the reasonable one? “Do you really want to kill a paladin, sis?”
“As if a mere warlord could defeat a holy knight.”
Jen’s hand tightened on the grip of her sword. Damien had to act fast.
“And you.” He turned his attention to the paladin. “Did you even use your soul sight before you attacked?”
Her stern visage cracked. “I…That is, I saw the demon and you were carrying it from this place and…and…”
“And you assumed the rest. You haven’t been a paladin very long, have you?”
“I, no, I mean, yes. The holy one invested me with a portion of his spirit three months ago.”
Damien nodded. “Uh-huh. Do your superiors even know you’ve left the great fortress?”
“I felt drawn to the life of a wandering knight errant. The holy one said I should serve however I thought best. Hey!” She finally got her bearings back. “How do you know where I was invested?”
“Your heraldry. We studied the paladin orders at The Tower. How about you use your powers to study our auras before someone really gets hurt.”
The paladin huffed out a sigh. “Fine. But if you’re evil I’m still going to smite you.”
“Fair enough.”
While the lady knight concentrated Jen walked over beside him. “What’s soul sight?”
“Paladins can see a person’s aura and determine if they’re generally good or evil. Doesn’t The Citadel have a class on paladins?”
“Yeah, but it mostly covers how to fight them. I don’t remember the master mentioning any powers that didn’t involve combat.”
Damien sighed, not terribly surprised. Citadel training was effective, but very narrow. The paladin had scrambled up on her heels and was staring at them with glowing white eyes.
“Talk about creepy.” Jen shuddered.
When the glow faded the paladin hung her head. “I am so sorry. Without a closer look I couldn’t separate your auras from the demon’s. I might have killed you both.”
Jen snorted, but forbore comment. She sheathed her sword and tugged on Damien’s sleeve. “Come on.”
Damien turned to follow his sister. They hadn’t gone far when the paladin caught up. “So, what are you doing with that demon?” she asked.
Damien rubbed his face. “Let’s find a place to set up camp. We’ll get comfortable and Jen can explain everything.”
“Me?”
“I’m going to be busy, remember?” Damien turned to the paladin. “Do you have a name?”
“How rude of me. I’m Marie-Bell.” She bobbed a little curtsy that looked totally bizarre coming from a woman in mail. “Let me run and grab my pack. I believe I have some tea left. I can fix us a pot while we chat.”
She ran off to the opposite side of the field where, presumably, she’d left her gear. Jen looked at him as they swung around to pick up their own supplies. “She’s nuts.”
Damien nodded. “Odd at a minimum. I’ve never heard of a paladin leaving their post to become a knight errant. Everything I’ve read suggested the Orders acted with great discipline.”
“Ha. I doubt that girl even knows the meaning of the word.”
“Don’t be too hard on her. Marie-Bell is just getting started in her role as a knight. No doubt she’ll improve with time and practice.”
“You’re getting soft, little brother.”
They found a good spot at the edge of the woods. Damien leaned against an old oak while Jen set up camp. He needed to start the process of banishing the demon or they’d never get out of here. He fed power into the flask, slowly replacing the corrupt energy with pure soul force. The demonic energy resisted, but as it did some of the dark fragments shattered. This might take longer than he thought.
Chapter 20
Jen had a good fire going by the time Marie-Bell came skipping across the field, a bulging pack over her shoulder, a battered tin kettle in one hand, and her huge hammer in the other. The damn thing was bigger than the one Edward used, but the girl wielded it with skill. She had talent, but what sort of warrior skipped? Jen hadn’t skipped anywhere since she was five.
Marie-Bell plopped down beside the fire, filled her kettle with water from a skin in her pack, and set it over the heat. She sighed. “Nothing like a hot cup of tea to go with a conversation with new friends.”
“Friends?” Jen couldn’t believe this girl. “We just met and you attacked us.”
“I admit it wasn’t the best first impression I’ve ever made, but I did apologize and since you’re not evil there’s no reason we can’t be friends now, right?” She offered a bright smile.
Jen scowled in return. “Did the other paladins train you in the warrior arts, Marie-Bell?”
She coughed. “No, not exactly. I wasn’t a trainee before I was chosen. Any skill I have is totally due to the holy one that bonded with me.”
“If you weren’t a trainee, how did you get selected to become a paladin?”
“Pure chance.” Marie-Bell looked away, her cheeks flushed. “I was a maid to the fortress commander. One day the boy that usually cleaned the chapel fell ill and the commander ordered me to do his chores. I didn’t mind since the chapel is the only beautiful room in the fortress. Have you ever seen it?”
Jen sho
ok her head. “I don’t think they let outsiders stop in for a tour. In fact I’ve never even seen the fortress itself, though I was in the area once back in the spring.”
“If you get the chance you really should visit. The walls are filled with stained glass images of the archangels. When the sun is bright the floor and ceiling resemble a kaleidoscope. The altar is polished white marble chased with gold and all the hardware, candleholders and the like are platinum. Row after row of polished oak benches sit facing the altar.” Marie-Bell sighed. “Anyway when I was cleaning I paused a moment and thought how wonderful it must be to go out and fight evil. To be able to help people. One of the holy ones must have been listening, because the next thing I knew a white glow filled the chapel and a voice asked me if I truly wished to battle evil. I said I did. The light entered me and filled me with a strength I never imagined.” Tears gleamed in the corners of her eyes.
“What did the other paladins think about a maid joining their ranks?” If they were anything like any other exclusive group Jen doubted they were thrilled to have someone join that they didn’t pick themselves.
“There were a few that got angry, but since the holy one chose me, what could they do? To criticize me would be to criticize the angel that bonded with me. Whatever they might have thought, none of them would ever say anything against a holy one. Is your brother okay?”
Jen glanced at Damien. He held the flask in his lap, a golden glow surrounding both the flask and his hands. He hadn't so much as looked their way since the conversation began. His gaze focused solely on the flask. From the grim set of his jaw she would have thought he was fighting a battle. And maybe he was, just not one visible to her.
“He’s working on destroying the demon. My brother can be single minded when he’s working on something important.”
Marie-Bell looked over at Damien and her eyes took on that white glow. “He really is. The black aura is weaker now. Imagine a mortal sorcerer capable of purifying a demon. There are those among the Order that would claim such a thing was impossible.”