by Robin Roseau
Then, in the background, I saw Tarine. She was glaring at me.
"Malora," I said quietly into her ear.
"I see it," she said. "The woman is a fool. That would have been a disaster of a match."
"She needs a companion from the plains, someone who fought to become an Amazon. Or, I suppose, a gutter rat."
"A gutter rat won't treat her with the respect she thinks she is owed," Malora pointed out. "Gratitude for a better life won't be enough."
* * * *
In the end, for the twenty warriors looking for companions, we found ten. Nori went without, as did Tarine.
She took every opportunity during our travels back home to make sure I knew it was my fault she would go another year without a companion. Eventually, Malora pointedly gave her permission to take a more direct route home, which she and several other warriors accepted.
Instead of celebrating the success of ten companions we wouldn't otherwise have, all of them well matched to their warriors and looking forward to becoming Amazons, they only celebrated the failure.
Which was, of course, entirely my fault and had nothing to do with sour dispositions.
Patrol
For months after I'd killed my first demon, Malora refused to take me on patrol, which meant either shirking her duty or leaving me behind. Finally, Nori, Ralla, Balorie and I confronted her about it.
"You're setting a bad example," I told her.
"Excuse me?" she asked with lifted eyebrow.
"You need to do your duty and you need to let me do mine," I said.
"Do not take that tone with me," she said hotly.
"You know I'm right."
"I don't even know what you're talking about," Malora said. She looked at Nori. "What is she talking about?"
"When can I put you and your companion down for patrol, Queen Malora?" Balorie asked.
"Never!" Malora said hotly. "Is that what this is about?"
"Malora," Nori said gently, "you're a wreck after three days apart."
"Frankly, I don't want you along without her," Balorie said.
"I went years without a companion," Malora said. "I can handle three days."
We went around and around for a while. I let the warriors fight with Malora for a while. Finally I said, "Malora, face it. You're addicted to me." I smiled at her. "What isn't to like? I promise to stay out of trouble and obey any orders."
"You never obey orders," Nori said. "Don't make promises no one here believes you're going to keep."
"I always obey orders!" I said. "Well, good orders."
"If I were facing a demon alone and told you to get out of there, would you?" Malora asked.
I stared at the ground. "No."
"Malora," said Nori, "you know you're going to give in. Your companion hasn't even begun to fight dirty."
"I will tell you what, Malora," I said, "Tell me who here has killed a demon with her bare hands, and then you can talk about leaving me home."
Ralla chuckled at that.
"You weren't bare-handed," Malora said.
"I was buck naked with just my boots and a knife," I said. "The only reason to exclude me is if you think I'm going to panic. I'll never be good enough for a real demon fight solo, but I'm good enough that I can help, when necessary."
"I do not want you becoming a warrior!" Malora said. "Ever. I couldn't stand it. I've already thought I've lost you twice that way. I will not have a third time."
"I'm going," I said firmly. "If you order me to remain behind, I'll disobey, and then you'll be forced to punish me severely. And then the next time you turn your back, I'll leave."
She stared at me.
"This conversation isn't about whether or not she's going," Balorie said. "It's to discuss how we keep her from becoming a warrior in the process."
One became an Amazon warrior when the demons invade your mind with their thoughts. I'd already done that once, but after giving the demon a true death, the voice was gone again.
"Promise you'll follow orders," Malora said. "Promise me right now!"
"I'll follow any orders you give except any that leave one of you behind for a demon to kill," I said.
"You will follow any order I give you," she said menacingly.
I gazed calmly at her. "Do you really believe that?" I asked her. "Do you really think I'd leave you if you needed me?"
Malora growled at me. Nori chuckled, so Malora spun to face her. "What are you laughing at?"
"If we haven't intimidated her into submission by now, we're not going to," Nori replied.
"She's not going," Malora said. She turned back to me. "I will tie you to the bed if that's what it takes to keep you here."
"That might be fun," I said, "if you were staying. How angry do you think I'd be with you after three days?"
I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.
"I'll promise this. I'll stay out of fights as long as you don't really need me. I won't run away and I won't leave you to fight alone. The only way I'm going to become a warrior is if it's defending another Amazon. Do you really think it's better if someone dies to prevent me becoming a warrior?"
Malora glared at me. "Frankly, I don't believe you."
"We can keep her out of the initial fight," Balorie said. "It's nearly always the person who makes first contact who takes the voice."
"Nearly isn't good enough."
"It will have to be," I said. "I'm going. Get used to the idea. When you go without me, I spend three days fretting, and I'm not doing it anymore. You come back a wreck, and I'm a wreck, and then we're complete shits to everyone for another two days. I'm going."
"Fine!" Malora growled. She spun to Balorie and Nori. "If she becomes a warrior, I'm holding both of you responsible."
"If I become a warrior," I said softly, "it will be while keeping someone else alive. I'll behave, Malora. I promise."
Have I mentioned I follow orders like shit?
After that, I began going on patrol with Malora. At first, she still under-committed to her duty, but after three trips, spread well apart, and nothing had happened, she began to relax and returned to the proper patrol schedule for the Amazon queen.
Demon sightings tend to be rare, and I didn't see my second demon for another year. When I finally did, I stayed well clear of the fighting, and Omie took the voice. She had four now, and Beria was not along on that patrol. She came to me after the fight, and I held her as she shook in my arms. I was the only companion on that trip, and it would normally have been my responsibility to see to camp, but Balorie told me to see to Omie, and the warriors saw to camp. I held Omie until it was time for bed. She disappeared into a tent with Balorie after thanking me for my help.
She looked rough in the morning, but a few minutes of soothing, and she was ready to face the day. It was the last time she went on patrol without her companion.
Over the next year, I saw one more demon at a great distance, but another patrol team engaged with it, a group from Black Oak, and the demon was dispatched long before we arrived to support them.
* * * *
The next time I was to see a demon, it would be quite different.
It was our third day of patrol, and we were heading north to meet with our replacement patrol. Balorie led this trip with Malora, Clara, and Ping. Balorie's companion, Gweneth, wasn't ready for patrolling, and Ping's companion, Serra, never patrolled, so the companions on the trip were Bea and I.
Bea was nineteen. She was going on patrol consistently, and I knew she was anxious to become a warrior, but she was also a little afraid. I wasn't looking forward to the day, as Queen's Town was full, and I was sure she would need to move to another village. I'd already been subtly working on Malora to grow Queen's Town instead, but I wasn't sure I was making much headway.
If Bea left, I would miss her terribly, in spite of our age difference. She had made my acclimation into the Amazon life easier, even joyful at times, and I loved her.
Clara saw the demon
s first. We had just come over a small ridge, and there was a braided river down below us, flowing out of the demon mountains to the east and into our forest to the west. "Demon," she said, pointing. "Following the wash."
We all turned and looked.
"Two," Bea said after a moment.
"Only one," Clara corrected.
"Two," Bea said.
"No," Balorie said in hushed tones. "Three. Clara's near the river and Bea's are halfway up the far ridge."
Malora immediately turned to me and opened her mouth.
"Don't even think of ordering me to leave," I said, then returning my gaze to the demons. "Balorie, orders?"
"Stay with your warrior. If necessary, harry her target, but watch the tail and retreat as needed."
"Balorie-" Malora started to say.
"Now is not the time to discuss chain of command, Malora," Balorie said. "You and I on the two. Clara and Ping on the one. Bea, take your orders from your warrior."
"Ping to harry," Clara said. "Bea and I to engage." She turned to her companion. "Bea, if you ask, you may engage first." That meant she'd probably take the voice. "I don't want to lose you as a companion, but it is your choice."
Bea looked at Clara. "If I become a warrior, then I do, but I will not hasten the day."
Clara nodded, and I thought I saw relief.
"Follow," Balorie ordered. She spurred her horse into a run down the hillside, screaming, "Hai! Hai!" The rest of us followed.
The demons heard her and let out individual roars. Even from such a distance, they were loud. Then all three were running towards us.
Demons run fast.
Balorie reached even ground, a small rise near the river, and she dropped from her horse, turning it towards the west and giving it a swat. The rest of us jumped from our horses. I grabbed my staff and sent my horse following Balorie's, then turned to Malora. She had her two swords in her hands but turned to face me.
"Stay well clear. I can handle one."
"You can handle one better with help, Malora, but I'll let you engage first. Expect me to distract it."
"Damn it, Maya!"
"You know I'm not leaving you to fight that alone, so let's go do our jobs."
"You have your orders, Maya!"
"You can punish me later," I told her. I turned to face the oncoming demons.
Clara, Ping and Bea had taken a more direct route to their demon, and they were seventy yards to our right, the three of them on their feet, their horses running west. All the horses would run a mile or two then find some forage and settle in for a nice, relaxing meal. We would catch them later.
Balorie was screaming at both our demons, and they were thundering on her quickly, two to one.
"Malora!" I said firmly. "Balorie needs us!"
Malora strode past me, muttering, "This isn't over, Maya." Then she was screaming at the demons, separating herself from Balorie. I followed behind, staying ten paces off Malora's left flank and doing nothing to garner attention.
Neither demon veered off towards Malora, both still heading to Balorie.
So I whistled, as loudly as I could. "Yo! Demon! Easy meat with a little stick here!" I waved it around, jumping up and down, and one of them glanced at me. He slowed a half step and then changed direction for me.
"Damn it, Maya!" Malora said. Then she was screaming at the demon, moving into its path and waving her swords. But I had accomplished my goal: Balorie was now only facing one, not two.
I waited until the demon's focus changed to Malora, then I began edging left again. "Moving left," I said loudly enough for Malora to hear me. The demon continued running directly towards Malora, but now if it ran past her, I wasn't immediately in its path.
"I'll draw it right," she called back to me. "Avoid the tail."
Clara, Ping and Bea engaged their demon first. Their demon came to a stop twenty paces in front of them, bellowing a challenge. I worried Bea was about to become a warrior. I knew she'd be proud, but secretly, I didn't want her to.
Then I was busy, focusing on the two demons charging the three of us.
Balorie's arrived first, but it stayed focused on her, and I put it out of my mind. Ours stopped instead of running past Malora, and it bellowed at her. Malora staggered for a moment, and I knew she'd just taken another voice. She would desperately need me later.
I really hoped Bea didn't become a warrior today. The two of us would be busy calming three warriors with new voices to fight. But if Bea took a voice, she'd need me desperately, and the other warriors would need to suffer alone.
Malora circled to the right, and the demon tracked her. I circled more slowly left and then approached.
The demon was big. I hadn't been this close to one in two and a half years, and I had forgotten how big they were. This one was pale with a greenish tinge. Its scales didn't have the same iridescent qualities of the one I'd killed. But it was bigger, and the horns glinted in the light. I saw it raise a massive hand, ready to swipe at my warrior.
I dashed forward and brought my staff down on the raised arm, jumping at the end and swinging the staff overhead, bringing it down on the arm as hard as I'd ever swung.
There was a crack! The demon didn't howl, but it turned towards me, its motions slow and clumsy. The demon's right hand hung limply from its arm, and I realized I had broken bones.
I had the demon's attention now, and I retreated, circling left, trusting Malora to save me. He swung at me, slow and clumsy, and I ducked away, circling left. Then it leapt at me, and I jumped, tumbling away from it, and then Malora was there between the demon and me, slashing at it with both her swords. We were both sprayed by the ichor.
"I've got it now!" she yelled at me. "Stay clear, Maya!"
I glanced at her, and she had it easily. I was well out of position to flank her demon again, and it was clear she was driving it away from me.
There was a roar behind me, and then the sound of flesh on flesh, and when I spun around, I saw Balorie flying through the air. The demon had swatted her with its tail. She came to a stop on the ground, panting for a moment, and the demon began to advance on her.
"Hai! Demon!" I bellowed. "Yes, you! You spineless coward. You gutless, shriveled worm!"
The demon turned to me as I advanced on it, waving my staff. And then I felt its voice.
"Puny Amazon!" it said. "Are you prepared to die today?"
I laughed. "I am not the one who is about to die, demon," I told it. "You are about to suffer a true death. You just don't know it yet."
The demon tried to laugh in my mind, but I said, "Oh, can it. I know this is just a fake. You demons are so afraid of us, you refuse to come in person. But I am Maya Softpeace, queen's companion and true destroyer of demons. It was I who dragged the demon Lathana Jara Marquine across the void. It was I who gave her the truth death with my bare hands. And you have now fallen into my trap. My warriors will destroy this feeble construct you send, but then I will drag you across the void to face me."
I laughed. "And you. shall. die. The truth death. Give me your true name, demon, so that I may readily summon you!"
"You could not pronounce my name," he declared, and I knew this one was male.
"Then I give you a name, a true name. You are now Banded Maldor Armine. That is your true name in the tongue of the humans, and when I summon you, you will come! You will come to your true death. It is inevitable."
And then Malora was rushing past me, her swords waving, and Balorie was swinging with her swords.
The demon body never moved, and seconds later, the body disintegrated into dust.
And I felt the demon mind flee from mine, screaming, "That is not my name. That is not my name!"
"It is! And when I summon you, you shall die, or flee me now. Flee me and do not return. Plague me, and I summon you to your death!"
And I felt the voice leave.
I fell to my knees, breathing heavily. Moments later, Malora was there, her arm around me.
"You fooli
sh girl!" she said. "Balorie, did you take the voice?"
Balorie approached. "I did, but then it left. I'm sorry, Malora."
I looked up at my queen. "The other fight?" I asked.
She glanced over. "It's dead. Bea looks a little green."
"Oh no," I said. "She's a warrior now?"
"I don't know." Malora turned back to me, brushing at my face. I was a mess, having been sprayed by ichor. "Maya, oh Maya, did you take the voice?"
I smiled at her. "Evidently, demons don't appreciate being threatened with a true death. I took the voice, but it has fled."
"You aren't just saying that?" she asked. "Tell me the truth, Maya! Tell me the truth."
"Truth, Malora," I said. "Truth." I slumped. "I need to get cleaned up. Bea is going to need me. Help me up."
Malora pulled me to my feet, and we met the rest of our party near the river. I began shrugging out of my clothes. It was a braided river, shallow, slow, and silty, but I didn't care.
I stepped into the river, kneeling down in the cold, shallow water to wash the demon's filth from my hair. Moments later, Malora was with me, clutching at me, and I let her bathe me, then helped her. When we were clean, we held each other, and she began to shake.
"You'll be okay," I whispered. "You'll be okay. I love you, Malora, I love you so much."
She buried her face in my shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around her as we knelt in the water, but I looked past her. Clara was holding Bea the same way I was holding Malora, and I knew: Bea was not yet a warrior.
"Bea?" I asked.
"Clara took it," she said.
"Three," Ping said. "Two chaotic to be picky." Ping was not a woman of many words, but when she spoke, we listened. "Balorie, how are you doing?"
"Fine," Balorie said, washing off. "Maya took the voice."
"Maya?" Bea said. "But-"
"The demons seem to be afraid of our queen's companion," Balorie said.
"It seems I am not to become a warrior," I said.
And in my ear, Malora whispered, "Never. Do you hear me. Never. I need you too much. And you are in deep trouble."
"Oh, can it," I said. "You'd have to beat me to get me to behave differently, and you know what happens if you try that. Deal with it."