by M. Walsh
Seeing her, for a brief moment, he wondered if perhaps a dark god had been awakened after all.
27
Jeez, what did I miss?
The thought crossed Lily’s mind just before the explosion tore through the catacombs.
She reached the barred window, and looking inside, smelled dank, sea air and mildew. The chamber was empty, and if it was a dungeon, it was unlocked. She tore out two bars—as quietly as she could manage—and slipped in through the opening.
Backing into the shadows of a nearby corner, she drew her two daggers and took a deep breath. Now that she was inside, it was time to find Katrina. And once that was done, she needed to figure out how they were going to get out of there.
She navigated her way through the catacombs, hoping to find the dungeon Katrina was being kept in. But, oddly, she noted a lack of guards. She guessed the chanting and drumming echoing from above was the majority of Daredin’s followers—but surely there’d be some spare orcs or gargoyles around?
Making her way around, Lily picked up a new scent. A rancid and ugly one she knew quite well: death. It didn’t take long before she found Katrina’s cell and her answer.
The dungeon was empty, save the dead bodies of three guards and what remained of Edmund Rictor. Moving further along, she found more bodies—complete with blood smeared on the wall and pooling on the floor.
The first guard lay in shambles at her feet. His face was frozen in surprise and fright. The throat was slit, and a gaping wound had been cut into his stomach. Further along, she found the remains of more guards and what was left of the orcs.
Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have cared—but what gave her pause was the savagery it. The guards weren’t just killed—they’d been butchered.
She was wondering what happened when the scent of fire filled the air just before a sudden force of heat burst through the narrow corridor. The floor and walls heaved with a deafening explosion, followed by smoke filling the hall.
Lily was thrown backward and landed with a harsh crash on the floor. The smoke was overwhelming, and the heat was building as she tried to regain her bearings. Once the ringing in her ears passed, she heard the howls of demons burning and chaos coming from above.
Whatever was happening—wherever Katrina was—it seemed clear it was happening in the tower. Brushing herself off, Lily gripped her daggers and made her way up, hoping she’d be ready for whatever awaited her.
* * *
Once again, Krutch found himself the unwanted center of attention amidst Daredin’s cult. Again, he found himself standing between Jacob Daredin and Katrina Lamont. And yet again, he could see Daredin himself staring daggers though him. Just before the explosion tore through the catacombs, he thought, I hope this Lamont broad appreciates what I’ve been doing.
The ground jumped beneath his feet, and a rush of hot wind brushed behind him, throwing him forward into a crowd of Daredin’s followers. Dazed and confused by what just happened, he only caught a glimpse of Katrina before the cultists started running in every direction at once.
The smell of smoke filled the air, and he felt lost in a sea of black robes running all around him. There was shouting and screaming—but luckily, none of them seemed interested in him. He navigated his way to a far wall, hoping to gain some bearings and figure out what he was supposed to do next.
He needed to find Katrina or Lily, and aside from the panicking cultists, there was still the Enforcer and whatever remaining demons to consider. He thought of heading for the lower levels, but decided against it. Even if it wasn’t on fire, the last thing he wanted was to get lost in the dungeons.
Just when he thought about getting some kind of weapon, a crowd of fleeing disciples passed, revealing Jacob Daredin standing before him. The fuming sorcerer greeted him with a stiff jab to his face. White flashed before his eyes like a lightning bolt, and he crumbled to the floor in a heap, his nose throbbing and eyes tearing.
“How are you not dead yet, you buffoon?” Daredin snarled.
“I’ve been wondering that myself,” he replied, holding his nose.
Daredin kicked him in the face and sent him tumbling on the floor. “You’ve been nothing but a nuisance! At every turn, you vex me!”
He scrambled away, trying to create some distance and get to his feet. Still holding his nose, he said, “You know, you guys were the ones that hired me. I’m not even supposed to be here!”
“Be silent, imbecile! I knew Kader was a fool to trust you pirate scum!”
Krutch got to his feet and attempted some form of attack, but the sorcerer simply waved his hand, and he was thrown, as if lifted with a gust of wind. He landed on his back and tried to return to his feet, but stumbled back down again. The past week of running, falling, chasing, and tumbling had taken its toll. His latest spill left him dizzy and winded.
He was sprawled on his back, weakly trying to inch away from the approaching Daredin. “I will not have my destiny taken from me by some low-rent, vagabond buffoon.”
“Hey, I’m not low-rent ...”
“Just what exactly did you hope to accomplish? Did you, the ‘great’ Krutch Leeroy, truly believe you would rescue the Princess alone?”
“Who said I came alone?” said Krutch, smirking.
Daredin turned and found looming behind him the massive frame of the Enforcer. The ax slashed at him, and the sorcerer barely blocked the attack with the Dragon’s Fang. The dagger was knocked from his hand and sent flying across the courtyard. Daredin had only another second to dodge the swinging blade aimed for his head.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Krutch forced himself up and limped to the tower, leaving Daredin to handle the Enforcer. “Yeah, have fun with that, jerky.”
He ran up the first staircase he found, eventually stopping to catch his breath in a doorway. The ground shook underneath him. The air was hot with fire. The sound of fighting and yelling echoed all around him. Even with everything going on, he wanted to go to sleep. But Lily and Katrina were somewhere in the tower, in need of help—assuming they weren’t dead.
He moaned like a child who had to get up for morning chores and got moving.
* * *
After the explosion tore through the catacombs, Katrina found herself in a corridor leading, in one direction, to the courtyard where she could hear Daredin’s followers shouting and screaming in confusion. The other led to the main entrance, where she could escape and make a run for it.
But her wrath was not quenched in the slightest. The fire was only the beginning—she would see to it Kader, Daredin, and all his disciples pay.
Since then, she’d been cutting a swath through Daredin’s cult. She killed her way up and down every corridor, sparing no mercy for any guard, disciple, or demon in her path. Their screams faded to white noise and static in her ears.
Some tried to fight back, but she easily cut them down. Although the sabre was meant for slashing and cutting, that did not prevent her from hacking and stabbing at them—leaving little left but bloody pulp.
A trail of bodies and gore was left in her wake. Her hatred and anger drove her on with cold, unwavering resolve. She didn’t see them as human beings, but objects to be torn down. She was nearly covered, head to toe, in blood as she made her way around the tower.
There was no panic or fear or hesitation. She felt rectified.
She found Rasul Kader in a small chamber filled with books. A balcony overlooked the courtyard twenty feet below. Flames were spreading to the rest of the tower, and the remnants of Daredin’s people were scattered about, directionless and confused. Katrina even saw the Enforcer cutting his own swath of death and destruction.
Whatever destiny Daredin had in store, it was falling apart all around him.
Behind Kader was a pair of sacks filled tight. Kicking one over, she was not surprised to find they were packed with gold and jewels. Hearing the gold coins spill onto the floor, Kader turned and, upon seeing her, the color drained from his face.
&
nbsp; “Taking the money and running, are we..?” she asked, her harsh, scratchy voice cool and vindictive. “Like a glorified mercenary would.”
Kader hesitated, but gathered himself and cleared his throat. “Haven’t you got a bottle you should be hiding in somewhere?”
She smirked, hearing his false bravado. “You should’ve let me be,” she said, pointing her dripping sword at him. “And now a lot of blood has been spilled on account of you, Mr. Kader. I intend to collect.”
He inched away, looking to circle around her to the door. He tried to maintain a steel resolve, but his voice quavered. “I’ve no interest in fighting a drunk. Our business is over, Princess.”
Hearing the word, blinding fury flashed across her vision, and with a hiss, she charged and hit him with a kick to the chest. He was thrown back into the far wall, crashing into a shelf. Books rained down around him, and he stared at her with a look mixing insult and disgust.
“Hardly,” he said, pulling himself up, still trying to maintain a strong tone. “Hardly behavior befitting a Princess. A Vigorian one at that.”
“Princess Katrina died a long time ago. I’m just her ghost.”
She thrust at him with the sabre. Kader dodged out of the way, and the wooden shelf behind him was cleaved in two. He drew his own sword and held it up. “If it’s death you seek, Princess, then—um—I’ll be happy to oblige you.” He forced an unconvincing smile of confidence. “You’re so drunk, you probably can’t even see straight, anyway.”
Katrina smiled. It was a joyless, evil thing that made Kader’s blood run cold. It was a look that said she didn’t care whether she lived or died—just as long as she took him with her.
“I’ll just have to chop up the both of you then.”
* * *
Lily was able to get past the fire and out of the catacombs. She reached the lower levels of the tower only to find bedlam waiting. Daredin’s followers scrambled back and forth, shouting and yelling to attack some unknown enemy. She thought it would be best to take advantage of the disarray and thin their numbers, but most didn’t even acknowledge her presence. She almost felt sorry attacking them.
She pushed ahead, only fighting back when someone attacked her first. She passed the courtyard, where she saw the Devil’s Moon was at its zenith, but there was no sign of Katrina. Continuing her search, she only found the remains of a slaughter. Bodies were strewn about, torn to pieces—most in even worse shape than the ones she found outside Katrina’s cell.
Wandering through the tower, a growing sense of dread took hold of Lily’s heart. Something had obviously gone wrong, but she feared what the meaning of it could be. At first, she thought maybe Katrina escaped, but she didn’t know what to make of the savagery she was finding.
When they were traveling together, Katrina seemed reluctant with her sword. And when they were forced to fight, she attacked with swift efficiency. This seemed the work of a butcher. Someone like the Enforcer, really.
Searching blind, with no idea where to go, she found herself in a large, dark chamber. The room was dimly lit with small torches and seemed unnaturally quiet amidst all the chaos elsewhere in the tower. Along the walls were sinister and demonic carvings and sculptures—reminiscent of the Dark Lands. They all seemed to be staring at her.
Almost makes you feel at home, doesn’t it?
Lily’s blood ran cold. She sensed the darkness in the air and felt lost and confused. Yet, at the same time, there was a longing in her heart. The demon part of her felt disturbingly close to the surface, insisting this was her place in the world and she should accept it.
But you don’t belong, do you, freak?
She shivered hearing the voice in her head. It was a woman’s voice—cold and cruel. She felt the Black in the air. The vile darkness and malevolent energies. This was an evil place, meant for an evil purpose, and she felt trapped in the center of it.
Abomination. Creature. Monster.
Terror gripped her heart. Her strength drained from her legs, and the floor seemed to spin. She should never have come there. She should’ve just left Katrina behind. She had no business trying to save anyone—much less herself. She was a demon. Worse—a freak of a demon, unlike the rest of her kind. She was an anomaly—an aberration that had no place among humans or her own.
Why don’t you just make it easier on yourself, take those daggers of yours, and plunge them into your soulless, black heart?
“I’m not like them ...” Lily whimpered, her voice shaking. She sank to her knees, her daggers slipping from her hands. “I’m not a monster ...”
“You’re not like anyone, freak. You’ve no place anywhere.”
The woman’s voice emerged from behind. Lenora Hawke approached the murderer of her brother, a smile on her thin, pale face. A knife materialized from inside her sleeve, and she bent forward in front of Lily, lifting up her chin with the point.
“Silly little demon,” she said. “A demon that doesn’t know its place is a demon that shouldn’t live. And you seem to have forgotten your place, haven’t you, little girl?”
Lily didn’t answer. She made a half-hearted attempt to draw Krutch’s gun and shoot, but the pistol was slapped from her hands.
Part of her knew she’d been ensnared—that she was being swallowed by similar charms she used on her prey. But where a succubus lured its prey with lust and love, Lenora was holding her in place with despair and fear.
“Come along now, child,” she said. “Take your weapons and rend them into your heart. You won’t be missed. It’ll be easier for everyone—especially yourself.”
There was a part of Lily that screamed out to fight. To resist, take her daggers, and plunge them into this woman’s throat. But darkness swelled around her. She felt trapped in a web. She was, after all, only a demon. Demons have no souls. No minds of their own. They are just abominations meant to serve.
She tried to remember the flower-colored window she loved so much—but it was cracked and broken with darkness behind it. She tried to think of the Hammonds and how kind they were to her, but only heard their screaming. She saw their children ... and the blood … the blood on her claws …
I was trying to save them ...
Demons can’t save anybody. Demons are evil and only know how to hurt.
Lily clutched one of her daggers and pointed the blade toward the center of her chest. Her hand was shaking, but she felt Lenora’s influence drowning away all hope and resistance. The point pressed into her flesh, and a thin stream of blood started to drip from the wound.
“That’s what you get for killing my brother, you little bitch.”
28
Krutch had been wandering blindly around the tower. Smoke continued to fill the halls, and he felt the heat of the fire increasing. Since escaping Daredin, he saw fewer and fewer of the disciples running around, and at first, he thought that was because they were fleeing or concentrating on the Enforcer.
That was until he started finding the bodies littering the cramped halls. Even after everything he’d been through, the sight of such carnage made him sick to his stomach. Between the smoke and slaughter, he searched for a window for fresh air.
He found a small opening that overlooked the cliffs. What disciples that weren’t killed were trying to escape—only to be run into Drake Garrison and the Sentries. Seeing the fires below growing, it crossed his mind he might have to start planning his own escape soon. He couldn’t stay much longer, and that made him especially worried he might not find Lily.
“Why, Mr. Leeroy,” said a familiar voice behind him. “We meet again.”
He turned and found Vicar Frost standing in the hall. “You cannot be serious!” he said, not sure how to feel about seeing the smiling Vicar.
“Interesting how we keep running into each other.”
“Oh, piss on you!” said Krutch. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Simply observing the fruits of my labor,” said Frost, tonelessly.
“The hell i
s that supposed to mean?”
“Come now, Mr. Leeroy. You didn’t really think my influence on these events was limited to suggesting Rasul Kader seek you out?”
Krutch said nothing, only staring at the Vicar with an incredulous look on his face. He clutched the sides of his head like he was trying to squeeze it to nothing. He was physically and mentally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and forget the world.
It did occur to him Frost had more of a hand in what had been happening than he let on back in the forest—though he’d be damned if he knew what any of it meant or what he could be getting out of it. In fact, he found himself considering just strangling Frost right there.
When he looked up, the Vicar was gone, but Krutch was too tired and annoyed to do much more than groan. He was about to resume his search for Lily when his foot kicked something on the floor. It was small and metallic and would fit into his hand like a glove. Krutch had found an old friend.
Picking up the pistol, he had only a moment to wonder how it got there, when he looked inside the chamber he was standing outside and found a tall woman wearing a black dress. She was standing over Lily.
* * *
“That’s it, dear,” Lenora Hawke cooed. “Just a little more and it’ll all be over.”
The dagger sank deeper into Lily’s chest. A stream of blood dripped down her stomach, and she could feel the point within an inch of her heart.
She saw her death happening in front of her eyes. Her human form would dissolve as her demon body melted away into a sickening pile of pus and bone. Demons—especially succubi, such as herself—did not die well.
She could see the relish in Lenora’s eyes. Still feeling Carlyle’s essence inside her, she understood the satisfaction of watching her brother’s murderer kill herself. A fitting fate for a lowly demon such as herself.