by Joe Jackson
Eli waved off the comment and sat back in his chair. “I’ve never been very good at taking orders,” he said. “I worked for your Order because Bosimar had a lot of work to be done, but I didn’t do that work for him, or for your Order.”
“You did it to protect people,” she ventured.
The half-corlyps nodded. “I’ve seen enough people beaten into the dirt in my life; someone has to protect them.”
“I became a demonhunter for pretty much the same reason,” Kari said, and Eli couldn’t hide his smile. “So you’ve fought an erestram before?”
Eli chuckled. “Yea,” he said, his hand tracing along the scars again reflexively. “I’ve heard it said that you once killed one in single combat. I can’t even imagine how the hell you could’ve done that. The six of us managed to kill one, but by the gods, that thing gave as good as it got. Nearly killed Tor…nearly killed me…I swear we were wading through its blood and it just kept on fighting. And then, of all things, when we finally hurt it so badly it couldn’t fight anymore…the damned thing seemed relieved…like it was glad to finally die.”
Kari nodded. “Erestram are very proud warriors for demons; they’d rather die than admit defeat to what they consider a lesser enemy. For even six of you to have beaten one would be considered quite an accomplishment by my Order,” she said, and Eli bobbed his head in agreement. “You said you’ve never gone into the underworld, though, right? So did you ever face a sylinth or a harmauth?”
“Nah, never been to the underworld,” he said. He started to speak but then paused, as if considering how much he could or should say again. “We did run across a sylinth once, but it didn’t seem all that interested in fighting. It sort of stunned most of us with some mental attack and then left; we never did figure out what it was up to. And, thank the gods, we never had to fight a harmauth. Saw one once, but never fought one.”
Antoine entered the foyer and already had a mischievious smile on his face before he even spoke to Eli. “So, boss, you got beat up by a girl?” he asked with a chuckle, though he received only a short shake of the head from Eli. “What were you doing up there, anyway? Going to ask about the lady’s demon kills, or looking for some tail?”
“Antoine,” Eli said warningly, but Kari found herself chuckling.
“It’s not an unreasonable question,” she said.
The half-corlyps grunted and dismissed his employee with an impatient wave of his hand, and he dug into a pocket of his trousers as Antoine walked away laughing. “Actually, I was coming up to give you this,” he said. He held up a platinum disk, similar to a coin but much thinner. He flipped it to Kari casually, and his expression changed only slightly when she deftly caught it between two fingers and held it up for inspection. She looked to him questioningly, and Eli continued, “It’s a Celestial Token. Have you ever heard of a demon called Terx?”
“He crafted my scimitars,” she answered, “though not specifically for me.”
Eli nodded, impressed. “These tokens are given out to heroes, or those who fulfill very important tasks for the celestials,” he explained. “Supposedly, they allow one to ‘buy’ a weapon from Terx or, I’m told, a suit of armor from Krollmar himself. I’m not sure how much truth there is to either claim, but our group got mixed up in a very interesting situation over that little piece of metal. Several different factions from the underworld sent agents to try to recover it: syrinthians, some succubi…hell, even a mallasti was asking about it at the time.”
“Emma?” Kari interrupted, coming to attention in her chair.
Eli held her stare evenly for several long moments before his gaze flicked to the side and he gave a lopsided smile. “So you’ve met Emma, then,” he said.
“No,” Kari answered. “She was involved in the last mission I worked for the Order, but I never came across her personally. By all reports, she was at least partially behind the problems we looked into, but whatever she was up to, we’re still at a loss.”
The half-corlyps gave a casual wave of his hand. “Probably nothing,” he said. “She’s more of an observer: she watches what goes on here for her master in the underworld. I suppose it’s possible her focus has shifted from observing to manipulation, but based on my dealings with her, I’d be inclined to think not.”
“I might feel a little better about that if you told me what dealings you had with her,” Kari said, and she sat back and crossed one leg atop the other. She wondered if this revelation related back to what Eli, Tor, and the others had sworn secrecy over, and she looked at Aeligos’ claim that Bosimar was ‘working with’ the demons in a different light. It occurred to her that based on Aeligos’ information on Tsalbrin and the ultimate result of their mission there, Emma might be a double agent. It didn’t ease her tensions about having so powerful a demon on her homeworld, but if Emma was causing more trouble for her own kind than for Kari and her Order, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Eli looked around the foyer casually. There were some city watch and a few of his own security personnel keeping their eyes on the door, but there were no customers in the brothel and almost no one within earshot. “I can tell you one thing, but this is between you and I. You can’t tell your Order or anyone else that might lead to it getting back to the underworld,” he said in a low voice, and then he rose and moved his chair closer to hers so they could speak more privately. He leaned in close and Kari met him halfway, their faces only inches apart, which gave her a great look into his eyes as he said, “She helped us sabotage Sekassus’ plans.”
“Do you have any idea who she works for?” Kari asked, trying to keep her mind straight in the face of so large a surprise. Eli’s words furthered her suspicion that Emma might be a double agent, since helping betray Sekassus would mean that Emma had now done so twice, in addition to once helping to betray Arku. It went without saying that such knowledge could not get back to the underworld: with several demon kings furious with her, Emma’s life expectancy could be measured in hours.
“Not a clue,” Eli answered – honestly, based on his mannerisms. “All I can tell you is that there’re other reasons we trusted her, things that could hurt a lot of people if they become common knowledge. You need to trust your instincts. Just because she helped us twelve years ago doesn’t mean it wasn’t just convenient at the time. I haven’t spoken to her since before the Apocalypse, so I don’t know what her orders are like these days. You honestly need to treat her with a lot of skepticism, but if in doubt, just remember that she did help us at one point. If she seems like she’s trying to help you, you may want to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Kari nodded. “So why did you want to give me this token? I find it strange you didn’t use it yourself.”
The half-corlyps chuckled with another lopsided smile. “I’m many things, but conceited isn’t one of them. I didn’t earn that token, I found it. It didn’t belong to us, and I never felt I had the right to use it as though I’d earned it. Sure, I did a lot of work for your Order, and I hope I helped a lot of people and made the world just a little safer. But I didn’t do anything deserving of something like that. If I ever do, maybe the celestials will actually give me one of those.”
“The reason I gave it to you is that one of the people looking for it was a succubus of some kind living right in DarkWind,” he continued, but he held up a hand. “Don’t jump to conclusions. She’s an observer, too, and that woman that attacked us upstairs wasn’t her. She was looking for this token for her master, so if you give it to her, she may be willing to give you a wealth of information – or even help – in exchange. The token’s yours; do with it as you please. I’m just telling you that there’s one person you could give it to that might open a lot of important connections and information sources for the Order.”
“Conspire with demons?” Kari asked simply.
“Just because they’re evil doesn’t mean they can’t be useful,” Eli returned with a shrug. “Hell, even Seril helped drive back the bakatur before the F
ifth Demon War. Evil is always self-serving, but if anything, that makes it so much easier to tempt and manipulate.”
Kari chuckled. “You’re an interesting man,” she said, making certain that her smile showed she meant it as a compliment. “So what’s this succubus’ name?”
“Amastri,” he answered. “I’m sure you’re pretty well educated when it comes to the demon kings. Amastri serves King Koursturaux S’Bakthra, so you need to really be careful when you deal with her. There’s a reason Koursturaux is feared even by her fellow kings.”
The demonhunter thought to herself for a minute, but the Order wasn’t as familiar with the underworld Council or its members as they would’ve liked to be. Kari knew enough that she understood Koursturaux was one of the highest-ranking kings despite her gender, and that killing one of her servants would be even more dangerous than having killed Sekassus’ son. She was tempted to ask Eli more – about his background, his adventures, his thoughts on Emma and Amastri, and especially his tattoo – but further conversation was interrupted by the sound of approaching hooves.
Chapter VII – The Earl of Lajere
The effects of three years were immediately apparent. Though he wasn’t quite fully mature, Sherman cut a much more dignified profile than he had the first time Kari met him. He stood speaking to the captain in charge of the situation at The Satin Palace, and Kari saw that his years under the tutelage of Count Markus Garant had sculpted the young human into a fine example of a man. His beard was fuller but still trimmed short, accenting his jaw and his lean facial features, though his straight brown hair was shorter than Kari remembered it, now only long enough to reach his shoulder blades while still kept in a neat tail. Sherman stood with his hands folded behind his back as he received a report of the incident from the watch captain, and Kari could see that though he was only twenty years old, Sherman had matured a great deal.
He had only a steel breastplate on over a riding outfit, which suggested that he’d been more concerned with the speed of his arrival than with the expectation of a confrontation. He wore a short tabard displaying the coat of arms of the county, and he had a longsword belted on his hip rather than his old favorite, the two-handed sword he had trained with during their trip to Tsalbrin. Kari recalled the grievous injuries the young man had received in battle with General Braxus Gaswell on that fateful day three years earlier, and was glad to see that with Grakin’s healing ministrations, Sherman had recovered fully and still pursued the path of a paladin. She waited patiently for him to finish speaking with the captain, and Kari noted that Eli was watching the young human with an expression that clearly said he was expecting grief.
Once Sherman finished speaking with the captain and the watchman gestured toward Kari and Eli, the young human turned and his eyes widened in surprise. “Kari!” he said with a smile, and she could see the light in his chestnut eyes even from across the dimly-lit room.
“It’s good to see you again, Sherman,” the demonhunter said. She rose and accepted a hug once the paladin closed the distance between them. He seemed taller than she remembered, though not by much, and it nearly made her chuckle to think of anyone as tall, with the size of her in-laws.
“The guards mentioned there was a demonhunter in the city investigating the incident, but I would’ve never guessed it was you,” Sherman said. “What brings you this way, my friend? Are Grakin and the little one with you?”
Kari beheld her friend silently for a few moments, astounded with how much he’d grown up in the short years it’d been since he left to train under Count Lajere. She could only imagine how beautiful his twin sister Katarina had become in that same time period. Sherman’s voice was deep and more dignified than she remembered, and he spoke with the grace and mannerisms appropriate to one who trained with the nobility. It made her interested in meeting the Count.
“No, unfortunately I came here on business, so they’re at home in DarkWind,” she answered. “And that business seems to have followed me here, which is why this happened. On a positive note, I think this demoness that attacked is simply after me, so once I’m out of the area, the city should be safe again.”
Sherman considered her curiously, but then he turned to look at Eli. “Mr. Sorivar,” he greeted the half-corlyps, who returned the greeting just as curtly. It made Kari wonder what their relationship was like. She could hear the lack of warmth in their greeting, and she wondered if Eli’s tattoo and possible connections to the Five Clans were a part of it. Sherman was polite, as she assumed he always was, but it was clear he considered Eli a problem, just as it was clear Eli didn’t particularly like having the paladin in his establishment.
“You say it was a succubus?” Sherman asked, turning his attention back to Kari.
The demonhunter nodded. “It’s a fairly complicated story, one I’d rather wait to share until I can tell it to you, your sister, and the Count.”
The paladin regarded her curiously again, but then he nodded. “The Earl,” he corrected with his warm smile. “I suppose it might be best to have you stay the rest of the night at the castle, if you don’t mind a short ride. Unless you or Mr. Sorivar are uncomfortable leaving this place for the evening…?”
“With the help of your guards, I’m sure we can keep the building secure,” Eli said.
“I understand, but the Earl will doubtless want to speak with you to get as much information as he can,” Sherman said.
It seemed to take the half-corlyps a second to register what Sherman meant, and Eli cocked his head curiously. “You want me to stay the night at the castle?” he asked, and he grunted a laugh when the paladin nodded. “Well, I’ll be damned. Always figured the only way you’d ever ask me to the castle was if there was a noose waiting for me.”
Sherman smiled and turned his attention to Kari. “I don’t mind walking to the castle, it doesn’t look that far,” she commented, but the paladin waved his hand dismissively.
“You may take my steed,” he offered. “I will not ride while a woman walks.”
Eli chuckled and walked over to instruct his bouncers and security personnel on what to do in his absence. He put his armor back on and retrieved some leisure clothing to take with him to the castle, and Kari took the time to fetch her own things from her suite. Soon Kari, Eli, and Sherman were on their way to the castle, and their breath showed in the cool air of the spring night. The moons were bright, lightening the land enough that approaching danger would be easy to spot, but Kari kept on the alert, remembering how suddenly and brutally the demoness had attacked in DarkWind.
It had been ages since Kari rode a horse, but she found the basics came back to her fairly easily. Sherman’s steed was a beautiful, muscular white gelding with an intricate military-style saddle, and he showed no fear when the winged female mounted up. Kari recalled the lessons on proper posture she had received while training with Suler Tumureldi in Aurun Ch’Gurra, and a smile found its way to her face as she thought of all he had taught her. Being someone who was accustomed to traveling back and forth across continents on foot, whenever Kari rode in a coach, wagon, or even on horseback, it simply always felt alien to her. She supposed she should get used to it, though, as she considered she would likely be riding a horse the remainder of the way to Barcon.
Kari regarded the two males with her as they kept a steady pace along the road under the light of the moons. Sherman and Eli made an interesting pair, and Kari couldn’t help but wonder if Eli had any idea what Sherman had been through during the mission on Tsalbrin, or that the young human had nearly been killed in the final conflict with General Gaswell. She wasn’t sure how old Eli was, but he had the look of a grizzled veteran about him, and the fact that he had served under Bosimar before the War suggested he was likely in his thirties or forties. That was still young for a serilian-rir, but in the times he’d lived in, it meant he had quite a bit of experience. Kari assumed Eli looked at Sherman as an unseasoned whelp, and suspected that the half-corlyps didn’t think very much of the young pal
adin, based on their interactions.
“So how did you two meet?” she queried, and she couldn’t help but chuckle when the two men looked at each other and seemed to hold a silent conversation.
“You want to tell her?” Eli asked dryly after a few moments.
“I wouldn’t dream of denying you the pleasure,” Sherman answered, seeming all at once amused and embarrassed.
“The Earl and his family have never liked having a brothel in the city, but as long as I’ve run it, I’ve had an understanding with them,” Eli began as they put distance between themselves and the city. He glanced around warily once they left the safer streets, and continued, “A couple of years ago we had a drifter come through the city who thought slapping girls around meant he was tough, and that paying them for their company meant he could slap them around at will...right up until I threw him out of a third-story window. As I told you earlier, we have very strict rules about that sort of thing, and my understanding with the Earl has always been that inside that building, my word is law.”
Eli glanced at Sherman, who declined to meet his eyes as he recounted the tale. “That being said, the Earl wasn’t too happy about a dead body on the street, but rather than come see to the situation himself, he decided to send one of his young protégés to see how they’d handle the situation,” the half-corlyps continued. “So I was waiting for the Earl to come state his feelings, but in strides this human kid full of heaven’s fire, flashing his tabard and this fancy paladin title and asking what gave me the right to kill an unarmed man. And what happened then?”
“Mr. Sorivar taught me a lesson,” Sherman informed Kari matter-of-factly, and the terra-dracon woman looked to the half-corlyps curiously.
“I beat the crap out of this kid, and then I asked him if he had anything to back up his tabard and fancy title,” Eli elaborated.
Kari was shocked, but the wry smile on Sherman’s face said there was more to the situation than what she’d heard. “I’m surprised the Earl didn’t have you arrested,” she said.