by Joe Jackson
Kari found the priests’ attitude confusing, and she wondered if they would change if the priests knew that Koursturaux had once set foot on Citaria. “Masters, I’ll write you a full report on my findings in Barcon, but there’s something else very important I need to talk to you about,” Kari said. She folded her hands behind her back nervously. “Eli told me of the work he did for Jason before the War; are any of you familiar with what Jason had Eli and his friends doing?”
“We aren’t aware of most of the specifics,” Master Arinotte answered. “I know that he had them investigate some dark elf troubles out in the Barrier Mountains, and that they tracked down some items stolen from Turik Jalar’s tomb at Jason’s command. And they also served him in some minor hunts that he decided didn’t require the attention of actual hunters.”
Gods, how do I explain this in less than a week? Kari thought. She really didn’t want to be the one to break Bosimar’s trust, even when she wasn’t one of the people who’d sworn to keep the secret in the first place. Eli insisted he’d told her so that she could use the information to her advantage, and as Kari thought about it, she realized the fact that Emma was Tor’s mother may have had a lot more to do with the “gnoll” keeping the secret than any loyalty to Bosimar. She realized in those moments that she had a choice: she could either lead the Demonhunter Order while operating in the shadows like Jason Bosimar, or she could lead the Order by taking the fight to the demons and not being shy about it, like Turik Jalar had done.
Kari made her choice. “One of the things I came across in Jason’s journals was a mission Eli, Tor, and their friends did for him…involving syrinthians,” she said. The priests all sat forward in their seats, giving her their full attention. It was just the reaction Kari had hoped for: if they were already aware or they simply didn’t consider the syrinthians a threat, she would never convince them of her need to visit the underworld. “I’m not sure if this is something you already know and are supposed to pretend you don’t, so forgive me if I overstep my rank in telling you about this. Apparently, in the years before the War, there was an attempted invasion by the syrinthians, headed by a priestess named Se’ceria.”
“Se’ceria! Of course,” Master Arinotte said, and Kari paused to let him speak. The youngest of the priests turned to the others. “If you recall the incident that one summer when Tor’s team was assaulted by syrinthians outside the city, that name – Se’ceria – came up in conversation with Amastri. She tried to cover it up, but I remember that name in the reports we received on the incident. They weren’t sure whether the syrinthians attacked them at Amastri’s command or that of this…Se’ceria, but Jason Bosimar took over handling the matter directly.”
Master Bennet nodded. “We had come to suspect there was more to the situation than Jason formally reported to us, but once the situation was resolved, we let the matter pass.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have,” Kari said. She marked well the surprised faces of the men before her but didn’t back down from her declaration. If she wanted to be a good head of the Order, she knew she had to stick to her convictions and be assertive. It would take time and work, but Kari figured now was as good a time as any to start. “Jason put his trust in a syrinthian priestess, and King Koursturaux was able to set foot on our world because of it. We’re pretty lucky that Se’ceria and Koursturaux were both more interested in humiliating Sekassus, or we might’ve ended up fighting more than just Seril in the Apocalypse.”
“Wait a moment, Lady Vanador,” Master Bennet said. “How do you know this, and do you also know how Koursturaux came to set foot on Citaria?”
“Eli witnessed it all, and he told me the entire story after our work in Barcon,” she answered. “He said he saw Koursturaux with his own eyes, and the look on his face when he described her was all the proof I needed. From what Eli said, Se’ceria was supposed to summon Sekassus to our world using a massive portal the syrinthians built in the mountains. But she betrayed Sekassus and summoned Koursturaux instead. Eli said that Koursturaux just left once Sekassus’ servants were dead and the portal was…dismantled.”
“That’s a relief,” Master van Holtzer said.
Kari wasn’t sure what he meant, and as she looked from face to face, it was Master Perez who addressed her confusion. “Demons and their kings cannot simply come to Citaria at will, Lady Vanador. Our world is protected by barriers between the dimensions, and there are only three ways for a demon to cross them: thaumaturgic summoning, a portal such as your friend Eli described, or use of inter-dimensional travel if a direct blood relation is already here.”
Kari hid her surprise as best she could; she now knew how Emma was able to get to and from Citaria so easily. With her son living in DarkWind, she could cross the barriers anytime she pleased, and no one would ever be the wiser for it. Kari wondered if it had been Emma who’d summoned Ressallk to Tsalbrin, and how often or how many other demons the mallasti girl had or could summon. Kari also remembered Eli’s words regarding the syrinthians, and she understood that if the inter-dimensional barriers only stopped demons from coming across, then syrinthians could come across at will so long as they possessed the means to jump from world to world. That simply left Kari to wonder how they accomplished those jumps.
“This would seem to make more sense now,” Master Arinotte said, turning to his fellow priests. “Amastri serves Koursturaux; now her involvement in the incident with the syrinthians makes more sense. Se’ceria must also have been a servant of Koursturaux, and the two must have been working together to see this plot of their master’s through. While it is alarming that a being as powerful as Koursturaux set foot upon Citaria, it is somewhat encouraging that she is more interested in fighting Sekassus than our own pantheon.”
“Se’ceria served Koursturaux,” Kari confirmed, “but she also served a deity. Her holy symbol was that amulet I sent here for study before I left. Has anyone been able to figure out whose symbol that is?”
“No, but we have several of our staff busy cross-referencing it with any and all holy texts we can find,” Master Bennet said.
“There’s one other important detail about Tor and Eli’s work that I need to talk to you about,” Kari said, trying to get back to her point. “Se’ceria had a daughter who stayed in the underworld while Se’ceria worked for Sekassus here. When Se’ceria was killed in the fight with Sekassus’ servants, she asked Eli and his friends to go into the underworld and find her daughter, to rescue her from Sekassus. They swore they would, but they never fulfilled that oath. Masters, I plan to go with them to the underworld and find this girl, to bring her back here.”
Kari expected immediate protest or denials, but strangely, the priests all kept silent until, one by one, each turned his head to Master Perez. Perez considered Kari for several long and uncomfortable minutes. Kari did her best not to fidget or lose her nerve under his intense gaze. After those minutes, however, he glanced at Master van Holtzer and then at Master Arinotte. “You believe this girl could be a valuable source of information?” he stated more than asked. “I assume you already understand the danger that such an undertaking represents, but have you considered that it is entirely possible this girl will not even accompany you, much less tell you anything regarding her people or homeland?”
“Yes, I have. That’s not really…relevant to the promise that was made.” Kari began to pace the floor before the priests’ long table. “I know this may sound selfish, Masters, but I was nearly murdered in my own home just a few hours ago, I have a mallasti sorceress apparently following my every move, and I have a demon king that’s very angry with me for killing his son. But what I also have is a bunch of syrinthians in prison, a…creature who may or may not be a demon who sells information right in the city, and a handful of friends and family who could likely get me into and out of the underworld without anyone noticing. I’m not planning to walk up to the Overking and throw down a list of demands like Turik Jalar did; I’m looking to go and find this girl, steal her away
or negotiate her release, and bring her back here. I feel like I can’t just sit back and wait for things to happen anymore. I…no, we need some idea of what we’re up against, and aside from trying to capture Emma, I think this syrinthian priestess – Se’sasha – may be our best hope. My first instinct was to do this behind your backs, Masters, but I don't want to lead this Order the way Jason Bosimar did. I want to lead it the way Turik Jalar did.”
There were proud smiles on all of the faces before her, and Kari's heart calmed down a little bit. “What you say sounds anything but selfish,” Master MacDonald said. “But it sounds dangerous; even if your goal is to rescue this girl with subtlety, the presence of a Hand of Zalkar in the underworld may rouse the attention of the kings.”
“I understand, and I agree, Master,” Kari said. “This isn’t something I’d even consider if I didn’t get reliable, useful information first. That’s why I’ve had one of the syrinthians we’ve captured held apart from her friends. I’d like to bring her before you for questioning, to see what she’ll tell us about Se’ceria’s daughter and where we might find her. Then I’d like to speak with Amastri and see what she’s willing and able to tell us, and we can compare what the two have to say. If they give us different or sloppy details, then I’ll wait until we can find a better way. But if they can tell us where to find Se’sasha and how to rescue her without getting into trouble, then that’s what I’d like to do.”
“Your promotion was clearly well-deserved,” Master Perez said. “I don’t believe we have said as much to you, but it is an absolute pleasure to have you among us, Lady Vanador. Have this syrinthian girl brought before us, and we will see what she has to say.”
Kari smiled and saluted her superiors, and she made her way from the chamber to go retrieve Se’lucia Liria Alaristis.
Chapter II – Alternatives
After a couple of mostly fruitless hours trying to get information out of Liria and then some of her companions, Kari left the campus with her mother-in-law. It had seemed odd at first that the syrinthians would stay silent in the face of their potential executions, but Kari recalled the tale that Eli and Danilynn had told her. Doubtless the syrinthians’ families were being held close by Sekassus, to be tortured and executed if the infiltrators failed or betrayed him. If that were so, then Sekassus was likely to kill Liria’s family, along with those of her companions, simply because they had been caught. Despite her usual feelings about syrinthians, Kari had no intentions of letting that happen.
Kari left instructions for the syrinthians to be held, but to await her command before anything else was done with them. Her interrogations, aided by the Council, had yielded nearly no information about Sekassus, the underworld, or what orders the serpentine king had given his syrinthian spies, but they hadn’t been entirely useless. Two things had come to light as a result: that the syrinthians had not been ordered to kill Kari – and thus Irressa had acted of her own accord; and that their mission was one way – they were not expected or expecting to ever return home. On top of all that, Kari had deduced that there had to be an outside agent that was passing their reports on to Sekassus; the syrinthians wouldn’t say anything about it one way or another.
Kari figured if she could find that outside agent and capture or kill them before they could report to Sekassus, that might spare the syrinthians’ families and make them more willing to talk. Kari wasn’t sure how quickly word would reach the agent that the Demonhunter Order had rounded up syrinthian spies. She had to hope that if she assigned her brother-in-law Aeligos and his girlfriend Eryn Olgaryn to finding and eliminating this outside agent, they could do so in time to make a difference. Kari had no doubt the two could accomplish the task, but getting it done quickly and on short notice was a tall order, even for the two masters of espionage.
Such a proposition still left Kari very uncomfortable. If she asked Eryn for her help along with that of her Guild, it would mean Kari was effectively contracting an assassins’ guild to do her work for her. After everything she’d found out already regarding Jason Bosimar and his connections to syrinthians, demons, and other unscrupulous types, Kari was leery about getting wrapped up with any of those same entities. It was why she was hesitant to go speak with Amastri – whether she was a demon or not, why she wasn’t sure what the end result would be of saving Se’sasha from Sekassus’ clutches, and why she was extremely nervous about involving the Blood Order in any of her work. If it came to light that Kari had hired the Blood Order – even to catch a dangerous underworld agent – it could make it seem as though the Demonhunter Order was in league with assassins.
Kyrie glanced at Kari now and then while they walked, and Kari knew her mother-in-law was keeping her protests silent out of respect. Obviously, Kyrie was not happy with Kari’s plan to visit the underworld, and Kari knew the rest of her family would be just as unhappy – and a lot more vocal. Kari wasn’t sure if they’d be more unsettled or more accepting of that plan once they found out she wanted some of them to go with her. When she met Kyrie’s gaze at last, her mother-in-law touched her shoulder briefly but said nothing. There would be plenty of time to get everyone’s input; Kari had yet to go see Amastri or get any useful information regarding the underworld or traveling there and back safely. For the moment, going to the underworld wasn't so much a plan as just an idea.
At last they reached their destination: the temple of Kaelariel, where Kyrie was the high priestess. Kari had managed to arrange a meeting with Aeligos and Eryn on short notice, but they opted to meet at Kaelariel's temple rather than at the campus of the Order or at Kyrie's home. While Kyrie didn't mind having Eryn visit her home as Aeligos' girlfriend, the half-brys woman was one of the highest-ranking members of the Blood Order, the city's resident assassins' guild. To have Eryn meet Kari and Kyrie either at the Order's campus or the priestess' home under an official capacity would have looked very bad in the eyes of the common citizens; Kari had to imagine it already looked bad that Eryn occasionally visited Kyrie’s home. However, while Kaelariel was the god of freedom and death, as head of the pantheon he was rarely judgmental, so Eryn was able to enter his temple without condemnation.
As requested, Aeligos and Eryn were both inside already, standing to the side, speaking quietly while they awaited Kari's arrival. Every time Kari saw them together, she was still struck by the stark difference just in their appearance: Aeligos was half-guardian, and though he wasn't overly muscular, he still stood about six-foot-one and was well toned. Eryn, by comparison, was half-brys, and she didn't even reach five feet tall standing straight. She was tiny standing next to her boyfriend, but Kari knew that slight frame and its wiry muscles were only half the picture. Eryn was a highly-trained killer, one of the greatest among her guild, and likely beyond.
Eryn's greeting was short and cordial, as was typical for her kind. Half-brys, like their full-blooded brys forebears, were rarely overtly warm or friendly, and they were blunt in nearly everything. Eryn was dressed for business, armored in a detailed but unrestrictive leather outfit with a pair of sabres at her hips and a bow across her shoulders. It made little sense for Eryn to bother trying to blend in with the citizens given her stature and the fact that everyone knew who she was. As much as the city watch would have doubtless liked to arrest her and get her to snitch on the rest of her guild to bring it down, Eryn was feared, and no one seemed in any hurry to accost her, even when she was dressed to kill on the streets under daylight.
Aeligos hugged Kari, clearly glad she had returned safely from her work in Barcon, but he was perturbed by the reports of the attack in their home, and he didn't bother to hide it. He absently brushed the sculpted strands of his hair back into place, his ebon eyes fixed squarely on Kari’s own. “So what's this about a jackal demon in our house?” he asked quietly. “How did it get past the wards you put around it, mom?”
“I'm afraid that was my own doing,” Kyrie admitted with a sigh. She glanced at Kari. “I hadn't suspected it at the time. Little Gray asked if his f
riend, “the Fuzzy Man,” could come in the house…I just assumed it was an imaginary friend. Had I even suspected he was actually speaking of some invisible, hidden creature…”
“I guess it's a good thing you didn't, considering he saved my life,” Kari assured her. “If you'd detected him and we got rid of him…who knows how things would've played out with Irressa and these syrinthian spies.”
“I should have been more suspicious after you felt his presence in the bedroom that day, though,” Kyrie said apologetically. “Rest assured, if any of us even suspects something is in that house in the future, I will be making every effort to root it out, friend or foe.”
“The Guild is already aware that some infiltrators were discovered among the Order,” Eryn said. “Officials are trying to keep it from spreading among the commoners, but that's not going to work for very long. Tell us what you need done.”
Kari paused to put her thoughts in order. “Including the girl who tried to kill me, there were twelve syrinthians altogether,” she said. “But I don't think they were passing along their reports to Sekassus directly. I think there's someone else in the city that was in charge of passing along information to Sekassus. I know it's a lot to ask, but I need the two of you to see if you can find out who it is and either capture or kill them before they can tell Sekassus we've captured his spies. And the trouble is, you can't ask the syrinthians about it. Or, I suppose you could, but they're not going to talk. Even the threat of death didn't make them talk to us. Any ideas where you might start?”
“What about that gnoll, Tormaar?” Aeligos suggested. “Doesn't seem likely it's him, but he might know someone based on all the times he and his friends tangled with syrinthians.”
Kari nodded. “That might be a good place to start. I'm supposed to go meet with some woman who works for a demon king, so I can see if she knows of any others like herself in the city. If she works for Koursturaux and this other spy works for Sekassus, she might be all too happy to turn them in to us.”