Demon Scroll

by Tim Niederriter

  Demon Scroll

  Copyright © 2019 Tim Niederriter

  http://timniederriter.com/

  https://dwellerofthedeep.wordpress.com/

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written consent of the author. Unauthorized duplication in any media is a violation of international copyright laws and will be prosecuted.

  Published by Mental Cellar Publications

  This is a work of fiction People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to actual people, places, and events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Demon Scroll (Demon Hunter, #1)

  Demon Hunter Book One | Tim Niederriter

  Glossary of Terms

  Places

  Demon Hunter Book One

  Tim Niederriter

  Saben

  Two travelers arrived from southeast after crossing the Bloom’s mires. From the look of them, they’d traveled from south of the desert on the other side of the verdant waters lying directly east of Kanor.

  One was a man, tall and thick, built dark of hair and tawny of skin. He carried a great sword in a heavy black-lacquered baldric with a thick cord over his shoulder. His eyes were black like beetle shells. His clothes still looked dusty, as if he’d just come from the desert rather than the Bloom.

  His companion could not have looked more opposite.

  The woman wore a red tunic, partially covered by a black and gold fighting mantle common in the northeast, and a band of cured animal hide to keep her straw-dyed hair out of her dark eyes. She carried an ornately-filigreed empty sword-sheath strapped to her hip.

  The unusually large camel with the travelers lumbered into town behind them, carrying a large bag on her back, surrounding the double saddle.

  The man's name was Saben and his family and parentage hadn't mattered to anyone near him in some time. He took as his moniker the suit of the single merchant-style playing card tucked into his belt. It was a jackal of the black-rose-emblem called Kadias. Saben Kadias led the camel forward, his footfalls lighter than one might expect for such a big man. His companion, the red-clad Jaswei Da Enki followed at the animal’s side as they passed the outermost buildings of the coastal Kanori city.

  This was how the two arrived in the western town of Minro Ti Roo. Everywhere around them, the farmers and cultivators from the countryside, bringing their wares into town for sale once daylight fully broke, looked at the two travelers with wonder.

  While Saben's size would be exceptional among humans the world over, Jaswei drew more attention from the young men for her poise and beauty. Her intense gaze roved the windows of the buildings and the stands both large and small where merchants and farmers were setting up in the early morning light.

  She smiled, breaking the intensity of her eyes, then glanced at Saben.

  "And you didn't want to travel through the night!" she said.

  He grumbled something vile under his breath, though he directed the curse at himself, not Jaswei. His eyes drooped. Keeping his volume a low rumble, he shook his head.

  "My fault for letting you talk me into it."

  "Correct," Jaswei beamed.

  "Aren't you tired?" asked Saben. "We both walked the whole while since crossing the river."

  "Better here than back on the road.” Jaswei snorted. "It's not so bad with a lighter load to carry."

  He nodded but said nothing. Saben Kadias rarely spoke at full volume. He preferred quiet most of the time. At times like these, he remembered why he'd wanted to come northwest, to get away from all the politics and cattle shit in the cities of the southeast.

  Of course, he also had his mission across the bay.

  Across the water from Minro Ti Roo lay an entire continent neither of them had yet been in their travels.

  The myth of a man can weigh him down as sure as a massive frame and a heavy blade, he thought. He snorted in soft derision of the concept. He might have been famous in the south, famous for his sword and his duels, but no one here in Kanor knew him. Thus ends my legend. He smiled at the thought.

  "There you go," said Jaswei. "We're a thousand miles from anyone who ever knew you. Relax."

  He shrugged.

  "That'll take time." And I still have my quest, he added mentally.

  "Well, yes."

  "Let's find somewhere to get off our feet."

  "Beast first," said Jaswei. "You taught me that."

  "I remember. I'll find a place for the animal." He jerked his thumb at the camel. "Find us somewhere to rest."

  "I won't need my wardrobe today." She motioned to the bulkiest pack of luggage attached to the Camel’s saddle.

  "I'll have it locked up at the stable."

  "Perfect." She blew him a kiss, then set off down a side street, drawing more gawkers.

  Saben shook his head but watched her go for a while. The two of them had been close for some time, but despite her beauty, he never made any advances. Her attitude stopped most of those thoughts. Now is not the time, he thought and set off to search for a stable. A building with a rust-colored tin roof stood near the gates leading into the town's central fort.

  Saben approached the front. A young girl, working with a broom beside a sundial outside, smiled at his camel. She must have been too young for boys, judging by her build. She ran around the slow-moving camel as Saben led it closer. She glanced at him, then said something in Kanori, but in her exuberance, she spoke to fast for him to process the language, as it was one he used little before traveling north.

  "A stable and a lock-up," he said in a halting version of the same language.

  The girl bobbed her head, then turned and sprinted to the door at the building's side. She disappeared inside. Saben stopped near the stable’s animal doors, commanding the camel to stop with the sprite sign tattooed on one palm. That seal served as a reminder of his mission, one of the last relics of his childhood, along with the one on his opposite palm.

  The doors opened and the girl reemerged leading a woman in her fifties with graying hair by the hand. The woman's lips crinkled in a grin.

  "Big steed for a big man," she said in patient Kanori.

  "One stable, and a locked closet for the luggage," he said, holding out a pair of gold coins.

  "You carry a sword," she said.

  "Yes."

  "We’ve seen too many swords here."

  "That's sad."

  She folded her arms.

  "Can you handle it?"

  "Yes."

  "Have you any enemies about?"

  "I'm from the south. No one knows me here."

  "I'll be fair, but have to be careful. You understand, sir?"

  He patted his chest.

  "Call me Saben."

  "Odd name," said the woman.

  "Maybe."

  "Have a family?"

  He plucked the playing card from his belt and held it out to the woman, face up.

  She frowned.

  "Cryptic? What is that?"

  "A black rose emblem," he said. "My family name is Kadias."

  "Still odd." The woman took the coins from Saben's other hand. "But gold will do. When will you need your things?"

  “Tomorrow morning. An hour after dawn."

  "If you're up that early you may see the moon."

  Saben shrugged.

  “I’ll likely rest until then."

  The woman nodded.

  "Well, you should know, don't go out before dawn. Minro Ti Roo has its haunts after dark."

  "Haunts?"

  She shrugged.

  "Don't stay out after dark. They prowl the stree
ts." She looked at the girl at her side. "Don't they, granddaughter?"

  The girl bobbed her head.

  Saben frowned.

  "What are they?"

  "I suspect the lesser ones are shades from the fleet battle with Tancuon when I was a girl. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the worst ones, though. They’ve been here longer."

  "You sound like you know about the battle."

  She turned her back to him.

  "Gold is good," she said

  "Suit yourself." He handed the lead of the camel to the young girl, then turned to go.

  "If you spare another gold I could say more," said the woman.

  "I’ve too little money right now," he said and kept walking. "Perhaps later."

  "Best of luck," she said, then muttered another word, one he didn't know, under her breath. When one delivered as many curses as Saben Kadias, one quickly learned to recognize unfamiliar ones for what they were.

  He retraced his footsteps and quickly found Jaswei once more. She stood, shoe lifted and propped against the stones of a wall near where they’d parted earlier.

  "You find us a place?" he asked.

  "Sure as you dropped off the camel." She nodded. "Hope they have a strong lock up."

  "No one is after us, here. Your luggage will be safe." He gave her directions to the stable. "I told them to expect us an hour after dawn tomorrow morning."

  "Sure thing. We have a day and a night until then."

  He stifled a yawn with his hand.

  "I could use the sleep."

  "Speak quietly and sleep like a stone, is that it?"

  "Don't tell me you still have energy to explore."

  "What if I do?"

  He sighed, halfway to another yawn.

  "You're going to crash tomorrow if you do this. I won't carry you."

  "Our camel will, though."

  "You won't be able to sleep on its back. And we still have to cross the water."

  "What if I manage to keep going another day?"

  "Care to try?"

  "Oh fine. I'll rest. But I need food first."

  "Fine. Pick a restaurant."

  "Oh, good. All up to me."

  "I'm too tired for this."

  "That's funny. Kanori is creeping into your Najean."

  "I hadn't noticed."

  She put a hand on her hip.

  "So I'm telling you. You'll get used to the language soon."

  “We won’t be speaking Kanori much longer. On the other side of the bay, they speak Tancuonese.”

  “Is that so?” Jaswei frowned. “I only have a little Tancuonese.”

  “Lucky me. I have plenty. But that’s not the reason we’re going west.”

  Jaswei eyes regained some of the aloof intensity she usually saved for strangers.

  “It all comes back to demons with you.”

  “Yes.” His whisper sounded harsh, even in his own ears.

  “Well, my friend, I hope we can find what you’re looking for in Tancuon before too long.”

  “We will find it. Not sure how long it will take.”

  “Not like I plan to go back to Naje anytime soon,” she said. “Besides, half my blood is from Tancuon.”

  “You never mentioned that before.”

  “Never mattered before. Mother came from a place in the northwest.”

  “We are in the northwest.”

  “Not Kanor! She was much farther away!”

  “I believe you. No need to shout.”

  Jaswei subsided. She bit her lip.

  “Fine. Let’s get some food.”

  The sun sank and the shadows grew, Saben awakened slowly. After lunch, he and Jaswei had retired to the room she had rented for them. He rolled onto his back, feeling splinters in the floorboards through his bedroll. It was his turn to sleep on the floor, but he regretted not challenging the woman on it after they ate. After all, she had pushed to walk through the night and he'd given in that time as well.

  So much for a trade. He cursed himself inwardly, then rose. The last light of the sun fell upon the bed, glittering on the water in the bay visible through the flimsy woven curtains. Everything in the place seemed battered or ragged. Saben sighed, glad they planned on moving west the next morning, even if it meant an interminable trek around the northern edge of the bay. Hopefully, the vakari nations still had roads humans could use there.

  Thinking of the reptilian creatures made Saben’s expression morph into a grimace. The vakari could live on water or land, so their roads were equally likely to be canals or underground rivers rather than stone paths.

  He walked to the door of the room, not worried about waking Jaswei. He would say this for her if anyone ever asked, she could sleep through almost any sound. It took motion, like a camel's stride, to disturb her.

  Closing and locking the door behind him, Saben went downstairs to the tavern's bar. The place was just opening up its stores of alcohol to patrons at sunset, as was the custom in Kanor. The tender nodded to him from behind the semi-circular sweep of counter.

  "You drinking, sir?" asked the tender.

  "Not now, my man." Saben nodded curtly.

  "As you say."

  Saben continued to the door of the tavern.

  "It will be dark soon," said the tender. "Beware these streets at night."

  "Indeed," said Saben. "I will only be a moment."

  "As you say."

  Saben stepped onto the darkening, orange-cast street. Flowering trees lined the path to the water's edge. The Bay of Charin appeared peaceful. Damn the lack of money to get the camel on a ship. He wouldn't leave the animal to some Kanori meat market after how faithful she had been on such a long journey. No one he’d yet seen seemed able to comprehend the idea of riding the beast.

  He shook his head, then went back inside.

  A man stockier but even more than thickly built Saben nodded to him from a table near the bar. As he overcame the light-blindness of the glare from outside, Saben saw the stranger wore a mask shaped like a crescent moon that covered one eye and his forehead, leaving the mouth and the other side of his face exposed.

  "Have a drink, and talk with me," said the man a the table. "You look like you've come a long way. Better I buy you an ale."

  "I prefer rice wine if they serve such here in Kanor," said Saben. "But I'll drink whatever tonight. I'm low on funds, you see."

  "Where have you traveled from, my new friend?" asked the man. The corner of his visible eye crinkled with a smile.

  "Naje, south of the Bloom."

  "A long journey indeed." The masked man motioned to the tender, two fingers raised. "Have a seat, and tell me, is Naje as beautiful today as it was when I last saw its shores?"

  "Without wagering on when you last saw Naje, I'd say yes." And just as ugly, thought Saben. "Naje is the same as ever, the princes of shadow, the palace of blades, the flavor of rice wine...These things don't change much."

  "I see you have a reason for leaving the south behind."

  "You could say that." Saben took a seat. "I call myself Saben Kadias."

  "An unusual name, to be sure. Is a black rose involved?"

  Saben nodded.

  "And you?"

  "Lakses is what my mother named me."

  "Lakses. You sound foreign to Kanor too."

  "Excellent read. I'm from Tancuon originally."

  "What brought you across the bay?"

  "The same thing that took me to Naje several years ago." Lakses smiled. His mask gleamed silver where his other eye should have shone in the lamplight. "It is the business of a scholar to travel."

  "You can say the same for a mage," said Saben.

  "Are you a mage, Saben Kadias?"

  "You could say that."

  "I'm more learned than many in Tancuon who think mages are simply born in foreign lands. Every skill requires effort, no matter how esoteric. Have you studied?"

  "I intend to complete my education in Tancuon," Saben said. "Should I ever manage to get there."<
br />
  "Kanor's coast is just fifty leagues from the coast of Lownerane, and Lownerane is part of Tancuon, last I checked," said Lakses.

  "Too bad I can't afford a ship to that will carry my camel," said Saben. He explained his wish not to leave the animal for slaughter in Kanor, and how that aside he lacked funds for ship stowage.

  "It is true the people here scarcely know what to do with horses and dogs, let alone stranger animals." Lakses whistled. A shape detached from the shadows by the door. A tail flicked out as the cat ran to Lakses' side. "I will say, however, you may be in luck."

  Saben smiled as he looked at the cat.

  "Is that your ratter?"

  "Hardly," said Lakses. "She belongs to the tender."

  "I see you have a way with animals."

  "I understand them well enough, but unfortunately I don't have a great deal of money to pay you for your animal."

  Saben's heart sank.

  "Then my problem remains."

  "Perhaps not. You see, there is another way to cross the Bay of Charin. And I can trade it's like to you for your camel. There is but one difficulty. For my method to work, one must travel by night.”

  A day later, after taking the charm Lakses had traded him for the camel, Saben and Jaswei left the inn at sunset. The haunting ghosts of the wrecks in the bay were due to rise, but having watched Lakses leave on camel-back for the south that morning, Saben saw no other choice than to use the stone with the captive spirit trapped inside to cross the bay.

  He sensed the oddness of the magic of the stone but didn’t understand it with clarity.

  Jaswei assured him she could hear the angry bane's discordant song. The glittering jewel gave only a dull sound to Saben's untalented ears but he trusted Jaswei. As they made their way to the docks by the bay in deepening darkness, he hoped he wouldn't regret dealing with Lakses.

  As much as he immediately liked the scholar from Tancuon, he disliked the side of him that did. The part of Saben that appreciated an honest to shadow trickster was the part that endeared him to the man, no matter how fair the deal appeared.

  Saben couldn't say he trusted Lakses. With his bag over his shoulder alongside one of Jaswei's two long luggage bags, and his sword in his baldric, he could grumble but not much else. His voice would have to be enough to protect them if any ghosts attacked.