Saben regarded Rina with a raised eyebrow. She grimaced.
“I hope they made it,” she said.
Saben nodded.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Away from Soucot,” said Rina. “It’s too dangerous there.”
“Us too,” said Jaswei. “We’re heading east, out of Tancuon.”
“You’ll pass through Nassio, then.” Heen frowned. “Sure that’s a good idea?”
Saben shrugged, suppressing the urge to mutter a curse as he thought of how unwelcome he could be among the vakari if they discovered what he’d done in disrupting their king’s plan.
“No choice,” he said.
Heen wiped the tears from his eyes. He offered Saben a small smile.
“I’ve always wanted to see the east,” he said.
“You sure?” said Saben.
Rina rolled her eyes.
“Not like we’re any safer here than you three.”
“Saben?” asked Jaswei. “We could use guides who know the area.”
He nodded.
“Agreed.”
Rond folded his arms.
“What are we gonna eat tomorrow? We barely have rations for us.”
“I’m a pretty good fisher,” said Rina. “We’ll pull our weight.”
Heen laughed.
“Yeah! Things are looking up.”
Saben nodded to the boy. For once, no curse came to mind.
Melissa
She had already said her goodbye to the generous governor, who officially released Melissa from her service. Soucot did not need battle magic in the days following the terror and destruction. The city needed builders, and the Governor’s Hand would focus on such training for the time being. Melissa’s heart wrenched when she thought of joining them.
Melissa walked out the gates of the citadel before realizing she was being followed. She turned to find Tal standing beneath the archway flanked by Suya and Hilos.
“We didn’t want you to leave without saying goodbye,” he offered.
She started to cry.
“It’s alright,” she said.
Hilos bowed to her.
“With respect, Melissa, we know that’s not true.”
“With respect...” Melissa dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief the governor told her to take. One didn’t need the blessing of Mother Mercy to make that gesture. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re leaving the city,” said Suya. “I almost wish I could too.”
Hilos gently touched Suya’s shoulder.
“Our place is here,” said the old knight.
Tal took a step toward Melissa, then hugged her around her traveling pack.
“Take care,” he said. “I know Niu wouldn’t want me to cry. I just...I just can’t believe she’s gone.”
Her tears began to flow once more. She patted him on the back.
“It’s alright to cry,” she said softly. “You won’t regret grieving.”
He sniffed and stepped back, hands on her shoulders. He gazed at her.
“Look,” he said. “It’s wrong for me to miss you, after all this. But I will.”
“We’re friends,” she said. “But I may be back someday. After all, my brother lives in the city. And now I’ll have friends here too.”
“You’re a traveler,” said Tal. “So brave. That’s not a life I could lead.”
Melissa shook her head.
“It’s not one I chose the first time. Studying here, with you, with everyone, was the longest I’ve stayed in the same city in years.”
“Where are you going now?” asked Tal softly.
“Elaine wanted to see Alliance. It’s good neither of us will be traveling alone.”
“Yeah,” said Tal.
Suya clapped him on the arm. She turned toward Melissa.
“Bless you, Melissa Dorian.”
“And you, Suya.”
“Mother Mercy keep us all,” said Hilos, raising a hand for the departing wave.
Tal nodded, trying to look stoic, but halfway to tears once again.
“Thank you,” said Melissa. “Until we meet again.”
Elaine
She turned from the palace window, wondering where Lakses had gone after the battle. She hoped he lived, but could find no proof. The strange, beautiful man had touched her spirit, no matter his true nature. The knowledge of her true parentage adjusted her mind. Her training as a witch was over.
Elaine descended the stairs of the palace of Soucot, almost certain she would never return. She carried a satchel over her shoulder, and she would ride in a wagon not a carriage on the journey north. She left through the front gate without a word. Lord Tanlos would look for her, she felt certain. Tears rolled down her cheek. She would miss her adoptive parent but was willing to search until she found what she needed, even if it took her farther from home.
She spotted Melissa in the caravan making its way toward the north gate. After the funerals for those lost in the battle, including Niu and Kelt, Melissa had requested release from her contract with Governor Lokoth. The governor granted her request.
Elaine caught up with Elaine, the dropped her satchel into the back of the wagon the two of them had bought and Melissa had risen early to prepare. At least neither of them was going north alone.
Deckard
The wind carried him north, fast and far above the world. He carried the Azel scroll in a case tucked into his robe. When he flew, he often passed through clouds and wouldn’t risk the loosing of the powerful magic within the new sacra scroll.
One scroll became two of equal power. Deckard seethed with self-directed anger. He should have acted faster once he knew the nature of the scroll, but his preoccupation with Zalklith led him here. He flew through day, night, and into day again. At last, at dusk, he descended, hungry and wet of hair, robe slick with rainwater. He landed on a hilltop overlooking the tangled branches of the Chos Valley where his brother in blood and service, Cyrus Bode dwelt.
Without spending the time to send a letter, he was forced to enter the cursed edge of Geteren Well Country in person. His travels to the valley were proving far too frequent in recent times. He took to the air, gliding over gnarled treetops as he completed the journey.
He landed on the dome of the palace in the city called Empire. No one saw him, judging by the relaxed songs emanating from within the palace where the Emperor of Jadiketz once held the reins power all those centuries ago. Deckard circled to the edge, then dropped onto a balcony outside one of the bedrooms. The door was locked against the gathering dark of night, and the horrors that lay within. Deckard tapped on the windowpane.
A woman’s voice, alarmed, spoke from within.
“Who’s there?”
“A demon hunter, with a gift for Cyrus Bode.”
The door opened a crack, still connected on a chain.
A pair of eyes looked up at Deckard’s face. Mist began to climb the walls of the palace below. By the last light, Deckard spotted the small shapes of dogs roaming within the walls of the courtyard. Deckard removed the scroll case from his robe. He held it out to the girl at the door. She took it and drew it inside quickly as if the very dark would bite her fingertips.
“Be careful with that,” he said. “It is a sacra scroll, one that belongs to a demon of terrible power.”
“Where did you get it, demon hunter?” asked the girl.
“The scroll is new-made. Tell Lord Bode it is from Soucot. He will learn the rest soon enough.”
“Can you tell me your name?” she asked, holding the door nearly closed.
“Not tonight, young one,” said Deckard. He backed across the balcony. “Close the door and lock it. There are worse things in the night than me.”
She nodded. Deckard took to the air once more, leaving the valley as quickly as he had arrived. He did not look back, already feeling lighter without the scroll, and propelled by a wind from the east. He imagined the knights of Bode’s clan were already preparing with
in the palace to pursue him.
The End
The demon hunters will return.
Look for them in the next novel, Shadow Prince, late 2019.
Find more books by Tim Niederriter at mentalcellarpublications.com
Thanks for reading.
Glossary of Terms
Ancient beings - Beings of any kind that predate the dominance of demons and maladrites.
Bane - An aggressive form of magical essence.
Bowami - Mire dragons, cousins of the vakari.
Charinien Fisher - Shapeshifting magical creatures from the Bay of Charin.
The Conquest - The wars fought to conquer Tancuon many centuries ago.
Demon - An immortal being with heart-essence made of banes, mostly disorderly in nature. Many are imprisoned beneath the Earth.
Dire Families - The descendants of the conquest army that took over Tancuon for Mother Mercy.
The eighty-eight greater beings - The eighty-eight greater demons and maladrites, each one powerful enough to rule countless followers. Most of them are preoccupied with mystic battles with one another. These include Mother Mercy, Voratome Drake, Ordoth, and Gorsheva.
Essence - A general term for the tiny spirit beings that dwell within the hearts of all beings and around world wells.
Hervs - Ancient nature-beings who dominated the world before the demons and maladrites.
Iron bane - A rare form of magical essence that holds the properties of strength and endurance inherent in its nature.
Maladrite - An immortal being with heart-essence of sprites, mostly orderly in nature. Many dwell in the city on the ring.
Sprite - A peaceful form of magical essence.
Vakari - A race of intelligent lizard people native to Linien.
Places
Alliance - A large city in its own princedom in north-central Tancuon.
The Bay of Charin - The stretch of sea between Lowenrane and Kanor.
Besany - The city in Lowenrane up the river from Soucot.
The Bloom - Thick forests and swamplands east of Kanor.
The Chos Valley - A valley in north-central Tancuon on the edge of Geteren.
Crinri - A far-eastern nation, home to many artificers.
Edede - Matriarchal nation east of the Kismlands.
Empire - A city in the Chos Valley, home of the immortal Cyrus Bode and former seat of the emperor of Jadiketz.
Geteren - A governance in north-central Tancuon where many world wells reach the surface. Also called Well Country.
The Inner Ring - The ring closest to the planet’s surface. The Maladrite City stands upon this ring.
Jadiketz - Name given to the now-divided empire formed in the Land of Mercy.
Kanor - A peninsula and nation of the same name on the east side of The Bay of Charin.
The Kismlands - Allied nations ruled by greater maladrites, located east of Linien from the lands of mercy.
Lands of mercy - A term encompassing all the princedoms and governances ruled by Mother Mercy, mostly in Tancuon.
Linien - A strip of marshes and lowlands between Tancuon and the eastern continents.
Lowenrane - A southern land with many rivers and governance of the land of mercy.
The Maladrite City - The city build in the ring around the planet where Mother Mercy dwells among the maladrites.
Naje - Far-eastern nation, home of the Palace of Shadows and the Palace of Blades.
Nassio - A nation of vakari lizard men in the southernmost swamps of Linien.
Obnilen - A distant world ruled by exiled demons.
Rei - The Broken Land. A continent destroyed by the fall of the greater demon Gorsheva.
Soucot - Capitol city of Lowenrane, seat of the Governor of Lowenrane. Built at the mouth of the Lowenrane River. Originally Soucot was a fort built of demon stone ages ago to help Prince Geldingstar defeat the rampaging greater demon, Gorsheva.
Tancuon - The north-western continent mostly ruled by Mother Mercy and her governors and princes.
Tenok - An eastern nation on the sea.
Toare - North-eastern nation and rival of Edede.
Wagewood - A governance of the land of mercy near the Chos Valley.
About the Author
Tim Niederriter, as you've no doubt gathered, write fantasy stories.
Tim is the son of two physicists from Pennsylvania, transplanted to Minnesota. His parents read him The Hobbit (repeatedly) at a young age. The math adds up. Tim fell in love with fantasy of all kinds. Diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder at a young age, he immersed himself in fictional worlds his whole life. He studied fiction and literature at Gustavus Adolphus College and also has a strong interest in history and politics.
Tim co-hosts the roleplaying game podcast "Of Mooks and Monsters" and talks with other authors each week on his other podcast, "Alive After Reading."
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