by Joe Jackson
“No, there are no records of it in the archives,” Master Bennet answered. “The records of the incident and the Order’s involvement were buried, quite literally, with Turik Jalar.”
“What? Why?”
The elder priest held up a hand. “Contrary to what you may have thought when this came to your attention, Turik Jalar was in the underworld when this took place, and was not involved in the decision,” he said. “When he returned, there was a reckoning, but the records were sealed and ultimately buried with him when he was entombed in Gnarr.”
“What else can you tell me about it, though?” she pressed.
“Nothing,” Master Perez answered. “What Master Bennet has shared is the extent of the knowledge any of us has on this subject. Suffice to say the Order’s involvement was a mistake, and the records’ burial with Turik Jalar was – and is – symbolic.”
“We can’t just bury something like this, though,” Kari said, but then she closed her mouth. She wanted to tell them all about the seterra-rir on Salkorum, but that wasn’t a matter to simply blurt out in excitement. There was also something else that occurred to her after a brief pause. “Wasn’t Turik Jalar’s tomb plundered when Eli and his friends worked for the Order?”
“You suspect the records may have been stolen?” Master Arinotte mused with a hand to his chin.
“I suspect the records may have been the real reason his tomb was robbed,” Kari said. “A set of paluric armor and a nice greataxe would make a decent cover for someone who was really looking for a way to expose the Order as a fraud.”
The three priests looked at each other, and there was a silent accord between them. “If this is something you would like to pursue while your family is off chasing down the trouble in the south, we will not stand in your way,” Master Bennet said.
“I would,” Kari said, and she blew out a short sigh. “There’s also more to this, Masters, but I don’t want to tell you about it until I have the proof I’m looking for. Can you trust me on that?”
The elder priest laughed openly. “You need not even ask, Lady Vanador,” he said. “Do as you feel you must, and present us your conclusions. Do be careful not to turn the Order on itself until we have all of the facts at hand, though.”
“Of course, Master,” she agreed with a salute. “If there’s nothing else, then?”
“No. Enjoy the rest of your day,” Master Bennet said, and the priests bid Kari farewell.
She left the campus quietly, a little bit nervous to know she was about to be tested, but a little relieved to have gotten the knowledge of the War of Purity off her chest. She tried to focus on doing what she had been doing. In the back of her mind, she wished she would run into Eryn on her way home. The half-brys assassin was the final piece in Kari’s gambit, but with Aeligos out of the city, Eryn had little reason to come and see Kari or the family. Kari could try to send word to Eryn’s guild, the Blood Order, but that would look suspicious to anyone who knew about it, the assassins not the least among them.
It made Kari laugh to think of it, but she almost wished Gil was back in the city. The werewolf infiltrator seemed like she could find anyone and anything with little trouble, but she’d have half the city up in arms doing it. Just thinking of Gil brought another thought to Kari’s mind: with midsummer approaching, she had to introduce Gil to the Council and convince them that the werewolves could be powerful allies. That was going to be a difficult thing to present, and Kari realized she’d best start putting some work into it now, so she wasn’t trying to do it off the cuff when that day finally came.
Kari stopped by the temple of Kaelariel, where she found her mate, mother-in-law, and son. Little Gray came and jumped into Kari’s arms, and she nearly wet herself when she picked him up. He was getting big, and with her expanding belly, picking him up wasn’t going to be an option for much longer. She laughed at herself, but her laughter turned to slack-jawed surprise when he greeted her.
“Hi Mama!” he said in the common tongue.
Chapter V – Gathering Strength
Erik spent most of the trip to Port Kristofer pacing the deck of the Sword of the Coast, much to the annoyance of its crew. Not one of them had the gumption to ask him to stay out from under foot, though. The half-guardian figured if his anxiousness was actually a problem, someone would say something to him. He remembered well how bluntly and often Jori-an had told him to get out of the way of her crew during the long voyage to Tsalbrin three years before.
The truth of it was, Erik felt trapped, and being below decks only heightened the feeling – especially when one considered the low ceilings. He and his siblings were racing against time, and he could hardly wait to simply arrive in the southlands and get his hands dirty. As it stood, it was going to take a couple of weeks to get there, even with the brief stops they had planned at Port Kristofer and Lajere. Erik thought about his sister’s hesitance to use teleportation to take them there instantaneously, and wondered if wasn’t worth the risk to cut down the travel time.
Erik had hardly gotten to know the crew of the Sword of the Coast over the first few days of their trip. He was satisfied that they were a royal naval vessel, that they’d been conscripted by the Duke himself, and that they understood what was at stake based on what they’d been told. Aside from that, Erik could easily see the mistrust in their eyes based on the fact that he was serilian-rir – half-demon to them, he reminded himself – and that his status as a high-ranking demonhunter only mitigated that so much. He was sure his siblings received even more scrutiny, especially his sorcerous sister, which would explain their being satisfied remaining below decks.
Watching the completely male human crew at their work made him think back to his time on Karmi’s Sword, and its stern, no-nonsense first mate. Jori-an had taken a dislike to Erik rather quickly, but he attributed it to two authoritative figures butting heads. It made him laugh to even think of it, but in the back of his mind, a woman like Jori-an seemed almost perfect for him: a woman of strength and character who wasn’t intimidated easily, not even by a six-foot-ten, half-demon demonhunter. For all the traveling he’d done in his less than forty years, Erik had only met two women that fit that description well: Jori-an Stormrider and Karian Vanador.
Thinking of his sister-in-law got Erik’s mind back to the matter at hand. He knew his parents had met while working together on some mission, but to find that his mother had helped his father hunt a demon when they were younger had come as quite a surprise. His mother had always been reserved, gentle, and soft-spoken; even when she had left their family, Erik had never really harbored any hard feelings toward her. Their home had been a battlefield, and if Kyrie leaving was what it took for everyone to end up where they needed to be, then he had a hard time faulting his mother for that.
Their mother had told them that their father would know more about how the demon – the Tilcimer – had finally been killed, and Erik wondered briefly what had happened that Kyrie had little recollection of the victory. More importantly, he wished his father was able to give them further insight into what it was they faced. Or, better yet, he wished his father was here now to give them direct assistance. A skilled swordsman trained in the use of heavy armors, Corbanis would be a great complement to the team Erik was assembling under Kari’s orders.
Of course, that would cause several complications. While Erik and Serenjols had never had any serious issues with their father, not all of their siblings felt the same way. Sonja and Typhonix hardly seemed to have any relationship with their father, and Grakin and Corbanis had never been particularly close. Aeligos, by comparison, hated their father for reasons Erik was still not entirely sure about. He was fairly certain it was related to a beating their father had given Aeligos when he was twelve, but what precipitated the discipline and why Aeligos had held a grudge for so long, Erik couldn’t say.
Erik’s daydreaming at last came to a close when the ship turned westward with the wind towards the harbor of Port Kristofer. He moved to what se
emed to be the most unobtrusive place for him to stand, and marked the surprised expressions of the crew. He even went so far as to ask if there was any way he could help get them into port quicker, but he was politely – if curtly – refused by the crew and its officers. Ultimately, Erik decided to get off the deck completely and go get his weapons in preparation to head ashore.
That turned out to be unnecessary. Once the ship docked, its first mate, Alex Goncalves, sent a sailor to bring Erik and his friends up to the deck. When they arrived on the quarterdeck, Erik saw that the Duke himself had come to meet them, along with a half-brys. The half-brys was tiny standing before Erik: he was little more than five feet in height, muscular but very lean, as his frame dictated. He had long black hair and crimson eyes, as was typical among serilian-rir and especially half-brys, though his eyes appeared like normal rir eyes, and not the dragon-like eyes Erik remembered Makauric possessing. The half-brys wore a set of polished plate armor, and had a longsword sheathed on each hip, one with a silver pommel, the other ebony.
“Your Grace,” Erik greeted the Duke courteously with a bow. When he straightened up, the Duke had his hand outstretched, and Erik gripped it firmly but carefully.
“Erijinkor, Sonja, Aeligos, Serenjols,” the Duke greeted each of them in turn with short bows of his head. “Lady Vanador sent word you needed aid from my Order, so I’ve brought you one of my finest paladins that was available. This is Gabrius Tevone.”
The half-brys bowed his head politely as he was introduced, and shook Erik’s offered hand. “Pleasure,” he said simply.
Erik considered the half-brys. He’d never met Gabrius before, but the name was familiar to him. They had heard about the young paladin during the War, in part because of his exploits, but also because of his parentage. Gabrius Tevone was the sole son of Acherus, who had been Lord of the Brys until his death in the Apocalypse. It was difficult for Erik to understand how the son of the lord of assassin demons had become a paladin. While Acherus’ loyalties may have leaned toward the Light forces during the War, Acherus was not a likeable or trustworthy man, and Erik had little doubt that Gabrius’ mother had not become such willingly.
The half-guardian demonhunter kept his mouth shut on that issue; his own parentage, particularly his grandfathers, may have been noble and respectable, but he could hardly blame Gabrius for not sharing that distinction. The Silver Blades were being offered the services of a paladin, one good enough to have been enlisted into the Avenger Order, and that was no small gesture coming from the Duke of Sutherland. It had been Erik’s hope that the Avenger Order might lend them more blades, but he wasn’t going to turn down what he’d been offered.
“We appreciate the help, Your Grace,” Erik said formally. “I was hoping you might have a few of your paladins come with us, but this young man’s reputation precedes him.”
Krycyd Jalar, the Duke of Sutherland, chuckled. “I’m afraid our Order is nowhere near the size of yours,” he said. “I could offer you the aid of a few more of my paladins, but it would take considerable time to recall them from all over the world, and I’m afraid I have none in the deep south at this time. I’d go with you myself, but this situation has brought up many more of the duties of my station that I must see to personally.”
“What about Lord Garant of Lajere? Is he a member of your Order?” Erik asked.
“Unfortunately not,” the Duke said. “I had hoped he might join our ranks after the War, but with the deaths of much of his family, he had to take up the title of Earl, and chose to remain close to home. His tutelage of the Moreville twins has also consumed a large amount of his time, though I am considering asking them to join us when their training is complete.”
“You don’t seem to have any problem serving your Order and maintaining your position as Duke, Your Grace,” Sonja commented with a soft smile.
Krycyd waved his hand dismissively. “As I said, our Order is small, and doesn’t take much time to run efficiently. Most of my paladins are perfectly capable of finding their own way when it comes to their work, and our Order is more a network of aid from fellow paladins than any structured military like the Demonhunter Order. Like the demonhunters, though, our Order took losses during the War, and it is much harder for us to recruit new members. Paladins are a rare breed.”
“Your Grace, have you heard any other news from Kari?” Aeligos asked.
Krycyd shook his head. “As soon as Lady Vanador contacted me, I brought Gabrius here to meet you and save you a trip to Gnarr,” he answered. “If any more information has come to light, you might be better served asking in Lajere.”
“Is there anything else we should know before we set sail, Your Grace?” Erik asked.
The Duke put his hand on Gabrius’ shoulder, further accentuating how short the half-brys paladin was. “Yes. Gabrius is modest, but in addition to being a fine paladin and accomplished sword-fighter, he’s among the most skilled trackers I’ve ever met.”
“That should come in handy,” Erik said, nodding to the half-brys, who returned the gesture. Aeligos was a decent tracker, and Kari seemed to be very good at it, but Erik realized they had no one with them that was a truly accomplished tracker. Erik assumed that a half-brys should, by nature, be like a ranger when it came to tracking, and he was again reminded of the brys Makauric who’d aided him and Kari during their hunt on Tsalbrin. If Gabrius was even half the tracker Makauric had been, his presence was a huge boon to the Silver Blades.
“Well, if there is nothing else and you are well-satisfied, I suppose I had best take back to the road and return to my court,” the Duke said. “The military takes far longer to organize and deploy than a strike team such as yours.”
The Silver Blades bowed before the Duke and bid him farewell, and after giving his thanks to the captain and crew, Krycyd left the ship. A sailor came to show Gabrius to his bedding and locker, but Erik offered to do so instead. He figured he could best use the time to get to know Gabrius, and that it would present the added benefit of getting him below decks so as not to annoy the crew. Sonja, Aeligos, and Serenjols followed. After getting Gabrius’ things settled on his hammock or in his footlocker, they took places at one of the mess tables to talk.
They spent a while with Gabrius, laying out the details they knew of the situation in the south. He knew that the Earl of Marsdale was reportedly dead and that it didn’t seem to be a sizeable force moving through the area, but Gabrius otherwise sat and listened attentively. When there was time for questions, his were short and to the point, and demonstrated that he had listened well. Erik was glad for that, and he could see by Aeligos’ reactions that the rogue was glad to have another sharp mind with them as well.
Once they were finished going over the actual details they knew and their tentative plan, Erik decided to make sure the air was clear among all of them. “So Acherus was your father, right?” he asked, and he had to ignore Sonja’s impatient look.
“Was, that’s correct,” Gabrius returned. “I hope you will not judge me based on who my father was.”
Erik waved away the comment. “You’ll find that’s the advantage you have working with your own kind,” he said. “We’re all half-demons, so your lineage doesn’t really mean much.”
That seemed to ease Sonja’s tensions as well as Gabrius’. “My own kind?” the half-brys paladin repeated. “Hmph, you may be the first group of half-demons I’ve heard call me one of their own kind without also being half-brys.”
“Have you not heard? We are called serilian-rir now,” Serenjols said, but Gabrius was the only one to laugh. Erik and his siblings all stared at Jol wide-eyed, amazed that he not only talked, but actually told a joke to a relative stranger.
“Why the concern about my father?” the half-brys paladin asked after a good laugh.
Erik shook his head. “Not concern, just curiosity,” he said, making sure to smile. “Our grandfathers were Cylestor and Cerberus, so it’s just kind of interesting to meet another of our kind whose father was one
of the lords.”
“I’m afraid my father was not of the same stock as your grandfathers,” Gabrius said. “I was never fond of him, as I’m sure you can imagine, but honestly, I took little pleasure in killing him.” He saw the looks of surprise on everyone’s faces, so he continued, “Yes, I knew that he was conspiring with Olgaryn, his second-in-command, and it became apparent he sought some way to betray Kaelariel and return to Seril’s good graces. With the help of Olgaryn’s daughter, I was able to put him to the sword, and help secure the loyalty of the brys during the Apocalypse.”
“You’re talking about Eryn Olgaryn?” Aeligos asked rather rhetorically.
“Aye,” Gabrius answered. “You know of her?”
“You could say that,” Erik muttered, and Aeligos chuckled. “Well, I have some other good news for you, Gabrius: we’ll be picking up three more paladins once we get down to the city of Lajere, if all goes according to Kari’s plan. Seems to me that whether we’re fighting one demon like my mother believes, or a possible battalion of them like my superiors suspect, having a demonhunter and four paladins is not going to bode well for them. I see you’ve got a pair of swords; I had honestly expected you’d favor the bow as a half-brys.”
“I am a proficient archer, yes,” the paladin answered modestly. Erik had little doubt the half-brys could probably put someone’s eye out at a hundred yards. “I prefer the dual blades I was given by the Duke’s father when he initiated me into the Avenger Order. I will fulfill whatever role you ask of me, though. I have been told that you are the leader of these…Silver Blades, and I was asked to follow your lead in this matter, so that is what I will do. If you need cover fire or ranged support, I can fulfill that role for you.”
That was music to Erik’s ears. “And the Duke said you’re a good tracker?” he pressed, receiving a nod in response. “How about riding horses, have you ever ridden?”
Gabrius looked at Aeligos, but then he scrutinized Sonja, Jol, and Erik in turn. “I have a difficult time believing the three of you will be riding horses,” he said with a trace of a smile. “To answer your question, no, I know little about horses and even less about riding them.”