Legacy of the Devil Queen (Eve of Redemption Book 4)

by Joe Jackson

  “I am sorry to hear that,” the priestess said with a frown.

  “They should be returning any day now,” Kari said. “When they do, I have something else I want Liria to do for me, but it’s something I want to discuss with her while you’re present. So when they get back, I’ll send for you to join us all on the campus.”

  “Of course,” Se’sasha said. “How is your baby coming along?”

  “Judging by the kicks and punches, very well,” Kari answered, and she was surprised that her child didn’t demonstrate on cue.

  “I would like to be there when you give birth,” the priestess requested.

  “I’d like you to be there,” Kari answered. Se’sasha smiled, but Kari furrowed her brow. “Do you talk to Father?”

  “All the time. Why do you ask?”

  Kari sighed. “I haven’t heard from him in some time. I’m afraid I insulted him when he showed me his true face in a dream. Has he mentioned it at all?”

  “Insulted him? Oh, Kari, you misunderstand. Our Father is not a mortal; he is difficult to offend, and even more difficult to alienate completely,” the priestess explained. “You have been extraordinarily blessed to even see Ashakku in your dreams; this means he’s taken an extreme interest in you. However, he is wary of over-influencing you or coming between you and your own deity. Pray to him whenever you can, because he is always listening. He simply chooses not to talk over your own patron.”

  That eased so much of Kari’s tension. “I was so afraid I’d ruined our relationship,” she said. “Meeting him and becoming his friend…was one of the best things that’s ever happened in my life, and I didn’t want my distrust of snake-folk – present company excepted, of course – to ruin that. I still think of him as czarikk, but if he’s a cobra, that doesn’t make me love him less.”

  Se’sasha touched Kari’s breastplate over her heart. “And he knows this, Sister,” she said with a smile. “He knows the desires and intentions of our hearts, not just our words.”

  Just like Zalkar, Kari thought, comparing Se’sasha’s words to the way Zalkar’s power responded to her thoughts and emotions. It was such an amazing feeling to her, and a memory came unbidden to her mind. She recalled just over three years ago, when she sat in a steamy tub in Barcon wondering if she was anything more than a collection of letters and numbers on a dog tag to her own deity. How far she had come in the years since, and once again she couldn’t help but think of her friend, Trigonh, and the gift he had given her by requesting she be resurrected.

  “Will you come to supper at my mother’s home?” Kari asked. Se’sasha typically lived and ate among her people, but Kari wanted the priestess to join her temporarily-smaller family.

  “I would be delighted,” Se’sasha answered, which made Kari wonder if she had just failed to offer for so long, and that was why Se’sasha never came around.

  “Maybe by tonight, our friends will have returned, or we’ll at least have updated news,” Kari said.

  “I hope that will be true.”

  Kari bid her sister and the other syrinthians farewell, and made her way back to the city. She was desperately looking forward to seeing Eli, Danilynn, and even Tor again. She had just buried a couple of members of her Order, and now another was coming home in a shroud to be remembered with honor. Even with the weight of that on her heart, though, Kari tried to think more about the safe return of her friends, and the survival of her other hunter. With any luck, their sacrifices would not be in vain.

  Chapter XII – Atonement

  The Silver Blades were able to pick up their pace considerably as they pursued the Tilcimer farther west. The creature seemed to have given up its destructive ways in its flight, and Corbanis began to suspect it was retreating to familiar ground to set up an ambush. Erik was glad for his father’s insights, and especially for Aeligos’ agreement despite the rift between the two of them. Sonja was able to verify that the Tilcimer was not laying in wait for them by using her eagle eye enchantment, and Gabrius’ tracking revealed that the creature was moving west with all due haste.

  The half-brys’ tracking also revealed an important detail: while the Tilcimer could maintain its blinding speed for some time, it couldn’t keep it up indefinitely. The creature did, at times, have to stop and rest, and there were periods where its pace was much closer to what would be considered normal. Strangely, the length of its strides when at full speed was shorter instead of longer. When at a normal pace, its strides seemed no more than an average man’s, and it was clearly baffling to Gabrius, though it made his tracking simpler.

  “If I did not know better, I would think this Tilcimer has more than two legs,” Gabrius commented, kneeling down to observe the patterns of its footprints. “Normally, something running at great speeds lengthens its stride, but that is not the case with this creature.”

  “No, its steps are short, which is what makes it so effective in battle even at high speeds,” Corbanis agreed. “Its speed is clearly not natural in origin. I’ve never seen anything else quite like it.”

  “Could be that makes it easier to trip up in combat, no?” the half-brys asked.

  Corbanis smiled. “I wouldn’t say easy, but that’s the general strategy when you fight it, yes,” he answered. “Lead on, young man. We’re getting closer to the Tilcimer with every step.”

  Gabrius nodded and swung back up into the saddle, leaving Erik shocked again at how he seemed to pick up riding so easily. Had his claims that he knew nothing of horses and riding been simply more of his modesty?

  While there was little hope the Silver Blades would run the Tilcimer down, it was headed for the southern tip of the Barrier Mountains. Soon it would run out of open land to speed across and either have to double back or else find the passes through the mountains farther north.

  Erik was glad for how well the group worked together. Any lingering animosity among the family seemed to have finally evaporated, and Corbanis and Gabrius were happy to listen to their tales of the mission to Tsalbrin around the campfire at night. Corbanis was clearly amused at how nearly every telling of the details came back around to Kari, and how much each of his children respected and looked up to her. Of even greater interest to him, just as it still was to Erik, though, was how modest Kari was about her role in their success.

  “You all should have been there in the great war camp outside Latalex when the War began,” Corbanis said when the tales at last came to an end. “Every general in that camp wanted Karian to serve alongside them, once they knew who she was. There were higher-ranked hunters there, and they were just passed right over while the generals clamored for Karian to be assigned to their brigades. Even Jason Bosimar didn’t garner as much attention as Karian did.”

  “Of course, the Warlord pulled strings with his father and Celigus Chinchala to have her assigned to his own brigade, and that did not sit well with a lot of the other generals,” their father continued. “General Saulman Gruus openly accused the Warlord of wanting her as a bedmate, and suffered a broken nose and a few lost teeth on account of it.”

  “From Kris, or from Kari?” Aeligos asked in a deadpan tone, sending the entire camp into a fit of laughter.

  “I figured she would’ve chosen to serve with Kris for more than one reason,” Erik said honestly.

  Corbanis shook his head. “Not that I was aware of; she just went where she was told, and the Warlord, as I said, had claimed her by pulling strings. No doubt he wanted her for more than one reason, the horny bastard.”

  That drew more laughs from the friends. “For all the good that did him,” Sonja said with a smirk, the first traces of humor Erik had really seen from her since they had fought the necromancers.

  “What unit did you serve with, Mr. Tesconis?” Katarina asked.

  The elder demonhunter waved a hand. “Just call me Corbanis, there’s no reason to be formal,” he said. “I served with the 151st Light Division assigned to the northern rear guard, defending Latalex and keeping watch over that hellgat
e-type portal that was near the city.”

  “A hellgate-type portal? Where did it lead to?” the paladin asked.

  “No one really knows,” he answered. “It was long suspected that it led to some sort of demiplane where Seril created and housed her soldiers in between the Demon Wars, but even the serilian demons that were captured and interrogated never had any idea. It seems its use was limited to the Devil Queen herself, but where it went and why she kept it to herself are mysteries to this day.”

  “The portal is defunct now,” Sonja added. “Master Maelstrom and some of the members of the High Council of Wizardry tried to investigate it in the wake of the War, but they never determined anything. At least, nothing Master Maelstrom ever bothered to share with me. It’s too bad, I bet there are some fascinating things we could learn, maybe even as fascinating as the Temple of Archons.”

  “I have a feeling we will learn a lot about Seril when we confront the Tilcimer,” Corbanis said. “The first time we fought one, we had no idea what we were dealing with, and the creature was quite insane. This one seems much more shrewd despite its chaotic nature, and if we can disable it, we may be able to make it talk.”

  “What makes you say that?” Erik asked.

  “When Sharyn and I confronted it, it took stock of the fact that the baron’s house was too tight for it to move as quickly and effectively as it normally would. When your mother and I fought the first one, it didn’t care that it was outmaneuvered; it had no awareness of how much trouble it was in, and even when it was near death, it just kept spitting threats. I don’t think it ever appreciated what it had done or what was coming to it.”

  “So we don’t want to fight it out in the open, obviously,” Aeligos said. “Maybe if it flees into the mountains, we’ll be able to corner it and disable it.”

  “That’s my hope, though I doubt it will be that simple,” their father said. “I suspect this one is leading us into a trap. Perhaps not one meant for us specifically, but a trap nonetheless.”

  “I’ll keep watching for it while we travel,” Sonja said. “If I can spot it before it gets too close to us, we may be able to at least set up defensively, even if we get caught on the plains.”

  “On the off chance we encounter it unprepared, aim for its legs and ankles,” Corbanis said. “You don’t necessarily have to do a lot of damage, but if you can slow it down or even trip it, that’s going to tip things in our favor.”

  They camped through the night and prepared to continue on the next morning. While they were breaking camp, Erik saw that Aeligos and Corbanis were having a terse discussion away from everyone else. Even in a few brief moments, Erik could see that his brother was once again more upset than he’d ever seen him. What was even stranger, though, was that their father looked confused, not upset. Erik regarded his other siblings, and saw that Sonja was watching the exchange just as curiously as he was.

  “What’s going on, can you tell?” he asked his empathic sister.

  “Aeligos is furious,” she said. “He seems to be keeping it under control, but…well, you may want to go over there.”

  Erik nodded, only glancing briefly at Serenjols, Gabrius, and Katarina. “See if you can spot Sherman and Sharyn behind us,” he requested. “They should have rejoined us by now. I’m wondering if something went wrong.”

  Sonja agreed, so Erik moved over toward his brother and father. They stopped speaking before Erik got into earshot, and though Corbanis kept staring at Aeligos, the rogue turned and glared at Erik. It was so uncharacteristic for Aeligos, and Erik decided he needed to step in and make sure the air was cleared before they proceeded any further. He had to admit to himself that curiosity had a lot to do with it, but his father and brother were the tacticians based on experience and intelligence, and he didn’t want them butting heads over something extraneous.

  “What’s going on?” Erik asked, keeping his voice down. He glanced over his shoulder when Sonja approached. Serenjols was the only member of the family present who didn’t seem to want to be a party to the conversation.

  “Your brother is angry with me for disciplining him when he was younger,” Corbanis said evenly.

  “Disciplining?” Aeligos hissed. He gestured at their father and said, “The fact that you won’t even acknowledge what you did is why this is still an issue!”

  “As is your refusal to acknowledge what you did,” Corbanis returned sharply.

  Erik looked back and forth at the two of them. “Well, someone is going to have to tell us what they did, or Sonja and I won’t be much help in resolving this.”

  “I caught your brother in bed with one of his friends when he was twelve, and I dealt with him accordingly,” Corbanis said.

  Erik shook his head briefly. He knew his brother had been sexually active for a long time, but that his behavior went as far back as twelve years old was astonishing. Erik tried not to rush to judgment too quickly, but he could certainly see his father’s issue if he’d caught Aeligos in bed with a girl when he was that age.

  “Accordingly? You beat the living crap out of me!” Aeligos shouted, apparently no longer caring who heard him. “I could hardly walk for a week!”

  “You were sleeping with girls when you were twelve?” Erik asked, his incredulity getting the better of his restraint.

  Aeligos rolled his eyes. “No,” the rogue returned.

  “It wasn’t a girl,” Corbanis said, folding his arms across his chest. Erik turned his gaze back to Aeligos.

  “And we weren’t in bed. We weren’t even doing anything! You jumped to conclusions and beat me so badly…”

  The rogue’s fist balled, and Sonja stepped forward and turned him to face her. “Calm down, Aeligos,” she said, her eyes full of concern that Erik could plainly see.

  Aeligos pulled away from his sister gently, but he was no less furious. “Calm down? This jackass is the reason I can’t have kids!” the rogue spat.

  “Whoa, whoa, wait a second,” Erik said, stepping between Aeligos and their father. It took a few moments for what Aeligos had said to properly register in Erik’s mind, and he turned and looked at their father. “Dad, is that true?”

  “I seriously doubt it,” Corbanis returned. “I gave him a beating, and perhaps I went a little too far, but–”

  “Perhaps?” Aeligos huffed. “Unbelievable.”

  “Aeligos, you can’t have children?” Sonja asked softly. “You mean…you and Eryn have been trying?”

  “No, there’s no trying required,” he answered, and he shook his head. “You know what’s honestly worse than him not even being sorry about it? The fact that the rest of you have always thought I just slept around when we were out on missions, and that I didn’t care that I might be leaving a trail of single mothers in my wake. That’s…that just says it all.”

  Erik straightened out at those words, and even in his shocked state, he could see that Sonja felt the same way. “Aeligos–”

  “Don’t. Just don’t,” the rogue said, holding his hand up, and he turned away as his eyes glistened with tears in the light of the rising sun. “I don’t want your pity. All I’ve ever wanted was respect, and I can’t even get that out of my own family. And now you have the nerve to feel sorry for yourselves? Unbelievable.”

  Erik wasn’t sure what to say; his brother had him dead to rights on all of it. Had he really believed his brother could be so callous that he would sleep with numerous women without any thought of the consequences? Erik knew his brother better than that, and yet he had let his disapproval of Aeligos’ methods cloud his judgment on the issue for so long. All the time they had been traveling with Corbanis, Erik thought it was a rift with their father that was bothering Aeligos so badly. Now, though, he understood: their father’s presence merely underscored how disrespected the rogue felt by his whole family.

  Sonja had her hand to the end of her snout, and was trying unsuccessfully to keep from crying. Aeligos was staring at her pointedly, and Erik wondered if the rogue was holding their
sister to a higher standard because she was empathic. Erik was astounded by how easily Aeligos could keep his emotions and thoughts under control, and he wondered how much he really knew about his shadowy brother. He couldn’t help but wonder if everything he thought he knew about Aeligos – and especially the rogue’s relationship with Eryn – was nothing more than a mask.

  “That’s the real issue between you and Eryn, isn’t it?” Sonja managed finally. “It’s not even that she’s an assassin, it’s that you can’t have children?”

  Aeligos took in a deep breath, and was making an obvious effort not to blink until the tears had drained from his eyes. He nodded, though, and the simple gesture rang in Erik’s mind like a judge’s gavel slamming home on the bench. Instinct told Erik to apologize for everything he’d ever thought that cast his brother in a bad light, but wisdom told him to bite it down for now. There would be a time when he could apologize to Aeligos, but this was not it. Erik knew that his apology would be best given slowly, by respecting and ceasing the judgments against his brother. Erik still didn’t understand Aeligos’ attraction to an assassin, but Kari had told Erik many times that there was more to Eryn than he could see, so he set aside his concerns for now and tried to rest in Kari’s wisdom.

  “Have you ever asked the priests if they can heal you?” Corbanis asked. He was still a bit stoic, but there was concern in those icy blue eyes and his voice.

  “Of course I have,” Aeligos said. “Whatever the problem is, they can’t fix it.”

  “Then you may have just been born sterile?” their father asked.

  Sonja cast a glare in his direction. Aeligos fixed him with a withering gaze as well, but Erik tried to keep from getting confrontational. His father did raise a good point.

  “Look, Aeligos, if I really did this to you, then I can understand you hating me. A part of me will always hate myself, for that matter,” Corbanis continued. “But don’t hate me on account of something that may not be my doing. I only just recently found out your brother is dying of Dracon’s Bane. Perhaps he was not the only one born with an issue.”