by Joe Jackson
Danilynn chuckled and looked at Liria, and Kari turned to look at the syrinthian girl as well, wondering what the priestess was thinking.
“Your man is one of the bravest people I’ve ever met,” Liria said, her golden eyes full of conviction. “I’ve never seen someone put themselves between their friends and danger so many times, so unhesitatingly, and after sustaining the kind of injuries he did. He is a rare breed.”
The priestess didn’t seem to have the words, so she simply nodded her agreement and thanks. “I should let you get back to work, and we can talk about things more later,” she said.
“There’s something I want to ask you and Eli about later, but go get washed up and relax for now,” Kari said, and with a farewell gesture, Danilynn left the room.
Kari turned to Liria and considered everything she’d heard in the last half hour. “Let’s go meet with the Council,” she said, and she saw the girl swallow before her mouth tightened into a line. Kari could well understand; she’d usually had much the same reaction to hearing the Council mentioned until she’d risen very high in the ranks.
They left the conference room and the administrative building, and Kari led Liria to the temple. When they arrived in the back room, Se’sasha was already there, and the priestess was speaking cordially with the Council. Kari wasn’t sure exactly what the Council thought of all that was happening, but she knew they were still skeptical about the syrinthians. Kari had all sorts of first-hand experience from the previous few months, but the people of her world as a whole knew nothing of the syrinthians and other Mehr’Durillians except that they were invaders. Kari and her friends were working to share their knowledge with the Order, but that was going to take time, and changing peoples’ perceptions would take even longer.
“Welcome, Lady Vanador,” Master Bennet said when Kari and Liria reached the open floor before the podium.
Kari saluted her superiors and exchanged smiles with Se’sasha. “There’s some things I’d like to go over with you while everyone is freshly returned from the trip south,” Kari said, and she gestured Liria forward. The girl bowed before the Council, but was mostly answered by curt nods or disinterested gestures.
“Before we get into that, Alonso mentioned that you think you’ve figured out who the mole is?” Master Arinotte asked.
“I think I have,” Kari agreed. “If my instincts are right, we’ll be seeing him in just a few minutes, so there’s no point in going over that yet. Liria, why don’t you tell the Council what we went over in the conference room, including what you told me about where you come from.”
That certainly drew everyone’s interest, especially Se’sasha’s. Liria folded her hands before her somewhat timidly and began relating the details of the trip south. Unlike their first meeting in the conference room, Liria even included details about Eli, Danilynn, Tor, Alonso, and Reece, and what they had been like to travel with. Her commentary seemed to please the Council, and Kari was glad to hear such praise for her friends and fellow hunters from a fairly neutral third party. Liria concluded that portion by saying how thankful she was to have been treated with such respect by the Order’s hunters and mercenaries.
She started to get into the details of the fight itself when Lord Allerius arrived. Kari motioned for him to be patient and stay quiet, and the syrinthian girl continued her tale. She described the fight in great detail, including the grievous wounding of Alonso and the death of Reece. She seemed to downplay her own role despite Alonso and Eli’s praise, stating only that she was able to kill a wounded elestram and distract the erestram while the others recovered from their injuries. She also described the intervention of the brys, and how one had lost his life in distracting the erestram from its initial assault.
The final touch was Liria’s personal story, of her apprenticeship as a seamstress under the tutelage of her mother. That certainly came as a shock to everyone else just as it had to Kari, but it seemed only Se’sasha accepted Liria’s words at face value.
When Liria was done explaining, Kari turned to Lord Allerius. “Just the man I was hoping to see,” Kari said, and confusion crossed his features.
She didn’t add anything else, and after a few moments, Master Arinotte leaned forward in his seat. “Lady Vanador, you’re not suggesting that Lord Allerius is the mole…?”
Kari shook her head. “No, but if he’s here already, I’m guessing he just spoke to the mole not very long ago,” she answered. “Which means he’ll be arriving any time now.”
“What ever are you talking about, my friend?” Lord Allerius asked.
Barely a minute later, Kari’s assistant, Joaquim, entered the Council’s chamber and approached Kari with a sheaf of papers. He saluted her briefly, and then held out the stack of paperwork to her. Kari took it but held her hand up when he tried to leave. Kari stayed silent for a span, letting the weight of what was about to happen sink into the Council and her friend.
“Did you make sure to give copies of these to Amastri?” Kari asked suddenly.
Joaquim balked. “Ma’am?”
“This must be what I asked you to get for me, no?” Kari asked Lord Allerius.
He seemed completely confused, but then nodded. “Yes, I sent your assistant to go and fetch the information from the city watch. Did you want me to go personally…?”
Kari shook her head again. “Don’t you see? He’s the one common link between every single piece of information that’s ended up in the hands of our enemies,” she said, pointing at Joaquim. He stammered a few times, trying to reply. “He’s always been there, near my office, when we’ve been discussing sensitive matters. He’s the only person in this room who knew what I was planning and could have leaked that information to our enemies. Nobody else fits all the situations right; he’s the only one who’s had the opportunity to spy on us in every one. My only question is: why?”
Joaquim still stared at her, dumbfounded, but then he made the mistake of trying to run. Kari muttered a quiet curse, in no condition to chase him down, but she didn’t have to. The human made it only a few paces before Liria lunged and tackled him by the legs, bringing him roughly to the floor of the Council chamber. She held him pinned down while Lord Allerius called for the guards, who came and manacled the young man. They yanked Joaquim up to his feet, and made him face Kari squarely.
“How long have you been working for our enemies?” Kari asked him.
“I don’t work for them,” he protested. Kari waved away his words, but he insisted, “I never worked for them! I gave them information now and then, but that was all.”
“Information on where we were sending people and why?” Kari asked, and the human nodded. “Why else would you do that if not because you worked for them? Was it just for the money?”
“I never did it for any money,” he countered. “I did it…because…I wanted to join the Order.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, you’re already a part of the Order,” Kari said.
“Not as a hunter,” he mumbled, looking down and away from her.
It took longer for it to hit Kari than it did for the others around her, apparently. “You thought we’d have to recruit more people if our enemies were one step ahead of us all the time, is that it?” she asked, and he nodded. “Oh, gods, I think I’m going to be sick.”
Kari wasn’t joking. There was a wave of nausea in the pit of her stomach, one made worse by the inopportune kick or elbow she received from her child. She could hardly fathom the stupidity that led her assistant to sell information to their enemies. “Do you have any idea how many people have died because of you?” she asked, but she waved her hand before he could respond. “No, don’t even answer. I don’t care. Get him out of here; throw him in the prison.”
The guards dragged Joaquim away, and Kari and the others ignored the young man’s protests. Kari had her hand across her mouth, still a little bit nauseous, and the incredulity she felt was clearly written on the faces of every other person present. All along, she ha
d suspected there was some crafty servant of Sekassus or Koursturaux or some other demon king hiding among her people, selling the Order’s secrets to their enemies. And yet it was nothing more than a disgruntled young man who didn’t have the gumption to make it as a demonhunter, and who thought causing the deaths of many of them might lower their standards in desperation.
“Sometimes I really hate being right,” Kari said with a shake of her head. Allerius patted her on the shoulder, his expression grim. “On the other hand, I already have a replacement in mind for him, assuming you’re not opposed to it, Masters.”
“Did you convince Typhonix to take an administrative role among us?” Master Bennet asked, a hint of a smile breaking through the melancholy of Joaquim’s revelation.
“No; he’s content to work on my home and get my business running,” Kari said. “No, I would like to formally request the reinstatement of Se’lucia Liria Aliristis as a cadet, and that she serve as my personal assistant during her probationary period.”
Liria gasped. “Ma’am?” she blurted, blinking several times.
“I’m not certain that’s a good idea,” Master Arinotte said. “But then, Lady Vanador, you have proven to be a very good judge of character these last several years. If you think this young lady is deserving of reinstatement, and being a part of our Order is truly what she wants, then we will not stand in the way of your decision.”
Kari looked at the syrinthian girl. “This is what you want?”
Liria glanced at Se’sasha. “If my priestess is agreeable to it, there is nothing I would like more,” she replied. Se’sasha merely smiled and nodded her assent, and Liria nearly began shaking with excitement.
“Then report to the headmasters for class first thing tomorrow morning,” Kari said. Liria swayed in place briefly, and Kari chuckled and gestured her forward. There were laughs and some genuine smiles among Allerius and the Council when Liria dashed forward and hugged Kari tightly.
“All right, all right, no crushing the baby,” Kari said, and the syrinthian girl backed off and smiled sheepishly. “Albrecht, let the headmasters know Liria will be rejoining their classes, and she’ll need to be caught up on everything she missed in the last few months. She is also to be granted two free hours at midday every day so she can run errands for me.”
“Yes, ma’am!” he returned with a salute, and he smiled at Liria briefly before he made his way from the chamber.
“Thank you, ma’am, thank you,” Liria said, trying to get a hold of her emotions without much luck.
“You earned this,” Kari told her evenly, and the girl regained her composure quickly in light of the praise and its source. “Stay with your people tonight, and then once you’ve been reintroduced to your class, you can fall in with the rest of your classmates.”
Liria nodded, but she stayed silent as a messenger approached quickly.
“Lady Vanador, you must come to the Temple of Tigron at once,” the young human said.
“What is it? Did something happen to Ty?” Kari asked.
“No, ma’am,” he returned. “It is your mate.”
“Grakin,” Kari said in a breathless whisper. Pregnant as she was, she didn’t think she had ever run so fast in her life.
Chapter XIII – Countermeasures
It hadn’t taken long for Sherman and Sharyn to get back to the city, but it did take a bit of convincing for the paladin to get the guards to let him in with a wolf beside him. Sherman could only imagine how humiliating it must have been for Sharyn to have to obey commands like a common dog to convince the guards she was “domesticated.” Whatever the case, she hadn’t said a word about the ordeal since.
A couple of days had passed since they returned to the city, and Sherman was getting nervous that they wouldn’t be able to catch up to their companions. Sharyn seemed sure that with her speed and stamina in lupine form, and Sherman’s hurried pace while on horseback, they’d be able to overtake the group. But there was something in the city, something that alarmed her enough that she had refused to leave until she’d looked into the situation. Sherman thought maybe it was another werewolf, but Sharyn seemed pretty sure it wasn’t.
As night fell on their third day in the city, Sherman put on his armor and armed himself, preparing to follow Sharyn out on her hunt. While he wasn’t happy about leaving Erik and his companions with two fewer fighters, Sherman was satisfied with the urgency of the problem they were looking into. Sharyn was impulsive, but she was not one for chasing shadows – or her own tail, Sherman mused – and her recent battle with one of her own kind that was working with the Tilcimer made him confident she might be on to something.
Sharyn came into his room dressed in her new leather armor, which wasn’t as stylish as her old clothes, but probably better protection. Sherman understood the looseness of her clothes had more to do with shedding them before shape-shifting, but he was happier when she was better protected, even if it was inconvenient. She had her greatsword across her back, and a couple of other short blades on her thighs and hips. She had been tracking their quarry in her human form, which apparently still had a finely-tuned sense of smell.
The werewolf approached and her eyes searched his for a few moments before she leaned in and kissed him passionately. There was something so feral, so primal about Sharyn and the way she treated him. It was difficult for Sherman to not succumb to the temptation to simply make love to her and cast all his worries aside. The taste of her mouth nearly overrode all the years of discipline he had spent under the tutelage of the Silver Blades and Earl Lajere. He felt as though this was the biggest thing missing from his life, and the relationship he’d witnessed between Kari and Grakin sometimes made him question his hesitance to give in to his body’s more basic desires.
Sharyn pulled away from their kiss after a minute, though, and she gestured toward the door of his room with her head. She was a primal fire, but there was drive behind her passion, and she would not abandon or delay the hunt to satisfy desires. She had respect for Sherman’s training and discipline, even if she didn’t agree with the principles behind his celibate sense of honor. To him, that just made him appreciate her as a friend, and desire her as a wife all the more – her being a werewolf be damned.
Sherman followed her to the streets, and the long shadows of twilight covered the roads in thick purples and deepening black. Sherman wasn’t accustomed to hunting or doing his work as a paladin in the darkness, but Sharyn was a creature of the night, and she didn’t fear the shadows. On the contrary, Sherman reminded himself that the shadows feared her, and he had no better companion to stand beside on a hunt such as this. He glanced at her, she looked back at him, and he nodded; it was time to begin the hunt.
Even in the summer, the temperature dropped at night, and Ballycastle was cool as the sun’s touch faded away completely. They started their search in the southmost tier, high up on the hill where the baron’s keep was located. Sherman’s first instinct was to ensure that the city’s rulers were protected in case they were a target of whatever prowled the streets. From there, they could drive it north and into the more heavily populated areas, where it would have a harder time hiding or finding shelter.
Sharyn led him along the streets, her sense of smell picking up the strange scent within minutes. “It’s still here,” she said, sniffing around a couple of times. “It’s difficult to place; it smells like it could be one of my kind, but if it is, it’s walking around in its hybrid form.” She gave one more long, discerning sniff. “And it’s female.”
She tracked the scent into the market district, its stalls and shops all dark and lifeless under the pale light of the rising moons. Sharyn halted Sherman, though, and she sniffed a few more times before she ushered him into the shadows between two shops. He watched while she scanned the streets, her night vision a little stronger as a werewolf, even when she was in her “human form.” No doubt the creature they were hunting was close. Sherman rested his hand on the hilt of his longsword and waited; Sha
ryn’s tracking had been incredibly efficient this night.
A tearing sound came from up the road, and Sharyn jumped out from the shadows. Sherman stepped out beside her, confronting a cloaked figure that stopped in its tracks when it beheld the two. Sharyn’s lips peeled back in a snarl, and the cloaked figure tilted its head so that the moonlight reflected in pale golden eyes. Sherman readied himself to draw his blade but waited for Sharyn to make the first move.
“How’s your dinner?” Sharyn asked. “Cooked enough for you?”
The cloaked figure dropped a haunch of meat on the ground, and Sherman only barely caught a glimpse of a clawed hand. He still wasn’t sure what they were dealing with, but those eyes were bestial – clearly not human or rir – and that hand was far from human. Sherman looked beyond the figure to an approaching guard, who marked the trio suspiciously and called for them all to halt. The cloaked figure glanced over its shoulder quickly, and Sharyn pounced.
Sherman hesitated at the cloak figure’s reaction, as it swiftly dodged Sharyn’s attempt to grab it. It punched her hard in the gut, landing the thudding strike stiffly enough into Sharyn’s leather armor to halt her advance, and then the figure brought its foot up and kicked Sharyn squarely on the underside of the jaw. Not missing a beat, the figure then turned and hip-threw Sharyn to the ground.
Sherman drew his blade quickly, but the cloaked creature turned and ran toward the guard, who also drew his blade. Sliding under the guard’s clumsy defensive swing, the cloaked figure swept the human’s legs out from under him. It made no strike at the downed guard, but instead rose to its feet in a sweeping motion and continued running down the streets.
Sherman helped Sharyn to her feet hurriedly, and they began to pursue their quarry. The guard blew his watch whistle before rising, and the trio ran down the moonlit streets in the chill air. The cloaked figure’s strides were long and steady, and it began to put considerable distance between itself and pursuit – at least until more watchmen began appearing on the streets. Slowly, they boxed in the creature, but it just hopped up on a rain barrel and caught the lip of a roof, hauling itself up quickly.