“What’s going on?” Trox asked, walking up to them.
Kyrin sighed, “Daemionis sent a babysitter for me.”
“So what was the racket?”
“He is having noise problems.”
Trox looked over and immediately recognized the short figure of the shadow elves, “Get the King, now!”
Two of the Knights ran up the stairs to get him while Kyrin watched the Assassin try to act inconspicuous as he was being watched by fifty Knights.
“Trox, what’s wrong?” Alric asked, running up to them.
“Daemionis sent a black elf into our Kingdom.”
Alric looked at the hooded figure, “You’re sure?”
“Shadow elf, actually,” Kyrin said. “And yes, he did.”
“I’m actually surprised we found him, from what I’ve heard,” Alric said, studying him.
“Well he’s not very good at his profession.”
“I don’t have to put up with this!” the Assassin yelled.
“What happened to the door?” Alric asked, looking over at the pile of armor.
“He ran into the armor and knocked it over,” one of the Knights told him.
“Why are you here?” Alric asked the shadow elf.
“I came to watch over her,” he replied, trying to sound harsh, but his voice turned throaty, and he started to cough.
“Why?”
“Daemionis doesn’t trust you with her.”
“That can’t be it. He knows we are honor bound not to hurt her.”
“Unless she does something you don’t approve of.”
“Like bringing an Assassin home?” she asked, irritated.
“Where did you even find him?” Alric asked her. He was still trying to sort through all of this.
“I was out in the woods north of town, and I ran into him.”
“I followed her from the orchard, but she didn’t see me until I caught her crying in the trees,” the shadow elf told him.
Kyrin shifted nervously, “I was not! You couldn’t have followed me either, so stop lying or at least make it good.”
“I’m not lying!”
“You are too and you know it. You can’t keep up with me.”
“Elves are pretty fast, Kyrin,” Trox said.
“Not as fast as I am.”
He just frowned and turned back to Alric, “Sent by Daemionis or not, we can’t let him stay here.”
“No, we can’t.”
“If he leaves, I’ll go with him,” Kyrin said.
“Why?”
“If Daemionis sent him to watch over me, then I have to stay with him.”
“That’s stupid! You’re safe here. Safer than anywhere else with the Shadowmere trying to kill you.”
She glanced quickly around, but no one reacted to that, “Still, I have to stay with him.”
Alric looked at the Assassin as he noisily dug around in a bag, “What can it hurt?”
“We sure you aren’t supposed to protect him?” Trox asked.
Kyrin shrugged, “It’s possible. I’m more of an Assassin than he is.”
“Hey,” the shadow elf yelled.
“We could let him stay out in the old wood-cutter’s cottage,” Alric said.
“No, I stay with Kyrin,” he told them.
“I could stay there too.”
“I’d rather have you here,” Alric said.
“Something’s not right,” Kyrin said, and watched the Assassin.
“What?”
“Daemionis expects perfection.”
“He is far from that.”
“Or he wants me to kill him.”
“No! Let’s just imprison him and see what his true purpose is.”
Using her boots of speed, Kyrin disappeared from the castle’s entryway.
“Where did she go?” Trox asked, shocked.
“Not only that, but how did she move so fast?” Alric added.
“And you think I’m slow,” the Assassin said, evil returning to his voice.
Kyrin hit the trees and kept going. Daemionis wouldn’t send a bumbling idiot into another dimension. In fact, Daemionis would have killed the inept fool himself. He had to be a distraction, to pull their attention away from the true evil in the land. She remembered Alric saying he felt an evil presence, which furthered her feeling that he was a deception.
Once out where she met the Assassin, she stopped and looked around, “Creteloc? Are you here?”
“I was wrong,” someone said off to her side.
She spun and looked toward the voice, but saw no one. It wasn’t Creteloc’s voice she heard, but a male with harsh tones, “Who’s there?”
Whispers sounded as a breeze blew through the trees.
Kyrin readied her flail and looked closer into the trees. There was no noise, but she knew she was being watched.
“What were you wrong about?” she asked, her body tense.
When he stepped out of the trees, he stayed in the shadow, and his face was completely obscured, “I told Daemionis that you wouldn’t realize I was here.”
“Apparently I’m smarter than I look.”
“Creteloc disagreed with me, as usual.”
“What do you want?” She watched him closely, knowing that good Assassins could simply disappear into shadows, never to be found.
“I have a message, from Daemionis.”
“He sent you across dimensions for a message?”
“Yes”
“Why?”
“He cannot risk the gods of this land seeing him here.” The Assassin suddenly appeared in the shadow of a tree to her right. She spun to face him.
“Ok then, what’s the message?”
“Two of them, actually. The first is he demands a sacrifice. He said you are lax.”
“I have to be careful here. He knows that.”
“He desires what he desires.”
“If I kill someone from Paragoy, the gods will be angry, and I’ll be forced to leave. He wants me to stay here,” she told him, unbelieving.
“That is why Creteloc sent the idiot.”
“Creteloc sent that Assassin?” Kyrin asked.
“Do not refer to him as such. He wants to know the dark ways, but lacks any form of discipline.”
Kyrin smiled, “So Creteloc found him and wants me to kill him.”
“Correct”
“Easy enough. What’s the second request?”
The Assassin finally stepped out of the trees, so she could see him, though his face was still in shadow, “It is time for you to marry the Holy Knight.”
She frowned, “No.”
“You say no to a request from Daemionis?”
“He wouldn’t tell me to do that. I haven’t done anything to be punished that severely.”
“It is not a punishment.”
“Then why?” Her heart was racing. She couldn’t imagine defying the orders of her god, but she couldn’t be tied to this man either.
“Daemionis does not tell me his wishes, other than what I have told you.”
“Well I don’t believe you.”
“Are you refusing to do as he wishes?”
It was hard to speak, “I can’t marry him.”
Kyrin was struck with such pain it caused her to fall to her knees, unable to breathe. Blood began to ooze out of her skin as she slumped to the ground, losing all strength.
The Assassin watched her silently, and when the pain backed off, and she could breathe, she looked up at him when he spoke, “Again, do as you are asked.”
“I can’t do it,” she gasped, just as the pain started again. This time a scream escaped her, and she fell back against the crisp fall leaves that lined the forest floor.
The Assassin seemed uninterested in her pain, and carefully watched to make sure no one was going to interrupt. This time, when the pain ended, she stayed on the ground. Blood seeped from her pores, and her eyes were blood-shot.
“Agree to marry him and I will leave,” the Assassin told
her.
“Please… Daemionis don’t do this.”
“I want out of this retched land, and to do so you have to marry that useless King,” he told her.
She shook her head and screamed again as her body erupted in pain.
He sighed, “Stop being difficult, girl. How bad can it be to marry?”
When a tear escaped her eye, it was blood that fell, and she groaned and again shook her head.
“Daemionis, leave her alone,” Sithias said, appearing in the clearing.
The Assassin fell back into the shadows, and his voice grew angry, “Stay out of this. She is not yours.”
“I will not allow her to be needlessly tortured in my dimension.”
“Back off!”
Sithias knelt down beside Kyrin and ran a hand over her. She relaxed against the ground, no longer in pain, and seemingly unconscious. The god then stood up to face him, “Tell Daemionis that he cannot force her to do this.”
“He can, and he will,” the Assassin told her.
“We both wish for this union, to see what children it will produce, but we cannot force it.”
“You may not completely control your followers, but Daemionis does, and he expects her to comply immediately!”
The Assassin watched her, but it was obvious that he was listening to something else. Finally, he snarled, “If she will not obey, then he will have to remove her from this place for punishment.”
Sithias stood tall, “Tell him to face me about this. I don’t want you here any longer in my land.”
“He reminds you that she is not yours to protect.”
“She’s young, and I don’t believe she had a choice in following Daemionis. There is good in her.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
Sithias calmly smiled, “Tell Daemionis that we agreed to leave her here for observation and torturing her isn’t part of that deal. He is to leave her alone and not take away her choice in such a personal matter as marriage.”
“He does what he wants!”
“Not on my land. Now you may leave.”
The Assassin looked down at Kyrin, and then turned and swept out of the area.
Sithias gently picked her up and watched until Daemionis took the Assassin back out of Paragoy.
***
“I’m an Assassin! I can get out of here,” the puny shadow elf said from inside of Valhara’s dungeon.
Alric shrugged, “Try it.”
“I don’t have to prove myself to you.” With that, the shadow elf tripped over a chair and fell onto the bare bed in the cell.
Alric frowned when he felt the evil presence leave the dimension, yet the Assassin remained.
“Sir?” Trox asked, looking over at him.
“The evil is gone.”
Trox studied the shadow elf, “How can it be?”
“That means this thing wasn’t the evil.”
“Then who was?”
“I don’t know, but I bet Kyrin realized it and went after it.”
“Do you think she killed whoever it was?”
“I don’t know.”
“There is no one else here,” the Assassin said, smiling. “Daemionis knows my true power.”
They both ignored him, and Alric turned toward the door when one of the Priests came in, “Sir.”
“Is there a problem?”
“Sithias brought the girl to us.”
“What happened?” he asked, tensing.
“She was punished by her god. We cannot intervene.”
“Perfect,” he sighed, and then left to follow the Priest. When he arrived at the temple, they all seemed nervous and Saith showed the King into the back room where Kyrin was laid out on the bed, covered in blood.
“Sithias cannot help her when she’s punished by a god,” Saith explained.
“What did he do?” Alric asked, sitting on the side of the bed. He’d never seen anyone so completely covered in blood with no obvious injuries.
“We aren’t sure. She seems to be sweating blood.”
“What caused it?”
“Sithias won’t say. He said it is between her and her god.”
“Kyrin?” Alric asked, and touched her face softly.
“Sithias made her sleep.”
“Was she in pain?”
“I believe so.”
“Why would he do this? She’s so loyal to him and all I’ve seen him do is cause pain and suffering,” Alric said, mostly to himself.
“She may not know how to leave him, Sir.”
“Only once have I seen her badly injured that wasn’t the doing of her so-called god.”
When Kyrin sighed softly, they both looked over at her and Alric took her hand, “Kyrin?”
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, “Where is he?”
“Who?”
“The Assassin.”
“He’s in our dungeon.”
She sat up slowly, aided by Alric, “Not that one. The real one.”
“I don’t know then. I don’t feel any evil in the dimension though.”
“But how accurate is that?” Kyrin stood slowly, testing her legs.
“Should you be standing?”
Saith shook his head, “No, she should not be.”
“I’m fine. Daemionis doesn’t leave lasting injuries,” Kyrin explained.
“Why did he do this?” Alric asked her.
She sighed, “I’d rather not say.”
“But you must have agreed. He stopped.”
“No, Sithias intervened and I’m sure I’ll pay for that later.”
“Sithias stopped him?” Alric asked, following her out when she left.
“Yes, now I need to go to the lake, and then I need that bumbling Assassin.”
“You can bathe in the castle. It’s safer.”
She smiled, “Daemionis won’t be back just yet.”
“I don’t trust that.”
“I do. I’ll be ok.” She didn’t wait for him to respond, but immediately headed toward the lake north of Valhara.
Alric watched her go and then turned to Saith, “I hate this.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“How can I get her to see that she would be better off here following Sithias?”
“She’s an evil. Sithias may not want her.”
“I have a feeling he does.”
Saith bowed slightly and then walked back inside. Alric stopped to talk to some of the townspeople, and just as he was arriving at the castle, Kyrin was walking out with the Assassin in a tight grip. She was no longer covered in blood, and didn’t seem injured at all.
“Where are you going?” he asked, unsure he wanted her to leave with the Assassin, no matter how inept he might be.
“I’ll be back. I need to take care of something.”
As she walked past, he took her arm, “Are you going to kill him?”
“No, I’m going to boot his ass out of Paragoy.”
“Ok,” he said, and then let her go. He had a strong feeling that she was about to murder him though.
Kyrin walked slowly to keep pace with the Assassin beside her. She knew immediately why Creteloc would want him dead, and was just glad she’d thought ahead to send him to Kyrin for a sacrifice. She hoped Daemionis would forget about the marriage order in lieu of getting a shadow elf sacrifice.
“You can kick me out of this dimension, but Daemionis will bring me back,” he said, starting to panic.
“I’m not taking you to a portal.”
“Then… what are you doing?”
“You’re a sacrifice,” she said as they walked up to the large rock she often used to sacrifice animals.
The Assassin turned on her and drew his dagger, “I won’t let you.”
She readied her flail and shrugged, “You are to be a sacrifice. Fight if you want.”
He lunged at her with the dagger held incorrectly, and she was easily able to slam her flail into the back of his neck, breaking it instantly. He fell to the ground, unmovi
ng, but by now she was mad. Kyrin pummeled him with her flail, turning him into a mass of flesh and blood. When she was done, she was covered in his blood, and he was no longer breathing.
She took the ceremonial dagger from her bag and immediately removed his heart. She tossed it to the side for local predators to eat, and then dragged him to the rock. The hardest part was getting his blood-slicked body up onto the rock, but when she managed, she dropped to her knees.
When she didn’t get the feeling that Daemionis was appeased by just the sacrifice, her throat threatened to close off, “Please, Daemionis, no. I’ll do anything else you ask.”
Nothing happened, no booming voice, no pain, nothing. She looked up, and although the body was gone, there was no sign that he accepted the body in lieu of his request.
“Daemionis, I can’t do it,” she whispered, but the world seemed unnaturally silent as she looked around the trees. The sun was setting behind the majestic mountains, and the shadows seemed darker than usual.
“Why won’t you answer me?” She felt alone and afraid that Daemionis wasn’t going to change his mind. It wasn’t unheard of for his followers to be thrust into an eternity of pain for angering him badly, but she would take that over the thought of marriage.
After hours of praying and not hearing back, she decided that she would have to leave this dimension if she was going to avoid the humiliation of marriage. When she walked into the castle, everyone watched her, unsure why she was covered in blood and why she looked terrified.
She went into her room and began packing her enchanted backpack. She took nothing from Paragoy, and everything she brought with her easily fit into the pack.
“Leaving?” Alric said from behind her.
She nodded and continued to pack. He’d never been in the back rooms of her ante-chamber, but she didn’t care that he broke what was proper to come and see her.
Alric looked around at how her room had been transformed. The soft bed was on its side up against the window, blocking it, and a single blanket was laid out by the fireplace. There were pitchers of water throughout the room, all with varying levels of water in them. What few clothes she had were hanging above the fireplace to dry. He found that amusing. He had people to do the laundry, and from the looks of it, she was hand-washing her own.
He turned back to her and frowned, “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
Dimension Shifter Page 24