The Demon's Blade

by Steven Drake

  Damn it Jerris, you don't say it isn't a trap, the Executioner mumbled to himself. It looks like this will be a fight. He moved swiftly, covering the distance quickly, but not quickly enough. The woman turned and drew her sword almost instantly, too fast for any ordinary man or woman. Whoever this woman was, she was a mage as well. She blocked the Executioner’s overhand blow, and held his sword a few inches above her shining helm. The two combatants stood a few moments locked in place.

  "Your friend isn't very smart is he?" the woman taunted as she held her ground. "If he'd just kept his mouth shut, you might have slit my throat while I bent down to untie him."

  "No, he isn't, but neither are you, whoever you are," The Executioner responded. "You are out of your depth. You do not understand who it is you're chasing."

  "Oh, I know exactly who I'm chasing," the woman spoke fiercely through clenched teeth, then she summoned a burst of strength through her arms and pushed off her attacker. "I couldn't forget your face. I'll remember it as long as I live."

  "Then you have me at a disadvantage, for I can't say I've ever seen you before," Darien said as he drew back several paces, preparing for the next move.

  "Just shut up!" the woman yelled. "Prepare yourself, Darien the Executioner. You took the lives of my family, and now I shall take yours!" The woman hesitated no longer, swinging her sword skillfully, aiming a sweeping blow across Darien's chest. He leapt backwards, but the woman was upon him almost instantly. He blocked her next blow with his own sword, and used her momentum against her, shoving her forward and past him. She recovered quickly again, but just noticeably slower than before. She is skilled, but she won't be able to keep up this pace for long, the experienced shade reasoned. He focused on blocking and dodging her blows, waiting for her to tire.

  Finally, after a few minutes, she screamed and rushed him with such suicidal fury and speed that he could not dodge, nor bring his own sword around to block. Instead, he fell backwards, freezing the ground around them as he did so. The woman’s strike sailed harmlessly over his falling body, and the speed and force of her strike combined with the icy ground to send her tumbling to the ground and nearly off the rock porch down into a ravine. Her sword, however, was not so fortunate, as it flew out of her hand and over the edge, clattering as it tumbled down a steep slope.

  The Executioner quickly regained his feet, far quicker than his unprepared rival. He sheathed his sword and moved behind the woman just as she gained her feet. He wrapped her arms with his own, and clasped his hands behind her head, thinking the fight would be over. She wouldn’t have the strength to escape this hold.

  A moment later, the Executioner felt a terrible shock. He let go his grip, and lurched backwards, his vision blurry and his ears ringing. He recognized the effects of a lightning spell, focused through the woman's armor. He had just enough time to collect himself before the next attack. She now wielded a silver spiked mace and with both hands aimed her next blow at her opponent’s skull. This has gone on long enough, Darien decided. He raised his right hand and grabbed the handle of the mace halfway between the spiked ball and the woman’s grip. In mere moments, it froze solid just as the ground had earlier. With his other hand, Darien shattered the frozen weapon. The woman, now weaponless, swung an armored fist towards the Executioner, but he grabbed it, then froze the armor, and her hand beneath it. She swung her other hand in a futile final attack, but the Executioner grabbed her hand and froze this one as he had the first.

  "Now," the Executioner said as he forced the woman into a kneeling position. "I believe you're finished. I strongly advise that you keep still unless you want me to shatter your hands the same way I did that mace. I haven't done any permanent damage yet, but you'd better not give me a reason to change my mind. I admit that you have some skill, but not nearly enough. Consider yourself fortunate that I would prefer not to kill you." The woman's eyes welled up with tears and she wept, saying nothing.

  "Jerris?" Darien yelled while still holding the woman by her freezing arms. "Jerris, what are you doing?"

  "I just got these stupid ropes untied," Jerris said as he ran up to where the fight had ended, down the road from the entrance.

  "Well, now that you've got yourself untied, help tie this woman," Darien ordered. "Let's get her secure, then we'll decide what to do with her."

  As he tied her hands, Darien considered what to do with the mysterious assailant, but he wondered even more how she had managed to find him here. Clearly, her skills marked her as more than an independent bounty hunter. Her armor was as Tobin had described it, shiny and expensive, but without marking or insignia. The spells she used in battle suggested a knight of the Golden Shield, but it was unusual for any of them to operate alone, or conceal their affiliation. He realized he would have to pry the information out of her, and the real threat could be gaining ground while he dragged this prisoner along.

  After she was well secured, Darien dragged her over near the sheer face of the mountain, and plunked her down with her back against the wall, just inside the underpass. Jerris stood a few feet away, watching her intently, as if he could actually do anything to prevent her escaping. "So, what now?" Jerris asked. "I mean, do we just leave her here or take her with us or take her back to Vorog?"

  "Well, we can't very well go back, so that just leaves the two choices," Darien replied. "We won't get much farther today anyway. We should rest, and resume our journey tomorrow. I’ll look for a suitable campsite, while you keep an eye on her. If she gets loose, just yell. See if you can get her horse out of the underpass entrance, but don't go so far up the tunnel that you lose sight of her. She's obviously got some skill in magic so she may try any number of tricks to get herself free and run off."

  Darien soon found a small cave that was dry and just large enough for them. It would be rather cramped for three people, but it would do. Darien headed back to the road to fetch Jerris and the prisoner. The lad was still standing watch, and apparently had managed to fetch the horse, as he now held the lead of a svelte white steed. "Alright Jerris, I found a site, so go fetch the horses."

  A few minutes later, they were safely camped and had a small fire going. Darien sat his prisoner against the back wall of the cave. He sat against the left-hand wall of the cave and Jerris the right. After all were seated, he reached over and pulled the shiny metal helm from the prisoner’s head. She neither struggled, nor raised her eyes to her captors. She only sat in silence, her head hung down with her long hair covering her face, a veil of golden locks. "You should be thankful you're still alive, whoever you are. Only a handful of people have ever engaged me in single combat and lived to tell the tale. Sitting there moping will not help your situation," Darien spoke to the prisoner.

  "I have nothing to say to you, monster," the woman growled back. "Just kill me and be done with it. I will tell you nothing."

  "Oh, I don't think so," Darien said. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have already done so. Whatever information you have is most likely worthless to me anyway. I admit that I am curious how you were able to find me while far more capable adversaries have failed to do so. Whatever stroke of luck allowed you to find me, it hardly matters now. Unless I miss my guess, you're on some personal quest for vengeance, and there won't be anyone else coming looking for you." The prisoner did not respond but turned her head to the side, an unmistakable signal to Darien that his words hat hit their mark. "Well then, now that we've established that, we can move on," he said with a smirk. "Who are you?" The prisoner looked up and seemed about to speak, but instead spat in her captor’s face. Jerris chuckled but the Executioner’s scowl quieted him. "Still nothing to say, then? You had plenty to say a few minutes ago. I believe it was something about killing me and avenging your family." He paused to wait for a response, but getting none, he continued. "You did say I killed your family, right? You'll have to forgive me but I've killed a great many people. I'm afraid you'll have to be somewhat more specific." Darien snickered as he finished speaking. Jerris laughed loud
ly, an unexpected response to be certain, but this finally managed to get a response out of the prisoner.

  "That isn't funny, you stupid child," the woman sneered at Jerris. "He's a murderer and you're laughing about it. Curse you for your tricks. I might have had him but for your treachery."

  "Oh, I doubt that," Jerris said merrily. "He can do much worse than he showed you."

  "And Jerris gave it away anyway," Darien added. "You don't tell someone that something 'isn't a trap'. That makes it fairly obvious that it is, in fact, a trap."

  "Yes, thanks for pointing that out. I'm sure I never would have figured that out on my own" Jerris rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I thought this was someone who might actually kill me and I panicked. I expected someone scarier than her to be behind that helmet."

  "A thousand curses upon the both of you," the prisoner said. "It's bad enough that I am held captive, but now I must endure your mockery as well. You have no honor."

  "Oh, now that is funny," Darien said jovially. "There isn't much honor in real combat I'm afraid. If you had ever fought outside the arenas you would realize that."

  "Dammit, how did you know…," The prisoner stopped in mid-sentence, suddenly returning to her silence.

  "You may as well talk to us," Darien said. "I'm not going to kill you, nor am I going to leave you tied up here in the wilderness to starve. I can't let you go for several reasons, not least of which being you aren't my only pursuer. I have many enemies, and you are far from the most formidable. We're going to be traveling together for a while whether you like it or not. I have no particular desire to make you any more miserable than you obviously are, so just cooperate and this will be far less unpleasant for all concerned." The prisoner did not respond. Once again, she seemed determined to stay silent.

  "Darien's not nearly as bad as he seems at first," Jerris added with a smile. "He's a bit harsh, but I've gotten used to it. He just sounds a lot more frightening than he acts. He could have killed you and didn't. He could just leave you here to starve, but he won't. I'm not sure I'd be that forgiving to someone who just tried to kill me. He actually stopped me from killing someone a few days ago."

  "And that one actually deserved it," Darien scoffed. "Look, whoever you are. I have no doubt that you have good reason to hate me. Many do. I did not lie to you when I said I have killed many people. I would give them back to you if I could. Believe it or not, I would allow you to kill me if I could, but there are more important things than my life and your vengeance. If this were not so, I would have died a long time ago by my own hand. My life is a curse upon myself as well as others, yet for the moment, it holds a worse evil at bay."

  The prisoner finally looked up at Darien. Her light brown skin marked her clearly as a southerner, and contrasted sharply with her long straight, golden hair. Her eyes were light blue, the color of clear sky on a summer day. Her lips were narrow but full, her nose was short, and her face was young and vibrant. Most men would have thought her quite beautiful, but the Executioner was not most men, and if he had ever had any desire to seek out the companionship of beautiful ladies, it was now long extinguished. The expression on her face seemed confused and uncertain, as if she had suddenly been handed a riddle for which she had no answer. "I don't understand what you're talking about. What do you mean when you served the Demon King? You mean you don't serve him anymore?”

  "You mean you didn't already know that?" Darien rubbed his temples, disappointed and more than a little confused at how uninformed this woman was. "I had assumed that you were better informed since you were able to track me down. No, I betrayed the Demon King five years ago. I tried to kill him, failed, and escaped. I've been wandering the northlands hoping no one would notice me ever since. Unfortunately, the Demon King has finally found me and sent assassins after me, so I'm now attempting to flee south. Frankly, I find it stunning that you were able to find me without knowing that…"

  "What kind of trick is this?" the woman said. "No one betrays the Order of the Shade. The Golden Shield has never gotten one to turn. They don't even bother interrogating them anymore."

  "So you have trained under the Order of the Golden Shield," Darien observed. "I thought as much, though you're obviously not acting on their behalf at the moment. Keep your secrets to yourself if you wish. I know you're not working for the Demon King, and that's really all that I care about. There's a man chasing me. You may have heard of him, Avirosa the Wraith." The woman nodded yes. "Well, he's the one after me, and he'll quickly learn about you since you've been asking questions in Vorog. He'll be interested in any information you have, and I have an interest in seeing that he does not get that information, so here's what I'm going to do.” The Executioner smiled dryly as he spoke to the scowling woman. “We're headed for Galad, and the plains beyond, and you're going to come with us. I'd rather go as quickly as possible, so dragging along a tied prisoner is not my preference. I will do that if I must, but I'd much rather we just put aside our differences for the moment and travel together. Once we're safely over the mountains, you may go your own way, and Jerris and I will go ours. You may even resume trying to kill me if you must, but I'd recommend you don't actually engage me again until you're far more skilled than you are now."

  "You… You're just going to let me go?" the prisoner asked.

  "Once we're over the mountains, yes, I will let you go," Darien confirmed. "I have already said several times that I am not going to kill you, and I can't very well drag around a prisoner for the rest of my days, so that just leaves the one option, doesn't it?" Darien slipped sideways out of the cave as he’d finished speaking, and wandered over to where the horses were tied.

  "See, he's not so terrible," Jerris added. "We're all more likely to get out of this mess if we cooperate. Can you at least tell us your name?"

  "Rana," the prisoner finally relented. "It's Rana."

  "Then goodnight Rana. I'm Jerris, and I'm going to sleep."

  "You can sleep too if you want," Darien said to Rana as he tossed her the bedroll that he had picked from her supplies. "I'll even untie you. I won't be sleeping tonight." The bedroll landed at her feet.

  "Um… Okay." Rana scooted until her hands were turned towards her captor. He untied the ropes that held her, and then she laid down to sleep. "Th… Thank you."

  Chapter 17: The Craglands

  Darien did not sleep that night. He never slept after the nightmares. They affected him deeply, but it was not the uncontrollable fear that swept through him in the dreams, fear far greater than he could ever remember feeling in the waking world. What Darien hated about the dreams, what he hated about himself, was that once again, just as in his youth, he was powerless, powerless to escape what was happening, powerless to change the outcome. That, most of all, kept him awake this night.

  He reasoned it just as well, since he needed to keep watch on the woman who had attacked him. She slept soundly enough, lying on her own bedroll. The night air was chilly, but not uncomfortably so. Aside from the breath of the sleepers, the only sound to be heard was the occasional whistling of the wind through the rocks. During the night, Darien alternated between watching the sleeping Rana, and staring up at the mountainside, wondering if anyone more dangerous had followed her.

  The night passed without incident. Morning came, and surprisingly, Jerris awakened with the sun. After wiping the sleep from his eyes, Jerris got up and looked at the woman on the ground. "I don't see how she can sleep with that armor on," Jerris observed.

  "That's the first thing you think of?" Darien said. "I suppose it is somewhat uncomfortable, but after the battle she was probably too tired to care. She won't have to worry about that from now on. I don't plan on letting her keep that armor."

  A few minutes later, the young southern woman began stirring from sleep. As soon as her eyes began to open, she caught sight of the Executioner and lurched backwards against the wall, shocked to wake up in this place staring into the face of a most hated enemy. A moment later, she rel
axed her muscles, and came to a sitting position against the back wall of the cave, raising her knees up in front of her defensively. She did not speak, looking expectantly, waiting for the others to speak.

  "Good morning, Rana." Jerris smiled as he spoke.

  "Good morning," she said nervously back.

  "I take it you remember the situation you've gotten yourself into?" Darien said. Rana nodded yes. "Alright then, take off your armor and leave it in the back of the cave here."

  "What?" Rana’s eyes flew open wide, then narrowed sharply into a fiercely defiant stare. "You… You disgusting pig! I won't! You'll have to kill me before I'll…"

  "Just your armor, stupid girl!" Darien shook his head in disgust, realizing what the woman had been thinking he intended. “I haven’t the slightest interest in… that. I just want to be sure you're unarmed and unarmored. Since you did try to kill me yesterday, it seems like a reasonable precaution, don't you think?"

  "I suppose," she muttered, looking off to the side with an embarrassed look on her face.

  "Jerris, watch her, and then search her for any hidden weapons while I get the horses ready," Darien ordered. Jerris nodded in agreement.

  When Darien returned, he found Rana unarmored as requested, tying her long yellow-gold hair behind her head. She wore a simple white woolen shirt with a golden shield emblazoned on the front and dark indigo pants, a standard uniform for an apprentice of the Golden Shield. She stood taller than most women, standing but a couple of inches below Jerris. Her shoulders were slightly broader across than most women, but that was easily obscured by her height. Besides that, however, she appeared inarguably feminine. The armor, most likely designed for a grown man, had hidden her form well. Her arms and legs were lean but muscular, possessing a strength which was obvious even through the heavy woolen clothes. The armor had also been enchanted to conceal the magical aura of the wearer. Without it, Darien could now sense the woman’s formidable magical aura. She appeared well trained, capable, and strong, qualities Darien admired. Were circumstances different, she would no doubt prove a valuable ally, he thought. Even as the thought went through his mind, his eyes settled on the armor at the back of the cave. It couldn’t do much harm to take it with us. If we do end up in a fight, it might make the difference between life and death.