Andoran's Legacy

by M. Gregg Roe

Saxloc had wondered about that himself. Seeing the cells again had reminded him of when he and his friends had been imprisoned there. Albert must have his reasons, but he had never shared them. But maybe it was for the best. No longer welcome in the demon realm, Albert had made a home for himself here.

  Audrey began walking forward, and he followed. She stopped in a rocky area just short of the shore, picked up a roundly triangular stone, and then threw it low with a sidearm motion. It was something he hadn’t seen anyone do since he was a child. The stone skipped six times before sinking after a final splash. It looked like fun, so he started searching for his own stone.

  Standing next to Albert in front of his sitting room window, Siljan watched as Saxloc and Audrey continued to skip stones. They were having such a good time that she felt a real urge to go join them. Then she saw both Gabriel and Marryn run up and do just that. Now all four of them were running around and laughing. She hadn’t seen Hankin since they arrived, but that was typical. He was probably lurking somewhere nearby practicing being stealthy.

  “I spoke with Hankin earlier,” said Albert suddenly. “Aliva had written me that she now has full control of her shape-changing ability, but she said that she had accomplished it through practice. Hankin informed me that for a time last year, there was a succubus at large in the Witch’s City. I suspect that she was the one who taught my daughter.”

  “You’re worried,” said Siljan, turning to look at him. “I never heard anything about that.”

  “Which is why I want you to question her. You are a Priestess of Kyran, so you will know if she is being truthful.”

  First, she was going to make Hankin tell her everything he knew. “I’d have heard if a succubus went on a rampage there, so she must have kept a low profile.”

  “Indeed. I would like to know how a succubus came to be in Andoran’s Realm, and if my daughter was the one to slay her.

  Aliva was powerful, but she doubted that the woman could have slain a full-fledged demon without help. She also had a feeling that Aliva wasn’t just going to give up the information.

  Siljan glanced out and saw that Hankin had now joined in the fun. Now she really felt left out. She needed to get out there before they used up all the good stones.

  Albert chuckled. “Whatever you find out, just write it up and leave it with your mother. Oljot always checks in with Sabrina when he visits.”

  That was news to her. “Is that all?”

  Grinning, he put his right hand on her left shoulder. “Teleport.”

  Siljan laughed when she saw that he had simply transported them to the shore not far from her friends. She quickly started searching for skipping stones, and so did he.

  26

  ‡ Carnage ‡

  Aliva sagged against the rough stone wall and tried to catch her breath. Her sword felt incredibly heavy, but she didn’t dare put it away until she was certain that it was safe. She was absolutely drenched in blood, but most of it wasn’t her own. Instead of smelling like copper, the yellowish blood had a floral scent. That just made what she had done seem even worse. The pleasant-smelling hallway was littered in both directions with dead bodies.

  “Please tell me that’s all of them,” begged Aliva as she began to pluck tiny wooden blow-darts from her body. They had probably been poisoned, but that wouldn’t affect a half-demon like herself.

  None remain living within this nest, answered Lasrina. Your task is complete.

  Aliva dropped her sword, and it didn’t so much clatter as splash when it reached the blood-soaked floor. “Do they have some kind of bathing place?” She was going to have to stay the night to recover her strength, and she really wanted to clean up first.

  I can guide you to an underground pool not far from here.

  “Good, but I need to rest first.”

  As Aliva continued to lean against the wall, she tried hard not to think about what she had just done. The creatures she had just slaughtered had looked cute at first glance, bipeds less than a yard high with large triangular ears, huge round eyes, and opalescent skin. But they also had sharp claws and wide mouths filled with needle-like teeth. They had assaulted her instantly and then continued to attack, oblivious to their losses. It had taken every bit of Aliva’s magical energy, demon abilities, and physical strength to survive. She had spared none of them, not even their young. That part hadn’t bothered her because the young had also attacked her ferociously.

  “Were they a danger to people?” asked Aliva.

  Lasrina’s response was immediate. They had already depopulated two villages, killing and eating everyone and everything. They breed rapidly.

  “Are there more of them?” Aliva bent down and retrieved her sword.

  No, these are the last. They were one of Andoran’s creations. Left unchecked, they would have spread throughout the Realm.

  “Then I guess they needed to die.” After wiping the blade on her clothing, she sheathed it.

  It was necessary, said the goddess. And this was the optimal time since they were all present.

  “If you say so. Now please guide me to the pool.”

  She would never have found it on her own; the underground passages were like a maze. The pool was small, and the ceiling was so low that she couldn’t stand up. On the other hand, the water was warm and clearly being replenished by an underground spring.

  After peeling off her sodden clothing, she climbed in. The water began to darken as she used her hands to scrub at her skin. Most of the hundreds of small wounds she had sustained had already healed—another advantage provided by her demon heritage. But she was still profoundly tired. There was really no choice but to spend the night, and she hadn’t thought to bring any food. Or clean clothing; hers had been damaged beyond repair.

  “What are those creatures called?” she asked after finally managing to wash all the blood out of her hair.

  They simply called themselves ‘The Chosen’.

  “They worshipped Andoran, didn’t they?” She had noticed what looked like shrines in several places, all displaying a distinctive symbol composed of seven lines.

  He was their sole deity. And why not? It was he who created them.

  “What about Andoran? Did you consider killing him before he slaughtered so many people?” Aliva instantly regretted the question, but she really did want to know. After all, millions had died when Andoran conquered the continent.

  It was discussed at great length, replied the goddess. But it was ultimately deemed preferable to allow events to proceed without modification.

  “But why?”

  Those were different times. Cities were enormous and yet crowded. Food was scarce and disease rampant. Wars raged endlessly. Andoran’s forces brought death but also mercy to the suffering.

  Aliva had never thought about it that way. Maybe it had been better to die a quick death rather than a slow one due to starvation or disease. But it was still sad to think about how many had died.

  The creation of Andoran’s Realm also served a purpose, continued Lasrina. As will its eventual demise.

  That sounded ominous. “Is that going to happen anytime soon? I just want to be prepared,” she joked.

  Lasrina’s laughter was musical. By my time scale, yes. But by your time scale, it is well into the future.

  That was still kind of vague, but it was more information than she had expected to receive. She tried asking more questions, but Lasrina was apparently done talking.

  Despite being hungry and sleeping on cold stone, Aliva felt rested when she woke. Her clothes and boots were in such bad shape that she ended up flying back to Rohoville wearing only her sword belt. It was actually kind of fun that way. When the city came into sight just around noon, she turned herself invisible and went straight to Stanley’s house.

  Stanley just thought that she had gone on a quick trip to the Witch’s City. And he wasn’t likely to notice the missing clothing, none of which had been new. She kept ample clothing at both Stanley’s and Kora’s houses
now.

  But her sleep was troubled that night. It was the second time that she had killed at Lasrina’s behest, and she felt certain that there was more violence to come.

  Hankin floated down just to Gabriel’s left. “Trolls,” he said, with an expression of disgust. “I spotted four. Judging from the mess, they’ve been living there for a while.”

  That meant a minimum of four trolls. Gabriel took his sister’s left arm and led her toward the remains of a tall stone wall nearby. “Remain here,” he ordered, keeping his voice low.

  “But I want to watch,” was her predictable objection. “If I can’t see what’s happening, I won’t know if I need to run.”

  “One moment.” He waved at Hankin, and he promptly flew over to them. “Do you have a small mirror? Something that Marryn can use to observe?”

  It turned out that Hankin had two small mirrors, one of which was mounted onto an extensible steel rod. He quickly showed Marryn how to use it and then flew off. After one more stern warning, Gabriel drew his sword and rejoined Saxloc and Audrey. Siljan had moved off to their left, grinning as she crept behind the remains of a wall with her sword drawn. Saxloc had obviously cast Blur, giving him an almost ghostly appearance. And his sword was glowing, evidence of another spell. Audrey was wearing her magical gauntlet on her left arm and gripping her quarterstaff with her right hand.

  The ruins they were at had once been a monastery, a place of learning and of martial instruction. There was little left of the large stone structure now. They had encountered sizable stone blocks hundreds of yards from the remnants of the building, evidence that it had been destroyed with great violence.

  The three of them began to slowly walk forward, with Audrey to Saxloc’s left and he on the right. There was still no indication that the trolls suspected anything, but they weren’t the smartest of creatures. The battle would likely commence when Hankin and Siljan began casting offensive spells.

  There were many types of trolls. The ones common on Kaldir were among the smallest, but they were both strong and able to heal rapidly. Their clawed hands were fearsome weapons.

  He suddenly spotted one and hissed a warning that brought all three of them to a stop. The green-skinned humanoid was wearing only a brown loincloth, and it was turned away from them. The creature’s body bulged with so much muscle it was like a caricature.

  A deep bellow sounded, but it came from beyond the section of stone wall several yards in front of them. The troll suddenly whirled around and emitted an undulating cry when it spotted them. Its large eyes sparked menace as it charged toward them.

  With Saxloc to his left, Gabriel moved to meet it, noting that Audrey was wisely watching for more threats. He dodged one claw swipe and took the second on his shield, but the force of the blow startled him. Saxloc slashed the troll from the side, and that allowed Gabriel to strike a blow of his own, slashing downward into its left shoulder. A normal creature would have been mortally wounded, but the huge gash resulted in little bleeding and was already beginning to heal. It was daunting.

  As he continued to fight, Gabriel heard the sound of a fireball detonating followed by anguished roars. Saxloc was behind the troll now, but the troll didn’t seem to care. Its focus was on defeating Gabriel.

  The troll was strong, but its attacks were simply too slow. And there was a limit to how fast it could heal. It took some time, but the two of them finally hacked it to the point where it fell down and died. Gabriel had some bruises, and he would certainly be sore tonight, but he had sustained no wounds that drew blood.

  Quickly looking around, he saw that Audrey was fighting a troll with assistance from Hankin, who was repeatedly stabbing it from behind with his rapier. And Saxloc was already headed over to help. Well off to his left, Siljan was fleeing from a third troll, but headed his way. He strode forward and prepared to engage it. This troll had obviously been struck by the fireball since its loincloth was blackened and smoldering. But its skin had already healed.

  Siljan pelted it from the side with blasts of magical fire as he methodically hacked at it with his sword. The spells both hurt and distracted it, allowing Gabriel to finish it off with a swing that nearly severed its head. He looked to his right just in time to see Audrey’s troll practically explode as she drove the gauntlet deep into what was left of its chest. Covered with gore, she staggered backward and fell to her knees.

  “You’re hurt!”

  Marryn was standing nearby holding the mirror in her left hand and her dagger in her right. “It is all troll blood,” he assured her, and her shoulders sagged in relief.

  Then she looked at the troll’s grisly remains and began to turn pale. “Excuse me.” She ran back toward where she had been hiding.

  Siljan sheathed her sword, which was still clean. “I burned the other one to death. I’ll go check on Marryn. She’s not used to this kind of thing.”

  After cleaning off his sword on some vegetation and sheathing it, Gabriel went to help the others search the ruins. What they found was depressing. A variety of weapons and damaged armor indicated that another group of adventurers had perished fighting the trolls. They ended up burning everything before they continued on.

  Death would be welcome because dying was taking far too long. And it hurt. She had never imagined such pain was possible. Her head throbbed, her midsection was on fire, her limbs ached and wouldn’t respond. Despite that, she felt cold. Her vision was gone, and the sounds reaching her ears were meaningless noise. And breathing—each ragged breath was more painful than the one before. Surely death couldn’t be far away.

  “Hold still. Recovery!”

  She gasped as warmth suffused her body. Her breathing began to ease as the pain faded. And she could feel pressure on both her forehead and midsection. She suddenly realized that her hands were clenched into fists, the fingernails digging painfully into her palms. It took an effort of will, but she managed to open both her hands and relax them. She could now tell that her eyes were working, but they seemed to be gummed shut. Blood, she thought. My blood. She could taste it in her mouth. Her shirt and pants both felt wet and sticky.

  The pressure, presumably the hands of the person healing her, abruptly vanished. “You hit your head pretty bad. Can you tell me your name?”

  The question baffled her. How could she not know her own name? Her first attempt to speak failed utterly, so she cleared her throat and licked her lips.

  “I am sorry,” she said. “I do not recall my name.”

  “Well, you still speak the same way. Do you know where you are?”

  Nothing came to mind, so she tried to listen to the other conversations she now realized were occurring around her. But they were too muted to be intelligible. “Home?” she hazarded, feeling embarrassed.

  “And where is home?” The voice, definitely female, sounded worried.

  “I do not know. Thank you for healing me.” She should have thought to say that earlier.

  “You’re welcome, but I obviously didn’t do a great job. We’ve sent for additional help.”

  “The Temple of Dukane is nearest,” she said automatically. “That is where I worship.”

  “So do I. You haven’t lost all of your memories. That’s a relief. By the way, I’m Private Peri of the Guard.”

  “Gabriel’s partner.” The words just popped out.

  “Yes, but he’s away right now.”

  That sounded familiar. “Can you please wipe my eyes?”

  “I’d rather not while you’re still in here. You weren’t the only one hurt.”

  She suddenly realized that she smelled something more than the pungent tang of blood. It was a foul miasma, the odor of death. People had died. “Tell me what happened, I beg you.”

  “Not yet. What is your occupation?”

  That triggered such a flood of memories that she was temporarily overwhelmed. “I am Cinda av Louisa, and I am a courtesan. But I still do not remember what happened to me.”

  “That might be for the bes
t,” said a voice from her left, recognizably Kora’s. “Let’s get her up and to her room.”

  Cinda tried to raise herself up, but found she was simply too weak. After the two of them managed to get her to her feet and turned around, she rubbed the crust from her eyes and blinked until her vision cleared. The wood-paneled wall in front of her, part of the common area, was spattered with bloodstains, some larger than her hand. Fearful of what she might see, she kept her gaze forward as they guided her to the hallway entrance.

  When they reached the door to her room, Cinda said, “I should disrobe before entering.”

  “Yes,” said Kora. “You’re right. Let us help you.” The woman’s hands were stained with dried blood, but her clothing only showed a few small spots. They had to peal off most of her clothing because of all the blood. Cinda suspected that she had very nearly bled to death, which was probably why she still felt so weak.

  Once inside her room, they helped her to clean up, turning both the water in the basin and the two towels red. After donning her robe, Cinda sat down heavily on the side of her bed. “Tell me what happened,” she insisted.

  It was Peri who answered. “From what we can tell, the attacker entered through the front door around mid-morning, went to the common room, and started attacking people. He continued until—”

  “I killed him,” interrupted Kora, her expression grim. “He was raving, waving his sword and shouting about killing all the whores. The weird thing is that Lilina thinks that he used to be a client here several years ago.”

  “I should go,” said Peri. Cinda thanked her again as she let herself out.

  Kora seated herself on the bed next to Cinda. “He also didn’t touch Lilina, even though she was there when he burst in. When we figure out who he is, maybe we’ll know why.”

  The Guard would also be investigating, of course. They would want to question her, but she still had no answers.

  Cinda cleared her throat. “I believe that I should drink something.” Her thirst was fearsome.