“So, daemons and Imen smuggled stuff behind the royals’ backs, right inside the palace?” I concluded with a grin. “That’s absolute badassery.”
“It all fell apart when the Maras came here,” Vesta replied. “As soon as they grounded that Druid delegation and got their claws on swamp magic, that was it. The deadly alliance formed, and the rest of us were doomed.”
Thinking of all the lives ruined and lost tore me apart on the inside. I channeled my rage into sharp focus, while secretly listening to Caspian’s heartbeats. He belonged to a species that had wreaked havoc in this world, and felt horribly about it. He wasn’t like any of the Exiled Maras, and I knew how badly he wanted to prove that, how desperate he was to completely distance himself from the others.
I was determined to help him achieve that, and more. At the end of this staircase was the answer to many of our most burning questions and, potentially, the key to earning our freedom and his freedom, too. Once we managed to get the swamp witch back, it would be over for the Maras of Azure Heights.
My heart swelled with excitement at the thought of watching Darius and the others swallowing their sneers and paying for their horrendous crimes. Especially for what they’d done to Caspian and his family. We were going to bring this back full circle, by removing the Maras from the Nerakian landscape and subduing the daemons. That seemed like the most logical and least intrusive path, since every species of Neraka had its purpose to serve, including the horned fiends.
Caia
Do you think there will ever be peace again between the daemons and the Imen?” I asked, using my lighter flame to guide me down the stairs, while Blaze covered my six.
“I don’t know,” Vesta replied with a shrug. “They might, if the daemons agree to a solid peace treaty. Assuming, of course, that they’ll be too scared of GASP to try anything silly. I’m thinking that once we get your people here, it’ll be game over for them and the Exiled Maras.”
“Absolutely,” Jax said, then scoffed. “I doubt the Exiled Maras will get another shot at a new beginning, not after all this. No one thought they would devolve into worse creatures through exile. But they definitely don’t belong in this world. I will personally make sure that their punishment fits their crime.”
“And the same goes for the daemons,” Hansa added. “Yes, GASP will definitely help set some clear rules. I’m sure the Daughters and the witches of The Shade will gladly work together to establish permanent portals to monitor Neraka going forward. Rest assured, Vesta, that what they’ve been doing up until now will stop once we get our people through.”
“Maybe, once this is all over, I’ll even find my parents. Who knows?” Vesta replied, exhaling deeply.
“You don’t remember them at all, do you?” I asked.
“No, just mild snippets. A pair of green eyes, a soft smile, but nothing precise,” she said. “I don’t even know if they’re still alive. They might be. The daemons wouldn’t waste a good soul meal. Apparently, us fae are quite the delicacy, like the dragons.”
“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Blaze muttered from behind me.
“On the other hand, they could very well be dead,” Vesta added. “Maybe they didn’t make it. I try not to get my hopes up, of course.”
We kept going for about an hour, carefully, as the temperature started to rise again—a sign that we were approaching the daemon city.
“What’s the plan, Vesta?” Jax asked. “I assume we have some heavy challenges ahead.”
“This tunnel deadends behind a large stone, from what I’ve read about it,” Vesta replied. “And the stone is just around the corner from one of the cloaked entrances into the city. There’s a network of corridors surrounding Draconis on different levels, all cloaked and guarded. There will be a guard there, and I’ll need his blood to get us through.”
“That’s easily doable,” Harper said. “And your pacifist connections?”
“One will be there to greet and guide us.”
The bottom of the tunnel was riddled with spiderwebs and dried-up weeds, and we had to claw our way out of it—in Harper and Fiona’s case, literally. They hacked and slashed at the clutter until we all got out, and reached the massive stone that Vesta had mentioned. I had to admit, she kept good and accurate notes on the place.
Harper used her True Sight to look through the stone without having to reveal her presence, and confirmed Vesta’s knowledge of the guard’s position. “There’s one daemon, visible, sitting by the wall, twenty feet straight ahead,” she whispered.
“Would you like to do the honors?” Caspian breathed, giving her a soft smile.
“It would be my pleasure.” Harper grinned, then went out and caught the daemon off guard. She rammed both swords through his torso, through the sides and right where his chest plate didn’t provide any cover.
Pheng-Pheng shot out next and finished the job, plunging her blade deep into the daemon’s throat. Blood gushed out as the life left his gleaming red eyes. We all came out from our hiding spot, and Vesta smeared some of the daemon’s blood on her hand, which she then pressed against the warm limestone wall.
The surface rippled, and we followed her inside.
Another tunnel lay ahead, larger and made entirely from black stone. We drew our weapons, ready to fight, if needed, as Vesta led the way to the very end. We stopped in front of an iron door. Vesta knocked in a specific pattern—three times fast, twice slow, then three times fast again.
A loud clang made my muscles stiffen, and I flicked my lighters open out of sheer reflex.
The door opened. Vesta smiled, prompting us all to breathe a collective sigh of relief, at the sight of a tall daemon—he seemed to be well into adulthood, with fine lines forming at the corners of his red eyes. His black hair had white streaks and was combed back into a tight bun, and his leather tunic stretched over his muscular chest and thighs. He was big and burly, but the look on his face was soft and gentle.
“You made it,” the daemon breathed, and offered a hand.
Vesta shook it firmly, then nodded back at us. “Yeah, we had a slight detour to make, but good news, Davo. There are still some Manticores out there,” she replied.
Davo looked at our group, measuring each of us from head to toe. His eyebrows popped up at the sight of Pheng-Pheng, whose expression was stuck in a permanent frown, the kind that said “I’ll kill you if you make the wrong move”.
“I’m impressed,” Davo said, and offered a curt bow. “Where do you come from, little Manticore?”
“The Akrep Gorge,” Pheng-Pheng replied dryly.
Davo smiled. “Good. It means help is not too far away, if needed. And is that… That’s an Ekar, isn’t it?” He pointed at the bird still clutching to Harper’s backpack, visibly amused.
“I take it you don’t see them often?” Harper replied, while the bird watched Davo curiously.
“Not in these parts,” Davo said, then frowned. “But, anyway, we need to get you all someplace safe. Guards patrol this part of the city quite frequently, since word of the outsiders escaping spread.”
“Oh, that would be us.” Hansa chuckled, sheathing her broadsword and crossing her arms. Davo gave her a brief glance before shifting his focus back to Vesta.
“Are you sure you want to do this, little fae?” he asked. “My brothers and I have risked our lives for peace. I don’t want us to jump into anything unprepared and get ourselves killed. Get myself killed, to be precise.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Davo. His features seemed oddly familiar, as if I’d seen him before.
“Who are your brothers?” Hansa asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Judging by her expression, she was probably on the same wavelength as me.
“Mose and Beryn. Mose lives in Infernis, and Beryn is here, on the other side of the city.”
“Mose… Oh, dear,” Hansa replied, pressing her lips into a tight, thin line.
Alarm quickly settled on Davo’s face. “What is it? Do you know him? Is something wrong?”
“Ugh, I wish I didn’t have to say this. I’m sorry, Davo,” Hansa replied softly. “Mose was arrested a couple of days back, and we don’t know if he’s still alive or not.”
A couple of moments went by as Davo crumbled through all the stages following such terrible news, shaking like a leaf. He was bigger than his brother in size, but small and squirrely in character, compared to the calm and composed Mose.
“This can’t be. No, what will I do without him?” Davo said, his lower lip trembling as tears gathered in his eyes. “I knew this was going to happen. I wanted to do this, to do right by this world. We knew the risks, but still. This is all too real. It’s really happening. They took my brother, and they’ll probably come for me and Beryn next!”
“Davo, we need to get out of sight,” Vesta replied, trying to rein him in before he caved in completely.
“No, no, no. I can’t. My brother, they have my brother,” Davo muttered, his gaze frantically darting around as a full-on panic attack set in. My heart tightened in my chest with both grief and fear—the former aimed at the loss of his brother, and the latter due to the fact that we were standing in front of an access point leading in and out of Draconis. “No, I can’t. It’s not too late for me. I can go back to my hut and mind my own business, and not get involved in any of this anymore.”
Caspian took over the conversation, firmly gripping the daemon’s shoulders—which meant raising his arms and tilting his head back a little, so he could look Davo in the eyes. “Snap the hell out of it, Davo! Your brother would slap you silly if he were here right now,” he said. “Mose is willing to give his life to restore peace to this world. He was taken away for it, too. If you back out now, his sacrifice will have been in vain. Will you let your brother die for nothing, or will you pick up the torch and carry the fight forward, to honor him and every other pacifist out there?”
Red blotches bloomed on Caspian’s face, his skin burning as he broke his blood oath to speak those words. Davo blinked several times, stunned by both Caspian’s encouragement and his body’s reaction. “You’re under a blood oath,” he murmured.
“Yes. And I will gladly burn, if it helps to put an end to this senseless massacre of innocent people and noble ideals,” Caspian grunted. “I’m here, fighting for everyone’s freedom. Mose did the same, and more. He’s gone now, but you’re still standing. And you can help us.”
“We are so close, Davo,” Vesta chimed in, while Harper moved closer and gently pulled Caspian back, pained by the burns already healing on the Mara’s face. “So close! You see these people?” she said, pointing at us. “They’ve come from very far away to help us. They have powerful armies, witches and dragons that will end this horror incredibly fast. But we need to get the swamp witch out of the daemons’ reach, first. We need the pacifists’ help. We need your help!”
Davo stared at us for a little while, contemplating his options as he gradually calmed down. I couldn’t see anything past the massive black wall behind him, but I had a feeling I’d see something akin to Infernis beyond it—black buildings and streets, amber flames and daemons swarming through the place.
“You have dragons?” Davo asked, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.
“Guilty as charged,” Blaze replied, smiling as he raised his hand. “If we get the swamp witch back, we’ll take down whatever shield the daemons have put up, and more of my people will come and put a stop to all the violence and abuse.”
“And witches?” Davo added, nodding slowly.
“Powerful beings that can virtually reshape the fate of Neraka with a handful of spells,” Harper said. “And Druids, and jinn, and other creatures that have been living in peace and harmony for years. We’ve been doing this for a long time, Davo. Our mission is to restore the balance of this world, and we don’t make a habit of failing.”
“Davo, Caspian is right,” Jax replied. “You don’t want your brother’s sacrifice to be for nothing. Help us. Mose fought as best as he could for this. You’re here, now, which simply tells me that you want to do the same. I understand that you’re afraid, too, but that’s okay. We’re all afraid. And yet, we’ve come down to do our part.”
“I promise you that, once it’s all over, we’ll make sure that you, Beryn, and all the other daemon pacifists are given an active role in rebuilding the daemon society,” Hansa added. “We’re very close, Davo. But we need heroes like you to get us through to the next stage of our mission.”
Davo took a deep breath, regaining his composure. He straightened his back and turned his attention to Vesta with a look of newfound determination on his face. “What do you need me to do?” he asked. “I can offer shelter, and get you through the outer parts of the city.”
“I need you to take us to Velnias,” Vesta replied.
“He’s smack in the middle of Draconis,” Davo scoffed. “You’re not making this easy at all.”
“It’s not meant to be easy,” Vesta shot back. “Velnias has the information we need. And the clearance to get us into the upper-echelon parts of the prison.”
“And I can’t just waltz in there with outsiders under my coat!” Davo hissed.
“Figure something out.” Vesta held her ground. “Come on, Davo. We’re not leaving until we get what we came for. Either pitch in, or run off. If you do run off, however, do it after you take us to Velnias. It is literally the least you can do to honor your fallen brother.”
We’d tried the soft approach, but, in the end, it seemed that Vesta’s tough love was what really got Davo motivated. “Fine. I’ll take you to Velnias. But you all follow my lead, and do exactly what I tell you.”
“Deal!” Vesta replied with a satisfied smirk. “Okay, now that Davo has seen us, it’s time to gobble up some invisibility paste and get cracking—”
Five daemons came through the door behind us, probably returning from guard duty outside. We would’ve used the invisibility paste sooner, but, as Vesta had advised us, we had needed to let Davo see us first, and understand who he was helping.
“Crap,” Harper muttered, then drew her swords.
The daemons growled and immediately charged us, their sharp rapiers eager to slice us open. Harper and Caspian teamed up against two of them, with Pheng-Pheng dashing between them, looking for the right moment and angle to deliver her deadly sting. Jax and Hansa took on the other two, as Fiona joined in to finish the job. Blaze and I took the fifth daemon, while Vesta pulled Davo away from the scuffle.
I fashioned a sword from pure fire, thrilled to see my control over its form improve with each draw. Blaze used his sword to block the fiend’s blows, and I lunged forward, then slid on my knees and drove my fire blade upward, straight through the daemon’s chest and throat.
The sound of his flesh searing made my skin crawl. Blaze kicked him back. The daemon fell to the ground, then gave his last breath. Fiona rammed her sword through one daemon’s back, then brought out her knife and slit his throat. He landed flat on his face, lifeless, with Fiona on top of him, while Jax and Hansa swiftly disabled the third one.
Harper and Caspian had a good handle on the other two, until Pheng-Pheng snuck up behind one and stung him with her scorpion tail. It was enough to distract the daemon, and for Harper to drive both swords through his chest. Caspian managed to take care of the last one, dodging his sword attacks before he could slice the fiend’s throat open with an elegant and swift backhand.
As fearful as I’d been of daemons before, the more I fought them and vanquished them, the more confident I got. Daemons fought well, and they were insanely fast and vicious, but, with a little bit of practice and a good extra reason to stay alive, I fought better.
I straightened my back, then smiled at my extra reason, whose midnight eyes found me as he sheathed his sword. With Blaze by my side, I was perfectly okay with burning the entire city of Draconis down, if that’s what it took to get our swamp witch and our freedom back.
Harper
We dragged the bodies out of sig
ht, dumping them behind a nearby rock, then used their supply of invisibility paste, keeping ours for later. I gave some of the paste to the Ekar, as well—the bird trusted me, and gobbled it up. “Stay close to me,” I whispered, using my mind control on Ramin, just to make sure he’d obey. The bird blinked several times, then pulled the zipper on my backpack and slipped inside. Caspian zipped it back up, chuckling as the Ekar settled inside.
One by one, we vanished, but we had the red lenses on us to keep track of each other—thanks to the swamp witches’ magic skills, the invisibility spell was designed to protect the individual and hide everything he or she wore or touched. The moment one of us touched a red lens, for example, it also became protected by the invisibility spell, without affecting its function. This little side benefit came in handy in our situation, since we could pick up weapons and other useful objects along the way, without anyone seeing them just float around.
Davo fumbled through his tunic pockets and took out his lens, then put it on so he could see us, too. “You people are vicious,” he said.
“We had some practice on our way here,” I replied, smirking. “I mean, sorry if any of them were your friends, but, you know, we’re pretty much at war here.”
“No, no, that’s fine. I completely understand,” Davo replied, shaking his head. “I’m just impressed. Didn’t know any of those guys, but I’ve never seen anyone fight them the way you people do. I thought daemons were the fiercest of warriors.”
“Seriously?” Pheng-Pheng shot back, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms.
Davo’s forehead smoothed, his eyes wide as he realized what he’d just said, with a Manticore standing right in front of him. “I thought you were all extinct, little Manticore. My apologies,” he said. “Now, let’s take you crazy folk to Velnias. Follow me, and stay close. Watch out for other red lenses, too.”
“Yeah, we know the drill, thanks,” I replied, then followed him along the side of the black wall. A set of stairs led us onto the ground floor of the city.
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