The Demons We See

by Krista D. Ball

  Allegra ran down the corridor. She lost her shoes in the process and kept sprinting in her stocking feet. She screamed as the creature’s screeching grew louder, and all the while ran faster. She didn’t want to think about what was coming behind her. She shut off all reasoning parts of her brain and listened only to the delirious, terrified parts that told her to run for her life.

  The screeching reached a crescendo and she knew she wouldn’t clear the dark corridors in time. Allegra whirled in time to see the demon from the wall etching flying at her, its misshaped clawed hand stretched out ahead of it.

  Allegra pushed all of her fear and terror into her right hand and a blast of red-hot flame hit the demon square in its misshapen face. It tumbled backwards as Allegra fell to one knee from the exertion. She searched her memory for the words to say, the famous quote from the holy writs.

  “Back to the abyss with thee, foul reflection of mine sins,” shouted a deep voice behind her.

  The demon-creature squawked and flapped its wings, rushing back to the markings on the wall. The words had caused it to burst into flame and it screamed louder as it rushed the portal opening. It dove back through the wall.

  Walter ran behind it, shouting the incantation over and over, and the flames flickered brighter with each sentence. He slammed his hand against the wall opening once the demon was through and the stone cracked. The glow disappeared.

  “Ally!” Walter shouted, rushing back to her side. He slid down to his knees, at her side. “Are you hurt?”

  “Markings on the wall,” she said. It was hard to keep breathing. She wanted to wail. “There were markings. Was that…was that a…”

  “Yes, that was a demon. One of the small little bastards. They’re easy to frighten away. Are you hurt?”

  “I…demons? I…”

  The growing pain behind her eyes overtook her and she passed into quiet blackness.

  ****

  “I can’t believe that bastard choked her,” Dodd was saying. Neither he nor Lex had changed their clothes yet. They’d been taking statements from witnesses all day. They’d send those notes off to the local magistrate who, Lex felt, would be very keen to both put away a nobleman who attacked an unarmed woman and score some Cathedral political points.

  “I’ve had guards posted at the top of the stairs, but that’s just to stop the riffraff from wandering up there and stealing the silverware,” Lex said. They sighed heavily. “I never considered that one of our own kind would hurt her. I should have, though.”

  Dodd clapped them on the shoulder. “Ah, it’s not your fault. Shit happens, right? We’ll have to come up with a better plan now, though.”

  Lex nodded, grateful for Dodd’s support. “I think we’ll keep the guard near her chambers all of the time now. I’ll get Rainier to talk to her about it.”

  A servant rushed by with a covered silver platter. Dodd tried to get his attention. “Pssst!”

  The young man, thin and pale, stopped and asked, “Yes, Lieutenant Dodd? I’m late for Father Michael’s afternoon tea.”

  Dodd picked up the cover, despite the servant’s protests. He snagged two pieces of cake, passed one to Lex, and said, “A growing man needs to eat.”

  Lex snorted, but took a bite of the cake. Pound cake with caraway. “The only way you’re growing, Dodd, is out.”

  “That hurts, Lex.”

  What was to be their friendly banter over Dodd’s expanding waistline was interrupted by the floor shaking. The servant held steady, but Dodd and Lex both dropped their cakes to the floor.

  “What was that?” Dodd demanded.

  “Did the mountain just move?” Lex asked, eyes wide, surveying the room.

  “Earth tremors. They happen all of the time. Nothing to worry about,” the servant said.

  “Nothing to worry about, he says,” Dodd said, trying to mock the boy’s voice.

  The servant rushed off, needing to get his cakes to the obviously starving bishop and his friends. Lex bent down and picked up both cakes. Dodd accepted his with thanks and popped the remainder into his mouth. Lex’s had broken in two pieces, so they blew the dirt off both pieces and ate them one at a time.

  “Was that an earth tremor?” another servant asked, arms full of blankets.

  “Apparently,” Lex said.

  The servant complained about how she’d need to find some of the under-footmen to hunt through the lower corridors to ensure nothing had caved in “this time.” Lex did not like the sound of that.

  “This time?” Dodd asked through a mouthful of cake.

  “Yes, sir. Didn’t you know? There was rock slides further up the slope before the snow came. On the side where that normally never happens. Now, since that happened, it’s nothing but avalanches.”

  “I’d just assumed mountains, snow, avalanches,” Dodd said, still chewing his cake. That’s what he got for shoving it all in his mouth like an animal.

  “No, sir. It’s just the Almighty telling us he doesn’t want anyone living in the west cottages anymore. Just as well. They were getting shabby.”

  “Good of the Almighty to care about the abbey’s housing needs,” Dodd quipped after finally swallowing his cake.

  “I better be off, sirs. I have some lazy footmen to find.”

  Lex turned back to Dodd and they both chatted about plans to improve security around the Contessa. Dodd still liked the plan of security at the stairs, and suggested that they speak to Father Michael about moving some of the servants on the fourth floor attic back down to the lower level, near the kitchens, so that there would be less foot traffic up and down the elite wing.

  Lex also suggested, if that didn’t work, that they could divide the abbey into more established wings. The abbey already boasted several wings; surely they could move some people around to make it easier to secure residents and visiting dignitaries.

  A muffled cry caught Lex’s attention. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what…wait, I hear it, too. Is that someone calling for help?”

  “Hello?” Lex called out.

  “Help!” A man’s voice, strong and closer now. Lex spun around to the door for the lower levels. Walter Cram was on his hands and knees, covered in dirt and blood, dragging himself up the stairs.

  “Ally,” he gasped. “Help her.”

  Servants rushed from various parts around the main lobby who’d been cleaning and scrubbing during all of this. Dodd reached an arm under the collapsed Cram and said, “What happened to you, man?”

  Lex looked down the dark staircase. “Who’s Ally? Where is she?”

  “Part of the ceiling caved in, down below.” Cram wheezed out a cough. “Allegra. Couldn’t get her out. Came…for help.”

  “Dodd! Go!” Lex ordered, and Dodd grabbed a lit candle from the wall and rushed down the stairs, careful to protect the flame and its shield with his cupped hand.

  Servants dropped what they were doing, all to rush downstairs. Lex called out to one by name and said, “Get Captain Rainier. Get all of the Consorts. Move! Get me a physician! Now! Move! You! Get me healing stones! Now!”

  Lex pulled off their jacket and wrapped it around Cram’s head. He winced as the brass buttons pushed into his scalp, but Lex hushed him to stop fussing. “I have four healing buttons on my jacket. Stay still and let them stop the bleeding before you ruin the carpets.”

  Cram’s mouth twitched. Blood seeped through the cracks. Lex winced. “Tasmin’s holy sword, Cram! What were you both doing down there?”

  “Arguing. We were arguing about…” Cram seemed to search his memory. “Candles. She was looking for candles. I followed her, and then some of the stone from the ceiling fell. I couldn’t haul her out, so I…” He broke off coughing.

  “Nadira is going to murder you when she finds out,” Lex said with a weary sigh.

  A pained sound that was almost a laugh escaped Cram. “She probably will.”

  “Sir, I got him,” one of the
servants said, almost pushing Lex out of the way. “You go. I’ll send Captain Rainier down as soon as he comes.”

  Lex snapped off a couple more orders to snooping servants before the housekeeper arrived. The old battle axe clapped her hands, shouted for people to either get to work or get out of the way, and took immediate charge of the situation. Lex eased up, gave Cram a tight smile, and joined the trail of footman heading down the stairs with candles, blankets, shovels, and buckets.

  Wall sconces were being lit, a flickering spotlight down the corridors. They all followed the trail of servants, with Lex weaving and pushing to the front of the queue. It was slow going, as the servants were pulling out digging supplies from various storage rooms along the way. Lex was surprised by their calm efficiency; they’d been through this before. It wasn’t that they didn’t care that the Contessa was trapped. It was just that they knew how best to get her out.

  When Lex finally pushed their way to the cave in, their heart sank. The Contessa was in the midst of several shattered masonry stones, as well as the rock face that this part of the building was comprised of.

  The servants were forming a queue. The tall, older man at the front carefully pulled a stone out from the slide and carefully handed it down. The rock passed back the line out of the way.

  “Contessa! Can you hear me?” Lex shouted and was rewarded with a groan from the woman. “Hurry!”

  “Can’t hurry, sir,” the older gentlemen said. “Go too fast and we’ll bring this entire area down on our heads. Then we’ll all need a rescuing. Join the line and we’ll all get her out.”

  Lex gritted their teeth, but joined the line. Several painstaking minutes passed until the hole was big enough to allow Lex to scrabble through. There were days Lex complained about their lean stature. However, when it was necessary to crawl into tight spaces to get out of tighter situations, Lex was always grateful for their size. And now, that size meant the Contessa could get help sooner.

  Lex crawled over the wall, taking great care not to disturb any of the rocks and cause them to hit the Contessa. Once more, Lex leaned back to accept a lantern. The Contessa was dirty and part of her dress was burnt away. That was a little strange, but not something Lex wished to concern themselves with.

  The Contessa blinked her eyes and asked, “Lex?”

  Lex laughed and shouted back, “The Contessa is awake!” Back to her, Lex said, “Are you hurt badly?”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Don’t you remember? There was a cave in.”

  “Lex! Lex!” Rainier bellowed. “How is she?”

  “She’s all right, Captain!” one of the servants shouted back.

  “Is that Stanton?” Allegra asked, her words slurred.

  She tried to sit up, but Lex held a firm hand against her shoulder. “Easy now. We still need to clear more of a hole before we can get you out. Can you sit up?”

  The Contessa nodded and, with Lex’s help, pushed herself up. “But what happened…there were…there was a…I saw…”

  “Cram is fine. He told us about the cave in. He’s a bit beaten up, but he’ll be fine.”

  “Walter? Right, Walter was here. Why was he here?”

  “He said the two of you were arguing and you came here for candles, so he followed to continue to argument.”

  “I was arguing with him?” Allegra asked.

  Lex chuckled. “Your Ladyship, you hit your head.”

  “I did?” She touched the back of her skull and her fingers came back bloody. “Oh, I did.”

  Servants pushed blankets through the hole and Lex accepted them gratefully. They wrapped the Contessa up in them and also accepted the mug of hot broth for her to drink, most likely laced with expensive healing fortifications reserved for the most important clientele of the abbey.

  Lex and the servants, and even several of the brawnier members of the clergy, labored to carefully widen the hole. Rainier stripped down to just his trousers; sweat poured off them all in the stuffy, confined corridor. Servants passed a bucket of water with a ladle up and down the line. Father Michael pulled himself out of his own clerical robes and worked in everyday trousers and a linen shirt. Nathan and Serafina both helped in their own way; Serafina taking orders of whatever was needed and Nathan either fetching those items himself or finding someone to do it.

  “There, Contessa, you see? Everyone is helping get you out.”

  “My head doesn’t hurt as much,” she said.

  “That’s because I wrapped you in Rainier’s jacket. He has healing buttons sewn into his uniform that help stop bleeding. They’re doing their job until we can get you out of here.”

  “Lex, help with this rock,” Rainier called out.

  “I’ll be right back,” Lex said, easing the Contessa back down. Lex stabilized the stone on their side while Rainier and two servants shoved iron bars under it and slowly rocked it loose. Lex pushed as Rainier and a big, burly man grunted and groaned to get the damned thing positioned to do a controlled roll. Once it was out of their way, there was enough room for Rainier to crawl through.

  “All right, I’m going in. Stand ready to help her out,” Rainier said.

  Rainier climbed into Lex’s little patch of corridor. He whispered to the Contessa, hushed words Lex couldn’t understand. Not that they wanted to eavesdrop. She must be rather special for him to change his mind about making friends with his charges.

  Rainier picked the Contessa up and, together, they eased her through the hole and into the corridor of waiting hands. Once she was through, Rainier eased himself through the hole. Then, he reached back his hand and helped Lex through.

  Lex slapped the captain on the back and said, “Go on, sir. You stay with her. I’ll stay down here with Dodd and help the servants. There might be someone else further back. You never know, right?”

  “Are you sure?” Rainier looked around. “You could use another strong back.”

  “There’s plenty of strong backs here,” Dodd said.

  “And you’re too big to be crawling through the tunnels we’re making, Your Grace,” one of the servants said.

  Lex smirked at Rainier’s grimace, but it did the trick. He gave them all a stiff nod before following the men who carried the Contessa from the basement. Lex turned to Dodd and said, “All right. I’m going back in and seeing if there’s another cave in and if there’s anyone else down here.”

  They all worked through the night making sure there was no one else caught in the rubble. They found the bodies four punishing hours later.

  Chapter 19

  It took a full day for Allegra’s hands to stop shaking and her head to stop ringing, but both finally gave her relief. The physician had recommended nothing but broth, but Allegra vetoed that quickly. She had a few bumps and bruises, and a pounding headache, but beyond that she was fine. The fastest way, in her opinion, to recover was to eat a big meal now that her stomach had stopped dancing about.

  Allegra was wrapped in her heavy dressing gown and shift, as the physician had banned all visitors beyond himself, Father Michael, and her two servants. Not even Serafina or Stanton were allowed to visit her. The quiet had done her good, but as Allegra looked down at the eight porcelain chafing dishes in front of her, she wished for company.

  A full pigeon pie was too much for her to eat alone, let alone the addition of boiled chicken in sauce, sweetmeats, creamed celery, rice pudding, boiled salted beef with vegetables, and a gammon pie. She regretted her insistence for a heavy meal right up until she served herself some of the boiled chicken.

  The spiced wine sauce warmed her belly and helped chase away some of her aches. With a day’s reflection, she wondered if she’d really seen the demon that her memories kept insisting she’d had. She hadn’t had an argument with Walter over candles. She was sure she’d have remembered that. She remembered him fighting the demon. She remembered him slamming his hand on the mark and screaming for her to run. She remembered the floor and wa
lls shaking. She remembered Walter trying to go back to get her. She remembered falling.

  Had it all been a dream? No, it couldn’t have been real. It was all a twisted nightmare. So why was her hand shaking again?

  A knock interrupted her reflection and, a beat later, Rahna stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind her. “Your Excellency, Walter Cram is insisting that you see him.”

  Allegra put her fork down. “Of course.”

  “I told him that the physician said…”

  “Rahna, it’s fine.”

  “Would you like me to stay in the room with you?”

  Allegra should have smiled at the offer of protection, but it just made her sad. “No, I’ll be fine with him.”

  Rahna inclined her head. “We’re right outside if you need anything. Sir? She’ll see you.”

  Walter had several superficial scrapes and cuts on his face and hands, and a massive bruise that covered most of one side of his face. He walked with a limp and a slight grimace.

  “I see you have an appetite. That must be a good sign.”

  Allegra gave him a weak smile and motioned for him to join her. She passed him her small dessert plate and a dessert fork. “Help yourself.”

  “So,” he said as he helped himself to some of the boiled beef.

  “So,” she echoed.

  “What do you remember?”

  “A cave in,” Allegra said, licking her lips.

  “Nothing else?”

  “I remember you in the corridor shouting scripture,” Allegra said. Walter met her steady gaze. Her heart pounded in her chest. “Was what I remember just a dream?”

  “Is that what you want?”

  The question weighed down on her. If it was all real, if she indeed remembered it the way it replayed in her mind, then her world just became a new, strange land. She was a woman of sense, not spirituality. Demons would mean everything they said about mages could be true. It would force her to reconsider everything she’d ever believed. She’d have to work so much harder to dispel the lies.

  “Tell me.”

  So he did. He told her about the demon symbols appearing in the woods around the abbey since the autumn months. How they occasionally appeared in the depths of the abbey. How more were appearing closer to the tent homes of the refugees.