The Demons We See

by Krista D. Ball

  Until tonight,

  S

  He’d written three versions of the note before he settled upon this one. He was never one for love letters, not even when he was young. The language of courtship never came easily to him, and now years and experience had tempered the youthful vigor that could throw out good sense for bad poetry.

  He looked down on her sleeping form. She was naked again, wrapped in the heavy quilts. He stoked the fire for her; the servants had been barred from the room by the locked doors. How confused Nadira was when he’d stepped out of her bedchamber. Then, that smug smirk on her face after she’d passed along the schedule change and walked away.

  He could trust Nadira to keep the secret of their affair. Though, if what Lex said was true, most of the abbey had been expecting this months ago. Well, he was anything if predictable.

  Stanton tugged his jacket one last time and opened the double doors that led into the corridor where he knew Lex and Dodd were waiting for him. When he stepped out, he did not expect the swords at their hips, nor the grim expressions on their faces.

  They already knew. Of course they did. They’d tried to warn him, Lex especially. He had been too stubborn to listen. He didn’t want to face the possibility of having to choose. Of course, once faced with it, it turned out not to be a difficult choice at all.

  It was more than him just loving her. Serna needed her.

  “Good morning,” Stanton said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I wasn’t expecting either of you here so early.”

  “How is the Contessa?” There was an edge in Lex’s voice that Stanton rarely heard focused at anyone.

  “Asleep.” At their visible relief, he walked passed them. He did stop at the doors to say, “It was your duty to keep her secret safe. As it is mine. And Dodd? Do your buttons back up. Someone will think you were here to fight me.”

  He threw open the doors and walked back to his own bedchamber. There might have been a lightness in his step, but there was no one awake yet to notice.

  Chapter 32

  And so it was the next two weeks. A blur of meetings and compromises that merely stalled the coming war, and nights spent in Stanton’s arms. Allegra knew she was smiling more these days; even Father Michael had commented on it.

  “My dear child, how your face lights up these days. Are you sleeping well again?”

  She’d smile and say something about how the ball had given her hope for the coming months. It was a lie. She knew it. He knew. But it was comfortable. Reports coming from all over were unbearably grim. The rebellions, once isolated pockets of resistance, were across all of Serna. There was no stopping the momentum now. All she could do was mitigate the harshness around the edges. Even with her great reach, she could not stop all of the waves from crashing against the rock.

  She wasn’t even sure anymore if she wanted to stop the rebellions. She was sleeping again, mostly due to Stanton tugging her away from her papers and coaxing her into bed. And while she didn’t always go straight to sleep, she did eventually sleep. With sleep came clarity. All this time, Allegra had been trying to stop the war. There was no stopping what was coming. In fact, her every move had accelerated conflict.

  Stanton wouldn’t let her judge herself too harshly. He even accepted the demon marks in stride and offered discreet assistance to Walter. Walter, for his part, asked Allegra in private if she’d hit Stanton over the head; he couldn’t see any other way that someone like Captain Rainier would ever lend assistance to him.

  It was all so good and so perfect, so when Lex and Walter came crashing into her office that early morning, she should have known it had all been too perfect.

  The last time Allegra had been in the richly-appointed Garden Suites, the wall before her had been covered with a bright yellow paper, giving the room an open, inviting air of youthfulness. Now, that paper was blackened and burnt as a portal stretched across the same wall. A massive, grotesque hand reached out from the abyss beyond. This was nothing like the small bat-like creatures Allegra had been fighting with Walter. There was no way any of them could stop this beast if it came through to this side.

  “Tell me what is happening this instant!” Queen Portia shrieked. She was still wrapped in her dressing gown and her hair was tied in a tail at the base of her neck.

  “Your Majesty,” Allegra said, her voice hushed as the beast’s growl shook the floor. “Please tell me the truth. Are you a mage?”

  “Don’t be—”

  Walter slapped Portia across the face. He pointed at the dark tendril that resembled a grasping finger. “Don’t lie to me!”

  “Walter!”

  “Dude, man, that’s the queen!” Lex said.

  Tears trickled down Portia’s face, past the red imprint of Walter’s hand. “I didn’t do this. You have to believe me.”

  “I believe you,” Allegra said and gave Walter a hard glare.

  “Please, I’m begging you. Don’t tell anyone I’m an elemental. They’ll kill me,” Portia whispered. “They will kill me.”

  “They will,” Walter mumbled. “Shit.”

  Allegra turned to face the portal and stretched out her hand. She channeled the magic, just as Walter had taught her and how she’d be practicing against all of those tiny little bastards over the past few months. She pushed it at the demon and it reacted violently. It thrashed and bellowed.

  “Guys? Um, can’t you do this a bit quieter?” Lex asked. For someone who’d just been exposed to the existence of demons, he was holding up pretty well in Allegra’s opinion.

  “The Arbiter is an elemental, too?” Portia said through her sobs.

  Allegra sighed. “Yes, so now we both have secrets to keep. Now listen and do as Walter says and we’ll all get out of here in one piece.”

  Walter ignored Lex. He physically moved the queen. “Stand here. What kind of magic do you have?”

  “Water,” Portia said. “I can’t make it just appear, though.”

  “Lex, hand me that basin of wash water. All right, Your Majesty? I’m going to give you a crash course on how to do this, okay? I need you to stop crying because Allegra has about ten minutes in her before she passes out. Okay?”

  Sweat dripped off Allegra’s forehead, stinging her eyes. More sweat pooled at the small of her back, making her skin itch underneath the oppressive layers of fabric. She ignored all of it and focused all of her magic at the growing portal. Walter had taught her to tap into the underlying will of magic, and not just the obvious fire. He’d said it was the will that she could use more than just fire. Unfortunately, she wasn’t nearly as practiced as Walter and she thought his ten minute estimate was overly generous.

  Allegra tried again whispering the words Walter had always said: back to the abyss with thee, foul reflection of mine sins. They did little to assist her magic. She had not believed the tales, not even when she was a child. So she had little belief to pull from now. The stakes were so high, though, that she kept saying them over and over. If she still didn’t believe in the stories, at least she believed in demons now.

  “You are not welcome here!” Allegra shouted at the beast and pushed harder. Fire streamed from her outstretched hand and directly at the creature’s digit. It screamed, a distant, echoing sound. Wind howled out of the portal, tugging Allegra’s hair from its fashionably neat bun.

  Somewhere in the haze of concentration, Lex had left and returned with seven more mages in tow. Some Allegra recognized as servants or valets. Some she didn’t recognize. Walter gave them a stern nod and they all turned their will against the beast and the howls shook the floor once more.

  Allegra’s concentration flagged. She collapsed down to one knee as Queen Portia stood next to her and stretched out two very frail hands toward the ever-growing portal.

  “Help her!” Both of Walter’s hands were focusing energy at the portal.

  Lex put a supportive arm around Allegra. Her eyes were heavy and she was afraid she’d vomit if she opened he
r mouth to speak.

  Another backlash of energy shook the room.

  “Dammit, Cram!” Lex said. “The entire abbey is going to hear what’s going on!”

  “I can’t make the demon be quiet!” Walter shouted back. He glanced down at Allegra and said, “Allegra! Let go. We got it.”

  The heat dissipated from Allegra’s hand. She collapsed to the cold floor, the smooth wood a welcome relief against her flushed skin.

  A supportive hand squeezed her shoulder. Allegra blinked the daze from her eyes and saw Lex’s grim expression looking down at her. He smiled briefly at her; a strained expression. Then Lex stood and moved further away from the group and drew his sword.

  Walter and the other mages focused on the portal, each saying their own words of magic and power. Walter continued to repeat the incantation from the Holy Writ. The others did a mixture of Walter’s incantation or their other phrases. Queen Portia merely wept, pausing only to swear whenever she lost control of the spell and had to begin again.

  The demon roared in defiance as Walter pushed against an edge of the portal. The portal began to shrink on that side, pushing the demon’s arm back against the horn-like appendage that jutted from its snout. One of the others cried out and a gust of wind blew the demon’s arm into his horn, impaling him.

  The demon roared again, only this time in rage and pain. Allegra staggered to her knees, but fell over. She was still too weak.

  “Allegra! Stay down!” Walter shouted.

  She obeyed.

  ****

  The outer door flung open and heavy steps pounded across the drawing room. Lex raised their sword into a defensive position and waited for whatever or whoever was about to storm into the room. Lex had wanted to get more help to protect the mages in case whatever that thing was came through, but Lex also didn’t want to leave them here alone. There were enough people in the abbey who’d foolishly kill all of those mages without a second thought. They’d already had to leave them alone once to get a chambermaid to grab a few servants Cram said to fetch. Who, as it happens, all turned out to be elementals.

  Lex heard a thump and glanced over their shoulder. Another mage had collapsed unconscious to the floor. Lex gulped and gripped their sword tighter.

  The inner door swung open and General Bonacieux stormed into the room. “Where is the…” The General gasped when he saw the demon portal. “What…what is this?”

  Lex held their ground. “General, you must leave now. For your own safety.”

  “Lex!” Cram snarled. “Get him out of here!”

  “Is that…a demon? Are they summoning a demon?” the General shouted. “Why are you summoning a demon in the Queen’s bedchamber?”

  Bonacieux went for his sword, but Lex pointed their own sword at him. “We are attempting to contain the situation. Leave us to our work.”

  “This is what you called contained? The Arbiter is on the floor almost unconscious. There is some kind of…creature being summoned in the midst of this holy building and…” he stopped. “Your Majesty?”

  Queen Portia turned to face Bonacieux, tears trickling down her face. In a very weak, exhausted voice, she said, “I’m so sorry.”

  “You are one of them?”

  Portia nodded grimly, but didn’t pull her hand away from the pit. Tendrils of water rippled around her hand, and a small spray pushed against one edge of the portal, hissing and spitting whenever fire splashed upon it. The demon screamed when a cloud of steam hit its left flank.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was too afraid.”

  “You should have told me,” Bonacieux said in a small, defeated voice. “You should have told me, child.”

  Portia wept. “I’m sorry, sir. I couldn’t tell you.”

  The General nodded sadly. “Indeed, I understand.”

  Lex lowered their blade, but kept a firm grip all the same. Lex did not trust Bonacieux. “General, we need to let them work or the abbey will be overrun with demons.”

  Portia fell to her knees, the spray of water finally exhausted. She scooped up another palm of water from her basin and tried again, but the water harmlessly seeped through her fingers.

  “What is happening?”

  Lex blew out a breath. “I don’t understand all of the technicalities, but someone has been placing spells throughout the abbey in an attempt to draw out demons. The Contessa had given Mr. Cram here permission to destroy the spells. However, they had no idea their actions were in fact drawing the attention of larger, stronger demons. We believe this one has come through by following the…destruction. Queen Portia, being an elemental, caused the final rift.”

  The General grunted. “So the Queen caused this?”

  “It was an accident,” Lex said. “In fact, it might have been a trap. Whoever was originally casting these portals open and summoning the demons is to blame.”

  “I see,” the General said. He looked down at the Queen and said, “This changes everything.”

  Lex stared at him. The general was not behaving the way Lex had expected. The General hated mages – all mages – and the penalty for being an elemental in his land was death. They didn’t even ship them off to the mines anymore; they were immediately killed. The Contessa had been negotiating to end the death penalty, and the General had been the loudest objector.

  The General stepped over to where Queen Portia knelt and rested a hand on her shoulder.

  Lex tensed and said, “Step away from the Queen.”

  The General ignored Lex and said, “Your Majesty, I will do my duty.”

  “Thank you, General,” the Queen said in a relieved voice.

  And then Bonacieux plunged a long, steel needle through the back of her neck and clear out through the other side. Then, he kicked the center of the queen’s back and pushed her through the portal.

  Lex shouted and attacked the General, but he was prepared. He dodged three lunges before pulling out his own blade and blocking Lex’s fourth attack. Bonacieux used his strength and size to his advantage and kicked Lex in the shins. Lex stumbled, but kept their feet.

  Lex clipped Bonacieux’s bicep and he shouted out in pain. Lex managed another strike and slashed a long, but shallow, line across Bonacieux’s thigh. But Lex paid for it by opening their flank up to the General’s thrust. The sword cut through Lex’s side, a stinging sensation that burned as the pain registered.

  “Lex!” Cram screamed. “Shit!”

  The demon grabbed one of the mages with his talon and dragged him into the portal. Walter shouted incantations from scripture and pushed against the demon, never quite turning all of his attention away from Lex, however.

  “I shall tell the world how you killed Queen Portia,” the General shouted, kicking Allegra in the guts.

  “Get away from her.” Lex dragged themselves over to Allegra, even as blood oozed from their side. The healing buttons and special embroidery in Lex’s jacket helped slow the bleeding. Still, they’d need a bandage and some herbs, and a proper physician to look at it and soon. But, for now, the last of the healing stones did their work.

  Allegra held up her hand and a weak blast of flame shot from her hand. It was anemic though, and the General stepped aside from the attack.

  “Save your strength, foul creature. You will need it before I’m done with you.”

  Then the General limped out of the room, a trail of blood dripping behind him. None of the mages could risk pulling their attention from the demon portal, and Lex and Allegra were too hurt to help. So Lex watched him go, hatred filling inside them. He’d killed Queen Portia.

  ****

  Dodd had been sitting in his dugout for most of the morning. He examined the countryside with his spyglass. He was well-positioned here, with the treeline to his back and crouched as he was in the large hole caused by a fallen tree. He was wearing mostly brown and black clothing, but he gathered about him broken tree branches to help conceal him further. He op
erated under the sensible plan that if he had a spyglass, the enemy probably did, too.

  All of the Consorts, and most of the Cathedral guards took turns up on the cliff side in case of an attack. Borro Abbey was situated in such a way that an attack would be difficult, not to mention foolish. The abbey was perched on a cliff, partially carved from living rock. The only proper road was a switchback that snaked its way up the fertile fields that worked their way up the small mountain. Then, finally, his perch.

  However, it was the abbey itself that caught Dodd’s eye and he focused his spyglass there. The windows for the royal suites blackened nearly an hour before. In the last ten minutes, servants and guests alike rushed from the abbey. Most were carrying luggage. Bags tossed into carriages. Horses hitched and galloping away as fast as they could.

  He eyed the windows along the corridor. Were those flames in the windows? His question was answered by a burning form exploding through one of the windows and falling to their death below on the brick courtyard.

  Dodd’s heart pounded in agonized realization when he saw men in Cartossian uniforms torching the cottages. They were under attack. It was Bonacieux’s men doing this!

  Dodd carefully eased himself out of the pit and crawled along the tree line. It was a longer route to get back to the abbey this way, but he’d be less likely to get caught.

  An arrow embedded itself in a tree ten feet in front of him. Dodd dove for cover and smacked his elbow against a stump. His arm went immediately and painfully numb. He pushed past the pain and scrambled to his feet. Another arrow struck, further away this time. There was no point being cautious now.

  The church bells chimed. Dodd crashed through the trees, blowing his whistle. He hoped that one of the lower posts would hear the call and help the abbey. Right now, Dodd had to stay ahead of the arrows that were pinging off the trees too close to him.