by J E Mueller
Finally it was time to go to bed early. I hoped sleep would welcome me warmly, but my dreams had other plans, as was the usual when things got tense. That night I dreamt of a dark and cold night. There was icy hail raining down as a ragged man called out into the darkness, his voice lost in the wind and storm. He pleaded, hoarse and ragged into the night until a demon appeared.
The Mad King.
I woke up shaking and sat upright. Why was I dreaming of my corrupted father? Rain beat against the window and I saw the inspiration for the dream. The situation struck me for a moment as similar, but only for that moment. I’d soon be calling for demons. Not to ensure my own victory, but for others. I’d be luring them out not to make a contract or pact, but to bring them into this realm and away from where the others ventured. In the end, it was nothing alike.
At peace with my mission, I slept soundly until dawn.
Chapter 40
When the sun had only just started to lighten the sky and bring a glimmer of light, I awoke. Giving Tella a few extra moments, I changed and got my things ready before waking her. Yawning, she got up slowly and we ate a small breakfast.
Her energy was renewed and she was pumped and ready to go. I hugged her tightly and we talked through her mission together before Emmyth joined us. The three of us walked back to the Order of the Black Violets. Eagerly, she met her team inside, and I met my smaller team outside. It was the same group from the day before.
“When we have the sign they are back, we’ll jump in to help you,” Emmyth explained as we traveled.
“Six versus an unknown number, though?” I questioned.
“I can easily take three or four on my own on a bad day,” Emmyth replied, looking at the group.
“Just four on a bad day, Emmyth?” One of them teased. “You’re getting weak in your old age. I handled seven with a broken leg.”
The jesting continued as we left the main gates. It was the best way to start a grave task, and I was comforted by their sass, snark, and jokes.
The morning went by quickly, and the afternoon felt slow as we journeyed on to a location I had never visited. It felt weird traveling like this, even though I used to travel to unknown destinations all the time. Finally, after six hours of traveling, we arrived.
“We’ll be nearby but not close enough to be detected by the demons. It will also be out of your usual hearing range,” Emmyth explained. “However, any screaming will be heard and we’ll notice fighting right away.”
“Let’s just do whatever we’ve got to do.” I nodded, mentally preparing myself.
“Do you want me to stay behind?” Emmyth asked unexpectedly.
I shook my head. “I’ve got a feeling it won’t matter anyway.”
“More of those change of wind feelings?” he asked curiously.
“More like this was too easy to plan out, and none of the people that know me expect anything to be different from what they were told,” I replied.
He nodded. “That is a valid point. All right, let’s continue on then.”
The group melted into the woods.
Waiting a few minutes, I hummed to myself the same song my mother had sung to me as a child. The words were lost to me, but the tune was always easy to pull out of my memory. It had been months since I found myself humming this tune, and it comforted me. Sitting down, I closed my eyes and continued to hum. I hummed and hummed until instead of a wordless tune my plea formed in my mind.
To keep them safe I needed to beg desperately, and this plan was nothing but that to begin with.
My pleas slipped past my lips as a whisper. They were so softly spoken I could barely hear them myself. Pleas for saving loved ones, winning a losing fight, and I stressed how desperately I needed any help at all.
It suddenly struck me as odd why people scream these things in their desperation. It took minutes before I felt the eyes on me. My words were heard easily. The demons wanting souls didn’t need screams to find you. I imagined they liked hearing the screams of desperation greatly, yet a single whisper may have been enough. I continued pleading anyway. I continued until the weight of so many watchful stares became uncomfortable enough to make me pause.
I took a breath, hoping this was the right amount to delay responding the the demons gathered. Again, I continued until I heard a voice. It was a voice I had only ever heard once, and that was in my dream last night.
Opening my eyes, I saw the similar figure that I had in my dreams. It looked so much like Ramulus had in my dreams, only now he was covered in soot and ash with the same glowing and flickering affect the demons had. I didn’t know what he had said, so I didn’t respond.
For a moment we stared at one another.
“The missing soul costing me my title,” he said in a whisper.
“Your failings are your own,” I replied in neutral tone.
He took a step back in surprise. “You can’t know who I am.”
“There were pictures for a while. All of them are burned now. Gone into the ashes where you now live.”
I remembered vividly when they had finally decided to burn every last painting he was in. The fire was weak at first, but every last one eventually turned to ash.
He nodded, accepting this answer. “So, your soul?”
“I’d sooner give it to anyone else here,” I replied not looking around but feeling the hungry eyes still watching me. The truth laced my words. I wanted nothing to do with this creature. “They’ve more right to it. You floundered, too confident in your victory for your own good. I will not do dealings with a failure.”
I had struck a soft spot. The anger flared brightly in his eyes. Slowly, more of them began to appear in their physical forms.
My aim to distract them was working. Maybe too well.
The Mad King called warnings out to them. Some stepped back, others approached while whispering of his failures. They were boasting of their own success. They snickered and mocked the former king, daring him to defy their claims.
Never would I have expected to see them fight one another, and yet it was because of my words that they did so. Some sided with the Mad King, swearing my soul was his by right. Others were laughing at his loss and how he’d never get me to agree. They slashed and clawed at one another, taunting and arguing all the while.
Slowly, stuck in the middle, I arose. I kept my motions slow and discreet. Carefully, I navigated myself out of combat. This couldn’t have been better luck.
My disappearance did not go unnoticed.
Screaming, the Mad King pointed at those who had taken his side, and to my surprise his words were simple, his plan better than I could have predicted.
“Capture her.”
Suddenly tackled by the demons I felt heat wrap around my body. For a moment everything felt like hot liquid, just about to boil. When I could finally see again and the demons let me up I knew I was screwed.
They had brought me down a realm and I had no idea how to escape.
Everything looked dreary. The sky was a winter's gray and the trees were without leaves. It was a surprise to see the pines looked healthy and well when even the grass looked dead.
They stood around me laughing and snickering while I took everything in.
Dread filled me slowly and I knew that I had to keep my composure and reasoning. They wanted me to be desperate, they wanted to seal the deal and give up my soul, and what better of a place to convince me than a world where I stood no chance against them? This was not the worst that could happen, I told myself. While no one else knew I was here, I was not alone. The mission to save Juni was still on, and they were likely still on this plain.
The Mad King rejoined his demons and laughed at me for a few moments. By the time they were done I had regained all composure.
“Now, let’s get back to business,” he said flashing a set of razor sharp teeth.
I shook off the remaining panic his teeth had given me and laughed. “Well, this does suck, I’ll give you that. But did you really h
ave to run? Were you in such a tight and battle again that you needed to call your demons to help you win?”
There were whispers among his demons. The fire burning within the Mad King seemed ready to erupt, and I knew I had to play any cards I had left carefully. There was no quick and easy help here.
“You would dare to try and cross me?” His fists turned to flame.
“I cannot cross someone I have no dealings with. It is up to me who I bargain with, and I think there as many offers out there. Some with better terms,” I replied, calmly composed, wondering if they could hear my heart pounding.
“You’re in no place to make demands.”
I waved my arm around to my surroundings. “It would seem you’ve taken me exactly where I can get the highest price for my soul.”
“If you wander here you’ll die,” he sneered.
“Wandering here will bring me the most opportunities. If there’s anything I ought to have learned from you, it’s that you need the best offer out there. Nothing with vague terms. I assume since the terms weren’t clear they took your soul instead of mine and if you get mine you’d be able to complete the contract in full and have your way here. I’m looking to avoid such unfavorable terms. I’m sure there’s someone who’d love to help, or at least someone who’d love the opportunity to mess with you for the rest of eternity.”
The moment I started talking, many more demons showed. I recognized some from my home realm. They were here for the fight for sure, likely angry that the Mad King had tried to run off.
“Those clever enough to rid the Mad King from the rest of this conversation, I’ll consider dealing with.” I chose my words with care. “If none are strong enough, smart enough, quick enough, or clever enough, it’ll be a sad day to see the Mad King finally win at this.” The card was rough to play, but would buy my friends a great deal of time.
I hoped.
I could hear some chatter start up as the Mad King tried to gather his slowly dwindling forces.
“So? What's it going to be? Are we going to declare the Mad King a winner at last?”
There was cackling, darker than I had ever heard before. The sky went unnaturally dark, their hold on this realm stronger than on my own. The wind blew sharply for a moment and suddenly they were all gone.
I hadn’t expected them to be able to move faster here, and suddenly my idea seemed to be losing hope. I could only see glimpses of fighting here and there. Not wanting to wait any more, I put my plan in gear and sought out Lee with my magic. It touched his briefly and I let it go, knowing which direction to go.
And I ran.
It really would only be a matter of time before someone noticed and came after me, or the fight was decided and I was found. But I tried not to think about it and continued running.
Oddly, here my feet felt lighter, and moving across the dead ground was fairly easy. I wasn’t loosing breath as quickly as usual and it occurred to me that my Cursed blood had an advantage here.
Finally.
I felt Lee’s energy touch my own twice. I couldn’t know what he was thinking or doing, but it confirmed that he knew I was here. That would be my only real exit strategy. Hopefully I could reach him and the others before the demons caught up to me, but that was unlikely. At least this time I had picked up some skills that may keep me alive long enough to not need healing.
I felt a strange outpouring of energies I recognized coming from where I was running from as well as from where I was running to. It was such a rush I couldn’t decipher them, but knew they weren’t all friendly. My daggers were already strapped to my sides and I pulled my sword free, knowing there weren’t many moments left.
Within a blink, there were two demons in front of me. They laughed with glee. Skidding a moment, I stopped and tried to dash back, but two others were blocking the way.
They laughed and taunted me, saying the word contract to varying degrees in sarcastic voices. Sword at the ready, I recaptured my composure.
They laughed and taunted me even more. What could a Curse child do against demons in an even more powerful realm?
Stabbing the closest one, I put the technique I had learned yesterday into practice. Sword in demon, push the wound open with magic, and let the fire pry its way inside.
To my surprise, it worked. The demon wasn’t expecting more than the thrust and screamed in pain. Stabbing it again brought it to its knees. I moved to stab it again, but changed position to deflect the one who decided it was ready to attack.
The other two quickly joined in and I was glad that dodging had been a three hour lesson. Every last bit I learned was put into play in a short span of time. It was hard to deflect their blows but dodging them wasn’t too difficult with my added speed. It felt good having that extra perk, and I used all of it to my advantage.
With a well placed move I was able to land another blow and hurt a demon, but the first one was starting to recover. The anger that pulsated from it was terrifying and I wished help would come soon. When that one got its footing, there was no chance of winning this.
“Key, duck!” I heard a voice call and I dropped to the ground.
I heard the sound of a blade meeting its target and looked up to see Emmyth and his team joining in on the battle, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I dodged out of the way and let them take over and finish the fight.
“What in the Holy Order’s name happened?” Emmyth asked when the demons were vanquished.
“I was unaware this was going to turn into a family affair,” I replied, and at their blank expressions I continued. “My late father, the previous mad king, is now a demon and decided he wanted my soul. It turned into an all out fight and they brought me here. I managed to get them fighting again and I’m not sure which side found me first, but there’s likely more on the way.”
“I cannot wait to get back to put this crazy tale to words.” Emmyth laughed in disbelief. “It took a minute to realize you were gone. By the time we got to the clearing to find the remaining demons, we figured you’d been taken as well.”
“I’ll explain more when we get back. Can we please go?” I asked. “I’ve a feeling were-” I paused as more demons appeared, “Nevermind the second party’s here,” I said to myself. Everyone else was already in combat before I could finish my sentence.
More and more demons kept coming. They quickly figured out who was the weakest link, and I found myself dodging, falling, and struggling to get up more often than not. The Blessed were all doing their best and were skillfully slaying the demons, but there were too many, and it was hard to keep an eye on someone who wasn’t as skilled.
Within minutes, my leg was bleeding and I couldn’t stand properly. Cuts lined my arms, deep and bloody. Emmyth kept coming to my aid, but our enemies knew how to get between us and separate us. With their added quickness and power, the Blessed weren’t able to get as many hits in at once. They had to concentrate harder on a once easy task.
It may have taken him time to show, but No Horns appeared at last. With vicious quickness he attacked me and quickly got my feet out from under me. Instead of a kill shot, he broke my left leg. My cries of pain got everyone's attention. Excited by the idea, the demons tried flocking to me and the Blessed had to move more quickly to stop them.
The numbers were too much. What went from a handful of demons was now over twenty and still growing. When one was cut down it seemed like two more appeared.
Using my shield to push No Horns away he cracked it with ease. Breathless, I tried to roll away. Grabbing my arm, he broke it as well. The added pain left me immobile. Stuck on my chest, I sobbed. Happy with the damage he had dealt, he went in for the kill shot between my ribs.
The blood filled my mouth within seconds and I could no longer cry out in pain. Breathing was painful, more so than my broken bones, and I could no longer keep my eyes open. There was a greater commotion but the words were just a jumble of sounds to my ears.
I came to realize that the demon di
dn’t stab all the way through me. It didn’t want this to be a quick death, but a long and painful one. There was too much extra going on and I knew my allies wouldn’t be able to rescue me in time.
I only hoped that Juni was safe and sound. That this whole rescue wasn’t in vain.
Years felt like they were passing and the pain started to lessen. Not because I was being healed though.. My brain was giving in, the blood loss slowly reaching a pivotal point. Fighting for consciousness seemed like a bleak battle. If I gave in, maybe everyone could escape without me. We had known all along this was the likeliest possibility no matter how many precautions were taken.
It was a weird feeling when my magic finally gave out and seemed to seep out of my body. I felt cold, colder than I had ever felt before. Never had snow or frost been a problem before. This was what it must have felt like to normal people. The cold hurt. It hurt immensely throughout my entire being. I wanted to sob, to scream or cry, but nothing could get past my lips aside from blood. The cold covered me, swallowing me whole. The pain went from sharp to numb. I felt nothing anymore, my consciousness slipping.
So this was it.
This was the end.
All at once I felt warmth on my body. As I slowly regained feeling I could tell there were multiple hands helping me. More healers than I could currently comprehend. Sound made its way to my ears once more and I could make out words here and there. Home. Quickly. Grab. Here. The words didn’t make sense apart from home. Home sounded good.
“She’s not going to make it if we don’t move her,” I heard Emmyth say.
His sentence filled me with fear.
“We can move her. I’ve got her magic stable,” Lee replied as I felt like I was being lifted.
I hope they found Juni and had gotten her back safely before worrying about me, or this would all be for not.
The liquid feeling returned and I realized that must be caused by us traveling through the realms. Crisp fresh air soon met my lungs and caused me to cough. There was still some blood and too much pain, but I could cough again. Progress was painful.