Demon Lost (6 page)

"Do you think she'll be all right?"

"Bel, we will make sure she's all right," Aris muttered, stalking away. Bel stared after his commander, wondering how it was that he could be so sure about something that had killed many villagers already.

* * *

"The IV is fine, we'll leave that," a voice sounded beside me. At least that's where I thought it was. I felt awful and my headache was an agony. Perhaps it was more hallucination—more voices inside my head. I was ill—I knew that much.

"Hold still," the voice came again. It was one I didn't recognize. Cool hands were placed on my heated forehead. Pain lessened immediately. "It will not last much longer. The healing will come quickly now." The hands were removed. I felt their absence when they were taken away. I might have moaned, I don't know. Other hands were on me, then, gathering me up. I was helpless to resist.
My little love shouldn't suffer so
, the voice came inside my head. More fingers stroked my cheek. I slept as soon as the kiss was laid against my forehead.

* * *

 
I knew I'd been hallucinating—the post physician informed me that my fever had gone quite high and he'd been worried that I might not survive. "You're still with us," he smiled at me when I opened my eyes to look up at him. "If we'd known you hadn't had the inoculation, I would have given it to you the moment you arrived. Next season, don't forget to have it done, hear?"

My head still felt as if it were stuffed with cotton so I nodded, not trusting my voice. A sore throat came with this illness; it was a terrible chore to swallow the painkill the physician gave me. I wasn't up to solid food either, so I received broth, water and juice for three more days. Something else happened during that time; my kitchen was combined with that of the regular troops and I was put in charge of the menu and asked to show the four head cooks how to prepare some of the dishes. This turned out to be a very good idea—my three miscreants were outranked by everyone else in our combined kitchen and they weren't able to shirk their duties again. They were getting used to me, too and often looked to me to see how I wanted something done. That made me feel good.

I wasn't allowed to work for more than three clicks at a stretch before taking a rest break. The physician said no more long days for me and that was that. Breakfast was something we portioned out among the cooks. That meant that I only had to rise early two days out of the eight in every eight-day. Sleeping in was a luxury I hadn't had since I was small. Of course, the late risers did the dinner menu and supervised the late cleanup, but it was a good trade-off.

More vegetables had come in from one of the villages and Widnal, the oldest cook and I were in the yard outside the large kitchens, inspecting what had been brought. Bel, who'd come out to speak with the villagers walked over, grabbed my arm and pulled me inside the kitchen.

"Stay inside," he hissed at me and took off at a run down the corridor toward the Commander's office. In very little time, the Commander was rushing through the kitchen with Bel at his heels. I watched them through the open doorway as the Commander began speaking with one of the men who'd brought the food. Time slowed for me as I watched the Commander pull the blade he wore at his side and swing it faster than I could see, beheading a man who stood nearby. What was even more shocking than that came immediately; the headless man exploded. Not as bits of flesh and blood, though—it looked to be black sand or small pieces of rock. I'd seen vids of sandstorms in my classes, and this was what one looked and sounded like, only on a smaller scale. The Commander, Bel and Widnal knew to duck and shield their eyes. The villagers didn't and they bore the full brunt of that exploding force.

Failing to understand the villagers afterward and still recovering from the extreme shock of the incident, I listened while they all gabbled at once. Bel and the Commander herded them toward the post physician's hospital so their eyes and skin could be examined and treated.

"Little cook, that is one of the things we guard against," Widnal spoke quietly at my side. "Many of the troops have never seen it. Try not to let it frighten you—the Commander is quite adept at recognizing these things."

Slowly turning to blink at Widnal's kind countenance, I almost wasn't able to form the words to ask my question. "What are those—those things called?"

"We call them demons. Commander Aris calls them spawn. If one of those creatures bites any of us, that is what we become. We no longer have control over our actions; at least that is what I hear. That one could have bitten any one of us while we stood there and the Commander would have had to kill us as well."

That thought made me shiver. "Bel—he recognized it too," I muttered.

"Yes—all the Rangers are good at that. That is why they go out often. All our Rangers have wizard abilities and that's why they are sent on scouting trips. The other troops would be searching blindly."

"I've never seen a wizard before," I admitted without thinking.

"Most likely you have, young one, you just weren't aware." Widnal nodded to me and together we hauled in the vegetables and began cooking.

* * *

"You saw a dusting?" Stef sounded awed and jealous at the same time. He was working with me, drizzling a sweet glaze on the fruit and pastry dessert for dinner.

"Stef, it was awful," I mumbled, working faster to keep the image out of my mind. That poor man—or demon—being beheaded so swiftly. The explosion and the black particles slamming into the side of the stucco walls outside the kitchens would likely remain in my mind forever.

"We always hear about it but we never see it," he grumbled. "Somebody else always gets to shoot the ranos rifles."

"The ones who have the marksman's pay," Widnal slapped the back of Stef's head to return him to his task. "Keep getting into trouble and you'll never have the opportunity."

"Don't remind me," Stef whispered and went back to drizzling glaze.

* * *

My night to supervise the late cleanup had ended and I was ready to find my bed on the other end of the post. The last of the kitchen help had already left to get some sleep. Bel found me alone in the kitchen.

"Commander Aris wants to see you," he beckoned with a hand. I settled the kitchen towel over the edge of the sink and worried my lip while I stared at Bel. Bel was a wizard. I hadn't expected that. Was it his voice I heard in my head at times, or was that just a hallucination as I'd thought before? It didn't sound like his voice, but then it didn't sound like anyone I knew or had met since bouncing onto the surface of Mandil. I nodded at Bel after searching his face briefly with my eyes. Following him down the now-familiar corridor, we eventually reached the Commander's office. Bel knocked once, then opened Aris' door and led me inside. Aris was sitting at his desk as he usually was when I came there.

"Please sit," he nodded to me and signed another paper that lay under his hand. It amazed me that Mandil still used paper instead of the comp-vids and other electronic devices common across the Alliance. I had to remind myself that Mandil wasn't Alliance.

"I know you saw that today," Aris finally looked up at me. I sat directly in front of him in a chair carved of dark wood. Something else the Alliance used little of nowadays—wood was extremely expensive and there was a huge tax for cutting trees—they had become a scarcity in some sections of the Alliance. I could only nod at the Commander. The image of the dusting still appeared in my mind, unbidden and horrible.

"We have guards posted and there are wards set around the post at night. We just never expected spawn to walk up in daylight," Commander Aris sighed. I watched his eyes—they were a golden brown, lending to the lion-like appearance he had.

"The ones he was with didn't think to question why the demon wasn't speaking," Bel snorted at my side.

"That is one of the ways to tell spawn from humans in their early stages," the Commander continued. "In the first two eight-days, they appear as the humans they once were before being bitten. Once they are bitten, however, they lose their ability to speak. They may nod or shake their head, but that's all. They do not regain speech unless they manage to live a full five turns or more. By that time, there are other ways to determine what they are."

"What about the others with him?" I asked my question timidly, not expecting an answer. This sounded like privileged information—information to which no mere cook was entitled.

"They received a brief lesson on recognizing the enemy before they left the post today," Bel answered my question. "They are still refusing to leave their homes, even after they saw this. I fail to understand it." Bel shook his head.

"They still believe they can protect themselves with what power they have. It will not help them if they are attacked by more than three at a time," Commander Aris growled. That growl would have made any jungle cat proud. I swallowed nervously at the thought.

"Little cook, we brought you in to tell you not to worry overmuch about this," Commander Aris said, his voice back to normal. "We will be placing wards day and night now, so no more might slip in as easily as this one did today. It is my hope that you will not witness another dusting."

I could only nod at his words—witnessing another dusting wasn't particularly high on my list of things to do at the moment, although Stef was crazy to see it for himself.

"Will you be all right or would you like the physician to give you something to help you sleep?" Bel asked.

"I really don't want anything," I looked down at my hands; they were clasped tightly together in my lap.

"Are you sure?" Bel knelt beside my chair.

"I'm sure," my voice was barely above a whisper. My military instructors would be ashamed of me—they'd worked hard to prepare me and my fellow recruits for the possibility that we'd see death firsthand. I'd seen it today, though it had been something evil. It had once been humanoid and that's what bothered me.

"If you change your mind, just knock on the physician's door. He'll have something waiting," Bel patted my hands before standing and moving away. I nodded, not looking at him. Commander Aris said I could go so I stood and walked out of his office, closing the door carefully behind me. I heard the rumble of Bel's voice after I left. I didn't try to decipher what he said as I made my way toward my tiny bedroom.

* * *

"The shields will hold against one or two, but what if we're attacked by an entire village that has been turned?" Bel turned his gaze on Aris after Reah's footsteps disappeared down the corridor.

"No idea. Tell the men to look sharp, and make sure one of the Rangers is on duty with the night guards." Aris shook his head before cursing spawn in general, and then cursing the one who'd made them.

* * *

The news was all over the post by the next day and even the five women who came to pick up breakfast for the pink wing (that's what Stef and the others called it) asked Widnal and me about the dusting. Widnal answered their questions; I busied myself with kneading dough for fresh loaves of bread. Stef was still bemoaning the fact that he didn't get to see—he'd had the day off. Widnal eventually sent the women on their way; he and I were working the breakfast shift so we'd get off earlier.

An early night was welcome; I wanted to explore the hot baths the post had. Anyone was welcome to go and make use of the large, heated pools. I'd only heard of them and hadn't yet gone exploring. Widnal promised to show me where the pools were on his way back to the common barracks.

The post was quite large and might have taken at least half a click to walk from one end to the other. I saw the transports that had arrived earlier in the day—more troops had come in, bringing our numbers to five hundreds. Two additional cooks had been sent and would begin their shifts in the morning. Widnal and I were scheduled early again, so we would be giving them instructions. I squared my shoulders as I walked beside Widnal. He smiled down at me, a hidden dimple showing in his cheek.

"Don't fret, if any of the new ones gives you trouble, Bel will have their heads," Widnal's smile widened. I had begun a tally in my head, one column
for
Bel being the voice in my head, one column
against
. Widnal had just added another check in the
for
column.

Tall, tropical trees stood here and there on the sand-covered grounds of the post. There wasn't much green growing anywhere except around an old well on the grounds. A stone ring, a few plants and a fence of steel pickets stood around it, "to keep the troops from falling in on dark nights," Widnal teased as we walked past it. The main building on the outpost held two stories, with the barracks separate and much larger than the building that held the officers' quarters, the kitchens and the pink wing.

"They sent another fifteen girls," Widnal's voice was quieter as he gave me that information. "Commander worries that they'll be targets if the demons get organized."

That information sent a shiver through me. Commander Aris had told me only last night that they were placing wards around the property at all times, not just at night. Could those things actually break through, though? I was afraid to ask Widnal, as I was too terrified to hear what his answer might be.

"Here we be," Widnal said, stopping at a single-story building between the main building and barracks. He made a shooing gesture with his hands—he wasn't coming inside with me. Honestly, I didn't know if I wanted to go in either. If there were people inside enjoying the bath, I might be too embarrassed to climb into the hot water naked. That was the rule—no clothing of any kind allowed in the water. Other things weren't allowed either, but some of those rules were blatantly ignored if you believed some of the troops. Taking a deep breath, I reached out and grasped the metal door handle with my hand.