Demonbane (Book 4) (36 page)

Joseph stepped forward. “Kara?”

Kendril climbed to his feet, dripping wet. He winced in pain from the effort. “Do it.”

Kara smiled. “Block this.”

She released the string. The arrow leapt forwards.

Indigoru screamed and flung out a hand.

The ton of rocks over the demon’s head crashed down on top of her in an eruption of icy water and dust.

The golden light flicked out.

For several long seconds there was silence, except for the crackling of the fires in the streets above and the violent lapping of the sewer water against the walkway.

Joseph coughed, smearing dirt from his face. “Everyone okay?”

Kara nodded. She reached down and grabbed Kendril by his cloak, helping him to his feet.

The Ghostwalker groaned as he stood. He leaned heavily against the wall.

Maklavir ducked out from behind his cover. He looked down at his clothes. “I’m just fine. My clothes, on the other hand—”

“Save it, Maklavir,” Kendril barked. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes against the pain. “Is she dead?”

Kara notched another arrow. “I’ll check.”

Joseph started around the walkway towards them. “I told you to get out of here.”

Kara stepped down into the water. She grimaced from the cold. “Come on, Joseph. When have I ever done
anything
you’ve told me?”

Gradine shrugged. “Don’t look at me. She was very insistent.”

“Don’t I know it,” Joseph mumbled. He stepped down into the water too.

Maklavir walked around the edge of the room, trying in vain to smear dirt and grime off his sleeve. “It’s over, isn’t it? I mean, the gate is closed, and Indigoru—” He let the sentence hang, looking over at the pile of rocks and stones.

Kara edged closer through the water, her bow raised. A faint red glow came from the pile of in front of her.

Joseph slipped in behind her. “Careful, Kara.”

She gave a half-smile. “You’re cute, Joseph. When are you going to stop worrying about me?” She edged around the stone heap, her over-sized boots sloshing through the water. She gave a long breath, then lowered the bow. “It’s safe,” she called back. “She’s dead.”

Gradine lowered his carbine. “About bloody time.”

Kendril gritted his teeth, his fingers clenching on the stone wall. “You’re sure?”

Joseph came around beside Kara.

Indigoru was gone. In her place was the broken, naked body of Mina. An arrow was lodged up to its shaft in her chest. Sightless eyes stared up at the gaping hole in the ceiling above them. Around her neck the Soulbinder still glowed angrily.

Joseph sheathed his rapier. “Yeah, we’re sure.”

Kendril visibly relaxed. He slid down the wall with a groan, his eyes still closed.

Kara put up her bow. She leaned forward and reached for the Soulbinder. “Funny, isn’t it,” she mused, “how this little trinket could cause so much trouble?”

“Well I for one think it’s time we got moving,” Maklavir said to no one in particular. “Might I remind you all, the city is still burning right above our heads?”

A stone dislodged from the ceiling and fell with a great plop in the water below.

Joseph glanced up, narrowing his eyes. “I agree. Let’s get going.”

Kara picked up the Soulbinder, holding it by the chain. The red glow of the dark gem spilled onto her face.

Kendril opened his eyes. “Put it down, Kara.”

The redhead laughed. “You too, Kendril? I thought I got enough babysitting from
Joseph
.” She looped the chain over her neck.

Joseph stared at her, confused. “What are you doing?”

Kara looked at him askance. “We should take it back, shouldn’t we? We can’t just leave it here, after all.”

Maklavir looked up at the fire above. “She has a point.”

“We’ll come back for it.” Kendril had a strange look in his eyes. He started to get to his feet. “Leave it, Kara.”

Joseph glanced over at the young woman. “He’s right. Come on, let’s get out of here, Kara.”

The redhead sighed. “That’s a great idea. There’s only one problem.” She smiled. “I’m
not
Kara.”

Joseph stared at her for a moment, perplexed.

Kara lashed out a hand, palm forward.

The scout flew backwards, propelled by a wall of invisible force. He hit the water about ten feet away.

Maklavir and Gradine both gaped, their eyes wide. The gendarmes beside them stood motionless as well, stunned into inaction.

Kendril dove behind a stone. “
Move
!”

Kara turned in the water with a mocking, haunting laugh. She lifted a hand.

One of the heavier blocks in the water began to lift, shaking uncertainly. It fell back into the water with a giant splash.

Kara scowled. She turned back towards the men with a scowl. “You think you can kill me? I am immortal. I am a
goddess
.”

Joseph sputtered, trying to stand back to his feet in the water. “Kara!”

“Sorry,” the woman said with a cruel smile. “Kara’s gone.” She flung out both hands.

A shower of small rocks flew out from the pile. They hammered into the opposite wall like gunshots.

Several of the gendarmes fell back, bruised and bloodied from the projectiles.

Maklavir dodged behind an archway. He tried desperately to draw his sword.

“It’s Indigoru!” Kendril shouted. He pulled out a pistol with a gasp of pain, then reached for a waterproof cartridge.

Joseph got back to his feet. His rapier dripped water. He stared at Kara for another long second, unable to move.

Kara cackled madly. Her body began to lift out of the water. A slight glow began to form around her.

“No,” Joseph whispered.

“She’s getting more powerful by the second!” Kendril yelled from behind his cover. He forced his injured hand to steady the pistol as he tore open the bullet cartridge with his teeth.

A gendarme lifted himself up and aimed his carbine.

With a snarl Indigoru flashed out a hand.

The man flew back against the wall with a sickening crunch of bones.

“Your cities will burn,” the demon sneered. “Despair has come. It howls for your women, your children. You will all know the meaning of
fear
.”

Kendril struggled to reload the pistol, gasping as he moved his burned arm. “
Joseph
!”

The scout took a hesitant step forward, his rapier half-raised.

The woman before him wilted back suddenly. “Joseph, no!”

The voice was Kara’s.

Joseph stopped cold, a look of sudden fear and uncertainty on his face.

Kara’s face changed. She laughed, then threw out a hand.

Joseph lifted off the ground. His rapier splashed down into the water. He grabbed his throat.

“I will break you in two,” Indigoru snarled. “You loved this woman? She’s dead now, just like you. Just like Vorten.”

Joseph’s legs kicked helplessly. He was suspended clear above the pool of sewer water.

Kendril snapped back the flint on his pistol. He heaved himself up on top of the stone and aimed the pistol with his unburned hand.

Joseph saw him out of the corner of his eye. “No!” he choked. “Don’t…
don’t
…”

Kendril hesitated.

Indigoru began to close her outstretched hand. “I will
break
you, mortal…”

Joseph cried out in pain. Blood gushed from his nose and trickled from his mouth. He stared wildly at Kendril. “
Don’t
—”

Indigoru laughed wildly. “Die, mortal. You are just the first. I will watch all of Zanthora burn—”

Kendril pulled the trigger. The pistol roared and leapt in his hand.

The Soulbinder shattered into a hundred blazing red shards.

Joseph dropped into into the water.

Kara fell backwards against the pile of stones and didn’t move.

The fatigue and pain finally caught up with Kendril. He felt his vision swim, then go dark.

Chapter 21

Kendril opened his eyes.

He was in bed. The light from the window was dim, but seemed gray enough to be daylight. He didn’t know where he was, or how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered clearly was the battle in the sewers, when Kara—

Kara
.

Kendril sat up in the bed. He groaned with the effort. Pain flared in repetitive, throbbing bursts from the left side of his face and his arms. Loose bandages were wrapped over his burns.

It was bad. The pain was almost crippling. He set his teeth, and slid out of the bed.

His clothes were folded on a chair by the bed, along with the burnt and torn remains of his cloak. It smelled of smoke and rotting garbage. A lovely combination.

He was half-way dressed when the door opened and Callen walked in.

The freckled Ghostwalker smiled. “Out of bed? Seems you really
are
as tough as everyone led me to believe you were.”

Kendril winced as he pulled on his shirt over his bandage. “Where are we?”

“Vorten.” Callen came over to a chair and sat down across from Kendril. “Outside the city walls, of course. This is an estate of one of the nobles who died in the fire, a few miles west of the city. The fires are still burning inside the walls, especially east of the river.”

Kendril reached with a sharp intake of breath for his cloak. “How’s Kara?”

Callen looked at him for a moment. “You don’t remember much, I take it?”

Kendril shook his head gingerly. “Not much. You didn’t answer my question.”

The Ghostwalker put his hands together and sighed. “She’s not dead, at least not last time I saw her. She’s in some sort of coma. Honestly, I don’t know if she’ll make it or not. Your friend Joseph has been looking after her.”

Kendril folded the cloak with agonizing slowness over his shoulders. “I’m thirsty.”

Callen nodded. “Water’s there, on the side table. Go easy with it.”

Kendril reached out his good hand and lifted the canteen to his cracked lips.

“You’ve been barely conscious for the last few days.” Callen rubbed the side of his face wearily. “A bad fever. I thought for sure we were going to lose you. You’re bloody lucky your burns didn’t get infected, especially running around in a sewer like that. How’s the pain?”

Kendril stifled a gasp as he put down the canteen. “Fine.”

“I have some tamaren bark to chew, if you need some—”

“I’m fine.” Kendril stood, weaving a little on his feet. He grabbed a nearby chair for support.

“Easy,” Callen warned. “You have to give your body time to adjust.”

“How bad is it?”

“Pardon?”

Kendril looked the other Ghostwalker squarely in the eyes. “My injuries. How bad are they?”

Callen squirmed uncomfortably. “Not bad. Like I said, there are no infections.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Kendril reached up and carefully pulled off the bandage over his face.

“I wouldn’t do that just yet,” Callen said hurriedly. “There’s still a risk of—”

“Get me a hand mirror,” Kendril ordered. He pulled the rest of the bandage off. “Now.”

Callen hesitated a moment, then grabbed a hand mirror off the table. He handed it to the other Ghostwalker.

Kendril pulled it up to his face, and looked at his reflection.

“I’m sorry, Kendril,” Callen said quietly. “You’re lucky to be alive. But those scars…they won’t heal. You were burned too badly.”

Kendril put the mirror face down on the table. “It doesn’t matter,” he said curtly.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

“Olan’s downstairs,” Callen said. “He wanted to see you.”

Kendril could hear raised voices from below as he went down the stairs. The house was big, a veritable country estate. Several servants passed him as he descended. They looked at him with a strange sense of fear and awe.

Kendril ignored them.

“The King can’t do what you’re asking. It’s preposterous.”

Kendril turned the corner into a large room. Olan, Baron Dutraad, and several other nobles in traveling clothes sat around a table. A map of Valmingaard was spread over the surface, lit by candles at either end.

Olan leaned forward. His face was haggard and worn. “With respect, my lord, you must understand that this Despair is already consuming all of Zanthora. You’ve heard the reports from Merewith. There are reports of insurrections there. Outlying towns are being attacked by cultist bands. And there are rumors of uprisings in Kelmar, fires being set in Rella. We can’t simply—”

One of the lords in traveling clothes banged an impatient hand down on the table. “The Despair has been defeated, and Vorten has already paid the price. Yet you are speaking as if the war is
still
being waged.”

Kendril stepped up to the table. He tried to keep the pain from showing on his scarred face. “That’s because it is,” he said bluntly. He leaned on the end of the table, struggling to keep from gasping. “This is just the opening shot in a war, gentlemen. Vorten was the
start
of this Despair, not the end. The hammer is still going to fall on Rothland.”

The envoys all rose to their feet. One of them put his hand over his heart and gave his head a slight bow. “It is an honor to make your acquaintance, sir.”

Kendril gave the man a puzzled glance.

Olan looked up gruffly at Kendril. “Good to see you up and about,” he said without much enthusiasm. “When your friends and those gendarmes dragged you out of the sewers we all thought you were dead.”

“I feel fine,” Kendril said defiantly. He looked over the group. “Each of the past Despairs has involved more than just riots and cultist uprisings. There has always been an army that has invaded Rothland, under the sway of the Seteru. We should expect no differently this time. The Seteru failed to open a Void gate here at Vorten. Now they will try again with an army.” He paused, his legs wobbling uncertainly. He gripped the table edge tightly as he tried to steady himself. “We need intelligence, information. The only way to combat this new threat is to unite all the nations of Rothland so that when it comes, we can repel it.”

“That may be a problem,” Dutraad said grimly. “We have just received early reports. The kingdoms of Kalingland and Badera are mobilizing regiments against Valmingaard. We expect them to declare war within days.”