Demonkin (26 page)

“It's where bad people go.” Calun wiped his wet nose. “The man I turned into Torch was a murderer. He killed two people in Knoll Point, their child too. He wanted gold.”

“He murdered a family. Like yours?”

“He was evil! Divad told me that the Mavoureen take people like that man and put them in a cell where they can never hurt anyone. They eat bread and water and think about what they did. Once they repent, once they truly feel sorry, they can leave, but not until then.”

“That's what happens when you send souls to the Underside.” Jyllith looked to the dark sky. “Demon jail.”

“It's the truth!” Calun grabbed her arm and held tight. “They don't torture them. Even the people that man murdered wouldn't want him tortured. It's not true, is it?”

Calun was deluded, childish, yet she could not bear to hurt him. The reality of what she had done tore her apart every night, and she would not inflict that upon Calun. He did not deserve to live with her pain.

“Xel's lying.” Jyllith made herself smile at him. “He just wanted to upset you. You shouldn't let him.”

“Really?” Calun asked. He looked so hopeful now.

“I need you to be strong. Help me. We're friends, right?”

“Always.” He hugged her arm. “You’ll always be my friend.”

Jyllith knew then she could not kill him. One day he might learn the truth of his crimes, but Jyllith would protect him until she couldn't any longer. It felt good to know she could still protect
someone
, even if all she could do was get him somewhere safe before she killed herself.

“Don't tell Xel we spoke. This must be our secret. If Xel thinks you're upset, he won't mess with you again.”

Calun wiped at red-rimmed eyes. “I get it.” He hugged her again. “Thank you. You understand what it feels like to lose your family, to lose everyone.”

Jyllith blinked back unexpected tears. Tears would only confuse him, and she could not have that. Calun could not know how good he made her feel. It had been a long time since she felt like she had any family.

Andar had not returned and Jyllith could not wait for him. He would be on guard tomorrow night, so she had to strike tonight, when he did not expect it. She would murder Divad and save Knoll Point.

After that, she would take Calun somewhere safe.

KARA TENDED ANYLUS THROUGH THE NIGHT and the morning, while Sera aided him with bloodmending. They could not move until Anylus recovered and Kara refused to leave him. She offered Sera what blood she could. Together, the two of them made Anylus live.

Anylus woke close to midday, eyes bleary. He focused on her, on them both, and everyone knew he was alive due to their efforts. “Thank you.”

“Royal Adept,” Kara said, “what
was
that?”

It was only when Anylus started thrashing and shouting that Kara took the dream world. She had been searching for a mage hidden by an astral glyph, or some attacker invisible to the naked eye. A Mavoureen.

Kara had found nothing, and desperation filled her until she heard the sound over Anylus's panicked, tortured screams. Singing. Someone had been singing, a mournful sound that she somehow understood.

So she found the singer and sang back.

Even now, Kara was unsure how she had done that. Hearing that song had drawn words from her lips she no longer remembered. Did some trace of Torn's memories remain from when he possessed her body?

Kara knew the High Protector had used the Ancient language as no other mage before him — singing changes into the world, as the ancient bloodsingers had done — but she had never imagined she would retain any of that knowledge. Yet she did have Torn's blood, and she had possessed his body in the Underside. He had also possessed her.

“Kara,” Anylus rasped, “your father is pursuing us. With hunters.”

“What?” Byn gripped Anylus's arm and helped him up. “Xander's chasing us?”

“He's following Kara,” Anylus said, relaxing in Byn's grip, “under duress. My former soldiers, the
andux orn
, are using him to hunt us down.” Anylus smiled faintly at Sera. “I'm afraid they’re looking for you too.”

“Because I'm Demonkin.” Sera fixed Kara with narrowed eyes. “King Haven wants me dead.”

Kara stood and shook her head. She missed Xander terribly, but this could not be a new development. “How long have you known he was following us?”

“Days.” Anylus brushed off Byn's arms and stood, shaky. “Xander has been tracking us and I've done what I could to misdirect him, but yesterday night, he got the better of me. I'm afraid I miscalculated.”

“My father would never hunt me for the Mynt!” Kara
knew
that. Xander loved her far too much. They loved each other.

“Perhaps he wouldn't,” Anylus said, “if Ona was with him. But Ona is back in Tarna, perhaps hostage, like you were, Kara. I suspect King Haven won't free Ona until you all return. Haven seeks to protect us, and this is how he believes he'll do it.”

“
Andux orn
means demon slayer.” Byn translated, almost to himself. “So your people murder demons? They fight Mavoureen?”

“They murder Demonkin,” Anylus said. “Before they can turn.”

Byn pulled Sera close. “You can't let them catch us.” He looked at Kara. “We're so
close
to finding that cure.”

Kara grimaced. Anylus had absolutely no right to keep news of this pursuit from her, yet he had hidden it for days. Haven holding her mother and using her father made a great deal of sense. Haven wanted her back, desperately, and Anylus’s betrayal must have angered him.

“You should have told me.” Kara resisted the urge to shout. “I had a right to know. Have you kept anything else from me?”

Anylus shook his head. “Nothing.”

“How can I believe you, after this?”

Her teacher sagged in place. “I only kept it from you because I did not want you to worry.”

“Well, if you think to keep anything else from me because I might
worry
,” Kara said, glaring, “don't.”

Anylus inclined his head. He looked battered and bruised, even after Sera's bloodmending, and Kara's anger cooled.

Anylus had gotten her out of Tarna. He had given up his entire life to help her. She looked across the Layn, to her father.

“We're going to rescue Xander,” Kara said.

“What?” Sera stepped forward. “We can't!”

“I trust my father. Once we get him away from those legionnaires, he'll believe me about Knoll Point. He'll help us stop the Demonkin.”

“And then he'll kill Sera!” Byn shouted.

“I know him,” Kara said. “He—”

“You traveled together for what, a few days? And then he left you!” Byn's nostrils flared. “He's a wanted man in Tarna and he never explained why, did he? Even after you asked, he just told you not worry?”

Kara winced. She had told Byn and Sera that in confidence, but Byn was right. Xander had never explained why he couldn't come to Tarna with them, what his crime was, and that
did
bother her. Why hide it?

“Even if he could help us,” Byn continued, “what makes you think we can stop these
andux orn
and the legionnaires with them? What if we get captured, too? Sera dies!”

“We also don't have time,” Sera added. “If we don't find a cure in two more days, this execution glyph fires. It's a day's walk to Pale Lake.”

“Mynt's hunters are riding,” Anylus said. “We are not. Even if we don't wait, the delay we've incurred due to my injuries means they will likely catch us before we reach Pale Lake. How will we protect Sera then?”

Kara wanted to rescue her father more than she wanted anything, at the moment, but she forced herself to look at this as a leader would. Like Trell would, weighing the risks of each course. If only he was here.

Xander was safe with Haven's forces, even if he was a captive. Ona was safe too, and Kara could not believe King Haven would harm her. Haven simply wanted her back, and if she knew Xander, he would
want
her to run.

“Kara—” Byn said, but Sera shushed him.

“This is Kara's decision,” Sera said. “She led us to Tarna and she got us through everything, even the worst of it. I trust her.” Sera smiled, sad and tired. “No matter what you choose, I'm with you. As long as we're together.”

That simple admission twisted Kara's stomach into knots. Her decision could very well end Sera's life, yet Sera didn't shout at her, didn't berate her, didn't plead or curse. Sera had given her life and soul to save Kara, and now Kara was risking Sera for no reason at all.

“You said they're tracking
me
,” Kara said. “If I lead them in another direction, could the rest of you still travel to Pale Lake?” She hated leaving Sera and Byn, but what choice did she have?

“That may not be necessary,” Anylus said. “I believe I can buy us time to all reach Knoll Point together, if you permit it.”

“How?” If Anylus had hidden something else from her, Kara was going to toss him into the river.

“A blood doll.”

Kara searched her memory of her studies at Solyr. She found nothing.

“What's a blood doll?” Byn asked for both of them.

“I believe Xander is tracking you through your blood,” Anylus said. “It is the one unique element you and he share. Torn’s blood.”

That made sense. “So how do we stop him from tracking us?”

“Sera,” Anylus said. “I'll need your help.”

Sera stepped closer. “What do you need me to do?”

“Draw out Kara's blood. We'll use it to construct a simulacrum, a blood construct that bears Kara's mark so brightly it obscures her real body. We will send it southwest, to the Children of Rain, while we head to Pale Lake.”

Sera turned to Kara and waited. Once more, Sera placed her life in Kara’s hands. That decided her. She would save Sera no matter the risk.

“Do it.” Kara looked to Anylus. “But why Sera? Why can't you do this?”

“Because this is a demon glyph.” Anylus closed his eyes and took the dream world. “Sera. You will need to make incisions.”

“I’m ready.” Sera produced a hunting knife from her travel cloak, watching Anylus intently. “Where?”

Kara did not like how that knife looked in Sera's hands, how comfortable Sera seemed holding it. Kara was imagining things, exhausted from days on the run. Sera hated hurting people and that would never change.

“Slice Kara's wrists,” Anylus said. “After you draw out her blood, bind the wounds quickly.”

“Hold out your arms.” Sera smiled the comforting smile she had learned from Senior Healer Landra. “I'm afraid this will sting.”

Kara extended her wrists, palms up. She caught Byn wincing out of the corner of her gaze. He didn't like this any better than they did.

Sera opened Kara’s wrist with the tip of the knife. Agony rushed up Kara's arm, but she grimaced and held still. Sera expertly moved the knife and sliced again, opening Kara's other wrist. Wet blood gushed down her arms into her palms, dripping from her fingers.

“Now, I'll draw the glyphs you need to scribe.” Anylus painted a duo of spiky demon glyphs on the air. “I dare not ignite them.”

Sera painting Anylus's glyphs on each of Kara's bleeding wrists. When she ignited them, they sucked Kara's blood into the air. That blood swelled and pulsed like a beating heart, growing in size and bubbling.

Kara gasped, fire filling her veins. This
really
hurt. She focused on breathing and keeping herself upright. They had to do this correctly.

Sera stepped back, eyes stark black. Blood pooled between them as Kara's knees trembled. Nausea filled her as their world flashed so bright it made Kara squint. A crimson shape stood before her.

The corpse was shaped like her, at least in silhouette, but its flesh was instead bubbling blood, rippling and swirling amidst thick shadow. It was like a person without skin, a fleshless demon ripped straight from the Underside. Kara felt a chill to her very bones.

“Where did you learn
that?
” Kara whispered.

Anylus's blood doll was a physical presence, pumping with Kara's own blood. It looked to Sera for guidance. Just like the desiccated davenger she had made in Highridge Pass, when she damned her soul to save Kara’s.

“Head southwest.” Sera's eyes were her own again, clear and green. “Walk and keep walking until you expire.”

The blood doll shambled off. Kara watched it go and dug her bloody fingers into her bloody palms. How could she trust Anylus now? Where had he learned to scribe demon glyphs?

“My grandfather was Demonkin,” Anylus said softly. “He died in the All Province War.”

KARA SAT AND SERA sat beside her. They stared at each other without speaking. What they had just done had shocked them both.

Sera scribed healing glyphs on Kara's wrists, and Kara felt her flesh stitching together. It felt like a bony fish spine slicing through her arms, knitting as it went. When Sera finished Kara dropped her arms and shook them, ignoring the itch. The ground swayed beneath her.

“Your grandfather was a Tassaun?” Byn sat as well, still pale from seeing the blood doll. “Then how—”

“No,” Anylus said. “My grandfather hailed from Rillan. Olan Anylus served with Lared Pavel's detachment. His unit was cut off in the battle for Toroia and trapped in a small fort by Tassaun soldiers. Olan commanded over four hundred souls, all of whom were going to die.”

Kara had never known Anylus's grandfather fought in the All Province War, nor had she known Olan Anylus was Demonkin. She would listen to Anylus before she judged him. He deserved that.

“The night before they were all to be slaughtered by Tassauns, Olan's soldiers captured a Demonkin mage. Olan forced the man to show him the glyph that made davengers, then used that glyph on the corpses of his men. It was the only way to save his living soldiers.”

Sera shuddered against Kara's side. Sera had done the same thing in Highridge Pass, scribing demon glyphs on a corpse to save Kara and her friends. Doing so damned the caster, but harmed no other soul.

“Olan's plan worked,” Anylus said. “Even weak with decay, those davengers shattered the Tassaun lines. Olan got almost four hundred souls to safety, people who rejoined Lared Pavel’s lines just in time to meet Torn. Torn had just returned from victory at Blackpoint.”

“Blackpoint was part of the line of fortresses that protected Falkan, wasn't it?” Byn asked.

“That's right,” Anylus said, “and when the Tassauns pulled back to protect their capital, Torn led his forces to Terras instead. He ended the war and unleashed the spectral storms, but before that, Torn met my grandfather. He knew how Olan had escaped. Torn executed him.”

Byn glanced at Kara and grimaced, his meaning clear.

“One word, sung, destroyed my grandfather,” Anylus said. “Just like Torn's spectral storms destroyed everyone in Metla Tassau, Demonkin and mortal alike.”

“It was tragic, yes,” Kara said, forcing the anger from her voice, “but there were thousands of Demonkin in Metla Tassau by then. You know that. Had Torn not stopped their spread, our world would have—”

“I know.” Anylus raised his hands. “I do not tell you this to disparage your great-grandfather. Torn Honuron made decisions I would not wish upon anyone, and our world exists today because he did so.”

“Yet Torn executed your grandfather as Demonkin.” Kara had been a fool to trust Anylus while knowing so little about him. How could she trust a man who might hate her family? How could he keep this secret?

“He murdered my grandfather,” Anylus said, “and by doing so, Torn saved Olan from a fate worse than death. Torture by the Mavoureen.”

“You really believe that?” Byn demanded.

“Olan knew the penalty and gave his own life to save his soldiers. That's why I learned demon glyphs, Kara. If my king ever needed me, if my province needed me, I had to be ready to sacrifice my own life to protect them. Just like my grandfather, all those years ago.”

Kara did not buy that for a moment. Even if Anylus was sincere, he had concealed her father's pursuit and his knowledge of demon glyphs. What if Xander was
not
hunting her under duress? What if her parents were both on their way to save her, and Anylus wanted her dead?

“Sera,” Kara said, “I need you to test Anylus.”

“How?” Sera asked.

“I appreciate all you've done for me,” Kara said, turning on Anylus, “but I have to be sure you're not lying to me, about anything. Will you submit to questioning by a Bloodmender?”

“If that will make you feel better, I will answer anything you ask.”

“It will make me feel better.” The fact that he agreed so easily was a good sign, so Kara squeezed Sera's hand. “Tell me if he's lying.”

Sera glanced at her. “Lying about what?”

“Anything.” Kara felt a tinge of guilt as Anylus stared at them, calm and understanding, but their souls were at stake. “Ready?”

“Yes.” Sera closed her eyes and took the dream world.

Kara took it as well. She did not have the keen understanding of dream world anatomy afforded a Bloodmender, but it was about time she learned. Perhaps by observing Sera, she could learn to detect lies herself.

In the dream world Anylus appeared as a thick orange blob, as did Sera and Byn. The ground was a network of interlocking black lines and the night sky was yellow and free of stars. Yet Kara could draw no additional detail. She simply didn't have the skill or training.

“Anylus,” Kara asked, “do you serve the Mavoureen?”

“I do not,” Anylus said.

Kara saw nothing that suggested a lie, but that proved nothing. She hoped Sera was watching closely.

“Why are you here?” Kara asked.

“To ensure you reach Knoll Point. To ensure the Demonkin don't bring through any more Mavoureen.”

Sera leaned close to Kara's ear. “He's telling the truth, so far as I can see.”

“Is my father really held captive by King Haven?” Kara asked.

“Yes.”

“And my mother's at Tarna?”

“I cannot be certain of that, but it makes sense. I know how King Haven thinks, and using your mother to motivate your father is something he would do. It is something I would do, in his place.”

Kara realized how tightly she clutched Sera's hand and made herself relax. “Why did you free me at Tarna?” She did not want to hurt Sera.

“Because I knew you had a better chance to stop the Mavoureen out here than in a cell.” Anylus's tone softened. “Because even after teaching you for only a few weeks, I've seen how resourceful and talented you are. The story of Terras only confirmed it. I believe that together, we can stop them.”

“It's all truth.” Sera squeezed Kara's hand. “Every bit of it.”

Kara sagged, relief flooding through her. What would she do without Sera? How could she let Sera kill herself? She had to save Sera, and Trell, and everyone else, and she could do that ... with Anylus's help.

Kara dropped the dream world and walked over to her teacher, her friend. “I'm sorry.” She felt the exhaustion of a week on the road, days of being unable to relax or stop looking over her shoulder. “I had to know.”

Anylus smiled at her. “And now you do.”

“We'll finish this together.” Kara clasped Anylus's hands and looked to her loyal friends. “We'll smash these Demonkin and close their gate.”

“And Xander?” Byn wrapped an arm around Sera. “Do we rescue him after we deal with these Demonkin?”

Kara pictured her father's bearded face, remembered the way he had smiled as they developed Ona's cure. He was a good man. He would forgive her for leaving him with the Mynt when she told him why she did it.

“After we deal with these Demonkin,” Kara said, “we won't have to rescue Xander, or Ona, or anyone. Because then, King Haven will know we were right.”

JYLLITH MALCONEN WOKE FIVE HOURS before dawn. This might be her only chance to slip into Divad's study unattended. The other Demonkin slept all around her, and they had no way of knowing the extent of Divad's plan. Unfortunately, they wouldn't believe her if she told them.

Jyllith slipped from her bed, listening to quiet snores. Divad did not sleep among his cultists — he slept upstairs — and Spike guarded those stairs. She wasn't using the stairs.

Jyllith walked to the door leading out of the cabin and took the dream world, scribing Aerial glyphs. She drew the air from the closed door and the heavy bar, forming a vacuum bubble. Without air there was no sound, and she needed silence this night.

Jyllith tied off her glyphs and stepped into the bubble of vacuum, holding her breath as she lifted the bar and soundlessly set it aside. She opened the door, stepped out, and closed it just as quietly. She knitted the bubble back together slowly, without any thunder. That was satisfying.

All that waited was the journey to the second floor, and that was no challenge for an Aerial. Jyllith crept around the building until she found the window of Divad's study. She scribed a Hand of Breath and catapulted herself to the second floor. She drew the air away from the wall, landing silently inside another vacuum bubble.

Jyllith used her Hand of Breath to hold herself as she struggled with the shutters, opened them, and then only glass remained. She expanded the vacuum bubble to encompass the window and then shattered it with a gloved punch. She slipped inside and closed the bubble, crouching as she waited for her eyes to adjust.

Papers rustled in the new wind, but nothing else stirred. Jyllith searched for Divad — she would need to kill him before he woke — but his single bed remained empty. He must have slipped out some time in the night, and that worried her. Still, no turning back now.

Divad's absence presented an opportunity to examine the glyph scroll he had shown her days ago, the one detailing how to open a gate to the Underside. While Jyllith waited for him to return, she would take a closer look. Perhaps she could find some way to sabotage Divad's glyphs.

Jyllith unrolled the scroll and flattened it on Divad's desk with spread hands. She stared at the elegant, spiky glyphs. Unbidden, Hecata's words at the portal beneath Knoll Point came to her anew.

“What you seek is not what you will find. You already know the truth of things. You read it in a book. Remember this, and you will please me.”

Jyllith suddenly realized why these glyphs bothered her. The links and turns were familiar, the width of each line and the way they were painted, but these were
not
demon glyphs. These were the same type of glyphs she had seen winding around the edges of
Wards Against the Alcedi
, the book she had discovered in the library at Terras.

“I hoped you understood,” Divad said.

Jyllith spun, but a blast of air tossed her into the desk before she could scribe anything. She cracked her head so hard she stopped thinking, and when she started again Spike had her pinned to the floor. The davenger smelled like coal and fresh blood.

“I prayed I was wrong about you,” Divad said, somewhere above her. “But no deity has ever answered
my
prayers.”

“Wait,” Jyllith whispered. “I'm not—”

“I knew I could not trust Hecata,” Divad said. “She suspected my sympathies toward the Alcedi, and I honestly don't know how I fooled her for so long. But you fooled her, didn't you? Or did you?”

Jyllith gasped as Spike crushed her into the wooden floor, as splinters and dirt tore at her cheek. Demonic drool coated the back of her hair. The glyphs on that scroll were Alcedi, and they
did
open a gate.

Divad's gate led to the Teranome, the place spoken of in the tome she had showed Melyssa at Terras. A world filled with golden monsters. Just as Elder Cantrall had believed, the Alcedi were preparing to invade.

“I know now why Hecata lied to me about you.” Divad knelt beside her. “She fears the Alcedi, hates them, and wants our world for herself.” Divad brushed Jyllith's cheek. “She sent you to undo me.”

“Listen, you idiot!” Jyllith struggled against Spike. “Cantrall knew about these Alcedi, about their invasion. They terrified him!”

“Rumors spread by the Mavoureen,” Divad said. “You've seen how those demons reward their servants. The Alcedi are benevolent protectors and they will protect us. So long as we worship them, we live free.”

Jyllith trembled beneath Spike's bulk, struggling to move, because she had to do
something
. Divad sounded so reverent that he terrified her. He sounded just like Cantrall when he praised the brutal Mavoureen.

“I did not lie when I said I would bring peace to our world.” Divad's voice swelled with emotion. “The Alcedi shall rule us with order and justice, morality and compassion, and no mortal will ever suffer again.”

Jyllith got one hand free. Spike slammed a meaty palm on her hand before she could scribe any glyph, crushing her fingers. She screamed.

Bare feet thundered on the stairs as Divad's cultists filled the room. Xel smiled when he saw her pinned, and Rala pursed her lips. Calun trembled.

“What is going—” Calun began, but Rala shushed him.

“She betrayed us,” Rala told Calun. “She's working for the Mavoureen.”

“Don't listen to him!” Jyllith shouted. “He's—”

Spike's bulky hand clamped over Jyllith's mouth, crushing her lips against her teeth. She gnawed on demonic flesh, glaring at them.

“I don't understand.” Calun swallowed. “Aren't we all working for the Mavoureen?”

Xel's thin body shook with laughter. “Divad, really.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “Why do we keep him around?”

“Hold her,” Divad told Spike, before walking over to Calun. “Listen to me.” Divad placed hands on Calun's shoulders. “Jyllith lied to you.”