Demons End (Tremble Island) (2 page)

When Wensel showed himself and his charge at the gates of Tremble Castle, Nord had been the first to hear the tale of depravity going on at Morlien Hall. There seemed to be no line the lord would not cross. It was up to him, Lord Tremble to put a stop to the torturous evil before even more innocents became victims in the evil man’s plots.

The very idea of torturing and worse to an adult was bad enough, but to even consider harming a child? That was not going to be tolerated. Nord had been acting as a bodyguard to little Aria, and Rane was just as bad. She would sit for hours with the child, playing and making the little one smile. So far the tiny female was still mute, and from what little they could glean, she would remain mute until she was of an age for her voice to come to her. She was a siren, and while such mythical creatures had been spoken of, no one actually knew they existed before now.

The cruel plans of Lord Borland had been thwarted when Wensel spirited the child away from the Hall and brought her there, to Tremble Castle. The general consensus was to travel to Morlien Hall and kill the lord with no explanation of care. Any man that plotted to harm a child, regardless of the reasons, was writing their death warrant as they hatched the nefarious plans. Claims of demons forcing his actions would not save the man.

Lion had met a demon one time before. While he might agree that a demon could cause havoc amongst the community he resided, there had never been a hint of any demands to harm children. The demon, Koler, had been a creature so disagreeable that it took himself and Nord to carry the creature onto a ship bound for the mainland. Lion had gifted the fellow with his life, telling him, “You will have a larger land to inhabit and visit your dread upon. We try not to kill beings that are different than we are. Since we cannot live in harmony with you, we will allow you to attempt to live in another land. Hopefully you will find a place that can support your need for chaos and strife. This island is too small to house one such as you.” The Demon refused to give thanks for his life, yet he never cursed Lion as they lowered him into the ship’s hull either. He had to have known that his welcome was worn to shreds on Tremble. He refused to explain his reasoning for creating such disharmony and strife when Nord questioned him. He was an arrogant bastard for sure. A nod was the only acknowledgement to his words before the trapdoor had shut, leaving the being in the darkness that he craved.

He found Nord training with the protectors of Tremble Castle. There seemed to be hundreds of volunteer soldiers in the plot of land set aside for the troops to train in. Nord was shirtless and sweating as he grappled with two soldiers locked with him in mock battle. He spied Lion and Nord sent one of his attackers flying into the dust while the other held fast to his waist. The man was short but powerful, and had he embraced a smaller man than Nord, he might have subdued him. Instead, despite his efforts to squeeze his captive into submission, he was stunned from the blow to the side of his head and fell over, holding his abused skull. He looked at Nord, hoping for at least a small iota of praise for hanging on as long as he had. Nord was greedy with his praise, but the nod of the giant’s head was as good as a pat on the back to his loyal men. The big man reached a hand down to his and grasp to assist him into an upright position. Once he had ascertained that his men had no lasting injuries from the hours spent in the hot sun, Nord walked over to his brother and bowed his head in respect.

He might be one of the Lords Tremble, but his brother was the eldest by hours, and therefore his superior in front of the soldiers. Lion also had five animals to call, more than any other being known to live on the island. Nord had four. Although he suspected there was a new animal growing deep inside of his being, it would not matter in the pecking order of things on Tremble. He had no envy for his brother’s position, anything he wished for was granted, and the brothers were best friends. They also shared a mate in the form of Rane. The little witch woman had become the solace that each man craved, and would die to protect.

As the brothers walked from earshot of the men, Nord grinned at Lion. “May I return the favor from this morning when you complimented me on looking like shit? What happened to you? As if I could not guess. Rane has had her way with you and you fought hard to escape her clutches, is the only explanation for your hair to be standing on end and the fresh scratches on your neck.” The two exchanged rueful smiles. “I am not certain, but from the way our mate is demanding her way with our pricks, I would say she is in heat. To my knowledge, she is not a shifter, but it certainly is following the pattern. I remember when Quasi and Hinsie’s mate went into heat, she tore those men up in her quest for the seed from their bodies.”

Lion stopped in his tracks. That explained so much and gave him hope for the possible pregnancy that would result from such a natural happening. “I think you have hit it on the head brother, she is insatiable. I went to our chambers to find the maps for our journey and found her naked, waiting for one of us to pass through. Not that I mind servicing her needs, but she is normally in her herbal at this time of day, not baiting a trap for her mate to step into. She latched onto my cock and refused to let go until I fucked her to sleep. Her taste is different too.” He shook his head at his own ignorance. In heat, that would explain her need and endless greed for coupling. His grin was wide as he looked over the training yard. “Perhaps next year at this time, we will have a child to coddle. We must assist Rane in her need to create a small person. Thankfully it will be no great hardship.”

The two laughed, slapping each other on the back, giddy with the knowledge that they would soon be fathers. Each man was lost in his thoughts as they continued walking over the hard packed ground. Finally Lion began to lay out his plans for the coming journey. Nord added his ideas, and they came up with an acceptable strategy for traveling to Morlien Hall.

“Lord Borland will need to be eliminated, he has visited too much misery on his people, and we need to find this demon and either kill it, or send it away from the island as we did Koler. I know that demons are evil creatures, yet from what little I remember of Koler, his malice was centered on the evil that lurks in each being. It makes no sense that this demon would suddenly develop a taste for a child, innocent of wrongdoing. I am leaning toward Borland being a twisted creature with his own agenda. We will need to be open-minded on the demon’s behalf on this matter, Nord. There are few of them, and I refuse to kill off an entire race of beings unless it is necessary for the good of all. They keep a balance on the island, and unless they have suddenly begun to overpopulate the area, there is a need for keeping a few alive.”

They agreed to view the situation at Morlien Hall from several sides before making any solid decisions as to the disposal of the demon.

Chapter Two

Rane finished plaiting the child’s soft hair. She cuddled her close and read a child’s tale of adventure to her. When naptime came, she laid her down with a warm blanket and a soft pillow. Wensel was working a piece of leather into a shoe for the small child when Rane left the room. He would watch over her until another came to take his place.

Hunger drove her direction into the kitchen, where several cooks and their helpers were busily preparing the evening meal. She was a frequent visitor to the warm room and few paid attention to her presence as she found a platter of freshly baked meat pies and pulled one from its resting place onto a plate, before wandering about the kitchen gathering food samples, until her small plate was heaped high. She sat on a small stool at the end of the table and proceeded to devour the entire collection of goodies, not paying attention to the smiles sent her way.

She placed her soiled plate in the tub of hot soapy water, which was there to keep the preparation utensils clean, and eyed a large juicy apple. The apple found its way into the pocket of her shift and she left the room to go to the herbal. She checked on the distilling tinctures that were slowly dripping into small bottles and made certain she had her medicine case ready to take when Lion and Nord decided to begin the journey to Morlien Hall. For some reason, she couldn’t be still in the one room forbidden to anyone but herself and her mates. Normally she would be soothed as she worked with her medicinals, taking pleasure in converting the herbs and roots she had harvested into potions to help the ill.

Lately she had been experimenting with scents. The ones she had invented were already being used in soaps and potpourris. The latest batch would be given to the candle makers to use for the evening hours. The island had several enterprises that exported goods to other lands, and she wanted to help provide Tremble’s artisans with new products to trade. She added a few bottles of scent to the bag. If they visited any of the friendly Halls of Care, the ladies of the Halls might welcome a gift such as this.

They had been visited by a messenger hawk two weeks ago. According to the messenger, Hawk and Con had taken a mate. The news pleased all within hearing, because there were still families that lurked about the confines of Tremble, trying to stay in the city, rather than go back to the same old same old. They were reluctant to repatriate their villages. They enjoyed the thriving life at Tremble and even intermarried with the populous to gain a firmer place in the City’s society. The practice was frowned upon by the Lords of Tremble and so each mating was taken on a case by case basis when they were ferreted out. Bribery and intimidation were the chief reasons for such hidden matings.

It bothered Rane to see the females that had been sold into marriages by their families for personal gain. Many times the male would force pregnancy to ensure the female’s cooperation and compliance. Lion was not pleased when she demanded that the females and their progeny were released from the male’s power. They had argued for hours on the subject, and she had refused to bend to his way of thinking. Instead, she had given the females that were in abusive situations herbals to stop any pregnancy before it began. She had spirited three away from their unloved mates and gone so far as to stand ground in front of one woman that had been beaten into her marriage bed. When she was healing the poor woman’s injuries, the nasty tempered mate had appeared and ordered her away from his spouse. Unluckily for him, Nord had been present at the time, and nodded his head to her when she approached the bastard. She reached for his head, but he had pulled back and she touched his bare arm instead. That small touch had brought the lout to his knees, yet she refused to back off when Nord attempted to stop her from inflicting further harm onto the object of her hatred.

She grabbed his head in both hands and sent the pain and anguish of his spouse and several others’s she had attended to that day. As he screamed for mercy, she shouted to Nord to back away. “This creature has abused her for the last time. She has endured more than most of your soldiers have in battle, yet he is protected by the laws made by males such as he. Do not stop me, my mate, if you try, it will not go well in our relationship. I love and respect you. Why is she not allowed that basic right in a mate?” The evil tempered male was left writhing on the floor screaming in unrelieved pain. Rane had helped the woman to rise and leave the hovel, with Nord trailing behind her. There had been an argument to rival any before, after she had settled Urse into the small cottage that she had converted into an infirmary. Her actions that day had begun a revolution of sorts. It was no longer legal for a forced mating to be taken as a day to day happening. Those that still used the practice were punishable under the law if the forced spouse complained or was found to be too intimidated to speak up for themselves. Her mates now called her a crusader. She did not feel like a crusader, only a woman with feelings and compassion.

She felt her power changing, it seemed to run through her veins at times of stress, not just as a defense mechanism. Her body itched and she felt the need to climb onto her giants’ pricks and ride them until they could no longer walk. It was no hardship to see her men at anytime day or night, but lately all it took was the sight of one or both of them and her body began to hum. The slickness between her thighs became a flood of liquid, waiting for their thick cocks to enter her needy body. The urge to have her slick passage being filled pushed her into finding one of her mates, It was a good thing they were so highly sexed, or she would be lying in a corner of their rooms, weeping in need.

She spied the men walking into the thick doors of Tremble Castle, and followed them.
Ha, we can find a quiet corner, and I can have my way with them
.

*****

Lord Borland was frantic in his search for the siren child. The small being could not have vanished on her own, and since people slipped away from Morlien Hall during the springtime celebrations, it was impossible to decide who had escaped into the dense brush with her. He must find her, it was the only way to lure the demon from his life and restore harmony in his land. His very soul was at stake, since that pitiful scrap of a former mate of his, cursed him to the demons. He alone knew the secret the child held within, and that secret would be discovered by Leroi, the Demon Prince, too late to save himself and the siren from certain death. The mate, Velia, had since been replaced twice, but until he had found the child, nothing could lift the death curse that had fallen from the bitch’s lips as his fingers squeezed the throat of the woman until the light of life left her eyes.

His men held yet ten more villagers for questioning, and he could barely contain his need to see those people suffer as he tortured their secrets from them. His decision to leave a fresh body or two at the demon’s lair as sacrifice to the Prince might gain him a few extra days to find the siren and carry out his plan. Knowing how the sacrifices would die made his prick harden. He would not allow the last breath to be taken until they were at the mouth of the demon’s cave. That should keep the creature busy enough for his plan to work.