Fate's Hand (21 page)

Jerib was still on a walk, trying to get the animals to come back to his sanctuary. Daria was cooking supper, and Asher and Rylan helped Val dress his wounds.

“I sure am glad you had that potion. This bite would have gotten infected and worse for sure. But why did you give it to me? Why not Rylan after he was bitten?”               Asher smiled as he helped wrap Val’s thigh with a clean dressing. Rylan chimed in.              

“
Because he wasn’t sure of the effects a healing potion would have on a half spider, half man. Last time I tried a little experiment like that, I couldn’t see for half a day.”

Val smiled. “I’m glad you’re doing better.”

“Oh, yeah, me too. Being blind was absolutely terrible.”

“
No, I mean from the spider bite. I’m glad you’re back to your jolly self again.”

Daria chimed in from the kitchen, “Yes, me as well, Rylan. Your smile was missed truly.” Rylan's face turned slightly red. Asher gave out a chuckle that got Rylan’s attention. He shot his brother a look that promised pain.

“Supper is ready, but I think we should wait for Jerib to return,” Daria said.

Asher cocked his head to the side and listened. “He is back.”

Daria fixed him a plate and they sat down at the table when Jerib came in looking flustered, but still smiling.

“
Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m starving. But please clear the table.”

Rylan had a spoonful of food pursed to his open lips and held it there, motionless. “Really?”

Val looked down at the Jerib’s traveling bag as the fabric shifted and moved on its own. “Jerib, what’s in the bag?”

Daria rushed to clear the plates as Jerib placed the bag on the table and carefully reached in. The four watched his hand pull out a squirming, bound, and gagged imp.

“I’m not sure. Let’s ask it.”

“
One of my friends, a delightful little sparrow, never left when that dog came into the area, because she has a full nest. She came and found me as I was walking, and told me about another creature in the woods that appeared shortly after we killed the beast. She also gave me this, thinking I had lost it.” He held up a shiny gold ring with a single opal stone set in the top.

Rylan looked at the ring and then back into the eyes of the imp as it stared straight through him.

“A ring. That’s great. Jerib! You have a demon on your dinner table, man! Focus!”

Daria placed her hand on Rylan’s shoulder. “Please, Jerib, go on.”
             
“Right, sorry. Well, I asked a few other creatures, and it didn’t take them very long to pinpoint this thing. A quick word to a few hawks I know and they had him pinned on the ground in no time. It fought hard and harmed one of them pretty bad. I would have been back sooner, but I had to help heal his leg before I returned. The reason I tell you about the ring is, it’s not mine.” He placed the ring on the table beside the imp. The creature eyed it hard.

Jerib let his bindings loose, and on cue, the imp leaped for the ring. Jerib grabbed the imp quickly and held its arm behind its back firmly. Rylan assisted Jerib, removing the gag in the imp’s mouth.

Asher grabbed his hand and shook his head. “No words. I’m sure the thing knows how to write.”

The imp narrowed its eyes and looked hard at Asher.

“Demon, you don’t need your eyes to write. Give me a look like that again and I will remove them.”

As the imp turned away with a look of defeat on its face, Asher winked at Daria, making her smirk. Jerib found some parchment and a thin piece of charcoal as Jerib tied the imp to a chair and held his arm securely. Jerib slid the charcoal into the imp’s hand and the paper across the table.

“Who are you?” Rylan asked.

“
No, he won’t answer that,” Jerib said. “Knowing a demon’s true name gives a mighty power over it; he will only lie to that question.”

Rylan held a knife's edge to the imp’s neck. “Fine, you know a lot more about this than us. You ask it something.”

Jerib slid a chair around and sat down facing the imp. He looked hard at the creature.

“
We are not going to kill you,” Jerib reassured. Rylan let out a sharp puff of air and took the dagger away from the imp’s neck. He scowled at Jerib, but the wizard ignored him.               “Being sent back to the abyss? No, I think not. I could hold you here and torture you in ways the abyss hasn’t even imagined yet. I know about your kind and the rules of your existence. I can make your time here very unpleasant, and I can make it last.”

Jerib pulled up his sleeve to reveal a long, bluish tattoo across his forearm. The symbol was nothing like anyone else in the room had ever seen. The imp pushed back into his chair as he stared at the marking. Jerib ran his other hand over the tattoo as he whispered. He took the same hand and reached out quickly, grabbing the imp’s hand. The charcoal snapped and fell to the table as the imp’s arm convulsed. Jerib looked deep into the creature’s eyes. The imp looked back and forth from Jerib to his hand and around the room at the others as they watched on. Jerib whispered a final word and the imp squealed, pulling his arm free. Jerib covered his tattoo and reclined into his chair. The imp held his arm close to his body, and tried to stop shaking.

“Pick up the coal.” The imp didn’t hesitate very long. It clutched the charcoal in its hand and waited for further direction.

“
Do you work for a man or a demon?”

Dejected, the imp scratched the word “demon” across the paper.

“It sent the three-headed dog here?”

“
Yes.”

Jerib didn’t even look at the paper. “And he wants my friend for some reason.”

The imp shot a look to Val, one eyebrow pushed up, and shook its head in affirmation this time.

“
Why?”

The little creature shrugged his shoulders. Jerib jumped forward in his chair. The imp violently scribbled on the paper to hold him at bay. Rylan reached down and removed the paper from the table. as the imp had used up the broken charcoal.

“It says 'hand,' over and over.”

The imp motioned with its head and eyes to Val’s red hand. Jerib leaned in close as he placed another piece of coal into the trembling hand of the imp.

“Why?”

The imp’s eyes went wide with fear as it dropped the charcoal and placed its hand up before its face. The creature shook its head over and over. Jerib eyed him with hate, but finally pushed back into his chair to put the imp at ease. He stroked his beard as he looked on in deep thought. His eyes wandered to the ring. Jerib reached out and grabbed the ring, careful not to let his fingertips break the opening of the metal.

“What does this do?”

The imp hesitated, and this time Rylan brought his knife blade up once again, pushing slightly into the neck of the imp. The imp pulled away and wrote on the parchment.
              “Direct connection to Master,” Rylan read aloud. The group looked around the room at each other. In that moment, the imp took advantage and jerked its head, slamming its neck down on the blade Rylan held out. The man released the blade as the imp slumped in its chair and bled out across the floor.

Daria gave out a screech and shuffled away from the table. Asher cursed as he cut the bindings and grabbed the demon by its shoulders. He brought the limp body out in the moon-lit grass in front of Jerib’s cabin. He cursed once again as he pulled the knife out of the demon’s neck and placed a firm hand on the wound, trying to stanch the bleeding. The imp gargled and choked as the blood seeped out from the edges of Asher's fingers.

Jerib placed his hand on the demon’s neck. He smiled at the demon and began removing the gag from the creature's mouth.

“
I can easily heal this. I can keep you here and continue this. Or you can just answer my last question, and I will release you.”

The imp placed his hand on Jerib’s arm as he looked once again at the exposed tattoo.

“Ask,” the demon said in a gargled and raspy voice.

“
Your master’s name.”

The demon narrowed its eyes and Jerib quickly brought his knee up to pin the demon’s free arm. He touched the marking on his arm.

“Drask, Prince of Malad Omini, the seventh layer.”

Jerib pulled his hand back from the demon like it was a venomous snake poised to strike.

“Goodbye, priest,” the imp whispered through the blood and used its sharp claws to dig at his neck and open the wound completely. Black blood spewed out and Jerib jumped off the imp. The creature crumbled away into ashes across the dew-covered grass.

“
Why did he call you 'priest'?” Asher asked.

Jerib faked a laugh and rolled up his sleeve with a shaking hand. He licked his finger and began rubbing the markings off his arm.

“This is the symbol of a priest of Dralic. I drew it on after I placed him in the bag. Figured it would come in handy. When I touched him, I just used a simple cooling palm spell. He believed I was using my priestly powers.”

“
Could you really have healed it?”

“
I don’t know the first thing about healing demons. I was just bluffing him.”

Asher smiled as he kicked though the ash, scattering it into the night air.

“Nice play.”

“
Well, what now?” Rylan asked.

“
We eat. I'm starved,” Jerib said.

Everyone entered the cottage, leaving Val to watch the ashes float up in the moonlight. He caught one with his red hand and smeared the soot between his fingers. The dark gray color looked at home against the pale red skin.

“I think this is a bad idea, for the record,” Asher stated.

“
But, in the end, it is Val’s decision,” Jerib said.

The group sat around the table after having a nice, warm meal and long discussion. Daria placed her hand on Val’s. Val took a deep breath and nodded at his friends as he slowly slid the ring onto his finger. A rush of confusion and curiosity hit Val.

“Who?” a hollow voice across his mind asked.

As his mind immediately answered, so did the other voice.

“Yusar the Red.”

Images flashed across Val's mind, each of the same man: an aged wizard in flowing red robes He was throwing lightning out of his hand or stabbing someone with a dagger. Images of red cloth, wet hands, an eyeball closing. The scenes came rushing into Val’s mind in rapid succession. He forced his eyes open, but winced as a dagger plunged into a woman’s thigh in his head. He realized his mind was transferring knowledge as he was receiving at the same time.

“What should I ask?” the hollow voice asked again.

“
Are you the demon?”

The hollow voice quickly shot back images. Val soaked the new images coming in and ignored the flashes he was sending out. The other person was human, and was either working for the demon, or he was trapped. As if in answer, the voice shouted out “prisoner” and the image of a pale red demon flashing a evil and cunning smile. Val immediately thought of his hand with the matching skin. The connection between the two men grew stronger; the images flowed naturally and the exchanges became more discrete. He heard Jerib ask if he was okay, so he waved, trying to focus on the man’s mind.