The Demon's Blade (9 page)

"Yes, he's gone for the same reason that we were able to walk through the gate unhindered. I waited until the guard was changed to cast that spell. I was gambling that the Duke's men were mostly undisciplined and would easily lose track of their duties during a crisis. The risk, of course, is that there are more guards actually in the castle. Let’s hope our luck holds. Now, which way from here?"

Jerris led down the hallway and turned right at the intersection. Darien followed until Jerris stopped at one of the wooden doorways. "Here," Jerris said. The shade moved his hand, breaking the lock just as before, and they entered not a dank cell, but a large room, twenty feet long and equally wide, not unlike a room at an inn. Colored tapestries lined the room, red, blue, purple, and gold. A green carpet covered the floor. To the left stood a large bookshelf with dozens of books. The mixed odors of various perfumes and oils created a pleasant aroma, and masked the stench of the dungeon outside. There was even a fireplace against the far wall. It seemed rather elaborate for a dungeon cell, but this was neither the time nor the place to pick at loose threads. Once the escape was accomplished, he would have his answers.

A luxurious bed with a thick mattress and deep blue blankets and pillows sat in the furthest corner of the room. Upon the bed sat a woman, tall and slender, with long pointed ears that stretched a few inches above her head. She was unmistakably a pure-blood elf woman. Her long golden hair matched her son’s, and it stretched down her back and to the floor. She wore a brilliant green dress that sparkled even in the dim candlelight. Her bright green eyes matched her dress nearly perfectly, and contrasted with her pale skin. Darien had not seen an elf woman since his mother died, and she looked so like his mother from this distance that he found it difficult not to weep, so close seemed the memory from another lifetime. However, he banished the thought a moment later, and again was focused on the present.

"Mother!" Jerris cried excitedly. He ran to her without hesitation.

"Jerris!" the woman exclaimed in response. "You shouldn't have come. I told you not to come for me." Her voice was high-pitched, clear, and melodious, but careworn, the voice of a devoted mother filled with both joy and concern at the same time. 

"And I told you I wouldn't leave you here as a captive," Jerris protested. "It doesn't matter now. We're getting out of here." Jerris embraced his mother warmly. The woman seemed not to have noticed her son’s companion as yet, and in that moment, the shade perceived doubt and uncertainty in her eyes, as if she were faced with some dilemma. Whatever the true nature of her captivity was, it appeared she was reluctant to leave.

"How did you get in?" she asked, "And what was that noise outside?"

"It was him." Jerris answered, pointing at his companion who still stood just inside the doorway.

"Who are you?" the elf woman asked.

"My name is Darien. And you are?"

"Leianna, did my son not tell you?"

"No, he only calls you mother."

"Such a child he is, even now," Leianna said. Jerris turned red and looked crossly towards the grinning shade.

At that point, a loud thump echoed through the dungeon, the ground trembled. It might have been more of the aftermath of the wall collapse, or it might have been the gate closing. Either way, it reminded Darian that this was no time for talk. "There will be time for this later. We need to be going. There's no telling when the guards will decide to return to their posts."

"Alright, let's go," Leianna had apparently overcome whatever doubts she kept, and the three of them headed out the door. Darien led Jerris and Leianna back out and down the hallway. The guard’s chair remained unoccupied, and they reached the stairs unchallenged. At the top of the stairs, he saw that the door to the main hallway was now standing open, which was a problem, because he knew he had left it closed. He held up his hand, motioned Jerris and Leianna to be quiet and stay still, then peered into the hallway. Empty. Another stroke of luck. A cautious Darien silently signaled his two charges to follow and they moved quietly down the hallway.

When they reached the far door, Darien put his ear to the door. The sounds of commotion had died down, and he could hear voices speaking somewhere outside, something about another section of wall collapsing, something about sending a messenger to town. He was about to push the door open, but then he heard a slight creak. He wheeled round to see one of the doors on the right hand side of the hallway open, and the light of a candle creep into the dark hallway.

A short, balding, portly man with a scraggly white beard appeared at the door. He wore a silk nightgown and carried a candle in his right hand. Jerris looked towards Darien, with his eyes asking the obvious question, what to do. The Executioner acted without hesitation, charging down the hallway towards the as yet unidentified man. The man turned and saw the two intruders and the escapee, but before he could make a sound, the Executioner maneuvered behind him and put a dagger at his throat. "If you wish to see another sunrise, you will be silent," The Executioner hissed in the man’s ear. The man nodded yes.

"That's the Duke," Jerris exclaimed, as he ran up behind them.

"Quiet!" Darien said, then turned to the frightened man again. "Well then, I had hoped to make it out of here without trouble, but it appears that my luck has ended. Nevertheless, I at least have a valuable hostage to ensure we escape here. Now, head for the front gate. Once we're safely away, we'll let you go."

"NO!" Jerris cried. "Let me kill him. He deserves it for everything he's done.” The youth drew his short sword and moved his arm into position to stab the Duke in his left side while he was subdued. Darien, however, grabbed Jerris’ arm and pushed it away, giving the lad a stern look as he did so.

"Jerris, no, you mustn't kill him!" Leianna said, running up to her son. "I don't want blood on your hands. I didn't want this. That's why I sent you away."

"You sent me away? But why?" Jerris asked. His mouth hung open in shock and he appeared ready to burst with questions, in an incredulous tone, but he was interrupted by the Duke.

"So Jerris, it's you, is it?" the Duke sneered, apparently not as terrified as he had first appeared. "Couldn't do the job yourself so you hired this mercenary to do your work for you. Where did you find him?" The Duke's voice dripped with the unmistakable venom of condescension so typical of human nobility. Darien despised it, the contempt, the arrogance, the undeserved sense of superiority. He hated it, as he hated few other things in the world.

"That is not your concern," he interrupted, and the portly Duke fell silent. Jerris stood lost in his confusion, open mouthed, having clearly lost all sense of what was going on. This was neither the time nor the place for long held secrets to be told; the guards might come any moment. Darien sensed the situation spinning out of control. If he had to kill ten or twenty guards to escape, the news would draw all sorts of unwanted attention. He had to get all of them under control, and quickly. "I am not a mercenary, and I have my own business with this woman that is no concern of yours. I have no quarrel with you, Duke Parham, and have no wish to kill you, but this woman will no longer be your prisoner."

"What did Jerris tell you? What do you think is going on here?" the Duke asked incredulously. “Come now Jerris. Did you simply trick this mercenary into believing that Leianna was held here against her will, or were you fool enough to convince even yourself?” Darien’s impatience and frustration grew quickly. It seemed clear that the situation was not as simple as it had seemed, but there was no time to interrogate the Duke. His words could hardly be taken as truth, as he had every reason to lie to save himself. The more pressing concern was Jerris' emotional state. The Duke's words might lead the headstrong lad to do something rash and dangerous. The situation had to be put to an end, and quickly. Darien whirled the old Duke around to face him, and slammed him hard against the wooden door where he’d first emerged, hoping he would be able to frighten the old fool with his piercing eyes and shadow magic, but this one was tougher than he appeared. Despite the rough handling, the Duke had managed to hold onto the candle in his right hand, a fact the usually careful shade had missed, and a critical error, for in the candlelight, the Duke got a clear look at his assailant’s face. "You!" The Duke exclaimed. "I know you. You're the one that shade was looking for. You’re the half-elf he showed me in the mirror." The cold heart of the Executioner now raced, but what had to be done was clear enough. He drew his sword with his free hand, and thrust it deep into the old man's shoulder, just below the collarbone, then pushed it cleanly through and into the oak wood of the door, holding the man painfully in place. Blood stained both the door and the Duke's dressing gown a dark crimson as the candle fell to the floor. Darien fixed his eyes upon the Duke, holding him with his shadow sight.

"That should keep you still, and silent." The Executioner’s voice changed, becoming deeper, violent, and more threatening. "You might have spared yourself a great deal of pain by simply staying quiet. Instead, it seems we must be foes. You will now tell me who showed you this mirror. Jerris, watch the door to the courtyard. Hold it shut as if it held your soul into your body." The harsh and commanding voice of the Executioner shook Jerris out of his distraction, and he quickly did as he was asked. The Duke breathed hard and erratically, recovering from the shock of the blow. "Speak!" Darien’s now terrifying voice commanded.

"It was… his name was… Avirosa," Duke Parham stammered. The Executioner recognized this name, Avirosa the Wraith, a fellow shade, and a formidable foe.

“And when was he here? How long ago?”

“Months ago… Near midsummer…” Duke Parham whimpered. The wound was taking its toll on the portly nobleman. He was weakening and seemed to have given up getting out of the situation alive. Soon he would lose consciousness, but the Executioner had gotten the information he needed. Darien removed the spell, and then the sword. The Duke collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"We have to go, NOW!" Darien said at almost a shout. "There’s no point in stealth anymore."

Jerris and Leianna both looked somewhat more terrified of their rescuer than they were of the Duke or the guards outside, but that was just as well, so much the better to keep them doing what they were told. The only thing that mattered to his troubled mind was that his trail had been picked up, and now he would have to flee the region. He stormed down the hallway and pushed the door open.

"Take the woman then, for all the good it will do," the voice was that of the Duke, who still lay on the floor, but he retained enough strength to hurl a final insult. "I know your name, sorcerer. You're Darien the Executioner, traitor to the Order of the Shade, the one the Demon King is looking for. He's been scouring the world for you. You'll have no safe haven in these lands now. I'll tell the heads of the great houses of the dwarves and you'll be found."

For a moment, the Executioner paused, and wondered, is it wise to leave him alive, now that he's seen my face? For several tortured seconds, he wrestled with his own instincts. His experience and training screamed at him to silence the witness, kill this man who probably deserved to die anyway, but he still remembered Ezra’s warning about taking life needlessly. Finally, he decided to let him go, choosing the unknown risk of leaving a witness over the known risk of losing himself to the Demon Sword.

With his mind made up, Darien continued into the courtyard. It was still deserted, but the gate was now closed. Jerris and Leianna followed cautiously behind. He ran straight to the gate, where the portcullis had been closed at some point, so without hesitation, he used small shadow voids to consume the bars between their intersections until a gap was formed large enough to pass through. Just as he finished, he heard a sound. "Who's that at the gate?" One of the guards had spotted them, finally.

"Go," Darien urged Jerris and Leianna. They stepped through the opening in the gate and he followed. They stood outside the gate until he urged them again, "Don't wait for me. Run! Jerris knows the way. Stay off the road and run." Then he conjured a large shadow void, the largest he had attempted since that day… It was exhausting, especially after so many years with little practice, but it was large enough to get the job done. He hurled it toward the gate, and the heavy iron bent, twisted, and collapsed. The stone above the gate crumbled and fell around the twisted and broken iron, as it all fell to ruin in a groaning, grinding, crunching, creaking, cacophony of destruction.

Then he turned away from the castle. Jerris and Leianna had already run on into the forest out of sight, and he too, headed off into the forest toward the secret room. His mind ran even quicker than his feet, racing to come to grips with the new reality that stared starkly at him. He gathered his thoughts even as he negotiated the trees and bushes of the wood, soon catching up with his companions.

I will have to move quickly since the Master has picked up my trail, but on the other hand, it’s fortunate that I discovered it this way, so now I can prepare. If I act quickly, I might escape to some other far off corner of the world. The matter of Jerris, his mother, and the starstone, will have to be resolved quickly, as it is no longer my primary concern.

Chapter 10: Leianna's Legacy

Within a few minutes, the Duke’s castle had receded behind the three fugitives, becoming only a distant light atop the hill. They moved quickly but quietly by the gentle moonlight filtering down through the trees. Jerris and Leianna were unexpectedly quite adept at moving stealthily through the moonlit wood.

Once they had gone far enough from the castle, Darien signaled a halt. "Hold a moment. We've put some distance between us and the castle now, so we can afford to slow down. Now we only need to proceed quietly and carefully. We should have no trouble so long as we aren't seen." Jerris nodded in agreement, and they stopped for a moment to rest. The lad gave no indication of wanting to discuss anything that had happened at the Duke's castle. He stayed silent, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of shock, or perhaps he sensibly recognized that reaching a safe hiding place took precedence over other concerns.

When they began walking again, Darien kept a slower pace, mindful that Leianna had likely not run this much in a very long time. After hearing what the Duke had said, he did not anticipate a vigorous pursuit, or even a search. The Duke hadn’t appeared too concerned about losing his consort. Furthermore, the Duke knew his enemy, and wouldn’t throw the lives of his men away by sending them against the Executioner.              

As the walk continued, it became apparent that Leianna was not well. Her breathing became loud and irregular, and she began sweating, even though the night air was chilly and her dress should have provided only the slightest warmth. After an hour or so of plodding through the woods, the trio reached the entrance to the hidden room. A small fir tree and a dense covering of leaves and needles concealed the wooden trapdoor. Darien opened it, Jerris climbed down, then the two together helped Leianna down the ladder, and finally Darien followed them down after taking one final look around to see that no one had followed them.

The torches lit up at the wave of the mage’s hand when the trio walked into the central room. Jerris helped his mother to the bed, and she laid down, now sweating heavily and coughing regularly. Her breathing had become quick and shallow, while her face had turned ghostly pale. Something was clearly wrong. Jerris tended to his mother, bringing her water and asking what was wrong. She did not respond, apparently asleep already. Darien simply stood facing the wall with his head down, taking a few moments to gather himself and decide how best to proceed.

"Don't just stand there," Jerris said. "There's something wrong with mother. She's sick or something."

"Calm down, Jerris. I can see that. Prop her head up with whatever you can and give her water. That is all we can do for the moment." Jerris seemed satisfied, nodded, and turned back to his mother. Darien walked over, to see if he could tell what was wrong. He had very little experience tending to injuries other than his own, and little knowledge of diseases. It would be unusual for a pure-blood elf would to so quickly succumb to any illness. Elves, by their very nature, were resistant to the illnesses and plagues of man, which left poison or magic more likely possibilities. Though he could not cure diseases, the Executioner had extensive experience with the sorts of spells and enchantments used on prisoners. He placed his hand upon Leianna's arm, and tried to sense any magical energy. He found what he was looking for, a devious combination of enchantment and poison, used upon her over
many years, and designed to keep her captive without locks or bars. This could not have been done without her knowing; what would have been the point?

"Can you tell anything?" Jerris asked, interrupting Darien's thoughts

"I can't be certain. I'll need to talk to her." Darien evaded the question, uncertain how the distraught boy might react. If she woke up, she could explain it herself, and if not, it wouldn't matter anyway.

"Will she wake up? Will she be OK?" Jerris asked, his voice trembling with fear.

"I don't know. I think it is the effect of an enchantment, rather than a sickness, but I don't know how serious it is. You must remember she was held captive a long time, and she is very weak. The exertion of our flight from the castle may be making her condition appear worse than it actually is," Darien responded. It was not a lie, at least not entirely.

The shade searched his mind for a few minutes, before remembering something that might help. He went over to the chest of drawers, and found the tiny vial of pale green liquid. Darien sighed. He had gone to considerable lengths to acquire this magical antidote, a potion to nullify the effects of certain magical poisons, especially the kinds used by other shades. The potion would probably not be strong enough to save the woman’s life, but in his guilt, Darien felt he had to make some sort of attempt. At the least, it should allow her to recover for a few hours, long enough for her to make peace with her son, and more importantly, to divulge whatever secrets she might hold about the starstone.

"Here, give her this, but be careful not to spill it. I have only this and no more," Darien said as he handed the vial over.

"What is it?" Jerris asked.

"It is a potion, obviously. It grants resistance to enchantments and magical poisons. It may help her recover."

"Th-Thank you," Jerris stammered. Jerris slowly poured the potion down his mother's throat, being especially careful not to spill a drop. Darien sat down in the chair and once again became lost in his own thoughts.

A few minutes passed. Leianna's breathing became more regular, and her coughing subsided. It appeared, for the moment, that she might have recovered. The older half-elf sat quietly, already working over the situation in his mind, deciding where to flee, and choosing the safest route to take. He was finally jolted out of his concentration by Jerris.

"She's waking up!" Jerris exclaimed. "She's gotten better. Praise the Light."

"Jerris," Leianna said. "It is so good to see you. I haven't run so far in so long, it must have tired me out." She spoke with a lighthearted carefree tone. The shade, however, realized that her overly cheerful tone served only to hide the lie on her lips, but she could not hide her lie from him. The pace of her speech had quickened slightly, and the pitch slightly elevated, sure signs she was concealing something. She knows exactly what's wrong with her, he said to himself. For the moment, however, he said nothing, deciding to allow them a few minutes of happiness. Though usually indifferent towards such sentiments, he found himself strangely relieved at this reunion. He thought for a moment of his own mother, and how differently that had ended. He shut his eyes and forced the memory back down into the recesses of his mind.

Jerris and Leianna cried and embraced, enjoying their reunion. They would have questions soon enough. The Duke's words had raised many that would have to be answered, questions about Darien's identity, and about the nature of Leianna's captivity. After several minutes had passed, he finally decided the time had come to clear the air.

"We have much to discuss. There's no point hiding it any longer. You both heard what the Duke said to me."

Jerris turned around, and Leianna looked over at Darien. The look on Jerris' face was one of doubt and concern, while Leianna appeared nearly terrified. "Is it true? Are you… who he said you were?" Jerris asked with trembling hesitation.

"I am," Darien replied, "or rather I was. I serve the Demon King no longer, which is why he hunts me."

"Why not tell me. It wouldn't have mattered. I would still have accepted your help. Didn't you trust me to keep your secret?” Jerris voiced his frustration.

"It was never a question of trust. I hoped to avoid putting you in danger. Those who hunt me will not hesitate to use you to get to me. Now you both face the peril I had hoped to avoid," Darien replied. "I apologize to you both. Though it was never my intention to do so, I have dragged you both into my own problems. I can do little but ask forgiveness."

Leianna's fear seemed to have subsided, and she and Jerris looked at one another. Then they whispered quietly to one another for several minutes. Deciding whether to continue to trust me or simply run, Darien reasoned. After a few minutes, Leianna turned to him, and spoke, "I understand why you hid your past from us. If you served that terrible tyrant, you must have done many terrible things, but you have acted honorably toward me and my son, so you still have our thanks. We owe you a debt that can never be repaid." Darien nodded, grateful to be past the uncomfortable moment.

"Did Jerris tell you about our arrangement?" Darien asked, wondering if she would still be so grateful knowing that her son had agreed to give up the starstone.

"What arrangement?" she asked. Darien only looked sternly at Jerris. Better if she heard it from her son.

"I agreed to give him my talisman, the one you gave me," Jerris said hesitantly.

"Jerris, you can't. That talisman is more precious than you know. It has the power to restore our ancient kingdom, to give all our kind a home. It's worth more than anything, more than my own life. You must live, and pass on that talisman. I told you this before you left. Why… Why didn't you listen? Why did you even show it to him?" Leianna sounded desperate, and Darien could understand why Jerris had thought her mad, but he did not think so himself. He had learned how to read well the faces of those he interrogated, even without magic, and he knew the difference between a madman repeating his own delusions and a desperate man trying to hold on to a single purpose in the face of pain and fear. Leianna appeared to be on the verge of tears. "Please, Darien. You've helped my son so much, but you cannot ask this. You do not understand what you ask."

"If I do not understand, then perhaps you should explain it to me," he replied coldly. "I do not make hasty judgments without understanding the situation, but the situation is different now. The Duke will set my pursuers upon you as well as myself, and I cannot allow the Demon King to get that stone."

Then Leianna looked curiously at Darien, no longer with any fear or uncertainty, but rather with unexpected familiarity, as though she were remembering something from long ago. "I cannot tell you," Leianna replied sternly. "I am bound by sacred oath never to tell any but those of our blood the secrets of the stone."

"Mother, he's a half-elf just like me," Jerris interrupted. "That's why I thought it was alright to show it to him. I just showed it to him. I didn’t tell him the rest of it." The sharp mind of the Executioner leapt to attention at the words. So, there was more he was hiding that my shadow sight failed to draw out, but I suppose that doesn’t matter now, he reflected.

Leianna looked at the cloaked figure, appearing skeptical. So, he lowered the hood of his cloak. The elf woman’s expression shifted, but the doubt remained. Darien sighed and rubbed his temple in frustration.

“If you won’t believe your eyes, what will you believe?” an exasperated Darien grumbled.

Before she could respond, however, Jerris took out the talisman from his shirt. Understanding his purpose immediately, Darien put out his hand to it. The light of the gem shined bright, brighter than before, drowning out the light of the torches. Why is the light brighter now, he wondered? He could only guess that it was because of the presence of the pure- blood Leianna.

"So he is," Leianna said, and smiled. "A half-elf. Hmmm… Even so, what I am about to tell you is the most closely guarded secret of our people. You must swear by your elven blood never to reveal any of this to outsiders."

"Secrets are an advantage. I do not give them away, with or without an oath. That is not my nature, but I will swear to it, if I must."

"Alright, I believe you." Leianna continued, "Fate has brought you to us, or us to you, as it may be. I did not always live in Duke Parham's castle. For centuries, I wandered the world, but even before that, I lived in a small elf village in what is now the Black Forest. I was the daughter of the village elder, and his father before him was elder, and his grandfather was the elder as well. I did not understand why until I was older. When I was a young maiden, our village was attacked unexpectedly. There were soldiers in black, humans wielding magic, ogres, orcs, goblins, and worse beasts. We were few, and no match for them."

"Who attacked you?" Darien interrupted, suspecting he knew the answer already.

"It was a human sorcerer. It must be the same one who now calls himself the Demon King, but I can't say for certain," Leianna replied.

"I see, Do you know why he attacked you?"

"My father only told me that the sorcerer was looking for starstones to make himself more powerful. Is that important?"

"Maybe. I suspected that was the reason, but I wanted to be sure, and anything you remember might be helpful, no matter how insignificant it seems. Now, please continue."

"Well, my father summoned me to the village hall and told me the secret of our family. Our family were not village elders because we were chosen. He told me our family name was Tolmirran, and that we were descended from the last kings of the elves from before the demons destroyed the great city of Karasan. This talisman is called the Star of Kings. It is the symbol of the kings of the elves, and identifies our family. My father told me to take it, and showed me a secret path out of the village. He told me that there was another sanctuary, greater than ours, the hidden city of Kadanar. He said there was a loremaster there, the last loremaster, and that he had a staff. The staff of the loremaster fits together with the Star of Kings somehow. He would have told me more, but there wasn't time. The last thing he told me as he pushed me down the secret passage was that no matter what happened, I shouldn't let that sorcerer ever get his hands on it. He told me his name, but after so many years I have forgotten."