RE: Monarch

Chapter 14. Everwood IX

There were three days left and the tension was mounting. I had an idea for how to take on Barion, but the issue was, it didnt account for his outside help. There just wasnt enough information there yet. So, absent better options I had started taking vurseng (the one that keeps you awake) to stop sleeping for the last two days. Not because I was concerned about Barion attacking me in the nightat this point I was confident he wouldnt move on me until sometime after the tenth daybut because I needed to know the relationship between him and his demonic murder elk. Unfortunately, Maya had never seen it or even heard of it. There were three possibilities:

Barion could commune with demons and did so the night of my escape.

Or he had some sort of method to directly summon them.

Or the demon resided within the Everwood itself.

After considering it, Id decided that the third was most likely. After all, I had seen the demon from a distance the first few nights in the woods. Unfortunately, I had no way of retracing my steps, which meant doing the one thing I had absolutely wanted to avoid at all costs: Following Barion into the wood. And of course, since I never saw him venture into the forest on his own during the day, he had to be going in the dead of night.

On the third sleepless evening, the opportunity finally presented itself.

I stalked Barion into the forest. He held a lantern out before him. Shadows of tree limbs and shrubs clawed upward like black tendrils. The vurseng kept me awake and alert, but nothing is free. On a baseline, average day it worked fine. When adrenaline hit and my heart was pounding in my throat, it made me stressed and edgy, jumping at shadows in the dark. And there were many shadows in the dark.

Moving from tree to tree I stepped softly, walking heel-to-toe and keeping my knees bent. The one upside to being so much smaller was that I weighed less, and with how thin-soled my shoes were, I could generally feel anything beneath me that might snap before it gave me away. So far, everything was going smoothly. I remembered my experience, alone in the dark of the Everwood, animals hounding me and nipping at my heels. This venture, by comparison, was borderline peaceful and I wondered if Barion was using some magical method to keep the creatures at bay. Then again, maybe they just smelled it on him, the monster he was, and knew well enough to stay clear. Then there was me and my dumb ass following him in the dark.

I grimaced.

I had a half-second warning before it happened, the slightest tug on my arm. A branch caught the fabric of my robe and snapped back, the whole branch rustling. The lantern in Barions hands swung around, darkness around me fleeing. I pushed myself up against the closest tree. The light stayed still.

Something touched my neck. Something long and chitinous with many, many legs. I pressed a hand over my mouth and reminded myself I was playing the role of a hero. Heroes did not make massive mistakes over little shit-bird bugs in the dark.

As if sensing the unspoken insult, the thing bit down just above my clavicle. I dug my fingers into my thigh, biting back the yell. Finally, the light moved on and I grabbed the thing off me. It was nearly the size of a snake, but with dozens of legs that pushed against my hand. Some part of me was grateful it was too dark to see. I reeled back and threw it into the forest.

Lucky bastard. If it were any other day I would have stomped you flat.

The skin around the bite was tender and hot to the touch. Poisonous then. Damn this forest. Everything was a nightmare, even the bugs. Id have to break out the anti-venom as soon as I got back to the cottage.

When I caught up to Barion, he was standing before a narrow entrance to a large cavern. The way its natural formation extended upward resembled a manmade gateway. Barion knelt. I heard humming, a low gravelly note that shifted downward then stayed flat, then downward again.

The antlers appeared first. Then the rest of it emerged into the dull lamplight, Its semi-transparent skin shimmered in the light and its insides moved like worms in a fishermans bait bag. The cold hand of panic gripped my heart in my chest. It smiled at him, the smile wide and disturbing.

"Where is my offering?" It questioned. The way it dragged out consonants made my skin crawl.

"My apologies," Barion replied. "There is no offering today. There have been circumstances beyond my control."

It leaned down and turned its massive head to look at him. "We cannot eat your excuses."

"True enough. However, I will soon offer something much more to your liking."

"You dare to bargain with us?"

Barions voice was triumphant. "I do. Next week, I will have an infernal for you."

A numbing chill swept over me.

Even the demon seemed shocked. "You would let us eat one of the masters?"

"I would indeed. She is weak and full of doubts. I have no further use for her, and we are far from the eyes of the enclave and council. No one will know." Barion smiled wickedly. "I wont tell, if you dont."

"One week."

Barion refilled the oil in his lantern and turned around to head back. It was all I could do not to jump out and strangle him. All throughout the walk back, my mind kept trying to justify it.

What if it worked? You could end it all right here. Get him.

I shook my head. That anger would be the end of me. There were a million reasons to wait. I didnt know what precautions hed taken, he was almost definitely armed, and if for whatever reason I failed and he was not killed, Id be resigning Maya to a fate worse than death. Those awful teeth came to the forefront of my mind. That was an experience I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy. Not even Thoth.

No.

This had to be perfect.

After weighing the possibilities, I went ahead and told Maya what Id discovered. She was less disturbed than Id expected, instead turning thoughtful and inward. The section of the river we sat near babbled peacefully, blissfully unaware of the coming storm.

"Most demons would not turn down the chance to slaughter my kind, given the opportunity. All that holds them back is the power we hold over them. If such a murder were ever discovered, the demon would be killed and their entire legion punished severely. My people do not take their rebellion kindly, and they are not the sort that responds to anything else beyond harsh punishment." Maya said the last part coldly. There was definitely some history there. There were also a dozen questions I wanted to ask, but many were just ignorant, and some of them were simply too rude. Were the demon-kin and demons actually related? And if so, how did the infernals spin-off from demons only to hold power over them now?

I picked the least offensive question that plagued me. "So, the legions are like tribes?"

"Similar, just more brutal and incestuous. They breed for power alone. The weakest are left to die or simply murdered in their cribs."

"They can be killed, then?"

"Yes." Maya hesitated. "But you must be thorough. Every remaining piece must be sundered and obliterated. Otherwise, they will slowly recollect their essence over time until they can manifest once more.

I frowned. "That sounds difficult."

"It is one of the many issues my people struggled with after the great division. Our primary method to seal them away was lost to us. Thus, the two of us are quite lucky." She smiled at me, flashing pointed incisors.

It dawned on me slowly, but I couldnt make sense of it. "The dantalion flame."

"Yes."

"But that doesnt make any sense. Theyre resistant to it."

"Only... while their soul resides in flesh. It is one of the first resistances they develop. Once the soul is vacated from their body, dantalion is used to bind them to the lower realm. But more importantly, how do you know that, Cairn?" Mayas face was a mask of confusion.

I froze. Damn. A huge blunder.

"Any chance of us chalking this up to me being a nosy bastard?" I offered her my most charming smile. She didnt bite.

"Your excuse for much as of late."

"Look, Maya-"

Maya shook her head. "We are allies for now. All sorts of folk can band together under a common threat. That is basic political theory. But I have had enough of the lies and half-truths from the man we now hunt." She fixed me with a withering stare. "If we pull this offand that is a sizable ifat some point after, there will be a conversation."

I sometimes forgot that Maya was young. In my case, it was understandable that I didn't act like a child, as I had a lifetime of experiences as an adult. I could only imagine how poorly this would go if I didn't. But Maya didnt share my curse. Despite her assertions to the contrary, she was just a kid. What was her life like in the enclave? What had she been through that caused her to grow up so fast? Barion, obviously, but her intelligence and self-assuredness didnt seem the sort of thing that developed over a handful of years.

"I still wait for your answer, Nilend."

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. Nilendwhat did that even mean? Too many questions. When I thought about it, there was no reason not to tell her. After Barion was gone, we would go our separate ways. She had no idea who I really was. If she did, I doubted wed be sitting here, having this same conversation. There was no issue with telling her the truth.

"Its not a grand conspiracy. Its just hard to explain. And to be frank, you probably wouldnt believe me." It came out far more bitterly than intended. I studied the craggy earth beneath my feet. That was the problem, wasnt it? I had all this information about what would come to pass. And no evidence whatsoever to prove it.

"At this point there is little I would not believe," Maya said. "But that is why it is best that we save this conversation for after. If there is an after. Now, we have more pressing matters. May I see it?"

"See what?"

"The flame."

I summoned the fire. It danced in my hand. Had it gotten bigger? It was still small, but no longer the pinprick of light it once was.

Maya sucked in breath. "It is beautiful."

Wed have to disagree on that, I supposed. It was difficult to see it as anything other than a weapon capable of causing immense chaos and strife. When I closed my eyes, I could still see the halls of my home burning. Every time I brought it to bear, more than anything else, I wanted it gone.

That sparked a memory.

"When I demonstrated the fire for Barion, something else happened. Something I didnt understand. It seemed to unsettle him."

"What?"

"No idea if I can do it again. Give me a second." I held the spark to a small, isolated tuft of grass. It burned quickly. Just like before, I pulled inward. The fire died.

Mayas eyes were wide. "How?"

"Thats what Barion said," I mused.

"No. How do you feel?" She asked.

I looked inward, and found a small spark of heat in my gut. "Thats strange I feel warm. I never noticed it before."

"And you have had no formal training."

"None."

"Swear it."

"On my honor," I said automatically, immediately regretting how that would sound. Commoners didnt swear on honor. Like everyone else, they swore on the gods or on holy books. But Maya didnt seem to know the difference.

Maya laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "And father so defiantly believes there is no such thing as fate. Dantalion practitioners are not all created equal. The vast majority will never leave the first stage, which is also the most famous: Ignition. Summoning the flame itself.

That seemed disappointing somehow. "So most of them only ever manifest a spark this size?"

"No. That is part of what makes your case so confusing. Most of the time their spark, as you call it, or ignis, is approximately the size of a fist. I am not belittling your efforts, of course." Mayas eyebrows lowered in thought. "It is normal for one who has no training. That is the way of things. You study the flame along with whatever magical talent you happen to possess, and if you are one of the lucky few, you enter the second stage."

I was fascinated by her explanation. Magic was so rarely spoken off, and even more rarely did the explanation come from one capable of wielding it. "Whats it called? The second stage."

Maya smirked. "Cebir. Or in your language, Control. You are a rare breed, Cairn the apothecary. It is the ability to withdraw the flame itself, limit its effect." The magnitude of the statement dawned on me slowly.

"In other words, what you just demonstrated. When we have our talk, Cairn, you will also be telling me how such a thing is possible, and where and how you learned the flame."

I nodded, though for the first time, it was a lie. I didnt mind telling her certain parts of my story. She deserved that much. But breaking down the fact that she herself had killed me was not something I was ready for. It still ate at me, every time I found myself enjoying her company.

Over the next three hours, Maya taught me the very basics of magic. How to use my hand as the focal point. After no small amount of convincing on her part, she got me to set a fire and stick my hand in it. I didnt burn. It still felt incredibly hot and uncomfortable, but the fire did not catch. She warned me that this particular aspect was exclusive to demon-fire, and advised against sticking my hand in good ol orange flame.

After Maya had left, I set fire to the field. I let the fire burn until it extended several feet in each direction, then pulled it back in. The warmth Id felt before was absolutely broiling now, and a bead of sweat slid down my face. I opened my hand and summoned the fire. It gushed upwards in an angry spout of flame a meter high.

As I watched the fire dissipate to strands of smoke, all the pieces fell into place. I knew how to beat Barion and the demon. It was an insane plan. Not to mention, it had a high probability of getting me killed. But it was the best I had.