Shadow Prince, page 23
part #2 of Demon Hunter Series
"Damn it.” Catricha gasped for breath. "I have to get out of here."
How foolish she’d been to go below the streets alone. She’d written to Ruar again, but he’d not replied or joined her at the meeting place, despite her hopes.
His brother must've got in his way. Or his honor. She hated her second thought, but the first was almost as bad. Ruar and Vual might be enemies now, not that it mattered much to Catricha if the demons caught her.
She climbed more stairs toward the surface, taking another flight upward. She panted out breaths as she raced up, up, and up. The two demons battling behind her, smashed through another side passage, but then quickly barreled back after Catricha. They fought in a flurry of limbs and spear strikes. Catricha saw the gray light of day ahead of her. The sun peeked through a cloudy sky.
She ran for the light. As she approached the exit, the sound of distant bells echoed in her head. She stumbled, and then came face-to-face with a new monster.
The demon outside the underground passage was tall and built strong, with heavily muscled arms. He bore a triangular scar on his face, but the mark appeared etched into the flesh on purpose rather than suffered in some battle. Catricha stumbled to a halt as the creature ducked his tall head and stepped into the passage in front of her.
"Who are you?" she asked. "What are you?"
"I'm your protector," said the demon. "I'm also your judge."
"That sounds familiar," she said. "Vual?"
"I'm wielding my sacra form," said Vual. "I was told keep it secret, but now I'm here to punish the monsters that lie below as well as you, for your complicity with them."
"Complicity? You know nothing, and your lack of knowledge will cost us our lives if you don’t stand aside."
"Do you think those demons behind you are going to defeat me?"
"They're getting closer," said Catricha.
"I don't care," said Vual. "I'm here to punish you."
FANHEDON GROWLED, A low sound that only Melissa could hear through her link with the demon in body and spirit. They faced the spider demon across the street from the surface amphitheater’s open gate. The clouds opened just as they emerged from the building.
Rain pattered down only lightly at first.
The spider demon prowled toward Melissa. Fanhedon’s power held her upright, and her iron bane kept her unfeeling and strong despite the battering. Melissa’s resolve grew as she held the spear in demonic metal hands.
"How much more stamina can you give me?"
"As much as you need," said Fanhedon. "I'm not seriously hurt, and pain won't be enough to stop me if this is the best he can fight."
Melissa nodded. She desperately wanted to breathe despite the metallic mask that replaced her face. She couldn’t breathe, because Fanhedon didn't breathe, but the sensation was unnerving at best and terrifying at worst.
What kind of demon is this? Fanhedon seemed to think he was a weak spider monk, but Melissa had yet to land a telling blow despite multiple attempts with her spear. The weapon reinforced by her iron bane had done serious damage to foes in the past. She’d felled demons more powerful than the spider, for certain.
"Do you know why he’s so tough?" she asked in silence.
"No," Fanhedon answered in the same quiet. "I’ve never faced a spider demon as enduring as this one.”
As enduring, Melissa thought, that’s one word for it. She twirled the spear before her and set the butt of the weapon on the cobblestones of the street.
They faced each other along the thoroughfare. The handful of people who'd been out in the rain kept their distance from the fray.
The spider threw back his head and laughed "You humans and your attempts to be like us...You can take the form of another, but none who has not fallen before."
"To be reborn is an honor," said Fanhedon. "One afforded only to those who fell in glory."
"Continue to lie," said the spider. "If you must."
"Who are you?" asked Melissa. “What is your name, spider demon?”
"I joined myself to the conclave that rests beneath the streets. We serve a lower power now." The demon giggled. “Beware Jasguara’s name.”
"Jasguara? Whom do you serve?" hissed Melissa.
Despite her low voice, the sound reached the spider demon over the falling rain.
He inclined his head and smiled. "We all need our secrets, and I will keep mine."
Fanhedon tensed her muscles. "Then it’s time you’re destroyed, as in any battle against a superior being."
"Fanhedon is it? I suspect being you’re less than truly immortal yourself, my form is the stronger. I will match you blood for blood."
The spider demon rose up on two pairs of his middle legs and spun a blade of silk that hung whip-like from his human fingers. The edge of the silk glittered with essence-disrupting banes.
“We are in the light," said the spider. "It is time to end this."
Melissa spoke in her mind. "Time to show your power, Fanhedon."
"We are in agreement," said her demon. "Time to strike." Melissa hurled herself forward, thrusting her spear toward the spider demon.
The foe recoiled, swinging his new blade of essence-silk to connect with the end of Melissa’s spear. The iron bane reinforcement kept the weapon in one piece, but the point deflected from the dissonant essences on the edge of the spider demon’s whip blade.
Melissa kicked out, pivoting on the spear butt planted on the ground. She drove both of Fanhedon's taloned feet into the demon's face. The spider demon caught the blow along the jaw and the cuts opened in the flesh there, though the wounds began to seal immediately.
The spider demon leapt backward and flew toward the tunnel opening. Catricha and the other mage in his sacra form retreated to either side as the spider demon flew between them. The thickly-muscled sacra form jumped over the spider demon and returned to the ground beside Catricha.
"You won't escape that easily," he said.
"Catricha," said Melissa. “Keep still. I'll be there in a moment."
“This man is out more odious than you know,” Catricha called in reply. “His form matches him well."
Before the unknown sacra form wielder could respond, the spider demon hopped back on all fours toward Melissa. Melissa didn't hear the other mage’s retort.
She and the spider demon clashed back and forth.
Melissa retreated a few paces, battering back blows from the long and ever-growing whip. The silk and attached essences left gouges in the street where it struck. The disruptive banes made stone burst with a mere touch.
"A formidable weapon," said Fanhedon inside Melissa’s mind. "But, I have means to defeat it."
"Tell me," said Melissa in silence.
"His essence is feeding the blade," said Fanhedon, “We must strike his spirit. Sever his link to the whip and you will be able to damage his connection to his weapon and disrupt its power."
"Separate his essences from the weapon.” Melissa parried another strike with a crack of the whip. “A good plan.”
Fanhedon and Melissa dodged to one side, skating along the stone street. They darted toward the spider demon’s flank. The spider demon lashed in their direction, but Melissa hurdled it. She flew through the air, then landed on the other side of the demon.
Her spear blocked the next whip strike. Fanhedon’s taloned hand jabbed toward the spider's wrist. The human hand of the demon contained a resident bane connecting all the power in the demon's body to the whip, just as Fanhedon suggested. Melissa understood the din of loud musical notes better as she stepped closer. Amid the chaotic sounds, she sliced at the bane on the spider demon's wrist.
Her teasing fingertips sliced through demon-skin, but the bane eluded her touch. Her essences couldn’t grip the monster’s inner power as the bane flew into the spider’s hand, narrowly avoiding her severing attack.
Melissa lurched backward, then leapt upward and blocked another strike with the spear’s haft. The whip coiled around her spear and the spider demon tried to yank the weapon from Melissa's hands. She reinforced her strength, using all Fanhedon's might and held the spear fast.
She dived toward the ground and landed, bouncing on both feet. She kept her grip on the spear while trying to twist it to break the demon’s grasp on the weapon. Her eyes narrowed within the mask.
She shoved out with all her strength, and forced the spider demon back another pace. The creature dug in his hind claws and pointed feet dove into stones of the street, pinning the monster in place.
Melissa lashed the spider with Fanhedon's feet, cutting at the demon's belly again. The spider recoiled, and released her spear from the coiling whip. In an instant, the demon redoubled his attack, but Fanhedon's armor proved enough to defend against every ensuing blow. In spite of the flurry of strikes, Fanhedon flinched mentally as the silk whip cracked across the street and propelled fragments of stone into her knees and shins.
"The pain is tolerable," said Fanhedon. "I will endure it for your sake, awakener.”
"What’s wrong?" asked the spider demon. "Are you two conferring?"
Melissa said nothing, but pressed the attack. She drove the spider to retreat toward the passage as the demon retaliated with a flurry of strikes and whips snaps.
Street stones cracked and flew out of place. After thirty minutes, as the bells tolled one o'clock, in the distant towers, Melissa began to tire. The spider appeared no worse for wear.
Fanhedon spoke to Melissa, "the pain is growing, but I will assist you as long as I can."
"As long as you can," said Melissa. “How much more can you take?”
“At this rate, it could be another hour, but we may be able to fight longer if we are careful."
"Once we take him down we can rest."
"I don't see a weakness in him," said Fanhedon. "I can't sever any of his essences."
"He must be protecting them somehow.” Melissa said.
"There is a presence about him. I can't be certain why, but he’s to be resilient to essence manipulation."
"Are you figuring me out?" The spider demon grinned. "When we awaken, we do not require rest for some time, and while we wake, we are resilient without limit.”
How much time?
"So you there is a limit to what you can do?" Melissa said.
"There are limits to everything any being can do," said the spider demon. "Fanhedon should know this best, among all of us, as a fallen form.”
"This fallen form is more than enough to end your prattle. " said Fanhedon. "Let me show you."
Melissa let the demon speak through her, but Fanhedon's temper appear to be rising even more than at the battle of Soucot. The boiling heat of rage coursed through Melissa. Her mind charged with the demon's fury. Can I control Fanhedon for much longer?
The spider demon raised his whip blade, then slashed outward, but failed to wrap the weapon around the spear as Fanhedon accelerated faster than before. The rage driving Fanhedon forced the spider backward. Her spear broke through the monster’s defenses and sliced through the demon's torso.
Still, not a single essence changed tune because of the blade. All their songs continued in discordant chaos. The spider demon’s lash cracked across Fanhedon's shoulder. White-hot pain burned more intense than the fury of Melissa’s inner demon. Fanhedon’s armor plate cracked and buckled with the force of the impact and the destructive power of the banes.
Nevertheless, Fanhedon did not release the spear or retreat from the demon. Her talons shot out from below, and tore at the other demon’s flesh. The spider demon’s skin hung in shreds, inner organs exposed. Black blood splattered the street. The spider still grinned manically as if he could feel no pain.
"Why won't you fall?" Fanhedon growled.
"The magic I wield is of the oldest kind."
"Division! You've made a cluster of external essences to protect yourself."
"All demons must find some way to live," said the spider demon in a husky voice. "I have found a way to live eternally alongside my brothers."
"You monks will never achieve what you want."
"On the contrary," the spider demon. "The conclave is close to an end."
Melissa grimaced. She twisted the spear in the demon's chest. Fanhedon's talons continued to rake and tear at the demon’s lower body. The creature appeared no weaker mentally, and his stamina remained despite the damage done to his body.
The whip-blade struck Fanhedon's head. Her mask cracked from the impact, and Melissa stumbled backward. She released her grip on the spear. The spider demon pulled the weapon from its chest with fluid motion.
“Now it is my turn to hurt you." A grin etched itself on the spider’s bloodstained features.
Shouts came from either side of them. She retreated a pace and found Galocai and Elaine along with Bethanelle and her hunters approaching along the street, opposite the direction where Catricha and Vual watched the fray.
“I have assistance," said Melissa. "And we will beat you now that they’ve arrived."
She took a defensive stance, both bloody claws raised. Despite Fanhedon's mental daze, Melissa remained clear of thought and in mind. The pain in the demonic form she wore did not extend to her human mind.
The spider demon laughed. "Then, I will have to punish you as well as them." He reeled his arm back and hurled Melissa spear straight at Catricha.
Melissa dove for the weapon, closing to intercepting it by grabbing the handle but she moved too slow to get a firm grip. She twisted, tackling the spear out of the air with every bit of Fanhedon's speed. The weapon skittered and bounced across the ravaged street and then rolled to a stop at Catricha's feet.
The spider jumped onto Fanhedon's back and pummeled her from behind. Blow after blow rained on her back, neck, and head. Melissa’s view rattled and she rolled onto the stones.
The demon’s spidery legs dug into Fanhedon's armor. The sharp points couldn't break it like they could the street, but the weight of the monster pinned her. She got her arms beneath the monster and then hurled the demon off. Melissa regained her feet.
"Should I finish them before or after you?" The spider demon cackled. "I have plenty of time for both."
"Your fight is with me.” Melissa raised her sharp hands.
"I will teach you what I please, Fanhedon, and your awakener, too." The spider demon tugged on his silk strings and flew to land on Fanhedon’s back once more. The monster clung to demonic armor as easily as any wall or floor.
"Melissa!" called Elaine. "Are you alright?"
The pain and haze of the demon’s slashes on her back raced through Melissa. "Elaine, stay back."
Galocai put his hands together, completing a woven spell, and shot a bolt of hardened air. He knocked the spider demon from Fanhedon's back. Melissa whirled to face the monster, gaze flickering with pain as she looked from Fanhedon’s cracked mask.
She retrieved her spear with a quick kick and catch, then grimaced with pain. A shadow flitted passed overhead. She heard the same song as the first day she’d met Deckard Hadrian. The sound of divine trumpets blasted through Alliance.
Deckard Hadrian slammed onto the spider demon’s back, crashing down with more force than a man of six-and-a-half spans in height could ever wield without magic. His impact smashed the spider into the cracked earth, cratering the street beneath them. Deckard stooped. He picked up the spider demon, as if the stunned monster was light as a feather. He hurled the promortal demon into the air.
“No," the demon screamed. "Hadrian?"
Deckard did not wait, but flew into the air after the spider. The airborne demon caught the harsh breeze on a band of silk, narrowly avoiding Deckard's next strike.
The spider demon cut his silk tethers and fell back to the street. He scuttled through the tunnel in the amphitheater, and into the darkness of the catacombs. The sound of his heart song receded.
Deckard land beside Melissa. The sun above was obscured by clouds. Rain began to fall heavily.
“Fanhedon," said Melissa. “Rest.”
"Thank you, awakener.” Fanhedon's form faded from Melissa and she regained her own shape.
She stared at Deckard. "I didn’t expect you," she said.
"Surely you knew I was present in the city," said Deckard. "I'm not exactly surreptitious. I'm surprised that spider demon could handle you in your sacra form for so long."
"You ought to know.” Melissa gulped a breath. “No demon or Sacra form is invincible."
"Wait.” Deckard’s eyes narrowed. “There's something wrong.”
He turned in the direction of the palace, where rain struck the dome and a heavy shadow descended from the clouds over the city center.
The clouds parted for moment, and the ring around the world, where the city of the maladrites stood, appeared in the heavens. For a moment, even the weak sunlight illuminating the ring brightened the sky to brilliance. The clouds rejoined as suddenly as they’d parted. Deckard’s attention snapped back to Melissa.
"I must go," he said. "Don't return underground today."
"What’s happening?" Melissa glared at him. "Tell me."
"There's been an attack at the palace."
He took to the air and raced toward the city center. Melissa charged after him, reinforcing her limbs with her already-weary essences to accelerate herself faster.
HE RACED THROUGH THE corridors of the prince’s palace, bounding toward Kizoni’s chambers. The smell of blood and the sound of disrupted essence-songs filled the dim passageways. Deckard hated to be tricked, and the growing pit of dread in his stomach told him the spider demon had gotten the better of all of them.
In the hall outside Kizoni's chamber, beneath a derelict lantern with the lights of the sprites, Deckard hesitated. He stared at the open doorway. The glimmering of orange, fading sunlight out the window told him the day was growing late. Through the doorway and the window lay the shapes of the two guards who usually stood in attendance of the dowager regent’s chambers.
Deckard clenched his fists and marched to the doorway.
The sunlight cast a bitter glare on the bodies in the room. The fallen form of Terrel Varder slumped beside one of the handmaidens, strewn upon the elegant couch near the window. Two more guards, lay collapsed in the wings of the entryway. Whatever had struck them had struck fast and hard.
