Shadow Prince, page 30
part #2 of Demon Hunter Series
Melissa led them once Galocai brought them within sight of the Kuldettan house. He fell behind a few paces while she used her essences and spear to cut path through the gathering blanket of snow.
She cast aside drifts of snow to form a path for the others. They reached the gate and the guards stood huddled in the falling snow.
"Have either of you seen Catricha Maltos?" asked Melissa.
"She was here," said one of the guards. "We kept her from entering at our lord's request."
"Which lord?" asked Galocai.
"Young Ruar commanded it. We don’t often take orders from him directly, but Lady Filavaye was talking to Deckard Hadrian. They're still inside."
"Deckard is here?" Melissa glanced at Elaine. "Why would he be here except to begin a search for Vual?”
"Can you let us in?” Galocai said. "There is a gold piece in it for each of you."
One of the guards smiled. "If nothing else, we’ll get to go inside, and be out of the cold more quickly."
The other guard nodded.
The two men opened the gates and let Melissa and the others inside. One of the men gave a half-nod to Galocai.
"Thank you.” Galocai pressed a pair of gold pieces into the guard’s hand. Share this with your companion. We have to be on our way quickly."
"We understand.” The guard grinned. "You and the young ladies enjoy your visit."
"Enjoyment isn’t our objective," said Melissa. "Catricha Maltos disappeared after she came here. She didn’t return to meet us."
"That worries me.” Galocai nodded. “And if she's out of this, things can be very serious indeed."
"She couldn’t have just gotten lost, right?" said Melissa. The three of them made their way into the House of Kuldettan.
WITHIN THE DARK SANCTUARY of House Kuldettan’s manor, Melissa, Elaine, and Galocai met with a gentle servant who ushered them into the study. There, Deckard and Filavaye sat across from each other in high-backed chairs. Deckard's robe was the largest light in the room, reflecting the candles glowing from the corners. The high window on the far side was already etched with the tracery of feathery ice spreading across the glass.
Melissa and Elaine froze as Deckard raised his head and looked at them.
"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Melissa repeated. "Vual disappeared last night. Catricha's been taken as well."
"Maltos?" said Filavaye.
"Catricha was taken," said Deckard softly, closing his eyes with furrowed brow.
Filavaye looked out from her mountain of blankets. "The shadow is eliminating potential threats to his throne."
"He has taken three already. And if you need more, we don't know but he could come here next."
"Or the Graef estate.” Melissa smashed a fist into her palm. "Damn it."
"Bethanelle would be a natural target.” Filavaye nodded. "If he's eliminating heirs or challengers."
"That would leave only Nansoela and Galocai," said Melissa.
"Get them here, then," said Galocai. "My sister isn't safe."
"We'll get back to her in time," said Melissa. "We have to find Catricha, Kizoni, and Vual."
"The city.” Deckard pressed his hands against his knees. “The city on high if my suspicion."
"The city?" said Filavaye “You can’t mean—"
“They must have been taken to the maladrite city."
"The city above?" Filavaye stared at Deckard in shock. "How? And why?"
“I don't know for certain," Deckard said. "My research with Porfiria Amburen suggests they were taken not by the shadow alone, but another being called a meridian, one of the most powerful recorded kinds of demon. Only one dwells above. His name is Anloth.”
"You can stop one of these demons, can’t you, ancestor?"
"I don't know.” Deckard rose from the chair. "I will do what I can."
“You need to go to the city?" said Melissa. “To face this meridian?"
"I intend to rescue Catricha, Vual, and Kizoni, and you can be of help, as well."
"I’ll try.” Melissa nodded.
"You’ve just gone to the city for the first time as I understand it. You’ll do fine.”
Melissa turned to Elaine. "You should protect Bethanelle as best as you can, Heron too."
"Of course.” Elaine nodded. "Heron might also be a potential victim."
"I will send as many guards as possible to find Nansoela," said Filavaye.
"Hopefully that will be enough,” Melissa said.
Filavaye bowed her head toward Deckard and Melissa. “I’m sure you two have your plans on saving my son and the others. Deckard, you must let me go with you.”
“No,” said Deckard. “I love you, but I don’t trust you, my child.”
Filavaye seethed as Deckard turned and led the way out of the study. Melissa, Elaine, and Galocai followed him.
CATRICHA WOKE IN A cold place, but nowhere near as freezing as the streets of Alliance in winter. Metal cruved beneath her as if she sat within a giant spoon. The floor curved slightly, cupping her body against it. She planted her hands and tried to stand up, but the room was dark, and she slipped on the smooth surface. A sound clanged above her, and she turned, noticing her intake of breath. A light glimmered from a doorway above her.
"Who's there?" she called.
"Just me, my bride,” said Adias. "But only by proxy."
She squinted against the light and made out a man in the doorway in the wall of the metallic room. The more she saw, the more the room resembled the inside of an eggshell than a spoon. The ceiling followed a similar but inverted curve, compared to the floor.
"You mean you're not really here?" she said.
"I sent my sword servant to look after you," said Adias. "You know Sion."
"Sion?" Catricha remembered a hand clamped over her mouth just before she lost consciousness in Alliance. "He was there."
"Yes," said Adias, as the figure at the top of the stairs descended from the doorway into the bowl where Catricha sat.
"Sion has proven very pliable to my will."
"You're controlling him?" Catricha scowled. "With magic?"
"With dreaming," said Adias. "A dream is all it takes to make life transform into something altogether different."
"Something different?" said Catricha. "You’re not creating a dream, but a nightmare."
“Nightmare?” Adias sighed, turning up the palms of both Sion’s hands in a shrug. "Obviously, you would say such a thing.”
“Sometimes, the obvious is the best response," said Catricha. "You murdered Saviron."
"He had to die," said Adias. "As will you, soon enough, my dear widow."
"Why not just kill me and be done with it?" asked Catricha.
"Is that what you want?" asked Adias. "Because I can think of some things you'd rather live for."
"You don't know anything about me," said Catricha through a grimace of pure hatred. “You never have.”
"On the contrary. I know all too much about you, my unfaithful bride." The shape of Sion Arver resolved fully from the shadows as he entered the pool of light falling from the doorway above. He stood over Catricha. "I will punish you," said Adias with a smile curling those lips. "I will take what I wish from you with whatever hands I control at the moment."
Catricha softened her glare, thinking of loyal Sion. "You don't hate me, Sion," she said. "Adias hated me."
"I still do," said Adias using Sion’s lips.
"You don't have to do this," said Catricha. "Sion, you can fight him!"
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible for a sleepwalker like him," said Adias. He crouched before Catricha. His hand stroked her cheek, and she pulled back. His other arm swiped out, and he slapped her with all his strength.
Catricha recoiled stunned. She touched her smarting face and glared at him. "Is that all you want?" To beat me?"
"A member of a noble house needs to know how to do battle," said Adias. "But I see you don't have your bane dagger with you."
Catricha realized she’d left the weapon with Melissa and Elaine at the Tower of the Fallen. She gritted her teeth.
"That will do," said Adias. "Your lips and your mouth were meant for nothing but pain. Your defiance will do you no good." He brought Sion's face close to Catricha's. "Or perhaps you'd rather have a taste of what’s between his legs with what meets yours."
"No," said Catricha. "Even you wouldn’t–"
"Even I wouldn't dare?" said Adias. "Soon, I will rule the entire Princedom of Alliance," he said. "I'll do whatever I please with whoever I want there."
"There?" said Catricha. "Where are we?"
"Above.” Adias leered at her. "We are in the city of the maladrites, so even if you escape this chamber, there is no way you will return to Alliance. Any human who the maladrites capture becomes a slave, and that is if they’re lucky, as far as I understand.”
"The maladrites," said Catricha. "They’re ruthless as they are wicked."
"Indeed they are," said Adias. "I’ve learned much from them. Their lore is what led me to discover the ancient Shadow of Jasguara."
"You always read too much," said Catricha. "You explored too deeply, where you should never have gone at all."
"I can’t agree," said Adias. "I am nearly immortal now. I will last forever. Whereas you will perish within days."
"Days?" said Catricha. "You plan to simply let me starve in here?"
"I've always despised you, Catricha," said Adias. "You didn't belong among us. You and your mother's blood combined with your father's ill will meant your family must be purged. I will do this, because my dear, you have been in my way for far too long. I only married you because I thought I would get the chance to destroy you on my terms."
"And my family?" said Catricha. "You hate us because we’re not like you."
"Of course," said Adias. "Don't we all hate what we don’t understand?"
"We are like you," said Catricha. "Or, we were. Before you became a monster."
"My dear," said Adias. "By your standards, I was always a monster."
Catricha said nothing but glared at him. Her eyes were already welling with tears, uncontrollable, inevitable.
"You," said Adias. "You were considered a great beauty by many of my friends, Catricha. But I always despised you from your appearance, to your manners, to your wit. Everything about you is bleak and lifeless, and soon your life will be mine to take."
"But it isn't yet," said Catricha. "What are you waiting for?"
"I want to hold the blade myself," said Adias. "And a ghost can't hold a dagger."
"What do you mean?" asked Catricha. "You wounded Galocai."
"I can sever essences and disrupt bonds."
"You killed those guards to kidnap the dowager regent."
"No," said Adias. "I had help."
"Who?" said Catricha. "Not Sion?"
"Not him," said Adias. "My dream had yet to take control at the time. No, I had the help of a demon in taking Kizoni. You must know, she is with child."
"What?" said Catricha. "I merely suspected, but I didn't know."
“I'm going to leave you with that thought. I have plans for that child. To live again, this time forever, I’d sacrifice anything. Anything.”
"But it's not time.” Catricha smirked. "The child won’t be born for months, and you want to have your new body in days."
"Of course," said Adias. "But I have secrets to keep myself, little Catricha."
She spat on the floor of the eggshell. The metal reflected in glimmered with the saliva. Sion’s back straightened, and his eyes glazed over. Catricha got to her feet, slowly. Adias said nothing more.
She glanced at Sion. His eyes remained vacant, but she knew he was in there somewhere.
"Can I help you?" she asked his empty features.
Sion still wore the sword of House Halth at his side.
"I need to get out of here,” Catricha whispered.
She stared into Sion's face. He blinked twice. He could regain his senses soon, or Adias might return.
Catricha delivered the fiercest blow she could manage, pumping the power and solidity of her night bane into her fist. Her shadow-clad knuckles connected with Sion’s jaw. He staggered, moving more like a broken carriage axle rather than a human. Darkness flowed from Catricha's impact point, surrounding his eyes, covering his features, and blocking his senses.
Catricha ran as fast as her legs would carry her up the eggshell, toward the door. Light greeted her, and Catricha stormed onto the ring above the world. Maladrite architecture loomed all around her, alternating sleek and sharp. A nearby tower of black sand cast the longest shadow over the street where she stood, chilled in the evening wind.
Strange forms turned toward her from along the metallic street. The sun glinted on faces and bodies more bizarre than she’d ever read about. The nearest one was a pallid maladrite with the body of a giant crab from which sprouted the upper half of a man. The monster scuttled in her direction.
Catricha’s eyes widened. I can’t freeze now, or I’m doomed.
Left with nowhere to hide, she fled up the black tower’s slope. Her breath came in harsh gasps as she fought the sand threatening to trap her feet by sinking away with every step. Looking up, she stopped in her tracks. A cave mouth loomed before her leading into the tower of sand. Rivulets of black dust cast into the air by her passage scattered behind her. The crab-maladrite retreated along the street at the tower’s base.
Whatever dwelt within this tower scared even other monsters.
Sion emerged from the tunnel where she had stunned him, at the base of the tower where she’d been taken by Adias. His head turned in her direction.
Adias called after her. “You fled? I expected more from you, Catricha!”
Catricha answered him with a glare.
Sion struggled to climb the tower’s wall, steep as ever. His greater weight slowed him in the sand. She scrambled the rest of the way to the mouth of a cave in the sandy wall.
Glancing behind her, she saw Sion was still twenty yards away. She took a deep breath and forced herself to run into the darkness, past caring about what horrors awaited within. Her feet sank into the floor, slow and unsteady.
What could this place be? She asked herself. What kind of maladrite lives in a tower of sand?
The black tower surrounded her, walls dark and cold. A skittering sound echoed from deeper within the tower, the only sign of any other creature, maladrite, human, or otherwise. She plunged into the dark. Then came a din like a thousand feet all working as one to carry a single massive weight.
She screamed and ran deeper into the tunnel. Another voice answered her in the darkness, fearful and all too human.
“Who’s there?” Catricha asked.
“I am Kizoni Duhikzo,” whispered a low voice from ahead of her.
Catricha squinted forward. By the little lights of pale, glowing plants, she saw the face of the dowager regent.She was bound by the plants. Loops connected her to the wall. Then, the demonic monster arose in the tunnel beyond them.
“Welcome,” said the deep voice from an unseen body. “Are you here to play a game with the last meridian to dwell on high?”
THEY ENTERED THE CITY using a shrine near the Kuldettan estate. Standing on high on the street outside the House of Mercy, Fanhedon's emotionless mask turned toward Deckard.
"Where should we look?" Melissa asked in the demons voice.
"I have ideas," said Deckard. "But the place drawing me now is dangerous, the black sand tower."
"The black sand tower.”
Deckard pointed at the horizon behind Melissa and across the ring over the bend of the earth. There stood a towering shadow. In the twilight, the shape eclipsed the moon, and cut off all light from above, blackening the stars in that direction.
"A tower outlines the night."
"Poetry, is it?” Melissa grunted. "We'll find Catricha soon enough. Vual, Catricha, and Kizoni."
"Those are the three we know are missing," said Deckard. "But there could be others."
Melissa nodded.
"To work," said Deckard.
They set off through the streets, leaping and bounding across the metal and stone of the city of the maladrites. Deckard glided ahead, catching the wind. The cold of the night closed in around them. The city on high grew extremely cold in the dark. What light was captured by the cities metallic domes and gleaming streets was mostly absorbed or reflected during daylight hours. The city became hot when the sun emerged, and cold when the light failed.
The two of them climbed through the night, making their way far from Mother Mercy’s house. Only Deckard caught sight of a winking shape, like half a person standing in the darkness between them and the tower.
"Ilrona," he murmured.
Melissa glanced in his direction. "Who is that?" She skidded to a stop, taking a fighting stance.
"That is Mother Mercy's handmaiden," said Deckard. "Ilrona, the lady of light and dark."
"She's a demon?" asked Melissa.
"Yes. Almost all the denizens above are demons or maladrites."
"So she's here to stop us?" asked Melissa.
"More likely to interrogate me.” Deckard shook his head. "You go ahead. I'll deal with her."
"I’ll do what I can to search the tower, but it's so large. I don't know if I can a get all the way through it.”
"You'll be fine, Melissa. Go."
She took off through the streets running with Fanhedon's long stride.
Deckard flew forward, aiming for Ilrona. She held up her right hand and stopped him in his tracks with two words. "Catricha Maltos."
"What did you say?" Deckard slowed his flight and then landed in front of Ilrona. "What do you want with her?"
"You lied to me, demon hunter."
"I told you I didn't know what her strong essences were. That’s all I knew at the time."
"But you didn't report to me as you said you would.” The bright side of Ilrona’s mouth curved in a scowl.
“I had other things to attend to. Now she's been taken."
"Taken?" Ilrona’s nostrils flared. The shadow side of her expanded, seeming to swallow the bright side except for the tiniest sliver of light. "I need to find those essences.”
