A Shadow's Tale (23 page)

‘I am Kaleb of the Dead.' Although he spoke in a quiet voice, it seemed all the louder and more powerful by his presence and what his name meant.

‘The Would-be King…' I murmured. That's what legend called this creature. The Would-be King of the Dead Dimensions. Named so since he ruled over everything dead and dying, but it was considered that, since the dead were the dead, he ruled over nothing. For species such as demons, who knew about the legends of the great legions of the undead who resided in other dimensions, this was untrue. So he was named the Would-be King. Many religions paid tribute to him to watch over their ill and deceased. Yet, here he stood, in my dimension. He chuckled deep in his chest, his eyes fixed on my mask.

‘I believe that it what they call me.' His eyes fell to Phantom. Unsure of his intentions, I laid a hand on the wolf's head, unnerved. ‘May I become acquainted with your wolf friends, my Lady?'

‘I have only one of my guards at my side for the moment,' I explained. ‘His name is Phantom.' The wolf curled one lip back, showing his teeth. Phantom's usual way of greeting people.

‘I am gifted with Truesight. I am able to see your other companion inside the palace, as well as the Kraferr. I see things as they really are. No amount of magic can disguise anything. Your mask, for example, provides no challenge for me. You are quite lovely, if I may say so without meaning any disrespect, My Lady. I know it is by law that you wear it.'

My hand flew to my mask, my eyes widening. The guards had raised their weapons, but I motioned for them to stand down. There was no need to antagonise the Would-Be King. If legend was accurate, he could obliterate the dimension in the blink of an
eye. I closed my eyes briefly, regaining my composure. I had to try to find a way around this.

‘Why have you come here, Kaleb of the Dead?'

‘I seek companionship, my Lady, a place to stay where the inhabitants will not be put off by my presence.'

I nodded once, turning to one of the guards nearby, instructing him to find suitable quarters for the Would-Be King. Turning back to Kaleb, I inclined my head. ‘You will be given a place to stay here for as long as you wish, Would-be King. Should you allow me to excuse myself, I have affairs that require my attention.'

Bart was sitting on the bench, waiting patiently. He jumped as I walked in. His eyes dropped to my shaking hands, but to his credit, didn't comment. Instead, he enquired about the bag across my shoulders.

‘I'll be taking you back to Earth and staying there for a couple of days,' I explained. ‘I don't want you messing up again and ending up in yet another dimension.' Without another word, I held out my hand for him to take. He took it immediately. Smiling slightly, I focused my mind, and teleported.

Earth was colder than I remembered. I pulled my cloak closer around me, shivering briefly while I got used to the smells again. Oh, the joys of polluted air. It stinks. It made me glad that the demons had no use for industrialisation, not while we had magic in its place. We had landed on the roof of an apartment building where I guessed Bart lived with Dominique. Both the Kraferrs' essences were infused into it. Bart lead the way down a few flights of stairs, taking a set of keys from his belt to open a heavy front door. He gestured to me to pass, closing and locking the door behind him. I leapt back as a homicidal hurricane streaked past me in a flash of fur and metal, pinning Bart to the door with a formidable growl and a knife at his neck.

‘Where the HELL have you been?!' Dominique snarled. The knife clattered to the ground as the Kraferrin crushed his ribs with a hug. Bart looked completely bewildered by Dominique's violent mood swing, wearing an expression that made me wish I had brought a camera.

‘Dominique?' the Kraferr gasped, ‘Dominique, we have a guest…' The Kraferrin released Bart, but the glare she dealt him declared that she wasn't finished. She straightened her clothes, turning to run a critical eye over me for a heartbeat before her face took on an expression of forced welcome.

‘Sorry about that. I'm Dominique…'

‘I know,' I replied. She looked a little confused by my answer. I reached up to pull off the mask. A look of delight crossed her face before she nearly bowled me over with a hug. I patted her back, trying to draw breath under the affectionate attack. It was almost a relief when she let me go.

‘I can't believe you're back! Bart told me that you had to go and take over from your dad!' She glanced over her shoulder at
the Kraferr in question. She wrinkled her nose slightly. ‘Bart, why don't you go and take a shower while Shad and I catch up?' She turned back to me. ‘I'm guessing you're going to be here for a couple of days at least if you've crossed dimensions. You can stay with us.' I opened my mouth to argue, but Dominique shot me a silencing glare. I shut my mouth again. I may rule a dimension, but I wasn't going to argue with a Kraferrin on her home turf. I kinda liked having all my limbs attached to my body, thanks.

Dominique showed me to a small guest room. I thanked her and put my satchel down. I held my mask a little longer before placing it on the bed along with the circlet that told the world who I was; It felt a little odd to take it off. I had been wearing it for so long that I barely felt its weight any more. Now my head felt strangely light.

‘What brought you back to Earth? I mean, Bart told me you weren't planning on coming back, that you were an important figure over there.'

‘I rule the dimension,' I admitted. ‘I took over from my father.'

‘And you just left? Surely that's not a very, uh, royal thing to do?'

I sighed heavily, sitting down. ‘I had to get away from Aspheri. I've got to make a really difficult decision.' I rubbed my temples in an attempt to alleviate my headache. ‘To make a long story short, I either marry the prince of another dimension, or go to war and see Aspheri destroyed.'

‘So there's a man who thinks he can bully you into marrying him because he can't get a girl any other way,' Dominique clarified. ‘Do you want to marry him?'

I snorted in laughter. ‘Alena's an ice dimension. Aspheri's fire. Even if I did love this guy, there's no way I am going to share a bed with an ice cube in human form!'

Dominique smiled at that. ‘But you can't refuse him or you'll lose your dimension…'

I shook my head. ‘I'd lose Aspheri no matter which option I chose. I guess I'm just going to have to do a little diplomatic stalling until I can ally with a few more dimensions.' Dominique looked down at her hands, blushing a little. I could tell that there was something she wanted to talk about. Pushing my own problems to the back of my mind, I waited patiently for her to speak.

‘Shad, is there any record of a part-demon becoming a full demon?' She looked up at me, worry written on her face. I tilted my head to one side, inviting her to elaborate. ‘Well, there have been times when Bart's turned demonic and struggled to come back. I want to know if…if there's any chance he won't be able to come back.'

I leant back on my hands, trying to put my thoughts into words. ‘Part-demon minds are complex,' I began. ‘We have our non-demonic sides, but there's also the demon. We can't survive without it. The two sides of us are constantly fighting for control, and only one can be in command at any one time. Bart was raised as a human. That part of him will always be stronger, but it also means that when he does submit to demonic possession, the demon will hang onto control with everything it has. There are ways to help someone come back, as well as training yourself to fight it, but it's a lot of work, especially for an Unborn like Bart. You have to help them focus on something very human to get them back from a demonic possession. The clan used pain, for example.'

Dominique left me to change out of my dress, leaving with a thoughtful but slightly puzzled look on her face. I rummaged through my bag, pulling out the clothes Aleth had packed for me. I made a mental note to grant whatever favour she next asked of me. She had packed a pair of trousers, a hooded sweatshirt and my favourite pair of low-heeled boots. The demoness definitely
knew me. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail, a style Aleth would never let me wear on the account that she had enough trouble trying to make me look like an adult, a complaint I always answered with: ‘It's not my fault I got stuck with a fifteen-year-old body!' A bit childish of me, perhaps, but one of the perks of being a ruler is that you can get away with it.

Within a few minutes of me changing, Dominique called me though with a cry of ‘Dinner's nearly ready!' I have to admit that I had smelt the food cooking and realised how much I missed earth food. More than that, I missed regular meals! I may have been Princess of Darkness, but that didn't mean I had the time to eat as much as people think I did. I was just too busy most of the time. Seriously, there's a lot any ruler has to do in one day. I laid the table, revelling in the normality of everything. My mouth was watering with the smell of the seasoned steak and potatoes. Dominique brought the food to the table, looking a little embarrassed.

‘I know it's probably not what you're used to…'

I stopped her there. ‘It smells great.' Looking a little happier, she set the food on the table, and we began to eat. I watched Bart out of the corner of my eye. He ate little, a dark expression clouding his face. That troubled me greatly. What troubled me even more was the fact that he was playing with a bread knife. He held it in a way that was definitely not suitable for cutting bread. Throats, perhaps, but not bread.

‘Get down!' he yelled a split second before a window shattered. A human, a man, grabbed Bart from behind. The Kraferr head-butted him, breaking the human's nose in a spray of blood, sending him staggering back while Bart dived for the knife he had dropped. I allowed my seething magic explode from my hands, pushing the would-be assassin up against the wall while wrapping tendrils around Bart to pin his arms to his sides, flicking the knife out of reach of either the Kraferrs or the human.

‘Useless slab of human flesh!' Bart snarled, struggling against my hold. ‘Every week you try again! Do I have to kill you all?!'

‘Bart,' I growled in warning. ‘Emotions in check, please.' The Kraferr glared at me, but fell silent. Dominique stepped forwards.

‘Listen, you! You can tell your employers that if they don't start leaving us alone, the next soldier sent here will find himself sent back to base in a matchbox while he's still alive, got it?'

‘Okay, Dominique, I think you can stop threatening him now. He looks scared enough and we don't want to have to clean up the puddle.' Casting a final murderous glance at the assassin, she stood down. I released the magic, letting the human fall unceremoniously to the ground. With a look of absolute terror, he scrambled for the door, running away as fast as possible.

‘Well, uh, I think I'll just, uh, go to bed,' Dominique said shortly before dashing into her room and slamming the door. Bart shot me a dark look, moving to stand by the window, looking out over the dark city. I stood next to him, my hands in the pocket of my hoody.

‘If you're going to tell me off, Shadow, get it over with.'

I leant against the wall, running a hand though my hair. ‘Bart, you have to learn to control yourself. You're a danger not only to yourself, but to others as well.'

‘I know, you keep telling me.'

I had to grit my teeth and count to ten before answering the Kraferr. ‘You're not some low level demon with all the inherent magical ability of a wet paper bag! There's a reason Karthragan's line is the royal line! If you don't start stamping down on your emotions, you are going to turn this city and everyone in it to dust!'

‘The demon's going to take over sooner or later. Why bother fighting it?'

I suppressed the urge to hit my head off the wall with some difficulty. ‘Welcome to the life of every part demon who had ever
lived! You have another being in your head trying to take control! Most of the time, you can ignore it, but for the rest, you have to actively suppress it with the sheer force of your will!' I paused and softened my tone. ‘I care about you too much to see you become a rogue demon the clan has no choice but to put down.'

Bart grunted in response, glaring out over the sleeping city.

I sighed heavily. ‘I will be paying a visit to the clan tomorrow. I would appreciate it if you would come with me.' Without waiting for an answer, I turned away and shut myself in my borrowed room for the night.

I stood a little way off from the clearing where the clan had made their home. I tried not to think of them as my family now. Every time I did, the scar from Vrael's arrow ached. I glanced back at Bart, who gazed at the house with mixed emotions on his face. Tearing my gaze away, I spotted my old sword, still planted upright in the ground, marking the head of my grave. Moving to stand next to it, I touched the blade Shaeman had forged for me, which Amarath had taught me to wield. The long sword I carried on my hip was perhaps a finer blade, but it still paled in comparison to the one now rusting in the ground. Dropping my hand to my side, I turned back to Bart and then looked up at the trees.

‘Okay, you can come down now. I know you're there.'

With a couple of muffled curses, my guard unit dropped from the trees. The captain of the unit, Nergal, looked particularly uncomfortable.

‘My Lady, you were not supposed to be aware of us.'

‘Captain, since you and your demons follow me everywhere you can get a trace on my magical signature and that I know you post a guard in my room while I sleep and carry more weapons than my sister whether you're on duty or not, it was safe to assume you had followed me here.'

The captain turned an interesting shade of grey which, given that our blood is black, equated to him blushing. I guessed that it was because, as new as he was to being in charge of a guard squad, he wasn't used to people noticing his tactics. Smiling slightly to myself, I headed towards the clan's home.

As soon as we got within smelling range of the cottage, an earth-shaking, braying neigh shattered the air. I shook my head to clear the ringing noise from my ears. At least Merlas was still around, acting as a smell activated doorbell. Within moments, Amarath, Shaeman and Vrael stood outside the house, armed to the teeth, but thankfully adopting defensive stances. Vrael and Shaeman were the first to realise that they were facing the ruler of Aspheri, dropping immediately into a bow, Shaeman's hand dragging Amarath down with them. We came to a stop a few metres away from the trio, my guards fanning out around me to take their positions. In a flurry of thundering hooves, Merlas came charging out from behind the cottage. The guards raised their weapons. Their intent towards the doe was clear.

‘Stand down!' I commanded. Merlas snorted at them as they lowered their weapons. She stepped past them, lifting her hooves high, ears pinned back and baring her teeth. She came to stand in front of me, head turned to one side to get a better look. Her ears flicked back and forth, as if trying to work something out. She had a sniff at my hair. The tension was tangible. The trio of part-demons needed to know what Merlas was up to. My guards had no idea what a pegasus was, let alone whether or not it was dangerous. None of that mattered to me somehow. All that mattered was if Merlas recognised me as the same Shadow that lay six feet beneath a sword gravestone. I had never thought about how much I had been changed by the reincarnation. The clan had rejected me vehemently. Would Merlas? She had been away during the prophecy. She hadn't seen me die. Maybe…Maybe she would know who I was…I prayed that she would accept me. The doe lifted her left hind leg, watching me with a
critical eye. She pawed the air a little. Memories of Synairn surfaced in my mind, of Merlas and me by the little stream in the mountains, of learning to walk on four legs. I raised my left leg, mimicking her movements. She squealed, almost barrelling me over as she charged at me, thrusting her head into my hands. I laughed aloud, throwing my arms around her neck. After allowing myself a few moments to be deliriously happy about being reunited with my first ever friend, I came down from that high. Amarath, Shaeman and Vrael looked highly confused. My guards doubly so. I turned my strictest gaze on them.

‘You will not speak of this,' I warned. Realising what I was about to do, they averted their eyes, finding somewhere to look that was most determinedly not at my face. As I pulled my mask off, Vrael growled and raised his bow. Shaeman ripped the weapon from his grasp.

‘First of all,' Shaeman growled to his brother, ‘if you so much as draw that string back, those guards with tear you apart. Secondly, if you want to argue with Merlas, be my guest. I wouldn't, and definitely not just after she finds the rider she thought was dead.'