Heirs of the Enemy (31 page)

“It is worse than that,” Prince Midge declared. “The lower half of Alutar is missing.”

“Missing?” gasped Jenneva. “That is impossible.”

“Evidently not impossible,” retorted Prince Midge. “I have sent out a team of fairies to see if they can locate the Great Demon, but we will not hear from them for some time.”

The room fell deathly silent as everyone considered the implications of the news. After a while, Jenneva broke the silence.

“The war on both continents suddenly seems to pall in comparison to this event.”

“Are you saying that we should abandon our plans for war?” asked Prince Oscar.

“No,” replied Jenneva. “I can only assume that this is the precise reason that Fakir Aziz is gathering mages to his side. The Great Demon is not something the king’s men can do much about, but we need to remain mindful of what is at stake here. We can make all the wonderful plans and strategies that we want, but we must also plan for events beyond our control. If Alutar manages to unite his two halves, no army will be able to stand before him.”

“Meaning what exactly?” frowned the king.

“Meaning that we need a failsafe plan to keep you alive,” answered Prince Oscar. “Your reign is a blight in Alutar’s eyes. That is why he keeps sending demonkin to kill you.”

“That is correct,” agreed Jenneva.

“I can’t just run and hide,” protested the king.

“You will have to,” declared the queen. “If such a time comes to pass, I will be going with you. I would also hope that my parents would join us.”

Arik stared at Tanya with a lack of understanding. He looked at Prince Oscar and wondered why Tanya would have spoken so insensitively with his father in the room.

Prince Oscar smiled thinly. “She is right, Arik. The Mage chose the four of you when he gave you the elixirs. As long as the four of you live, Alutar has not won. Stay alive until the Mage has found a way to bind the Great Demon.”

A tear formed in Arik’s eye as he understood what his father was saying. The queen felt the tension in the air and decided to change the subject.

“If Alutar no longer exists in the Mountain of Death then we should be able to speak to the gods there.”

“That makes sense,” agreed Jenneva. “Fakir must have known that the Mountain of Death would be attacked and Alutar removed from it. That opens up the place where the demons kept the gods hidden. Go there and get the gods to slow this march to war.”

On a rooftop not far from the Park of the Gods in Tagaret, Niki huddled against the low wall that formed the perimeter of the roof. The light rain that was falling over the city splattered on her unprotected legs and soaked the material of her pants. The young widow did not appear to notice. In fact, an observer would mistake her positioning and closed eyes for that of a person at sleep, but Niki was wide awake. In her mind she pictured the image of Cavanor that had been relayed to her by more than one bird that had witnessed the attack on Fredrik. She concentrated hard as she sent that image out to every creature her mind could reach. Hour after hour, she ceaselessly commanded her loyal subjects to attack the murderer of her beloved husband.

Far across the city, a young, beautiful woman with long, flowing, black hair was unexpectedly attacked by birds. The birds dove repeatedly, their claws scratching at stone-hard skin, and their beaks pecking mercilessly, but ineffectively. Cavanor waved her hands at the attacking birds, but it did nothing to forestall the attack. Unwilling to use her magical powers openly on the city street, the demonkin ducked into a shop. Her action brought only a momentary relief. Within minutes, rats appeared out of the woodwork and charged towards the woman. The shopkeeper watched in rapt amazement as the vermin swarmed over the woman’s feet, scratching and gnawing vigorously. The woman did not scream as the shopkeeper might have expected, nor did she seem overly frightened. That alone caused the shopkeeper’s eyebrows to rise, but he was soon to be shocked further.

The woman’s face turned dark with anger, and she pointed a single finger at her boots with a vengeance. A brilliant flash of light exploded in the dim shop, and rats, and pieces of rats, flew through the air to splatter upon the walls. Before the shopkeeper could cry out in alarm, the woman whirled around and stormed out of the shop. The waiting birds immediately dove down out of the misty sky and resumed their attack. Cavanor quickly erected a physical shield, keeping the birds away, but everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to the spectacle of the birds attacking and smashing headlong into an invisible barrier. Wagons halted in the streets, and passersby stopped to watch the strange occurrence. Cavanor seethed with anger. She was sorely tempted to use her magical powers to kill everyone around her, but she forced herself to remember her objective. The demonkin turned and ran.

* * * *

General Gregor barged into the king’s study. Everyone turned towards the door in alarm. Alex and Arik leaped to their feet and immediately drew their swords. Tanya and Jenneva sidestepped away from the others and cast shields surrounding the group.

“My apologies, King Arik,” panted the general, “but I think you need to know about this immediately.”

The group collectively relaxed with the warriors sheathing their swords.

“A knock would not have delayed your message for long,” sighed the king. “What is so urgent?”

“There is a mage within the city, a tall, young woman with long black hair. For some reason, animals are attacking her wherever she goes. She is using magic to kill the creatures, but others continue to attack. She is leaving a swath of animal bodies across the city.”

“The woman the fairies lost in Danver Shores?” asked Queen Tanya.

“Undoubtedly,” replied Alex. “I suspect that she is a demonkin.”

“But why are the animals attacking her?” asked the king.

“Niki,” answered Jenneva. “No one else could command such loyalty from the animal kingdom. For some reason, Niki believes that this woman killed Fredrik.”

“But she left the city,” frowned Prince Oscar.

“Evidently not,” replied Alex. “Where was the last sighting of this woman, General?”

“She has blazed a trail from the waterfront across the city towards the western gates. The last reports were from the area of the Sword and Shield.”

“Then we have little time left before she leaves the city,” Alex said with a sense of urgency. “Come, Jenneva.”

Alex turned and strode towards the door. The king and queen started to follow, but Jenneva held her hand up as she followed her husband out of the room.

“You two will remain here. It is you that she is after. We will be back soon.”

The two Knights of Alcea raced through the corridors of the Royal Palace and mounted unicorns in the courtyard. Without bothering to ride through the city streets, they took to the air and headed straight for the western gates. After determining that the demonkin had not yet passed through the gates, they turned and headed into the city. As soon as they passed through the gates of the old wall, Jenneva pointed upward. In the distance hundreds of birds were circling and diving.

“That has to be her. How do you want to do this?”

“You sit tight and wait here for her,” replied Alex. “Don’t let her get past you. I will circle around and come up behind her. When you see me, engage her in a magical battle, but use no spells that would require her to maintain a physical shield.”

“Be careful,” warned Jenneva. “These Claws of Alutar are far more dangerous than a K’san.”

Alex nodded and moved away. He rode down a cross street and then turned onto a street parallel to the main street that passed through the western gate. Before he had gone two blocks, the light drizzle turned into a downpour. Citizens scampered to get in out of the rain, and streams of water started flowing through the streets. As he turned towards the main street, he looked up to note the position of the birds, but he could see nothing through the rain.

* * * *

Torrents of rain fell from the sky, but Cavanor did not mind. The birds suddenly stopped attacking her, and she ducked into the closest inn and paid for a room. She went immediately to the room, stripped off her soaked clothing, and threw herself onto the bed. Despite her enormous powers, the constant poking at her shields had exhausted her. She sighed with relief as she tried to make sense out of what had happened. She did not think for a moment that the attack of the animals was a coincidence. They were attacking only her, and that meant that someone knew what she looked like, but why the feeble attack using birds and rats? Surely the heroes of the Mage could not expect to harm her in such a manner. And how did they know what she looked like? The only one who knew her true identity was Lycindor. Could he be petty enough to endanger her just so he would get the credit for killing the boy king? That didn’t make any sense.

Cavanor rose from the bed and dried off. She took each piece of clothing and magically dried it before returning to sit on the bed and continue her ruminations. Lycindor had no animal communication skills that she was aware of, so who was controlling the animals? She examined her implanted memories of the heroes of the Mage one by one and eliminated each of them from consideration. As she started to dwell upon the less notable associates of the Warrior King, she suddenly smiled.

“The redheaded child,” she said softly. “Niki.”

Although she was satisfied that she had found the culprit behind the attacks, she was still mystified. She had watched Niki the day that she attacked the carriage, and she was quite sure that Niki had never seen her. She had not even turned around like Fredrik had. That still left the mystery about how Niki had managed to discover what she looked like. Lycindor could still possibly be betraying her, and that was something that she would not stand for. Satisfied that she finally had a handle on what was happening, Cavanor rose and got dressed. She needed to get back to her room at the other inn to reclaim her belongings and her horse, but she was not going to trek across the city in the rain. Cloaking herself in an illusion, Cavanor left the room and headed for the common room to wait out the storm.

* * * *

Niki shuddered with pain as the rats exploded and flew through the air, their tiny bodies splattering on the walls of the shop, but she refused to relent. When the demonkin stepped outside the shop, Niki ordered the birds to attack, Hundreds of her loyal subjects hurled their bodies at Cavanor, but the demonkin had erected a physical shield. As each bird smashed into the invisible shield and fell to the ground, a jolt of pain pierced Niki’s body, but her grief for Fredrik knew no bounds. The Knight of Alcea called forth more birds to attack her husband’s murderer. Hundreds upon hundreds of birds answered their queen’s call, and Niki felt a small bit of satisfaction as she watched the demonkin run through the streets of Tagaret, trying to find some relief from the relentless attack.

As the trail of avian bodies littered the streets of the city, the deaths began to take a toll on the sorceress. Niki’s pale, freckled skin began to darken, and her bright flaming hair spouted a streak of shocking white across the center of her head. As she watched the death of hundreds of her loyal subjects, Niki’s mind began to swim, and her vision blurred. An intense pain ripped through her skull and then everything went black. Niki curled into a tight ball, trying to will the pain away. Then suddenly, the sky opened up and torrents of rain poured out of the sky. The cold rain pelted her body, the low wall of the rooftop no longer providing any protection.

Niki whimpered as her mind passed in and out of consciousness. She was vaguely aware that she was no longer commanding the animals to attack, and she could feel the rain drenching her clothes and skin, but the pain of the animal deaths lingered, although the sharpness of the stings was receding. Niki breathed deeply and rocked her body back and forth as if the sensation of movement would lessen her other feelings. Slowly the pain did recede, and the sorceress opened her eyes for the first time in hours. She shuddered from the damp chill invading her body as she looked around to get her bearings. For a moment the barren rooftop seemed alien to her, but she slowly remembered where she was and why she was there. She ignored the driving rain as she rose to her feet and gazed down at the city streets.

No one was moving about in the city below, and Niki sighed from the strain of the encounter with the demonkin. Her eyes scanned the streets for signs of the bodies of her subjects, but the streets were flowing gullies of water. Niki shook her head, sending water flying from her hair. She lowered herself down into a sitting position with her back to
 
the wall and closed her eyes once more. She had lost the demonkin, but her friends would find the woman again. Niki sent out commands to search for the demonkin. While she waited for the first report, Niki let herself drift off to a more pleasant place in a more pleasant time.

As Niki dreamed about Fredrik, her body rejuvenated. Her hair did not return to its flaming glory, and her skin did not lighten to its former paleness, but the tenseness eased out of her body. The lingering pains caused by the hundreds of animal deaths dissipated, and slowly a smile spread across her lips for the first time since the death of Fredrik.

“Uncle Boris! I knew you would come.”

“Come?” replied the Mage. “I have never been away, Niki.”

The sorceress frowned. “You let Fredrik die.”

“There is a time for everything, Niki. Fredrik defeated death three times, but even he could not forestall the inevitable.”

“But I don’t want him to die. You must bring him back to life. You must. I want him.”

Master Khatama frowned and sighed. “Fredrik can never return to the living as you knew him. While dark arts might restore him, he would never be the shining light that has warmed your life. The taint of Darkness would linger about him, and it would drag you under. That is not what you truly want.”

“It is,” insisted Niki. “He is my life. I want him back.”

“Do you?” challenged the Mage. “Look deep inside yourself, Niki. What you seek is already within you. Fredrik became a part of you the day you committed your lives to one another. The two of you are forever intertwined. That is why your pain is so severe, for part of you died with him, yet part of him lives on within you.”