The Nightstone (27 page)

“They got the armor,” Kehet said. “One of my Unicorns caught up to the creature wearing it, but when the creature saw my Unicorn, it disappeared in a swirling cloud of black smoke. Prince Aven says that’s a way for demons to return to their hell. But he also says such a small demon would not have been in charge. He was probably selected because he was the same size as a Vulak. Demons get bigger with power or maybe it’s easier to get power for demons of immense size, but small demons are not leaders.”

“Are you saying we have to coax the demon king out of hell?” Pantros asked.

“I’m saying we have to go to hell and kill the demon in charge of this whole mess,” Kehet said. “And when I say ‘we’, I’m not sure I can include myself. There are some limits as to what I am allowed to do and going to hell may not be one of them.”

Gods were not something people of Ignea dealt with on a regular basis. Ships’ crews would offer sacrifice to Avengale before long voyages, but once on land, the gods were forgotten. Ignea had no temples. Pantros shrugged. He’d never really expected to be able to rely on a god. He saw them as being who helped on their whims. “I am glad you helped where you could, then,” he said.

“You’ll need weapons of power,” Kehet said. “Your own sword may not be strong enough to penetrate the hide of a demonic lord.”

“What of your sword?” Pantros asked. “What of the sword of a god?”

“There’s nothing special about this,” Kehet pulled his sword from over his shoulder. “I made it from a block of steel I’d smelted that came out to be not hard enough for mining tools. The crossguard and hilt were in an old box that my master kept under the workbench. Poor Segric died before approving my using them on this blade.”

“I’ve seen that hilt before,” Pantros said. “I know where the blade is that originally sat in it.” The blade he spoke of had been Bryan’s. He pulled the page he’d torn from the book out of his pouch. The drawing clearly showed the same wolf and bear moldings as the crossguard, though the actual piece was far more detailed than the drawing. “Sheillene told me the blade was disassembled to prevent humans from using it against the Abvi. We have most of the pieces of one of the most powerful swords in the world.” Pantros looked more closely at the drawing, focusing on the part they didn’t have. The pommel also looked familiar. “I think we need to talk to Estephan,” Pantros said.

§

They found the prince with King Allaind eating a quiet breakfast. The king was clearly disturbed by their intrusion but did offer them seats at the table and had settings placed on the table for them. Pantros suspected the courtesy had more to do with who he walked in with than politeness towards him.

“Kehet has convinced me that someone needs to go to hell and kill the demon behind this,” Pantros said.

“If you’re looking for a champion,” the king said, “then
your
coming here surprises me. Surely the man you are looking for is your friend Marc.”

“I’d already reached that conclusion,” Pantros said.
“Though others coming along would be welcome.
I came for two reasons. First, to get to hell, we’d have to open the portal. That’s not something I would want to do without your support or at least your permission. Second, I was wondering if maybe Prince Estephan had, among his possessions, his father’s crown.”

“I do,” Estephan said. “I had hoped to present it to my brother.”

“Could you have it brought here,” Pantros said. He pulled the picture out and set it on the table. “If I’m not mistaken, the setting on the top gem is actually the pommel for the Blade of the Baron, and we’re going to need such a weapon intact to assault hell. We have all the rest of the pieces.”

“I’m curious when you had the opportunity to see my father’s crown,” Estephan said. He gestured for page to attend him then sent the page off running. “I don’t recall you coming to the palace.”

Pantros said, “Not every piece of knowledge must be acquired first hand.”

“You mentioned the rest of the sword,” Estephan said. “I can see Kehet has the hilt and crossguard, but the blade?”

“Bryan’s sword,” Pantros said.

King Allaind nodded. “The blade still sits on his coffin,” he said. “I’ll have my best soldiers at the ready to join you at the gate this afternoon. I can offer only so much support, however, if the battle turns against you, we will pull the key and close the portal.”

“Once we reassemble the blade, we’ll need someone to wield it,” Estephan said.

“I was thinking of Marc,” Pantros said. “I’ve never heard of anyone better with swords.”

“Swords,” Estephan said, emphasizing the
last ‘s’
. “Marc is incredible with a pair of blades. We happen to have in the city the champion of the greatsword tourney of Relarch.”

“Your highness cannot go,” King Allaind said. “While no one questions your prowess with such a weapon, you are the last of your line. If you fall, your kingdom may end. The Archibolds founded Fork.”

“I designate David Norda as my heir,” Estephan said. He’s a cousin to my father and the only other direct male descendant of my great grandfather. That should prevent any serious attempts at civil war in Relarch.”

“I can’t stop you,” King Allaind said. “I appreciate the honor and valor of your decision, but I’ve seen one too many king die this season for honor and valor. I don’t have a swordsman that could lift that sword, though. I’m sure Marc would do fine.”

“That’s not a chance we can afford to take,” Estephan said. “We get one try; we can’t send anyone but the best we have. That means me and that means Marc and Sheillene and I can’t really ask this but your son and daughter, too.”

“Aven won’t,” Allaind said. “He won’t have access to his magic in any realm but ours. That Wizard, Heather and Mirica are my subjects I can order them to assist.”

“Asking would be fine,” Estephan said. “If they decline, then I’d appreciate it if you would be sterner in your request. I’d still rather everyone who goes with us goes by their own choice.”

Allaind turned to Prince Kehet. “You are going as well?”

“I can go with them, but I cannot kill a demon in its home realm.” Kehet said. “Demia is and at the same time is not part of this universe.”

“Demia?”
Pantros asked.

“The proper name for what we call hell,” Kehet said.

“Thomas?” Pantros asked. “Should we bring him?”

“A bard?”
Allaind asked. “What would a bard do? Offer morale support? I’m not even sure why you should be included. I can certainly see why we’d send Marc and Mirica and the Wizard, and I can even assent to Estephan, but the key won’t be going anywhere other than the top of the portal.”

“I’m still responsible for this mess,” Pantros said. “I feel like I should see it through.”

“You have the Kingslayer on your staff,” Estephan said. “Should we bring him as well?”

“Kingslayer?”
Pantros asked.

“You know of that?” Allaind asked. “Julivel is not mine to command. We have a similar arrangement to the one your father had with his assassin.”

“My father wouldn’t have an assassin,” Estephan said. “My father was a good, honorable king.”

“Careful, prince,” Allaind said. “You just insulted my honor by implying that having a spy on retainer is less than honorable. It is part of being a king and one you too will come to use. In any event, a battle in Demia is not the place for a man who only kills from the shadows. When you get back to your kingdom, you would do well to make nice with the thieves who run your capitol city and make amicable contact with the one they call The Green Death.”

“She’s a myth,” Estephan said. “She’s a rumor the thieves use to help them keep control of our streets.”

“She’s not,” Pantros said, remembering the woman in the green cloak from The Three Diamonds. “I’ve seen her. But, we should prepare for the battle at hand and save the troubles of running your kingdom for a time when you’re more certain that running a kingdom is part of your future. If we fail, won’t we all feel silly in the afterlife for having wasted so much of our morning discussing whether assassins make a king less than honorable?”

“I think now would be the time for me to fetch Bryan’s sword,” Kehet flickered into his Unicorn form and ran off like a gust of wind.

Estephan’s page returned and set a box on the table. Estephan opened it and removed the crown.

“Would now be a bad time to ask for amnesty for all I’ve done in the past?” Pantros asked.

“You’re a hero of my people,” Allaind said. “In my kingdom you have done no wrong.”

“I know you,” Estephan said. “I’m sure you’ve done shady things here and there in your past. Since these are all in your past and not part of the man I know now, I grant you forgiveness for your actions before now. I cannot promise immunity from crimes you commit in the future, so please avoid committing any.”

“Thank you, my prince,” Pantros said.

Kehet returned to the room and shifted again to his human form. In his hands he held Bryan’s sword. He held the crossguard under his arm and twisted the pommel off. He then pulled off the hilt and crossguard. He chuckled, “No wonder it was hard to twist off that pommel,
it
was pinned through the tang. I should have expected as much. The Matderi invented the threaded pommel a couple centuries ago. This sword is far older.”

“The crown setting is similarly pinned,” Estephan said. “I don’t suppose anyone has jeweler’s tools handy.”

“I have these,” Pantros produced a leather folding pouch from a pocket in his shirt. The pouch contained a dozen rods flattened and bent to various angles. “As long as we’re not cutting the gem, these should work to pop the pin out.

Kehet disassembled his own sword and slipped his hilt and crossguard onto Bryan’s. He then used one of Pantros’ picks to remove the gem setting from the Relarch crown. He used the same pin to affix the setting as the sword’s pommel.

“I would have expected some kind of reaction,” Estephan said.
“At least a glow from a sword so renowned.”

Pantros remembered why he’d insisted on the amnesty. “Oh, right,” he said. He then pulled the pouch with the crown jewel from his shirt and proceeded to use his tools to remove the glass gem from the sword.

“I’m feeling a little anger right now,” Estephan said. “I’m also a bit amused. Amnesty: now I understand. I’m also thinking to enforce the ban on your presence in Fork. Good thing we already agreed on that land deal, so I won’t have to worry about you having nowhere to go.”

Pantros said “Whatever I did in the past, the gem would be on the sword now.” He affixed the gem back into the pommel. When he finished, the sword began to glow with a pale white aura speckled with red flecks. “Behold, the Blade of the Baron.”

CHAPTER 33: KEHET

It was shortly before sunset that Estephan had his group of raiders ready to enter Demia. They were delayed while the king had several leatherworkers and smiths put some real armor together for Marc. It wasn’t pretty, but the large man seemed to retain his full range of motion and now had a couple layers of leather and some metal plates between him and whatever wanted to make him bleed.

Marc’s own swords were strapped across his back, but he held an Abvi made dueling sword in each hand. They were ancient single bladed weapons that once belonged to the Twin Kings. King Allaind had actually offered them to Marc as a gift, but Marc insisted he would return them after the demon was dead.

Sheillene had a dozen arrows she’d procured from the king’s armory. They weren’t much, but they were the only ones she felt confident would help against potent demons. They were made of some translucent crystalline metal she called Opalite. Princess Adria also had a dozen similar arrows.

Pantros was standing by Prince Estephan. He was wearing an Abvian breastplate and bracers and seemed uncomfortable in the minimal armor. He carried a helm in his hands and stared at it in disgust. He then set the helm on the ground and stepped away from it.

Heather approached Kehet and gave him a long hug. “I get to go first,” Heather said after she’d released him. “I get to see how much damage I can cause intentionally.”

“I can go ahead of you,” Kehet said. “I can’t fight, but I can distract.”

“No,” Heather said. “I’m stepping through as soon as the Portal is open and doing my thing and then stepping back. Aven seems sure the energy I release won’t pass through the portal. Marc and the Prince will then pass through and clean up my mess. Mirica will be going with the others, standing with Adria and Sheillene. No one is making any plans for that Pantros boy. He’s the only one who thinks he should be going in.”

“He’s stubborn,” Kehet said. He’d tried twice to convince Pantros to let others handle the fight, but the young man wouldn’t concede. He felt responsible and felt he needed to do his part to make it right.

“Good luck,” a familiar sultry woman’s voice said. Beldithe stepped up behind Heather and hugged her, giving her a gentle kiss on the neck before releasing her. “Call it cheating, but that kiss will protect you for a little while. Until you harm anything, no one will want to harm you. They’ll just stare at your beauty longingly. It should give you the moment of concentration you might need.”

“Thank you, goddess,” Heather said.

“Thank you, Heather,” Beldithe said. “I prefer this world be populated by the peoples that populate it now. I don’t know if I would continue to exist if there were no mortals left to worship me.”

The Prince waved toward Kehet and called to Heather.

“Wish me luck,” Heather said. She kissed Kehet on the lips and walked briskly towards the portal.

“Come with me,” Beldithe said. She reached over and took Kehet’s hand in hers.

“Where are we going?” Kehet asked.

“We already went,” Beldithe said.

Kehet became aware that he no longer stood anywhere in Mealth. The sky was the color of smouldering charcoal. Kehet stood on the balcony of a tower above a black landscape. A city built of black stone sprawled out in all directions to the horizon. Off in the distance and far below, hundreds of demons were gathered around a stone structure Kehet recognized as a portal.