Seyari shut the two demonically-enchanted items back into the sturdy box. They were a small knife and a small cup, and both, even without aura sight, had an odd air about them.
“Do they have to do with cutting yourself and putting the blood in the cup?” Nelys asked.
I nodded. Nelys and I had made a bet with Taava, who’d called the idea “way too obvious, even for whatever idiots we’re chasin’.”
Seyari shook her head, and the smug kazzel immediately sidled up to me. I sighed and slipped her a few silver pieces; Nelys did the same.
“Really?” Seyari asked.
“Well it seemed so obvious…” I replied sheepishly.
“And you bet on it?”
I stared down at the bed and nodded. Desiring privacy, all of us had crammed into mine and Seyari’s room, using our bed as a table.
Seyari groaned. “Well it’s nothing like that, so far as I can tell. I’m more than a little rusty at identifying enchanted items, but they appear to be entrancements or compulsions of some sort, and definitely demonic.”
“Wait,” Nelys started, hopeful. “Wouldn’t that work for what me and Zarenna thought?”
“It would, except the items were sold to separate people.”
Next to me, Taava purred. “Told ya!”
Seyari shot her a look and continued. “They’re both objects a person would be in close contact with for an extended period of time. Who—or what—ever did this was certainly no master enchanter. The work’s shoddy, and it wouldn’t last longer than a week or so. Perhaps a rush job, but that doesn’t make sense either. The people ahead of us had days to prepare something like this.”
“So what do you think they do?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t they just get found if they got entranced?” Nelys added.
“Entrancing can do a lot of things besides incapacitate someone. Compulsions are an option. As for what they do? I haven’t the faintest, but I agree with Nelys that they aren’t going to simply knock someone out.”
“And we’ve no way to test what they do unless we use one,” I concluded. “And since they’re demonic…”
“They carry only a small risk of corruption.” Seyari finished. “I could potentially burn it out, but that might do more harm than good. They’re not powerful enough to cause a physical change.”
Surely Sey’s not suggesting we test the items?
Taava’s hand shot up. “Not it!”
Nelys looked unsure, and stayed silent.
I answered for them. “We’re not using the artifacts on anyone. We know the people who sold these here left town, and they didn’t go the way we did. Did you find anything on the road ahead, Sey?”
She nodded. “There were some damaged trees—some scarred from fire. Snow covered much of the scene, but I blew away what I could and discovered at least one set of wheel ruts and some footprints going west, up higher into the mountains.”
“I assume you were late because you followed them?” I ventured.
“Yeah. At least for a bit. I turned around when they reached a large path, or an old road—I couldn’t tell. I’m better in cities than the wilderness.”
That goes for me and Taava, too, I thought glumly. I hope Salvador’s doing okay—he’d have us nipping at their heels in no time flat.
“Let’s go then!” Nelys jumped up, glowing with excitement.
“We’ll tell Myrna first,” I cautioned, “But I agree that we should go now.”
“Zarenna,” Seyari said while looking out the window. “It’s night now. Do you really want to go at night?”
Taava walked over to the window, looking up and out while I thought. “Looks like a clear night ta me.”
“Nelys?” I asked. “How well can you see in the dark?”
Nelys smiled. “Good enough. Moonlight will help. Cap’n Torrez put me on watch in the crow’s nest a lotta nights, and if we need it, you two can make plenty of light.”
“What if our light tips them off… no.” Seyari shook her head and stood up. “They won’t be camped outside in weather like this, unless they haven’t reached where they’re going yet. And with their head start and us stuck trying to follow their trail…”
“We won’t be catching them until daybreak anyway,” I finished.
“Right.”
““Then let’s go already!”” Nelys and Taava said at almost the same time.
***
Guided by moonlight and through cooperative effort, we followed the tracks deep into the mountainous forest. Twin valleys in the snow across the thin strip of the old road were all we had to go on. They could have had two carts or one, and we wouldn’t have been able to tell at all. Were it not for the assurances of the others and my own vision, I’d have doubted anyone passed through here at all.
In the dark of our room at night, my sight was one thing, but trudging through a starlit forest, I really came to appreciate my vision. Colors were washed out, giving the still trees and drifted snow an almost ethereal quality, but I could see otherwise as clear as bright daylight.
In a way, I was now the thing that went bump in the night.
Didn’t mean I wasn’t on edge, however. We all were.
The road narrowed and steepened, twisting back and forth up into rougher, rockier terrain. Shortly after, we finally reached the first snow-covered cart. Ahead, skeletons of dilapidated buildings sat outside a yawning black mine entrance. I could see down the tunnel; the wooden braces looked like giant ribs of some ancient monster in the dim stillness.
Around the cart, the freshly-fallen snow showed echoes of uneven terrain where there should be only flat, cleared land.
I overtook Nelys and crept silently toward the cart. Visible under it’s cap of snow were gouges and a dark spatter along one side. The top’s tarpaulin was pulled shut, so I dared a careful peek, thawing it with my magic.
Inside was cargo. Some damaged, and the rest sitting ready for transport. I exhaled, and moved to return to the group when my newly-repaired boot bumped something under the snow. I froze in place and a shiver ran down my body from horns to tail-tip.
Seyari watched, hard-eyed as I brushed half a meter of powder away from whatever I’d hit. Nelys and Taava kept watch, the latter’s ears up on full alert. I felt leather, and then a seam. The next swipe revealed an arm—frozen and dead.
I nearly screamed for the sight. Oh, sure, I’d torn people in two and seen more than a human’s share of dead bodies, but this macabre surprise made me choke and sputter. The still of the night suddenly felt less like a painting and more like a grave. Slowly, I glanced around. More lumps under the snow—maybe half a dozen—littered the area. One of the buildings was scorched along one corner—and recently if the lighter snow around it was any indication.
There’d been a fight here—and one side hadn’t shown any mercy. In all likelihood, Hector was one of these lumps: maybe even the one by my feet.
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I held a hand over my mouth to keep silent and padded back to our group. My eyes felt wet, but my heart rate, despite my best efforts, stayed calm.
The others looked at me, Seyari the only one who’d maybe seen what I had.
“Bodies,” I croaked. “The lumps are all bodies.”
Nelys’s eyes went wide. Seyari and Taava narrowed theirs, my girlfriend looking at the mine entrance forlornly. In an instant, I was reminded of the story she’d told me, all those months ago in the Navanaean desert. Yothariel and the Inquisition against the demon cult, set up in a small-town mine.
Seyari was the first to move, brushing past me to stride between the bodies. “Let’s go, then,” she whispered back.
I started after her, and Nelys and Taava caught up to flank me.
“What’s her problem?” Taava hissed.
“She’s been to a scene like this before—maybe more than one,” I replied softly, watching my steps across the body-strewn clearing.
Nelys stepped carefully and quickly beside me, far more silent than my own crunching steps. “How close to like this?”
“A massacre out—and in—side an abandoned mine in the forest near a small mountain town where a demon-worshipping cult was holed up. It was a different part of her life long ago, so I don’t know how much I should say.”
“That’s real specific,” Taava whispered.
I waited for the punchline, but the kazzel stayed uncharacteristically quiet.
Nelys broke the silence as we caught up to Seyari next to the mine entrance. “Did she save anyone?”
“No,” Seyari whispered, having overheard at least part of our whispered conversation. “She killed everyone.”
“Not this time, though, Sey.” I reached a hand toward hers.
Seyari hesitated, staring past me at the where bodies lay frozen under snow. Closing her eyes, she took my hand and let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. Not this time, Zarenna.”
I lurched forward as she pulled me unexpectedly into a hug. Her breath was warm under my chin, and I hugged her back. For a long moment we embraced in the shadow of the mine entrance. Nelys and Taava both stayed quiet, but I didn’t see what either was doing.
When we broke the embrace, they’d taken quiet positions next to the entrance. I looked down the blackness until the tunnel forked perhaps twenty meters in.
“Let’s go,” Seyari whispered, her voice strong despite everything. “Zarenna, you take point. Nelys and Taava, you take the sides. I’ll cover our rear.”
“Boss?” Taava cocked her head to one side.
“We do as Sey says.” I slipped my hand regretfully out of hers and walked quietly inside.
The others slipped in behind me and we made our way down the tunnel. Heavy ruts had frozen into the mud under our feet, and the rough floor gave some traction despite the ice. Immediately, I wished I hadn’t shoved my claws in boots. Maybe one day I’ll ditch shoes altogether.
It’s strange how the most unrelated, least helpful thoughts are the ones that stick around when you’re nervous and don’t have anywhere to look. Rock and timbers at even intervals were all we saw, aside from scratched markings I couldn’t make head or tail of.
I almost had to duck under the beams to keep the spear on my back from hitting them. As we walked, I unstrapped my shield from my back and put it on one of my lower arms. I didn’t have my tail rings with me—cold iron on bare skin wasn’t something I wanted any part of.
The first fork was easy; we followed the ruts. By now, the light from outside was gone, and both Taava and Nelys seemed affected, clinging close enough to me to touch. I didn’t dare bring out a flame, even as the tunnel narrowed. I wondered why they’d bother cramming a small wagon down here as the walls closed in. I didn’t have to wonder much longer; as we were coming up on another fork, Taava’s ears twitched and she gave the signal for us to stop.
The signal in this case was grabbing my lower right arm and yanking it. I stopped abruptly and listened: with us stopped, I could hear the rustle of fabric or leather up ahead around the bend. The ruts pointed in the same direction, so I held up a hand. I gestured for Nelys to move forward, but they didn’t see it and I realized either myself or Seyari would have to be the one to go. Her glowing gold eyes met mine and she nodded, slipping ahead of the group. Nelys and Taava got the idea once Seyari moved past us, and I waited while she approached the bend.
Crouching low, she tiptoed around the gentle curve until she left my sight entirely and my heart clenched. Agonizing moments later, she returned and bade us move further back up the tunnel. Once we got close enough to the first fork for light to return, we stopped and Seyari conjured a soft rush of wind that enveloped us.
“They’d have heard if I was closer,” Seyari started with a whisper. “There’s a chamber up there—two guards and the wagon are inside.”
“How can they see?” Taava asked. “I’m blind down there.”
“Me too,” Nelys agreed. “I need some light to fight.”
Seyari’s lips drew into a thin line. “There are a couple ways. Light magic—but that’s rare—or demonic or angelic influence. Their auras are faint and I didn’t risk them catching sight of my eyes so I couldn’t tell if the auras were subtly demonic. They aren’t overtly at any rate.”
“I’m guessing it’s not angels,” I said drily.
“Do their eyes glow?” Taava asked suddenly.
“Yes,” Seyari replied.
“Hmm.” Taava stayed surprisingly quiet.
“Do you know something?” Nelys asked, slipping back into investigator mode.
“Just thinkin’s all.”
Seyari took the chance to continue, “As I was saying, there are a couple ways. Demonic influence could be from demonic magic, or it could be from a contract. Or they could be demons with glamours I can’t see through who are hiding their auras.”
“Hey!” I protested. “I feel targeted.”
Seyari gave me a chastising look.
“I think it’s demonic magic,” Nelys concluded. “I don’t know much about contracts. Demonic or not.”
“I’ll explain later,” I reassured them.
“Not now though,” Seyari cut in. “Contracts would mean they’re working directly with a demon who may or may not be with them. And unless the demon’s somehow hidden themselves in the cargo, they have a way to pass as human if they’re here.”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
“First off, no lights. I can take one out with an arrow, but we’ll need to take the other person out at the same time, or they’ll shout an alarm and this gets messy.”
“Not it! I can’t see, remember?” Taava piped up.
Nelys shook their head. “Can’t be me, either.”
All eyes fell to me. I thought back to the Black Claw assassins I’d incinerated. Without a seed of fury to start with, I couldn’t pull a trick like that off fast enough. And my normal fire magic wasn’t the fastest or quietest killer. Echoing screams would be—wait. I don’t necessarily want to kill them.
“Could we take them out quietly without killing them?” I asked Seyari.
She opened her mouth and snapped it shut. “Sorry—I just…”
“They prob’ly deserve it,” Taava shrugged.
Nelys looked between all of us, frowning. “I also don’t want to kill them if we don’t have to.”
“Shit…” Seyari sighed. “That makes this a lot harder.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Seyari reached up and punched my shoulder. “Don’t be. I can try to whip up a spell that’ll keep too much sound from leaving the room, but if it’s loud enough, it’ll get through.”
“I can make a light and go in first. The three of us should be able to subdue them, right?”
“For sure, boss!” Nelys gave me a thumbs-up.
“Bo-ring,” Taava said with a wide smile. “Boss is just a big softie, ain’tcha.”
I blushed despite the situation. “Yeah, I am.”
Seyari’s smile was strained, but her eyes were soft. “Kindness isn’t weakness, Renna. Let’s go: when I start casting, Renna runs in and we’ll go from there.”
Nelys and Taava looked at me expectantly.
I crossed my top two arms. “Just listen to Sey, okay?”
I got two nods to the affirmative and we all went back down the tunnel to make our move. I crept around the bend like Seyari had, my tail out behind me for balance. Staying low, I got a look at them before they noticed my eyes glowing in the darkness.
The moment I saw their eyes drift toward mine, I jumped up and sprinted at the pair. Twin orbs of fire lit at the tips of my horns, the familiar spell a simple feat to cast. Crimson light cast their faces in deep shadow: two human men who, aside from a slight glow to their eyes and a faint aura about them, had no discernibly demonic traits.
They reacted faster than I had expected, reaching for blades at their hips. I caught one with both of my right forearms and flung him bodily into the second. The thump of the hit was muffled by the muted roar of wind kicking up around the room.
The pair fell into a heap, and I leapt at the first one who disentangled himself. His shouts of alarm were scattered by the wind. The man had just enough time to adopt a fighting stance, and I blocked his swift strike with my shield, giving off a muffled clang. Another hand of mine grabbed his sword wrist.
While I pinned the first guy, Nelys and Taava made it to the second. A hiss, rapid footfalls of padded feet, and a sharper clang of blade on blade, and they took him down in tandem. I had no problem pinning the man I’d grabbed; my tail wrapped up his legs, two of my arms pinned both of his, and a third hand muffled his shouting.
Under a stable wind, Seyari approached and, with a quick search of the wagon in the chamber, produced a length of rope. My three friends bound and gagged the other man whiled I kept a hold on mine.
Once we got him tied up, Seyari held the strip of cloth back and loomed over his prone form. “What are you doing here?” she asked over the wind, her voice as cold as ice. “I’m only going to ask once.”
“Fuck you! You’ll—” the man’s reply was cut off by Seyari’s boot to his jaw.
True to her word, she only asked once.
“Can you at least heal him before we move on?” I asked, looking at the man’s clearly shattered jaw.
“I planned to,” Seyari replied, leaning forward and placing a glowing hand over the man’s face.
He grimaced, and while the bone snapped back before my eyes, I could see wisps of smoke lick off Seyari’s fingers. He struggled against the rope, screaming into her hand, and the three-quarters angel left a visible bright red handprint when she pulled away. Taava tied a gag around him, and we set him across the room from his partner. Nelys searched them and came up with little besides a couple knives and small effects.
Both of the men stared at our group with eyes full of rage as we searched the wagon. I let them have the emotion—clouded thoughts were better than thinking of a clever way to escape our impromptu bindings.
The wagon was only a little over half full, and a cursory search revealed only mundane materials and trade goods—at least as far as we all could tell. Without the demonic influence over the two men on watch and the massacre outside, the only thing out of the ordinary would be their choice of campsite.
After Sey stopped the wind and I stopped my fire, we moved on, further into the mine. Nelys gave us a whispered refresher of Byrt’s appearance: a dark-haired beanpole of guy in his late teens, with a big gap between his front teeth. So armed, and continually anxious, we crept along in total darkness.