Soon the group made up of Orn’s family, Briga, Marius and Thayn, were racing through the city streets toward the south-west coast just outside of Paqurineva. On the swift messenger horses, they made the distance in less than an hour. Marius led them, as he knew the way.
They turned into the estate belonging to Civil Censor Scipio Calguri and rode up to the steps of his villa. The place was quiet, appearing as though recently abandoned. In the house, rich furnishings and expensive trappings lay scattered around, as though people had dropped or discarded them while fleeing the villa.
The group dismounted and crept toward the front door. Orn imagined his sword in his hand, and then Skofnung appeared. Thayn uttered a curse as he leapt back from Orn, who turned to him, blushing. “Sorry about that, uncle. I’m still kind of getting used to it myself.”
“Next time, warn a man before you whip it out like that!”
Erik snorted, Vylder covered his face, but failed to conceal the twinkle in his eyes at the gaff, and Briga merely blushed and turned away. Marius maintained his straight face as he cocked an eyebrow. Even Venna struggled to stifle her laugh as she firmly clipped the back of Erik’s head with her hand. He looked at her perplexed, but kept his voice hushed. “What, in the five hells, was that for? You’re laughing too!”
Marius stood, shaking his head with a bemused smile. “Well, this certainly leaves no doubt that you are all related.”
They settled down and entered the structure, making their way quietly as they searched the large home for any sign that someone was still there. They separated to cover more ground, with Orn heading up to the second floor. He walked in and out of several guest rooms and finally came upon a massive, well-appointed bedroom. In the corner, he spotted an opulent silver looking glass with strange writing all around the edges of it. He peered at the markings.
Something caught his eye, and for a moment, he was certain he saw the mirror tremor slightly. He stared into the reflective surface, watching, waiting to see if it would happen again. It must have been ten minutes since he had stood there when he heard Briga calling out to him. He turned his head slightly, not taking his eyes off the surface as he called back to her over his shoulder. “Be there in a minute.” He looked into it a few moments more, and reluctantly peeled his gaze away from it, leaving the room to rejoin his family.
When he reached the garden where the rest of the group had convened, they discussed what they had seen. From the discussion, it was apparent that the house was empty. Marius scuffed his foot along the edge of a garden bed and then looked into their faces. “We should spread out to search the grounds and head back. They will call an emergency session in the senate. Well, more of an extended session, really. You will have leave to address the senate, especially you, Thayn.”
Thayn nodded in acknowledgement. “All right, let’s meet up at the front of the villa in about half an hour.”
They walked the grounds, scanning for signs, when Erik’s voice rang out across the property. “Hey! Over here!”
The rest of the group hurried over to see what Erik had discovered. When they found him, he was standing at the mouth of a cave. The group moved inside the mouth cautiously. As they moved deeper in, an awful stench of corruption assaulted their senses. There were some torches in a barrel which Orn lit, using his newly discovered air friction.
In the torchlight, they could see the cave as a corridor that was lined with cell doors. From within the cells, feeble cries for help drifted out from behind the reinforced cell doors. Looking through the window, Marius muttered an exclamation. “Phestis save me! Thaden cultists! That explains the demon. They would be the ones who summoned the creature. I thought we had eradicated them. I guess a purge is long overdue.”
From further in the cave, Orn stopped and turned toward Marius. “We can leave them where they are and send some soldiers to take them into custody. The cave opens out back here.”
As the group entered the cavernous space at the back of the cave, the scene before them rendered everyone silent. A man’s body lay exposed, flayed open in the torchlight, his entrails stretched out, tracing the pattern of a demonic sigil on the ground surrounding him. His lower jaw was missing, with the remaining half of his face bisected to access his skull, which was notably emptied of its contents.
Orn focused on the flames of his torch to intensify and blasted the corpse, incinerating it. He didn’t stop there. He intensified the heat to a point where the others, except Vylder and Briga, had to retreat from it. The floor of the cave glowed orange and then white and turned into molten rock. Finally, he relented, and touching his father’s shoulder, he made his way outside with him.
They walked back to their horses in silence and then rode back toward the city. Orn and Briga rode alongside each other at a slow trot. It was she who first broke the silence. “There are corrupt men, evil men, and then there are things in the universe that are evil beyond man’s ability to comprehend. It pains me, it must be that needs be exposed to such things, but you need to prepare yourself, my love. It will get worse before it gets better” She turned to face him, twin rivulets of tears streaked her face. Orn gave her a reassuring smile, to which she nodded in response.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After a couple of hours, they arrived at the Senate building. They dismounted and handed off the horses to stable hands and then mounted the steps to enter the senate chambers. Moving inside the building, Senator Grillo Amillos was waiting for them. He stepped in front of Marius and clasped his shoulders in greeting. “Did you manage to locate him?”
Marius gave a slight shake of his head, his face tinged with regret. “It would seem he has fled. His estate lay completely abandoned, except for a cave near the cliffs at the back of his land. In there was the place where he summoned the demon, and there were private cells with Thaden cultists locked inside.” Marius gestured to Orn. “The boy destroyed the summoning circle. It will never be used again.”
“Let’s head inside. Some things need to be discussed.”
They headed inside the senate chambers. The atmosphere was subdued. Events from that day were still fresh on the minds. Many of the faces in the chamber were contrite, feeling the weight of their choices regarding people they had wronged, who still helped them in their time of need. Others, while haunted, appeared filled with hope and cautious optimism. Some of Marius’ men held onto shackled prisoners in the chamber. Besides Gracchus and Vannur, several senators were among them.
The elderly magistrate’s face was ashen, his voice shaky and subdued. “Censor Marius, the floor is yours.”
“Thank you, Your Honour. Friends, fellow Nevan citizens and senators. Quite a day we’ve had.” This garnered a few titters from those assembled. “Besides the shortest war in Nevan history, we had an insurrection, an attempted coup and a demonic assault. Interesting times indeed.” With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced in front of the assembled senators. “Yay, or nay, do we agree to censure Scipio Calguri and remove him from his position?” The ayes had it. “To censure Crassus Agular and remove him from his position?” Again, the ayes carried the motion, if anything, with a bit more enthusiasm this time. “Now we have two vacancies. I would put forward a nomination for the senate position. Praetor Darius Vinnicus, step forward, please.”
“Ah, Your Worship, I am honoured by your regard, and your generous patronage, however, I must decline. I have much to do in Raugus. It is my home now, my family is there, I have a grandchild on the way and I am truly happy there.” Appolina grasped his arm, whispered in his ear, and smiled at him. Darius patted her hand affectionately.
“Darius, your people need you.”
“Very well. But I will only serve one term, and then I shall return to Raugus. Will I have time to set some affairs in order?”
“Of course. And I believe there is a suitable candidate to fill your vacated post.”
“Ah yes, of course.”
Marius returned his attention to the senate. “Are there any objections to this appointment?” The Senate remained silent. “Then so shall it be. The Censor will have to be deliberated in my absence. Now we have here certain persons who have committed a multitude of crimes against our people, and our empire up to and including high treason. They shall go on trial, and from there shall their fates be determined.”
A woman’s voice spoke up, which elicited several gasps from the assembled senators. It was Venna. “May we take these two prisoners? They committed their crimes against my people.” As she said this, Vannur became crestfallen, whereas Gracchus began trembling in fear as he cast apprehensive glances at the huge, dark-haired man.
Gracchus moved to prostrate himself before Marius, blubbering and begging. “Mercy, your worship, mercy, please! I was misled. I was deceived! I didn’t harm any of our citizens, please your worship, I beg of you, sanctuary! Sanctuary!”
Marius regarded the man with undisguised contempt and gave him a simple response. “Denied!”
The senate session went on well into the night. They declared a general amnesty for the citizens who committed crimes while under the influence of the demonic presence. Many of those unfortunate souls needed help from the city’s clergy to cope with the horror they awoke to when becoming conscious again.
In the end, they gave over the two Nevan sailors to the Holvelans to take into their custody. Marius offered Orn, his family and the Vinnicus couple the hospitality of his home for the night, which they graciously accepted with the plan to sail for home in the morning. They enjoyed a late dinner and talked well into the night. As it approached the time when everyone was seeking their beds, Briga pulled Orn aside and whispered into his ear. “I would stay with you tonight.”
“But you can’t! We’re not married, and you might wake up with a baby!”
The Goddess stared bewildered at the blossoming young man for several seconds and then began laughing uncontrollably. This drew quizzical looks from all the others. She continued laughing, and just when she began calming down, she would look into Orn’s confused and earnest face and laugh even harder. After a few minutes of this, she finally sighed and then threw her arms around him. “Oh, my Orn! I do love you. Do you know that? I really, really do.” She chuckled a little longer, but despite struggling, held her composure. His face was flushed, as he was aware his family and friends were looking at him, wondering what the Goddess had found so funny. Smiling, Briga placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him deeply.
When she pulled back from their kiss, Orn was wild-eyed and red-faced, his voice strangled. “Briga, my family is watching!”
Her dismissive response was immediate. “Oh, it’s nothing they haven’t seen before. I am staying with you tonight. I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. Don’t worry, babies only happen if we make them happen. We will not be doing that, so you don’t need to worry.” As she was telling him this, she was smiling and struggling not to burst into laughter again.
Orn’s family were casting bemused looks at the couple. They began disbursing and making their way to their accommodations, having realised what the mirth was about. Mortified, he wondered how he could face them in the morning.
When they entered his room, Briga walked over to the window, looking out at the night sky. He came up behind her and cautiously wrapped his arms around her. She grabbed his arms and pulled them tight around herself, nestled back into his shoulder, and sighed happily. “You should sleep, my love. You must be exhausted. But first, come with me.”
The doorway to the room no longer led back into the censor’s home, but to the grove his spirit had been to earlier. It appeared to be morning somehow. He looked at her. She just smiled at him enigmatically and led him to the pond that was fed by a bubbling brook. She undressed and then undressed him, and they both entered the water to bathe.