Chapter 103: Tuck and Roll

Despite the scene earlier in the morning, the rest of our day was actually quite pleasant. Nelys, Seyari, and I played games at a table while Taava performed, having somehow convinced the inn owner to let her play for tips. Predictably, Seyari and Nelys won most games; I just wasn’t good enough at cheating yet, anyway. And is it really cheating when everyone does the same cheats? At that point, to me, it just becomes part of the game. A part of the game that I could be better at if I wasn’t missing two arms and stuck miming human reaction speed.

“What’s Edath like?” Nelys asked once we’d finished another hand that resulted in their win.

I took the deck to shuffle and thought for a moment. “Well, it’s cold. Similar to this town actually, but the buildings are a little different, I guess? Mostly just cold.”

“Colder than here?” Nelys stealthily switched one of my cards for one of theirs.

I glanced at the cheat, but didn’t call them out. Are the cards marked—how do they know that one’s better? “Yeah. We’ll be going uphill and into a small mountain range soon—that’s the northern border. Unless Myrna’s crazy, we’ll go around the mountains to get to Gedon. So, we’re going further south and higher up which means a lot colder.”

“Yeah, I know.” They took a look at their hand and scrunched their face up into a frown—probably a fake frown. “I just can’t really imagine it. Where I’m from, it’s warm and it stays warm.”

“Where are you from?” I asked, looking at my own hand and trying not to wince. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“West northwest of where I met you two.” Nelys played and passed the turn to Seyari.

Seyari looked surprised. “I didn’t know there were any major islands out that way.” She played and it was my go.

I remembered Nelys’s pendant. I never did tell Seyari; I felt it wasn’t my place to. I played what I could and passed back to Nelys. This round was going to hurt.

“Yeah, I guess there aren’t.” Nelys shrugged and played a card that would probably put me in a bad spot when it came around to me again.

Seyari frowned and glanced at me. I tried to give an “I don’t know” shrug back. As I suspected, she didn’t pry. I’d never told a soul about what I’d seen of Nelys without their pendant in Malich’s estate. Unless they told me otherwise, I wasn’t going to—although that didn’t stop my interest in their past.

“Any fun places to go in Edath?” Nelys brushed the issue off effortlessly as Seyari confirmed a play that would probably doom me.

I played it out anyway and started another round that would probably spiral me into a loss. “There are, yeah. I want to see a lot of the places around Linthel that I remember from my childhood. To see how much has changed…” I thought about the fire and scrunched my eyes shut to keep from tearing up. “There are a lot of very pretty forests and mountains—a few big waterfalls too. And I really like the food in Linthel, even if it doesn’t really use spices the same way as further north.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry I brought up bad memories.” Nelys’s apology did not stop them from pushing me into a deeper hole in the game.

Seyari played another good card on her turn. She might have a silent win with how little she’s talking.

“It’s fine,” I answered quickly, playing my last hope at getting out of my bad situation. “I’m going there to confront my past anyway. I need to think about this stuff.”

“Confront your past? Hmmm…” Nelys played a card that seemed like a misplay and that would give me a chance.

Just like that, play passed to Seyari who was now in hot water. She huffed. “Yeah, and mine too, because apparently it’s gotten up and gone halfway across the damn continent.”

“What’s Taava’s goal in Edath?” Nelys asked.

I made a thankfully uneventful play and passed to them, still in the game, but only just. “I don’t know.” I glanced up at where she was playing. The song that filled the half-empty tavern was a bawdy one, but pretty tame for the kazzel’s standards. She looked happy—in a genuinely good mood. “I think she might just want friends and a place to belong.”

Nelys nodded sagely.

“Renna?” Seyari asked. “Your go.”

I looked down at the game state. With a sigh, I played my next card and confirmed I’d lost the hand. So close, but not really.

***

“Don’t you think it’s strange they left only the nightsbane?” Seyari asked once we’d set out again.

She sat up front, wedged between me and Myrna. The trader had taken on a few more goods and the back of the wagon was getting pretty full with everyone else sitting in it.

I stretched, luxuriating in the feeling of having my arms and tail again. The road had traffic, but while moving all we got were some odd looks. “Yeah, it’s a little strange. Maybe they didn’t think they could sell it?”

“Not quite.” Myrna chipped in. “They didn’t take it because it was of no use to them.”

“Exactly.” Seyari agreed. “And the only reason that would make sense is if they weren’t able to keep the nightsbane intact.”

Oh. Crap. I really should’ve guessed this sooner.

“So there’s a demon with them?” I put my tail around Seyari, shoving it between her and Myrna, who flinched at the sudden limb near her.

“Or someone who is corrupted. Or a demonic artifact they’re transporting.” Seyari grabbed the spade-tipped end of my tail and placed it in her lap.

Myrna looked over at Seyari playing with my tail and raised an eyebrow. “That a sexual thing?”

I flushed dark crimson. “N-no! Not right now—I mean not at all!”

“Riiight.” Myrna rolled her eyes. “So up ahead somewhere there’s a heavily guarded wagon or two and they have something or someone demonic with them. That about sum it up?”

“It does.” Seyari nodded.

I noticed she had a blush of her own, but didn’t remove my tail. Her lap was warm.

“I know one of Hector’s guys died and all, but that sounds like a whole lot of ‘not my problem.’ We’ll be taking a side route to Gedon anyway, so we probably won’t see them.”

“Don’t jinx it!” An eavesdropping Taava hissed from the back of the wagon.

Nelys and Phol both nodded, the former moving their hands in some kind of ritual.

***

“Exactly how strong are you, Zarenna?” Myrna asked as we broke camp the next morning. “If we end up running into something involving demons, how likely is it you’ll be able to win?”

I climbed onto the wagon ahead of her and looked over the coating of snow the night had brought. The air was chill and still, with dark clouds rolling slowly overhead. More snow was on the way.

I debated telling her about my title as the Sovereign of Wrath. I thought about my Name, Zerix’Arranthariel, an odd mouthful that never sounded anything less than intense. Before Seyari or someone else could call me out for taking too long to think, I made a choice. “If I can’t take it down, then more than just us are going to be in trouble.”

“Vague, noncommittal, nonsense.” Myrna shrugged and hopped up on the wagon while Phol hitched the horses. “I know more than you think, and I can tell you’re walking on eggshells. I don’t need to see you in action to know you’re far stronger, at least physically, than any human. What I want to know is how you’d stack up against another demon.”

“What type of demon do I look like?” I asked with my head askance. “Wrath, right?”

“I suppose. I’m not familiar with the different types of demons.”

“It’s complicated,” Seyari interjected. “Some, like wrath and lust are usually coherent, but many others vary wildly.”

“Great. You’re a wrath demon, and presumably not a pushover if the rumors from Lockmoth are to be believed.” Myrna glared at both of us. “I know you don’t need to answer, but I want to know. How strong are you, Zarenna?”

While I took another moment to think, the others hopped in the back and we started off toward the road. Anything I showed off here could be observed by Yevon, and therefore the church. What did I want the church to know? Nothing was an option, but it could benefit me more to come across as not worth the trouble and potentially valuable as an ally. Ally? Probably not that far.

I sighed and pulled my shirt down to show my symbol. “See this? The symbol, or similar, is common amongst greater demons like myself, but do you see this gem?” I poked the crimson gem in the center of my symbol and it reflected green in the light. “It means I’m the Sovereign of Wrath. It’s a title that means I’m basically the demon of wrath.”

Myrna’s eyes dipped to my cleavage for a moment before alighting on the symbol. “I… see.” She looked back up at me. “So why are you working as a mercenary?”

“Have you tried living in Ordia as a demon? It’s been hell, pun very much intended, to get this far without a damn army trying to chase me down. Really, I just want to take care of some bloody revenge, then go home to Linthel and settle down with Seyari.”

“That’s surprisingly simple, I suppose. Except for the bloody revenge part, I’d say it’s almost normal.”

“What even is normal?” Taava piped up. “’Cause I’ve damn well never found it.”

I chuckled, and forced a hint of a smile out of Myrna. Yeah, that’s true isn’t it.

***

Up to the pass the journey was uneventful. Yevon didn’t show his face again, but he got a few more free meals out of us. For whatever reason, he wanted us to know he was watching. The worst part was, aside from a couple times Taava or Seyari almost caught something, we’d not been able to track him. Myrna, understandably, didn’t like being followed by the church, either.

On the morning of the first full day on the small side road through the pass, the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. Snow turned to sleet, and the road ahead became buried in dense slush. To make things even more dangerous, we were moving through switchbacks, with no place to pull off and attempt to set up camp.

Seyari had to use her magic to keep the worst of it off the wagon and horses. Nelys, Taava, and Phol stayed huddled under the canvas in the rear, while I stayed up with Myrna, acting as both heater and lookout.

On a particularly wide, but steep turn, we hit something buried in the snow. There was a sharp cracking sound and the wagon jolted. Ice slick beneath hooves, the horses went down and slid with our wagon toward the edge, and a precipitous drop.

I leapt off the wagon and landed uphill, my hot claws digging through ice and into dirt as they punched through my poor boots. At least that decision gave me grip. I grabbed the wagon with two hands and the horses’ harness with another two. The animals panicked, and one slid out from the reins.

A strong gale pushed the animal away from the edge, but I knew it’d be a losing battle for Seyari’s magic. I couldn’t risk letting go of the wagon to go after the one horse. Even if I was probably fast enough to grab it and move back, there was no guarantee I’d be able to hold both horses and the wagon back from falling down the steep hillside. It wasn’t an issue of weight; it was an issue of trying to stay stable while holding onto two panicking animals twice my size.

Seyari seemed to realize this too, and shouting a swear, she leapt up to the front of the damaged wagon, over a Myrna still recovering from shock, and ran to the sliding horse. Holy light flowed out from her, its glow reflecting eerily off the driving snow. Even healed, the animal didn’t calm, so Seyari grabbed a leg.

For a moment, her strength held the two in place, and then she slipped, and both half angel and animal tumbled off the edge. I had to make a choice between holding the wagon or going after Seyari.

I chose Seyari.

“Hold the cart!” I shouted to the others and with a shove uphill that I hoped would buy them time, I let go and leapt over the wagon and after my girlfriend.

The steep hillside quickly faded into snow, so I blasted a jet of fire through it. I aimed up off the ground, but in the direction I saw Sey and the horse fall.

“Renna!” I heard Sey shout, and from close to the top. “I’m okay for now! Get the wagon and the others!”

Behind me, I could hear shouts and the crunching sound of the wagon sliding. The panicking remaining horse had spun it around, despite the front axle clearly being broken, and it was sliding down to me; the others hadn’t even had time to do more than disembark.

I took a step back onto solid ground, dug in my heels and caught the empty wagon when it slid into me. My claws splintered wood from the force of my grip, and my tail grabbed one of the horse’s legs. Slowly, I took a step forward, then another, back toward the road and the others who were waiting in the slush.

The ground shook, and I heard a roar from uphill through the snow. It was an avalanche. More of a mudslide I’d bet, but I didn’t have time to get pedantic about it.

I had a tenuous grip on a horse with my tail and I was half-certain I’d shattered the leg I was holding. I clutched the wagon with all our supplies in my other arms. Five people—one of whom was already somewhere down the hillside were about to be swept away, We had to go—and fast.

“Avalanche!” I shouted. “I’ll get Sey—everyone back on the wagon!”

I pushed the crippled wagon to a tree next to me, shoved the horse back down the trail, skidding through the sleet on its side, and ran for Seyari.

“I’m here!” she shouted, just visible over the roar of our impending doom. A lance of holy light burned up through the sleet and I followed it back to its source, using my claws and tail to cling to the trees.

Seyari was hanging from her enchanted sword, the blade stuck deep into the side of the tree. The horse that had fallen with her was nowhere to be seen. I grabber her and pulled her and the blade up and out in one swift motion. She yelped, something cracking from the force, and glowed bright in my arms, healing herself and burning my skin as we ascended. The roaring was deafening now, made worse for the fact I couldn’t see more than fifteen meters up the slope. If I saw the slide, I would be too late.

When Seyari and I crested back to the buried road, all the others except for Phol were in the wagon. He had just helped Myrna up and in, and in his panic in front of me, he slipped. Not wanting yet another tragic slip, I caught him by his brigandine, more gently than I did with the three-quarters angel whose bones I had definitely broken one or more of.

I tossed Seyari on top of the wagon, and with a shout of “hang on tight!” I grabbed the front and lifted. Using my tail to help hold up the back, I brought the whole wagon above my head, steadying the load by virtue of having four hands spread apart.

Then, like any demon with a wagon full of friends over their head running from an avalanche would, I ran to the side, back down the road and after the horse that I’d hopefully find alive ahead of us.

Living in Linthel (or southern Edath in general) meant I’d learned a thing or two about avalanches. Mainly that you wanted to move perpendicular to one—downhill versus uphill if you have to pick and doubly so if you couldn’t see it. Any extra time could save your life.

My claws steamed as they punched through slush, kicking up dirt as I ran. I could definitely feel the cart’s weight, but not so much that it slowed me down. Panicking, nearly blind, and in a big, big hurry, I didn’t find the second horse.

I did, however, see the edge of the avalanche as the slide of slush, mud and whole trees bore down on us. Blessedly, I could also see the leading edge and we were almost to it!

Heedless of the risk of slipping, I sped up. The slide was ten meters above us, and its leading edge fifteen in front.

Then ten, then five.

At the last second, I half-tossed, half-shoved the wagon forward, watching it skid on ice and snow out onto a flatter part of the road and away from the slide. Lost momentum and weight caused me to stumble. That delay, a fraction of a fraction of a second no clock could measure, was enough for me to get caught.

The root mass of a tree hit my torso and knocked me airborne back into the slide.

Oh, this is going to hurt.

“I’ll be fi—” I shouted before a clod of wet, frozen dirt shoved itself in my mouth. I took a deep breath through my nose, rolled into a ball, and went under.

***

Some parts of being a demon I doubted I’d ever get used to. The crushing pressure was certainly uncomfortable, almost painfully so, but it wasn’t really hurting me. The stones and branches that slammed into me again and again stung for a moment, and any bruises they left felt minor—like a punch that didn’t quite have someone’s weight behind it.

Unfortunately, I did still need to breathe. I waited until my lungs burned while the slide slowed. The moment I felt I could move against it without being carried deeper, I uncurled myself. Burning and melting I dug in a direction I hoped was up. I was wrong, but when my makeshift tunnel collapsed behind me, I found the correct direction.

I sucked in a lungful of cold air as soon as I surfaced. My clothes were shredded to the point of uselessness, and I was incredibly glad my spear was in the wagon. I knew only moments had passed, but it felt like hours. The forest was eerily silent around me, the placid scene only a dozen meters out from the slide a sharp contrast to the chaos I’d been embroiled in only moments before.

I looked up at the loose mess from the slide. If I followed that up, I should find the others—unless I was carried to the other side. Given my position relative to the hillside, I was almost certain that hadn’t happened. Using my magic to heat myself and uncaring of my relative nudity, I trudged back up the hillside, a bright crimson blot in a sea of white, brown, and deep green.