Chapter 112: Scars of War

The well-dressed woman and I stared at each other for an uncomfortably long moment. She had lightish-brown hair that stuck out from under a woolen cap, and gray-blue eyes flanked by crow’s feet that bored into my own.

Neither of us dared reach for the bundle of dropped flowers. She didn’t want to risk looking away, and I wasn’t about to close the four or so meters of space between us. I also wasn’t about to let this turn into another awkward situation with a lot of yelling and me acting overtly non-confrontational to the point of harm.

So, I did what any self-respecting demon should do in the situation: I bowed my head and apologized for intruding.

“I’m sorry for intruding and for startling you,” I stated plainly, head still bowed. “If you don’t mind, I should really catch up to my friend before she twists my absence into insincerity.”

I raised my head, avoided catching the woman’s eyes, and turned to leave.

“Wait,” the woman asked, in a voice I found oddly soft.

I stopped, but didn’t turn.

“You… you’re not here for me then?”

Here for her? I glanced over my shoulder. “I’m sorry ma’am, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The woman stepped over the flowers, leaving them in the snow behind her. She looked me over. “You’re not here for revenge?”

“Ma’am, I’m afraid I don’t—”

“The war,” she cut me off. “Did you fight in the war? The you who used to be?”

Who used to be?

I turned around fully and shook my head. “No. I wasn’t… here then. If you know what I mean.”

The woman stared at me again before her shoulders slumped. “I thought you’d come for me, too.”

“You too?” I asked, the words slipping out before my mind caught up.

The woman walked, with a limp I noticed, back over to the flowers. She bent down and gently picked them up off the snow. “Yes. Me too.”

“Were they…” I gestured at the headstone she stood next to.

“My husband, yes. We both fought, but I was injured early on and had to hear about the worst of the fighting from criers.” She brushed snow off the top of the headstone and set the flowers at the base.

I felt a chill roll down my spine as I remembered what I’d overheard back at the Gelles company office. Murder. More victims. My fear that I’d get dragged into all this started to seem more and more real.

“And you think a demon did it?” I asked, stepping around the words “killed” and “husband.”

The woman’s posture stiffened again and she set her gaze back on me as if she’d just remembered what I was. “I don’t know,” she said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.”

I frowned. “The murders. How many others have there been? Were the wounds blade or claw?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why the sudden interest?”

“With all due honesty ma’am, if it’s a demon killing people, then it’s my business to find and stop them.”

“Why?”

As the Sovereign of Wrath, it’s my job to make sure other wrath demons play by my rules.

I exhaled quickly through my nose. “They might be a wrath demon. And, as an, uh, important you could say, wrath demon myself, I have an obligation of sorts to bring them to heel.”

“And that’s why you’ve come for me here?”

Quickly, I waved my hands in front of me. “N-no, that’s not it at all. It’s a total coincidence, but it wouldn’t be right for me to look the other way.”

The woman looked back down at the headstone, up at the moon, and then at back at me. She stepped forward, and thrust an accusing finger my way. “Why would you care about humans?”

“Because I was one once,” I shrugged. “A lot of the people I love are human, or otherwise mortal, too. And I’d also like to live in human society—so there are rules I need to abide by. There’s also the fact that I believe myself to be empathic toward others, but I can’t exactly prove that to you. Plus, I work for the Gelles Company, and they know what I am. I could take a contract to track the killer down.”

The woman looked at the company symbol near my shoulder, seeming to recognize it near-immediately. “You’re an odd sort, demon,” she said without any venom. “But I’ve told you what I know and I’ve no interest in pursuing the matter. Dead is dead, and I don’t want to go cutting open the scars of the past. Go talk to the city guard or something.”

I felt a little pulse of anger from her that told me she might not be quite so convicted as she looked. But either way, she was right.

“Sorry.” I lowered my head. “I’ll go do that then. Oh—one more question, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s cold tonight—what is it?”

“What side of the war did you and your husband fight on?”

“We fought for Edath, but I can also tell you veterans from both sides have been killed here in Gedon. Now go—leave me to my mourning.”

I bit back yet another apology and turned away, leaving in a walk that soon turned into a sprint.

Taava was waiting on the fence, kicking her legs and pointing her ears at me. Her strained expression perked up the moment I skidded into view.

“Don’t tell me you heard all that?” I asked.

“I got voices, but no words.” The kazzel shrugged. “No screamin’ either, so I guess it all worked out?”

“Sort’ve?”

“Did she think ya were a ghost or somethin’?”

“No.” I shook my head and started to vault the fence.

Taval swiveled to face me. “Ya musta laid the charm on real thick then, yeah?”

“Not really,” I pulled myself wordlessly over the fence and dropped to the other side.

Taava frowned. “It’s real weird hearin’ someone your size do that all quiet-like.”

“Yeah, well I’m—”

“Real weird. Yeah, I know,” Taava replied flippantly. “You agreed to go do somethin’ didn’t you?”

“How’d you guess?”

Taava smiled, showing sharp canines. “Ya think all my dumb trainin’ was for nothin’? I’ve been around ya long enough ta read ya like a book, Zarenna. And I can read real well, ya know.” She hopped down next to me, bouncing on the heels of her feet.

“Fine, I agreed to look into something, yes.” I started walking back toward the inn.

“By ‘I’ ya mean ‘we’ dontcha?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Taava slapped me on the back. “Don’t worry boss! I’m here for ya—and those other people probably are too.”

I frowned at her calling Seyari and Nelys “other people,” but let it go. “I’ll bring this up with everyone in the morning.”

Taava giggled and pointed at the sun cresting the horizon as we passed between two buildings. “Hate ta break it to ya, but you’re a little late already.”

I groaned. “Seyari’s gonna kill me. And worse yet, I’ll deserve it too!”

***

Luckily, I survived Seyari’s wrath. If anyone were to see the two of us, however, they probably would have assumed our roles reversed. Since I stayed up tonight, I’d be sleeping on the floor tomorrow night. When I’d brought up how Seyari would also be punishing herself by tossing her heater out, she was less than pleased. Tonight, I’d get to sleep face down on the floor, with my poor boobs smushed under me and my poor tail dragged up into Seyari’s bed to heat it.

Thankfully, along with Nelys and Taava, she’d agreed with my suggestion to look into the murders. Personally, I assume she wanted more time off the road and a chance at actually sharing a proper bed at some point before we left Gedon. Can’t say I disagreed.

Besides, as tantalizingly close as Linthel was, not following up on a potential murdering wrath demon would eat away at me. There was also a chance this was a scheme by Avarice, Envy, or both of them, but I doubted it. That could change if the victims were robbed, or I could just be wrong.

Which was why all four of us had arranged to speak to the captain of the guard about the matter. There was a bounty out for the killer which wasn’t hard to find, and our credentials as Gelles Company mercenaries helped get us a meeting with the captain of the guard.

The only thing that hadn’t gone according to plan was the very loud, very heated argument we could clearly hear through the thin door to the captain’s office. The four of us stood outside next to an increasingly anxious looking guard who’d escorted us.

“For the last time,” said an exasperated voice, “I am not going to mobilize the guard on to hunt for a demon that probably doesn’t exist.”

“You’re just going to let it keep killing then, are you?” the other voice replied, feminine like the first, but deeper in pitch. “How could you? And you won’t lend a single person to help me—what kind of a bounty even is this?”

“A bounty for information. We don’t even know what killings could be tied together. I’ve reports from all across the county, and we know some people haven’t let go of the war.”

“And you’re just going to let them keep killing? Maybe you haven’t let go of the war!”

I heard the scrape of a chair. “We are doing what we can. I’ll not tolerate baseless accusations against me, my guards, or any former soldiers until we have proof. So unless you have any real leads beyond ‘a demon somewhere,’ I need you to: Get. Out.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t leave immediately, and we all bore witness to a litany of curses until a final threat from the voice I presumed to be the guard captain ended the argument. Taava and I had just enough time to step back from the door before it burst open and a woman dressed in dark hunting leathers stormed out, fuming. She was a little taller than Taava, armed to the teeth with all sorts of blades and a large crossbow, and had short-cut brown hair done in two braids tucked into her tall collar.

The well-armed woman clipped me, mumbled “watch it”, and strode away with hardly a second glance. I could feel fury radiating off her in waves. The sensation made me both hungry and wary.

“Uh, Captain?” the guard we were with started. “A group from the Gelles Company is here to—”

“Send them in! Why the fuck not?” the captain roared, much louder with the door open.

We all heard more mumbled cursing as the four of us filed into the office. Behind a desk, and surrounded by strewn objects and papers, was a fairly short woman of South Ordian complexion. A little redder due to her very tangible fury, but pale underneath it.

I picked up a downed chair and sat very carefully on it. “I’m Zarenna Miller, with the Gelles Company.”

Seyari took the seat next to me, Nelys took the remaining chair, and Taava took Seyari’s lap. My girlfriend was too dumbfounded to shove her off immediately. She did, however, give the kazzel a death glare and Taava obliged her, moving off to lean above the back of the half-angel’s chair.

With a sigh that was more growl than an actual sigh, the guard captain pulled her own chair upright and took a seat in it. “I’m Kerra, guard captain here in Gedon. Sorry you had to hear all that. What do you want?”

Professional enough to be direct, and furious enough to layer in cold terseness. I really felt I was starting to get a feel for these kinds of authority figures—probably meant I knew just enough to make assumptions that would bite me in my big red ass later.

“We’re here about the bounty,” I started, then hurriedly clarified, “but we’re hoping to investigate any leads you might have. My group’s headed to Linthel, but it’s not urgent, so we wouldn’t mind turning over a few stones here in Gedon or on the way south.”

“I can’t say we have any leads right now, sorry.” The guard captain hissed air through her teeth. “In fact, leads are what we’re looking for.”

“Could you at least describe how some of the victims died?” Nelys asked. “Are there any patterns?”

Kerra shook her head. “Not really. I don’t think all the killings are one person anyway. Too different, and even if most of the people being murdered here in Gedon are former veterans, that’s not that unusual. A lot of people here fought in the war, and the dead are from both sides.”

“So you think they’re killing each other?” Seyari asked.

That got a wince from the guard captain. “We do, yes. But there is a trend insofar as some of the killings are much more brutal—and the dead are all veterans. Again, from both sides.”

“Are there any that were recent here in the city?” Nelys asked, picking up speed even as their hand curled around their chin. “Any relatives we could talk to?”

“What Nelys is asking,” I jumped in to clarify, “is that we’d like to help with the investigation if you’ll have us. They have experience in the area—in fact everyone in our group does besides myself.”

Kerra leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. I felt a slow-burning, controlled anger from her now that the wave of stoked fury had subsided.

It didn’t take long for her to reply. “What’s your goal? What do you want out of this?”

“We want to save people!” Nelys answered ahead of me.

Guard Captain Kerra raised both eyebrows, then looked at me, cocking her head to one side as if daring me to confirm what Nelys said.

I shrugged. “That’s the biggest reason, yes. I’m from Linthel myself, although I’ve not lived in Edath since before the war. I feel I have a stake in this.”

Really, the stake I have in this is a lot more than I can tell you right now. Especially with that other person poking around who is looking for a demon to blame.

“And you’ll pay us!” Taava finished loudly. “We get money, you catch a murderer or several, and some people stay alive that’d otherwise be dead. Sound good?”

Kerra narrowed her eyes. “If you weren’t from the Gelles Company, I wouldn’t take you up on your offer.”

“So you’ll let us help?” an excited Nelys beamed a smile at the guard captain. Surprisingly, she seemed unaffected. Years of training, most likely.

“Yes,” Kerra answered. “Someone was murdered last week who fits with the other more brutal killings. The area they were killed in is a majorly Edathan part of the city—and as a result I’ve had an even harder time than usual finding guards who I can send there and expect real answers.”

“Let me guess,” Seyari said, “you’re Ordian and most of the guard is too, so the Edathan population doesn’t trust you. Therefore, we have a better chance of getting somewhere so long as we don’t advertise that we’re working for the guard.”

“Exactly right. I’ll send you to a relative of another one of the deceased, though it will take a day or so to set up a meeting. They’re already working with more or less secretly, and we’ll have you go investigate on their behalf. We’ll talk reward money if you uncover anything. Understood?”

“Understood,” I confirmed. “Give us the details, and we’ll get out of here.”

Guard Captain Kerra nodded, and began to fill us in. We learned names, places, and that we’d know more later. She sent us on our way shortly after, filled with more questions than answers.

***

The next day passed uneventfully, despite a strong urge to go investigate that all of us except Taava had to fight. My awful floor-night passed, and the next night was a much more intimate time with Seyari that brightened my mood considerably ahead of the meeting with our “client.” The relatively wealthy man Guard Captain Kerra sent us to gave us a few new details before we left to question those closest to the latest victim.

The more details we got, the surer I was something demonic was going on. The strength required to pull someone apart like what was described, and the primal nature of the killings, were both things I was intimately familiar with.

Not everything added up, however. I couldn’t fit a pattern to the victims. Wrath demons, myself included, were creatures of singular focus. Without the help I’d received, and my additional extraordinary circumstances, I’d have gone straight after Finley without any time to stop and think. There had to be either a single thread tying all the murdered together, or we only knew a small part of what was going on.

We needed to know more, and with any luck we soon would.