Demons of the Hunter (War of the Magi Book 2) Read online

  Gaius, the oldest member of the Shadows of the Empire, had given her so much help. He’d taught her to read, he’d encouraged her as a mage, and he introduced her to Kara. And now, he had given her open access to the Shadows’ headquarters, so long as she made sure no one followed her.

  On this day, she went through each stack of books with careful vision and awareness, making sure no one, not even another magi, followed her. No one ever did, though some in the main atrium of the library would cast the girl wearing tattered brown robes and unwashed hair curious glances. She came to the secret room which had another secret door. She opened it, descended the spiral staircase, and came to the lair of the Shadows of the Empire.

  She went through a couple of long, musky halls, past several closed entrances and hidden rooms, and knocked on the door of the room she shared with a mage from Dabira, Yeva. Yeva opened the door, gave a soft “hi,” hug, and smile, and Zelda went to her bed where she’d last read her new favorite book, “On Wizards, Witches, and Monsters,” by the legendary mage Garo. She looked at the pen and paper by her bed where she practiced writing what she read in the book and briefly considered it, but today, she wanted to read more. She wanted to read what Gaius had not let her get to before. Becoming a better writer—and, by extension, a better orator and a more compelling speaker—could wait a day.

  “The past of Hydor can only be conjectured at through thoughtful observation, deep meditation, and connecting to the world of Hydor itself,” Zelda began, flipping to the spot where Gaius had closed her book from before. “It began with the god Chrystos and his nemesis, Iblis. Chrystos and Iblis each had a legion of what we would see as monsters but to them were just soldiers of the spiritual realm.”

  She paused. She was rapidly going into a chapter that would not just test her reading skills, but her understanding of Hydor, the magi, and its history. Mama had never taught her about the religion of the magi. In fact, Mama had said if there were a god, he would not have placed the magi in such a cruel world.

  She reminded herself she did not have to believe in what she read. In fact, in some ways, it could act as entertainment and stir her imagination.

  Still, the fact that it came from Garo left Zelda leaning toward believing the veracity of it.

  “Chrystos and Iblis started as allies, creating the dualities of the world. Chrystos created the light, Iblis the darkness. Chrystos created life, Iblis death. Chrystos created the beauty, Iblis created the demons. It is easy to believe that one need only the light, life, and the beauty, but that is a false statement. Only by understanding, acknowledging, and controlling the darkness, death, and demons can one truly appreciate and cherish the good in this world.

  “Iblis, however, was not content to just create those things. He wanted more. Chrystos and Iblis had split control of the world equally, but Iblis saw Chrystos’ control as superior to his. Their contention started as innocent questioning. But soon it turned to bickering. Then it turned to violence. And then they became entrenched in their respective positions. Chrystos sought to preserve the world. Iblis sought to destroy it and build it in his own image.

  “To that end, the two enlisted soldiers of their kind to fight. I have spent many years meditating and trying to connect to the spiritual side of Hydor, but I have only seen the haziest of details on the army. Each side possessed great warriors, not all of them human. Some took on demonic shapes, some took on the shape of dragons, and some took on shapes that I cannot describe even with my greatest effort. But I do know that in the end, Chrystos prevailed.

  “However, he did not seek to destroy Iblis, but instead keep him in place. Chrystos knew one could not enjoy peace without acknowledging it came after a war. And so Chrystos watches over the world, but Iblis is never far removed. I suspect that the demon of Hydor wishes to rise again, to hunt all of the allies of Chrystos, and then destroy him. So long as we as magi and humanity live in accordance with the world that Chrystos has shaped for us, I believe we will live within the bounds of this peace and avoid the destruction that Iblis wishes to bring.”

  That ended the first chapter. Zelda placed her paper in the book as a bookmark and closed it, contemplating what she had just read. It made for a fascinating story, the dueling deities trying to control Hydor as they saw fit.

  But on the other hand, the chapter began with Garo stating that he could only guess at the past through observation, meditation, and connecting to the world. What did that even mean? Who was to say that Garo hadn’t made all of it up in order to unify the magi? What if he or someone else had discovered information that would make the book outdated?

  Something inside Zelda, though, told her that what she’d just read contained an element of truth. What it was, she couldn’t say, but she knew if she was forced to choose between the story being true and it being fiction, she would go with it being the truth.

  How? How could he meditate and observe these things? Magic’s real. Indica is real. But this is so far out there…

  More questions about Garo flooded Zelda’s mind. What did the legendary mage believe? What had he fought for? Did he trust everything he observed? How had he seen this story?

  But her questions were interrupted when she heard sniffling on the bed beside her. Zelda quickly put her book to the side and walked over to Yeva.

  Still grieving the loss of her boyfriend, Norius, she was a pendulum of emotions. One moment, she was talking about how the empire had finally learned to respect the magi because of their role in the destruction of Indica. The next, she was in tears over Norius, wondering why he gave his life when, in her eyes, he didn’t truly have to.

  “Why did we ever leave Dabira?” she said through sniffles “Caia was a nightmare for the magi. The empire and Indica. If they lived here, they got what was coming to them. But Norius never had to leave. We were good. We were happy back home. Now…”

  Zelda struggled with the proper response. She wanted Yeva to feel better, but she also felt the urge to gently correct her. No, not everyone who lived in Caia deserved what came to them. The empire itself was evil, but many of its citizens were not. Most of its citizens, without the influence of the emperor, would feel this way.

  After all, many of the people had supplied her with coin for her voice. My voice…

  In stressful times, Zelda would sing Yeva a song, a song which Zelda’s mother had first sung to her after a particularly brutal day in the streets. In a cheerful, upbeat pace, it went:

  Though you may have journeyed far,

  And you think you have lost it all,

  Know that your life has just begun,

  You may soon yet get your call.

  Yeva, the journey of life,

  Yeva, the trials of life,

  Yeva, the tragedies of life,

  These are all part of a whole life.

  When necessary, Zelda would add a second verse, but often enough, by then Yeva had begun humming the song herself and Zelda would hum with her. It had the added effect of calming Zelda and her concerns as much as it did Yeva.

  But today, Yeva still had not calmed down after the first verse. When she began the second verse, Zelda gently grabbed Yeva’s hand and squeezed it as she sung.

  In times of darkness and fear,

  When it seems good has lost its might,

  Know that the battle is not done,

  You will someday win your fight.

  Zelda had not sung her second verse in nearly a month, not since the day of Norius’ funeral, when no amount of song, hugs, or comforting could quell the tears and sorrow of Yeva. Unlike that day, though, when all of the Shadows and Zelda accepted that Yeva needed space and nothing would console her, the second verse did the trick for Yeva, who started humming the song. Zelda smiled, gently squeezed her hand, and went back to her bed.

  Before she could open her book, though, she overheard Gaius outside in the hallway, talking with someone—Kara?—about the ceremony.

  Oh. It’s today!

  Today would conta
in a ceremony for the magi, held by none other than the emperor, in which they would be honored for their work defeating Indica and then allowed free passage back to Dabira. Despite having dreamed of the moment when the emperor would pay respects to the magi for all fourteen years of her life, Zelda prepared the moment with a mixture of emotions.

  A sense of accomplishment, for reaching her goal and helping Mama’s wish come true. Sadness, for leaving her hometown just when it became safe for her to live there. A low-level nervousness for how the people would react in Dabira to seeing many more magi return, especially those in the Shadows of the Empire. Actual nervousness for wondering if Roland would accept her. Anxiety for if the residents of Dabira would accept Kara.

  But the emotions were largely positive. Zelda had no reason to believe that anything bad could come from defeating the dragon. At worst, maybe some jealousy over who had accomplished what, but with the magi all moving to Dabira, the emperor could do whatever he wanted in Caia. He could have his day with the history books. Zelda just wanted to leave knowing the emperor had acknowledged their accomplishments.

  A strong knock came at the door. Zelda shook when she first heard it, then quickly stood up and got the door as Yeva watched.

  Gaius stood there, a smile on his face, his blue eyes wide and bright, and folded hands by his lap. He somehow looked younger than he did just a couple of weeks ago, as if the events of the last few weeks had lifted his spirit and rekindled the flame from within. His wrinkles did not look as pronounced, his eyes shone brighter, and even his smile seemed wider than before. Even his beard seemed more black than gray. He also moved with much more fluidity.

  “Zelda, Yeva, good afternoon. How are you both today?”

  “Good,” they both said.

  “Excellent. Kara would like to see both of you. She wants to talk to you about the ceremony later today. And she has a gift for you both.”

  Though Zelda swung her legs over with a smile, she worried about what Kara had for them and what she wanted to discuss. The leader of the Shadows was far from a pacifist, and she often had spoken about establishing the Shadows in place of the empire. Zelda could never fully assume Kara wanted what everyone else wanted. She had toned down her bellicose speech in the past month, but Zelda always felt it would only take the slightest of perceived threats for Kara to renege on the truce with the empire.

  Nevertheless, everything up to this point had indicated that Kara would peacefully go with the rest of the Shadows. Zelda very much looked forward to the moment when they all got on the boat to Dabira and would no longer have to deal with a single mistake leading back to civil unrest and war once more.

  And a gift? Zelda was excited, if not guarded.

  Zelda and Yeva walked down a long hallway, past the main atrium, and came to Kara’s private quarters. Zelda paused for just a second, always needing to remind herself that even if Kara could intimidate, they both wanted the same thing at the core—peace for the magi.

  Zelda knocked. Kara ordered them to come in, and Zelda opened the door. Kara, just like Gaius, seemed to have gotten younger over the last month. Her black hair went further down her back. Her smile extended wider. Her skin looked smoother than before.

  It probably didn’t hurt that in front of her, on the desk, sat a turquoise crystal about the size of both of her hands.

  The essence of Indica. A source of great magical power, perhaps the greatest source of external, elemental magic in Hydor. A crystal which had a literal aura around it and one that was not so visible but just as powerful—the aura of power from within. It glowed primarily a turquoise hue, but went as dark as navy blue and as light as sky blue at different times—in fact, a couple of times, it looked black or white. Zelda had figured it had to do with the energy used or absorbed from it but hadn’t spent enough time around it to say for sure.

  “Thank you for coming,” she said. “As you both know, the empire has plans to honor us and then allow us to depart for Dabira. While I would love to believe that this will be the case, I have suspected for the past month that this was too good to true. Regrettably, I have reports that lead me to believe that this will not be enough to prevent the empire from coming after us, even after we go to Dabira.”

  Zelda gulped. She looked to Yeva, who had adopted a serious expression. So the peace is going to end? What did we just fight for? I thought we’d used our magic for good and made the magi safe.

  “I suppose the best approach is to let both of you know what is to happen, as the two of you are the future of the Shadows of the Empire if I should fall.”

  Should you fall? What are you planning, Kara?

  “Originally, I had made an agreement to let someone outside of the Shadows take the place of the emperor with the assurances that they would let us live in peace. While such ‘assurances’ have not exactly worked out for us in the past, I had faith that they would here as they, too, sought the demise of the Syrast Empire. In the time since our first meeting, however, this person has not made any communication with me and has not responded to my inquiries. Regrettably, I have also learned that this person has plans to flee town very soon, if they haven’t already. For what reason, I do not know. I don’t really care what their reason is, either, as this is a breach of what we’d agreed upon. If I see this person, they will suffer, but for now, we must assume we will not see them again.

  “For that reason, it has now become my sole purpose to carry out what I have intended to do originally. I know this may sound gruesome to you, but you need to hear it given your power and prominence in the Shadows. Namely, I intend to kill the emperor and place the Shadows of the Empire in charge of Hydor.”

  “Seriously?”

  It was the only word that came to mind for Zelda. It wasn’t a very good response, she knew, but… what was she supposed to do? Rebel against the girl who had the essence of a legendary dragon before her? That crystal which seemed to supply mysterious powers to whoever held it? Not to mention that even without the crystal, Kara likely had more power. No, you don’t need a medium. But don’t hurt her.

  “Yes, very much so,” Kara said, placing her hands on the crystal. A warm glow surrounded her, and the temperature near the crystal noticeably rose. Kara took her hands off of the crystal, and the temperature dropped back to a slightly chilly feel. “I do not know how long you two have paid attention to the emperor, but since I was a girl a long time ago, I’ve known what this empire is capable of. It will lie straight to your face and then stab you in the heart when you are relaxed—not even caring for you to turn around. We may have slaughtered Indica and saved humanity from annihilation, but time rapidly dilutes the ability of the empire to give credit. This situation is no different.”

  “Do you… do you really believe they’ll do this to us?” Zelda asked. “After all that we did? What makes you say this?”

  Don’t tell me it’s the same story as before Indica. Please.

  “I have history, and that is good enough.”

  “But you don’t even know if they’ll do anything!”

  When Zelda shouted, she knew on some level Kara spoke the truth. But she’d just seen so much violence and death… anything to end that, she would take. Even if it took Zelda desperately grabbing at hopeful truths instead of actual ones.

  Kara, seated behind the crystal, rose and approached Zelda. Zelda tried to maintain her poise, but it was becoming mighty difficult for her not to do so in the face of Kara. The leader of the Shadows only had a couple of inches on her, but Zelda knew that even with an extra foot of height she’d feel intimidated by Kara.

  “I didn’t need to know if they’ll do anything to know that they would encourage the citizens to maul suspected magi, whether actual magi or not. I didn’t need to know if they would do anything to know that they would make the use of magic illegal, strictly as a means to flush them out—oh, right, they already have. And guess what? I don’t need to know if they will do anything here to know that they’ll probably throw us in jail. O
r just kill us.”

  “But we killed Indica! We killed the dragon for them! What more could they want? What more could they need?”

  Kara bit her lip and shook her head. It carried a whiff of genuine sympathy. Zelda sought more words, but Kara’s actual empathy kept her from going further.

  “You’re young and I can tell you’re genuine, so I’ll not hold it against you,” Kara said, leaving Zelda fuming. She was young in age, but she’d experienced so much at fourteen that most people didn’t with decades more of life that it hardly seemed fair or justifiable to use her age against her. “But know that what I do, I do for your well-being, Zelda. I do it for the well-being of all the magi. I promise.”

  Zelda thought better of speaking up. Not here, not in this private room with Yeva and Kara and the crystal.

  But should she openly rebel? Should she choose to fight Kara at the ceremony and prevent her magic from being used? Or could she somehow persuade Kara in the moments before the ceremony?

  She gave thought to what Kara had said and its implications. It hurt to think about, and it made her feel guilty, for she questioned if this was using her magic for good. But she wondered if the world truly would be better off without the emperor around. She didn’t support killing him, but was it a sin to not oppose someone who tried to kill him? Could it be using her magic for good, as Mama requested, if she didn’t use it at all?

  There wasn’t an answer that came to mind immediately. They only had a few hours before the ceremony began. That wasn’t a ton of time to plan a minor mutiny against Kara. If Zelda had any ideas, she needed them before her next meal.

  “Yeva? Do you have anything to add?”

  “No.”

  Zelda tried hard to read into what she had said, but couldn’t pick anything up from Yeva. The girl’s emotions from moments before had clouded Zelda’s ability to read into anything beyond her grief.

  “Good,” Kara said, making her way back behind the crystal. “As I mentioned before, because of the attack on Indica, our numbers are severely depleted. We have the three of us, Gaius, and a few other members. The rest have perished, may their souls know eternal peace with Chrystos. Gaius is wise and valuable and has years of battle experience. He will not need more power. I retain the majority of the power here. The other three do not need more magic, not without having proved themselves in a battle like what we fought. But you two…”