The Tale of Daemonica

Behold Andala!

Vassiles had just finished treating Daemonica when Pete entered his cabin again without knocking. 

'Good that you are here, I need help.'

'What is she?' Pete fired ignoring Vassiles completely. Then he cursed, turning away from Daemonica's bare chest.

'That's none of your business.'

'That’s my damn business. This is my damn ship!' Pete called out visibly offended, but then he looked at Vassiles closely.

'You don't know!' His tanned face lit up with amusement.

'Be so kind as to bring me a clean shirt.' Vassiles glanced back at him touchily, pretending to be busy.

'What?' Pete growled irritably. 'Am I some tailor to hand out shirts on demand?' Vassiles said nothing. Pete knew him too well, so only moments later he did as he asked without a word.

'What are you standing there for? Pick her up,' Vassiles grumbled when Pete returned.

's**t, I'm not a nurse!'

'Stop swearing!' Pete lifted Daemonica so Vassiles could dress her, then grunted: 'Will she be all right?'

'Perhaps.'

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She ran up the stairs in the hot heat toward the cave. The sword in one hand, the other hand on her dagger, she dashed inside. But the cave was completely empty. Occasionally the sound of the volcano shook the cave, a sound that was now more like a cough, against the dense rumble that resonated with the cave when the volcano was awakened. The light from its bowels did little to illuminate her surroundings. The cave seemed cold after the hot slope she just left behind.

She walked slowly to the rift, remembering rather than seeing anything among the massive pillars of the darkened temple. The random sounds of the dormant volcano bounced off the pillars between which she walked in long echoes.

She stopped in front of the crevice and fastened the sword back to her belt. The weapons were useless to her now. Something weighed on her neck, she touched the cold metal of the amulet unconsciously. She felt relieved.

Daemonica looked suspiciously at the crack. Something told her to cross it this time. Daemonica removed her hand off the amulet, bounced with a start, and moved lightly over it. She quickly glanced behind her before she finished the jump. But nothing happened. The cave was still empty, and no flames burst from the fissure.

She turned back toward the heart of the volcano, her gaze meeting that of the golden-robed man who had been standing where Sorcerer was standing last time. A high crown or other headdress glowed gold on his head, it was hard to tell, there wasn't much more to be seen in low light. But one thing was certain, it wasn't Sorcerer. Daemonica immediately reached for her sword, but her hand found nothing but emptiness.

The figure did not move, just watched her with a motionless gaze. There was an unpleasant rustling behind her. Daemonica turned just in time to leap away from the attack of the first of the many snakes that had lazily begun to pour out of the crack's bowels. Even so, the snakes soon forced her to retreat from the crack towards the stranger. The temple was lit by the flames of the awakening volcano just as Daemonica thought she had to bump into him at any moment. With a very bad feeling, she turned, ignoring the snakes.

She stared directly into the emerald eyes of a huge golden snake, its great head bent over her menacingly. The animal's narrow pupils examined her without moving. Meanwhile, the snakes wrapped themselves around her legs and tied her hopelessly in place. With a slight movement of its eyes, the serpent's gaze turned to the amulet on her neck. Its pupils dilated, a sharp hiss bounced off the pillars of the cave, and the serpent's huge maw opened right in front of Daemonica's face.

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Daemonica opened her eyes, sweat trickling down her temples. She reached for the amulet on her chest. Vassiles held her tightly by the shoulders and pushed her toward the bed.

'Lie!' Daemonica's eyes flickered with recognition. She stopped resisting Vassiles and closed her eyes again. Vassiles was in no hurry.

'I'm sick,' Daemonica said after a moment.

'Your body is almost cured with my little contribution, but I am left wondering how someone coming from one of the greatest ports in the known world can suffer from such a severe seasickness.'

Daemonica remained silent, but she smiled a little and sat up slowly in the bed. Her body was stiff, and her stomach was turning upside down.

'Come, it's high time for dinner. Don't worry, I'll give you a cure for nausea and something sharper to drink will help, too. You have to eat.' Vassiles said firmly.

'What is it?' Daemonica pointed to the amulet. Her dream was still vivid.

'Something you'll never take off from now on.' Vassiles replied. 

'Chew it and swallow it. No more questions, if you please.' Vassiles handed her some dried root. With a look of disgust, Daemonica did as he ordered.

'That should help the stomach. Can you stand up now? Let's go then.'

Dinner was held in the captain’s quarters. Pete was already waiting for them. He didn't speak all through dinner, let alone look at her.

'Don’t mind his rudeness,' Vassiles said after the meal, as Pete handed her the brandy cup without a word, again deftly avoiding her puzzled gaze. 'Even as a boy he had trouble with manners.'

A flush of shame covered Pete's face. He emptied his cup with one sip and left the cabin without a word.

Vassiles ordered her to go on the fresh air at least once per day for the rest of the voyage. She knew that Pete had made the people they had freed to help on the ship to relieve his weary crew, who had no chance of rest in Roy. It turned out (without much surprise) that not a few of them were sailors captured in the battles at sea. Daemonica didn't want to cause Pete any more trouble by showing herself in front of them. As they drew closer to Andala each day, Vassiles grew more irritated, Pete continued to avoid her, and despite Vassiles's treatment, Daemonica was too sick for social conversation. So she went aboard only at night, waking from her restless sleep. Pete's men ignored her, they were professionals. Even so, she never went beyond the nearest railing. Otherwise, she spent the voyage thinking alone in her cabin.

The waves of the sea broke endlessly against the rocky cliffs that rose steadily from the shore. The first thing she saw, like all the other sailors, was a huge white statue of the god Middar, the patron of Andala in a long robe, which served as a beacon. His outstretched palms touched high above his flowing-haired head. An eternal fire burned in the fireplace formed from his palms, thanks to the service of the King-decorated soldiers who would not let it go out.

No sooner had one looked at the truly unprecedented lighthouse than the ship approached the cliff, where there was a chasm that divided the flat top of the rocks, on whose steeply descending slope and on the wrinkled plain below it, divided by the Draa River, lay the city of Andala. On one side of the chasm, Middar looked down at the sea, and on the other, not too wide a plateau, the royal palace shone far away, built just like Middar and all of Andala from white limestone.

"Behold Andala!" Vassiles exclaimed with feeling without a slightest hint of irony.

Their ship headed for the crevice. Daemonica stood with Vassiles on the deck, clutching the railing. Both were now silently engaged in their own thoughts. The ship passed through the chasm whose walls, lined with tall shooting towers, gradually descended toward the harbor and entered a wide lagoon. Daemonica knew Pete's ship would not stay in the royal harbor. They passed the public port about two hours ago. Only Arnvin's fleet and those with royal permission were allowed to dock in Andala. All the other ships had to leave the harbor by nightfall.

'So it looks like we're finally home,' Vassiles turned away from the ship's railing unfocused as the ship docked in the harbor and turned toward Daemonica.

'It's time to say goodbye. I'm in such a hurry that I had to entrust my luggage to Pete. 'Vassiles grinned. When Daemonica wanted to speak, he held her back with a movement of his hand.

'There'll be plenty of time for long stories. I have no doubt I will hear about you soon. Then we'll meet again. Farewell.' Without giving Daemonica a chance to say goodbye, he set off toward the new bridge and soon disappeared into the busy dock. Daemonica headed for the captain’s bridge, wanting to thank Pete.

'Did you come for change?' Pete muttered, trying to hide his embarrassment. 'I'd like to say that doing business with you was something I'd like to repeat in the near future, but I'm not in the habit of lying.'

'I came to thank you,' Daemonica said coldly in response to his harsh words and turned slowly to leave.

'Wait.' It came from behind her. She turned back to Pete, who threw a small purse at her.

'What is it?' Daemonica's eyebrows rose as she looked into the purse. It contained one golden Crown and several silver coins.

'Some of the ones you saved are quite skilled sailors. This is the price I'd have to pay to hire them.' Pete just said. 'But rest assured,' Pete looked her in the eye for the first time since the events on Ennufu, 'that for what they did to you in Roy and what they forced me to do, they would wait a long time for their first pay.' Pete added grimly. Daemonica smiled.

'You should go, I don't have time to chat.'

'Good-bye, Pete,' said Daemonica, heading across the deck to the desired land.

'Until we meet again, my lady.' Pete spoke under his breath. But when Daemonica turned to look back at him, startled, he paid no more attention to her.

Daemonica knew exactly where to go first. She tried not to look too closely around, lest she be tempted out of the way by the places she missed so much. But all the time she wanted to be on just one of them, the one where she always felt safe.

At a rapid pace she walked up a wide staircase along the Draa River, which flowed into the lagoon in gentle cascades, spanned by more than a few bridges that connected two distinct parts of the city - the Royal Bank, where the nobles lived, and the Little Side, where everyone else lived. The golden dome of the local university library loomed overhead, but Daemonica resisted the temptation to turn toward it. She was heading for the Reunion Square, dominated by a huge Tradepost roofed with another golden dome supported by richly decorated marble columns. Its oval wall was open in the direction of the square, so it was possible to enter Tradepost even on horseback. In addition to trading of all kinds, its vast premises often served as a meeting place for various purposes.

She looked around the bustling square, her eyes finding the stallholder spinning temptingly scented pieces of meat on a spit. She bought the local specialty called "Rat on Stick" and, holding the stick with meat between her teeth, climbed swiftly up the ivy covering the house on the corner of the square. She sat on its balcony and listened to the noise of the city. Only now did she stop feeling that everything was swinging with her. It didn't matter that the house was a notorious brothel. Its customers seldom made it to the balcony.

Not far from her, the bard sang merry songs. He was not bad at all. As ever, Daemonica peered discreetly out from behind the balcony railing. The red-haired bard was young and handsome. His carefully groomed appearance reliably attracted the gazes of all passing women, regardless of age. It seemed to her, that everything that had happened over the past year remained in Roy. That there was no longer any need for vigilance, and that her adventure was over. That she could forget and start again.

Suddenly, however, the cheerful sound of the bard's lute turned into clear tones of mournful music, which vibrated now as if from the silenced square that gripped her heart with a squeeze that would not allow her to perceive anything else. Bard's velvet voice sounded pure and clear in the busy square.

Thou shall not cry

Because as you and I,

Everything we fear

Will take the waves of endless sea.

(The ship's slender bow breaks the waves of forbidden sea, only a ray of light in the impenetrable mist will lead them to their destination, after the shore behind them is lost forever.)

Thy heart is burning

And so am I,

But the night is coming,

It's too late to cry.

(The burning fire in the cave and the emerald eyes of the serpent.)

Thou eyes see far

But can't reach mine.

And now all that we can see

Are only waves of endless sea.

(Sorcerer's gaze.)

Thy heart is burning

And so am I,

The night is coming.

Oh, but it's too late to cry.

The song was over, and the emptiness it left behind seemed more true than the returning sounds of the busy square. Daemonica's heart ached. For her, nowhere is and ever will be truly safe, and Andala is no longer the city she left more than one year ago. A shadow hung over her, a burden from which it was impossible to detach. No, nothing was as it used to be.

On a sudden impulse, Daemonica sprang to her feet, climbed down, and headed for the bard. Along the way she passed old women who, in an ancient custom, patted bard’s shoulder before dropping their change into his metal pot. He gave each one of them a gentle smile and began packing his things. But when Daemonica came to him, and the bard fixed her with the bright gaze of his brilliant grey-green eyes, she could not speak, and a flush covered her cheeks.

'My lady?' The bard smiled at her.

'I am not a lady,' Daemonica blurted.

'Are you sure?'The bard's smile widened, and amusement flickered in his eyes. 'I am Skald, the wandering bard. How can I serve?' The bard slung the lute over his back.

'What was that song you were just singing? Did you compose it yourself?' Daemonica finally woke up. 

'Unfortunately not, my lady,' Skald looked at her appraisingly. 'It's an ancient song sung among the people of Raia like a lullaby. More than once, however, I have heard it in various forms in regions far to the north. I'm surprised you don't know it.' Skald raised his eyebrows.

'I don't, but thanks to you now I won't forget it,' Daemonica looked away. 'Thank you for that.'

'I thank you.' Skald bowed slightly. 'It's always a good feeling when my music reaches the hearts of those listening.' Skald bent over for a copper pot with few small coins at the bottom. As he was leaning over it, a gold coin landed into it with a piercing ring and glittered in the midday sun. Bard straightened in surprise, but the place where Daemonica had stood was empty now. For only a moment he thought he saw her ashen hair in the stream of people leaving the city.