The Tale of Daemonica

Red Roy's on Fire (Again)

Seeing Pete's slender and elegant ship with its gold-and-black sails coming into port, Daemonica jumped out of bed. She hissed in pain, having forgotten all about her wound. She couldn't take her eyes off the ship until it reached the harbor. The hope that she could finally return home aroused unprecedented determination in her. She must act quickly and not make unnecessary mistakes. She didn't even hope to get the promised reward from Valace and leave Ennufa without any problems.

She had ripped off several strips of clean linen from the remnants of her shirt with clenched teeth and thoroughly bandaged the wound on her right shoulder after cleaning it with the water she had brought into her room the previous day. She dressed in the last shirt she had and wore a leather vest over it, so that the blood, if it leaked, would not reveal that she was hurt immidiately. She strapped a sword and a long dagger to her waist, as usual. She'd rather go to Pete right away, but she knew no one would talk to her without money even with Vassiles' name on her lips. She needed to convince Pete to leave tomorrow morning at the latest. He won't like it, therefore it will be expensive. She had a hunch that Valace's money would come in full. The money she had saved and carefully deposited with Cadmair she intended to use when she returned home to start over.

'To Valace then,' Daemonica said to herself. She didn't even think about breakfast, there was no time to waste.

She threaded her way through the familiar streets toward the Red Palace. Roy was unusually quiet in the late morning. But Daemonica was in too much of a hurry to pay attention. No one prevented her from entering Valace's mansion. Naturally. Valace dealt with the likes of her personally, if necessary. That's why he was the leader of Red Roy. She had fought beside him so many times, and his manner of fighting was close enough to her, that she had read him pretty well. As well as he had read her. But if they were to face each other in a duel... Valace didn't have many weaknesses and she was wounded.

She reached the entrance to the interior of the Palace.

'I'm here to see Valace,' she said in the usual way.

'He's waiting for you. At his place.' The guard grinned at her. Daemonica headed for Valace's study, adjacent to his bedroom. This fact probably stood behind the guard's grin. At least Daemonica hoped so, because if it didn't, it would mean Valace had more reasons to see her than she would like. She passed the other guards with a grim expression, but no one tried to stop or disarm her. She thought that was a good sign.

She tapped the door with the hilt of her sword before entering. Valace sat leaning back with his hands behind his head in a chair that rested against the reddish, unplastered wall of the palace, his legs stretched casually on an antique wooden table. A bulky leather purse lay at his feet. Daemonica remained standing at the door, watching Valace impassively.

'Come in,' the pirate smirked. 'I always keep my promises,' He nodded toward the purse. But as Daemonica approached, he slowly took his feet off the table and stood up without taking his emerald eyes off her. Now they were separated only by the wooden table and the purse between them.

'Five hundred Royal Crowns,' said Valace. That was an immense fortune, considering that one Crown could buy a decent horse with equipment in Andala, and a smaller ship for the entire sum. The Royal Crowns were not only money, but a trade currency backed by royal property. They were used almost exclusively in Andala, Kushan and the Pirate Islands.

Valace looked pleased to see the impression the sum had left on her, so he went on: "But I offer much more if you join me.” Daemonica realized at once that this was the catch. She cursed inwardly. Now she must show without excuses whose side she is on. Daemonica was only on her own side, and so she answered him sincerely.

'I can’t do that.' Valace's features hardened.

They both reached for the purse at the same time, but Daemonica was only a fraction of a second faster. The fingers of her right hand wrapped around the seal of the leather bag, but Valace was gripping her wrist tightly. The latter jerked her wrist so hard that her left hand had to lean against the table to keep her from falling over it. Her injured shoulder burned with pain and she felt it’s bleeding again. However she did not let go of the purse. She looked at the table for a moment before she managed to push the pain out of her face. Then she looked at Valace, who stared at her wordlessly, waiting.

'Put your hand back before I cut it off.' Valace pushed her with both hands and jumped away from the table with right hand on his sabre. Daemonica, purse in hand, quickly regained her balance and reached for her dagger. The pirate's eyes flashed. He had just accepted a new challenge.

'You're lucky I have more important things to do right now,' he smiled to himself rather than at her after a moment of eye-to-eye combat between them, turning toward the window to show that he was done with her for now. Daemonica removed her hand from the dagger and headed for the door with relief. As she reached for the doorknob, Valace's voice came up behind her again: 'I can promise you one more thing. The only way to leave the harbor on Pete's ship is over my dead body.' Daemonica glanced back at him. She knew he wasn't joking. Without a word, she opened the door and nearly collided with Valace's adjutant. Their eyes met for a brief moment, but they both carefully hid whatever was going on in their minds. Daemonica hurried out of the palace. It appeared, that no one has considered her a traitor yet.

'Damn,' Daemonica swore aloud outside on the steps of the Red Palace, looking down at the city below. Walking through Roy swarming with the worst scum with such a large purse, was a challenge in itself. She had no doubt that Valace would be watching her from the study window, enjoying himself until she was out of sight. Whether Valace foresaw it or not, Daemonica had enough time on Ennufu to explore the city, and all its corners were carefully stored in her memory. The escape route from the Red Palace to the harbor was the first one she had memorized.

There was no time for great thought. She ran straight down the wide palace steps and soon disappeared into the narrow alleys of Roy. At the first opportunity, she climbed one of the roofs of the low huts and, jumping easily from roof to roof, she headed following the learned route to the harbor. The harbor was busy as usual, and Daemonica had managed to reach Pete's ship almost unnoticed. Two of his shapely sailors guarded the bridge. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the large purse in her hand.

'I'm looking for Pete,' she said. Before they could answer, however, a voice came from the other end of the bridge aboard the ship: 'Let her on board. I know who she is.' Daemonica started up the bridge without undue delay.

'Pete?'The tall, still young, dark-haired man, no doubt from Raia, beckoned her to follow. They stopped at the deserted bow of his beautiful ship and sat at a small table for two by the deck rail, where they could watch the harbor. Most of the crew were busy unloading what appeared to be only a small cargo hold. Pete certainly wasn't dealing in ordinary merchandise. Daemonica placed the purse on the table between them.

'Vassiles told me about you...' She began, but Pete cut her off in surprise.

'Vassiles? Did he tell you his real name?' Daemonica gave a faint smile.

"He wants to sail with you. Did you know that?'

'I didn’t, but one of the boats is on its way to him, as always.' Pete's gaze turned toward the purse.

'May I?' He asked.

'By all means,' Daemonica replied calmly. The sailor took the purse in his hand, hefted it, and skillfully fished out a gold coin. After examining it closely, he put the coin back in the pouch and looked at her. 

'My ship is at your service.' Daemonica paused over Pete's courtesy. She would not have been surprised if he had been an ex-aristocrat blown out to sea by the breath of fate, far away from the family farms. Pete waited politely for her reply, but Daemonica was attracted by a group of handcuffed people being led by the pirates to one of the warehouses not far from them. The gaze of one of the captives met hers. There was a look of terror on his face. He recognized her.

'How many people can you get to Andala?' She looked back at the captain. Pete, who hadn't missed what had just caught her eye, turned back to face her.

'No more than thirty, out of the crew and including travel supplies. But I don't deal in human trafficking,' Pete frowned.

'I need to leave today, and leaving the port may not be easy.' Pete understood. After a while he rose from the table, her purse in his hand.

'It won't be easy. Fortunately we've stocked up nicely in Zaston next door. There's a rumor out there that things are getting hot in Roy. I wasn't planning on staying any longer than necessary. Even so...' Pete shrugged. Yes, what she asked of him was not something easy indeed.

'If you don’t mind...' Daemonica also rose from the table.

'How did you know about me when Vassiles couldn't tell you?' She asked a question that had puzzled her throughout their conversation.

'The blacksmith's boy was here, Arian. He's grown up nicely since last time.. Your shoulder is bleeding,' Pete changed the subject unexpectedly.

'I'm sure there'll be a bandage and a clean shirt on board.' Although Daemonica was pressed for time, she did not turn down his offer. The fact that her injury was visible meant a significant disadvantage for her in a possible fight, which she probably would not avoid. To Daemonica's astonishment, Pete led her to his personal cabin. After giving her a piece of clean linen and one of his own shirts, he left without further delay, carrying the purse with him. Daemonica bandaged the wound and put on a clean shirt and her vest. It was high time to go to Cadmair for her savings.

She waited for nothing, and past the motionless guards at the bridge (there were already four heavily armed men) she set off into the tangled streets of Red Roy. To save time, she decided to move faster through the wider streets rather than hide from the Valace. She knew he would find her whenever he wanted to. Right around the first corner, she realized, that she was wrong. The street was blocked by all sorts of junk, with Valace's thugs fighting headlong behind it. At the far end she saw the face of the smith's son, hidden behind another barricade. Their eyes met. Daemonica quietly went back around the corner and climbed up the water barrels to the nearest roof. The shoulder hurt from the effort, but the wound didn't bleed. Crouching, she walked lightly, studying the surroundings. Looking at the streets of the city, all the mosaic pieces of today's events finally fell into place. Regardless of whether the cause was a temple raid or the natural cycle of life in the Pirate Islands, Red Roy arose.

'Damn! Damn!' She wanted to scream. Before jumping down, she scanned the path toward the gate once more. Arian was already on his way to her from across the street. As he skillfully crept up to Daemonica, she grabbed his shoulder and pushed him into the next alley before he could speak. When they were relatively safe, Arian lowered his voice and before she could even open her mouth, he said: 'For a moment I thought you'd leave me there. Why didn't you kill them?'

'Before I’d be done, more would come,' Daemonica frowned.

'What are you doing here?'The guilty look on Arian's face said it all. Now he would definitely have a story to tell even to the guards at the gate. If they live to see the morning.

'Come on,' Daemonica hissed impatiently, and together they set off down the aisles she had picked before. At first they advanced without difficulty, but closer to the gate the danger on the way grew. When Daemonica tried to help the boy climb to the roof, he just grinned at her and climbed swiftly to the top. After Daemonica joined him, he said innocently: 'All the way I've been wondering why we're not going on rooftops.'

Daemonica, however, was distracted by the view of the situation in front of the gate, which was only a few streets away now. The defense of the stockade served its purpose, and the range of the defenders' crossbows was completely calm. But in the afternoon sun, the streets of Roy were beginning to fill with the worst rabble, while the remnants of the commoners were trying to get out of town at the last minute. In a street not far from them was a battle between a larger group of bandits and villagers.

'Dad!' Arian exclaimed.

'Stay on the roof!' Daemonica ordered with such an expression on her face that Arian flinched and nodded quickly. Without looking back, she started cautiously toward the brawl. The fight was even, with armed village men, who were certainly not holding their weapons for the first time, facing the thugs. Behind them hid several wary women and few older children. If she can catch the cutthroats off guard, she can gain the useful advantage for the blacksmith. Luck was on her side this time. Cautiously she crept behind the bandits and jumped between them. She managed to knock two or three of them down on the way. The men with Cadmair in the lead didn’t miss the chance, and soon the fight was over.

'Shouldn't you have stayed on the roof?' Daemonica growled, without hope for a reply, as she reached the group of women and children where Arian was already whispering with the other adolescents. The boy had perfectly chosen the safest place to wait out the fight.

'You have my gratitude,' Cadmair grunted beside her. Before she could answer, however, there was a cry before them: 'They're closing the gate!' They all hurried to the nearby gate, which took several minutes to close, but no one wanted to risk staying inside the stockade for the night.

'Rod!' cried Cadmair, as they came into range of the palisade's defenders. 'It's me, there are women and children with me.'

'Then move your asses,' came from the stockade. Daemonica and Cadmair were soon alone.

'Will you be all right?' Daemonica asked.

'Once they close the gate, we'll deal with whatever gets out. It's not the first time.' Daemonica nodded. 'Go before it's too late.'

'But what about your savings?' Cadmair didn’t give in.

'You'll know what to do with it. Be well, Cadmair.'

'Good luck,' Cadmair looked her in the eye one last time and ran for the gate. There came some cursing from the gate, but Daemonica was no longer aware of it. She concentrated on being back in port as soon as possible. In the fading light, without being delayed, the way was much easier, though she had to avoid the increasingly frequent fighting in the streets.

The harbor was now almost empty. Whoever could leave was long gone. Pete's ship remained, however, and its captain was waiting for her on the pier by the bridge with a group of armed sailors. 'We've been ready to sail for some time, and I'd rather it was still in the daylight.' Pete greeted her.

'I need some men.' Daemonica wasted no time.

'You've got them. They know what to do. But if anything threatens my ship or crew, our agreement will cease.'

Daemonica and six of Pete's men headed toward the warehouse where the prisoners had been taken this morning. Only a few thugs guarded the building. The rest were spilling blood somewhere in the streets. Daemonica stopped a few paces ahead.

'Open the warehouse.' The guards looked at each other and fled without a word. The salary that Valace paid them was not really worth their lives. Waiting for nothing, the sailors broke the lock at the gate and began escorting the bewildered prisoners. Daemonica stood by, watching closely. For a moment, she even believed it would work.

'Are you done playing hero yet?'There came from the shadows behind her. Not far ahead, a group of prisoners, accompanied by six of Pete's men, headed for the ship. None of them even looked at her.

'Back to business, then.' Valace's sabre rang as he drew. Daemonica dodged his attack, drawing sword and dagger. They were watching each other now, trying to guess what the other would do.

'Shouldn't you be somewhere else?' Daemonica quickly assessed the situation. As she had suspected, several of Valace's Pirates stood nearby with the hands on their weapons. She knew them all.

'I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be,' Valace laughed coldly and charged again. She was expecting his attack, but he made her dodge his hard lunge with her right forearm. A sharp pain ran through her shoulder, and she struggled to hold the sword in her hand. Valace didn't miss it. In the next few moments he showered her with several well-aimed attacks. She had no choice but to defend herself.

'What's wrong with you?' Valace retreated angrily. The challenge he had so longed for continued to be denied him. Daemonica took advantage of the break, daring to look out of the corner of her eye toward the ship. They were all aboard. The wind blew the smell of well-dried burning wood to her nose.

'You're really pathetic for turning down my offer because of the cattle herd.' Daemonica went over his provocation in silence, but her face darkened. Valace smirked smugly.

'Valace, Roy's on fire!' There came from a group of pirates. Valace ignored it.

'When I'm done with you, I'll take care of them, too.' Daemonica knew that would not happen, for Pete's crew was already preparing to sail. But only the idea aroused resentment in her, along with the knowledge that his own ego was more important to him than the fates of the city's inhabitants. Her pulse calmed, the blood in her veins pressing. Her breathing was steady, despite the excruciating pain in her shoulder.

'And then,' Valace buried his emerald gaze into Daemonica’s eyes, 'I will go to the village and visit the smith's house.' Valace faltered slightly as the shadow of the Beast struck him at full speed. The harbor was lit by the flames of a fire coming uncontrollably from Roy. Pete was still waiting. The fire would light his way out of the harbor, but soon he would risk damaging the ship and the sails because of the heat and the flying embers in the air.

'I'm not afraid of your sorcery, you don't think I came unprepared.' Of course she didn’t think so, she’d noticed the mages a long time ago. Still, Valace was wrong to believe they would help him in any way. Their spells were directed at the Beast, not at Daemonica.

Valace died quickly.

Without knowing what had happened during her battle with the witch, he charged forward. Daemonica, predicting the way he would attack flawlessly, held out a wounded arm to his sabre. Then she plunged her dagger deep into Valace's chest. His dead eyes still reflected the surprise of the self-inflicted wound. The blow to Daemonica from Valace's sabre was deep. It had to be to catch him off guard enough to buy her time. The familiar red mist clouded her eyes, but even so she could see that Pete's ship was still in the port.

She looked absently at the pirates. The one she had met that morning was now in the foreground. They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then Daemonica stepped over Valace's body and headed for the ship.

'Let’s go,' came from behind her. 'Somebody take his body, we'll need a proof.'The reality of pirate life was harsh.

By the time Daemonica reached the landing stage, the toll she knew she would have to pay for her duel with Valace came in full force. Blood flowed from both wounds on her right hand, nose and mouth. Her knees buckled. Her mere will could no longer get her on the ship.

'Somebody help her, she saved your f*****g lives!' Pete shouted, watching her impatiently from the bridge. But there was no answer. His own men were busy aboard the ship, which was about to bounce off the shore. And so he did something he had never done before in his life.

'By Middar! I won't forget this!' He exclaimed. Then he left his own ship and his entire crew and set off for Daemonica. He pulled her roughly to her feet and dragged her aboard just as the ship, its taut sails buffeted by the hot wind of the fire, could no longer be held in place. The ship surged forward, dragging the remains of the bridge behind it.

'Damn!' Pete slung Daemonica over his shoulder and started toward the lower deck.

The door to Vassiles' cabin swung open.

'What's the matter?' The enraged captain tossed Daemonica onto Vassiles' bed.

'I don't know, but in case you forgot, I'm the captain of a ship going down without command!' Pete yelled and ran toward the deck.

Vassiles looked at the bleeding Daemonica. Her eyes gleamed in her dark face, they were open. He had no idea if she was perceiving him or not.

'What have you done, lass?' He grunted and began rummaging in the trunk. He pulled out several flasks and a clean canvas. He cut open her vest and shirt with a knife to get to the wounds. Then he dripped the tincture into them and added a canvas.

'Hang on,' he said, rummaging in the trunk again. Something gleamed between the books and everything else.

'Is it possible for me to be so stupid?!' Vassiles pulled a golden oval amulet into the light by its chain, which he had found on the beach in the morning about a fortnight before he had discovered Daemonica there. He had studied it so many times since then, but it never occurred to him... Vassiles awoke quickly from his reverie and rushed to Daemonica. He placed the amulet on her bare chest and bent over her ear.

'Think of Andala. Think of home! Fight!'

Nothing happened for all eternity. Vassiles had begun to fear that he had been wrong after all. But then Daemonica's skin finally began to lighten, and the wound on her arm stopped bleeding. Daemonica closed her eyes.

'Good girl,' Vassiles said, fastening the chain of the amulet around her neck.

Then he took a deep breath.