The Tale of Daemonica

Death Under Ice

   Daemonica looked with interest at the sword in the spacious shop next to the forge, which caught her eye with its lightness and elongated hilt. At the same time, she admired the simple functionality of the money circulation system from which Cedris lived. Anything they'd ever confiscated from their enemies or come across, anyone could buy. Nobody got anything extra or free. Thus the loot was usefully transformed into coins from which Cedris paid its defenders and bills. Decent equipment could be bought from a generous salary by each of them, but also by any buyer that Cedris visited. It was a very effective strategy that cost little and was undoubtedly successfully implemented in many other forts on the frontier. Royal assistance, at least in terms of money, was scarce. At the same time, however, the King demanded nothing more from them than what they had to do to survive anyway. That was to defend Raia from human and other enemies.

Carefully, Daemonica returned the sword to the merchant. Vidarfry and Axtios kept her company as usual. She liked to discuss the advantages of the equipment and listening to their advice had paid off more than once. Her attention was drawn to a thick wrought headband.

'I thought we'd come here for a sword. Again.' Axtios hefted the headband in his hand. After a moment he handed it back to Daemonica with a nod.

'I wonder who you're beautifying yourself for, Dae.' Vidarfry leaned back against the sword rack. The structure clattered under his weight.

'Lady Dae?' There came out of nowhere behind her. The arms rack protested loudly again as Vidarfry bounced off it in surprise to straighten up. Axtios laughed out loud. In front of Daemonica stood a young man of about fifteen, with a cheeky expression on his face.

'Yes, it's me,' Daemonica managed to keep her temper.

'For you.' the young man handed her a package wrapped in dark canvas. She had to admit to the boy that the package was perfectly clean and undamaged.

'Shall I wait for an answer?' He still looked equally annoyed.

'Only if you can find the one to whom it will be addressed.' Daemonica smiled faintly.

'Heh...!' The boy grinned confidently, staring her straight in the face.

'Then be my guest.' She reached for her coin bag.

'I already got paid.' Daemonica looked at him, startled.

'What's your name?'

'Chez.'

'So, Chez. I pay the pub expenses while you wait.'

'Oh, my lady,' Vidarfry woke up. 'Allow me escort the young squire here.'

'But someone has to keep an eye on them, of course.' Axtios added with an elegant bow. Poor Chez stared at them with his mouth open. Daemonica laughed and handed the boy a few coins.

'You'd do well to avoid the brandy.' Daemonica shot her friends a warning look.

'I'll buy the headband and the sword.' Daemonica turned back to the clerk as Axtios and Vidarfry led the confused messenger out of the shop. She knew very well that, exceptionally, they were both far more concerned than drinking for free to find out as much as they could about the mysterious stranger who had sent her the first message of all the time she had lived in Cedris. Even so, it was much easier for her than to let them ask what was inside, for she had long suspected who the package was from.

Daemonica closed the door of the house she still shared with Red behind her and laid the sword and headband on a clean wooden table. Then she sat down at it and untied the ribbon that bound the package. On top was a letter written in a beautiful hand, filled with lofty phrases and passages of poetry laced with elaborate flattery. Smiling, Daemonica put down the letter, which had been signed by 'her devoted bard' and picked up the loosely bound and not very thick volume. A message was inserted inside at the beginning:

'I wanted you to be the first to read it and guard it in your fortress. It's not finished yet!'

The book was untitled. On the very first page was the song she had heard the day she and Skald met. To her surprise, several more verses were added, with brief notes. All sorts of old songs and legends followed - always with brief comments on their origins and supposed meaning. It was already dawning outside when Daemonica put the book down and began to write an answer to Skald.

That was at the end of the summer.

Daemonica, when time allowed, took advantage of Mehtar's offer to visit the library on the first floor of Keep in her free time. But her interest wasn't tied to the Black Rose. All sorts of maps, chronicles and memoirs seemed much more useful to her. No doubt that showed the nature her father, which she had inherited from him.

After a difficult autumn, when they had to be constantly alert to the raiders and other pests who were trying to stock up at their expense. The hard winter from the mountains came quickly, and with it finally peace. The effort of crossing the snow-covered passes in the mountains did not pay off for the enemy. Even the work for which the Roses were hired was greatly diminished. Daemonica could now spend much more time in the library. She continued to be interested in the volumes of the frontier and the history of Cedris, in which she often came across all sorts of more or less believable legends and treatises about the Black Rose.

However, today she was intrigued by a dossier which included records of all the members of the Council who, like her, passed the test in the cave. Each of them had a brief description of how the trial had gone and who had accompanied them. The artifact had a very different effect on everyone. It lured someone, threatened some, commanded others. This list contained only records of those who had passed the test. However, she knew from other sources that those who failed, which did not happen often, left Cedris without ever returning. They were not bound by silence, for the existence of the artifact was not forcibly kept secret. Even so, few knew about it. She flipped through the file thoughtfully.

Eventually she reached the end of the records, where under Reknak's name was an abbreviated version of her own name, with a brief remark that made no mention of Sorcerer. Axtios and Virdarfry were added to the list under her name in the fall. Necro maintained his detached attitude, but persuaded the Council to allow him to visit the cave as part of his studies. Daemonica quite easily resisted the temptation to see how the current members of the Council passed, but she couldn't help looking at their names. She did not know some of them, so their bearers were no longer in Roses for various reasons. One name, however, was missing from the record altogether.

'I had a feeling I'd find you here.' Mehtar's voice came right next to her. He still looked slightly haughty when Daemonica looked at him, but she had long since grown accustomed to his manner. His brown eyes gleamed in his tanned face of fine features framed by dark hair, and his mouth curled in a hint of a smile.

'My name is not there,' he gestured calmly toward the open book in front of her. 'I passed the trial before I was admitted to the Council.' Mehtar placed a jug of hot wine on the table, which was a real blessing in the chilled Keep without any exaggeration.

'Did I satisfy your curiosity enough?' Mehtar leaned close to her. He seemed to be enjoying himself. His scent reminded her of distant lands far to the south that brought back the memories she had tried so hard to forget. But to her own annoyance, they also aroused in her a desire for a lonely wandering without otherwise ubiquitous responsibility. His hair brushed against her face as he reached quietly over her shoulder and with his hand, almost entirely hidden in the wide sleeve of his robe, gently pushed hers away from the book, which he had closed and pulled closer to him.

'It shouldn't be here.' After filling both cups, he sat down beside her.

'It is possible that we will still remember the welcoming coldness of these walls tonight.' He raised his cup without further explanation for the toast. Daemonica became alert. Mehtar, however, only smiled in his typical disdainful manner and tapped her goblet with a metallic ring, staring her straight in the eye.

'There's something on the lake. We're waiting for scouts to return.' He said calmly, after a quiet sip of wine. Daemonica was silent. There was no point in insisting. She looked thoughtfully again at the volume lying on the table in front of him.

'We still have some time.' Mehtar said, watching her gaze closely. 'Ask.' There was a challenge in his tone, despite the intoxicating charm of his velvet voice. He reached for the wine at the same time as Daemonica. Their eyes met again, but without the slightest hint of shame his gaze fell to her lips.

'Which city of Xix do you come from?' Mehtar was so taken aback by her question that the cup he was laying on the table almost slipped out of his hand. In the end, however, he only laughed softly with undisguised interest in his eyes.

'I come from the far south, you will not know the name of the city.' The genuine amusement never left his face.

'Try me,' Daemonica said, the wine already turning her cheeks pink, without flinching.

'Some call it O'sus. You won't get its real name from me.' Mehtar raised an eyebrow, and for a moment the arrogance returned to his voice. In truth, Daemonica was taken aback that he had given her any name at all. People from the south of Xix were not forthcoming in this regard, especially the mages.

'You're right. I've never heard that name before.' Daemonica laughed suddenly. Mehtar grinned at her impudence. But then his eyes narrowed and his razor-sharp gaze sank into her eyes.

'This is not the first time we have talked about my homeland. Why are you so interested in the Xix Wasteland?' His lips curled in a triumphant smile as he saw the look on her face. Rightly so. Daemonica's face darkened further in a vain attempt to find a way to avoid his direct question. No Mehtar was not easily fooled.

'Is there anything that binds you to Xix personally?' Mehtar continued to provoke her. Heavy silence fell between them, which was fortunately broken by the approaching footsteps in the corridor beyond the door. They both rose simultaneously, staring toward the door.

'The scouts are back.' Riihad said, standing in the doorway, without forgiving himself a grin, when he saw them standing so close together.

The stars above them slowly faded in the cloudless sky. It was freezing and the whole landscape around was covered with deep snow drifts. Branches of dark conifers in the forest bent beneath it. A thick layer of ice covered the lake, and the harsh north wind, in strong gusts, carried the light snow that lay on it. In the slowly waking morning they could see several silhouettes of creatures that looked a little like overgrown snakes on short, strong legs. The scouts were right. Vaah's cubs moved fearlessly on the ice. Their natural home was the eternally frozen lakes in the barren mountains far to the north. Occasionally, however, they used the rivers flowing from the mountains and reached the inhabited areas. The individual cubs were not dangerous even for only a small group of villagers. Several cubs together required a troop of soldiers to destroy. When left alive, they became a great vermin if they settled in places where fishing flourished. They grew up quickly after that and soon became a real problem. A problem very expensive to eliminate. Even so, their presence could mean far greater danger. Their mother could have come with the cubs. The adult Vaah, besides having her back covered with a complete shell of horny scales, was resistant to magic, though she herself was a magical creature from a time no chronicle could recall, and she was a creature with a mind of her own, however primitive. But the lake and its surroundings, apart from a few cubs on its surface, were riddled with Cedris soldiers, and fortunately there was no sign of her. All Roses officers gathered at the edge of the lakeside forest. The rest were placed in the forest, where metal nets were strung between the trees to prevent any of the young from escaping.

Daemonica was leaning sideways against the trunk of a tall spruce, aiming at a group of lazily moving cubs whose bodies glittered greenish in the rising sun on the brilliant white surface of the lake.

'Ready.' She heard the voice of Riihad, in the company of Thaedis, Reknak and some others standing at the very edge of the lake. A volley of arrows descended on the group of unsuspecting cubs from the woods. The cubs attacked with the surprising speed of their scaly bodies. Several of them, as expected, broke through the line of defenders on the shore and charged toward the forest. Daemonica aimed at one of them and shot. She hit it well. The cub immediately headed in the direction of the dart toward her. Daemonica dropped the crossbow and drew her sword. She had no trouble avoiding the young's attack, leaving it to Vidrafry's sword. Necro, who was essentially an unaccountable officer, so he was with them, used his magic to pull the roots of the trees from the frozen ground, preventing the animal from moving. Then Axtios, together with Daemonica and Vidarfry, easily defeated the cub. Daemonica was just looking around to see where else she could lend a hand when the ice at the edge of the lake in front of them opened with a deafening crash, and Mother Vaah emerged from the water with one powerful swing of her razor-sharp spiny tail in all her venerable size. All too quickly, she opened the maw of the horned head and flicked her tail again. Along with the creature's icy breath, a deadly blizzard of sharp shards of ice headed their way. An orange flash illuminated the snow-covered trees as Mehtar cast a defensive spell, and most of the fragments heading in their direction became an ice-cold shower. Very unpleasant, but otherwise harmless. Just a moment later came the blue flash of Ceneen's magic, bouncing the remaining shrapnel back toward the creature. Her delay, however, allowed more than a few of them to penetrate the ranks of the Roses under her protection. One sharp piece of ice struck Annais directly above her heart. Regardless of everything, Ceneen lunged toward her with a shout. However, Daemonica, like most of them, did not stop watching Vaah for a moment, who, with a throaty growl that could only be called mocking, immediately disappeared back into the hole below the water. A few moments later, in a geyser of icy fragments, she emerged farther ahead of them, completely out of range of all their weapons, and laid out her massive green-and-white serpentine body against the winter sunlight. Her head on the ice, she watched them with bright blue eyes and waited. There was not the slightest doubt about the purpose of her provocation. Ice was a clear disadvantage for them in combat.

'Damn b***h!' Thaedis swore, looking out of the corner of his eye toward Annais and Ceneen.

'Let me try to bring her closer.' Daemonica spoke matter-of-factly, joining the warriors on the shore without wasting time.

'I know a few tricks. Trust me.' But if she wanted to be trusted, she had to trust them first, and especially herself. She already knew that the amulet did nothing to prevent her from using the skills she had acquired just through the bond between her and the Beast. They included speed and alert senses, the price of which was something she could pay, something she could deal with. But now she needed to summon the Beast itself.

'We'll be ready,' Riihad said staring into her darkening face.

Their swords rang again into the silence beneath the snow-sleeping nature as they stepped onto the ice and arced away from the hole in the ice the creature had left behind. Vaah watched them calmly from the lake for a moment, then slipped back into the water with cool confidence. At that moment, everyone but Daemonica remained ready on place.

The sun, which had not warmed in the freezing morning, was already above the horizon, its rays splintering on the snow into tiny droplets that blinded her. Her face was shadowed under the hood of her fur coat, despite the bright sunlight. The edges of the coat rustled over the loose frozen snow that covered the lake's icy surface. Slowly, Daemonica lowered her sword and looked back at her comrades behind her, who were watching her intently, their hands on their weapons. She hoped she was right about the amulet. Her heartbeat merged with the sounds of her surroundings. The snow crunched under her feet, and the ice pounded as water crashed into it from below. The wind, in irregular, strong gusts, lifted the loose snow from the ice and drove it into her eyes, which were already weeping from the dazzling light. Daemonica pressed against the hilt of her sword. Its blade made a creaking sound as it bit into the ice. She walked for a moment as she released the dagger at her waist with her left hand. She stopped. She could feel the boiling blood in her veins on a chilly morning, and her muscles stretched to the very edge as she leaped back toward the shore at all the speed she could. Farther on, the creature cracked the ice with a loud bang and hurled itself out of the water with a single sweep of its tail. Immediately thereafter she was bathed in a glittering spray of water, into which Mehtar's spell transformed the ice sent towards her by the monster. Behind Daemonica's back, the Beast formed and started toward Vaah, followed by her dagger that plunged into her wide-open maw, spewing an icy whirlwind at the Beast with no effect whatsoever. Vaah roared angrily and disappeared back into the hole in the ice. Daemonica ran as fast as she could toward the shore. When she was sure she was in range of the Roses, she stopped and waited, facing the lake. Ahead of her, a hole in the ice opened again, followed by rain from Mehtar's spell.

Daemonica, sword in both hands, watched the fury in the eyes of the monster, which had opened its maw again to freeze her in place with its deadly breath, but even this time the Beast repelled the attack. Vaah's icy blue eyes dug into hers for a brief moment, then without warning, she started off in surprising silence. Daemonica waited until the last moment to hear the sound of approaching comrades. Then she ran toward Vaah, watching the movements of the monster's terrifying tail as she ran. When the deadly maw of the creature began to open in close proximity to her, she suddenly swerved aside in the direction where the monster's tail had just disappeared. As she ran, Daemonica cut into the soft tissue of the greenish belly beneath the impenetrable shell that protected her back. Vaah roared again. A shower of arrows showered her maw and the unprotected parts, while the rest of Roses was almost upon her.

Daemonica allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment, trying to overcome the familiar nausea, as a searing pain shot through her thigh, caused by a sting on the monster's tail who never forgot her. She brushed her to the ground with a sweep of her tail, and Daemonica followed her sword over the monster slipped ice, toward the nearby hole, leaving a bloody trail behind her. The speed at which she slid toward the opening was too great to stop in time, despite her best efforts, to avert the inevitable death in the water under the ice that awaited her. At the last moment, however, a blue flash of Ceneen’s spell caused the smooth surface of the ice to change shape. Sharp protrusions rose from the ice, a kind of inverted icicles that tore at her clothing and the wound on her thigh. Fortunately for her, however, they had served their purpose, and by her own admission she stopped just as her sword splashed beneath the surface of the lake.