“Good,” Vivian stated, looking at the three unconscious people I was carrying. “But let’s not talk here.”
I thought about the grisly scene back on the road. Someone was going to come upon this place and have a very uncomfortable day as a result.
“You’re right.” I nodded, then bent my head back toward the road since all my arms were full. “Let’s go get the wagon upright; I can pull it and we’ll get to a safe place.”
Vivian gave a single sharp nod. Behind her, Joisse rose shakily to her feet.
“Can you walk?” I asked.
“…Yeah.” Joisse grunted, standing and leaning heavily on one leg. “You don’t have enough arms to carry me anyway, Zarenna.”
Not enough arms?! My pride was wounded, but I had to admit she was right. “Walk next to me; I’ll steady you with my tail.”
Joisse hobbled over and together with Vivian, we made our way silently back down to the wagon. I gave the other wrath demon more of my magic hoping to speed her recovery.
Back out on the road, I set my friends down carefully in the patch I’d burned free of snow earlier, and tipped our wagon back over. It looked like a Gelles company practice dummy after a full day of real blade training, and it was immediately apparent the thing was wrecked.
“Take theirs,” Vivian said. “If they don’t have another good wheel stashed somewhere, we can use one of yours.”
I nodded, and looked at the wagon, then back to my friends and the nearby bodies. “Can you—”
“I’ll check it!” Joisse volunteered, still in her demon form.
Together with Vivian, they checked the wagon over, finding only a scant few supplies and an unbroken wheel. No sign was found about exactly why this ambush was set up, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. I’ve pissed off two other sovereigns, Taava’s a wanted woman, Seyari’s half-angel, and Nelys is an associate. Take me out now and nip a problem in the bud.
I looked around at all the bodies, feeling the power I now had, but also the loss that had happened here. Maybe they’ll think twice next time. Or maybe… My gaze drifted to Vivian checking the axle while Joisse held the wheel: or maybe I won’t have an unexpected second greater wrath demon and a crack shot demon hunter.
Without either of them here—potentially both of them—I might not have won. And if so, who would I have lost?
“Could you hold the wagon up?” Joisse asked, and I shook my head clear of deep thoughts.
“Yeah, sure.” I jogged over and held the wagon up, keeping a close eye on my friends.
Vivian doubtless noticed I was tense, as she herself never really relaxed. Though she seemed unusually calm around Joisse. Whatever the two had been talking about must have helped Vivian overcome at least some of her thoughts about what a demon could and couldn’t be.
Hate to say she’s right most of the time, though. But not for the right reasons.
Joisse was living proof of that.
Once we got the wheel on, I moved to collect Seyari and the others. Vivian looked like she wanted to say something, but held her tongue.
Taava was stirring when I got to the three, and I helped her up. “Are you okay, Taava?”
“My mouth feels like I ate my shirt,” she grumbled, ears flat and one hand clutched to her head.
“Does that mean you can think straight?”
The kazzel shook her head and her tail, the hairs on the limb puffing out. “Nope, but poison and a beatin’ ain’t the problem. Fuck—my ears are ringin’.”
“Can you climb into the wagon? We’re taking theirs, and I need to get the others in it.”
“Sure.” She took a wobbling step forward and nearly fell over. “Might take a coupla tries, but if my skull’s half as thick as yours—”
“Then you’ll be fine,” I finished.
“Yep!”
I got the others inside, Taava managing just barely to climb in herself, before Vivian spoke up.
“I’ll go get my horse,” she said. “Meet you when you’re done packing the new wagon?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I feel like you won’t come back if you leave now.”
Vivian sighed. “I thought about doing that. Just to be clear, I’m not going with you, but I have a couple things to ask.”
“Fine by me. And I know I didn’t say it already, so thanks. Both for not killing me back in Gedon, but also for saving my crimson butt back there.”
Vivian didn’t reply, but she gave me a strange look. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Joisse and I watched her go, walking quickly down the side of the road.
“What did you talk about,” I asked Joisse, realizing I was actually eye level with her in her demon form.
“She told me about when she was a kid—before the war. She used to play in the woods with her friends, making forts and playing out battles. Not at all like the real thing.”
“Really?” This is surprising. I had to fight down some of Joisse’s anger at being questioned; she did most of the work.
“Mhmm,” Joisse nodded, her reply more of a rumble than a mumble. “She doesn’t seem like a bad person, Zarenna. Just hurt, maybe.”
“Maybe I could—”
Joisse shook her head, spines swinging. Her anger flared, then dissipated of its own accord. “No—at least not yet. You gotta see she doesn’t trust you.”
“I… yeah, you’re right. I do. Let’s get everything packed before a cart comes along and we have to explain ourselves.” I half turned. “Do you need more of my magic for your human form?”
Joisse pointed to our belongings strewn around in the mud and slush. “No. But I do need my clothes, wherever they ended up.”
***
I have fire wings now. Intrusive, persistent, but not unwelcome, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I might be able to fly now. Joisse and I picked up our belongings while I thought about soaring through the skies and probably scaring the living heck out of anyone who saw me. We wiped everything down as best we could before stacking them in the wagon, and we weren’t nearly done when Vivian came riding back, horse trotting along.
It reared when it saw Joisse, and I had to rein in her anger.
Vivian held on, and got the horse under control, if just, staying a good distance away. “I’ll follow from here,” she half shouted. “We should go soon—I think there are people coming down the road.
Winter or not, we were on a major road—someone was bound to come by.
Joisse and I picked up the pace, tossing the last few belongings on the wagon before I took up the reins. The demons who’d ambushed us didn’t have horses, or at least none nearby that hadn’t escaped and fled during the fighting. I marveled at how easily I assumed they’d tied them away from the road while they worked on the wagon.
I pulled the wagon forward, in human form just in case. Although my human form would do little to stop any questions, it might change them.
Thankfully, we rounded a bend and I found a place to pull behind a thick grove of trees before whoever was behind us started shouting about a massacre. I felt like a criminal in some ways—leaving that scene. I’ll report it as soon as I get to Linthel.
Joisse had found clothes and was back in human form when Vivian trotted up. This time, the horse didn’t spook, though it still seemed nervous. The mercenary tied it off to a tree nearby.
“How are Nelys and Seyari?” I asked Joisse and Taava while Vivian was finishing.
“Still out,” the wrath demon said, “but they’re breathing okay. I got them in bedrolls—Taava too, but I’m not sure whose is whose.”
“Mine and Seyari’s is the big one with all the claw holes and patches,” I supplied.
“Well Seyari and Nelys are in that one. Taava’s sleeping in another.” Joisse climbed out of the wagon and sat on the front, her legs dangling. She watched Vivian with a red-eyed gaze.
Taava mumbled something, but I couldn’t make it out from outside. Joisse giggled though, so it might not have been a joke at my expense. When the mercenary turned to look at us, she did a double take at Joisse.
“Human form,” Joisse answered. “Zarenna’s contract gave it to me.”
“Damn,” Vivian muttered. “Except for the eyes, I’d never know.”
I cocked my head to one side. “What about demon-blooded?”
“Pays to be safe,” Vivian said. “Not saying I shoot first all the time, though.”
“Right.”
Vivian closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed. “Right. Why did you spare me, Zarenna?”
“I may not have—and still don’t—agree with your methods, but I thought you had a good reason. Your fury was raw and real, and you said a few things that made me think I shouldn’t kill you.”
“I could have been lying about Seyari and the others being alive.”
“You could have, but you weren’t.”
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t.”
Vivian’s eyes went wide and her anger spiked a little. “Do you mean you just guessed?”
I gave a four-shouldered shrug. “It was an educated guess. I can only read one emotion, but I can read it really well.”
Vivian’s posture changed, her eyes widened and I felt her anger surge. “I don’t understand you, demon!”
“I’m not asking you to,” I replied, staying calm as I could.
“You can’t just—ugh!” Vivian kicked her foot into the snow.
“I can, and I did. I’m not like most demons. And I suspect many demons are a few influences away from ‘not being like most demons.’”
“Like me,” Joisse added.
“You!” Vivian pointed at the other wrath demon. “Why… how do you not hate me?”
“I was more scared of you than anything, Vivian,” Joisse answered after we got her fury under control. “I’m willing to let go of it if you are. I don’t want to be controlled by revenge and anger anymore.”
Vivian jabbed a finger at me. “Aren’t you literally on a journey to get revenge?!”
I nodded. “Yeah, but Inquisitor Finley is an unrepentant murderer and part of a cult that’s trying to kill and hurt a lot more people. I have the power to stop him, so I’m going to.”
“So if I started killing innocent people, would you take revenge on me?” Vivian asked, her anger winding down slowly.
“I don’t think it would be revenge at that point, but yes.”
Vivian exhaled through her nose, hard, and shook her head, twin braids flying. “Fine. Whatever. I still won’t work with you.”
“That’s fine.”
“I’m not going to sing your praises.”
“Sure.”
“I won’t tell anyone about meeting a ‘good’ demon.”
“Of course.”
Vivian looked me squarely in the eyes and groaned a hissing groan. “What if I tell people your true name?”
Right. She heard that.
I was so focused on Joisse, a little of my own anger slipped through. Like when Taava had pushed me, I moved into Vivian’s face, but this time I stopped myself from touching her. Instead I leaned down far enough for us to be eye to eye, only centimeters apart. The rush of wind from my passing blew past both of us.
“Please don’t do that.”
Vivian took a slightly shaky step back, regaining her composure quickly. She coughed, hard when she drew in breath. And when she tried to speak, it only intensified, doubling her over.
Without really thinking, I ran forward and steadied the mercenary. “Do we have any water?” I asked Joisse.
“My canteen’s full,” she replied quickly, turning back toward the inside of the wagon. “I don’t usually drink from it.”
Vivian stopped coughing before Joisse returned with water, but she accepted the flask from the wrath demon, gave it a sniff and a tentative sip, and then drank it down. The mercenary coughed a few more times before she pushed me away.
“I’m fine.” She shoved the canteen back at Joisse, whose anger flared again.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Weren’t you just threatening to kill me?” Vivian asked, her exasperated tone made worse by the roughness in her voice.
“I… well I guess so, but—”
“But what?” Vivian stepped back from both of us, eyes moving between Joisse and me.
“But you haven’t told people my Name, and I don’t think you’re going to do that.”
“Why not?” Vivian’s voice was a hissed whisper. “What have I done to possibly make you think I wouldn’t.”
“You didn’t kill me and then you saved Joisse’s life?”
Vivian hissed air between clenched teeth. “I didn’t kill you because I thought I couldn’t. And I only saved Joisse because I was killing another demon and only had one bolt.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care.”
I frowned. “I’m sad you feel that way.”
“I’m sad—” Vivian repeated, her voice slow and low “you feel that way?”
I nodded.
“What are you.”
“A terrestrial demon. Haven’t been to hell, less of an influence of demonic mana. Created in a semi-accidental ritual where my best friend gave her eternal soul to ensure I still had my mind and demeanor intact.”
“You know what,” Vivian coughed again, less harshly this time. “I believe you. That’s too stupid to be a lie, and it matches all the other insanity surrounding you.”
Both of my eyebrows show up. “Really? It’s the truth, but—”
“Shut up, Zarenna. Please, just shut up.”
I shut up, working to contain Joisse’s anger. Vivian had almost none, the fire exhausting itself for lack of fuel.
“What will you do now,” Joisse asked, stopping the silence from stretching out.
“I’m going to go back to Gedon, find an inn, and sleep. I have a lot to think about thanks to Miss Goody-Four-Arms.”
Joisse giggled. “That’s kinda a fun nickname.”
I looked at Joisse, my eyes pleading, hoping Taava didn’t hear.
“That’s not a no,” Joisse teased.
Not you too!
Vivian coughed again, on purpose or not I couldn’t tell. “I’m going to leave now—don’t follow me.”
I nodded.
Vivian gave a single, sharp nod of her own back, then untied her horse quickly, hopped in it, and spurred it away back through the trees and onto the road.
“Joisse,” I pleaded, “whatever you do, please don’t let Taava hear what Vivian just said.”
“I won’t, Zar—”
“I already heard it—heard everything—Miss Goody-Four-Arms! You’re getting’ a lotta great nicknames, boss!”
Oh no. Dhias save me.
***
At camp that night, I fielded questions about my new wings of fire, mostly from Nelys who hadn’t seen them. They and Seyari were up and about, albeit exhausted.
“So you can fly?” Nelys asked, wonder in their voice.
I nodded. “I think so—maybe. I’ve not tried since the fight, and even then, what I did was more or less a series of long leaps.”
“Why don’t you try now?” Seyari asked, a wistful smile on her face. “We’re not next to a village, and I’d bet the view is great in these hills.”
Immediately, I thought about her own wings, lost to time. What I wouldn’t give…
I rolled my shoulders. “Well, I’ll need to get another shirt first.”
Seyari hummed, and I noticed her eyes drifted skyward.
I changed quickly and returned with my mostly-ruined, but still modest company outfit from the fight. After taking a deep breath, I walked over past the center of our camp’s clearing to where Seyari sat by the fire.
I bent down and offered her a hand. “Want to come with me?”
Seyari closed her eyes, then scrunched them up, letting her breath out slowly. She ran her fingers through her silver hair—the side that was long, anyway. “Don’t drop me.”
“I won’t.”
Once Seyari stood up with me, I faced the awkward reality of how exactly we were going to do this.
“You have four arms, so it should be easy. I’ve had to do this a few times in the past, but I was never the one being carried.” The half-angel spoke quickly, anxiously. “Hold my waist with two of your arms, and hold my shoulders with the others.”
I did as she asked.
Sey reached up and pecked a kiss on my chin. “Face me the other way, love. I want to see the ground, not you.”
“Not me?”
“I see plenty of you, Renna.”
Smiling, I spun Seyari around. Her feet rested just above mine, off the ground. Willing my magic to act, and focusing on the spell I felt earlier that same day, a heat started to glow around my lower shoulder blades.
With an eruption of heat and light, twin crimson wings of flame burst from my back. I flexed them as though they were real limbs. Dimly, I knew it was the spell moving, but they felt so real in the moment. They were also draining my barely-recovered mana quickly.
“Can I touch them?” Seyari asked in a whisper.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. The last thing to touch them was a tree, and I think my wing cut through it.”
“That’s a shame.” Seyari clenched her hands into fists. “Although I guess they don’t have feathers, so it’s not too much of a shame.”
Not knowing how to respond, I changed the subject. “Are you ready?”
“I am.”
I ran a few steps forward, bent my legs and kicked off the ground. As a wrath demon, I didn’t spend a lot of time jumping. As such, I was surprised when my jump alone cleared more than my own height into the air.
With only a few powerful flaps, hot air thrust downward and I lifted skyward, spell working even harder. Really, the spell did most of the work—small movements and techniques I couldn’t possibly have grasped so quickly. Neither of us spoke as I climbed, my focus entirely on staying aloft and steady. Seyari’s focus, meanwhile, was on the ground below.
When I reached the height of the nearest hill, I stopped and leveled out, turning to face the road we were headed down.
I sucked in a gasp of air.
Spread out below me, quiet in the evening twilight, were the rolling, forested hills of the Edathan countryside. Smoke curled up from the chimneys of a nearby hamlet, and snow painted the landscape around the gray curls and dark roofs white. Above us, stars shone bright and big through a gap in the clouds.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
Only then did I hear the soft sound of Seyari crying.
“Sey…” I trailed off, unsure what to say.
“I’m sorry, Renna,” the half angel choked. “I shouldn’t have—can… can we go down now? I can’t do this.”
“Sey, I—”
“Please.”
I’ll get you your wings back, I wanted to say. Next time we’ll go flying together, my heart ached to tell her.
Empty promises, both of them. Vectors that would only cause more hurt. I shouldn’t have done this.
I descended as fast as I dared, and came to a landing so suddenly that the others asked if we were alright. Seyari spun herself back to facing me, her head buried in my chest.
“It was cold up there,” I lied unconvincingly. “That’s all.”
My wings sputtered out and with the renewed darkness, Seyari pulled away and left for our tent, her head down. I tried my best to pretend nothing was wrong and walked back over to the others. Moments later, Seyari returned, wrapped in a blanket.
My heart surged when she sat next to me and leaned against my side. I put my tail around both of us.
“It’s not your fault,” she whispered.
“I’m still sorry,” I replied.
***
We waited until the next morning to talk again, and even then, we didn’t go deeper than the road conditions, the weather, and food.
Aside from a somber mood and an awkward trade for new horses, the last of our journey to Linthel was almost anticlimactically uneventful. The few days passed with little more than a single morning of moderate snow to disturb our trip. Even then, the look of the landscape wearing its white winter blanket brought back the nostalgia of days by the fire, and Tania beating Abby and me at board games.
After that first night and flight, I filled everyone in on what happened during the fight, getting confirmation on a few things from Nelys and Seyari. The assassins were indeed hidden in the wagon, and the demon I’d thought was an avarice demon was indeed an avarice demon. In hindsight, it was also pretty obvious that the other demon was of envy.
Which meant Astrodach, one of Third Prince Malich’s bound demons, was an envy demon. They’d escaped, and were now somewhere in Navanea, probably in Baetnal rubbing shoulders with royals. A direct line to the Navanaean throne, and the power of a nation. A pit formed in my stomach when we worked that out.
Aretan, please be safe.
From the three-tailed demon’s memories and Taava’s own anecdotes, I had a good idea that Envy had a hand in the civil war in Raavia. And they more than likely had a hand in the current war in Navanaea. And they were also working to create the rising unrest and demon problems in Ordia.
Something big is coming. And I have only just enough information to be truly afraid of it.
When we rounded a bend and saw Linthel, however, my thoughts all shifted to a single word: home.
The city looked different, like a new painting in an old frame; some elements matched my memory, but I could hardly be sure which. The walls around the old town were in the same place, at least. Lord—King, now—Carvalon’s castle loomed as it always had above the city. Somewhere in Linthel I’d find answers, and hopefully closure too.
MadMaxine
Zarenna's home! Well, within sight of it, at least.
Now, I actually do hate to leave a cliffhanger here, but I am taking a week off posting SoW (missing two chapter postings) to celebrate that Volume 2 just finished on Patreon, and to take a little break from writing. Scales & Shadows (which you should absolutely go read here if you have not) will post as normal on Friday, and SoW will resume posting on the 1st of July.
Just for you fine folks, I'll move the (very cute and fun) interlude that is after this chapter to after the next chapter when I resume posting, just so I'm not taking a long wait and making it even longer.
If you want to read more, my Patreon has 20+ advanced chapters right now! There are also a few side and short stories. And again, my Patreon is now half the cost it was for all advanced chapters of Sovereign of Wrath!
If you want to chat about the story or just hang out, my discord is open to all!
“Good,” Vivian stated, looking at the three unconscious people I was carrying. “But let’s not talk here.”
I thought about the grisly scene back on the road. Someone was going to come upon this place and have a very uncomfortable day as a result.
“You’re right.” I nodded, then bent my head back toward the road since all my arms were full. “Let’s go get the wagon upright; I can pull it and we’ll get to a safe place.”
Vivian gave a single sharp nod. Behind her, Joisse rose shakily to her feet.
“Can you walk?” I asked.
“…Yeah.” Joisse grunted, standing and leaning heavily on one leg. “You don’t have enough arms to carry me anyway, Zarenna.”
Not enough arms?! My pride was wounded, but I had to admit she was right. “Walk next to me; I’ll steady you with my tail.”
Joisse hobbled over and together with Vivian, we made our way silently back down to the wagon. I gave the other wrath demon more of my magic hoping to speed her recovery.
Back out on the road, I set my friends down carefully in the patch I’d burned free of snow earlier, and tipped our wagon back over. It looked like a Gelles company practice dummy after a full day of real blade training, and it was immediately apparent the thing was wrecked.
“Take theirs,” Vivian said. “If they don’t have another good wheel stashed somewhere, we can use one of yours.”
I nodded, and looked at the wagon, then back to my friends and the nearby bodies. “Can you—”
“I’ll check it!” Joisse volunteered, still in her demon form.
Together with Vivian, they checked the wagon over, finding only a scant few supplies and an unbroken wheel. No sign was found about exactly why this ambush was set up, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. I’ve pissed off two other sovereigns, Taava’s a wanted woman, Seyari’s half-angel, and Nelys is an associate. Take me out now and nip a problem in the bud.
I looked around at all the bodies, feeling the power I now had, but also the loss that had happened here. Maybe they’ll think twice next time. Or maybe… My gaze drifted to Vivian checking the axle while Joisse held the wheel: or maybe I won’t have an unexpected second greater wrath demon and a crack shot demon hunter.
Without either of them here—potentially both of them—I might not have won. And if so, who would I have lost?
“Could you hold the wagon up?” Joisse asked, and I shook my head clear of deep thoughts.
“Yeah, sure.” I jogged over and held the wagon up, keeping a close eye on my friends.
Vivian doubtless noticed I was tense, as she herself never really relaxed. Though she seemed unusually calm around Joisse. Whatever the two had been talking about must have helped Vivian overcome at least some of her thoughts about what a demon could and couldn’t be.
Hate to say she’s right most of the time, though. But not for the right reasons.
Joisse was living proof of that.
Once we got the wheel on, I moved to collect Seyari and the others. Vivian looked like she wanted to say something, but held her tongue.
Taava was stirring when I got to the three, and I helped her up. “Are you okay, Taava?”
“My mouth feels like I ate my shirt,” she grumbled, ears flat and one hand clutched to her head.
“Does that mean you can think straight?”
The kazzel shook her head and her tail, the hairs on the limb puffing out. “Nope, but poison and a beatin’ ain’t the problem. Fuck—my ears are ringin’.”
“Can you climb into the wagon? We’re taking theirs, and I need to get the others in it.”
“Sure.” She took a wobbling step forward and nearly fell over. “Might take a coupla tries, but if my skull’s half as thick as yours—”
“Then you’ll be fine,” I finished.
“Yep!”
I got the others inside, Taava managing just barely to climb in herself, before Vivian spoke up.
“I’ll go get my horse,” she said. “Meet you when you’re done packing the new wagon?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I feel like you won’t come back if you leave now.”
Vivian sighed. “I thought about doing that. Just to be clear, I’m not going with you, but I have a couple things to ask.”
“Fine by me. And I know I didn’t say it already, so thanks. Both for not killing me back in Gedon, but also for saving my crimson butt back there.”
Vivian didn’t reply, but she gave me a strange look. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Joisse and I watched her go, walking quickly down the side of the road.
“What did you talk about,” I asked Joisse, realizing I was actually eye level with her in her demon form.
“She told me about when she was a kid—before the war. She used to play in the woods with her friends, making forts and playing out battles. Not at all like the real thing.”
“Really?” This is surprising. I had to fight down some of Joisse’s anger at being questioned; she did most of the work.
“Mhmm,” Joisse nodded, her reply more of a rumble than a mumble. “She doesn’t seem like a bad person, Zarenna. Just hurt, maybe.”
“Maybe I could—”
Joisse shook her head, spines swinging. Her anger flared, then dissipated of its own accord. “No—at least not yet. You gotta see she doesn’t trust you.”
“I… yeah, you’re right. I do. Let’s get everything packed before a cart comes along and we have to explain ourselves.” I half turned. “Do you need more of my magic for your human form?”
Joisse pointed to our belongings strewn around in the mud and slush. “No. But I do need my clothes, wherever they ended up.”
***
I have fire wings now. Intrusive, persistent, but not unwelcome, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I might be able to fly now. Joisse and I picked up our belongings while I thought about soaring through the skies and probably scaring the living heck out of anyone who saw me. We wiped everything down as best we could before stacking them in the wagon, and we weren’t nearly done when Vivian came riding back, horse trotting along.
It reared when it saw Joisse, and I had to rein in her anger.
Vivian held on, and got the horse under control, if just, staying a good distance away. “I’ll follow from here,” she half shouted. “We should go soon—I think there are people coming down the road.
Winter or not, we were on a major road—someone was bound to come by.
Joisse and I picked up the pace, tossing the last few belongings on the wagon before I took up the reins. The demons who’d ambushed us didn’t have horses, or at least none nearby that hadn’t escaped and fled during the fighting. I marveled at how easily I assumed they’d tied them away from the road while they worked on the wagon.
I pulled the wagon forward, in human form just in case. Although my human form would do little to stop any questions, it might change them.
Thankfully, we rounded a bend and I found a place to pull behind a thick grove of trees before whoever was behind us started shouting about a massacre. I felt like a criminal in some ways—leaving that scene. I’ll report it as soon as I get to Linthel.
Joisse had found clothes and was back in human form when Vivian trotted up. This time, the horse didn’t spook, though it still seemed nervous. The mercenary tied it off to a tree nearby.
“How are Nelys and Seyari?” I asked Joisse and Taava while Vivian was finishing.
“Still out,” the wrath demon said, “but they’re breathing okay. I got them in bedrolls—Taava too, but I’m not sure whose is whose.”
“Mine and Seyari’s is the big one with all the claw holes and patches,” I supplied.
“Well Seyari and Nelys are in that one. Taava’s sleeping in another.” Joisse climbed out of the wagon and sat on the front, her legs dangling. She watched Vivian with a red-eyed gaze.
Taava mumbled something, but I couldn’t make it out from outside. Joisse giggled though, so it might not have been a joke at my expense. When the mercenary turned to look at us, she did a double take at Joisse.
“Human form,” Joisse answered. “Zarenna’s contract gave it to me.”
“Damn,” Vivian muttered. “Except for the eyes, I’d never know.”
I cocked my head to one side. “What about demon-blooded?”
“Pays to be safe,” Vivian said. “Not saying I shoot first all the time, though.”
“Right.”
Vivian closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed. “Right. Why did you spare me, Zarenna?”
“I may not have—and still don’t—agree with your methods, but I thought you had a good reason. Your fury was raw and real, and you said a few things that made me think I shouldn’t kill you.”
“I could have been lying about Seyari and the others being alive.”
“You could have, but you weren’t.”
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t.”
Vivian’s eyes went wide and her anger spiked a little. “Do you mean you just guessed?”
I gave a four-shouldered shrug. “It was an educated guess. I can only read one emotion, but I can read it really well.”
Vivian’s posture changed, her eyes widened and I felt her anger surge. “I don’t understand you, demon!”
“I’m not asking you to,” I replied, staying calm as I could.
“You can’t just—ugh!” Vivian kicked her foot into the snow.
“I can, and I did. I’m not like most demons. And I suspect many demons are a few influences away from ‘not being like most demons.’”
“Like me,” Joisse added.
“You!” Vivian pointed at the other wrath demon. “Why… how do you not hate me?”
“I was more scared of you than anything, Vivian,” Joisse answered after we got her fury under control. “I’m willing to let go of it if you are. I don’t want to be controlled by revenge and anger anymore.”
Vivian jabbed a finger at me. “Aren’t you literally on a journey to get revenge?!”
I nodded. “Yeah, but Inquisitor Finley is an unrepentant murderer and part of a cult that’s trying to kill and hurt a lot more people. I have the power to stop him, so I’m going to.”
“So if I started killing innocent people, would you take revenge on me?” Vivian asked, her anger winding down slowly.
“I don’t think it would be revenge at that point, but yes.”
Vivian exhaled through her nose, hard, and shook her head, twin braids flying. “Fine. Whatever. I still won’t work with you.”
“That’s fine.”
“I’m not going to sing your praises.”
“Sure.”
“I won’t tell anyone about meeting a ‘good’ demon.”
“Of course.”
Vivian looked me squarely in the eyes and groaned a hissing groan. “What if I tell people your true name?”
Right. She heard that.
I was so focused on Joisse, a little of my own anger slipped through. Like when Taava had pushed me, I moved into Vivian’s face, but this time I stopped myself from touching her. Instead I leaned down far enough for us to be eye to eye, only centimeters apart. The rush of wind from my passing blew past both of us.
“Please don’t do that.”
Vivian took a slightly shaky step back, regaining her composure quickly. She coughed, hard when she drew in breath. And when she tried to speak, it only intensified, doubling her over.
Without really thinking, I ran forward and steadied the mercenary. “Do we have any water?” I asked Joisse.
“My canteen’s full,” she replied quickly, turning back toward the inside of the wagon. “I don’t usually drink from it.”
Vivian stopped coughing before Joisse returned with water, but she accepted the flask from the wrath demon, gave it a sniff and a tentative sip, and then drank it down. The mercenary coughed a few more times before she pushed me away.
“I’m fine.” She shoved the canteen back at Joisse, whose anger flared again.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Weren’t you just threatening to kill me?” Vivian asked, her exasperated tone made worse by the roughness in her voice.
“I… well I guess so, but—”
“But what?” Vivian stepped back from both of us, eyes moving between Joisse and me.
“But you haven’t told people my Name, and I don’t think you’re going to do that.”
“Why not?” Vivian’s voice was a hissed whisper. “What have I done to possibly make you think I wouldn’t.”
“You didn’t kill me and then you saved Joisse’s life?”
Vivian hissed air between clenched teeth. “I didn’t kill you because I thought I couldn’t. And I only saved Joisse because I was killing another demon and only had one bolt.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care.”
I frowned. “I’m sad you feel that way.”
“I’m sad—” Vivian repeated, her voice slow and low “you feel that way?”
I nodded.
“What are you.”
“A terrestrial demon. Haven’t been to hell, less of an influence of demonic mana. Created in a semi-accidental ritual where my best friend gave her eternal soul to ensure I still had my mind and demeanor intact.”
“You know what,” Vivian coughed again, less harshly this time. “I believe you. That’s too stupid to be a lie, and it matches all the other insanity surrounding you.”
Both of my eyebrows show up. “Really? It’s the truth, but—”
“Shut up, Zarenna. Please, just shut up.”
I shut up, working to contain Joisse’s anger. Vivian had almost none, the fire exhausting itself for lack of fuel.
“What will you do now,” Joisse asked, stopping the silence from stretching out.
“I’m going to go back to Gedon, find an inn, and sleep. I have a lot to think about thanks to Miss Goody-Four-Arms.”
Joisse giggled. “That’s kinda a fun nickname.”
I looked at Joisse, my eyes pleading, hoping Taava didn’t hear.
“That’s not a no,” Joisse teased.
Not you too!
Vivian coughed again, on purpose or not I couldn’t tell. “I’m going to leave now—don’t follow me.”
I nodded.
Vivian gave a single, sharp nod of her own back, then untied her horse quickly, hopped in it, and spurred it away back through the trees and onto the road.
“Joisse,” I pleaded, “whatever you do, please don’t let Taava hear what Vivian just said.”
“I won’t, Zar—”
“I already heard it—heard everything—Miss Goody-Four-Arms! You’re getting’ a lotta great nicknames, boss!”
Oh no. Dhias save me.
***
At camp that night, I fielded questions about my new wings of fire, mostly from Nelys who hadn’t seen them. They and Seyari were up and about, albeit exhausted.
“So you can fly?” Nelys asked, wonder in their voice.
I nodded. “I think so—maybe. I’ve not tried since the fight, and even then, what I did was more or less a series of long leaps.”
“Why don’t you try now?” Seyari asked, a wistful smile on her face. “We’re not next to a village, and I’d bet the view is great in these hills.”
Immediately, I thought about her own wings, lost to time. What I wouldn’t give…
I rolled my shoulders. “Well, I’ll need to get another shirt first.”
Seyari hummed, and I noticed her eyes drifted skyward.
I changed quickly and returned with my mostly-ruined, but still modest company outfit from the fight. After taking a deep breath, I walked over past the center of our camp’s clearing to where Seyari sat by the fire.
I bent down and offered her a hand. “Want to come with me?”
Seyari closed her eyes, then scrunched them up, letting her breath out slowly. She ran her fingers through her silver hair—the side that was long, anyway. “Don’t drop me.”
“I won’t.”
Once Seyari stood up with me, I faced the awkward reality of how exactly we were going to do this.
“You have four arms, so it should be easy. I’ve had to do this a few times in the past, but I was never the one being carried.” The half-angel spoke quickly, anxiously. “Hold my waist with two of your arms, and hold my shoulders with the others.”
I did as she asked.
Sey reached up and pecked a kiss on my chin. “Face me the other way, love. I want to see the ground, not you.”
“Not me?”
“I see plenty of you, Renna.”
Smiling, I spun Seyari around. Her feet rested just above mine, off the ground. Willing my magic to act, and focusing on the spell I felt earlier that same day, a heat started to glow around my lower shoulder blades.
With an eruption of heat and light, twin crimson wings of flame burst from my back. I flexed them as though they were real limbs. Dimly, I knew it was the spell moving, but they felt so real in the moment. They were also draining my barely-recovered mana quickly.
“Can I touch them?” Seyari asked in a whisper.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. The last thing to touch them was a tree, and I think my wing cut through it.”
“That’s a shame.” Seyari clenched her hands into fists. “Although I guess they don’t have feathers, so it’s not too much of a shame.”
Not knowing how to respond, I changed the subject. “Are you ready?”
“I am.”
I ran a few steps forward, bent my legs and kicked off the ground. As a wrath demon, I didn’t spend a lot of time jumping. As such, I was surprised when my jump alone cleared more than my own height into the air.
With only a few powerful flaps, hot air thrust downward and I lifted skyward, spell working even harder. Really, the spell did most of the work—small movements and techniques I couldn’t possibly have grasped so quickly. Neither of us spoke as I climbed, my focus entirely on staying aloft and steady. Seyari’s focus, meanwhile, was on the ground below.
When I reached the height of the nearest hill, I stopped and leveled out, turning to face the road we were headed down.
I sucked in a gasp of air.
Spread out below me, quiet in the evening twilight, were the rolling, forested hills of the Edathan countryside. Smoke curled up from the chimneys of a nearby hamlet, and snow painted the landscape around the gray curls and dark roofs white. Above us, stars shone bright and big through a gap in the clouds.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
Only then did I hear the soft sound of Seyari crying.
“Sey…” I trailed off, unsure what to say.
“I’m sorry, Renna,” the half angel choked. “I shouldn’t have—can… can we go down now? I can’t do this.”
“Sey, I—”
“Please.”
I’ll get you your wings back, I wanted to say. Next time we’ll go flying together, my heart ached to tell her.
Empty promises, both of them. Vectors that would only cause more hurt. I shouldn’t have done this.
I descended as fast as I dared, and came to a landing so suddenly that the others asked if we were alright. Seyari spun herself back to facing me, her head buried in my chest.
“It was cold up there,” I lied unconvincingly. “That’s all.”
My wings sputtered out and with the renewed darkness, Seyari pulled away and left for our tent, her head down. I tried my best to pretend nothing was wrong and walked back over to the others. Moments later, Seyari returned, wrapped in a blanket.
My heart surged when she sat next to me and leaned against my side. I put my tail around both of us.
“It’s not your fault,” she whispered.
“I’m still sorry,” I replied.
***
We waited until the next morning to talk again, and even then, we didn’t go deeper than the road conditions, the weather, and food.
Aside from a somber mood and an awkward trade for new horses, the last of our journey to Linthel was almost anticlimactically uneventful. The few days passed with little more than a single morning of moderate snow to disturb our trip. Even then, the look of the landscape wearing its white winter blanket brought back the nostalgia of days by the fire, and Tania beating Abby and me at board games.
After that first night and flight, I filled everyone in on what happened during the fight, getting confirmation on a few things from Nelys and Seyari. The assassins were indeed hidden in the wagon, and the demon I’d thought was an avarice demon was indeed an avarice demon. In hindsight, it was also pretty obvious that the other demon was of envy.
Which meant Astrodach, one of Third Prince Malich’s bound demons, was an envy demon. They’d escaped, and were now somewhere in Navanea, probably in Baetnal rubbing shoulders with royals. A direct line to the Navanaean throne, and the power of a nation. A pit formed in my stomach when we worked that out.
Aretan, please be safe.
From the three-tailed demon’s memories and Taava’s own anecdotes, I had a good idea that Envy had a hand in the civil war in Raavia. And they more than likely had a hand in the current war in Navanaea. And they were also working to create the rising unrest and demon problems in Ordia.
Something big is coming. And I have only just enough information to be truly afraid of it.
When we rounded a bend and saw Linthel, however, my thoughts all shifted to a single word: home.
The city looked different, like a new painting in an old frame; some elements matched my memory, but I could hardly be sure which. The walls around the old town were in the same place, at least. Lord—King, now—Carvalon’s castle loomed as it always had above the city. Somewhere in Linthel I’d find answers, and hopefully closure too.
MadMaxine
Zarenna's home! Well, within sight of it, at least.
Now, I actually do hate to leave a cliffhanger here, but I am taking a week off posting SoW (missing two chapter postings) to celebrate that Volume 2 just finished on Patreon, and to take a little break from writing. Scales & Shadows (which you should absolutely go read here if you have not) will post as normal on Friday, and SoW will resume posting on the 1st of July.
Just for you fine folks, I'll move the (very cute and fun) interlude that is after this chapter to after the next chapter when I resume posting, just so I'm not taking a long wait and making it even longer.
If you want to read more, my Patreon has 20+ advanced chapters right now! There are also a few side and short stories. And again, my Patreon is now half the cost it was for all advanced chapters of Sovereign of Wrath!
If you want to chat about the story or just hang out, my discord is open to all!
