Simple Things Page 4

  When the dead colonel's head came away from his body, Adam dropped it and turned to the group of people who were looking on, shocked.

  "The lions are in charge of this war! Do You Understand ME!" Adam bellowed at them. "You will do as you are told, or we will pull out and let the demons eat your souls and come back after you're all dead.

  "Distance will not stop their powers! If they can see you, they can eat you! If they can smell you, they will eat you!

  "And if they don't, I sure as fuck WILL!" Adam snarled and, turning on his heel, walked all the way back to where Trey was waiting with the helicopter.

  "I think they're going to be upset with you over this one, Adam," Trey told him as they took off.

  Adam snorted. "Yeah, yeah, Roxy's gonna have my balls. I don't care. You don't mess with a lion and expect to keep living, and you sure as hell don't kill my people, or I'm going to kill you right back twice as hard."

  Adam closed his eyes and let his mind travel back to the mountain.

  "What happened?" the First asked.

  "Oh, I just murdered a colonel in front of about a hundred witnesses," Adam told him.

  "You did what?" the First asked.

  "Grabbed him by the head and swung him around until it popped off," Adam said with a sigh. "Sorry, but the bastard earned it."

  "What happened?"

  Adam quickly explained everything.

  "I'll get Tisha on it. Good luck dealing with Roxy and the others."

  "Yeah, you may need to send them someone else, I suspect I'm gonna be dead here in a few minutes."

  "Better wake up!" Adam heard Trey call, and opening his eyes, he stopped communing. Roxy was standing out by the landing pad, and she had a rifle. Which she was pointing at him.

  "This day just keeps getting better and better," Adam growled.

  Pushing open the door, Adam hopped out carefully and put his arms up as he walked towards Roxy.

  "Don't shoot around the aircraft, you might damage something important."

  "Then why don't you move away from it? I can't believe you murdered an officer! In front of witnesses!"

  Adam put his hands on his hips and stared at her. "It had to be done. Sorry."

  "You're supposed to be a figurehead! A fill in until Sean gets back! We can't have you driving our allies away!"

  "Save the lecture and shoot me already! I've had a bad day, and you're not making it any easier! I lost people, Rox! Because some asshole had to prove he had a bigger dick than anyone else in the room!"

  "You lost people? How the hell could you lose people? You've only been here three days!"

  "Because they dropped their bombs right on top of us! What, you think I only put on half my armor when we left?"

  Roxy stopped and lowered the gun, suddenly noticing the state of his armor and the condition he was in. "What the hell happened to your armor?"

  "I lost it when my arm and leg were blown off, that's what! Now can we move away from here so they can get the next sortie out? We can talk about this in your office, and if you want to bring the gun, feel free. I didn't sign up for this mess, but if nothing else, when Sean gets back here, maybe I'll have made his life a little bit easier."

  "Come on," Roxy growled and slung the rifle. "You can tell me what happened inside."

  "Great. Can we get some food? I'm about tapped out after all the damage I took."

  "You've got a lot of nerve, I'll give you that," Roxy growled.

  "If you're not going to kill me, I need to get back out there. I can't be much of a figurehead if I'm not out with the troops, now can I?"

  "You need to wait for new armor."

  Adam snorted. "I don't have time for that. Maybe if we're all lucky, I'll get killed in combat. The guys and gals here will be happy I went to the wall for them, and you can tell the government I'm dead so they drop the whole 'murdering a colonel in front of everybody' thing."

  "You really are in a pissy mood, aren't you?"

  "I have temper issues," Adam said with a grunt as they walked into her office, and he dropped down into a chair.

  Roxy gave him one of those looks as she sat down. "I thought all lions had tempers?"

  "Mine's a bit overdeveloped, but it takes a lot to piss me off. I don't like violent confrontation."

  Roxy raised an eyebrow. "This from a guy who just brutally murdered someone in cold blood?"

  "It was hardly cold," he said with a slight growl.

  "So what happened?"

  "Order me some food and I'll tell you."

  Smile Like You Mean It

  "Okay," Sean asked once they were alone again, "what the hell is a 'Hellige' point and why would you want to take one over?"

  "Stop looking at my ass, and I'll tell you." Estrella sighed as she led him out of the audience room.

  "It's not like you're giving me the opportunity to look at the other side, walking away from me like that," Sean teased. Actually he wasn't staring at her ass anymore, being just a little bit more concerned with his surroundings.

  Estrella sighed and tried not to frown; it had been a very long time since any male had flirted with her, well, any male she'd even consider as a possible bed partner. Then again, the way the demons and the devils 'flirted' wasn't something anyone who wasn't insane would find enticing.

  "Hellige points are where the gateways form," she told him.

  Sean gaped, "I thought they couldn't control them?"

  "They can't," she agreed.

  "Then how do they form there?"

  She shrugged. "I don't know the how of it; from what I've learned, the hellige points were built over a hundred thousand years ago. No one is even sure who built them. Personally, I doubt the demons had anything to do with it; they're just not that smart. More than likely they were built by the race who ruled this world before the demons took it over."

  "So what exactly do they do?" Sean asked.

  "Gateways appear in certain areas. What a hellige point does, is it draws the gateway to it, so instead of just forming in a random location you have to find and travel to, it forms at the nearest hellige. They come in different sizes as well. The small gateways are harder to pull around for some reason, so there are many small helliges. The larger gateways can be pulled in from much farther away, so there are fewer of the helliges for them.

  "How many you control is a sign of your power. Ansigt was a powerful lord; he controlled one large hellige, one midsized hellige, and a dozen of the smaller ones. He was having a very successful pass this cycle. As I understand it, he'd already had ten small gateways open up for him in his domain, three medium ones, and two large. He was even starting to call himself a 'prince'."

  "You can do that?"

  Estrella shrugged. "You can try. I hadn't come face to face with him in a very long time, and as I heard he'd ascended to the rank of hersker, or lord, I really had no desire to confront him."

  "Why not?"

  "Because demon lords are hard to kill. That big skull on the top of my chair is a reminder I've killed them in the past. But honestly? That one almost ended me, so I've avoided any more such fights. Of course because I have killed a demon lord, and they all remember it, the other lords aren't looking for a fight either. Because they know I can end them, too."

  "And a demon prince?"

  She shook her head. "I don't even want to think about fighting one. I doubt I'd win a fight, and a demon queen or king would be well beyond me."

  Sean thought about that a moment.

  "You know, twice now you've used the word 'ascend'. Why?"

  "Because things are different here. All the demons are born as things like the gnashers I have. As they grow, they turn into different types of demons depending on what they're fed, who their parents were, assuming they had parents of course, and other things I still don't understand.

  "Some demons, like the Raseri you slew, that's all they'll ever be. But others, if they continue to gather power—by either eating the souls of other demons, or those of the beings they hunt on the other side of the gateways—they'll transform into more powerful beings. They grow in size and power, as well as intelligence and ability.

  "In order to become a demon lord, however, you must ascend to a much higher level of power. Most commonly that's done by killing another demon lord, and taking his energy and his bondsmen. For Ansigt to have become a prince, he'd have had to kill another prince and taken his lords as his bondsmen. It's a pyramid of power, once you ascend to lordship and beyond. The only other way he could have done it would be to either find a bunch of unbonded lords and convince them to give him their bond, or kill a bunch of lords and raise someone up to take their place who was already sworn to him."

  "Sounds complicated; does this happen often?"

  "I can't say for sure. There've only been two new princes while I've been here. Normally for a lord to ascend to the level of prince, another prince has to die. But I never heard of him killing another prince, or one of the kings or queens killing one and leaving an opening for another to rise."

  "And the kings and queens?"

  "I've never heard of anyone ascending to that level. I gather it's a very rare event, due to the power they hold. Because of this, I was skeptical of the rumors of Ansigt having ascended to the level of prince." She shook her head. "You have to understand, politics here are very violent and cutthroat. If he'd ascended without killing another prince, that would anger the kings and queens."

  "Because there'd be too many princes?"

  "Exactly," she agreed. "But it's all but forbidden to engage in challenges to the rulers during a pass. However, once the pass is complete, you'll see many challenges to the ruling order because of the amount of power those at the top have absorbed from the souls they've eaten."

  "So what's special about being a prince?"

  "They're very powerful. You see, demon lords can do real magic. They gain this ability from those who are bonded below them. Princes have many lords bound to them, kings and queens have many princes."

  "So the more you have bonded to you, the more magic you can do?"

  Estrella nodded. "Apparently. Now there are some demons who can do magic naturally, and don't depend on the power of bonded servants below them. But the 'royalty', as it were, tend to be the most powerful."

  Sean nodded. "And the helliges play into this how?"

  "The more powerful you are, the more helliges you control. This means, during a pass, you and your bonded will have more opportunities to feed and gain even more in power. This will allow you to overcome those who have less power and take their helliges away from them."

  "So, with this Lord or Prince Ansigt dead, his helliges are undefended, the others will scramble to take them over, and you think we can take one of them."

  Estrella opened the door and led Sean into her rooms. Turning around, she leaned against her desk as he closed the door behind him.

  "I had to tell them something that would not only explain your presence, but which would keep them from talking to any others about it."

  "So they're keen on the idea of you controlling a hellige?"

  She nodded. "Very. They've been pushing me to take one over for centuries, since I've settled here and built this stronghold. But until now, I always had the excuse I wasn't strong enough to take one."

  "Why is that?"

  "That I didn't take one?"

  "No, why are they all so hyped about getting one?"

  "Because right now, they only get to eat what they find, grow, or defeat. But with a hellige, they can roam into the other worlds whenever the hellige snags a gate and eat as much as they wish. I'm sure you already know humans are no match for any demon looking to feed."

  "Oh," Sean said with a frown.

  Estrella nodded. "That's the other reason why I haven't been keen on trying to take a hellige. The idea of feeding on the souls of the innocent doesn't sit well with me. Killing these bastards," she made a general waving motion to the surrounding area, "that's no big deal. I especially enjoy the fact that, when we kill them, they're destroyed completely and never come back.

  "But more and more of them are created or reborn everyday. So it's not like this world will ever be rid of them."

  "How do they come back?"

  "After they've been killed?"

  Sean nodded.

  "They reform, usually at the place they've linked their power to."

  "How long does that take?"

  "If they're killed on the other side of a gateway, it takes, umm," Estrella looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ten days? A fortnight? I'm not exactly sure. But if they're killed here, they reform in about five days."

  "Why's that?"

  "I have no idea," she admitted. "Which brings me to the next point; he was killed about two days ago, if that explosion is what killed him, and he wasn't on the other side of the gate. So we need to move tomorrow if we want any chance of gaining control of one before he reforms."

  Sean nodded and wondered if he should tell her he was the one who blew them up. She seemed to be playing straight with him now, but he still remembered her first move had been to attack him, not to welcome him.

  "How long do you think we can hold one of the hellige points after he reforms?"

  "Hopefully long enough to go through a gateway," Estrella said with a heavy sigh. "We won't be the only people making a move on his helliges. If we take a small one, hopefully we'll be last on the list when he starts to retake them."

  "That makes…" Sean stopped; he could feel it, his mana regeneration suddenly peaked, going back to normal rates.

  "A gate just opened," he said, looking at her.

  "What? Are you sure? How can you tell?"

  "I'm a magic user, like I told you."

  "I'm still getting used to that," Estrella admitted. "There weren't any lion magic users when I left."

  Sean smiled. "I'm the first, but considering I've got several children already, I won't be the last. But yeah, I'm sure. When a gateway opens, I can feel it because of my mana regeneration. That reminds me," Sean said, taking a step closer and looking down at her as she leaned back against the desk. She really was a looker, and her long black hair just added to the appeal.

  "Does anyone know you're here? Because no one ever told me about you."

  Estrella shook her head. "I didn't tell anyone I was going to sneak through."

  "Why not?" Sean asked, looking at her curiously.

  "Because you can't be told no if you don't ask," she replied, returning his scrutiny.

  Sean smiled at that. "Well, now that we're back here, and there's no one else around, I was wondering…?"

  "Yes?" she said with a slight growl. She had to admit, he was impressive looking, and handsome, too. It had been a while, after all.

  "Can I see the item you said broke?"

  Estrella started slightly and blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

  "The item you said you used for stealth, but it broke. Can I see it?"

  "Why would you want to see that?" she asked, feeling a little disappointed.

  "Because I'm an enchanter, and I might be able to fix it for you," Sean told her. "Especially now that I have access to mana from an open gate."

  "Fine," she sighed. "It's in the chest over there, just a moment."

  Sean nodded and got out of her way, watching closely as she walked to the chest on the other side of the room. He appreciated the view as she bent over and wondered why her tail was flicking in annoyance. For a moment there, her scent had been quite appealing.

  He'd figure it out eventually, he was sure.

  She brought a necklace back to him. Looking down at it, Sean could tell it was one he'd seen in his vision.

  "What happened to it?"

  "I was careless and got into a fight with a pair of ridders. One of them struck me by the neck, and thankfully the necklace stopped them from killing me, but it was destroyed in the process."

  Holding his hand out as he called up his enchanting framework, Sean took the necklace to examine the spells on it. He was very surprised to see there were still active spells on the necklace, because it had been cut in two. Usually any change in an item destroyed all the spells on it.

  Looking at it closer, he noticed the spells had been laid down in a radically different manner.

  "A faerie made this, didn't they?" he asked.

  Estrella looked surprised. "You can tell?"

  Sean nodded and went back to examining the necklace. "Faerie magic is cast much differently than that used by humans. It's hard to explain, but their method is completely different."

  "Does that mean you can't fix it?" Estrella asked, pouting.

  Sean snorted. "My great uncle's been teaching me how to do it. I may be able to fix it if I can get the proper tools and such. Or perhaps I'll make a new one. I'll have to think about it."

  Sean looked up at her and asked, "Mind if I use your desk?"

  She shook her head. "No. Make yourself at home. I need to go talk with everyone anyway. Now that I've told them that story, I need to get things set up to be ready for tomorrow."

  Sean smiled, leaned forward, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Estrella. I know I just came in here and screwed everything up for you. But I promise, I'll not only make it up to you, but I'll get you back home."

  "More likely you'll get us both killed," she grumbled, but Sean could see she was smiling, if only slightly.

  "Trust me, if I get us killed, the wives will never let me hear the end of it."

  Shaking her head, Estrella left him as she went out to talk with Første and the others. There was a fair bit of planning to do, and they had to do it now. The first thing would be to decide which of the helliges would be the easiest to take. Second would be to figure out how to ensure it was the last one Lord Ansigt would attempt to reclaim.

  Smiling, Sean watched her leave, then went around the desk to sit in the chair behind it.

  Then he got up again and removed his armor. Sitting on a hard chair in armor, he realized, was not a comfortable experience. Shedding it, he set it carefully to the side, then sat back down to examine the necklace carefully. Touching the ends together, he was surprised to see some of the more complex spells on it still activated and worked. Whoever had built this really had been a master enchanter. While there were many layers to each spell, they seemed to have been laid out clearly and simply. It was only when taken as a whole that the geometry of all the layers turned it into an impressive piece of work.