Demi-Sin of Deceit: Part Two

Tiskial

There were wards around Ordeallan, preventing me from creating a portal inside of the Ordeallan wall, and the Guards patrolling the top meant I couldn’t land in the fields. Naturally, the next best thing was right beside the wall.

Destiny and Seth had told us of their time in Ordeallan, as well as how they’d used the tunnels to leave the city. Thankfully, we were next to one of those entrances, and while Destiny had ordered for them to be blocked up with not only iron trapdoors, but also cement from Karmona, she had also told us of the only way around them. As an Assassin, she’d left plenty of escape routes in case it became necessary, one of them being that the cement wasn’t secured fully. In fact, it was more of a cement door.

The cement wouldn’t keep out Demonic-beings, but it did serve as a way to slow them down. The iron bars behind the cement were for the Demonic-beings. Motioning Jane closer, I whispered in her ear, “We have to remove this cement door, and then the iron bars on the other side without making too much noise.”

The marching footsteps of the Ordeallan soldiers echoed above us, the shouted threats from their now Demonic-being superiors muffled only by the air above us, and I winced as a group of them fired their arrows into the crevice beyond, sending plumes of smoke as the arrows caught fire straight into the air. There was also the banging and clanging of construction around us, which would hopefully serve to hide the noise I would have to make in order to remove the bars.

Ensuring that Jane was safely away from the tunnel entrance, I began feeling around the edge of the cement door, hoping to find the latch that Destiny had told us of, only to feel something prick my finger, green blood sliding down my hand. Sucking on my finger, I turned to see Jane raising her eyebrows, quietly commenting, “Why are you bleeding?”

Carefully sliding my hand back under the lip again, I felt for the latch, and felt only a jagged piece of metal in its place. They had found the latches and broken them off.

“We won’t find a way in here.”

Where else could we go? Destiny’s reconstruction plans had fortified the wall in ways we hadn’t been given clearance to know, yet. She’d told us about the cement door, but nothing else. She certainly hadn’t told us about the wooden spikes surrounding that crevice, or that she’d needed help so desperately.

We’d received a letter from Ordeallan stating that they couldn’t help us because they were swamped down with their own war, but there hadn’t been anything about Destiny surrendering herself! Had we known that we would have helped! Hell, we’d have given up Tarvenia!

Well… That was an exaggeration. We wouldn’t have surrendered Tarvenia, but we’d have risked it, because at least then we could have avoided Ordeallan being taken over, and Syrphien being killed.

I hadn’t even had time to mourn his death. I’d spent centuries training with him, celebrating victories with him, mourning losses with him, and he’d died just like that, in the blink of an eye. He hadn’t died in a battle, he’d just been assassinated! We’d let down our guard, and it had cost him his life.

Kynal, Syrphien- Who would be next?

If Nazareth’s words were true, and I had no reason to doubt they weren’t, we were going to lose this war. Seraphina had lost her life trying to bring the prophecy to life- Who’s to say the other Archangels, who we’d enlisted to help fight with us, weren’t going to do the same?

Was it best if we just gave up the war now, and instead of fighting, tried to survive? Maybe the Caliem Manor could be reasoned with… If we sat back and allowed it to happen, would everything turn out alright?

‘Battle can get on anyone’s nerves. Think of it this way- Either you sit back, and watch those you love be killed around you, or you fight, using your every breath to keep them safe. If you die, you won’t have long to complain about it, because once your final breath leaves, you’re reborn’. Syrphien’s quote to me before our battle with Zeella over the Paradoxin Cord had struck something in me, the words ringing tru- It hadn’t been Syrphien on that battlefield! I’d known, but it hadn’t occurred to me until just then that those words, the ones I credited to Syrphien, were actually Destiny’s.

Destiny had been the one who had listened to me before that battle, not Syrphien! She’d shared that drink with me, had reassured me when I’d panicked over the thought that we were doing something wrong. When I’d asked Syrphien why we were there, fighting that battle, he’d replied with something to calm me.

Destiny had replied with something she knew would calm my nerves, like a General reassured their soldiers before a large battle.

She’d had her own worries, too! Destiny had taken Syrphien’s form to replace both him and Selphien after we’d discovered that whoever held the Cord and faced Zeella would die! She’d asked me who I’d thought was more likely to win between Destiny and Zeella!

“What do you think would happen if Desterium and Zeella got into a fight? Who would win?” Syrphien asked, suddenly seeming nervous. Distracted over his words of wisdom from earlier, I replied simply, “Zeella is a Lord of Hell.”

“But his daughter claims to be stronger than him.” Stiffening at his words, and the possible meaning behind them, I said, “I think Zeella would win. Why? Are you planning on unleashing her?” Heaven above, SYRPHIEN wasn’t that desperate, was he? Did he really think we had so little a chance of winning that we’d have to unleash Destiny?!

“If we’re all so close to death that unleashing her means winning, then yes. For now, no,” He said, and I gave him a relieved smile, replying, “Desterium wouldn’t help us.”

“Why do you believe that? She believes that anybody can be bought, for the right price. We could offer her something.”

“Yeah? Like what? She seems smitten with Seth. Why don’t you hand over your sister so she can kill her and take her place?”

“Back off, Tiskial. I’m just asking a hypothetical question.”

“I don’t think she would help us. Would you, after being chained up in swimwear, and fed only once or twice every night or so?”

“Perhaps she’s more understanding than you think.”

“Don’t tell me you’re converting to her side.”

I’d told her in no uncertain terms that her father would win that battle, and she’d still walked onto it, knowing she would die. Fate had deemed she would die, and, when she’d questioned me on my beliefs, I’d given her the same answer- Zeella would win; and he had, too. Destiny had been brought in with a broken spine and a slit throat, still clutching the Cord. It was only after she’d returned to life that she handed the Cord to Poddux, not trusting Opaleen with it. None of us had puzzled out why she was still alive, even now! She had been dead when the others had brought her in! Her throat had been completely slit!

A second, worse realisation was the fact that Zeella had done that to his own daughter. Some Guards who had seen the attack on Destiny had reported what they’d said to each other, how Zeella had insisted that she was making a mistake, and how she’d told him he was wrong about us.

“Was losing your life worth this? There is nobody here who would save you, nobody who would risk their life for you, and nobody who would even think of returning the favour of whatever little scheme you have running. You may think being on their side will gain their trust, but they will turn on you, and backstab you one day, daughter. There is nobody in this world, or any other, who is good enough to see even a smidge of good in you, and you’re a fool for attempting to see it in them.”

I’d remembered that quote every time Syrphien had reminded us that Destiny’s rudeness was because of her upbringing. If Zeella was willing to tell his daughter, whom he’d supposedly loved once, that nobody cared about her, nobody would save her or risk their life for her, in public, then what was he willing to say behind closed doors?

What was he telling her now? Was it that we weren’t coming for her?

But she wouldn’t believe that! She’d know that we’d come for her!

Except we hadn’t… Nobody had prioritised saving her. Even Cain had put it aside, albeit begrudgingly. She was being tortured in Caliem, in a place designed to break her kind, even people as strong as her, and we weren’t doing anything about it!

In fact, I’d been so angry at Destiny’s actions prior to becoming our ally that I hadn’t stopped to consider what she was doing, the choices she was making. She fought against her kind, against her family, to do the right thing! She’d revealed to me in our training session that she blamed herself for Zeella abandoning her, and while she hadn’t mentioned it since, I’m sure the thought still played in her mind- That this war was her fault.

Retrieving the Sacreds shouldn’t be our priority. Rescuing Destiny, our ally, should be!

Gripping Jane’s arm, who flinched at the sudden movement and passion behind it, I hissed, “We have to go.”

I had two choices. I could use my magic to portal into Caliem, where they would likely sense my magic and track me with it, or I could use the ring I’d taken from the Demonic-being we’d killed in the Forest of the Damned. If they sensed it, they would hopefully notice that it was the ring they had handed out and hold off on tracking. By then, Jane and I could run into Pangorama, and lose the trail there.

By asking around, we might be able to locate Destiny. If not, we could head straight into Caliem and do some spying.

“Why?” Jane finally questioned as I began leading her away from the cement trapdoor, now paranoid that, if they had removed the latch, they might be patrolling the tunnels from within, and I replied, “We need to rescue Destiny.”

Raising an eyebrow at me, she waited until I had gripped the ring, twisting it the same way I had when I’d opened the Paradoxin Rift the last time.

Destiny had used the Sacreds to open the Paradoxin Rift in her backyard not so she could find a way to end the war, like she’d claimed, but so she could resurrect her mother. Unless she believed that resurrecting her mother would have ended the war?

Keeping my mind on Destiny, on her location, I twisted the ring, a small, whirling portal opening behind, and as it began to shriek loudly, I tugged Jane through it, my wings tucking themselves in close against my back as the full, icy cold of Caliem hit me. We’d been here before, all of us, and we’d found Reanna’s memorial spot, and run into Abel all in one trip. With any luck, this trip would go much more smoothly.

The Caliem Manor, in all its onyx, dark glory, sat on the horizon, a stain against the backdrop of snow, and Jane clung to my arm as I shut the portal, leaving us in Korath.

“Destiny once said that Heirs for the Manor were trained in a place called the Dome, and that was where she’d likely be taken if she was ever captured. Do you think we should find the Dome?”

“You want to take on the entirety of the Manor, including their allies, on your own? To rescue Destiny? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” Jane blurted incredulously, “Like, I have nothing against rescuing her- I think we should have right at the start, but why did you have a change of heart?”

“Jane, when Syrphien went onto the battlefield with the Paradoxin Cord, it wasn’t him! It was Destiny!”

“I know, Tiskial. You knew that, too!”

“Yes, but when we were worried about surviving, it had been her who had comforted us! When she went to her literal death to save the Paradoxin Cord from her father, he told her that nobody would care enough to rescue her! Destiny’s being tortured right now, being told the exact same stuff, and we’ve abandoned her!”

“She surrendered herself knowing the consequences. We can’t just rush into Caliem with only the two of us and fight! We’ll be slaughtered!”

“I’m not saying we fight! I’m saying we gather information, and then make calculated decisions! Syrphien died because we made the wrong decision! Let’s not do that again!”

Jane paused, tears pricking at her eyes, and she finally conceded, asking, “Fine. Say we do what you suggest- How are we going to spy without getting caught? Our time in Korath last time told us that they have eyes everywhere!”

“I have a ring that allows us to leave, even if they take my powers. I think we should utilise that. If we’re intentionally caught, we can find Destiny, and then get the Hell out of here!”

“Your entire plan relies on them not taking that ring from you. What if they do take it?”

“I don’t know… We’ll have to fight our way out.”

“Tiskial, Destiny hasn’t managed to do that yet! I know you care about preventing more deaths but rushing into this on a whim isn’t going to do that! In fact, it’s going to cause more deaths- our deaths! Ash would agree with me, you know! I agree that we should rescue Destiny, but only once the time is right, and right now, I don’t think it is! We should go back to Ordeallan and get those Sacreds, like we planned.” She turned away, marching back towards the Divider, and I pleaded, “Jane, we’ve lost enough dancing around the issue. Let’s just go in there, rescue Destiny, and get out again!”

“What do you propose when it goes wrong, Tiskial?!” She shouted, swinging around to face me, and the wind picked up across the fields, sending snow whipping past our faces. Jane’s eyes were fiery, reminding me of Kynal’s when he was in a passionate rant, and I softened. Kynal would have killed me had he known how I was treating his sister right now.

“Look, Jane, I’m desperate. We can’t get into Ordeallan right now, but with Destiny’s ability to disguise people, we wouldn’t even have to risk ourselves! We’re losing this war! We need to start taking risks!”

“I can’t do this… Tiskial, I can’t,” she begged, “Leviathan will be there.”

Leviathan- the Demon Lord who had taken Kynal’s body as his own, who had turned Jane’s brother into a puppet. Just like that, I understood her hesitation. It wasn’t because she was afraid of dying, it was because she knew she was going to see Leviathan wearing her dead brother’s skin.

“If it came into a fight, I wouldn’t be able to kill him,” she explained, tears sliding down her face. They froze halfway down, and she brushed them away, sending them into the snow. Striding forward, I pulled her into a hug. She stiffened at first, shocked. The only person I’d ever hugged was Ash.

“You won’t have to,” I promised, “He won’t be a problem.”

Maybe it was time I started taking the others on my team more seriously. If Jane couldn’t do it, then she didn’t have to, but I sure as Hell wasn’t leaving her in Korath alone. Pulling the ring from my finger, I said, “Go join Tatiana.”

“Tiskial-”

“Go join her. I’ll scout the area for Destiny, and if I see an opportunity to rescue her, I’ll do so. If it becomes too dangerous, I’ll portal away. So, go update Tatiana on my plan.”

Taking her hand, I placed the ring into it, folding her fingers over it. She stared down at it for a moment, before asking, “Are you certain about this?”

“Yes. Now go. Tell Ash I love her- J- Just in case.”

Ash and I had long ago sworn off of goodbyes, since we both believed that they forced fates hand, but I wasn’t stupid enough to miss my one chance to remind her that I loved her. Jane could deliver that message, and I knew she would.

Sliding the ring on her finger, Jane gave me a small, saddened salute with her other hand, before closing her eyes and twisting the ring. The portal opened right behind her, tugging her in, and just like that, she was gone, the portal closing a second later, leaving only the howling wind of Caliem.

And, in the distance, the collective howls of a beast I recognised…