The Light of My Hearts

The Lower Realm, Tegath...almost two weeks after the visit to Helia’s sister...

It took Gillam almost four days to see all of Tegath. He was most fascinated by the ships and the ocean that seemed to stretch on forever. The Parliel Realm had bodies of water but none like an ocean. He had asked Helia if he would be able to fly across it to which she laughed and told him he’d get tired long before he found the next piece of land.

Everything had been peaceful and uneventful (by slayer standards). Helia’s father worked his job and Una was ever the doting hostess. Only the three humans knew he was a fae and thus far no one had figured out or even sought the secret. All anyone near their circle knew was Helia had a tall, very attractive slaying partner who rarely left her side when they walked around Tegath.

It was something new for Gillam, seeing Helia more relaxed and casual. Most of the time she was brusque and on high alert; ready for danger to present itself. Here in her homeland, she seemed to smile more and let down her guard. Gillam enjoyed that best.

One afternoon, he and Helia were on an errand for Lachlan to purchase some leather goods for scabbards when Gillam suddenly stopped walking. A tingling, itching sensation prickled at his fingertips. His magic felt unsettled. Helia had gotten several yards away from him before she realized he wasn’t close

“Gillam? The Hell?” she called back to him.

The disguised fae remained frozen in the street, eyes moving slowly.

Helia squinted and walked back over to him, tapping his middle with the back of her hand, “Hey! What’s wrong?”

He startled but still seemed on edge, “Something...doesn’t feel right.”

Helia got serious, knowing the fae’s instincts were even more sharp than hers, “What do you mean?”

Gillam squinted, almost as if he was trying to hear something far away, “There’s...a strong magic nearby...dark magic.”

“Dark magic?”

The fae nodded and suddenly began jogging through the streets. Helia protested a second but chased after him. Gillam turned down several alleys and streets. His head would dart continuously as if he was following something invisible but clear to him. Helia followed until they made it to the docks. With his long legs, Gillam could run effortlessly but Helia managed to keep pace.

Suddenly he stopped and Helia nearly bumped into his back.

“What? Did you find it?” she asked.

He stared around pensively, “It’s close...very close.”

After a few seconds, Gillam turned and jogged down the docks with Helia weaving through the crowd of people. It wasn’t long until he came to a stop near a rope barrier in front of a huge ship unloading its cargo onto the dock. Large crates, baskets, and various other containers were being offloaded by the dock crews and sailors like ants working around their ant hill. Armed guards stood around the goods to keep any would be thieves at bay.

Shouting. Banging. Organized chaos.

Despite it all, Gillam craned his neck, trying to feel out the sense of where the feeling of dark magic was emanating from.

“It’s coming from inside the ship.” He proclaimed.

“The dark magic?” Helia confirmed.

He nodded.

“What does that mean exactly?” she wondered.

Gillam glanced at her, “Magic is not very strong here. Whatever is on that ship caught my attention even at a distance. And it’s very powerful dark magic.”

“It’s dangerous then?”

“It could be.” Gillam confirmed. “I need to see it to find out.”

He started to maneuver toward the ship. Instantly the guards noticed and barred his way with pikes.

“Hey! Back up. You’re not allowed here.” One of the big men stated gruffly.

Gillam, who used to be a guard himself, remained calm and polite, “What’s on that ship, might I ask?”

“Just the latest shipment from the Venagard Islands. Are you a merchant?” the other guard asked.

“No.”

“No one but the dock and ship’s crew are allowed past here.” The guard insisted firmly. “Go about your business.”

Gillam politely nodded and did as he was asked. He couldn’t say he sensed some dark magic from inside the ship. That would sound crazy and humans in the Lower Realm tended to view magic as evil anyway, so he kept quiet and didn’t press the issue.

“You’re sure you sense that dark magic on that boat?” Helia was observing the scene as they moved off.

“Yes.”

The redhead nodded, “All right. Guess we’re sneaking in tonight then to check it out.”

Gillam tipped his head, “Sneaking in?”

“Yeah. The guards will still be here but we can sneak past them. They’ll probably be tired and slip up anyway.” Helia explained.

Though it sounded very risky, it also sounded thrilling. But Gillam knew whatever he was sensing would be anything but thrilling. It felt...dangerous.

Later that night...

Both Gillam and Helia had donned darker cloaks to go out into the night. As they were about to leave the house, they were startled by Lachlan smoking his pipe outside.

“And where are you two off in the middle of the night?” Lachlan’s voice inquired from the door outside.

“What are you doing awake at this hour?” Helia asked.

“I asked first.” He retorted, chewing the end of the pipe.

Helia paused and then looked back at Gillam. At first, she wasn’t sure if she should tell her father about their mission since it wasn’t exactly legal to go sneaking around the docks amongst the freshly unloaded goods. However, her father could smell a lie like a fresh pile of manure.

“Gillam said he sensed some dark magic on one of the ships that came from the Venagard Islands.”

“Dark magic?” Lachlan squinted.

“Magic is not plentiful in this realm.” Gillam explained, “This was so strong I could feel it from a distance. But it’s a dark magic.”

“What would be causing it?” Lachlan asked with interest. “A creature?”

Gillam frowned, “I’m not certain yet.”

Lachlan tapped out his pipe and stepped on the ashes, “I’d better go with you then.”

“Dad, we’re just going to the docks to investigate.” Helia eyed him.

The large, bearded man shook his head, “I’ve been to the Venagard Islands. Slain some nasty creatures there.” He looked at Gillam, “If you’re sensing something ominous from there...it could mean trouble.”

“Dad...” Helia sounded irritated.

Lachlan’s features grew severe, “Just because I’m not in full form doesn’t mean I’m helpless, Helia.”

It sounded like an old wound had been picked open.

Helia frowned but relented with frustrated sigh, “All right. But if mom finds out, it was all your doing. I had no power in this choice.”

Lachlan grabbed his weapon belt and the three departed for the harbor.

When they drew nearer the docks, they went silent. It was late enough that the only people out were the drunk bar patrons staggering home and various night watchmen standing vigilantly at their posts in the torchlight. As soon as they arrived at the area where the ship and its cargo were docked, they could make out the forms of a pair of guards watching the goods.

Gillam moved his head slightly and whispered, “I don’t sense that dark magic on the ship as strongly anymore.”

“Are you saying it’s gone?” Helia whispered back, sounding slightly frustrated.

“It’s there...it’s just...weaker.” Gillam explained.

“On that ship?” Lachlan confirmed with a subtle point.

Gillam nodded.

“Well, you ain’t gonna get on it with the boarding ladder pulled up.” Helia’s father mentioned.

“I can fly up there.”

“Then those wings of yours had better be quiet. If those guards hear your wings and see you then we’ll have several problems.” Lachlan grumbled as he squinted through the dark. All at once he smirked, “Oh...we’re in luck. One of those guards is Harlen...I know him. I’ll distract them. You get on the ship...and don’t get caught.”

With a brusque movement he emerged from the shadows and approached the two guards, throwing his arms up in a friendly way. The one known as Harlen seemed receptive and friendly as Lachlan spoke loudly in greeting.

With the distraction working, Gillam moved his cloak around to expose his wings, sneakily used the shadows to approach the edge of the dock, leaped, and launched into flight. Helia cringed when the thrum of his wings made a loud noise, but it didn’t last long. The fae’s powerful jump was superhuman and cut the distance in half. Gillam made the ship’s deck in three seconds, landing light as a bird on a branch.

He could still sense the dark magic but he was confused as to why it was faint. It had been potently strong before. His acute ears were attuned to his surroundings: the creaking of the wood as the ship sat, the clink of metal rings, the hissing snap of cloth in the breeze. What he didn’t hear was odd. He didn’t hear any humans on the ship. The former fae guard expected to find some crew guarding the ship, snoring below decks. He could distinctly hear Lachlan talking with the guards on the docks but nothing else.

It wasn’t right.

But he could tell the dark magic sense was coming from behind the ornate doors of the captain’s cabin. So, with stealthy grace he melted into the shadows and found the doors. Quietly he gripped the handle and turned. It wasn’t locked.

Odd.

It was pitch black within the captain’s quarters and Gillam was about to make a subtle light with his hand when a sharp smell slapped him in the face. It smelled like a butcher shop and brimstone. Despite the risk of being caught, Gillam made his hand glow.

At first it seemed a typical ship’s cabin until he looked down. Gillam recoiled when he saw grisly chunks of bloody meat sprinkled across the floorboards, wrapped in tatters of cloth.

No...not meat...human bodies. Or at least...what was left.

Gillam almost retched when he saw a severed foot still wearing a shoe right near his own foot along with half a head nearby.

“What...?” he whispered.

He could still sense the dark magic across the room near the map table. With ginger footing he maneuvered around the remains, trying, and failing not to step in anyone. Then a flicker played with his light. On the map table near an old, barnacle encrusted box lay a round, red stone about the size of a grapefruit with white crystals sprouting from it. Gillam’s eyes got huge upon seeing it. The stone was cracked in half and the smell of brimstone was overpowering.

“Oh...no.” he took up the two halves of the red and white stone.

This stone was the source of the dark magic, but it only felt residual, like smelling a meal that had already been eaten. In his guts the fae now knew what this was.

With all haste he rushed out of the cabin with the broken pieces, leaped over the side, and glided to the dock where Helia was hiding in the shadows.

“That was fast. What did you find?” the slayer asked in a hushed voice.

“Get your dad. Get him now.” Gillam was very serious as he marched away from the docks.

Helia hadn’t seen the fae so intent but ran over to collect her father in a believable manner so as not to draw suspicion. She made it back to Gillam first.

“What’s going on, Gillam?” Helia demanded.

“It’s a demon.” Gillam stated as he held up the broken stone. “Possibly a pure incubus.”

Helia stared at the red stone with white crystals. She’d never seen such a rock.

“A demon?”

Gillam nodded, “The men in the captain’s cabin are dead...torn to pieces. The whole place reeked of brimstone and I can still feel the dark magic from this.”

“What kind of stone is that?” Helia asked.

“It’s called an Infernal Orb.” Gillam explained, “They are meant to be a portal to the demonic realm or a vessel to seal demons.” He touched the white crystals jutting from the red surface, “This one looks like a sealed vessel.”

“Doesn’t look sealed anymore...” Helia stated grimly.

At that moment Lachlan joined them but when he saw the split red stone in Gillam’s hand he froze, features grave.

“What... the fuck is that?” he rasped.

“An Infernal Orb. Gillam found...” Helia tried to explain but Lachlan seized the stone pieces from Gillam’s hands.

His eyes were widening as he scrutinized the stones, “You...found these on the ship?”

Gillam nodded then made a face, “The magic was stronger before because...”

“The demon escaped.” Lachlan finished his sentence in a low tone.

Helia squinted, “How did you know that, Dad?”

Lachlan began limping at a fast pace down the street, “We have to get to the shop.”

Helia and Gillam followed.

“How did you know that stone contained a demon?” Helia repeated.

“Because I’m the one who trapped that bastard in this stone.” Lachlan stated.

“Hang on...you trapped a demon in that stone?” Helia was stunned.

She had never encountered a demon before and she had never heard of her father dealing with one either.

“Before I met your mother, I went to the Venagard Islands. The people there were losing their wives and daughters every night. They would just disappear into the dark and were never seen again.” He explained, “I thought it was some sort of werebeast infestation. But it turned out to be something far worse. A demon was luring women away through their dreams every night and doing unspeakable things to them.”

“Just women?”

Lachlan nodded. “I tried to slay it. But he always seemed to regenerate or escape. So we managed to seal it in one of those rocks.”

“How did you manage to seal this demon away in an Infernal Orb? Do you possess magical abilities?” Gillam sounded shocked.

Lachlan shook his head, then gestured, “There were several shamans on the islands who helped me. But there were some who were disciples of this demon and made it difficult. It took me almost a month for us to subdue and seal that bastard. By then...he’d taken so many poor girls.”

Helia shook her head with unease and looked at her father, “Ok...so we’ve got a demon on the loose. How do we handle that?”

Lachlan frowned, “I have a few tools to deter this demon but sealing him again? I don’t know if we can since that orb is broken and I have no idea how the shamans did what they did to seal him.”

“You must align both sides with the demon’s mark and bring them together.” Gillam proclaimed. He placed one half against his left side and the other on the right to illustrate. “Since this demon has been bound to this Infernal Orb once it will naturally go back to it given the proper magic. Do you know where this demon’s mark is?”

Lachlan shook his head, “No clue. All I did was lure him in and stab him with a blessed wooden pike. The shamans did the rest.”

“Then we must find this demon and learn of his mark.” Gillam concluded.

“How will we find this demon?” Helia wondered.

Her father gave a grim look, “He won’t be hard to find this time of night. There’s probably several girls he’s put under his spell right now and they’ll walk right to him in a daze.”

“Can’t you stop these girls from going?” Helia asked.

“We tried.” Lachlan explained, “But they were boiling to the touch, like hot metal. We couldn’t tie them up, we couldn’t hold them down. They’d burn through anything and anyone until they reached their master. The only thing we could do was make sure they didn’t fall asleep so he couldn’t bewitch them.” He sounded very regretful, “But it didn’t last.”

Helia sighed but sounded determined, “Then we’ve got no time to waste. We’ve got to find this demon and put him back in that rock where he belongs.”

Later at Lachlan’s armory shop…

Being a slayer for so many years, Lachlan had amassed an extensive collection of armaments to deal with any number of bestial threats. He didn’t get rid of anything that was effective and he wrote down many of his methods or recipes for slaying troublesome beasts. One such thing he kept was the sacred wooden pike he’d used to subdue the demon as well as several vials of holy water and various herbs to deter the demon.

He handed them to Helia, “Here. Douse your weapons in both of those and put some on yourself as well.”

As he rummaged around his store for those items and Helia was dousing her sword in the herbs and holy water, Gillam was watching for any signs outside.

“Are there any demons in the Parliel Realm?” Helia asked the fae.

Gillam shook his head, “Not prevalently. Most cannot endure the light of our realm and burn up. There are some exceptions though…but they are usually eradicated."

He gave Helia a concerned glance, “This…this demon might not be something you should fight with.”

Helia paused and gave him a death glare, “Don’t give me that bullshit.”

“A demon is nothing for a human to trifle with…and this demon specifically targets women.” Gillam was earnest.

“So, all the other things I’ve fought and slain mean nothing?” Helia asked venom dripping from her tone.

Gillam shook his head, “I never said that! I just…”

“Damn it, Gillam! Keep your chivalry out of my business. I don’t know how many times I need to say it to you!” She spat. “Why don’t YOU stay behind and not risk scarring your perfect face.”

The fae tried to protest and defend his position, but Helia was sheathing her coated weapons and not hearing it. Lachlan came out with a few extra pouches and weapons in hand.

Helia pointed at him, “Now I know you’re not thinking of going.”

“The fuck I’m not.” Lachlan growled. “You’ve never fought a demon before. You’ll need me.”

“Dad you’re not the same slayer you were when you fought this demon before. And I don’t want to be the one to tell mom that I took you on a slaying and got you hurt or killed.” Helia argued.

“You’re not going to tell her anything. And I’m doing this of my own accord. So shut up and let’s get to looking.” The red bearded man growled, as he marched out the door.

Helia gave a conceding sigh and followed, Gillam after her.