The Pale Princess, page 3
“The same way you always do, by keeping an eye out for anything sneaking up on me or that I miss. What’s with the overprotectiveness all of a sudden?”
“You face so many dangers, Chosen, and at the same time always go out of your way to keep us safe. The other Daughters and I are most grateful for your concern, but your life matters the most. If my life can buy you even a moment to act, I give it gladly.”
Conryu released the staff and let it float beside him. He put both hands on Kai’s shoulders. “Look at me.”
She turned her head up until her gaze locked with his.
“No life is more important than another. I fight to protect everyone, including you and the other Daughters. I know there will be losses in this war. I hate it, but I accept it. But understand me well: none of those deaths will happen because one of you takes a pointless risk. We’re going to do this the same way we always do. Understand?”
Unshed tears gleamed in her eyes. “I want to keep you safe so badly. If you fall, I don’t know what I…I mean we, would do. The Daughters honor you above all others.”
He pulled her into a hug. “I know, and that desire to protect can sometimes lead to bad decisions. I’m as guilty of it as you, so we’ll have to make sure and keep each other on the right path. Now, let’s go find a minotaur to kill.”
She stepped back and bowed before moving aside. “It will be as you command, Chosen.”
Conryu nodded and strode through the arch. An instant of dislocation then he found himself standing in the sand of an arena that looked straight out of a blood-and-sandals movie. Kai joined him a moment later, her head snapping left and right. The portal arch that allowed them entrance vanished and he had a bad feeling they were stuck, for the moment at least.
“Can you shift into the borderland?”
A moment of silence then, “No. The path is sealed.”
“I was afraid of that. Well—”
A loud snort cut him off. They both turned to face one of half a dozen exits that led out of the arena. A savage roar was followed by an eight-foot-tall, half-man-half-bull creature charging right toward them.
Conryu leveled the staff and loosed a blast of divine white flames. A two-second burst reduced the minotaur to so much ash.
“That was anticlimactic. Somehow I thought it would be tougher.”
“The portal hasn’t returned, Master,” Prime said. “Defeating that demon wasn’t the end of the mission.”
He scratched his chin. “Do you think this is a temple of the Horned One?”
“Almost certainly,” Prime said.
“Then there’s probably a demon core somewhere that we need to destroy, like the one in Baphomet’s temple. Any idea where we might find such a thing?”
“The center of the labyrinth?” Kai said.
“Though I sense nothing from here, I’m inclined to agree,” Prime said.
Conryu frowned and looked at each of the evenly spaced exits in turn. Nothing gave a hint as to which one led where. Maybe it didn’t even matter.
He rose a foot off the ground and lifted Kai as well before setting out for the opening from which the minotaur emerged.
“Why this one, Chosen? And why are we flying?”
“Assuming the passages are separate, then this one has one fewer guardians for us to deal with. And if they are all connected, then it makes no difference which one we choose. And we’re flying on the off chance there are pit traps.”
The maze ended up being a simple one with no traps and only one more demonic guardian. Twenty minutes later they reached what he assumed was the center of the labyrinth, a chamber with an altar at the center with a glowing red crystal floating over it. Conryu lowered them to the floor and scratched his chin. He’d expected something worse.
“That’s the core,” Prime said. “But it feels far weaker than Baphomet's.”
“Yeah, this whole thing felt way too easy. I’m going to blast it. Kai, keep an eye out for the guardian demon.”
“Yes, Chosen.”
He summoned the white flames and his mind became one with them. A five-second burst melted the core to nothing. When his mind returned to full awareness, he found himself back where they began in the real world.
“I sense no more corruption in the area, Master.”
Conryu closed his eyes and summoned light magic. The power flowed out of the crystal in every direction. When he’d checked the entire complex and found nothing, he nodded to himself. “We’re done here. Twenty bucks says that temple’s guardian demon killed the young lady we passed.”
“You’re likely correct, Master, but why would it leave its temple? The other one didn’t.”
Conryu shrugged. Trying to think like a demon made his head hurt. “This place is pretty remote. Maybe it went searching for a new hellpriest for its master. Whatever its plan, we won’t find it here. On the plus side, with the temple destroyed, it won’t have anywhere to retreat to. That should make killing it easier, assuming we can find the wretched thing.”
“I will return to the borderland, Chosen.”
“Okay, thanks Kai.”
She bowed and vanished. Conryu pointed his staff at the body and they flew out of the cave and into the fresh air. He took a deep breath and blew out a long sigh. He wanted to call it a win, but destroying the temple felt like a partial victory at best.
Conryu pulled out his phone and called Maria.
She picked up on the third ring. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine.” He told her everything that happened. “Anyway, I need you to make arrangements to have the girl’s body picked up by the locals.”
“What about you?”
“Not sure yet. Maybe I’ll pop up to Washington and have a look at those druids of yours. I don’t have any better leads.”
“If the other demon lords keep their temples in pocket dimensions, that would explain why we’re having so much trouble finding them.”
“That occurred to me as well. I don’t suppose you have a spell that can find pocket dimensions?”
“Afraid not, but I’ll ask Dean Blane. She might have an idea.”
“Good plan. Let me know what she says. Love you.”
“Love you too.” She disconnected and Conryu pocketed his phone.
He sensed darkness approaching a moment before one of the ninjas appeared on one knee in front him. Of all the people he might have met, Kanna was the last one he expected. Kai joined them a moment later.
“What’s happened?” he asked.
She stood. “We have been forced to abandon the monastery. Talon claims a legendary being called the Pale Princess has appeared and taken control of all the vampires save himself and the six eldest. I can confirm that the vampires have turned against us as several attacked the monastery before Talon arrived to offer an explanation.”
Conryu’s heart skipped a beat. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No, Chosen, we are all fine. Talon and the free vampires are in Hell where a large force is keeping a subtle eye on them. I didn’t know if you would wish to speak with him.”
“I do, but first, what about Anya and the other wizards? Are they okay?”
Kanna hung her head. “I regret that I didn’t even think to ask. Forgive me, Chosen.”
His lips twisted a little, but he didn’t chastise her. Kanna got everyone out safely and that meant a lot. “It’s fine. Let’s go talk to Talon.”
Conryu opened a hell portal and stepped through. Hopefully Anya and the other wizards were okay. And if they weren’t, whoever hurt them would pay dearly.
Chapter 4
The Pale Princess stepped out of the shadow of a boulder jutting out to one side of a trail leading to a partially ruined monastery. Though she wasn’t powerful enough to open a proper portal to Astaroth’s hell, shadow walking allowed her to travel quickly over more limited distances. Using them too often would leave her weary and her magic weak, so she had to be careful.
She would very much have liked to see someone gaping in horror at the arrival of her and her servants. Or better yet dying in agony at her feet. Instead, she had an empty pile of stones and no followers of the Reaper, dead or alive. The vampires she dispatched were young, but even so, they should have killed one or two of the ninjas.
Very disappointing.
She strode up the path for a closer look. The first thing she found was a black circle of ash where one of her slaves had met its end.
Pathetic.
If the vampire had still lived she’d have killed it herself as a lesson to the others.
Well, maybe she wouldn’t have. There weren’t that many vampires after all. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Less than one hundred if she wasn’t mistaken. Still, a single vampire was more than a match for a hundred normal humans. The Daughters of the Reaper, it seemed, were far from normal.
She paused in the monastery courtyard and sniffed, wrinkling her nose. It stank of the Reaper’s hell. Someone had opened a gate here. That explained how Talon and his followers escaped. They went to the one place she didn’t dare follow.
How had the elder vampire evaded her control anyway? Astaroth claimed she’d have the power to control any undead.
Perhaps if your will was stronger.
She shivered at her master’s cold voice in the back of her mind. “Apologies, Master. I meant no insult. I only wished to understand the limits of my…I mean, the power you’ve given me.”
I know exactly what you meant. Given time you might gain sufficient skill to overwhelm Talon’s psyche and enslave him. But that would take centuries, centuries our enemies certainly will not give you. You did notice he couldn’t attack you.
“Yes, Master.”
Then let that satisfy you for now and use what you do have to complete the task I’ve given you.
Astaroth’s presence vanished and she let out a sigh. The Lord of the Undead had an overwhelming will and when it pressed down on her, it took all she had not to fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness even when she’d done nothing wrong.
She sensed one of her slaves a moment before he solidified beside her. “We found no sign of any humans remaining in the area.”
No surprise there. No one would be stupid enough to linger where her vampires might find them.
“Mistress,” her slave said. “May we hunt? Midnight approaches and we need to feed.”
She turned the full weight of her regard on him. Pale and handsome, dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, the man hadn’t been a vampire for much over a century. She picked that straight out of his mind. They were all, including Talon and the eldest, an open book to her. Not that their thoughts interested her overmuch. Only their obedience and power mattered to her mission.
“Hear me well. No more will you be reduced to hunting beasts. The proper prey for a vampire is humans and you will feed on nothing else.”
“Yes, Mistress.” The youth had no choice but to agree with her. Her thoughts controlled his actions more than his own did. “Only, there are no humans in the Land of the Night Princes.”
“Then we shall have to go where the humans live. East, to the former Dragon Empire. There are villages close to the border. If you hurry, you can reach them before sunrise.”
Her suggestion had the full weight of a command and the instant after she gave it, the vampires were racing east. She smiled and let her mind ride along with her slaves. She let their hunger pass through her and with a modest effort of will turned them from simply hungry to ravenous. Nothing would slow them until they had killed and fully slaked their thirst. Since most of them had never drunk human blood before, that would be a great thirst indeed.
An hour before sunrise the horde of vampires crossed the border and five minutes after that reached a small farming village.
The humans never knew what hit them.
The Pale Princess emerged from a handy shadow and into the midst of the carnage. Vampires leapt and slashed at the pale, weak humans that called this rundown collection of shacks home. Some swung farm implements, like that would do any good.
The crack of a gunshot rang out and more soon followed. Clearly these humans had never fought vampires before. Not that farmers would have any place in the czar’s mighty army.
One of the humans, a woman about forty, somehow evaded the vampires long enough to run right at the Pale Princess. A casual gesture bound the woman from head to toe in a black tentacle and soon enough one of her slaves appeared to rip her throat open. Most efficient, were her new pet killers.
The sun had just begun coloring the sky orange when she felt the last human die. She commanded the vampires to dig themselves into the dirt to wait out the day.
Claws that rent flesh like tissue paper made quick work of digging a number of shallow graves. Such a simple thing: keep them out of the sun and feed them blood and you had a nearly unstoppable force.
Now for some reinforcements. She raised both hands and sent streams of dark magic out into the village. One by one she touched every body. The vampire’s curse had already begun coursing through the dead. But she didn’t want more vampires; she needed monsters capable of operating during the day.
Happily, Astaroth’s menagerie included numerous types of undead. One of the most common and easy to create being the lesser ghoul, a semi-intelligent humanoid that enjoyed nothing so much as devouring the flesh of the dead. They were only a little harder to kill than a zombie and of no real use to her.
Their cousins, the greater ghouls, on the other hand, were exactly what she needed. Even better, altering the vampire’s curse to raise the dead as ghouls instead of vampires was simplicity itself for a priestess of the Lord of the Undead.
In less than an hour she’d altered every body. By noon, they should be up and about, ready to join in the killing when they attacked the next village.
The Pale Princess reached into a magically protected pocket of her dress and pulled out her most precious gift from Astaroth, a red crystal the size of a grown man’s fist that pulsed with corrupt energy. While the vampires consumed blood and the ghouls flesh, the crystal consumed life force. Everyone that died contributed whatever life they had remaining in their puny bodies.
When the crystal could hold no more, she would use its power to bring back the only person suitable to lead Astaroth’s army, her former lord and soon-to-be undying slave, the Dragon Czar.
Chapter 5
As soon as Conryu stepped through the hell portal, Cerberus came bounding up out of the endless darkness. He took one look at Conryu’s expression and whimpered. A moment later Kai and Kanna joined him.
He forced himself to relax and patted Cerberus’s flank. “It’s okay, boy. I’m just a little bit stressed out. There are some vampires around here. Want to take us to them?”
Cerberus barked his happy bark and spun in a circle.
Conryu flew up on his back and looked at the ninjas. “You two coming?”
Kai immediately leapt up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest so she wouldn’t fall off. Kanna hesitated, looking left and right as if searching for another option.
“Come on. Cerberus won’t bite unless I tell him to.”
Finally, she flew up and settled behind Kai. A moment later Cerberus shot off like a jet. From behind him Kanna let out a decidedly ungrandmasterly yelp. Conryu chuckled and patted Cerberus’s neck. He’d needed that laugh more than he thought.
Riding on Cerberus, it took almost no time to reach Talon and his six companions. Conryu sensed fifty ninjas surrounding them but staying invisible. He wasn’t sure that would be enough if it came to a fight with Talon, but the vampire lord appeared reasonably at ease even though he had to know he was being watched. Conryu took that as a good sign. Of all the things Conryu didn’t want to do, fighting his friend ranked right up near the top.
He, Kai, and Kanna all climbed down from Cerberus. The demon dog made no move to leave, instead growing even larger and towering over them as they approached Talon and his companions.
Conryu stopped a few feet away and held out his hand.
Talon hesitated then shook. “I didn’t know what sort of reception to expect. Both your pet and your servants appear distrustful of us. Are you not?”
“You’ve given me no reason to be and the Daughters aren’t my servants, they’re my friends.” Conryu hadn’t quite convinced the ninjas of that fact yet, but he still thought of them as friends whether they accepted it or not. “First and most important, did Anya and the others make it out safely?”
Talon averted his glowing red gaze. “Most of them escaped through an earth portal Anya opened. I wasn’t fast enough to save them all.”
Conryu’s anger manifested in a burst of dark magic, drawing another whimper from Cerberus and murmurs from the still-invisible ninjas. It only lasted a moment before he crushed the emotion. Anger would do him no good, not now anyway.
They should be safe in the realm of earth, at least for a little while.
“How many didn’t make it?”
Talon shook his head. “I didn’t have time to count. We fled as soon as the survivors were safely away. The Pale Princess is… like a force of nature. I didn’t want to risk her overwhelming either myself or my companions.”
“She’s that strong? I mean, you’ve got to be in the top five most powerful individuals in the world. There’s no way you could defeat her?”
Talon’s humorless laugh struck him as particularly bitter. “I couldn’t even raise a hand to her. My mind refused to even consider the possibility. She might not, yet, have the strength to dominate my will, but I can’t hurt her either. I have no idea what other powers she might have or even the extent of her physical strength, but I do know that I have no hope of defeating her.”
Conryu rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay, that limits our options some. Why didn’t you mention the Pale Princess when Kanna asked you about legends? She sounds like a perfect candidate for a hellpriest of Astaroth.”
“It never occurred to me that she might be real. The stories all sounded like the sort of thing you’d tell children gathered around a campfire. She was a boogeyman, nothing more. I didn’t want to waste your time. Would it have made any difference?”
