Lisa Shearin - The Trouble With Demons

He faded into the gray void.

“Fail me not, seeker,” came his voice from far away.

The goblin was gone. I told myself I could stop shaking now, but apparently I wasn’t finished yet.

Sarad Nukpana was gone, but I was still here. Just me. All alone. By myself.

And not waking up.

I desperately wanted to wake up, but I couldn’t.

“Raine,” came a distorted whisper from behind me in the mist.

I spun, my hand going for a dagger. It wasn’t there. I couldn’t believe this; my dream self was completely unarmed. If I survived, I needed to have a serious talk with my dream self.

“Daughter,” said the same voice, closer this time.

My shoulders slumped in relief. “Why the hell didn’t you say that the first time?” My hands were still clenched in fists ready to fight. I think they were stuck that way.

Eamaliel came out of the mist; or more accurately, the silvery mist formed into my father.

“Bravo, daughter. It is dangerous to toy with one such as Sarad Nukpana.” He smiled. “Though you do it exceptionally well.”

I held out my hand and looked at it. It’d stopped shaking. Almost. “Under different circumstances, it could have almost been fun. Though having me and mine threatened with torture, death, and eternal torment kind of took the shine off the whole experience.” I paused. “You heard everything?”

“Every word.”

“Is he lying?”

“About what part?”

“Me needing a virgin to find the Scythe of Nen.”

“No, he did not lie.”

I was so screwed, no pun intended. “I have to use something that doesn’t exist to find something I don’t know what it is.”

My father’s gray eyes twinkled with mischief. “Sarad Nukpana doesn’t know, but I do.”

I couldn’t believe my pointy ears. “The Scythe of Nen?”

“The very thing. But knowing may not make finding it any easier.”

“I don’t care. I’ll take anything at this point.”

“It’s a dagger.”

I couldn’t believe my ears again. “A dagger?”

“It was forged by demons to open the Saghred. When the demons found the stone, it already contained trapped souls. The demon king wanted to open the Saghred to consume the souls inside.”

I grimaced. I had an entirely unwanted image of using a knife to pry open an oyster.

“So did the demon king get a chance to use the thing?”

“He did; and since he’s in here, let’s just say it didn’t go as well as he planned.”

“How the heck do you know all this?”

“The demon king isn’t the only demon trapped inside the Saghred. There are others; one of them was the demon who forged the Scythe. He’s really not a bad sort for a demon, and he’s quite talkative. The king ordered him to open the Saghred for him so he could have the first pick of the souls inside.”

“So if they’re in here, that means the Scythe doesn’t open the Saghred?”

“Unfortunately, it works all too well. The king plucked out quite a few souls before the Saghred plucked back. The Scythe’s forger had plunged the dagger into the stone, the stone was open, the king was holding it in his hand…”

I grimaced. “A pair of sacrifices waiting to happen.”

“Exactly. The Saghred does not like to part with that which it has consumed.”

I remembered that all too well from the Reaper. I had myself a head-to-toe shudder. “No, I don’t think it likes that at all.”

I had a thought that I didn’t like at all. “There have to be thousands of daggers on this island.”

“But only one of them is the Scythe of Nen.”

I blew out my breath. “Okay, what does it look like?”

“I have never seen it myself, but from what I’ve gathered, it’s a small dagger with a curved blade. The scabbard is ornately carved with cavorting demons.”

I felt my lip curl up. “Cavorting?”

“Unfortunately, yes. You’ll know it when you see it.”

I added a stomach roll to my lip curl. “That’s something to look forward to.”

“As to size, the entire weapon is no larger than my hand.”

“So it could be hidden literally anywhere. Wonderful. I’m on an island with probably five virgins and thousands of daggers. Needle, haystack. Need I say more? Those aren’t my kind of odds.”

“They could be better,” my father agreed.

“And to liven things up, a demon horde is looking for the same thing, and they don’t need a virgin.” I had a really bad thought. “Or do they?”

“Do you believe that they are close to finding the Scythe?”

“Doesn’t look like it. We’ve got demons popping up all over the island, and the demon queen herself wants to have a heart-to-heart chat with me, if she has a heart,” I muttered. “She thinks I know where the Scythe is but just won’t tell her.”

My father winced. “When you wake up, you may want to have Paladin Eiliesor take steps to protect the island’s virgins.”

“Demons can sense that sort of thing?”

“They can. Some claim that virginity even attracts them.”

I groaned inwardly. I might not beat the demons to the Scythe, but I suddenly thought I knew where I could find a virgin. “I won’t be searching haystacks. I think I know someone.”

“You don’t sound happy about it.”

“And neither will he.”

I really needed to sit down. In my next dream, there would be a chair. Too much had happened since I rolled out of bed this morning, and none of it had been good. I wasn’t the only one in danger; I could handle it if I were. Okay, at least I could handle it better. But because of me, because of the Saghred, some of the people I cared for the most were about to be at the mercy and whims of men who had no business wielding that kind of power. Overwhelmed pretty much covered how I felt. And scared. Definitely scared.

“Raine?”

“I’m scared, Dad.”

He gently laid his hands on my shoulders. I didn’t know if I was imagining it-this was a dream after all-but his hands felt warm and strong.

“Scared sounds like the right thing to be,” he said softly.

“You’re in a bad situation-”

“It’s my friends-”

“Your good friends.”

I nodded once and took a little breath. It shook just like the rest of me. “My very good friends.”

“You fear for them.”

“More than for me.”

“Sarad Nukpana is a threat to you, a very real threat. But know this, daughter. I am a very real threat to Sarad Nukpana. There are others like me, and he knows it.”

I remembered what I’d seen the last time I was in the Saghred. Shadowy figures just waiting for Sarad Nukpana to give the word. “There are others like him-and worse.”

“Makes life interesting.” Eamaliel grinned. “Or whatever it is we have in the Saghred.”

“I want to get you out.”

“No.” His gray eyes were like twin thunderclouds.

“What do you mean, no?”

“If you find the Scythe of Nen and try to release me, others will follow-others who should not be loose in the world. I am still a Guardian, and I still guard the Saghred from those who would abuse its power. I do the same thing, only now from the inside. As to Sarad Nukpana, leave him to me.” Those gray eyes went from grim to sparkling. “Or the demon king.”

“What about the demon king?” I asked.

“What about him?” My father’s expression was the very picture of innocence.

“You’re smiling,” I said.

“Am I? I wasn’t aware of it.”

“If it’s something good, tell me. I could use a laugh.”

“The demon king has an unspoken rule. We stay away from him; he doesn’t eat us. We feel it’s a fine arrangement.”

I felt myself begin to smile along with him. “Let me guess. Nukpana’s the new kid on the block, and no one’s told him anything.”