Preserving the Ingenairii (73 page)

He reached the step below her and looked at her face, where a solemn set of lips sat just below a twinkling set of eyes.
 
Rolling his eyes at her, he saw just the tip of her tongue dart out momentarily at him in the middle of the ghost of a smile.
 
He grinned despite himself, then stood, and removed the blue gown she wore, revealing a green sheer gown beneath, as the priest declaimed about the shedding of old sorrows to be replaced by the growth of the new relationship in marriage.

Alec’s head began to throb, but he ignored it as Jeswyne reached to unbuckle his black robe.
 
The voluminous swath of cloth slid to the floor with a sibilant hiss, and revealed the sheer white tunic he wore underneath.
 
The priest spoke again about the shedding of old ways for the adoption of new habits and ways.

Alec felt great pain and fear, and he suddenly understood that his spiritual powers were detecting the release of a demon.
 
He disrupted the ceremony, causing gasps from the crowd as he abruptly turned; “Moab, Givens, do you have swords?
 
There’s a demon nearby,” he said.

The people in the ceremony, and those in the front of the hall who heard him froze, then turned around, looking for a monster to erupt.
 
Moab and Givens shook their heads at Alec’s request for a weapon, and began frantically looking for anything they could use.

Mutters swept loudly through the crowd.
 
Alec looked at Jeswyne, whose eyes were large.
 
“Where is it, Alec?” she asked.

Alec looked around, but there was no sign of a demon, or of the sorcerers he might expect, though the feeling persisted in drilling through his consciousness.

Turning back to her, he blushed and shrugged, and the priest suggested they return to the ceremony.

And at that moment the demon jumped down from a balcony into the middle of the crowd, screaming with anger and fury, flailing its claws and snapping its snout at numerous victims.

“Jeswyne, go someplace safe!” Alec shouted, as the demon began to make a rapid advance towards their location at the front of the hall.

“Alec!
 
Come with me,” he heard her call behind him as he ran at the demon, hoping to distract and slow it down.

The monster saw Alec, and swept its claws at him.
 
He leapt high in the air, using his powers, and grabbed onto the shoulder of the creature, trying to swing himself up onto the back of its neck.
 
Instead he was brutally flung about as the creature continued to move
forward,
and reached over its back with its other arm simultaneously, trying to grab him.

He slid down the back and futilely tried punching it in the region where a human would have kidneys, but he inflicted no harm.
 
He heard a scream in front of the demon, and climbed up its back to peer over its shoulder, then screamed in horror as he saw the demonic claws cut through Jeswyne, dropping her in a bloody mass.

Alec flipped himself over the shoulder of the demon, landed on Jeswyne, enveloping her in his arms.
 
He felt the claws start to rake him as he blasted his translocation powers to instinctively take his bride to the only place where she could be healed.

Chapter 55 – The End of the Battle

Alec looked up at the stony ceiling of John Mark’s cavern.
 
“Heal her please, father!”

He looked down at her pale face.
 
Her body was whole again.
 
Through the shredded cloth of her bridal gown he could see faint scars from the traces of the demon’s attack.

“Send me back!
 
Let me fight them!” Alec shouted.

“Shouldn’t you at least say ‘thank you?’” John Mark asked.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving her.
 
Is she going to live?” Alec spoke to the familiar saintly figure.

“Yes Alec, she will live.
 
Your instinct to bring her here was correct.
 
Her wounds are healed.
 
There are some other matters we will need to discuss, but they won’t be of concern to you at this moment,” John Mark said.

“Send me back.
 
Will you please send me back to fight that monster?” Alec begged as he picked up the slumbering girl and held her close.
 
“Let me leave her here, safe, and I’ll come back to get her after the battle.”

“There will be some small complications, but your wish is granted.
 
Go with God’s blessings,” John Mark told Alec, and he felt himself return to the horror of the wedding hall.
 
As soon as he was back, Alec transported himself to the armory at the palace.

“My lord, what are you doing here?” a soldier asked, looking in astonishment at his ripped tunic.

Alec didn’t answer, but grabbed a sword and a bandolier of knives, then launched himself back to the hall, landing up in the balcony where the demon had come from.
 
There was a dead body of a sacrifice laying on the stone floor, and a black robed sorceress spinning around to see Alec, as he began to swing his sword at the small handful of guards there protecting the sorceress.

Alec stabbed at one guard,
then
he pulled out a knife and flung it at the sorceress, as he proceeded to stab another guard.
 
He skipped forward a step and swept his sword across the throat of the dying sorceress, then jumped up on the stone banister and jumped down to the chaotic floor below.
 
The demon was suffering the shuddering shrinkage that came with the death of the person that had called it, and it turned to see what was occurring above it.

Alec flung a knife at the demon’s face to attract its attention, then began to run forward, brandishing his sword and screaming a primal war cry that expressed all the anguish and anger he felt at the despicable violence unleashed upon his wedding.
 
Alec engaged the demon, swinging his sword deftly to protect himself while suffering cuts and small pains, but he persevered as he drew the demon away from the injured bodies it had strewn across the floor.

“Go back!
 
Go back to your master and never return among the living!” Alec screamed.
 
He pulled out a dagger and flung it, then flung another and another, distracting the demon’s attention until he suddenly dove beneath the monster and stabbed upward, then rolled to his right and sliced at the ribs of the beast as it bent over to reach where Alec had just been.

The creature was screaming with rage and pain.
 
Alec raised his sword high as he jumped in the air,
then
swept the sword down as he fell back to earth.
 
The blade cleaved deep into the neck of the demon, then broke, and the unexpected snap pulled Alec underneath the foul body as it began to collapse.

He scrambled away, feeling pain across his legs as the dark blood of the monster splashed across him.
 
Then the monster began to disintegrate as he had seen occur before with the death of demons, small bats emerging from the particles of flesh that were collapsing with the carcass.
 
The bats began to flitter through the building, landing on victims; one found Alec close at hand.
 
He swept his hands in panic, knocking loose the small creature that was nipping at his scalp.
 
The pyrotechnic display of exploding bats came next, and as Alec expected, the dead demon’s own body burst into an intense flame.

Alec looked down at his legs.
 
The backs of his thighs were darkened from the burns inflicted by the demon’s blood.
 
Alec tried to apply his powers to repair the damage, but was too weakened to provide significant healing against injuries of such an evil nature.

He looked at the others who were lying on the floor around the hall.
 
The emperor and his wife sat in their seats, head bowed together motionlessly.
 
Stracha was rolling in pain up in the front of the hall where the demon had nearly severed her arm.
 
Alec rose and limped over to her, then knelt down beside her and began to apply his own healing powers to her.
 
He repaired the bone first, then knit together the severed muscles, and healed the vessels and nerves, before lightly restoring the skin, though not enough to prevent a scar from forming.

“Go help the others,” he said as he released his powers and slumped to the floor.

“Where’s Jeswyne?” Stracha asked immediately.

“She’s safe.
 
She’s alive and healed.
 
I took her to John Mark’s cave and left her there,” Alec replied.

“Oh thank God,” Stracha said.
 
“Who did this Alec?
 
Who would attack a wedding?
 
This is monstrous.”

“I suspect it was supporters of the former emperor,” Alec answered.
 
“I don’t know right now.
 

“Stracha,” he said.
 
“Is Givens or Moab alive?”

“They’re over there,” she pointed to where the two men were lying on the floor.
 
“I’ll heal them for you,” she said as she stepped through the carnage to inspect the two men.
 
Givens soon rose and the two of them returned to Alec.

“Moab was beyond saving,” she told Alec.

“That’s another one we need to avenge,” Alec said.
 
“Go check the emperor and empress,” he directed without much hope.
 
“See if you can save them.
 
Then look after our friends and anyone else you have the power to aid.”

He watched her walk away,
then
handed his sword to Givens.
 
“Go up to the balcony.
 
That’s where I found the sorceress.
 
I killed her but there may be a guard left alive up there.
 
If there is, seize him as a hostage until I get back.
 
I want to question him to find out where this all began.

“In the mean time, I’m going to go back to bring Jeswyne home,” he said.
 
With great concentration he translocated himself back to his cottage, where he found the small jar of sand from John Mark.
 
He sprinkled it in a ring around himself,
then
prayed, “Please bring me back to Jeswyne and your cave, John Mark.
 
I need your help.”

The change happened around him.
 
He felt the movement and closed his eyes.
 
When he opened them again, he was back in the cave, next to the peaceful body of Jeswyne, lying pale on the floor of the stony chamber.

Chapter 56 – The Wedding Completed

“Oh John Mark, thank you for this blessed cave,” Alec gave thanks out loud.

“You’re welcome Alec,” John Make replied.

“Would you please awaken her?
 
We have to go.
 
We’ll have a long journey ahead of us,” Alec replied, standing on his repaired legs.

“There’s something you need to think about, Alec.
 
She is not a believer.
 
She is a pagan.
 
You’ve brought her here to this holy site.
 
You need to convert her to the true religion,” John Mark prodded.

“I will,” Alec responded simply.