Two Pieces of Tarnished Silver (7 page)

Both Korm and Aebos had regained their senses and approached Epostian Creeg and Juval. The alchemist continued his narration, as much to brag to his companions as to inform the demon of its impending fate. “This process violated the fundamental rules that govern the multiverse. A creature of utter good or utter evil is either one thing or the other. A demon cannot also be a celestial. So the multiverse compensates by erasing the contradiction. And thus did the azatas of the Golden Host discover a method to poison the unpoisonable. A fascinating study in alchemy I might never have discovered if not for you. Go to your oblivion knowing that you have my most sincere appreciation.”

“These creatures are not of the Golden Host,” declared Juval through the shapechanger’s gritted teeth.

“Of course not,” Creeg scoffed. “Such a creature would never accede to subterfuge, and would never agree to our plan. So I didn’t even bother asking it. I simply summoned the creature, murdered it, and dried its skin for later ingestion by our bait.” At that word, the alchemist smiled a blood-soaked grin at Aebos.

“Just think, Juval. If you had truly been one of those humans you hate so much, you would have been perfectly safe from our plan. I hope it makes your blood boil to know that in the end, it was one of us that finished you.”

The shapechanger’s image rippled and twisted, refining itself into the form of a beautiful human woman with luxurious long red hair to match the familiar crimson eyes. The indistinct body smoothed and took on the curves of a shapely human woman garbed in the clothes and gear of a traveling adventurer.

“I was human once,” Juval said in a soft, feminine tone wholly free from the muffled chorus that had previously accompanied everything the demon said. “I could learn to be again.” It turned to look Korm straight in his gray eyes. “This is how Durvin Gest saw me. How I truly am.”

Aebos hesitated. Korm reached into the pouch at his side and clutched the cylinder of glass containing the rest of Creeg’s golden flakes.

“Do not trust it,” Korm said. “I have touched its mind. There is nothing good left in it.”

Epostian Creeg gasped as he recognized the thin golden flakes contained within the jar in Korm’s fist. The swordsman stepped back to get the most of his swing and punched Juval in the face so hard that his hand shattered its teeth and penetrated its mouth. He withdrew his hand rapidly, wincing as the demon’s jagged mess of a mouth cut furious channels in his bare flesh. But he left the smashed jar within. Aebos closed both hands around Juval’s head and, for good measure, shook the demon violently to ensure even distribution of the flakes.

The creature’s form shifted urgently as it jerked around in the cyclops’s clutches. The fingers of the demon’s hands melded and sharpened into cruel talons, which tore handfuls of flesh from Aebos’s shoulders and arms. The cyclops released his grip and backed away from the fight. All detail fled Juval’s form, which once again assumed the shapechanger’s emaciated natural frame. With a surprising burst of energy, it lashed out at Creeg, throwing the alchemist fifteen feet away to land with a sickening crunch. Juval spat a dollop of blood upon the stairs and spoke through broken teeth in a raspy, desperate voice.

“You have hurt me, worms. Worse than any mortals have managed before, but I am afraid I have digested all of your foul meal, and yet I live. Perhaps an ounce more and I would have been undone. But I am not so greedy as to inhabit any of you again. I will have to content myself with tearing you limb from limb. A pity that you have no more of Creeg’s poison.”

Korm rushed Juval, saber raised for a deadly slash. On the downswing, Juval caught the blade in the palm of its hand, instantly heating the metal to soft, useless slag. The demon slapped Korm across the face with a backhand, sending him sprawling on the verge of unconsciousness.

With a touch of triumph to his movement, Juval spun to face Aebos on the ground, only to find himself looking directly into the eye of the cyclops. A wide grin split Aebos’s massive head.

“I’ve been eating Creeg’s poison since breakfast yesterday, and I have plenty left here in my belly. But I’m more than willing to share.”

With that, Aebos opened his mouth and brought the index finger of his left hand to the back of his throat. Almost immediately, the cyclops let loose a powerful torrent of vomit directly in Juval’s face, filling the demon’s slack-jawed mouth. Even from where he lay upon the ground, Korm could see the sparkle of tiny golden flakes within the spray.

The golden glow at the pit of Juval’s stomach spread across the whole of its body, and when the flash of light slowly faded, nothing of the demon or the shapechanger remained but the dying echoes of an all-too-human scream.

∗ ∗ ∗

From the deck of the Relentless, Korm and Aebos looked on as Iranez’s crew put the Queen’s Lament to the torch. A strong wind spread the fire quickly to the mainsail, which erupted into a curtain of flame. Iranez of the Orb and Epostian Creeg stood upon the bridge atop the sleek demon ship, while the boat’s crew rigged enormous sails upon its impossibly thin masts for what must have been the first time in ages.

Korm clasped the bag of treasure tightly. Iranez had looked disappointed upon their return, but proved true to her word, allowing them to keep what they had earned. Even now Korm felt the Relentless pulling away from the Queen’s Lament, catching the fresh westerly wind that would bring them to Quantium.

“Aebos, my friend,” he said. “I think we are finally getting free of our troubles. It’s all uphill from here. I’m not thrilled about going to Quantium, but at least we’re moving.”

Aebos shrugged. “I am eager to reach the city,” he confessed. “I don’t know about you, Korm, but I could use something to eat. I’m starving.”