It hissed a response and gnashed at him again. Anders saw it raise its hand and could feel it was about to summon some form of magic. He shot his arm up and sent a wave of energy out at the creature, knocking it back and pinning it against the ground. Holding it against the forest floor, Anders tapped into some of Lazuran’s power. Holding the creature was taking more effort than he’d anticipated.
Pressing the tip of his blade against the creature’s throat, he said, “Tell me when the attack is happening and where Merglan is hiding!”
The creature’s slurred speech was nothing that Anders recognized. It spoke several words in its foreign tongue, then suddenly sat up off the ground and skewered its own neck onto the tip of Lazuran. Anders tried to pull back, but it was too late. The thing had already killed itself.
He released the magic that had been holding the thing down and stepped away. Now I’ll never know what it said, he thought in frustration.
Perhaps I can translate, Tarron said. The unexpected voice startled Anders and he jumped.
You know what that thing said? Anders asked.
That thing is a creature from the ancient world. It was the dominant predator before the dragons came to Kartania. You humans call it a demon.
Can you tell me what it said? Anders asked.
It said, ‘one wing fails, but with many comes the one with new power, and soon.’
What does that mean?
It’s cryptic, but if I had to guess, I’d say it means he is the one wing who failed.
And the rest.
You know as well as I that ‘the one’ is Merglan. So Merglan is coming with many more like him; that’s my guess.
But we saw Merglan, he was alone.
We don’t know who we saw, Tarron countered.
Who else could it have been? Anders asked.
The dragon I smelled tonight was different than the stench of Killdoor, Zahara acknowledged.
You could smell him?
Yes. He smelled unlike the dragons I have met in Nagano or the Everlight Kingdom.
Could Killdoor’s scent have changed?
It’s possible, if he underwent some kind of transformation or dawned new magic, Tarron added.
How can we be sure that it wasn’t Merglan? Anders asked.
We can’t, but why would Merglan come all this way and then send a spy demon to do his dirty work? I never sensed Merglan or Killdoor.
So, what? You think these two rare incidences are in no way related? Anders asked pointing at the dead demon.
I don’t know.
Anders’ thoughts were interrupted as Rune entered the clearing. He jogged up to them, sword in hand. He looked from the dead demon to them and asked, “Is that what I think it is?”
“Demon,” Anders answered.
Rune combed his hand through his hair, “Damnation, I thought they were make believe, created to scare kids into behaving.”
“We should get back. You can ride on Zahara with me.”
Rune hesitated. Anders eyed him, adding, “Speed is necessary, Rune.”
“I should take this back with us, to examine it,” Rune said, motioning to the dead creature.
Anders could feel that Zahara didn’t want the awful dead creature on her back, but reluctantly agreed if it could help them in some way. “Alright,” Anders said. “Let’s make this quick.”
He and Rune approached the dead demon. As they reached down to pick it up, it burst into flames. They jumped back, Anders narrowly avoiding the red flames.
“What are you doing?” Rune asked, surprised.
“I didn’t do that,” Anders said.
“You’re not using your magic?”
“No,” Anders said shaking his head. The demon’s black body fell to ash as the red flames quickly burnt it away. Seeing there wasn’t anything they could do and fearing that Merglan might still be in the area, Anders called to Rune, “We can’t do anything about it now; others could still be in danger.”
Rune backed away from the charred remains and silently climbed onto Zahara. She took flight and flew them to town.
***
Passing over town again with a mental sweep, Anders asked Zahara to drop them off on the street where the demon had attacked. People had gathered around one of the homes on the street where Thomas and Kirsten were staying. Wary of the death he sensed, Anders dismounted with caution. He could feel that someone of importance had been killed.
