Kari waved off his words. “I came across some valuable information while we hunted Turillia. Or rather, Eli did. It’s possible you already know this, but from everything I’ve seen, I’m guessing you don’t.” The marshal’s brows rose. “The Black Dragon Society is based in the church of Achirun across the street.”
“You must be joking,” Saracht said, and his expression hardly changed.
“She’s not,” Eli said. “You won’t find the entire Society there, but that’s the reason they’ve manipulated your boss for so long. If you hit them hard, you can cut off their head, and take a lot of their more brilliant minds away from them. As it stands, they should be without BlackWing now. If you strike, they may come apart completely.”
“You’re bloody serious about this, aren’t you?” the marshal said, his stoicism cracked. Kari and Eli both nodded. “Gods and angels, they have been right under our noses this entire time? How many times have I stood by Lord Black’s side when he went over there to speak to them on a matter of law, or when they came to bring some complaint of the people to his attention? How could we have been so blind?”
“You were looking for BlackWing and the people who work for him, not at the people who help you,” Eli said.
“Do you want my help arresting them?” Kari asked.
Marshal Saracht waved away the offer. “No, Lady Vanador, no. You have done quite enough already. This will fall well within the capabilities of me and my men. I will arrest them all in the morning when they arrive for work. You may want to go speak with your Master Devin and have him spread word that the so-called church of Achirun is being dismantled. We should have done this ages ago, regardless of their use as lawyers.”
“Well, consider that your boss was carrying around a demon for all these years,” Kari said, and she looked up at the painting of Kaelin Black above the fireplace. “You might find he’s a lot more agreeable and easy to work for in the future.”
“I have only ever known him the way you have,” Saracht said, turning his own gaze toward the painting. “Perhaps this city will become even more prosperous and lose some of its reputation… all thanks to you. I want you to know that I am going to put in a recommendation to the duke that he give you a commendation for valor in service. If he agrees, your minor title of nobility may become a major one instead.”
“Oh, no,” Kari blurted, and her companions laughed. “Well, thank you, Everett. I guess we should leave you to make plans with your men for the morning. Good night.”
Marshal Saracht rose and saw them to the door. Kari and Eli headed back to the Temple District. “You head back to the inn. But don’t go to sleep before I get back there,” Kari said. “There’s something I need to say to you.”
Eli’s mouth tightened. “And you can’t just say it now?”
“It won’t have the same effect,” she offered. “I’ll see you back at the inn.”
Eli broke off from her with a sigh and made his way to One Small Favor, and Kari continued onward to the church of Ambergaust.
Master Vlad was happy to see her and welcomed her to the church. He asked if he could speak to her privately. Kari agreed and asked only to check in on the earl first. Kaelin Black was in a foul mood, but it was well within reason considering his broken legs and the pain he was in. Kari took his grouchiness in stride and bid him rest while she went to speak with Master Vlad. She wanted to speak with the earl, but figured she’d wait until the pain subsided a bit and she could talk to him privately.
Once Kari and Master Vlad were alone, she offered the priest a handshake. “I’m afraid I haven’t gotten your actual name yet, Master Vlad.”
“Vlad Belyakov,” he said with a smile. “I wanted to speak to you about Lord Sakkrass. It is rare enough that anyone outside of the czarikk nations knows his name, and to find that you are so intimately familiar with him is… astounding. How did you come to know so much about Lord Sakkrass?”
“I encountered his avatar on Tsalbrin after helping one of the czarikk tribes there,” Kari answered. Master Vlad was eager to hear the tale, so Kari spent a little time telling him about her father. The priest was amazed at her story, and while she filled in the details of what she knew about the czarikk god, she grew curious about how much Vlad—a human—could tell her about him. When she finished her tale, she prompted, “I’m just as surprised that you know anything about him. How do you know Lord Sakkrass?”
The priest gestured up toward Ambergaust’s holy symbol—a shield with a roaring lion’s head standard upon it—engraved into the stone wall high above the altar. “Lord Sakkrass is Lord Ambergaust’s brother. Not by blood, naturally; the two deities met and became great friends many millennia ago and have become as brothers. Just as my lord is not native to this world, neither is Lord Sakkrass, though we find his people here in small numbers. Those of us who serve Lord Ambergaust know of Lord Sakkrass, but this is the first time I have seen his power firsthand and met someone who is intimately familiar with him.”
“We’re still getting to know each other, really,” Kari said. It made her feel warm and comfortable to speak of her adoptive father with someone else who understood, even a little bit. “I have rather vivid dreams sometimes, and I think Sakkrass learns about me from my memories through dreams. And sometimes, he tells me a little about himself through dreams, too.”
“You share a great bond of love; I can hear that in your voice as plainly as I saw it in him loaning you his power,” the priest said with an appreciative smile. “This is good, and very important. Just as Gori Sensullu and Lord Ambergaust formed a bond of friendship that led to the merging of the two pantheons, so might you draw Sakkrass and his pantheon in as well if you cultivate this friendship. With the battles we fight against the demons and their maniacal kings, any new allies are always a welcome addition. And if you should have any questions, I am always happy to be of help.”
“If I can be nosey for a minute, I’m curious how you ended up serving Ambergaust?” Kari asked. “I mean, I guess it makes sense since he’s human and so are you, but there are humans among own pantheon…”
Master Vlad met her stare and smiled slightly. “What would you say if I told you Lord Ambergaust is not a human at all?” he asked, and he chuckled when Kari’s brows rose. “In short, Lady Vanador, my deity’s appearance has little to do with my devotion to him. He is a god of valor and chivalry, a staunch protector, a blessed life-giver, and a true husband and father to his family. I value these qualities and everything Lord Ambergaust stands for, and though I have a great deal of respect for Lord Fletcher and your own patron Zalkar, I do not find that I relate to them quite the same way.”
Kari nodded absently. “Ambergaust’s not human?”
“None of his pantheon are,” Master Vlad said. “They take human form when they deal with the people of Citaria to make themselves… more appealing, I suppose you could say. But if you take a look at the crest on my lord’s shield, you will see a deeper truth.”
Kari looked up at the engraved holy symbol again, and then swung her gaze back to Master Vlad. “He’s a lion? Wait, he’s kwarrasti?” she asked, and he nodded. “So, some of his people are here on Citaria too, just like Sakkrass’ czarikk.”