“All of you knew that Tor is Emma’s son?” Kari asked.
“Me, Jori-an, Danilynn, and Rhiannon,” he answered. “You’d probably better not mention it to Danilynn until she’s gotten to know you. She was always very fond and protective of Tor. If a demonhunter shows up at her temple and starts asking about him, she might get a bit defensive.”
Kari waved off the comment. “I was a lieutenant colonel during the War, and she was under my command; she should know she can trust me. But I can stay away from the topic and see if she brings it up. So, is there anything else I should know?”
“I’ve told you all of the important stuff, and you figured out the one secret I wasn’t going to share,” Eli said. “Danilynn will fill you in more on everything else. But you can probably see now why Bosimar kept all of this a secret.”
“Yeah, his actions leading to a demon king setting foot on our world wouldn’t have gone over well with the council or the rest of the Order,” Kari said. It didn’t sit well with her, either. She trusted Jason’s intentions, and was satisfied that all had apparently turned out well, but she would’ve never allowed such a thing to come to pass. Had Koursturaux’s goal been to conquer Citaria or try to unseal the Temple of Archons, there likely wasn’t anything short of divine intervention that could’ve prevented it. With the imminence of the Apocalypse, Kari imagined the demon king may have even joined forces with Seril.
One other good thing that came from the situation was Kari now understood one large, important truth: Thwarting and humiliating Sekassus was more important to King Koursturaux than invading Citaria. There had to be some advantages she could take from such information. Perhaps it was possible to get to know the high-ranking female demon king better and use her to keep Sekassus away from Citaria—and more specifically, Kari’s family. There was no way Kari would ever trust a demon king—except, perhaps, for Lord Chinchala—but as Eli had told her, the fact that they were evil didn’t mean they couldn’t be of some use.
“What was Koursturaux like?” she asked.
“Big, very big. Like, a foot and a half taller than Tor,” he said. “She’s beautiful and yet hideous at the same time… scary, with horns, claws, a tail… and crimson skin. And her eyes are solid black, like you’re looking into death itself. I’ve heard they call her The Crimson Huntress among her peers in the underworld, and I really don’t ever want to find out why.”
“But she let you all live?”
“Ciceria asked her to spare us for helping her,” he answered. “Koursturaux was going to kill us the same way she killed everyone else at the temple, but she decided to honor Ciceria’s dying wish. Grudgingly, it seemed. I’ve never seen or heard from her again, and I’ll be glad to keep it that way for as long as I live. Emma can be scary enough, and she’s just a mallasti.”
Kari chuckled, and Eli used turnaround on her for a change. “So, you asked me back in Lajere how many demons I’ve fought and killed; how about you?”
“Too many to count,” Kari said with a shake of her head. She thought about it for a few minutes. “Outside of the War, I killed eight valirasi, six mallasti, three elestram, I defeated an erestram, killed a sylinthian prince… but Turillia was the first succubus—or half-succubus—that I've ever fought and killed. As for serilis-rir, I couldn’t tell you. A lot.”
“Good grief,” Eli said with a shake of his head. “Any regrets?”
Kari scoffed. “For the demon kills? None.”
They continued to chat for a while and went to sleep against their warm griffon mounts as the fire died down to embers. Kari dreamed lightly of home and her family, but her dreams turned into a nightmare later in the night. In Kari’s nightmare, a towering crimson demon king burned Citaria to ash, and then she stood before the Temple of Archons, forcing its long-sealed entrance to open for her. What truly haunted Kari was the end of the nightmare, just before she woke up: The female demon king turned around and fixed Kari with solid black eyes, and Eli’s words echoed in her dream.
“…like you’re looking into death itself.”
It took less than a week to reach Sarchelete on the swift wings of the griffons. Markus’ warning about wild griffons in the mountains was prudent but proved unnecessary. Kari and Eli passed over grassy plains, mountains, and the coastal flatlands without issue.
Eli had never been to the holy city before. He took a few minutes to survey it from a nearby hilltop before they made their final approach. It was exactly as Kari remembered it from her trip three years before, and she pointed out the grand temple of Gori Sensullu to Eli, capping the northern temple district of the city. Eli was impressed by the sight.
Kari continued to stare at the grand temple of Gori Sensullu as they admired the city’s beauty at a distance. She thought of her world’s dead creator, and what secrets he had left behind in the Temple of Archons. Might it be possible that Kaelariel knew what was inside, and simply didn’t bother to tell anyone else? Perhaps the god of freedom and death was keeping his father’s secrets to himself.
It had to be something of immense power for the demon kings to be interested in it, but Kari couldn’t imagine what that could be if Gori Sensullu hadn’t seen fit to tell anyone else. She knew only that she was Salvation’s Dawn, reputed to be a part of the key to opening the great seal of the Temple. What that ultimately meant, she wasn’t sure other than that the demons were interested in her.
They rode the remaining distance on the ground to avoid being seen as attackers. They were directed to the south gate, where there was a stable that could house their griffons during their stay. They left Muireann and Dougal in the care of the stable master who, just as in Barcon, seemed familiar with Lord Lajere’s mounts. Kari supposed Markus probably made frequent trips to the holy city and may have done so extensively while training his students. With their mounts taken care of, Kari and Eli made their way into the city proper.
Eli had never been to Sarchelete. Kari had only been there a couple of times herself. She wasn’t qualified to give the half-corlyps a tour, but it didn’t matter. The way he walked toward the northern quarter and its grand temples, Kari assumed he wanted to see Danilynn first and foremost. There would be time to take in the holy city and its beauty after he’d made good on his promise. She wondered if he would accompany her to see Attir Surallis first; she wanted to check in with Zalkar’s high priest before she indulged her curiosity about Bosimar’s past.
“I need to see Master Attir Surallis before we go see Danilynn,” Kari said. “He’s the high priest of Zalkar’s church and the Order, and I was told to see him since I was headed here.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Eli returned, and Kari nodded.
He shrugged his agreement and followed her to the stairway that led to the plazas of the grand temples. Just as on her last visit, Kari washed her feet before ascending, a tradition considered more polite than necessary, and Eli did so as well after he watched her. Kari wasn’t sure what Eli’s relationship with the pantheon was like. He never spoke of following any one deity, and it didn’t seem he understood the significance of the foot-washing. As with several things since they’d met, though, he followed Kari’s lead to be accommodating, if nothing else.