Kaelin Black could be in two places at once.
Kaelin Black and BlackWing were the same person, and Kaelin Black didn’t even realize it. Whether it was a power of Kaelin Black’s, or of the demon that had taken possession of him fifty-seven years before, Turillia had taken that power from BlackWing. And BlackWing was nothing more than a duplicate of Kaelin Black, one the demon could possess, use, and abuse at will for its pleasure—or Turillia’s.
That’s why Kaelin Black had no luck capturing or killing BlackWing, Kari thought. The only thing it doesn’t explain is why BlackWing was trying to kill himself, in effect. Would killing Kaelin Black have given the demon sole possession of Lord Black’s body, and thereby control of Southwick County?
Kari blew out a long sigh. She didn’t have time to think the entire situation through. She had to chase down Turillia and Emma and kill one or both of them to put a stop to the immediate threat. Then she could worry about having Kaelin Black exorcised and trying to drive the demon away for good. She planned to keep her word to Marshal Saracht and try to save Lord Black, but to even have a chance of doing that, she had to kill Turillia, and either capture, kill, or drive away Emma.
After being shocked and left at the succubus’ mercy, she was leaning more toward killing Emma at this point…
She thought briefly of Markus and whether he’d even tried to brave the storm on his griffon. Kari tread carefully over to the window, avoiding the broken glass, and looked down to the street. It was too far a jump for her to make when she couldn’t use her wings to glide, so she rushed back downstairs to exit the safer way.
The chase was on.
Kari exited from the lower level. She ran to the center of the square fronting the old city hall to try to gauge which way her enemies had gone. Deirdre was picking herself up out of the mud, so Kari whistled loudly to attract the attention of the others and approached the half-elite priestess. Kari helped Deirdre to her feet, concerned the priestess may have been hurt again so soon after being bitten by BlackWing, but Deirdre seemed all right.
“What happened?” Kari asked.
“The mallasti came running by,” Deirdre said, glancing west toward the stable square. “I let her by, since you said you wanted to capture her, and I waited to see if the succubus was giving chase. Turillia hit me with some sort of force spell that knocked me down, and then as soon as I got to my feet, this massive werewolf knocked me right back to the mud.”
“So, they all went toward the stable square?” Kari pressed. The others were approaching, though there was no sign of Markus on his griffon. That was just as well, in this weather.
Deirdre waited until the others reached them to answer. “Yes. Emma, Turillia, and a big, black werewolf all headed to the stable square. Let’s move quickly!”
“No, wait,” Kari said. She had to raise her voice over the sound of the rainfall, but she tried to keep calm and not sound like she was yelling at her companions. “Turillia is not our only target here. Katarina, Piotyr: I need the two of you to go to Lord Black’s tower and make sure he doesn’t leave it. Beat him up, use your auras, I don’t care what you do, just keep that demon inside the tower or this fight is going to be more than we can handle. Sherman: We have a werewolf involved now and I need Sharyn. Go with Katarina and Piotyr and look around for her. When you find her, get her to the stable square as soon as possible. Deirdre, Eli: You two are with me. Has anyone seen Markus?”
“No sign of him,” Sherman said. “It’s unlikely he was able to fly a griffon in this weather, but he may still be at the stable square when you get there.”
“That will have to do, then,” Kari said with a nod. She, Deirdre, and Eli ran as quickly as they could manage along the muddy streets toward the stable square.
The night sky lit up over and over with lightning, but thankfully the rain stayed steady. The flashes were coming from ahead and behind, as was the thunder, and soon Kari figured out why: Many of the lightning strikes were happening in the stable square. Emma and Turillia were having an arcane duel, which didn’t bode well. If Turillia was confident enough in her stolen power to challenge Emma to an arcane duel, she must have absorbed a considerable amount of strength from the shadow demon. The chances of Kari being able to engage her in a contest of steel, then, were much slimmer.
Watch whistles sounded from all around, and Kari cursed the luck. Any other time, she’d want a squad of law enforcement with her to try to apprehend a demon, but in an arcane contest, guards would be little more than casualties. “Deirdre, head off the guards if you can!” she called over her shoulder. “Get them to seal the inner and outer gates of the stable square but keep clear of the battle!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Deirdre shouted back. She stopped and summoned a nimbus of light to make herself easier to see in the rainy darkness, and Kari heard her begin calling for the watchmen to come to her.
Kari and Eli continued on toward the stable square. When they arrived, the portcullis had been blown in completely and lay in the muddy grounds of the square. Several guards lay strewn in the mud, but Kari didn’t have the time to check if they were all right. She trusted Deirdre to handle that once she’d gathered the city watch and set them to the tasks Kari had requested.
Kari’s first priority was to put a stop to the magical duel before the demons destroyed half the city. With Eli at her back, she was confident she could stop Turillia… so long as Emma didn’t incapacitate her again. Eli’s presence might keep the mallasti from doing anything harmful, but his most recent dealing with Emma left Kari with a lot of doubt.
The entire square lit up shortly before a massive boom, and Kari and Eli were both forced to stop and close their eyes against the intensity of the flash. When Kari opened her eyes again, part of the outer wall had been blown into a hail of stones by Emma’s lightning. They rained down into the square with wet thuds. Turillia responded in kind, but Emma absorbed the bolt rather than deflect it. The demons would destroy the city before they harmed each other, though Kari was relieved that Emma was the more powerful arcanist.
Emma raised a clawed hand to unleash another spell, but Turillia vanished, only to reappear directly in front of the mallasti. Apparently fed up with their magical duel, the succubus attempted to run the mallasti girl through. Emma’s arcane shielding absorbed the blow, and she threw her hands forward, hurling Turillia backward with arcane force. The succubus got control of her unplanned flight using her wings, and was able to come down on her feet, skidding to a stop a dozen yards away. She bared her fangs in a grin, and then she turned and loosed a lightning bolt at Kari.
Kari only had time to blink, shutting her eyes momentarily against the bright flash of the discharged lightning, but her breathing stayed steady and calm, her faith firmly placed in Zalkar’s ability to protect her. The bolt dissipated when it collided with Kari, but she was vaguely aware that it had split off and caught Eli. He grunted in pain but stayed on his feet. Whatever the difference was between Emma and Turillia’s lightning bolts, Eli was able to shrug this one off for the most part.
Kari paced toward Turillia, whose grin disappeared when she saw Kari unharmed. The succubus looked from enemy to enemy, trying to decide her next move.
There was no sign of the black werewolf. Had the creature already been killed, reduced to ash, or else flung over the city walls by the demons’ magic? Kari paced to her right to flank the succubus, and she gestured for Eli to fall into position between Turillia and Emma. He seemed least likely to be harmed by Emma, so Kari was comfortable putting him closer to the mallasti. Kari picked up her pace but made sure not to lose her footing in the deepening mud.