Engines of Alchemancy (The Alchemancer Book One)

Witch's Interlude II

"HIS NAME IS KROSUS."

Ensel Rhe eyed Ursool wordlessly, then he asked, "Whose name?"

"The one who follows you. He is a houndmaster. His dogs come with him."

"Now you know something." Little under an hour had passed since their last exchange. While Ensel Rhe felt the tug of sleep, he shook it off now. "What has changed?"

"The moon, the stars, the proximity of him and his dogs. Together they form an alignment, an ethereal bit of knowledge escapes, and I, attuned to it, read of it what I can."

Ensel Rhe looked over a shoulder at the door, as if he expected the houndmaster to smash through it. "His proximity. How close?"

"Not that close. No need for you to wake Aaron and go rushing out. Besides, you are safer now, here in my home, than you will be once you leave. This demon cannot find you here."

"Demon?"

"Yes. Hellspawn, some would call him. Underland dweller, to others. My kind call them blood fiends, evil—"

"If he is a demon, then I will need the tools to banish him."

Ursool snorted. "Not this one. He has been set to a task. For him, there is no banishment. Not until this chore of his has been completed."

Ensel Rhe sighed. "Need I ask the purpose of his summoning?"

Ursool leveled her gaze at the curtain separating Aaron from the room. "I think you know that already."

"Yes. We heard a horn. Aaron claimed it rendered him unable to move."

Ursool nodded. "He was Marked. When the demon is summoned, his prey must be named."

"But why? Why would anyone want this boy dead? Why go to so much trouble?"

Ursool had no answer to that.

"What else can you tell me of this hunter, then? What are his weaknesses? If I cannot banish him, then what?"

"He has come to our world. To do this, he must become flesh and blood. Look to your sword. You both speak the same language in that, at least."

Ensel Rhe scoffed. "Perhaps, but I am no demon." Then, after some reflection, his voice softened. "Though there are some who think otherwise."

"The folk of Norwynne?"

"Yes. I know what they say of me, even if they never did so directly."

"What of your traveling companion? Has he expressed any such misgivings?"

"No, though I've seen him eyeing my satchel on more than one occasion. I know what thoughts go through his head."

"What, then, have you done to dispel such musings? Have you made an effort to explain the satchel's purpose?"

"No. What am I to tell him?" Before Ursool could reply, he added, "It's better he never knows. There's no reason for him to know. Now, let us speak of something else."

Ensel Rhe rose to put another log on the fire. When he'd once again settled himself, Ursool said, "There is no greater force in this world than the quest for revenge."

The eslar flashed a look of annoyance. "I asked that we—"

"I do not speak of your son. I speak of Krosus. Hunter is only one of his guises. Also, he is Lord of Vengeance. He may have been summoned for the former, but he will do his duty as the latter...if the opportunity presents itself."

Ensel Rhe, placated, sat back at the explanation. After some rumination, he said, "It is a frightening thought. A demon, driven the same as I am. Such a fiend would never stop."

Ursool said nothing right away. When she did, it was only to say, "No, such a fiend never would."