Demons End (Tremble Island) (7 page)

The men waited for her response while she allowed the plan to flow throughout her second nature, letting it soothe the banshee’s need for revenge. It was a cruel punishment for a creature that spent its life in the freedom of the vast ocean. To see that freedom and not have the ability to use it again, yes, it was fitting. She bowed her head to Lord Tremble. “Thank you, sir. I will let the challenge of combat stand until the sentence has been carried out. If she chooses to give her son to accept her punishment, I will expect my challenge to be announced and your pardon, when I kill the slag. If she takes her punishment, the challenge is dropped.”

Knowing she owed the handsome demon her life, she turned her eyes to see him watching her. It was unsettling, but nothing that happened in the past day and night was normal, and she was much too weary to dissect it now. “I owe you a debt of gratitude, sir. I can only say thank you for somehow knowing the woman’s plan, and saving my life. I also thank you for the kindness you have shown to my niece, Aria. We have only each other, and you saved her from being orphaned tonight.”

She did not wait for further niceties. Within moments she had the little one in her arms, with that bird still attached to her shoulder, and was bidding the Lords good sleep.

Koler watched her leave the room, and turned to Lion. “I want her, she either does not realize or does not accept that she can mate only with a demon male. Did you know that you have been harboring a banshee in your midst? Demons are the only beings on Echo that she could mate with and not kill while doing the deed.” From the look of astonishment on his face, Lion had not known, and Koler laughed.

“A banshee will suck the aura of any living being. They suck the emotion from large crowds and it feeds their nature. They are ideally suited to mate with a demon, due to the steady supply of raw emotion that surrounds us. That is why a banshee-demon pairing is always two demons for one of them. It takes a great deal of energy to keep one like her healthy. I am actually surprised that I felt no tug from her during the commotion. She must have remarkable control to prevent those around her from falling weak. I would speculate that it has to do with her not wishing to draw energy from a child, so I can add integrity to her list of attributes.” He was rubbing his fingertips in anticipation of bringing the female to his way of thinking. Glancing at Lion, he could tell the ruler was concerned with his revelations.

“I know she has a cat nature, the thought of such a dangerous being as a banshee, is unsettling. It appears each day that we are discovering new species in our world. The Ancient creatures are beginning to come from the northern most regions to make themselves known too. Now, something as dangerous as she is residing within my home, and I had no idea.” Lion felt the need to take flight to allow the wind to scatter his cares for an hour or two.

“If she meant to harm any of you, you would be too weak to fight and too weak to stand. She has kept her nature a secret for obvious reasons I am sure. The panic that some feel when they know what a banshee is and what they do, can be riotous. The only time you should stay clear of her is when her eyes become black fathomless holes in her face; in fact, most become quite grotesque when angered. Her trust in you must be great for her to have passed the opportunity to kill her enemy this night.” He patted Lion’s shoulder and steered the Lord into the next room, shutting the door when he had crossed the threshold of the room. “I will rest now, and meet you early, before we leave for Demons End, or as you would call it Morlien Hall. Pleasant dreams, Lord Lion.”

Chapter Six

Darkness had not yet turned to light as the Sea Singer and her family were led into the huge room. Last night’s work had earned the female this public humiliation and punishment. Lion noticed that Wensel appeared to be weary, and wondered if she needed to feed something stronger than the emotions that she must be siphoning energy from here in the castle. He sent for Sivdjia and asked her to take Aria to the kitchens to feed her a morning meal. “Keep her in the kitchens until I send someone to bring you back, please. The sight and sounds of what will happen here shortly would scare the little one.”

Sivdjia went to Wensel and asked if she could take the small one away from the chaos. “She will come to no harm with me, and I will keep her busy for a while, Wensel touched the older woman’s arm lightly and quickly drew her fingers back.

“I would greatly appreciate that, ma’am, she can be a handful, but she is a good girl. Thank you and please thank Lord Tremble for me.” She handed the little one over and was rewarded with a big smile from the child. It seemed Aria approved of her new friend.

Alura was brought to the spot next to a bowl of hot coals. The red glow from the heat was reflected on the edges of the metal and small points of light showed into the hazy smoke drifting to the ceiling. Lady Rane spoke several words over the small flames as she sprinkled a handful of herbs into the coals. The air took on a sweet scent and she backed away from the bowl.

Wensel felt the fear rolling from the siren and stepped closer to pull the emotion into her starving being. She had no time last evening to go for a walk through the village to collect energy from the people and was as weak as she had been in the cavern home she and Aria shared back at Morlien Hall. There she had not needed the energy to maintain her natures as much as it was needed here to protect them. She stopped short of touching Alura, regardless of the need clawing at her to absorb the creature’s aura entirely. She would leave the punishment to the Tremble Lords, the emotions she would use to fuel her banshee’s needs.

The boy, Fin, attempted to move in front of his mother. She shouted, “No, he will not pay for my mistake,” and the boy was pulled away. He struggled with those that pulled him from the room, and was no match for the men holding his arms, dragging him outside to join his father. As was normal in their family, the siren had gotten her way. She was the Dominant and neither male had questioned her authority and she won.

Lord Nord stepped in front of Alura, and she refused to beg for mercy when he asked her if she had anything to say before they sealed her gills and her fate in the same moments. “I will not beg for your mercy, my Lord, given the opportunity, and a less observant guardian, the woman would be dead and I would take the treasure of future generations away from this place. My only request is for death instead of this cruelty. I have no wish to live as a filthy human.”

Her response brought derisive looks from the humans in the room. Nord shook his head and murmured, “So be it.” He turned to address the room’s occupants that had gathered to witness such a punishment meted out. “The siren stands accused of attempted murder and is self confessed. She shows no remorse and in fact has spoken a willingness to repeat her actions. The punishment will take place.”

Lion stood and addressed Alura. “You will have your gills sealed as punishment for your crimes. Since you have expressed a wish to continue your quest for your victim’s death, I declare that you have condemned your son to the same fate as yours should another attempt be made on the life of Wensel. You will know that you have taken his life as surely as you would take another’s. The Child, Aria, will not be allowed to mate with Fin in the future, unless her guardian blesses the union.”

Defeat and recognition slumped the siren’s shoulders as she was led to a table and strapped down with heavy leather straps. A wide collar of metal held her neck to the table as did the one across her forehead between two thin blocks of wood. Her gills were exposed on either side and Nord took the knife from the heated coals with its red glowing blade, and laid the hot metal over the three slits under her ear. The screams were deafening, and the scent of burning flesh blended with the herbal scent in the air. Once the blade cooled against her skin, it was heated again, and the punishment was repeated on the opposite side of her head. By the time the blade cooled the second time, the siren was reduced to babbling, begging for death one second and making drowning sounds the next.

Rane stepped close and rubbed one of her healing ointments into the bubbled burn marks. While his mate tended to the prisoner, Lion watched the way Wensel tried to hide her interest in the woman’s emotions. He could see, now that it had been pointed out to him, how she stood close to Alura, breathing deeply, as if her body needed more air to survive. She made no sound, in fact, if he had not been looking for signs of her banshee nature, he would not have noticed. It was a surprise when she stepped away from the scene and began to walk behind those that had come to witness this event. He watched the way she wove through the small crowd, breathing, hesitating in one spot for mere seconds, and moving on again. He noticed that the demon was watching her move through the crowd too.

So that’s how she gathers the energy she needs
, Koler was impressed. She was subtle, no one noticed her walking among the crowd. She moved swiftly between the people, gathering trickles of energy and emotions to feed the never-ending hunger that he knew she felt. His fingers continued to itch with his own need to take her into his arms and slake the needs running through his being since the female had come to his sight. He knew that Leroi would be as eager as he was, to know that the unattached banshee was within their grasp.

*****

The Journey

The forces of Tremble had assembled and advanced scouts were well on their way toward Morlien Hall. The scouts would find camping spots and water sources for the fifty beings that made up the entourage. Lord Lion was carrying his mate, the Lady Rane, on his back. He had chosen to call his favorite striped cat to make the first leg of their journey, and she had a comfortable spot to sit. Her hands rubbed over his thick furry coat and he purred. The sound vibrated through his huge body and she squirmed.

She was going to be forced to wait until nightfall to have her mates again. Nord had called his snowy white owl to carry him through the morning, and was circling the party from high overhead.

Koler was feeling impatient. Wensel and Aria were with the group returning to Morlien Hall since she was confident the Tremble forces would win the day. Until they reached the edge of Tremble area, the banshee and her little one were perched atop the largest creature Koler could remember seeing in his lifetime. It was called Trundle, and it was grey, with long strands of black hair draped over its leathery skin. Once they left the protected area, his passengers were allowed to slide down the face of the great beast, which made both females grin.

The beast continued on the way pulling small trees with its trunk and moving fallen trees from the path for the rest of the party to pass. It had amazing strength that was appreciated by one and all.

Koler was happy to see that Wensel handed the small child to Lady Rane, who was riding on a huge black over orange striped cat. The cat was Lord Lion, who insisted his mate would not walk more than an hour at a time, so she would not be too weary at the end of each day.

He could have told the lords that no one, knowing that the Demon Prince was included in the force from Tremble, would attack them. He, and the other demons, six in all, on the Island were nightmares, they were personal bug-a-boos to most beings. Unless they had a death wish, they would steer clear of this gathering of beings. He and the banshee could lay to waste vast numbers of beings without caring who was in their path until the aftermath. So far, he was proved correct.

The few travelers that crossed their path stood aside waiting for the group to pass by. Most of the spectators cheered as the giant cat carrying the beautiful lady on its back passed them. The legend of Tremble was alive and well. Stories of the great beasts would be spread throughout the land and as far as travelers would go.

Wensel walked alone, she wished she could summon her cat and allow it the freedom that had been denied for so many weeks. The banshee was at a constant state of gnawing hunger for energy, which made her slower than she normally was when Koler stepped next to her and offered to carry her for a time. His offer to take on any form she would like to carry her over the rough terrain was met with a polite “no thank you.”

He stayed beside her adjusting his gait to match hers, and tried to make polite conversation. She was becoming annoyed with his constant babbling and finally stopped to the side of the path to face him. “I am better off being left alone. Please believe me when I tell you that you will come to no good being near me. You will weaken and I will enjoy gathering your energy as you lay at my feet. I have no wish to make the Tremble Royalty mad because I killed a valued friend, no matter how innocently it may happen.”

Koler wanted to laugh. His guess that she was ignorant of knowing that he was the one
being
here that she did not have to worry about draining the energy from was correct. He fed well at Tremble Castle, where there had been no demon to take the rotted souls since he allowed himself to be captured by the lords, so many months ago. Tremble village now had five less evil spirits to worry over. Lady Rane pointed out three of them herself. She requested that he consider the louts, before he actually sought out those who needed to meet him. Her assessment of the males was correct. They were lowlifes that preyed on others. The other two were males hiding behind the skirts of women that were helpless against their strength. Those last two not only abused the females, but had murdered to keep themselves at Tremble. The elderly were targets for one of the blackened souls. That one, he took into careful consideration. His soul lay deep in the leather satchel he carried on his back. His plans for the thing would include ripping one piece off each day as the thing suffered for each older creature he had duped or tortured. There was no honor in harming the elderly, only disgust.

He waited until the group passed them by, before gripping her arm in his and pulling her into the brush behind them. She was confused and so weary from this lethargy claiming her limbs, and now he had the nerve to attempt a seduction? His purple eyes glowed as he pulled her to face him.