"Three more corpses and two more prisoners," Trevor Paul snarled through clenched teeth. "If you'd bothered to call me, Magistrate, some of this could be avoided."
Tera was in no way intimidated by the guard sergeant's anger. Even after watching a supernatural monster appear and slaughter a man in front of her, she showed no sign of backing down, of being shaken in her confidence. Faith lent conviction, Janyn supposed. He wasn't so certain for his own part; his mind kept circling around "what ifs" and "maybes" in some backwards desire to blame himself. Or maybe just to find some hope that there had been a better outcome than this carnage.
"I fail to see how," she stated. "Unless I am sorely mistaken about your knowledge of the occult, you would have been no better prepared to save Crain's life than we were. Conversely, it is possible that your presence and that of several guards might have persuaded Crain's associates not to defend him against arrest, but I hardly consider that a benefit."
"You think it was better that you and the hunter fought these men?"
"Of course. They were criminals, obviously, but there were no charges against them being Crain's associates. You would have had to free them to commit future crimes, an inevitable result of their characters. Now, two are dead. They have tasted the fruit of their unrighteousness and been purged; they will trouble Morova no more. The other two are guilty of assaulting a law officer and aiding a criminal to resist arrest. They can now receive a just punishment for these crimes. No innocents were killed or injured. How is this not a positive outcome?"
Paul stared at her, open-mouthed, while she met his shock and surprise with calm certainty. One of the guards engaged in the busywork of arresting the living and removing the dead snickered; whether it was because he agreed with Tera or just enjoyed his superior's discomfiture Janyn didn't know.
"People are dead!"
"Our job is to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. They made their choice to step off the righteous path and I will not mourn them. My concern is stopping the darkside before it kills again."
"Why, if it's only killing criminal scum?" Paul sneered. It was obviously meant as a rhetorical insult, but Tera took it as a serious question.
"Firstly, because it has no legal right to kill anyone, regardless of the victim's virtue or the lack thereof. Secondly, were Victor Tyrell and Ovan Prentiss 'criminal scum,' as you put it? Thirdly, because if it is not stopped it will surely kill and kill again, and none of us can name the victims. Can you not see that or do you merely resent that someone other than yourself has identified the killer?"
Paul glared at her, brow furrowed, his entire body taut with emotional strain. Then, his shoulders shrugged, the tension left him, and he actually laughed, completely surprising Janyn.
"I guess you believe in plain speaking, Magistrate Serin. Okay, so maybe I was a little out of line. I guess I don't like the idea of having a mess like this in my town and not being able to stop it. Especially when I've got outsiders coming in and getting ahead of me."
Tera unbent a little, but not very far.
"We are both agents of law and justice, Sergeant. We have a duty that cannot be shirked. Doing the job well is all that matters."
Her attitude took the edge off Paul's sudden good humor, and Janyn felt compelled to step in before the good will evaporated entirely.
"Since we're all on the same page now, I think we need to come up with a plan of action to stop the darkside before it kills again."
"Yeah...about that," Paul responded, scratching at his stubbled chin. "Are you sure about this shadow-man thing? I mean, some kind of killing creature made of darkness and hate? It sounds like a hearth-story to scare kids."
"I saw it," Janyn said coolly, his own goodwill evaporating in an instant. "I saw it enter the inn, I fought it, and I was beaten by it. Tera saw it; she actually had a better perspective, not up in its face like I was. If two 'outsiders' aren't trustworthy enough witnesses for you, hunter and Kadary Magistrate or not, then the barmaid saw it too. The taverner might have, if he peeked over the bar for a look." He'd gone from sympathetic to furious in an instant, a reflection of just how on edge he was. Was Tera as badly shaken? Janyn couldn't tell; he didn't know her well enough. It could explain why she was so snappish.
Somehow, though, he doubted it. The bright-line judgments and rigid standards were just...her.
"I'm not saying that you aren't truthful. It's just hard to believe that the killer isn't human, isn't even a biomonster, but something genuinely supernatural."
"The art of magic may have been lost nearly a thousand years ago, but that does not mean that the supernatural has gone, only that we have lost touch with it," Tera explained.
"So how do you fight something like that?"
"That's what I'm hoping to find out. We're returning to Kadary at once. The Church of Zio has one of the most extensive occult libraries in Motavia. Hopefully, we will learn how to banish this creature."
"And what do we do in the meantime, while you're off reading books?"
She took the question seriously.
"Deal with the various survivors of the Crain gang as Morovan law requires. Inspect Crain's business records to see if they implicate anyone in smuggling, bribery, or similar crimes. Most importantly, keep Dolan Brent under house arrest."
"Brent!" Paul's gaze shot to Janyn, seeing if the hunter reacted to this apparent accusation of his client and was surprised when Janyn did not at once speak up. "How is he involved in this?"
Janyn had no idea what to say. He hardly wanted to tell the sergeant that the darkside had taken life from Brent, especially if, as Tera seemed to be implying, Janyn would be accompanying her to Kadary. He did not want to leave the door open for some intemperate local mob to come up with what they thought was a more direct solution than waiting for an exorcism.
"Ned Crain sent a man to kill Brent tonight. As we told you, that's why we came here," Tera answered. Janyn listened in surprise as she explained her point. "Perhaps you have a better idea from local knowledge, but I can't be certain that these were his only lackeys, or that he might have a lieutenant waiting to step into his shoes. There could be reprisals, if a gang decides to start a war against a wealthy trader. Morova has, I think, sufficient evils for now."
"I can't deny that. A few guards ought to keep Brent safe, but also prevent him from doing something stupid. But what about the darkside? If it holds to pattern it will kill someone else in two nights."
"We should be back by then."
"From Kadary? That's not a one-day trip by any means."
"On foot, yes, but we'll travel by Ryuka."
So, she knew the long-range teleportation technique.
"I see. Will you be leaving in the morning?"
"There's no reason to waste time. Janyn? Let's be going."
He shrugged. Why not?
-X X X-
Kadary was a thriving trade-town, the central hub of the Kadary Basin. The size showed; despite the velvet darkness above there was plenty of light from doors and windows as well as regularly placed street-lamps. Where Morovans were largely settling into bed, Karadites were just starting into the business of the night.
Janyn shook his head in amazement as the new surroundings took shape. As a hunter he was well aware of the potential power of techniques, had even mastered the use of some himself. Far more, though, than the ability to conjure flame and ice, to knit back flesh and bone, to instill sleep or charge with speed and strength, it was the teleportation techniques that awed him. How Tera could speak a single word and move the two of them dozens of miles in an eyeblink was beyond him; he could not comprehend it. It worked, he'd experienced Ryuka before and had just done so again, but he could not really understand it. It always astonished him every time he experienced it.
It was something he had to take on faith, so every occurrence was therefore a miracle.
"Zio's church is in the northwest corner of town. It's a bit of a walk, so let's get going."
With that, she suited actions to words and set off at once. Tera's stride was brisk, clearly focused on the purpose of getting from one point to another without additional time being spent on the journey. Her walk was even more purposeful now that she was back on her home ground, and Janyn had to scuttle to keep up while still gaining any meaningful impressions of the town.
The thought that struck him was that Kadary was a very claustrophobic place. It was a walled town, with nearly the population of Aiedo but around half the land area, so buildings were packed close together, sometimes even touching one another, and two-story homes and shops were not uncommon. Janyn had picked up the population information somewhere along the way but had never actually visited Kadary, so seeing the real-life application of the facts made quite an impact on him. The narrow streets and obstructed view made him feel almost like he was walking through an underground cavern or narrow canyon, a feeling he'd never had in any other town or village on Motavia. This was perhaps the only settlement on the underpopulated planet where space was at a premium.
It gave the hunter an itch between the shoulder blades, like he was in the wilderness rather than the safety of a town.
Not, he amended the thought, that towns were necessarily all that safe. Morova, for example, had had five deaths by violence in the past five days. Although it generally was not in so literal a fashion, the events illustrated the point that human hatreds and failings could be much more dangerous than the environment, even more than monsters.
The people they passed in the street were an ordinary cross-section of life, wealthy and poor, male and female, some calmly going about their business and some furtive, with eyes that would not meet anyone else's. The presence of rag-clad beggars sickened him as it always did; some cried out for alms while others merely sat, slumped over their bent knees, worn out by exhaustion or simply resigned from despair. It was depressing, but no surprise; the larger the settlement, the easier it was for individuals to fall through the cracks, whether by their own weaknesses or the pressure of evil circumstances.
What did surprise Janyn was that about one in every four people he passed was wearing a black mantle like Tera's, marking their allegiance to the Church of Zio. He'd heard the rumors, but had no idea how widespread the new religion truly had become. They were a significant minority in town.
He didn't know if he thought that was a good thing or not. Faith brought comfort and security to those who had it, but it could often be misguided or used in place of thinking an issue through. Or was he just being cynical because he himself had none?
"This town makes the back of my neck itch," he said to Tera. "I wonder if I'm a touch claustrophobic, or something?"
"The population density is high," she agreed. "In the last two decades, I understand that the town has steadily grown as a center of trade. More recently, there has been an influx of Zio's followers like myself, who have begun new lives in the church."
"It doesn't bother you at all?"
"Why should it?"
He shrugged.
"Maybe no reason. I just feel like I'm walking through a tunnel or cave, almost, and in my line of work that usually means that carrion crawlers will drop from the ceiling, blobs ooze out from cracks in the wall, or shriekers are ready to shoot their toxic spores into living prey."
"The only monsters in Kadary are those dwelling in human hearts that have not yet adapted to the path of the righteous," she said with complete confidence. Janyn figured she was probably right about there being no biomonsters, but from what he'd seen, the human ones were worse, anyway.
Idly, he wondered which category Morova's darkside fell into.
The direction of his thoughts turned sharply as the streets opened up into a kind of plaza or square. The open space gave him an unblocked view of the skyline, and he could see what had to be Zio's church. Only, church didn't seem to be an adequate description. It was more like a grand cathedral, towering above everything else, higher than the city walls. Numerous spires thrust upwards from the main body of it like claws slashing at the sky. It was hewn from, or at least covered in, some purplish-black stone that resembled nothing that Janyn knew. The color should have been nearly invisible against the night sky, but it was not; the cathedral's outlines were clearly defined and almost luminescent. Perhaps that was the purpose of the oddly-colored stone, or the color might have been a function of a treatment by the builders to cause the luminous effect, but either way Janyn found it neither majestic nor in any way comforting. It was frightening, and he surprised himself at just how fast he was willing to put that word to his feelings; as a grown man and a trained hunter he did not think it would have been so easy to admit that he was scared of a building.
But he was.
And it was the building they were going towards.
Perhaps because of his feelings, it seemed no time at all passed before they walked through the towering archway that was the church's entrance.
"No door?" he asked, again surprised when he saw that not only was the church open despite the hour, but that the arch was only an arch and there was no way to close or even block it.
"Lord Zio's blessings are available to anyone at any time," Tera said. "We turn away none who would seek to join us, be they rich or poor, strong or weak, king or beggar. All are welcome to seek the truth within."
Janyn appreciated the sentiment, if not necessarily the reality. The church had high, vaulted ceilings, and he got the impression that there weren't any windows, although that may not have been so, but there were no lingering shadows even in the furthest corners. Scores of huge candles in giant, multibranched candelabra were seemingly everywhere, spreading light as if they were saints with crowns of fire. Oddly, though that many candles should have shed considerable heat, these did not seem to. On the contrary, the church seemed faintly chilled, perhaps simply because each room was so large.
Tera obviously knew where she was going; she took Janyn through a set of corridors and up a flight of stairs that curved around one of the round spired towers. A short hallway led to a closed door, wood and metal-bound, with no handle. Tera knocked sharply, showing a touch of impatience. After a moment, a panel in the door swung open to reveal a pair of pale blue irises set in very yellow orbs. Then the panel shut and there was the sound of iron bolts being drawn back.
"Ah, Tera, come in!" said an old man in a floor-length blue robe and black surcoat. His scalp was bare, though a pointed white beard fell to just over his heart. Though his skin looked almost as jaundiced as his eyes, his posture and physique gave a general impression of health. Janyn found it faintly amusing that the old man was such an opposite of Tera, who gave a general impression of sickliness though the secondary indicators countered that.
"Good evening, Malthes. We need to use the library."
"More research, then? And who is your friend? A new face among the brethren?"
Tera shook her head, perhaps impatient with the need to follow the social conventions.
"It's magistrate business, I'm afraid. I need to find some kind of exorcism ritual or method. This is Janyn; he's a hunter who is assisting me on this case."
"Oh, I see. Well, in that case, I will leave you to it. Just ring when you are finished and whomever should be on duty will come."
"Thank you, Malthes."
"May the Holy One's blessings guide your search."
"As he guides our lives," she replied, obviously as part of a formula.
Malthes turned and left the room, and Tera told Janyn to bolt the door behind him. He did as she said, but not without curiosity, so he finally gave up and just asked.
"Tera, why are we bolting out the librarian? There's no keyhole or handle for him to get back in."
She nodded.
"Some of these books have great power, and most contain knowledge that could be tragically misused. Therefore, this library must always be attended, and only the attendant can admit anyone into the room."
Janyn followed at least some of the argument.
"You mean, in case someone just walked into the church through the open door and tried to get in here?"
"Correct. There's no lock to pick, no way for an outsider to get in without being let in, which none of us would do."
"You let me in."
She looked at him, genuinely startled by his comment.
"But you're with me."
Now he was startled too, at the simple innocence in Tera's voice.
"Maybe so, but I'm still not one of you Zioites."
"You may not yet walk the Way, but you have a righteous heart. Now, to work! We have a great deal to do."