Chapter Sixty
The Saints of Ka' Linx
MELODY
Another round of stifled whispers before a thin finger from the woman silenced them again.
"Very interesting," The woman said slowly, then switched to a foreign language Melody couldn't follow.
Someone began to undo the chains around her wrists and ankles, and loosened the steel ring around her waist. Finally free, she rubbed her wrists and watched as Eleanor and Deirdre were released as well. The cultists lining the walls began to slink away, till only the woman, three cultists and the three girls remained in the chamber.
"Leave us," The woman said in English. "We will be fine."
"But Mistress, the witch and the Empress-"
"We will be fine," The woman repeated in a decidedly calm manner. "You will know when I need you."
The three cultists muttered something foreign and slipped away too, leaving the woman alone with the trio. Melody glanced round in case they needed to beat a hasty retreat but a heavy door was shut somewhere, crushing her plans instantly.
"I apologise for the ill treatment. The saints are sworn to protect the Temple of Hoffensol so they can be a little…uptight sometimes," The woman said with a small, penitent smile. "But as you said, we are hiding from the Crimson Order after all. One cannot be too careful," She paused, as the three girls stared back at her. "Ah, where are my manners?" She bowed slightly, palms touching and feet together. "Welcome to the Temple of Hoffensol. I am Mistress Lucenzia of the Saints of Ka' Linx."
"You are the one they call the Pontifex Maximus?" Eleanor asked breathlessly. "You aren't what I expected."
"And I imagine you were expecting a much older Pontifex Maximus, someone of a fatherly age perhaps?" Mistress Lucenzia said. "If so, I hope you are not disappointed."
"Regardless, I knew I had to come here. I've heard about the Saints of Ka' Linx and you're my only hope of-"
"From whom have you heard about us, I wonder? The Crimson Order? The High Priest himself, perhaps?"
Eleanor looked like she was about to say something but Lucenzia cut her off.
"I see with more than just eyes, girl. I know you are one of them. How is the High Priest treating his Mage Slayers these days? Still setting them loose on the world and murdering witches and innocents alike?" This was said with a little more sardonicism.
"I'm not one of them. I swear it," Eleanor protested.
"Your aura betrays you. You bear the remnant of a demon's signature," Mistress Lucenzia studied her and shook her head. "Do not worry, I will not kill you or your friends. Unlike the Crimson Order, that is not the way of the Saints of Ka' Linx. I will simply wipe your minds and send you back down the mountain from whence you came."
"Wait!" Melody shouted desperately. "Mistress, we know all who survive return as raving lunatics. Listen to us. Please. We are not here to expose you or the Saints of Ka' Linx. We're enemies of the Crimson Order and the Empire too."
"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe," The Pontifex Maximus eyed Melody with a furrow of her thin brows. "You still haven't answered why you're here," She indicated Eleanor with a long finger. "And why bring the Empress here?"
"Like I said, she's not the Empress anymore." Deirdre explained.
"Someone usurped my throne and stole my powers from me," Eleanor went on with ire. "I need my powers back."
Mistress Lucenzia looked more puzzled than before. "And why would I help you summon the demon back into your body? The Crimson Order thrives on fear and extremism by way of their demons. We-"
"And that is why your ancestors separated from the loyalists centuries ago." Melody cut her off. "Forgive the intrusion, Mistress, but I know, I've heard the story. Some of the rebels fled and formed the League of Sorcerers, and your saints must have been another splinter group of rebels."
A strange look flashed across Mistress Lucrezia's features, there and gone like summer lightning. "How do you know this?"
"Because we're from the League of Sorcerers. I'm guessing you've heard of us." Deirdre answered.
"Yes. Their founder, the first Pilgrim, was a blood brother of the Saints' founder before they parted ways." The Pontifex Maximus looked pensive. "They swore to go their separate ways and never make contact again."
"The Seventh Pilgrim is a friend of ours. She's been leading the League of Sorcerers in a shadow war against the Crimson Order," Melody went on. "Don't you see? We aren't your enemies. The League and the Saints of Ka' Linx are on the same side."
"I am sorry. Enemies or not, I cannot help to restore her demon." Mistress Lucenzia emphasised. "It goes against everything the Saints of Ka' Linx believe in."
"With all due respect, you have no idea what's been going on in Exon," Melody said cautiously. "A man, far more evil than the Crimson Order sits on the throne now. And he wields the power of the Eternal King."
The colour visibly drained from Mistress Lucenzia's face. "What?"
"Obviously you've heard of the Eternal King," Deirdre said. "You know what he's capable of."
"If the Eternal King has been released, the world is already lost," The Pontifex Maximus rasped quietly. "It is only a matter of time."
"That's why we need your help," Melody implored. "Please. Before it's too late."
"The Crimson Order was sworn to prevent the Eternal King from ever escaping." Mistress Lucenzia stared at Eleanor. "How did this happen? How did the High Priest allow this?"
"He didn't," Eleanor said. "The emperor deceived everyone. He wormed his way into the Order, bound himself to the Eternal King, seized control of the Order and stripped me of my demon. I've been trying to fight my way back to end his reign but to do that, I need my demon back."
"If there were any other way, we wouldn't be here," Deirdre said to the Pontifex Maximus. "Trust me, I'm the last person who wants her to have all that power at her fingertips but we have no other choice. We need you to restore her demon back to her."
Though shaken by the revelation that the Eternal King was loose upon the world, Mistress Lucenzia still looked unconvinced. "So that she can go back to ruling her empire through terror and blood?"
"No. I see now the evil I've done," Eleanor gritted her teeth as though it was hard for her to admit it. "Without the powers of the demon clouding my judgement, I've had clarity these past weeks. And that isn't an excuse for what I've done in the past. I claim my mistakes. I know what I've done is unforgivable and monstrous. I waged war against the entire continent and allied myself with the Crimson Order. But not anymore."
"As sincere as you appear to be, do you really think all can be forgiven just like that?"
"No. But I am ready to atone," Eleanor straightened up and set her jaw. "I will free my people from the emperor and right my wrongs."
"Even if you're telling the truth, you will not survive the wrath of the Eternal King. You cannot."
"I owe it to myself to try," Tears began to well up in Eleanor's eyes though she blinked them to hide her emotions. "After everything I've done I deserve that much, even if I die trying. Give me the power to make things right. Just…let me do something right, for once in my life."
"Mistress Lucenzia," Deirdre said quietly. "There is no other way. This is our only chance."
"And what's to stop her from being driven mad by the demon again?"
"Because this time I know what I need to do," Eleanor pleaded, meeting Melody's gaze. "I've tasted power before, but it doesn't satisfy anymore. I'm no longer tempted by a lust for conquest, and I sure as hell don't want to rule through fear. I've seen what that's done to my people. All I've ever wanted was to be a competent queen and I owe it to the Exonians to free them from Hans."
Eleanor's speech struck Melody harder than she'd expected. Satisfied, Melody nodded and turned to the Pontifex Maximus. "I have no way of proving this to you, but I can read people. I know when someone's lying and when they aren't. I can assure you that she isn't lying about this."
"You are not the only person who's been taught to read others," Mistress Lucenzia's eyes displayed deep pensiveness. She remained silent for a long time, staring at Eleanor, then at Deirdre and Melody, but mostly at Eleanor.
Melody cast a sidelong glance at Deirdre, who returned it with one of uncertainty, and gave the fiery sorceress a confirmative nod. She'd seen it in Eleanor's eyes and body language as she watched for micro-expressions and facial tics that were almost imperceptible to the untrained eye, and came away with one conclusion: Eleanor was telling the truth. All that she'd said about her new ambition to free her people from the Last Emperor's reign was genuine, even if she had a more rash and extreme idea about how to get it done. Melody just hoped that the Pontifex Maximus would come to the same conclusion too.
"Come with me," Mistress Lucenzia finally broke her silence and swept past the three girls.
"So you're not going to turn our minds to crap?" Eleanor asked.
Mistress Lucenzia glanced over her shoulder. "Would you prefer that?"
"No, not really."
"Then stop dawdling."
###
The Pontifex Maximus led them down the spiral steps of the tower, passing tense and deeply suspicious members of the Saints of Ka' Linx on the way. Melody had a few guesses about where Mistress Lucenzia was taking them; the chances that she was leading them to an execution or a mind-melting chamber wasn't all that high. It seemed that Eleanor's speech had gotten through to her, as it had to Melody. And that had to count for something, because Melody was someone who'd grown to be rather slow to trust anyone - owing to everything that had happened over her years of adventures and misadventures alike. If she was convinced, she was quite certain that the Mistress was too.
Sure enough, the three girls weren't led to their dooms. Instead, Mistress Lucenzia took them to one of the lower levels of the tower and brought them onto a long, uncarpeted landing made of smooth stone which joined back to the longhouse. The two towers straddling the longhouse were used as quarters to house the saints - as Mistress Lucenzia explained - while the heart of the temple was located in the centre of the longhouse which had separate deep chambers on all four sides for various purposes she'd declined to mention.
They were taken to one of the four deeper chambers, which comprised of a dark corridor with a few doors on either side of it. Storerooms, pantries or places for the saints to perform their rituals or sacrifices, most likely. However, the one they were ushered into was a small library, the walls lined with shelves of dusty books and volumes that looked like they would crumble upon physical contact.
"This room houses centuries or perhaps even a millenium of knowledge passed down from our ancestors," Mistress Lucenzia closed the door behind her and lit a lantern, manoeuvring past the girls to start scanning the shelves. "When they decided to defect from the Crimson Order, our ancestors stole as many books as they could carry from the High Priest's chambers to impede the Holy Crusade. These books contained the Order's history and the written words of Ka' Linx himself, along with the Order's spells, rituals, acceptable blood sacrifices and more."
"And here you're hoping to find?" Melody probed cautiously.
"My father was a good Pontifex Maximus. He taught me many things that I've carried as I took up his mantle. But before my father died, he never managed to teach me many incantations. One of which, was the spell for summoning demons and binding them to a host. And why should he? It goes against everything the Saints stand for," Mistress Lucenzia paused to give them a severe glance over her shoulder. "I hope you realise the magnitude of this. I am breaking the most sacred law of the Saints. My father and the Prophet Ka' Linx Himself must be looking down at me in shame."
"I'm sure he'll be willing to let things slide this once," Eleanor offered but received an icy stare from the Pontifex Maximus before she turned back to the shelves.
"Thank you," Deirdre said gratefully. "You have no idea what this means to us. We've been stuck in blizzard after blizzard trying to get here just so that we might have a chance. We won't squander it."
"It might be a little premature for a stranger like me to say this, but your father would be proud of you," Melody added.
"Sometimes the ends justify the means. Isn't that what you Northerners like to say?"
"I suppose so."
"Here," Mistress Lucenzia picked out a thick volume from the never ending rows of books and wiped it with her palm, raising a cloud of dust. Setting the thick volume on a small, rectangular wooden table, she bent over and opened it slowly and gently, almost as if she was afraid it would consume her. She did look uneasy as she fingered the pages which ominously reflected the flickering warm light from the lantern. "The forbidden ancient texts our ancestors warned us about. No one has laid eyes on these cursed pages in centuries."
Melody watched as the woman flipped through the thick volume which was yellowed and faded. These were unprecedented times. Since when in the past few centuries did the entire world face a threat as large as the one the Last Emperor now posed? With Hans as the Eternal King's host, she had no doubt that if he remained unopposed he would conquer more territory than the original Eternal King of Ancient Hyutreno had ever possessed. But she decided to hold her tongue. She didn't want to jeopardise things in case the Pontifex Maximus suddenly got cold feet and decided to change her mind. They were asking a lot of her after all.
"Here it is," Mistress Lucenzia stopped about one quarter into the volume. Her eyes scanned the text and she flipped over into the next few pages, her brows furrowing.
"What is it?" Eleanor asked, trying to mask her impatience and failing.
"This is going to take longer than I suspected," The woman's mouth formed into a hard line as she regarded Eleanor. "You said the High Priest told you that your demon was a Kor'gadon?"
"Yes," Eleanor confirmed. "The effective equivalent of a Ha'naeth."
"The incantation is elaborate, tedious and requires a lot of precision. One wrong word, and you might die before the binding is complete."
"Can you do it?" Melody probed.
"Yes."
"And what happens if the demon corrupts her mind again?"
"I can bind an additional spell to prevent that from happening," Mistress Lucenzia turned to Eleanor. "I'm assuming the Crimson Order didn't bother with that the first time round?"
"No they didn't," Eleanor said dryly.
"We will take extra precautions this time, then," Mistress Lucenzia pored over the pages with a frown. "But it's going to take time."
Melody didn't like the sound of that. "How long?"
A series of frantic knocks came at the door of the library, and Mistress Lucenzia swept past to open it. One of the saints - a boy no older than seventeen - stood outside, an urgent expression plastered across his face as he shifted from foot to foot.
"Mistress Lucenzia," he blurted out. "The temple is under attack!"
"Attack?" She inquired sharply. "By whom?"
"We don't know. The saints are trying to defend the temple and fend off the attackers but they don't seem to be human!" The boy looked shaken.
"What do you mean not human?"
"Did you notice if they wore red uniforms?" Melody demanded. "Did they seem lifeless, alive but without consciousness or a soul?"
"Y-yes!"
"Green eyes with dark circles?" Lucenzia cut in.
"Yes." The boy stuttered.
Melody whirled to the Pontifex Maximus. "How did you-"
"I know what they are," Mistress Lucenzia had gone pale. "They're called the Soulless."
"Soulless?" Deirdre echoed.
"The first Eternal King could summon the dead and used a multitude of them to conquer Ancient Hyutreno and keep the entire nation under his thumb," Mistress Lucenzia's voice dropped to a ghostly whisper. "If the Soulless are here, that means this new Eternal King knows…"
"They're not here for you." Melody cut her off. "The emperor sent them after us once before. It's us he wants dead."
"But can they be killed?" Deirdre asked.
"They can. But they do not feel pain, and their only objective is to kill and destroy. They will damn us all."
"No, they won't." Melody whirled to Deirdre who nodded back wordlessly at her. The two girls squeezed out of the door.
"Where are you going?" Eleanor hissed.
"To deal with these Soulless. This is our fight," Melody said resolutely. "You stay here and get your demon back," She regarded Mistress Lucenzia. "How long will it take?"
"As long as you can give me."
"We'll hold them off, but you need to hurry and summon that demon," Melody said. "And I'm going to need my weapons."
###
Melody and Deirdre burst through the temple doors and out into the blinding whitescape before them, many more saints streaming past them to join their brothers and sisters who were already positioned fifty yards in front of the temple. Met by a cold, bitter chill of yet another impending blizzard, Melody focused her eyes and surveyed the grounds. The summit was swarmed with soldiers in the colours of the Empire, pressing against each other and slowly pushing forward mindlessly towards the temple and the defenders at about thirty feet away.
Producing a spyglass from her kit, Melody got a closer look at the soldiers. There was no mistaking their mannerisms and the green eyes. "Definitely the Soulless," She made her assessment grimly. "About three companies of them this time."
"Shit. That's about…three hundred?" Deidre said.
Melody nodded.
"That's too many of them for us to handle," She gestured at the Saints of Ka' Linx. "Even with them on our side."
It was true. The Saints of Ka' Linx had broken out spears, swords and shields of the ancient Ibersian variety, their weapons nowhere near sufficient for modern warfare or tactics. Just by eyeballing it, they numbered to about two hundred and fifty, and were spread out in a thin screen in an arc around the temple, which was frankly quite a bad strategy.
"You need to close ranks!" Melody shouted, playing a hunch as she waved for attention. Some of the saints turned their heads. "You're spread too thin! They'll punch through your defences the moment they make contact!"
"Gather closer!" Deirdre yelled to the saints. "Point your spears outwards and stay close together!"
"Do it now!" Melody shouted. She knew that there was no reason for any of them to trust her - she was an outsider after all, but thankfully the saints began to heed their advice and close ranks. "Hurry!" As the saints began to pack more closely together and presented a steel wall of bristles to the Soulless, Melody observed the enemy intently. It was as she'd hoped. The undead soldiers began to taper off at the ends of their ranks, closing in a funnel as the damned creatures advanced towards the defenders.
"Whatever you do, stay close to one another!" Shouts echoed from the ranks of the saints.
"Don't let them get to the temple!" There was a palpable fear in the air, and for good reason.
The Soulless broke into a silent run, charging straight at the knot of humanity. No muskets were raised or fired as they ran, which was to their detriment.
With a loud grunt, Deirdre raised both hands which glowed red-hot, tensed, and threw them both down forcefully. Fire rained from the sky, scorching the summit and setting ablaze a good number of Soulless. But many more of the creatures kept pressing forward, even those on fire seeming not to feel anything at all.
Gritting her teeth, Melody clutched her bow tightly in her trembling hand. Cold sweat dribbled down her forehead and her heart slammed fast in her chest. But there was no time for fear. Not now. Before her mind could reason any further, she broke into a run, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Forward!"
The saints let out a cry in a foreign tongue, and moved forward with their spears brandished. As hard as they tried to maintain their tightly packed formation, all order soon dissolved as the Saints of Ka' Linx collided with the undead soldiers.
Barrelling into the chaos, Melody ignored the fear and mounting anxiety, smashing the limbs and riser of her bow into bone, striking and crushing strategically to take out the Soulless in quick, broad strokes. This time, she knew she didn't need to hold back. These weren't living humans anymore. It was all she could do to hold back the mindless pawns of the Last Emperor. Not far from her, Deirdre was lighting up the creatures with scorching orange flames, hurling fire into clusters of the enemy and emanating overwhelming heat waves that melted red uniforms and flesh.
Come on, come on. Melody chanted internally like a mantra as she swung her bow with all her might and another one of the undead soldiers' neck snapped. She fervently hoped that the incantation was ending soon because they needed Eleanor out here.
A strong hand gripped her wrist, and Melody spun, crunching an elbow into a face. She clutched the hand that was holding onto her and swung with all her might. The body didn't fly very far, but it was enough to stumble another few Soulless as she leapt into their midst, carving her way through them.
On her left, a saint screamed as he was literally torn apart by a few of the monsters. Blood splattered everywhere, and she heard yells of anger and agony all around her. This wasn't going too well, she lamented as she backpedaled, slashing and countering as undead soldiers tried to make grabs at her. The saints weren't trained soldiers, and the Soulless were just mindless beasts incapable of mounting a crushing attack. This was quickly becoming a battle of attrition, one that the saints couldn't afford to be in.
A wall of fire spread and circled huge clusters of the Soulless, engulfing them and incinerating many where they stood. Glowing red, Deirdre snarled as she lit enemies on fire, all the while trying to find her way across the mess to regroup with Melody. As a Soulless looked to clobber Deirdre, Melody lunged and seized his shoulders from behind. Swiftly, she bent him backwards, driving her knee into his spine with all her might and felt bones crack.
"We can't keep this up for long!" Deirdre shouted. "How long has it been?"
"I don't know!" Melody had lost track of time since the attack started, but it already felt like she'd been at this for hours. If the weariness in her arms and shortness of breath was any indication, they'd been fighting for a long time. "But we have to keep at it!"
Growling, Deirdre launched another ball of fire which punched three undead soldiers off their feet before they could finish murdering a dying saint.
"You still sure this was a good idea?" Maui mused as he watched her work at dispatching another few of the undead.
"What?"
"Coming out here and fighting these creatures while Eleanor gets her demon back?"
"It's not like we have any other option. And can we save this for another time? I'm busy here!" Melody stabbed another arrow through the heart of a Soulless and yanked it free.
"Melody, look!" Deirdre shouted, pointing at their rear.
Melody whirled, and sure enough, undead soldiers were beginning to stream past the saints and head for the entrance to the temple. The brief moment of distraction was enough to cost her.
Hands grabbed her arms and a few more gripped her ankles, and she felt herself being pulled to the ground. Her face hit snow, and she quickly tried to roll onto her back but was pinned down by the Soulless. Grunting, she tried to struggle but to no avail. From the corner of her eye, she saw Deirdre slowly getting overwhelmed as well. Meanwhile, an increasing number of Soulless were making it past the defenders and heading for the doors of the temple. They were almost at the entrance when the doors burst open.
A figure glowing ominously in a dark aura emerged, red hair flying wild as she raised both hands. The undead soldiers closest to her were levitated into the air, and their throats were crushed with the clench of fists. Tossing them aside, Eleanor strode out into the open, hands outstretched and she pulled them inwards. An invisible force compelled the undead soldiers in a five yard radius towards her like a magnet would attract steel, and a dark energy erupted from her being, sending the Soulless pinwheeling away uselessly.
"Eleanor!" Melody managed to blurt out in relief, though still pinned to the ground.
Deirdre's flames licked at the tips of Melody's hair while incinerating the rest of her attackers. The remnants of bones and flesh fell on top of her, and Melody winced. That was disgusting.
"She came," Deirdre said as she helped Melody back to her feet.
"I noticed," Melody watched as Eleanor cut into entire swaths of undead soldiers with her demon powers, tendrils sweeping entire rows of enemies out of the way and clearing a path for the saints to regroup and attack again.
"Behind you!" Deirdre shouted.
Melody whirled, bringing her bow up and parrying a sloppy strike. Pulling back, she riposted, driving the riser of the bow into the sternum of her attacker and he crumpled backwards. "I have an idea!" She shouted to Deirdre as she ducked and countered yet another attack.
"What?"
"Surround us all with fire!"
Deirdre finished hurling another ball of fire into a knot of undead soldiers attacking a couple of saints, burning them to a crisp. Then, with clenched jaw, she turned her palms towards the sky and slowly raised them. Flames rose from the snow and began to surround the saints and undead soldiers alike. The enemies were beginning to dwindle, thanks in great part to the intervention of Eleanor, who was almost singlehandedly turning the tide of the battle.
The Saints of Ka' Linx took heart at the turn of events, fighting with renewed strength and resolve to defend their homes. Fire blazed all around, trapping the remaining Soulless and burning them to nothing more than a blackened lump atop the snow. Before long, Eleanor, the saints, as well as Deirdre and Melody cut down the last of the Soulless. A number of saints had fallen in battle, but most of them were still alive, exhausted but relieved.
"Eleanor," Melody managed through rapid breaths as the trio regrouped amid the chaos. "Your demon."
"Yeah." Eleanor confirmed. "Whatever the Mistress did, it worked."
"You came," Deirdre sounded a little overwhelmed.
Eleanor looked away. "Don't make a scene about it," With a mutter under her breath and the stiffening of her fingers, a black portal opened, its energy pulling like a strong wind. Hair flying wildly, Eleanor stepped into the portal and met Melody's and Deirdre's eyes. "Coming?"
"Thought you'd never ask." Melody grinned and walked in together with Deirdre, the black portal shutting behind them.