Chapter 58: Three Weddings and an Elf

I now have an editor, so you all shouldn’t need to put up with my typos and poor/dyslexic editing skills anymore. :)

Ethan stared at the demon-possessed man who had appeared on the Dotmier dock just after the Argo had landed. The man didn’t seem about to attack, so Ethan stepped forward and put himself at the Argo’s end of the gangplank so the man would have to go through him to get to the others. Behind him, Matthew was still catching his breath and no one else had moved.

^∗Is that him Master?^∗ Taloni asked with a slight tremble in her tone.

^∗It is.^∗ Ethan replied, not taking his eyes off of the possessed man. Then he spoke aloud. “Beth, Taloni; take our guests into the captain’s cabin.”

“Yes Dominus.” Beth replied at the same time that Taloni spoke. “Yes Master.”

He could hear movement behind him but didn’t look; he had bigger concerns at the moment.

“My, my; you do have them well trained.” The possessed man said in an amused tone that was also dripping with derision.

“And you seem a lot more vocal than the last time we met.” Ethan replied coolly.

“I don’t have a gag order this time.” The man grinned a wide, toothy grin that didn’t speak of amusement but something rather different. It was like looking at a kid on Christmas morning, if the kid was looking forward to smashing every present in sight.

“Any chance we can talk this out?” He asked. He was certain the answer was no, but it couldn’t hurt to try and he was stalling for time to come up with an attack plan.

The possessed man slowly shook his head, his malevolent and anticipatory smile growing wider.

Ethan considered.

He had his armor on and his dragon-steel war sword at his side. He knew the war sword could hurt the man since it had sliced into him during their previous fight. However, even though the sword was incredibly agile for its size, he wasn’t sure it was the best weapon for this fight. The man had been wearing leather armor under his shirt the previous time and thus almost certainly was this time as well. Hitting limbs was tougher, especially since the possessed man was so fast.

Ideally, he would’ve used Aharown, but he couldn’t wield the angelic blade unless he was on the Astral Plane, which he wasn’t now. However, it might be possible that Beth could draw it from his scabbard and use it.

His javelin held a lot of promise in dagger form. That tiny tip concentrated the force so much that when combined with its weight, it should be easily able to punch through. He knew it would go through the man’s skin easily and suspected it might go through bone as well if he could get a good angle.

His hammer of course was devastating on armored targets, but he wasn’t sure how much it would do against the possessed man. The lightning was certainly worth a try. He started charging his hammer, pulling the charge from the man directly to target it at him.

The possessed man laughed. “Go ahead, full charge. I’ll wait.”

He had a sinking feeling it would fail, but did so anyway because it couldn’t hurt to try. Once his hammer was fully charged, he released the charge at the man’s face.

CRACK!

It did nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

It was hard to tell, but it looked like the lightning had met a spot in front of the man and dissipated there instead of going into him.

Damn.

The door to the captain’s cabin opened a crack and Tee stepped out slightly. Ethan then saw the blue outline of Beth’s astral form walk through her to stand on the deck. Ethan thought he might’ve seen the possessed man’s eyes track the blonde, but wasn’t sure. He also saw Serif and Raklan guarding the captain’s cabin, probably because of Beth. Lord Borden had hired them to protect her, not the rest of the crew, so he wasn’t sure he could count on their help.

The man took a step forward and onto the Argo’s gangplank, that malevolent and anticipatory smile still present. “I am going to break your back so you can’t move.” He said to Ethan as if it was a universally acknowledged fact. “Then I am going to slowly beat everyone you love to death in front of your eyes. And since I have a male body, I think I’ll do other things to the women first.”

The man’s tone left Ethan in no doubt as to what he meant. It also made it clear that he was looking forward to this. He was almost savoring this. To this man, or more likely the demon inside of him, this was fun. This was what he wanted to do and he was going to enjoy it immensely.

That was the moment.

That was the exact moment Ethan realized that he had no choice but to win this fight. If he didn’t, everyone he loved would die. He took a deep, calming breath and tried to clear his mind for the fight ahead. He had no idea how to win, but he was determined to win no matter what it cost him. He hoped there was some way he could survive it, but if not, that was a price he was willing to pay to keep his family safe.

Ethan’s reaction must’ve shown on his face because the possessed man chuckled. “Good, breaking Illuminar’s pets is even more delightful when they’re resolved.”

“Why do you hate us so much?” Alana asked.

“And why do you hate Illuminar so much?” Rachel added.

“Imagine being in the presence of the most perfect being in all of existence.” The man said, his tone dripping with suppressed rage and utter contempt. “No, imagine being in the shadow of the most perfect being ever to exist. Imagine His divine flawlessness mocking you every moment of every day, knowing that you can never even approach what he is. Imagine having your soul’s greatest desire paraded in front of you every moment of every hour for an eternity, knowing it will forever be out of your reach.”

“You wanted to be God?” Ethan raised his eyebrow.

The possessed man ignored him. “Then came the ultimate insult: mortals.” He spat, the man’s tone giving Ethan the impression that no mortal could truly understand the level of contempt this possessed man had for mortals.

“The enemy gave you what he denied us: the ability to forget, to not know what He is like.” He spoke with almost as much longing as derision. “Once you’ve been in His presence, you can’t forget it; it’s not possible to forget something so transcendent. But mortals? You weren’t created in his presence; you haven’t seen what can’t be unseen.” He scowled. “You can deny Him, forget Him, or ignore Him. But we? We are forced to live with a perfect recollection of His magnificent perfection forever mocking us, we who were created first and are your betters in every way.”

Ethan chanced a glance behind to make sure all the Argo’s guests were no longer on deck since the man was monologuing. Thankfully, the deck was now clear of non-combatants.

“Oh, but then...” He grinned. He grinned a terrible grin that made Ethan’s skin crawl. “Then the bravest of us, Saidow, found Illuminar’s weakness.”

“Illuminar doesn’t have a weakness.” Taloni said clearly and confidently, though she was trembling slightly.

The possessed man snorted with derision. “Doesn’t He?”

“Then what is it?” Ethan asked.

“Choice. Free will.” His grin became wider and even more disturbing. “Everything relies on Illuminar to maintain its very existence. We thought that if we rebelled, He would destroy us, wink us out of existence just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “But the bravest us of -- a noble freedom fighter -- chose to defy Illuminar by tempting mortals to sin...” His grin turned sinister. “ ... and he lived. That’s when we realized; the one thing that Illuminar won’t do is violate free will. We can do whatever we want and He wouldn’t annihilate us. That’s His weakness: he lets us choose even if it means we defy Him.” The creature chuckled mirthlessly. “And so we did. Saidow started a revolution the likes of which has never happened before and won’t ever happen again.”

“But why?” Rachel asked. “What could you possibly gain? You still can’t be God and you can’t hurt Him either; it seems pointless.”

“Pointless? Pointless!?” The possessed man looked at Rachel like she was the dumbest person in the world. “Illuminar made mortals in his image. That connection means that when you feel joy, He feels joy. When you feel happy, He feels happy.” He got a grin on his face that was truly disturbing. “And most importantly, when you suffer, He suffers. You are nothing; breath on the wind lasting barely a moment. You are beneath our contempt. But like a parent hurts when his child is hurt, when we hurt you, we hurt Him.”

Ethan could barely believe the pure, unadulterated vitriol in the man’s tone. This was hatred, malice, and loathing at a level that he didn’t think he would ever be able to understand. It was evil in its purest form, which probably shouldn’t have been surprising given who was speaking.

The possessed man smiled even more widely, his grin becoming anticipatory and malevolent again. “You know, I could almost thank you.” He licked his lips like someone anticipating a delicious meal might. “It’s not often that we get to kill one of Illuminar’s prophets.”

“I’m not a prophet.” Ethan replied firmly.

“Man’s capacity for self-delusion is delicious.” The possessed man chuckled. “The Enemy won’t violate my free will even to save one of His prophets...” The man glanced at Ethan’s wives. “ ... or his wives.” The man slowly and deliberately cracked his knuckles. “So with your dying breath, curse Him. He’s the one who won’t save you.”

The possessed man moved.

He moved every bit as fast as Ethan had expected him to move. Ethan had hoped that the gangplank would give him an advantage because the possessed man would have to come right at him, but it didn’t work out that way. He thrust out with his blade but the possessed man dropped down, sliding on his knees and coming in for what was sure to be a painful counterattack.

Rachel didn’t let him.

The possessed man was thrown bodily towards the Argo’s rear and slightly up, blown clear off the gangplank by the teen mage. He managed to grab one of the Argo’s rigging lines and hung for a moment until Alana put an arrow into his hand. The tiny arrowhead from the wood elf’s enormously powerful bow managed to punch through the soft part of his hand between the bones. The hand disappeared as the possessed man fell out of sight.

Ethan grinned, but his relief was short-lived.

The possessed man must’ve caught something and pulled himself hard because it was almost like he had jumped up from a platform underneath him. He grabbed the rigging only to be hit with another air-ram from their resident mage. He held onto the rigging though despite his body being blown nearly horizontal. Alana sent another arrow his way, but he managed to dodge it.

“You first.” The possessed man said with a smile while looking at Rachel, almost completely ignoring the hole in his hand from where Alana had shot him.

The wood elf nocked another arrow and Ethan tried to get between their enemy and Rachel, but he wasn’t fast enough. The possessed man slipped onto the decking and the redhead threw her hand out again, presumably shooting another air-ram. However, this time the possessed man waved his hand in front of him and the air-ram fizzled out.

Their enemy knocked Alana out of the way and Rachel threw herself backwards to try and dodge.

She wasn’t fast enough.

The possessed man’s fist collided with the redhead’s jaw.

Crack.

Ethan heard the flat crack of Rachel’s jaw breaking as she fell backwards. He felt the full fury of his dragon side surge as he charged forward with his war sword, aiming a descending vertical cut at the man and wanting to split him in half. He was ready to change angles at a moment’s notice in case the man tried to dodge.

He didn’t.

As he had done over a week ago, the possessed man slapped his hands together on either side of the descending war sword, catching the blade between his palms. Ethan tried to twist it out of the possessed man’s grasp, but he was too strong. He decided to try something unorthodox and jumped up, twisting the sword as he aimed a double kick at the man who had hurt one of his wives.

It almost worked.

The possessed man stood there looking amused as Ethan’s feet collided with his chest. However, that gave Ethan enough leverage to use both legs to pull his sword out of the man’s grip ... or it would have. The possessed man suddenly let go, throwing Ethan’s balance off. Thankfully, his dragon reflexes kicked in. He twisted in mid-air and landed on his feet.

Behind the possessed man, Ethan could see Alana with an arrow ready to shoot, but the wood elf seemed hesitant because the possessed man was directly between herself and him. He understood her reticence; the man was fast enough to dodge and he didn’t want to get hit.

Kendra -- who had been on Ethan’s other side further from his other wives -- chose that moment to attack, thrusting out at the man with her dragon-steel sword. He batted her blade away with his forearm like it was a child’s toy; he must be wearing enchanted vambraces under his sleeves like Kendra did.

Ethan heaved himself up from the deck just as the possessed man stepped forward and aimed a punch at Kendra’s center of mass. The dragon huntress dropped her sword and managed to intercept his punch with one of her hands, catching it with her palm. It did nothing to slow the punch down, but Kendra apparently used her arm like a shock absorber as she threw herself backwards. She was thrown bodily several yards, though thankfully not over the side and she hit the deck and rolled into a crouching position.

Ethan attacked again, this time with his hammer.

However, the possessed man simply caught the war hammer’s shaft and wrenched it out of Ethan’s hands. He threw it over the side of the Argo, that malevolent and anticipatory smile widening.

That’s when Beth tried.

Ethan could see the royal blue outline of her Astral Plane form as the blonde wound up her finger to try and poke the man’s eye out.

She never got a chance.

The possessed man obviously saw that attack coming. Ethan would’ve never been able to see the following split-second pause in the man’s counterattack if he didn’t have enhanced reflexes. The possessed man seemed to pause for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly in concentration. Then he snapped his arm out and hit Beth’s incoming forearm with a knife-hand chop at incredible speed.

Beth’s arm broke.

The blonde’s forearm bent at an unnatural angle and Ethan could almost hear a ‘crack’ from the captain’s cabin where her body was lying. The blonde let out a silent scream that couldn’t be heard except on the Astral Plane and fell to the deck cradling her arm. He was pretty sure Tee would start healing it instantly, but it still made his blood boil.

The possessed man laughed.

He laughed like someone had just told him a great joke, only there was a disturbing cadence to his laugh that made Ethan shudder.

He was enjoying this; reveling in it.

Ethan growled.

His sword hadn’t worked and his hammer hadn’t worked, it was time for his last weapon. He snatched his dagger from his belt and was about to attack when he remembered something that Serif had constantly beat into his brain during training: a single precisely calculated attack on a well-analyzed opponent was worth a thousand thoughtless attacks. His blood boiled at the sight of two of his wives so injured, but if they were going to survive this, he needed to be smart.

Analysis.

He triggered his enhanced reflexes to their highest possible degree to give him time to think. Luckily, his opponent was still laughing.

Primary opponent: one demon-possessed man, approximately five feet ten inches, approximate weight, 200 pounds. Primary advantages: speed, strength, high damage resistance, and leather armor on his upper torso and forearms. Weapons: none. Weaknesses: none.

Well, not none.

Alana’s arrow had pierced through the fleshy part of his hand and Ethan had previously cut fleshy parts as well. That was something; that was where he needed to target his attacks. Avoid cuts at bone, though his javelin might be able to pierce bone with enough force at the right angle. That meant the neck, stomach, and groin were the primary targets.

Biggest obstacle: speed. As long as the possessed man could move that fast, he would be nearly impossible to hit effectively. That meant that Ethan needed to incapacitate enough muscles to slow him down. That would be harder without his war sword, but perhaps not impossible. The trouble was that the possessed man was fast enough to block most attacks, though...

Ethan looked at his dagger.

He had barely used it in javelin mode before but it occurred to him that the extremely lightweight tip would be incredibly fast to move. It was almost like a short rapier because it was so light. That was something. If he used it in javelin mode, perhaps he could thrust effectively with the point. He settled on that plan and activated the javelin, switching to a spear stance since there were only about two feet in front of the grip portion.

The possessed man watched him, his posture still relaxed and unafraid.

Ethan stepped forward as Kendra got ready to as well.

^∗Kendra, hold back for now and see if you can help Rachel.^∗ He thought to everyone.

^∗Yes Drago.^∗ The dragon huntress shifted to move laterally around the possessed man.

“Do heal her.” He grinned maliciously. “It’s always better when they’re conscious before the end.”

Ethan took a measured step forward and then thrust out with the tip of his extended javelin. The possessed man tried to bat it out of the way, but Ethan circled the tip around his block, the leverage of the long-ish shaft meaning that even the demon couldn’t quite move fast enough to stop it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t matter.

Ethan was able to thrust into the possessed man’s stomach, but the man simply pushed himself forward, impaling himself deeper and catching the shaft. Ethan tried to jerk it back out, but the possessed man was too quick. He grabbed the shaft and then pulled it out of himself. Notably, the wound didn’t appear to be bleeding. He jerked the javelin out of Ethan’s hand and threw it over the side of the Argo.

Ethan jumped backwards to think.

He had exactly two weapons left that he hadn’t tried, but he couldn’t use Aharown except while on the Astral Plane. He was really starting to wonder why the hell Gabriella had given him that sword if the damn thing was useless in a fight with demons. Maybe he could use it to save Sarah? If that was all it did -- and he was beginning to suspect that was the case -- he would be okay with that.

He turned his attention back to the fight, trying to figure out how to use his most powerful weapon: grenades. Obviously throwing them was out because he couldn’t predict where it would end up if the man batted one aside. He considered ‘cooking’ a grenade so it exploded just as it arrived, but that was fraught with issues too. His timing would have to be perfect or it might be deflected and hurt one of his wives, or else explode in his hand. No, the grenade needed to be held against the possessed man until it went off. That led him to one inescapable conclusion about what he needed to do.

Ethan swallowed, then thought to Kendra privately. ^∗Can a dragon regrow limbs like some lizards can?^∗

^∗Yes, but why--^∗ The dragon huntress’s eyes widened. “Drago, you can’t.”

He fished a grenade out of the grenade satchel and switched it over to his left hand; his non-dominant hand. ^∗I don’t think I have a better option.^∗

The possessed man started forward again, completely ignoring the grenade in Ethan’s hand. Thank God for small favors. Ethan wondered for a moment if he should take that literally before the possessed man reached out and grabbed Ethan’s arm.

“And now, we paralyze you.” He moved so incredibly fast.

He kicked Ethan’s legs out from under him so that he ended up on his knees, the possessed man put a hand on Ethan’s neck. Ethan reached out with his left arm holding the grenade and activated it.

Five seconds.

Ethan pushed it up against the possessed man’s stomach just under his leather armor. In a moment of what he thought was brilliance, he dropped the leather shield off of his left arm and summoned it to his right, placed that between himself and the grenade, and pushed for all he was worth, like he was trying to push the possessed man away.

Four seconds.

The possessed man moved his upper torso incredibly quickly and avoided another arrow that sailed through the space that his head had just occupied. Then he looked into Ethan’s eyes and started squeezing his neck.

“She’s first.” The possessed man grinned wickedly.

Three seconds.

Ethan didn’t dare give even the tiniest quip or smile to reveal what was about to happen in case the man got an inkling of what was up against his stomach. He still struggled for all he was worth, not wanting the possessed man to realize what was going on until it was too late.

Two seconds.

The possessed man brought his other hand onto Ethan’s neck and he could tell that he was about to have his neck snapped low enough that he would live, but not be able to move. It wasn’t enough time!

He cried out in desperation, letting every last bit of desperation he felt into his voice and hoping to buy those precious few moments he needed. “No! Please don’t!”

One second.

The possessed man grinned. “I love when they beg for--”

BOOM!!!

The world instantly went black.

Fiona took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking. “I’m saying that I’m not wanting a dress that fancy; why is that so hard for you to be understanding?”

The seamstress did what she’d done the last couple times Fiona had said something similar; she waved her hand dismissively. “You simply don’t know how a proper lady should dress for her wedding. I’ve made dresses for all the most prominent ladies in Karnas; once they see what I design, they never turn it down.”

Fiona took a moment to look around the extravagant guest room in the castle at Karnas where she would stay until her wedding the following evening. Afterwards, her new permanent home would be in Lord Delmar’s room. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t both nervous and looking forward to that at the same time.

But that was tomorrow. Today, she had a meddlesome seamstress to deal with. “Are you finished taking my measurements?”

“Ages ago.” The seamstress said dismissively as she looked between two fabrics. One was woven with gold thread in it and the other with silver. Fiona was pretty sure both were made from the metals themselves.

“Then I’m afraid I’ll be asking you to leave the measurements and the room.” The future First Lady said firmly.

“I’m not done yet.” The seamstress said dismissively as she picked up a jewel-encrusted broach.

“Yes, you are done.” Fiona said firmly. “And you’ll be leaving since you aren’t listening.”

The seamstress looked like she’d been slapped.

Fiona walked to the door and opened it. “You’ll either be leaving now or I’ll be having the guards escort you out.”

The two guards outside the door turned slightly to look and put their non-sword hands on the pommels of their swords, sending a clear message. Fiona stepped out of the way, holding the door open and indicating yet again that she should leave. The seamstress huffed, held her head high -- or more accurately held her nose in the air -- and strutted out muttering unkind things about Fiona’s fashion sense. The seamstress’s half-dozen attendants rushed to pick up everything and follow her.

“Hold a moment.” Fiona stopped one of the seamstress’s apprentices as she was about to leave, the last one in the line. “I saw you helping to keep my son entertained.”

Nurse Belcosta was in the room keeping Conner occupied, and this particular apprentice seamstress had gone out of her way to make him giggle. That of course endeared her to Fiona, but it had also earned her a sharp rebuke from the seamstress that Fiona had just evicted.

“I’m sorry my lady.” The apprentice seamstress said, not meeting her eye.

“There’s nothing that you should be feeling sorry about.” Fiona smiled kindly. “I was loving to see that. Now, are you understanding what I was wanting in a dress?”

“I think so my lady.” The girl nodded. She looked to be about fourteen, perhaps fifteen at the oldest.

“Could you be telling me?”

“I think you want a dress that any young bride in Narlotten might wear.” The girl smiled. “It sounded like you wanted the girls of Narlotten to be able to get married in a dress that was as fine as their First Lady’s dress.” She paused. “I think that’s really sweet.”

“I’m glad you’re liking it.” Fiona smiled. “Now, could you be making me such a dress?”

“Um, not by myself, not by tomorrow night.” The girl grimaced. “There’s too much cutting and sewing for one person.”

“Are you knowing enough seamstresses to be doing the work by then? Maybe friends you have, or perhaps that woman’s--” she glanced in the direction of the recently ejected seamstress. “--other apprentices?”

The girl nodded vigorously.

Fiona looked at one of the guards. “This young woman will lead you to some women I’ll be needing for my wedding; can you be confirming that I’m needing them in case anyone is doubting?”

“Yes my lady.” The guard said with a head bow.

Fiona looked at the girl. “Can you be starting right away?”

“I can.” The girl beamed. “I shall return soon so you can pick the design.”

Fiona hesitated a moment. The girl had asked the seamstress about a few options, all of which had been much closer to what Fiona herself would’ve chosen. She clearly had an artistic eye and Fiona had a hunch.

“I’m not thinking that’ll be necessary; you have my measurements, yes?”

The girl nodded.

Fiona hesitated only a moment before deciding to trust her hunch. “Then you be picking the design; pick something that any bride in Narlotten would be wanting to wear, except it should be in blue of course.”

It was a longstanding tradition in the Ten Kingdoms that widows who remarried would wear blue. Virgin brides wore white of course, but blue was also associated with purity, though of a different kind. A widow obviously wasn’t a virgin, but that wasn’t meaning that one couldn’t be pure if she had been faithful to her husband, and Fiona obviously had been. Blue wedding dresses for widows recognized that purity of another kind by longstanding tradition.

The girl stared at Fiona.

“You’re wasting time.” The bride said with a smile after a few moments.

“That’s ... I can’t pick your wedding dress.” The girl finally said.

“And why not?” Fiona asked. “You’re seeming like a girl with good sense and you’re having a good idea of what I’m wanting.”

“Can you at least approve the design we pick?”

“Of course.” Fiona smiled, noting that the girl had said ‘we’ instead of ‘I’; it sounded like she wasn’t averse to getting other people’s opinions.

The girl nearly squealed in delight. “You won’t be sorry, I promise!”

“I’m not thinking I will.” Her smiled widened. “Now, what’s your name?”

“Glese, my lady.” She curtsied.

“Well, I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you’re coming up with Glese.” Fiona smiled at her.

“Me too!” The girl beamed and then scurried off, the guard having to jog to keep up with her.

Fiona chuckled.

“That was rather trusting.” Nurse Belcosta pointed out.

“I’m knowing that, but I was also having a feeling.” Fiona wasn’t sure why, but she thought that Glese could do it and wanted to give her the chance.

Kendra’s ears were ringing and she felt slightly disoriented from the grenade having gone off so close to her. She staggered on the spot, fighting to keep her balance with her ears so off-kilter. It took her several seconds, but she managed to stay standing through sheer force of will and then survey the scene.

The good news: the demon-possessed man was down. He was still moving, but he was down. The grenade appeared to have blown off most of the fleshy bits from the bottom of his ribcage to almost clear down to his knees. If it was anyone or anything else, except possibly a Drago, it probably would’ve blown him in half. Certainly, nothing natural was keeping him alive.

Her beloved husband was also down and unmoving. His left arm ended in a bloody stump a few inches before his wrist, but he was alive. She could see the slow rise and fall of his chest, though his breathing was labored. The stump of his arm was bleeding, but not as much as you might expect from such a large wound thanks to his dragon biology. His dragon-leather vambrace was nowhere to be seen. It had probably been blown off, though it clearly had prevented his entire forearm from being lost. Ethan putting his shield in between himself and the grenade had saved his life.