《Tainted Bloodline》


 Ill Met By Moonlight

    Ill Met by Moonlight


    As dusk descended, Kori set off through the suffocating forest. Her task was clear, even if her path was not. She had to find a lost little boy and bring him safely home. She had the unique ability, so she also had the duty. She was only the apprentice to the local wise woman, but she was the one with superior senses and strength. Madeleine, the wise woman herself, could not hope to find a child in the forest at night. Only Kori could do that.


    The night closed in around her, a smothering shroud of darkness. With her keen eyes, she could still see. She hummed a Dark Forest marching song to herself, for that usually helped to lift her spirits. Kori liked the forest, the scent of the earth and the smell of the leaves. This would be like another trip gathering herbs and mistletoe and then when she brought little Gabi back to his parents, everyone would love her.


    But then she heard a sound to make her blood run cold¡­ Horribly, unmistakably, there came the sound of howling through the trees, still far off¡­ the voices of wolves! She quickened her pace, her heart beating a tattoo of near panic in her chest. To her agitated mind the trees seemed to claw at her with skeletal black fingers, dragging at her robes and hair.


    She called out: "Gabi! Gabi! Where are you? Gabi, please? GABI!" Suddenly the adrenaline rush of panic was replaced by a desperate hope. She could hear a whimpering nearby. That had to be him. She skipped lightly over the protruding tree roots as she changed direction to follow the sound. The Moon arose, nearly full, casting its silvery light through the branches above. Kori emerged into a clearing almost ankle deep in fallen leaves and there sitting in the middle was a fair child. It was Gabi, she recognised him from when his mother had brought him to Madeleine to cure his chest cold.


    "Gabi!" Kori struggled to smile and make herself seem calm as she ran up and knelt down in the leaves beside him. "Gabi, are you hurt?"


    He looked up at her. "I rec''gnise you. You''re Kori. You live with the wise woman. I don''t need med''cine."


    Kori laid her hands on his shoulders, smiling at him. "That''s right, dear. But now I need you to come with me, Okay? Your mother''s worried sick and everyone misses you. If you come home, I can give you a special treat. How about a toy?"


    "What sort?"


    She smiled more broadly. "It''s a surprise. You''ll have to come with me and see."


    "Oh. Alright then." He stood up and she took his hand in hers. But now the howling was growing louder and Kori felt sick with apprehension, her heart thudded in her chest and the sour taste of fear was in her mouth. Her other hand closed on the hilt of the sharp Runeknife strapped to her belt. Now she saw them, a dozen blazing-red eyes smouldering like coals, watching them both from the darkness that surrounded the clearing.


    Growling, the wolves slunk into the moonlight. The beasts had a lean, hungry look, their grey pelts scabrous and patchy, their ear-tips pressed low against their skulls, lips curling back from yellowed, slavering fangs. Gabi gave a little cry and shrank closer to Kori who glanced frantically around ¨C they were surrounded. She unsheathed her Runeknife, the blade shining as it slid from its oiled leather scabbard. She had never had to use it as an offensive weapon before. Her heart sank like a stone. It was not only her life on the line, but Gabi''s too. She couldn''t fight the entire pack. She would fail to rescue him.


    There was a snarl more menacing and blood-chilling than any she had yet heard this dreadful night and the wolves halted as one. With an icy surge of terror, Kori saw another wolf push through the pack. It was caught for a moment in the ethereal light of the moon¡­ Kori had never seen its like before.


    The creature was huge, a monstrous beast twice the size of any of its fellows. Its pelt was utterly black except for one long streak of grey running all the way down its back. The look of evil intent in its eyes was something wholly unnatural for any beast ¨C the wolf''s gaze had a human intensity... It gave a bloodcurdling growl and Kori could bear it no longer. The panic rising in her breast burst forth and she gave a terrible shriek, an ear rending sound she had never known she was capable of. A scream that was not human. Gabi looked up at her, his little face white and startled. The wolves yelped and edged back, all except the great wolf which sprang forward. Time seemed to slow down. As the wolf leapt Kori brought her Runeknife round in an arc, swiping hard at the beast''s front paw. The sharp blade bit through bone and sinew and the wolf gave a howl of pain as its leg was sliced clean in half. It landed on the leafy floor of the clearing, gave a strangled yowl and then turned and fled. The rest of the pack went skulking after their leader.


    Gabi stared at her in wonder. "You screamed so loud. How?"


    Kori shook her head, feeling a bit nauseous. "I-I don''t know, dear. I''ve never done it before."


    "Was it your magic? You look more magic than the wise woman, your face and hands are all green."


    Kori touched her cheek. "I''m green all over, not just my face and hands. I''m not a normal girl and that must have something to do with it. But are you alright?"


    Gabi pouted. "Yes. Are the wolves gone? I want to go home."The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Yes, Gabi, they''re gone." Kori fervently hoped they would stay gone. "I''m taking you home now. Wait¡­"


    Kori caught sight of something glinting in the moonlight. She grimaced as she looked down at the severed paw of the great wolf. There was a ring of shining metal attached to it. How strange. But now was not the time to examine it. She gritted her teeth and knelt down, wrapping the bloodied object in a rag and stowing it carefully in her bag. She picked Gabi up and carried him as she hurried through the trees in the most direct route to Madeleine''s cottage, dreading to hear the sound of wolves again.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Once in sight of the village, Kori''s hammering heart slowed and she felt calmer.


    "Nearly there, dear."


    "Can you do that scream again? It was weird."


    She wrinkled her nose at him. "I''ll say it was weird. I don''t think I can be so weird again."


    They were in sight of the stone cottage complete with sagging thatched roof. Kori set Gabi down and then taking him by the hand, led him up to the iron bound oak door. She could hear voices inside the cottage. One was Madeleine, the other was her uncle! Her face split in a wide grin. "Oh Gabi what luck! My uncle Rudolph is visiting."


    "That''s good?"


    "I look forward to his visits more than anything. It''s been far too long already. My uncle is one of the nobility."


    She called out in her strident voice and heard the grate of bolts being pulled back. The door opened and her uncle stood on the threshold, his dark eyes crinkled in a smile.


    Kori threw her arms around him, smelling the comforting scents of his hair and clothes. He had spent time in the forest, she could tell. His bushy black heard was getting in her eyes. She looked up. "Uncle¡­ By the gods, it''s been too long."


    "Welcome back, my brave girl. I knew you''d succeed."


    Gabi piped up: "Kori scared away the wolves, my good sir. She can scream really loudly."


    Rudolph''s eyes widened. "What is this?"


    "We were attacked by wolves in the forest and only just got away. Uncle, there''s something I must show you¡­"


    Rudolph led them into the main room where Madeleine was stirring a cauldron full of shimmering blue liquid. She glanced up and seeing Gabi with them, gave Kori one of her rare smiles. "Good Kori, I''m pleased."


    Rudolph drew the bolts across the door and then turned to glare at Madeleine. "What were you thinking woman? Sending her out with wolves prowling around?"


    Madeleine frowned at him. "What do you mean?"


    Kori dumped her bag on the table and tipped out the grisly trophy, still wrapped in rags. She gingerly took hold of the rags and pulled them away. And when she saw the severed paw horror twisted her heart in its chilling grip and she gave a start and a little scream. Rudolph let out a vehement exclamation.


    "What is it? I want to see?" clamoured Gabi, standing on tiptoe.


    What lay on the table was a gnarled, black furred claw, somewhere between a human hand and a wolf''s paw. Even as Kori stared at it, it seemed to become more human and less animal in form.


    Madeleine spoke up, her voice trembling. "This is an evil thing and should be destroyed. Throw it into the fire and be done with it."


    "It has that ring on the middle finger," whispered Kori.


    Rudolph picked up the claw. It was now almost completely human except that it sported long and hardened claw-like nails. He removed the silver ring from the finger and then hurled the transformed hand into the fire where it blackened and burned, the flesh crisping and crackling in the hungry flames.


    "Eugh! It turned into a hand." Gabi wrinkled his nose in disgust. "But it was a wolf."


    "A werewolf." Rudolph sounded uncharacteristically grave. "And you killed it, Kori?"


    Kori shook her head. "No uncle, only cut off its paw. I had to protect Gabi. Just to think¡­ a werewolf¡­"


    "Neither of you were bitten, were you Kori?" Madeleine sounded very anxious.


    Kori shook her head again.


    Gabi giggled. "Kori screamed at the wolves and made them run away. I like her."


    Rudolph nodded approvingly. "You''re a bright young lad. And this Madeleine, proves what I''ve been saying."


    "Not in front of the children," snapped Madeline. "Kori dear, take Gabi into the back. Your uncle and I will have words."


    "Come, Gabi, let''s look at my toys." Kori led Gabi into her own tiny bedroom. Among the books and bottles and vials there sat a wooden soldier doll. He had been a gift from her uncle long ago and Kori felt that he was a piece of Rudolph that always stayed with her. She picked him up and smiled and then placing him carefully back in position, she rummaged through her boxes, finding an invention of her own. An all purpose toy she had created, hoping that Madeleine would agree to giving them out to the village children. Now it looked like a bright pink blob, but it could take any form in her hands.


    She showed it to Gabi and moulded it in her hands so that it assumed the shape of a bird. "There Gabi, how''s that for a pretty pink chaffinch?"


    "Do a wolf!"


    "Oh Gabi, haven''t you had enough wolves for one night?"


    "Do a wolf!"


    As they played, Kori''s special hearing could not help but receive the conversation in the other room. She smiled to hear her uncle''s voice: "I''ve told you, my gel, Kori is a fine, brave young lady. Look what she''s done tonight. She deserves to be provided for as befits one of her noble station ¨C at the castle. When I tell them, they''ll have to agree."


    "Your brother does not deserve the mortification that will come from having been forced to sire a child like her ¨C against his will! Think man! He''s never had to clap eyes on her before now."


    "My brother is dead now. He''s gone where none of this can hurt him and she is my blood too." Kori''s heart stood still when she heard those words. Her father dead... The pink blob, already in a semi-lupine form, slid through her fingers onto the floor.


    "Kori, what y''doing?" Gabi was peeved but Kori stood numbly, unable to help but hear Madeleine''s next words.


    "Then what of his lady wife and legitimate daughter? How will they receive the child conceived when he was abducted and raped?"


    "His lady wife would improve upon the application of a little mortification. And as for Erika¡­ my other favourite niece would like to have a sister like Kori, I feel sure."


    Gabi tugged at Kori''s arm. "Are you listening?"


    But then, as Kori stood motionless in shock, there came the chilling sound of howling from outside.


    Gabi covered his face with his hands. "The wolves can''t get in here. They can''t, can they Kori?"


    Then there came a snuffling from outside, around the perimeter of the cottage. The wolf pack had them surrounded and were seeking a way in!


    And then there came a heavy knocking at the front door and the sound of a creepy voice: "Little pigs, little pigs, let me in!" It was the voice of a man with an accent Kori did not recognise.


    Exclamations from Madeleine and Rudolph in the other room.


    The creepy man''s voice rose to a roar: "Open the door, wretched swine! My brothers and I have come to dine! On you!"

 Royal Meetings

    Royal Meetings


    There came the sound of a terrible crashing on the front door followed by the shattering of Kori''s tiny bedroom window above.


    The snapping jaws of a wolf poked through.


    "Scream, Kori," urged Gabi, getting behind her.


    Kori tried screaming, but the otherworldly shriek she had managed earlier did not come so she leapt at window, slashing with her Runeknife. There was a yelp and the stench of animal blood and the wolf fell away from the window and Kori saw the werewolf, now in human form, standing outside. He was a wild looking man, dressed in only a shirt and torn britches, his black, tousled hair with a grey streak down the middle hanging down around his shoulders like a mane. Around him the wolves circled in the moonlight. He fixed her with a piercing red-eyed stare and a hungry smile spread across his bloodstained lips, revealing protruding canine teeth. She caught sight of the stump where his left hand should be...


    "Revenge will be mine now you''ve hacked off my limb, mongrel bitch!" he giggled, licking his lips and then he stalked towards the window. Kori leapt away and gathered a protesting Gabi into her arms, then sprinted into the front room to Rudolph and Madeleine. He had his sword unsheathed and she was holding up a handful of red glittering fire powder and wearing a look of grim determination.


    "They''re at my window," cried Kori, "It''s the werewolf from the forest!"


    But they were no longer at her window. There came a series of resounding crashes on the door and a crack appeared down the middle of it. Rudolph stood to one side of the sagging door and Madeleine on the other. The crack widened and Kori quickly set Gabi down and stood in front of him. The door gave way and there was pandemonium. Madeleine cast her red powder at the wolves and there was a searing flash, howling and the smell of burned fur. Rudolph swung his sword chopping at the wolves that attempted to cross the threshold. Kori started forward with her Runeknife ready to strike, but she was too late; the four wolves that had tried to force entry were all dead, burned or chopped to pieces, lying strewn over the threshold and the path outside. The werewolf was nowhere to be seen.


    Madeleine swept past Kori to check the bedroom. "None here."


    Gabi had his hands over his eyes. "Now are the wolves dead?"


    Rudolph shook his head. "No youngster, two more have fled along with their leader."


    Kori gazed at her uncle who was breathing heavily, his blade stained with hot wolf blood. She sheathed her Runeknife. "Uncle¡­" she felt her bottom lip trembling and there were tears in her eyes, "I''m sorry, but I overheard you and Madeleine¡­"


    He put an arm around her and she put both arms around him, burying her face in his leather jerkin and breaking down in sobs.


    Gabi crept up to her and patted her back. "Don''t be sad, Kori. You can still catch that old werewolf."


    Kori couldn''t reply to that for she was crying hard. Her uncle stroked her hair and ponytail. "I know you wanted him to accept you, dear niece. But this world is imperfect and we have to make the best of it. I''m proud of you. Now we must stop the werewolf before he attacks anyone."


    He was absolutely right. Kori stifled her sobs and gazed up at him through a veil of tears, nodding.


    Madeleine returned to the main room and Rudolph pointed at her. "Maddie, stay with the boy. Kori and I are going to stop that monster once and for all. Kori, we need you to keep those ears of yours sharp."


    Kori slipped her arm in his and took out her Runeknife again and together they set out into the night. It was not hard to mark the wolves'' passing back to the fringes of the forest. Uncle and niece soon found themselves descending a path at a run, the trail strewn with exposed roots which Kori skipped lightly over, but which caused Rudolph to stumble a little. Kori could hear distant yelps and howls from the remaining wolves, but then she suddenly became aware of a peril nearby.


    "Uncle stop! He''s there." Kori could see a shape move in the darkness between the trees and pointed her blade at it. Rudolph did the same. The werewolf emerged from the gloom. It was still shaped like a man, but covered with coarse black fur and had the unmistakable snout and arrow-tip ears of a wolf. It launched itself at them, snarling and showing its bloodied fangs and Kori slashed at it wildly, but it was her uncle''s blade that hit home with deadly accuracy, entering the beast''s chest, sinking up to the hilt until the tip emerged from its back. The monster expired, issuing one last howl as its limp body slid off the blade.


    The werewolf lay dead at their feet. Kori breathed hard, trying to steady herself, her heart thudding in her chest. "I''m glad it turned back into a beast at the end. I couldn''t bear to see a man die. Dear uncle, is it over?"


    "I fear it is not, Kori. I have reason to believe that he was not the only werewolf. Come, let''s get back."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Back in the cottage, the four of them sat around the table in the main room. Rudolph slapped the werewolf''s ring onto the tabletop. "This is not silver. Werecreatures cannot stand the touch of silver. This metal is much rarer. It comes from only one place ¨C in the mountains far away to the east."


    Gabi looked unimpressed, his little legs swinging as he sat on one of the wooden chairs. "Huh, looks like silver."


    On close inspection, Kori could see the metal had an icy white sheen, not like silver after all. She''d read about this metal. "It is in fact platinum."


    "Correct." Rudolph smiled through his beard. "And the symbol of a howling wolf head against a full moon is the symbol of a cult from the east. Rumours of them have already reached my ears. My sources say the cultists somehow managed to summon a demon from the infernal pit and we have witnessed tonight how it has transformed each one of them. The other werewolves are coming and the rulers of our realm must be prepared. Kori, we must go to Gruenwald Keep and warn them. After your heroism they must give you some semblance of the birthright you are due¡­"


    Madeleine got to her feet. She was glaring at Rudolph. Her blue eyes were so expressive when she was angry. "I don''t see Kori taking her place in some lord''s fancy household. I know this. She is my apprentice and I have taken care of her for her entire life after I was the one who retrieved her. Had you forgotten, my Lord?"You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Gabi tutted. "Don''t you want her to be made a lady of?"


    Kori laughed. "Honestly, Gabi, I won''t become a lady."


    Madeleine was about to make a retort, but Rudolph held up a hand to forestall her. "You assume too much, gel. It need not be all the time. Kori, I can ask that they let you stay at the castle for part of the year. We can decide how long. Maybe two or three months each year. You can continue as Maddie''s apprentice the rest of the year. What do you think, dear one? Will you come with me to visit that most sophisticated of societies? Meet our scattered relatives? Be united with Erika, your sister? The choice is all yours."


    Kori gazed back at him wide eyes, emotions swelling inside her. "Come with you, dear uncle instead of waiting an age for your next visit? Finally be with my sister? Of course I want these things, when do we start?" She beamed at Maddie. "Isn''t this great?"


    Madeleine folded her arms. "You''ll fall behind in your studies with me."


    Kori was taken aback by her cool tone. "I''ll work twice as hard when I get back, I really will and I''ll write often. Please, Madeleine¡­" she bit her lip. "I''ve got to see my sister. I never got to see my father¡­"


    Rudolph laid a hand on his niece''s shoulder. "Just be happy for her, Maddie. That''s all she''s asking. We''re not stealing her away."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori and Rudolph escorted Gabi home that evening and then made preparations to leave for the castle. Madeleine was not enthusiastic. Indeed, she seemed to comply grudgingly. The next day they set off on Rudolph''s horse, beginning the long journey to Castle Gruenwald, resting each night at different wayside inns. On the second night, they stopped at an inn on the edge of Gruenwald. Rudolph arranged for a message to be sent on to the Regent at the castle, after which they had a basic meal of meat and vegetables with a pot of table ale, all costing one silver piece.


    "The Regent will be happy to receive you Kori, be sure of that," said Rudolph as he poured out the ale. "I''ve been telling him for a long time that you should be welcomed as one of the nobility. His welcome is all you need. Then it matters not if others don''t."


    "Might the rest be reluctant to welcome a demon-girl?" asked Kori with a wry smile.


    "No reasonable person should hold your heritage against you. But your father''s lady wife, the lady Brunhilde, will never forget the time when my brother was abducted and raped by a lesser demon. The demon returned him afterwards and indeed, she confessed to everything, but for one night Brunhilde had no idea where her husband had gone or what had happened. She will never forget that..."


    "Indeed, she should not," said Kori earnestly, her eyes wide. "It must have been terrifying for them both. But she was always there to comfort father, wasn''t she? And she never had that fool idea that some hold, that a man cannot be raped?"


    "No, no, Brunhilde is not such a fool as that."


    "Well then, we should get on well."


    "Ahh..." Rudolph stroked his beard. "Brunhilde knows you are not demon-raised, Kori, but you were demon-born..."


    "The lesser demon is not my true mother, Madeleine is," said Kori flatly.


    "And a wonderful job she has done by you too," said Rudolph nodding.


    That night, after Rudolph had fallen asleep, Kori could not sleep. She knelt on her bed in their shared room and gazed out of the window into the starry night, deep in thought. A new chapter in her life was beginning.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The next day, Kori and her uncle rode together through the gentle green countryside that was so lush and fertile it made Gruenwald the wealthiest part of the Dark Forest principality. Close to the castle were a number of small towns designed to cater to the nobility traveling to court. The track joined the main road and Rudolph led the way through the main gates. The walls were an impressive height. Kori glanced around the paved courtyard, thrilled. "It''s all so big, uncle. There''s nothing so grand in the village. Nothing like it at all."


    "Your life just got more exciting, Kori."


    The stable lads attended their horses. Two of them had their heads together muttering a conversation that was not intended for Kori''s ears, but she could hear it anyway:


    "The green girl has slain a werewolf. But she''s a noble."


    "Dressed like that?"


    They turned to stare wide eyed. Kori smiled at them.


    Her uncle took her by the hand and they made their way through the high double doors into the main entrance hall. Once again, Kori stared wide eyed, this time at a rich tapestry depicting the history of the Dark Forest. She had seen an oil painting at the village marketplace once before and been impressed by it, but compared to this, it may as well have been a stick drawing in the dirt. They ascended a grand, ornately carved stone staircase that arose to a balcony and another set of double doors, into a much smaller, walnut-panelled antechamber. Kori trembled with anticipation. Hermann, the regent had requested an audience as soon as they arrived. Rudolph put his arms around her and she hugged him back, feeling the need to steady herself.


    "You''ll do fine, Kori." Her uncle whispered. "There''s nothing to worry about. The regent is a decent man. I''ve told him a lot about you already."


    "Thank you," murmured Kori, wanting the hug to last as long as possible as she tried to soak up succour.


    A green liveried servant entered through a walnut-panelled door and bowed to them. "The regent will see you now lord, lady."


    This was it. Kori kept going over everything her uncle had told her about the Regent and the proper etiquette for meeting him. They left the antechamber through a walnut-panelled door and down a mahogany-panelled corridor festooned with velvet drapes, the spaces between hung with the portraits of the Reingolds, the ruling house of the Dark Forest. After that they went up a magnificently carved wooden staircase, covered with a rich claret carpet, that led to another set of double doors. The family crest of the house of Reingold was carved across both.


    Rudolph threw open the doors and strode boldly through, Kori trotting behind him.


    The chamber beyond was an example of opulent splendour. Fine tapestries bedecked the walls, antique rugs covered the floor, all lit by light splitting crystal chandeliers. Framed by a tall window directly in front of them there stood an ornately carved chair, throne-like in its magnificence. Sitting on the chair was a ruggedly handsome man Kori recognised from the portrait gallery. Lord Hermann, the regent, a man with ruddy hair and a well-kept red beard. He was wearing an unbuttoned jacket, exposing a ruffled shirt beneath and fine black trews and knee-length boots.


    Kori and her uncle kneeled before him.


    "Arise Lord Sommernacht, Lady Korina."


    They stood, Kori feeling very self-conscious as the regent gazed intently at her with those piercing green eyes. "I see what you mean Rudolph," he said in a less formal tone. "The resemblance is striking."


    "This is what I''ve always told you, Hermann." Rudolph sounded amused. "Yes, Korina has a green face, but the resemblance to Erika with regards to their features is clearly there."


    The regent nodded. "Lady Korina, to acknowledge your recent act of heroism, and having received nothing but good reports of you from your uncle, I welcome you to Castle Gruenwald. How does that please you?"


    Kori thought of the sister she would finally get to meet. "It pleases me more than anything, my Liege. I''m so grateful to you."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Later when Kori had dined, been washed and then clothed in the current court fashion, the time for Rudolph to introduce her to her father''s lady wife and legitimate daughter was finally at hand.


    "Well look at you, you clean up so well, dear niece," said Rudolph winking at her. "My two best nieces are the prettiest young girls in the place."


    Kori giggled. Happiness bubbled inside her like champagne. Her long hair now hung loose and she brushed it away from her face with one hand. "My dear Rudolph, everything is so new. I''ve never bathed in a marble tub before." She grinned as she stroked the midnight blue velvet of her dress sleeves. "It''s all just so grand. My sister is ready to see me?"


    Rudolph nodded. "Now I''ve warned you Kori, Lady Brunhilde, was not happy about your coming to court. The regent has decreed it though and she cannot protest. But be mindful."


    Kori nodded. Her uncle had spoken of this before. Well Kori could completely understand that her existence troubled Brunhilde, given how she had been conceived, but she would prove her good will. She wanted to grow to love her father''s lady wife and the mother of her sister.


    Her uncle took her by the hand.


    "Come, it is time."

 New Family

    <u>New Family</u>


    Rudolph led Kori down a marble corridor. "The lady''s wing is here."


    They entered a sumptuously decorated chamber and Kori saw Erika and her mother for the first time as they rose to greet them.


    "Here we are, ladies!" Rudolph waved a hand in greeting. "Erika, here is your sister."


    "Well met, sister." Erika beamed, her soft brown eyes seemed to shine. Kori gazed at her sister, for the moment unable to speak. She thought her sister was someone she could not look away from. Not only was she exceptionally beautiful, a refreshing sight to see, with night dark-hair and delicate features, but it was her air of serenity that took Kori''s breath away. She stood with such a relaxed posture, a small smile playing around her exquisite lips. And her voice was so soft and rich, with a quality one rarely heard in the voice of a girl, like velvet. She had an aura as it were of unbreakable calm¡­ She tried to open her mouth to say something, but could only stammer.


    For one brief moment, her mother gave a small frown. "Good day, Korina." Brunhilde was as fair as her daughter was dark. Her blue eyes were fixed on Kori''s face and she did not look pleased. Both she and Erika were in mourning clothes. Kori felt a twinge of unease. Was it considerate of her to appear in their lives at a time like this? Shouldn''t she have asked her uncle this question?


    Rudolph put a hand on Kori''s shoulder. "As you can see, my brother was responsible for two exceptionally fine daughters, not just one. Come on, Brunhilde, can''t you see the resemblance? Kori''s big, brown eyes are so like his and her features, her midnight black hair, they characterise everyone of our line. And her dark green skin aside, she does resemble her sister."


    Brunhilde drew her patrician features into a scowl. "Why don''t you let Korina speak for herself, Rudolph? You always say that she has learned good enough manners."


    Erika gazed at Kori intently. "Sister, do you prefer Korina or Kori?"


    Kori found her voice. "Kori. T-Thank you." She whispered.


    "Well for the time being, I''m going to have to leave the three of you to get better acquainted, but watch for me before the week is out."


    Kori felt a bit alarmed and her heart began to beat faster. She hadn''t realised he was leaving so soon.


    "Travel safe uncle." Erika hugged her uncle while Brunhild folded her arms. Then Kori hugged him. She didn''t want to let him go.


    "Good luck, Kori," he whispered very softly in her ear so she was certainly the only one who heard.


    When he was gone Erika moved to stand beside her sister.


    "Now Korina," began Brunhilde coolly. "I understand there are aspects of your education that have been neglected for too long."


    Kori thought that was unfair; Madeleine had given her a thorough education. Since she was very small she had learned the craft of a wise-woman, starting by stamping out the pills, progressing to brewing spells and potions and tending to the sick and wounded and more recently she had assisted Madeleine in delivering babies in the village.


    "Sorry, but I don''t think so. I want to be a healer and I''ve been learning the trade well."


    Brunhilde curled her lip slightly. "I mean in manners, Korina. In speech. In deportment and in the languages of the surrounding provinces. That''s just a start."


    Kori was immensely grateful when Erika slipped her delicate white hand in her green one. "I think it would be best if Kori attends my language session this afternoon so we can really gauge the help she needs, mother."


    Kori swallowed. "Thank you very much, Erika."


    Brunhilde shook her head. "Not necessary, dearest."


    Erika returned her mother''s gaze. "But I want it to be so."


    "Fine, fine." Brunhilde shrugged. "But Korina, remember your station. Do nothing to embarrass yourself or us."


    <hr>


    00O00


    The sisters left Brunhilde and descended a marbled staircase to the chamber reserved for their language lesson.


    "Erika, your mother doesn''t like me," said Kori baldly. "I''m not na?ve. I-I know how I was conceived¡­" she felt nauseous just thinking about it. The idea of their father being raped was horrifying, but that was how Kori had been conceived.


    Erika gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "No one holds that against you. We all know the child is not to blame for the sins of the birth mother."


    Kori thought this sounded so nice that she felt tears beginning to come, so she hastily blinked them back. She sniffed and decided it would be best to change the subject. "How interesting to learn the primary language of the Golden Isles."


    "You''ll like Queenie, my tutor. She''s from the Golden Isles herself."


    "Oh wow. Have you been there, Erika?"Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Yes, on a Royal visit. I am now betrothed to Prince Siegfried, the future King. When he comes of age we will marry and he will be King."


    Kori stared in astonishment. Her sister had said it so calmly and now gazed back smiling a serene, tight lipped smile. Why hadn''t their uncle shared this fact? "Then you are my future queen. Your Majesty." Kori curtsied, wondering whether it was the right sort of curtsy for a future queen.


    Erika smiled more broadly, her eyes sparkling. "If I''m the future queen, what does that make you?"


    "Me? I''m no one special." Kori touched her cheek feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. She began to gabble. "I know I may seem strange in some ways, but strange is not special. I''m not even a proper noble. I just want to be a healer, that''s neither strange nor special."


    Erika was laughing. She took Kori''s hand in hers again. "Silly Kori, you are my sister. Don''t you think that makes you special to me?"


    Kori felt a bit of a lump in her throat. "Thank you."


    <hr>


    00O00


    Their tuition in the Golden Tongue took place in a chamber facing the west so in the late afternoon it was lit up by bright sunshine.


    Queenie, a plump older lady was already there. "Welcome, my Ladies." She beamed at them.


    Erika gave her an oblique, tight lipped smile. The golden sunlight glinted off her long, raven hair and illuminated her exquisite features. "Queenie, meet my sister."


    Queenie gave a little bow. "Lady Korina who vanquished the werewolf. I''m so glad you''re here. Now we all get to do declension exercises! Yay!" She waved her hands in the air as if in celebration. Kori smiled.


    The Golden Tongue was new to Kori, but Madeleine had already instructed her in the use of declensions for reading ancient tomes on spells and herblore. It seemed she grasped the concept better than Erika had first thought she would and was able to impress Queenie by asking whether the genitive case was still in common use.


    <hr>


    00O00


    It was suppertime and there would be a feast in honour of visiting dignitaries from the Golden Isles. The sisters went down to the Great Hall together. "Declensions are buzzing around in my brain," said Kori with a wry smile. "But Queenie''s lovely, isn''t she?"


    Erika nodded. "A real gem." They entered the Great Hall where the Royals and Nobles were all preparing to dine. The hubbub of noise in the crowded banqueting hall was unlike anything Kori had experienced before. So many conversations going on around her and she could hear the lot quite clearly with her unnatural hearing. Gossip overload. She grimaced, but knew she must pull herself together. She certainly did not want to embarrass Erika.


    Her sister led her to her allotted place at the Silver Table for the lesser nobility. There were a lot of gossiping girls around Kori''s age seated together who fell silent and gazed at them wide eyed.


    Erika gave them her oblique smile. "My sister, the Lady Korina. Please make her welcome."


    "Absolutely, absolutely," the girls nodded at Erika eagerly and when she left they introduced themselves.


    "I''m Megan of the Flatlands," said the brown haired girl to Kori''s right.


    "Franzi of the Stone Hill realm," said the blond girl on her left.


    Kori smiled at them, but the hubbub of noise around them was getting to her. She strove to ignore it. The food was served to them on silver platters, steaming venison, lamb, pork and other meats, and fishes, cooked vegetables, MidForest puddings, platters of fruit. Kori knew she couldn''t sample everything and nor should she. She had learned enough from Madeleine to eat healthily.


    Franzi was saying something to her. "So you''ll be sister to the queen in a couple of years, Korina? You''ll be Princess Korina. When Siegfried turns sixteen he becomes King in his own right. Have you met him yet?"


    Franzi and Megan both had a fit of the giggles and Megan grinned at Kori. "Your sister is the luckiest girl in all the Principalities. That''s Prince Siegfried, over there."


    She pointed at the Golden Table reserved for the Royals and the Greater Nobility. Erika was there and the Regent occupied a throne like chair in the middle, but Megan was pointing at a handsome boy with fiery red hair and fine, strong features. He was laughing uproariously at something another richly dressed red headed boy was saying to him. How confident he looked, Kori thought. How fiery and full of life. She gazed at him. His skin was so pale and so flawless. How pretty his sparkling green-blue eyes were ¡­


    Megan patted Kori''s arm. "Yes, he is impressive, isn''t he? Every girl here adores him. That''s his cousin he''s talking to, Prince Gerd, the regent''s son."


    Kori thought Gerd was a handsome boy too, with auburn hair, hazel eyes and strong features like Siegfried''s. As she gazed at them both, she decided that Gerd looked very serious, not passionate and fun loving.


    Franzi cut through her reverie. "I see you love the Princes as well. You would not know of them, living as you had¡­¡± Megan frowned at her and she hastily changed the subject. ¡°Anyway, I hear you killed a werewolf."


    Kori shook her head, her long hair rippling and bouncing. "I just helped my uncle Rudolph fight the werewolf. He''s the experienced swordsman and hunter."


    "Does your uncle favour you, Korina?" Asked Megan gazing at her.


    Kori did not want to brag, but she had to answer the question honestly. "He did say that Erika and I are his favourite nieces."


    "That alone makes you very marriageable. Even if he were to give you just part of his estate. Or if he were only going to dower you."


    This reminded Kori of Madeline''s words in the cottage about Kori being married to a Lord. Well it still sounded silly. Kori knew who she was. A bastard conceived by -


    She shuddered and shook her head to clear it. With every conversation in the hall echoing in her ears it was hard to focus on her own.


    The time came to toast the dignitaries, first in water, then in wine. The girls had only watery wine and Kori took a little sip when the call went out. There was a homely young boy next to Siegfried who kept sampling his food and sipping his drinks, even before the toast.


    Kori turned to Megan. "A boy keeps helping himself to Siegfried''s food."


    "That''s his taster. The future King can''t be too careful. There are those who would like to off him to get the throne for themselves."


    "Oh my! By the gods, I hope that never happens." This idea had never entered Kori''s head before. Royal life suddenly seemed scarier.


    ¡°Do you not wish you had the favour of just a glance from Siegfried?¡± asked Franzi grinning. ¡°Well it is not impossible for a pretty girl like you. Siegfried has been known to favour even servant girls with a smile if they are pretty and more besides¡­¡±


    ¡°Franzi, that¡¯s enough, you are not to gossip about our future King,¡± said Megan glaring.


    <hr>


    00O00


    As she was betrothed to the future King, Erika was tied up in meeting with the visiting dignitaries until late into the night, so Kori decided to retire to her chambers early. Like everything in the castle, the chamber was more magnificent than anything she had seen before. There was actually room to move for one thing, a vast expanse of polished marble floor and the walls were hung with tapestries. A fire crackled cheerfully in the ornately carved grate. Kori had brought her satchel of herbs and tonics, but not much else. She would have to find the library tomorrow. She sighed as she lay back on the fresh linen sheets. She missed hearing the sound of Madeleine''s breathing through the walls in the cottage at night. She could hear people talking and moving about elsewhere in the castle, but they were so far away it wasn''t the same. She wanted to see Erika again and hear her comforting words. Oh well¡­ she thought of the princes as she fell asleep. A girl can always dream!

 Sisterly Succour

    <u>Sisterly Succour</u>


    The next morning, Brunhilde told Kori that it was essential that she impart in her the rudiments of noble etiquette. Thus began an extremely trying session for Kori, sitting with Brunhilde in her chamber, allowing her to drill her in manners, deportment and speech (she accused Kori of sounding bumpkinish which Kori felt was unfair). Erika was elsewhere, occupied by her own duties and Kori knew she was going to just have to grit her teeth and get through this somehow or other.


    But Brunhilde grew increasingly irritated as the session went on. "Rudolph said you were an agreeable girl, Korina. Well I see he was wrong."


    Kori looked down at her feet. "Sorry," she murmured.


    "Look at me when you talk to me and don''t mumble!"


    Kori looked up. Brunhilde stared into Kori''s eyes for a moment and then she began to breathe harder, her breast rising and falling. "You do realise what a chance you''re being given? Aren''t you grateful for our hospitality? Well? Aren''t you?" Her voice was trembling.


    Kori nodded. "Very grateful, Brunhilde."


    "Be grateful to your uncle. He insisted on it. Your father did not, did he?"


    Kori winced. She couldn''t answer that. She wished she could be elsewhere.


    Brunhilde was glaring at her now. "He may want you here because of the werewolves, but I know the worst type of monster is a she-demon - and her half-human offspring."


    Kori felt as if someone had punched her hard in the gut. Her breath came in ragged gasps. Her bottom lip was trembling¡­ And then she burst into tears and was on her feet, running from the chamber and to her own where she flung herself on her bed, wracked with sobs. Did Brunhilde really blame her for her birth mother? If she did, what hope did she have here or anywhere? She could never escape the taint of her bloodline whatever she did, so what did they expect of her? Why had she come here at all when she was not wanted? Madeline wanted her back in the cottage. She had to pull herself together and get back there, but she couldn''t stop crying.


    How long it had been she couldn''t tell before there came the sound of light footfalls and the gentle touch of a hand on her shoulder and the soft sound of Erika''s voice. "Kori¡­"


    Kori felt furious with herself. She didn''t want her sister to find her losing it like this. She pressed her face into her pillow, but she couldn''t stop her sobs and tears.


    "Oh Kori¡­" The delicate touch of Erika''s fingers stroking her hair. Kori sat herself up and her sister wrapped her arms around her. Kori sobbed on her shoulder, getting her fine black and white mourning dress all wet with her tears, but she couldn''t stop.


    Erika held her tight and stroked her back. "It''ll be alright, Kori."


    Kori kept her face buried in her sister''s dress. Erika''s scent was pure, warm and herbal. "No, it won''t," she muttered. "I don''t belong here. Think who I am. The creature that raped our father gave birth to me."


    "Now listen to me, sister. I told you, it''s not your fault how you were conceived. Whatever anyone else tries to put in your head, I want you to remember that I welcome you here as my family, no conditions. There now, there now¡­" she rocked Kori gently. "Our world is imperfect and we must make the best of it. Accept circumstances that we cannot change and only worry about what we can change for the better. Was is not very important to you that I welcomed you? You have not forgotten, I hope."


    Kori swallowed and ceased sobbing. She finally looked her sister in the face, into those brown eyes, so like her own. "It means everything to me. But you''re in mourning and I''m¡­ I''m intruding¡­ um¡­"


    Erika cupped Kori''s face in her hands and gave a small, sad smile. "Oh, you silly thing. It''s a great comfort for me to have you here."


    Kori hiccoughed. "I love you," she blurted out.


    Erika grinned, her eyes lighting up. "And I love you. We are sisters. Isn''t that how it ought to be?"


    Kori took a deep breath. Her tears had ceased to flow. "Yes. We''ve found one another."


    They sat in silence for a while as Kori''s breathing steadied, Erika''s arms still around her.


    Erika broke the silence. "It would be counterproductive for you to try and continue with etiquette drills right now. I will take you to my special retreat - where I go when I really need to reflect."


    She led her sister to the walnut-panelled antechamber from which one of the doors led to the Regent''s throne room. Erika however went through a different door which led to short corridor ending in two doors, each bearing silver plaques etched with inscriptions, one reading "Map Room" and the other "Music Room." Erika pushed open the door to the Map Room and beckoned Kori to follow.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    The Map Room took Kori''s breath away. There were no books, scrolls or atlases here, instead each wall and even the ceiling had been painted with intricately detailed maps. One wall was a map of all the provinces and principalities of Nordheim, another showed the entirety of the Old World, their continent and in the corner there stood a huge globe, as tall as a man, representing Granat ¨C their world.


    Covering the broad expanse of the wall to their left was a map of the province of the Dark Forest, Gruenwald in the center with an exaggerated picture of the castle.


    Kori grinned as she looked around. "This room is a wonder." She pointed at the map of Nordheim. "The Golden Isles don''t look at all far on a map this size."


    Erika winked. "The room does have a practical use to us, right now." She ran her delicate white fingers over the image of the castle and pressed on the castle gates. With a click, a door in the map of the Dark Forest swung open. "Our secret now, Kori." Beyond the door was a narrow stone staircase. As they climbed the steps, Kori held herself back to Erika''s pace by a conscious effort. At the top of the staircase was a circular turret room. The chamber had no windows, but was lit instead by jewel bright lights in the ceiling that twinkled like constellations of stars¡­


    The many coloured lights cast sparkling lights over Erika''s perfect features. "Behold, the multiverse mapped out for us. Each gem is a world. The multiverse has more worlds than an apple tree has fruits."


    "Oh!" Kori looked up at the constellations her eyes wide. "So this is not the night sky, but a depiction of the parallel universes. They''re like apples?" She clapped her hands together in glee at this analogy. "Are we on a fresh world, or a blighted one?"


    Erika gave oblique smile. "You can make up your own mind in time, sister dear." She walked over to the far side of the room. "There is another hidden switch in the wall here, although it''s too dark for you to see¡­"


    "No." Kori shook her head. "I can see perfectly well in the dark. And that brick does stick out a bit."


    "Well then¡­" Erika pushed the brick and the hidden door swung open. The sisters emerged onto a stone balcony. They were at the top of a high turret. The wind blew their long hair, causing it to mingle.


    The wind buffeted Korri''s face, blowing her hair this way and that, but it was not an unpleasant sensation. Indeed, it seemed to call out to her¡­ "What a view of the entire kingdom. I see why you come here, Erika." With her unnaturally keen eyesight she could zoom in on smaller details of the landscape. "I can see the village. There''s Madeleine''s cottage."


    "I could never pick that out from here," said Erika with a small smile.


    Kori scanned the landscape with an intense stare. "The flatlands¡­ the Grey Forest¡­ gods, I wish I could fly. But the only interesting power I''ve ever shown is the unnatural scream I gave the werewolf in the forest and I haven''t been able to do it since. Perhaps it was a fluke."


    Erika raised her eyebrows. "An unnatural scream?" She stroked her cheek pensively. "Actually that is intriguing."


    Kori gestured to the land below. "To think, the entire Dark Forest will soon be your realm. As Queen you will get to travel a lot. I''ll be in your escort. Uncle will agree, he needed me to take out the werewolf and if there are others, then he''ll see that I''ve got to be at your side. I''ve beaten werewolves before." She began to pace up and down the balcony. "I ¨C I''ll really worry if I don''t get to be in your escort. And it''s not just the werewolves. Last night the girls told me how dangerous it is to be royalty. Just imagine ¨C Siegfried needing a food taster. Well I know a lot about making antidotes so I''ve got to teach you." She brushed her hair away from her face. "Is it ¨C is it really so dangerous?" Her voice trembled a little.


    She looked her sister in the eyes. A small smile was playing around Erika''s lips, but was her expression sad? Or fond? Both? Kori couldn''t quite tell.


    "By our law it''s the King who has the executive power, darling. Siegfried is right to be wary, but the danger is not the same for me. Besides, we must compartmentalise. Be mindful of real peril, but not let worry debilitate us. My role and my duty is to be future queen." She laid her hand on her sister''s arm. "We must make the best of circumstances we cannot change."


    Kori was reminded of Erika''s words in her bedroom. So they both had to accept the circumstances they could not change and remember their duty. How wise her sister seemed and how loving as well as dutiful. She felt a warm glow of affection for this wonderful person so new in her life. She had been incomplete before she met Erika.


    <hr>


    00O00


    That night the sisters stayed up in Erika''s bedroom. Her chamber was much larger and more sumptuously decorated than Kori''s and her four poster bed was like a little room walled by the velvet curtains. They had a pink heartfire lamp so that they could stay up reading. The rosy light lit up Erika''s lovely face and glinted off her night dark hair. Queenie had recommended that they read a book written in her language to improve their vocabularies. As it happened, they had both read already read a translation in their own language and were fond of the story. Now they sat on Erika''s bed, with the book on their laps, going over their favourite parts. In the Golden Isles there are a fair number of boarding schools and the book was set in a boarding school for boys located by the sea. Walter, the protagonist had his share of troubles, but he still found time to help a younger boy against bullies. The sugary style of the narrative appealed to Kori, although the theme of bullying troubled her.


    "What were those schoolmasters thinking, throwing a delicate boy like that in the same dormitory as the bullying seventeen year-olds? He was only twelve, like me."


    Erika turned the page. "That''s how things are in the Golden Isles, dear. The Masters don''t intervene much so there are more opportunities for drama among the boys. Remember this¡­" Erika flipped to another chapter where Walter fought the worst of the bullies on his young friend''s account.


    Kori was feeling more relaxed and happy than she had at any point since the werewolf episode. "He''s so brave."


    "You fought a werewolf on a little boy''s account, Kori."


    Kori flicked a strand of her hair away from her face. "Well yes, I did do that." She hoped she sounded modest. "Walter does amazing things as far as his abilities let him. That part where he and his friends get lost in the mountain mist and he goes to find help by crossing the ridge between the mountains which has a ravine on either side of it¡­ he took an awful risk for them. I suppose he only has the eyesight of a normal boy or girl. Aren''t you all half-blind in the fog or in the dark? That episode scared me with worry for him." Kori snuggled against her sister. "I can imagine a picture of Walter. Strong and athletic and with a strong jawline as well. Wavy dark brown hair, dark blue eyes and a freckled nose and cheeks."


    She pictured Walter. Then she pictured Siegfried. Now she could envision a boy cuter than her image of Walter, but she could not tell her sister¡­

 Demonic Secrets

    DemonicSecrets


    Kori was eager to teach her sister about antidotes at the earliest opportunity, so the next night she organised the contents of her satchel onto Erika''s finely carved table. Erika lifted a vial up to the lamplight. "This is a pretty colour of blue. What''s it for?"


    "Galen root," Kori informed her. "It reduces pain, but only when used in tiny, tiny amounts. Too much is poisonous."


    Erika set the vial down and stared at it dubiously. "Really? How much?"


    "There''s enough in this little jar to kill three people. But it tastes bitter, so I doubt it could be slipped into someone''s drink. And there is a very effective antidote. Let''s talk about that first." Kori held up another vial of powder which gleamed silver in the light. "Argyrese. A wonderful antidote. It works on most herbal poisons. A few grains would counter a lethal dose of the galen root."


    Erika gazed at the vial, stroking her cheek in thought. "That is indeed a useful herb. Where does it grow?"


    Kori grinned. "In marshland. It was Uncle Rudolph who helped me gather Argyrese the very first time. I was six and we went into the fen near the village together to try gathering herbs for Madeleine. The sound of the breeze on the Argyrese petals made a pretty tinkling sound, but only I could hear it."


    One by one they went through every single bottle and vial in the collection. Kori showed her sister the mixtures and dosages that would counter poisons, treat coughs and fevers, encourage conception and enhance memory. Kori did not know whether it was the collection that interested her or whether she wanted to learn more about Kori herself, but either way her interest was flattering.


    "You do know the most interesting things, Kori. Don''t worry about etiquette anymore, you''ll be in the protocol class tomorrow and I know you''re willing and able to learn. That''s the main thing."


    Kori looked at her sister. Did she know how badly the etiquette drill with Brunhilde had gone? But Erika merely smiled that oblique smile of hers.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Protocol Novice class took place in a sunny room in the ladies wing. Madam Ehren was a brisk, no nonsense sort of lady who instructed Kori and a class of mostly younger noble girls on what was considered in the Dark Forest to be proper decorum.


    Of greater interest to Kori was the castle''s extensive library, which she found located near the Map Room. Row after row of bookcases groaning under the weight of innumerable tomes on every subject under the sun! So much knowledge! A shame Kori would never have time to read it all. Another reason she had to be grateful to Erika was that her sister had written her a note of permission to view any section of the library, including the Caution and Restricted subjects.


    The librarian, a silver haired older lady named Leisel, scanned the note and nodded. "If the future queen wills it, it shall be so. Well just ask me if you have any questions, lady Korina." Kori beamed and thanked her effusively, complimenting her on a well-kept library.


    On first viewing the library, Kori wondered where she should begin. There was just so much to choose from. She decided to begin in the Caution Section, where one tome in particular drew her attention. A book bound in black leather entitled "Accounts of Demonic Conjurations and Visitations." Kori stopped by the shelf and hesitated. She loved Erika for her comfort and kind words of wisdom, but she still needed closure of some kind. She lifted the heavy tome down onto an oaken table and flipped through the heavy vellum pages to the section on Demonic Banishment. Interesting... It was apparently possible to banish a demon by marking out a symbol using consecrated artifacts, but only a supernatural sleight of hand could do so successfully. That was a cryptic instruction. Still, such information could be useful if Kori ever had to fight a demon.


    She hesitated and then flipped to the section about real life accounts of demonic encounters. This chapter included a mixture of rumours of demonic visitations and written accounts of those who claimed to have been visited and survived. Kori''s heart was thudding in her breast as she speed read the chapter and she caught her breath as she found a page entitled "Lord Sommernacht." The page began thus:


    A demon knows no rules and has no sense of restraint. Let no one be complacent. Not even the nobility of Nordheim are safe from their depredations. The Sommernachts are the second most prestigious house in the Dark Forest principality after the ruling Reingold house and yet this did not stop a lesser demon from abducting Lord Sommernacht, leaving his lady wife and infant daughter to despair of ever seeing him again¡­


    Kori read on until she found the account left by her father. It did not make for pleasant reading. She had to force herself to get through the passage.


    She read how her father was abducted in the grounds of his estate and carried off by a demon to her lair. He had not known where it was, describing it as a rocky cave lit up by pale corpse lights. Her heart thudded in her breast as she came across a passage penned by her father:


    She clutched at me with a horrible, gripping strength and those terrible, staring eyes, twin black orbs bore into mine. Her face was like a clay mask, an unnatural, vivid orange. I tried to draw back, but her arms stretched to impossible lengths and her grip did not falter. She dragged me back and grinned at me, showing razor sharp teeth. "Pretty men cannot stay away from me, my lord. Are you ready to serve my needs? Ease the pain of my existence? I have watched you more closely than you know and we are compatible."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    I refused her advance and she shrieked at me in rage, her mouth distending grotesquely and her dead black eyes bulging. She proceeded to force herself on me and she was too strong to fight off¡­


    Feeling sick and a little dizzy, Kori skipped ahead to the end of the passage. The demon brought Lord Sommernacht back home afterwards leaving him with a purse of iron coins and confessing her crime to Brunhilde.


    So the demon "transported" her father either through space, or into a netherworld? How exactly did that work?


    The passage from Lord Sommernacht finished there and the author of the chapter offered his own comments about how terrifying it must have been for the Lord not knowing whether or not he had sired a male heir with the demon. The author then wrote a rambling hypothesis about how the ''seeds of doubt this planted in his Lordship''s mind surely paralleled the unnatural creature that grew in the demon''¡­


    "Sorry author, this unnatural creature doesn''t want your opinion¡­" muttered Kori, turning the page.


    And then Kori found a piece of parchment between the pages. She caught her breath. It was a letter signed by Lord Sommernacht and at the top it read; To my daughter.


    She snatched it up and scanned it eagerly as though she would devour the words.


    My daughter, though we have never met, your welfare is a matter close to my heart. If you are reading this, then you have demonstrated the integrity you needed to be accepted at Castle Gruenwald and you have the intelligence to research your origin.


    I deeply sorrow now that we have never met and I have a feeling that it is now too late. Madeleine the wise-woman will have told you the main points about how I was raped by a lesser demon and how you were the innocent result of the crime. I never had the courage of my brother Rudolph and that is part of the reason why I could not bring myself to accept you. I regret it. If you read this, then I ask your forgiveness.


    Kori choked and had to stop reading for the moment, emotions were welling up inside her. "I forgive you," she murmured, blinking back tears. She suddenly realised she could not honourably retract her forgiveness¡­


    The letter continued:


    Do not be afraid of who you are, my daughter. Use it. I can foresee circumstances where the Dark Forest will have need of you.


    Kori could not read anymore just yet. She badly wanted comfort and wished Madeleine were here. She bundled the letter under her dress, replaced the book on the shelf and prepared to leave the library.


    Leisel looked up. Something in Kori''s manner must gave betrayed her agitation. "Are you alright, my dear?"


    "Thank you, Leisel¡­ I was reading about demonic visitations. It''s an upsetting subject for me. That''s all."


    Leisel tutted. "I''m sure it is."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori went straight to her bathroom where Maria the maid was drawing up her bath. Maria had previously been assigned to Brunhilde, but Kori''s arrival had meant some rescheduling. Now she was assigned to Kori''s quarters instead.


    The marble bath was almost full when Kori arrived in her dressing gown. Clouds of steam arose, iridescent in the silvery lamplight. Kori clapped her hands. "Well now, this looks marvelous."


    She slipped into the hot bath and relaxed, her long hair fanning out around her like seaweed. Thoughts of what she had read were buzzing around in her brain. She really needed someone to talk to, but where to begin?


    "Are you happy at the castle, Maria?" she asked. "It is like a new world for me in many ways. I mean compared to village life."


    Maria blushed a little. "I''m happier here now, m''lady."


    But Kori knew she couldn''t talk to Maria about her real issues. Madeleine was not here, but she had to tell someone really wise who she trusted and she had to do so quickly. There was someone wise at Castle Gruenwald, someone wise who she had to trust. Who she needed to trust, for her own peace of mind...


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori had fallen asleep on Erika''s bed by the time she returned. She had settled into her sister''s room expecting a long wait, but had nodded off anyway, so it was with surprise and disorientation that she awoke to find her sister seating herself before her dressing table.


    "Sorry. I didn''t want to disturb you," she said as Kori sat up groggily. She did not seem remotely surprised to have found her sister on her bed. She picked up her silver plated hairbrush and began to brush her long, ebony hair, which glinted with a silvery sheen in the lamplight.


    Kori brushed her own hair away from her eyes. "Good day, dear?"


    Erika brushed three more strokes. "Preparing to be Queen is rigorous, but I am undaunted." She smiled. "And how was protocol class?"


    "Not too difficult." Kori wondered how to broach the subject that was bothering her. "The castle library is a lot more interesting. Books on everything. Um¡­ One about demons piqued my interest. I am half a demon myself. But there was something in it that concerns us both."


    Erika laid her brush aside and rose to her feet. Moving around the room she snuffed out the candles, leaving the gleaming star lamp which she carried over to the bedside table. She climbed into the bed beside Kori. "What is it that concerns us, sister?"


    Kori pulled out the letter Lord Sommernacht had left for her and handed it over. Erika scanned it and her eyes widened.


    "Dad wanted me to do something, I know it," Kori whispered in her ear. "It was his way of accepting me. It has to be. Wasn''t it? I think his warning is to do with the werewolves and the Wolf Demon they''ve conjured. He wanted me to fight them. Demons do unnatural things¡­ produce strange looking offspring like me¡­ and it must take a demonic creature to defeat the Wolf Demon. Dad set out a mission for me. Didn''t he? Please tell me."


    Erika put an arm round her shoulder. "I knew nothing of the letter before now, but I believe you are right. Rudolph told him how smart you are."


    "And I have forgiven him. It feels so good. Erika¡­ please keep this between us? It''s a message that''s really private. A pinkie promise..." Kori held up her green hand. "Uh¡­ make that pinkie-greenie promise?"


    "Pinkie-greenie promise it is," said Erika softly.


    Thus the sisters made a pact based on their mutual understanding and love. Kori fell asleep beside Erika, her mind now at ease. The wolf demon was still far off.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    Author''s Note: For any reader interested in specific details of Dark Forest currency, iron coins are a form of currency of very small value. This token was the angry demon''s way of adding insult to injury because he refused to take her as a mistress i.e. likening Lord Sommernacht to a prostitute who was barely worth hiring.


    Think of the iron coin as being equivalent to the mite in old English currency (in the Elizabethan era). A mite was 1/6 of a farthing. The Dark Forest copper piece is equivalent to a farthing, their pewter piece equivalent to an old penny, their silver piece equivalent to a shilling and the gold piece equivalent to a gold sovereign.

 Healing and Swordplay

    <u>Healing and Swordplay</u>


    When Kori awoke the sun was streaming through the window. People were already moving about throughout all levels of the castle; the girls had slept in. She smiled at the sight of Erika''s beautiful face on the pillow beside her. Desi, the servant girl assigned to Erika''s quarters came bustling into the room. Erika''s eyelids fluttered and she awoke.


    Desi had brought fresh towels. "Good morning, my ladies. Your uncle''s come visiting."


    They scrambled out of bed and across the marble floor to Erika''s bathroom, where they found Brunhilde. She scowled at the sight of Kori there, still in her night dress.


    "What on Granat¡­?" she began.


    Erika held up a hand to forestall her. "Mother, please."


    Kori did not think she was ready to face Brunhilde just yet, so averted her gaze. The trouble was, she could not blame Brunhilde in the least for disliking her.


    Brunhilde put her hands on her hips and addressed her daughter, affecting to ignore Kori. "Well Rudolph has turned up again. Such a leisurely existence, bobbing in and out of our lives as he feels like it. I wouldn''t mind if you both slept through his visit."


    00O00


    Rudolph came up to visit them soon afterwards in Erika''s sitting room.


    "How are my favourite girls?" he demanded, giving them each a fierce hug that carried them off their feet.


    Kori giggled. "I''ve missed you so much uncle and it hasn''t even been a week. But the three of us together again¡­ it feels so right, doesn''t it?"


    "That''s my usual sunny Kori," he said, approvingly.


    Erika nodded. "You both brighten my life in this sad time." She took him by the arm and led him to her favourite sofa where the girls plumped down on either side of him. "Tell me about your travels, uncle."


    He obliged, describing a recent visit to the Silberplatz market. "And at the market I purchased gifts for both of you. He slipped his hand into his pocket and drew out slim packets wrapped in tissue and marked with their initials. "I think you''ll be pleased. Only girls as beautiful as you two could wear such things and they have a practical purpose too."


    Erika opened hers and gave a soft cry of delight. Kori ripped back the paper and squealed as she uncovered an ornate silver necklace with links that resembled tiny leaves. The silver chain was hung with garnets. Erika''s was hung with amethysts. The girls clamoured their thanks, Kori''s penetrating voice easily drowning out Erika''s soft one and they both hugged him and stretched up to kiss his whiskery cheeks.


    "The practical purpose ¨C it has to do with werewolves?" asked Kori, fastening her necklace around her neck.


    "That it is. And you will both be part of the royal party to Silberwald. Erika as the future Queen and Kori in the royal guard. We cannot do without your superior senses, Kori. None of the men can sense a werewolf from a distance."


    Kori clapped her hands together in approval and then curtseyed to her sister. "I''m ready to defend you to the last, your Majesty."


    "Good to see you''re benefiting from the Protocol class, Kori," said Erika smiling broadly.


    "A young lady of Kori''s talents needs more than Protocol class," said Rudolph. "I''d say fencing is a must. Your duty to the Dark Forest mandates it, dear niece. You must be able to kill a werewolf outright when the time comes."


    Kori swallowed. "If ¨C If that is my duty, then so be it."


    <hr>


    00O00


    Novice Fencing class took place in the courtyard. Dressed in leather armour specifically tailored to her frame, with her hair bound in a ponytail, Kori stood ready. She held a wooden staff padded with soft leather, of the kind the novices practiced with. Her classmates were young boys, all aspiring guardsmen. A round faced boy pointed at her, his blue eyes wide. "Is she a Sommernacht?" he whispered to another boy.


    Kori thought it best that they knew how well she could hear, but that she also put them at their ease at the same time. She beamed at him. "Yes, but you may call me Kori."


    "You''re a Princess now."


    Kori felt a glow of pride, but decided in that moment that her role as guard should be separate from her role as noble.  "We can be equals in our class."


    At that moment, Linksor the instructor ordered them to stand to attention and practice the basic moves with the staves.


    He then tested the reaction speed of each novice by tapping at them with a padded staff to see if they would react fast enough to deflect it. No one could until he reached Kori who reacted instantaneously and deflected his staff. "Very fast reflexes, Lady. But how about this?" With a clever manoeuvre he slipped round Kori''s defences and knocked the staff out of her hand.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Kori smiled at him. "I have a lot to learn, Sir."


    <hr>


    00O00


    Old soldiers and guardsmen from more advanced training classes had assembled around the fence that marked out the practice area to watch with a critical eye. One of them greeted Kori when the novices filed out. He was a tall boy, perhaps two years older than Kori, with auburn hair, green eyes and a heavily freckled face.


    "Nice work, Lady Korina."


    Kori beamed. "Thank you. But fencing is new to me. I don''t believe I''ve had the pleasure¡­?" She held out her hand and he shook it.


    "Ralph." Kori thought that it sounded like a Golden Isles name. He regarded her thoughtfully. "We''re both in the very next Royal Escort though. They think you''re up to the mark already."


    "I think that''s because of my sight and hearing. So, what class are you in?"


    "I''m a guardsman now and I practice swordplay with the rest of them. But I''m still improving. Yesterday I got a cut on the shoulder because I was careless. He flexed his arm experimentally and frowned briefly in pain. "Hurts more than I thought it would."


    Kori''s professional interest was aroused at once. "Have you bound it? Put salve on it?"


    He shook his head. "It didn''t bleed that much."


    "Please let me see the wound. I''m training to be a healer."


    Most of the onlookers had dispersed and the rest seemed to be paying the two of them no attention at all. Ralph smiled laconically as if amused, but he unlaced his leather vest and unbuttoned the cotton shirt beneath to reveal his freckled body. There was indeed a wound on his shoulder and although it was not deep, Kori knew it would be serious if it got infected.


    She beckoned to him. "You can''t leave that as it is, Ralph. Come up to my room and I''ll apply some salve."


    He did not move. "Come up to your room, Lady? I don''t think so."


    Of course! Men who were not relatives weren''t supposed to come into the Ladies wing. And the guardsmen lived in the barracks. Brunhilde would have loved to ridicule Kori over this gaffe. She put her hand to her forehead. "Ach! Alright, meet me in the stables in twenty minutes and I''ll bring my bag."


    Kori scurried up to her quarters, careful while she was there because she did not want to run into Brunhilde and then ran back down to the stables. Ralph was there and to Kori''s surprise, so was Prince Gerd. She bowed hastily. "Your highness. Um¡­ this is a pleasant surprise, I ¡­ uh¡­"


    "I need a chaperone," said Ralph airily.


    Gerd laughed. It made his sculpted face even prettier, the way his hazel eyes sparkled. "No, I wondered what you were doing, loitering around the stables."


    Kori glanced from one to the other. "It''s alright, really your highness. I was just seeing to Ralph''s cut. Please unbutton your shirt again Ralph." Ralph unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his muscular, freckled torso which already sported old scars from similar cuts. He smelled faintly of leather and sweat and Kori was suddenly aware of him as an attractive, semi-nude boy standing there. Did he suppose he needed the Prince to chaperone him because she was demon born?


    But she had to remember her healer''s manner and pull herself together. "It''s really nothing to worry about," she said, forcing herself to smile. "I''ve got to apply anti-septic first, then dress it with salve."


    "I could do with some too," said Gerd.


    "Indeed, your highness?" Kori was surprised to hear that the Prince had been hurt.  ¡°What happened?  Nothing serious, I hope.¡±


    Gerd shrugged. "I was practicing swordplay with Ralph in return for teaching him to read."


    Ralph shook his head. "You said not to be soft on you¡­ But we should have practiced with wooden swords.  I ought to have known better."


    "I¡¯ll be the one to worry about that,¡± retorted Gerd.  ¡°You worry about your spelling.  Spell Korina''s name.  Then spell Gruenwald."


    As Ralph did so, Kori pulled out the jar of antiseptic and applied some to a clean cloth. "Now the antiseptic will sting, Ralph, but the salve will feel good."


    As she touched the antiseptic cloth to his shoulder, she felt his muscles tighten in response, holding their coiled protest while the cleanser worked at the skin. The smell of his sweat was even stronger.


    "There now, it''s alright," said Kori in her practiced soothing voice. "See! All done." She dipped her finger into the salve and smeared it carefully across the wound. His flesh felt hot. Possibly the beginning of an infection. "You''ll need to apply this twice a day for three, maybe four days. I''ve brought you another jar."


    Ralph flexed his arm muscles. "It does feel better. How did it work so fast?"


    "The salve has a slight anaesthetic effect, but you''re not healed just yet. You really must do as I say for the next three or four days."


    Gerd had rolled up his left shirt sleeve. His snow-white arm was sporting a nasty red gash, perhaps a day old, deeper than Ralph''s and rimmed with a crusty red inflammation. "That must hurt," Kori tutted. "Why didn''t you go to the healer at once? Never mind, since I''m here I''ll fix it."


    She cleaned his wound and he reacted rather less stoically than Ralph, yelping and jerking his arm away. Kori laid her hands on his shoulders and gave him the smile she used to put the children at ease as she slipped into full healer mode. "Don''t fret, my dear, it''ll all be better in just a minute. The salve will feel so good." He gazed back at her. She was very aware of his breathing as she administered the antiseptic and then the salve and then bound the wound. His eyes were such a pretty shade of light hazel. "Now my handsome prince, you''ll need to apply extra salve more than Ralph and I''ll have to replace the bandages for you at intervals. Here is another jar."


    "It does feel better, Korina" Gerd exclaimed, rotating his wrist back and forth.


    "Please call me ''Kori,'' your highness."


    "Where did you learn this, Kori?"


    "Madeleine the wise-woman took custody of me. She''s my real mother, even though a lesser demon gave birth to me. I''ve been training to be a healer."


    "What potions do you know?" interjected Ralph. "One to help a man sleep? To make him strong?"


    "Both and more," said Kori. "To cure a headache, to help make babies come, or to prevent them from being conceived¡­" She stopped abruptly, realising that she was casually discussing conception with two attractive older boys. She inwardly cringed in embarrassment. So much for her studies in noble etiquette!  Brunhilde would have loved to hear that gaffe.


    "Ah well, I know who to go to about those pesky babies," said Ralph, while Gerd looked embarrassed as Kori felt.


    "We must have our little joke, mustn''t we?" said Kori, packing her bag. "You should both keep your wounds rested for a few days."


    "Oh I will," said Ralph, grinning. "I''ll tell the captain, ''no sword practice for me, old fellow. I''ve got a little gash on my shoulder.'' Then he''ll pat me on the head and let me sit it out, that''s for sure."


    Gerd laughed. "No chance here, either. I''ve got to attend the ball tonight and father expects me to take part in the dance." He looked at Kori with a smile. He did have a sparkling smile¡­ "You''re turning thirteen this winter, aren''t you Kori? Your sister only started attending balls when she turned fourteen last spring."


    Kori thought she had better get away from this talk of balls and babies. "Well do what you can, both of you, to avoid further injury and I''ll check up on you later." She slipped out of the stables and hurried back to her room.

 A Journey Begins

    A Journey Begins


    Between her different classes, Kori''s days were full, but she still made time in the evenings to visit the castle''s impressive library. She had written at length to Madeleine extolling it, although on reflection she now hoped that her guardian would not take it the wrong way. Their cottage could never even have begun to house the smallest fraction of the tomes and Madeleine had feared that Kori would prefer the castle.


    Household budgeting class for girls of the lesser nobility took place last thing in the afternoon. After it had finished, Kori walked down the corridor with Megan of the Flatlands.


    "Learning to budget a household is sooo dull," Megan complained. "Figures are dreary."


    "But isn''t it interesting, learning the annual budgets for different types of household?" asked Kori earnestly. "Now we know that the Royal annual income is usually five thousand gold pieces."


    Megan rolled her eyes. "I care not what the Royal budget is. But you actually have exciting things to look forward to. Like being in Siegfried''s escort. Lucky thing."


    Kori grinned. She had already daydreamed about it. "Well yes, I''ll be guarding him. I really hope the werewolves don''t make an appearance."


    "If you kill a werewolf when you guard him, would he marry you as a reward?"


    "Megan! Don''t be ridiculous. He''d never marry me, he''s betrothed to my sister." But Kori wasn''t entirely sure how she felt about that, so she changed the subject. "Want to come to the library with me?"


    "No thank you, I''ve had enough of books and parchment this afternoon."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    After greeting Leisel enthusiastically, Kori searched the shelves for books on heroes and heroines who had defeated demons and great evil-doers. She selected one and then laid it on a table.


    She opened the book at the section on recent events and read an account of how a heroine named Karla, originally from the Dark Forest, had defeated a cult of evil-doers who came from another world in the multiverse ¨C the blighted world of Obsidia. The cult called themselves the Dread Disciples and Carcescu, their leader, had been drawn to Granat because the banishment of a fire demon had caused certain magical resonances. Carcescu had been a mere man to start out with, but he sucked out a great part of the demon''s elemental power, becoming a demonic force in his own right and able to summon three of his foul followers, Disciple Mortis, Disciple Fear and Disciple Phobia, to Granat. But brave Karla had defeated them all, although she had had supernatural help.


    Kori reviewed what she knew. Lesser demons had started out as mortals, but had become heavy with sin and physically warped by magic. Greater demons were ethereal beings with elemental powers. The wolf demon was a greater demon, but it was working through mortal henchmen. With further study, she would give herself a better chance of defeating the greater demon like her father had wanted her to.


    She heard Gerd enter the library. His footfalls and the sound of his breathing were distinctive to her ears. She looked up and smiled at him, mindful of the fact that one should not make any noise that ordinary people can hear when in a library.


    Gerd was mindful of that too. He came over to sit beside her before whispering as softly as he could; "reading something interesting, I expect, Kori?"


    Kori leaned her face close to his to whisper very softly. "Very. How''s the arm, dear Gerd?"


    "All better, thank you." He glanced at the page she was reading about Karla''s victory over Carcescu. "Ach! Our local legend. You are researching for a project?"


    "No, it''s just¡­ she''s so brave."


    Kori had made a pinkie/greenie promise with her sister that the mission their father had left for her would be their secret and she could not go back on it. She believed she had to keep it between herself and Erika, even if it meant she could not be entirely honest with the prince.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori was coming along fast at novice fencing level, but Rudolph had expressed a desire to accelerate her training and made time to coach her one on one.


    As Linksor had noted, Kori''s reflexes were unnaturally fast, but never having had training before her arrival at the castle, her technique was that of any rookie.


    Rudolph had the idea that they should practice techniques with willow canes, just aiming to tap one another on the chest or head. Kori was fully ambidextrous, so they decided that she should practice with two canes in preparation for wielding two weapons. But even though Rudolph could only wield the one cane, Kori still lost every round. "Your blocking technique is unbeatable uncle," she said, shaking her head.


    "Try to copy how I do it, Kori," he suggested.


    Kori gazed at him intently as he made the blocking motions, striving to remember every detail. The next round she duplicated his right handed motion with both her hands and deflected his willow switch. Quickly she struck at his chest with both her switches, but he deflected her. She pressed her advantage and with lightning swiftness struck out at his chest again, twice. He had been defending his head, but he brought his switch round in a wide sweep, narrowly deflecting both of hers.


    "That is an improvement," said her uncle approvingly. "Now at least you can defend yourself. And you will certainly need to. There have been wolf attacks in the surrounding regions already and accounts of evil magic. People have been mauled and killed too. The Wolf Cultists are behind it."


    Kori felt sick. "Can''t they be found and stopped?"


    "The only way to defeat them is to find and defeat their leader - the Arch-Lycanthrope. Only then can do we have a chance of banishing the Wolf Demon. Those are two very difficult obstacles to overcome."


    Kori''s resolve to fulfill the mission her father had left her burned even brighter.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    The night before the journey, the sisters were in Erika''s bedroom and Kori was uneasy.


    "Erika, I''ve been thinking¡­ I''ve read how werewolves have strange powers. They can sometimes inflict lycanthropy on untainted people. What if the cultists'' victims attack us?" She bit her lip. "They don''t deserve any of this."


    Erika put her arms around her. Kori liked it when she answered in that way and leaned against her, smelling the comforting scent of her silky hair. "Less thinking! Now¡­ the question is what will happen if werewolves attack? We all have our duty and uncle and the Regent are in charge of strategy. They have to decide what to do if we''re attacked."


    "So they''ll know the right thing to do?"


    "Don''t you trust our uncle''s judgement, Kori? He knew that a young green girl was worthy of acceptance here, even before she defeated a werewolf."


    "Of course I trust him." Kori felt somewhat more at ease.


    Erika gently stroked her sister''s back. Her presence was so soothing¡­ She murmured in Kori''s ear. "I trust you to look after me whatever the wolf demon throws at us. In the end our father did know you were special¡­ and that Rudolph is right. We cannot do without you. I know I can''t."


    Feeling a rush of affection for her sister, Kori kissed Erika''s cheek. "I love you. You''re right of course."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The next morning the Royal party assembled in the courtyard and rode out into the gentle green countryside of Gruenwald. It was a fine November morning and the air was chill and crisp. Kori proudly rode on horseback next to Rudolph. She was clad in tight fitting leather armour and was equipped with both her Runeknife and a silver edged sword. She was now a part of the armed horseback guard that surrounded the ornately carved Royal carriages. Erika was in one such carriage and Prince Siegfried in another. Kori grinned at her sister who smiled back.


    Kori wore the ornate necklace of silver leaves and garnets that her uncle had given her. The guardsmen all wore what appeared to be crude silver collars. The collars had not been made by an expert silversmith, but they should be functional.


    Rudolph addressed the party. "Now as I told you, werewolves cannot abide the touch of silver. That is why I instructed you all to wear silver items. Have you all done as I told you?"


    Siegfried wore a haughty look that Kori thought suited his finely sculpted features so well... "I fear nothing. I need no silver."


    Rudolph quickly smothered an expression of irritation. "I''ve brought extra collars. You can wear one."


    Siegfried shook his head. "I''m the future King. I''m not afraid and you can''t tell me what to do."


    "Indeed your highness?" Rudolph frowned, his black brows bristling. "I''m head of this expedition and responsible for your well-being. If you won''t cooperate, there can be no expedition."


    Siegfried balled his shapely white hands into fists. "I say we ride on."


    Rudolph addressed Gerd who sat next to Siegfried and who now looked uncomfortable. "Your cousin is very tiresome. Everyone mount up! We''re heading back to the castle."


    Gerd intervened. "Put on the wretched collar and try not to ruin everything," he said in a rough voice. If anything happened to you, father would hold us all responsible. If you won''t do it for yourself, can''t you do it for the young Ladies present? There''s some honour in being gracious to them."


    Siegfried glared, his blue-green eyes glinting, but he said nothing,


    "Give me the collar," said Gerd tersely and Rudolph handed it over. It was a plain, thick silver band, hinged in the middle. "Now put it on."


    "I''m not wearing that piece of junk," said Siegfried through clenched teeth, "it''s a slave chain and I am your future ruler. If I must wear silver then so be it, but only the finest will do."


    Kori knew what she must do. She slipped off her fine necklace from around her throat. "Your highness, please would you accept the loan of my necklace? I would count it an honour."


    Gerd turned on her impatiently. "You shouldn''t have to-"


    But Siegfried interrupted. "I gladly accept the loan. I do it to honour the Lady Korina."


    Kori was suffused with relief and exultation. Siegfried would wear her necklace and return it, with the scent of his body! He even dismounted from the carriage and allowed her to fasten the chain of silver leaves about his neck, stooping a little so she could fasten the clasp under the fall of his red hair. When he straightened, he bowed slightly.


    "My thanks, kind lady."


    How magical his blue-green eyes were, like perfect opals. Kori beamed back at him, all of a flutter.


    Gerd compressed his lips and handed Kori the collar which she fastened around her own neck. She gave Gerd a happy smile and he shook his head and grinned slightly in response.


    Kori stole a glance at her sister who smiled her oblique smile in return.


    Rudolph was wearing a most sardonic expression. "Well with Siegfried''s permission, we''ll consider that settled."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    "Keep those ears sharp, Kori," Rudolph advised as they rode along. The woods were thick on both sides of the wide road.


    "Absolutely uncle. Anything that sounds out of the ordinary anywhere near, I''ll know it." Kori could hear the twittering of the birds and the sound of small animals in the woods, mingling with the clattering of the horses hooves and chatter of the guardsmen. The sun shone bright overhead although the air was cool. A fresh breeze blew against Kori''s face and she closed her eyes for a second, savouring the moment.


    "I''m proud of the way you calmed Siegfried. But I fear he''ll be more of a nuisance than the rest of the party put together."


    Kori blinked. "One should not be unkind when talking about the future King. Besides, he was courteous to me."


    "He is to be King, dear niece. He must learn to keep his wilful impetuousness in check, even if he does have a temper. He''s not trying."


    Kori thought of Siegfried''s beautiful face that showed such strength, his fiery hair, his muscular young form and iridescent green blue eyes. He had accepted her necklace to do her an honour! She should speak up for him. "I''m certain he''ll make a great King."


    "Well he is young yet. There is time to learn."


    The different guardsmen rode at different paces, some overtaking others. Kori and Rudolph kept riding close together while different guardsmen rode in line with them. Kori called a greeting to Ralph when he rode in line with them.


    "Well met, Lady Korina." He inclined his head. He was acting stiffly formal now.


    Rudolph observed them shrewdly. "You know each other?"


    "The Lady Korina was very kind to me, My Lord," said Ralph, inclining his head to Rudolph. "She patched me up once when I suffered an injury in sword practice."


    Kori beamed at him. "It was my pleasure. So! We''re now in the Royal Guard together. All for one and one for all. Isn''t it an honour that the Regent trusts us this much?"


    Ralph gave her a small smile in return, his green eyes twinkling. "Indeed, My Lady. Although you know best just how dangerous the werewolves are."


    "We''re relying on Kori to give us advance warning," said Rudolph cheerily. "Be ready for a fight at her say so, my boy."


    Ralph nodded. "I''m ready to fight bravely, my Lord."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    When evening came they arrived in a great clearing and Rudolph decided that it was time to set up an encampment. Erika and the Princes had specially appointed caravans in the center of the clearing and Rudolph and Kori camped with the guards, near the outskirts close to the trees. As the only female guard, Kori got a very small tent of her own, which she set up next to Rudolph''s. She looked around to see if anyone else needed help with their tent, but as no one did she sat by the fire with her uncle and some of the guardsmen where they had a meal of roasted pheasant. It smelled so good and so did the smell of a wood fire on a wintry evening. Some of the men sang snatches of camp fire songs and Kori would have liked to join in, but she was self-conscious about her singing voice. She knew how piercing it sounded; worse than her normal speaking voice. When she had eaten enough she leaned against her uncle, happy in his company while he proceeded to finish an entire bird.


    "There''s a good meal," said Rudolph when he had finished. "Hunger is the spiciest seasoning."


    When it was time for her to sleep, Kori kissed Rudolph on the cheek and wished all the men good night. She slipped into her tent and checked over all her belongings. She had brought a supply of Madeleine''s special fire powder with her for use against the terrible cultists and was making sure she kept it close at all times. She tried to settle on the hard, cold floor of the clearing. She wrapped the sleeping blankets around her tight. This was not the luxury of the castle, but she knew her duty. She listened to the reassuring sound of her uncle snoring and the rhythmic breathing of the men in the other tents. As she slipped off to sleep, she thought of Siegfried.

 Onto the Wild Moors

    Onto the Wild Moors


    In the morning, Kori felt that some of the glamour of the journey had worn off. Insufficient sleep on a hard, damp bed has that effect. She pulled a spider out of her hair and wished she had water for washing. She hoped the men in the other tents hadn''t felt the cold too badly. They did not have her unnatural endurance after all¡­ She scrambled out of her tent and waited beside Rudolph''s, smiling at him as he emerged. "Morning, Uncle Rudolph. Did you sleep well?"


    "It was cold and I''m stiff and aching, dear niece. But the men were instructed to keep the fires burning throughout the night so we can have a hot meal for breakfast."


    "First, I''ve got to have a swim in the river and get the cobwebs out of my brain."


    Rudolph instructed the men to get water from the river that bordered the clearing to heat up on the fires and then he escorted Kori further up the bank so she could strip off in the shelter of the trees and don the swimming garments she had brought. The rushing waters of the river foamed joyously past every rock and submerged log and Kori could see silver fish flitting under the surface.


    She chattered to Rudolph as she waded into the water. "Remember when we first went paddling, I asked whether I could turn a frog into a prince by catching and kissing him? I actually hoped I might be magic enough. I suppose if a frog mostly turned into a prince, but not completely, then he would stay green, like me?" She giggled at this thought.


    She was up to her neck in the center of the river now and squealed with chill, sensation and delight as the water rushed past her. Rudolph remained by the river bank. "I hope your sister can transmute frogs into Princes," he muttered.


    Kori dived, delighted with the chance to get clean and her thick hair let go of its store of dirt and twigs. She scooped up a handful of the flat rocks on the river bed and began to skip rocks into the lively water. The current swallowed her first two throws so she adjusted her stance and sent the next one skipping downstream over the surface of the moving river.


    "Bravo!" called Rudolph.


    Kori grinned at him and dived again. The waters did not cloud her vision. She could see the silver fish darting by in shoals.


    When she surfaced she heard Ralph''s voice downstream and turned her gaze in the direction of his voice. He was standing on the river bank some distance away with a group of young guardsmen, washing articles of clothing in the river. She focused in on him with her hawk like vision. With his hair swept by the breeze and his cheeks flushed pink by the cold, Kori thought he looked the picture of unapologetic, outdoorsy beauty and gazed at him for a short while.


    When she emerged and had dressed herself, she breakfasted with Rudolph and his group of older guardsmen. They had a hot meal of porridge and then cooked rabbit which appeared to improve the spirits of the men considerably.


    Before it was time to set off, Kori dropped in on Erika who was in a caravan in the center of the clearing. Desi the maidservant was with her and Erika was sewing


    Erika looked up as Kori entered and greeted her. The pale morning sunlight shone through the caravan window, lighting up her beautiful face. "Good morning, Kori dear. Is anything the matter?"


    "No, I just wanted to see you." Kori sat herself down on the wooden stool in the middle of the caravan. "And good morning too, Desi."


    They chatted a short while before Kori had to get back on her horse.


    "You will be in your element when we reach Silberwald," Erika assured her. "Like I said, Lord Vereticus has an amazing herb garden. Now you get a feel of what my role in life is ¨C Royalty must travel around their realm a lot, no matter the circumstances. It is expected."


    "Yes, your duty!" Kori was excited as she recalled Erika''s inspirational words when she had advised her to accept circumstances she could not change and focus on the good she could do. Erika demonstrated this to Kori by accepting her allotted role as future queen. "Well¡­ the entire realm will get to see what a wise queen you''ll make."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The royal party made good progress that day and by evening they camped by the river Silber that separated Gruenwald from Silberwald. Kori was tired after riding all day and slept soundly. She awoke just before dawn and bathed in the river Silber. On returning to the tents she found Rudolph arguing with Prince Siegfried.


    "You cannot tell me what to do, my man," said Siegfried, giving that supercilious sneer that suited him so well. "The future King will do as he pleases, whether that is to fish, or anything else. I need no guardsmen blundering after me and scaring away my catch of the day. You had best stop ordering me around."


    "Fine," said Rudolph throwing up his arms in the air. "No guardsmen." He turned to his niece. "Kori, go and assist Siegfried."


    Kori was thrilled at the prospect of fishing with Siegfried, or indeed, their doing anything together.


    "Yes, Your Highness, do let me help. I want to see how it''s done." Kori knew different methods of fishing already, but surely Siegfried could do it best.


    Siegfried inclined his head slightly to her. "Well I have no problem with granting a favour to a gracious young lady."Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Kori beamed and bowed low. Siegfried had been carrying a basket, presumably for his catch and he now handed it to her and strode to the bank as she kept pace with him easily, still not quite believing her good fortune.


    They knelt by the bank. The early morning sunlight glinted off Siegfried''s fiery hair and the silver necklace she had loaned him. How pretty it looked around his neck. She gazed at his sculpted face. His complexion was so creamy. That must take a lot of work for a red headed fellow, she thought, avoiding the full brightness of the sun. "Now, Korina," Siegfried said, pointing at the surface of the river. She reluctantly turned her gaze to the river. "We are going to try tickling trout. The trick is to stay low and not make a lot of noise or too much movement. I''ll go first, so you can see how to do it."


    Kori had caught trout this way on many occasions. Her keen sight and hearing meant that no trout in the water nearby had a chance of escaping her notice. But she remained quiet as Siegfried waited and then caught a trout that swam past. Kori was impressed. The Prince''s senses could not compare to her own and yet he had already made a catch. He flipped the gasping trout into the basket.


    "Oh bravo, your majesty. Masterfully done."


    "Why thank you." The Prince smirked. "We''ll have a somewhat better breakfast. Feel free to try your hand at it."


    Kori was careful not to catch as many trout as Siegfried and to make sure that she told him that she could not have caught any without his guidance.


    Siegfried was pleased as they walked back to camp with a full basket. "Well done you. Effort and a good coach are what it takes. And yet I''ve never known a girl to be any use at this before. Huh. Nor would any other girl be any use in the Royal Guard. You''re exceptional."


    Kori''s heart swelled at his praise. "You''re too kind, your majesty."


    Siegfried stopped dead in his tracks and Kori stopped too, surprised. "I tell you, some of the Greater Nobility are a dreary lot. That Frauke of the Mountain Realm for instance¡­ always trying to get me to flirt with her. Tiresome girl! Her only notion of conversation is my telling her how beautiful she is and her replying, ''why thank you, your Highness.''"


    Kori was shocked. "She wants you to flirt with her? But you''re engaged to Erika!"


    Siegfried gave her that supercilious glance. "She doesn''t want me to marry her, only flirt with her. It''s a game the Greater Nobility play. A little dalliance in a garden or a few whispered words in the hallway¡­ They''re all at it and it''s all meaningless."


    Abruptly he held out an elegant white hand. Kori wondered what he meant, but laid down the basket of fish and put her slender green hand in his. He clasped her hand lightly. "This is how it''s done. I come across Frauke in the Golden Breakfast Room where she''s finished her tea. I tell her; why Lady Frauke, don''t you look radiant this morning? The blue of your gown so exactly matches the blue of your eyes; just like a fresh, Spring sky.''


    Kori thought that this sounded quite poetic.


    Siegfried continued: "Then she says; ''Oh Siegfried, I wanted to go riding, but I''m too much of a silly girl to find my way back to the castle.''"


    Siegfried gazed right at Kori. She gazed breathlessly into his shimmering blue green eyes. He continued the imagined dialogue. "And I say, ''I would be honoured to ride with a lady as beautiful as you.'' Then I take her arm and we stroll to the stables. She pretends to be afraid to mount the horse and I help her up and she extends her hand to thank me and I kiss it." And then Siegfried raised her hand to his mouth. Kori actually gasped. Siegfried had kissed her hand! She willed the heat of his mouth to sink through her flesh so that she would forever carry the imprint of that gesture. But he had now relinquished her hand and laughed carelessly and her flesh had already forgotten the precise texture of his lips¡­


    He turned back towards the camp and she hastily gathered up the basket. "And that is what I have to put up with, no exaggeration," he said with a majestic sigh. "And for much of this trip I''ve had to look at my cousin. Gerd!" He yelled. His voice was clear and powerful. Kori thought that despite his youth it resonated deeply. "Gerd! If you''re not up and about already, then there''ll be some trout flopping in your bunk!"


    But Gerd was up and there was a campfire crackling merrily near the Royal Caravans. "Good to hear your dulcet tones, Siegfried. I can''t do without them."


    "We''ve been fishing while you''ve been snoring," said Siegfried. "Where are the servants? The trout won''t cook themselves."


    Soon the trout were cooked and Erika joined them as they breakfasted around the fire. The sun was up now and the princes sat in the shade of an oak tree. Dani, the taster sat on Siegfried''s other side, but it wasn''t necessary for him to taste the Prince''s portion, for the fish had been cooked under Siegfried''s own watchful eye.


    "Now this Vereticus, he''s a pompous old ass, but he knows things," said Siegfried.


    "Don''t call him names, he is an excellent fellow at heart," scolded Gerd.


    "Hush. I''m trying to reassure the girls. They''ll want to know that I have the little matter of the Wolf Cult in hand. As I was saying, Vereticus has made a study of this kind of thing. Leave it to me, Erika, Korina and don''t trouble your pretty heads about it. Vereticus has concocted a weapon to use against werewolves. That is why I do him the honour of an official visit. It is all part of my plan. I doubt we need worry further."


    Kori was gazing at him wide eyed, but now she clapped her hands together. "That is a weight off my mind. Thank you, Your Majesty."


    Siegfried inclined his head to her. Erika''s expression was unreadable, but Kori was a little surprised to see that Gerd looked sardonic. Surely if Siegfried said he had a plan, then he did?


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori felt a guilty twinge as she hugged and kissed her sister before she had to join the guard. Siegfried had kissed her hand and she ought to confess. There should be no secrets between them.


    "Be watchful and wary this day, my brave Kori," murmured Erika, stroking her hair. Kori could not bring herself to confess just yet.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The Royal escort crossed the bridge over the river Silber and made their way across the moors that form the outskirts of the Silberwald province. Kori rode beside her uncle and quite suddenly she sensed something wrong. "Uncle dear, I hear something breaking the earth¡­ over there¡­ oh!" Honing in on the source of the sound with her uncanny vision, she could see a mound of earth break and the rotting carcass of what had once been a hunting hound push its way free, rags of flesh hanging off the bones. Evidently this moor would not let sleeping dogs lie! Kori pointed. "There! An undead hound!"


    Rudolph barked out an order and a guard took aim and fired at the horror. The arrow found its mark and the hound collapsed. "I hope we have enough silver tipped arrows," muttered Rudolph.


    "Oh no! It''s only just beginning," said Kori, scouring the surrounding landscapes. "Coming at us from all sides in the distance¡­ wolfmen! No¡­" she drew a deep breath in horror as she saw that they were something even worse¡­ there were rips in their scabrous hides, through which she could see bare bone, internal organs and exposed ribs. Some moved on all fours and others on their hind legs like men, their eyes burning balefires. "They''re undead werewolves! They have our scent."


    Rudolph bellowed out orders as the undead horrors approached. They had to stand and fight the decaying werewolves. Their lives all depended on the outcome.

 The Wolf Mage

    The Wolf Mage


    Her heart thudding in her breast, Kori glanced around at the decaying, semi-lupine forms that shambled silently towards them and slipping her hand into the pouch at her leather belt, she grasped a specially prepared package of fire powder that she had brought with her to Castle Gruenwald.


    "Werewargs!" Cried Rudolph. "Fire!" The archers sent a volley of arrows at the encroaching werewargs. Those hit stumbled and staggered round in circles.


    Kori glared at a werewarg that continued its advance and withdrew the fire package from the pouch and flung it with all her might and the shambling horror. With her demonic coordination, she could scarcely miss. The undead creature burst into flames and only staggered a few more paces before collapsing. Kori could hear Siegfried yelling in applause at the top of his voice.


    But the other werewargs seemed to recover from the arrows and they continued their advance. Kori withdrew a second fire package and flung it at another undead beast with pinpoint accuracy and then a third¡­ but by this time she had used up her supply and the remaining werewargs were almost on them.


    Kori silently thanked the gods that the horses were the best trained in the Dark Forest and would not panic, even in the dire straits they were in. At their riders'' urging they reared at the werewargs, lashing out with their hooves. Kori grimaced as the rotting stench of the undead beasts invaded her nostrils. The clamour of battle and men yelling was all around, but the creatures made no sound at all ¨C they did not have heartbeats and they did not breathe. Despite the blows from the horses'' hooves, the werewargs arose and snapped at the riders. One of them lurched towards her! Kori gritted her teeth and made the blocking motion Rudolph had taught her, using both her sword and Runeknife, slicing through the horror''s decaying claws and then with lightning speed cleaving its neck. Her blades bit through bone and sinew and the beast cadaver collapsed in a heap; a pile of bones and decaying organs.


    The battle was over now and¡­ wait, what was this? The fallen werewargs, except for the three that Kori had burned, were twitching and now they were beginning to rise again. There was a weird throbbing in the air. Probably no one else could hear it. Kori turned her head in the direction it emanated from and saw a shadowy figure ¨C similar in form to the werewargs, but alive. Yes, she could hear his heavy breathing ¨C a wolfman swathed in shadow, growling softly.


    "Look! Over there!" she cried, pointing.


    A few of the men shook their heads, but the rest were preoccupied with fighting the resurgent werewargs.


    The shadowy wolfman was stalking towards the royal carriages. There was no time to waste. Kori urged her horse forward at a gallop. The figure turned to her. It had burning red eyes like glowing coals. It raised a black furred claw at her and showed her its middle finger on which she saw the icy glint of a platinum ring. Another cultist! The werewolf growled, a sound full of rage and ice cold malice. Her horse suddenly gave a whinny of terror and stopped dead in its tracks and she was flung off, but she landed on all fours and leapt at the cultist, brandishing her weapons, but was stopped by an invisible forcefield. The werewolf lunged at her, jaws snapping and in desperation, she tried to recreate the unnatural scream she had made the previous month that had struck fear into the wolf pack.


    This time she succeeded. She screamed a bloodcurdling scream that went on and on. Her voice was filled with her terror and her anger at their attacker. The werewolf took a step back and Kori felt a gleam of hope and screamed all the louder, opening her mouth wider than she thought possible, directing all the fury she could muster against the cultist. The terrible sound she made seemed to coalesce in front of her as she concentrated on directing all the force of her voice against her enemy. Her jaw felt as though it was coming off, but she couldn''t stop. Dimly, she was aware of the men crying and the twang of arrows being fired. The cultist staggered again as silver tipped arrows struck him. Kori screamed with such terrible force, that she felt her mouth distending. She concentrated harder against the werewolf¡­


    Now they were surrounded by men, led by Rudolph, who attacked the cultist from all sides with their swords. The werewolf''s hot blood spurted from multiple wounds. Kori stopped screaming and sank to her knees, feeling very sick. Now the only inhuman voice was the howling of the dying werewolf.


    Her whole body was shaking convulsively and she vomited on the ground, but she couldn''t close her mouth. Rudolph was there and he gathered her up in his arms, his dark eyes wide, looking pale underneath the bush of his beard. She tried to speak, but she could only make strange choking noises. She couldn''t close her mouth. She was beginning to black out¡­


    The next thing Kori knew was that Rudolph had placed her on a bed in one of the carriages and a man was wrapping bandages around her jaw. It was the castle''s military surgeon.Stolen story; please report.


    "I don''t often treat young Ladies like her, My Lord," said the surgeon baldly to Rudolph. "And I''ve never seen anyone''s jaw distend like that. If I were to hazard a guess, I''d say she has overtaxed herself."


    "Answer the question man," barked Rudolph. "Can you heal my niece or not?"


    "Sir, her physical composition is not altogether flesh and blood. Where there is magic involved, the limits of my expertise are past. We need Lord Vereticus."


    Kori still could not speak. Her jaw felt terribly limp. Her consciousness was beginning to fade again.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    As Kori came to, she heard Erika''s voice. "No one is to disturb us unless I say."


    Kori opened her eyes to see Erika''s white face above her, looking anxious. "Sister dearest, can you hear me?" Kori nodded. Erika stroked her long hair that was now loose on the pillow. "You''ve been so brave Kori, as I knew you would. I ¨C " Erika''s voice trembled a little. Her dark eyes seemed bright with tears. "Siegfried was right. Lord Vereticus is a great scholar and he has an interest in the supernatural. He will be able to heal you, my sweet demon-girl. He must."


    Kori found she could move her jaw a little, but the bandages were holding it in place. She found that the only vocal sounds she could still make were little hoarse croaks. She struggled into a sitting position and Erika put her arms around her, kissing her on the cheek. She relaxed somewhat at the feeling of her embrace, but her thoughts were still in a whirl. What was wrong with her? It was obviously related to her demonic nature¡­ she remembered her father''s account in the library book of how the lesser demon''s mouth distended grotesquely¡­ what was going to happen to her? She thought of the rest of the guards and the Royal Party as a whole. Were any of them injured? In which case, she ought to get to work healing them right away instead of leaving it all to the surgeon.


    She tried to speak, but only managed a hoarse croaking. She gestured at the door of the carriage, but she did not know much sign language. She tried to mime writing something down.


    "You want to say something, but have to write it down?" said Erika gently. "No problem, I''ve got some parchment."


    She selected a piece of parchment and a quill from a drawer in the wooden table in the caravan and Kori scratched out a message: Was anyone wounded by the werewargs? I''ve got to tend to them.


    Erika gave a silvery laugh. "You are a dedicated healer, sister. I expected no less. Do not fret; the foul things did claw at a few of the guards, but no one was bitten. When you directed your magic scream at the Wolf Necromancer, his concentration was broken and the werewargs had no will to direct them. He couldn''t maintain whatever spell of invisibility he had used to baffle the rest of us either. You ensured a victory with no major casualties. Yet more proof that Rudolph was right about you all along. Mother will have to eat her words now. Isn''t that something marvelous?"


    Kori scratched out another message: I want to help anyone who was clawed, Erika. I don''t want to sit around when I could be healing someone.


    "Kori¡­ You need your rest. You really are not well. You are the most hurt and the surgeon doesn''t know what is wrong. You are special ¡­ " Erika gave a small, sad smile and then continued; "you need a special healer ¨C Lord Vereticus. And until then, you must rest."


    Kori wanted to protest further, but at that moment the caravan halted.


    "We''re taking just a brief rest stop," Erika explained. "What is more the Princes will want to visit after your latest feat of heroism. They''ll be anxious about you." Kori was flattered that they were concerned about her, but fervently wished that she could speak and that her face was not held together with bandages for Siegfried''s visit.


    "And how is our most prized guard?" Boomed Siegfried. "It grieves me to see you so hurt in the course of duty, Lady Korina. But your deed is worth a song. I disagree with Rudolph often, but at least he could see the obvious ¨C that we need you on the frontline."


    Gerd spoke up. "The frontline? Can''t you see how horribly dangerous this is?" He looked agitated.


    Siegfried rounded on him. "And what were you doing to distinguish yourself? When you''re half as brave and interesting as Korina, then you can talk to us about danger." He pointed at himself to emphasise his use of the royal ''we.''


    Gerd bit his lip and looked a little forlorn. Kori wanted to speak up on his behalf, but of course, she could only croak. Siegfried put a hand on her shoulder and she thought she would melt. "Rest and mend quickly, lady. We hope to the gods that that stunningly pretty face of yours mends." Siegfried thought her stunningly pretty! Kori would have squealed if her voice had been working. She fervently hoped she would heal¡­ she had to.


    Siegfried took his leave of Erika in the formal way and then exited the caravan, but Gerd remained, still seeming on edge. Kori could not ask what was wrong, so she croaked and laid a hand on his arm to console him.


    They gazed into each other''s eyes for a moment and Kori was struck anew by how pretty his were.


    "My father intends for you to be a fighter on our side, Kori, but I like it not. Especially as he knows how dangerous the Wolf Cultists are and that they come in different guises."


    Erika was looking grave. Then her elegant white hands balled themselves into fists. Suddenly she blurted out; "if anything were to happen to Kori, I¡­" she checked herself and took a deep breath. "The Cultists put us all in danger. I try my utmost to defer to the wisdom of our uncle and the Regent."


    Kori picked up her quill and indicated that she wanted to write and then she scratched out a new message on the back of her parchment: Dearest ones, I must accept my duty. The Regent showed good faith when he accepted a demon-girl into the Royal Castle. The condition was that I do my duty. We should accept his decisions. We each have our own role. Erika must be queen and I must help defend us from the wolves. But I am afraid, dears! The Wolf Mage could do magic ¨C was he their leader? If not, then their leader must be terrible indeed.


    Erika gave a fond smile when she saw mention of her own name in the message.


    Gerd still looked grave. "Indeed, father always talks of duty. He is right of course. And which Cultist was it, who attacked us today? Was he their leader, the Arch-Lycanthrope himself? Or was he merely a follower?"

 Demonic Maladies

    Demonic Maladies


    Erika was firm that Kori not leave the caravan to tend to the men who were scratched by the werewargs. Instead, she read to her sister from the romance Romeo and Julius until the carriages came to a halt in the grounds of the estate of Lord Vereticus.


    Kori was curious to meet the nobleman after hearing of his wisdom. Perhaps he would let her look in his library.


    The sisters waited a while for the time it took for their host to formally receive Siegfried. Then their uncle came to take Kori directly to him.


    Rudolph led Kori through the entrance hall that was tiled with wide, black and white flagstones to an ornately carved oak staircase and to a pair of double doors. Rudolph knocked on the doors and then entered, ushering Kori inside as well.


    Inside, a gentlemen in richly embroidered robes sat at a desk on which there was a mass of parchment. Kori glanced around. Her immediate impression was that the study was very cramped. There was a globe of Granat, a globe of the moon, bookshelves laden with books old and new, glass fronted cupboards with bottles and jars containing powders, potions and even preserved organs of animals. There were surgical instruments in other cupboards.


    Lord Vereticus himself was a middle aged man with an aquiline face and a neatly trimmed goatee. Kori thought his manner conveyed worry. She had seen the look before in anxious patients and she wanted to comfort him, but Rudolph had to speak first.


    "Vereticus, this is my niece." Rudolph wasn''t spending any time on formalities it seemed. "You know already how I have pushed for her acceptance into the Gruenwald nobility and how her abilities have proven indispensable in the fight against the Wolf Cult." Here Rudolph opened his fist to show Vereticus the platinum rings that had belonged to the two defeated Cultists. Vereticus looked keenly interested at this.


    Rudolph nodded. "Yes, Korina has defeated a second Cultist, this time the werewolf was a mage." Vereticus took a sharp intake of breath. Rudolph continued: "But she has been sadly injured. She subdued the Cultist with a magical shriek which broke his concentration on his evil sorcery, but which also proved dangerously taxing to her. Can you help? I know the supernatural is your area of interest."


    Vereticus nodded. "I shall help. I want to help, even though I cannot help my own son."


    "Oh?" Rudolph looked at him quizzically, but Vereticus ushered them into an adjoining room covered in gleaming white tiles where there was a long, leather padded reclining chair.


    "First thing''s first. Time may be of the essence." Vereticus took a pair of leather surgical gloves from a cupboard. "Young Lady," he addressed Korina, "due to your demonic heritage you are prone to distortions of the flesh. But I feel confident that I can help. Try not to worry. Just sit down." He motioned to the leather chair. Feeling some relief washing over her, Kori lay down on it.


    Vereticus unlocked a steel cupboard and withdrew what appeared to be a facemask made of silver hammered very thin. It was moulded in the likeness of a female face.


    "Again, try to relax¡­" he advised. Carefully he unwound the bandages the surgeon had placed around her face and holding her jaw in position with one hand, he positioned the silvery mask onto her face with the other. Kori felt it burning cold and could not stop herself wincing. Vereticus relinquished her face and the mask remained in position. The chill sensation lessened although her face now felt stiff and heavy.


    "Success!" Vereticus sounded relieved. "Now you should regain consistency, but I''m going to prescribe a schedule for you that involves both rest and exercise to make sure." He turned to Rudolph. "Lesser demons have an ectoplasmic element to the physical forms. The ichor that flows through their veins is somewhere between blood and ethereal fluid. And the lady Korina represents an intermediate state between that of a pure human and a lesser demon. The mask should remain in place until she regains her normal form."


    He turned back to Kori. "I have a pain killer that should ease the sensation."


    Vereticus turned to another cupboard and took out two jars. He removed a pill from one with a pair of tweezers and dipped it into the other jar. "There, coating it in chocolate should help it go down better. I''ll brew a tincture for your sore throat presently. I am confident your voice will soon return."


    Kori was able to swallow the pill, although her throat was still painful. She nodded to Vereticus and tried to croak out her thanks.


    "So what happened to your son, man?" Rudolph asked.


    Vereticus sighed. "This past month has been marked by a number of strange and terrible occurrences. Disappearances¡­ people torn apart by packs of wolves and lately, corpses of the recently deceased rising from their graves. Then last week at the full Moon, my son was strolling through the grounds of the estate and I heard him cry for help. I ran out to find him kneeling and a terrible figure standing over him. A figure, swathed in shadows, with the figure of a muscle bound man and a head like a wolf. It ¨C It was sinking its teeth into my son''s shoulder. I had prepared for such an invasion with a concocted compound of silver nitrate which I cast at the horror. He released my son with a roar of rage and raised his middle finger at me, on which I saw one of the rings of platinum which you now carry. He said with a snarl; ''Your son is cursed now, pathetic amateur magician. The wolves will run wild and my master, the Arch-Lycanthrope will see this land run red with the blood of man¡­'' Before I could attack again, he simply disappeared from view as though he had just melted into the shadows. No matter how hard we searched, he was nowhere to be found."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Rudolph looked grim. "Well now the Wolf Mage is dead. But it sounds like he wasn''t the Arch-Lycanthrope."


    Vereticus looked grimmer. "Korina has done extremely well, but too late for my son. I tended his wound, but he was stricken with fever which got worse. He was barely coherent. He kept saying in a high, sing-song voice, ''something in the darkness pulled me deeper, something in the madness gripped my mind¡­ cut the strings that bind me to mankind.'' The effects of the wolf''s curse became apparent right away. Despite everything I could do, the fever got progressively worse and his physical form began to warp¡­ he is now trapped in a semi-lupine form. His mother is distraught. She can hardly stop crying."


    Kori let out a sob. Rudolph stroked his beard pensively. "The Wolf Mage only died this morning so we can see what will happen now¡­ but I fear your son won''t turn back unless the Arch-Lycanthrope and the Wolf Demon are defeated. This concerns the three of us greatly. You must tell us all you know."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Later in the library of Vereticus, the scholar took a leather bound tome from a shelf and opened it as Kori and Rudolph sat and listened as he told them what he had discovered of the Wolf Cult.


    "We know that werewolves are susceptible to silver and I have created a compound of silver nitrate that I will share with you presently. This latest plague of lycanthropy can be traced directly to a quintet of great evil doers - a warlord, a necromancer, an assassin, an imposter and a brigand - who formed a demonic cult. The Cult in question originated perhaps four to six months ago in the mountains far to the east, across the freezing wastes of Nebelheim and the Odelands. Their intent is to bring destruction to Nordheim and our way of life and they have sought to do so by nefarious means. They conducted a summoning ceremony by which they summoned a greater demon to assist them. The ritual involved five consecrated platinum rings. I believe the necromancer was the Wolf Mage you slew. He would have led the actual ceremony, even if the demon did not appoint him to be the Arch-Lycanthrope. The rings of the Cultists are a collective symbol that they are bound in the demon''s service. It does not work the other way around. The five evil men became wolves under the demon''s great shadow."


    Kori made a mental note of everything he said. She tried to mime that she wanted to write something. Rudolph frowned. "What''s wrong, Kori? Are you suffering from tremors?"


    "The young lady has something to tell us," said Vereticus and he gathered up a sheet of blank parchment along with an ornate quill.


    Kori scratched out a message as quickly as she could while trying to keep her handwriting elegant so as to impress the scholar:


    I read something in a book on demons at Gruenwald. There is a symbol one must mark out to banish a greater demon, using consecrated artifacts, but it did not explain further. Would the rings count as consecrated artifacts? This is the symbol.


    Kori scratched out the weird, esoteric symbol she had found in the book on demonic visitations. It resembled nothing so much as a five-pointed star with irregular angles. Vereticus picked up the parchment, frowning. "Yes, Korina, I have heard of this. The rings would suffice, but it would take all five. The ritual of banishment which you read about is really a counter to a ritual of greater demon-conjuring. In short, it is going through the motions of conjuring in the opposite order. The rings would have to be marked out around the demon first and of course, to be effective, the banishment has to be carried out by a mage or by another demon, or a demonspawn¡­ Ahhh! You are a bright young girl. A shame you are not my daughter."


    Kori gazed at him through the eye holes of her mask, feeling powerful emotion well up in her at these words. Rudolph put a hand on her shoulder. "I wish my brother had been as wise as you."


    Vereticus shook his head. "The life of a scholar searching for wisdom is not everyone''s cup of tea. To each his own." Kori nodded.


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    00O00


    For the next week, Kori had to adhere to the strict timetable for rest and exercise that Vereticus had laid out for her. Erika kept her company during this time. Kori thought she could sense unease from her sister, even though Erika was such a calm and self-composed person.


    The healing potions Vereticus brewed for Kori soon restored her voice. She could discuss ingredients with the scholar at length when she could speak again. One day, Erika went with her to the bath house in the grounds, where they both swam in the small marble pool of heated water. Kori drifted very slowly so that Erika could keep abreast of her.


    "I''m glad my mask doesn''t rust," said Kori. "And that I can speak again. Listen, Erika, I''ve been wanting to tell you something. On the way here, after we went fishing, Siegfried kissed my hand¡­ I ¡­ I didn''t know he was going to. It made me happy at the time, but I know it was wrong¡­"


    Erika was laughing. "Silly Kori, Siegfried kisses a lot of noble girls on the hand. On the mouth too unless the Regent is watching him. He can''t help being a terrible flirt when all the girls are crazy for him."


    "You really don''t mind?" said Kori anxiously as they began another length of the pool. "I''m glad that you''re the one who will marry him and be future queen. You''re everything a queen should be - so kind and far wiser than so many people three times your age. But my feelings about the Prince confuse me¡­"


    Erika looked a little sad. "It is not for my sake that I wish he wouldn''t flirt with you. I do not want to ever see your hurt or heartbroken. Especially since¡­ when the Wolf Mage attacked I thought for a second I might lose you. It ¨C it looked like your whole head was about to come apart."


    "Vereticus knows what to do, dearest," said Kori softly. "Siegfried was exactly right about him. He may be a flirt, but doesn''t that prove the Prince is wise? Vereticus knows how I might banish the Wolf Demon. I can probably make a start as soon as I can take this mask off. I could set everything right and even heal Vereticus'' son as well. I''ve certainly never healed an illness as terrible as his before. It would be a monumental achievement in my career as a healer."


    "Yes, the old fellows all want you to be embroiled right at the center of this," said Erika, her voice now very cool. "I daresay mother would approve of their strategies."


    Erika was cheerful again at bedtime though. While recuperating, Kori preferred to sleep in Erika''s bed rather than the one in the guest room reserved for her. Kori settled beside her sister. She was beginning to get used to her mask now, although it was still awkward. Her face felt stiff, but she no longer had the alarming sensation of her jaw sagging.


    She chattered to Erika about her research on ways to defeat greater demons and evil cultists. A particularly chilling example of the latter had been the Dread Disciples from the world of Obsidia, led by Gangrich Carcescu. On Obsidia, Carcescu had been finally defeated by a witch named Rebecca. "Rebecca had to change herself a lot to be strong enough to defeat Carcescu and Disciple Phobia when they tried to wipe out the population of Obsidia. It''s so touching that she had complete faith in her loved one to still love her even though she would ¡­ no longer look the same anymore."


    "Rebecca knew what was most precious to her," said Erika, taking hold of Kori''s hand.

 Mission for a Healer

    Mission for a Healer


    It was December and Kori awoke one morning to see heavy flakes falling past the window. Erika was snuggled against her for extra warmth. The grounds outside were wrapped in an icy mantle.


    Kori gave a piercing cry of delight and Erika came awake at once.


    "Your throat has healed well, Kori," she murmured.


    "Ooh, sorry dear, but see, it''s snowing." Kori pointed to the window. "I always dreamed we would someday build a snowman together as sisters, but I only had a dream for so long... If that dream can come true, then why not others?"


    Erika gave a small smile. "Did you dream the size of the snowman and how much I would contribute to the effort?"


    "Oh yes," said Kori brightly, "But I never dreamed I would have a face full of metal." She touched the metal mask which still felt heavy on her face. "I''ll make you a cup of herbal tea, Madeleine finds it a great way to start a winter morning."


    She leapt down from the bed while Erika wrapped the blankets around herself, trying to conserve heat. Kori skipped across the floor into the tiny kitchen that adjoined the bedroom and busied herself mixing herbs and heating a kettle over the glowing coals. After dissolving a spoonful of syrup into the hot mixture she returned to Erika who was sitting up in the bed, the blankets still around her.


    Kori sat beside her sister as she sipped the tea and put an arm around her shoulders. She thought it a pity that the metal mask prevented her from giving a good morning kiss. The pale morning sunshine lit up Erika''s delicate features and gleamed off her long black hair. "How is it, dear?" asked Kori. "This particular blend of herbs tones Madeleine up and makes her happy, even on a wintry morning. I''ll bring up your breakfast next."


    "It is very fine tea," said Erika with a slight nod. "My compliments go to the brewer."


    "Anyway, breakfast time," said Kori, clapping her hands together. She rushed from the room, down the oaken staircase and then off a doorway on the other side of the entrance hall that led to a bare, stone staircase, the way lit up by burning torches, until she arrived in the servant quarters. Appetising smells emanated from the kitchen and she scudded through the stone archway into the cavernous stone room where the servants were working the ovens.


    There was a maid with her back to Kori who was preparing the Princesses'' silver breakfast tray now. She turned and looked right into Kori''s metal mask and gave a little start.


    "Sorry, did I startle you?" said Kori, laying a hand gently on her arm. "This mask¡­ I''ll take our tray up. It''ll save you climbing all those stairs."


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    00O00


    "Breakfast, your Majesty," sang Kori as she re-entered the bedroom. She presented Erika with the silver tray and lying face down on the bed, propping herself up with her elbows. Breakfast included boiled eggs, white toast, wheat porridge, wild boar sausages and smoked kippers.


    Kori pushed her hair away from her eyes and tapped the metal cheek of her mask. "What can I fit through my metal mask today? Perhaps I should try mashing up everything sweet and savoury and then swallowing the paste."


    Erika retrieved a leather pouch from her bedside table and withdrew a silver spoon. "My special spoon fits through your mask, darling."


    The sisters played a game of exactly what Erika could spoon feed to Kori and when they had bathed, they got ready to go outside. Kori did not need to wrap up particularly warm ¨C indeed, she preferred to go barefoot in the snow, enjoying the feel of it under her toes, but Erika wrapped up warmly in the finest white fur coat and fur gloves and boots made of thick leather. Kori smiled behind her mask at how fine her sister looked bedecked in furs and taking her by her gloved hand, led her outside, delighting in the sensation of the snow melting under her toes.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    "Winter''s minions have been busy, causing all this thick snow," said Kori when their snowman was nearly complete. "Remember the rhyme?"


    Unprompted, she began to recite:


    "Beware the Hoarfrostman my dear, when the moon is fat.


    Sharp of claw and spindle-limbed he is and cunning.


    With icy breath and freezing touch he brings the snowfall chill.


    But winter hungers and has teeth my love, and sharpened ones at that."


    Kori paused and scooped up some more snow with her bare hands. "The rhyme doesn''t sound altogether encouraging, but Winter''s minions are not evil, just capricious. It is encouraging for me that not all supernatural beings are evil, you know? Madeleine always impressed that upon me."


    "Of course they''re not all evil," said Erika, selecting a twig for the snowman''s arm. "They''re just a different type of being." She smiled. "And you are not tainted, sister, you just have different abilities."


    At that moment, Prince Gerd and Ralph the aspiring guardsman came trudging through the snow towards them. Kori ran through the snow to greet them, wanting to hug them each in turn, her bare feet leaving perfect footprints in the white mantle.


    "Great to see you recovering so well, Kori," said Gerd as she hugged him. "I hope you''ll be all better soon." She held his gaze for a moment, wishing her mask had more to show than its one bland expression. His nose and cheeks were flushed a rosy pink due to the cold.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Thank you, my prince," she said softly. "The mask comes off today."


    She hugged Ralph. "We''ll be back together in the guard tomorrow then," said Ralph. "I heard Vereticus thinks the other wolf cultists may be skulking around somewhere in this province. But you''ll howl at them and they''ll run off, tails between their legs."


    Kori chuckled placing her hands on his shoulders, looking into his freckled face. "It''ll be great to be serve alongside you again."


    Gerd was greeting Erika formally and Kori took Ralph''s hand and introduced him and he bowed to Erika very low.


    "This is Ralph, a fellow Royal Guard."


    Erika gave a broader smile than she usually gave anyone besides Kori. "From the Golden Isles, I take it? And how did you come to serve the Dark Forest royalty, Ralph?"


    Ralph bowed again. "I always wanted to travel Your Majesty and the Gruenwald guard were recruiting for promising young talent in my home city. My mother didn''t want me to serve in so far off a place as the Dark Forest, but my father was proud. I''ve already seen amazing things in the Dark Forest." His green eyes flickered to Kori for an instant as he said that. Gazing at Ralph, she thought she could agree with his mother. She herself was unsure about what the best way to split her time between Madeleine and her sister might be.


    Erika gave her oblique smile. "Don''t you miss them? Don''t you wonder if you can spend your whole life apart from them?"


    "I''ve only been in the Dark Forest since summer and my eyes are still big from gazing at the world. But who knows what the future will hold? I defer to the wisdom of others who know me." He appealed to Gerd: "Am I going to turn into a sober older man who says, ''my roaming days are over?''"


    "You? I doubt it," said Gerd.


    Ralph turned to Kori next. "Can we defeat the Wolf Cult before the solstice, my Lady? If so, then I can visit home with a clear conscience when the festival comes around."


    "I hope so, I really hope so," Kori replied.


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    00O00


    That afternoon it was time for Kori''s mask to be removed. Erika sat on a chair next to Rudolph in the surgery room while Vereticus donned his gloves.


    "The moment of truth," he said gravely. Kori felt her heart flutter with anticipation mixed with misgiving. Would her face have healed?


    Vereticus gripped the mask and pulled. As it came off, Kori felt as though a weight were lifted from her and her face suddenly felt very cold as it was exposed to the air for the first time in days.


    "Success!" cried Vereticus.


    "Oh Kori, you''re as beautiful as ever," said Erika, her voice vibrating with relief.


    Kori touched her cheek gingerly. Her face did feel very tender. She would need to apply her special moisturiser. "Thank you, Vereticus. Now I can get on with my mission to heal your son."


    "Yes, the mission," said Erika, her expression unreadable once more as she turned to Rudolph. "I would love to know every little thing about it, uncle." She turned to Vereticus. "I thank you for your service, kind Sir." Vereticus bowed. "I would also like to hear everything you know that concerns the Wolf Cult and my sister, too."


    At Erika''s insistence, Vereticus stood before the three Sommernachts in his study and began to brief them. "The Lady Korina has worked out a way the Wolf Demon might be banished, but to do so, it will be necessary to find and eradicate the three remaining cultists and perform a spell using their five rings. As a demon, only Korina stands a chance at carrying it out."


    "A mission fraught with peril, uncle," said Erika, turning to Rudolph. She was wearing that expression that Kori now recognised as her determined neutral face. The one she wore when she really wanted to conceal her true feelings.


    Rudolph looked uncomfortable. "This was a condition for the Regent making Kori legitimate, Erika. I helped him see how her unique talents could serve the realm. The matter of the Wolf Cult decided him."


    "I have a duty both as a Sommernacht and as a healer," said Kori. "If banishing the Wolf Demon will heal Vereticus'' son, then that is what I am bound to do. There can be no question about it."


    "Yes. Duty," said Erika softly.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori was able to join her sister and the Princes at the main banqueting table at lunch the next day. Rudolph and Vereticus did not join them and Heidi, the lady wife of Vereticus had the role of hostess. Siegfried took umbrage at this.


    "Some host," he complained. "Absenting himself at his own pleasure. And some ambience. We could have found more cheer in a graveyard than in this place. What way is this to entertain royalty, Heidi?"


    "Shush," hissed Gerd who sat next to Siegfried.


    Lady Heidi was a silver haired older lady. Kori could see that she looked subdued because she was sad about her son''s illness and her heart went out to her.


    "Oh you shush," said Siegfried, unperturbed. "Dani and I are inclined to eat elsewhere ¨C somewhere with better service." Dani, Siegfried''s taster who sat on his other side, glanced at him apprehensively.


    "Is anything not to his Highness'' satisfaction?" asked Heidi. But her words were spoken half-heartedly and she seemed to be gazing into the distance.


    "Quite a lot isn''t," said Siegfried. "Your husband could show some grit ¨C like me. I suppose it''s what one expects from a bookworm who married his old tutor. What does that make you, Heidi? A cradle snatcher? Are you thirty years his senior?"


    "Only fifteen," said Heidi absently.


    Siegfried shook his head. The sunlight streaming in through the diamond patterned windows glinted off his fiery hair. He narrowed his luminescent green-blue eyes. "Huh. I can see the pursuit of knowledge meant everything to him and he married you for what more you could teach."


    "Don''t be so impertinent to a lady," said Gerd angrily.


    Kori glanced quickly from one to the other and then at Erika whose expression was unreadable.


    "Who asked your opinion?" said Siegfried giving Gerd his supercilious sneer. He turned back to Heidi. "I tell you, show some grit. There''s no need to mope just because your son is sick."


    At this, tears appeared in Heidi''s blue eyes and she arose and swept from the room. Kori was on her feet in an instant and keeping pace with Heidi as she swept down the corridor, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Dear Heidi, don''t cry," Kori urged. "I have vowed on my role as a healer to banish the Wolf Demon. Its curse of transformation worked by magic, there was nothing surgical about it, so it can be reversed if the demon is banished. Vereticus and my uncle are both wise and they agree that as another demon, I can do it."


    Heidi stopped. Kori gently touched her arm, anxious to offer comfort.


    "Then you must see my son, dear one," said Heidi, her voice still sounding close to choking. "As the healer you must see your patient."


    "Indeed, I ought," said Kori gravely.


    Heidi led Kori down a side passage and into a tiny indoor garden, like a room with a glass dome for a roof and a grassy floor. "Hold," she said, catching Kori''s arm.


    Kori took a sharp intake of breath. There, chained to a stake in the center of the sparse little lawn was a strange creature ¨C one with the proportions of a man, but covered in wolf fur from head to toe. Heidi strode over to the figure who strained on his leash. She scratched him behind the ear and he gave a panting breath. His eyes flickered to Kori who saw that they were just like human eyes ¨C piercing blue.


    "I ¨C I see now¡­ the Wolf Mage is dead, so the transformation halted at this stage¡­" stammered Kori. "It can now be reversed. I will not stop until I have found a cure. Please bear this in mind, dear Heidi."


    Heidi had stopped crying now and Kori felt better. "I have complete faith in your good intentions, dearest," she said.


    Kori had known that she was doubly bound to her quest, but now her resolve burned all the brighter.

 The Freakish Farmstead

    The Freakish Farmstead


    It was the night before the royal guard were due to set out on their mission to find and eradicate the remaining wolf cultists. Kori was feeling nervous anticipation very strongly now, getting butterflies in her stomach every time she thought about it. She stayed up with Vereticus in his private library, trying to calm herself by focusing her mind on last minute research. Kori was glad that the scholar spared the time to sit with her. She was wrapped in a silver jumper Heidi had kindly taken the time to knit.


    Vereticus had shown her a tome on creatures of her own kind, one which had contributed to the research for creating the metal mask he had used to fix her face.


    He pointed at a page he had marked out. "Be warned, Kori. There are a lot of myths and half-truths, not to mention outlandish exaggerations by bigoted authors."


    Kori scanned the page and read aloud. "It has been proven that lesser demons have mated with unwilling human subjects to produce monstrous offspring¡­" she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Mated with? Really? That''s how the author describes rape?"


    Vereticus sighed. "So many authors are that crass. And this one makes a lot of reckless exaggerations, as you can see."


    Kori scanned the rest of the page. The author went on about how creatures like herself went by many names from different languages ¨C cambions, Teufelmenschen and demi-demons. The author wrote that they were all doomed to misery and madness.


    Vereticus tapped the footnote. "The one useful point the author makes is how demi-demonic powers evolve during puberty. A pure human body also undergoes changes at this stage. I inferred that your supernatural scream is an evolving power and that to overexert it is dangerous. It is still developing."


    Kori nodded. "I know. The first time I screamed like that I could only do it very briefly. It was in the woods back home. I was looking for a little boy from the village who was lost, but then a werewolf cultist and a pack of wolves surrounded us. My screaming frightened the ordinary wolves ¡­ they began to slink away so I just had to fight the cultist. Little Gabi does not have a wolf''s hearing, so my screaming was less frightening for him." She paused. "I hope it was."


    "The power does not have a specific name," said Vereticus. "But it must be evolving. The guards all say that it looked as though your shrieks coalesced in the air to form circular waves when you directed them at the Wolf Mage. I can only offer theories, but that sounds like you concentrated and then focused the magical force. Perhaps you can also measure it so that it is less taxing for you."


    Kori pondered this. "An evolving power? I will try to scream in a measured way next time, but I will do my duty, dear Vereticus. The danger to me does not matter too much. If I use my cambion power to heal your son, then my birth counts as a happy event. Everyone will call it a happy day in retrospect."


    Vereticus looked uneasy. "You mustn''t think of your birth as an unhappy event. You are such a precious girl." Kori smiled at him, but she knew perfectly well that her birth had not been the joyous occasion that her sister''s had been. What a blessed day it had been that brought Erika into the world! When Kori had been born, the prevailing mood could only have been one of dread.


    "I''m going to focus on what I can change," said Kori, remembering Erika''s wise words. "I can''t change how I was conceived so I''m not going to dwell on it. I can do a lot of good on this mission, so let''s talk about that."


    Vereticus nodded. "You are exceptionally wise for your age. I will give you one of my metal masks and your uncle can keep the other. They should be used right away in the event of a crisis. Likewise the silver nitrate powder. And I wish you the luck of the gods on your quest ¨C for all our sakes!"


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    00O00


    It was time for the Royal Guard to set off on their quest. Rudolph was to lead them and they bade the Royals, Heidi and Vereticus farewell.


    Kori hugged Vereticus, Heidi and then her sister. Erika held her in a tight embrace, her dark eyes strangely bright. "Kori¡­ come back to me alright."


    "She''s going to be a heroine, Erika, just wait," yelled Siegfried. "She''s not afraid of risk."


    Kori kissed her sister and then peered into those eyes, so like her own. "Are you alright, dearest?"


    "You must take the greatest care¡­" began Erika, but then the princes came up to them and Siegfried interposed himself between the sisters.


    "You''ll be a heroine," he said confidently. "You know how to fight bravely. You''ll get the heads of those other cultists. I chose well when I appointed you to the guard." He grinned at her, his wonderful blue-green eyes sparkling.


    "It was Rudolph who chose Kori for the guard, not you," said Gerd shaking his head.


    "Shut up, Gerd. I was just going to say that it is better that this quest will be carried out by walkers, not riders. Horses are too dumb for this kind of work. I was going to order that that stupid horse that threw Kori off its back be slaughtered¡­"


    "Your highness, you really mustn''t," said Kori in dismay, "the horse panicked because of the Wolf Mage and his evil magic."


    "Well there is that, so I graciously spared it," said Siegfried as Gerd rolled his eyes. Kori was relieved.


    Now Gerd spoke and he seemed anxious, Kori could see it in his pretty eyes. "Listen Kori, I know you''ll make us proud, but try to stay safe¡­"


    "Stop being such a great soft article and mouthing the words of a coward," jeered Siegfried. Gerd gritted his teeth.


    At that moment, Kori could hear Erika and Ralph whispering to one another in the corner of the hall. "Remember Ralph, defend that which I hold dear," Erika was murmuring in very soft tones.


    "On my affidavit, your Highness," muttered Ralph.


    Gerd clearly wanted to say something more, but Siegfried was now ushering her towards the rest of the guard and Ralph quickly took his place beside her. The guard marched out into the snow. Kori was back in her suit of leather armour and wearing her hair in a ponytail. Heidi had given her a very intricate silver necklace of interwoven silver chains that she draped over her shoulders. Unlike the other guards, she needed no cumbersome winter coat and her arms and legs were bare. The naked winter trees lined the avenue that led out of the grounds and their breath rose in visible puffs to join the clouded, grey sky. There was a freezing chill in the air that brought crispness to the leaves, bejeweled with frost, that crunched underfoot. Ralph gazed intently at Kori for a moment and she smiled back at him. The party marched out of the grounds and into the woods. A new mission had begun!This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The party trekked east through the woods. They were quieter at this time of year. Kori could tell that all the small animals were hibernating. "There have been signs of magical decay in the hills, yonder," said Rudolph. "We are to investigate. Everyone, keep your wits about you."


    As the sun ran its course across the heavens, the Royal Guard journeyed through the slopes of wooded hills. The sounds of birdsong ceased and the clouds closed in above them. It seemed to be growing dark already. There was an atmosphere of pervading gloom¡­


    "I would sing a marching song if I were on my own, but my singing is embarrassing," murmured Kori to Ralph.


    "I don''t know about that. I like how the Dark Forest marching songs are meant to be yelled at the top of one''s voice," said Ralph. "They''re the type of thing where the audience joins in, even if they''re not singers."


    Kori grinned at him, her gaze lingering on his face. His freckled nose and cheeks were flushed pink by the cold. "I''m glad you''re settling into the Dark Forest so well," said Kori. "It''s no small thing to make it in the world when you''re so far from home." At that moment, she thought of Madeleine and felt a pang. How was Madeleine getting on without her? What if she was struggling without Kori''s assistance, or was lonely and was too proud to admit it in their correspondence? "I ¨C um, Ralph, are you missing your family?"


    "I do, but everything in life is about trade-offs," said Ralph. "I have so many brothers and sisters that it was difficult for mum and dad to support us all. I''m not the first, nor even the second son, so I was never going to inherit much. Now I make it in the world here, in the Dark Forest. But yes, I miss having a crowd of brothers to fight with over our one leather football and my gaggle of sisters too." He paused. "Now I miss their clucking and fussing over me¡­" He gazed ahead pensively for a moment. "But it is my duty to stand on my own two feet and your sister would remind me of duty. She is so wise. We should listen to her."


    Kori felt an upsurge of affection for him and laid a hand gently on his arm. "Definitely. The Dark Forest is so fortunate that she will be queen."


    "That she will be queen, yes. That at least is fortunate."


    Kori beamed at him. Of course Ralph''s brothers and sisters all missed him; he was as thoughtful as he was handsome.


    "Now I understand you were brought up by a wise-woman in a village somewhere else in the Dark Forest, Kori?" he said to her.


    "That''s right. It was just me and Madeleine for twelve years. Rudolph checked up on me, but I did not meet Erika until last Autumn. It''s perfectly understandable that I had to prove myself to be accepted as a Sommernacht, given that¡­ um¡­" Kori decided in that moment that she did not want to discuss the lesser demon. "But I so wish I could have actually met my father face to face. He was such a kind and thoughtful man. That came across very clearly when he wrote to me." She sighed. "Because I know that, I know how much I have lost."


    "Oh! You corresponded?" Ralph looked a little surprised.


    Kori smiled and nodded. "If only I could hold him in my arms now and tell him that it''s alright. And if I could have comforted him about¡­" She sighed.


    "Be alert now! There are signs of magical decay that emanate from here." called Rudolph. The trees were thinning and they were now in sight of an isolated farmstead. Kori surveyed it with her keen vision, taking in the near-derelict nature of the tumbledown outbuilding and the drooping, mossy thatch of the farmhouse. The clouds were darkening overhead and thunder rumbled across the hilltops.


    The royal guard advanced towards the farm and then Kori gave a piercing cry as she heard the sound of galloping muffled by the snow. "Beware!" she called.


    But the guards could all see what approached now. A pack of large creatures galloped down the snowy track towards them. At first glance, from their proportions and their vicious sabre-like tusks, Kori might have taken them for wild boar, but their warty hides, although covered with bristly hair, were not as thickly furred as boar pelts and their mouths hung open, revealing carnivores'' teeth, like those of wolves. It was just as Rudolph had guessed. There was rotten magic in the area and the hogs were some kind of monstrous mutation.


    The twang of arrows could be heard and several of the wolf-hogs keeled over. Rudolph and the foremost guards closed in on the rest and regardless of their slicing tusks and terrible teeth, made very short work of them with their swords.


    "This can only be the work of a wolf cultist, dear Ralph," murmured Kori. "Please stay by me." She couldn''t bear the thought of his being hurt, let alone killed¡­ and it would be awful for his family as well. She knew that she had to defend him to the last.


    Ralph nodded, looking very grave. Rudolph ordered them to split into smaller groups to investigate different areas of the farm and to then report back.


    Rudolph led Kori and Ralph through the fields where they found more signs of decay. The wheat had not been harvested, but had been left to rot in the fields and everywhere there was signs of neglect. Kori and Ralph trotted after Rudolph through the snowy fields. Rudolph kicked the snow aside. "Everything blighted. The stalks all rotten," he told them. Two forlorn looking scarecrows watched over the failed crop, strung up on poles. Suddenly the two straw men twitched and then Kori''s heart thudded as they broke free of the sodden ropes binding them to the poles and burst through the moulding crop towards them. She leapt forward through the snow, much faster than Ralph or her uncle could go as the scarecrows leapt and capered with jerky insect-like movements towards her. The nearest one had claws made from sharp splinters and a squash head carved with a leering face. With lightning swiftness, Kori lifted both her sword and Runeknife and snipped off the squash head of her bizarre assailant using a scissoring movement and then with two swift strokes, lopped off its wooden claws.


    The other scarecrow was almost upon her, emitting a wail too shrill for the normal human ear to hear, its mouth a gaping hole in its burlap sack head. With a flash of her Runeknife, Kori sliced the straw filled thing in two.


    Ralph caught up with her then, Rudolph panting behind him.


    Rudolph pointed at the remains of the scarecrows. "That proves it. Like their crazy rhetoric put into practice, the cultists send straw men at us."


    "I suppose they know we''re here, dear uncle," said Kori scanning the desolate landscape of the deserted farm with her unnatural vision.


    "They''re hiding somewhere, Kori. We have to check the most likely places." With that, Rudolph led them to a tumbledown barn and heaved on the unbarred door, but he could not move it. "It''s stuck," he grumbled.


    "I''ll do it, uncle," said Kori, lifting the door aside. She was immediately assailed by the musty smell of animals and rotting straw. The barn was very dark, but that never presented a problem to Kori''s eyes.


    "Beware!" she cried. There was something large lurking in the shadows beneath the hayloft ¨C something shaped like a horse, but with bony protrusions along its back and a huge mouth hanging open and distorted by savage wolf teeth. It cantered towards them with an evil sound, between a whinny and a snarl.


    Knowing she had to protect Rudolph and her uncle, Kori bounded forwards. The wolf-stallion tried to lash out at her with its misshapen hooves that were beginning to resemble wolf paws, but she darted from side to side, evading it.


    The monster gave a snarling whinny as Rudolph struck it in the flank with his sword. Ralph was there and it attempted to lash out at him, but Kori leapt forwards in the nick of time and knowing that she had to put the mutated beast out of its misery, sliced into its throat with both her blades.


    They all backed away as the thing collapsed and thrashed about in its death throes. Kori''s heart was thudding in her breast.


    "Who lets their farmstead get like this?" asked Ralph breathlessly, his ruddy hair disheveled. "The answer must lie in the farmhouse."


    "I think you''re right, boy," agreed Rudolph.


    Leaving the barn, they trod the snow covered track to the farmhouse. From a distance, Kori could see that the thatch badly needed repair, but closer to the building she could sense something terribly wrong. The place had that palpable aura of evil and malevolence that had emanated from the Wolf Mage, so dense that it seemed to throb in the air around her. It gave her the shivers.


    "We must be very, very wary, you dears," she told her companions. "The evil enchantment is here, in the farmhouse."


    Rudolph nodded and approached the door. "Very well, we must investigate. Kori, please break down the door."


    Kori nodded and pummeled on the rusty lock with her fists, causing it to burst open after a few good blows and the door swung inwards with a squeal¡­

 The Cambion and the Changeling

    The Cambion and the Changeling


    The farmhouse door swung open to reveal a stone kitchen lit by a fire crackling cheerfully in the fireplace. An elderly couple were cowering in the corner.


    Kori immediately regretted breaking down their door. "Oh my gods, I''m so sorry," she said, putting her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide.


    The elderly man stood up and glared at her. "What is the meaning of this, young lady?"


    Rudolph strode into the kitchen, Ralph following behind. "I am the current Lord Sommernacht and the commander in chief of the Royal Guard and I will be asking the questions here."


    "Uncle, please¡­" Kori gave a helpless shrug and then moved to comfort the old lady who was still looking very anxious. She knelt by her wicker chair, gazing into her eyes and giving her a soothing smile reserved for nervous patients. "There, there, it''s all just a small misunderstanding, there''s nothing to worry about¡­"


    "That remains to be seen," said Rudolph drily. "There is an evil enchantment on this farmstead. Are you in charge? Who else works here?" he demanded of the man.


    "No one, my Lord," said the farmer. "Just myself, Bauer Klaus and Mrs Bauer and the little one."


    "Uncle, whatever the enchantment is, they cannot be part of it," said Kori. "A cultist must be hiding somewhere without their knowledge." Really she thought Rudolph could have taken the farmer at his word.


    "A cultist, dear?" said Mrs Bauer in a quavery old voice. "You think there is a cultist lurking round the farm?"


    "I am certain of it, yes," said Kori with a grimace.


    "There is a sect of ghoulish demon worshippers ¨C the Wolf Cult ¨C in these parts now," said Ralph. "The Lord Sommernacht leads a mission to rid the Dark Forest of them."


    "You talk very pretty, my lad," said Mrs Bauer.


    "I''m from the Golden Isles," said Ralph with a curtsey.


    "Well there is nothing here, my Lord," said Klaus to Rudolph. "We have turnip soup on the boil and you would be welcome to share."


    "No, thank you," said Rudolph sardonically. "We''re searching your farmstead for the Wolf Cult and you had better keep your eyes peeled."


    "Well you must accept some soup," said Mrs Bauer. "We never get visitors, especially not such distinguished ones as Lord Sommernacht, or the young lad all the way from the Golden Isles, or such an exotic looking young lady¡­ It''s just us and our little one." She pointed to a cradle in the corner. "Take a look, noble guests. Our baby boy, our pride and joy, long wished for and now here with us. Our house and home were as quiet and cheerless as it had ever been since we lost our Tomas these forty summers past and then two months ago, we found a baby on our doorstep and our house knew joy and laughter again."


    Kori grinned. "That''s wonderful."


    Rudolph glanced at the cradle in the corner. "Yes, a fine little boy indeed. Well¡­ I for one don''t require soup, but if you have a strong drink. The children might like some soup."


    He ushered Kori and Ralph to the table telling them to sit down and Mrs Bauer dished out bowls of turnip soup and slices of bread. The soup tasted good to Kori ¨C almost as good as Madeleine could make and Ralph declared that it warmed him inside and out after the wintry December cold.


    "You want a strong drink, my Lord?" said the farmer. "Well for such a special occasion as your visit, we have a specially strong drink from the east. It''s difficult to procure it in the Dark Forest."


    "Good man," said Rudolph.


    The farmer brought some bottles of a clear liquid and began to pour out a very small amount into a glass. Rudolph nodded appreciatively.


    "So Mrs Bauer, your son was an orphan? Someone left him on your doorstep?" asked Kori.


    "Yes, such a happy day," said the old lady. "I had thought I was too old to be a mother."


    "You''re never too old," demurred Kori. "I was raised by our village wise-woman and she is sixty-five."


    Mrs Bauer beamed. "Have a look at him, why don''t you? Pick him up if you like."


    Kori felt a sense of inexplicable unease. She leaned over the cradle it was all she could do not to cry out in shock and recoil from the cot. Lying there wrapped in a woolen blanket was no baby ¨C it was some malevolent imp! A wolfish sprite covered in thick fur, with pointed ears like a wolf''s, wolfish fangs and claws. It leered at her, its grotesque gargoyle''s grin splitting its lupine face. It fixed Kori with darkly burning eyes and lifted a black furred claw, showing her the middle finger of its left hand which was adorned with a platinum ring with the Wolf Cult emblem. It spoke and its voice sounded like that of a man deliberately affecting a harsh, squeaky voice. "You see me, demon-girl? Pah! From one monster to another, I warn you not to meddle in what does not concern you."


    "Isn''t he a bonny boy?" Mrs Bauer said. Kori''s heart sank. The cultist had a power of illusion such as that which the Wolf Mage had used to make himself invisible to ordinary people. But such tricks did not work on her, cambion as she was. She felt sick. How could the cultist be so base as to trick the poor old couple in this way¡­? Although from what she had seen and heard of the other two cultists, it should not surprise her.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Ralph, can you see the baby?" she asked, her voice trembling a little.


    "Oh yes, he''s cute," said Ralph, glancing at the cradle. Kori felt a lump in her throat. She would have to dispel the illusion¡­ and end the old couple''s happiness. But the cultist had not only enchanted the farmer and his wife into believing he was what they wanted to see, but his malign influence had spread to the rest of the farm. How long before it spread to the lands beyond?


    "What do you think of the baby, uncle?" Kori asked Rudolph.


    "Oh yes, a fine boy," said Rudolph lifting his glass and sipping the clear liquor. "This vodka is fiery stuff."


    "I have a whole collection of liquors from foreign parts, including claret from the west," replied the farmer.


    "Why Farmer Klaus, you are a connoisseur," said Rudolph, his eyes twinkling and beard twitching. "I had marked you down for a simple farmer, but I had not got to know the whole you."


    The cultist sat up in the cradle, staring at Rudolph with his malevolent eyes and his harsh voice rang out. "Ha! Of course you don''t know the whole him. I suppose you''ll have to swallow a lot of vodka to want to take off the old fool''s clothes!"


    Kori cringed. Only she had been able to hear that.


    The cultist leapt onto the table and seized one of the bottles of vodka, pulled out the cork with his teeth and then began to guzzle noisily.


    "Can''t you see that?" asked Kori in a dull voice, pointing at the wolfish imp standing on the table top in front of them, swigging the vodka directly from the bottle.


    "See what?" said Ralph.


    "They can''t see anything, the illusion has them fooled," gloated the cultist in his harsh, grating tones. "The Arch-Lycanthrope will be pleased ¨C the land beyond will soon fall under my spell and it''ll be time to do away with these deluded fools who think they''re my parents. He''d disdain to eat any morsels so old and tough, so I''ll probably kill them. No fiend in the form of a skinny little girl with green skin is going to stand in our way."


    "Oh no?" Kori sighed and drew a breath and glared, concentrating on the cultist and then screamed a short, sharp shriek, directed right at the horrible little imp.


    The cultist staggered and fell from the table and onto the floor where he suddenly elongated and grew. Rudolph and Ralph yelled at the sight, as though a veil had suddenly been torn from their eyes and the old couple gave cries of horror. Rudolph leapt to his feet and so did Kori and Ralph. The cultist reared up. He had grown larger and more vicious than he had been in his imp sized form. Kori concentrated a scream at him once again and he clapped his black furred claws to his arrow-tip ears and staggered sideways. Rudolph and Ralph both struck him with their blades and he roared and swiped at them, snapping his cruel wolf jaws, but Kori leapt forwards and slashed at his forearms and claws with her blades. Rudolph struck at the cultist''s neck, his blade biting into fur and sinew and Ralph''s blade pierced the werewolf''s ribs.


    With a gurgling growl the evil creature collapsed, causing the floor to shake and then he lay still.


    "What is this?" demanded Mrs Bauer, stepping forward. Her eyes were wide with horror and her hands were trembling.


    "That was a Wolf Cultist. You were under his evil spell. You will now be able to see evidence of his enchantment all over the farmstead," said Rudolph curtly and he knelt down to retrieve the platinum ring. "Now there are just two of them left."


    "That monster was hiding here this entire time?" exclaimed the farmer.


    "But where is our baby?" demanded Mrs Bauer.


    Kori felt tears come to her eyes. "I ¨C I''m sorry¡­ there was no baby, it was all a cruel illusion. One of the other two cultists could turn invisible and this one could make himself look like a baby¡­" Kori choked. She could hardly face Mrs Bauer''s shocked stare.


    Rudolph ordered Ralph to escort Kori outside. He slipped his arm through hers and hurried out of the door.


    "Best let Lord Sommernacht handle it," said Ralph, putting his arms around her. She rested her face on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"


    "Not really," mumbled Kori. "Just think how it must be for the farmer and his wife."


    "I''m sure it''s disturbing for them, but it must be a relief as well. They are not under the curse of the cultist anymore. I suppose his illusion did not work on you? I could only see a baby until you screamed and then that horrible wolf thing showed himself."


    "But the cultist tricked them into thinking they had a new baby and now it will sort of be like they''ve lost a child all over again¡­" murmured Kori.


    Ralph stayed with Kori while the soldiers arranged a pyre on which they cremated the werewolf and the remains of the mutated farm animals: monstrous rams, bovine creatures disfigured by wolf teeth hanging out of their jaws, the crazed wolf-stallion Kori had slain¡­ The smoke from the pyre rose high.


    When all the monsters were burned to ashes, night had already fallen. Rudolph announced that they had to move on. He split the party into smaller groups, some of whom would remain to guard the farmstead and others who would investigate the surrounding countryside. He told Kori and Ralph that the three of them would be scouting through the woods.


    "Will the farmer and his wife be alright?" Kori asked him anxiously.


    "Of course they are, dear niece, don''t worry your head about them," said Rudolph smoothly, patting her shoulder, "you did a fine thing for them, releasing them from the curse. That is why the Dark Forest needs you. The werewolves cannot fool you with their illusions. We may well need you to protect us from the Arch-Lycanthrope soon."


    Kori thought she saw Ralph shooting Rudolph an odd look, but could not guess what was the matter. Rudolph led them into the woods. The moon had arisen, bathing the woods in its ethereal glow. The snow and frosted leaves crunched beneath their marching boots. Rudolph and Ralph pulled their cloaks tighter about them in an attempt to keep out the freezing chill.


    "By the gods, it''s so cold," said Ralph, his breath rising in a white mist in front of him. He was shivering and his freckled face looked pale in the cold gaze of the moon. "It''s too cold, even for winter."


    "Something unnatural about it," grumbled Rudolph.


    "You dears, I''ve been keeping a couple of pills that are specially for warding off hypothermia," said Kori, reaching into a pouch at her belt. "Please take them and keep moving briskly."


    Ralph and Rudolph each took one of the small, green pills and the three of them pressed on. Everything was covered in a thick layer of frost and icicles hung from the trees. Then Kori caught sight of something darting through the wintry woods ¨C a small, glittering figure. "I saw something!" she cried.


    "Where?" demanded Rudolph. And then he shivered very hard. "Oh, it''s even colder¡­"


    And then the being leapt onto the path, capering about on the frozen path in front of the three of them, effectively blocking their way. It was no more than three feet tall and looked like it was made entirely of ice. Its hair consisted of spiky upstanding icicles, its nose and chin were pointed and sharp and its arms and legs stick-thin. The creature''s hands and feet ended in glinting talons of ice and its mouth was spread unnaturally wide in a shark-like grin. The creature cocked its head on one side and fixed them with a penetrating ice-blue stare. Its teeth were never still, chattering constantly. All the while it gibbered to itself:


    "Icicle nose and frozen toes, shudder and judder come the snows.


    Slivers of ice and frost are nice, leave the hearth and pay the price!"

 Little Red Riding Hood

    Little Red Riding Hood


    Kori knew exactly who the elemental being was. The old nursery rhyme flashed through her mind: "Beware the Hoarfrostman, my dear, when the moon is fat¡­"


    She also knew that to know the name of such an elemental was to have some measure of power over him.


    "Hoarfrostman!" she cried with all the authority she could muster as she stepped forward. Her piercing voice rang out into the night very loud and clear and the creature practically jumped out of his hoary skin.


    "Hoarfrostman! Hoarfrostman!" Kori cried again, knowing also that there was special significance in yelling a name three times. "We are both supernatural beings, you and I and I bid you, point us in the right direction. My companions and I seek out two great evil-doers. Men who have voluntarily taken the mantle of wolves. Tell me where to find them and then begone."


    "South-south-east, you''ll find a beast," chattered the Hoarfrostman and with that he evaporated into thin air and the intense chill around them lessened.


    Kori turned to Ralph and Rudolph. "Did you hear, dears? I believe he knew where a cultist is." Kori peered ahead. "There is a crossroads over there. He said to go south-south-east."


    "We heard you both, very loud and clear," said Rudolph. "Well your supernatural perception has always led us in the right direction, dear niece. We will take the fork that goes south-south-east."


    As they traveled down the new path, the intense chill in the air lessened. The track was soon joined by another and Kori heard the light tread of someone approaching from some way down the new path.


    "Someone with a light tread, probably a woman or child, approaches," she advised, pointing down the other path. The traveler came into view. It was a girl, perhaps a year older than Kori, with a worn traveling cloak, all patched and frayed, wrapped tightly around her with the hood up, although her pale, freckled face and the fringe of her fiery red hair were both visible. She was carrying a wicker basket that was covered with a worn and faded patterned cloth. She raised her eyebrows at the sight of the three of them.


    "Good evening!" said Kori, grinning.


    "What are you doing out in the woods at this hour, little Miss?" asked Rudolph.


    The girl frowned. "That doesn''t concern you, Mister."


    "I am Lord Sommernacht and the commander of the Royal Guard," declared Rudolph. "I am not ''Mister,'' to you."


    Kori gently touched Rudolph''s arm to placate him. "Just a little misunderstanding, uncle, I am sure." She turned to the girl. "It''s not safe out here. There are two very, very bad men at large tonight. I''d feel better if you weren''t out alone on a night like this."


    "She is Lady Sommernacht to you, just so you know," said Ralph. "But I''m just a guard."


    The girl gazed at Kori for a moment, narrowing her brown eyes and then shrugged. "I''m taking this basket to my grandmother. She lives just down this path, a very short distance. Is that the way you''re going, Lord and Lady and pretty guard boy?" She gave Rudolph and Kori exaggerated curtsies and fluttered her eyelashes at Ralph.


    "It is," said Kori grinning.


    "Alright, let''s get going," said Rudolph.


    The girl linked arms with Ralph and they all trudged through the snow. She was as tall as him. They were both Kori''s height and Kori was tall for her age. Their faces did look striking side by side. They had such vibrant complexions. "I''m Lady Korina Sommernacht. May I ask your name?" said Kori.


    "I''m Luca," said the girl, scratching her freckled nose with her free hand.


    "You are a kind granddaughter, Luca," said Kori, trying to start up a conversation. "Setting out on a freezing night like this¡­"


    "Freezing, Lady?" Luca smirked. "You''re not even wearing a cloak and you look fine."


    "The Lady Korina is special," said Ralph gravely.


    "Special? No, I just don''t feel the cold or the heat the same way everyone else does."


    "Indeed, Lady? Well I feel the cold and I could do with the help of a strong guard to warm me up," said Luca and she fluttered her eyelashes at Ralph again.


    Ralph looked a little embarrassed. "My heart belongs to another."


    "Ah, that lucky other," said Luca.


    "Stop embarrassing the boy, little girl," said Rudolph.


    Luca scowled.


    They trudged on and reached a tiny thatched cottage built of large, grey stones, smaller and a lot older than Madeleine''s.


    Luca walked up to the front door and then turned to them. "You can all visit grandmother, if you like, she never gets visitors."


    Kori felt a prickle of unease. She could sense a heavy throbbing in the air that seemed somehow muted. With a chill, she realised that it was the ominous sensation she had felt in the presence of the Wolf Mage and the Changeling!


    "Beware!" she cried. "I believe there is a cultist nearby."


    Luca frowned. "What? What cultist? What are you talking about?"


    "Stand aside," said Rudolph striding to the door. He kicked it and it swung inward. It had been left open. He took Kori by the arm. "This time, nothing will surprise us. Scream the instant you see hide or hair of a wolf, Kori. Ralph, follow. Luca, you may stay outside."


    "I''m not staying outside, my grandmother''s in there," snapped Luca.


    Kori gulped. She felt a terrible sinking feeling. What had become of Luca''s grandmother? But before she could say anything, Rudolph curtly ordered Ralph to mind Luca and then led Kori over the threshold and into a bare, stone kitchen with a very low ceiling.


    Immediately they were assailed by a stink of rotting meat. Rudolph choked. "Good gods, the smell!"


    He kicked open the wooden door in front of them to reveal a tiny bedroom. To Kori''s horror there was a wild looking man in the bed, dressed in a lady''s night gown, holding the covers up to his neck with both hands. His eyes which bulged from their sockets, seemed to gleam red. He leered, showing pointed teeth tinged with blood. "How dare you invade a lady''s bed chamber," he growled. Kori saw the icy gleam of a platinum ring of the middle finger of his left hand and wasting no time glared intently at him and screamed with all her might.Stolen novel; please report.


    The werewolf leapt from the bed with a snarl. Coarse, black fur began to sprout all over his body and his claws and teeth were lengthening. Kori screamed at him again and as he lunged at them, she leapt forward, slashing with both her blades.


    The werewolf swiped at her with his clawed hands, but she ducked with lightening swiftness. His gleaming red eyes seemed to register surprise for a split second, but he lunged forward snapping at her and then roared in pain as the silver edge of her sword dealt him a long, shallow wound.


    Suddenly there was a flash and the acrid smell of burned fur. Rudolph had chucked something at the cultist, who roared again, enraged and lunged blindly at Kori and Rudolph. But he obviously could not see them clearly anymore and they both swiped at his groping forearms, Kori with her Runeknife and Rudolph with his sword. Rudolph''s sword bit deep and was only stopped by the bone, but Kori''s Runeknife, thrusted with three times the force of Rudolph''s sword, sliced the cultist''s left forearm clean off. It dropped to the ground with a thud, the platinum ring still gleaming on the middle finger.


    The werewolf staggered and fell and Rudolph stabbed him through his right shoulder, pinioning him to the stone floor.


    "My strength - gone!" growled the werewolf.


    "Useful stuff, that silver nitrate Vereticus made," said Rudolph. "You won''t be able to transform any time soon."


    Now Ralph and Luca were here, Luca wielding a large frying pan. She dealt the werewolf a terrific blow to the head and looked up panting, her brown eyes bright with fury.


    "What is this monster doing here?" She demanded. "Where is grandmother?"


    The cultist gave a hollow laugh. "Your grandmother was no delicacy, little carrot top. Even my wolfish digestive system found her tough."


    Kori felt sick. Luca dealt the cultist another terrific blow with the frying pan.


    "That''s enough, I need him conscious for now, so I can interrogate him," said Rudolph. "You can execute him yourself later, if you want. Kori, take Luca to the other room for a minute. Ralph, stay here."


    Luca''s breath was coming in juddering gasps. "Come, dear," said Kori, taking her by the arm and leading her to the tiny kitchen where they sat down on little wooden benches on either side of the table, facing one another. Kori gazed into Luca''s eyes. Luca stared blankly back. Kori took her hand and Luca made no resistance.


    "I''m so sorry this has happened, Luca," said Kori softly, giving Luca''s hand a reassuring squeeze. Luca made no response.


    They sat in silence, looking into each other''s eyes.


    The sounds of Rudolph interrogating the werewolf in the other room were very loud and clear, even to Luca who shifted at the sound of the men''s voices.


    "Where is the Arch-Lycanthrope?" demanded Rudolph''s voice.


    "Wouldn''t you like to know, you oafish Kraut? You couldn''t overthrow him, only I could do that. I can wield the sword the pompous fool threw away, but you''re too feeble. Let me up and I''ll tear out your throat with just one arm."


    "I''m warning you now¡­" there came the sound of Rudolph drawing something from his pocket.


    Kori tried to tune them out and focus on Luca. "Do you feel like talking?"


    Luca stared back at her for a moment and Kori gave her reassuring smile.


    "I was just taking her the basket," said Luca suddenly, but then there came a terrific yell from the other room and the werewolf''s voice:


    "The crags to the east, in the caves, damn you! Aaaarrrghhhhh¡­" Then there came the sound of the werewolf gurgling and choking.


    Ralph emerged from the bedroom, followed by Rudolph whose sword was steeped in werewolf blood.


    "I now see our path clearly," said Rudolph grimly. "We are to head straight for the crags. There is no time to be lost."


    "Uncle, what about Luca?" Kori protested. Luca had fallen silent and was still staring fixedly ahead.


    "This is more important than any one of us," said Rudolph. "If we don''t move now, the Arch-Lycanthrope will evade us. Come dear niece, as your Commander I order it. Your duty to the Dark Forest demands it. We can get help for Luca afterwards."


    Ralph was looking about the stone floor and he exclaimed as he spotted a loose flagstone.


    "The cultist was talking about a sword. It seems the rogue had a plan to betray his master and knew about a special sword. Maybe a magic sword? It could be very important. There was no sign of anything in the bedroom, but could he have hidden it in the kitchen?"


    Ralph gripped at the edges of the flagstone, but though he strained, he could not move it. "A little help, Kori? Please?"


    Kori nodded and kneeling on the stone floor, shifted the flagstone aside.


    There, revealed on the earthy floor, was the hilt of a sword of prodigious size, wrapped in black leather with a great, red pommel stone that appeared to gleam balefully in the ghostly light of the moon that streamed through the windows.


    "Can you uncover the rest of it, Kori?" asked Rudolph excitedly.


    One by one, Kori shifted the other flagstones to reveal a huge sword in a scabbard of black leather.


    Kori gazed down at it. "I suppose that''s the sword, then?"


    Rudolph knelt down beside her. "What a fine weapon! There must be few who can manufacture such blades as this."


    "Likely not," said Kori and she stood up again and sat opposite Luca whose brown eyes were now bright with tears. Kori moved round the table and sat beside the red headed girl and put her arms around her, gently rubbing her back.


    Rudolph had unsheathed the great sword and had lifted it. Looking over Luca''s shoulder, Kori could see that the blade seemed to gleam with an icy glint in the moonlight streaming through the window. "Ach, it''s too heavy," grumbled Rudolph. "But look at the craftsmanship! See how impeccably formed and wickedly sharp the blade is. If any weapon could smite the Arch-Lycanthrope, this would be it."


    "Indeed, My Lord," said Ralph, looking at it admiringly.


    "I do not think that I can wield it, though, more''s the pity. Maybe if I had the full strength of my youth... But Kori, I want you to try and see if you can swing it. If you can, we have the edge, literally and figuratively."


    Kori sighed. "If it will please you, uncle, I will try."


    "Outside of course, there''s no room here," said Rudolph gesturing to the door. "And right now, there''s not a moment to lose."


    "Sorry, Luca," said Kori, gently touching the other girl''s freckled cheek as she got to her feet.


    They stepped outside into the moonlight and snow. Kori gripped the sword hilt and then gave a piercing cry as a jumble of images flashed through her mind, like the memories of a nightmare¡­


    She could see a rocky chamber suffused in a dull, red light. Five men stood in the chamber around the edge of a gaping hole, gazing into the blackness and chanting the same phrase over and over, esoteric words that meant nothing to Kori, but words of power nonetheless. The echoes of their chanting out of time with their voices caused an unsettling resonance that filled the vaulted space¡­


    One of them, a man in plate armour built like an ox, with a mane of silver hair and hard, cold eyes strode forwards and brandished his great sword in both hands. It was the sword that Kori now held! The man was clearly a great warrior, but Kori would not have wanted to meet him ¨C he had a really nasty look about him. He cast his sword into the gaping maw of the pit and the other four copied him, each casting a relic of his former life into the darkness below: an ebony staff, a signet ring, a bloodstone amulet and a sharp dagger.


    Kori could see each one of them clearly, and recognised the first werewolf she had fought in the woods back home, with the same streak of grey through his shaggy black hair. He licked his fingertips and giggled.


    The cultists all raised their hands to display the platinum rings they had consecrated for their demonic ritual and one of them, a man wrapped in robes and hood as black as shadow, yelled a hideous sounding string of words which were answered by a bellow for the depths below.


    And then in her fevered vision, Kori saw the thing they had summoned from the netherworld. It was a wolfish demon, its insubstantial flesh dark as an evil man''s dreams, snarling like a caged beast. The demon leapt onto the warrior who had cast away the sword and Kori could see the Arch-Lycanthrope transform for the first time¡­


    And then the vision faded and the moonlit woods came back into focus.


    Rudolph was looking at her anxiously. "What is the matter, dear niece? Your eyelids fluttered for several moments and you would not answer me. You only made choking sounds."


    "I have seen much, uncle. This sword has been used in the demonic rite by the Wolf Cult and when I touched it I got this vision flashing through my mind of how and why... It belonged to the Arch-Lycanthrope. He had to chuck it away as a condition of summoning the demon, but I suppose that other cultist must have retrieved it later, because he wanted to stab his master in the back."


    Rudolph looked grave. Kori looked him in the eye. "Perhaps any object that''s been used to conjure a demon could make me have visions. I don''t know. But this sword was the Arch-Lycanthrope''s and it might be used to kill him."


    Rudolph nodded. "Can you swing the sword, Kori?"


    "I''ll try. Please stand well back."


    Rudolph stepped back as Kori lifted the great sword with both hands and swung it in a wide arc. "Indeed uncle, I can, although it''s almost as tall as me. I''m going to have to carry it strapped on my back."


    "There is no time to be lost," said Rudolph. "In the caves to the east, the Arch-Lycanthrope is waiting."

 The Arch-Lycanthrope

    The Arch-Lycanthrope


    After dumping the werewolf''s carcass into the undergrowth, Rudolph insisted to Kori that Luca could be left in the cottage for a short time as long as she kept the door barred and then he led her and Ralph through a spur of dense pine forests and to the crags. The Arch-Lycanthrope''s old sword was strapped to Kori''s back and her own sword and her Runeknife remained in her belt, ready to be drawn. The branches of the pines were laden with snow. Eventually they thinned out and the three found themselves at the foot of a hill, standing before a gaping cave mouth, the stalactites and stalagmites at the entrance giving them impression of fangs. The moonlight did not penetrate far into the cavern, but Kori could see what lay beyond¡­ The cave floor was strewn with bones. Some of them looked human. She swallowed.


    "Only Kori can see in the dark, so we had better have our lanterns ready, my lad," said Rudolph.


    They held their lanterns aloft and the three of them entered the cave. "A right dog''s dinner," Rudolph observed, glancing down at the bones strewn around the rocky floor. Kori did not wish to look down at them and instead stared fixedly ahead at the three separate tunnels that all led onward. The light of the lanterns cast weird, flickering shadows on the rocky walls of the cave.


    "What do your demonic senses tell you, Kori?" asked Rudolph. "Which way?"


    "The tunnel to the left leads downwards. It smells foul. We should not go that way. As for the middle way, the tunnel with a seam of black stone running though it¡­" Kori peered into the gloom and then picked up a rock from the cave floor and hurled it down the middle tunnel and listened intently. "As I thought. It just ends. There may have been a cave in. If we are to go on, it will have to be the icy tunnel to the right."


    The three of them proceeded along the tunnel. Rudolph was slower and followed behind. Ralph almost slipped on a pool of ice, but Kori''s arms were around him in an instant to steady him. "Take care, dear."


    Ralph was breathing hard because of the fright and his green eyes wide. His face looked pale in the dim light, accentuating his two-toned complexion. They looked into each other''s eyes as his breathing steadied. He nodded.


    In the next cavern, the floor was still icy and pristine icicles hung from the ceiling.


    "Look at this," said Rudolph, pointing to the far wall, "the skeleton of a man, probably a prospector, but his bones have recently been picked clean and then sat against the wall."


    "Poor prospector," said Kori glumly.


    "And there is a message written on the wall in his blood."


    "I can''t read it," said Ralph, frowning.


    Kori wrinkled her nose, somewhat disgusted at the notion of writing in someone''s blood. "The language is eastern and they have a slightly different alphabet over there, Ralph."


    Rudolph tapped the wall beside the bloody message. "It reads; ''Death to intruders!'' A dire warning in the style we have come to expect from the Wolf Cult."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    There was only one way on from the cavern, along a narrow, icy ledge which they crossed in single file. To their left was a precipice. Rudolph glanced into the pit. "There are more human bones down there, but they''re smaller. They look like children."


    Kori felt sick and her hands trembled a little. "Please don''t look down, Ralph," she urged, not wanting him to be unnerved.


    They followed a winding passage. "Be wary, you dears. I hear a chomping and a slavering some way off," warned Kori.


    After following the passage for a few minutes, they emerged into what seemed to be open air. This cavern had no roof and the moon shone down, lighting up a strange scene.


    There was a huge stone slab strewn with carcasses of dead animals, pigs, sheep and goats and three women in filthy, torn and dishevelled gowns that might once have been dresses.


    The noise Kori had heard was that of the women gorging themselves on the raw carcasses. One of them stopped abruptly, even as she was sucking the marrow from a leg bone. "We have company, sisters," she snarled. The other two women both ceased their messy eating and sniffed the air, turning to the intruders, their faces hidden by veils. Moving as stealthily as cats, they glided towards Ralph and the Sommernachts.


    "What''s this?" asked another. "Guests for dinner?"


    "Or another course?" said the third gleefully.


    "They''re obviously the Arch-Lycanthrope''s victims," murmured Kori. "If we can talk our way out of this, we won''t have to kill them."


    Ralph nodded. "Alright, we''ll see," said Rudolph.


    "What do you bring? Fresh meat?" asked the first addressing them directly. She turned to Ralph. "You have something more to delight us with." She pulled aside her veil and he gasped in horror at the sight of the face beneath although it was what Kori had expected to see. It was a hideous amalgam of human being and animal, somewhere between that of a woman and a she-wolf. The wolf-woman licked a long pink tongue across canine fangs and something like a smile split her horrible visage.


    "You''re partial to red heads," the second observed. "Careful, lest the Arch¡ªLycanthrope hear."


    "No! We have gifts for you," said Kori hastily, "then we''ll be on our way."


    "Ooh, pretty things," said the last of the wolf-woman.


    "What are you, dearie? Some sort of demon in girl''s clothing?" asked the first, drawing back her head and sniffing the air, her muzzle-nose wrinkling.


    "I''m the bearer of gifts," said Kori. "Uncle, what pretty things do we have that are not made of silver?"


    Rudolph reached into one of his belt pouches and drew out a gold ring. "Here, take it," he told the first wolf-woman.


    "Pretty thing indeed," agreed the second.


    "Wondrous, wondrous," warbled the first, snatching the ring from Rudolph. "Now be off old man and you, green girl, but the boy is welcome to stay if he wishes."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Sorry, duty calls," said Ralph with admirable calm and they left the cavern and proceeded in single file down another passageway, this one very narrow and dark. Kori could sense evil and malevolence in the air now, worse than ever before. It sent a chill down her spine. "Be very wary indeed," she urged, "I really believe we are about to find the Arch-Lycanthrope."


    The passageway opened out into another cavern with a hole in the room, the entire cavern and the stalactites hanging from the rocky ceiling lit up by the cold glare of the full moon. In the center of the cavern there was a roughly hewn rocky throne on which there sat a man, huge and imposing, with a mane of shaggy silver hair and a scar down the side of his face and cold, hard, eyes. He was wrapped in a cloak of what appeared to be a poorly stitched, leather patchwork¡­ Oh gods! Kori realised it was actually made from stitched together human skin and she shuddered. Kori recognised the dreadful man from her vision. This could only be the Arch-Lycanthrope. The throne was surrounded by huge wolves who watched them intently, with unblinking, scarily human-like eyes¡­


    The Arch-Lycanthrope glared at the sight of them. He spoke, and his deep, rough voice resonated throughout the cavern. "How dare rabble such as yourselves invade my inner sanctuary? How dare you suppose you could challenge Volkov, warlord and the scourge of the Odelands and now Arch-Lycanthrope? See what I have done already? I have turned a pack of your countrymen to my cause ¨C they now wear the mantle of wolves. Do you want them to tear you apart?" Volkov''s tone became gloating. "Or will you kill them¡­?"


    Kori was not going to have this. She drew a deep breath and then stepping forward, gave voice to a horrendous, baying cry. Rudolph and Ralph jumped and the huge werewolves quailed and quaked, whimpering at her demonic howl before finally turning tail and running from the cavern though the different tunnel exits. Kori panted, to make such a terrible noise was taxing, but she was exhilarated. Their countrymen who had been afflicted with lycanthropy did not have the rabid fanaticism of the wolf-cult and whatever hold the Arch-Lycanthrope had used his demonic powers to exert over them had now been broken by her own. No victim was going to be harmed tonight, only the perpetrator. The warmonger turned leader of ghoulish demon-worshippers. Volkov himself.


    "Your web is unwinding, Volkov," said Rudolph scornfully.


    "Very well," Volkov growled with barely contained fury. "I shall deal with you myself."


    Rising from his throne, Volkov threw back his head, giving an unadulterated howl of animal delight. With the horrible cracking-crunching sound of bones warping and re-forming, his body grew in stature, his ribcage broadening, spine arching, arms becoming longer, nails thrusting from the ends of his fingers, turning to claws. Fangs pushed through bleeding gums as the Arch-Lycanthrope''s skull reshaped itself, becoming a lupine muzzle, his ears stretching to hairy arrow points. His feet lengthened and changed shape. Grey fur sprouted all over his body and he cast aside his cloak of human skin.


    Before them stood the largest and most fearsome werewolf Kori had even seen. She could feel the pure evil intent pouring off the transformed cultist ¨C a mixture of savage animal cunning and pure human malevolence. It chilled her blood, but she had to be strong. Strong for her sister, strong for the household of the Sommernachts, strong for Madeleine and strong for the Dark Forest.


    She concentrated hard and screamed directly at the transformed Volkov. Circular sound waves seemed to crystallise in the air and stream towards the Arch-Lycanthrope. He clapped his gnarled claws to his arrow tip ears and staggered from his rocky throne. Rudolph also gave a cry and threw a package at the werewolf ¨C there was a flash and the beast growled and staggered sideways. Kori guessed that the package must have contained silver nitrate. She quickly unbuckled the great sword from her back and leapt forward, brandishing it in the air as Volkov recovered and lunged at her with evil intent.


    At the sight of his old sword however, something like recognition flared in the werewolf''s eyes and he recoiled from Kori as she screamed at him again and struck with all her might, opening up a long, crimson gash in his grey hide across his ribs.


    Enraged he leapt forward, swiping at her with his cruel claws, but she had hoped he would. She had to lead him away from her uncle and her friend and she had a plan. As he swiped, she screamed and jabbed at him again, this time in his flank. Then she leapt backwards underneath a hanging stalactite which had a very wide and noticeable crack in it. She had to time this just right¡­


    She stood under the stalactite, waving the great sword and then as the evil creature lunged for her, jumped back and turning her face upwards, screamed with all her might at the stalactite. It cracked and groaned and as Volkov lunged for her, she leapt backwards again. And then the stalactite broke. Volkov had moved directly under it and now it landed on top of him, plunging into his shoulder and pinioning him to the rocky floor of the cavern.


    He gave a terrible howl, almost as ear splitting as Kori''s own, and struggled to free himself, but in an instant, Kori was there and had plunged the mighty sword deep into his evil heart.


    Volkov''s glaring eyes bulged, his howls became gurgling roars and as steaming blood gushed from his wounds, he vomited even more out onto the rocky floor of the cavern. And then his deadly jaws snapped shut for the last time and his misshapen head lolled to one side. The infernal light in his eyes dulled and he lay quite still.


    "Oh bravo, Kori, you''ve done it!" Cried Rudolph. "The terrible beast that plagued our land is no more!"


    "Kori, that was incredible," said Ralph. "It was a great day when Rudolph vouched for you."


    Kori smiled at them, but she could not speak for the moment. She stood there panting, quite out of breath. Rudolph ran forward and knelt down beside their fallen foe and removed the platinum ring from the middle claw of his left fore-paw. "This is the last platinum ring. And that is the end of the Wolf Cult." He stood up and took the other four rings from a pouch at his belt. "That is every last one of them."


    Kori got her breath back, but now she could see something deeply disturbing. The wounds she had inflicted on the werewolf were beginning to knit together and heal bloodlessly. The werewolf''s eyes flickered open, but now they burned with an infernal light.


    Kori found her voice. "You dears, it is not over. Look! The demon is resurrecting him. Cold steel and earthly force are not enough. Dear uncle, remember what Vereticus told us? Only I can finish this. Please give me the rings and stand back."


    Rudolph nodded and handed her the rings and ordered Ralph to stand back.


    "Wait, is she going to be alright," demanded Ralph. Rudolph shushed him.


    Kori gave him a reassuring smile. "Darling, please don''t worry about me. I''m worried about both your hearing. Do you have anything to block your ears?"


    Rudolph nodded and took a ball of wax from one of his other belt pouches. He applied half of it to his ears and gave Ralph some and then led him back to the cavern entrance.


    Kori knelt down beside the werewolf cadaver even as the demon attempt to regenerate. She spoke aloud. "Demon, you were brought to this world because five evil men, pure human all of them, were blinded by their hatred and ambition. They were rash enough to bring you here. It was their evil intent that started this. They are all dead now. That first part of the summoning is undone."


    She laid the rings around Volkov''s carcass in the shape of a skewed pentacle. "They first laid these rings in a pentacle to summon you. Now I lay them in a charm of undoing. The second part of the summoning is undone."


    She glared at the wolf form before her. "Five evil men called you here. Now I, one demon-born, banish you and undo the third and final part of the summoning." She took a deep breath and screamed:


    "BEGONE! BEGONE!" And then she exerted herself harder than ever, putting all her energy into her final cry and concentrating with all her might:


    "BEEEGOOOOONNNNNEEEEE!" Her jaw was cracking, distending as she cried. And then her voice was joined by another unearthly howl that broke from the Arch-Lycanthrope''s throat as something like black smoke poured from its mouth, briefly forming the shadowy outline of a wolf''s head that writhed as if in agony and then imploded with a clap like thunder and the whole cavern seemed to shake.


    The Wolf Demon was now gone and the Arch-Lycanthrope truly dead. Once more, Kori found herself choking, her jaw sagging. Rudolph and Ralph were rushing forward, helping her to her feet and holding her up, for she was too dizzy and unwell to stand by herself. Ralph was holding her jaw in position while Rudolph clapped a metal mask to her face. Once more, the mask held her jaw in position. Kori knew she was facing an arduous period of recovery, but it was so worth it. The danger was over, the Wolf Cult was finished and so was the plague of lycanthropy. Yes, it was true! Volkov''s lupine corpse was now reverting to that of a man. With the greater demon defeated, every monstrous transformation was now reversed. The heir of Vereticus and all those infected by that terrible disease were now cured. She had succeeded in her duty as a healer! Madeleine would be so proud of her. And she had succeeded in her duty as a Sommernacht! Would that her father were here¡­

 Joys and Sorrows

    Joys and Sorrows


    The three of them retraced their steps through the moonlit chamber of the wolf-women, but they were no longer wolves. Three dishevelled women in tattered dresses stood around looking dazed and confused.


    "What''s happened?" said one with a groan. "I feel as if I''ve eaten the backside of a cow."


    Another rubbed her temples. Her hair was dishevelled and there were dark circles around her eyes. "Perhaps you did, dearie. This is like waking up from a nightmare."


    A third woman addressed them and Kori recognised her voice. She had been the wolf-woman who was attracted to Ralph. "Sorry about earlier, I wasn''t myself. The cycle of the moon¡­" She narrowed her eyes as she peered at Kori in her metal mask. "What''s happened to the little girl? I think you took her somewhere dangerous, old man."


    "She''s been sadly hurt in the course of duty, but Volkov came off worse," said Rudolph, not concealing the triumph in his voice.


    "Volkov did that to her? The brute," tutted the woman.


    Kori wanted to announce that the women were free of the curse of the Wolf Demon. She tried to speak, but could only make hoarse, rasping sounds. Because of the mask, she couldn''t even smile reassuringly. Oh well.


    Rudolph spread his arms wide and spoke importantly: "Congratulate my niece, for renown and full acceptance into the most sophisticated society is hers. Let no one say that she has only borrowed status now."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Back at SilberSchloss, the estate of Vereticus, Heidi was the first to welcome them, with open arms. She was grinning from ear to ear. "Welcome! Welcome back to Silberschloss! Though no welcome I can give will do justice." She placed her hands on Kori''s shoulders. "You''ll always have a home here, Korina. You have restored our son and brought more happiness than any other guest in all my years as lady of the house. You will always be the finest healer and the most royal princess as far as I''m concerned."


    Kori''s heart swelled and she put her arms around Heidi, making inarticulate croaking sounds.


    Ralph had gone off somewhere. And where was Erika? Kori wanted to see her sister. But Heidi took them to her husband''s study where Kori met their son Albert for the first time since his human form was restored. He was a tall, long-limbed youth, with sandy hair and the same blue eyes Kori had seen when he had been trapped in a wolfish form.


    He beamed at Kori. "My deliverer! I owe you a greater debt than I can ever repay."


    He moved as if to shake Kori by the hand, but she hugged and croaked at him as well.


    "Dad will write you into his will."


    "Yes, that can be managed," said Vereticus, smiling indulgently.


    Kori would have demurred and said that there was no obligation for him to do that, but she could not say it, so she mimed badly that she wanted to write.


    "First thing''s first," said Rudolph, holding up a hand to override her, "we must check that Kori''s face is set to heal well."


    "Come Al, let us not disturb them," said Heidi, taking her son by the hand and leading him from the study.


    Vereticus led the Sommernachts into his surgical room where Kori unbuckled Volkov''s massive sword and laid it on the study table. Rudolph placed the five platinum rings beside it. "The Regent will want to take these items into safekeeping," he advised. "Study them while you can, Vereticus."


    Kori lay down on the padded chair once again. Vereticus applied pressure to her mask in different places.


    "It is in position," he assured them. "Kori, you should be able to take off the mask soon. Hopefully your voice will return sooner. I was hoping we could study together again before your party returns to Gruenwald." Kori nodded eagerly.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori had been eager to see Erika again, but she was not in their quarters when it was time for Kori to bathe. After soaking in steaming water, Kori donned a simple dress of white satin and velvet slippers and went down to the dining room where the nobility and royals were all scheduled to take lunch. The meal was a much more cheering affair now that Al was restored, but Erika was not here either and it was awkward, having to eat with her mask on. Heidi insisted that Kori sit beside her and have specially prepared food, cut into tiny chunks. She felt a little self-conscious about how she must appear with an expressionless metal face, but fortunately everyone was too polite to remark on it.


    After lunch, Kori could not find her sister anywhere in the mansion, so she removed her slippers and took a stroll barefoot through the snow-covered grounds to clear her head. As she passed the frozen lake, she saw her sister approaching rapidly, wrapped in furs.


    Kori gave a hoarse cry and ran over to Erika and threw her arms around her.


    "It gladdens my heart to see you too, dearest," said Erika fondly, gently rubbing her sister''s back. "Ralph has told me of your courage in the fights against the Changeling, the Lone Wolf and the Arch-Lycanthrope. I''m so proud."


    It began to snow at that moment; white flakes swirled around them. Had Kori been able to speak, she would have told her sister how she enjoyed dancing in a snowstorm when she was overjoyed, but now was not the time and the place.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    One day after Kori had regained her voice, she and Erika sat with the Prince''s and Al in Siegfried''s opulent chamber. Dani, Siegfried''s food taster, was there too. Kori felt giddy with pride that Siegfried commended her as a legendary heroine of the Dark Forest and wished that she could take off her mask to be presentable for him.


    Siegfried offered his opinion of other Dark Forest legends. He began with the legend of Karla''s victory over the Dread Disciples from the world of Obsidia. "Now the Obsidian Dread Disciples, they were even fouler than the Wolf Cult, especially Phobia." He shuddered. "Karla is definitely a great warrior, on that we can all agree. But on the other hand, Karla was super annoying to be around, by all accounts. So neurotic and clingy."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "You of all people think it wrong to be annoying, Siegfried?" said Gerd, affecting to stare at him pointedly.


    "Don''t interrupt," said Siegfried. "I was just going to say that unlike Karla, our Kori is so charming that Vereticus wishes that she was his daughter instead of the heir he''s actually got! Eh, Al?" he nudged Al in the ribs, winking at him.


    Al shifted uncomfortably and Kori felt bound to speak up for him. "Vereticus and Heidi love you more than anything, dear Al. They''ve only known me for a couple of weeks. Of course they don''t love me more than you."


    "No really, Kori, you''re such a bookworm as well as a warrior," said Siegfried with a smirk. "You''re the one Vereticus would want to read a mouldy old tome with. Just you. Not Erika, not I and certainly not Al. How do a pair of scholars react to having a dunce, Al?"


    Kori glanced at Erika whose expression was unreadable and then turned to Al. "Everyone has their own strengths." She said earnestly. "Vereticus understands perfectly well that different people are interested in different things and he does not think that being a scholar should be for everyone. He does not think less of anyone for not wanting to be a scholar. That was one of the first things he said to me. Please remember that he knows you are special."


    Al was reassured by the strength of Kori''s conviction. Kori remembered how Vereticus had defended her father, Lord Sommernacht, to Rudolph. He had been right to do so. She could not possibly blame her father, even if it had once hurt her feelings that he had not wanted custody of her. His note had assured her that it was his lack of courage and how could she blame him for that?


    This was a very private matter, so she had to wait until that night to talk with Erika about it when they were both in bed. She had determined that she needed to talk further about it for there were still matters to get off her chest. They lay side by side in Erika''s four poster as the snow fell heavily outside, the white flakes swirling past the window.


    "Vereticus is wise," said Kori. "He would never judge Al for not wanting to be a scholar any more than I do. Vereticus was the wise man who told Rudolph that he should not judge our father about¡­ um¡­" she hesitated and then continued. "That he didn''t push for custody of me. Well I won''t judge him for it. You saw his note to me. I would never judge him for not having had the courage to get to know me, given the circumstances. Everyone has their own strengths. I feel better that I can see this clearly and don''t blame him. I do wish we could have grown up together though, somehow. I''ll never regret having Madeleine as a mother, but I always wanted you and dad in my life too."


    "We can only worry about the circumstances we have," said Erika. "There are many ways events could have unfolded in the past. They did not all turn out well, but many did. We do not live in a perfect world, but we can be thankful that we live in a Granat and not in an Obsidia."


    "Absolutely. The world of the Dread Disciples must be evil indeed. Granat cannot get like that as long as enough people have good will. And we will do what best we can. You must come and visit me when I''m back in the village. Then we could go to the market place together. It''s so vibrant and bustling first thing in the morning, when the fish are newly caught and the bread is fresh."


    "I should like that. I only hope that I will be allowed."


    "And speaking of doing the best we can, it''s ridiculous that there should be bad feeling between your mother and I. Maybe now that the Wolf Cult is defeated and everyone is happy I can talk frankly with her and we can set it right."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The day after Kori had recovered and her mask was removed. It was time to return to Gruenwald for the solstice celebration. Ralph would be visiting his family in the Golden Isles. Kori hugged him goodbye. "Travel safe Ralph. I''ll see you again when I next visit Gruenwald." She held his gaze for a moment. "It was a pleasure to fight at your side."


    Ralph bade Erika goodbye as well, kneeling and kissing her hand. Kori felt as if this was somehow private, so averted her gaze. Then the Royal Party proceeded back to Gruenwald in triumph.


    For the winter solstice, castle Gruenwald was bedecked with holly and mistletoe and great pine trees were set up in the halls and arrayed with glittering ornaments with all the colours of the rainbow. When it came to the night of the solstice, the nobility all assembled in the great hall for the Winter Dance. Four great pine trees stood in each corner festooned with ornaments, including icicles made of glass. The great crystal chandeliers above bristled with candles, lighting up the proceedings on the longest night of the year.


    Ordinarily, Kori would have been too young to attend at all, but now she was welcomed with honours. The Regent made a special presentation to the assembled nobility with Kori on the stage beside him. He commended her for her valour in defeating the dreaded Wolf Cultists. Kori beamed as they cheered her and then the dance began. Erika and Prince Siegfried were amongst those opening the dance as the music began to play. Kori thought they were truly a picture-perfect couple. Just then she noticed Megan sidling into the hall, gesturing at her and glancing furtively around. She waved at Kori.


    Kori waved back. "Come sit with me."


    Megan sat down the on the stage beside Kori. "Your star burns bright tonight, Kori."


    Kori beamed at her. "How have you been? It seems like ages since I last saw you. So much has happened."


    Megan was anxious to relate the gossip and rumours that had been circulating while Kori was away.


    "And you should have heard about that Frauke. They say she''s been flirting with a common guard! How vulgar."


    Kori folded her arms. "You shouldn''t say unkind things behind her back, Megan."


    "Huh, I care not. The gossip relieves the tedium of life here," said Megan.


    At that moment, Brunhilde welcomed Erika back onto the stage. She was beaming and looked so happy that Kori felt that she would not get another moment like this. At this time, everyone else was distracted by the spectacle of Siegfried doing a quickstep with two of the greater nobility.


    "Excuse me, Megan," said Kori softly and got to her feet. Slowly, hesitatingly she drew closer.


    Erika turned to meet her sister''s gaze and then nodded. "Kori has something she must tell you, mother. Please hear her out."


    Brunhilde looked at Kori and her lip curled, but Kori would not be deterred.


    "Brunhilde, why must we quarrel? I never wanted to. I am nothing like the lesser demon, I''m nothing to do with her¡­ I want nothing to do with her, or to see her, ever. If I could change the past and wipe out her crime I would¡­" Kori hesitated for an instant as she considered that, but Brunhilde had stopped looking askance and was now raising her pale eyebrows. Kori ploughed on, aware of Megan gaping at them and of Erika watching with her usual serene calm. "When I first came here, Rudolph admitted that you are uncommonly wise and compassionate. Now I know that you are, no other mother could do such a good job as you have raising Erika. Erika is the best girl in the entire world and the only one who should be queen."


    Brunhilde swallowed and then held out her hands. "It is a little late to be welcoming you for the first time, Korina." They clasped hands. "Now¡­"


    "What''s this?" Siegfried''s bellow drowned out Brunhilde''s voice as he arrived on the stage. "Fawning over her, Brunhilde? There''s a change in tune for you. And all because she''s the heroine of the hour."


    Brunhilde snatched her hands away from Kori and flounced off the stage. Erika gave a sad smile. Kori''s heart sank. It looked like she had lost her chance.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Late that night, Kori made her way down the crypts of the greatest nobility of the Dark Forest, entering the shrine dedicated to her father. Here the torches were always kept burning and they cast an eerie light over the marbled surfaces. At the end of the vault, there stood a statue of the man himself, carved in marble. Kori stood before the statue. "I have succeeded father. Like you said, I was not afraid of who I am. The Wolf Demon is defeated."


    Kori hesitated, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. "You cannot answer me now and that makes me sad, but I do feel that I know you a little. You would have been proud of me know." She reached up and touched the statue''s cold cheek.


    "How dare you defile this place, demonspawn!" The hiss of a woman''s voice at the entrance.


    Kori whirled round. Brunhilde stood there, glaring.

 Home is Where the Heart is

    Home is Where the Heart is


    Brunhilde stood in the doorway in a white satin dress that fit her tightly. Her blue eyes were hard with anger as she glared at Kori.


    Kori began to bristle a bit herself. "Well what do you mean, ''defile?''" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "I''m sorry you cannot accept me as my own person, Brunhilde, but I will pay my respects as a dutiful daughter should."


    Brunhilde bit her lip and then said. "What makes you think he would welcome you here?"


    "That is between us. If you also have something private to say, then I will leave."


    Brunhilde swallowed and hesitated. The flickering torchlight played over her porcelain white face. But then her expression hardened. "Rudolph has been lying to you I suppose. If he lied and said that my husband wanted to contact you, then it was because Rudolph had some ulterior motive. Like embroiling you in a quest that could have got you killed."


    Kori glared at her. "Backbiting does not become you, Brunhilde. Not at all. I am surprised that you would be so rude." She turned and swept out of the crypt.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The next day the Regent conferred on Kori a privilege of the Greater Nobility. Access to the indoor Twilight Garden where she and Erika could take a stroll around at any time. The plants here were exotic and strange, almost otherworldly. The vegetation and the leaves of the trees were a ghostly grey-blue. Kori knew that cuttings that had grown into the garden had been brought from another world. The glass dome of the roof above collected and preserved the heat of the winter sun, so that it felt like summer.


    The sisters made their way through the glade and into a clearing where there were vibrantly coloured ponds. She and Erika sat down beside a pond of brilliant pink water. A tiny, silver face broke the surface of the pond. It had small dark eyes and lank, weed coloured hair.


    "Oho Princesses," it said in a tiny squeaky voice.


    Kori squealed in excitement. "Oh! Hello. You''re a water sprite? How are you today?"


    "I''m fine, but you''re looking green in the cheeks."


    Kori giggled and touched her cheek. "I''m a cambion."


    "Speak with proper reverence," said Erika to the sprite in a cool voice. "We are both Sommernachts."


    The water sprite cocked its tiny head. "Yes, your beauteous highness." It disappeared at that moment with a soft tinkling sound that only Kori could hear.


    The sisters sat on the bank of the pond and began to talk of other things. Erika was to be painted by Albrecht Duerer, a renowned artist who had come to the castle to render the faces of the Greater Nobility.


    "It would please me greatly if you were to be included in the gallery with us," said Erika. "Anyone should see that you have proven yourself worthy. We should speak to the Regent and at the very least, Duerer should paint me a quick miniature of you. It would please me greatly."


    Kori nodded. "For you, Erika, I will certainly ask the Regent. I only regret that I''ve no money to pay Duerer for a miniature of you."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The sisters sought an audience with the Regent and at the appointed time, knelt before him in the royal audience chamber beneath the glittering light of the crystal chandeliers. Kori was in a state of nervous anticipation and hoped that she would remember her etiquette and speak with due formality.


    The Regent gazed steadily at them as Erika made the suggestion. "Lady Korina, inclusion in the gallery is a privilege of the Greater Nobility and an added privilege means additional duty."


    Kori nodded vigorously. "Absolutely right my liege. The chance to fulfil my duty is a privilege you have conferred on me." She gazed up at the Regent and his piercing green eyes seemed to bore into hers. "Before I came I had only my duty as a healer. Now I have a duty to the whole of the Dark Forest, not just one village. Until recently I could only dream of so much trust being placed in me."


    "Very right and proper," said the Regent approvingly. "With that I have decided. Duerer shall paint your portrait and it shall be included in the official Sommernacht gallery for all time."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori spent the greater part of two days posing for the illustrious painter. He was very dramatic looking, with shoulder length blond hair and a strong Sea-Haven accent. He constantly ordered Kori to alter her pose: "You ¨C lift your head!" or "Girl! Turn your eyes that way." Each time Kori did her best to comply and smile back at him which sometimes earned a rebuke. "Don''t change your expression girl!"


    Duerer often voiced his thoughts aloud, "I''ve never tried to capture this particular matte green tone before ¡­I still haven''t got the right balance¡­ it needs more blue¡­ the light glints off her nose and cheeks this way¡­"


    The finished portrait was good and Erika loved it. Gerd inspected it and agreed that Duerer had definitely captured Kori''s look. The portraits of both Erika and Kori were placed beneath a larger one that showed the late Lord Sommernacht and Brunhilde together. Kori spent some time gazing at it. They had certainly made a picture perfect couple, Brunhilde''s very fair beauty complementing Lord Sommernacht''s dark good looks. They both looked so happy in the picture. Kori felt a twinge of sadness that she had not been able to make peace with Brunhilde. Still, her own inclusion in the portrait gallery was an honour and she could think of it as an early birthday present. Kori''s thirteenth birthday was approaching and while her birth had certainly not been a joyous occasion, this birthday was a turning point. She was now of the nobility and had a duty to defend the entire realm should the need arise.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Her interest in the subject piqued, Kori went to the library to research the topic of portrait painting and different styles that could be used. She lifted an old leather-bound tome on the portraits of Greater Nobility from the shelves and read about the most famous works, including those of the early Sommernachts and her other illustrious ancestors.


    Suddenly she heard footfalls in the corridor outside and the sound of Siegfried''s voice: "diplomats be hanged, Gerd, I have more interesting things to attend to. Like Leisel''s new assistant. She''s much more attractive than you would expect a boring librarian to be."


    Then Gerd''s voice: "There''s such a thing as duty, Siegfried. You''re supposed to attend to the diplomats, not flirt with a librarian."


    "I''m your future King, I will do whatever I want."


    Siegfried strode into the library, Gerd following close behind.


    "Hello, hello!" he bellowed, his voice disastrously loud in the silent library. "How is the green-skinned darling of the Dark Forest?" He strode up to Kori and put his arms around her, kissing her on the cheek, taking her completely by surprise and making her heart beat faster in excitement.


    "Siegfried," hissed Gerd.


    "You stop hissing, this is a library," said Siegfried loudly, wagging a finger at his cousin. He picked up the book on art. "Anything interesting in here?" A piece of parchment fluttered from between the pages of the book. Kori''s eyes widened. It was an exact replica of the note Lord Sommernacht had left her.


    "Your Highness, that is a copy of a note left for me," she stammered, but to her dismay Siegfried had already picked it up and was reading aloud. "To my daughter? This is not the way Lord Sommernacht would write, it''s like a girl trying to do a man''s point of view."


    "It''s obviously not for you," said Gerd, attempting to take it from him, but Siegfried held it above his head. "Doesn''t it look like Erika''s handwriting? She always takes care to write prettily."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "She is his beloved daughter. I''m sure they were very alike in many ways," muttered Kori, looking at the floor. She really had not wanted anyone else to see the message. It was something very private, after all¡­


    "For goodness sake, Siegfried," said Gerd, attempting to wrest the note from him with the result that they tore it in half between them. "Now look! Can''t you ever behave yourself?"


    "Erika must be playing a prank," said Siegfried.


    Kori blinked. Why on Granat would Siegfried suppose something like that?


    Gerd began to push Siegfried in the direction of the door. "Sorry about this, Kori. Come on Siegfried, you don''t want father to be angry with you I suppose. The diplomats are waiting."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Kori was scheduled to travel back to the village on her birthday. She was aware that she would have to study even harder with Madeleine after being absent for two months. Her heart was heavy that she would be leaving Erika, but at least she was scheduled to return to Castle Gruenwald for the following summer and it was also arranged that she pay Vereticus a short visit in spring. It was a curious sensation, belonging to two worlds. The world of simple village life and the world of royalty. Kori thought back to Rudolph''s words when they first arrived at the castle. He was right. Her life had indeed changed.


    That evening Kori went to see Erika in her bedroom. She found Erika sitting on the great four poster bed and crossing the wide expanse of polished marble floor, she saw that her sister''s eyes were bright with tears in the silvery lamplight.


    Feeling anxious, she put an arm around her shoulders. "What''s happened, dear Erika?"


    "I ¨C I am ashamed to say¡­"


    "Don''t be. I''m here and we can sort it out."


    "Siegfried told you about the note¡­?"


    "The note¡­? Oh yes." Kori sighed. "I''m afraid Siegfried read it. It turns out there was another copy hidden in the pages of a book about famous paintings and he just happened to see it. I would much rather it had stayed between us. It did feel private."


    "I''m sorry I did not tell the truth," choked Erika.


    "Sorry?" Kori was bewildered.


    "I wrote the note because I could not bear it. I could not bear that you did not feel included in our household, especially since mother had not made the effort. It''s what father ought to have written."


    "You wrote¡­?" Kori felt as though a cold weight had smacked her in the face. Her father had not contacted her, the connection she had thought they had was not real and for all she knew, he had had no interest in her¡­ She sat numbly for a moment, but she could not bear to see Erika cry and put her arms around her sister and gently stroked her back. "I have forgiven him," she murmured. She would not retract it.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    The day dawned for Kori to leave Gruenwald to return to the village and she felt a sense of melancholy that she would not be back until the summer. Erika was subdued and as Kori packed, she loaded her sister with small gifts: little baubles, jewelled hairpins, books and scarfs. Finally she brought Kori a small box tied with a gold bow. "Here is your birthday gift."


    "You are too generous, dear Erika," said Kori grinning.


    "I will be generous if it suits me. Open it now," said Erika.


    So they sat side by side on Kori''s bed as she unwrapped the box. Inside lay a tiny silver locket and in the locket was set Erika''s picture in miniature. Kori''s mouth formed a silent "O" and she lifted the locket up by the chain, her eyes fixed on the depiction of her sister''s haunting beauty. "Erika," she managed, "this is so beautiful."


    "The Regent insisted there was no time for more portraits, but Duerer agreed to stay late and paint this in one sitting when I told him how important it was that I have it to give to you."


    "How kind of him. I love it! Can I keep it?"


    "That was the idea. Keep me close to your heart when you return to the village."


    Kori placed the locket around her neck. "Come visit me."


    Erika''s face still held its characteristic stillness, but Kori thought she saw wistful longing cross her features. "If it were only my decision to make," she said in a low voice. "Still, I would like to try."


    As Kori prepared to go, there was a frenzy of final orders, Rudolph striding through the hallways, servants scurrying in all directions and Brunhilde arguing with someone. Gerd stopped by to say goodbye, as Rudolph swept Kori from the room. Erika stood impassively by the door of the room, watching the chaos and saying nothing.


    Just as Rudolph was insisting it was time to go right away, "for the gods'' sake," Kori ran up to Erika to give her one last fierce embrace. Erika hugged her back and they kissed¡­ And then Rudolph took her out of the castle and into the waiting carriage. There were two guards riding with them, one of them leading a pack horse with Kori''s possessions. It had snowed heavily in the night, so not many were out in the courtyard to see them off. Kori hoped the guards that were with them had wrapped up warmly enough and she voiced her concern to Rudolph who assured her that the guards were quite capable of gauging these things for themselves. Soon they were out of the castle gates and turning in the direction of the village.


    Kori clasped the image of Erika to her breast. "Remember me," she breathed.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Although Rudolph and Kori rode up to the cottage with something of a clatter, Rudolph calling directions to the guards and Kori laughing excitedly, Madeleine did not come out to greet them. Kori ran inside and found Madeleine in the kitchen, stirring herbs into a cauldron. Kori squealed and flung her arms around her. Madeleine smiled her eyes oddly bright. "I thank the gods you are back, Kori. Especially after that quest Rudolph arranged over the Wolf Cult. This brew cannot be left unattended, but there is food in the pantry."


    "In a little while, dear Madeleine. Rudolph is outside. Don''t you want to say hello?"


    "I cannot leave the mixture unattended," said Madeleine sharply.


    Kori went outside again. "Madeleine is too busy to come out and greet you. I think there''s something wrong¡­" Kori shrugged and grimaced. What was the matter?


    "Perhaps it''s not safe to go inside." Rudolph ordered a servant to stow Kori''s belongings in the cottage.


    "I don''t know why she would not be pleased to see you¡­"


    Rudolph did not seem interested in the subject. It took a few minutes for him to say goodbye, promise to write and make plans to come and fetch her in the Spring to travel to Silberwald.


    "Take care, dear niece. And congratulations again on being accepted into the royal circle. Not something just any demon-girl could achieve." With that he kissed her on the cheek and swung into the saddle and waved goodbye. Kori watched them ride down the dirt road which was soon swallowed up by the forest.


    Kori returned to the cottage where Madeleine was still by the cauldron.


    "Do you need help, Madeleine or should I unpack?"


    "You unpack. I''ll be fine."


    Kori unpacked, but she knew something was wrong, so she returned to Madeleine to sit beside her. "If anything is the matter¡­"


    Madeleine snorted. "The matter? Only that Rudolph played me for a fool. If I''d known what he was going to groom you for... A quest which could very easily have got you killed! ''Some semblance of your birthright'' indeed!"


    Kori did not like to see her angry at Rudolph. "I have a duty to the Dark Forest now the Royals have accepted me," she said in a small voice. "I had the power to defeat the Wolf Demon and with power comes duty. The Regent says so."


    "The Regent does right by the job he has. The gods know I wouldn''t want his job. I do not criticise him for his decisions. I was referring to your uncle. Rudolph was supposed to look out for you. Becoming a Sommernacht has not improved your life, it only put you in mortal peril."


    Becoming a Sommernacht had improved her life. Kori opened her mouth to demur, but hesitated. The subject of Brunhilde''s coldness and that of her father''s inscrutability had saddened and confused her. But she now had a sister. She opened her locket so that Madeleine could see Erika''s portrait. "I have Erika now. She is in my heart. I would not change that for anything. Once you know her, you feel like you''d do anything for her."


    "A beautiful girl indeed. She does look very like you. Rudolph was right about that at least. I had wondered what she was like. She sounds like a remarkable character."


    "I ¨C I don''t know whether my father ever wanted me and finding more out has just made me confused." Said Kori in a rush. "I thought he had written to me, but he hadn''t and I don''t even know whether or not he should have done. But Erika always did want me in the household. I''m glad I can be sure of that."


    "Yet there are other things you can be sure of," said Madeleine.


    When she had finished at the cauldron, she showed Kori the notes she had taken at the time of Kori''s birth. Kori already knew the gist of the events, but it gave it a new depth to see Madeleine''s meticulous records.


    Rudolph had had the idea to capture the lesser demon so as to exact revenge for her violating his brother and he had demanded whether Madeleine knew how such a thing could be done. Capture had not been necessary. The lesser demon had appeared in mid-winter of her own accord at Madeleine''s old place in the Sommernacht province of the Golden Fields.


    Kori read Madeleine''s words about the lesser demon:


    Her unnatural physiology notwithstanding, it was clear she was about to have a baby. Her eyes gave off no brightness. They were like those of a dead thing, but I could feel them fixed on me. She spoke and her voice grated and rumbled by turns. "You are the Sommernachts'' herbwoman? And you were keen to find me? Do not answer for here I am."


    I pressed the question as to whether she felt remorse. She drew back her lips to reveal sharp teeth. "What does remorse change? I cannot face Lord Sommernacht and even if I could, he would not forgive. Memories and guilt will eat at me unless I can take a long rest, away from you all. I do not wish for my daughter to be a part of the demonic realm. You cannot grasp how terrible the Greater Demons are."


    The lesser demon resided with Madeleine very briefly before giving birth. The parchment that detailed Kori''s birth was the most worn from frequent re-reading.


    She is such a perfect child. So good tempered, her brown eyes are so bright and her toothless little mouth always smiling. She is not mine, but I already wish she was. Will Lord Sommernacht accept her? I somehow doubt Brunhilde would.


    The lesser demon had left soon after with a strange admonition:


    "Do not look for me. Do not try to contact me. Where I go, you cannot follow. Know that the great ones will rise someday and when they do, my daughter had better be ready. I have laid the runes on her as only a birth mother can. In time she will have the power to fight the great ones, should she choose."


    The lesser demon slunk out into the snow and was swallowed by darkness.


    On a later sheet Madeleine had written: It has been decreed. She is my charge. I will call her Korina.


    As the snow fell thickly outside, Madeleine put her arms around her charge and Kori snuggled against her to soak up succour as they had always been accustomed to do in quiet moments. Kori was at peace with the world.

 The Pilgrimage

    The Pilgrimage


    Kori shifted in her sleep as she dreamed. She dreamed of the first day of summer, with the village and surrounding woodlands suffused in golden sunshine. And then, just as he had promised her, her uncle Rudolph came riding up to the village on his fine horse.


    "Great news, dear niece. You were expecting me to bring you to Gruenwald to be with your beloved sister for the summer. And so I will, but that is not to be all ¨C to reward your heroism in defeating the cult of vicious lycanthropes last winter, I have an extra special surprise. It has been decreed that you will be reconciled with your father now. Just as it should have been from the beginning."


    Kori murmured aloud in her sleep. "Dear uncle, that''s not possible. My father died before I could meet him. I was never allowed to be a comfort to him."


    "Why say that, dear niece? In this world, anything is possible. You are a demon. You banished a Greater Demon. Why give up on a dream? He wants to see you now and tell you it''s alright¡­"


    Kori awoke to the summer sunshine streaming in through her small window. Dreams of that kind had often troubled her. When her father had still been alive, she had always wished that they could have met, even if he did not want actual custody of her. She could have shown him that she was a loving daughter then, even though she had been conceived by a demon raping him. Fate had cheated her of the chance.


    She sighed and slipped out of bed and then began to prepare a cup of herbal tea for Madeleine. She would never regret growing up as the ward of Madeleine, the village wise woman.


    She swept into Madeleine''s larger bedroom with the tea. "Good morning, dear Madeleine. It''s a beautiful morning." Kori grinned and gestured to the window. "The first day of Summer! Listen to the birds singing. And I can hear the squirrels in the forest." Kori had unnaturally sharp hearing, like a demon.


    Madeleine scowled as she sat up in bed. "Mm. And Rudolph will be along later today. Scheming to take you somewhere dangerous, I''ve no doubt."


    Kori sat on the bed beside her and handed her the tea. "Rudolph only ever wanted to do the right thing," she said softly. "And don''t worry ¨C we finished the Wolf Cult six months ago. All danger is passed."


    "All danger? Oh Kori¡­ In this world, anything is possible and there are many perils. If you keep putting yourself at risk¡­" She broke off.


    Kori put her arms around her. "Don''t fret, dear Madeleine. I won''t do anything you don''t want." She kissed Madeleine on the cheek. "If it will please you, then I will be sure not to run risks."


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    After quickly washing in the stream that backed onto the garden, Kori prepared to leave for the early morning market in the village square. She lifted the silver locket that had been a birthday gift from her royal half-sister from the tiny chest beside her bed. She opened it once again so that she could gaze upon the tiny portrait of her sister inside. Erika''s beauty captured in paints was always refreshing to see. Kori drank in the details: Erika''s long, silky black hair, her beautiful brown eyes with their habitual oblique expression, her rose red lips and porcelain skin. Rudolph and Madeleine both said that Kori and Erika looked alike and that one could tell they were sisters, even though Kori had the green skin that bespoke her demonic birth. To think that in a few days, they would be together again after five long months. "Soon, dear Erika," she breathed.


    Outside, the vibrant summer rays had begun to warm the day and the remains of the morning dew gleamed on the grass. The marketplace was already bustling when Kori arrived, the delicious smell of freshly baked bread mingled with the stench of freshly caught fish. Kori did not have any money, but she and Madeleine had an arrangement by which they bartered their services as healers with the villagers ¨C those who could afford to repay them with their goods did so. As far as they were both concerned, this arrangement was enough payment for their treating anyone in the village at any time, including those villagers who had nothing to pay them with.


    After collecting fish from the fisherwife''s stall, Kori proceeded to the baker stand where Mrs Becker was arranging the newly baked loaves. Her little son Gabi was with there with her. Kori had recently treated a cut he had sustained by climbing onto a wood pile and falling off.


    Kori grinned widely. "Hey Gabi. You''re looking well."


    "''lo Kori. You''re looking even greener today."


    "Gabi!" tutted his mother.


    Kori laughed, touching her green cheek. "I''m going to stay with my sister today. I''ll miss all of you in the village, though."


    "If you fight wolves again, I wan'' to come."


    "No Gabi, you don''t," said Mrs Becker. "You have enough accidents as it is."


    "The Wolf Cult are no more, dear," said Kori. "The danger is over. In any case, we don''t want to go looking for trouble. I want to obey Madeleine and stay safe."


    "Listen to her," said Mrs Becker.


    <hr noshade="noshade" size="1">


    00O00


    Back at the cottage, Kori had changed into her Royal Guard armour in preparation for the journey to Gruenwald. Rudolph had not arrived yet and Madeleine and Kori were preparing a poultice for a sick child when at last, Kori heard the murmur of men''s voices in the distance and then quite plainly, Rudolph''s voice. She grinned.


    "What is it? Can you hear Rudolph coming down the road?" asked Madeleine. "Well I can''t stop him. You are packed, I presume? I can finish this. You just need to take your baggage outside."


    "You really don''t want to invite him in?" said Kori. "Wouldn''t it be the polite thing to do?"


    "I''m not going to pretend to like him or that he is welcome here anymore," snapped Madeleine.


    Kori put her arms around her. "Rudolph is not taking me anywhere dangerous. He assured us both in his correspondence that he would not. And I would not do anything to displease you anyway."


    "Of course you wouldn''t, dearest," said Madeleine, her voice trembling.


    Kori kissed her goodbye. "I love you. Please do write to me."


    There was a loud rap on the door, just the way Rudolph knocked.


    Kori leapt to her feet and opened the door. Rudolph stood there bedecked in leather armour, smiling behind his beard. Kori squealed and flung her arms around him.


    "And how is the bravest girl in the Dark Forest?"


    "Oh Uncle, I''m thrilled, I''ve been so looking forward to seeing you again¡­ how have you been? How is Erika?" Kori glanced out into the road to see a cortege of ten men clustered there. "My luggage is all ready and we should not keep your escort waiting around in the road. In any case, um¡­ listen Uncle¡­ Madeleine¡­ is very busy and¡­" Kori looked at her feet, feeling very awkward.


    "Madeleine now reserves her gimlet stare for me," said Rudolph quite unconcerned. "I can live with that."A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Ralph, the young guardsman from the Golden Isles was among Rudolph''s escort. As two of the men collected Kori''s baggage from the cottage, she squealed and rushed at Ralph to hug him, her pony tail flying behind her.


    "How nice that you remember me, Lady," said Ralph as Kori grinned into his face.


    "How could I forget?" said Kori gazing at him for a moment, taking in once again his limpid, green eyes, his bold freckled face, his pearly white teeth¡­


    "Mount up!" commanded Rudolph.


    There was a horse, a fine white mare, brought specially for Kori to ride and the party made their way down the track to the forest, the summer sun now shining brightly overhead.


    Some of the men in their escort saluted Kori and she beamed at them.


    "All hail Lady Korina, the Wolf Slayer who rid us of Volkov, the ghoulish warlord," said one.


    "A deed worthy of a song," said another. "How about the Lady Korina leads us in one?"


    Kori giggled. "My singing voice is as scary as my magical scream. And I can''t take all the credit. Uncle was there too and Ralph."


    "Credit where it''s due, no man here could have banished the Greater Demon that possessed Volkov," said Rudolph. "We both have the blood of heroes, Kori."


    "How about the rest of you sing a marching song?" said Kori eagerly. "One about heroic feats?"


    Rudolph led the men in a Knights Declaration song and their voices rose into the air as they rode between the tall pines of the Dark Forest.


    "Hear me now, Greater Demons and cultists of sin, your nefarious doings are past..."


    Ralph looked a little puzzled. Evidently being from the Golden Isles he did not know this song. Kori nodded at him encouragingly, hoping he would join in.


    Kori thought the song very inspiring and gave a piercing cry of delight when the men had finished, which caused the horses to flatten their ears.


    "Oops, sorry¡­ That was wonderful. Do you think Altfrid, the warrior priest sang that?"


    "It was probably from after his time," said Rudolph. "But funny you should mention him. We''re going on a quick pilgrimage to his shrine on the moors before we reach Gruenwald."


    "Oh, I should love that," said Kori. "I was reading all about him when I visited Vereticus the scholar in the Spring. Isn''t it amazing how he defeated the cult of that Greater Demon, the Lord of the Flies? I would have liked to have met him."


    At a fork in the forest path, Rudolph split the party, sending some of the men to Gruenwald with Kori''s baggage and taking Kori, Ralph and four other men along the path that led to the moors.


    Out on the barren heath there was a breeze which Kori found refreshing.


    "The path to the shrine is through the marshy ground," said Rudolph. The ground was soft and peaty and Kori could see the dark tufts of reed beds in all directions.


    "It definitely looks boggy for miles around, uncle," she said, scanning the landscape with her demonic vision. "But I can see a path¡­"


    Kori rode alongside her uncle leading the way. The party made their way in single file across dry spits of ground, managing to steer clear of the ensnaring swamps around them and eventually the came in sight of an unassuming, stone built chapel. They had just tethered their horses outside the building, when Kori heard an ominous sound from the swamp nearby.


    "Beware," she called, "something large is splashing around near the surface¡­ just there."


    She pointed and at that moment, a grotesque shape broke the surface of the swamp in the very place she was indicating. It was something like a misshapen lobster, leprous grey in hue, with constantly clacking claws. It pulled itself onto the firmer ground with jerky movements and then scuttled towards them.


    Kori leant forward and concentrating hard, she let forth her terrible, magical scream; the strange power that now grew in her as she neared maturity. She focused with all her concentration on the lobster and only the lobster. The sound waves of her cry seemed to coalesce into circles directed at the monster. The lobster stopped in its tracks, antennae waving frantically. Kori unsheathed her sword and her Runeknife and advance towards it. It lashed out with its claws and she struck them hard, cracking their hard shell. The men were there in a moment, attacking it from all sides, prying of its segmented armour with their swords. Now the thing lay broken and twitching.


    "Any Granatian knows that this sort of thing means bad magic," said Rudolph. "That it should be lurking around the shrine is no coincidence." He looked up. "Ah, well met father."


    They all turned to the chapel-shrine. A wild-haired man dressed in a worn, patchy robe and sporting an equally unkempt beard was standing on the threshold.


    "It appears I owe you a debt of thanks," said the guardian of the shine. "May the gods bless you all." He beckoned to them. "Come, you could probably do with a place to recover."


    Rudolph advanced to greet the wild looking priest. "I am Lord Sommernacht and Commander of the Royal Guard."


    "I''m Father Stein. Delighted to receive you, My Lord," said the priest bowing deeply. "I don''t often get such distinguished guests. Come up the rest of you don''t be shy. That horror had been keeping me a virtual prisoner in my own shrine and scaring away pilgrims. It is a joyous day that the Royal Guard arrived."


    Kori beamed. It lifted her spirits that he was so happy. Father Stein clasped the hands of each of the men in turn, murmuring a blessing, but then when he saw Kori, he gave a start and leapt back. Reaching into the pockets of his robes, he drew out a tablet of dark, stained wood and thrust it at her.


    "Ooh, the insignia of Altfrid," exclaimed Kori, leaning forward to see better. The wooden tablet was inlaid with pearl and carved with the runes of the fabled warrior-priest.


    "Take that, take that," hissed Stein, thrusting it at her face.


    "You mean you would let me hold it?" said Kori, wide-eyed. "Oh, thank you, you are too generous to me, father." She took the tablet from him and held it reverently in both hands. "Did Altfrid himself carve this? These runes¡­ it''s like holding a message from him¡­"


    The guardsmen were muttering.


    Stein glared at Rudolph. "How can this creature bear to touch the holy symbol?"


    Kori looked up startled. "Excuse me?"


    "That is rude, father," said Ralph.


    Rudolph was frowning. "The holy symbol was to ward off evil creatures. The Lady Korina is virtuous and furthermore, she is my niece, so keep a civil tongue in your head, man."


    Kori felt a nasty sinking feeling. So, the priest was not generous. In fact, he was hostile to her¡­ "This is because I''m a cambion, isn''t it father?" she said softly. "Have you of all people forgotten Altfrid''s message? He said, ''in whoever virtue shows itself¡­''" She paused, hoping Stein would finish the quote, but instead he pointedly ignored her and turned to Rudolph.


    "I will not speak to one such as her, My Lord. She is not welcome here. No demon-spawn will darken this door while I am priest."


    "Now see here!" began Rudolph, his beard bristling, but Kori interjected.


    "It''s alright, uncle. Please don''t let there be a fight on my account. If it will keep the peace, I''ll wait outside while the rest of you complete the pilgrimage." Wordlessly, she held the tablet out to Stein, but he ignored her and ushered the men over the threshold. She glared at him and lowered her hand.


    As the men filed into the shrine, Ralph hung back to remain with her.


    "Remarkable how followers of great men can forget their message."


    "I know," said Kori, her voice quavering a little. Ralph put an arm around her shoulder. "Thank you for keeping me company, Ralph."


    "Your sister would have put the priest in his place." Ralph glanced at the entrance to the chapel and added very softly. "If she were in command, she would allow no such slight against one she loves so much."


    Kori fingered the locket at her breast with her free hand. "Absolutely right," she sniffed.


    "Erika would say to be your guard. That''s more important than the pilgrimage, as far as I''m concerned," said Ralph.


    "You are my kind and handsome guard," said Kori with a small smile.


    Eventually, the men emerged from the shrine. "You are all worthy of receiving a gift of the holy healing spring, first brought forth by Altfrid, my good men," said the priest in a formal tone. "May his blessings pour down upon you."


    Rudolph was holding a gourd. He thrust it at Kori who had to wrap both her arms around it to hold it. The gourd felt warm to the touch.


    "See father?" Said Rudolph pointing at the gourd. "Kori can hold the Heal-all, just like she can hold the holy symbol. The gods have no problem with it. I wonder why you do."


    "Wait, don''t you want the symbol back?" Kori asked of the priest, but he ignored her again. It was most irritating.


    "I think you can keep that too," said Rudolph.


    They rode away from the shrine. "That priest. So insular," said Rudolph, shaking his head.


    "I suppose I''m not used to that kind of attitude in the village, dear Uncle," said Kori. "We''re all friends there."


    "They''re lucky to have you as a healer," said Rudolph. "A pity that not all villages are so fortunate. If only they could be helped. But Madeleine would not approve of you putting yourself in danger to save the lives of the less fortunate. She warned me against straying from our path. She was quite insistent that we press on to Gruenwald."


    Ralph gave Rudolph a sharp look.


    "No, no, Madeleine would want me to help anyone who needed healing," said Kori gazing at him wide-eyed. "Do you know of a village where someone needs healing uncle?"


    "Indeed, I do, dear Niece. The poor folk there are up against it. If only there was a healer who wanted to help them¡­"


    "I do, I do," said Kori. "How soon can we reach the village? What exactly is wrong? I hope I have brought enough of my materials."


    "I don''t know¡­" said Rudolph slowly¡­ "it could turn into an adventure ¡­ there is much about it that is strange ¡­ and remember that foul thing that attacked us outside the shrine? Something is wrong in the Dark Forest, once again. Something uncanny, of the kind that we have not seen since the days of the Wolf Cult."


    "Uncle, that''s enough of this kind of talk," said Kori sternly. "If there is anyone who needs my help as a healer, I''m not going to ride away and forget about them. Please take me to the village."


    "I can see you won''t be dissuaded, dear Niece. I expected no less of you," said Rudolph solemnly. "Very well. Onward to adventure!"

 The Creeping Plague

    The party set out on the long ride to Barrow Hill, the settlement where Rudolph said that a mysterious sickness had afflicted the villagers. Dusk fell as the seven travellers entered the Azure Lake Town and as they turned down a crowded backstreet, they came upon a three-story stone building with a sign hanging outside that declared the place to the Pilgrim¡¯s Rest.


    The sign itself was an excellent work of art, Kori thought. Before she had arrived at Castle Gruenwald, she had never seen anything like it. Of course it could not compare to anything Duerer had painted, including the tiny portrait in her locket, but it conveyed what she thought could be a scene from an actual pilgrimage. The painting showed a pilgrim carrying a scrip and leaning on a staff, passing a milestone that pointed to the shrine of Altfrid. The Royal Guard filed underneath it into the courtyard of the hostelry. There, the ostlers led their horses to the stables while they made their way into the inn.


    The interior of the inn was one of traditional washed walls and whitewashed walls. Tables were set out around the parlour and a fire crackled in a grate in the far wall. One of the men went to the car and Rudolph led the rest of the party to a group of pilgrims sitting around the fire. They were having a story-telling contest and at that moment, were in fits of laughter ¨C a gaunt looking man was just concluding a lewd tale about a miller. As Rudolph introduced himself as Lord Sommernacht, the gaunt man stared at Kori and his eyes widened. Kori smiled back at him. Rudolph made an almost imperceptible gesture at him and he looked away.


    ¡°Do carry on with the storytelling,¡± said Rudolph.


    As the guardsman at the bar came back with a tray of small ales, a grey-haired pilgrim began to recite his tale. Kori was thrilled that it was a tale about Altfrid the warrior-priest, telling how he defeated a terrible follower of the Lord of the Flies at Barrow Hill village, within riding distance of the Pilgrim¡¯s rest and on their route to Gruenwald. The cultist had sent plagues of rats and flies at the settlement, but Altfrid had defeated him and then sealed him in a specially consecrated coffin and decreed that the grave must never be disturbed, lest the evil one rise again to send new plagues against the living. Since that time, the village had been called ¡®Barrow Hill.¡¯ Formerly it had been ¡®Green Hill.¡¯


    The pilgrim recounted the legend with such expertise that Kori was spellbound:


    ¡°Those still alive know the secret survives in the darkness in the entrails of the earth. The dread cultist lies like a canker, beneath his mound, waiting, always waiting for his chance to rise again and bring pestilence to our land in one fell stroke...¡±


    Kori had been listening on the edge of the seat and when the pilgrim had finished she clapped and joined in the cheering, her strident voice almost drowning out everyone else¡¯s. ¡°Oh well done, I love how you retell that story!¡±


    Despite the hubbub in the parlour, the pilgrim had no difficulty hearing Kori¡¯s voice. He smiled gravely and inclined his head. ¡°But be warned. The Canker did not truly die. It may well be that another will have to follow on Altfrid¡¯s footsteps. But who? Only Altfrid himself would know.¡±


    Kori gazed back, wide-eyed. ¡°Will Altfrid tell us?¡±


    The pilgrim fixed her with a stern gaze. ¡°That is for him to decide. But perhaps he will give help to those who really believe in him.¡±


    ¡°I believe in him,¡± said Kori eagerly.


    The real question is general good faith,¡± said the pilgrim cryptically.


    When it was time to go to bed, the guardsmen set off for the dormitory on the ground floor. Rudolph and Kori had the best room in the house, on the first floor. Kori hastened to hug Ralph goodnight before he departed to the dorm room with the other guards.


    ¡°Thank you for being in my escort, dearest,¡± she murmured, gazing into his green eyes.


    ¡°It is my privilege. Life seems to get more exciting when you¡¯re around, somehow,¡± said Ralph gravely.


    Kori beamed. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you to say.¡± She was very conscious of the feel of his muscles under the leather guard armour.


    But at that moment Rudolph came up to them. ¡°We have an early start tomorrow, dear niece.¡±


    ¡°Sleep well, Princess,¡± said Ralph gravely.


    Rudolph led Kori up the sturdy oak staircase. Their suite was equipped with pine furniture and a roaring fire had already been lit in the grate and a roast chicken stood ready for consumption on the table. Kori smiled as she looked around. Before she had first visited Castle Gruenwald, she had never seen any room so richly furnished, but Erika¡¯s quarters at Gruenwald were more luxurious than this beyond any means of comparison. Even her own more modest room at Gruenwald showed greater opulence than any inn.


    Rudolph glanced around critically. ¡°Does this match the requirements for the Royal Writ? The one that says that the Sommernachts are to be given the best accommodation?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s clear the landlord has gone to a lot of trouble, uncle,¡± said Kori. ¡°Look how clean and neat everything is. We should thank him.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Well we¡¯ll see how they do with getting the water hot.¡±


    After they had both eaten their fill, the servants brought up the hot water. Kori did not need to wait for it to cool like Rudolph did ¨C she slipped straight into the tub in the tiled bathroom while the water was steaming. She lay back and relaxed as she soaked, her long hair floating around her.


    At bedtime she was still restless and sat up in her bed by the window as Rudolph tried to sleep in his own bed by the door.


    ¡°Do you think the story has it right, uncle?¡± said Kori suddenly. ¡°Could the Canker really rise again?¡±


    ¡°Suspicious things are happening, Kori. But nothing is certain. A mysterious sickness at Barrow Hill could have a different cause.¡±


    Kori turned to gaze at him. ¡°But I¡¯m going there to help anyone who¡¯s sick, whether or not it is the Canker.¡± She shifted on her bed. ¡°The followers of Greater Demons start a lot of plagues, don¡¯t they? Remember when you told me of the black widow spider plague?¡± She was hoping that Rudolph would tell her the story again now, just as he had done when he visited her the previous summer.


    ¡°We have a long and possibly dangerous day tomorrow, dear Niece,¡± said Rudolph yawning.


    ¡°Oh! Of course you should get some rest now, dear Uncle,¡± said Kori and she made sure she remained quiet as Rudolph fell asleep. But she could not drift off herself. She was too excited at the prospect of healing the next day and the noises throughout the building were distracting¡­ so she slipped out of bed and checked through her belongings as quietly as she could. She still had the tablet Stein had given her with the runes to ward off evil. She had a portion of the firepowder Madeleine had invented in case of emergencies. It had proven valuable when fighting the werewargs ¨C undead lycanthrope puppets of the Wolf Mage ¨C the previous winter. And there was the Heal-All in its gourd which was surely more valuable still. She picked it up and marvelled at the warm glow that seemed to emanate from it and run up her arms, making her feel warm and contented inside.


    She lay back, the creaking of the inn sign below her window as it rocked in the breeze lulling her gently to sleep. She had been troubled by vivid dreams a lot lately and now she had another. She dreamt of the pilgrim in the sign above the Inn door and that he spoke to her in a deep mellifluous voice as she once again stood on the track to the sacred spring... ¡°The road will be dangerous, dear one, but if you have good faith, you can prevail against the encroaching Swarm. Remember¡­¡±


    ¡°I will remember,¡± murmured Kori aloud.


    ¡°Beware the Swarm¡­ beware¡­¡± There was an angry buzzing far in the distance and out of the corner of her eyes, though still far off, she saw a mass of encroaching shadows. There were malevolent voices in the buzzing, although even Kori¡¯s demonic hearing could not decipher them. ¡°Have faith,¡± said the pilgrim. He held out his hand and Kori took it. She felt a warmth, just like she had from the Heal-All. The evil buzzing faded away. ¡°Dream!¡± said the pilgrim. ¡°And you will always hear¡­¡±


    <hr>


    00O00


    Kori awoke to the sound of a cock crowing.


    When the Royal Guard set out again, the sun was barely up. A fine mist rose from the damp grass on either side of the track and dissipated in the summer breeze. Ralph rode alongside Kori. The light of dawn suffused his pale face with a rosy hue and glinted off his fiery hair.


    ¡°Remarkable isn¡¯t it? To be retracing Altfrid¡¯s steps.¡±


    ¡°Very,¡± agreed Kori.


    ¡°But my mother and sister won¡¯t be pleased if the Swarm ¨C the cult of the Lord of the Flies - should make an appearance on our route. They were not thrilled about our hair-raising adventure last winter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to defend you to the last, just as I did against the Arch-Lycanthrope,¡± said Kori, gazing at him steadily. ¡°You should tell them that I¡¯d never let anything happen to you. Even if the Swarm did show up, they¡¯d have to go through me.¡±


    ¡°Well that makes me feel a lot more of a man and I¡¯m sure they¡¯d love the idea of you taking care of me in their place,¡± said Ralph solemnly. ¡°You ought to tell my oldest sister that you can do it far better than she could. She¡¯d love that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± said Kori grinning.


    The village was now in sight and Kori could easily see the outline of the Barrow looming behind it ominously.


    ¡°You already knew I suppose, that the Swarm gave themselves weird titles?¡± said Ralph,


    ¡°To show that they had given up their old lives in favour of servitude to the Lord of the Flies,¡± said Kori nodding. ¡°The Wolf Demon made that sort of demand of the Wolf Cult ¨C the five cultists had to chuck away their most prized possessions. The ones which symbolised their old lives.¡±


    As they entered the village of Barrow Hill, they saw that many of the buildings had runes daubed in red on their doors ¨C a sure sign that the households had been afflicted with a plague!


    ¡°Fear not, good people! The Lord Sommernacht is here to save you,¡± called Rudolph.


    The men and women of the village looked up with expressions of hope. Kori smiled at them, but then her heart sank. There was the smell of burning and it was coming from a bonfire onto which two strong men were unloading bodies of plague victims. She had expected something of this kind, but that did not make seeing it any easier.


    Rudolph took Kori and a couple of armed guards to the village elder¡¯s small stone hall. The elders, two men and a woman, listened as Rudolph grandly declared that he would help free them of the plague.


    ¡°If we only knew the cause, then we¡¯d stand a chance,¡± said Rosalind, one of the elders.


    ¡°I have good reason to believe that the Canker stirs again beneath Barrow Hill,¡± said Rudolph gravely. One of the other elders raised his eyebrows. ¡°Do not worry,¡± said Rudolph, ¡°my niece and I are the true heroes of our noble house. We follow in the footsteps of our heroic predecessors.¡±


    Kori was glad when Rudolph suggested that she tend to one of the sick villagers. Frankly, she had been itching to get started.


    Rudolph ushered her towards a plague hut, keeping his distance from the doorway. Kori stepped over the threshold. A young woman lay on a bed of straw, her blond hair spilled all over the pillow. Her face was so thin and pale, that it almost made Kori cry to look at it. There was an angry red boil at her throat.


    Kori knelt beside her and whispered. ¡°Sorry, my dear¡­ I must lance the boil. It¡¯s the only way to take the infection away.¡±


    She could hear footsteps and turned to see a boy, maybe a couple of years older than she, with bright purple skin. She gazed speechless for a moment and then rose to her feet.


    ¡°Hello. Y-you are a cambion too? I¡¯m lady Korina Sommernacht, but please call me ¡®Kori.¡¯¡± She held out a hand which the other cambion clasped in his elegant, purple one.


    ¡°I¡¯m Franz and this is my mother, Lisa. She¡¯s very sick. Your uncle tells me you are quite the healer?¡±


    ¡°I am apprenticed to a healer, yes,¡± said Kori nodding, her ponytail jiggling. ¡°I really want to help.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± said Franz. ¡°I would not let anything happen to Mum. Well¡­ nothing else anyway.¡±


    Kori knew that if he was not referring to the plague, then he was referring to when his mother had been raped. She must have been raped by a lesser demon for Franz to have been conceived.


    She nodded. ¡°If the infection can be brought to a head and drained, then there is a chance.¡± She knelt by Lisa and Franz did the same. ¡°Lisa¡­ dear Lisa¡­ can you hear me?¡±


    Lisa¡¯s eyelids flickered and then the blue eyes open. ¡°Yes, darling. I can hear.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to heal you,¡± said Kori. ¡°I must lance the boil. Please chew these leaves so that it doesn¡¯t hurt as much.¡±


    Lisa gave a wan smile. ¡°Do as you must.¡±


    When she had chewed the leaves, Lisa lay back with a sigh of contentment. Kori nodded to her son. ¡°Hold her please, Franz.¡±


    Kori gritted her teeth and lanced the boil. Lisa gave a little cry as blood and pus flowed from the wound.


    ¡°Oh, dear Lisa, it¡¯s alright, I¡¯m hear,¡± said Kori soothingly, her arms around her patient.


    When Lisa was resting peacefully again, Kori emerged from the hut, ready to ask Rudolph who she should tend to next. But something was wrong. There was a miasma of insects hovering over the village. These were huge, black and bloated flies and stinging insects. Rudolph pointed at the swarm, his expression very grave. A dark shadow stood there, shaped like a man.


    The figure spoke and his hollow voice seemed to grate and buzz. ¡°Tremble flesh carriers. Tremble before Xorhaz, faithful follower of his Infernal Eminence, the Lord of the Flies.¡± Xorhaz raised his arms and to Kori¡¯s horror, they were not human arms, but mantis claws! The cowl fell back to reveal a head that was a shocking fusion of man and mantis, with bulging compound eyes and clacking jaws.


    Xorhaz spoke again. ¡°The swarm will rise again!¡± Suddenly the bugs all surged towards them¡­