Chapter 26

Tabitha could feel the deaths happening around her. Each pushed her connection to the ‘One’ closer to orgasmic bliss, and her body was wracked with pleasure.

Her brother Markus had lost hope that she would speak, and if she could, she would agree with him. The world meant nothing to her now, only the coming of the ‘One’, and her own ecstasy. In her mind’s eye, visions of her god dominated, the lidless eye stared into her very soul.

She shuddered as another drop of tar fell from the black moon, dooming another city, reaping more lives for her god.

The whispers of the fiends echoed in her mind, calling out for her to join them in their revelry. She yearned for the taste of flesh. She felt as if whatever bonds of morality that remained to tie her down had finally loosened completely, leaving her free to pursue her true nature.

“Cyäegha.” Tabitha whispered, repeating the name over and over again, calling on her god.

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Markus left his sister’s cell, shaking his head in frustration and disgust. She was truly lost, her mind addled beyond help. Despite the attempts of clerics and interrogators, no one could pry the answers from her.

She was completely removed from reality, living in a world that no one could reach. Even Kathryn, the most powerful cleric in Illyria, could do nothing for her. Beseeching the goddess for assistance had failed, whatever troubles they were experiencing had separated them from the Twin Suns.

Walking down the hallway, Markus dreaded informing his brother that they had failed. He had no leads on Serena, and the only person who could direct them was uncooperative, and likely would never improve.

The prison was made of thick stones, and was deep underground, under layers of magical enchantments. To Markus, it felt stifling, and when combined with the screams and yells of the imprisoned, he looked forward to leaving.

Behind him, Tabitha’s cries grew louder, shouting a name foreign to him.

Hurrying his footsteps, he made it to the surface, drawing in deep breaths of fresh night air. The moon still dripped tar from overhead, though the capital seemed to have finally calmed. Reports of attacks were coming in from all over the empire, but the Legion had mobilized, securing the capital first, before pushing out towards the frontiers.

The clerics had managed to soothe the minds of the afflicted, those few that survived the initial effects. Too many had been driven to madness, killing each other, or themselves, before the priests could help.

Worse, they still had no idea what was happening. The moon was broken, something that all the scholars of the Academy were at a loss to explain. The only advice they could give was to hold until the Suns rose, their hope was that the Twins presence would repair the damage.

Markus preferred a more direct approach, to find the ones responsible and put them down. Which led him back to his original problem…

Tabitha couldn’t provide answers, and Secundus and the other gods were unreachable, was there another option?

Pondering the problem, Markus returned to his wife, fully prepared to communicate his lack of findings to his brother.

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“Shit!” Wil swore, the message Markus had sent him unfolded before him. Their solution to quick communications, Astrid had provided a two-way sheet of parchment. What one wrote on one side, would show up on the other end.

Markus’ neat handwriting was juxtaposed by Wil’s scrawl. Perfectly encapsulating the personalities of the two brothers.

“Nothing?” Astrid asked, looking over Wil’s shoulder at the missive.

“Tabitha’s lost her gods damned mind. Markus doesn’t think she’ll recover, and nothing Kathryn tried has worked to bring her around.” Wil responded.

“Alright, so we’re well and truly screwed. We need to do something Junior, we’ve got fiends and undead on our borders. Once they’re through with our neighbors, they’ll be knocking on our doors. We won’t survive long enough for daylight. Holding for 5 days is too much to expect.” Garman said.

“I know.” Wil said simply. “The fact is, every spell we’ve tried to point us in the right direction has failed. Auguries and Divination can’t connect to the gods and anything I can conjure wouldn’t have an answer to what’s happening on our plane of reality. We’ve even reached out to our allies in Lund, but they are at a similar loss.”

“So, what do we have left? Have we truly exhausted every option?” Quentin asked, leaning her head against Wil’s shoulder where she sat at the table beside him.

“Can Kathryn resurrect one of the cultists? Maybe we can get answers from them.” Bell asked, frowning. Wil shook his head.

“Markus had a similar thought. Their souls are unreachable, likely due to their connection to this ‘One’ they worship.” Wil answered.

“Then what are we left with? We can’t ask the dead, or the gods, for answers. Can we pull the information directly from Tabitha’s mind? I know she’s stubborn, but she can’t resist everything, can she?” Bell asked.

“Detect thoughts, telepathy, even dominate person and charm failed. Her connection to her deity allows her to resist everything. I’m afraid it’s a dead end.” Wil confirmed, shaking his head.

“There...there may be another way to find Serena.” Astrid said, her voice faltering as Wil turned his attention to her.

“She’s a Tiefling, she carries demonic blood within her. We can use it to track her.” Astrid offered.

“It’s a thought, but we’ve half a dozen reports of demons leading fiends all over Illyria. We wouldn’t be able to pinpoint her location from that.” Greaves answered.

“Even if we had some of her blood to track, and divinations were working.” Wil continued, his tone weary.

“That’s not what I meant. We can’t track her, but another demon could. We could trap one of them and force it to find her.” Astrid suggested.

“Could they do that?” Quentin asked, turning to Wil.

“And would they, even if they could track her? I can’t see them offering, not without us giving something to them in return.” Bell said.

“There’s a spell to summon demons in the Compendium. A lower rank demon could be compelled to answer our questions, or obey. I don’t know if they could track Serena…” Wil said, thinking out loud

“What are the requirements?” Astrid asked.

“It’s expensive, the ritual requires a special ward to trap the demon, and several layers of enchantment to compel it to obey. I can do the ritual, but the wards and enchantments are beyond my skills.” Wil said.

“I can do them.” Astrid offered, her tone firm.

“I’ll provide the materials. Just give me a list, I’m sure we can find what you need in the ship.” Quentin said, offering her support. Wil let out a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. They were out of options and running out of time.

“Alright. Let’s summon a demon.”