Rival Demons (25 page)

"I love you," I said sleepily. Despite the
possible dangers that lay ahead, I felt as if I'd never been
happier.

Jackson kissed my forehead.

"I love you too."

"Harper, wake up."

The urgency in Jackson's tone scared the crap
out of me. I bolted up, ready to run or fight.

"What happened?"

He sat near the fire holding the witch's
journal, his green eyes bright with excitement. "I think I found
something," he said.

I released a huge breath and waited for my
shoulders to un-tense. "I thought we were being attacked or
something."

He smiled. "Not yet," he said.

I cringed. He said it like it was only a matter
of time.

"Come here, I want to show you something."

I looked through the mouth of the cave and saw
that it was very early morning. The suns were just coming up on the
horizon. "Have you been reading all night?"

"Yes," he said. "I didn't sleep. I wanted to
stay up and make sure no one had followed us here."

I nodded. "So what did you find?"

He shifted his weight and held the book out
toward me. I sat down next to him and tilted my head to look at the
open page.

"It's just one little section here," he
said.

He pointed to a passage near the middle of the
book. The witch wrote about how the hunters were created and sent
to the shadow world to choose demons and bring them through the
portal. I skimmed it, not seeing what it was he was so excited
about.

"Here," he said. He pulled the book back toward
him and read. "
Eloisa was reluctant to give up her favorite
bauble, afraid it would be lost forever, but in order to create
more demon gates from the blue stone, we needed the ring to stay in
the shadow world as a sort of anchor.
"

"The ring," I said. "It's here?"

"It has to be," Jackson said. "From reading,
here's what I learned. Originally, there was only one demon gate
per sister, and one gate per gemstone. One blue, that was the
first. Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, and Diamond followed."

I listened, my body humming with excitement.

"But after the Order had created those original
gates, they got greedy. They wanted to expand," he said. "They
started looking for ways to open more gates of each corresponding
stone. But at first they failed. None of the new gates would stay
open. Then, they discovered that the ring was the key. Somehow, the
power of the ring is that it acts as an anchor, connecting all of
the blue gates together and so on."

I tried to put it all together in my mind.
Peachville was a blue gate, but it definitely wasn't the first one.
There had to be at least fifty or more blue gates in the human
world by now. The same was probably true of all the other stones as
well.

"Does that mean if we find the ring, we can
close all of the portals?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I think the demon
gates themselves will still exist, but the portals there won't open
anymore if the ring is brought back to the human world."

"This is huge," I said. "We could cripple the
Order and keep them from pulling any demons through. Does it say
where the ring is in the shadow world?"

"No," he said. "Not exactly. It only says that
the rings were hidden in places of great power here in the shadow
world. Places where each stone would draw power from sister stones.
I'm not sure what that means."

We were so close to something big. With the
ring, we might not be able to close the gates for good, but we
could keep the Order from opening them to bring more demons
through. It would be a huge victory.

"What about the other items?" I asked. "Does the
journal say how each of those is important to the initiation
spell?"

"From what I understand, each demon gate has its
own chalice, dagger, necklace and portal stone," he said. "But the
rings are rare. Only one exists per colored gemstone."

An excited chill ran through my body.

"We have to find it."

Jackson caught fresh fish for breakfast and
cooked them on the fire. I had never been one to like fish, but
this was delicious, almost sweet.

"This is the first time you've ever cooked for
me," I teased.

"Not quite as romantic as it could have been I
guess," he said, holding up a bright green fish head. "But it'll
do."

I smiled and shook my head. "I wish we could
stay here," I said. "It's happy here. Like we could just forget the
rest of the world."

He looked out at the sea beyond the cave. "If we
make it through this mess, I promise I'll bring you back here and
we can stay as long as you want."

If we make it through.

"It's a deal," I said. "But what's our plan
until then?"

"I remembered this vendor when I was a little
boy," he said. "My father used to take us there when he had
business in the smaller villages. The shop was full of little
trinkets. Mostly junk, really, but I remember this guy had a thing
for rocks. He had a collection on display and was always looking to
trade for rare gemstones or unique rocks."

"Do you think he might know something about the
blue stones?"

"It's worth a shot, right?" Jackson finished
his fish and threw the scraps into the fire. "This was a long time
ago, so I guess it's possible the shop isn't there anymore, but I'd
like to try."

"How far away is it?" I asked.

"Maybe a day's journey at the most," he said.
"It's very close to the borderlands between the north and
south."

"We should get moving then," I said. I stood and
packed my blanket and things back into my bag while Jackson put out
the fire.

Within ten minutes, we were back out in the
open. The carefree joy I'd felt in the safety of the cave was
replaced by tension and worry. We had to keep an eye out for
Sentinels, hunters and anyone who might want to harm us. We trudged
through sand for about twenty minutes before we finally reached a
rough dirt road. For most of the journey, we didn't run into any
other demons. The road to the south had stayed pretty deserted
since the two kings became such rivals. Now, most of the cities
along the borderlands had fallen into poverty.

Somewhere just north of the vendor's city, we
came across a small collection of thatched homes.

"Should we find another way around?" I
asked.

Jackson stopped and looked around. Off to either
side of the road were rough patches of woods or hills. "We'll waste
a lot of time going around," he said.

"But what if someone here is affiliated with the
Order or has a problem with humans?" I asked. "Are you sure it's
safe to just walk through?"

Jackson took my hand. "I doubt anyone here has
any love for the Order of Shadows," he said. "Come on, if anyone
comes out to ask about you, I'll tell them you're an enemy of the
Order. I think it'll be fine."

I hesitated. There were about six houses still
standing in what might have once been a flourishing village. It was
difficult to say if anyone still lived there at all, but what if
they were dangerous? I wasn't in the mood to get into a fight of
more than six against two.

I forced my feet to move. I'd faced much
uglier fears lately, so I would just have to face whatever came our
way here in this little village.

We made it past the first set of little houses
without seeing any movement or indication of life left in the
village. Then, as we passed the fourth home, I saw a flicker of
movement just inside the door. I clutched Jackson's hand tighter
and tilted my head toward the house. Jackson kept walking, but
turned his head to look. I surveyed the remaining houses, my body
tense and my hand moving toward the silver dagger hooked to my
belt.

"Wait," Jackson whispered. He stopped and turned
toward the fourth hut. "Look."

I turned, not knowing what to expect. When my
eyes landed on the small child standing in the doorway, I gasped
and took my hand off the dagger. The boy was dirty-faced and
wild-eyed. He wore no shoes or shirt, only a dirty pair of pants
that looked like they hadn't been changed in months. Something
about his eyes broke my heart.

I released Jackson's hand and stepped toward the
boy. Scared, he ran back into his house. I moved to position myself
right in front of the door so he could see me, but I was careful
not to get too close.

"I won't hurt you," I said. I got down on my
knees and peered into the darkness of his little hut.

I could see that the boy was just inside the
door, staring at me and sucking his thumb. He couldn't have been
more than four years old in human years. I had no idea how that
translated to shadow demon years, but he was just a child either
way.

I shrugged out of my backpack and found a pack
of food and a bottle of water. I held them out toward the boy. "Are
you hungry?" I asked. "It's okay. We're friends."

The boy looked from me to Jackson and back
again. He shuffled forward, stepping into the sunlight.

"Are you all alone here?" Jackson said.

The boy stared up at Jackson, then nodded
slowly.

I looked around again, wondering why such a
small child would be alone in a place like this. What had happened
here?

I set the food down on the ground and backed
away. Slowly, the boy walked forward and snatched it up, then
hurried back toward the safety of his house.

"How does something like this happen?" I asked
Jackson.

His expression grew dark. "This is what the
Order of Shadows does to my world."

We spent nearly an hour trying to coax the boy
from his hiding place, but nothing we could do would make him trust
a human. In the end, we left him a stack of food and water and
moved on toward the vendor's city near the border.

We finally arrived just before nightfall..
Jackson shook his head.

"This is the place," he said. "But it looks
nothing like I remember from my childhood."

The village was much bigger than any other place
we'd come across that day, but it was every bit as rundown. All of
the buildings were in disrepair and the people who walked the
streets wore tattered clothes. It reminded me of a ghost town from
the old west.

"How does a place get like this when there is so
much magic in this world?" I asked. "I mean, can't they just create
new clothes and fix their houses with their magic?"

"It's not that easy," Jackson said. "Magic may
come from within, but it isn't free. Not really. Performing magic
is always a trade-off. You know that from getting sick when you
were first learning to cast. Here in the shadow world, the more
these demons use their magic, the more attractive they become to
the hunters. Once a town builds up and becomes successful and
powerful, the Order comes knocking, wanting to take advantage of
the most powerful demons in the area. The only places safe from
this are the Underground and the king's city. Places where there
are guards and safety nets."

I looked around, feeling nothing but sadness for
these shadow demons.

"Is it safe for me to come in here with you?" I
asked. "I don't want my presence to make anyone nervous or
upset."

"I'm not about to leave you somewhere alone," he
said. "Just stay by my side. It'll be fine."

We left the road and entered through the center
of town. Thankfully it was almost nightfall and most of the town's
residents had already gone home or retired for the evening. I could
only hope the vendor we needed was still open. Otherwise we'd be
have to find someplace nearby to camp for the night.

The few demons milling about stared at me with
cautious, curious looks, but no one spoke or threatened us. Jackson
led us past a muddy fountain and a few closed carts, down a side
alley and finally, to the door of a light grey building.

"This is it," he said. "Fingers crossed this guy
is still here."

He knocked on the door and waited.

I bit my lip, so nervous. So far, this was our
only lead. We needed for this guy to tell us something useful.

Footsteps sounded on the other side of the door
and when it flew open, a beautiful woman with amber hair and
chocolatey brown eyes opened the door.

"Yes?" she asked. Her smile faded when she
looked at me, and I noticed a slight tremble in her hands. She
backed away and called out to her father.

Jackson and I exchanged hopeful looks.

An older man came to the door, but Jackson's
shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"May I help you?" the man said. "We don't want
any trouble here."

"Please excuse me," Jackson said. "I know it's
getting late, but my friend and I are looking for a shop-owner who
used to have a store here in this house. He collected rocks."

The man studied Jackson's face, trying to decide
whether to trust him. "What do you want with this shop-owner?"

"My father used to bring me and my twin brother
here when I was younger," Jackson said. "I remembered the gemstone
and rock collection and had a few questions about it. Please, if
you know where I can find this man, it's very important that I
speak with him. We simply come for information."

The young woman stepped closer to the door, then
whispered something in her father's ear. The old man nodded and
opened the door wider, inviting us in.

Jackson thanked him and stepped inside. The four
of us sat down at a large harvest table in the corner of the
room.

"The man you speak of was my father," the man
said. "He moved on many years ago when my mate and I decided to
have a child. I remember you and your brother. Children of the
king's adviser. My father had great respect for your dad. I still
have his collection of rocks and will help you however I can."