Healed by Hope by Jim Melvin Page A

made them easier to eliminate.
    A scout emerged from a narrow alleyway, his cheeks flushed with excitement. Torg recognized him as Yoen, a veteran warrior who had been among the twenty who had accompanied Rati to Kauha.
    “ Lord Torgon! Queen Laylah!” Yoen shouted. “There are survivors. Hurry . . . this way.”
    Eventually, they came upon a manse that a tall metal fence encircled. At least twenty score fiends were spread out along the border of the well-built barricade, staring at the opulent home within. These monsters were efficiently slaughtered. Just to stretch out his muscles, Torg strode over and slew several dozen with the Silver Sword. It was like catching fish in a barrel. In comparison to Tugars, the fiends were awkward, slow, and weak.
    In the meantime, Dhītar had rushed forward, flanked by Maynard Tew. She ran to a pair of chained gates and shook them. “Mother! Father! Are you there?”
    Large bronze doors fronted the manse. In response to the countess’s calls, they swung open. A silver-haired woman limped out, supporting herself with a tall oaken staff.
    “Dhītar, is that you?” came a voice still proud.
    “Mother!” Dhītar screamed. “Mother!” The countess shook the gates. Rati took a step forward, grasped the chain in his hands, and broke it. Dhītar rushed through and sagged into the older woman’s arms.
    “I can’t believe you’re still alive,” Dhītar said between sobs. “But where is Father?”
    The silver-haired woman sighed. “Just a short time ago, the great warrior with the flashing sword took your father’s head. He was outside the gates . . . with the others. Did you not see? It is a blessing that his misery is finally ended. It haunted me to watch him from the window.”

Paying the price

20
    AS VEDANA LAY IN the utter darkness of Undeath, her mind swirled with possibilities. Peta’s demise complicated things, but in truth, the ghost-child had already served her purpose.
    As a result of Peta’s guidance, Laylah’s child had been conceived—the child that would free Vedana, once and for all, from her black prison.
    “Who would have thought that my great-grandson would become my salvation?” the mother of all demons said out loud, causing the efrits to chitter and the sirens to sing. “Why, it was Peta who thought it, of course. Are you going daffy?”
    The immensity of the effort it had taken to release so much Undeath Energy through the portal of Kauha had thoroughly exhausted Vedana, forcing her to withdraw, temporarily, into her own realm. The Death-Knower had had the assistance of Peta and the Vijjaadharaa , the rulers of karma, when draining Death Energy into the Realm of Life. Yet no one had helped her. Per usual, Vedana had had to do everything herself. And it had nearly broken her.
    But it would be worth it. Oh, how they would pay. Each and every one.
    A new Sun God soon would be born. Only this time, Vedana would be able to control him. Peta had said as much, before she disappeared. Vedana could remember her words so clearly, it was almost as if the ghost-child still were with her.
    When she finally recovered enough to reincarnate into the living world, Vedana went straight to spy on Torg and Laylah. In the form of a raven, she huddled in the underside of a ridged gable in Senasana, hidden from view of even the most wary eyes. Even for her, there was danger in following so closely. If Torg or one of the other Tugars were to recognize her, a carefully aimed bead could destroy her physical incarnation, which would result in a weakening of her demonic essence. If this were to happen, she might become temporarily vulnerable to her jealous competitors in the Realm of Undeath. Though the chances of any of this occurring were slim, Vedana remained wary. She was too close to achieving her dreams to ruin them now. Caution was the better part of valor, as the ridiculous Vasi masters were fond of saying.
    The demon cared naught for the countess, her mother, or