My head snapped in the direction of the Demon as it started coming toward us. For a moment, I thought that maybe it was not coming toward us with Arinelle’s enchantment hiding us, but I guess that it must have gotten close enough to sense the magic because it suddenly changed direction to come straight at us. It also looked like it had given up on subtlety altogether as it pushed its way violently through crowds of people and its fists burst into green-black flames that made me feel sick just looking at them.

“Torr’s balls,” I cursed as I could feel the strength of its sickening magic slowly climbing, “it is coming right at us and building up a big attack. Arinelle, please protect Their Majesties, while I deal with this thing.” I swiftly summoned my armor, sword belt, and Neva’kul to me, and once my sword was in hand, I focused on Tamisun’s rune to enhance my speed and reflexes.

I needed to end this quickly. Those flames he was summoning had already burned a couple of people as he pushed his way past them, leaving screams of pain and the victims writhing on the ground in his wake. While I hoped that he was here for me, his avoidance of both me and Arinelle so far made that seem unlikely and, in case his goal was what I now feared it was, I could not allow him to attack the King and Queen. At best, I could kill him before he realized what was happening and, at worst, at least I could provide a distraction to take his attention away from his likely targets.

It seemed that I was not the only one thinking that way. Even as I burst from the magic enclosure that Arinelle had created to keep our conversation private, sword in hand, I saw a Tharian Hawk-owl diving at him. Was that Selice? It seemed likely since the owls were not native to Kalidar, but why would she change form like that?

It did not matter. Selice’s shriek as she dove at the creature’s face caused him to look up and an instant later, she was clawing at his face with her talons, shrieking, and beating her wings to obscure his view. I had already covered half of the gap between us and was keeping my eyes on the Demon as I swiftly wove my way through the people fleeing him and now there was nobody between us as he raised his flaming fists to try to smack Selica away. She flapped back out of his reach, dodging the first blow, and that gave me a view of the Demon’s face.

Selice had viciously attacked his face with her talons, leaving it a bleeding mess of deep slashes that would probably scar badly, if he lived that long. I intended to ensure that he would not. She had given me the time that I needed. The Demon’s eyes widened in surprise during the instant that it took me to close the remaining distance, Neva’kul thrust out before me and seeking his heart.

My aim was true, and my blade sank into his chest before he could react to bring whatever demonic power he had been gathering to bear upon me. The green-black flames in his hands sputtered out at the force with which my sword pierced his chest, causing it to burst out of his back in a spray of blood as I ran him through. He only had time to stare at me in shock and breathe one last gurgling breath before shuddering as he collapsed. I had already summoned a faerie fire to consume the Demon’s black soul by the time that it emanated from the body.

I was still standing over the corpse, removing and then cleaning my sword on the Demon’s clothing when my pink flames finally completely consumed the black smoke of the Demon’s soul. That was when Sharai pointed out, -We should check on those he injured, Kaelyn. They may need your help.-

My spirit guide was right, the two people who were shoved aside by the Demon while he was powering up those flames in his hands needed help. One was a noblewoman in an elaborate dark blue dress whose right sleeve had been burned away, and her arm was badly burned from shoulder to elbow. The other was a young man who, from the way he was dressed, was likely from one of the mercantile families who were based in Hindra to make use of the shipping lanes and roads guarded by the military which spread to the east, west, and north from Kalidar’s capital. The left side of his face was horribly burned as well from when the Demon pushed him aside.

I was not a healer, so I could not do much to help them with the physical injuries, we would need to call a proper healer for that and even then, they would both likely be scarred for life. The young man might even lose his left eye. Those flames were dark, demonic magic though, much like the magic that had made the dark zones by contaminating the mana flow in those areas. I could already feel it corrupting what little mana was in their bodies. They were both on the ground contorted in agony from wounds both physical and spiritual and if something was not done quickly, they would start to become Tainted.

The guests who had not already fled the garden when the Demon started summoning his magic and pushed through the crowds watched me warily as I approached the injured pair. Most of those were probably friends or relatives of the injured since they were kneeling beside them, uncertain of what to do. “One of you go fetch a Healer,” I snapped at the few who were standing a dozen paces away and just watching the suffering.

For a moment I wasn’t sure whether any of them would listen, but an older man took off at a run when it looked like nobody else would. I was crouching down between the two injured guests when the royal couple approached alongside Arinelle. As the three approached I turned toward them and stated, “Arinelle, I will need your help here. Your Majesties, please stay close, and on your guard. The Demon is dead but if his goal here is what I suspect it was then he may have allies here, and your lives may still be in danger.”

“What do you need me to do?” the Faerie ambassador asked as she crouched beside me.

“That magic was evil, do you feel how it is starting to taint their mana already?” I asked. When she nodded, I explained, “We need to purify their mana and bodies, or they’ll become Tainted. We’re going to use faerie fire to do that.”

“But that cannot…”

“It will work,” I insisted, “I have done it before. Focus on the purification aspect of the fire, and how you want to cleanse them of the corruption. It is much like destroying a Demon’s soul, rid them of the darkness eating them inside and they will recover. Do not just cover their injuries with the fire, cover their whole body to ensure that none lingers to alight anew later. You take the young man, and I’ll take the woman. We need to do this quickly.”

“I hope that you are right,” she said with an uncertain look. Still, she did not hesitate to summon her golden flames.

“I am. As I said, I have done this before,” I replied as I summoned my rose-hued flames and looked at the people hovering around the noblewoman. “Worry not, these flames will not harm any of you. She may feel some pain, but that is from the dark magic being purged from within her.”

Still, as I summoned as much faerie fire as I could and directed it to completely cover the woman’s body, people shrank back and I heard one young woman, who may have been a daughter or younger sister exclaim, “It does not burn!”

I was vaguely aware of the King asking someone to find his brother and make sure he was safe as I worked to purify the woman before me, but I was too focused on my task by then. I wanted to keep my flames in place until I was certain that the corruption was gone. It was several minutes before I could feel no more tainted mana and felt that it was safe to disperse my faerie fire. -I believe that she will be fine, at least her soul will be. The burns on her shoulder and arm are bad, but you have kept her from becoming Tainted. Arinelle did a fine job on the young man as well, from what I can sense.-

Selice waited until she was certain that Kaelyn had sunk her sword through the Demon’s chest before flapping away back toward where she had left her clothes. Fortunately, those who hadn’t already fled the party seemed focused on the dead Demon, the injured, and the approaching King and Queen to even look in the direction of her hiding place as she shifted back into her natural form. With that done, she took the owl feather that she had used earlier and used the single hair that she had tied to the quill to change back into a copy of Kaelyn.

Moments later, she was straightening her dancing finery and fixing her hair. It was the best that she could do for now, but it looked like the party was effectively over, so she didn’t need to worry about looking perfect. She had other concerns at the moment.

She slipped the small blade from her coin purse as she hurried off in the direction that she had seen the duke fleeing from the air once the Demon had been dealt with. It was a purse-cutting blade, barely longer than her index finger, but she kept it razor-sharp. It would do; she was good with a knife. After all, one of the first lessons Voyager children learn in their games is how to use a knife for cutting purses, or flesh, if the need arises.

As she ran, she once again wished that the wings in Kaelyn’s form could be used to fly, to catch her quarry all the quicker. Unfortunately, the Faerie’s ability to fly was tied into her magical abilities, something that she couldn’t copy along with her form. Still, Kaelyn was fit and healthy, and Faerie have a lot of stamina and are quick even when running. Duke Farun Sal-Grethan, on the other hand, was too used to his wine, parties, and pleasures.

Selice caught up with the traitor before he could even reach the gates of the estate, out of breath and moving now at more of a hurried walk than the run he had taken off at earlier. She was glad that Kaelyn was far taller than she was since she had come to enjoy the added height when pretending to be her twin and it would be useful here. She was as tall as the duke was and as she stealthily approached him from behind, it was a simple matter to put the blade to his throat.

“Do not move, if you value your worthless life,” she hissed as she pressed the blade to his throat.

He froze in place, and she took the opportunity to grab his left arm by the wrist with her free hand and twist it painfully behind his back. He let out a yelp of pain and snapped, “What do you think you’re doing?! My brother will…”

She pressed the blade further, just enough to break the flesh and let him know that she wasn’t playing around. “Funny you should mention His Majesty because that’s exactly who I’m taking you to see. If you try to call for your guards, then I will slit your throat before the word can finish leaving your lips. Keep your right hand where I can see it and let’s turn around slowly. If you move anywhere that I don’t tell you to then I just might slip and have to explain your treason after you’re dead. Would you rather bet on your brother’s mercy or that of a Fae? Go on, give me a reason to make you pay the long price.”

She was close enough that she could feel the shiver that whatever thoughts that brought to his mind sent through him. He very much did not want to risk Fae justice; she had seen it in the way he had reacted to the mere mention of crossing the Fae during their first meeting. The duke was very quiet and very cooperative after that.

Arinelle had enough knowledge of basic healing and medicines that she was able to at least clean and bandage the burns of the wounded until help could arrive, and they were as comfortable as we could make them without moving them. She then sent a summons to the Palace Healer, at the King’s request, so that they would get the best healing available in the capital. There was not much else we could do but wait for the Healer to arrive and to find out what became of Selice, and the King’s brother, and I wanted to take the initiative on the latter.

From the way I had seen my twin running off a short time ago, I assured them that we would likely find them both soon if we followed Selice’s path toward the gates of the estate. My twin and I had both been suspicious of our employer for the evening from the start, and I could not help but feel that he was somehow involved in the Demon’s presence tonight. I was a little worried about the dancer, but she was a Voyager, and she had gotten very used to using my form so I had faith that she could handle herself until we could catch up.

As Arinelle and I walked with the King and Queen, I kept myself ready to defend them if the need arose. I had just noticed a distinct lack of guards at this event, except for those who had been manning the gates, and that only served to fan the flames of my suspicions about the duke. As we walked, the other Faerie proceeded to question me about my earlier use of faerie fire.

More specifically, she wished to know how I had discovered this previously unexplored use of faerie fire’s purification aspects. It was common knowledge that it was used in the Great War to destroy Demons without their hosts, but attempts to use it in other ways than for just light and warmth, if there had been such attempts at all, were never documented. With another possible war with Demons on the horizon, this information could change the course of that war and possibly help us to someday rid our world of the dark zones, Darklings, and Tainted as well. Several varieties of Fae could use faerie fire after all, and they would need time to prepare.

She believed that this information needed to be shared with Tarin’dol as soon as possible. They had already responded to the previous missive she sent and would be searching for the other Vos’oraik bearers while awaiting the arrival of my troupe. With her having witnessed this use of faerie fire and used it to purify a demonic curse herself as well, it would lend weight to my claims. She would send another missive as soon as she got home tonight.

Now that they had proof positive that the Demons were back, the King and Queen were already trying to figure out how this would affect their country and bordering nations which might end up being the front lines in the coming war. They wanted to keep close ties with the Fae and to encourage other human monarchs to do the same. Vergun Sal-Kalidar wanted to request Fae advisors, who could stick close to rulers like himself to sense the presence of Demons and perhaps purify any curses as Arinelle and I had earlier.

We did not get far in discussing that before we saw the duke making his way toward us. He looked absolutely terrified and likely with good reason. Behind him, and holding a small knife to his throat, was Selice. “Lady Selice?” the King asked cautiously, “What is the meaning of this?”

“After I split up with my sister, I disguised myself and tried to get close to the Demon,” Selice explained, her knife not moving even a hairsbreadth from its place at the duke’s throat which was already marked with a rivulet of crimson blood. “This piece of filth knew what he was. I heard him plotting with him against you.”

Selice then proceeded to tell us everything that she had learned while eavesdropping on their conversation. The pair of us had been hired for tonight in the hopes that Vergun’s admiration for the Fae would bring him and his wife here so that the Demon could kill them before he could enact the law that would allow his daughter to someday inherit the throne. Then Farun would be crowned king and form an alliance with the Demons.

The King was shaken, more so when his brother did not even deny the accusations. He wouldn’t admit to anything either though. In fact, he kept his mouth shut for now, eyeing the Fae among us warily until the Palace Healer arrived, along with a contingent of the Royal Guards.

In the end, the duke was taken to the palace dungeons for the night, until he could be interviewed the next day while under an enchantment that would compel him to speak the truth to any question asked. That would have been done sooner, but Arinelle did not have the components with her to create such an enchantment tonight. The guests who needed the attention of the Palace Healer would get it, but the party was over and most of the people remaining were directed to return home for the night.

Selice and I were encouraged to go back to our camp as well, so we gathered my instruments and did so. Their Majesties thanked us for our services, and for dealing with the Demon and the Duke, and told us to expect a summons to the palace to discuss important matters sometime tomorrow. I was fine with that. It had been a very eventful night, after all, and all that I wanted to do was to get some sleep.