“Jaysen?” Xandrix asked, taking him by the shoulders. Jaysen shook his head, panting, feebly pulling away. “Jaysen!”
“It hurts, doesn’t it, Moppet?”
Roth.
“What hurts?” Xandrix asked.
“The air,” Roth answered.
“Both of you get away from me!” Jaysen snarled as he pulled away from Xandrix. He forced himself to his feet, reaching out for Tanis until the large chimera came to him, her rough fur sliding beneath his hands.
The storm brought fear. He began walking if for no other reason than to be mobile rather than helpless. The Hex Storm made his head throb or altered the sound of Hikaru’s Voice with each pound of thunder. He heard the screams of terror from the city’s inhabitants, the growls of the demons and shut his eyes, growling at all of it. It was overwhelming in a way that made him angry and terrified all at once.
“Are you angry, Moppet?” Roth said, making Jaysen jump in spite of himself. He snarled in response. “Do you know what helps me when I’m angry? Floofs. Would you like one?”
Jaysen shut his eyes, shaking his head. He didn’t even know what a "floof" was, let alone want one. He was not given a choice. Roth took his hand, placing something soft and fuzzy into his palm that made Jaysen stop all forward momentum. Tanis moved ahead a few steps before stopping, her breath hitting Jaysen’s open palm where the "floof" was. He rolled the thing around, becoming familiar with it. It felt like fur but softer with a solid center. The mass changed as it rolled in Jaysen’s palm, but remained oddly even at the same time. He frowned, having never felt anything of the kind in his short life.
“What is it?” Jaysen asked, not trusting the Corrupted Speaker to give him anything normal.
“A floof, silly. Told you it would work. You’re not angry anymore. You may keep this one. I have others. Demons!!”
Roth’s shout made Jaysen shut his eyes again, take in a deep calming breath, and sag. The stench of sulfur was growing stronger. Part of it was the demons but part of it was the Hex Storm as well. There was a shatter of glass followed by violent screaming, begging, then sudden and disturbing silence.
“Jaysen,” Xandrix persisted. They had a job to do, storm or no storm.
“He’s not here, Xandrix,” Jaysen muttered. “It’s hard to focus; hard to think, but I know he’s not here.”
Xandrix sighed. He had more than just a job on the line. If he returned empty-handed, he would be eliminated. It had happened to another of Daemodan’s hunters, the one sent out to find Ana’s Vessel before Xandrix. He’d failed. Xandrix had been sent in his place, returning victorious. The Corrupted man was easily Daemodan’s best hunter, accorded comforts not given to the dragon-born’s other creations. But Xandrix was not immune to punishment. In truth, neither was Jaysen. Whatever burden Xandrix carried, it was making him irrational, reflexive, dangerous.
“Look, Moppet! There’s dead people down here!!” Roth called. His voice was lost in a rumble of thunder yet carried across to Jaysen’s ears on an odd echo. Jaysen only shook his head, fighting the urge to palm his face. Anytime Roth said ‘look’ to him, he wanted to shake the Corrupted idiot. Not that it would do any good. Instead he sighed, letting Tanis lead him to where Roth played.
“Get out of there,” Xandrix commanded. Jaysen felt a blast of icy air that smelled stale and damp compared to everything else around him. He bunched his brows in thought, squatting down near this opening Roth found.
“There are dead people! I’d like to bring them out for a dance!”
“No,” Xandrix growled.
“You’re no fun at all,” Roth retorted. Jaysen ignored them both, feeling around the edges until finding the narrow steps that led down.
“Jaysen,” Xandrix warned, but he ignored the Corrupted hunter.
“Moppet knows how to have fun,” Roth retorted, taking Jaysen by the forearms to guide him the rest of the way down. “Which do you prefer, Moppet? Male, female, there might be a few creatures down here if you’d rather.”
“Shut up,” Jaysen said, listening carefully to the echo and reverberation on the air. He could smell death, smell the stale air, the cold marble; sounds from outside were muted while the sounds in the immediate echoed outward. Catacombs. Hikaru’s song resonated strongly through the narrow passages, bouncing off the marble until fading away. It did not vanish, it faded to a point that Jaysen could not hear, which meant, the matching sound was moving toward them. The king was in the catacombs. “Gotcha.”
“Where are we going, Moppet?” Roth asked with the echoing clack and clank of bones as Jaysen moved forward. Jaysen paused, turning over his shoulder. Tanis hopped down from above, growling at Roth or the things she smelled. Jaysen did not blame her - death did not smell pleasant at any stage. The warmth of her large body banished the cold of the catacombs and gave him renewed energy.
“Jaysen!” Xandrix hissed. He had not followed. “Put them back, Roth,” Jaysen said. “We don’t desecrate the dead. This way. There are playthings at the other end.”
Chapter Fourteen
Demyan took hold of his wife’s hand, glanced at the group behind them and slowed everyone to a halt inside the narrow catacombs. They’d walked for days, surfacing for brief respites of fresh air and fresh supplies. It was not safe to stay out of the catacombs for long. Droves of people marched south, many carrying news of city after city falling to the demon hordes that chased them down. The unnatural storm that began in Sapphire City had spread, stretching far into the horizon, blanketing all of Kormaine in darkness with lances of lightning that set things ablaze or struck down the unsuspecting as they fled the denizens of the Nine Hells. The catacombs were not any better, not anymore.
“What is it?” Aeron asked in soft, almost conspiratorial tones. They shared a great
