Chapter 17. Weh no Su

was aware of a pain in the back of my leg but it faded and I was bathed in a strange green light.  I remember the room wavering.  You were holding me and calling my name.”

The two men sat at the center of a chalked circle, the air heavy with tendrils of incense curling against pale candlelight.  Zhou waited for Pendaran to continue and felt the faintest flicker of anger and sadness that his apprentice hesitated once more to tell him the entire truth of his ordeal.

“It was dark then.  It seemed I was in a cave.  I was cold and I could hear myself breathing and I was lying on my back but I was too weary to rise.”

He watched Pendaran’s face, noting that his features grew taut and pale upon recalling that place.  He would not look at Zhou.  His eyes fell to his lap and his hands tightened around the rod of crystal that lay across his lap.

“What did you see?” Zhou asked again.

“I tried to wake up.  I opened my eyes.  It was cold and dark… there were stars, but they were of constellations I did not know.  The ground was raw.  It looked like scoured flesh and with every attempt to move there was pain.  And there were claws that rose up out of the ground.  The air smelled of decay and I could hear screaming as of someone being tortured… many being tortured.  I couldn’t escape and I was alone.  I was lost and when I cried out nothing came out of my mouth.  I thought I had died and gone to my punishment.”

Zhou focused his energies and touched Pendaran’s temple, soothing him with images of light and wholeness.  The trap had not been intended for his apprentice and Pendaran was in no way prepared for the Realm of Torment.  Madness threatened those who dwelt there for even a short time without adequate protection. Yet Zhou was extremely grateful he had not gone in Pendaran’s place even though he had been the intended target.

The summoner had no doubt hesitated to cut Pendaran’s spirit from his body when he realized he had the wrong man, but something did not add up.  If a demon had come through the opening to the Realm of Torment and killed the summoner, why had it left Pendaran unharmed?  Why had it departed and not taken Pendaran with it?  Demons were not picky and a helpless mesmer would have been too good to pass up.

“Do you remember how you left or if anything protected you there?”

He sensed a shadow of deception occluding Pendaran’s mind.

“Don’t lie to me.  Tell me.”

“Threnody,” Pendaran croaked, “She was there.”

“Describe what happened.”

Pendaran hesitated, shame coloring his cheeks.  Zhou frowned, realizing then why his friend was so anxious to avoid speaking of the creature.

“You have intimate contact with her.”

“She uses me,” Pendaran choked, suddenly losing his composure.  His pain and horror was palpable, falling over Zhou’s psyche in a storm of unendurable grief, “I couldn’t get away from her and I couldn’t wake up this time and when I fought her my body was filled with pain.  I had to yield or she would not save me.” 

“Oh Pen,” he sighed, “Why did you never tell me?”

Of course, Zhou knew why and he felt terrible for not understanding the meaning of his friend’s shame and reticence before now.

“I thought you would be angry at me for letting her use me.”

“I understand.”

“No you don’t!” Pendaran wept, “You think I like it.  Because of what I did in the past.”

“No, Pen, I don’t believe that,” Zhou said gently, “This isn’t your choice.”

“But it is.  I should never have let her use me.”

“You thought she would honor an agreement, but that is not how these creatures work.  They bend and twist the rules to suit them.  You chose to survive and she uses that against you.  Even now she preys upon you when you are helpless and perhaps threatens you or those you love to get her way otherwise.”

“She has a key.  I don’t really know what it is, only that it scares me when she threatens to break it.”

“Do you remember when you first saw it?”

“I was dreaming of my first wife.”

Zhou waited for him to continue, sensing the anguish that always rose up within Pendaran when he thought of her.  There was so much guilt and pain attached to his love for Clarissa.  It had nearly destroyed him and now the vile creature had used it against him.

“She tricked you into making love to her,” Zhou said softly, “and when you were most vulnerable, she stole a piece of you.”

“How did you know?”

“You are not the only one who has fallen afoul of a demon, Pen.  Can you name what she took from you?”

“No.”

“That is the key to breaking her hold over you.  Meditate on why she took the guise of your former wife and not your present one.  When you understand that, you will know how to win your freedom.”

“You must think me a fool for not being able to control my lust.”

“Once a demon knows the key to ruling your spirit, they use it against you.”

“When you were possessed,” Pendaran hesitated, “You said it was willing, also.  But I had doubts in that moment.”

“As did I, my friend.  They will only parley from a place of strength.  Even those who seek a demon’s favor do so from weakness else why not simply fight or hire others to fight on your behalf?  Do not misunderstand me.  When I allowed a demon to take me, it was from desperation.  I believed I had no other option.”

“Is that why you do penance now?”

“It is the reason I am able to do penance.  If the evil I committed had been entirely my own, I would be doomed.  Yet, I allowed the demon to take me, therefore, I am still culpable.”

“Why did you do it?”

Now it was Zhou’s turn to be ashamed.  He had known eventually Pendaran would ask this question and there was no pleasant way to answer it truthfully.

“I craved power.”

Pendaran looked upon him thoughtfully.

“Don’t we all?”

“To some degree, yes, but my yearning was not healthy.  I did not stop to consider who I may harm or what it would cost me.  I wanted revenge and I could see no other way to attain it.”

“For what?”

Zhou smiled, faintly relived that his revelation had not driven a wedge between them.

“That is a discussion for another time.  We are here now for another purpose.  I will say one final thing on the topic of your demon.  She found you precious enough to ensnare you and therefore, she also finds you valuable enough to protect you.  If Threnody had not come to you in your time of need, you might well have become lost in the Realm of Torment.  As horrible as what she did to you was, she will keep you safe from whatever it is that stalks me now.”

Pendaran blanched, clearly disgusted by the idea that he was once more indebted to the vile creature.

“Which is why we need to step up your training.  We will need each other in the coming struggle.  I fear that finding release from Threnody may place you in greater peril, yet what she is doing to you is unforgivable.  We must discover who or what is seeking me and deal with it while you are still protected.”

“I am working as hard as I can, Master.”

“I know.  Your efforts are impressive and I am proud of you, but you lack one thing that a demon hunter must have.”

Pendaran looked uncomfortable and his mind raced to consider where he had failed Zhou and in what way he was lacking.

“Hold up the crystal rod with your palms open.  Let us see which gods now gaze upon you.”

Zhou placed his hand in the center of the long gleaming device, chanting slowly the words of the invocation to the gods, the one his master had taught him years before.

“Five in glory heed this call,
Dwayna, compassion leads them all.
Balthazar in battle guide my hand,
Melandru ward this wounded land.
Grenth’s swift justice hear this plea,
Let Lyssa’s wisdom speak for me.

Reveal now in crystal palm
Whose favor finds this chosen one.”

The long rod of crystal slowly burned from within, pale at first and growing steadily brighter until it drove the shadows form the room and etched Pendaran in a pure light that drove all color from his being.  The flare died and it seemed the room’s shadows drew toward him until he clutched a slim wand of swirling magenta edged with sparkles of gentle silver and blue light.

Pendaran gazed upon it in wonder, entranced and no doubt feeling the warmth of Dwayna and Lyssa awakening within him.  The firefly dance of light faded and they were once more sitting in the warm mundane glow of candles laced with incense.

“Only two gaze upon you.  I have spoken to Taskmaster Ho.  He believes you are ready for the trial that will win the favor of all five.”

“I am willing to do as you ask, Master.  But what is this trial?”

“Weh no Su.  In the morning you will go with whomever Taskmaster Ho has chosen to accompany you.  I wish you luck.”