Page 69 of Inferno

But perhaps therein lay the answer. He now did know better, did see past the exterior, when just a week ago, he’d been exactly the same as the throngs of people here. So perhaps, in as little time, they could be brought about to see reason? Perhaps not all of them, but enough to make a difference?

But how would he even begin explaining any of this to them, without risking the lives of every Chalandrian in Minia in the process?

And that was the real problem. Having the humans of this city understand the plight of the Chalandrians would solve a multitude of problems, but telling them would put too many lives at risk, regardless of the amount of good it could do.

There had to be another way to solve this.

Thank you.The soft words came from Nerik, directed to Kit, once she’d taken a shaky seat on the bench beside Beetie.

Are you feeling better?Kit sounded tired but determined.

Much. This will see me through until morning.Nerik glanced around at the crowd.The gods only know what’s going to be happening by that point, but at least we don’t have to worry about fuel anymore.

We should get back onto the topic of how to free Nerik,Yorin interrupted the conversation.The biggest problem right now is the guards, and how we-

“Make way! Make way!” A ruckus over at the entrance to the town square had everyone’s attention, as Captain Renfold rode into the square on a horse, with three more riders on his tail, and a handful of warriors on foot jogging along behind them.

Great gods, what now?Kit wondered, letting the rest of them hear her thoughts. Having more warriors in town was not going to help their cause at all. One of the riders was Henrick, Yorin noted, then he spotted Hallix, Henrick’s twin brother, amongst those on foot. The group of them hurried over to the guards at the front of the cage, and Yorin watched them carefully, trying to hear what the fuss was about, or at the very least, catch a few words from watching their mouths. Renfold seemed to be explaining something – something deeply concerning, given the deep furrows across his brow – and then Yorin recognised two of the warriors from the group he’d passed in the forest, on the way to Stanley’s house. In an instant, he knew he should have paid more attention to whatever it had been that they were looking at. At the time, looking too closely had seemed a lot like inviting trouble, but now…

A lull in the noise of the crowd let Yorin catch a few words from the warriors. “…might have to execute him now, if he’s that dangerous.”

Yorin’s breath caught in his throat. Oh fuck. Whatever they’d found, it wasn’t good. But what could it possibly be? A weapon of some sort? A dead animal? Oh gods, Nerik hadn’t killed anyone in his attempt to save the unicorn, had he? That would certainly put the warriors in a foul mood… but they hadn’t brought a body with them, and this clandestine chatter wasn’t giving away any clues. Surely if they were certain that Nerik was a threat, they’d just kill him and be done with it?

“…find out what he’s done, first,” another man said, before his voice was swallowed by the crowd again.

Are you picking up on any of this?Yorin asked his group of allies, via Rimdolen’s mental link.

They’ve found something in the forest and they can’t work out how it got there,Tschecee informed them, making a production of brushing the pastry crumbs off his shirt. How he’d managed to make his pastry last this long was a marvel.I’m not close enough to have heard what it was, though.

They’re thinking of executing Nerik now, based on him being too dangerous to be kept here longer,Yorin filled the rest of them in.We need to know what they’ve found.

But just as quickly as that, their time was up. Renfold broke from the group and began shouting at the crowd. “Clear the area! The lot of you, I want you all well away from the demon!” Most of the warriors with him moved quickly to stand in a wide circle, hustling the crowd of spectators back. Stanley was forced to move Rimdolen, which he did, by leading him closer to the barracks, while the rest of the group shuffled off to stand in a huddle, as close to Rimdolen as possible without being too obvious about it.

“Well, I might as well go and see about this unicorn,” Stanley muttered to Yorin, before ambling off through the gate into the barracks. Yorin watched him go, wondering what on earth was going through the man’s mind. Was he just abandoning Nerik? Did he care more about this newcomer unicorn than a man he’d known as a friend for several years? Or did he have some other plan up his sleeve? Yorin had so many questions, but even if Stanley had been inclined to answer them, there was no opportunity to ask, with so many people milling about.

Yorin looked back at Nerik, who was sitting there as unmoved as before, and then he glanced over to Renfold again. Now, it was just him, Henrick and Bril, still intently discussing something… and then Renfold held out what was in his hand, for the others to see. Yorin’s heart all but stopped in his chest. Oh, gods above, no. He felt sick, and dizzy, and energised all at once, like he wanted to burst into action, but couldn’t figure out which way to run.

Renfold held a wad of fabric in his hand, a bright maroon colour, with hints of orange up the side. It was Nerik’s shirt, the one Yorin had given him this time last week. He’d spent hours toiling over the thing, wanting it to be perfect, and so he would have recognised it anywhere.

But what the hell was Renfold doing with it? And what did it have to do with the ‘demon’ in the cage? Yorin knew it was Nerik in the cage, but Renfold should have been completely oblivious to that detail. So as far as he was concerned, there should be no connection between the demon and the shirt.

Renfold approached the cage, holding up the shirt for Nerik to see. He stopped a couple of metres back – presumably for his own protection – and so, when he spoke, it was loud enough for Yorin to hear it.

“We found this in the forest,” Renfold said. Yorin’s first reaction was to be shocked that Renfold would actually attempt to speak to a demon. Usually, they ignored anything the Chalandrians said, no matter how fervently they asked the warriors to listen. So was this a good thing? Would he listen to anything Nerik said? Or was this just some devious game to pin blame on someone?

“We found it not far from where we found you. It belongs to a young man named Nerik,” Renfold went on. “Unfortunately, no one can find Nerik, despite the fact that his clothes and satchel have been abandoned in the forest. And shortly before that, my warriors report that they saw Nerik, wearing this exact shirt. So my question for you is, where is Nerik? What did you do to him?”

Yorin held his breath as he waited for Nerik to respond. He felt someone squeeze his hand tight, and spared a quick glance down, shocked to see that it was Gosta. Her face was pale, her knuckles white as she gripped his hand. But Yorin didn’t dare say anything to her, lest he miss even the slightest word from either Nerik or Renfold.

“I did not harm anyone, and I don’t know where this Nerik is now,” Nerik replied. “I was simply trying to help the unicorn escape from your men.”

Henrick came to stand beside Renfold. “Nobody just strips off their clothes in the middle of a forest. And we know you demons have a handful of malicious tricks up your sleeves. So out with it; what did you do to Nerik?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Nerik said again. “I was riding the unicorn. I wouldn’t have had time to cause any trouble, even if I’d wanted to. You saw how fast the unicorn was travelling.” It was an interesting strategy; use logic to make Renfold and Henrick doubt themselves. But would it work?

“Nobody saw you on the unicorn when it came through the gate,” Renfold said. “So my theory is that you came through earlier, and just happened to be with the unicorn when we found it.”

How right they were. They just hadn’t figured outhow muchearlier Nerik had come through the gate.