Page 27 of Red Demon

Asher grimaced. “They’d tell us good news, na?”

A gust of wind swept through the square, rustling the leaves on the lone tree and momentarily dimming the lantern’s glow. Asher followed it with his eyes, shadows drifting across his face.

“You’re right, it is weird. The empire evacuated everyone by now. There should be no one left down there to kill. Yet the roads south of the Bend are still closed.”

I looked back at the lanterns down the street, hearing the echoes of laughter from the market, my chest hollow. “I could head through the woods again. Go back and check it out.”

“But if you ran into the Red Demon, do you think you’d be strong enough to kill her?”

My gut twisted. “No.” And once that was out, I began to unravel. That’s what I feared most of all, not being strong enough when that moment came, watching her take more lives.

Voids, I had a way to go.

Asher gripped my shoulder, anchoring me through my swirling thoughts. “You’re already the strongest fighter in the militia. You’ve probably learned more in two years than the Z’har soldiers learn after a decade in the barracks.”

His words were a balm, goatshit though that statement was.

“I think she’s on your path. When the time comes to face her, you’ll be strong enough. Until then, stay and get stronger with me.”

“What if that’s impossible?” The question sank in the pit of my stomach. “If Mahakal hasn’t killed her yet, how could I?”

He traced the cobbles with his foot. “I’ll ask Oria when you feel ready. I’ve told my mom all about you. My grandparents, voids, anyone who will listen, about the awesome brother they didn’t get to meet. They’ll help us.”

“They’ll know you’re exaggerating.”

Asher’s grip felt warm on my shoulder. “Taam tells them all the same things.”

Nothing I could think to say could dim that.

“We’ll face her together, just like we face everything else. Meragc, and Atalia, and Ruan, and Plato and—”

The night air blew cool between us. I met Asher’s gaze.

I swallowed. “How do you say ‘You sure are a sappy piece of shit’ in Asri? I guess I’m still not fluent. Nothing sounds right.”

“You’d say: ‘Thank you. I appreciate you, Brother.’ Or does your cold Chaeten heart not have that emotional range to make sense of that?”

“Voids, my brothers would have eaten you alive, all this talk of emotional ranges … and hearts.” I laughed out the last word.

“Eat me alive?” He huffed. “Even for a metaphor, that’s horrendous. There’s no history behind that, right? Were any of those poor rabbits and deer alive when you tore into them?”

I shook my head. “No, fuck you, we—”

But he was laughing at me. It was a laugh that could shake loose the stars from the sky and must have left his abs begging for mercy. I let it carry me away too.

I leaned back on the bench beside him, and when my chest stopped heaving, I said, “They’d have liked you though, really.”

And I wished I could convince myself they’d be listening, so I could tell them all about the brother they never met.

The next day, I practiced the Red Demon’s move to double sheath her swords after stilling from a run, thinking about killing her the whole time. And I trained twice as hard for each day that followed. Years took root underneath my feet, and I grew stronger, learning to think with every limb. It only takes a moment to die; I would make use of any moment I got.

Chapter 12

Ashes

Adusty sunbeam cut through the shop window as Ash worked the final Asri-style engraving on an officer’s sword. He was much better than I was at those minuscule mazes around the hilt and down the blade. I set up materials to do some first-folding, the second-favorite part of my day, as training in the clearing at dawn remained the undefeated first. Six years and counting since my first day at the forge, and I still wasn’t tired of the routine.

It was a slow day, so I set the forging press aside and tried hammering by hand on the anvil to grow my muscles.