Part 13

29. Epilogue 1. Arcane Boutique

Raising both of her short arms high, Saffia offered Brugg a half-pound chunk of deer jerky. The store guard, a half-orc, bent down to retrieve it from the gnome. "Thank you, mistress."

"You're welcome, Brugg." The gnomish proprietress skipped through the shelves of reagents, racks of clothing items, and bins of ammunition. She slipped behind the sales counter. Clutching her own hefty hunk of farmer's cheese, she climbed her high stool. Perched like a songbird, she nibbled like a mouse and surveyed her magic shop. Her domain.

Mostly, it was in order, but two empty hangars marred its perfection. Sometime last night, thieves had made off with a pair of robes. The thieves had ignored the bounty of expensive items in favor of unenchanted cloth. With a perplexed shrug Saffia set her mind to the enjoyment of cheese.

The door opened with a spill of afternoon light.

"Welcome to Saffia's arcane boutique," rumbled Brugg. Incoming customers had been known to about-face and scurry away at the intimidating bass rumble. Saffia knew that Brugg enjoyed such reactions. This time he scored only a flicker of a glance from his marks.

The shorter of the two women in the doorway said, "Thanks. Is the owner around?"

"Up here," Saffia said. She narrowed her eyes at the pair of women. Abused leather armor clad them, but it didn't fit. The taller of the two had even sliced vents in her pants, evidently to allow her thick legs entrance. Rat's nests of tangled hair clouded about their skulls. Dirt, blood, or both discolored every square inch of exposed skin. A whitish material extruded into view around the seams of the leathers. It resembled spider web, but with thick ropy cords instead of thin strands.

The taller woman carried two parcels of folded white cloth in her arms. Saffia's petite eyebrows climbed up her forehead.

The tall one shuffled sheepishly closer. "Milady. Séa of Torugg, at your service. I have wronged you and I wish to make amends."

The shorter, darker one seemed more furtive than penitent. Without making it obvious, she kept an eye on the exit and on Brugg.

Saffia raised her chin and narrowed her eyes. "You took my wizard robes?"

"As Torugg is my witness, it is so." The woman, by her words a paladin, bowed her head.

Brugg wrinkled his heavy brow and knelt to lay his half-eaten meat hunk on the floor beside him. Saffia narrowed her eyes another notch. "And now you're bringing them back?"

"Just so, milady. With apologies and an acknowledgement of debt. Our need was great, but our actions were wrong. We place ourselves at your disposal."

"Go back to your lunch, Brugg." Saffia climbed down her stool to the boost-step behind her counter that allowed her to regard taller customers eye to eye. "All right ladies, give me the robes."

Séa laid the folded cloth on the counter and babbled, "So, they're mostly fine. There might be a little bit of stew splattered on them. Oh, and there were these snakes, and snake acid flew everywhere, so there's a little bit of, um, damage. It's not much."

"Snakes?" Saffia said.

"Flying snakes."

"Flying snakes?" The gnome's fingers flew to her own temples to rub little circles.

"Well, demon snakes. With wings. Hence, the acid. I mean, regular snakes don't have acidic blood, right? Well, at least I would guess they don't. I've never been sprayed with regular snake blood, so I don't actually—"

The paladin's companion dropped her face into her hands and shook it from side to side.

"Shush, shush," Saffia said. "That will be enough. Thank you for returning them. If you have a few silver coins, that should cover a ... rental fee, I guess you'd call it."

"Oh. coins." Séa's face fell. "I was thinking more along the lines of doing some chores for—"

"No!" Tash came alive. "I mean, silver sounds perfectly fair."

Genuine worry bordering on panic clouded the paladin's features. "Tash," the paladin stage-whispered, "even if I knew how to count them, we don't have any coi—"

The rogue clapped a hand over the lower half of Séa's dirty face. "Milady, please ignore her. We have money. In fact, we'd like to purchase a thing or two more. A healing potion, for one. For another, can you suggest what might, erm, dissolve, spider web?"

Séa pulled Tash's hand down long enough to say, "Drider web, actually."

The beginnings of a twinkle appeared in Saffia's eye. She stabbed a finger at Brugg, catching him laying down his lunch again. "Keep eating, Brugg. Contrary to all appearances, these two are sane."

The half-orc guard reversed his crouch, then gnawed off another hunk of jerky. Pointedly, he chewed in their general direction. He made sure his tusks emerged into plain view each time his thick jaws closed.

Saffia hopped down from her booster step and bustled past the legs of her customers. "I specialize in evocation and enchantment, but I stock basic potions."

The unkempt pair followed the diminutive shopkeeper to the rear of the store. As Saffia delved underneath a basket of monkswort and ginger, Tash's foot twitched, not of her own accord. Her booted toe ducked underneath a low shelf and scraped on its way back. The rogue's flared eyebrow raised. She bent to retrieve a dust-covered silver piece dragged into view by her boot.

With an ironic twist on her lips, she swiveled to remark upon the find. But none seemed aware of the coin's acquisition. She blew air and inflated her cheeks. "This is going to take some getting used to," she muttered.

"Hm?" Séa said.

From beneath the monkswort the gnome dragged out a ceramic jug that weighed almost as much as she. "Vinegar!" she proclaimed. "Sovereign remedy for spider silk."

"Bless you, milady," Séa gushed. "May your enchantments hold ever true."

Once the vinegar and a tiny glass bottle containing watery green healing elixir rested on the counter, Saffia fixed her bright eye on Tash. "Forty gold for the potion. I'll throw in the rest for free."

A doubt-filled Séa shuffled her feet and looked to Tash for guidance.

The rogue dug around under her belt, then plopped a hard object on the counter. She kept her hand over it, hiding it from view. "A fair price, but how much gold do you have on hand?" With a theatrical flourish, she uncovered the Lirian storm-ruby. "Because I'll be owed considerable change."

30. Epilogue 2. Rooftop

The persistence spell drained away. As the magic faded, the cold wind through which Sarophax sailed bit her bare skin with chill. The rooftops of Ompex below her altered from bright peaks of opportunity to jagged ridges of danger. Even her wing muscles weakened. Forget beating them; it was all she could do to hold them steady. She glided downward in a wide spiral.

In a spasm of panic, she flapped a hand in front of her eyes. The demon exhaled in relief. She saw nothing of her own limb. Her invisibility held, at least. Archers would not see her. They would not fill her with arrows.

All of a sudden, arrows had consequences. Now, she could be killed.

A tremor ran through her, and fear clogged her throat.

Her bare feet alighted on a peaked roof. She crouched upon the tiles and hugged her knees. She pulled her wings around herself, but the thin leathery flaps provided scant comfort. Her eyes closed and hot tears leaked through her lids.

Pain laced her along the ribs. Her fingertips traced the welts left by the wizard's lightning spell. Without the persistence spell, they would take a long time to heal. But how long? The rules might be different in this horrid place.

The ending of the persistence spell signified the end of her planelord's interest in her. She had become useless to the Great Spider. The Majestic Arachnid had abandoned her. True, the All-Master would likely not be able to find her, and so would not haul her back to the torture pits. But she was marooned on this freakish material plane. If any of the Majestic Arachnid's minions recognized her, they would kill her. If any mortals recognized her as a demon, the same fate awaited.

Besides these swirling fears, a new torment spread from her chest to hollow out her mind. Never had the succubus lacked for attention in the Abyss. Her high rank and personal magnetism had combined to create adulation among her inferiors and lust among her few superiors. In the violent corridors of the Great Spider's labyrinth she had been the author of countless intrigues and the victim of countless more. But now ... everything had changed. She knew little of the mortal realm, and she was alone for the first time.

Alone.

The word echoed ceaselessly in her mind. It was all she could do clamp her teeth closed against the outpour of despair that rose from her chest and tried to escape through her throat.

A voice, softened by distance but clear, shattered the succubus's dark ruminations. "Drink it, Séa," Tash said.

"All right, all right," Séa replied, "but I still say I could just heal up naturally." Swallowing sounds followed.

Sarophax dashed invisible tears from her eyes and craned her neck. Below, the two heroes exited from a shop into the street below her perch. Intently she watched, and her ears strained to catch every nuance.

Their hands clasped and they strolled on. The paladin said, "Thanks for the potion, Tash. Where did you get that big gem, anyway?"

"Among the bones of the purple worm's victims," the rogue replied.

"Oh! All right. In hindsight, I saw you bend down and snag it, but I was across the cave being a nervous wreck. Where are we going, now? The inn, I hope."

"Yes, the inn. I could kill for a bath."

Their voices faded and their forms rounded a corner and were lost from view. The pair had held hands the whole time. The inexplicable relationship caused Sarophax's invisible brows to knit in ferocious puzzlement. It was as if each was servant to the other. Nothing so paradoxical could exist in the Abyss.

Hevinox's idle words echoed in her mind. Why is the unhurt one crying? Sarophax had been unable to answer, then. Now, the question loomed large.

Sarophax moistened her lips. They had been so good to be with. Not more exciting than your typical incubus, but more satisfying. Was it the divine taint that clung to them? Was it some ineffable feature of mortals in general? Or was it something deeper? Something unique to these two in particular?

"Well, I like a mystery," she murmured to herself. "And I like them. And, in the blink of an eye, I have a goal."

First things first, of course. She'd need clothes and money, so she needed to find a nobleman to seduce. But eventually, she would solve this puzzle. Demons were nothing if not patient.

*

The End . . . ?

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