Dedicated to NerdyNinja1 ~ You kicked my butt into gear several times. For that, my characters love you. Check out 'Turncoat' for an awesome read. 

---

Chapter 3 - Silverborn

---

With a flash of his sword, Tayne removed the head of the charging demon. 

It dropped to the ground at Wing’s hooves, the guttural snarl dying in its throat. Tayne caught a glimpse of horned, greasy black skin as the demon’s head dissolved into the ground, following the rest of its body.  

That’s the last of them. 

Tayne tugged the reins resting on his lap. Wing responded, backing up several steps with a shake of her mane. When they were far enough, Tayne released the reins and rewarded her with a short rub on her neck when she stopped. 

“Good girl, Wing. Stay steady for me,” he said. Wing’s answering nicker rumbled through his legs as he stood in the stirrups.

The situation was well under control. Silverborn pairs scattered around the outskirts of the small town were finishing off the last of the demons with ease. Darkened patches of grass were the only remaining evidence of the demons and from what he could tell there’d been no injuries within his knights. The townsfolk were another matter all together. 

Tayne brought the horn to his lips and blew, keeping the thought of victory at the forefront of his mind. The crystal note of the horn shimmered through the air a moment later and a tingle ran down his spine. Silverborn unoccupied with a demon waved a sword or shield in the air in reply. 

Satisfied the message had gone through, Tayne sheathed both blade and horn and returned to his saddle, directing Wing towards the scattered buildings of the town centre where several Silverborn stood guard of the people who were now huddled in groups, nervously whispering to each other. 

Tayne dismounted, leaving Wing to stand where she was as he approached the two Silverborn hunched over a table, gesturing to several small piles strewn across the surface. 

“Why would you not distribute it immediately?” said Wrain. “Had you realised something was wrong with it?”

Tayne followed Wrain’s gaze. The question appeared to be directed at a smaller, well-dressed man that looked to be highly intimidated by Wrain’s larger figure looming over him. He shrank into the ground as Wrain spoke, mouth opening and closing periodically while the other Silverborn at the table, Callum, continued applying silvery powder to the decaying pile before him. 

Deciding it was time to intervene, Tayne spoke up. “What have we got, Wrain?” 

Wrain inclined his head in silent greeting. “We’re not sure. Perhaps you can offer some insight.” He scraped one of the piles from the table and placed it into Tayne’s waiting hand. “It came from the town’s grain store, boxes about to be catalogued and distributed before Ishid here realised something was wrong.”

Tayne crushed a few grains between his gloved fingers. It crumbled easily, the inside revealing a dark colour. To his eyes, there appeared to be nothing wrong. Only the slight shimmer of his blade sheathed at his hip told him otherwise. He suspected if he were to touch it, the metal would be warm. 

“The grain is corrupted?” he asked.

Wrain nodded. “It would appear so. Its distribution among the villagers was delayed, thankfully. I was just inquiring as to why that was.”

The smaller man, Ishid, bowed. “Milord Silverborn, if you’ll--“

Tayne cut him off. “Just Tayne for me is fine, we don’t stand on formality.”

Ishid nodded, relaxing a little. “Tayne it is then. We received the grain shipment a few days ago from Darni, but were slow to distribute it. A few of the wild things that live around here got into it as they do, so we set them aside only to find a few days later them same wild things back.”

“What happened?” asked Tayne.

Ishid grimaced, gesturing to a boy behind him. “This young lad was responsible for the discovery; I’ll let him tell you. He can recount much better than I.”

“Fair enough. What happened?” 

The boy tapped his hand against his side. “Honestly I can’t tell you what happened,” he said with a shrug. “They was different. Almost like them little demons you get stalking around outside your house at night. They was vicious, tried to attack us which they never do. These things scare easily, but not then they didn’t. Went right for me!”

“It’s a good thing you managed to fend it off then, isn’t it?” said Tayne. “Else no one would know about the grain and humans might have consumed it instead.” 

The boy frowned. "I don't know. The grain was sorta dark anyway. It... didn't feel right. My ma told me my imagination was acting up again." 

Tayne caught the look Wrain was giving him with mild amusement. "I see. Thank you for your help." 

While the boy scurried away, Tayne worked his fingers through the crushed grain. If the boy had been able to sense the corruption, he'd be a potential candidate for the Silverborn when they eventually got around to inducting new members to refresh their ranks. There wasn't many of them, only a hundred or so. When compared to the rapidly increasing numbers the corruption had to throw about--both in demons and humans--the Silverborn needed anyone strong enough to endure their trials. 

“The grain’s been corrupted all right," said Callum as he stood up from the table, presenting the contents of a cup. “Tainted’s blood was added to it at some point which would cause the changes in the creatures.”

Tayne wrinkled his nose at the grain with a sudden wish to be away from it. “What in the deity’s name is tainted blood doing in there?” 

Callum shrugged and sprinkled more of the silvery powder on to a larger pile of grain, which crumbled to dust after a few seconds. He made a note and looked back to Tayne. “Could be an accident, although I’m not sure how the grain made it here if a tainted came into contact with it at some point.”

“We’ll have to look into it,” said Tayne. “I don’t like the chances of it being an accident. Organise a search of the remaining grain storage and put out a Whisper about it. Destroy any grain that you don’t need for research.” 

“I’ll see that it’s done.” 

Tayne nodded and replaced the grain on the table. Tainted’s blood was difficult to obtain since the damned things were so tough to kill, the epitome of the corruption’s influence on demonkind. Only the Silverborn stood a chance against one, and a slim one at that for most. 

We’re already stretched too thin. Deities forbid some new kind of magic which can corrupt people through the food they eat. 

Tayne turned to follow Wrain to the grain storage when Ishid placed a hand on his shoulder. Tayne gave him a curious look and the hand retreated into a twisted mess of fingers. 

“Silverborn, I don’t mean to intrude, but there is something else I wish to ask of you before you leave, if I may be so bold,” said Ishid. 

"Go ahead," said Tayne. 

Ishid wrung his hands. "If you destroy the grain, as you should, it puts my town in a difficult position. We've been low on supplies for a while now, and as it was the people weren't happy when I withheld this shipment from them, fearing something was wrong."

"You thought something was wrong, yet you accepted the shipment?" asked Wrain. 

"As I said, we're low on supplies. The shipments that usually come through Darni from Alguarde and Celestin haven't been arriving. I wished to ask if there was any way you might be able to arrange additional supplies for us, or the coming months will be hard. I'd do it myself, but with all the demon attacks, guards are getting harder to hire, and then there's the talk of that Sentinel roaming around..." 

Tayne ran a hand through his hair. "I understand. You'll have to speak to the Advisor about that, since..." Tayne looked around, realising he hadn't seen the black haired man since the fight started. "Where is he, anyway? Did a demon make off with him, finally?" 

Luke strode up behind Ishid, nearly causing the poor man a heart attack. 

"In some poor bastard's house draining their tea supply, if I'm correct," said Luke. 

"Figures why everything's going so smoothly," muttered Tayne. Usually they'd be caught up in several strands of various region laws by now, trying to navigate their way out. He glanced at Ishid. "We'll pay you for whatever the Advisor uses."

Ishid showed him the palms of his hands. “Really, Silverborn, it’s of no concern. You saved many lives today, it is the least we can do for the service you have done us.” 

“Technically, Donovan isn’t a Silverborn,” said Tayne as he walked to the house Ishid had gestured towards. "But he's the one you'll need to confer with about supplies from Alguarde." 

Ishid bowed. Tayne immediately felt awkward. "Then I shall do so. By your leave, Silverborn?" 

Tayne waved him away, holding in the sigh until the man was out of range. He looked at Luke. 

"Why do people do that?" he asked his friend. 

Luke grinned. "Because you, Tayne, are the leader of the esteemed Silverborn--mortality's last hope against the coming tide of darkness demons!"

"Darkness demons?" Tayne shook his head. "That's the best you got? Darkness demons?"

"Awh, c'mon. Give a guy a break," said Luke. He started walking towards the horses and Tayne followed. "Did we learn anything new? Saw you guys gathering around the table like a bunch of politicians earlier while we finished shooing the demons off the grass." 

"Corruption might be trying to gain new members by infecting grain," said Tayne. Luke's pained look said he shared Tayne's outlook on the matter. "It'd explain how corrupted numbers are growing so fast. Intercept caravans, deny a town food for a week and they'll be fighting to get whatever you send them, corrupted or not after a month."

"Which is not a good thing."

Tayne rolled his eyes. "You really are a genius, aren't you? Either way, we need to investigate. This town's supplies come through Darni."

"Before we head back to Alguarde?" asked Luke. 

Wing and Blaze stood side by side, causally picking at the grass. As Tayne and Luke approached, the horses glanced up, ears swiveling forward in greeting with a shake of their manes. It was so perfectly timed, Tayne had to wonder if he'd imagined it. 

Horses are curious things, he thought, stroking Wing's muzzle. He found comfort in the softness of her nose, and the mare didn't seem to mind in the least. 

Tayne looked over at Luke, who was doing a similar thing with Blaze. 

"It's on our way back to Alguarde," said Tayne. "We should have enough time to swing by, check things out and be back inside Alguarde's walls before the shadow cycle hits. We don't want to be caught out in one of those again, the demons will swarm us like this mare here does with her oats."

"And we all know those oats never see the light of day again," said Luke solemnly. He might have pulled it off, had Blaze not raised her head and started nibbling the edge of Luke's ear. The Silverborn pushed the horse's head away, who only came back with renewed vigour. "Knock it off, Blaze! You're ruining my moment!"

Tayne pulled himself into the saddle with a laugh. There wasn't much more they could do here now. The town's wardstone that helped repel demons was replenished, which was why they'd been here initially. The demon attack had been a matter of good timing, although Tayne suspected the Silverborn's presence had attracted them in the first place. 

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Luke, reaching down to rub Blaze's neck from the saddle. "While you were playing farmer, one of the scouts came back with something interesting. Apparently a group of corrupted--mostly demons with a few humans--were escorting something about three weeks back. The scout didn't want to risk getting scented so he didn't get a good look, but they were heading towards Darni." 

The news of more humans cooperating with the demons wasn't something Tayne wanted to hear, especially if their paths would shortly collide. Demons pose more of a threat to Silverborn, but the humans were harder for Tayne to fight than any tainted. 

It did, however, confirm for him that he'd made the right decision. 

"Right," said Tayne, pulling Wing around and raising the horn to his lips. "Ten minutes, then we're moving out." 

He drew a breath and muttered a prayer to the Celestial, something Wrain had encouraged him to do more often. With the thought of regrouping and moving out impressed in his mind, he blew the horn and let the crystal note carrying a Whisper ring out through the trees. 

As Tayne was sheathing the horn, Luke caught his eye and grimaced. Tayne could only return with one of his own as he turned Wing's head northwards. He leant down and murmured into her ear, pricked and attentive. 

"We'll see what's become of Darni, one way or the other."

*+*+*+*