Most of the elves were gathered around, talking animatedly, far too quickly for Tom to follow the conversation. Sheema had gone off with Kevin back to the Wandering Ax to “recover,” with Summer Daring to let them in and Eubexa to translate. The rest of them had moved into the Temple, with Tom carrying Diavla. He got someone to lead him to a bed and lay her down carefully.

  She smiled up at him and took his hand a moment. Because of the wound in her throat, she couldn't speak yet; even magical healing had limits. Tom flexed his left hand instinctively, remembering his own injury from the previous night. Varga was on the other side of Diavla, talking to her quickly and emotionally in Elvish.

  “You scared me,” he told her. He crouched down and kissed her hand, since he was afraid to go near her neck or face. She squeezed his hand in return, and Tom could feel her trembling. She just got stabbed in the neck and...died. She's terrified.

  “You're going to be fine,” he told her. “You are good. You will be good,” he told her in Elvish. “I am here.” He reached out carefully and draped an arm across her to comfort her. Not as good as a hug, but it was something. Varga was already doing the same. Tom took a moment to pat Varga's back, knowing that she must be emotionally shaken as well. She glanced at him and gave him a quick smile of thanks.

  “Everyone!” Priestess Camilla Deepwell called for attention. “We've won the biggest fight, but we're still in danger!”

  Tom straightened up, and his soul started racing. What danger?

  “From possession?” someone cried.

  “No, not possession. Revenge! All the people we knew who were taken by Quazulin the Demon, they're all copies of him. Now that we've killed the actual demon, his possessed victims will still seek revenge. We need to fight for our town, people! Assemble on the plaza as quickly as you can arm yourselves—we march on the Keep!”

  Oh shit. Tom put it together. They're still trapped in the town, and want revenge.

  They'll burn Oak Mill to the ground.

  “Why the Keep?” a man asked.

  Because it's stone, and they'll wait out the fire inside while it burns everyone else outside the Temple.

  Camilla gave a different answer. “That's where they went, but they won't stay there. We have to stop them before they destroy the town. Quickly! To arms!”

  He turned to the elves, most of whom were looking to Kervan for translation. Tom did his best in Elvish. “Quazulin people...fire...town...we fight. Stop fire. Who fight?” The elves bickered rapidly, and then Arven, Kervan, Varga and Orvan raised their hands.

  Rillik did too. When Tom looked at him skeptically, he rattled off something Tom couldn't follow. He looked to Kervan. The blond elf did his best. “Rillik will not fight. Rillik will watch, go see, talk?”

  “Scout,” Tom supplied. “All right. I'll go see who is actually leading us.” He got up and approached Camilla, who was still giving directions to various people. She's quick on the uptake. Her fast thinking might save the town.

  When he got a chance to speak, he asked, “Who's commanding the fight? I have four elves to fight with me.”

  “No.” Camilla cut him off bluntly, holding out her palm to forestall an argument. “You go find buckets, get to the well at Merchant and Pine, and start drawing water.”

  “But—”

  Camilla moved closer and lowered her voice. “Tom. I know you can fight. I'm sure your elves can, too. But elves killing humans? In Oak Mill? No. Not when I can use you somewhere else. Anywhere else. Will you draw the water?”

  Tom took a breath, and sighed. “Yes, of course. Where's Merchant and Pine?”

  “Go downhill. Turn right at the Wandering Ax, that's Merchant Way. One block up is Pine, and the well is on the south side of the intersection. You'll pass Anna Houser's shop on the way, she'll have at least a couple of buckets. Grab the ones from that room over there, too.” She pointed. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find Frank Ironhand and convince him to lead the attack.”

  “Oak Mill is lucky to have you,” Tom told her.

  “You as well!” Camilla called back, already moving away.

  Tom went to the elves and explained the change in plans. Then he counted off the nine elves in his soul. Diavla's hurt, and Brallik is watching her. Sheema is off recovering, and Eubexa is with her. The other five are with me. He looked around for the kids, and followed the sounds of childish bickering.

  “Piper! Charlie! If you're free, come with us. We could use your help.”

  “Yes, Mr. Walker!” Piper said at once, and stuck her tongue out at Charlie as they both scrambled to their feet.

  “Coming!” Charlie answered him, then made a face at Piper.

  Tom grabbed all the buckets from the storeroom Camilla had indicated, then led them out the door. He explained to the children what they were doing, and Piper said, “There are four buckets at the Wandering Ax, but one of them leaks a lot.”

  “We'll ask Summer to loan us the lot of them. Now, if you see someone who looks like he's attacking us or setting a fire, call out right away.” They headed down Temple Road cautiously.

  After a couple of minutes, Charlie cleared his throat. “Mr. Walker?”

  “What is it?”

  “Did a demon eat my Papa?”

  Tom shot the child a glance, and felt his throat go tight. “What makes you say that, Charlie?”

  “Well, he got real angry, and it's like he never stops being angry now.”

  “And when did this start?”

  “Last week.”

  “And what kinds of things has he been doing?”

  “He...hits me.” Tom raised an eyebrow, and Charlie quickly added, “No, no, he's always hit me, that's regular. Everybody's Papa hits them. But now, he hits a lot harder, and it's like he's all...cold and mad, even when I didn't do anything wrong. And...he never used to hit Mama.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Mr. Walker?” Piper spoke up. “Is that...what was gonna happen to you?”

  Tom sighed. “Yeah, Piper. Quazulin the Demon tried to do that to me.”

  “But you went to the Temple last night and got better?”

  “Yeah.”

  Both of the children had faces full of hope. “Then maybe we could bring Charlie's Papa to the Temple and make him better too!” Piper concluded, clearly proud of her deductions.

  “Maybe...we can try. But Charlie, I was only sick with the demon for part of a day. Your Papa may have been sick too long to save. But, if I see a way to save him, I'll try it.” Tom tried not to grimace. “Charlie, you live on a farm, right? Did your Papa go into town today?” He might be dead in the fighting before the night is over.

  “I don't know. I don't think so. Papa cut a lot of firewood. A lot of firewood.” Possibly attacking the wood so that he didn't attack his family again, Tom thought grimly. He might still be fighting it off.

  “And your Mama?”

  “She stays home most days.”

  “Has she been all angry, too?”

  “No, Mr. Walker.”

  “Well, if your Papa is outside the town, he can't get in and we can't get out.” They reached the corner.

  “I know where the buckets are. I'll get them,” Piper spoke up abruptly, and ran into the Wandering Ax.

  “Charlie, you want to help her carry them? We'll see if we can get into Anna Houser's shop or if it is locked up.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ugh, I should have told them to warn the people inside, Tom thought after they had already run off. Well, Summer is smart, she'll ask what Piper needs the buckets for. Eubexa will be able to translate for Sheema.

  ° ? ? ? °

  As they waited for word of fires, Tom had a lot to think about. In the past day, he'd been possessed, cured, fought a demon twice and finally killed it, watched his lover die, and then saw her come back to life. But one world-shaking fact kept coming back to his soul, and he wasn't sure what to do with it.

  It had been a muttered curse. Tom might easily have missed it, in the middle of their fight. Between one magical attack and the next, Captain Forester had hissed, “Melsuria, you backstabbing slut!”

  Tom's soul picked and picked at that one phrase. Backstabbing. Who could betray a demon? Who could have made a deal with a demon, and then break it? Who was the demon even talking to? Either a local spell caster made some kind of pact, and then joined the fight to kill Quazulin, or...it was another demon. Whichever is true, they were the source of the note with Quazulin's True Name and runes.

  I don't have Kervan's perfect memory, so I might be getting it wrong. But “Melsuria” sounded pretty distinctive. And from context, it's probably a name.

  The second demon's name is Melsuria.

  And, they—she—helped us to kill Quazulin. Which is interesting. I don't think we would have won without her help. At the very least, it would have been a lot harder.

  “You backstabbing slut,” he said...

  They agreed to work together, but Melsuria betrayed Quazulin and took the opportunity to kill the competition. Quazulin was a demon of Hate. What is Melsuria a demon of?

  “Slut.” Why would a demon use that insult, of all things? They don't even have fixed bodies! Was it an error of translation? Do demons even have sexes? Come to think of it, why did it come out of Forester's mouth in Western? Maybe demons use the souls they're controlling—he said it in Western because Forester would. That's a chilling thought. I heard that from Sir Karl's book but hoped it was wrong.

  Tom wanted to talk about this with the others, but some instinct was warning him not to. If Melsuria is in the town, she's stuck inside the wards as well. So, we should be able to confine Melsuria properly. In a few more days, the mages can probably make enough wards. We don't have Melsuria's name in runes, so Grangus won't be able to duplicate the work he did to imprison Quazulin and hurt him. It will just take longer next time.

  Were the two demons cooperating to take over the town? But if so, why didn't we see lots of people possessed by a different Concept? I didn't hear Eubexa read anything about how demons interact; humans have their hands full just dealing with one, like in the war with Thazagor. Has there ever before been a case of multiple demons being on the loose on the surface world at the same time? Demon wars don't happen every day.

  But who is Melsuria's host, and how and when did they reach Oak Mill? Tom looked around at his group of elves, and shivered. Thank the gods that it's not one of the elves. He hesitated.

  It isn't, right?

  It can't be. Everybody was tested for possession in Rivermarch.

  But four of the elves never entered Rivermarch: Arven, Sheema, Rillik and Brallik. So, they haven't been checked for demonic possession. What if it were one of them?

  Then again, everyone is wearing Amulets of Protection, and Sheema and Diavla both checked all of those. A demon couldn't wear one of those. Prolonged touch would be fatal, according to the book, which is why demons jump hosts so often in a fight.

  And Diavla was tested in Rivermarch, so it can't be both of them.

  “You backstabbing slut.” Why won't my soul let go of that? Am I missing something obvious? Of course Melsuria backstabbed Quazulin, they're competing for hosts, right?

  But...why call her “slut”? It just sounds weird, coming from a demon. Slut. Having lots of sex. If Melsuria is a demon of Sex or Lust or something like that...

  Oh, shit.

  Tom's heart nearly stopped. It took him a minute to stop panicking; fortunately, drawing water was pretty mindless, and no fires had broken out nearby yet. Eventually, he got a grip on his soul well enough to get it thinking again.

  I've been having lots of sex, but I'm not possessed by a demon of lust. The elves...I've been assuming that it was because the elven ways are different. Their Child Hunts, and other things they've said. I thought they were just a lustful race.

  But Diavla made it pretty clear that she wasn't much interested in sex before she met me, and she's been surprising herself. And Diavla was driving the crystals wagon when the third crystal likely broke. If Melsuria possessed Diavla, and then moved on to someone else...No. Diavla would have known. If she were possessed by a demon, she'd at the very least have big gaps in her memory when the demon left—and demons aren't known for freeing hosts, either.

  If Melsuria had been in Diavla and left, she would have left behind a copy of herself, and would be controlling Diavla even now. But we went to the Rivermarch Temple, all of us. We were all tested. Even Eubexa went inside the Temple multiple times. So it can't have been Diavla.

  Maybe it wasn't any of us. Maybe all this sex we've been having is just a side effect of having been near Melsuria at some point. Ugh, nothing adds up. It can't be a Lust Demon, at least not in our party. But it was almost as if Melsuria were traveling with us, judging by the sex.

  She couldn't be hiding inside one of the oxen, could she? Tom considered that, and snorted. No, an ox would be the last place a Lust Demon would want to hide. Has there been a wolf or something shadowing us as we traveled? It's got to be something alive, I think.

  Could Melsuria be switching between different elves? Like, Diavla, then Varga? No, that doesn't work either. We were all tested at the same time in Rivermarch. There's just no way.

  I'm being a fool. I'm writing whole plays built on a single muttered word. She's probably not even a Lust Demon, and Forester just had a thing against women who had lots of sex. Maybe it was Forester's insult, in Quazulin's sentence. I don't know how full possession works, what it's like on the inside. And my endless thanks to the gods for that. Tom shivered at the memory of Quazulin oozing into his soul, trying to take him over.

  “Tom? Are you good?” Kervan asked, looking concerned.

  Tom took a deep breath and pulled himself together. “Sorry, I was just daydreaming.”

  “Day...dreaming...? Ah. I understand,” Kervan put it together. “We say, daydreaming.”

  “Daydreaming,” Tom repeated. “Got it.”

  He sighed and looked around at the others, and decided to share a little. “Forester said something before he died, while we were fighting.” Seeing Kervan struggle, Tom reminded himself that Eubexa was elsewhere and tried again. “I fight Forester, yes?” Kervan nodded. “We fight, Forester say, 'Melsuria, you backstabbing slut!' He say, Melsuria say she help Quazulin, but then no.”

  “Melsuria?” Kervan asked. “Who is Melsuria?” His eyes widened. “Melsuria is name. Demon Two.”

  “Yes. Our next enemy's name is Melsuria. And unless the wards go down, she's trapped in the town with us.”

  Kervan looked around. “No say more now, Tom. We think. We talk after time.” Tom nodded in agreement.

  So, Kervan thinks caution is wise here as well. I wonder what he's considering.

  I've got a lot to think about.