Page 65 of By Mistake
Kressen appeared at her side, and then vanished with her, casting them a brief look ofdon't movebefore he was gone.
"What is going on?What is that around Farthing?"Andrus asked shakily as he helped Oresti to his feet.
Oresti let out a shaky breath and touched the necklace around his throat."If Shimari hadn't insisted I wear this…"
A bellow of rage like nothing Andrus had ever heard filled the room, shaking the chandeliers so violently that they came crashing down.Crystal shattered, scattered everywhere, turning the ballroom floor into a sea of sharp edges and deadly points.
Across the room, by a servant door, Coret stood crouched by a knocked over table.Greivs was by the grand staircase where he must have been helping people.
On the dais, cutting off further assault from Farthing, was Shimari.His eyes blazed red, brighter than Andrus had ever seen them, and his clothes seemedmoresomehow, the ends flapping in some unseen wind.
"You took him," Shimari said, voice resonating deeply, loudly, cracking the windows all around them."You ripped him from his corporeal anchor, and youstolehim.Give him back!"
"Make me," Farthing snarled, and lashed out, that strange body made of orange light moving seamlessly with him.
"What the fuck is going on?"Andrus asked.
Kressen appeared beside them."Renik of the Hunt.Farthing ripped his soul from his body somehow and stowed it in that ring he's wearing.That's why we couldn't feel him, why we had no fucking clue—" He snarled."It doesn't matter.What matters is he has full control ofallof Renik's power at this point, and that necklace we couldn't figure out keeps Renik from possessing him."
"A puppet."
"More or less," Kressen said."This is bad.Very bad.Mari has precious few weaknesses.The humans he still stupidly becomes fond of every few centuries, and the four of us.He will tear this place to the ground to get Renik free, no matter the cost to himself or anyone else."
He threw up a shield as a piece of wall came hurtling at them."Everyone is out but the four of you.I will take my little humans away.You need to remain, to be here for Shimari.You might be the only thing that can bring him back.Assuming he wins, which is dubious, because you have him collared like a fucking dog and most of his power smothered!"
Snarling, he vanished, and then he appeared beside Greivs and Coret in turn, taking them away from the carnage at last.
"Give him back, give him back, give himback!"Shimari bellowed."He's mine!Not yours!I will tear youasunder!"
Farthing laughed, voice rippling out in a weak imitation of the destructive resonance of Shimari's as the ballroom continued to crack and fracture around them.He threw Shimari into a wall, then continued to strike him over and over."You can't do shit to me, whatever you are, especially while you're shackled."
Andrus couldn't stand it."Shimari of the Harvest!Save Renik at all costs!I release you from your shackles!"
A silence fell, so stark and sharp that Andrus's own breathing seemed shockingly loud.
Farthing said, "What?"in the beat before he was sent flying across the room to slam into the stairs, shattering the bottom half of them completely.
Shimari stood, human form falling away like petals from a dying flower.Darkness spilled out like ink, pooled, until only a vaguely human shape remained, like a large figure draped in a voluminous cloak, the hood drawn up so that only two glowing red eyes were visible.
The figure lifted an arm, swung it out to the side sharply, and from the shadowy folds came a boney hand.Nothing else, just bone.It curled, bones clicking and rattling against each other, and suddenly in its grip was an enormous scythe, some nightmarish version of what farmers used to bring in the wheat.
"Give.Him.Back," Shimari said.His voice was soft, but cut through Andrus like glass, making him clutch at his head, fight against an urge to scream, to puke, to sob hysterically.
Then Shimari moved, surging toward Farthing as he regained his feet.
Andrus looked away as the fighting resumed with a level of violence and ferocity he'd never seen before.
Kressen appeared in front of them again, throwing up shields as more debris came at them."I'm almost impressed, child."
"Why is he soangry?"Andrus asked."I mean, obviously he would be upset that humans are doing something so terrible to a fellow demon.But this seems…excessive isn't the right word."
Kressen sighed, eyes locked on the fight."He's old, so very old.For much of that time he was alone.He created me, eventually, when he had grown to sufficient power, though doing so cost him greatly and nearly killed him.Much, much later, when his power had grown greater still, and he'd learned so much more, he created the other three.He is a demon of death, not of creation, but he created us anyway, so he would not be alone anymore.We are not his children, demons can't have children, but we are his creations, the only life he's evermaderather than taken."
That sounded like as much a definition of children as any, but Andrus didn't say that."No wonder you can get away with calling him Mari."
For a second, just a second, Kressen smiled in a soft, gentle way.Then it was gone, and he was once more a cold, scathing demon of blood again.
Shimari screamed, and what remained of the ceiling came crashing down, Kressen heaving the world's greatest put-upon sigh as he made certain none of it hurt the three of them.
