Chapter 40 #2
“Get them?!” Envy’s border-nasal voice raised so much, it almost squeaked.
“No one listens to me, Saer! Why would they? Even if I could find them, getting them to all, what, come here?” Errshek snapped his fingers, pointing at their imaginary kin.
“Hey kids, have no fear, hop on that fire modus itinerantur. The eldest amongst us—who can kill us all—just wants to have a chat.”
If he weren’t so aggravating, Saer might have chuckled.
“Runeak hates me, the Twins barely tolerate me, and Kalia...she might come if I could convince her to move, but have you ever—”
Saer crossed his arms and cleared his throat loud enough that Errshek faltered and halted in the middle of his rant.
The younger demon’s mouth trembled. “Do they know they would have died with Neyu? If, you hadn’t…you know…”
The corner of Saer’s mouth flinched. He shook his head.
“Why not?” Errshek whispered the question like he feared the answer.
Running his tongue along his teeth, Saer considered. “Does it matter?”
“Will you tell them?”
“I’m not sure.”
Errshek’s lips thinned, but he fell silent.
“Start with Arek and Alus,” Saer said. “I’ll wait at the camp for you to return.”
Hands limp at his sides, Errshek sighed and bowed his head. When he didn’t move or speak in response, Saer lifted a brow. “Well?”
Errshek raised his eyes with a resigned, perplexed expression. “I’m waiting for the true-name command.”
“Errsheken.”
Errshek flinched, and Saer offered him a cynical half-smile. “Can I not simply ask this as a favor?”
Errshek sputtered, then cleared his throat. “If I do this, will you…could you not tell them I asked you to…?”
“You’d rather I keep your death wish between the two of us?”
Envy nodded. “I don’t feel it all the time.” He wouldn’t meet Pride’s gaze.
It explained some, but not all, of what Errshek struggled with on any given day. For Saer, that was enough. “I won’t say anything.”
A shaking sigh left the younger demon, and he nodded. “Thank you.” Fumbling for more, he finally settled upon, “And what do I tell them?”
Saer turned his focus back to the lake. “Tell them it’s for Neyu.”
Saer told Errshek where he’d last seen the Twins. It at least gave him a place to start.
As with every time the Daemoenica traveled by Hellsfire, Errshek would go first to the Hells—using their birthplace as a central hub—and then to wherever the Twins might be.
It allowed more chances for their maker to ask about the Sixth’s comings and goings, though it couldn’t be helped.
Saer counted on the forgettable Envy to be equally dismissed by Lucifer.
He also counted on Errshek to follow through with the task. He took a risk, not binding him to the request, but doing so would ruin everything he hoped for as they moved forward.
As they all moved forward.
After Errshek disappeared in a blazing explosion of flame, Pride set about his own series of chores.
He bartered for a few sets of simple linen garments of various sizes and other odds and ends from the nearest settlement.
Otherwise, he had nothing left to do but return to Errshek’s modest encampment.
And wait.
Saer had never excelled at being alone with his own thoughts and feelings, nor at relying on others to do things for him.
In the light of day, Pride could ignore the uneasy hollowness festering in his insides. Night, however, was always a different beast.
Not uncommonly, Saer found himself sitting on the same stump where he’d first encountered Errshek, reliable flames keeping him company beneath the canopy. He reinforced his separation from his maker, that It held ultimate responsibility for Neyu’s unmaking, even if Saer acted as the sword.
Could he teach his kin to break the addiction?
Could he, well and truly?
The riddle was insurmountable. He didn’t know how he’d accomplish it.
But he would.
Days turned into a week. Weeks into a month. Saer took the time to repeat the reality of Neyu’s passing to himself, solidifying it like a keystone.
A month turned into several.
Saer burnt and carved Errshek’s unrefined stump into a more suitable chair.
He rearranged the stones of the fire pit for uniformity, going so far as finding different, like-sized rocks.
Picking up tricks from the locals, he crafted some frames he could hook prepared fish filets to in order to smoke them.
As each sunrise and sunset passed, Saer hiked for wood to feed the fire pit. Midday crested when he returned from one such trip, arms amassed with lumber and an ax strapped to his bare back.
An unmistakable roar of spontaneous combustion erupted behind Saer amidst taking the lumber into his usual pile.
He paused before setting down the bundle of wood. Wiping off his hands, he turned towards the imploding pair of fireballs, independent blazes each retreating into two separate, naked, humanoid entities.
He frowned and did a double-take at the odd pairing, then moved to the pile of linens he’d bartered for and took out a shirt and pants for each of the newcomers.
Errshek and a twin turned his way.
Lavender eyes. Arek.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Taking the offered garments with his usual bored expression, Arek lifted them in muted thanks and donned them without further preamble.
Saer turned to Errshek with the second set and broke the silence as the youngest demon took hold of them.
“I’m both fascinated and impressed that you were able to split them up. ”
“Not my idea. The good ones never are,” Errshek muttered as he took the clothes and wandered off. If any of the other Daemoenica said it, it would have been sulking. From Errshek, it came across as a simple statement of fact.
Arching a brow, Saer shifted his attention to Greed who donned the linen top. “If you really want all of us in one place at one time, Errshek isn’t the most convincing one to get it done,” Arek said.
Understanding dawned. “Alus,” Saer said.
If anyone could persuade the Daemoenica to gather in one place, it would be the most magnetic of them—Gluttony.
Arek’s cynical smirk served as answer enough.
The twin’s expression renewed his hope that more might follow in their stead. Saer reached a hand forward. “I’m glad you’re here, Areknar.”
Without hesitation, Greed clasped Saer’s forearm and pulled him in for a back-slapping embrace. “I’m not sure if I’m glad yet, but I sure as Hells wasn’t going to miss this firework show.”
Saer scoffed and released the twin, turning towards Envy. “What did you tell him?”
Errshek, trying to balance on one foot as he stepped into the provided pants, cursed as he nearly fell over. He answered Saer with a growl. “I showed up and said, ‘Hey, look, I’m not dead, come find out why.’”
Arek shrugged with one shoulder. “About sums it up.” He paused alongside Saer as they observed the youngest struggling. “Do you want to try sitting to put those on?”
“Shut up.” Errshek grunted and finally got his second foot into the pant legging, pulling them up while shaking his head.
Alus would have a field day with this. He turned his attention to the violet-eyed twin. “I don’t suppose I’ll get a straight answer if I ask what took so long?”
Arek snorted. “We needed to finish our harvest.” He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “You do know the world doesn’t revolve around you, right?”
“I told you,” Errshek grumbled as he walked by and towards his canopy.
Saer ground his teeth. “You’re both delightful.”
“What did you do to my stuff?” Errshek’s wail came from deeper in the campsite as he observed all the changes Saer made in his absence.
“I needed things to do!” Pride yelled over his shoulder.
“You’re so damned action-oriented!”
Saer huffed under his breath. “Building a small house was next if you two took much longer.”
Smirking, Arek made a motion to the clearing. “Care to give your favorite brother a tour?”
“I will once Alus is here.”
The twin paused to glance sideways at Saer, assessing with a sardonic half-smile. “Still cracking jokes. I’m so proud of you.”
Showing Arek and Errshek around the clearing didn’t take long. Errshek kept on with his bitter snipes.
The trio ended up next to the lake, awaiting the evening’s usual light show.
Errshek sat on the rocky shoreline while Arek absently picked at stones and skipped them across the surface of the water.
“The souls we were able to offer Father pleased him well enough to keep from asking where we were off to next. I don’t think he even realized Alus and I split up…
sixteen.” The last he called out to declare the number of jumps he’d managed to get out of his stone throw.
A disquieting pang rose in Saer’s chest to hear their creator referred to as ‘Father.’ Even if he’d never used the title, the rest of his kin still saw their maker as such.
He also couldn’t imagine it would change, which made his task all the more challenging.
“I should know better than to enter meaningless competitions with you at this juncture.” Saer tossed his own flat rock in his hand, shaking his head. “Did Alus go to Runeak or Kalia first?” Drawing his arm back, he flicked his wrist.
The stone sank after three skips.
Saer growled and resumed his perusal of the ground for another, more worthy rock.
Arek smirked and put his hands in the linen pants pockets. “Runeak is usually easier to find. Time will tell.” He prodded Errshek’s leg with a toe. “Errshek, you ready to try?”
Envy scowled at Greed. “I suck at skipping rocks.”
“I’m so glad our brother didn’t murder you.”
Errshek sneered but didn’t respond, turning his eyes back to the water just as Saer tossed another stone. This time, it skipped six times before sinking, and he swore with feeling. “Who gets a rock to skip sixteen times?”
“Someone with a lot of practice and patience, Eldest.” Arek’s head tilted to the side, overseeing Saer as he searched for another perfect stone. “When Alus and I saw you, you were Hellsbent on ending Errshek.”
Envy didn’t move, yet his body tensed.
Saer grunted and pretended not to notice Arek’s stare, picking up rocks only to toss them aside, one at a time.
Arek persisted with his patient tone. “You’re not going to explain anything until we’re all gathered, are you?”
“Correct,” Pride answered as he plucked a particularly smooth and flat stone. Holding it between his thumb and forefinger, he shook it for emphasis. “This is the one.”
Errshek scoffed and Arek grinned. “I don’t think Errshek believes you.” Greed closed his lips carefully over his teeth in a subtler smile, adding matter-of-factly, “I don’t either, but I admire how you always believe you’re going to win.”