Demon Storm, Book 5
Young Adult Fantasy
Date Published: 02-13-2024
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
The calm can only last so long.
Now a member of Freehaven's Council, Kari tries to put her past behind her and settle down in her new home with her ever-present Lord and love, Ari.
Cracks in her mind, parting gifts from the heart eater, make planning the upcoming Spring Festival a struggle, but Kari is determined to do her best, even after Guine departs the town.
When a mysterious child appears at the festival and marks Kari, all semblance of normalcy is banished.
A triple threat from her past awaits beyond the walls of Freehaven and options are thin. Not willing to spill any more blood, Kari takes it upon herself to stop them—with Ari by her side.
The
girl grabbed the neckline of her shirt and jerked her closer with too much
ease. Kari stiffened as the girl’s cheek touched hers.
“Funny
wolf demon, hiding in this wretched town.” Her voice was low and cruelly
amused. Kari tensed, prepared to jerk free and throw a fist, but the girl
hissed, “Ah, no, don’t move. There are many innocents here, though I would not
call demons innocent. I know you would not want them hurt.”
She
suddenly realized the closeness of so many villagers, as if she’d been ripped
out of reality and dropped harshly back into it again.
Kari
bit back a growl. “Who are you?”
She
knew, though, before the small girl laughed. The boastful yet righteous
arrogance of someone who believed truly and wholly in her cause—it could be no
one else.
“I
feel your defeat. You’ve answered your own question.”
Kari’s
throat was dry. “Ri…Riniko. What are you doing here? Why—”
“Since
you’ve yet to heed our warning, I’m here to play a little game.”
“Kari!”
Ari called.
Riniko’s
small hands tightened. “Tell him to leave. We’re busy.”
She
hesitated. Ari yelled for her again, and now she envisioned him pushing through
the crowds, looking for where she’d gone.
“It’s
fine,” she yelled back. “I…I’m helping someone. I’ll catch up!”
Riniko’s
grip didn’t loosen. “Your boy is insistent.”
Kari
turned her head with some difficulty, given Riniko’s grip. The little witch
traded, wrapping her arms around Kari’s neck with a giggle that cracked against
her eardrums.
Visible
between passersby, Ari made his way to them. His brows raised at the sight of
the girl around her neck.
“Who
is…”
Kari
smiled, big and wide, and prayed he didn’t notice her trembling lips. “She’s
lost. I’m part of the Council, so she came to me. Go back to Rathik and Essie,
I’ll catch up.”
Ari
saw something in her face; his eyes constricted, his jaw pulsing, uncertain of what
to do.
Please
walk away, Ari. It’ll be okay this time. I promise.
When
she did not say anything more, he relented. “Alright. Meet us over there,
okay?”
Kari
nodded, jostling Riniko. Ari glanced between them, then jogged off.
Riniko
giggled again, quieter this time. “Good.”
Kari
grabbed her around the waist and yanked her off. There was something insanely
surreal about holding a small child in her hands, a child whose eyes burned
with unmatched cruelty and fire.
“What
do you want?” she snarled.
Riniko
wrapped too-small fingers around Kari’s wrists and met her eye with a cool,
even gaze. “You know what we want. I’m only here to set the fire of action a
little higher for you.”
Her
palms, pressed against Kari’s skin, warmed. Kari’s eyes widened, and she
struggled with the instinct to fling the small child away.
“We
do not want to burn this entire village to the ground. Despite the way
these villagers associate with demons, they are still good, innocent people.
The demons can be excused as long as they remain thusly. But you cannot. You
must come and face your fate.”
Her
arms were burning; Kari bit back a scream. “I keep telling you, I don’t want to
hurt anyone! Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“Tell
that to those poor people in the east. They probably thought you didn’t
want to kill them. But now they’re very, very dead.”
Kari staggered back. There were
fewer villagers out now, less to see this odd pair, but Kari dreaded what
Riniko would do if even one was drawn to them. She inched away from the square,
edging toward an alley between two buildings.
“Isn’t it enough that I died once?
What more can you want?”
Riniko laughed. “Oh, yes, but Zina
got cold feet. Superstition, I guess. She couldn’t let it die with you. No, she
believed it would go on, despite having no body. So here you are, her little
pet wolf demon, but she won’t be here to save you a second time.”
Cold feet? Let it die with her?
The burning on her arms increased,
snapping her attention back to Riniko’s young-girl face.
“I’ll
come to you,” Kari croaked. “Does that make you happy? I’ll leave and find
you.”
Riniko’s eyes lit up, though she did
not remove her hands. The heat continued to rise until Kari thought she could
smell her flesh cooking.
“Oh, do you promise?” Riniko asked,
her voice girlish, sickeningly sweet. “Pretty please?”
“Please stop,” Kari whispered
between her teeth.
Little hands lifted, releasing her
from the agony of fire. Kari trembled, then froze as those hands touched her
cheeks.
“It
was easy to infiltrate this place, Kari. It would be even easier, now, to set
it all ablaze. You remember my previous work.”
Kari’s
hands around Riniko’s waist shook with the effort to not squeeze her
into pieces. “You’re the monster, witch,” she snarled.
“It
takes a monster to slay one,” Riniko responded. “Remember that if you decide to
hesitate any longer. I’m tired of waiting for this final show. My sisters have
both seen that I was right and now it’s time to end this.” Riniko raised her
hands. “Put me down.”
Shaking
profusely, Kari set Riniko on the ground, where the little witch-girl brushed
off her plain, brown dress. She fluffed her hair, then raised a finger to her
lips.
“Remember
your promise,” she said, then spun and skipped away into the darkness.
About the Author
Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children & children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.
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