The Dragoness Queen

Chapter Thirteen: Durag

The rest of the day passed without much in the way of events. Relma took this to be a good sign.

Granted, people were awestruck. Relma spent a good deal longer healing some ailments. New wounded arrived from other battlefields, and a man hurt himself plowing. But overall, Relma had an ordinary day and slept peacefully until that morning.

As Relma awoke the next morning, Quxillang woke her, tossing a traveling pack at her. "Relma, get up; we have a journey ahead of us."

"Where to?" asked Relma, rising quickly.

"To the realm of Durag, of course," said Montazus, standing some way away with some of his men. "I have communed with the Emperor, and he has dictated that your plan is to be given a trial."

"Oh, good to know," said Relma, who hadn't been expecting much else. Then she looked at the pyre. "Do they ever bury those bones?"

"Of course not," said Montazus. "The bones remain in the pyre until they become ashes and are cast away by the wind. Such is tradition.

"Durag shall meet us at the gates."

And they were off, further into the highlands and away from this fertile region. As they walked, Relma glanced back to the village. She then realized that William had spent all this time doing this thing regularly. And she doubted very much that he'd been given nearly so awed a reception.

Relma probably never would have started doing it if she hadn't heard he was doing it. That wasn't to say William wasn't far too proud for his good. But it disturbed her a bit that he at least appeared to have more empathy. Then again, Relma was the incarnation of an Angel of Virtue, not kindness or compassion.

Speaking of which, Relma wanted to know exactly how her actions fit into all this. Had she been destined to hijack the prophecy, to begin with? Or had she willingly chosen to try and hijack it against what she was supposed to do? Perhaps she, the Angel of Virtue, had been intended to bear the son who became the Heir of Kings. Only she went into it with ulterior motives and planned to take that destiny for herself all along.

And did Relma Artorious exist? Or was she just a mask that the angel herself believed in?

All these questions seemed destined to have very depressing answers, so Relma chose to ignore them. Instead, as they walked into a great valley with many black trees, she looked to Montazus. "Where are these gates?"

"Not far," said Montazus. "At the far end of this valley."

The black trees, however, became more and more like claws as they walked. They seemed to be grasping at Relma. The grass at their feet caught on their boots and sandals, trying to drag them down. And the sun, far above, was becoming a baleful green.

"The land is changing..." mused Relma. "What is this?"

"This is the domain of Envy. Or part of it," said Montazus. 'Durag's realm exists in a place connected to the hells of Envy."

"Right, because Lucius is the Demonic Archon of Envy, of course," said Relma. She remembered Aunt Pan's lessons. "Are they connected at all?"

"Lucius and Durag are aware of one another, but they rarely converse to my knowledge," said Montazus. "Though he may well be doing so without our knowledge. Durag is effectively the reigning demon of Envy within this place. However, I do not think he has formally ascended.

"The man is a monster, and you may prefer to have been burned on a pyre than meet with him. At least pain can teach."

"What does it mean to ascend into demonhood?" asked Relma, letting the latter statement pass.