Dao 3 Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Dane paced up and down his boat as it pushed off the banks of the Bell River.

The merchant was clearly nervous, and Dar couldn’t blame him. Karn was clearly powerful and more than a little dangerous. But Dar hoped the merchant pulled it together.

Dar walked over next to Karn, standing at the side of the boat. “What did you find when you looked into the ettercaps?” Dar fished for information.

“Nothing.” Karn said simply. But Dar had gotten pretty good at reading Russ’ face, and he could see the slightest crease of worry between the bear’s brow. However, it didn’t sound like he was lying.

Dar realized Karn could have also been saying he found nothing when he’d expected to. That the Mo wasn’t where it was supposed to be. He wondered if the bear demon didn’t like lying.

“Really? That’s good. Our little village doesn’t need them to reappear in the spring after the thaw.” Dar continued to play the part of a concerned village leader, pretending he knew nothing about the Mo. He wanted to know what Karn was going to do about his thoughts on the Mo.

“The world is a dangerous place. Would you rather not be in a city?” Karn hedged.

Dar worked to not smile. Karn was trying to subtly warn him away, so he must think the Mo was on the loose.

“We left Bellhaven for a reason. It was overcrowded. I imagine most cities are with the increased devil attacks. And regardless, we’ve found happiness out closer to the wild. Maybe it isn’t in our nature to be holed up in a city.” Dar added the last part as he watched Neko pace the ship, eyeing the water as if it was going to rise up and attack her.

“What is your companion doing?”

“She can’t swim.” Dar explained. “And she’s new. We pulled her out of the forest for the first time this fall.”

“Ah. Still learning.” Karn grumbled, his little black eyes trailing after Neko.

The way he followed her didn’t sit well with Dar. But then again, Neko was a sight. Her pacing had made what little clothing Sasha could get her to wear ride up. She was nearly showing her pert rear.

Dar cleared his throat, and Amber broke off and went to correct Neko’s pending wardrobe failure. He was thankful. Amber and Marcie seemed quite adept at understanding what he wanted.

Karn grumbled and averted his eyes, focusing back on the river ahead of them. “She is an attractive companion.”

“That she is, and also quite capable. A wonderful addition to my family.” Dar continued to reaffirm his relationship with Neko, not wanting Karn to see any leeway.

Just then, the water in front of the boat exploded. Several sinuous forms rose from the Bell River. Dar’s surprise was only overshadowed by his confusion. He hadn’t heard of monsters in the river before.

But Dane didn’t seem to be surprised. He quickly began shouting out orders. “Crossbows!” As he shouted, many of the workers hurried to load the contraptions. They readied the weapons and fired into the five serpent monsters that were now clearly visible in the river.

Dar ignored the arrows as they flew over his shoulder. Karn remained stoic, standing between the men and the serpents unperturbed, seeming to do nothing. It was like it didn’t concern him at all.

Dar cursed. He couldn’t just stand there and watch, although Karn seemed plenty happy to do just that.

Running forward, Dar jumped off the front of the boat with enough power to make the boat shift in the water, the bow nearly ducking under the river’s surface.

It was only once he was in the air that Dar realized he couldn’t use the Black Knight’s weaponry. That would be too recognizable. Changing his plan mid-flight, he prepared to attack.

Crossbow bolts punched into the serpents, but to creatures of their size, they weren’t enough to take it down.

With the attack, Dar had made himself a target. The serpents turned to him, lunging for him with wide-open jaws. Each of them snapped forward, trying to catch him.

Dar braced himself, catching one serpent's mouth before it closed in around his waist, wrenching its jaw back open before it could harm him.

The enchantments on Dar’s body burned bright with power as he overpowered the monster’s jaw and tore one of its fangs loose.

The serpent bellowed a screeching cry as it flung its head back, trying to shake Dar free after realizing it had made an error by snatching him.

But Dar had no sympathy for the monster; this wasn’t a demon or spirit. He sensed no dao from the creature, only raw, abnormal size and strength.

Slamming the fang he’d pried off into the roof of the monster’s mouth, the attack sent spurts of blood into the air as Dar leapt off the creature. The creature’s body went limp below.

Dar landed on the bank, rolling to his feet. The remaining serpents were splitting their attention between him and the boat. Two of the remaining monsters focused on the boat, and the other two focused on Dar.

Apparently, monster logic said that if one serpent wasn’t enough to kill him, two should do it.

Two serpents that went for him became highly aggressive as they tried to snap and bite Dar in two, working together.

Dar tried to decide on his next move. He needed a weapon.

Sensing around him, Dar was grateful that granite was common enough to be in the ground underneath him. He pulled at the material, using his greater dao to move it. Mottled stone rose, coming to his aid and blocking one serpent while Dar focused on the other.

Dar’s hand expelled a wave of heat hot enough to cook meat on contact, blasting the serpent in the face and causing it to jerk off course to avoid the blast.

The serpent’s deviated strike made a shallow divot in the bank before the creature pulled itself together to come back around for another strike.

But Dar didn’t give it the chance. The wall of stone that had blocked the first serpent quickly became a massive ax. Granite was too heavy and too brittle to make a great weapon, but Dar forced it to hold its shape as he swung for the fences, cleaving the serpent in two.

That was all the other serpent needed. It turned and, with speed Dar didn’t expect of a creature of its size, dove back into the river. Ripples of water betrayed its fleeing.

He could chase after it, but Dar wanted to help the boat deal with the other two.

Karn still stood at the front of the boat, his arms crossed as men held long spears, trying to avoid Karn and push the serpents back.

Dar assessed the angle and the force he’d need. There was a new trick he wanted to try. Summoning another block of granite from the ground, Dar placed his palm on it to focus. He formed four large javelins in the block and readied an expendable chunk of granite behind each one.

He’d never tried something like this before, but if he had such control of granite, why couldn’t he do it?

Drawing on the mana inside of him, he let it loop around several times, building up before he pushed the dao of combustion through the stone to those four expendable hunks.

The block of granite boomed as it cracked. The four javelins shot forward with explosive power. It was like a medieval rocket battery. And quite effective.

The javelins punched through the two serpents with enough force to come clear out the other side.

“Holy shit.” Dar gasped as they landed with thuds on the other side of the river, blowing four sizeable holes into the ground with the combination of their force and weight.

The river splashed as the serpent corpses fell back into the water. Dar had to jump back to avoid getting wet.

Cheers went up from the sailors, and men came out with long hooks as they fished into the water. When they came up with the serpents, they hauled their bodies back onto the boat.

Dar took a running long jump back over the river and landed on the boat with a thud, returning to his space at the bow.

“Why did you help them?” Karn asked, a neutral expression on his face.

“Because I was here, and I didn’t want to see them die?” Dar was confused. Was Karn really so heartless?

“But they are weak. The Dao would decide if they should live or die.”

Dar’s expression froze as he blinked a few times to confirm this was real. This demon thought that the law of the jungle should apply everywhere?

Shaking his head, Dar knew he wasn’t going to change Karn’s mind, so he turned to more productive activities, helping the crew pull the sea serpents up onto the deck.

Dane Goodhaul approached him. “Thank you for your help.” His eyes wandered over to Karn with words unsaid. “We very much appreciate your help with the serpents. Without you, I would have lost men.”

Dar was pleasantly surprised. He had half expected the merchant to cry about almost losing merchandise, but instead he was concerned for his men.

“It was little trouble.” Dar gave his best friendly smile.

“May I inquire, are you a wizard?” The merchant asked cautiously.

“No.” Dar said quickly. “I’m a demon. Is that a problem?”

Dane waved his hands quickly. “Not at all! We normally have a few on the boat for protection. If it wasn’t for the rumors about Bellhaven, they would be here now. I just haven’t seen one as human as you before.”

Shrugging in response, Dar moved on. “You should know, that demon is a representative of The White. He’s on his way to Bellhaven to assess the situation. What Bellhaven did to my people will have consequences, if it hasn’t already.”

The merchant’s head dipped forward. “Should we turn back?”

“No. Hopefully, I can stop him from killing too many people.” Dar didn’t believe they were getting through this without Karn at least killing one person. “I’m also interested to see how Prince Gregor intends to turn around the situation. Well, multiple situations.”

Bellhaven not only had problems with the non-humans, there was a veritable onslaught of devils. And now apparently the kingdom was headed for war.

Dar needed to get ahead of those issues before they affected Hearthway. Though they hadn’t seen the trolls or gremlins up their way, he was concerned that the ettercaps had acted as a barrier. Not much would have been able to come up from the south with them in the forest.

Now they were gone, and Hearthway might start to see other problems wander up from the south.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask how I could repay your help with the monsters.” Dane pulled himself back together.

“Helping us find a place to stay in Bellhaven would be nice. Otherwise, just continue trading with Hearthway. The village you saw was only formed in a short few weeks. I’m sure we’ll be producing more items that interest you in the coming days.”

Dane gave him a dry look. “Salt, meat and leather always sell. I’ll be back, if for nothing else than a steady supply of those. And let me give you a few coinage for a place to stay.”

***

The rest of the trip down to Bellhaven was uneventful. As the boat pulled through the delta and out to open sea, it was less than an hour before they docked at Bellhaven.

Karn didn’t even thank Dane, striding off the boat the second it touched the docks.

“It’s been a pleasure, but it looks like I have to run.” Dar thanked the merchant and followed Karn. Neko and the maids were tight on his heels.

They had only been on the docks for a minute before Dar felt a small shift at his side. He turned and grabbed a boy who was trying to pick his pockets. “Bad move. But, I have work for you if you’ll be honest.”

“Of course, mister.” The cheeky brat smiled up at Dar, as if he hadn’t caught him red-handed.

Dar knew people like this were often born more of desperation than malice. And it was just a kid. “I have this for you.” He held out a silver. “If you can do something for me.”

The kid’s focus was entirely on the coin, his eyes crossing as he stared. “Sure.”

“I need you to run to the noble district and shout that a demon from Frost’s Fang just came into the city.”

“Mister?” The kid looked nervous.

Dar had fallen behind, but he could see Karn’s big white head moving through the crowd ahead of them. He held the kid up so he could see him too. “That big white bearman, you see him?”

“Yes.” The kid said.

“Good. Well, he’ll kill the whole city if the prince doesn’t put on a show.” Dar put the kid down. The kid tried to grab for the silver coin, but Dar pulled it back. “Repeat it back. What are you going to do?”

“Go run up to the noble district and shout that The White sent a demon to the city.” The boy nodded his head rapidly. There was an eagerness to his expression, but no hint of duplicity.

Dar uncurled his fist and let him have the silver. “Go on. Hurry. Karn is going to walk through the city, and we need the nobility in shape before he gets there.”

The boy shot off with the silver in hand, and Dar had confidence the boy would do as he asked. The only question was how effective it would be.

“That was more than he needed to go do that.” Amber said as they hurried through the crowd to catch up to Karn.

“Oh, well.” Dar wasn’t concerned about a silver. If that silver saved enough lives, it was worth it. “Stay close, and Neko, hold my hand.”

The jaguar demon looked shell-shocked and completely overwhelmed in the city. She grabbed his hand, and he held her tightly as he pulled their group through the crowded streets.

Dar took in the city as they walked. If anything, Bellhaven seemed overflowing with people. Before, it had certainly been busy, but not this busy.

He caught up to Karn. “Would you like us to show you the way to the nobles?” Dar remembered where the old duke had lived, and though Mark had lived there on his last visit, he suspected the Prince would be there now.

The big demon scowled for a moment before nodding. “That would make things faster. The sooner I can get out of this wretched place, the better.”

“It isn’t that bad.” Dar tried to take the edge off his statement.

“They pack themselves in far tighter than necessary. It makes the place stink.” Karn’s little black nose on his wide head wiggled in a way that Dar almost found comical. If it weren’t on someone he thought was a murder machine, he might have laughed.

Thankfully, people got out of Karn’s way. He had a disgruntled look on his face that made people eager to step aside rather than risk their own day getting far worse.

Dar led him through the city, and the girls followed in the wake.

More than once, Karn’s eyes found their way to Neko. It made something in Dar stir angrily. He didn’t like having his woman ogled by the demon. He also knew that male demons had a reputation for being territorial; the last thing he needed was a dispute in the city with Karn. That would backfire on both of them and his goals.

Either way, he’d have to work through it for now, and maybe have a talk with Neko once they had some privacy.

They walked uphill through the streets. The crowds grew thinner and the buildings cleaner as they entered the nicer areas of the city.

There was a commotion up ahead that drew Dar’s attention. The kid he’d paid earlier was being dragged away by two guards. “I swear. Oh, there, that one!” The kid pointed at Dar’s group.

One of the guards stepped forward, drawing his sword on Karn. “Halt.”

“That’s a bad—” Dar didn’t have time to finish the statement before a white clawed hand flew forward and ripped the guard’s head from his shoulders.

The second guard let go of the boy and ran screaming deeper into the noble quarter.

“Mister.” The boy was frozen with wide eyes.

“You did good. Now get out of here.”

The boy didn’t need to be told twice. He turned and sprinted down towards the docks. Dar cringed that the poor kid had watched a guard’s head go flying.

Neko moved in front of Karn, putting her hands on her hips. “Bad.”

“Neko, not now.”

“No.” She fought Dar to stay in front of Karn. “He’s bad. Do you know you are a bad man?”

Dar was worried that Karn would take a swipe at her.

“I am not a bad man. For I am not a man. I am a demon, and that was nothing more than squashing a pest that dared try to bite me.” Karn leaned down, so he was eye to eye with Neko.

She swiped, her claws cutting into Karn’s nose. “Bad is bad. Don’t use words to get out of it.”

Somehow Dar could imagine Samantha back in the village using such words to chastise her. Worried Karn would attack Neko, Dar stepped between the two of them, ready to protect her.

Karn held his bloodied nose and growled at Neko. “I’ll have to teach you better manners.”

Neko clung to Dar’s back. “No. Dar is the best. Only he can teach Neko all the things.”

There was almost a pause in the world as Karn stared at them, deciding if he was going to start a fight. But after that moment, he put his bloodied claw back at his side and wiped at his nose with the other. “We will discuss more of this later. It seems the demons around here might be a touch too human.” He targeted the last statement towards Dar.

“Uh. Hello?” A nicely dressed young man wearing a tabard that Dar didn’t recognize stopped a few yards from their group. The poor man’s eyes were riveted to the headless body laying a foot away from him.

Dar tried to pull his attention back to their group. “Great. This is Karn, a representative of The White. I’m a guest from an outlying village guiding him.”

“You are the wizard Darius.” The young man said. “There used to be posters everywhere with your face on them.”

Dar cringed. It looked like he could not put his past visit behind him so easily. “Then, take us to see the prince before someone else loses their head.” Dar looked distastefully down at the decapitated guard.