Look into the sky,

  My child of Yor.

  Look into the sky,

  And see the moon above.

  See the light I guide you with,

  And know that I will forever

  Be by your side

  -From the Songs of Mother Moon, as translated by Reggard of Frinza

  Chapter 4

  As Karis reached the hill’s top, she got a clear enough view of her caravan, now made a silhouette by the setting auburn sun.

  It had felt like an entire lifetime since she had last seen them, though only three years had passed since joining the coven. And now she was back with a whole bevy of magical progress to show off and amaze her friends and family with. She could not wait to see the look on Dala’s face when displaying spells of light that could outshine any fireworks of the eastern dynasties, or the flame dances of the Kalyan Deserts.

  The thought of that reminded Karis that she had left her caravan after reaching the cusp of adolescence, when Dala was just a child of five. But now she would be near the age Karis had been when they parted, and much grown and changed, perhaps far beyond each other’s abilities to recognize one another, let alone rekindle the same tight bonds they once had. It would be much the same with everyone, all of them halfway strangers who had only known her as a child.

  She felt a tension in her stomach, and the thought of turning around rang through her head. Though she could not understand why. No matter how long a time had passed, she would always have a home in her caravan. Though that knowledge did not quell the vague but inescapable feeling of dread she felt as the distance between her and home decreased, and she could see the caravan turn from the vague black shape of a silhouette into a clearer picture of tents and yurts circling a great fireplace. It was as if without knowing why or what, Karis perceived a danger coming from within her home. As if something she would not want to see was waiting for her.

  But any such thoughts were washed away by the sight of a little girl waiting on the outskirts of the caravan, who, upon noticing Karis, bolted at full speed and jumped into her sister's arms when close enough, the two embracing one another as if life depended upon it.

  “Karis!” Dala shouted as her sister spun her around before laying her on the ground.

  “Dala, you…you’re here?” Her sister had not changed one bit, looking much like Karis at that age, only ten times the exuberance and lacking the single lock of white hair that marked all witches. Dala pulled at her sister’s arm to lead her into the caravan while trying to run like some excited dog, her dark brown hair blowing in the wind with abandon and her red eyes gleaming with joy when she looked at Karis.

  The rest of the caravan reacted with the same joy and enthusiasm, though perhaps a bit more subdued, all her neighbours and childhood friends coming one by one to hug and say hello, save her parents, who waited outside the gathering crowd until all but them had given their greetings.

  “Mother…Father,” Karis said, trying to stifle the tears in her eyes as she went to give her parents a joint embrace.

  “You’ve grown beyond my wildest dreams,” her father said as he patted Karis on the head and mussed her hair.

  “Oh, my little baby is almost a woman,” her mother added, squeezing Karis’ cheeks so tight her mouth was forced open. “We have a pot of milk stew waiting for you. Karis closed her eyes to take in the aromas, expecting the sweetness of pasteurized milk stewed with sweetroot, nutmeg, and cinnamon. But what wafted into the nostrils was instead the smell of burning.

  She opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by fire. She saw her caravan aflame, with every yurt and tent turning into a bonfire. Her people, those not already on the ground, ran around screaming, some bathed in fire, others in blood, their screams drowning out all other noise save for the inhuman cackle heard in the distance.

  She stumbled through the destruction, arms weak and heavy, searching through the thick smoke for either her mom or dad or Dala. She saw then a hunched over figure walking towards her, back bent into an arch, head hanging low, and one arm twisted in the opposite direction. A few steps closer, and the figure raised its back, its head hanging to the side, but she could still see it was her mother’s face, pale and bloated, but still recognizable, even as she spread her lips into a wide and toothy smile that revealed a mouthful of reddened teeth. “We waited for you, Karis,” her mother said as she collapsed and rotted away, the nearby flames claiming the rest.

  She saw next a tall man running towards her, a bow in one hand. “Karis!” he said, and she recognized by his voice that it was her father. She darted towards him, but when both were close enough to hug, she managed to look him in the eyes for but a moment until his head was crushed by some invisible force, his skull caving in on itself, spraying blood all over Karis before his body crashed to the ground, where he decayed within seconds before fire enveloped his corpse.

  Screaming, tears running down her cheek, Karis ran away, her throat feeling ragged like it was full of gravel. But no matter where she went, there was no leaving the caravan, as with every step she just found more fire and corpses, as if the destruction went on for eternity.

  “Karis!” she heard in the distance, the voice being unmistakable.

  “Dala!” Karis shouted back, the two screaming each other's names over and over, each time getting closer, only ceasing when they were face to face.

  “I wanted to see you so much,” her sister said, tears streaming from her eyes and down her face, contorted by sorrow. “I missed you so much.”

  “I’m here, Dala.” Karis went in to grab her.

  “Where were you? Why weren’t you here? I want to see you. Why can’t I see you, Karis?”

  Karis stopped in her tracks, her entire body freezing up as numbness spread from tip to toe. Dala was facing her, but her eyes were gone, leaving only bloody pits from which maggots crawled out and fell like tears. “I waited for you,” the little girl said. Still as small as the day Karis had left. “I wanted to–” blood trickled from her mouth as she collapsed to the ground, decay and flame devouring her like all the rest.

  Karis heard only the roar of fire and the faint sound of encroaching footsteps. As they got louder, it seemed as if the ground was shaken by them. And looking to where they came from, she saw a horse-like thing, its human mouth and eyes getting clearer as the demon closed their distance on its mangled and muscled legs.

  She did not move away. And when she saw its mouth widen for a bite, Karis felt nothing.

  Karis woke up feeling like her body was all mush inside, her skin soaked in a cold sweat. All she could do and felt like doing was gaze at the cavern ceiling of her bedchamber, focusing on the faint light that shone through the drapes that separated her from the rest of the cave system. The light flickered as a crowd of people walked past, their footsteps echoing loud and clear throughout the outside corridor. Karis remembered what Y’vaine had told the old man the day before, and figured they were all heading towards the council chamber to hear the Lunaran themselves talk.

  She made another attempt at sleep, but the nature of her tiredness was not the kind that beckoned her to dreamland, but of the type that leaves one bereft of strength and will without the mercy of sleep to look forward to.

  Karis turned her attention to her mother’s necklace. It was a simple thing, a round pendant made of a gilded alloy which bore the symbol of Mother Moon, the goddess’ face on the left side and her namesake on the right. Though she remembered it had a different function, and rubbed its edge three times over, the simple illusory charm placed upon it working its magic, turning mother and moon to the sun-eye of Qarthus. A trick often employed by Yor for travels to Qarthan towns and cities.

  She turned it back and looked at her goddess’ face. Anger welled up inside, and tears burst out as she thought of all that her parents had told her about Mother Moon. Of how she watched over them at night. Of how she had gifted Karis with magic when she was born under the Lunar eclipse. And of how she protected her followers.

  Karis threw the pendant away as if doing so would spite the goddess. But she never heard it crash against the cavern walls, nor a thud as it fell to the ground, as if it had been thrown out of existence. She then saw the reason for the silence, as a girl the same age as Karis brushed past the drapes and walked in. She looked especially beautiful that day, her black hair draped across her forehead and running down to her throat, her one lock of white hair flowing down the side of her right cheek, her large, cat-like eyes so dark they looked like twin pearls of onyx. She was dressed in a black, robe-like dress that was held closed by a white sash, the sleeves of her garb hiding all but the tips of her fingers, between which she held Karis’ pendant.

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  “Yurina,” Karis said. “I’m sorry…I meant to–”

  “No need,” Yurina rushed to sit beside Karis. “You dropped something.” She placed the pendant back in Karis’ palm. “It would bring ill omens were you to displease your goddess.”

  Karis sat up and studied the gilded face of Mother Moon. “Not much that could be done to me now.”

  Yurina rushed to hug her, Karis smelling the cherry blossoms her friend had brought from her homeland and cultivated within the caverns of Hollowhills. “I cannot pretend to understand your pain,” Yurina said, sniffling, wetting Karis’s clothes with her tears. “I can’t even begin to imagine. But if it means anything, just know that I'll always be here.”

  Karis hugged back, first delicately, as if she were afraid to break her friend, but then tightened her grip, digging fingers into Yurina’s garb. Yurina then stood up and offered both hands. Karis received and was dragged out of bed, her feet feeling soft on the first step before she gained her balance.

  “You want to watch the council?” Yurina said, before embarrassment reddened her cheeks. “I’m sorry. They might discuss, you know…what happened.”

  “I can handle it.” Karis took Yurina’s hand in hers, and the two of them walked side by side through the twisting and winding cavern corridors of Hollowhills, following the sound of a hundred murmurs.

  After a while, they entered the largest space within their cavern home, a perfect stone sphere, lit by a giant glass sun in the ceiling's center that shone brightly upon the circle of stone seats below, in the center of which was a wooden podium, carved from the trunk of a thick tree.

  It seemed the entire coven had arrived, with near every seat filled, all of them waiting in anticipation for the final and most important attendee. Karis and Yurina took their seats at the back as the light from on top dimmed, then turned pale blue as the glass sun took on the appearance of the moon. It was then that they arrived.

  There was silence as low and slow footsteps were heard from afar, signaling their arrival. Every eye was on the chamber entrance, so when they spoke, no one was prepared.

  “I proclaim this meeting commenced,” The Lunaran said from behind the podium where they had appeared without fanfare or anyone noticing, every head turning to see them, laughing at this sudden trick appearance, others gasping in startlement. Karis often wondered why they acted such. The chance it was a joke seemed remote, as smiles rarely made an appearance on their lips. So it was either a display of power or a way to keep everyone on their toes.

  The Lunaran was a tall, milky pale statue of a person, draped in a shining robe of silver-like silk, one half of their long hair white and flowing, the other black and matted, their face often confusing those unfamiliar, their androgyny leaving no clear answers as to what they were. But to those in the coven, they were the Lunaran, divine androgyne, the one on the interstice between man and woman.

  “Will the one who called us here please bring forth their issue,” The Lunaran said, voice breathy and deep.

  Both Y’vaine and Trista rose and took their place in front of the podium. “We have retrieved and housed all surviving Yor caravans as well as any approved Qarthan citizens,” Y’vaine said, speaking to both Lunaran and crowd.

  “Surviving?” The Lunaran said, with no hint of surprise in their voice.

  Y’vaine took a deep breath. “The west-east caravans of Yur-Talai, Houlyn, and Jouthan were attacked. No survivors were left.”

  “The demons have spread further than anticipated,” Trista broke in. “As far as I have been able to gather, there is not a corner in the Empire and its surroundings that’s not infested.”

  The crowd murmured among themselves as the Lunaran looked deep in thought. “I believe every errant member of our coven and whoever they wished to bring to safety has been accounted for,” They said at last.

  Both Y’vaine and Trista nodded.

  “Then there is but one matter at hand, a total lockdown till the crisis is abated.”

  As the Lunaran said this, Karis studied her mother’s pendant, turning it back and forth between Mother Moon and the eye of Qarthus, thinking of home, of her parents, and poor little Dala who had so looked forward to seeing her sister. Childhood images of her caravan, of the Fullmoon festivals, the nighttime meals where everyone huddled together to share goat stew, and the songs and dances that were passed down amongst her caravan. All of it gone, crushed and slashed and mangled by an unthinking and unfeeling demonic horde. And all because she was just a week too late.

  “Where are you?” She remembered her sister saying in the nightmare that remained fresh in her memory. “Why weren’t you here?”

  “So we will do nothing?” Karis said, louder than intended. She had, in fact, not meant to say anything, the words having come up on their own as the anger Karis felt upon remembering her fallen Caravan welled up.

  “Well, what can we do, dear Karis?” The Lunaran said, a hint of mocking in their tone.

  Karis was all of a sudden cognisant of the fact that every eye was fixated on her, and felt a powerful urge to shiver. She breathed in deep, gripped the pendant tight, and walked up towards the podium, taking slow, careful steps to buy time for her to come up with an answer.

  “We hold the greatest depository of books on everything from magic to history to philosophy,” she said, trying to quell any hint of petulance in her voice. “Knowledge that is made even greater when combined with the collection of other covens. Besides that, we have skills and abilities that others do not. So if there is any group of people who could solve this crisis and figure out its origin, then it would have to be us.”

  The Lunaran stared at her for a moment, their pale blue eyes seeming to pierce her with their blank expression. It was often hard to make out how they felt most of the time, the Lunaran’s expression rarely ranging away from complete disinterest. If there was any feeling to be read by their look, it was tiredness, as they had perpetual heavy bags beneath their eyes.

  “My dear Karis,” they said with a tone of exacerbation. “You neglected to mention why we should.”

  Karis, her lips pursed and teeth gritted, searched for an adequate response. She had not expected the Lunaran to agree, but nor did she anticipate such total dismissal. She had bet on them to point out any logistical problems in her idea, which Karis would have had an easier response to. So all that came to mind was: “Because it's the right thing to do?”

  The Lunaran sighed. “Karis, your compassion is admirable, no matter how misplaced it may be. You grew up most of your life outside the bounds of Qarthus, am I right?”

  Karis nodded. “Growing up, my caravan rarely crossed its borders. Then I spent the last three years here.”

  “Then I can say with good authority that you do not understand the gravity of your request. Me, on the other hand.” The Lunaran unrolled the right sleeve of their robe, revealing the warped skin of a burn mark that stretched from shoulder to forearm. “I once thought the same as you. This is what my compassion bought me.” They let the sleeve roll down their arm, after which they gripped one shoulder and gritted their teeth. And even though they looked down to hide their gaze, Karis could still see the signs of sadness in their eyes. “Many more here have stories similar to mine. Many former citizens of Qarthus who were cast out, castigated or nearly killed. And for what? Because of our gifts? Because their codes and laws and holy books tell them so? We have never given them good reason for such enmity, and yet they still hunt us down.”

  Karis rushed towards the Lunaran and gripped their right hand with both of hers, then forced eye contact. “I have heard many horrific stories of the Empire. But I also know of another story told to all Yor. It is one of the songs of Mother Moon, who says: ‘although they steal and rape and murder, although they stray from what they should, do always remember that all men are good.’ I know you may think me foolish for believing so, and maybe I am. But I refuse to believe that there is no help available from us. That we must stay down here and wait as the world above burns. That every Qarthan is a bloodthirsty zealot who is beneath our worry.”

  The Lunaran freed their hand and placed it on Karis’ chin, their skin smooth and cold to the touch. “We have given all the help we can in sheltering those we deemed safe. I will sanction no more.”

  As the Lunaran removed their hand, Karis felt as if she had just been slapped, the shock of which made any further responses elusive in her thoughts. So she stood there in silence, with the eyes of all her brethren fixed on her, most probably regarding her as foolish, but too sympathetic to the little girl who had just lost all her kin to laugh about it.

  “It won't matter much anyway,” Y’vaine said. “This scourge will abate like all the rest. This is not the first time demons have harrowed the Empire, and it won't be the last. I believe the previous comparable incident was some three hundred years ago. Left a deep mark on Qarthus, but one which healed in a year or two after the Empire’s forces struck down the horde.”

  Karis felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking to her left, she saw that it belonged to Trista, who, whether out of pity or care, gave her a warm smile, then said: “In support of Karis’ case, I would like to add that the incident you mention does not compare as well as one might think. As far as the histories tell, the demons only afflicted one half of the Empire, and were poor when it came to their conquests, only destroying half a dozen towns and a few cities. But as for now, the entirety of Qarthus is crawling with hellspawn, its armies are worn thin and have abandoned much of the landmass, and two major cities have been decimated.”

  “All the more reason to stay away,” the Lunaran said. “To echo Y’vaine, in all likelihood, the Empire will sort its own problems out. We would only be caught in the crossfire.”

  “But how many people will die in the meantime?” Karis shouted, her voice bouncing from every side of the great hall.

  The Lunaran walked past her and towards the exit, not even looking back as they said: “The Qarthan's have long ago made themselves unworthy of our aid. As of today, our ley lines will remain barred from unauthorized use.” They stopped in their tracks and sighed. “But you may try your hand at finding a solution, as long as it is done within the bounds of Hollowhills. It is hell outside, after all.”

  The Lunaran walked past Karis’ ability to see, the rest of her brethren following along, Trista patting her on the back as she left, Y’vaine looking away so as not to meet her gaze. In a few moments, it was just her and Yurina, who joined Karis at her side.

  “That was…quite a speech,” Yurina said.

  “It was stupid.”

  “No, not at all. It was brave of you. And understandable. But I could barely believe it. It was just so sudden.”

  “Yeah. Maybe I should have saved my pleading for later. Give myself some time to refine my arguments. Could have met the Lunaran in private and saved myself the humiliation. But now I’ve made my bed, as the Qarthans say. Better get used to sleeping in it.”

  “You're really going to try to…do what, find a way to kill every demon once and for all?”

  Karis shrugged. “I wish I would have thought of that beforehand.”

  The two exited the hall, Karis’ mind aflame with ideas for possible theories and solutions, but no place to start her search. But there was one certainty within her thoughts, as she was sure there was some way to stop the demons. There had to be. And if the solution eluded her, then there had to be someone who knew.