Demon Lord III - Grey God (18 page)

"Precisely."

"But so are
you."

He nodded,
gazing off into the distance. "Then I should act like one, since
you choose to treat me like one."

Drayshina
glanced at Kayos, who looked sad. "You have just insulted him, my
dear."

She turned
back to Bane. "I am wrong. You are tar'merin, My Lord. You fight
for the light, to save the weak and innocent. What of the innocent
who dwell here, who will perish in horrible ways without your help?
Women and children."

Bane shot her
a sharp glance. "Now you seek to appeal to my compassion, on the
off chance that I have any?"

"If you are
tar'merin, you must."

Bane released
his cup of ambrosia, which vanished. "You would do better to apply
to my ego."

"I think
not."

He frowned.
"Why not?"

"You have
already admitted that you fear Vorkon."

"No I did
not."

"Bane," Kayos
murmured. "Why not ask Mirra what she wishes you to do?"

The Demon Lord
raised a hand and pointed a finger at the Grey God, making
Drayshina stiffen in alarm. "You leave her out of it. Better still,
you stay out of it altogether."

Kayos smiled,
raised his hands in a gesture of appeasement and sent Drayshina a
meaningful glance.

She studied
the pale girl at Bane's side, who bit her lip, looking embarrassed,
then gazed at Bane. "You heed your wife's wishes?"

"That is not
your concern."

"Do you intend
to have children?"

"In all
likelihood."

Drayshina
glanced at Kayos again, who nodded. "What would you do, My Lord, if
your children were down there now, being slaughtered by Vorkon? Or
your wife and father?"

"Save
them."

"So would I,
if I could. But I cannot, so I must watch them die. You can save
them, yet you will not. If our roles were reversed, how would you
persuade me to help you?"

Bane closed
his eyes and rubbed his brow. Kayos gestured, and an Eye appeared
before them, at first showing only a dull, ravaged landscape under
a dark sky. Mirra gasped and gazed at the mystical oval of
shimmering power with wide eyes. The scene within it changed
several times as the Grey God commanded it, then filled with a
vista of terrible carnage. A horde of dark people had overrun a
town, and slaughtered the inhabitants in gruesome ways.

Drayshina's
eyes filled with tears, and she bit her lip as she looked at Bane,
who had opened his eyes a slit to watch the scene, his expression
impassive. Mirra gave a choked cry and looked away. Kayos adjusted
the Eye's focus, zooming in on a huddle of children weeping
together in terror, clinging to a young woman who tried to shield
them. A group of men dragged the children away, slaying them
cruelly. The young woman attacked them with fists and nails, but
they hacked her down.

Kayos glanced
at the Demon Lord, who glared at him. Bane gestured, and a burst of
shadow consumed the Eye in a blinding flash of blue light.
Drayshina shrank back with a sharp gasp, and Kayos put a hand on
her arm to reassure her, watching Bane. He stood up and swung away,
his cloak flaring. Mirra curled up on the couch, wiping her
eyes.

"Very clever,"
Bane said. "You know full well the memories such a scene will bring
back from what Lyriasharin told you, I suppose."

Kayos
shrugged. "I know you have compassion."

"Sometimes I
do not."

"Most of the
time you do. You know what is right."

"You seek to
sway me with guilt?"

"No."

The Demon Lord
glanced at his wife, who gazed at him with pleading eyes. "Tell me
about him."

Drayshina
forced herself to relax a little. "He was a powerful black mage who
lived about four hundred years ago. His lifetime spanned almost
nine hundred years, and during that time he amassed a following of
black mages and dark people. He had a rival, Arjal, who slew him
when he grew old and frail.

"Arjal still
lived when Vorkon rose as a god, and Vorkon destroyed him. While
Vorkon was in the Darkworld, many powerful blue mages rose amongst
my people, and they created instruments, engines and vehicles that
use it. Some of the instruments are weapons, but they are useless
against a dark god. My blue mages hold his power at bay within my
cities with vast machines, but his evil slowly swallows my land,
and many powerful black mages aid him.

"They are no
threat to you, but they are to my blue mages, whose lives I
cherish. Four months ago he corrupted one of my priestesses and
gained a Key to the light realm. Since then he has hunted me, and I
have hidden amongst my priestesses, some of whom have volunteered
to lead him astray. Until you came, I was certain it would only
delay the inevitable."

Bane turned to
face them. "The plight of your people is pitiful indeed."

She inclined
her head, brushing tears from her cheeks. "Will you help them, My
Lord, for their sake, if not mine?"

"My power is
my curse, so I am aptly named, but it is not much use against
Vorkon. The goddess who guarded the Gate was weak and gullible. The
element of surprise served me well against her. But from what you
have told me, Vorkon will not share those traits."

"No, he does
not."

"As for the
black mages, they are a threat to me, as is any mortal with a
dagger who gets close enough to use it, or an archer from
afar."

She looked
away. "Of course, I am remiss, My Lord."

"You can
defeat him, Bane." Kayos smiled and gestured to the couch. "Come,
sit down and relax. Let us discuss how we can do it."

Bane settled
beside Mirra and summoned another cup of ambrosia, slipping his
free arm around her. "I would rather trap him in the Darkworld.
Creating a ward would be a simple matter."

Drayshina
shook her head. "He hardly ever goes below anymore. The mid-realm
is so much like the Darkworld now he feels quite at home in
it."

"Then I shall
have to take him below, which means I cannot create the wards. You
say you have many powerful blue mages?"

She
nodded.

"Have they
tried to set wards over him?"

"Yes. His
warlocks killed them."

Bane frowned
into his cup.

"You will have
to kill them," Kayos said.

"So it would
seem." Bane glanced at Drayshina. "Why not close the World
Gate?"

"I cannot, as
long as he holds it open."

"Then we
cannot remain here, for soon he will discover Jishka's absence and
come to find out what has happened to her. I must find somewhere to
rest, where he will not find me."

"You will be
safe in one of my temples for a time."

Bane looked
puzzled. "One thing I do not understand is how he plans to capture
you. Surely you could elude him indefinitely?"

"He has only
to lay his hands upon me, and I will be helpless."

"I see." Bane
paused to consider this, which solved the mystery of why light gods
did not wish him to touch them. "But how would he ever lay his
hands upon you?"

"All he
requires is my location, and he will have me. I block his Eye, but
his hounds seek me. He has also laid many traps for me, I am
sure."

"Fetches, of
course." Bane frowned. "But how will he keep you captive? Surely he
will not cling to you forever?"

"No. He will
have created a flesh creature, and I will be delivered into its
grasp. Once anchored by it, I cannot Move. He will fasten it to the
ground, and I will be trapped."

"A flesh
creature?"

"A monster
formed from many of his worshippers."

Bane recalled
the monsters Arkonen had created in the Overworld, realising that
their purpose had been to hold Lyriasharin captive. "Why use
people? Why not use droges?"

"I can strip
away a droge's form, but living flesh I cannot kill except with a
mundane weapon, unless it is a wielder of the darkness, like a
black mage, or a mortal dark god, such as you. The flesh creature
will hold me so I cannot harm it."

"Vorkon may be
clad in a droge form when he captures you, surely?"

Drayshina
nodded. "But he is a god, and therefore the dark power protects
him."

Bane dismissed
his cup. "I must rest."

"I shall take
you to one of my temples. There the white fire will protect
us."

Bane stood up
and stretched. "Then let us go. I need some sleep."

Kayos and
Drayshina rose, and she led them out of the gazebo, which shrank
back to its former size, two couches vanishing. Tarris waited in
the gardens with Mithran and Grem, and knelt at their approach
while the men bowed. Drayshina gestured for her to rise, and the
priestess' eyes lingering on Bane.

Drayshina
folded her hands, and a pale grey room with a window covered by a
printed curtain replaced the light realm. Two chairs, a table and a
bed furnished it, reminding Bane of the cell he had occupied in the
Goddess' Temple in the Overworld. He sat on the bed and removed his
boots and cloak. Mirra joined him while Mithran and Grem spread
their bedrolls on the floor. Drayshina let the priestess out,
locking the door behind her. Kayos created a couch and stretched
out on it after removing his boots.

"You should
rest too, Drayshina," he advised.

"Perhaps I
shall. This is where I was hiding before Tarris called me. It
should be safe for several more hours."

Bane lay down
and closed his eyes, yawning. "Seven at least, I hope."

"Possibly.
Dark people accompany Vorkon's hounds, but we will have plenty of
warning."

"Which makes
me wonder how he ever hoped to capture you, since you can simply
flee to another temple."

Drayshina's
expression became sorrowful. "He is destroying my temples, My Lord.
Soon I will have nowhere to hide. Darkness is swallowing the
mid-realm, and what you saw in the Eye was but a small fraction of
the horror being perpetrated there."

"I have seen
its like before."

"Then you know
how terrible it is."

"Yes."

"Let him
sleep, Drayshina," Kayos murmured.

Chapter Nine

The Fetch

A soft
knocking on the door woke Bane, and he opened his eyes as Drayshina
let Tarris in. She placed the tray she bore on the table, bowing
first to Drayshina, then to Kayos, and finally to Bane.

"Food for you
and your companions, Demon Lord, if it pleases you."

A meaty aroma
made Bane's mouth water, and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. Tarris
offered him a bowl of steaming stew, then handed bowls to Mithran
and Grem. When she offered one to Mirra, Bane shook his head.

"My wife does
not consume meat, priestess."

"I will fetch
something suitable for her at once, My Lord."

Mirra smiled.
"Thank you."

When Tarris
returned with a plate of pastries and steamed vegetables, she also
brought Bane a bowl of warm water and a cloth. His years without
the dark power had accustomed him to using water for washing,
although he no longer needed to do so now. He offered the cloth to
Mirra first, then used it before passing it on to his father.

"A hound has
been seen beyond the hallowed ground, My Lady," Tarris informed
Drayshina.

"The dark
people will come soon then. Prepare to abandon the temple. Have you
told the others about the Demon Lord and Kayos?"

"Yes, My Lady.
They are frightened, but hopeful."

"They must
tell no one else, that is imperative. Their presence here is to be
kept a secret."

Tarris nodded.
"Yes, My Lady. I am sorry."

"It is not
your fault. I should have told you before."

Drayshina
dismissed the priestess and paced around until Bane put aside his
empty bowl, then turned to him. "If you are ready, My Lord, we must
go to another temple. Unless you wish to hunt the black mages
now?"

"I suppose we
must start with them."

"Then I will
take you to a place where many are to be found."

He pulled on
his boots. "Very well."

"Your
companions will be safe if they remain with my priestesses."

Bane glanced
at Mirra, frowning. "This place is about to be overrun by dark
people, is it not?"

"We go to do
battle with black mages."

Bane stood up,
making Drayshina step back. "They stay with me."

"As you wish,
My Lord."

As soon as he
clipped on his cloak, Drayshina folded her hands. They stood in a
grey meadow that dead forests bordered on three sides. Fiery rain
fell from dark clouds, a lurid glow, which Bane surmised was the
sun, lighting them. Drifting ash shrouded the land, and in the
distance a great mountain spewed smoke and fire, rivers of lava
running down its slopes. The dark power was so intense that bright
blue nimbuses surrounded the light gods, and Bane calculated it to
be sufficiently strong to sicken people and corrupt the weaker
ones.

The scene was
far worse than the Overworld had been when he had cast Arkonen
down. No wind stirred the stagnant, putrid air, and only an
occasional rumble from the volcano broke the oppressive silence.
Bane wondered how anyone could survive in this hellish domain, then
he turned, and his eyes widened in amazement. The open side of the
meadow afforded a view of a vast, glittering metropolis of pale
buildings and tall towers.

Sprawling
suburbs surrounded it, the roads lined with flowering trees, and
beyond that, golden grain fields and green pasture. The city basked
in a pool of light that poured down in a blazing column, the
shimmering walls of blue fire that arose from it holding the clouds
at bay. Although the base of the fire wall ran around the edge of
the city, it expanded so the hole in the clouds was large enough to
provide sunlight for the farmland as well. Bane studied it,
intrigued.