"How do you know the Black Lord
was not destroyed?"
"I do not, any more than you
know he was."
Martal sat back, frowning, and
Tallis quelled a smile. There had been a time when she had shared
his sentiments, but she no longer did. She still hated what Bane
had done to Mirra, but found that she could not hate him now that
he had saved them from the Black Lord, and especially since the
feat had clearly cost him dearly. Now that they had moved away from
the crater's heat, steam rose from him, and sweat trickled down his
face.
At the abbey, the dust had
settled, and a bevy of healers waited to help Ellese down from the
cart and carry Mirra and Bane to their rooms. Tallis went with
Mirra, but found that she was not needed. The two healers who had
carried Mirra to her room set about washing her cuts, and, after
hovering for a few moments, Tallis went to Bane's room.
There she found Ellese
supervising his care, which was progressing slowly, due to the
reluctance of her helpers to touch the Demon Lord. The three women
who had helped to carry him from the battleground were not in
evidence, and those who now assisted her evidently lacked strong
stomachs. They had removed his shirt, revealing bloody welts on his
shoulders, neck, arms and chest, as well as the oozing cuts on his
belly and bruises on his jaw, ribs and neck. Blood seeped from his
eyes, nose and ears, staining the pillow. Sweat soaked his hair and
the sheets upon which he lay.
A healer bent over him, rubbing
green paste into the wounds on his belly, her face almost as green
as her fingers. Tallis surprised herself by volunteering to do it,
and the woman moved away with alacrity, handing Tallis the jar. She
sat beside him, ignoring the unpleasant knotting of her stomach,
and rubbed the paste into all the cuts she could find. His skin
almost burnt her fingers, and wisps of steam still rose from
it.
She glanced up at Ellese. "He is
burning up, Mother."
Ellese came to his side and
groped for his brow, laying her hand on it with a frown, then felt
for the pulse in his neck. "His heart is racing too, fast enough to
kill a normal man. It must be from using so much power, but he must
be able to withstand it, else he would be dead already." She turned
her head towards the doorway, where a throng of healers stood.
"Fetch cold water and cloths."
When Tallis had finished
smearing green paste on Bane's wounds, she picked up one of his
hands and examined it. The terrible burns that mutilated his
fingers dismayed her. The wounds did not bleed, for the fire that
had caused them had also cauterised them, and all she could do was
smear them with a soothing salve and bandage them. The healers
returned with a bucket of water and cloths, which they soaked and
laid on his chest. Tallis took on the task of cooling the hot
cloths and replacing them, and the rest of the women left. Ellese
waited until Tallis reported that his temperature had almost
returned to normal, then left as she removed his boots and pulled
the sheet over him.
Chapter
Thirteen
Aftermath
The next day, the soldiers
buried their dead in the trench they had dug around the abbey,
before the bodies started to decay. The dark army watched them with
dull eyes, and the villagers seemed too apathetic to do anything
but sit around their campfires. Nothing had changed. The clouds did
not miraculously clear away, and the eternal flame in the chapel
remained dim. The news of the Black Lord's downfall spread amongst
the people in whispers, but no one seemed inclined to celebrate it;
all were too concerned with their misery and hunger. When the news
reached the dark folk, they stirred and muttered. Some groups
vanished into the forest, but the rest remained.
Ellese started to regain her
sight on the second day, but her eyes were still too painful to
open. Tallis shared her time between Mirra's bedside and Bane's, as
did Ellese. The blood stopped seeping from Bane's eyes, and the
dark power burnt all trace of it away. Neither of them showed any
signs of waking, however, and Mirra's arm worried Tallis. The cloth
had been removed so the healers could examine it, revealing the
horror of the transformation, then it was covered again. Ellese
assured her that as soon as the sun returned and the healers
regained their powers, it would be healed.
Two more dark, miserable days
passed, and Ellese's eyes recovered a little. The healers shared
their food with the villagers, and an occasional blood-curdling
scream came from the depths of the dark army as one of its number
perished to feed the rest.
On the fifth day, Mirra woke,
unleashing a reign of horror upon the healers. Her first action was
to tear off the cloth that covered her arm. Then, she began to
scream. Tallis tried to soothe her, but Mirra pushed her away,
weeping hysterically as she clawed at the black scales. Her nails
tore, and blood ran from her fingers until she was held down and
her hand bandaged. Her transformed arm was also wrapped so she
could not use it to tear the bandages off her other hand, and thus
handicapped, all she could do was weep. It took an entire night and
day before she calmed down, exhausted by her hysterics, after which
she stared into space with vacant, hollow eyes. Tallis tried to
persuade her to eat, but she turned her face to the wall and closed
her eyes.
On the seventh
day it started to rain, and the healers thanked the Goddess for the
blessed gift, even though the rain was black with soot, and burnt.
The vile water scalded man and beast alike, and forced the
villagers to herd their livestock into the abbey's stables to
protect them. It ate into the temple's bricks and mortar, causing
unprotected outside walls to crumble. In some places it burnt
through the roof tiles and formed hissing pools until the healers
set buckets under the leaks. The dry ground soaked it up for half a
day, then the ash turned to mud and ran downhill, filling hollows
with thick grey slush. The villagers huddled in the chapel, their
children filling the usually silent abbey halls with soft sobbing.
The
dark folk retreated to
the forest's dubious shelter, and Martal was glad to see them go,
he only wished they would leave completely.
The rain continued to fall and
the water to rise, invading the abbey with questing fingers of mud,
flooding storerooms and forcing the soldiers to spend a day moving
the supplies to higher ground. Tallis developed a strong wish that
Bane would wake, but the Demon Lord lay like one dead. Only the
movement of his chest indicated that he was alive. The seven runes
dimmed to a dark reddish glow, and the power emanating from him
lessened. The flesh melted from him, however, since he ate nothing
but the sugar water the healers trickled into his mouth.
Tallis was dozing on the chair
in his room when a soft sound jerked her awake, and she glanced at
the bed. Bane's eyes were open, and he stared at the ceiling with a
distant, bemused expression. Tallis jumped up and hastened to his
side, dithered, then ran to the door to shout the news into the
corridor. Rushing back to the bed, she found that he had raised an
arm to examine the bandage on his hand. His eyes were impossibly
blue, glowing like jewels, and she jumped when they flicked to her,
impaling her with their brilliance.
"Take these off."
She hesitated, surprised. Surely
he should be asking for water, or food? "Your hands are badly
burnt."
He tried to sit up, but flopped
back. "Do as I say."
"All right, but could you...?"
She gestured to his chest.
Bane glanced down at the runes
and closed his eyes. The glow vanished, and with it, the dark
power. Tallis sat on the edge of the bed, hoping that Ellese would
arrive soon, for she found him extremely unnerving. She unwrapped
the bandages, trying not to hurt him and dreading his reaction to
what lay beneath them.
The healers
had expected an infection to set in, which would have led to
amputation without the power to heal him, but his hands had
remained the same as the day they had found him. He scowled when
she removed the last of the bandages, flex
ed his fingers and winced.
Ellese came in, followed by
several Elder Mothers, who stopped in the doorway. She smiled at
him, her eyes bright with joy.
"It is good to see you awake.
How do you feel?"
He glared at her, shooting a
hard glance at the women in the doorway. "Where is Mirra?"
"She is in her room."
A little of the tension left
him, and he tried to sit up again, but failed. Ellese came closer
and shooed Tallis away, then sat in her place and held out her
hand.
"Would you like some help?"
Bane glowered at her, but placed
his wrist in her hand. She gripped it, and with her help, he pulled
himself up. Tallis pushed pillows in behind him, and he scowled at
the women in the doorway.
"Leave."
They obeyed, to Tallis'
surprise, for Elder Mothers did not usually take kindly to being
dismissed in such a rude fashion. Bane glanced at her, and she
froze, dreading her own dismissal, but after a moment's
consideration he turned his attention back to Ellese.
"How is she?"
"As well as can be
expected."
Bane seemed to accept this at
face value, and glanced at the sheets of grey rain outside the
window, then back at his hand. Ellese poured a cup of water from
the jug on the bedside table and held it out to him. He raised his
hand, hesitated, then closed his eyes and sighed.
"It seems fate has granted your
wish, old woman. My hands are useless. I require your help."
She smiled. "It will be my
pleasure."
Ellese held the cup to Bane's
lips, and he sipped the water. Something had changed, but Tallis
could not quite put her finger on exactly what it was. When he had
drunk half the water, he shook his head, and Ellese put the cup
down.
"Bane, you require healing and
for that, we need the sun. It has been raining for four days; the
land is flooded. Are you strong enough to help us?"
"Perhaps when I have eaten."
Ellese glanced at Tallis. "Bring
some food. The best we have."
Tallis nodded and fled, her bare
feet pattering on the stone floor. The news of Bane's awakening had
spread throughout the temple, and a buzz of excitement filled the
halls. Even in the kitchens, the women chattered eagerly, their
eyes bright with hope. Bane's request had been foreseen, and a rich
stew bubbled on the stove, filled with the finest food the abbey
possessed. The god in their midst had woken, and the promise of
deliverance from their hardship shone in the future like a beacon.
Tallis left the kitchens and ran to Mirra's room, leaving the hope
and happiness of the halls to enter the gloom and sorrow that
filled it.
Mirra lay curled on the bed,
facing the wall, her bound hands tucked under her chin. Tallis sat
beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder, which stiffened at her
touch.
"Mir, Bane is awake. He is going
to bring back the sun, and then you can be healed." Mirra began to
weep again, and Tallis' heart sank. "Come on, Mir, this will soon
be over, I promise."
"You cannot heal me," she
muttered. "No one can."
"Of course we can, and we
will."
"You cannot!" Mirra's face
twisted, and she buried it in the pillow.
"Mir..." Tallis shook her, but
she only hunched her shoulder. "Come on, Mir. I will bring him to
see you as soon as he is strong enough."
"No!"
The vehemence in Mirra's voice
startled Tallis. "But I thought -"
"Do not bring him here. I could
not bear it." She raised her head, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I
do not want him to see what that monster did to me."
"But -"
"No! Do not. Promise me."
"Mir..."
Mirra raised the swaddled,
monstrous arm, waving it. "Do you think I want him to see
this?"
"No, of course not. After you
are healed then, all right?"
She lay back, closing her eyes.
"Yes, after I am healed."
"Good." Tallis hesitated,
sensing something wrong with her reaction, then shrugged it off and
rose, heading back to the kitchens to fetch Bane's food.
Ellese regarded Bane with deep
affection, wishing she could embrace him. "What happened out
there?"
"I think you know."
"You called upon the Lady, and
she blessed you."
"Blessed me? She almost bloody
killed me."
"I am sure she had no
choice."
He held up his hand. "This is
why there are no white mages."
"Yes. The white fire is too
powerful for a mortal to wield. The only reason you survived is
because you are a god, albeit a dark one. She was able to use you
as a conduit, but you had to ask for her help." She laid a hand on
his chest, her need to touch him overcoming her reluctance to anger
him. "I watched it all. It was amazing. When he created that
monster I thought you were doomed."
A slight, bitter smile curled
his lips. "Whatever the Black Lord can do, so can I."
"Are the people outside the
hallowed ground in danger from demons now?"
"Not for a while. Almost half of
them were at the battle, the fire and earth demons, anyway. They
are now all too weak to do anything for some time. And those that
were below are also considerably weakened because of the vast
amount of dark power that was drawn from the Underworld during the
battle. Minor demons that were above at that time remain a threat,
but generally demons do not kill humans for sport. They prefer
tormenting and trickery to amuse themselves."
Ellese smiled. "Good."
Tallis came in with a bowl of
steaming stew, and the conversation ceased while Ellese fed him,
being careful not to treat him like a child. He clearly hated his
disability, often raising his crippled hand and glaring at it.
After he had finished the stew, she left him to rest, shooing
Tallis out.