Demon Lord IV - Lord of Shadows

Demon Lord
IV

Lord of
Shadows

T C
Southwell

Published by T
C Southwell at Smashwords

Copyright ©
2010 T C Southwell

Smashwords
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Table of
Contents

Chapter
One
– God Sight

Chapter
Two
– Mage Prince

Chapter
Three
– Fate

Chapter
Four
– Havoc

Chapter
Five
– Sanctuary

Chapter
Six
– Necromancer

Chapter
Seven
– The Seventh
Ward

Chapter
Eight
– Trap

Chapter
Nine
– Fire Dance

Chapter
Ten
– Darkness Falls

Chapter
Eleven
– Dark
Goddess

Chapter
Twelve
– Lord of
Shadows

Chapter
Thirteen
– The Curse

Chapter
Fourteen
– Rebirth

Chapter
Fifteen
–
Vengeance

Chapter
Sixteen
–
Dark Temple

Prologue

The Demon Lord
travels through the God Realm with Kayos, Mirra, Grem and Mithran
to free Lyriasharin’s enslaved daughter, Ashynaria. They come upon
a dying blue mage who begs Bane to save her goddess from the dark
god who ravages her domain. Bane agrees only to free the goddess,
but then she persuades him to cast Vorkon down. Drayshina’s domain
is dying, the great cities protected by walls of blue fire, but it
is only a matter of time before the dark power consumes the
land.

When she falls
into the dark god’s trap, Bane tries to save her, and is injured in
the battle with Vorkon that follows. Queen Kyan agrees to help him
create seven blue wards to trap Vorkon below, and assigns her most
powerful mages, foremost of whom is her cowardly husband, Prince
Tygon. He must create the seventh ward while Bane protects him and
the other mages. Then Bane will have to face Vorkon again and cast
him down so the wards can be activated and trap the dark god in the
Underworld forever…

Chapter One

God Sight

Bane leant
back as the carriage rattled along the rough road outside the City
of Avadorn, already a pillar of blue fire in the distance. Tygon
and Shrea were as taciturn as Bashir had been loquacious, but he
found that to be less annoying. The fiery rain had forced them to
raise the carriage's roof, but the dimness outside the city was
more pleasing to him than the sunlight had been. The blue mages
looked a little ill. The dark power that filled the air clearly
made them nauseous. It had been present in the city as well,
seeping up from the ground, but in far lesser quantities than it
was here, for the sunlight held it at bay. He closed his eyes, then
sat up with a jerk, opening them again. Tygon looked concerned.

"What is
wrong, My Lord?"

"Nothing."
Bane leant back and closed his eyes again. Within the blackness of
his mind, two pale lights hovered where Tygon and Shrea sat, one
tinged with red and the other with yellow. He opened his eyes,
finding that the yellow-tinged one was Tygon. So the phenomenon in
the village had not been a fleeting aberration brought on by his
need; he could now see people's souls. Curious, he closed his eyes
again and studied the dozen closely packed lights in the wagon
behind them.

Several were
yellow, one was blue, another was green and four were pink, while
the rest were a mixture of two or more colours. Except for one.
Bane frowned. One was almost invisible, because it was dull red,
hidden by the brightness of the others. One of the soldiers in the
wagon was a worshipper of evil. He opened his eyes, wondering if he
should tell Tygon or deal with it himself, but the uproar it would
cause might jeopardise the mission. The new power was disturbing,
and he wondered why Kayos had touched him when they had first met,
to establish whether or not he was tar'merin, when he could see
souls so easily.

Setting the
issue aside, he decided that enough time had passed since they had
left the city, and became invisible. The blue mages looked
uncomfortable, sharing a worried glance as if unsure of whether he
was still with them. He resisted the dark power’s urging to amuse
himself at their expense, and settled back to wait. The carriage
rattled on, raising clouds of ash, and Tygon drew out a silken
handkerchief to mop his brow. He studied the grey smear on it with
a grimace of distaste, then tucked the cloth back into his pocket.
The prince's cowardice irritated Bane, especially since he would be
forced to work with the man.

Bane waited
for the surge of dark power that would herald the arrival of the
black mages. As they entered a belt of dead forest, six black-clad
men leapt out from behind the trees, taking him by surprise. The
warlocks wasted no time on taunting as the previous ones had done,
having prepared themselves and recovered from their Move. Two of
them flung bolts of shadow at the blue mages while the other four
created shields. Tygon gave a girlish scream and threw up his arms,
forming a shimmering blue shield, and Shrea gripped his arm,
raising her own.

Bane gestured,
and a black wall shot up from the ground, consuming the bolts of
darkness. The carriage stopped and the soldiers in the wagons
boiled from them en mass, pointing their silver tubes at the black
mages. Beams of brilliant blue light shot from the weapons, struck
the warlocks' shields and mantled them in coruscating blue fire,
eating away at the black. One mage staggered back, his shield
consumed, and the soldiers concentrated their fire on him, making
him scream and collapse. The others swung their shields to protect
him, foiling the soldiers.

Bane wondered
if the soldiers would triumph and how long it would take, but
decided that if they did prevail, the mages would flee to save
themselves. The first two flung another barrage of black bolts at
the blue mages, which Bane's shield consumed as easily as the
first. Soon they would realise that their attack was futile, and
Move, but for the moment the presence of his shield confused them,
not knowing its source.

Bane raised an
arm and pointed at the nearest black mage, whose shield held for
only a moment. He fell, screaming as his skin blackened and smoke
rose from his hair. The others gaped at their fallen comrade, then
two tried to flee, drawing their shields back into themselves to
power their Move. Bane waved his hand at them in the instant before
they did, and they leapt into the air with agonised shrieks. One
exploded with a thud, splattering his companions with blood and
gore. The other fell writhing, his insides cooked.

The remaining
three drew together, joining their shields into a more powerful,
combined one. As long as they held it, none of them could Move.
Bane shed the cloak of invisibility and stepped down from the
carriage, gesturing to the soldiers, who stopped firing. Bane
stopped before the warlocks and gripped the edge of the black
shield. The mages eyed him, their grim faces filled with the
knowledge that they were doomed. They were middle-aged, in the
prime of life, their features sculpted to handsomeness by the dark
power. Curious, Bane closed his eyes. All three had dull red souls,
and the three on the ground were now empty cadavers.

A shriek from
the carriage made Bane open his eyes and glance around. Shrea had
shed her shield and tried to soothe Tygon, who cringed, his eyes
screwed shut. When she touched him, he shuddered and shrieked.

"This is the
man you would serve, dark god?" one of the black mages asked.

Bane faced
him. "I serve no one."

"What do you
hope to achieve?"

"I will free
this domain."

The mage's
cold grey eyes flicked over him. "You are mortal. Vorkon will kill
you and destroy your soul unless you join him."

"I will not.
Nor will he kill me. We have already met."

"This was a
trap."

"Yes."

The mage
nodded. "So you intend to kill us."

"Of
course."

"We cannot
fight you. We will surrender."

Bane smiled.
"No."

"We will cast
out our power."

"No."

"We will
repent, become blue mages."

Bane shook his
head. "You are evil."

"Perhaps the
consort should decide."

"I have
already decided."

Another shriek
came from the carriage, followed by a slap. Shrea muttered fierce
words, and Tygon's shield winked out. The dishevelled consort
uncurled and raised his head, glancing around at his audience as he
made an effort to pull himself together. He ran a hand through his
hair and tugged at his tunic, then stepped from the carriage with
all the poise he could muster. The soldiers were ranged behind him,
their silver weapons lowered, and Bane closed his eyes briefly,
locating the evil one amongst them. Tygon approached Bane, Shrea
half dragging him.

"Do I have to
watch this?" he mumbled.

"Better if you
do not," Bane replied with a scathing look.

Tygon nodded
and started to turn away.

One of the
warlocks cried, "Mercy, prince consort!"

Releasing his
portion of the shield, he dropped to his knees. At the same moment,
the other two drew in the shield's power and the soldier raised his
weapon, pointing it at Tygon. Bane spun, sent Tygon sprawling with
a push and unleashed a lash of dark fire at the soldier with a
flick of his hand. The man leapt into the air with a scream, but
Bane was already swinging back to face the mages.

Both tried to
Move, gesturing to aid their concentration. One faded, and Bane
struck at him first. All movement around him became torpid, and he
realised that he had taken hold of time again, but he did not know
how. The dark fire struck the fading mage, and his scream echoed
back as he vanished, certainly dead before he reached his
destination. The other died before he could attempt to Move, and
the third flung up his hands and formed a shield, which slowed
Bane's power for a few moments, then the last warlock expired with
a howl.

The Demon Lord
lowered his hands, finding everyone frozen in place, and wondered
if he had somehow stopped time, and, if so, how he could start it
again. Then Tygon slumped in a dead faint, and the tableau
shattered as people rushed to his side. Bane gave a snort of
disgust, shifting his gaze to the soldier he had killed. A comrade
knelt beside the body, staring at Bane with horror and anger. Bane
walked over to him, and the soldier stood up, hefting his
weapon.

"Why did you
kill him?"

"He was a
worshipper of evil; he was aiming his weapon at the consort."

The soldier
eyed him. "I don't believe you. He was a good man."

Bane spread
his hands and smiled. "So shoot me. His soul belonged to Vorkon.
Worshippers of the dark are good liars."

"As are dark
gods."

"True." Bane
shrugged. "But if I am lying, why did I bother to kill him? I had
enough to do at the time."

"I don't
know."

"Ignorance is
bliss." Bane looked down at the silver tube the man held. "I am
curious about your weapons. How much damage can they do?"

"A lot."

"They did not
seem too effective against the mages."

"They had
shields."

Bane nodded.
"And against a normal man?"

"He would die
instantly, with a hole through him."

"Indeed? How
interesting." Bane held up his hand. "Shoot me."