Demon Lord V - God Realm (23 page)

Ethra cast
another puzzled glance over her shoulder, then stood up and
approached the two gods. Bane stepped towards her, concerned for
her safety. Ethra reached the goddess' side and tried to tug on her
gown, but her hand passed right through it.

"They're
illusions!" she cried, and walked around to pass her hand through
the dark god's form. She sank down on the sand in an attitude of
intense despair, bowing her head.

Bane stared at
the illusory gods, wondering who cast the image, and why. Ethra
buried her face in her hands and wept. Becoming visible, Bane
walked towards her.

"Come, Ethra,
let us go back now."

She looked up
at him, tears making runnels in the dust on her cheeks. "I knew
you'd come after me."

"What you did
was stupid, and I am not happy with you. If these two had been
real, you could have been killed."

Bane became
aware of a deep, droning hum emanating from all around him, too low
for normal people to hear, and stopped, glancing around.

"You'd have
saved me," Ethra muttered, knuckling her eyes.

Bane held out
his hand. "Come, quickly. I dislike this place."

Montar
recoiled when the dra'voren became visible, and Nikira gasped,
staring at the image. He was certainly impressive, despite the
tattered blindfold he wore. She held her breath as he walked into
the field area. The child looked up at him and spoke, then wept.
The dra'voren said something to her and extended his hand.

"He's going to
kill her! Quick Montar!"

"Just another
few seconds."

"Now!
Hurry!"

Nikira gripped
the back of Montar's chair with white-knuckled hands. Alarms
whooped, filling the air with a cacophony of ear-piercing sound.
Montar's hands flew over his console, powering up the vast
generators that would capture the dra'voren. Nikira bit her lip,
then Montar's flying fingers grew still, and the ship
shuddered.

"Trap
activated."

Ethra started
to stand up, reaching for Bane's hand. A brilliant flash of blue
engulfed them, and she screamed. Bane lunged towards her and
grabbed her hand as he became weightless. A biting chill shot
through him, numbing his extremities. He tumbled through the blue
light, pulling Ethra into his arms in an effort to shield her from
the intense cold. She screamed again and wound her arms around his
neck so tightly that she almost cut off his air. Her shriek, so
close to his ear, nearly deafened him.

Bane barely
had time to realise that they were in a trap before the blue light
and cold vanished, and he fell onto a hard floor. Ethra sprawled
beside him, shrieking again. The impact jarred his broken arm,
cracking the cast, and he grunted. Lights danced in his head,
blurring his far-see, and he writhed, tasting blood. Something hit
him with a vicious thump, and everything went black.

Nikira raced
into the containment room, Montar hard on her heels, and almost
bowled over a technician who sprinted across her path. She avoided
him and ran over to the observation window of the shredder chamber,
where more technicians clustered.

"Did we get
him?"

The senior
containment technician, Enyo, turned and nodded, his expression
grim. "And the girl child."

"Is she
alive?"

"Yes."

Nikira elbowed
a young technician aside and took his place at the two-inch thick
armoured glass observation window. The dra'voren lay on his side,
his long black cloak spread over and around him, revealing a
gleaming crimson lining, like satin. He was dressed entirely in
black, his tunic patterned in the front with abstract gold designs.
The girl lay close beside him, on his cloak, her arms around his
neck.

"Poor child,
she must have been terrified to cling to that monster."

"Let's get her
out of there."

Enyo went over
to the armoured door and tapped in the digital code that unlocked
it. The ovoid portal sank inwards and slid open with a hiss. He
darted inside, scooped up the girl, and hastened back out. Another
technician closed it and tapped in the locking code. Nikira pitied
the ragged girl. He handed her to a waiting medical technician, who
bore her off to the ship's hospital.

The
containment techs returned to their consoles to start the sequence
that would culminate in the dra'voren's shredding. Nikira turned
back to the window and gazed at the man-like creature that lay
within its foot-thick steel walls. He had some strange features for
a dra'voren. Not only the ragged blindfold, but what appeared to be
a stone accoutrement on his left arm.

Then again,
she reminded herself, dra'voren came in all shapes and sizes,
although this one was the most human looking she had seen. She
frowned and peered at his face in surprise. A crimson liquid, which
looked like blood, oozed from his mouth. Curious, she mused, but it
was far too dangerous to even consider examining him, strange
though he was.

"Shred him,"
she ordered.

The contechs
tapped their consoles, and Montar studied the dra'voren as he
waited for the satisfying sight of the shredding. Nikira put her
hand on his shoulder.

"A good day's
work. One less to destroy worlds and creators."

Montar nodded,
his brown eyes bright with anticipation. Within the shredder room,
five black lodestones emerged from their niches in the walls, each
the size of a man's head. Oscillating light guns on the walls
rotated, their tips glowing as they warmed up. A technician ran his
hand over his console, and lines of blue fire spat from the guns in
a web of blinding light. Nikira put on a pair of dark glasses and
handed another pair to Montar as the flashes speeded up, filling
the chamber with flickering incandescence. Through it, Nikira could
make out the dravoren's still form. She frowned. His substance
should have been warping and sloughing off, but he remained
unchanged.

"Commander,
come and look at this."

Nikira turned
to the senior contech, who stood frowning at a scanner screen.
"What is it?"

"He's not
there anymore."

"What do you
mean? I can see him there, as clear as you."

Enyo gestured
at the screen. "I mean, he's not on the scanner anymore. According
to that, he's not a dra'voren. He's alive."

"What?" Nikira
shook her head. "That's impossible. He was a dra'voren when we
captured him. He was on the scanners!"

"Well, he's
not now."

She swung back
to the observation window and stared at the man who lay in the
midst of the flickering blue light, unharmed by their only weapon
against dra'voren. "Montar, you saw him. He was invisible, and he
showed up on the scanners."

"Of course he
did. He set off all the alarms. He's a damned dra'voren."

"Then why
isn't he shredding?"

"Buggered if I
know." Montar scowled.

Enyo came to
stand beside them. "He's alive."

"So you've
said," Nikira snapped. "But need I remind you that what you're
saying is impossible? There's no such thing as a living dra'voren.
And if he's alive, why haven't the guns burnt him? There's enough
fire in there to parboil an army."

Enyo shook his
head. "What I want to know is what the hell are we going to do with
him now?"

"Turn off the
shredder."

Montar
murmured, "If he's not on the scanner any more, he might be
relatively safe to examine."

"How
safe?"

"Anaesthetise
him and put him in a stasis field. We can't take any chances."

"How the hell
did he stop being a dra'voren?"

Montar stared
at the black-clad man in the containment chamber as the light died.
"He didn't."

"If he's not
on the scanners, how can he be a dra'voren?"

"I don't know,
but we've got to find out. He may be a new breed that we must learn
how to deal with."

"Perhaps we
should see if he can be killed like a normal human."

Montar nodded.
"Our examination will tell us that. He's still incapacitated, which
is odd. A dra'voren should have recovered from the stunner by now.
Let's wait for him to move and then gas him. If that doesn't work,
we know the stunner does."

Nikira turned
to frown at the man in the chamber again. This was not going to
plan, and she disliked surprises. "What's happening with his
slaves?"

"We've sent
out a team to collect them. They should be here soon."

"Make sure you
decontaminate them thoroughly."

"Of
course."

Nikira swung
away. "I want that thing so thoroughly clamped down, frozen and
drugged that it cannot move. Keep it in the shredder chamber with
the lodestones active, just in case."

Sarrin frowned
at the spot where Bane and Ethra had vanished in a blaze of blue
light. The strange gods had also disappeared. Mirra looked alarmed,
and spoke to Mithran, who seemed equally puzzled. He shook his head
and muttered something that sounded like an assurance. Artan cast
Sarrin a puzzled glance.

"Where did
they go?"

"Perhaps Bane
made them invisible, and the other two did the same."

"And the blue
light?"

She shook her
head. "He can use the blue power, but he wouldn't do that against a
dark god. Unless he's so afraid of the dark power now that he
tried."

"Or they fell
into a trap, like the one he found us in."

"If so, we're
doomed."

A cry of fear
made them swing around, and Sarrin gasped. A vast silver ovoid had
appeared several hundred yards away, as if from thin air, and hung
just above the ground. Everyone gaped at it, some of the women
wailing in terror, and the men picked up faggots of firewood,
preparing for battle. Artan's hand flew to his sword hilt, and he
stood frozen, staring at the amazing object. Mithran and Grem
stepped in front of Mirra, grasping their weapons too. The steeds
pranced, one rearing. A portal slid open in the ovoid's belly and a
ramp extended from it. Moments later, several man-like beings
emerged from a brightly lighted interior and walked down the ramp.
Some carried short silver sticks; others bore what looked like
platters.

"Armorgan's
teeth! What the hell are those?" Artan said.

"They look
like men," Sarrin replied.

The beings
wore silver tunics and trousers, thick soled boots and strange
black helmets with odd gadgets protruding in front of their faces.
As they approached the grimy crowd, the women sought safety at the
back of the throng, leaving the men to face the strangers, hefting
their makeshift weapons. Artan drew his sword and marched forward
to confront the strangers, followed by his soldiers and Juvo.
Sarrin hesitated, and then hurried after them. Mirra hung back, and
Grem and Mithran stayed with her.

The strangers
stopped a few feet away, and those who carried platters held them
out to display the food on them. Cries of joy came from the
starving crowd, and some members moved towards the tempting
offering. Artan grabbed a man as he darted past.

"Are you mad?
It could be a trap!"

The man jerked
his arm free and strode towards the nearest silver clad being, who
stepped back as if unnerved by the rush of hungry people. In
moments all the food had been grabbed and stuffed into ravenous
mouths, and the beings gestured to the huge ovoid, making signs
that clearly meant there was more food available within it.

Artan glanced
at Sarrin. "What do you think?"

"I do not
know. Bane is gone, and perhaps they took him. We might get food in
there, but if we stay here and Bane does not return, we will
die."

"They might
kill us when we're inside."

"They could
kill us out here if they wanted to."

Artan glared
at the beings, who continued to wave the people towards the ship. A
lot of them followed the directions, albeit with a great deal of
trepidation.

"What if Bane
returns?" Artan demanded.

"What if he
does not?" Sarrin sighed. "I think they took Bane, and we should go
inside and see if we can find him. He might need our help."

"What could
mere mortal beings do to a dark god?"

"Who knows?
They are strange indeed, and seem to have a good deal of power."
She eyed the gleaming metal ovoid. "If they can create something
like this, who knows what else they can do? Or perhaps there is a
god in that thing. Bane is mortal; he can be killed as easily as
any of us, or knocked unconscious. Is it not a bit of a coincidence
that right after Bane vanishes, this thing appears and these beings
offer us food? Perhaps he has made friends with them, or ordered
them to feed us. He might be in charge."

"Then why
isn't he here to tell us himself?"

"I do not
know. Perhaps we should go inside and find out?"

Artan nodded
and headed for the silver ovoid, sheathing his sword. Sarrin
glanced back at Mirra, who was embroiled in a heated discussion
with Mithran and Grem, probably similar to the one she had just had
with Artan, she surmised. She beckoned to them, and Mirra seemed to
come to a decision. She strode after her, and Mithran and Grem
followed, looking suspicious. Sarrin eyed the silver-clad beings as
she passed them and entered the ovoid, hoping that she had made the
right decision.

As the steeds
emerged from behind a buff ridge, following their riders, the
beings who held silver tubes raised them. Blue fire spat from them
and struck the leading steed, Kess. She reared with a roar, and the
glamour that clothed her melted away to reveal her burning form and
blazing mane and tail. Mirra swung around with a gasp and started
to run back towards her, but Grem grabbed her arm. Kess dropped to
all fours and snorted fire, plunging towards her attackers, then
she vanished with a flash of fire and a hissing crack. The
silver-clad beings turned their weapons on the remaining two steeds
as the demonic beasts sprang forward, stripping them of their
mundane aspects before they too vanished with flares of foul fire
and hissing crackles of power.