Demon Lord V - God Realm (28 page)

She paused,
studying his placid countenance, struck afresh by the purity of it.
"Can you harm us, even bound as you are?"

"Yes."

"How?"

A slight frown
tugged at his brows. "With my mind."

"The same way
that you melted the clamps? You could melt us too?"

"No."

She glanced at
Jonar, who raised his brows, and she looked down at the dra'voren
again. "Do you intend to harm us?"

"No."

"Have you
harmed people before?"

"Yes."

"How many, and
why?"

He turned his
head away. "I lost count. I was a slave of the dark power before I
learnt that it was evil."

"How could you
not know that it was evil?"

"I was raised
in the Underworld by Arkonen and his droges, and demons."

"A dark
realm?"

"Yes."

"Who is
Arkonen?"

"A dark
god."

Nikira paused
to digest this. "Where is this Arkonen now?"

"Trapped in
the Underworld."

"Who trapped
him there?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"He was
destroying the Overworld."

Nikira looked
at Jonar again, who stared at the dra'voren in amazement. "Could he
be lying?"

"I don't think
so, but who knows? What he's saying is unbelievable."

"How long does
the truth serum last?"

Jonar
consulted his watch. "About another ten minutes."

She looked
down at the dra'voren. "What were you doing in the God Realm?"

"Trying to
find a domain for the people with me."

"And before
that?"

"Travelling to
a distant domain to save Kayos' granddaughter."

"A creator...
light goddess?"

"Yes."

Nikira leant
over him and stared at his face, searching for signs of duplicity.
"What were you to save her from?"

"A dark
god."

"Where is this
Kayos now?"

"A dark god
pursued him, so he left in order to draw him away."

"Why didn't
you fight the dark god who pursued him?"

"The shackles
Artan put on me hurt me."

She wished she
could see his eyes. "What did the shackles do?"

"They trapped
my power inside me, and it was consuming me."

"It would have
killed you?"

"Yes."

"What happened
to the shackles?"

"Kayos took
them off." His brows drew together, and his eyelids flickered.

"I think it's
wearing off," Jonar stated.

Nikira nodded.
"Bane, where is Kayos now?"

"I do not
know."

"Is he in
danger?"

He turned his
head towards her. "Yes."

"Are you a
danger to us?"

"No."

Nikira
frowned. "You said you could harm us, even now."

"I could, but
I will not." His clouded eyes opened, staring blindly though
her.

"It's worn
off," Jonar muttered.

Nikira stepped
closer. "Don't you want to be free, and end your suffering at our
hands?"

"Yes. I would
free myself, if not for that infernal thing that knocks me
out."

"What would
you do then?"

"Leave." He
closed his eyes. "What did you do to me?"

"Made you tell
the truth, I hope."

"Was it
enlightening?"

"Very." She
glanced at Jonar. "He doesn't remember what he said?"

"Not if the
serum worked."

"You lied to
us, dra'voren."

"About
what?"

"Earlier you
told me you couldn't harm us bound as you are, but just now you
said that you could."

He sighed. "I
did not want to frighten you."

Nikira stared
at him for a moment longer before she left, Jonar at her heels. The
door slid shut behind the two guards who exited after them, and she
leant on a console, her legs trembling.

"It can't be
true."

"I agree,"
Enyo said.

"We'll let the
leaders at base decide what to do with him."

Bane
considered what had just happened, and wondered if there was any
chance that the woman who appeared to be in charge had believed
him. Given his past experience with people who knew more or less
what he was, he doubted it. Would he eventually be able to convince
her that he was not evil, as he had done Ethra, or would she kill
him? His options were limited and his predicament dire. Shivers ran
through him and his arm ached, pain lancing up it every time he
moved. His stomach was a tight empty knot, and the water that he
had received had done little to ease his thirst. He longed to be
able to see where he was, and a deep concern for Mirra gnawed at
him.

Certainly
these people had power, to be able to capture him and hold him
prisoner, and more alarmingly, rob him of the dark power. Whatever
prison held him also blocked his soul sight, for they appeared
close by through a portal and vanished again when they left. He
sighed and turned his head to the side, trying to ease the ache in
the back of his skull.

Kayos ducked
under an earth demon's fist and swung his shield, striking it in
the side and causing a chunk of its foul soil to slough off. A fire
demon's eyes raked his body shields, and another earth demon loomed
over him, its fists raised to strike. A bolt of dark power cut
through the throng and hit his body shields, staggering him.
Torvaran's new strategy was to use demons to distract him while he
sought to penetrate the grey god's defences, a tactic that had not
yet worked, but was more dangerous. Torvaran had landed a few
bolts, which, although they had not harmed him, forced him to
almost entirely encase himself in shields.

The longer he
fought and the more tired he got, the more he wondered why he did
not simply retreat into the solid wall of white power that would
protect him utterly and indefinitely, unless Torvaran could open
it. That was the concern that kept him from doing it, and he was
starting to wonder if Bane was ever going to show up. Surely enough
time had passed now for him to have recovered? He refused to
believe that Bane had abandoned him, which could only mean that
something else had befallen him. If he was dead, it boded ill.
Another bolt of dark power made his body shields blaze blue and
caused him to stagger sideways, and Kayos decided that he had had
enough. Time to find out if Torvaran really could open his shields,
and to get some much needed sleep.

Kayos ducked
between two earth demons and sprinted from the fray, walls of white
power rising behind him to block the bolts that Torvaran hurled at
his back. He headed for a lighter region, where the clouds were
still grey and there were fewer shadows. There he turned to face
Torvaran and the horde of demons that pursued him, their speed a
match for his.

In the second
before they reached him, he raised his arms, and a glimmering
sphere of white fire spread from his fingertips. A blazing network
of curved lines encased him in a cage of light, laying the
foundations of a light god's last line of defence. Its structure
was similar to that of a domain's boundary wards, through which
nothing could pass.

The lines
multiplied as they spun around him in an ever stronger web of fire,
and the first demons to reach him crumbled as they struck it. He
stared through the closing wall at Torvaran, who watched him with a
slight, cynical smile. The lines joined, forming a solid barrier
between him and his foes, and a final shield encased it, sealing
him off from the God Realm.

The sphere
pulsed several times, then dimmed, becoming solid, and he lowered
his arms. Sinking down on the smooth curving floor, he bowed his
head. He longed for sleep, but before he did, he wanted to find out
what had happened to Bane. Wearily he gestured, and an Eye formed
before him. It swirled with random colour for a several moments as
he sought Bane within it, then an image formed.

Kayos stared
at it with shock and horror, his heart sinking as he studied the
metal room in which the Demon Lord lay imprisoned, noting his
injuries. Bane's eyes opened, and Kayos recoiled with an oath.
Touching the edge of the Eye, he adjusted its focus, moving through
the wall to a larger room beyond, where men sat before complex
boards filled with multi-coloured light. He cursed the meddlesome
nature of men and their inability to see Bane for what he truly
was.

While he
applauded their ingenuity and bravery, in this instance the
ramifications could be dire. He wondered why Bane could not free
himself, but did not doubt that he was indeed trapped. Had his
captors injured and blinded him, or someone else? He sagged against
the wall, gazing at the image. Becoming aware of the ominous
silence outside, he listened intently. A dark god should be
hammering upon the impregnable sphere in a rage of frustration.

Shrugging it
off for the moment, Kayos expanded the image until the entire ship
came into view, drifting through an area of mottled blueness shot
with flashes of fire. He moved the Eye ahead of it, seeking its
destination. The image changed to impenetrable darkness, then
cleared. A black river passed below, and just beyond it was a
massive blue fire dome. Within its transparent walls lay a
fantastic city of towering glass spires filled with light, flying
vehicles weaving between them.

Beyond that, a
cliff of black rock rose into the hazy sky, swallowed up by
darkness above and on either side. A second, smaller fire dome was
built at the base of the cliff, just under an open Realm Gate.
Kayos studied at it in confusion, for white light poured from it,
indicating that the domain was intact, and therefore must be in the
charge of a light god. No god would allow the Realm Gate to stand
open, however, stripping his domain of its defence. A stream of
flying vehicles passed through the Gate and vanished into the light
realm within, something a god would not allow either. The people
who had captured Bane were strange indeed, and so, it seemed, was
their god. Kayos frowned at the image, his mind racing.

Chapter Thirteen

The
Summoning

Nikira put
aside the word recorder she had been making a report on and looked
up as a lingtech entered her office and saluted.

"What is
it?"

"That group of
people you asked me to keep an eye on, they've been muttering a
lot, apparently to no one in particular, and on their knees, which
seemed strange, so I translated what they were saying."

"And?"

He frowned.
"It appears that they were performing an ancient ritual known as
prayer."

"Go on."

"First they
prayed to someone called Demon Lord, begging his help and praising
his name. Several hours later, they did it again, this time to
someone called Kayos."

"What exactly
did they say?"

He pulled a
recorder from his pocket and consulted it. "Help us, great Lord
Kayos, praised be your name; the Demon Lord is in dire peril. He is
imprisoned by foolish men." He looked up. "They repeated that many
times."

Nikira nodded.
"Good work. Dismissed."

After the
lingtech left, she stared at her desk, her mind whirling. They were
brainwashed, that was the only explanation, but why did they pray
to a light god for aid to free a dra'voren? Unless the prisoner had
lied, and Kayos was another dra'voren, and so was this Demon Lord.
The prospect of two more dra'voren coming to the aid of the one in
the shredder room filled her with excitement and dread. If they
could be trapped and shredded, it would be a major victory, but
they would also be a grave danger to her ship. She activated the
communication screen beside her, and her second in command,
Donavan, appeared on it.

"Put the ship
into stealth mode," she ordered.

He hesitated.
"Commander, that'll be a huge power drain while we're moving."

"I'm aware of
that, but we might come under attack if we don't."

"By whom?"

"Two more
dra'voren. Our passengers have been calling for help."

His brows shot
up. "Why the hell would they do that?"

"They're
brainwashed."

"Shouldn't we
stop and trap them then?"

"Are we in
communication range of the base?"

He looked down
at his board, running his hands over it. "Just barely."

"Tell them to
send another ship to this area."

"Right."

Nikira
deactivated the screen and sat back. Could the dra'voren track them
with these prayers, like a homing beacon? If so, Sarrin and her
friends had to be stopped. She activated the communication screen
again and contacted a lingtech, ordering him to meet her in the
hold where the refugees were housed. The lingtech met her at the
door, and she entered the hold in search of Sarrin's group. She
found it in the same place as before, and the members looked up
with smiles when she approached. The men stood and bowed as she
squatted down before Sarrin, Mirra and Ethra, returning their
smiles a little stiffly.

"Tell them
they must stop praying."

The lingtech
consulted his translator, then spoke to Sarrin, who looked
surprised and exclaimed in delight.

"What did she
say?" Nikira demanded.

"That she's
very happy we can now speak her language."

"Repeat the
order."

When the
lingtech did, Sarrin looked confused, as did the others. She spoke
a single word, and the lingtech said, "She wants to know why."

"Because she's
endangering us."

After another
brief exchange, the lingtech said, "She wants to know how calling
upon a light god for aid could endanger you."

"Tell her I
know things that she doesn't, and she must stop."

"She wants to
know what things."

"Just ask her
if she'll stop."

The lingtech
translated, and Sarrin nodded.