Demon Lord V - God Realm (30 page)

Ethra was
feeding him again, diligently wiping away every drop that spilt
down his chin, her expression tender. Nikira glanced at the bio
scanner, which showed that the dra'voren's metabolism had risen
significantly, almost back to normal. A single tech monitored the
screen while the others watched the display of their data. Nikira
turned back to the window as Ethra put aside the empty bowl and
curled up beside the dra'voren. The chief scientist, Drontar, came
to stand beside her.

"Fascinating
data, commander."

"Thank you
sir."

"But did you
stop to think, before you brought him here, the dangers
involved?"

"He's
unconscious, and if he wakes up, the stunner works."

He shook his
head. "That monster could destroy not only our city but our entire
world. How do you know he won't find a way to disable the stunner
as he did the stasis field generator? It's one thing to risk your
ship and crew, but quite another to put us all in danger.

"What you did
was irresponsible, and your ship was only allowed to dock because
of the foolish curiosity of some of the members of the High
Council, who seem to find your assurances of his imprisonment
reassuring. I, however, don't share their complacency. You
shouldn't have brought him here, it may well be that this is
exactly what he wanted, and he may even be shamming his
weakness."

"His arm is
broken, sir. There's no way he could fake that."

"How do you
know that? Are you an expert on the abilities of mortal dra'voren
now?"

Nikira's
cheeks warmed with a combination of anger and embarrassment. "It's
the opinion of my techs, sir."

"And they
don't know any more about him than you do."

"Only what our
instruments have shown us, which is that he's physically almost
identical to us."

Drontar
snorted. "Almost being the vital part of that sentence. We've never
encountered one like him before. We have no idea what he's capable
of. Also, I was told that his slaves have prayed for help. What if
another dra'voren followed you here?"

"We stopped
them praying and sent another stealth ship to the area where we
were at the time, to capture any dra'voren that came."

"Laudable
precautions, but how do you know that the slaves have stopped?"

"We've been
observing them."

He leant on
the glass. "From what I know of the ancient practice, all a person
has to do is whisper the words, commander. How can you be sure they
haven't continued to do that?"

"I was unaware
of that, sir."

"Perhaps you
should have consulted your database before making that
decision."

Nikira
inclined her head. "An oversight on my part. We found no
information on any of the other religious references the dra'voren
made."

"Which only
goes to show how little we know about them, but we do know a little
more about prayer, since there are a few cults that still practice
it. I hope, for all our sakes, that those people obeyed you. Your
record is exemplary, but you do have a tendency to make decisions
without consulting a higher authority."

"Most of the
time a stealth ship is beyond communications range of base,
sir."

He nodded. "I
know, but when dealing with something as dangerous as that
creature, and making a potentially disastrous decision to bring him
here, you should have consulted base as soon as you could."

"I informed
the council before we docked, sir. They could have ordered us to
leave."

Drontar
frowned. "But by then he was within the city, and the council
seemed to find your assurances of his helpless state persuasive.
None of them considered that he might have tricked you into
bringing him here, and neither did you."

"I think
that's highly unlikely, sir, and when you've reviewed all the data,
I'm sure you'll agree."

"Don't put
money on it." Drontar jerked his chin at Ethra. "How long as she
been in there?"

"Only a day,
sir. It was the only way to keep him alive."

"We're not in
the business of keeping dra'voren alive. We'll double check all
your findings with our equipment, then all that remains is to find
out how many ways there are to kill him. You can remove her now,
his vital signs have stabilised, and he won't be allowed to live
long enough to require any more feeding."

"Yes,
sir."

Drontar
returned to his group, which left for the lab to experiment on the
samples that had been taken from the dra'voren. Nikira entered the
chamber and approached Ethra, who raised her head and frowned.

"Come, Ethra,
let's go and see Sarrin."

"No, I'm
staying here with Bane."

"Let him sleep
for a bit. You can come back later."

Her eyes grew
suspicious. "No, you might hurt him."

"We won't, but
you need to rest. You haven't slept. Aren't you tired?"

"I'm not
leaving him!"

Nikira stepped
closer. "Come now, don't be silly."

Ethra wound
her arms more tightly around the dra'voren's neck, her expression
mutinous. Nikira sighed and motioned to the two guards who stood
behind her. One slung his weapon and reached for Ethra, a wary eye
on the dra'voren. She tried to avoid him, but he gripped her arm
and tried to tug her away. The girl sank her teeth into his gloved
hand, forcing him to let go with a yell.

Nikira
frowned. "Stop it, Ethra."

"I won't let
you hurt him! You'll have to kill me first!"

"We're not
going to hurt him." Only kill him, a small voice whispered in her
head.

"I don't
believe you!"

Nikira
signalled to the soldier again, who entered the fray once more, his
expression grim. This time he gripped Ethra's arm with both hands,
avoiding her when she tried to bite him, and attempted to drag her
away. The girl hung on and gave a piercing wail that made Nikira's
ears ring. The crewman pulled harder, making the dra'voren slide
sideways as Ethra clung to his neck. Ethra kicked and struggled,
slipped on the smooth floor and shouted for the dra'voren to help
her.

Enyo appeared
in the doorway. "Get out of there commander, he's waking up really
fast!"

Nikira cursed
and joined the guard in the struggle to pry Ethra away from the
dra'voren, but she was unusually strong for such a small girl. She
continued to scream at an ear-splitting pitch, and Enyo shouted
from the doorway, "Now commander! Get out!"

The
dra'voren's brows drew together in a deep frown, and he raised his
head. The soldier released Ethra and retreated, his eyes wide, and
Nikira was forced to do the same.

"Commander!"
Enyo shouted. "Get out so we can stun him!"

Ethra glared
at Nikira, and then turned to the dra'voren. "Bane! Wake up!
They're going to hurt you!"

His right hand
rose to touch her shoulder. "Ethra?"

"Yes. You've
got to get out of here! They want to hurt you!"

Nikira backed
away, her heart pounding. She wanted to run for the door, but her
legs hardly worked at all. Ethra gripped the dra'voren's hand,
tears running down her cheeks.

"Bane, save
yourself!"

He grimaced,
turning his head towards his left arm, which was trapped under him.
"I cannot."

"You have to!
They're going to kill you!"

He bowed his
head with a soft groan, his ebon mane falling over his face. "I
cannot. I have no strength."

Nikira could
barely make out the soft, husky words, but they twisted her heart.
So human, so gentle. Ethra wailed and hugged his neck, trying to
prop him up against the wall. The dra'voren groaned again, then
raised his head and opened his clouded eyes.

"Go, Ethra, or
they will hurt you."

"No!" she
wailed. "You can protect me!"

"I cannot.
Obey me."

She sobbed and
clung to him, making him grimace in pain.

He lifted his
hand and touched her face. "Go now."

Nikira found
her throat tight as the girl released him and turned to her with
despairing, tear filled eyes. The dra'voren sagged against the
wall, gasping, and sweat filmed his brow. Ethra jumped up and
charged Nikira, her hands curled into claws, but a soldier grabbed
her and dragged her, shrieking, from the room. The dra'voren raised
a shaking hand to rub his brow, frowning.

"Commander!"
Enyo shouted from the doorway.

Nikira held up
a hand. "Wait."

The dra'voren
turned his head towards her. "You intend to kill me?"

"No. She's
mistaken."

"I think not.
Ethra is no fool."

"There's a
soldier with a weapon aimed at your heart, so don't try
anything."

He closed his
eyes and whispered, "Help me."

Nikira stared
at him, puzzled. As the dra'voren bowed his head, she realised that
he had not been speaking to her. Dread washed over her like a blast
of ice water, and she sprinted for the door, the guard hot on her
heels. The door slid shut behind her, and Enyo activated the
stunner. The room shuddered as the muffled boom filled the shredder
chamber, and the dra'voren slumped.

"He's summoned
another dra'voren," she told Enyo.

"I knew we
should have killed him."

Nikira
activated a communication screen to the bridge. "Undock, go to
stealth mode and leave the city."

She swung to
glare through the window at the unconscious dra'voren, who lay next
to the wall in an awkward huddle. "Clamp him to the table."

Two contechs
entered the chamber, and Nikira watched them lift the dra'voren
onto the table, her mind seething. A dra'voren had never attacked a
stealth ship, because they could not see it, and she wondered what
was going to happen. If another dra'voren entered the shredder
chamber to rescue the captive, he was doomed. Perhaps their
prisoner would serve as bait, and lure many of his brothers to
their destruction. She groaned inwardly as Drontar trotted in with
two of his fellow scientists, demanding to know what was going
on.

Nikira had
more pressing concerns than their questions. The only defence her
ship had against dra’voren was the shredder room; if a destroyer
attacked Vengeance, they were all doomed. At the very least, she
had to get as far away from the city as she could, so the dra’voren
who came to his aid would not destroy it, too. For herself and her
crew, she held out little hope. Capturing this strange dra’voren
had been a mistake, and she now regretted not killing him right
away.

****

The tale continues in Demon Lord VI,
Son of Chaos
.

About the
author

T. C.
Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when
she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands
– mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she
developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through
Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in
South Africa.

T. C.
Southwell has written over forty novels and five screenplays. Her
hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she earns a
living in the IT industry.

All
illustrations and cover designs by the author.

Visit the
Demon Lord blog: http://www.demon-lord-book.blogspot.com

Acknowledgements

Mike Baum and
Janet Longman, former employers, for their support, encouragement,
and help. My mother, without whose financial support I could not
have dedicated myself to writing for ten years. Isabel Cooke,
former agent, whose encouragement and enthusiasm led to many more
books being written, including this one. Suzanne Stephan, former
agent, who has helped me so much over the past six years, and
Vanessa Finaughty, good friend and business partner, for her
support, encouragement and editing skills.