Demon Lord VI - Son of Chaos (10 page)

Drevarin awoke
with a snort, and a gush of relief went through Nikira. His
presence, hostile though it was, was immensely comforting, although
she was well aware that he would not, and probably could not,
prevent the tar’merin from doing whatever he wished to her. Bane
shot the creator a slight smile, then turned back to her, his
expression becoming grim once more.

“
No, you may not defile my boots with your tongue. What
monumental occasion has given you the foolish notion that you have
the right to disturb my rest?”

Nikira
swallowed hard and studied the carpet. “We’ve arrived at the place
you asked us to bring you.”

A pregnant
silence fell, and her unease grew until she could bear the suspense
no longer and glanced up at him. The Demon Lord frowned and
stretched out a hand towards her, making her heart freeze with
dread. Iron clamps gripped her chest, and her eyes widened in
terror as she tried to suck in air with lungs that refused to obey
her. He watched her with cold eyes as she clawed at her throat, her
mouth wide. Drevarin cast Bane a worried look, and he lowered his
hand. Air rushed into Nikira’s lungs, and she sagged, gasping.

“
You neglected my title again,” he said.

“
I’m sorry, Lord.”

Drevarin
gestured, and a golden cup appeared before him, which he plucked
from the air. “Are you strong enough?”

Bane glanced
at him. “No, but I think I can recall how we got to this
place.”

“
Do not put any faith in that. Things change here. And you were
blind.”

“
I will cross that bridge if I encounter it.”

Drevarin
inclined his head, sipping his ambrosia,

Bane turned
back to Nikira. “I shall come to this... bridge of yours, and guide
the ship.”

“
Yes, Lord.” Nikira rose on shaking legs.

Bane pulled on
his boots, then stood and donned his tunic, shooting her a
calculating look as he did up the buttons. Mirra sat up, knuckled
her eyes and raked her hair into a semblance of order. Bane turned
to kiss her and murmur in her ear, whereupon she nodded and
stretched. She rose, greeted Drevarin, and left the dining hall.
Bane picked up his heavy cloak and held it out to Nikira.

“
Help me with this.”

Nikira forced
her legs to carry her to him, her heart pounding. She fumbled with
the cloak as she placed it upon his shoulders, his proximity making
her shiver. Her fingers trembled as she struggled with the clasp,
aware of him watching her. When at last she closed the clasp, his
hand shot up and gripped her wrist, making her freeze with
trepidation. She did not dare to look at his face, and he leant
closer.

“
Your fear insults me.”

“
Sorry, Lord.”

“
Am I a monster?”

Her eyes
flicked up to meet his intense gaze before she looked away. “No,
Lord.”

“
Then stop acting like I am one. If I was, you would be dead
already.”

“
Yes, Lord.”

Bane snorted
and thrust her away, then headed for the door. Nikira hastened to
it ahead of him, and Drevarin followed.

On the bridge,
all conversation hushed as they walked in, and a dozen men stood to
attention. Nikira signalled for them to continue their work, and
they shot Bane distrustful looks as they obeyed. Running her
fingers over a console, she brought the main screen online and
focussed the external cameras on the ridge where they had spotted
the people when they had captured the tar’merin.

Bane nodded.
“Go there, then follow the flat area between those two ridges,
which runs for several miles.”

Nikira nodded
to the pilot, and the image swelled as the ship headed for the
ridge. Bane glanced around and sat on one of the chairs,
discovering that it had wheels with a start of surprise. He shot
Drevarin a white-toothed grin, and the creator settled into another
chair, his jovial expression becoming mischievous. His brown eyes
sparkled, and he rolled his chair towards Bane’s, who sent himself
rolling back with a kick.

Nikira watched
open-mouthed as the two celestial beings rolled around the bridge
like boys with new toys. The bridge crew gaped at them as well, and
Nikira pulled herself together long enough to send them a hard
glance that made them return to their work. She jumped out of the
way as Bane shot past, chortling, Drevarin close behind, his face
alight with delight. Bane’s chair collided with a console, and he
laughed as he careered around it, spinning. His soft, husky mirth
amazed Nikira, who had not thought him capable enjoying such a
simple thing.

Drevarin
chased him around the bridge, steering his chair deftly between the
consoles until he miscalculated and crashed into one, making the
panels flicker. An operator glanced at Nikira, who bit her lip,
wondering if she dared to try to put an end to their fun before
they hurt themselves, the equipment, or one of her crew.

Bane laughed
at Drevarin’s misfortune and sent himself rolling backwards,
spinning into another console. This time he got his arm trapped
between the chair arm and the console, and jumped up with a curse.
Drevarin chuckled, and Bane shot him a rueful grin, rubbing his
arm, then sat down again, but remained still this time. Nikira
sighed with relief that the game was over, and the only one who had
been hurt was Bane.

They settled
down to watch the image on the main screen, but after a short time
Bane frowned and shook his head.

“
I slept a lot, and, as you rightly pointed out, Drevarin, I
was blind.” He turned to Nikira. “Send for one of the people who
were with me, I care not which one, whoever wishes to
come.”

Nikira passed
on the order to a crewman, who left the bridge as the ship slowed
to a stop. Several minutes later, the man returned with Mithran,
who gazed about the bridge in wonder before studying the screen. He
pointed at an outcrop of stone and instructed them to go towards
it.

The ship
resumed its flight, and Mithran gave corrections every so often,
guiding the vessel along a winding course between natural obstacles
they could have flown over far quicker. They skirted dark regions
that were harmless to the ship, but might have been hazardous to
people on foot, their progress slow. After several hours, they
headed across a featureless desert of white pebbles under a dark
grey sky, the temperature outside chilly, according to the sensor
data on Nikira’s instruments.

Mithran bent
to murmur in his son’s ear, and the Demon Lord stood up and
stretched, yawning. “Keep going in this direction until you find a
mountain range, then call me.”

Drevarin and
Mithran followed him off the bridge, and the crew relaxed, some
with sighs of relief. Nikira wondered if Bane and his companions
would be able to use the lift without her, then berated herself for
worrying about her tormentor. She reminded herself that what he was
doing to her was nothing compared to what she had done to him.

The pilot
said, “Commander, this is an uncharted region. No one has been this
far into the Wastes before.”

She went over
to his console. “I’m aware of that.”

“
Our scanners are picking up a lot of anomalies, fluctuating
temperature and pressure, changes in gravity. This is a wild
place.”

Nikira
frowned. There were several wild places within the charted
territories, which ships avoided at all costs after two had been
lost in them. Wild areas changed without warning from placid
landscapes to dangerous flux regions, swallowing ships without a
trace. She returned to her command chair and sat down to gaze at
the main screen, where the flat expanse of white pebbles shot
towards them as they speeded across it.

“
Just keep on this course.”

Two hours
later, as if the pilot’s words had been a prediction, an officer
said, “Commander, the temperature is increasing.”

“
How much?”

“
Fifty degrees and rising. The pressure’s starting to increase
as well.”

Nikira rose
and went over to study his screen over his shoulder. The digital
readouts from the exterior sensors were increasing so fast that the
numbers were blurred. “Looks like we’re in for trouble.”

Within a few
moments the peaceful pebble desert sprouted giant flames that rose
like geysers of fire, falling back into seething craters filled
with lava. Nikira gripped the console as a burst of fire from below
rocked the ship, and an alarm beeped on a nearby console. The
officer who manned it typed on his keyboard, making adjustments
that sent coolant to the hull, but she knew that these were only
temporary measures.

A stealth ship
could not survive a full blown flux-storm, and it looked like one
was about to engulf them. She clung to the hope that they would fly
over the region before it became too intense, but Retribution
rocked again and more alarms sounded. The pilot tried to compensate
for the buffeting flames, but the ship veered wildly, lashed by
powerful up-draughts of searing air and fire. The desert had become
an inferno, and flames filled the viewing screen as the flux-storm
swallowed the ship.

The officer
beside her ran his hands over his controls with swift expertise,
frowning as his countermeasures proved ineffective. “Coolant unable
to compensate; hull temperature becoming critical, Commander.
Pressure starting to exceed safety parameters. We’re going to be
crushed.”

“
No, we’re not.”

Nikira
sprinted into the lift and hammered the down button until the doors
slid shut. The lift descended with incredible torpor, and when the
doors opened on the fifth floor she raced along the corridor to the
dining room, hoping that the two men were there. They lounged on
their couches, engaged in a soft conversation, and glanced around
when she ran in. Some of Bane’s little group sat at a nearby table
sipping beverages, and Mirra was curled up beside him on the couch,
holding a cup of milk. Nikira stopped in front of them,
gasping.

“
The ship’s in danger. We’ve run into a flux-storm.”

Bane frowned.
“I thought it was getting bumpy. My rest is over, it seems.”

Drevarin shook
his head. “I will deal with this.”

The Demon Lord
inclined his head as Drevarin looked vague for a moment, then
sipped his ambrosia again.

“
Can you help us?” Nikira begged.

Drevarin
raised his brows. “I already have. Your vessel is in no danger
now.”

She hesitated,
then bowed to him. “Thank you, Lord.”

Bane frowned
at her. “You neglected my title again.”

“
Sorry, Lord.”

“
I shall allow it this time, but not the next.”

Nikira gritted
her teeth. “Thank you, Lord.”

“
Leave us.”

Nikira did so
gladly, hurrying back to the bridge. On the way she noticed that
the ship was stable once more, and wondered what Drevarin had done.
The atmosphere in the bridge was tense and hushed, and she glanced
up at the main screen, where a faint blue haze obscured the
inferno.

She turned to
the nearest officer. “Report.”

“
All readings are normal, Commander.”

Nikira went
over to his console and studied his screen, confirming his words
with a glance.

“
What did you do?” the pilot enquired.

“
Asked our celestial guests for help.”

The men
glanced at each other, and another officer asked, “Which one did
it?”

“
Drevarin.”

“
That figures,” the officer beside her muttered. “I’ll bet the
other one couldn’t.”

“
You’d lose that bet,” Nikira retorted.

The man turned
back to his console, but she sensed their dissatisfaction with the
situation. It was hard to respect a commander clad in a coarse
white dress who commanded only by proxy. If they wanted to rebel,
she thought grimly, let them face Bane’s wrath and see how they
liked it. She wondered when she had started thinking of him as Bane
and not the dra’voren.

“
It seems to be some sort of shield,” the science officer said,
studying his screen. “Amazing.” He touched a key, and more numbers
appeared before him. “And impenetrable. I’d like to know how he’s
doing this. If we could find out...”

“
What power is it?”

The officer
tapped on his keyboard and stared at the words that appeared on his
screen. “White, Commander.”

“
Then we’ll never be able to emulate it, will we?”

“
No one can use the white power like that.”

“
Except a creator.” Nikira straightened.

The pilot
turned to her. “Commander, we don’t know if those mountains that he
mentioned are still there.”

“
Then we’ll see what’s beyond the storm and decide what to do
when we know.”

The pilot
nodded and faced his screen again. Nikira sat down to wait. Two
hours later, they exited the flux-storm and sailed towards a dark
mountain range.

***

The Demon Lord
stood up, gazing at the main screen. “This is the place. Stop the
ship.”

Nikira had
asked him to come to the vessel’s control room five minutes
earlier, informing him that they were approaching the mountains
beyond the pebble desert. Drevarin had accompanied him, and it had
only taken a few minutes to find this spot next to the cliffs that
filled the ship’s screens.

The pilot
touched his controls, and the engines’ faint hum faded.