Demon Lord VI - Son of Chaos (19 page)

The fallen man
shrieked and threw up his hands as the beast dropped the limb and
pounced on him, ripping out his throat. The rest of the men fled,
abandoning their training and discipline in the face of such an
invincible and merciless enemy. Nikira dragged Montar towards the
ramp, her breath coming in harsh gasps. Most of the men headed for
the ramp too, giving the second dark beast a wide berth, and some
made it into the ship. Nikira yelped as the demon hound leapt into
her path, its hackles raised, and crouched, ready to spring. She
tried to run around it, but it cut her off, snarling.

“
Drevarin! Help us!”

A coughing cry
came from behind her as the first beast caught one of the men who
had remained to guard her back and tore him apart. The rest stood
shoulder to shoulder in a grim-faced wall, shielding their
commander. Montar stood between her and the second beast, holding
his equipment case before him like a shield, his face chalk pale.
The Hellhound regarded him with glowing yellow eyes, radiating evil
in a cold, foetid aura. This close to it, her stomach clenched as
it had done in Bane’s presence, reacting to the dark power the
demon hound emanated.

“
Drevarin!” Nikira bellowed, recoiling as blood splattered her
from the brutal demise of another of her protectors. The blue fire
that the soldiers poured into the shadow beast had little effect,
apart from enraging it further. Men broke and ran for the ramp, but
the second beast blocked the way. Nikira glanced up as a pale light
appeared above her, and her heart filled with relief as Drevarin
floated down to them. He landed beside her and took in the
situation with a glance, shooting her a furious look.

“
Stupid woman!”

Drevarin
gestured, and a wall of white power shot up from the ground around
them, leaving the man the first beast savaged outside. The second
beast remained on the ramp, and Drevarin turned to face it. Nikira
shuddered as the screams of the dying man stopped, relieved that
his ordeal was over. Drevarin gestured again, and the shield
between them and the second beast parted. Gripping her arm in a
vice-like hold, he ascended the ramp, dragging her after him. She
whimpered as they approached the snarling beast, but Drevarin
thrust it aside, blue fire flaring between them.

Drevarin
pushed her past, then beckoned to Montar and the remaining
soldiers, who moved past the beast as it snapped and snarled at
them. Nikira tapped in the code at the door, and the ramp slid into
the ship, bringing Drevarin and the shadow beast with it. Just as
the ramp was about to vanish into the floor, Drevarin pushed the
demon hound off, and then stepped inside as the door slid shut.
Nikira slumped against the wall, dizzy with relief, her heart
pounding. None of the surviving soldiers was injured, and they left
at Drevarin’s curt gesture.

He faced
Nikira. “Just what exactly did you think you were doing out
there?”

“
I was... I wanted to see the sphere.” Her voice
shook.

“
But you knew there were two demon hounds out
there.”

“
I thought... We only saw one, and... We thought it was Bane’s
so it wouldn’t attack us.” She gulped.

He turned away
with a snort. “Fortunately for you, Bane’s Hellhound was unable to
attack you, or you would have all been dead before I could reach
you.”

“
Thank you, Lord.”

“
You had better thank him, too, when he wakes up. You lost a
lot of men just to satisfy your curiosity.”

“
I... I didn’t know they were so dangerous. I thought the light
guns would injure them. They’re only dark beasts, aren’t
they?”

Drevarin shook
his head. “No, they are not. Demon hounds are immortal, formed from
shadows. You saw how Tarquilar was created. They are the most
dangerous of all demonic beasts.”

“
I didn’t realise.”

“
Once again, your ignorance and arrogant assumptions serves you
ill. Perhaps next time you will ask for advice before you
act.”

Drevarin
strode away down the corridor, and Montar shot her a disgusted look
and followed the creator. Nikira waited for her heart to stop
pounding, then made her way to her quarters and lay down on her
bed. The loss of her men grieved her, and the horrific manner of
their death added to her anguish.

Chapter Eight

Grey God

Kayos opened
his eyes and gazed at the sphere’s shimmering roof, his mind still
fogged by fatigue. Sitting up, he summoned an Eye with a wave and
gazed into it. The image that formed showed his sphere surrounded
by a torn and smoking landscape of melted rocks and glowing
craters. The vista was unmistakeably the aftermath of a battle
between two dark gods, but there was no sign of either of them. He
widened the Eye’s focus, discovering a strange floating silver ship
and two demon hounds close by. He hoped Torvaran’s absence meant he
was either defeated or destroyed, but where was Bane?

A pang of pain
shot through his heart at the possibility that his precious son had
perished in the battle, but he thrust the thought aside. Fate could
not be so cruel. Sending his Eye into the ship, he found that the
people he had seen earlier, when Bane had been amongst them, still
populated it. If they were still alive, it could only mean that
Torvaran was gone.

With deep
dread, he sought Bane, and the swirling sparkles reformed into an
image of the Demon Lord lying on a blood-stained bed in a white
room. Bandages swaddled his chest and belly, and red marks marred
his face, shoulders and neck. Kayos smiled with relief, but a pang
of concern shot through him at the same moment, making it
bittersweet.

Standing up,
he pressed his palms against the sphere and ordered it to unmake
itself.

***

The urgent
beeping of her comscreen alarm woke Nikira, and she sat up. Sliding
off the bed, she activated the comscreen, aware that the stupid
white dress was rumpled and spattered with blood and her eyes were
swollen and red. An obstech’s excited face filled the screen.

“
Commander, something’s happening to the sphere.”

“
I’m on my way.”

Nikira raced
down the corridor, hopping with impatience in the lift. As she
entered the observation room, she glanced up at the main screen,
and her mouth fell open. The silver sphere pulsed with pure white
light, sending waves of radiance across the dull, ravaged
landscape.

“
Where’s Drevarin?”

“
I don’t know, Commander.”

Nikira touched
a key on the console beside her, opening a ship-wide channel.
“Drevarin, please come to the observation room.”

The sphere
continued to pulse, the intervals becoming shorter. A gasp from one
of the obstechs made her swing around as Drevarin appeared from the
back of the room, where he had evidently come through the wall. His
eyes were drawn to the main vidscreen, and he smiled.

“
Good, he is awake.” Drevarin stopped beside her and clasped
his hands behind his back, gazing up at the screen.

Nikira shot
him an uncertain look. “Aren’t you going to go out and greet him?
Tell him what’s happened?”

“
No.”

“
Why not?”

Drevarin
shrugged. “He knows.”

On the screen,
the sphere’s flashing had reached the speed and intensity of a
strobe light, then it flared to brilliance so intense that Nikira
was forced to look away. When the light faded, a sphere of radiant
rings was revealed, no longer solid, allowing a glimpse of a man
standing within it. The rings unravelled, the light flowing into
the man, and, as the last shining arc vanished, he raised his
head.

Nikira gulped.
His silver hair gleamed in the dull light, and his pale skin seemed
to glow, much as Bane’s had done in the shredder room. Before she
could get a better look at him, he strode towards the ship with a
gliding gait. An obstech panned the camera to keep him in the
picture, but within moments he was too close to focus on. Nikira
turned to find Drevarin heading for the lift, and ran after him,
slipping in as the doors closed. He shot her a vaguely irritated
look.

“
Where’s he going?” she demanded.

“
My supposition would be, to see his son.”

“
His son?”

Drevarin
nodded. “Bane.”

Her heart
sank. “You mean we tortured the son of a Grey God?”

“
That is right.” Drevarin chuckled. “But I think he will be
content to let Bane to punish you. In fact, Bane may insist upon
it.”

“
Great,” she muttered, her mind reeling with the enormity of
this fresh revelation.

“
Yes, you should be grateful. The wrath of a Grey God is not
something you would want to experience.”

“
You said that a creator couldn’t punish us.”

“
No, I said that I could not punish you, for I am just a light
god. I hold dominion only in my own domain. Kayos is a Grey God,
everything is within his dominion.”

Nikira
swallowed bile as she watched the numbers on the lift panel change,
dreading what lay ahead. Something told her that Kayos would not be
as forgiving as Drevarin surmised. When the doors opened, she
followed him into the hospital, where no one seemed to be aware of
the Grey God’s presence. They found Bane still unconscious in the
private room, Mirra dozing on the chair beside his bed. She looked
up with a puzzled expression when they entered, shooting Bane a
concerned look.

“
What is wrong?”

Drevarin shook
his head. “Nothing, My Lady. We are expecting company, that is
all.”

Mirra turned
to her husband and stroked the hair that framed his visage, tracing
the plunging widow’s peak. Drevarin waited beside the door, and
Nikira fidgeted, her nerves stretched to breaking point.

Kayos walked
through the wall so abruptly that she jumped as her heart seemed to
leap into her throat. Up close he was even more daunting, his hair
glinted like silver silk and his grey garb shimmered with sparkles
of pale fire. He went straight to Bane’s side and placed a hand
upon the Demon Lord’s chest. Mirra slid off her chair and inclined
her head, clasping her hands before her.

“
Lord Kayos.”

Kayos ignored
her, removing the bandages with a swift tug that parted them as if
they were made of cobwebs. The stitches made him pause, then he
caused them to vanish with a wave of his hand. He ripped off the
monitoring equipment that was hooked to Bane’s chest with a gesture
and positioned his hands over the wounds. Golden light flared under
his palms, and blue flames licked from Bane’s skin as the dark
power sought to protect him from the intrusion.

Kayos frowned,
and the golden light intensified, filling the room with benign
warmth. For several minutes the dark power held Kayos’ healing at
bay, then the light sank into Bane’s flesh just enough to heal the
shallower wounds. The glow faded, and he lifted his hands. The
wounds had vanished, leaving faint scars, and the red marks were
gone. Kayos straightened and turned to Drevarin, who smiled and
stepped forward.

“
It is an honour to meet you, Lord Kayos. I am
Drevarin.”

“
Lord Drevarin.” Kayos held out his hand, and Drevarin, after a
moment of surprise, clasped it. “You saved my son.” He pulled the
startled light god into a brief embrace. “You have my eternal
gratitude.”

“
It was a rare privilege to have been afforded the opportunity
to aid one such as him, My Lord. The deed was reward enough in
itself.”

“
Nevertheless, I am in your debt, Lord Drevarin.”

Kayos turned
to Nikira, who backed away, wanting to sink into the floor as his
clear, glowing grey eyes pierced her soul.

“
And you brought me his tormentor.”

“
Actually she came of her own free will.”

Kayos’ eyes
glittered like beaten silver. “Is she particularly brave, or
exceedingly stupid?”

“
Exceedingly stupid, I fancy.”

The Grey God
studied her as if she was a poisonous toad he had just found in his
bed, his eyes raking the wrinkled white dress. “At least she
adheres to the soft-hearted punishment he devised for her, but did
she perform her prostration when she entered his room?”

“
No.”

Nikira hastily
performed the humiliating prostration Bane had taught her, speaking
the required words. She noticed that Mirra remained in her reverent
posture, and did the same, partly because then she did not have to
meet Kayos’ fierce eyes.

“
So, she has learnt a little etiquette,” Kayos
murmured.

“
With great reluctance. Her god is unborn, and her people are
ignorant and proud.”

“
Indeed. You may raise your head, tormentor, but if you arise I
will surely cripple you.”

Nikira sat
back on her haunches and stared at his knees, her heart
pounding.

He turned to
Mirra. “Greetings, dear Daughter.”

The girl
raised her head and returned to her chair.

Kayos faced
Nikira again. “How dare you torture my son?”

Nikira longed
to protest again that it had been an honest and terrible mistake,
but remembered Drevarin’s words in the nick of time. “I beg your
forgiveness, Lord Kayos. I... I alone am to blame, as commander of
this ship. I’ve tried to make amends by serving Bane as he
wished.”