Dragon Over Washington (The Third War Of The Bir Nibaru Gods) (45 page)

“Hail Sin-Shar-Ishkun Adar Hejaat! Hail demon prince, lord of demon legion, power of the Pit Lands!”

Finally, his eyes opened, a gaze of burning sulfur regarding the town below. There was a diagonal scar on his face, from left eye to the edges of his beak. His burning eyes turned towards a demon floating respectfully beneath him, two pairs of long, narrow wings opened, laminated bronze-plate armor gleaming, shaved vulture’s head bowed down, eyes and beak closed.

A shriek of anger, loud enough to break the few windows that remained whole in the town below, pierced the skies,.

“To trick me? Me!” Another shriek followed, coloring the sky a furious red. The demon flying below kept his head down, careful not to move as the storm of rage slowly abated.

“That human filth will rot in the Pit Lands for all eternities. It will pay the price for tricking me by using a Bir Nibaru god’s name against me!” It was a final call of anger, a last thunder rolling across the skies.

“Rise, Sharur!”

Sin-Shar-Ishkun’s voice was high like a raptor’s; it was a hunter’s voice. His black, triple-forked tongue flicked out.

The two demons flying high were joined by other bronze-armored monsters rising up from within the town, though these others only possessed a single pair of wings each. The demons flew above the town, their huge formation casting a dark, yellow shadow across the streets and buildings below them, their powerful wing beats raising gusts and dust devils everywhere in the town. They circled the town once, leaving a trail of sulfur in their wake, and then the tight formation of armored demons cut through the skies like arrows let loose from the bowels of the earth, aimed for the heart of the heavens. The largest demon, Sin-Shar-Ishkun, flapped his three wings once and waved the others away. The demons scattered, diving into the city, a host of vultures swooping down towards their prey. Sharur stayed aloft, soaring in the burning skies, ready to serve his master.

“I have tasted this sphere for a fortnight. A witch first summoned me and gave me entrance into the sphere. The meat I wear now led me to this town, where I found the meat that sells addictive materials to other meat. Tempting that one was easy, and then I brought others from the legion into the sphere. Then, I found meat from other kingdoms of the sphere and I took them. Then I wore the meat of an agent of that other kingdom and learnt all there is to know about this sphere. Now, I wear the very same meat that I first smelt when I entered the sphere.” The large tripled-winged demon flapped its wings a few times, soaring high.

“I have learnt all there is to know about this sphere. This sphere’s meat have no lore. They have forgotten the ways of power. They are cattle waiting for talons to grab them. I will power the entire legion, Sharur. My power will be as it was when I fought for the triple-cursed gods of Bir Nibaru!” Light flared within its sulfur-filled eyes. A claw opened and closed. “Others must not suspect I have a way into the spheres from out of the Pit Lands. Demons rarely forgive and never forget. Let Bathomaost and the others be complacent. A third of the legion will remain behind. My domain must be seen as filled with demons as ever.” A claw rubbed across a grinning beak.

“The Skyriver came upon this sphere but recently. The knowledge I took from the meats I wore makes this certain. This sphere has no one of its own to wield the power. However, I have seen signs and felt remnants of conjurations that attest to the presence of strong wielders of magic long ago. They have lost all the lore that they may have held once. They are open, vulnerable, sheep to be gathered up and harvested for their essence!” Sin-Shar-Ishkun said. His tongue flicked out again and his beak opened wide, showing the abyss that was inside.

“It has been too long, Sharur. The legion will see conquest again. Endless amounts of meat! Easy access to the Spiritworld! The Pit Lands will extend its boundaries again!” Sin-Shar-Ishkun said. His claws gradually closed.

Sharur flexed his arms, his head still bowed down. His bronze armor clinked as the heavily muscled arms pressed plates into one another.

“Sharur? Do you wish to speak?”

“What of the others who come to this sphere from the Skyriver?”

“There are many. The witch that summoned me here has gone,” Sin-Shar-Ishkun said. Sharur stirred and growled at the mention of the witch. “However, the fool knows not how to properly bind a demon. No doubt it was using an old war summoning, containing only a third of my name, not enough to truly bind me. It is interesting in itself. Such summoning has not been used since the Second War of the Bir Nibaru Gods. However, the service it requested was for me to destroy one of its enemies, a peer of the Pure Empire.” Sin-Shar-Ishkun grimaced as he said the last sentence.

“I was sorely tempted to kill the witch or to bring it back to serve as a plaything for the imps. However, I reconsidered. This sphere is about to become a battlefield. The Pure Empire comes. The witch will surely bring its enemy wizards. The Gods of Bir Nibaru have already sent their minions into the sphere and the Children of Tiamat are swarming into it. Most interesting, it seems dragons have made the sphere their home. In the war that is coming all these forces will fight one another, weaken one another, letting the legion’s power grow,” Sin-Shar-Ishkun said.

He paused.

“Thus, to mask my true purpose, I allowed the witch to banish me,” the demon prince said, his talons slicing through the air, leaving trails of corrosive sulfur behind. Sharur’s head rose, but he said nothing.

“Yes. I allowed the witch to banish me. I allowed the mortal meat to banish me with the god’s name. They think they have rid this sphere of my presence, but with that they are thereby granting me complete freedom to do as I will. In the war that will come, the demons will strike when the time is most appropriate,” Sin-Shar-Ishkun said. His large, spherical, predatory eyes locked on the town beneath, a raptor looking for prey.

“That meat who sells addictive materials has taken the demon pact. He was my new path into this sphere. He will get what he wanted, but I will have him. When this arid land he calls Africa will be his, he will be mine!” Sin-Shar-Ishkun’s beak closed with a snap.

“All those who come over the Skyriver will know this sphere is Eretz. The Children of Tiamat swarm into the sphere, riding upon their black dragons, sacrificing meat to their mothers. Their dragon flights will shower fire into the cities of mortal meat, and they will burn them to the ground. The Azure Empire will send its ships, and its fleets will darken the sun. The witches and the wizards will come, and their battles will melt the plains into glass.”

A demonic grin, terrible to behold, widened.

The fuming eyes turned to Sharur who shifted again in his armor.

“What is it?”

“This sphere, Lord. Why has the Skyriver touched it now?”

There was a small pause.

“I do not know. There was a barrier here, a barrier of great strength, a barrier whose purpose was to lock something inside the sphere or to prevent entrance into the sphere. It does not matter. The Bir Nibaru Gods come, maggots attracted to carrion.” The demonic grin vanished and Sin-Shar-Ishkun rose up, opening his beak wide, hands and wings spreading far. Sin-Shar-Ishkun’s eyes were on the eastern horizon.

“Hear me, Gods of Bir Nibaru, you who have cast me down from the heavens into the accursed Pit Lands. I still bear the scar of the wound you gave me. Hear the words of he who was once your servant. Your weapons are about to turn on you. The demons come for you! The shining walls that hide you will be torn down! Your blood will run like rivers in the streets! The skies will weep for you! I, Sin-Shar-Ishkun, swear this!” The demon’s shriek echoed in the skies, followed by a deep silence that descended like a shroud upon the storm-wracked skies above Al Jaghbub. The form that flew up, defying the elements and the skies, bore little resemblance to anything human.

Then, the demonic presence folded its wings and swooped down towards the huddling town beneath it.

“And now, let us feed.”