Requiem's Hope (Dawn of Dragons) (16 page)

"When we face Angel, I don't think bronze or dragonfire can help
us." She opened her palm, revealing the amulet embedded into the
flesh. "If there is any power to tame her, it lies with Taal."

Yet she heard the doubt in her voice. If Taal was truly the Father of
All Gods, a great deity who loved Eteer, how had he let this evil
befall them? Was Taal himself aligned with these demons? After all,
some old books of lore claimed that Angel was Taal's daughter. Raem
too worshiped the silver god, and he commanded an unholy host. How
could Issari stake the future of her kingdom on a god whose love she
doubted?

She took a deep breath.
Perhaps you are testing me, Taal. Your
light has helped me before, and your power has joined with my very
body. I am your priestess, your warrior, your servant. Be with me
today.
She raised her eyes. The sky was blue and bright, the sun
beating down, but Issari prayed to other gods too.
If you look
down upon me, stars of Requiem, and if you see me as your daughter,
help me too. Help me defeat the demon host that would kill your
children.

They kept walking, heading closer to the palace. It rose ahead upon a
hill—her old home. Blue bricks formed its base, inlaid with golden
reliefs of winged bulls, roaring lions, and chariots full of
soldiers. Indigo columns lined the palace's higher floors, capped
with gold. Balconies thrust out like mushrooms upon a tree. Once lush
gardens had draped off these balconies and the palace roof; they had
burned in the war. Once a waterfall had cascaded down the palace wall
into a pool in the gardens; it had run dry. Once this had been a home
to Issari; today a creature of flame and stone lurked within.

She turned to look at the soldiers who followed her. Each man wore a
bronze breastplate and helmet, and they held round shields and
khopeshes. Spears hung across their backs. She had a thousand men;
she had to fight only one demon. Issari suspected this might be like
a thousand butterflies attacking a bear. She caressed her amulet.
Just so long as there's one bee in the bunch.

She raised her head, squared her shoulders, and marched on, climbing
the hill toward the palace gates.

No guards stood here; none were necessary, for nobody sane would
enter this place with the creature that lurked within. The bronze
doors seemed to glower at her, their knobs shaped as great phalli,
symbols of fertility. She grabbed the handles, took a deep breath,
and shoved the doors open.

A dark hall awaited her, lined with columns. Once a mosaic had
covered the floor; it lay smashed and stained with demon drool,
blood, and seed. Once statues of erstwhile kings had stood between
the pillars; their heads had been removed, replaced with demon
sculptures of stinking flesh stitched together into mocking faces.
Once the throne had risen here in a beam of light, and great kings
had sat upon it. Now, coiling around this chair, slumbered the Queen
of the Abyss.

When first risen into the world, Angel had been no larger than
Issari, a woman of stone and fire and bat wings. After feeding on
human flesh, she had grown to an obscene size. The Demon Queen was
now as large as a dragon, too large to stand upright within this
hall. She lay on the ground, wrapped around the throne like a girl
holding a doll. Cracks appeared on her stony body, seeping smoke and
lava. Her chest rose and fell, and her eyes were narrowed to orange
slits. Her wings stretched out like sails, and her claws rose taller
than swords. With every deep breath, she exhaled smoke and sulfuric
fumes. A small scar still marred the demon's cheek—the mark Issari's
amulet had given her.

I hurt her,
Issari thought, hiding the amulet within her fist.
I can hurt her again.

She stepped deeper into the hall. Tanin walked at her side, his jaw
clenched, his brow damp, his dagger raised. Behind, the first of
Issari's soldiers entered too, their helmets hiding their faces.
Still the Demon Queen slept—the deep slumber of one so powerful she
knows none can hurt her.

Issari took several more steps until she stood in the center of the
hall. To her right rose a statue of her father, the only one still
with its original head. Issari took a deep breath and spoke so loudly
her voice echoed.

"Arise, Queen of Devilry, and heed me! I am Issari Seran. I am
henceforth Queen of Eteer. Release my throne and obey me!"

For a long moment, Angel still lay with closed eyes, though her
breath grew more rapid, and her claws trailed along the floor. One
red eye opened, blazing with the light of a sun. The demon snorted.

"You are Queen of the Whores. You're not worthy of a latrine for
a throne. Return to your banishment or wait here until your father
returns to slay you."

Issari smiled thinly. "Last time we met, Angel of the Abyss, you
screamed, leaped upon me, tried to crush and deform me. Now you tell
me to leave? I see the mark on your face. Do you fear me, Angel?"

The demon queen hissed, her tongue flicking. Slowly she rose to a
crouch, body creaking like moving stones, her wings spreading wide.
She moved like smoke unfurling from burning forests. Both eyes opened
now, smelters of molten rock, and lava dripped between dagger-like
fangs. She slammed her claws down, clutching the throne.

"Take one more step, reptile, and you will not die. Not for
thousands of years." Angel licked her lips, her tongue as thick
as a human arm, dripping sizzling saliva. "But you will beg me
for death. As I sew more heads onto your body, you will beg. As I
drink your blood, only to pump you full of more hot liquid, you will
weep and beg harder. As all the creatures of the Abyss consume
you—and thousands still lurk below—you will scream for death. But I
will not grant it. Not until you are the basest of my demons, the
most monstrous among them. Only one part of you I will leave
unbroken." Angel grinned. "Your mind. Your sanity, your
consciousness, your memory, your sense of self—all those will
remain. Forever will you feel the pain, the horror, the ripping agony
over what you've become. That will be your lot." She rose
higher, and fire blazed within the cracks along her body. "So
step closer, Queen of Filth, and we will begin."

Issari took a deep breath, and her eyes stung.
For Eteer. For
Requiem. For Tanin.

She raised her fist and uncurled her fingers, revealing her amulet.
"By the light of Taal, I tame you!"

Her palm thrummed and light blazed out in a beam.

Angel screamed.

The light crashed against the demon's chest, cracking stone. Lava
spilled and smoke blasted out. The demon's wings beat madly, and she
tried to lunge forward, but the light slammed her back against the
wall. Stones cracked. A chunk of the ceiling fell. Issari took a step
closer, hand held before her, drenching the towering demon with her
god's light.

"Kneel before me, Angel!" Issari shouted. "Kneel and
accept me as your queen, or die in my light."

Angel hissed, cursed, retched out embers. She spat a glob of dark
drool, trying to block the light. Issari, expecting the attack,
dodged the projectile. She took another step forward. Her talisman's
light spun, howling like a storm. The palace trembled. Angel thrashed
against the wall, tail whipping about, wings churning smoke.

"Kneel, Queen of Demons! Kneel and serve me. I am Queen of Eteer
and you will accept my reign."

The Demon Queen began to laugh.

It was a horrible laugh, a sound of anguish, of pure hatred forged in
the depths. Even in the light drenching her, her chest rose and fell,
and her eyes burned, two mocking forge fires. The queen rose taller,
her head brushing the ceiling, and opened her arms wide, her claws
sprouting flame.

"It will take more than the light of a sunlit god to burn me."
Angel flexed her claws. "Taal is my father, but he too will beg
me for death. I will crush him like I will crush you. The silver god
will be my slave. You two will rut in the mud before me."

Keeping her light upon the queen, Issari looked over her shoulder at
her army. The soldiers stood in the hall, swords and shields raised.
Issari spoke only two soft words.

"Kill her."

With howls, Tanin at their lead, the soldiers rushed forth.

Angel's laughter echoed in the hall.

The soldiers roared for their god and kingdom. Khopeshes swung.
Spears flew.

Blades shattered against the demon's stone skin. Spears splintered.
Angel swiped her claws, tossing men aside like plates knocked off a
table. Soldiers clattered down. Arrows fired, snapping against the
demon. She laughed, swung her claws again, and tossed men against the
walls. They thudded and crashed down, and angel stomped her feet,
crushing their armor and bones. Tanin slammed his dagger into the
queen's leg, thrusting the blade into a crack in the stone. The queen
shrieked, a sound like shattering glass. A column cracked. Angel
kicked, and Tanin flew through the air and thudded against the floor.

"Tanin!"

Issari's eyes stung. She wanted to run to him, but she couldn't. She
forced herself to step closer to the Demon Queen, shining her light
upon her. Angel still had her back to the wall, battling the
soldiers; the men seemed as small as wolves trying to take down a
mammoth. But Issari was hurting her; she could see scars upon the
demon's chest where the light shone. She raised her palm higher,
bringing the light to blaze against Angel's eyes.

The Demon Queen screeched. This time there was no mirth in her voice,
no cruelty—only pain.

"Men, chain her up!" Issari said.

Soldiers rushed forth, tossing grapples connected to thick chains.
The bonds swung across Angel and men tugged back, tightening the
chains. One grapple drove into a crack in Angel's belly, and she
screamed again.

"The sweet spawn!" Tears of blood poured from her blinded
eyes. "The child of a king! The babe in my womb!"

Issari froze, fear gripping her. The child of a king? Did . . . No.
No, it was impossible.

"Tug her down!" Issari shouted.

Angel flailed, struggling to toss off the chains. The grapple dug
deeper into her belly. "You are slaying your brother, princess!"
cried the demon. "Your father's son festers within my womb. You
are killing him."

Issari could barely breathe. Tears flooded her eyes and bile filled
her throat. "You lie!"

The demon shrieked, wings beating, legs kicking back soldiers. "Cut
me open and see him if you like. Your own flesh and blood."

My father has lain with her. His child is within.
Issari
trembled.
Oh, Taal . . . don't let this be true.

She trembled so violently she lowered her beam of light.

The instant Angel was free from the ray, she screamed hoarsely, and
her fire blasted out in rings. Men fell, burning. The Demon Queen
kicked, overturning the throne. The heavy seat of stone slammed into
Issari, knocking her down. She lay pinned beneath it.

Her eyes rolled back. Darkness spread across her. She struggled for
consciousness. She blinked feebly, and through smoke and flame, she
saw Angel battling soldiers, tossing them aside, cracking their
bodies, tearing off their limbs and guzzling them down. Issari tried
to raise her hand, to shine the light, but she was too weak, and the
glow of her amulet dimmed. In the darkness, Angel's fire grew,
licking the ceiling, blazing over men.

"You have failed, Issari!" Angel's voice rose from the
battle. "Eteer is mine. Requiem will fall. Your long night
begins. Your—"

Angel screamed.

She stumbled back.

Tanin stood before her, no taller than her waist, driving his dagger
into a crack along her belly—the same place where the grapple had
cut.

"If light will not tame you, metal will." Tanin twisted the
blade and tugged it back; it came free covered in ooze. The demon
crashed down, wailing, clutching her belly. At once soldiers leaped
around her, tossing chains.

My brother.
The thought rose through the fog enveloping
Issari's mind.
My brother is in her belly. He's hurt.

As Angel writhed on the floor, chains wrapping around her, Tanin ran
toward the fallen throne. He gripped the seat, strained, and pulled
it back upright. He knelt above Issari, concern softening his eyes. A
bloody gash dripped upon his forehead, and he touched her cheek. His
voice seemed to come from far away.

"Issari! Issari, oh stars. Can you hear me?"

She nodded and, with his help, rose to her feet. She stared at the
corner where Angel was screaming. Chains engulfed her, the grapples
digging into her innards. Her tongue flailed, and soldiers slammed
shields against her head, knocking it against the floor. But Issari
knew that mere mortals could not keep Angel down for long; the Queen
of the Abyss had reigned in the underworld for millennia, and already
her wounds were healing, the cracks on her stony body closing up.
Already fresh fire blazed in the demon's eyes.

Issari looked back toward the throne.

The throne of Eteer. The throne that will give me power over her.

She walked toward it, each step feeling like a journey of many marks.
With a deep breath, her fingers trembling, she sat upon the throne.

Angel screamed.

The demon convulsed, her tail cracking the wall. Bricks fell. The
floor cracked open. Fire leaked and lava flowed along the floor. The
demon's eyes blazed as Angel struggled to rise.

"You will scream, harlot! You will be eating your own hands with
hunger! You will tear apart your own body to end your pain but live
on! You—"

"I am your queen!" Issari stared down from the throne, palm
raised. "I sit upon the throne. The army of Eteer obeys my
command. You are bound to this throne, Angel, and you will serve your
rightful ruler."

Tanin raised his dagger and shouted, "Queen Issari!"