Sword of the Gods: Agents of Ki (Sword of the Gods Saga) (91 page)

Lucifer had told him to remain here, but Eligor decided
here
included the ground just outside the shuttle. Whatever Lucifer was about to pull, Eligor wanted to see it. Besides … with the two goons up there guarding Lucifer's person, who the fuck was supposed to make sure some random Tokoloshe didn't creep up and shove a plasma grenade up the shuttle's antimatter induction ports?

The lawn outside the shuttle bore the peculiar scent of freshly mowed grass blended with the stench of stale blood. The
ollamaliztli
stadium rose so steeply that even spectators in the nosebleed seats sat in proximity to the playing field. He stared upwards at row after row of Tokoloshe, an Angelic's worst nightmare, to be trapped with not just one of them, but millions. There were no guard rails on the steep seats, and he wondered how long it would be before one of the spectators fell to their death.

A shiver of anticipation rippled through his feathers as the crowd grew quiet and Lucifer began his speech.

"Loyal citizens of the Tokoloshe Kingdom," Lucifer said, "once upon a time you were part of an empire founded upon ideals of a perfect society. My father invited those who believed perfection could be created, not by the gods, but by mortal creatures, to join our ranks. He believed these petty gods had no place in our empire, but should be cast them aside in favor of the old gods who are the true source of power upon which all of creation was built."

"This vision threatened the two old gods, who depend on our continued inconscience to maintain their grip upon our very souls. As my father grew in power, the two old gods united to destroy him, to destroy your dream that someday
all
sentient creatures will become worthy to take their place amongst the gods."

The Tokoloshe began to boo, but it was not Lucifer who they hated, but the two old gods who had united to push back on Tokoloshe incursions into the hotly disputed borderlands.

Lucifer's voice grew louder, more ominous as he brought every aspect of his physiology into play.

"My father was betrayed by the person he trusted the most," Lucifer shouted. "For years I was lost, abandoned by the very god who had stolen me from my father, but then one day I realized the two old gods were
nothing
but mere reflections of the one, true god."

Huh? Eligor stopped pretending to be interested in running a circle-check on the exterior of the shuttle and froze, his eyes glued on the man who was his boss. There had been whispers of such things when he'd still been a grunt in Shemijaza's Third Empire, but all such talk was forbidden in the Alliance, and in all the years he'd worked for Lucifer, never once had he heard the man make any mention of such a thing.

"I looked within myself and
found
that inner god just where my father had promised he would be," Lucifer said, "and through that god, he has brought me full-circle to reclaim the empire that was my birthright!"

The Tokoloshe began to cheer.

A voice behind Eligor caused him to spin around.

"You have no idea, do you?" a gruff voice asked. "You have no idea who you serve."

"Who are you! Come out of that shadow!" Eligor ordered the man.

He saw the feathers first, the elaborate headdress, the false feathered tail, and a helmet carved out of the skull of some unknown predator, its fangs still embedded into its jaw. The elderly Tokoloshe was dressed in the ceremonial finery of an
ollamaliztli
player this time, but it was the same shuffling elder who had swept the launch pad at King Barabas' palace. He leaned as he walked on a ceremonial staff, and at the top of that staff was a child's skull, Angelic by the look of it, decorated with white feathers.

"It's a great honor, to be a
favorite
of the One," the elderly Tokoloshe said. "But tell me, Eligor, when your god needs you, will you be willing?"

Eligor stared at the creature, uncertain what his response should be. Above him on the platform, Lucifer continued his speech.

"This dream does not belong to me alone," Lucifer said. He held out his arms to the Tokoloshe as though he was imploring the blessing of the gods. "With your help, we can revive this dream of perfection."

The Tokoloshe cheered.

"We can go forth and multiply;" Lucifer said. He reached out as though grabbing a fly out of the air. "We can colonize and bring under our rule those planets that are conducive to our growth."

The cheering grew louder. Up on the stadiums, the Tokoloshe began to chant and stomp their feet in unison.

"And we can manage those who are
not
useful," Lucifer said, "the weaklings and the cowards, the liberals who believe we should dirty our gene pools by forcing the strong to expend their resources upon the weak."

The elderly Tokoloshe took off his feathered helmet and gave Eligor a grin. Saliva dripped from bear-man's fangs like an animal preparing for a feast. He lifted his snout up to the citizens gone wild in the stadium and gave them a sniff as though he scented something delicious.

"We can ensure those species that natural selection has dictated are only good for food, shall
become
food," Lucifer shouted, "and not be a burden to our continued expansion out of this galaxy, and into the universe beyond!"

The Tokoloshe's wild, undulating snarls caused chills to ripple through Eligor's feathers even though he could not put into words his sense of horror. As Lucifer spoke, he could
see
things, horrible things, images of fire and of creatures being impaled onto spits and their still-writhing bodies being roasted and eaten while still alive. All had heard stories, terrible stories about the Tokoloshe feeding poles, but it was all propaganda, or so Lucifer had said. But he could see it, dammit! When Lucifer spoke, Eligor could
see
what the Tokoloshe did to their victims!

"Do you know what the most powerful food-source in the universe is?" the elderly Tokoloshe grinned at him.

"Get away from my ship!" Eligor snarled. He unclipped the straps which held his pulse rifles into their holsters. "Get away before I turn you into another blood-stain in the grass."

Lucifer carried on with his speech.

"If we want our Third Empire to rise again, we must look within ourselves, we must look to our inner gods, and we must make sacrifices, we must be
willing
to make sacrifices to earn the right to ascend and take our place at our god's table."

The elderly Tokoloshe gave Eligor the same, patronizing grin he'd given to him earlier today.

"The most powerful food source in the universe is the soul-spark, the consciousness a sentient creature possesses just as it changes form," the Tokoloshe said. "At that moment, a
willing
man can gather up the wishes of his people and carry their pleas into his god's ears."

All around them, the Tokoloshe in the stadium chanted a great, rabid cry. The fires from the bonfire grew brighter, as if somebody had piled more wood onto it even though Eligor could see no men to feed it. The wind picked up and blew forcefully against the enormous banners which alternated between the Tokoloshe flag and the upside-down star which had been the symbol of Shemijaza's Third Empire.

"In our own hands," Lucifer shouted to the masses, "in our hands alone lays the destiny of the Third Empire! We shall resurrect it through our own labor, our own industry, our own determination and daring, and our own perseverance. Only if we are
willing
to cast off the trappings of our mortality and sacrifice ourselves for our god, only then shall the Third Empire rise again. We shall claim our place amongst the gods, not as a gift, but we shall create it for ourselves!"

A great, howling wind blew into the stadium, causing the smoke from the fires to whirl in vortexes and blow towards Lucifer to surround him, and yet it did not burn him, as though he stood at the center of a drain.

Eligor glared at the elderly Tokoloshe.

"I don't
care
what he says," Eligor said. "I'm just in this for the money!"

"But you are
not
just in it for the money, are you?" the elderly Tokoloshe grinned. "You have an agenda, just like everybody else who serves the One. I suspect the reason he's amused by you is, despite your loyal service, he still hasn't figured out what your real agenda is."

The chanting reached a terrifying crescendo. The elderly Tokoloshe took a deep breath and stared up at Lucifer as though in adoration. He placed his feathered helmet back upon his head and readied his cane as though he was about to break out into a jog. Lucifer continued his speech.

"Let us start now by telling our One True God that we are willing," Lucifer shouted like a madman. "That we are willing to join him as ascended creatures, free from the burden of mortal shape or form. Tell me? Who is
willing
to act as a catalyst? Who will carry the wishes of your people to your god?"

The shouts of the Tokoloshe grew so loud it hurt Eligor's ears. The acoustics of this place, the rough voices bouncing off the stone, amplified Lucifer's voice and the shouts of the cannibals screaming they were ready.

"You are lucky, Eligor," the elderly Tokoloshe said. "You have no family to curry favor, no wishes of others to carry to his ears. Once, I was like you. When Shemijaza asked, I told myself I was not
willing
to aid him. But now? Now, old age and infirmity has made me reconsider what it means to serve our god
.
Perhaps someday you will join me on the other side as his
Agent?

With his fangs bared into a macabre grin, the elderly Tokoloshe leaned upon his cane and shuffled forward, his limp only perceptible if you knew to look for it.

Lucifer's speech grew to its horrible, terrifying crescendo. The energy in the air was palpable, as though Eligor stood next to the warp coils of a command carrier, or the Eternal Emperor's throne room just as he manifested into mortal form.

"Who is willing?" Lucifer gesticulated to the ecstatic crowd. "Who will join my ranks and become a god?"

A spotlight shone down and captured the elderly Tokoloshe limping towards the enormous central bonfire, the shrouded statue, and the pedestal upon which Lucifer beckoned.

"I am willing," the elderly Tokoloshe shouted. "I am willing, Master. I am willing to carry their prayers unto your ears!"

The crowd went wild.

They all began to chant. 'Lucifer. Lucifer. Lucifer.'

Eligor had been present when Lucifer had cast off his chains and rallied Parliament to fracture the Alliance, but this was nothing like that. Then, Lucifer had just been a man. An aggrieved man, an angry man, but there had been nothing supernatural about that performance. Just a man who'd been wronged using his oratorical gift to strike back against the Emperor's injustice. That had been the good twin, the one Eligor watched out for, the one he wished wasn't absent so much of the time.

Above them the clouds roiled black. Between their inky darkness licked tongues of yellow lightning like some great, hungry maw preparing to devour them for supper. The crowd grew quiet with anticipation, pointing at the person who had come forward on their behalf.

Lucifer stepped to the edge of the platform and reached down as though welcoming the old man into the fire which burned between them.

"Who comes forward to serve the One?" Lucifer asked.

"I do," the elderly Tokoloshe bowed.

"And what is your name, supplicant?" Lucifer asked.

"I am Abbas, uncle of Barabas, King of the Tokoloshe, and a warrior who has grown lame."

"And what prayers do you wish to carry to the ears of your god?" Lucifer asked. The bonfire beneath him reflected off of his snowy white wings, giving the impression each feather was made of fire.

"I wish," the elderly Abbas said, "to carry the wishes of my nephew, the king, and of all these good people to your ears."

"And what wish is that?"

"To cast off the chains of the two great empires which stunt our growth," the elderly Abbas said. "And to guide us forth into the galaxy, and the larger universe, to conquer it in your name."

"Your god is a benevolent god," Lucifer said, "desiring to give to you your most heartfelt desires." His features grew sharp and sinister. "But such endeavors require sustenance. What sacrifice do you propose to make, friend Abbas, that will give him enough strength so he can grant the wishes of your people."

"Let me join you in the sacred fire," the elderly Abbas said. "Scrub me free of my infirmity which makes me a burden upon my family, and let me join you as a devoted Agent."

The shouts of the Tokoloshe rose to a terrifying, screeching crescendo. The old man held out his arms, drinking it in as he countrymen urged him to cast his body upon the fires.

"On behalf of your god, I accept your gift," Lucifer gestured at Abbas. He pointed to two shaggy Tokoloshe guards who'd been standing off to the sides, each one holding a rope.

The two guards tugged. The tarp which covered the statue dropped gracefully to the ground, revealing a thirty-meter tall statue of an enormous, muscular creature. Clad from horn to hoof in solid gold, it's golden wings spread just as Lucifer's were; its bovine lips curled back into a sneer. The statue
's arms reached directly over the flames, and its ruby eyes picked up the light, giving the appearance they followed whoever moved beneath it on the field.