The Sin War Box Set: Birthright, Scales of the Serpent, and The Veiled Prophet (59 page)

Lilith materialized on the throne, her image only briefly that of herself before she cast the illusion of the Primus over her. The demoness sat in the darkness, utterly silent. Had any been there and able to gaze upon the face she now wore, they would have come away unable to read the emotions coursing through her.

After several minutes, she suddenly rose and departed the Primus’s personal chambers. The guards outside jolted to attention. Although they had been at their positions as demanded, they had assumed—rightly—that their master had
not
been inside. Still, none questioned this miraculous appearance…for this
was
the Primus, after all.

At least, to their eyes.

Lilith remained expressionless as she strode throughout the vast temple. There seemed no rhyme or reason to her path. Priests, guards, novices, and other acolytes paid homage to her along the way, each seeming to try to bow or kneel lower than those before.

Then, in the great hall where the statues of Mefis, Dialon, and Bala stood, she paused. Around her, more of the faithful hesitated in their own tasks, cautiously wondering just what the Primus did.

She looked up at each of the statues…her eyes lingering longest on that of Mefis.

And then…after staring at the spirit’s vaguely crafted visage, Lilith allowed the Primus’s own to smile ever so slightly.

“Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, that’ll be the way of it. Oh, yes…”

One of the more daring priests stepped up to her. Hands clasped together and head low, he said, “Great Primus, is there any service I may be to you?”

Lilith glanced at him, noting his youth and good build, not to mention the fact that he had been the only one with backbone enough to approach her. “Tell me…what is your name again, my son?”

“Durram, Great Primus.” He wore the robe of a devotee of Dialon and she already sensed that the darkness of the Lord of Terror had touched Durram despite his humble facade. He was ambitious.

“I will summon you to my chambers later to speak with you,” she told him, forcing herself not to give him a beguiling smile. Lilith had a need to burn off certain frustrations and Durram looked just perfect for the task, not that he would know until it was too late.

The priest bowed lower than any of the others. Inside, the demoness sensed he was congratulating himself on his daring. She wondered how he would feel after their “discussion.”

But minor pleasures had to be pushed aside for the moment. Having come to a decision, Lilith was eager to implement it. Once again, the proverbial closing of one door had led to another opening.

“I must go,” she informed Durram.

“I will await your summons, Great Primus.”

Lilith could not forgo a brief feminine chuckle, but Durram did not hear it. As she passed the bowing priest, she blithely commented, “Durram. Clear the vicinity. An accident is about to happen.”

To his credit, Durram was quick to obey. As he shouted the warning, Lilith strode off. She waited until she had reached the corridor leading back to the Primus’s chambers, then glanced over her shoulder.

There was a resounding crack—and the statue of Mefis suddenly toppled from its high perch.

Had it fallen moments earlier, at least a score of humans would have been crushed or badly injured. As it was, the statue’s collision with the marble floor sent huge chunks flying in every direction. Durram had done well in directing the others away, but a few were still within range of the deadly missiles.

The demoness gestured—making certain that some of the guards and others nearby noticed—and those who were about to be struck were saved. The pieces turned to light ash, then faded, not even leaving a trace upon their supposed victims.

The dust began to settle. To one of the guards, Lilith commanded, “All are well. It remains only to clear the rubble. The priest Durram will oversee it.”

The awed guard nodded. “Yes, Great Primus!”

“I must go and meditate on this event…and consider what form the new image of Mefis must take.”

No one questioned her. In fact, she knew that word was already spreading—with Durram’s aid—of the Primus’s holy warning that had saved so many. Once again, they had witnessed a miracle.

But Lilith had not warned them for their sake. After all, she had been the cause of the statue’s collapse. She had been simply reassuring the Primus’s grand status in the temple, for what she planned soon would push these humans to the limits of their wills…and likely cost many their lives. Of course, as they would have willingly given those lives for their Primus and she was now
him
, that was a negligible point.

The demoness took one last look at the statue. Turning from her followers, she allowed herself a slight smirk, then whispered, “So
sorry
, Father…”

The Prime Evils—especially Mephisto—would be helpless to do anything against her. They so feared the High Heavens discovering Sanctuary that they would let it fall into her claws. No doubt they would think that they could retake it later, but Lilith understood the Worldstone well enough to make that an impossibility. With a world of suddenly vibrant nephalem at her command, the demon lords would discover that they had best worry about saving their
own
realm.

Yes, first the Burning Hells and then the High Heavens.

That made her think of Inarius, always skulking about. She knew his weaknesses as well. There was nothing to fear from him…

Still clad as the Primus, she returned to the darkened chambers. Once there, she paused. Despite the lack of light, the demoness could sense traces of webbing in the room. Someone had been here during her absence, someone who should have known better. She had actually noted some of the traces earlier, but her mind had been concerned with weightier matters. Now, though…

“Astrogha!” Lilith called in Lucion’s powerful voice. “Get in here, you damned spider!”

“This one is here,” retorted the arachnid a breath later from the shadows above. “What is it the great Lucion wants?”

There was a change in the other demon’s tone that Lilith did not appreciate, a defiance. “You have been misbehaving. You have been masquerading.”

“This one has been taking up the mantle that the great Lucion has forgone too much of late…so much so, in fact, that
others
insisted that Astrogha fill the void.”

She knew exactly what the spider had been up to. Lilith was concerned with only one thing, even more so considering the shift in the other demon’s mood. Astrogha represented the only impediment still existing in the Triune. It had been the demoness’s hope that Uldyssian would have removed him at the same time as he had the foolish Gulag, but Astrogha had proven wilier.

“And filled it like a rabbit pretending to be a lion. There were plans in place that Astrogha did not need to know, but that his interference utterly disrupted! How would the Three consider
that
?”

There was shuffling from the shadows. Glimpses of the other demon became apparent. “That, a fair question might be, great Lucion…a question this one would not be above asking himself to them…”

Which meant that Astrogha had already survived interrogation by one of the Prime Evils, no doubt his own lord and master, Diablo.

“There can be only one Primus, one master of the Cult of the Three, spider…”

“Yesss…this one agrees…and only awaited your return to resolve that…
Lilith
.”

True spiders did not spit webbing from their mouths, but, then, Astrogha’s form was but an aspect. He was no more truly one of the eight-legged creatures than Lilith had been Lylia.

The foul spray spread over the dark chamber, Astrogha seeking to assure that there would be no chance of missing his prey. When he had divined that Lilith had taken her brother’s place, the demoness did not know nor did she care. She had even expected this possible scenario…and so, before the webbing could engulf her, created a green inferno that burned away the other demon’s attack. Sharp hissing accompanied the destruction of the webbing—

But Astrogha, too, had evidently assumed removing her would demand more effort, for suddenly there were spiders
everywhere
. Even Lilith could not evade them all. They bit her wherever they could, spilling into her Astrogha’s foul venom. The arachnid had learned the need for haste from his experience with the mortal, Uldyssian, but he still forgot that he dealt with no ordinary demon. This was the daughter of Mephisto…

With but a thought, Lilith pushed the surge of venom back into each of the spiders, then added her own to the mix. The sinister creatures began tumbling off her body in great numbers.

Astrogha hissed angrily and another wave of webbing shot forth, this time snaring Lilith’s right side. However, suddenly appearing as herself, she laughed and sliced away the sticky substance with the claws of her left hand.

“I find the best way to rid a place of vermin is to burn them out,” she mocked. “Don’t you agree?”

The demoness snared one of the fallen tendrils. The end burst into green flames which raced up toward the shadowed Astrogha, at last revealing his macabre form to her.

Astrogha hissed and spat, seeking to douse the unnatural flames. His webbing only fueled Lilith’s fire, though, and in seconds he was surrounded by it.

“This one will devour your flesh and drink your soul,” he snarled. The arachnid’s multiple eyes flared crimson.

Lilith faltered. There was a new presence in the chamber, one she knew too well. She almost turned to look behind her…then stopped.

“When next you seek to remind me of my father,” she cooed, “you had best be certain you bring the real thing, not some desperate illusion, servant of Diablo…”

Lilith magnified the flames. Astrogha shrieked as they licked at his hairy form.

“You are a fool, Mephisto’s daughter!” he declared, pulling back as best he could. “And therefore welcome to this fool’s nest forged by Lucion! Savor it…for what little time remains…”

A new and utter blackness enshrouded the spider. Lilith willed the flames forward…but when they reached the corner, there was no longer any Astrogha.

With her mind, she searched the whole of the temple, but found no trace. Astrogha had not merely fled to safety; he had fled the Triune entirely. Lilith was not overly concerned; she should have slain Diablo’s servant, but he clearly would be of no consequence, anymore. Now the Cult of the Three completely belonged to her.

No
, Lilith thought with a smile as she dismissed the remnants of the struggle to oblivion and once more, as the Primus, assumed her place on the throne.
No longer the Cult of the Three. There is only One. There is only Me
.

Feeling quite pleased with herself, she had a sudden desire for the priest Durram’s company. There was time enough for a little entertainment before she dealt with dear Uldyssian. He had forced her to a decision that, in retrospect, would accelerate her dreams to fulfillment. All she needed were a few morlu…

Lilith giggled at her own thought. Perhaps more than
few
…

Astrogha had no regrets about fleeing the temple. He had not expected to be able to defeat the daughter of a Prime Evil, although his effort had allowed him to gauge her for another possible confrontation. She was welcome to the Triune and she and the mortal, Uldyssian, were welcome to the other. Astrogha had not outlived other demons by not knowing when it was best to let others deal with his problems. Let them battle it out, perhaps with the angel, Inarius, also throwing himself into the mix. The survivors—should there be any—would find themselves weakened, of that he was certain. Then…then the spider would pick up the pieces. The notion of a cult such as the Triune still made sense, but one more focused. On himself perhaps.

Yes, Astrogha
liked
that thought. From the ruins of this debacle, he would gather humans of his own. There were always those with an almost demonic lust for power. Unlike Lucion, though, Astrogha would maintain tight control over his minions. That had been the trouble; Lucion had lost order, had allowed himself to rely too much on others. Then, when he had finally taken personal control, something had obviously gone wrong. The son of Mephisto had somehow perished.

No, Astrogha would not make Lucion’s mistakes, nor Lilith’s. Already he could imagine his slaves spreading out to both sides of the world, his symbol—the spider—raised over city after city. There would come the day when no one would recall the Triune or the Cathedral of Light. It would be the cult of Astrogha that finally
conquered
Sanctuary and made humans its slaves…all for the Prime Evils, of course, and especially, his master.

All for them…eventually…

Although given only an instant, Uldyssian yet managed to devise a plan to readily explain the scene before his followers. Most of it involved the truth, the rest a necessary twisting of it.

But Achilios gave him no chance to even begin it. The archer threw himself toward the gathered edyrem who, stunned, reacted as people and cleared a path for the dead man. Achilios made good use of their reaction, bolting outside before any could recover.

“Achilios!” Uldyssian shouted. “Wait!”

He rushed after his childhood friend, ignoring the clamoring that began among those gathered. To them he ordered, “Get those bodies out of there and see to her! Don’t move her any more than necessary but make her comfortable! Do it!”

Outside, more edyrem stood in shock, most of them still looking west. Uldyssian ran in that direction, trying to locate the incredibly swift Achilios by both eyesight and higher senses. Yet, the archer was invisible to both.

As he neared the edge of camp, Uldyssian saw a sentry turn his way. The man, a Parthan, gaped. Uldyssian seized the guard and demanded, “A pale figure! Did he run by here?”

“No, no one’s come this way—Master
Uldyssian
?”

He could explain his miraculous return to the guard when he did so to the rest. Shoving aside the Parthan, Uldyssian entered the jungle. Achilios had to have gone this way, but try as he might, Uldyssian could not sense him at all.

Defeated, he finally returned to the encampment. By that time, a great mob had gathered near the sentry, who was animatedly describing his encounter with their lost leader. Everyone grew silent when Uldyssian approached, but he had no time for them yet.

Still, he had to say something. “I’ll tell all later. Return to your rest.”

It was very doubtful that any of them would sleep, but Uldyssian could only hope. For now, he had to concern himself with Serenthia.

Those still surrounding the ancient building scattered out of his way as he neared. Without a glance to any of them, Uldyssian entered.

Serenthia still lay on the floor, but someone had had the presence of mind to set a blanket under her head and another over her torso. Her breathing was regular, for which Uldyssian thanked the stars. Then, he recalled particular stars, those that made up the dragon, and nearly took back his silent gratitude.

Going down on one knee, Uldyssian touched Serenthia’s face. It was pleasantly warm.

A slight moan escaped her. Her eyes flashed open and she attempted to rise.

“Achilios! Achilios! Don’t—don’t leave—” Her strength failed her. Serenthia had to lay her head down again. Despite that, though, she kept her eyes open and repeated over and over the same thing. “Achilios…don’t leave…don’t leave…”

Uldyssian was caught between relief and jealousy. Serenthia seemed mentally intact and physically unharmed, for which he was grateful, but that her first cries had been for the archer…

Silently berating himself for his extreme selfishness, Uldyssian leaned nearer. “Serenthia…Serry…do you hear me? How do you feel?”

“Uldyssian?” Her eyes finally focused on him. “I—I think I’m all right.” She stiffened. “No! That thing! I know it! She’s coming for me! It was—” The merchant’s daughter clutched his arm. “Uldyssian! Lilith! Lilith was coming for me—”

“I know. I know. Hush, Serenthia! Lilith’s been sent away again—”

But she was finally beginning to register her unsettling surroundings. “Where—where are we? The last I recall, I was by the river! I sensed her nearness too late! And then it was as if—as if she were
inside
me! Where
are
we, Uldyssian? Tell me the truth!”

There was no way he could keep the truth from her. If Uldyssian even tried, Serenthia was certain to eventually learn everything from the others.

“Listen to me carefully, Serry,” he murmured. “We will talk about this later—”

The fire began to return to her. “No, Uldyssian. I need to know now. Tell me.”

He looked back at the others. “Leave us.”

They obeyed without protest. Uldyssian used his power to seal the doors behind him, then also blocked those outside from hearing. They would know enough when the time came, but there were some things he felt should remain only between the two of them.

Someone had wisely left a water pouch near Serenthia and Uldyssian bade her drink first. She willingly swallowed a good portion of the contents, then gave him a look that suggested he stall no longer.

And so, with a deep breath, Uldyssian told her what he could and what he dared, cutting matters to the bare facts as much as possible. Serenthia listened without interruption save for the occasional gasp. Her face, though, more than once nearly caused Uldyssian to stop, especially when he had to tell the merchant’s daughter what he knew of Lilith’s activities. Revulsion filled Serenthia, but to her credit, she did not lose control.

Then, Uldyssian came to the moment when Achilios had reentered the situation. Here he finally stopped short, not at all certain just how to go on. Was it better to let her believe that he had been no more than a dream?

She knew that he was trying to leave something significant out of the story and so pressed him.

Surrendering to the inevitable, Uldyssian chose a different tact. “Serry,” he began in his kindest tone. “Serry, do you remember what you said when you first awoke here? Do you remember at all?”

“You keep calling me ’Serry,’” she countered, her gaze narrowing. “That can only mean you’ve got something terrible to tell me. What can be worse than what I’ve heard so far and what has it to do with what I said?”

He could not turn back. “Serry. Think. What did you say? It’s vital.”

Her brow wrinkled. “Let me think. I was…I was having a dream…or nightmare, I can’t say which. I thought I saw…I thought I saw
Achilios
. I must’ve still been dreaming when I believed I awoke, because I think what I was doing was calling out his name and…and…” Tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks. “Oh, Uldyssian…I thought he’d come back to me! I thought I’d been blessed with a miracle! But—but it was nothing but my imagination…”

Uldyssian swallowed. “No.”

“What—what was that?”

“Serry…Serenthia…he was here. You didn’t imagine him. Achilios was here.”

She frowned at him. “Don’t make a jest like that! There’s nothing funny about it at all, Uldyssian! How could you do that?”

“I never would. It’s not a jest. He was—”

Pulling back from Uldyssian, Serenthia covered her ears. “Stop! Stop that! Don’t say such things! Achilios is
dead
! Dead!”

The building started to quake. Small bits of stone rained down on them. Driven by her grief, Serenthia’s power was affecting their surroundings.

Uldyssian quickly worked to counter her. The tremor subsided, albeit reluctantly. Serenthia was nearly as strong as him.

She had not even noticed what she had done. Cyrus’s daughter shook her head back and forth and tears stained her cheeks. Over and over she repeated the archer’s name.

Mouth set, Uldyssian took hold of her wrists and forced her to listen. “Serenthia! It
was
Achilios you saw! It was no dream!” He could not bring himself to say that it was no
nightmare
. Even he had not quite recovered from the shock of seeing his friend. “It
was
Achilios!”

Her eyes widened and the tears lessened. Hope filled her expression. “You mean that he’s—he’s—alive?”

“I…Serenthia…I don’t know
what
to call what he was…but at least he was still the Achilios we knew and loved. He charged in here when all was lost and managed somehow to stir you to waking. Only because of him, not me, were you able to force Lilith from your body.”

“I—I remember hearing his voice. I remember I was in darkness. All I wanted to do was sleep…but his voice…I had to follow it! I wanted so much to see him again…” Wiping away a lingering tear, the dark-haired woman surveyed the chamber. “But where is he, then? Achilios!” She started to rise. “Achilios! Don’t hide from me!”

She teetered. Uldyssian quickly supported her. Serenthia put an arm around his waist, her eyes yet seeking the man she loved.

“Why won’t he answer me? Why’s he hiding?”

“He’s not. He ran off when others entered. Serry, I think he’s afraid that you’ll be repulsed by what he’s become.”

Serenthia gave him an incredulous look. “Why? He’s Achilios!”

“And he should be
dead
. Dead. We buried him, remember?” Before she could suggest the obvious, Uldyssian continued, “There was no mistake! The shaft went through his throat! He should be dead!”

He felt her shiver, but realized that it was not out of fear. “How horrible,” Serenthia murmured, eyeing empty air. “How horrible for him…”

As she said it, Uldyssian had to admit that a part of him felt the same for his childhood friend. Achilios had obviously been tracking them for some time, perhaps even within days of his killing. Had he meant them any harm, he could have struck several times over. Thus far, Achilios had only acted like the Achilios of old, ever protective of those for whom he cared.

Especially Serenthia.

“I’ve got to find him,” she abruptly declared. “I’ve got to find Achilios! He’s all alone out there, fearful to be even with me!”

“Serry, he may have good reason—”

Her voice grew sharp. “That’s ridiculous! There’s
no
good reason for us to be apart. I won’t be deterred. I’m going to find him.”

Her determination in the face of such drastic events touched Uldyssian deeply. “I’ll stand with you, then, Serry. You have the right of it; Achilios has always been there for us…even now. Whatever he must overcome, we should be there for him, too.”

That made her finally smile. “Thank you…”

With his continued assistance, she was finally able to leave the sinister building. Outside, they were immediately surrounded by others, Saron among them. Behind the Torajian stood a group of edyrem who were apparently acting as guards to a small, surly group.

Their prisoners were the last remnants of those turned by Lilith. They were but a handful, the rest having been sacrificed to the demoness’s madness. Uldyssian recognized all but two and assumed those to be Hashiri. In addition to having the bodies removed, Uldyssian had through his powers secretly passed word to those he felt certain he could trust to locate the guards Lilith had left at the edge of the encampment. From his count, his followers had managed to round up all of them.

“What shall we do with them, master?” asked Saron. His dark expression gave easy indication of what he would have liked. To the mind of most of the edyrem present, the turned were the foulest of traitors…even if their fall from grace was due to Lilith’s seductions.

Uldyssian had been unable to save Romus or any of those inside, but he still hoped to salvage these souls. He was already sick of the rising number of dead.

Then, he recalled Serenthia. However, before he could speak, she whispered, “Go ahead. This must not wait, not even for me…”

With that, she pulled away so as to give him room. Uldyssian signaled two of his followers to bring the first of the turned to him. As they approached, he sensed the other edyrem managing to keep the power of the prisoner in check. He was impressed by their action, something that they had not been taught by him.

The man, a Torajian, scowled as Uldyssian leaned into him. He looked ready to spit into his former leader’s face, but evidently thought better of it.

For what he planned, Uldyssian knew that he would have to touch the prisoner. That would mean more direct contact with Lilith’s taint, but there was nothing that he could do to avoid that if he hoped to save the Torajian.

With a deep breath, he brought his hands up to each side of the prisoner’s head. The Torajian tried to shake loose, then settled down, glaring.

Meeting that evil gaze, Uldyssian delved within. He sensed the core of what was the Torajian and how it tied to his power.

It took him no time at all to find the blackness that the demoness had stirred to raging life. It was so evil that a stunned Uldyssian nearly retreated out of repulsion. Yet, to do so would be to abandon all hope for the man before him.

After brief consideration, Uldyssian determined that his best chance lay in trying to smother or even
remove
the darkness. He imagined it like a solid object and used his mind to try to encase it. If it could be
forced
out—

Without warning, the blackness erupted into pure, monstrous fury. Uldyssian barely had a chance to withdraw his mind—

—and no opportunity at all to prevent the prisoner from tearing free from his guards as if they were nothing and clamping his hands around Uldyssian’s throat.

Sharp agony filled Uldyssian as the Torajian squeezed. Intense heat wracked his throat, the escaped prisoner using his own edyrem powers in addition to his brute strength. If not for the son of Diomedes having already had some protections up, he would have been dead already.