Demon Lord VI - Son of Chaos (21 page)

“
But there has to be,” Nikira protested. “He cut rock with it.
Why didn’t it shatter or bend?”

Drontar
shrugged. “Let’s put it in the stress tester.”

The sword was
placed in a formidable machine designed to exert an immense amount
of pressure on an object. Drontar configured it to a three-point
pattern intended to bend the blade in half. Clamps gripped the
sword’s hilt and tip while it was supported in the centre. A
portable scanner was aimed at the weapon, which showed trace
amounts of dark power, hardly registering.

Drontar closed
the door of the armoured glass cubicle that protected observers
from flying fragments when something shattered in the machine, and
the hydraulic pumps whined. A digital readout showed the amount of
pressure being put on the blade, and they watched the numbers
climb. At first the silence was expectant, and many of the
scientists wore smug smiles, then it became pregnant as the numbers
approached triple digits and the blade had not bent one micron.

“
Look at this!” the scientist who monitored the scanner said,
and everyone crowded around it.

The sword’s
image had turned pitch black, indicating that it was now exuding a
large amount of dark power. Nikira cast Drontar a triumphant
look.

“
Just an ordinary weapon?”

“
It must have dark power locked inside it, bound to the metal
somehow. I thought that was impossible. Imagine how strong we could
make a ship’s hull if we only knew how to do that?”

Nikira glanced
at the sword, then at the digital readout, which was now into
quadruple numbers, and approached the machine’s limit. The blade
was still perfectly straight. Drontar followed her gaze, and his
eyes widened as the machine reached its limit and an alarm
sounded.

One of the men
switched it off, and Nikira murmured, “I think you’ll find that
it’s indestructible.”

“
Let’s see if we can melt it,” Drontar said.

They placed
the sword in the lab’s furnace, but, as the temperature rose, it
gave off dark power again, and remained not only solid, but cool.
When they removed it, Nikira ran her hand along its icy blade.

“
If it can withstand those tests unharmed, imagine what it must
have taken to damage it like this.” She fingered one of the dents
in its razor edge.

“
Imagine the ships we could build, if we knew how to make that
alloy,” Drontar grumbled.

“
Perhaps you should offer him a job as a ship
builder.”

“
Very funny, Commander.”

Nikira smiled
and left them to ponder the amazing properties of the weapon Bane
had so casually discarded, going to her office to record a
report.

***

The following
day, Bane emerged from the hospital room, looking tired and gaunt,
clad in what appeared to be a new set of black clothes. Some
members of the crew stared at him, but looked away when he glanced
at them, others bowed and a few saluted, but they all stayed out of
his way. Nikira watched him on the monitor in her office, switching
from camera to camera as he strolled along the corridors. Twice he
glanced up at the tiny cameras, then he vanished. She tapped the
key on her console that switched between cameras, trying to find
him, and leapt up with a yelp as he appeared in front of her
desk.

“
Here I am,” he murmured.

Nikira gaped
at him, horrified, then fell to her knees and performed the hated
grovelling he had ordered. When she had recited the litany, he
snorted.

“
I dislike being watched.”

“
Sorry, Lord.”

He wandered
around her office, studying the sparse decorations. “I hear you
have been examining my sword. Did it amuse you?”

“
It’s an amazing weapon, Lord.”

He stopped in
front of her, his boots inches from her face. “Get up.”

Nikira
scrambled up, her eyes on his chest, and he held out his hand. She
stared at it in confusion, then stepped back with a gasp as the
sword appeared in it. He held it as if it weighed nothing and gazed
at its gleaming length.

“
I did not give you permission to study it.”

“
I... Drevarin -”

“
He is not its owner, so you should not have asked him, should
you?”

“
I... No, Lord, but it was just lying out there.” Nikira sensed
that he was in a foul mood, and her gut clenched with
dread.

“
Considering that I was unconscious after the battle, and then
too injured to arise from my bed, of course it was. But you did not
ask my permission to examine it.”

Nikira bowed
her head. “Sorry, Lord. But we didn’t damage it, and if you want it
back -”

“
Why do you persist in making excuses for yourself? It only
annoys me.”

Nikira’s
comscreen beeped, and she glanced at it, biting her lip. Bane
lowered the tip of the sword to the carpet.

“
Answer it.”

She activated
the screen, and Drontar’s scowling face filled it. “Commander, the
sword’s vanished. We were -”

“
It’s here, with its owner.”

“
Its... Oh, I see. Sorry to have troubled you.”

The comscreen
went black, and she looked up at Bane. “Sorry, Lord.”

He raised the
sword and hefted it. “Perhaps you would like a demonstration of its
powers, since you are so curious about it.”

Her heart
leapt. “That would be wonderful, Lord.”

“
Would it?” His slight smile held no trace of amusement.
“Unfortunately, I am still weak. I have risen from my sickbed only
to confront you upon this matter.”

“
I did not mean to offend you, Lord.”

“
Then you should have asked my permission.” His brows drew
together, and he glared at her. “You have transgressed against me
once too often.”

Bane swung the
sword high, and she froze in terror as he brought it down in a
sweeping arc. It sliced through her desk with a terrific bang and
screech of tortured metal, sheared clear into the floor and came to
a stop between his boots. The edges of the sliced metal desk glowed
red hot, as did the gash in the floor, which passed within an inch
of her shoes. Nikira swallowed as bile stung her throat and raised
her eyes to meet his frigid blue gaze. He yanked the sword out of
the floor with a shriek of metal and held the blade towards
her.

“
Touch it.”

She stepped
back, shaking her head.

“
Touch it!”

Nikira jumped
at his shout and reached out to touch the blade, jerking her hand
back with a startled hiss of pain. The sword was searing hot. She
sucked her fingers, casting him a timid, fearful glance. He raised
the weapon and gazed at it.

“
This, which you find so fascinating and powerful, is but a
tool to me. It is worthless.” The sword glowed, and she retreated
from the heat that made the air shimmer.

A soldier
opened the door and stuck his head in, spied Bane and ducked out
again with a curse. The Demon Lord ignored the interruption and
raised his hand to caress the weapon’s red-hot blade. She choked
back a cry of horror. He smiled and stroked the burning metal, then
the blade folded and sagged into a glowing lump, which he hurled at
the wall. Nikira yelped, but the molten metal vanished before it
struck the wall. Bane swung to face her, and she cowered.

“
Do not anger me, Nikira.” His husky voice caressed her name.
“When I have my power, I am not patient with fools and upstarts. I
am told that you also wanted to see this.” He reached into his
tunic and withdrew a shining object that glittered like a star. “It
is a domain key, as I am sure Drevarin told you. Would you like to
touch it?”

She stared at
it, fascinated, unable to resist nodding even when all her
instincts screamed at her to run away.

“
Good.” He stepped closer. “If you do, it will kill
you.”

Nikira backed
away, snatching back the hand she had stretched out towards it. The
wall ended her retreat, and she raised her eyes to meet his, her
gut trembling.

Bane cocked
his head. “No? If not for the demon hounds, you would have gone out
there and stolen this too, would you not?”

“
No! Not stolen, just looked at it, that’s all.”

“
Without my permission. What is it about me that inspires such
contempt in you?”

“
Nothing! I-I don’t feel contempt for you at all!”

He thrust the
key closer. “I have not seen what this does to a mere mortal.
Perhaps it will suck the marrow from your bones, or maybe it will
simply turn you to ash. Shall we find out? It will be an
interesting experiment. You are fond of experiments, are you
not?”

“
No! Please!”

Bane placed
his free hand on the wall beside her head and leant on it. “I hate
it when people grovel before me and worship me. I am human, just
like you. I would like to be treated as an equal, with one small
exception. I think I deserve a little more respect than you have
shown me, with your resentful mouthing of the words I ordered you
to use, and your arrogant assumption that you could examine things
that do not belong to you.

“
As if the torture you inflicted upon me was not bad enough,
you now presume to insult me with your lack of deference. I dislike
that.” He leant closer, his breath fanning her cheek. “What do I
have to do to get a little respect around here?”

Nikira’s knees
threatened to buckle, and she stiffened them. “I do respect
you.”

“
Now you are arguing with me. Is that respect?”

Tears of
terror and confusion stung her eyes. “I-I don’t know how to behave
around you. I don’t know what you want from me.”

“
I have just told you.”

“
I’m sorry, for not asking your permission... Lord.”

“
That is better. I can be your friend, or your foe, which would
you prefer?”

“
A friend.”

“
Good. Hold out your hand.”

Nikira gulped
and held out a shaking hand. Bane pushed himself away from the wall
and placed the glimmering key in her palm. She gasped in shock as a
wave of warmth coursed through her from it, bringing with it a
trembling awe that shook her to the core. Bane swung away, his
cloak flaring, and threw up his hands.

“
At last, a little obedience without questions and
arguments.”

Nikira stared
at the shining key. “It-it hasn’t killed me.”

“
No, of course not.” He faced her again, his slight smile
sardonic. “I am not a killer, am I, Nikira?”

“
No, Lord.” Finally understanding, she fell to her knees. “I...
I was wrong, Lord.” She closed her eyes, shaking her head. “Please
forgive me.”

“
That certainly took a lot. Do you think that key is something
wondrous and powerful?” She nodded, and he snorted. “Well it is
not. It is a simple artefact that emits a signal that opens a
domain gate, or, in the case of that one, many gates. It is just a
tool forged in a light realm. It is less sophisticated than my
sword, and I could destroy it even more easily. Yet it is not for
you to study, any more than my sword was, or, for that matter,
me.”

Nikira bowed
her head under a mountain of shame, this time not because Drevarin
was angry with her for what she had done to Bane, but because she
now knew why it was so wrong. Kneeling before him was no longer
humiliating, instead it uplifted her, and she comprehended the joy
and adoration that shone in the eyes of the people who had been
with him when they had captured him.

Bane came over
to stand in front of her. “Kayos cleansed your soul when he blessed
you. That is why you can now accept the humility of faith, but your
people are not so fortunate. Your domain is in disarray because
your god sleeps, and your people are reborn tainted. We will return
there as soon as I have banished those demon hounds. Get up.”

Nikira stood
up and raised her eyes to his, holding out the key. He took it and
tucked it inside his tunic, then waved his hand at her desk, which
reformed to its original condition, the gash in the floor closing
as if it had never been. He turned and went to the door, where he
paused and glanced back.

“
There was a time when I was a killer, and I am still a liar.
Do you fear me now?”

She smiled.
“No, Lord.”

“
Good. Your punishment is ended.”

Bane vanished
through the door, which slid shut behind him. She sank down on a
chair and clutched her chest, where the strange warmth was
strongest. The realisation that she loved him hit her like a bucket
of cold water, and she wondered when it had happened. Recalling how
she had felt when he had been her prisoner, she knew that she had
loved him even then, perhaps from the first time she had been in
his presence. She wanted to go after him, and glanced down at her
wrinkled dress with a grimace.

Hurrying to
her quarters, she stripped it off and put it into the auto cleaner,
then donned it again. He liked it, so she would wear it. She
brushed her hair and gazed at herself in the mirror, wishing she
was more attractive. Saddened, she sank down on her bed. How could
he ever feel anything but contempt and resentment for her after
what she had done to him? Yet even if he hated her, she longed for
his company. The prospect of seeing him brought a rush of joy that
made her heart flutter.