Demon Lord IV - Lord of Shadows (13 page)

Soldiers filed
past him to take up position around Bane's bed, and Kayos raised a
hand to beckon to Mirra and Grem. They came over, Mirra glancing
back at the soldiers with curious concern.

When she
stopped before him, Kayos said, "Mirra, I want you and Grem to go
and stay with Mithran."

"No! Why?"

"Vorkon's army
is attacking us, and Bane will be one of their targets. That is why
the soldiers are here, but they have orders only to defend him, and
none can be spared to protect you. It will not be safe for you
here."

Her brows drew
together. "I will not leave my husband. If he is safe, then I will
be too."

"No. You will
do as I say. There is nothing you can do here except get
killed."

"And if I do
not obey, you will make me do it?"

Kayos inclined
his head. "Regretfully, yes."

Mirra glanced
at Grem, who looked away, frowning. No one could defy the will of a
god, except of course, another god, but Bane was unable to help her
now. After a lingering look at her husband, she left, followed by
Grem.

Kayos strode
back to the chapel, becoming invisible before he entered it. The
soldiers who guarded the altar looked tense, many checking and
rechecking their weapons as they listened to the foreboding silence
outside. He walked past them to the chapel door, stopping just
outside to stare at the horror that approached. The many street
lamps, and the softer light that spilt from windows, lighted a
hideous scene. A few carriages stood abandoned in the street, their
owners having fled into the buildings to escape the terror that
marched towards the church.

Hundreds of
shuffling corpses staggered, reeled or crawled along the road,
dropping bits of themselves as they lost cohesion. Some were
relatively fresh, their skin grey and slack, their eyes sealed with
the wax that embalmers used in this domain. Others were desiccated
and shrivelled, yet still in good condition, but some were in an
advanced state of rot, their putrid flesh sloughing away to reveal
colonies of worms. The majority were skeletons, the bones of
ancient ancestors summoned from the ground by the dark power, as
only it could. They were not under a geas, since they had no minds
or spirits to control. They were merely animated by the mage who
had raised them and given a purpose. This ancient form of magery
required more skill than power, and the mage who had raised these
must be skilled indeed, to animate so many.

One of the
soldiers who stood in the ranks protecting the church turned and
vomited as the stench reached them. Another cursed foully, but most
just stood and watched the approaching horror, save for a few who
sent fervent prayers to their enslaved goddess. The only sure way
to stop this shambling, rotten horde was to kill the mage who had
raised them, but he would be well hidden. Muttered curses behind
him made him turn to find the blue mages emerging from the church,
their faces paling at the awful sight.

Kyan led them,
her lovely features marred by an expression of intense horror and
disgust, mingled with a deep loathing, presumably for the dark
forces at work. The advance of the dead was slow, they moved with
studied lethargy, and the faces of those who still possessed them
were blank. Children walked amongst them, their thin corpses
pathetic and frail. A soldier gave a cry of anguish and ran,
casting his weapon aside. Others began to weep as they spied dead
relatives amongst the crowd, and the officers had to shout to keep
them in line.

"Destroy their
legs!" Kyan cried, and many soldiers glanced back, surprised to
find their queen standing behind them. They obeyed, slowly at
first, their silver weapons spitting lines of blue light that cut
through the cadavers' legs, sending them crashing to the ground.
They started to crawl, and the blue mages joined the battle,
sending bolts of hot blue light into the crowd, blowing away their
legs or other parts of their bodies.

The dull thuds
of the explosions and the crunch and clatter of breaking, falling
bones mingled with the humming of the weapons and the curses of the
soldiers, almost drowning out the soft scraping that the corpses
made as they advanced. Many of the men wept as they destroyed the
mortal remains of their people, a sacrilegious act. More and more
of the dead fell, bits of them littering the street, but still they
came on.

A movement
further up the street drew Kayos' attention, and his heart sank.
The dark army poured from the roads that led to the edge of the
city, where Vorkon's Portal spewed them out in their thousands.
Most were dark creatures of fearsome appearance and malevolent
intelligence, some were men. They advanced more swiftly than the
dead, and from a different direction, using a deserted street that
led to the side of the church.

The officers
spotted them and raised the alarm, sending some of the soldiers
running to form up into ranks on that side. They unleashed a
barrage of blue fire upon the advancing enemy, and hundreds fell,
but thousands came on. The advancing dark army howled and roared,
the dark creatures made a variety of blood chilling sounds, and the
men beat their swords on their shields. Some carried silver
weapons, and they fired back at the defenders, cutting many
down.

The first of
the dead crossed onto the hallowed ground, and the white fire
struck, shooting up their legs to mantle them in blue as it warred
with the black. There was no life in them to be snuffed out,
however, and they continued to advance. The dark army split up,
groups disappearing down side streets to emerge onto other roads
that led to the church, forcing the officers to thin their
soldiers' ranks in order to protect all sides of the church. The
mages joined them, hurling streaks of blue fire at the monsters,
and many fell screaming as they died. Kayos spotted a blank-faced
man who walked with a purpose but took no notice of those around
him. Vorkon had covered all his options, sending slaves as well, in
the hope that they would slip through the defenders and extinguish
the flame.

Kayos walked
over to Kyan and became visible, making her jump with yelp. She
slumped, shooting him a reproachful look, and he pointed at the
slave.

"Vorkon has
sent enslaved men as well," he cried over the roar of the battle.
"Be sure to kill them."

"We have to
kill them all," she yelled back.

"Most will
stop when they are wounded, those will not."

Kyan nodded
and cupped her hands. A spark of blue light formed within them,
growing bigger and brighter until she held a fireball the size of a
man's head. She hurled it at the slave, and it struck him in the
chest, sending him sprawling into the advancing mass behind him. He
vanished amongst them, and she turned to Kayos.

"Now would be
a good time for the Demon Lord to wake."

"I agree. Do
you have more soldiers?"

"Yes, I have
sent for them. They should be here at any moment."

"Good." Kayos
became invisible again.

The dead
reached the line of soldiers and began to push through them. Some
of the men recoiled from the touch of rotting hands, others
vomited. Now that the dead were too close to shoot without the risk
hitting other soldiers, the men had to fight them hand to hand.
Rotten flesh and worms sprayed as the soldiers clubbed, kicked and
hit the cadavers, the foul gore splattering them. Many more were
brought low by their stomachs, and some fled from the horror. A
grey-haired officer clutched his chest and collapsed, struck down
by his heart. The dark army closed in now, and soldiers had to
abandon their battle with the dead to shoot at them instead.
Shambling corpses tottered towards the church.

Howls and the
crash of breaking glass came from inside, and an officer appeared
in the doorway, his face streaked with blood.

"They're
breaking in through the back!" he shouted. "We need
reinforcements!"

Many of the
blue mages cursed and turned to run into the church, a troop of men
following them. Cold dread gripped Kayos' heart. Vorkon had
outwitted him. He had been so intent on the battle outside the
front of the church, he had not considered that the dark god would
also send troops to break in through the back, their goal not the
white fire, but Bane. He Moved.

Kayos
reappeared in the midst of a pushing, surging mob, and was almost
sent sprawling within moments of his arrival. So many dark
creatures were packed into Bane's room that it was impossible to
move in the crush. He fought free of them and rose into the air,
moving towards the bed. The ring of soldiers around Bane held the
dark creatures at bay, but their number was dwindling fast. They
fired point blank at the monsters that tore at them, yet their
efforts had little effect. The blue mages and the reinforcements
could not get into the room, but hacked and burnt at the back of
the mob. Shevra knelt on the bed beside Bane, gripping his hand in
hers. Her head was bowed as she prayed, calling his name with
insistent urgency. Bane's head turned from side to side, and a
frown wrinkled his brow as the prayer nagged him.

Kayos' first
instinct was to go to Bane's side and erect a shield over them, but
there was not enough space around him. Some of the men were bent
backwards onto the bed as they fought; others knelt or stood on it,
firing into the seething throng. The shield would cut them in half
if he erected it, and even then it would be incomplete. There was
too much clutter around the Demon Lord. The only thing he could do
was to snatch Bane from harm's way, but where could he go? The
church would fall within minutes. Only another church would be safe
once he had relit the white flame, but only temporarily. Vorkon's
army would wipe out the blue mages, and with them, any hope of
fighting again. Still, he had to save Bane.

As he started
to descend towards the Demon Lord, a huge, spiny monster forced its
way over its fellows and loomed over Bane, blocking Kayos' descent.
Venom dripped from its fangs, and its clawed hands spread to rend
the man who lay beneath it. Two soldiers aimed their weapons at it,
but it sent them sprawling with a sweep of its arms. Other soldiers
tried to raise their weapons, and the mob surged forward in a
concerted attack, sinking teeth and claws into the hapless men.
Shevra looked up and screamed, throwing herself across Bane's chest
in a futile bid to protect him. Just as Kayos was about to enter
the fray himself, the Demon Lord's eyes opened. They widened as he
spotted the dark creature poised to tear him to pieces, and time
slowed. Kayos hovered, impressed.

"Bloody hell,"
Bane muttered.

The Demon Lord
glanced down at the girl plastered to his chest, then closed his
eyes. When he opened them again, they had turned pure black. Kayos
raised his shields, and Bane lifted his hands, spreading them
towards the monster that towered over him, its claws reaching for
his throat with incredible torpor. Black fire poured from his palms
in a torrent of burning shadow, and his hold on time broke at the
same moment. The creature howled and writhed as it was consumed,
its flesh burnt away in a flare of garish light, turned to ash that
the fire scattered.

Bane unleashed
the power, and it swept out from him in a rippling circle of death.
The dark creatures recoiled as it engulfed them, thrashing and
keening. Smoke erupted from their skin, and their eyes boiled. So
powerful was it close to him that it reduced them to ash. Black
fire filled the room, crawling up the walls to ignite the
tapestries in flashes of fire. The bed burst into flames and the
soldiers who had been protecting Bane screamed and fell to the
floor, covering their heads and beating at their clothes in a bid
to ward off the flames that licked over them.

Bane raised
his arms, his eyes unfocused as he guided the dark fire, causing it
to sweep from him in lashing tongues of shadow. He flicked his
fingers, and it passed through the walls, draining from the room.
The screams of dying monsters and men came from outside in the
halls, then further away in the chapel, and finally from the
gardens around the church and the streets beyond that. Still it
poured from him, five runes igniting on his chest as he Gathered,
sending the power seeking its victims far and wide. He closed his
eyes again, then clenched his hands as he curbed the power and
leashed it. The runes' light died to a dull red glow, and then
faded to nothing.

Kayos drifted
down, gazing at the destruction that Bane had wrought. The bed on
which he lay had been all but burnt away, only the charred timbers
of its frame remained. The curtains, hangings and carpets were
reduced to white ash. More incredible than that, however, was the
movement of the girl who lay on Bane's chest. She sat up, looking
dazed, but unharmed, except that she was naked. A black,
star-shaped pattern was burnt into the floor around Bane. Shevra
tried to cover herself, then wailed and flung her arms around
Bane's neck. Bane sat up, the charred bed creaking. It gave way
with a crash, and he sprawled on the floor. He glanced down at
Shevra, and a faint tinge of colour crept into his pale cheeks.

As the
soldiers stirred and sat up, Kayos became visible, and smiled. Bane
met his eyes and looked away, then Kayos flung back his head and
laughed. The Demon Lord struggled to sit up, pulled Shevra's arms
from his neck and pushed her away. Free of her clinging hands, he
stood, glancing at Kayos. For an instant his eyes glinted with
black rage, and Kayos quelled his laughter, which was easy under
such a murderous glance.

"Be not angry,
dark child," he murmured. "I do not laugh at you."

Bane's frown
eased, and he looked around, his eyes turning blue. "What the hell
happened here?"

The soldiers
who had survived the battle picked themselves up out of the ash,
their uniforms scorched. Apart from a few minor burns, they
appeared to be unharmed. Shevra huddled at Bane's feet, and he
unclipped his cloak and dropped it over her. She pulled it close
and looked up at him, her eyes filled with worship. The mages, who
had fled when Bane unleashed his power, appeared in the doorway,
surveying the room with dazed expressions. Bane too, looked a
little bemused, and Shevra rose to stand beside him, holding his
cloak around her.