Demon Lord VI - Son of Chaos (2 page)

Tryne gazed
down at the sandy floor, but the trails Drevarin perused were
invisible to anyone but a light god or demon hound.

“
What happened to that domain, Lord?”

Drevarin
shrugged and set off to the right. “I have no idea. Before my
time.”

Tryne followed
the light god, whose faint luminescence kept the seething darkness
at bay. “How long will it take you to get there?”

“
A couple of days.”

“
Then I should go ahead and tell him what has
happened.”

“
Yes, do that, and if necessary, do what you can to protect
him. I would not want to get there and find him already
dead.”

Tryne inclined
his head and stepped into a Channel.

***

Commander
Nikira glared at Enyo. “It was an illusion. No dra’voren could find
Retribution while we’re in stealth mode. It’s not possible.”

“
The guards shot it.”

“
It looked like it was shot, that was part of the
illusion.”

“
Why would he cast an illusion?” Enyo glanced at the dra’voren
on the other side of the armoured glass.

“
I don’t know. To frighten us? Distract us maybe? Buy more time
while we search for a non-existent dra’voren? That would keep us
busy, wouldn’t it? And if it was a dra’voren, why hasn’t he killed
anyone yet? Or the soldiers, for that matter?”

Enyo frowned
down at his console. “I suppose so, but it certainly looked
real.”

“
I’m sure he can spin excellent illusions. Think about it. If
it was a dra’voren, why would he reveal himself? If he had gained
entry to the ship he could slaughter us without ever letting us see
him.”

Enyo grunted,
and Nikira turned to study the dra’voren through the window. His
apparent concern for Ethra had softened her heart, but this attempt
to deceive them hardened it again. It was all a ploy, the
gentleness, the lies, all meant to trick them into believing that
he was good. He had remained unconscious for ten hours after being
hit with the stunner, and now he appeared to be asleep. His vitals
were stable for now, but it was only a matter of time before he
sickened again. Drontar would probably kill him before that
happened, though. She had confined Ethra in a cabin, fearing that
the girl would incite a riot if she was allowed to rejoin her
group. The last thing she need was more problems.

***

Bane sensed
the light being beside him and turned his head towards the shining
radiance of the angel’s soul. “What has happened?”

“
The people injured me before I could speak to them,
Lord.”

“
Then I require you to find a light god, and bring him here to
speak to them.”

“
I have already done so. He comes now.”

Bane sighed,
opening his eyes briefly. “How long?”

“
Two days.”

“
That may be too long. They will kill me soon.”

“
Lord Drevarin asked me to protect you until he
arrives.”

Bane smiled.
“You are earning many favours.”

“
Indeed.”

“
Beware this room. It has a machine that renders me senseless,
and will do the same to you.”

“
Then I shall evade it.”

Bane studied
the angel’s soul, which was so bright it faintly illuminated his
outline. “Have you a name?”

“
I am Tryne.”

“
Was it difficult to persuade Drevarin to come to my
aid?”

“
Not at all. He is eager to save a tar’merin.”

Bane flexed
his good arm, which was going numb, and considered asking Tryne to
find out what was happening to Kayos. From what Kayos had told him
of light gods, he assumed that one as powerful as the Grey God
could defend himself almost indefinitely and he had no wish to owe
the angel any more favours.

“
Your foes come, Lord,” Tryne whispered.

“
Do they mean to kill me?”

The angel
vanished, then returned a moment later. “One of them has
poison.”

“
Let me deal with them while I can. If they render me
senseless, it will be up to you.”

Bane turned
his head as three soul lights entered his perception, all of them
familiar. One was the man who had stuck something sharp in his arm,
and the other two were the ones with weapons. With a flick of his
will, he took control of them.

Enyo frowned
at the bioscanner. The dra’voren’s brain image had flared briefly,
and was now filled with white sparkles. He turned to Nikira, who
stood gazing through the observation window.

“
He’s doing something, but I don’t know what.”

“
I can’t see anything.”

Enyo studied
the medical technician, Jonar, who had stopped beside the table,
and looked irresolute. He held the syringe loosely at his side, and
liquid dripped from it.

“
What’s in that syringe?”

“
Only a tranquiliser. We don’t want him getting upset when we
start testing poisons on him.”

The medical
technician raised the syringe and pressed it to the dra’voren’s
arm, then led the two guards out of the shredder room and glanced
at the clock. Enyo watched the bioscanner, but, when the requisite
number of seconds had passed, he shook his head, turning to
Jonar.

“
It’s not working.”

Jonar frowned.
“The anaesthetic did. Why wouldn’t a tranquiliser?”

“
You’re the medtech.”

“
We’ll have to use anaesthetic then.”

Jonar left to
fetch the drug, returned a few minutes later and entered the
shredder room again. Once more he paused beside the dra’voren, then
set up the drip and pressed the needle to his arm, taping it in
place. He rejoined Enyo and Nikira at the bioscanner, and they
waited. After almost a minute, the medtech frowned, turning to
study the dra’voren through the window.

“
That’s even more peculiar. It worked before.”

“
He must be doing something to stop it,” Nikira
muttered.

“
Aside from changing his body chemistry, or changing the
anaesthetic itself, he can’t. If he can do that, why didn’t he do
it before?”

“
Maybe because now he thinks we’re going to kill
him.”

“
We are.”

Nikira nodded.
“So now he’s stopping us.”

“
If he can change the nature of fluids, we’re not going to be
able to do much to him.”

“
Unless we stun him.”

Jonar turned
from the window. “I’ll test the anaesthetic to see if it’s been
changed.”

The medtech
removed the drip and took it away to his lab, returning half an
hour later, looking confused.

“
He hasn’t changed it. I don’t get it, unless he did it after
it entered his system.”

“
We’ll have to stun him,” Nikira said. “Then we won’t need
anaesthetic, we’ll just test the poison.”

Jonar nodded
and selected a syringe from his medical case, admiring the golden
hue of its contents. “Trimethanol vardus.”

“
What’s the point of this?” Enyo enquired.

“
To see how much it takes to kill him, compared to a normal
human.”

“
Why?”

Jonar
shrugged. “Idle curiosity I suppose. He’s got to be killed, so why
not find out a few things while we’re at it?”

Nikira turned
to stare through the window. “I really thought they’d want to study
him more. We know so little about him and his powers. It’s a
waste.”

“
How are we supposed to find out about his powers without him
getting loose?”

“
There are some things that wouldn’t pose a threat. Like the
girl said he can summon cups of god food from the air. I’d like to
have seen that.”

“
How would we persuade him to do that?” Jonar
enquired.

“
Ask him.” She swung around. “I think he’d co-operate if we
offer him something in return, then we could test this god food and
see what it is.”

“
Your call, Commander.”

Nikira nodded
and entered the shredder room, stopping close to the captive’s
head. “Dra’voren, show me how you summon your god food.”

He swallowed
and licked his lips, his voice husky. “Why should I?”

“
I’ll give you medicine for your pain.”

“
And when I have no more to show you, you will kill
me.”

“
No, why should I? You can’t escape, so we have no reason to
kill you.”

“
You think I am a dra’voren, is that not reason
enough?”

She stepped
closer, fighting a strong urge to touch him. “Not as long as you
don’t harm anyone.”

“
Will you keep me prisoner for a thousand years?”

Nikira stared
down at his youthful countenance, amazed that he would live so
long, and wondered how old he really was.

“
Am I to spend all that time tied to this table?” he
asked.

Put like that,
the offer did not sound so appealing, she had to admit. “All I’m
prepared to offer is an end to your pain. Take it or leave it.”

He sighed.
“All right.”

Nikira’s heart
pounded with excitement, and his easy agreement surprised her.
“Good. Show me the god food.”

Bane spread
his right hand, and a gleaming gold cup appeared, hovering above
his palm. She peered into it, elation making her breath catch. A
glowing, pearly fluid seethed within it, and she gasped, taking
hold of the cup. Instantly it became empty.

“
It’s gone!”

“
You touched it?”

“
Yes.”

“
You may not touch it.”

She released
the cup, and the liquid reappeared. “I want to examine it.”

“
Then you will have to do it without touching it.”

“
Keep it there.”

In the
containment room, Enyo and Jonar stared at the cup with bemused
expressions. As Nikira emerged, she said, “We have to analyse the
contents of that cup without touching it. Can we do that?”

“
Maybe.” Enyo went to his console and tapped several keys. The
image on the bioscanner was replaced by a solid green field with
many glowing lines on it. “I’ve switched from organic to inorganic.
That’s the table and floor.” He tapped the screen, pointing to a
circle of brilliant blue. “That’s the cup. Pure gold.”

“
But what’s in it?”

“
It’s not showing up as anything at the moment.” He typed on
the keyboard again, and the colours on the screen changed. After
several minutes of scanning in different modes, a solid round area
of bright yellow appeared. Enyo’s eyes widened.

“
What is it?” Nikira asked.

“
It can’t be right.” He entered another command, and tiny words
appeared next to the yellow circle. “Bloody hell.”

“
What?”

“
It’s pure triphasel virene.”

Nikira stared
at the words. “How can a dra’voren create a derivative of the white
power?”

“
He can’t be creating it. It’s what he eats, isn’t
it?”

“
Yes. Then where does it come from? I thought you said it was
rare.”

“
No, I said it was exceedingly rare, as in we’ve only ever
found a tiny amount of it in the cloud gardens. After pumping
clouds through filters for two years, we extracted one milligram.
There’s got to be over a three hundred millilitres in that
cup.”

Nikira
straightened, shaking her head. “Why would a dra’voren eat
something that comes from the white power?”

“
I have no idea.”

Nikira marched
back into the shredder room, stopping closer than ever to the
dra’voren. “Where do you get that from?”

“
I do not know.”

“
How can you not know?”

“
Easily. I wish for food, and the cup appears.”

She paced
around. “What happens if you wish for water?”

“
The cup appears.”

“
And if you wish for... riches?”

He smiled.
“That I do not have to wish for.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because I can turn things to gold.”

“
Anything?”

“
Yes.” He flicked his fingers, and the cup vanished. “Enough
now, I am tired. Give me the pain potion, or I will show you
nothing more.”

Nikira opened
her mouth to argue, then thought better of it and exited the
chamber. Senior SciTech Drontar, leader of the group of four
scientists that had come aboard at the base at Sarlan to study the
dra’voren, waited for her, looking annoyed.

“
Why hasn’t the poison been administered yet?”

“
I’m running a few experiments of my own, before he
dies.”

“
I didn’t authorise that.”

“
You don’t have to. It’s my ship, sir.”

He swelled
with indignation. “I outrank you, Commander.”

“
In port, yes, but out here, I’m in charge.”

Drontar glared
at her. “All right, what did you find out?”

Nikira told
him, and his frown deepened.

“
Impossible.”

“
The scanners don’t lie. See for yourself.”

Drontar
studied the recorded data, demanding to know how Nikira had
persuaded the dra’voren to co-operate, and her answer did not
please him. Grudgingly he allowed that the information was
interesting, but not useful, since the precious fluid in the cup
could not be touched. Drontar left to inform his comrades, and
Nikira ordered Jonar to administer a painkiller to the dra’voren,
then retired to her quarters to get some sleep.