Demon Lord VII - Dark Domain

Published by T
C Southwell at Smashwords

Copyright ©
2012 T C Southwell

Smashwords
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Prologue

When the Demon
Lord and his companions arrive at a domain with a godless modern
society whose creator was slain centuries ago, they discover an
unborn goddess in her birthing chamber and the realm gate standing
open. Kayos awakens Sherinias, who sets about rectifying the
disarray in her domain. Then Bane discovers that there are three,
possibly four dark gods residing in Sherinias’ world, and plans to
cast them down before they can capture and enslave the young
goddess. The people, however, believe him and the light gods to be
destroyers and do their utmost to kill them or drive them out, and
they have powerful weapons.

The realm gate
must be closed to keep the domain and Sherinias safe, but the
people have built a city outside, and want it left open, not
realising the calamity that could result. Bane sends the commander
of the ship that captured him to deliver a warning to the outer
city’s governor of the gate’s impending closure, but she is
imprisoned and almost executed. Bane rescues her and leaves her
with the rest of the people he has saved, out in the Wastes, before
making his way back to the domain. Sherinias, however, does not
know what Bane is….

Table of
Contents

Chapter One
– Dark
God

Chapter Two
– Stealth
Ship

Chapter Three
–
Destroyer

Chapter Four
– Beast
God

Chapter Five
–
Saviour

Chapter Six
–
Rescue

Chapter Seven
–
Recovery

Chapter Eight
–
Friendship

Chapter Nine
–
Attack

Chapter Ten
– Dark
Domain

Chapter
Eleven
– Favour

Chapter
Twelve
– Demon Gods

Chapter
Thirteen
– Demon Deal

Chapter F
ourteen
– Eternal Flame

Chapter
One

Dark God

Sherinias
hesitated in front of the realm gate, caught between uncertainty
and curiosity, with a healthy dose of stubborn pride mixed in.
Kayos had left with Drevarin on some errand a short time ago, and
she had become bored with watching the foolish mortals in her Eye.
She longed to know what Bane was doing outside in the God Realm. It
ate at her. He fascinated her, and Kayos’ refusal to answer her
questions about him only added to her curiosity. What was all the
secrecy about? Why did her father defer to him and demand that she
treat him as a superior when he was clearly inferior?

As a mere
mortal god, he was almost powerless, and the fact that he was older
did not entitle him to such deference. She was a thousand times
more powerful than him. Her dread of the darkness held her feet to
the floor, but Bane was out there, as were the people in the city,
so how dangerous could it be? When he left, Bane had assured her
that there were no dark gods outside, and surely he would not have
gone out if there were. Perhaps that was the special power of which
Kayos had spoken: the ability to sense dark gods from afar. If so,
it was valuable indeed, and the Oracle had not heard of anyone
possessing it.

Either way, if
it was safe for him to venture out, it must be safe for her, and
she wanted to know what he was doing. Why had he demanded that she
open the realm gate? His arrogance in activating the lock that kept
it open had angered her, but she had been unable to object, since
Kayos had not. Why did Kayos allow Bane to do as he pleased, and
worse, expect her to obey him?

Granted, she
was young, but so was Bane, since a mortal god did not live for
more than a thousand years. While being only a day old was a
disadvantage, the Oracle had filled her with knowledge, and the
intense curiosity of her youth longed for satisfaction. Kayos had
not said that she could not leave the domain. She created an Eye
and sought Bane within it, and an image formed of him standing not
far from the gate. He appeared to be lost in thought, and she made
up her mind. Dismissing the Eye, she rose into the air and flew out
of the gate.

Bane stood a
short distance from the cliff, out of sight of the city, facing
away from the gate. From here he could walk back to the gate once
he ran out of power, for he wanted to try an experiment. Torvaran’s
method of armouring himself with metal intrigued him. If he could
do something similar, it would greatly reduce his injuries in the
future battles. Forming shields of dark power a short distance away
was relatively easy, but could he clad himself in them as Torvaran
had done with metal? When he had created a construct to fight
Arkonen, he had used a similar tactic, only the construct had been
mostly dust and metal.

Using metal was
an option he could employ in a mid or dark realm, but its weight
would slow him, which would be a disadvantage when fighting a
lightning-fast opponent. The black fire weighed nothing, but he had
not tried to make a solid shield close to his skin. Summoning the
power from his bones, he fashioned a shield in his hand, which was
easy. Letting it dissipate in a fall of shadows, he looked down at
his chest, willing the dark power to form a body-hugging shield
over it.

Darkness oozed
from him and swirled in front of his chest, chilling it, but
refused to become solid. He increased his willpower, and it began
to coalesce, then icy needles prickled his skin and he jumped back
with a curse, brushing the shield away. It dispersed, and he
pondered the problem. He could not form a solid shield in the air.
It had to be grounded, either in the earth, or in his hand. Since
his hands held the ultimate control, forming one in them was easy,
but how did he do it on another part of him?

Making another
hand shield, he moulded it to the right size and shape, then held
it against his chest. Its chill bit into his skin, for when the
dark power was so intense, so was its cold. He could not hold a
shield in place during a battle, yet he could make objects float in
the air, so why not the shield? He took hold of the shield with his
mind, and it hovered over his chest for a moment, then
dispersed.

Bane cursed. If
he formed it on his skin, its cold would freeze it. If he caused a
shield to spring up from the ground close to him, it would not move
with him, it only stayed between him and his opponent if his
opponent moved. Useful, but armour would be more so. It seemed that
his experiment was a failure. He could not armour himself with
shields of dark power. His body shields, which formed within his
flesh, were too permeable to stop sharp-edged or pointed weapons,
and now he knew why they only protected him from fire and the blows
of blunt objects.

“Damn,” he
muttered.

“What are you
doing?”

Bane froze as a
familiar voice spoke behind him, his blood chilling. Leashing the
dark power, he swung around. Sherinias stood just beyond his sphere
of influence, regarding him with curious eyes. At that distance,
she could not sense his power, and perhaps the unwanted
confrontation could be averted.

“Sherinias. How
bold of you to venture out. Go back inside the domain.”

“No.” She
pouted, gazing around. “There can be no danger here, else you would
not be here.”

“It is very
dangerous out here for you, now go back.”

“How can it be
dangerous for me, but not for you? You have no power.”

The darkness
within Bane surged at her words, hating them. It thrust a hot
assertion that he did indeed have power, and lots of it, onto his
tongue, but he bit back the words and replaced them with his own.
“As a creature of light, you are a beacon to dark gods, now go
back.”

“You said that
there are no dark gods here. I do not understand why Father ordered
me to obey you and show you deference. You are clearly inferior to
me, so I shall not.”

The dark power
surged again, strained at the bonds of his willpower and urged him
to strike out and enslave or kill her. Such insolence from a light
goddess was a potent goad to it, and no light god had ever treated
him with such disdain when he had his power. Fortunately he was not
carrying a lot of it, but even so, its desire for her pain sickened
him.

He drew in a
deep breath. “One day you will know, but not now. Do as I say.”

“Tell me why
first. The mystery irks me. Then perhaps I shall return.”

Bane’s temper
frayed under the double irritation of her impudence and the dark
power’s longing for retaliation, which grated on his nerves.
“No.”

“Why will you
not tell me?” She stepped closer.

Bane retreated,
keeping her out of his sphere of influence. “Because you are too
young.”

“I have been
taught by my Oracle. I know more than you.”

“Emotionally,
you are too young.”

“What has
emotion to do with it? Do you think it will sadden me? Or perhaps I
shall find it amusing? Are you afraid that I will laugh at you,
Brother? Will that upset you?” Her smile was a little disdainful.
“I would not insult you so, rest assured. You may tell me your
secret.”

Bane longed to
cast out the black fire, but she might sense it if he did. His
patience wore thin. “Go back inside now, before you anger me,
Sherinias.”

“I am not
afraid of you.”

“You should
be.” The words tripped off his tongue before he could stop them,
only part of the dark power’s vicious assertion.

“Why should
I?”

“I am your
brother. You should respect me.”

“I do, but I am
not afraid of you. I am happy to have a brother, and I wish to know
you better.”

“No, you do
not.” Bane grimaced and looked down, hating himself and the
malevolence he harboured. When he looked up again, she had taken
two steps closer. He backed away, toying with the idea of walking
off and hoping that she could not catch up. Except she would
fly.

“Of course I
do.” Her eyes sparkled with amusement and mischief. “Why do you run
away? Surely you are not afraid of me? I will not hurt you.”

He gritted his
teeth. “Sherinias, you do not want to find out the truth about me.
Not now, so go back inside.”

“But I do. Why
would I not?”

Because it
will terrify you,
he longed to say,
and you might make the
fatal mistake of Moving in the God Realm
. “As I said, you are
not ready. You were only born yesterday.”

“What
difference does that make?” Her brows drew together. “My youth is
not your concern, Brother. Do not harp upon it.”

“You dare to
disobey Kayos and be impertinent to me?”

“Are you going
to run to him with the tale, like a foolish mortal? Being a god
should at least grant you some nobility.”

Bane bit his
tongue again as the darkness strained at its bonds, giving him a
headache. He clenched his hands and bowed his head, leashing it. He
could control it even under the worst provocation, but it cost him,
and its black rage nibbled at his mind.

Sherinias said,
“I am quite prepared to treat you as an equal, since you are older,
but...” She gasped, and he glanced up to find her wide-eyed, her
hands clutched to her breast.

Bane whipped
around, raising his hands to defend them from whatever threat she
had perceived, but there was nothing there. He spun back, measuring
the distance between them. She had entered his sphere of influence
and sensed his power. He was the monster that frightened her.
Slowly, he raised his eyes to her face. Her hands had crept up to
her mouth, and she breathed in short, jerky gasps. He spread his
hands towards her in an appeasing gesture, then realised that that
was the worst thing he could do and hid them behind his back. The
darkness ebbed within him, contented by her terror.