Demon Lord VII - Dark Domain (3 page)

“You are a dark
god. They move faster than us, even if they are mortal.”

“Who told you
that?” he enquired.

“The
Oracle.”

“Does the
Oracle know what ‘tar’merin’ means?”

“No.”

Bane glanced at
Kayos, who watched them with a frown. “Do you remember what Father
said it was?”

“No.” Her eyes
filled with puzzlement. “How can you be my brother?”

“I was born in
Kayos’ domain, so I am his spirit son.”

“You would not
let me kill you, would you?”

He gazed up at
her. “What would it take, to make you trust me?”

“Let me kill
you.”

“Then I would
be dead.”

“And I would
trust you.”

Bane smiled.
“The logic of a child, or at least, a child goddess. Mortal
children do not usually want to kill their brothers; not at your
age, anyway.”

“The darkness
is my enemy.”

“Yes, that is
hard for me to counter. Very well, you may kill me.”

Kayos muttered,
“Bane...”

“Would you like
that?” Bane asked Sherinias.

She nodded,
looking uncertain.

Bane unbuttoned
his tunic and pulled it open, then his shirt, baring his chest. He
indicated the spot over his heart. “This is the place.”

A frown creased
her brow. “Yes, it is.”

“So, you know
that. I did not lie.”

“You could
still stop me.”

“But I will
not.”

Her eyes met
his. “You are a dark god -”

“A liar, yes, I
know.” He sighed. “And I could stop you even with my hands tied
behind my back. Very easily. But I will not.”

Sherinias
hesitated, then reached out and ran her fingers down his chest to
the spot over his heart. Slowly she lifted the dagger and placed
the point against his skin in exactly the right place.

Kayos made a
choking sound, and Bane raised a hand to stop him striding up to
them. “Stay there.”

Sherinias met
Bane’s eyes again, the puzzlement in hers now tinged with hope and
wonder. Her hand tightened on the dagger hilt, and she pressed on
it. He winced as blood oozed from the shallow wound, and a scarlet
line ran down his chest.

Her face
twisted with despair as she stared at the crimson streak. “You will
rise again as a spirit god.”

“Yes.”

“But you would
let me kill you.”

The dark fire
seethed with fury within him. He knew he could save himself, and
she probably did too. That was not the point. He had allowed her to
hurt him without censure or retaliation, something a true dark god
would not do. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I want
you to trust me, and this is the only way, is it not?”

“Yes.”

Kayos said, “If
he does not stop you, child, I will. He is my son, and I love him.
He has saved me from the darkness, and defeated many dark gods
fighting for the light.”

She shot him a
quick, bewildered frown. The mind-numbing terror had evidently left
her, and rational thought now prevailed. “Why would he do that,
Father?”

“He is
tar’merin.”

She lifted the
dagger and cast it away, meeting Bane’s eyes. “You are a thousand
times more powerful than I, and you could kill me with a single
thought, yet you let me harm you.” She pressed her hand to the
wound, and golden light ignited under her palm, but his power
blocked her healing.

Bane shook his
head. “You cannot heal me.”

Sherinias gazed
at the blood on her hand, and then stroked his cheek. He smiled,
and she returned it, her expression still a little uncertain. “Now
I understand why Father told me to respect and obey you. He is
right, of course.”

Kayos
approached. “Bane, stand up.”

Bane cast him
an exasperated look. “Will you leave us alone?”

“There is
something Sherinias must be told, and now is the time.”

Bane rose to
his feet with a sigh, and Kayos touched the young light goddess’
shoulder, drawing her attention. “Your brother’s title is the Demon
Lord. He is Torvaran’s destroyer.”

Sherinias’
expression became awe-stricken, and her eyes glimmered. She bowed
her head and sank to her knees to press her brow to Bane’s
boots.

He shot Kayos a
murderous look, unable to move and keenly embarrassed. “Did you
have to tell her that?”

“It is her
right. She wanted to thank whoever destroyed Pretarin’s
murderer.”

“You gods are a
strange lot, with your rigmaroles and rules.”

Sherinias sat
back. Tears ran down her face to fall in sparkling drops onto
Bane’s boots.

He gripped her
arm and hauled her to her feet. “Do that again, and I will put you
over my knee.”

“For avenging
the death of my first father, I thank you, Demon Lord.”

“Stay the hell
away from my damn boots.” He swung away, but Kayos caught his arm
and halted him, placing his hand on the cut on Bane’s chest. Golden
light flared under his palm, and when he lifted it, the injury was
healed. Bane glowered at him. “You are getting far too fond of
pushing me around.”

“What will you
do, burn off my arm?”

“Do not tempt
me.” Bane brushed past him and marched towards the gate.

Kayos chuckled
and said to Sherinias, “He would not, of course. You put him
through quite an ordeal, child.”

“I did not know
that ones such as he existed, Father,” she replied.

“You should
have believed me when I told you, or better still, you should have
believed him, but I know you could not. I am pleased that you
accepted him so swiftly. You are brave.”

“How could I
not when he allowed me to draw his blood? He is strange,
Father.”

“Indeed he is,”
Kayos agreed.

“I would like
to hear the tale of how he destroyed Torvaran.”

“I will tell
you one day.”

When Bane
stepped through the gate, Drevarin approached him, his expression
concerned. Evidently he had been waiting in the gazebo while Kayos
went to fetch Sherinias, and had been on his way to find out what
was taking so long. He relaxed when Sherinias and Kayos entered the
gate hall, then his eyes flicked to Bane, noting the blue aura that
surrounded him in the light realm.

“Sherinias
knows?” Drevarin asked.

“Yes.”

Sherinias
beamed at Drevarin. “Is my brother not marvellous, Lord
Drevarin?”

“He is, My
Lady.”

“I am
privileged to be born into such an unusual and powerful
family.”

Bane turned to
Kayos. “I was afraid she would Move out there, and be lost.”

The Grey God
smiled. “I should have told you, but I did not see the need.”

“Told me
what?”

“A child her
age cannot Move.”

“So I could
have just caught her and proved that I was not going to harm
her?”

“You could, but
that would have been cruel.”

“I would have
bitten you,” Sherinias declared.

Kayos nodded.
“She has teeth.”

“I am shaking
in my boots.” Bane strode into the gazebo and flung himself down on
a couch. Drevarin flopped onto the one next to it, Kayos took the
third, and Sherinias sank onto hers in a shimmer of diamond skirts,
gazing at Bane.

“So what
happened?” Drevarin enquired.

Sherinias said,
“I was so afraid I thought my heart would surely burst.”

“I thought so
too,” Bane drawled, summoning a cup of ambrosia.

“Father made me
go to him and take his hand.”

“And then she
tried to kill me,” Bane said.

Drevarin’s
eyebrows shot up. “How?”

She giggled.
“He gave me a dagger.”

“That was
clever of him.”

“Of course, I
knew he would not allow me to do it, but it made me realise that he
is as good as his spirit.”

“You could have
done it.” Bane sipped his ambrosia. “I was not going to stop
you.”

“That would
have been foolish, My Lord.”

“It was a
question of trust. I trusted you not to kill me, and you did not.
If I had intended to stop you, that would mean I did not trust you.
If I expected you to trust me, I had to trust you first.”

Kayos chuckled.
“Your human side is showing, Bane.”

“You make it
sound like a bad thing.”

“I did not
intend to, but that is pure human logic. A god does not risk his
life to prove to a foolish child that he means her no harm.”

“I did not. I
knew she would not do it.”

The Grey God
shook his head. “Then you knew more than I, for I was ready to leap
across and heal you before your spirit fled. She was more than
capable of killing you.”

Bane looked at
Sherinias. “Tell me he is wrong.”

She lowered her
eyes. “It grieves me now, but when I held the dagger to your heart,
I intended to try to kill you, but I did not think you would let
me.”

“What changed
your mind?”

“When I looked
into your eyes, they were filled with sorrow and pity. The darkness
does not know such things.”

Bane nodded.
“Clever girl.”

“How did you
come to be as you are?”

“That tale is
too long to tell you now, but one day I shall.”

She inclined
her head. “As you wish, My Lord.”

Bane glanced up
at the traffic humming overhead. “Do these idiots think the gate is
going to stay open now?”

Sherinias
followed his gaze. “They have made no attempt to bring their people
inside, if anything, the outbound traffic has increased.”

“Nikira said
they would do that. They think we are all dra’voren, here to
destroy the domain.”

Kayos sighed.
“They are ignorant.”

“And none pray
to me,” Sherinias grumbled.

“One day they
will.”

Bane realised
that his shirt was still open and buttoned it, fastening his tunic.
“We will leave the gate open for now.”

Sherinias
turned to Kayos. “I am confused, Father. The Oracle says that a
Grey God outranks a dark one, yet you defer to Bane. Who is the
superior?”

Kayos smiled
and sipped his ambrosia, his eyes twinkling as he looked at Bane.
“I outrank him, but I cannot command him. He usually chooses to
obey me, which is just as well, considering his youth.”

Bane snorted
and frowned into his cup, making Kayos and Drevarin grin at his
discomfiture.

Chapter
Two

Stealth
Ship

Governor
Predoran’s military liaison officer, Major Ranjal, marched up to
the governor’s desk and stood to attention, staring ahead, his face
set in grim lines as he made his report. “Communication has been
re-established with Bayona, Governor, and they say that nothing’s
happened there. No sign of the dra’voren. The president wants the
Great Gate kept open, though.”

Predoran
regarded the lean, handsome man with tired eyes, his head aching.
“Of course he does. Anything to report on Commander Nikira’s
disappearance?”

“No sir.”

“Then the
dra’voren must have taken her.”

“That’s the
popular theory.”

Predoran rubbed
his brow. “She’ll tell him everything he wants to know about our
technology. Despatch as many warships to the Great Gate as we can
spare. Order them to destroy it. Stop civilian traffic to and from
Bayona and send a stealth ship into Cloud World to find that damned
dra’voren, and they’d better kill him this time.

“According to
Retribution’s contechs, he can’t be killed with light guns, but his
physiology is much like ours, so tell them to use missiles. Send
the stealth ship in before you attack the gate, in case the
dra’voren close it again. Have there been any more sightings of
them?”

“No sir. They
were last seen in the structure between the Great Gate and the
Golden Gates.”

“Send the ship
there first. Let’s see if they’re still there.”

“Yes sir.”

The governor
switched on his wall-mounted vidscreen as Major Ranjal left,
settling back to watch the latest news from Bayona.

Bane sighed and
glanced up from his Eye. “It is about time that demon found
something.”

“What demon, My
Lord?” Sherinias enquired.

Kayos said, “We
should not discuss such matters here.”

Bane met his
gaze. “It is safer if she knows. She has coped well so far.”

“You ask a lot
of her.”

“They could
come here at any time. She needs to know.”

“You alarm me,
My Lord,” Sherinias said. “What do I need to know?”

“There is no
need for you to be alarmed,” Kayos assured her. “Your brother will
not allow you to come to harm. He has discovered that there are
three dark gods residing in your domain, and he plans to cast them
down and trap them below.”

She raised a
hand to her mouth. “Three?”

Bane nodded.
“That I know of. There could be more.”

“Let us not
frighten her any more than we have to,” Kayos said.

Sherinias
lowered her hand and drew herself up, trying to appear composed
even though her nervousness was plain. “We must flee the
domain.”

“You cannot.
Only your birthplace can sustain you until you reach maturity. It
is my mistake. I should have asked Bane to see if there were any
dark gods here before I woke you. But do not be concerned, the
demon Bane spoke of is searching for them, and we will deal with
them.”

Sherinias gazed
at Bane, who frowned at his Eye. “But three... Surely you cannot
defeat all of them, My Lord?”

“One at a time,
hopefully,” Bane said.

“Then...” She
hesitated. “Why not find them with your Eye? Do you know their
names?”

“I do, but if I
cast my Eye upon them, they will know I am here.”

“Will they...
come after me?”

Bane looked up
at her. “Yes. But they will have to deal with me first.”

“I must close
the world gate.”

“No. Not yet.
This is the best place for me to fight them, where the light will
help. They must be allowed to follow Kayos here.”