“All in it together were you?” Regina asked imperiously. “We shouldn’t be surprised you Eternals are keeping secrets from the council. I bet you all knew about this for months, maybe years.”
“We only found out today actually,” said Loren.
“It would be wise to hold your tongue, Regina,” said Krysla. “Glommish is the only reason the council exists. He believes in democracy, when we Eternals could rule the Republic without any of you if we wished.
“No we could not,” Glommish said sternly. “We four have been to preoccupied with other matters to even attend the council regularly. We owe a debt of gratitude to the other councilmen, Krysla. That is why Vanderain has also come to you all for aid today.”
“Pah, you’ve been harbouring criminals, Vanderain,” Urax bellowed. “Or you might as well have, considering the danger they posess.”
A myriad of voices echoed around the chamber as all twenty council members began to shout and argue once again.
“Silence!” Belgun roared, slamming his fist down upon the table. “This is madness! We all know demon-spawn are merely something Akirandon spread after Ezanathul’s destruction to try and maintain her power. She wanted demonkind to follow her and for Realmer to fear her, knowing she possessed such weapons. But it has been researched extensively and a being that is half human and half demon just cannot exist.”
“Exactly,” Ionee piped up. “We even heard Akirandon tried to give birth to spawn herself, but the creatures couldn’t survive. It is simply not meant to be.”
Evan shared a frightened look with Brooke. It was surreal, and worrying, to hear people refer to them like this. Like they weren’t human, but something that shouldn’t be. Maybe they’re right?
“They did survive,” said Vanderain. “Like all of you, I believed them just to be stories, or maybe lies Akirandon invented, until I discovered two of my Venators at Veneseron could wield sorcery only the most powerful of Dread Lords could use.”
“Demons, Vanderain?” Lord Stray seethed. “You’ve been harbouring demons from all of us? Where are these monsters you believe are somehow half human? An impossibility, regardless of what you say.”
“They stand before you now,” Vanderain announced, moving to stand between him and Brooke. Evan noticed Vanderain also stood a little in front of them, as if blocking them in the event of attack.
Evan felt warring surges of fear and anger as all the council members eyes fell upon them. He was scared about how they might act, and angry that he should feel fear of them. He hated seeing how panicked Brooke looked too.
Many of the Realmers backed away from the table, staring intently at him and Brooke as if they might transform into grotesque demons at any moment. Other councilmen looked ready to arrest them, or worse.
“Blimey,” Borasha grunted, “they don’t look like monsters do they?”
“That’s because they aren’t,” said Regina. “Vanderain’s lost his damned mind.”
“Exactly. Where is the proof?” Belgun asked. “How can you possibly know these two, average, looking Venators you’ve brought are the monsters told of only in whispered fables.”
“They are not monsters,” Vanderain replied firmly. “But I have seen them both wield demon sorcery.”
Urax ripped his axe free from his belt. Evan stepped back as he saw Daylin’s hand go to her gun.
“You’ve gone mad Vanderain,” Urax cried. “These two glarqers are obviously dread lords in disguise. Their illusion has even fooled you.”
Krysla and Loren moved to stand in front of him and Brooke then, clutching the hilts of their own swords.
Evan wanted to pull Ruaden free, but knew he couldn’t look like a threat to these people who already thought the worst of him.
“Put your weapons down, please.” Glommish spoke softly, yet every council member paid attention, and those who looked upon he and Brooke wearily, let go of their weapons, all except Urax.
“They might even be Disciples,” the orc rasped. “Yes, that’s it. They’ve fooled you too Glommish.”
“You’re wrong, Commander,” Lord Corridian argued. “I am well versed in illusion spells, as I imagine are all the Eternals. Not even Disciples could fool all of us. Although I sense nothing demonic in these two Venators. They appear completely human.”
“They are human, just a little different,” Vanderain said, turning to give he and Brooke an encouraging smile. “Feel free to ask them yourselves.”
“You boy,” Regina addressed him. “Unless I’m mistaken, you bear the mark of demon magic on your face, correct.”
Evan nodded. “Yes, my lady. I was struck by Kalkavan’s fire when he attempted to capture me.”
A ripple of shock ran across the table as everyone muttered to one another, looking at him and Brooke like they were animals in a zoo.
“How did you survive such an attack?” Daylin asked next.
He hesitated, knowing they were still keeping Taija a secret. “Kate healed me, using her demon magic for good.”
Brooke nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Pah. There’s no good in demon magic,” Belgun snarled. “Only evil, chaos, and destruction. How dare you bring these abominations here, Vanderain. Their powers are uncontrollable, they might attempt to raze Del-O-Reth to the ground.”
“No,” said Vanderain. “I have devised a way of keeping their magic under control. Using the Emerald Lotus.”
Daylin and Corridian nodded, somewhat satisfied, but Belgun and Stray both shook their heads, as if it was more nonsense.
“Demons cannot think or feel anything like a human,” Corridian addressed Brooke now. “And all of them crave to kill and eat other beings, even each other if they get hungry enough. Do you maintain such a diet?”
“No, I…we don’t eat people if that’s what you mean.” Brooke stammered. “We don’t do anything demonic.”
“Except conjure up the most destructive and uncontrollable form of sorcery in existence,” Belgun snapped, “apparently.”
“You don’t believe Vanderain’s word?” Glommish asked.
“No. Not without seeing this demon magic myself.”
“What?” Borasha chuckled. “You just said how uncontrollable it is, now you want the kids to unleash their powers.”
“I agree,” Glommish said, looking very old indeed as he leaned tiredly on his staff. “You’ll have to take Vanderain’s word on it. I believe him entirely, as should all of you.”
Belgun, Stray and Ionee looked ready to argue further, whilst Regina and Urax looked murderous, but Lord Corridian said. “Let’s save the discussion of the spawn for later and get to the point of this meeting. You choose now to tell us this, Vanderain, why?”
“There’s another matter,” Vanderain admitted. “Besides Kalkavan’s growing boldness in hunting the spawn. I recently learned that a Rakarn witnessed one of my Venators use their demon magic. This Rakarn may have already informed Akirandon herself, who will begin hunting them herself.”
This time there was no outraged shouting across the table, but utter silence.
“Then it’s time to end the status-quo,” Borasha cried. “Call out Akirandon in open battle and end this once and for all.”
“Aye,” cried Daylin. “Recall all active Realmers, even use those close to finishing training. Use our full force to destroy Velkarath.”
“We can’t,” Glommish sighed. “It’s why we’re in this status quo, if we recall Realmers stationed across realms at war or at risk of demon invasion, whilst we’re on the battlefield we shall lose all those realms, or maybe Del-O-Reth or Earth or any other valuable world. Demons far outnumber us and we must remain vigilant across the worlds to stop them taking hold.”
“And we already have large forces of Realmers stationed with the armies of our allies pitted against Akirandon’s armies,” Loren added. “We need to take out Akirandon herself. Once she’s destroyed, Velkarath will soon crumble and her armies disperse. Demons and dread lords soon
turn on each other without a more powerful force to unite them.”
“We’ve been hunting Akirandon and the other Disciples for so long already,” said Krysla, “but they run and hide from us.”
“You should face Akirandon one on one,” Urax jabbed his finger to Vanderain. “She will come for you and your Veneseron to get these spawn, so you should deal with by yourself.”
“And if Akirandon kills Vanderain,” Glommish uttered, barely more than a whisper. “You will soon be next Urax.”
“Then what should we do?” Ionee cried in despair.
“We kill the wretched spawn and show Akirandon their carcasses,” Urax growled.
Evan felt his sorcery ignite as fury filled him. He wanted nothing more than Urax to try and kill him now.
“You all know it needs to be done,” Urax addressed the room. Evan was relieved to see other councilmen shake their heads, repulsed by the idea, but unnerved to see a few nod, as if Urax provided the only solution. Lasy Regina was the most enthusiastic
His stomach plummeted as he saw Belgun watching Urax. Madagant’s expression was unreadable, but the look in his eyes showed he agreed with Urax.
“If you won’t destroy the spawn, Eternals.” Urax raised his axe. “Then I will, right here, right now.”
Vanderain stepped calmly forward. “To attempt such a thing, you will have to best me in mortal combat, Urax. Do you wish to proceed?”
Urax’s snout wrinkled to a sneer and he looked upon Vanderain with pure hatred, but he stepped away, mumbling, “no.”
“The spawn shall not be harmed,” Belgun proclaimed. “Yet.
Relief washed through Evan, but he knew Belgun wasn’t coming to their rescue and dread swiftly replaced the relief as Belgun continued.
“They must stay here in Del-O-Reth, however. Not only for the spawn’s own safety, but for everyone else. It was highly responsibly of you Vanderain to allow the spawn to mingle with your trainee Venators. Only here, can the spawn be contained, and also protected should Akirandon or another force come to seek them. Del-O-Reth’s army is always present here, in addition to the whitecloaks. We will keep the spawn in heavily guarded, magic-proofed rooms, where they can’t harm anyone. There we shall conduct our experiments on them, and learn what we can about them. Should they prove to be an asset to our forces, they may one day be released. If they prove to be too much of a danger, they will have to exterminated. For the good of all the realms.”
Evan’s heart was in his throat by the time Belgun had finished. The implication of his words hit him like physical blows. He turned to Brooke and saw her eyes wet with tears ready to fall.
The Realmer Republic weren’t just going to imprison them, never allowing them to return to Veneseron, if he and Brooke didn’t pass their ‘experiments’ they would be sentenced to death.
Chapter 19- Killer in the Dark
Damen sang an ancient drow song softly as he wandered home. He and Ria had lived with dark elves shortly after they’d left Blanaco. He’d enjoyed that time immensely.
He gazed around at the world of Ilexi for the last time. Ria would want to portal out of here as soon as he got home, no doubt. It was a shame; Ilexi wasn’t a beautiful world, but simple and uncomplicated. The dirt road he walked along was one massive path that stretched for miles all around. Either side of him was rocky terrain and mountain ranges, whilst every once in a while a horse-drawn wagon passed by. He’d miss Ilexi. He’d miss Ureena too, and was sorry to leave her, but he knew it was for the best. It was time for him and Ria to start over, like they always did.
Damen had no idea who they’re parents were, or where they came from. All his earliest memories were living on the streets. Ria remembered a little more than him. She said an innkeeper raised them until they were four. She remembered calling him Tadz. Tadz had been killed by bandits one night, however, and they’d been living on the streets for years after that, until they’d joined Blanaco’s guild.
Damen crossed the road and started up the winding slope of their mountain home. He hoped Ria had bought some real food in from the city. The one thing he’d missed about the guild had been the feasts.
Ria had worked in the guild as a witch for hire and he’d become a mercenary, always handy with a blade. Damen learned he had sorcery of his own a year after Ria, and that just made the prices go up for his mercenary work. He couldn’t control his magic sometimes too, and Ria preferred Damen only use sorcery when he absolutely had to.
They knew some of their powers were strange though, even for magic-users. He’d never heard about their type of magic before, and it made him uneasy whenever they used it. Luckily it had only been a handful of times. Unfortunately one of those times had been in front of Blanaco, and he’d seen profit in it. It was one of the many reasons they had to leave the guild. But Blanaco’s rule was that no one left the guild, unless they were dead.
Damen arrived at their home and opened the door to a house of darkness. His first thought was that Ria must’ve turned all the lights out to have a nap, but then he saw the destruction. The table had been smashed to pieces, and there was blood on the walls and bodies on the floor.
No!
“Ria, Ria,” he yelled, running through their house. What’s happened to her?
He hurried to her room, but it was empty. He ran back to the kitchen, but the only occupants in their home were the four dead Onlekks. Damen recognised the monsters from their travels, but he knew they weren’t native to Ilexi. What were they doing here? Was someone controlling them?
He would kill whoever did this. Blanaco, it had to be Blanaco.
They’d made the mistake of asking Blanaco permission and trying to leave his guild peacefully. Blanaco had refused, enraged at what he saw as them betraying him. He’d slapped Ria across the face, and that was when Damen had lost his mind.
He still blamed himself, if he hadn’t seriously wounded Blanaco, he wouldn’t have been hunting them down all this time. Of course, their former guildmates had turned against them too, he and Ria had barely escaped with their lives. They’d been running ever since, Blanaco had almost caught them once, but it seemed now he’d finally got Ria. And Damen hadn’t been here to help her.
Amongst the brackish Onlekk blood were drops of human blood. Ria’s blood!
He gazed around their home in horror; his whole body had gone cold. Was he going into shock? Focus! He prepared to perform one of the three spells Ria had forbidden him to do. All three spells used his dark sorcery and came at a price. He’d only done this particular spell once, yet it had almost killed him. But he had no choice, he had to find her. He crouched down by the broken table, where spots of Ria’s blood lay. He prayed it was just a flesh wound. She’s still alive. She has to be.
He held his hand in the air, inches above the blood. Never use blood magic again Damen, he could hear Ria’s voice in his mind. The blood began to swirl very slowly and his palm turned black, filling with an intense heat. The drops joined together, creating a small scarlet whirlpool. Once joined, the blood rose up in a line. As it touched his palm he felt Ria’s presence. Her face swam into his mind’s eye and he could suddenly smell her perfume in the air. He could feel fragments of her emotion, of pain and fear and anger. But most of all she felt worry for him.
Next, he attempted to learn where she was, to see what she saw, but there was only darkness.
“NO!” He shouted to the gloom around him.
When he’d done the spell before it had showed him Ria’s location exactly. It had been when they’d lost each other between realms, so that couldn’t be why he couldn’t track her now.
Wherever she was must’ve been blocked by a powerful sorcery. A spell stronger than Blanaco possessed, unless his servants had grown stronger.
She’s lost then. If you can’t find her even with blood magic you’ll never see her again.
Damen felt tears prickle in his eyes. His heart was hitting against his chest so hard it hurt. Panic was beginning to devour him.
/> The sudden, intense coldness alerted him to a presence a second before it attacked. He whirled just in time, turning his body to the side before the sword gouged into the wall where his head had been.
Damen rolled across the floor and sprang to his feet, facing the assassin. The creature was a phantasmagorical humanoid, with bright blue flesh and twin glass daggers. His eyes smoked like nitrogen and his hair burned with green flames.
The being keened hideously, leaping at him and striking with both blades. Damen seized the assassin by the wrists before his daggers could come down, however, and head-butted the creature. He then channelled both of his hands full of energy, balled them into fists and began pounding the assassin’s face into oblivion. He hit the monster so hard his lower jaw cracked and slid partway off his face. As the creature gargled incoherently, Damen unsheathed his own sword and slashed wildly, overcome with rage. The assassin parried his blows, moving with a supernatural speed and slipping under Damen’s guard. The assassin’s dagger sliced his wrist, causing Damen’s hand to open and drop his blade.
Damen swore violently, but then the creature dropped one of his own daggers to seize Damen by the throat instead. Before he knew it, the monster had forced him back to the sink, bending him backwards and raising the dagger in his other hand, ready to plunge it into Damen’s chest.
Just before the dagger hit, a flash of white light pulsed between them and the assassin was thrown off of Damen and to the floor. His body shuddered from delivering the immense magical blast, but he swiftly capitalised, kicking the dagger from the monster’s hand. He needn’t have bothered though, the assassin was unconscious.
Sucking in lungfuls of air, Damen dropped to his knees over the creature’s body, hoping he was just knocked out; he needed the assassin’s mind intact.
He thought of the second spell Ria had forbidden him to perform, but knew it was the only way. He placed his hand on the demon’s forehead and began siphoning the monster’s memories.
He saw another demon’s face in flashing images, the assassin’s master perhaps? Next, Damen saw a spire of ice amidst a sea of snow. His spell caused the monster to awake and scream from the pain of having his memories stolen, but Damen didn’t care about the assassin’s agony. It felt right that the demon should suffer. He zoomed in on the spire of ice, inside was an army of demons, and he could sense Ria’s presence.
Angels and Elves- Act I Page 30