“By the Word!” said Healy. “The Archbishop hid all this from me?”
“Yes,” said Kevin. “Only the Sect is allowed in here. The Archbishop would come from time to time. He enjoyed the Chamber. Seth Farlow and he were quite the pair down here.”
Kamal had walked over to the library and knelt down to read the spines of the books on the shelves. “Interesting,” he said. He chose a book at random and pulled it free. Healy walked over and glanced down at the book. He murmured in surprise and took another book from a shelf. The cover was hard but thin and the pages within were white and covered with pictures so real he had to lean closer to be sure he wasn’t imagining it.
“By the Word!” exclaimed Healy.
Kamal closed his book and placed it back on the shelf. Healy turned the pages of his book and peered at the back of pages. “It is like windows. Little windows. So real…”
Kevin frowned and took the book from Healy and closed it with a snap. “Please, do not touch anything. Those books are precious beyond measure.” He placed it back on the shelf and adjusted it and the one Kamal had taken until they were lined up correctly.
Kamal looked over at Kevin. “However did you manage to keep them from falling apart?”
“Seth restored them.”
Kamal raised an eyebrow. “Do tell? How?”
Kevin was certain that Kamal already knew the truth and grew uncomfortable. “That is why I have brought you here. Seth used the Device. Holy magic, he called it. The Archbishop approved, of course, and the Sect did not question it. Recently, events with the demons, and revelations with Brent Bairstow, have revealed that Seth used the Device for blood magic. We used this magic for years to defeat the demons. I wish to show you what can be accomplished. With this magic, I am confident the Sect can defeat this woman and her dog. And then the demons in Turgany. It was done before and can be done again.”
Kamal merely smiled in response and Kevin frowned.
Healy appeared to think on the words before he unexpectedly walked over to the altar and laid a hand on a corner. He spoke after he looked it over for a moment. “What is this? Is it what it looks like?”
Kevin hurried over to the altar to stand beside Healy. “This, President Healy, is the altar the demons were exorcised on. The stone removes their ability to touch their evil powers. We drain their magic and place them here, shackled. Then details are extracted. The Sect were exceptional in their ability to extract details from the demons. None withstood the questioning.”
“Torture, then,” murmured Healy, and he reached out and touched one of the shackles. The stone of the altar was clean. No evidence of torture or blood could be seen. The shackles had scraped the stone in repeated patterns at the corners. With a little imagination, the outline of a person could be seen on the altar: shackled and unable to escape. Healy shuddered.
“Yes, torture. There were no other means to eliminate them. They commune with one another. You torture one and you torture them all. It’s marvellous. They are pure evil. Their magic steals the breath from your lungs. Freezes your blood. On the altar, one demon can lead to the location of dozens of others. It is like a chain of many interconnected links. For decades we hunted them down, and we thought we had eliminated them all. One escaped.
“We used to call him the Target. Many hoped he had died, but Seth knew he lived. In truth, it was Seth that allowed the Target to escape in the first place. It haunted him for years. His guilt made him brash. He acted too quickly against the demons when he found them returned. It is this same Target that now leads the demons, and they are stronger than ever. From one comes dozens. Soon they will be Legion. We must strike again. Hard and fast. But sure of our steps.”
Kamal had joined them. “Katherine and Dog are first on the list, Kevin.”
“Katherine and Dog? That is their names? Dog? Seriously? Who names a dog ‘Dog’? And since when is a dog a demon? That has never been seen before.”
Kamal smiled a tight smile. “The demon leader, the target Will Arbor, named him. His title is Freamhaigh. Somehow his bond to the dog grew into something more. But never mind the demons in Turgany, or that a dog is a demon. It is Katherine and Dog that we must hunt down and eradicate. These two are the greater threat. There have never been demons of their capability before.”
Kevin saw Healy looking worriedly at Kamal.
Kevin thought for a moment. “Earlier you demanded the entire Army head west to take out two demons. Now that you are here I wish to show you something better. With the Device and the Sect, we can overcome two demons. I propose we send the best from the Sect to deal with them. The others we can send to the farm outside Jergen and wipe out the demons once and for all.”
Kamal lifted a shackle and placed it around his own wrist for a moment. “No, send the entire Sect after the demon and her dog.” He released the shackle and let it drop with a clatter to the stone. “You will need them all to win against her. Do not underestimate them. You have never seen their like.”
“All of them? They are our best weapon against the demons! You would pit them all against one girl and a dog?”
“She is not a girl!” said Kamal with anger. Kevin stepped back when Kamal appeared to pulse with a dark light. “You will send all your Sect to take her and the dog out. I want them dead. Chopped up into little pieces, burned, and the ashes spread across the Realm. They will test everything your Sect knows. I would send an army, but I am opting to use you instead. Surely you heard about Cala? That was the woman and the dog, testing their powers. You will take this seriously. Am I clear?”
Kevin looked at Healy, but the President seemed afraid of Kamal. Who is this Kamal, he wondered, not for the first time. That he could put fear into the President? And if he fears this girl and dog, then what threat are they exactly?
“President, sir? Your orders?”
Healy looked away. “Do as he says. Do not take his words lightly.”
Kevin watched as Healy, keeping his back turned, slowly moved a small distance away. Kevin kept his face composed when he wanted to shout at his president and friend. “Aye, sir. I will summon the Sect. It will take a few days to gather them all. Once we are mustered, we will move east to intercept this woman and her dog.”
“Do it quickly. There is no time to waste,” growled Kamal.
“Yes, sir,” replied Kevin, slowly. He glanced at Healy’s back.
They stood in silence for a moment. Kamal left them and headed over to the shack. Kevin ran to catch up and moved in front of Kamal.
“What is in here?” asked Kamal.
“It contains the Device,” replied Kevin.
“The Device? What is this device?” Kamal smiled a greasy smile.
Kevin frowned, certain he was being played with. “It is how Seth created the Blood Magic.”
“Show me,” ordered Kamal.
Kevin looked over to Healy, but he was ignoring them.
“Show me. Now.”
Kevin saw the look in Kamal’s face and turned to the door. He pulled a key from out of his tunic and inserted it into the padlock and turned it. The shackle broke free and Kevin removed the padlock from the hasp and hung it on a hook on the doorframe. He turned the door handle and pulled the door open. Kamal entered the building and Kevin followed close behind.
Inside the shack was a large ornate desk covered in glass containers of all shapes and sizes. Rubber tubing ran from one container to another. Specialised candles were positioned under hotplates and valves seemed to be placed at random. Kevin had seen the inside of the shack many times before and even watched Seth operate it. He had watched with disgust when Seth had placed his own blood in the containers and ran it through the tubing and containers and even heated it at odd places. Kevin didn’t understand any of it.
Central to the operation was the Device. It sat in the middle of the desk. It was closed now, but the top swung up to reveal a series of letters on buttons. The black cables at the back ran up through the top of the shack and out
of the Chamber to the outside where two large, hidden, panels of strange glass were positioned. For the Device to operate, it had to be daytime, and the panels exposed to the sun.
Whatever its secrets were, they remained hidden from Kevin. The Device was the most awe-inspiring artefact of God from ages past. Something kept the Device functioning. It was pristine in all respects.
He heard Kamal laughing, and he looked at him in anger. Kamal spoke first. “This is what Seth did with the knowledge? It explains much. Clever.”
Kevin was startled out of his anger. “You understand this? Do you have this in your land to the east?”
“No, this should be history. It explains the books. I admit to some surprise.” Kamal looked hard at Kevin. “Would you like the knowledge of how to use this?”
Kevin blinked. “Knowledge? Of course I would. How?”
“You must give yourself willingly over to me. I could just force you, but I suspect you being willing would make it easier.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can give you the knowledge to use this. And more. You will have powers like Seth.”
“Seth? His power came from God, he said.”
“He was delusional. I let him think that. It was humorous.”
Kevin heard Healy stop at the door to the shack.
“Show him, Erebus. Enough deception.”
“Show me? Show me what?” Kevin looked at Kamal and suddenly he shimmered, and a creature of pure blackness stood before him. The very light seemed to be drawn into him. His eyes could not focus on the being. Fear stole through him and his legs threatened to buckle.
“I am Erebus,” said the creature. “I have lived for a millennium. My purpose is to rid this world of the demons and bring this world under my dominion. I require you, Kevin Balfour, to use my power to strike at those who would stop me. Do you accept?”
Kevin wanted to run. He wanted to run and never stop. Here before him was a being that defied the ability of his mind to grasp. He took a step away, but the creature stepped forward and grasped his shoulder. Kevin expected his shoulder to burn, but instead he felt peace flood through him.
“Are, are you God?” he whispered in awe.
“I am a god, just not the god you think.”
“W-what are you then?”
“I am the being who would give you what you want. Do you accept?”
“Accept what?”
“My power.”
Kevin didn’t hesitate. He felt the power coursing through him from this creature. He could sense the world waiting beyond and wanted it for himself. “Yes.”
The blackness that swirled around Erebus pulsed and extended out to engulf Kevin. He expected pain but instead felt himself open. His sense of reality shifted and suddenly he felt power course through him. With the power, the world opened up to him. He could see all that Erebus was and knew he was now part of it. The very air swirled with his being. He was everywhere at once. Kevin laughed at the pure joy of it.
Knowledge came to him. He had to merely think of what he wanted to know and he knew somehow. He looked at the Device and knew what it was and how to work it. It is so ancient, he thought, and so simple to use. It is a wonder. I see what Seth did wrong. This is not the power of God. It is so much more.
Kevin Balfour looked out to the members of his Sect. They were all gathered outside Munsten on horseback. He had briefed them on the mission and they were all committed. With the Device, he had crafted many tools for them to work with. He explained the source and how to use them. He hid the truth behind the words of God. Made them feel comfortable with his power. He explained the threat and how they were all that stood between salvation and despair.
The look on their faces told him they were his. The rapture the Sect was always seeking was theirs for the taking. They had to merely find this demon and her dog and strike them down. It was a mission they readily accepted.
They dressed openly as members of the Sect. They no longer had the need to hide. They carried on them the means to strike down, once and for all, the demon threat they had pledged their lives to eradicate. They looked to Kevin to guide them and were his willing vassals.
“We leave now on a mission that generations will speak of. We are the willing who would save this world from a great evil. Through the power of God we have the means. We cannot fail. Come, my brothers. Let’s finish this once and for all!”
Ten
Rigby Farm, December 901 A.C.
THE RIGBY FARM was buried under six inches of heavy snow. Snow had fallen earlier than normal this winter and it looked like it was here to stay. Farm hands said all the signs were that we were in for an abnormally cold winter and the latest drop in temperature gave credence to that belief. Nadine asked them how they knew, and they pointed at one of the hands who said his knee never lied. Nadine took one look at the knee and reversed the arthritis she found there—and elsewhere in the man’s joints.
That led to full physicals for everyone. The crew and farm hands were now in exceptional health and enjoying themselves. Nadine said to wait nine months and after a moment I figured out what she meant. It raised a thought with me and I spoke to Nadine about it, one night in bed.
“Nadine,” I began not sure where to start the conversation.
Nadine was pretending to be asleep. Which was impossible for her and me to do. Our bond didn’t allow much subterfuge.
“I know you’re awake.”
“I know. I also know what you’re going to ask me.”
“I don’t think so.”
Nadine rolled over to her back and looked up at me sitting beside her. “Children.”
“What? How do you know I want to talk about children?”
I felt a jolt down our bond. “That’s how, stupid.” Nadine struggled to sit up and when she did, she slapped her thighs. “You want to talk about us having children.”
“Yes, I do. Do you want children?”
“No.”
I was not expecting such a firm response. I looked at our bond and saw the doubt and worry in her. “What worries you about having children?”
Nadine sighed. “The world we bring them into.”
I understood her fear. The future did not look too promising. Erebus was a force we were not certain we could defeat. Gaea was still absent and not responding to Nadine. Every day that went by without her answering added doubt and fear in our Cill Darae. She feared the worst. She imagined Gaea so weak she no longer influenced the world. Without her, we were not certain we could win.
“The world will always be here. That’s not a valid excuse.”
“Sure it is. Why bring children into the world only for it to be destroyed?”
“How can we not give them the opportunity for life?”
“Even if it means their death? How could we do that to anyone?”
I sat in silence for a moment thinking on it. The farm hands were still producing children. Nadine revelled in each birth. I could see and sense the joy it brought her.
“We have had four births on the farm in the past six months. Do you ask the couples to stop having children?”
“No, of course not. That is not my place to say. That is their choice. It is my choice to not have children.”
Anger flared in me and Nadine looked at me in surprise. “It is our choice, Nadine. Not yours. You cannot exclude me from that decision.”
Nadine looked hurt. “It’s my body, Will. Women must be able to make that choice: to have or not have children. Men have it easy. One act and their work is done. For women—women elsewhere in the Realm—child birth can mean their death. Do you ken?”
“I understand the argument. I really do. But, the birth of a child, a man’s child, is just as important for the man as it is for the mother. Our right to be a father is just as important.”
“I don’t deny that. But growing a child. Birthing a child. It can have devastating effects on the woman. End her life, during pregnancy and during the birth. The man could leave,
and the woman still has the child to raise. I don’t deny the right of the father, but the rights of the woman must come first.” We lay in silence before she spoke again. “I lived an entire lifetime not wanting children, Will. I was only a few months, maybe a year from dying of old age. I hadn’t wanted children then, and never regretted that choice, and I don’t want children now.”
We sat in silence for a long period. I could sense that Nadine was upset. This was not the first time we had fought. But this was the first time we disagreed on something so important.
“You stop yourself from getting pregnant, don’t you?”
I felt Nadine nod beside me.
“You never told me.”
“No.”
“Does Gaea know?”
“She does. We talked about it once.”
“What did she say?”
“That it was my body and my right to choose.”
I rolled over on to my side facing away from her. I needed to think about this longer. I heard what she was saying but didn’t like that I was excluded from that choice. It didn’t seem fair. We didn’t speak of it again.
Yule celebrations were only two weeks away, and the farm was already buzzing with excitement. A yule log had been hewn from our land and placed next to where the bonfire would be lit out on the commons. The children were to decorate the log and place it in the fire, but only after we doused it in cider. A small piece of last year’s yule log would be used to start the bonfire, and the children had drawn straws to see who would have the honour.
Many hoped that Gaea would appear on this day of all days. The longest night of the year meant that the sun would start to stay longer in the sky. It meant hope and life. A brighter future for all. A rebirth.
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