by Curtis, Greg
At the top of the stairs he turned and marched quickly into the grand hall, expecting to see Lucara there waiting for him. But he wasn't. Then again the hall like the rest of the castle was simply so large that maybe he was there and Terellion just couldn't see him? He could simply be in another part of it. That was one of the things he didn't like about the castle. It was just too large.
“Terellion.”
Terellion spun as he heard his name called.
Lucara stood there behind him in the grand hall with the tablet in his hand, and his face was a mask of pain. Instantly Terellion's hopes faded. He'd failed – again! Pain for the sage was always about failure. He had worn the exact same look a dozen times before and each time it had been because he had reached a point in the translation that he could not get beyond. And each time they had had to go back to the demon king to get whatever was needed; some ingredients for a spell, another translated tablet from the same ancient temple, the lost works of some other sage. Each time it had been bad. But this time his words were worse. He didn't want anything.
“It's completely worthless!”
The sage yelled those three words at him the moment Terellion asked. And then for some reason he kept repeating that phrase over and over again. As if it should take on greater meaning the more times he repeated it.
It didn't. It meant less. What meant more was that Terellion knew Lucara was one of the most learned of people in the five kingdoms. He had knowledge that no one else did. And given time he could translate anything. Even a tablet that was said to be ten thousand years old, from a temple that had vanished along with the entire race that had built it. It was one reason that Terellion had wanted the sage included as part of the binding, even though his magic was not as powerful as some. If anyone would be able to find a way to read the demon king's tablet it would be him.
After that of course he'd needed to encourage the sage. Encourage him as only he could. Left to his own devices Lucara would have spent twenty or thirty happy years with the tablet, slowly deciphering bits and pieces of the inscription and probably doing other things in between. But as part of the binding he had the same vested interest in deciphering it as Terellion. But even that wasn't enough. Not when Terellion could feel his body beginning to fail him more and more. He didn't have twenty years to spare.
So he'd used his gift to transform him. Once, the sage had had other interests. He'd had a family for some reason. Personally Terellion had never understood the attraction. Now though neither did Lucara. He was incapable of thinking about anything other than the tablet. It was the only desire in his heart. And just to make certain of it, Terellion had quietly had his family killed. There would be no distractions. That had forced the sage to become very knowledgeable about the tablet very quickly.
But there was of course a problem with using him like that. In fact there were several. And the first of them was what he was seeing in front of him. Every time he reached an impasse the sage became hysterical and inconsolable. Which was obviously what had happened again. Another setback. He was getting so tired of them.
“What is it this time Lucara? What can't you read?”
“Nothing! I can read everything. I can even read the translations the demon provided us with and find the lies!”
“Lies?”
The word filled Terellion with dread. But it couldn't be true. He knew that. Lucara knew it too. Everyone knew that. Demons were incapable of lying when they made their bargains. They considered the very thought a crime. They were incredibly tricky and cunning, but they could not lie. That was why they'd come as far as they had in their deal. Xin had worked hard to stall them, determined to get as much food out of the bargain as he could. But still, his machinations had been overcome one by one so that now they were incredibly close. Terellion told him that as calmly as he could. But privately his heart was beginning to race a little and he felt a chill.
“Tricks then, tricks!” The sage yelled it out for the entire city to hear. “The demon gave us a false translation.”
“He can't have – that would be a lie!” But even as he said it Terellion could feel sweat starting to collect on his forehead. Xin might not be able to do it, but he would want to. He would do anything to stop him ascending. To keep him from his immortality.
“It's not a lie because the translation is completely accurate. But the writings it's based on are different from the ones on the tablet. Just one character different. But that one character is everything.”
“Show me!”
“Here's the etchings we made of the entry tablet to the temple that we sent to Xin's thralls for them to transcribe.” Lucara gestured to an aide who came rushing to Terellion with a sheaf of parchments in his hand.
“Here's how the Xin's thrall transcribed those etchings on to basilisk hide that could survive in Tartarus for the scholars to translate. And here's the scholar's workings which he turned into his written ancient cuneiform. Here's his final translation of that.”
“And here's the one symbol that was changed between the etchings we gave to the thrall and the copies the scholar translated.” The aide gave Terellion one last piece of parchment with a bow and then backed away hurriedly.
“It's the tiniest thing and it's only in the one place, in the name of the ancient temple. But it's everything. This wasn't the ancient temple of the ascendant. This was the ancient temple of the descendant.”
One character was wrong. He could see that for himself when it was shown to him. So Terellion had to accept what the sage was saying. And looking at it, it wasn't even the entire character that was different between the etching and the scholar's copy of it. It was only in the tail of that one strange character. On one the tail went up, on the other it went down. But what did it mean? What could a tail on a character mean? Suddenly very frightened, he asked.
“It means that this ancient temple was never built by mortals. It was never for mortals. This is an ancient temple for the gods. And every piece of writing in it is for them.”
“He deceived us. The tablet is exactly what he said, a means of achieving ascension to the heavens. But it's also completely useless to us. It was never written for mortals to read, let alone use. It is for the gods to return to their realm should they have the need.”
“What?” Terellion felt the strength suddenly leave his legs and he thought for a moment about falling down. The world was turning very dark just then.
“Sometimes when the divine descend to the world they stay too long. They walk the world in mortal form for too many years. They take husbands or wives, they raise families and even grow old. And sometimes they lose a part of themselves in that time.”
“I know that,” Terellion snapped angrily at the sage.
And he did know it. Everyone knew that. Gods descended sometimes. They chose to experience a mortal life. And when they did they often forgot who they were. Many had done it before. Many more would. It was why they'd been able to spread the story of the Goddess Artemis descending. She periodically returned to the world to hunt.
“But when the end finally comes for them, and they have done all that they can in the world in the mortal guise and they want to return, sometimes they can't remember how. The tablet shows them the way to regain themselves. It is a reminder to them of the way home. Their way back to their true home. But it's only for them. No mortal could ever follow that path.”
Terellion suddenly felt very sick. Cold washed over him. He felt deathly ill and he needed to sit down. For a time he couldn't even breathe as the pain of failure washed over him. There would be no immortality for him. All hope was lost. He was going to grow older and die in this decaying hulk of failing flesh he wore.
It was too much. After so long and so much hard work. After all he'd sacrificed, and all he'd risked. To have this happen – it was so unfair! It was beyond wrong.
For the longest time he just stood there staring at the sage, but not really seeing him. Not really seeing anything except his coming de
ath. A death that was approaching fast. And following it, an eternity of suffering in the underworlds. There would be no Elysium for him. No happiness. He was doomed. Doomed to Tartarus and Xin's ministrations. And no doubt the demon king would laugh at him as he tortured him for eternity. The only thing he could do he realised, was to try and push that dark day of his death as far away into the future as he could. And punish those who had done this to him. He would start with the demon king.
Xin needed to suffer!
“So”, Terellion began slowly, rage dripping from every word, “we have a deal with the lying king of demons that is completely worthless. He can never provide us with what he promised. He always knew he couldn't. And in return for his lies we have fed him half of the five kingdoms, and now he wants the rest.”
“We also can't break the binding because to do it without killing ourselves, everybody would have to agree and Xin would never agree. He wants his food. And he will do anything he can to get it.”
“And as if that's not enough we have a vengeful High Priestess determined to kill us all, and who is apparently capable of it. She's already killed half of us.”
When he stated it out loud Terellion felt as though he was almost announcing his own death. And he was. Because this was a death sentence they had all been given. And there was nothing any of them could do about it. Yet.
But there was still one thing he could do, and that was to hurt the lying demon that had betrayed them. His treachery would not go unanswered. He would be punished. It wasn't enough, but it was something. He could starve Xin.
“Bring our people home.” Terellion bellowed his orders at the soldiers, knowing they would be obeyed. They were not lying demons. “All the wizards. All the soldiers. From every town and city. Every temple. I want all of them here in Lion's Crest in the next month. Sooner if possible. We will defend ourselves against the High Priestess as best we can. And Xin's thralls can die!”
“We will abandon all the temples. Xin's thralls and his beasts can remain in them. They can die there defending them.”
In doing so they would purchase the rest of them a little time. Time in which to regroup, to shore up their defences and hopefully make themselves a secure base. If they were lucky they could build themselves a secure enough position that they could endure for a few years. Maybe even enough years to see out the rest of his life.
“And I will close down the gate. No more chimera will come through, and no more life will flow through to Xin. He will starve. And his thralls in the other lands will lose contact with him. They will be left alone to die at the hands of their own chimera.”
“But -.”
“I'll maintain the binding because I have to. But I will close the damned gate! The demon king can rot in his underworld for this treachery! He can rot in Tartarus for eternity!”
It wasn't enough of course. He wanted the demon king to burn for his lies. For his betrayal. But some things were beyond even his power. And that was one of them.
Xin's betrayal was worse than any other he could ever have imagined. And the bitterness at having been tricked by the demon king was more vile than any he had ever known. And coming so soon after his recent success too! He now had at least two of the furies showing signs of carrying child. Only an hour before he had been filled with excitement at the thought of seeing what would come out of them. At seeing his children come out of them in time. Now he simply didn't care. Everything had turned to ashes.
But he also knew what the demon king would do the instant he realised his ruse had been uncovered and he was going to be starved again. Desperation would rule him and he would immediately order his thralls to unleash their beasts on his soldiers in the city. They would capture the remaining Circle wizards and when Xin had them under his control he would force them to open the gate. That wasn't going to happen.
Terellion couldn't control the chimera. But he could control their demon bonded masters. And that had to happen before he closed the gate.
“You! Gather the soldiers!” He bellowed at the guards by the door. “And then bring me the demon worshipping priests from the temple! All of them!”
“Then bring me any others in the city! Send out riders throughout the rest of the realm to hunt down the rest. Bring them all to me or kill them if they resist!”
It was time to take the thralls and through them the beast army away from Xin. It was also time to stop hiding his gift. By the time this day was over he would be known for what he was, but every one of Xin's thralls would belong to him, body and soul. And through them he would have his army.
The guards ran off to do as he ordered, and Terellion watched them go. This was a bad day, but there would be people held to account for their crimes. He promised himself that they would be punished as no others had ever been punished before. And while the thralls couldn't be killed as he needed them to control the chimera there were other ways to make certain they suffered. Suffered as they could never have imagined. They would learn to hate Xin as they had never hated anyone before. And there was one who needed to suffer most of all.
“And bring me Varrious!” Terellion screamed it to an empty room, his guards already having departed. There was no one left to hear him. But when there was he would make sure they heard him. And he would make sure they brought that worthless dog before him. And when they did the question was what was he going to do with him? Obviously he had to know what Varrious knew of his master's plans. But after that? The man would have only one purpose – to suffer.
A rustling drew Terellion's attention away from the empty doorway and the soldiers somewhere beyond it and he turned to see his fury and her demon serving master standing there. Of course they were there. He'd forgotten that he'd brought them upstairs from the dungeon. That he'd been wanting the seductress to hear the good news first hand. To know how soon she was going to be bedded.
But that dream was dead now. So was his private breeding pen downstairs. Everything he had hoped for and dreamed of was now dust.
Seeing her standing there looking a little confused was wrong. No doubt she'd been thinking very little, save that it would soon be time for him to take her. But if she had understood anything at all of what she'd just heard she now knew that time had passed. She had to be disappointed. And for some reason that bothered him. Even with everything else that had just gone wrong, it bothered him that she should be upset by the thought that he wouldn't be bedding her any time soon.
He could not allow that.
Terellion strode over to her, wrapped his arms around her buttocks – the only part of her body where her wings did not connect – and pulled her to him. He didn't care about her vipers. He didn't care about the gasps coming from the thrall watching her or the attendants stationed along the far walls. He didn't even care about the look of fear that had come over the fury's master as he desperately tried to keep her calm. He only cared that she did not ever imagine that she wasn't going to be bedded by him.
“My dear, you have nothing to worry about. Even if this failed there is another way. My agents will find me some living essence. And when they do, the moment they do, you will know a conquest such as women have only ever dreamed of! You will be mounted. Many, many times. And you will have my child in your belly. Even if I do nothing else in my life, you will be bedded. I vow that to all the gods and demons.”
And then he kissed her to seal his vow. This creature would not escape him. Nor would her sisters if Tyche granted him the slightest fortune. He would have them all and it would be glorious!
Chapter Forty Three
The demon king's thrall's dungeon was surprisingly pleasant Terellion thought. It had a little natural light coming from slots in the stone above. Some fresh air flowed through it the same way. The walls weren't dripping with water or covered in mould. Even the iron bars on the cages it had as cells were in good condition, without any sign of rust. It was as though these thralls had taken care with it. Even in designing it. But then it had started out life as part o
f a temple he supposed. Storerooms maybe. They had just converted them to their needs. And most of their needs seemed to be as pens for the furies. Every cell was filled with them.
Why? The other chimera, save of course for the manticores and cerberi were freer. Some could even wander the city – with a demon following master beside them. The harpies had their own open air cages on the roofs of many buildings throughout the city. Even the cerberi had their own pens in the grounds beside the temple. Why were the furies locked away down here? It was almost as if the thralls were frightened of them. And maybe they were despite the charms they had been given.
This dungeon would now serve his needs though. It would have to since the dungeon beneath his own castle was in a state of disrepair, half converted into a private brothel he would now no longer need. Though he was still in two minds as to what to do about that. Should he have the work continue? Or should he turn it back into the dungeon it had been? He had a feeling he was going to need all the dungeons he could get shortly. But to turn it back into a dungeon would be to admit that he no longer had any hope. And he did have hope. Not a lot. But still there was living essence out there. Somewhere. And if he could find some. If he could become young and vibrant again through it – even if only for a short time – he would want a place to bed the furies.