by Tony Donadio
Everything around the dome went with it. In the blink of an eye nothing remained except a crater a quarter of a mile across.
A deafening boom echoed through the valley. Air rushed to fill the sudden void where the imploding fireball had been. Gales and whirlwinds blew toward it, uprooting trees and smashing buildings. The waters at the tip of the firth, just within the radius of devastation, began to rush in like a waterfall to fill the newly created chasm.
Nearly four thousand battle demons had been stationed around the gate. They died in the space of a heartbeat, vanishing with the headquarters of Borr’s invasion force.
~
“You’ve done it, Grandfather,” Randia’s twin said weakly. She sagged into the old Archmage’s arms. Her face was pale and her breathing ragged. Her eyes fluttered.
“I must dissolve the link now,” he said gently.
She nodded.
“We did it, didn’t we?” she said softly. “We saved the world, you and I.”
He shook his head. “Not yet. But thanks to you, it has a chance.”
She smiled. Then, slowly, her eyes closed. The song faltered as she slipped from his grasp and crumpled to the ground. Her face faded from the circle of the moon, and was gone.
Lenard stared at her body for a long moment. Then a dangerous fire lit in his eyes as he looked up at the approaching demons.
“It is almost done,” he said. “Your gate is gone, and your master fled. Now it’s just you — and me.”
~
Liana landed atop the shattered ridge. A deep crevasse had been cut into it by Borr’s attack, leading down to where Lenard stood over his granddaughter’s body. She beckoned to the line of battle demons that followed her.
“Here!” she ordered. “Slide down this cleft and engage the wizard from behind!”
The demons hesitated. They had seen Lenard’s starfire and what had happened to the gate.
“Down!” she screamed. “I will eat the soul of any Deman who balks!”
One of them reluctantly stepped into the crevasse. In moments the others had followed.
She saw the enormous form of Incanus Thad swooping in her direction. Beside it, a pair of man-sized figures rode the air in a chariot of fire. She rose and flew to meet them.
“The Archmage stands in the cleft below,” she called. “We must combine our strength to destroy him!”
Warlord Zomoran, the Black Magus, gripped the reins of the flaming chariot. When he spoke, his voice was a stream of acid fury.
“Destroying the gate took nearly all his power. We have to strike now, while he is vulnerable — and without mercy!”
The Crimson Slayer made a slashing gesture with its flame hand.
“This Archmage is too full of surprises,” it said. “We must be certain he is helpless before we move to finish him.”
Liana smiled as she gestured toward the dragons and demons that swarmed around and below them.
“We have plenty of fodder for that,” she said coldly.
~
The enchanted light had begun to fade, but the bursts of magic around the embattled wizard bathed the southern bluffs with an almost ceaseless illumination. Battle demons dropped on him from the ridge above, or climbed up from below. Winged demons and dragons strafed the open wound in the cliff where he stood, conjuring or vomiting jets of fire and lightning. The Black Magus and his escort called down bolts of arcane power — from a safe distance.
The Blood Moon, however, remained bright. And in the images on its face, the survivors of Lannamon witnessed the last stand of Lenard the Archmage. They saw the old wizard as he stood over the fallen body of his granddaughter, staff in one hand, ring blazing on the other, surrounded by the now-dead artifacts of an ancient ruin. They saw him battle defiantly, blasting demons and dragons from the sky, or from the rocks around, as they swarmed in to overwhelm him. They saw the endless sea of monsters that broke like waves, again and again, on the cliffs, closing slowly and inexorably, amid the fading of his spells and the dimming of his shield.
They watched, waiting for the end they knew would come — some in tears, others stoic and stony-faced, and still others raging with helpless anger. And when it finally came, they saw the bright flash of the detonation that gouged yet another hole in the southern cliffs of the City of Rainbows. They saw it vaporize all that remained of the Sanctum of the Archmage — and of Lenard and Randia Killraven.
Chapter 23 - The New Order
The Oath
Orion turned away from the window. The lights from the Archmage’s battle had faded, and the Blood Moon had returned to its normal size. It rose into the night sky as darkness settled over the valley, punctuated by the red glow of the scattered fires that burned throughout the city.
“It’s finally over,” he said softly.
His legs folded slowly beneath him, and he sat on their makeshift pile of blankets. Diana followed, falling on her knees to face him. Her face was streaked with dried tears, and she no longer seemed able to cry.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“The demons will take the city,” he said. “They won’t be getting reinforcements without the gate, but they’re still a vast horde. Tens of thousands, I think.”
“Enough to conquer Carlissa?”
He nodded.
“By tomorrow Zomoran will be sending strike forces to seize control of the lands around the firth. He’ll use the element of surprise while he has it, before the country can mobilize against him.”
She took a long, slow breath. “That’s how it usually begins,” she agreed.
He looked at her, startled. “How —”
“I’m the daughter of the Dorian ambassador,” she cut in. “And my father made sure I was well educated in our history. My country was the last to be freed by the Taming, you know. And we’ve had border skirmishes over the centuries with the enemy’s few remaining strongholds. There are lands that have gone back and forth between their rule and ours, especially on the western shores of the Galerian Sea. My people know something of what it is like to live under the Dark.”
He nodded. “Of course. I’d forgotten. So what will they do?”
Her face hardened into a controlled, emotionless mask. She was silent for a long time.
“They’ll begin with the children,” she said finally. “They’ll remove them from their parents and take control of their education. They’ll raise them to worship the demon lords and reject the Covenant. In a generation the Carlissan people won’t know their own progeny.”
“At least they won’t slaughter them, then,” Orion said. “The massacre was a tactic, not a goal.”
He sat for a long time, staring at the floor. She watched him, anxiously searching his face.
“Are you all right?” she asked at last. “That must have been hard for you to watch. I know how much you respected him.”
He lifted and shook his head. He smiled.
“It was the greatest thing I’ve ever witnessed. And the most profound inspiration. It showed me something very important. Something that I think will keep me going, and give me the strength to do what needs to be done.”
Her eyes opened wide in a question. She didn’t have to ask it.
“It showed me how knowledge, valor and wisdom can stand against evil,” he said. “No matter how ruthless and powerful it may be. We may not have the strength to defeat it outright, but we can win battles against it. One at a time, through relentless and uncompromising opposition. Until one day, when we win enough of them to turn the tide.”
She looked at him, face eager. “Yes. But how?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know. But he bought us time to find a way. And he showed us the path to finding it. Search for their weaknesses, and learn how to exploit them. And never, ever give up fighting, no matter how hopeless things look or become.”
Diana nodded. Her eyes were sparkling once again.
She still had her knife from their battle with Nalef. S
he picked it up and held it between them. Slowly, she raised her hand, and turned it to face him.
“Diana, what —”
She pricked the skin of her palm with its point, and a bead of blood welled from it. It glinted a deep red in the crimson moonlight that shone through the window. She extended the blade to him as she held out her bleeding hand.
“Swear it with me, Orion,” she breathed.
He looked at her, eyes wide. “A blood oath?”
She nodded.
“That we will dedicate our lives to avenging this day,” she said solemnly. “That we will not rest until Zomoran is dead, and his demons are defeated and banished from this world. And that we will forever be allies in that battle, against all that is to come.”
Slowly, resolutely, he took the knife from her. He looked directly into her eyes as he pricked his palm and placed it against hers. Their fingers intertwined as their blood mingled, running down their hands to their wrists.
“I swear it,” he said. “Mind and heart.”
“Heart and mind,” she agreed. “I swear it with you.”
They held hands silently together for a long time, as the Blood Moon rose high into the night sky over the broken City of Rainbows.
The Warlord of Carlissa
Emil Zomoran stood before the gates of the royal palace of Lannamon. A few of his captives had managed to escape in the confusion surrounding the Archmage’s attack, but none of the High Council were among them. Lord Rugon and the others knelt, bound before him once more.
At the magus’ side stood the succubus, Liana Desire. She had discarded her wings and the face of the servant girl from the palace, and adopted the form of a Hellwoman soldier in tight-fitting black leather. At his other side stood the Hellman Colonel Y’Thra in his black steel, whip dangling idly in his hand.
Zomoran walked along the line of prisoners, examining them one at a time. Finally he spoke.
“Now it is truly over,” he said stonily. “No resistance remains in the city. The Archmage has fallen, and with him passes the last of the Killravens. I, Warlord Zomoran, the Black Magus, now rule in Carlissa.”
He paused as the bound men and women looked around uneasily. A thin, cold smile emerged on his lips.
“No doubt some of you are thinking, ‘How is that possible? You have only taken Lannamon, Emil, and the rest of the kingdom will stand against you.’ That is where your calculation goes wrong, my friends. For you are my friends, with whom I have worked for many long years. I would like to offer you the chance to do so once again.”
Zomoran gestured with his staff. A scrying disk formed in the air before him, showing an image of the valley from high above. The Blue Moon had crested the line of the southern cliffs, and was rising swiftly behind the Blood Moon into the night sky. In their shared light and the illumination from the fires they saw what had happened to the city.
Lannamon was devastated. At its heart was an enormous crater where the crossroads, the amphitheater, the marketplace, and the western end of the docks used to be. They saw the cascade of water from the firth as it rushed in to fill it, and heard its roar in the distance. Fires blazed, everywhere, many of them out of control.
And through it all crawled an endless sea of demons. Lines of them marched like long columns of ants through the villages along both shores of the firth. Dragons and winged demons soared over the southern bluffs, winging their way toward the river plains that lay at the western end of the kingdom.
“The horde that has come to Kalara is vast beyond count,” the Black Magus intoned solemnly. “And its speed and power cannot be matched. It will sweep across Carlissa and conquer it as easily as it did this city. Your kingdom will fall within weeks.”
He resumed walking as the councilors stared in horror at the scene before them.
“You now have a choice,” he said slowly. “To stand with me, and serve as my lieutenants — and help restore order to the City of Rainbows. No one knows it, and its people, as you do. The old order is gone, but you can become part of the new order in Carlissa.”
“What must we do?” a voice asked. Lord Rugon forced himself to choke off a snort of contempt as he heard Baronet Kuhl’s voice.
Zomoran turned to face him. He gestured to Liana with one hand, and she stepped forward. She placed the thong of her whip under the councilor’s chin and looked into his eyes.
“Here are the words you will say, supplicant,” she ordered. Her voice dripped with both sexuality and menace. “‘I, Baronet Aloister Kuhl, do swear my oath of eternal fealty to the Dark, and as vassal to Warlord Zomoran, ruler of Carlissa.’ Say it three times, slowly and clearly, with your head bowed.”
Kuhl did as he was told, making no attempt to hide his eagerness. When he was done, Zomoran gestured for him to rise, and clasped his hand.
“Welcome, Aloister,” he said. The other councilors started. For the first time that day, they had heard a note of warmth in the magus’ voice.
“Now the rest of you,” Liana suggested. “Volunteers first. They will get ‘extra points.’”
Lord Rugon closed his eyes tightly as others began to take the oath. This can’t be happening, he thought numbly. My liege and all his house dead, and now to swear loyalty to the Dark …
He remembered the King’s words to him. You must be strong, Cyrus. And prepared to do what must be done. To serve even the demons, so that you can protect our people. Knowing that if you do not, then baser men than you will be chosen for the task — men who will not have their best interests at heart …
“I will not take your oath, traitor,” a voice said proudly beside him. Lord Rugon recognized it as Earl Jace of Carrolon. “The people of Carlissa will resist you with every drop of their blood, and the rest of Kalara will rise up to defeat you. You —”
He did not finish. At a nod from Zomoran, Colonel Y’Thra drew his sword and struck. The body of the Earl of Carrolon fell dead on the tiles of the plaza.
“Take his head,” the magus ordered coldly. “And stake it before the gate with the others.”
I can’t do it, Lord Rugon thought desperately, as a second councilor declared his defiance and was beheaded. I cannot take that oath — not when others have had the courage to die with their honor unstained. Please, My King, do not make me do this …
The minutes stretched on interminably. At last, he felt the touch of leather under his chin.
“You are the last, Lord Rugon,” Liana said to him softly. “It is time to choose.”
He braced himself for the words he would have to say. For the end.
No, the King was right, he found himself thinking suddenly. I must find a way to make accommodation with the new rulers of Carlissa. To bring the people together under their rule, for the good of all. It is the only way I have left to show loyalty to my King.
Slowly, reluctantly, his heart sick with self-contempt, he spoke the words of the oath to the Dark.
Whom Do You Serve?
Emil Zomoran sat on the throne of Carlissa. The room around him was strewn with detritus and the floor still stained with blood, but the bodies from the battle for the palace had been cleared away. The doors were shut to provide privacy for the Warlord as he met with the remaining leaders of the Horde.
Liana Desire had returned to her natural form: a voluptuous woman with black hair and red eyes. Large wings of black feathers extended from her back to furl around her otherwise naked body. Incanus Thad stood in the center of the room. It stooped slightly to keep its head from brushing a ceiling that wasn’t quite high enough to accommodate it. Colonel Y’Thra stood with alert attention, his hand resting idly on the hilt of his sword. The Crimson Slayer slouched in a chair, a cup of wine disappearing into the shadow beneath the brim of its ostentatious hat. Its face was as invisible as ever, but its body language spoke of restless boredom.
Usnaroth strode toward the throne and clapped a fist to its bearlike chest. “Word is coming in from our pack leaders,” it said.
Zomoran nodded
. “Report.”
“The city is subdued. The people have all taken shelter and are hiding indoors. Other than our forces, the streets are deserted.”
“Good,” Y’Thra said. There was a lazy drawl to his voice. It spoke of arrogant relaxation, but with a readiness for action at a moment’s notice. “So the outbursts of resistance that accompanied Lenard’s attack have now been quelled?”
Usnaroth nodded its bat-like head. “They collapsed with the Archmage’s death.”
“Then we have the city,” Incanus Thad boomed.
The Crimson Slayer stood and turned toward them. “And a demon horde,” it said acerbically, “with no master.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. The Warlord finally broke it.
“The loss of the gate is a great setback,” he said slowly. “It cuts us off from the reinforcements we expected, and from the power and leadership of Lord Borr. It will force us to adapt, and to change our tactics.”
“What it will force us to do,” the Crimson Slayer said, with equal slowness, “is to decide who will rule here in his stead.”
“I am Horde Captain,” Incanus Thad said brusquely. “I will command the host in Lord Borr’s absence.”
“As you should, Incanus,” Liana said. “And as you did for our lord when he was here. I think the Slayer’s question, though, is about who should command you.”
“I answer only to Lord Borr itself,” Incanus Thad said hotly.
“That is not true,” Zomoran replied.
He rose from the throne and strode to face the towering demon. His voice was stern, and made clear he was prepared to brook no argument.
“It was I who discovered and opened the gate, and made the invasion possible. And you all know the price I set for my cooperation. You yourself announced the arrival of the Horde in my name. Have you already forgotten why?”
“Bah!” the Crimson Slayer said. It spat on the floor, and the fiery spittle immediately began to burn its way through the tile like acid. “The deal cannot stand as made. Not with the gate destroyed, and in the absence of the Horde’s true master.”