"A hound has been seen beyond the hallowed ground, My Lady," Tarris informed Drayshina.
"The dark people will come soon then. Prepare to abandon the temple. Have you told the others about the Demon Lord and Kayos?"
"Yes, My Lady. They are frightened, but hopeful."
"They must tell no one else, that is imperative. Their presence here is to be kept a secret."
Tarris nodded. "Yes, My Lady. I am sorry."
"It is not your fault. I should have told you before."
Drayshina dismissed the priestess and paced around until Bane put aside his empty bowl, then turned to him. "If you are ready, My Lord, we must go to another temple. Unless you wish to hunt the black mages now?"
"I suppose we must start with them."
"Then I will take you to a place where many are to be found."
He pulled on his boots. "Very well."
"Your companions will be safe if they remain with my priestesses."
Bane glanced at Mirra, frowning. "This place is about to be overrun by dark people, is it not?"
"We go to do battle with black mages."
Bane stood up, making Drayshina step back. "They stay with me."
"As you wish, My Lord."
As soon as he clipped on his cloak, Drayshina folded her hands. They stood in a grey meadow that dead forests bordered on three sides. Fiery rain fell from dark clouds, a lurid glow, which Bane surmised was the sun, lighting them. Drifting ash shrouded the land, and in the distance a great mountain spewed smoke and fire, rivers of lava running down its slopes. The dark power was so intense that bright blue nimbuses surrounded the light gods, and Bane calculated it to be sufficiently strong to sicken people and corrupt the weaker ones.
The scene was far worse than the Overworld had been when he had cast Arkonen down. No wind stirred the stagnant, putrid air, and only an occasional rumble from the volcano broke the oppressive silence. Bane wondered how anyone could survive in this hellish domain, then he turned, and his eyes widened in amazement. The open side of the meadow afforded a view of a vast, glittering metropolis of pale buildings and tall towers.
Sprawling suburbs surrounded it, the roads lined with flowering trees, and beyond that, golden grain fields and green pasture. The city basked in a pool of light that poured down in a blazing column, the shimmering walls of blue fire that arose from it holding the clouds at bay. Although the base of the fire wall ran around the edge of the city, it expanded so the hole in the clouds was large enough to provide sunlight for the farmland as well. Bane studied it, intrigued.
"Your mages are powerful indeed."
"It is a machine that creates the magic of the walls. No mage could wield such power."
"It is still impressive." He glanced at Kayos, who gazed at the city. "Have you ever seen anything like it before?"
The Grey God shook his head. "Many domains have machines, but I have not seen one that serves this purpose before. Mine is primitive by comparison, but I like it that way. When people become so powerful, they tend to ignore their gods."
Drayshina smiled. "I make sure they do not."
"Ah, but it is tedious and time consuming, to walk amongst mortals so much."
"What else do we have to do?"
He shrugged. "I prefer to merely watch and guide."
"I enjoy walking amongst them," Drayshina said. "They are clever and amusing. Mostly I do not allow them to see me, only my priestesses sometimes. There are many warlocks around this city, because my most powerful sorcerers dwell there. They are the ones who will be able to create the wards." She set off towards the metropolis. "I can show you where the black mages are."
Bane followed, Mirra beside him. "Perhaps you should go to another temple, My Lady. Surely it is dangerous for you to be here?"
"Vorkon will not find me so quickly. I will show them to you before I leave."
Bane sensed the trap an instant before it struck. With a hissing snap, the ground beneath Drayshina vanished. She screamed as a vast flare of dark power engulfed her in a black fist. Without thinking, Bane leapt after her, diving into the hole as she was sucked down, and the earth reformed behind him. The Fetch shot downwards, the earth flowing around it, and Bane powered after it, striving to keep pace. If he fell too far behind, the closing earth would trap him, and he did not have enough power to rock walk to the surface, which was already several miles away.
Drayshina struggled, her power warring with the black in a coruscating blue blaze. Streams of white fire poured from her fingers as she flailed and kicked. It turned blue as it consumed the darkness, but the Fetch was immensely powerful, designed to hold her. She clawed at her prison's walls, her face twisted with terror as she strived to free herself before the Fetch carried her down to the Darkworld. Bane tried to hook his fingers into the Fetch so it would carry him with it, but he could not quite reach it. Drayshina writhed in its grip, engulfed in a blinding blue shimmer. Bane knew he could not affect the Fetch itself, for the dark power that formed it was already commanded. All he could do was to Gather from it, but that would take too long.
The earth around him vanished, and he fell through the roof of an immense cavern pillared with columns of twisted rock, its floor crazed with glowing cracks. The Fetch disintegrated as Drayshina tore at it with swathes of white power, but she plunged towards four squat, many limbed creatures that waited below. Bane redirected his fire downwards as he plummeted towards the floor, striving to prevent himself from slamming into the stone.
Drayshina screamed as she slammed into the flesh creature's grasping hands with tremendous force. Bane shouted a word of power as the floor shot up at him, his speed too great for him to stop before he struck it. The impact punched the air from his lungs, then he sank into it, clawing at it as he tried to pull himself back to the surface. Dark fire poured forth to sustain him, and the runes on his chest blazed as it ebbed, for he had already used a great deal to follow Drayshina. His hands broke through the surface, and he pulled himself up, gasping the hot, foul air of the Darkworld. He barely had enough power to shield himself from the intense heat, and as soon as he knelt upon the burning floor, he spread his arms and Gathered.
Drayshina's screams echoed around the cavern, and six of the runes on Bane's chest blazed as dark power poured into him. He tottered to his feet, still dazed by his impact with the floor and narrow escape from it. A vortex formed around him, the air screaming with the dark power's wild, rejoicing song as it raced to answer his summons. He turned, seeking the goddess, who lay in the grasp of a scaled monstrosity that had once been a dozen people, their twisted bodies joined together. She struggled, but the creature held her, some of its legs chained to the floor.
Sensing a surge of dark power behind him, Bane spun around just in time to leap backwards as a man tried to plunge a sword into his heart, and Bane did not doubt he was Vorkon. Bane collided with the flesh beast as Vorkon's sword swished through the air in a series of broad slashes aimed to cut him in two. Spinning aside, Bane conjured a sword and countered Vorkon's with a clang and a shower of blue sparks.
A furious scowl twisted Vorkon's lean, sculpted face, and his green eyes blazed with rage as he flung himself at Bane, lashing out with a fist. Bane spun aside and slashed with his sword at the same instant, striking the black shield that appeared in Vorkon's hand with an impact that jarred his arm. Vorkon's sword swished over Bane's head as he ducked, then he lunged, his sword opening a bloodless gash in the dark god's chest. Vorkon spun aside and retaliated with a swift slashing stroke that ripped open Bane's shirt as he flung himself backwards in the nick of time.
Drayshina gave up her futile struggle and lay gasping, becoming aware of the battle that raged close by. Raising her head, she gazed at the two dark gods, who moved with such speed they were blurs of motion from which an occasional shower of sparks fell. Dark power swirled around them as Bane continued to Gather, his sword flashing as he cut and lunged, countering Vorkon's strokes. Drayshina's strength ebbed in the aftermath of her
struggle with the flesh beast whose clawed, scaly hands held her fast, and the battle riveted her attention.
Vorkon growled words of summoning, and four earth demons shot up, their gritty forms twisting and flowing into ten-foot tall, six-armed monstrosities. Each pushed forth three stony eyes and raised its fists to bludgeon Bane. He swung and sent a lash of dark fire at them, reducing them to dust. Vorkon continued to summon as he parried the Demon Lord's sword strokes.
Fire demons manifested from the flames that licked through the glowing cracks, only to be annihilated by Bane, who summoned demons of his own to counter Vorkon's. His sword clashed with Vorkon's again, and this time he slid his weapon up Vorkon's, locking the hilts together. His free hand shot out and gripped the dark god's left wrist, preventing him from using it to beat or choke him, and Gathered from him.
Drayshina's eyes followed Bane, her only hope of rescue. Raw power swirled around the two dark gods in hissing tongues black fire. Vorkon Gathered it and Bane dispersed it, drawing it from his opponent, using the excess to destroy the demons that rose with terrifying swiftness all around them.
Bane's demons attacked Vorkon's, preventing them from reaching the Demon Lord, and the melee grew as more and more joined the fray. For every demon Vorkon summoned, Bane summoned another to counter it, so neither side gained an advantage. In the end, battles between dark gods were decided by the gods themselves, not their minions, who were too easily countered. A demon, capable of defeating many armies of men, was no more than a distraction to Bane, who could destroy it with a flick of his hand.
Drayshina was terrified Bane would lose and leave her at Vorkon's mercy. Her former aversion to him seemed petty and unfair now that he fought to free her, and she regretted her former animosity towards him as she clung to the desperate hope that he would win. His mortality made him more vulnerable than Vorkon, and her future now depended upon him.
Bane's hold on Vorkon lasted only a few moments. A droge was far stronger than a mortal and slightly stronger than Bane, enabling him to wrench free and punch Bane in the shoulder before he leapt aside with lightning speed that not even a demon could match. Bane burnt a chunk of Vorkon's droge body away with a blast of fire, but he regenerated it swiftly. He seemed to have no intention of shucking it and assuming a dark form.
Bane's efforts had resulted in little more than a loss of Vorkon's handsome features, which had degenerated considerably during the conflict. Now he wore the almost featureless aspect of a demon, far easier to maintain than the complex human face he had worn at the outset. Bane sensed that the fight was going nowhere now. Vorkon outclassed him in skill, countering the extra power Bane possessed.
Six runes blazed through the ragged tears in Bane's shirt, lending power to his Gather. The earth demons pounded at each other with gritty fists until they slumped exhausted into piles of earth. Fire demons hurled burning bolts and seared their opponents with blazing eyes, swiftly vanquishing earth demons, and occasionally causing one of their own kind to wink out in a rush of foul fire.
Bane lunged at his opponent again, knocked aside Vorkon's sword with a slash of his weapon and grabbed Vorkon's wrist in a vice-like grip. Vorkon slashed at him, and Bane parried the blow, hanging on when Vorkon tried to wrench free once more. Vorkon matched Bane's Gather with his own, and his ability to regenerate, even under such strain, was testimony to his skill.
The dark fire burnt Bane's flesh as it poured through him, making his stomach knot. Its chill invaded his blood, and he sensed his increasing exhaustion. He did not doubt that when he was sufficiently tired, Vorkon would kill him. The tactic he had chosen, to struggle physically with Vorkon, had been a risky one, and it was not working. He sliced off a chunk of Vorkon's shoulder with a quick slash of his sword, then gathered his flagging will and Moved.
They reappeared in the light realm, and Vorkon howled as the light shredded the exposed portion of his dark form. Bane hung on as his foe’s struggles increased, burning away more of the droge shell, drawing Vorkon's power off with his Gather. Vorkon dropped his sword and tried to punch Bane in the face, but the Demon Lord dodged the blow, which struck him on the shoulder. A dagger appeared in Vorkon's hand, and he stabbed Bane in the shoulder as he twisted away. Bane grunted as the impact made him stagger back, and the momentary distraction was all Vorkon needed to regain momentary control of the situation and Move.
Bane found himself in a vast, pillared cavern that the lurid glow of the domain's inner fire illuminated, the hot air thick with dark power. Vorkon's droge form regenerated, and the Demon Lord thrust him away, breaking his hold on the dagger before he could jerk it out and use it again.
Vorkon staggered back, conjuring another dagger, and a sword appeared in Bane's fist at the same moment. Vorkon eyed him, and Bane glanced around. Apart from a few demons that had been passing through the cavern and stopped to stare at them, their presence was unremarked. Vorkon frowned at the blood that flowed from Bane's shoulder, soaking his shirt. Bane made no attempt to pull out the dagger, knowing that to do so would only increase the bleeding.
"What are you?" Vorkon demanded in a deep, attractive voice. His face had resumed its human aspect, with sculpted, aquiline features and dark brown hair pulled back in a loose plait.
"Your nemesis," Bane said.
"You are a mortal, but you are no black mage. So, a mortal god then." His eyes narrowed. "Do you seek to take this domain for yourself?"
"I fight for the light."
Vorkon cocked his head, frowning. "Why would a dark god fight for the light?"
"I am tar'merin."
"Tar'merin? That means..."
Vorkon's level brows knotted, and he launched himself at Bane, taking him by surprise. The Demon Lord spun aside, his sword slicing deep into Vorkon's flank. Vorkon tried to plunge his dagger into his foe's gut. Bane jerked up his arm to deflect the weapon, which sliced across his wrist and impaled his flank. Bane staggered back with a grunt, bringing up his sword in a retaliatory stroke that sliced through Vorkon's side and upwards through his neck. Vorkon's form wavered, then reformed as he grabbed Bane's sword arm and twisted the dagger in his flesh.
Bane growled and punched Vorkon in the side of the head, making him stagger. Blood poured from the wound in Bane's side, and his strength drained away with alarming speed. Vorkon released the dagger and punched Bane, making lights flash in his eyes. His strength was dwindling fast, and he was no longer a match for Vorkon. He sliced through Vorkon's arm and staggered free, then Moved.
A dead forest shimmered into being around him, and the sword fell from his lax hold into the soft grey ash. He sank to his knees, clasping the wound in his side. He assumed that he had returned to the place where the trap had captured Drayshina, but there was no sign of Kayos. Calling his name elicited no response, and he sank back on his haunches as a wave of dizziness darkened his vision. Was this what it was like to die? He had come close before, at the seventh ward and again after his first battle with Arkonen, but it had not been like this. Now he was alone, and the pain of his wounds filled him, along with a terrible dread. He did not want to die. Becoming a true dark god terrified him.
Bowing his head, he whispered, "Help me."
Darkness engulfed him, and he slumped sideways onto the ash.
Kayos stared at the spot where Bane and Drayshina had vanished, which had reformed behind them, just another innocent patch of grey ash. Horror washed over him in a cold tide, and he backed away, glancing around. Bane's impetuous action was ill advised, and Kayos could only hope he would survive. He did not doubt Drayshina now languished in the grip of a flesh beast, since the trap had been set for her.
His attempts to bolster Bane's confidence in his ability to defeat a dark god seemed foolish in the face of Bane's rash attempt to save Drayshina. This was not how he had planned the young dark god's first confrontation with an older, wiser, and doubtless more skilled enemy. Had his attempts to boost Bane's self-confidence caused him to throw himself into the Fetch? Surely he k
new Vorkon would sense the trap's activation and rush to secure his captive? Was Bane embroiled in battle even now, alone and vulnerable? Should he follow him into the Darkworld and try to help him, or would that only add to his peril?
Kayos stood irresolute as the many unpleasant possibilities and possible disastrous outcomes presented themselves. This foolish mistake could doom them all if Bane was badly injured or killed, an all too real possibility. He glanced at Mirra, who appeared to be frozen with shock, a hand over her mouth. Mithran put a comforting arm around her shoulders, his face expression anguished. Grem fondled his sword hilt and scanned the landscape grimly.
It seemed like an age that they stood immobile, taking in the enormity of what had just happened and the possible ramifications of it. The Grey God shook himself from his reverie, deciding that before anything else, he must take the mortals to safety. If anything happened to Mirra, he dreaded Bane's reaction.
As Kayos stepped towards her, a surge dark power chilled the air beside him, and he swung around. A tall, strikingly handsome man with dark brown hair appeared, a sneering smile twisting his sensual lips. A gold-trimmed olive tunic moulded the powerful contours of his chest, matching his trousers. Jewels flashed on his wrist bands and ornate, gold-embossed belt, and a sweeping velvet cloak fell from his broad shoulders. His green eyes glinted with triumph, and Kayos knew he faced Vorkon. He wondered why dark gods possessed such a strong allure, considering how dangerous and sadistic they were. He stepped back, raising a hand. A brilliant shield of white fire formed in it, and Vorkon's smile faded a little as he studied it.
"Well, you are a brave one. Or are you just stupid? Do you not know you have no hope of defending yourself against me?"
Demon Lord III - Grey God Page 14