by Nichols, TJ
“Your demon is a mage. He probably manipulated it somehow to get a vulnerable warlock. You never even wanted a demon.”
Angus managed to contain his shock. His father had listened to Angus for long enough to hear that? “Well, now I have one, and I want to see what magic can do.” And learn how it is abused and how to fix it. “I want my demon.”
“You will get a new one.”
“I want to keep the one I have.” Angus stood.
“Sit. This meeting isn’t over.”
Angus remained standing.
His father stood. “This isn’t a discussion. You will summon him, and he will be dispatched.”
“Why? Are you afraid I’ll learn something you don’t like? Maybe you just want to kill my demon for the magic.”
His father’s face blanched, then hardened. It was clear he thought Angus already knew too much. “He has poisoned your mind.”
“He has told me the truth that you have tried to hide. You are destroying two worlds for personal power. What do you hope to gain?”
“You have no idea what you are meddling in. Surrender your demon, submit to a mind clean.”
“Is that the real reason I don’t remember Demonside?”
His father’s cheek twitched.
“Give me something… I don’t understand why you risk so many lives for magic.” A name, anything.
“There is more at stake than what you see in the media. Wars aren’t fought with guns anymore, Angus.”
Angus blinked. He’d heard something a couple of years ago about New Holland experimenting with a unit of battle warlocks. That island in the Southern Ocean was very isolated and secretive. Was his father trying to weaponize magic?
“If the world is iced over and there are no more demons, then it won’t matter who can fight the best with magic. There will be no magic.”
His father laughed. “You think this is about weapons and wars? There will always be magic. It will be a question of who controls it.” He walked around his desk. “Summon your demon.”
Angus stepped back. “No.”
“His magic won’t be wasted.”
“His life and his knowledge will.”
“Ah… so you have spoken with him. Outside of class? You aren’t supposed to be summoning a demon without supervision.”
“History has always been one of my better subjects. Until about fifty years ago, there was strict policy of not taking too much magic and of giving a gift to the demon. A rabbit or such. What changed?”
“You are walking on dangerous ground.” His father stepped closer.
Angus took a few more steps toward the door. He had no idea what he was going to do when he got there or where he was going to go. Only that the college wasn’t safe.
“Are you worried that I’ll start talking or that I’ll learn too much? This is what you wanted for me. You were the one who insisted that I come to college and study magic when I just wanted to study medicine.”
“You can still do that. You can forget all of this. Study medicine if you want. I should never have forced you to become a warlock, despite your obvious talent.” His voice was soft, as though he could get Angus to agree by offering what he’d wanted six months ago.
If he’d been allowed to do what he wanted in the first place, he’d have never met Saka or learned about Demonside. He’d lived more in the last month than he had in the last year. He liked magic, and he wanted to find a way to rebalance the magic. That was more important than a magical arms race.
“I don’t want to forget.”
“You aren’t walking out of here until you surrender your demon,” his father snapped.
“Then I guess we will be waiting until the world freezes over.” That wouldn’t be too far in the future. Angus crossed his arms.
“Be sensible. Make this easy on yourself. You are my son… I don’t want to hurt you.”
Angus looked at his father. “But you would.”
Neither man spoke for a moment.
“It would be unfortunate if you were to be snatched again.” His father didn’t even make the effort to sound like he cared.
“Convenient. Mom would be devastated.”
“So don’t break her heart. Surrender your demon. Get on with your life and leave being a warlock to those who have the courage to do what needs to be done.”
Angus looked at his father. He wasn’t sure if his father even liked him or if he was an inconvenience. “It takes no courage to destroy a world, just lies and secrets.”
“You value Demonside over Vinland? Demons are tools to be used.”
His father had never seen the red sands or the painted tents, heard the singing, or seen the magic created in a ritual. The beauty of Demonside and demons. “I value both worlds.” Not just his country. “No warlock has the power to uncouple the worlds.”
“Magic will always flow between the worlds even without demons. The ice will melt, and then only a few will have magic. Think carefully about which side you are choosing. Summon your demon, or you will join him across the void.”
“That is a death sentence.” There would be no retrieval squad, and if he ended up miles from Saka, another demon would probably kill him. Even if a demon didn’t kill him, living in Demonside eventually would. He’d weaken and die.
“Those are your choices. Make the right one.”
Angus looked at the man he’d called father and saw no love or concern. If this was how little he cared for his own flesh and blood, then there was no doubt how little he cared for anything or anyone else.
When Angus opened the void, it was to Saka, which meant that when his father opened the void, it would be near his demon. His father had a dragon type, which meant that Angus should arrive somewhere near the gathering.
All he had to do was hope that the demon who found him didn’t kill him. How long until Terrance would report him missing to the underground? Perhaps they would attempt a retrieval?
He had no idea, there were so many maybes and ifs that it couldn’t really be called a plan, but there was no way he was going to hand over Saka and be part of the damage. Nor did he want his father taking his memories and packing him off to medical school as though Warlock College had never happened.
Angus drew in a breath. “You want me gone. Fine. You will have to push me through the void.”
“See reason.”
“Like you? A man willing to kill his son for power?”
“This is your last chance.” His father’s voice rose. Why were the guards not coming in to see what was going on? Or were they there to stop others from coming in and they had known all along what was going to happen?
“You’re stalling. How badly do you want my demon?” Angus laughed. “My demon outranks yours. A smart, educated demon will always make for a stronger warlock.”
“So you kill him and take his power.”
“No. There is no need to kill. Warlocks of old combined self-magic with demonology. They understood the concept of balance. And so do I. So do others. We will bring back the old ways and heal both worlds.”
“You are ignorant.”
“And you are selfish.”
“You are dead to me.” His father tore open the void with a swipe of his hand.
Cold swept over Angus’s skin. His heart clenched. If he stepped back, death was waiting. He didn’t know if he’d be able to survive Demonside a second time.
He glared at his father. “I hope that every time you look at mother, you die a little inside. I hope that the guilt grows like a cancer no magic can cure. I hope your demon eats your tiny heart.” There was power behind his words. Not enough for it to be called a hex, but almost. Casting a hex made him responsible for seeing that it happened. He hoped that he lived long enough to have that chance.
His father flinched as if the words had struck him. “Unravel those words.”
Angus stepped back, his gaze never leaving his father. His lips didn’t open. Another step and his world shimmered as though und
erwater. His father was saying something, but he couldn’t hear him. One more step and there were only murky shadows; hot sun hit his back. He could still run back to the human side of the void. It wasn’t too late.
He took a final step, and the void was shimmering blackness in front of him. The tear began shrinking. Angus stepped away just in case someone came charging through.
No one came, and the tear closed.
Angus gasped. He was once again on the wrong side of the void.
There were no tents, just miles and miles of glittering red sand. He turned, looking for a landmark… a sign of life… anything. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes. In the distance was a mountain. In front of that was what he hoped were trees and tents.
He was by himself. But his father’s demon must be close by. He wasn’t sure he wanted to meet that demon. It probably hated his father. Well, they now had that in common.
What had Saka said about riverwyrms? They hunted individuals, and they didn’t like noise?
Angus started singing the first thing that came to mind and clapping, and feeling like an idiot as he walked toward the tents.
The desert made estimating distance hard, and the mountain didn’t seem to get any closer. The singing was making his throat dry.
He knew what he’d forgotten about when being all brave in front of his father.
Water.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The heat radiated up from the sand. Angus wished he could hide in his own shadow. His skin was hot and red. He was burned… and still burning. The sand was in his mouth and up his nose. He was going to die of thirst before the sunburn became a real problem. Was he any closer to the mountain? Possibly. He squinted, trying to work out how far the tents and oasis were. Too far was the short answer.
He glanced behind him to see if he could see how far he’d come, but his footsteps became lost in the heat shimmer over the sand. He blinked. Did the sand just move?
He blinked again and lifted both hands to shade his eyes. The sand rippled closer. He jumped and nearly fell over. His breath lodged in his throat as he realized that it was moving and it was coming toward him.
He started singing again, his throat was raw, and his voice was little more than a croak. It didn’t seem to matter, though, as the ripple drew closer, skewing to the side as though circling around.
Fear made his heart pound a heavy rhythm.
Then nothing. The sand stopped moving. Angus tried to run. His legs were heavy, and the sand sucked at his feet. When he clapped his hands, they stung and the noise coming out of his mouth could no longer be called singing.
Wet sand bubbled up a few paces to his left. He veered right. The thing in the sand was chasing him.
Riverwyrm… it had to be.
The ripples swept wide, then drew closer. How big was that thing?
A shadow blocked out the sun for a moment, and swooped lower. Angus ran. He knew he couldn’t outrun either of the two things hunting him—and he was sure that they were hunting him—but he wasn’t going to stand there and wait for them to reach him. Which would be worse—riverwyrm or the other thing? He glanced up, trying to work out what the other demon was, but the sun was in his eyes. He stumbled.
He stopped even pretending to sing and just started yelling. He didn’t care who heard and what they thought. He didn’t want to die like this. He would rather give his life to Saka. Die rebalancing after a marathon of sex. That would be memorable, pleasurable. If he had to die here, that was how he wanted it to be. The noise he was making must’ve put the riverwyrm off as it didn’t come closer, but it didn’t leave either. It tracked him. Pushing up mounds of sand as it burrowed through.
“Let me die in Saka’s bed.” He stumbled again, each breath a dry rasp. He forced himself on. If he stopped, the thing in the sand would get him. The shadow formed over him. He wanted to be relieved and to enjoy it, but claws grabbed his shoulders, and hooked under his arms and lifted him off the ground.
Angus gasped and wriggled like a fish on a hook.
“Be still, or I shall drop you into its mouth,” the demon snarled.
Angus glanced down at the sand now far enough down that a fall would break him if not kill him. The riverwyrm realized its dinner was on the move and reared up out of the sand. Its scaly brown head covered in whiskers, its mouth wide open and filled with curved teeth. It wasn’t big enough to swallow him whole, but it could still grab him and drag him under to drown him in the underground rivers or tear him to pieces on the surface. He had no idea how they fed, but both would be unpleasant ways to die.
He went very still.
The riverwyrm hit the sand and in seconds was gone, burrowing back into the underground rivers. The only sign it had ever been there were the dark ripples in the sand that one could make the mistake of thinking the wind had made.
His heart was beating no slower even though he’d escaped one demon. The painted tents of the tribe loomed closer. Then he was able to make out individual tents… then demons. All looking up to see what the dragon-demon had caught. In graceful circles the demon lowered until it was just above the heads of the onlookers, and then the demon dropped Angus in the center of the village. He landed on his feet, then crumpled to his knees.
When he glanced up, he realized that it was probably best to stay kneeling.
This wasn’t Saka’s tribe. Did his father’s demon belong to this tribe? Had that been who’d saved him?
A blue-skinned demon with white hair stalked over. She crossed her arms and looked at him. “Hmm, you will make a fine gift for Lifeblood when we get there.”
Angus tried to speak, but his throat was dry and cracked.
The winged demon who had rescued him stepped forward. She bowed to the mage. “This is my warlock’s offspring. I smell him on the boy.”
I’m not a boy. But he couldn’t speak. He tried to swallow to get some moisture. But there was nothing there. He was going to die of dehydration before anyone killed him.
“All the more reason to kill him. The son can pay for the father’s transgressions,” the blue mage said. Angus didn’t like her at all. The mage stepped closer. “Why are you here?”
Angus touched his throat and hoped that they got the idea. A demon who looked a little like Saka offered water in a wooden cup.
He took it gratefully, lowering his head for a moment in thanks. The first sip reminded him how sweet the water was here. He almost gagged, but right then, he didn’t care what it tasted like. He finished the cup and handed it back. He could drink a half a dozen of them and still be thirsty.
“I don’t know if you are my father’s demon… but he sent me here to die.”
That caused a stir.
“He seeks to rebalance?” The blue mage seemed surprised.
No one seemed to believe that. Least of all the winged demon. “It is a trap.”
“I know too much about the balancing of magic and what the Warlock College is doing. He wants me dead, so I cause no trouble for him.” Angus really wanted another cup of water and to get out of the sun. His skin hurt, but he wasn’t sure that he felt hot anymore. Maybe they’d just let him lie down and kill him in his sleep.
He needed to see Saka. Saka wouldn’t let them kill him. He looked up and opened his mouth, but the mage was glaring at him. He shut his mouth again.
Silence as the demons all considered this. They looked at their mage.
She stepped closer and squatted in front of him. Her distaste for him was clear in the curl of her lips. “And how would you know anything about magic unless you are also a warlock?”
He probably could have phrased his defense better, but adrenaline and exhaustion and sunburn were making finer thoughts hard to form.
He took a couple of breaths to buy himself a moment to get his words in order. “Mage Saka is my demon.”
Conversation erupted again. Some of it was whispers; some of it was shocked gasps.
The blue mage held his gaze. She didn’t blink. He did. A
nd he swallowed, then wobbled. He needed another cup of water.
“Saka isn’t here. You are mine now,” she said. “I’d be doing him a favor and setting him free.”
Angus undid the top few buttons of his shirt and pulled it across so she could see the mark. “He marked me. He should decide my fate.”
“That matches the mark on the tree,” someone said.
The blue mage glanced at the speaker. Her eyes narrowed farther as she considered Angus. Then she looked at the winged demon. “If your warlock wants him dead, perhaps he should live.”
“I may be ordered to kill him.”
Angus had considered this. Obviously there was no direct kill order. Perhaps his father was counting on the demons wanting blood and not asking any questions. His father wanted someone else to take the blame and do his dirty work.
“Bring him to my tent. I’ll try to get Saka on the telestone.” The blue mage didn’t sound very happy to be having to give up a possible sacrifice, but Saka’s mark had saved him… for the moment.
Toward dusk, two winged demons, hunters like his father’s demon, arrived to collect him and save him any more of the tribe’s hospitality. They had given him water and shade, and he had slept, but he was still unwell. They hadn’t wasted any magic on making him feel better. In a hammock slung between them, they flew to Lifeblood Mountain. Angus peered down at the oasis where the tree carved with Saka’s mark was.
That was the oasis that his blood had made. Six young trees grew there. One for each cut Saka had made that night. His hand moved to his thigh, even though the cuts were long healed.
He wished that he’d gotten a better look at the oasis. From up here he was able to enjoy the view, and this time he wasn’t terrified of dying. The sand stretched on in all directions dotted with oases that had no doubt been brought to life as the tribes had traveled. There were herds of animals wandering around, probably being stalked by scarlips. Was Terrance’s scarlips down there somewhere or miles away? How big was this continent? He didn’t even know if the demons measured size the way humans did.