“This is taking too long,” Merrick said. “Celestia—mind meld.” Without another word they joined minds and traversed as astral forms through walls and floors until they reached Shamon’s last refuge. They both saw the vestigial group of Ukurum gathered there: Lotus, Theta, Radice, two Necrolytes and, there on the floor, the shrivelled shuck of a man that had once been Jagur Shamon.
I’ll see if I can create a gateway route to the chamber, Merrick sent.
They withdrew back to their bodies and Merrick focused his concentration. “It’ll need five gateways, but I can do it.” He removed the last vial of elixir from his belt and saw that it was only one quarter full. “It’ll have to do,” he said and swallowed the last of the green liquid.
They emerged through a gateway, crackling with blue sparks into Shamon’s chamber. The Ukurum were taken off-guard. The Necrolytes managed to lift their javelins but were too slow to launch them. They fell, two arrows each embedded in their heads.
Merrick glanced around, looking for a threat. There were few to be seen. A bloodied and weary Theta carried her Morningstar but it wasn’t raised. Radice and Lotus were weaponless and stripped of all magickal power.
Merrick wasn’t quite sure who he should address. Shamon was curled up in a foetal crouch on the ground, unresponsive. None of the others looked likely to take a lead in his absence.
“It’s over,” he said, looking at Lotus first, then Theta, then Radice. “Ukurum is no more and you’ve nothing to gain from further conflict. There’s been enough bloodshed this day.” He stepped closer to Shamon. “Surrender now, and you’ll be treated with dignity as well as justice.”
There was no immediate response, but he could see defeat on their faces. Then, to his surprise, there was a stirring on the floor. Shamon raised himself up on two hands. His body shook yet he managed to lift his face to Merrick. The visage, once formidable in appearance, was now decrepit, devoid of authority.
“I would speak—to you all—” A dry, rattling cough shook his frame, but he continued. “All I ever asked from any of my consorts and generals was loyalty. I will not … surrender. Who of you is with me?” He looked at Theta with rheumy eyes, but she cast her gaze to the floor. Radice too looked away and dropped a concealed dagger. Lastly, he turned to Lotus who rushed to his side and held him up in her arms.
“Jagur, my love. I’ve given everything I have to you. Shared experiences that I could never have dreamed of. But there is no shame in recognising the reality of defeat. I would rather know you in defeat than be separated by death.”
“There is still one who remains loyal.” The shout came from a doorway behind. Merrick spun round to see Tessanee throw the Necrolyte dagger at him. It span tip over hilt, much as Johnny’s weapon had done when it felled her unconscious. Merrick had a blink of an eye to realise that this time, destiny’s blade would strike with lethal finality.
His reactions were not fast enough. Perhaps if he were an Albany or an Arun, he could have avoided the knife. Yet, in the end, Jason intervened where his own reflexes failed. His legs were swept from under him as an invisible hand flipped him to the floor. The knife struck with deadly force at its unintended victim. The point entered Shamon’s eye and sank in to the hilt. Lotus looked at him in helpless horror, his life blood spattered across her face.
Shamon shook with a convulsion, then lay still. The cry that Lotus uttered would haunt Merrick for the rest of his days. Deja vu assaulted him as he recalled a similar scene, another loved one, Lapin. But her shriek of desolation plumbed a depth of emotion that Merrick knew she could never have felt for either of them.
He experienced a form of tunnel vision where he was only distantly aware of the scuffle behind him as Albany subdued Tessanee, and Lotus’ two remaining confederates dropped to their knees in submission. The image of Lotus, suffering in total abandonment was all he could see.
Inside of him, something broke, never to be pieced together again.
~~~
Chapter 44
After all (the dead)
Celestia and Merrick stood in solemn silence as Jason gave the eulogy. There were many of the dead to commemorate, few of which could be given a proper burial. Thousands lay beneath the earth heaps gouged out by the Behomoth, thousands more turned to dust by Shamon’s twin-headed monstrosities, but none were forgotten.
Jason spoke moving tributes to Blazej, and the leaders of the Immaculata and Thanateran orders that had perished. Special mention was given to Johnny; a man, Jason said, who had learned to fight for money, but in the end had laid down his life for a noble cause. Lastly, he spoke of Lazlo Karapetian.
“Lazlo was leader, a father and a friend,” Jason began. He halted for a moment to compose himself, then continued. “A man who was often misunderstood, yet gave himself unswervingly to the cause of freedom. He strove for liberty from the hand of a cruel, dark force that threatened to engulf not just this world, but countless others beyond. He gave the ultimate sacrifice—his life, so that the light would prevail, and darkness be dispelled.”
“Now we stand, inheritors of the same responsibility that burned in his defiant heart, and I say this: we will not be found wanting. He has given us a legacy and a unity of purpose. Those of us who remain will rebuild. There is much work ahead; to restore the world of Celebrai and establish a new order of adepts back on earth. Let us observe a minute’s silence in his honour.”
After the period of quietude, Jason stepped down from the stone plinth erected for the occasion. There followed a long litany of the dead, read out by representatives of each order. Though the reading took hours, none present faltered or retired from the ceremony. When the final names were read, the Celebrain sun was well past its zenith and over five thousand remaining allies left to attend local burials or cremations.
Merrick turned to those standing beside him. “Jahun and Kemran. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you came.”
Jahun wiped a tear from her cheek. “We know what it is like to lose loved ones, especially those who fall in the great struggle. More poignant still to lose a father you weren’t given the chance to know.”
Merrick held both their hands and gave a pained smiled. “Thank you. For everything. You played a part in what happened here, and it’s my guess you’ll continue to fulfill an important role in the guardianship of the realms—that’s if you’re willing.”
“It is our calling,” said Kemran. The Ukurum may be gone, but darkness has a way of gathering itself into a new genesis. There will always be a need to remain watchful.”
“I’ll transfer you back to Demeldin in the morning. Once again—thank you.”
They moved away arm in arm as Jason stepped up.
“Nice speech,” Merrick said.
Jason breathed in, allowing his chest to swell in an exaggerated fashion. “You know, I think I’m getting better at it.”
“The first of many you’ll have to make, no doubt,” Celestia added.
“I’m only the interim leader of the Hierophants, you know. Until a permanent choice is made.”
“You’re learning modesty too,” Merrick said. “By the way. I haven’t had chance to thank you for the little push you gave me back in Shamon’s fortress.”
“I guess we’re even now,” he replied. “Anyway, I’m off to my tent. You coming?”
“We’ll follow in a minute,” Merrick said. “We need need to talk to a few others and pay our respects.
Once they had finished the formalities, they made their way back to Jason’s marquee, where he had promised to hold a meagre but fitting celebratory meal in remembrance of the lost. They were still a stone’s throw from the tent and could hear the noise of glasses clinking together and toasts proposed, when Celestia took Merrick by the arm.
“Let’s spend a moment together before we get caught up in things,” she said. “Look, we can sit up there and take in the view.”
Merrick agreed and let her lead him by the hand. They
seated themselves on a smooth, flat rock, and looked at the breath-taking panorama of the Celebrain plain. There was a gentle, mountain breeze blowing up from below, carrying with it the dry scent of desert blooms.
“This place kind of grows on you, doesn’t it?” he said after a while.
“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind then.”
“About staying, you mean? Well, I suppose there are worse places to hole up. Besides, there’s still a price on my head back home and there’s nothing to keep me there anyway.”
“What about you?” He looked at her; she could tell he was genuinely hesitant asking the question. She surprised him with a long, lingering kiss.
“Does that answer your question?”
Merrick felt his face beam with a grin that seemed to spread to his whole being. “So, will we still be known as Mr and Mrs Dwight-Hetherington, only living at number twenty, Celebrai avenue now?”
“Well, they do have some unfinished business.”
“Indeed, they do,” he replied, kissing her again; this time exploring her tongue with his.
After a while he pulled away.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’m just thinking,” he said. “About how things have panned out.”
“Meaning?”
“What if I’d chosen to ignore those first advances by Karapetian?”
“Go on.”
“Well, I’d never have got mixed up in this. Never been the agent of so much death and destruction.”
“Then, in all likelihood, Shamon would have been free to discover the gateways and become the conqueror of worlds.”
“Maybe not. Don’t you see, he would never have abducted Lotus, and discovered she was the key to him achieving his Great Work.”
“Mmm. Then you would have been stuck with that self-serving bitch and never met me.”
“Oooh, catty ... but true.”
She looked at the sun as it descended, a glowing, orange ball on the horizon. “She’s left with nothing isn’t she?”
“She made her choice; and it could be worse. At least she’s got a cushy cell to spend the rest of her days in.”
“No regrets then?”
“I suppose not. It’s the old paradox, correlation or causation. Are events simply a string of co-incidences or is there a pattern?”
“I know what Destain would say.”
“And Albany. Speaking of which, we ought to show our faces.”
The corner of her mouth lifted seductively. “Let’s show them then. But afterwards, I’m going to show you something else.”
“Fuck it,” he said. “I always did enjoy the after-party better.”
~~~
Demonslayer: Book II in The Psychonaut Trilogy
Enjoyed the Psychonaut? Book 2 is now available on Amazon. You can order it via this link.
Or if you're reading this in print, the universal link to copy into your browser is: http://books2read.com/u/3J0wLX
Merrick Whyte is the Psychonaut; mind reader, Master of the Gateways, destroyer of worlds. He is also bereft of power, stolen by Aiwass the dark demi-god, for reasons which are far from clear. But Aiwass is explicit about the impending uncreation of the multiverse,an atrocity machinated by Orthon, a first order demon. To avert this abomination, Merrick is tasked with seeking out the Dancer; an emissary of Orthon and member of a swelling infestation of adepts called the Enclave. This will prove to be just the start of a treacherous road.
Merrick's journey will lead him to worlds both bizarre and mind-unhinging. It will see demi-gods threaten those closest to him, the return of old enemies and will be opposed by a fanatical group intent on destroying any adept possessing magical powers, including Merrick himself.
Aided by his Outcasts and Hierophant allies, Merrick will seize objects of power and learn arcane invocations never before granted to mortals. But even these may not suffice. For Orthon is always a step ahead, and no one has ever slain a demon before. Above all, a Psychonaut can often be his own worst enemy.
Demonslayer is the second book in Tom G.H. Adams' Psychonaut trilogy.
Praise for Tom G.H. Adams
Adams constructs a story that flows and keeps the pages flipping. Literary Titan Review.
The action is fast paced, balancing the edge between thriller/horror/urban fantasy, concocting a rich melange from the various genres. Matthew Gomez, Co-editor of 'Broadswords and Blasters.'
Tom Adams weaves a web of unpredictable mayhem and carnage with a dash of poetic wordplay. Chris McLoughlin, author of Kobe.
Free horror and dark fantasy starter library
How would you like to become one of Tom’s Connoisseurs of Chaos and receive a free starter library of Horror and Dark Fantasy? Here’s what’s on offer:
The novella ‘Lusus naturae’ is Beauty and the beast in reverse. An aristocrat purchases a monster, never realising that his obsession with her leads him on a path to ruin.
The novellette, ‘Defiled Earth’ tells a tale of the grim acts of a small-time Newcastle thug and his efforts to bury bodies resulting from his executions.
Two short stories – ‘They scream in the dark’ – an extract from the diary of Mr Absolom, a spectral investigator and ‘Prophecy and pork chops’- an account of the apocalypse from the the four horsemen’s point of view.
Two audio tales – both narrated by the author himself. The first, ‘Head’ – speaks of the final thirty minutes of a condemned man. He is sentenced to death by guillotine for performing illegal genetic experiments. But he has one last experiment to perform before he says goodbuy to those watching.
The second, ‘Possession at 3,000 perforations a minute’ – is a tale of possession, but not by your standard run-of-the-mill demon. Deirdre has a special talent, and her skin art is a conduit to hell on earth.
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~~~
About Tom Adams
Tom Adams is an imaginer drifting between lands of speculative fantasy, horror and bizarro. When he strays back into the realm called reality he finds himself in Middleland; a geologically beautiful gamut of scenery in the north west of England. The forces that drive him shift their shapes with sharp needles of inspiration, but at present include the art of Zdzislaw Beksinski, the music and words of Ronnie James Dio and a frankenstein amalgam of word-scriptors such as Vonnegut, Tolkien, Clevenger, Leonard, King and Bradbury.
Tom is also an audio-narrator and has many titles on release from Audible, including ‘Dark Gods and Tainted Souls – Books I and II’ authored by Julius Schenk, ‘Lies and Retribution’ authored by A.P. Bateman and ‘Lusus naturae’ authored by himself.
He occupies niches in cyberspace at http://tomghadams.com and https://www.facebook.com/tomghadams/
Table of contents
Title page
Copyright notice
Dedication
More free fiction
The third eye
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapt
er 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
About
Starter library
The Psychonaut_Book 1 Page 41