When Angels Fall (Demon Lord) (26 page)

“I will be defeated and released soon enough.”

Bane shrugged. “So be it. Fight the humans, then, I care nought. You, however, will not be amongst those who remain. Begone!”

The demon
crumbled into a noxious heap, and Bane contemplated Doyanar’s words. He was right, sadly. Creating wards when all the demons were in the mid realm was like closing the barn door after the cows had stampeded. It would prevent them from taking people below to torture, and new demons would be trapped, but it was impossible to get rid of the thousands already in the mid realm. The holy fire in the churches would keep Sherinias’ worshippers safe, and demons would have little interest in them, anyway.

Sherinias
would probably abandon this domain as soon as she was mature enough, and perhaps join Drevarin in his, if she accepted his suit.
Although Bane had said he might return, it seemed unlikely, for the original path was far behind them. They would not be passing this way again, and, once Ashynaria was freed, he only wanted to go home.
In most worlds, demons spent most of their time in the dark realm, but, for some reason, here they preferred the mid realm. Perhaps it was because there were so many willing allies amongst the populace, and so many droges. Their forms could be rescinded, sending their souls back to the Land of the Dead, and maybe Sarjan would hunt them too.

Bane shook off his gloomy thoughts
, described a shadow pentagram and hammered it into the ground, followed by the runes, and finally created the second pentagram. The deep chime rang out as the ward lines sprang into being, sealing the underworld off from demons. He did not envy the humans their demon-infested future.

The warships approached, and he became invisible and walked away a few paces. The vessels slowed, probably searching for him, and he wondered if they had the scanners that could detect him. One of the ships fired a silver cylinder with a muffled bang followed by a hissing roar, and it shot towards him. Bane raised a curving shield with a sweep of his hands, but the projectile struck the ward with a monstrous boom, throwing up cascades of soil, rocks and burning grass. Clods and stones rained down, bouncing off his shield, and he waited for the smoke to clear, curious. The wind whipped it away, revealing a deep crater of raw earth. At its centre, suspended within the web of ward lines, the solid pentagram and runes remained, formed from fused soil, the shadowy pentagram above them.

He snorted and dismissed the shield, turning away. “Imbeciles.”

Chapter
Thirteen

Circle of Light

Bane stood with Drevarin atop the roof of the Great Hall in the centre of Darjahan, which afforded a panoramic view of the city. Two days had passed since he had created the wards, and most of his vigour had returned. The hall was an impressive white marble structure whose high, domed roof was made from translucent material that resembled cloudy crystal, and a broad promenade lined with blocky geometric shapes led to its tinted glass and copper doors. Numerous less formidable buildings surrounded it, presumably libraries, government offices, museums and such. The hall had survived the quakes relatively unscathed, only having suffered a few cracks in the walls and ornamental pillars.

Sherinias had chosen today to appear to her people, and Sarjan had contacted several reporters and informed them of the upcoming visitation. Apparently the invitation had been taken as a warning, for t
he square was empty save for several hundred white-robed priests and priestesses. Flying traffic passed by in the distance, and numerous bright vehicles were parked several blocks away. People armed with image-capturing devices hid amongst nearby ruins, for safety, Bane assumed.

“So, it appears the populace
still think we are destroyers.”

Drevarin nodded. “Unfortunate, but the journalists will spread the word, and people will see Sherinias via those ingenious devices.”

“I doubt a display of power will sway these people. As far as they are concerned, four people with strange powers entered their world and did weird and horrible things, like evicting them from their holiday resort and closing their ancient and heretofore never closed Great Gate.”

“At least her worshippers have come, and Kayos m
ust fulfil his promise.”

“I think it is a waste of time.”

Drevarin glanced up. “It begins.”

The breeze died away, and a
sweet, flowery fragrance invaded the still air. Great banks of white clouds rolled in to encircle the city, leaving a hole through which sunlight poured. A preternatural hush fell, as if the world held its breath in anticipation of this celestial event. The clouds took on a soft, yellowish glow, and the air became thick with static power as silent lightning flickered amid the billowing vapour. Bane almost expected a host of angels armed with trumpets to herald Sherinias’ descent, but the winged meddlers evidently did not rate the occasion as worthy of their presence without the offer of many favours that Kayos would not grant. Their presence would not impress these people anyway, he mused, since they had tried to shoot the last one. A circle of rainbows appeared, arching outward from the column of sunlight to fade away into the distance, and soft exclamations came from the ecclesiastics. Some pointed and clicked tiny devices, and the men and women of the press spoke into their instruments.

Bane
muttered, “I hope Kayos does not overdo the light show.”

Drevarin
raised his brows. “How could he possibly overdo it?”

Bane winced and squinted as a
column of blinding white light shot down through the gap to bathe the centre of the plaza, making most of the people cover their eyes with pained cries. Several of the men who operated the image-capturing instruments lowered their devices, grimaced and clutched their eyes, even though they were quite far away.

“
Like that,” Bane said, blinking bright spots from his sight.

Drevarin rubbed one eye.
“Ah, well, he just wants it to be impressive.”

“
There’s a subtle difference between impressive and preposterous.”

Bane squinted at the searing column, able to make out a shining form within it. Sherinias was radiant, as if white fire lighted her from within, her diamond dress a cascade of scintillating sparkles and her eyes aglow. A soft smile curved her lips as she stepped from the light to stand upon the air about four feet above the ground. Tongues of lightning crackled from the clouds and hammered into the city all around the square, and a barrage of thunder boomed and rumbled on its heels, making the ground tremble. The column of white fire dimmed, and
the priests and priestesses fell to their knees and cried words of welcome and worship. The reporters jabbered, and Bane caught snatches.

“
…After that incredible light show… It’s the girl from Cloud World… Appears to be a sort of projection … It was a bit blinding, but now…”

Sherinias raised her arms in a
sweeping motion, bright mist flowing from her hands and arms in a rippling curtain. Kayos was certainly channelling a lot of power through her, Bane thought. The result was spectacular, however, and the ecclesiastics were agog. Sherinias spread her hands when her arms reached shoulder height, and lightning arced from her fingertips to strike several pillars. The reporters’ spiel became a frantic gabble.

“
Now he is going to scare them stupid,” Bane remarked.

“
I think it is most appropriate.”

“
Of course you do; you are a god. To us, it is a pretty light show. To the unbelievers, it is a terrifying display of raw power they will doubtless assume is intended to intimidate them.”

“
How else will she convince them she is a goddess?” Drevarin asked.

“
I do not think she can. These people are clever, not wise. They will simply decide that some destroyers use the light. That way, they do not have to admit that creators are real, and can maintain that she is really their enemy. They hate to be proven wrong, I think. They will cling to the explanations that best suit their purposes and support their idiotic theories until their dying breaths. When people are this advanced, they become arrogant. They do not like to admit there is anyone more powerful than them. I understand now why most gods prefer their people to be a bit more… innocent, or rustic. They are humbler.”

The goddess
lowered her arms and took another step forward. The worshippers stretched out their arms to her, and a woman at the forefront cried, “We love you, Lady! We will worship you forever! May you always protect and watch over us! We ask for your blessing.”

Sherinias
smiled, inclined her head and opened her hands in a slow, graceful a gesture of benevolent benediction. Soft, healing light streamed from her fingers, and the people basked in it with glad cries and clutched their breasts as if trying to absorb it. The lame stood straight and the blind cried out and turned to gaze at their neighbours. The aged threw away their walking sticks and the deaf cupped their ears and wept. The distant journalists clicked their little boxes and babbled into their instruments.

The goddess
raised her face and lifted her arms. The white fire swept up into the sky, carrying her with it, and the rainbows winked out. Another barrage of lightning hammered into the ground, followed by a mighty rumble of thunder that shook the earth. The clouds swirled as if in a hurricane, then dispersed, and the worshippers clasped their hands and swayed, chanting.

The Demon Lord reclined on a cloud couch in the gazebo, enjoying a little relaxed company with Drevarin, Sherinias and Mirra. Only a short while remained before
they left, and he pondered Sherinias’ unhappy future. She deserved better, but there was no more he could do for her. Her visit to the mid realm might gain her more worshippers, but nothing would save this world now. Still, she would benefit from their prayers, which would make her happy, too.

Sherinias sat up with a gasp, her eyes wide. “My Lord, the Oracle warns me; demons are attacking cities.”

Bane created an Eye and swept it across Darjahan, frowning at the vista of burning buildings and fleeing people. Massive fire demons stomped along the streets, setting fire to all they touched. Giant earth demons pushed over skyscrapers and stamped out lives. Greater demons had the ability to become vastly larger when they wished, and it certainly aided in destroying a city. Dozens of demons in true form invaded the streets, sent the populace fleeing into buildings and made the flying traffic swerve and crash into buildings and other vehicles. Fire demons’ searing eyes left molten lines on concrete and tar, incinerating any humans or droges their glances touched. Air demons appeared as greyish-puce clouds and spread their foulness amid the fleeing people, killing dozens.

Sherinias gazed into her Eye, wiped her cheeks and sniffed. Apparently the demons had decided to cut the humans down to size before they could
become a nuisance, or someone had whispered the idea into their thick stone heads. If they ruined this civilisation, they would push the humans back into a medieval era, or worse, and remove any threat. Even if all they did was a lot of damage, it would prevent the people from building ships and hunting them.

Ban
e waved away his Eye and rose to his feet. “I am going to dismiss a few of those bastards. I shall summon some, too, and send them against their fellows. It will not make much difference, but I dislike sitting around doing nothing.”

Drevarin looked up. “You could certainly chase them away.”

“They will just return.”

“It might give the authorities time to get
more people to safety, though.”

“There is no safety from demons.”

The light god pulled a face. “True.”

Sherinias asked
, “Is there nothing you can do to stop them, My Lord?”

Bane shook his head. “Unfortunately, I cannot destroy thousands of demons in a few
hours, or even days. It would take months, perhaps years, to summon and destroy them all. Dismissing them will not help for long. They will not kill all of your people, though. They will leave some to play with, but they will destroy the technology.” He turned to Drevarin. “Will you come?”

Drevarin dismissed his Eye. “I thought you would never ask.”

Bane went over to kiss Mirra, and murmured, “Do you forbid me to go?”

“You promised. And do not say they are
only
demons!”

“Drevarin will guard my back
, and Kayos doubtless watches over me. I will save thousands of people.”

She sighed. “People who hate you, and believe you are evil.”

“It might even change their minds.”

“I hate this.”

“I know.”

Bane kissed her again, then
put a safe distance between them before he Moved. He rematerialised on the roof of a tower with a panoramic view of the beleaguered metropolis. A few warships fired silver cylinders at the demons, but, while the explosions blew chunks out of the giant earth demons and scattered smaller ones, they merely reformed. The missiles had even less effect on fire demons, which tore the ships from the air and burnt them.

The Demon Lord murmured the words of summoning and sent
the dozens of demons that rose from the roof or flared from nearby fires to battle their brethren. Demonic duels to the point of defeat tended to be long drawn out, however, unless one was set upon by many. Still, it would occupy them, thereby saving lives. It gave him some satisfaction to use the darkness against itself. He would have destroyed all the evil in the city, but so many people were corrupt that he would slaughter most of them, too. That might not be such a bad thing, he mused, but not all of them were beyond redemption. He would just do the demons’ job for them. Demonic battles raged as his minions took on their fellows, which quickly overwhelmed them. It did not matter to Bane, as long as they were defeated, and he continued to summon more and send them into the fray.

Bane Moved to the street below, where a gigantic earth demon
bashed buildings with stone fists, shattered windows and cracked walls, knocking chunks out of them. Screaming people fled along the road, dived into shops and vanished down steps that led to underground refuges, he assumed. Smaller demons pursued them, and Bane became invisible. The vast demon loomed over him, moving ponderously due to its size. Bane directed twin streams of black fire at its chest, blowing a crater in it. The demon staggered back into a building, which crumbled. Bane sent another pair of bolts into it, blowing it apart. Rocks, debris and soil rained down, shadows oozing from the settling pile to vanish into the pavement.

Bane
strolled along, blasting smaller demons. Armed droges also slew the fleeing populace. A young woman bolted out of an alley and collided with Bane, shrieking, and he destroyed her droge pursuer. A fire demon attacked a group of screaming people, setting some alight. Bane obliterated it, and an air demon that swooped at a cowering man, its misty form bursting into a noxious cloud. Bolts of blue light and tiny projectiles zipped past, a few coming dangerously close, and gunfire echoed along the street. Although the light could not harm him, the projectiles would. He annihilated several more demons and dismissed scores.

Colonel Maynart burst into President Randoman’s office and strode over to his desk. “
Sir, we’ve got to get you to safety. I’ve brought a protection detail, and -”

Randoman held up a hand, his
eyes riveted to the wall screen, where a pale, dishevelled female reporter shouted into her microphone, her eyes wide and makeup smudged. “…Started about half an hour ago, and reputable sources say it’s happening in every city in Bayona. People are turning into monsters and attacking others, setting fire to buildings and destroying vehicles and infrastructure. We have visuals from Darjahan.”