At the Gates of Darkness Part 23

'I have no idea, but that whatever was controlling the creatures is losing command of them.'

As they watched the demons began to turn on one another, but enough continued to rush the small building that Pug was forced to use all his skills to knock them back with another pulse of energy. 'I can't keep doing this all day,' he said, obviously fatigued. 'There are so many of them.'

'If they all turn on each other, we will only need to bar this door.' The demon master selected another demon in the fray and turned it on its neighbour. Then the illusion of the dragon vanished.

'That tears it,' said Laromendis, coming out of his trance. 'I've got little left to offer.' He pulled out the wand he had harboured since they fled the battle of Hub and pointed it at a particularly nasty beast charging the door. It went down in convulsions as energy consumed it.

Pug said, 'I wish I knew what was going on below.' He pushed aside thoughts of his son and the others and returned his attention to the battle before him.

Amirantha waited in the shadows, uncertain of what was occurring before him. He saw Jim Dasher hugging the wall by the door; the only hint of the n.o.ble-turned-spy was an odd refraction of the light, which moved only slightly. If Amirantha stared at the spot, he could just make out the vague shape of a man between the door and the room beyond.

He watched the scene in the room for a moment, and his eyes widened. His brother, Belasco, lay motionless across a sacrificial altar, and Sandreena, Kaspar, and Magnus knelt before him. Amirantha a.s.sumed their bindings prevented the two magic casters from using their abilities, or this situation would have been resolved before either Jim and he had arrived.

A strange looking man, thin with ragged hair, and an impressive looking set of pointed teeth, appeared to be weeping piteously over Belasco, imploring his still form for instructions. Even more perplexing was the dialogue he could hear between two invisible ent.i.ties. Amirantha stopped to ensure he wasn't losing his mind, because even though his brother lay motionless on the altar, he could hear his voice, and then another, both demanding some sort of behaviour from the witless man.

Amirantha came up behind Jim and as the cloaked figure tensed, he said, 'It's me; what is happening?'

Jim gripped the Warlock by the arm, pulled him back into the tunnel and said, 'I have no idea. That lunatic cannibal has been talking to your unconscious brother for five minutes. I have no idea who the other voice belongs to.'

Amirantha said, 'I need to explain the subtleties of demonic possession to you, but now is not the time. Can you kill that man without giving him time to harm anyone else?'

'Easily, but why?'

'Because if he makes the wrong move, we're all going to die.'

'That's a good enough reason,' said Jim, and Amirantha saw him produce his dagger out of thin air.

'Wait,' said the Warlock.

'Why?' asked Jim. 'Either we want him dead, or not. Which is it? Our friends are stupefied and our enemy is overcome. As I see it, our problems could be resolved with two quick kills.'

Amirantha whispered, 'Ah, if only it were that simple.' He pointed to the confused cannibal. 'Why is he so perplexed?'

'Because his master lies prostrate and he has no idea what to do,' said Jim. 'I don't know a lot about magic, but I know that sometimes the real price is unantic.i.p.ated. If that evil b.a.s.t.a.r.d on the altar has made a mistake, why not take advantage and end this?'

'We can't end it like this,' said Amirantha. 'Not yet. His minion is confused because there aretwo beings within his body!' within his body!'

'Two beings?' whispered Jim. 'What does that mean?'

'It means my idiot brother has summoned a demon who tried to take over his body. Now they're struggling for control.'

'Is that why he's lying there motionless?'

'Apparently. Neither one has enough control to command the body and fight off the other.'

'What should I do?'

'Regarding Belasco, nothing, for the moment,' said Amirantha. 'As for that sharp toothed fellow, can you kill him without bringing harm to our friends?'

'At any time.'

'Do so now, if you don't mind, then cut the others loose. I will probably need Magnus and Sandreena's help with whatever happens to Belasco.'

Jim faded into the shadow and for a moment Amirantha felt as if he were alone in the tunnel. Then there was a blur of motion on the left wall and the wailing Shaskahan went ridged and slumped to the floor. Jim pulled back the hood of his cloak and stood over Belasco, and then motioned for Amirantha to enter. The kingdom spy then moved to unfetter his companions.

Magnus and Sandreena were both tied with the silver netting, while Kaspar was bound and gagged in a more conventional fashion. Kaspar gasped for breath when Jim pulled the gag from his mouth. 'G.o.ds! I thought I was going to suffocate they pushed that so far back.' He cleared his throat and said, 'Help me up. My knees are not what they once were and I have been too long in one position.' Jim gave him a hand and said, 'What did they do to Magnus and Sandreena?'

Both magic users remained mute, wide eyed, and staring into s.p.a.ce. Kaspar said, 'They became like that when the nets were cast on us. They removed mine, but kept those two under them the entire time.'

Jim nodded. 'Slavers nets. They use them in Durbin when they're trying to snag a magic user. The really fine ones are costly, and not only dampen magic, but render the magician tractable.'

'Help me get them out,' said Jim.

Kaspar was stiff legged for a minute and then applied himself to removing Sandreena's bindings, while Jim cut through the netting holding Magnus. When they were free, both went limp; Kaspar caught Sandreena and lowered her to the floor gently, while Jim did the same for Magnus. Jim said, 'Now we wait for them to recover.'

'How long will it take?' asked Kaspar.

Amirantha stood over the p.r.o.ne figure of his brother, whose eyes were trained on him. He said, 'The effects should wear off shortly.'

The body on the altar didn't move his lips, but a voice sounded in the air. 'Is that you, little brother?'

Amirantha said, 'It is, big brother.'

'You don't find me at my best,' came the hollow reply.

'I never have.' Pulling out a dagger, he said, 'Is there any compelling reason I shouldn't end this now?'

'Besides my reluctance to die any time soon, you mean?'

'You've shown so little inclination to grant me that consideration, I hardly feel moved to give it to you.'

'Fairly stated,' said the disembodied voice of Belasco.

Suddenly another voice, loud, raspy and harsh, commanded, 'Kill him, and I will make you powerful beyond your wildest dreams, Warlock!'

'There's another reason,' said Belasco. 'If you kill me, Dahun will be free. I'm the only thing keeping him from entering this world.'

Amirantha glanced at Magnus and Sandreena who were blinking as if slowly coming out of a trance. Knowing that he needed to buy a little more time, Amirantha said, 'If Dahun is in you, what is that contraption on the surface about?'

'Ah, that would be telling,' said Belasco with an evil chuckle.

'What madness have you undertaken now, brother of mine?' said Amirantha, prodding Belasco's shoulder with the point of his dagger.

'That hurt!' said Belasco petulantly.

'Injure me at your peril!' shouted Dahun's voice. 'I will accept a clean kill to set me free, but torment will earn you repayment a thousand times over.'

Kaspar said, 'Not very rea.s.suring, is he?'

'Neither of them are worth saving,' said Amirantha. His eyes flickered between Kaspar and the others, and with a twitch of his head, he indicated he needed the General to play along. 'Still, they know some things that might prove interesting.

'Belasco, I can only a.s.sume you're controlling this monster inside of you for two reasons, your usual spite and self-serving interest, and because you believe you have some way out of this impa.s.se?'

'You know me well, brother. But until revealing these things works to my advantage, I think I shall keep my reasoning to myself.'

'Well, you always were unwilling to share.'

'Blame Sidi. He was always beating me and taking my things.'

'True, and both of you treated me the same until I started summoning help.'

'That was an unfortunate day,' said Belasco's voice.

'Warlock!' came the demon's voice. 'Release me and I shall make you a prince of men, my first servant on this world.'

Amirantha sighed, and shrugged at Kaspar. 'Sorry, Dahun, but experience tells me your promises are small currency.'

Belasco said, 'Actually, he might keep that one. He doesn't plan to eat everything in sight. He wants to settle in and run things. That was our original arrangement, and he has been as good as his word.'

Amirantha closed his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He sighed slowly and then said, 'Until you betrayed him,' he said flatly.

'Of course.'

Amirantha was silent for a moment, then said, 'So, if I kill you, the demon prince inside you is freed, but if I let you live...well, sooner or later you'll die anyway as you can't eat or drink, unless you tell me of your plan.'

'Not yet.'

Amirantha saw Magnus and Sandreena begin to rouse and said, 'Speaking of Sidi...'

'Yes,' said Belasco.

'He's dead.'

'Pity,' said Belasco.

'Why? You hated him.'

'Because I wanted to be the one to kill him; Mother may have been an evil witch, but she was our mother.'

Amirantha glanced at Kaspar who said, 'Now that I've met all three of you, I can just imagine what she must have been like.'

'Who speaks?' asked Belasco. 'I glimpsed him before, but he keeps moving.'

'Kaspar, formerly Duke of Olasko, and now General of the Army in Muboya.'

'I'd bid you welcome, General, but I suspect you're not here to wish me well.'

'Exactly,' said Kaspar. 'We came here to kill you.'

'Ah, always murder in everyone's heart.' That was followed by an evil chuckle.

'Now what?' Kaspar asked Amirantha.

But it was Belasco who spoke. 'We wait until I decide what course of action is in my best interests.'

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Attack.

PUG UNLEASHED ANOTHER SPELL.

Demons of all shapes and sizes were flung back, and Pug shouted, 'Something is very wrong.'

Gulamendis shouted over the shrieks and bellowing, 'What?'

'I'm not sure, but I sense something strange.'

Laromendis was so exhausted he was nearly unable to stand; he had conjured every conceivable illusion he had learned over the years. His myriad of threats, taredhel sentinels, animals and monsters of every stripe, had distracted and delayed the onslaught of demons long enough to give Pug time to unleash his considerable power.

A voice from behind said, 'Do you need some help?'

Pug turned and his face became alive with relief, as he beheld Magnus standing there. 'Are you up to it?'

Nodding, he said, 'They used a spell binding net on Sandreena and myself, but the effects have worn off.' Then his eyes narrowed and he said, 'And I'm quite angry.'

He moved to stand between Gulamendis and Pug, and with outstretched hands released a blast of crimson energy that moved like a thundering breaker on the beach. The demons, irrespective of size and shape, were hurled back again. Those at the rear of the pack were cast down into the vast pit from which the green energy rose.

A shout from behind caused the remaining demons to turn and see what new threat approached them. Into the emerald glow cast by the tower of energy ran armoured humans, each dressed in the garb of Roldem's Royal Marines. Adept at battle on ship and land, they were the island kingdom's toughest combat soldiers. Leading the charge was a familiar face, though his usual boyish grin was missing. Jommy Killaroo, now Knight of the King's Court of Roldem and Captain of Special Services to the King, shouted orders as he raised his sword and lashed out at a man-sized demon standing before him.

Pug let out a long breath. 'Three hundred marines from Roldem will keep them busy until the rest get here, which should only be minutes now.'

As if to punctuate his words, another shout from outside was followed by the arrival of Tad, another of Pug's adopted grandsons, leading a contingency of the Prince's Own, from Krondor. Their orders were simple; kill every demon in sight.

Pug said to Magnus, 'Save your strength. We may need it soon.'

Magnus nodded, 'My tantrum was satisfying, but fatiguing.'

'How's Sandreena and Kaspar?'

'Alive,' said Magnus. 'Belasco is incapacitated and struggles with some sort of demon presence,' he held up his hand before his father could ask a question. 'I'm sure Amirantha can explain it later, but for the moment all you need to know is that if Belasco loses this struggle, then an ent.i.ty named Dahun will appear in this realm.'

Gulamendis said, 'Dahun! He's one of the regional kings, and if he does get through, it'll take all of us to contain him.' He shook his head in doubt. 'I don't know if Amirantha and I could banish him back to the Fifth Circle.'

'We should have another half a dozen magicians here within a few more minutes,' said Pug.