Demon Lord IV - Lord of Shadows Read Free Page B

street.
"Would that have a cellar?"
    "That looks
like a prison, My Lord."
    "No good. Too
many closed gates. What about the one next to it?"
    "That might be
an administration building."
    They entered
the building, narrowly avoiding two men who strode out of a doorway
ahead of them. Bane marched down the drab halls, some of which a
coat of white paint cheered, glancing into cramped, dull offices
where sleepy clerks scratched in parchment books. He opened several
doors, finding more offices and clerks, who must been mystified by
the doors that opened and closed by themselves. At the end of a
long, narrow corridor, he found an empty room. A narrow barred
window let in a little light, and dust lay thick on the floor. Bane
nodded with satisfaction.
    "This will
have to do."
    Bashir looked
doubtful. "What if someone comes in? This place is full of
people."
    "No one will
enter." Bane turned to the door and waved his hand, and a brick
wall replaced it.
    "An
illusion?"
    "No."
    Bashir set
down his pack. "And if Vorkon finds me?"
    "Pray."
    The mage
inclined his head. "Of course."
    "I will return
when the seventh and sixth wards are set."
    Bashir opened
his mouth, but before he could speak, Bane Moved.

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
    Mage Prince
     
    Bane
reappeared in the map room, where Shrea and Tygon sat at the table,
waiting. Shrea rose and picked up her bundle, her slender form clad
in a thick fur coat. Bane held out his hand, and she took it
without hesitation, to his surprise.
    The cold
mountain wind cut through his cloak, and he released Shrea's hand,
glancing around. An icy wind swept the barren, inhospitable rocky
slopes, and patches of dirty grey snow sheltered in the crevasses.
The dark clouds seemed closer, and silent lightning flickered
through them. Two peaks away, a volcano spewed glowing lava down
steep slopes, smoke and ash flying past on the wind. Shrea
straightened from her bout of sickness, her face pale, and pulled
her coat close, shivering.
    Bane turned to
her. "Find a good place, a cave would be ideal."
    Shrea nodded
and scanned the slopes, the wind tearing at her straight brown
hair.
    "If you need
me, pray," Bane said, and she nodded again.
    Bane returned
to the map room, where Tygon paced the floor, his bundle clutched
in his arms. He stepped back when Bane appeared, his already pasty
face becoming ashen.
    "I do not
think I can do this," he whimpered.
    "You have no
choice."
    "I do. You
cannot make me. Let Shrea create the seventh ward, she is almost as
powerful as I am."
    Bane shook his
head. "If you will not do it, I will take your wife."
    "No.
Please."
    "Then you
must."
    "I
cannot."
    Bane gave an
impatient snort and strode over to the cringing mage prince, taking
his arm in a crushing grip. Tygon yelped, and Bane Moved,
reappearing on flat, icy tundra that stretched away in all
directions as far as the eye could see. Tussocks of dead brown
grass poked through a layer of dirty frost, and a chill wind tugged
at his cloak. Dark clouds raced overhead, and the air stank of
sulphur. He released Tygon, who dropped to his knees and retched.
When he recovered, he raised his head and glared at Bane, the icy
wind making his eyes water.
    "I will
freeze!"
    The Demon Lord
gestured, and a curved wall of rock shot up from the ground with a
grating crack, towering over them. Tygon stumbled into its lee and
stood shivering, chafing his arms and blowing on his hands.
    "Goddess, what
is that stench?" He clamped a hand over his nose.
    "Begin," Bane
growled.
    "Why do you
not do it? You have more power than any of us."
    "A black ward
would not mesh with the blue ones, as you should know, and Vorkon
will sense my power if I use too much."
    Tygon glanced
around. "Why here?"
    "Because this
is where it must be." Bane glared at him. "Now get on with it."
    The consort
squatted next to the wall and fumbled with his pack, extracting two
pots and a book. He opened a pot and sniffed it, grimacing, then
began to page through the book, the pages