When Angels Fall (Demon Lord) (8 page)

Bane
spread his fingers again, and black fire poured from them like smoke, swirled on the leaves and sank into the ground. “Of course, with my luck, I will discover that I cannot regain the power once I have cast it out.”

“That seems unlikely. You have other powers, though, do you not?”

“Slight ones, but I cannot Move.”

“That ability does you no good right now, and we need their help.”

Bane snorted and frowned at the shadows he shed, and, when no more flowed from him, they set off towards the village. Majelin’s injuries ached, making him limp a little, and he longed for rest, hoping there was a medicine woman or healer amongst the villagers.

“Where are they?” Drevarin
asked, frowning at Kayos’ Eye.

The younger god’s Eye had filled with swirling sparkles shortly after Bane had created a
dark sphere and sunk into the magma sea. Drevarin and Sherinias now sat on either side of the Grey God, for his was the only Eye that still followed Bane, although at times the image was hazy, as if even his vast power was barely able to penetrate the wards.

Kayos shook his head. “They are still in this domain, but in a place so well warded that it blocks just about every kind of power or magic. Sherinias?”

The young goddess looked up. “Yes, Father?”

“Ask the Oracle.”

“Of course, Father.” Her expression became vacant for several minutes, then she shook her head, clearly mystified. “It does not know.”

Drevarin raised hi
s brows. “How can it not know?”

“It does not. I do not know how, My Lord.”

“It is possible,” Kayos said. “If that place was created close to the boundary wards, in the very bedrock of this domain, and by a strange god, it might not have sensed it.”

“Why would a god do such a thing?” Drevarin asked.

Kayos shrugged. “That, I do not know. It appears to be a hidden place, a lair, perhaps. Either that, or it is a spill over from another dreaming.”

“A mingling.”

“Yes.” At Sherinias’ puzzled look, Kayos explained, “Sometimes, when two domains are created close together, one invades the other a little, and they overlap. Bane and Majelin could have passed into another world without even realising it, through a hole in the boundary wards where the two worlds join. If that is the case, the other domain is below this one, and they might not be able to get back.”

“Bane could not get back even from the cavern,” Drevarin said. “It must be warded against Moving. If that place is the same, we are in a lot of trouble.”

Kayos nodded. “I know.”

Drevarin
muttered, “All this because he went to rescue an archangel from the underworld.”

“There are always pitfalls with the darkness.”

“If he is trapped there, it is a disaster.”

Chapter
Four

Changelings

Bane studied Majelin as they strolled towards the village. The archangel appeared weak and ill, caked with grime and covered with wounds, scars, burns and bruises where demons had tortured him. His white hair hung halfway down his back in dirty strings and a soiled swathe of diaphanous grey material clothed his hips. Bane reflected that was just as well the cloth seemed impervious to rot, or else the angel would have been naked long since.

After five centuries at the mercy of dark gods and demons, it was a little surprising that the archangel was still sane, and
his quick acceptance that Bane was tar’merin was even more unexpected. Majelin had every reason to never trust a wielder of the darkness again. Two stumps protruded just below his shoulder blades, each with a few feathers on it, and Bane assumed that Torvaran had amputated his wings. He turned his thoughts to their situation and the possible ramifications of what had happened.

“You do realise that if there is no portal into this place there is only one thing that could have brought those angels here.”

Majelin nodded, his black brows knotted. “A god. Perhaps it was Torvaran, or Tolrar?”

“And if it was not, we will be in a lot of trouble.”

“You do not know that. Perhaps whoever brought them here is gone, or dead, or perhaps they came here some other way. Maybe it was even a light god. Let us find out before we become nervous.”

“I am not nervous; just concerned, and with good reason.”

“You do not think you are a match for another dark god?”

“Not without my power,” Bane
grumped.

“That really bothers you, huh?”

“Normally I am glad to cast it out, but, considering how strange this all is, and how few of my powers worked before, I think I have good reason to be concerned.”

“Let us not jump to conclusions
,” Majelin said.

“If it had been a light god
, he would not have abandoned them.”

“Perhaps he had no choice.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I am just saying we do not know enough to draw any conclusions, and you are going to drive yourself insane trying to figure it out without the necessary information.” Majelin stopped so abruptly Bane almost bumped into him. “We are here.”

Bane peered between the leafy branches at a slovenly village where men and women moved about lethargically. Some appeared to be human, and a few children played in the dirt.

Majelin drew in a sharp breath. “I know what they are.”

“What? Not fallen?”

“Oh, they are fallen all right. They are
urthdrae
.”

“Outcasts?”

“
Gothass
.” The archangel swung around. “We are not going in there.”

“Why not?”

“They are… Ugh.”

“
Gothass urthdrae
?”

“Fallen! Not through torture, but by choice!”

“Oh.” Bane raised his brows. “And you definitely do not approve.”

“I will not speak to them.”

“Why? What have they done?”

“They…” Majelin’s mouth twisted. “They lie with
humans
.”

“Heaven forbid! What the hell, Majelin?” Bane scowled. “Do not tell me you are a bigot.”

“I am an archangel. What do you think?”

“I am beginning to think you are a bit stuck up.”

Majelin shook his head. “It is forbidden!”

“Why?”

“Because of the children; they are changelings.”

“Oh, right, that makes sense. What the hell are changelings and why are they forbidden?”

“They are monsters; vampires. They feed on life force. That is why their parents look so ill, and they are sealed away in here.”

“Ugh.” Bane pulled a face. “Then I guess it is a good thing you keep the company of a dark god. Does it give us a clue as to how they got here?”

“No, but it means they are exiled here, trapped, so there will be no way out.”

“Wonderful.” Bane sighed and sat on a log. “They must have got in here somehow, though, and I might be able to get out the same way. We need to find the portal. I am not camping in this damned forest for the rest of my life.”

“You cannot go in there. Your spirit is far more powerful than any angel or human. The changelings will be drawn to you like moths to a flame.”

Bane snorted. “Then they will be crispy fried soul suckers.”

“Maybe so, but it is too dangerous.” Majelin raised a hand when Bane opened his mouth. “I will find a human outside the village, but you must stay well hidden. Go back the way we came, for at least a league.”

“A league!”

“To be safe.”

“Fine.” Bane rose and turned away. “Hurry up.”

“I do not want to be here any longer than I must.”

Bane thrust aside the branches and strode back up the
faint trail, annoyed and weary.

Majelin
watched Bane march off, pondering the tales he had heard about
urthdrae
. The commonest was that, once they fell, the darkness corrupted them, and there were disturbing stories about the changelings having strange abilities. The tar’merin might be able defend himself against them, but if they attacked him in the village he would probably end up destroying the place and killing all in it, unless they fled quickly enough. Bane, he could tell, was becoming extremely fed up. Nothing had gone right for him since he had come to rescue Majelin, and he suspected that, on some level, Bane blamed him for it.

The archangel gaze
d at the village again. Changelings were supposed to be extinct. The tales about them were aeons old, from just after the Times of Reckoning. Ordur had forbidden human-angel marriages, yet the village’s inhabitants were definitely
urthdrae
, and they had children. While
urthdrae
were not accepted in angel or human society, it was still unlikely that they would choose to live in such a strange place, cut off from the rest of creation.

U
rthdrae
were reviled and pitied because they knew the consequences of falling in love with a human, and most thought them insane to give up their abilities. The reason for the changelings’ need for additional life force was the mingling of angel and human blood, as different as night and day and highly incompatible. Without a constant source of life force, the children wasted away. He wondered who had made this haven for them, if it could be called a haven. What must it be like, to have your life force drained by your children, and be condemned to produce more of them if you stayed with your beloved? The dilemma was worse for angels, being immortals. When their human spouses perished of old age, they had to deal with the products of their ill-advised union alone.

Majelin stole closer to the village, noticing a well-worn path that most likely led to a stream. He made his way around the settlement and followed the track, wary even though he was unlikely to be in immediate danger. A few hundred yards down the path, a movement in the forest ahead made him step into the bushes and become invisible.

A pretty red-haired girl came into sight, laden with two buckets of water, and she appeared to be entirely human. Changelings changed, though, so he watched her until she almost passed him before stepping forth. She stopped with a gasp, her pale green eyes widening.

“Do not be afraid,” he said. “I mean you no harm.”

She stared at him for several tense moments. “You’re not a changeling.”

“No.”

“You’re fallen?”

“No. I am the archangel Majelin.”

“An archangel…” She studied him with patent fascination, her eyes lingering on his hair, and then cocked her head with a slight frown. “How did you end up here?”

“I came here by accident, and I wish to leave. How do I do that?”

She shook her head. “You don’t.”

“Why?”

“The portal is one way.”

“Where is it?”

“It will do you no good.” She continued to scrutinise him. “Where are your wings?”

“I was a dark god’s prisoner. Please… just tell me where the portal is and I will trouble you no more.”

“So you’re fallen, but through torture?”

“No… not exactly.” He hesitated, loath to recount the tale of his
suffering. “My torturers took my wings.”

“So, you’re a full-blown archangel. The changelings will feast on you when they find you.”

He hid a shudder. “They will not if I leave.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Perhaps I could find a way.”

She brushed past him and marched off. “Are you a mage?”

“No.” He followed her. “Could a mage get out?”

“I don’t know. I’m just a human.”

“But your beloved is an angel.”

“He was.” She stopped and set her buckets down. “He’s dead, and so is our child. Now I’m just food for the damned changelings. They take more from me because I’m alone.”

“If you help me, and I find a way to escape, I will take you with me.”

“Don’t you think we’ve tried to escape this place for
centuries?”

“That does not mean I will not,” Majelin said.

“I’d say it makes it a fair bet.”

“What do you have to lose by telling me where the portal is?”

She eyed him. “You’ll never find it on your own. I’ll have to show you.”

“Will you?”

“Now?” She glanced down at her buckets.

“Leave them. You will not need them if I find a way out.”

“I suppose so. I’m Andriss, by the way.” She set off back up the path. “You seem confident.”

“I have a few tricks up my sleeves.”

“I’ve been here for five years, but it seems like an eternity. It’s been torture since Fryth died.”

Majelin doubted that she kn
ew the true meaning of torture.

“We were only together for two years,” she continued, glancing over her shoulder. “We were unlucky.”

He winced inwardly at the sentiment, that a child was a curse to be dreaded, although in the case of changelings, she was right. Such was the lot of
urthdrae
. “How did he die?”

She pushed past a bush. “A changeling killed him.”

“Do you know who made this place?”

“No idea. Some god, I suppose. Do you really think you can find a way out?”

Majelin knew he would have to tell her about Bane, and thought it best to do so in small doses, to ease her into the shocking truth. “Actually, I have a friend, and I think he can do it.”

“Another archangel?”

“No… but he knows how to use magic.”

“A mage.”

“Of a sort,” he hedged, not wanting to lie.

“An odd companion for you.”

“We were sort of… thrust together.”

“So, how did you get here?”

He hesitated. “A trap.”

“A black trap?” She cast him a startled look.

“Yes.”

“Then your friend must be a powerful mage.” She stopped and swung to face him. “He’s not a black one, is he?”

“Um… Does it make a difference?”

“Yes! The magic of the portal is blue. A black mage won’t be able to use it.”

“Ah. Then no, he is a blue mage.”

She scowled. “You seem uncertain. How can you be uncertain?”

“Uh, well, I am not. I just was not sure which one was right for the portal.”

“So he
is
a blue mage.”

“Absolutely.”

Andriss continued down the path, and Majelin wondered if he had just made a monumental blunder. He could not tell her the truth, however, and perhaps the dark god could find a way to change the portal. Majelin knew little about magic or powers, since angels had none, and even less about mortal gods, never mind tar’merin. A mortal tar’merin was so unheard-of he doubted anyone knew much about Bane’s abilities. If Bane could not use the portal to escape, though, they were well and truly trapped.

“Where’s your friend?” Andriss enquired.

“I told him to wait in the forest. I did not want to attract the changelings with too much life force.”

“A wise decision, although the adults can sniff out a living being leagues away.”

“How many adults are there?”

She grunted. “Not too many. Most die in puberty. Things get much worse when they become adults.”

“How so?”

“Well, they require more life force, for one. Their parents can’t provide enough, so they hunt… other things. When they go through puberty, though, things get very weird. They get stuck in one form or another for days, and sometimes they get stuck in a half and half form, then they die.”