by Jan Stryvant
And then, just like that, they vanished. All of them.
"What happened to the kid?" Dave said as Miles looked on in surprise. "Did he fall? I didn't see him fall!"
"He must have gone with them!"
"Don't you know?"
"It takes a month and several thousand dollars of gems to recharge this thing! I've only used it once before! On a demon!" He stopped a moment. "If that kid just got sent to the demon planes…"
"He's as good as dead anyway," Dave said, and then stopped and laughed. "Oh, I'm sure Steve is gonna be happy when he hears about this! How long until they can come back?"
Miles shook his head. "I don't think they can come back. It's cursed."
"Better still. We better start calling everyone back."
"But what about…" Miles waved his free hand towards the sea of red and blue lights.
"Like I said, Steve has an artifact of mass charm. This wasn't a terrorist attack, it was a fire, just a really bad fire."
"I sure hope it works," Miles said as he put his artifact away and began casting the spell that would tell his people to withdraw from the attack and clear the area.
"Oh, I'm sure it'll work well enough for us to get out of here. They're just mundanes."
Banished
Dan woke up slowly. The first thing he realized was that he was lying on his back. But he wasn't lying in a bed; no, the surface under him was firm—not hard, but firm—and it wasn't flat. Also, he smelled…he smelled the outdoors…
Opening his eyes, he saw the sky above him. It was blue, very blue, and there were even some clouds floating in it.
What the hell?
Closing his eyes, he concentrated a moment. They'd been in bed, having sex…and then…and then they'd been attacked! He remembered now. Wrath had been carrying him and Aella, and they'd been gliding across the freeway, and…
And then nothing.
Opening his eyes again, he sat up suddenly. He was still wearing his duster, his pants, and the sneakers he'd crammed on quickly, sans socks.
Had she dropped him?
Looking around, he realized immediately that he wasn't in Auburn anymore. There wasn't a single sign of civilization. He couldn't hear any cars, busses, motors, people, nothing. Well, nothing other than the insects and the occasional sound of an animal.
Wait…was that a house?
Getting to his feet carefully, he saw a house several hundred feet away. Brushing his pants off with his hands, he looked around for his shirt, but didn't see it. He must have dropped it when…well, when whatever had happened to him had happened.
Looking around further, he couldn't see any sign of the girls. Fearing the worst, he closed his eyes again and concentrated a moment. He'd tested his ability to pull magic from them enough times that if he concentrated hard enough, he could feel them.
It took a couple of minutes, but just as he was starting to panic, he felt them—only they felt…they felt far away. Very far away!
Opening his eyes, he frowned at that a moment. What the hell had happened? One moment they were gliding away from the fight and the fire, and then suddenly…suddenly he was here?
But it had been late at night when they were attacked, and it was daytime here. Late morning or late afternoon, judging by the position of the sun. So either he'd been out for a long time, or wherever he was now, time wasn't the same.
It was at times like this he really wished he wore a watch.
"Well, standing here isn't going to answer any of my questions," he grumbled to himself, and taking one last look around to make sure he hadn't dropped anything, he checked his pockets, made sure his gun was in its hidden holster, and his mace was still on his belt, and struck off for the house off in the distance.
The place looked oddly familiar, though he wasn't able to place it right away. Same for the open field surrounded by trees in which it sat. It was a small house, made of adobe and painted in bright blues and greens, with an open tower of sorts set on top…
"Shit," he swore and stopped dead in his tracks as he remembered where he'd seen this place before.
It was the house he'd seen in his dreams.
The house where his father, his real father, had…had knocked up his mother, while the man he'd always thought was his father had waited downstairs.
The place where the deal had been made that had resulted in both his birth and his father's powers.
He started to walk again, faster and with bigger strides, as he made his way directly to the house, eyes focused on the front door as he recalled what he could from those dreams. Why was he here? Hell, how had he even gotten here?
When he got to the door, he opened it and went inside, and started to look around, going room to room. It all looked almost exactly like he remembered it. Going upstairs, he came to the open room that was on the roof. There was a cover over the bed to protect it from the elements, but the shutters that surrounded each of the open, floor to ceiling—well, he couldn't call them windows, as there wasn't any glass in them—doorways perhaps? All the shutters were open.
He stared at the bed.
That was where he'd been 'made'…where he'd been conceived.
"That's all I am," he said with a sigh after a long while. "Just the result of another cold-blooded deal made for power."
"Oh, I wouldn't say it was 'cold-blooded'," a man's voice said from behind him. "Your mother was quite excited, very much into the whole affair—well, at least once she'd gotten over her initial embarrassment."
Dan whipped around to see a man in a robe standing before him. The same man he'd seen in those dreams.
"I believe she thought she was going to have to sleep with a crocodile-man or something," he said with a chuckle. "To be honest, I was impressed that she loved your father enough to be willing to do that. Much less allow another man to plant his child in her womb."
Dan looked at him, dumbfounded. He had no idea of what to say.
"Who, who are you?" he finally spit out after a couple of minutes of just working his mouth and trying to think of something, anything to say.
"Your father, obviously. Or at least the male who sired you. I don't know that I can actually claim to be your father, seeing as I wasn't there to raise you.
"Which leads to the question, what are you doing here?" the other man asked with a frown. "I can tell you've got all your powers—which means either your father is dead, or he reneged on our deal."
"He's dead," Dan grumbled, scowling back at him. "Is that all you have to say for yourself? 'How's your father?' How's the man who spent my entire life ignoring me while my mother became more and more ashamed of what she'd done?"
The man just shook his head and shrugged. "What do you want me to say? That I'm sorry I wasn't there for you? That I should have made things better for you?" He snorted. "Sorry, but I don't care."
"What!" Dan said, looking at him in shock.
"Son, I don't even know your name. I'd hoped your mother would call out to me if there were problems, but the deal was clear: you were his son, and he got your powers because of that. He was supposed to take care of you, not me.
"Now, what are you doing here in my territory? Somehow I don't see you as the type to be looking for any kind of family reunion."
"Dan. My name's Dan. Short for Daniel." He stopped and shook his head. "You don't care? Not at all? I mean, I'm your son, your flesh and blood, and none of that matters?"
The other man snorted. "No. Why should it? I'm pleased to see that you were raised well, that you're alive, that another of my children has survived into adulthood. But I don't know you, Daniel. Just because your mother and I had sex, that's not enough of a reason for me to give a damn.
"So again, why are you here?"
"I don't know!" Dan blurted out, holding his arms spread out, palms open in confusion. "One moment we were fleeing an ambush, and the next moment I wake up here! I didn't want to come here, and I sure as hell don't want to be here!"
Dan noticed the other man relaxed, just a lit
tle, as he said that.
"What's your name?" Dan asked.
"'Father' would work," the other said with a grin.
"You just told me you don't give a flying fuck about me! So why the hell would I call you that?"
"Well, that does beg the question, now doesn't it?" the other said with a thoughtful expression.
"Which question?"
"Do you want me to be your father? While I've had many children, I've had very few actual sons and daughters. Yes, I can tell you my name, if that's what you wish, but then you can't call me 'father', can you?"
Dan dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed and stared up at his father in disbelief, then suddenly it came him.
"Can I call you dad?"
His father suddenly smiled at him. Really smiled at him. Smiled at him like his adopted father had never smiled at him, not once, not ever in his entire life.
"Of course you can, my son. In fact, I think I'd like that. 'Father' always sounds so formal, distant even. Now come, let's go downstairs; I set the pool to heat before I came up here. You can tell me about yourself while we soak."
Dan blinked and shook his head at the sudden change in his father's attitude.
"Don't you want to know why I came here?"
"Oh, I already know that."
"You do?"
His father laughed. "Of course I do! I felt it when you arrived. That's why I came here. You were banished."
"Huh?"
"When a demon is banished, they're sent back to where they were created."
"What? Then why wasn't I sent back to the hospital where I was born?"
His father shook his head. "Daniel, you were created right there," he said, pointing at the bed. "That's where you came into being.
"Now, come. I've found a nice hot soak helps one think."
"But, but my women! I need to find them! They might be in trouble!"
"Ah! So you have a harem already! Good for you, my son! Are they demons as well?"
Daniel nodded, then got up and followed his father back down to the first floor, feeling a little numb.
"Yes, Dad. All five of them are. But they're not the same type."
"Oh, of course not! That would be boring! I'm sure they're all okay; they were sent back to their starting points just as you were. So they're all among family and friends."
Dan nodded numbly and followed his father into the room he'd thought was a bathroom in his dreams, but now noticed was more of a pool room with a large hot tub. His father shed his robe and shifted into his aspect, then stepped into the pool. Dan took off his duster and hung it on a hook by the robe, then shed his sneakers and his pants. He shifted and got into the tub as well.
He had to admit, he found the heat comforting, and there were seats carved out of the sides that made it both easy and comfortable to relax in.
"Now, tell me about yourself, my son. As your dad, I'd like to get to know you."
Dan lost all track of time as they sat there and talked. Mainly it was him recounting his life to his father, who was quick to point out that while he may have been subjected to a lot of neglect in his life, at least it was benign neglect. His brother had obviously cared about him, and, to a lesser extent, his sister as well.
He expressed sorrow over Dan losing his brother, but agreed that it was merely poor fortune, and not magic. He even expressed anger over what Weson had done to him with his curse, but again he was quick to point out how Dan had grown from that trial and found his women.
"Life is full of challenges and problems, my son," he told Dan when he'd finished telling him of his latest encounter. "Without them, we would become stagnant, and unchallenged, we would wither and die. These things not only help us to grow and prosper, they shape who we are and who we become. So treasure your enemies; in the end, they help you more than they hurt you."
"Treasure them?" Dan asked, surprised.
"Yes, treasure them," his father said with a smile. "Of course you should also kill them at the first opportunity; that is only wise, lest they kill you first. Look at your current problem; you waited too long to deal with your enemy, which gave him the opportunity to ambush you and banish you."
"We wanted to bleed him dry first!" Dan protested, wondering why he still felt like an embarrassed child being schooled for misbehaving.
His father laughed. "That's what most demons will tell you. They all have a weak spot, and that weak spot is greed. If you'd just gone out and killed him, none of this would have happened. Material things are not what matters in this existence, this life, Daniel. The only things that matter are your women, your mates, your harem. Threats to them, their well-being, you must deal with those quickly and harshly."
"Wait, aren't we demons, too?"
"We used to be thought of as such, but not so much anymore."
"Huh?"
"The humans used to worship us, my son. They worshiped us as gods, because of our abilities and what we were able to do for so many of them through our ability to interbreed. This set us apart from the others—that, and our rarity.
"While most demons share a good many traits, greed was one we never quite shared with the rest. Perhaps because of our harems?" His father shrugged and shook his head. "I honestly never thought much on it. The word 'demon' comes from the Greek daimonion, which meant many different things then than what it has come to mean today. For us, we were considered lords, as our behavior was much more benevolent than most of the others, who let their greed rule them more often than not.
"Three millennia ago, the word 'demon' was quite unknown, and we had not yet been lumped together into a single 'group' by the humans. Many of the different 'spirits' you find in human mythology were simply different kinds of demons being demons."
Dan nodded and pondered that a moment.
"So what do I do now?" he asked after a few minutes.
"Gather your women, then go back to Earth and kill Weson, of course!" his father said with a chuckle.
"But how do I do that? Can I even do that? I was just banished!"
"Because of who you are, banishment sent you here. But it cannot keep you from returning because of your connections to the place where you were born, as well as your mother's heritage. Banishment is the combination of a magical act, sending you to your point of creation, and a curse that keeps you from returning to the place you were banished from."
"I have protections from curses."
"Yes, I noticed. They're quite well done. You have a good friend somewhere, I take it?"
"Father-in-law."
"Ah! One that likes you too, I see! You should treasure that relationship. Such as that among the demon races are rare."
"I know, but he's evil."
"You do not strike me as a bastion of good, my son."
"Umm…" Dan blushed. "Maybe. But I'm not evil."
"Son, you are a Sobek. You have even named yourself as such. That means whatever you do, it is right. Good, evil, those are terms that are meaningless to all Sobek. The humans may like you, or they may hate you, but humans are like that. We simply do as we will. We understand that actions have consequences, and we accept that and deal with them as we must.
"But we were gods once, and who knows? Perhaps we will be again someday. Gods do not let the feelings of their followers sway them. That's why they are called 'followers'; they follow."
"You know, that sounds very entitled," Dan said, thinking about the way things often were back home.
"Because we are entitled, Daniel, my son! Sobek are respected, if not downright feared. By all of demonkind. You will discover that there is not a single male of any species other than Sobek here in all of our realm."
"But what about those who say might doesn't make right?"
His father guffawed loudly at that.
"Ah, yes, the weak are full of such things! They say that because they are weak! If they were strong, you would quickly see them change their song! Human history is full of weak men and women gaining power and going on to
wreak the kinds of havoc they previously disclaimed."
He smiled. "Do not fall for any of that, my son, or you will be living a lie. You are powerful; you were given that power to use it, just as the leopard was given the power to kill and eat the gazelle."
"So I should be a despot then?"
"Is the leopard a despot?" his father asked, frowning at him. "No, of course not. Rule your place and your people firmly, and take your due when it is due. Do not foul your own bed. Understand that the rewards of benevolent and just rule aren't happy subjects, but complacent subjects. Ones who will not protest your occasional rash or harsh action, because they know that they are safe, that those others, well, those others obviously deserved what they got."
Dan struggled with that a moment. It all seemed a bit too pat, but then again…
"Are you sure?" he asked as he turned the idea over in his head.
"Your women are all strong, yet they let you lead them, do they not?"
"Well, yeah…"
"All of the world is weak, and all look to others to lead them, to direct them, to set their lives in order for them. Only a handful of us truly have the power to lead them. Take this Weson and this Wiles of yours. Neither is capable of truly leading, or they would have quickly disposed of the other. True leaders strike quickly and take what is theirs without fear or hesitation."
Dan thought about that for a while as well. He began to realize that there was a certain wisdom in his father's words. It wasn't quite human wisdom, but his father wasn't human, and for that matter, neither was he anymore.
"So the curse part of this banishment, how does it work?"
"Not at all, if you are a part of the place they are trying to banish you from, my son. As I said before, the ties you have to the Earth through your mother renders that meaningless. The curse only works on those who have no claim on the place they are banished from. You see, it is easier to cast someone out of a place they do not belong than to cast someone out of their own home."
Dan remembered his lessons with Nicitel, as well as his own studies. "Because demons are never from Earth, that makes the curse easier to invoke."
"Ah! I see you understand! Very good, my son."
