‘Well, Anita would claw out my eyes if she didn’t have a guard,’ Michael grumbled, climbing to his feet.
Ceri nodded. ‘Gwyn? Mei?’
‘We are the subject of enquiry,’ Gwyn said.
Another nod. ‘You’re welcome too, Twill…’
‘Another time,’ the fairy replied, ‘and I think the fact that Ishifa is hiding indicates she would prefer to wait.’
‘Uh-huh. No, Lil, we’re not getting dressed up. There won’t be anyone there who cares. Take everyone down to the hall and I’ll be there in a second.’
‘Where, exactly, are we going?’ John asked as Ceri walked down the stairs, adjusting her slim, metal crown so that it was mostly hidden under her hair.
Ceri lifted her staff, pointing toward the main doors. There was a small flare of light, a ripple in the air, and the portal opened up as a swirling disc of colour and light.
‘Through there. Let me go first. Lily, would you make sure everyone gets through okay?’
‘Of course, Shivika.’ Ceri frowned at her pet. ‘What? I’m getting in practice.’
Shaking her head, Ceri stepped through the portal.
The Castle of Bones, Demon Realm.
John Radcliff considered himself a fairly grounded man. He held to a reality based on reason. His wife was, sure enough, a vampire and his partner was a witch, but there were people around like Ceri and Cheryl Tennant who would sit there and explain to you the science behind the magic in the world. Magic was rational, even if the rules governing it could be esoteric, unintuitive, even twisted.
His skin tingled as he passed through the skin of energy which was currently occupying a space in the front hall of High Towers and, instead of finding himself in the little porch, or outside, he stepped into a large, open chamber. Well… translocation of some sort. He had always been told that was impossible, but he was pretty sure demons could do it, and Ceri was powerful and clever.
The room seemed to have been cut out of black rock. No… Now he looked at it, the walls were too smooth. No cutting tool had been used to build this place. Someone had used magic to form it. John had no idea how, but he would have laid money on it. He was standing in a cavern which had been grown out of black basalt.
Kate was looking white, and Lorna was looking a little whiter than usual, which seemed odd, but then both of them had been through something of a stressful experience within the last couple of hours.
‘This way,’ Ceri said, marching off toward the archway at the end of the room. She looked a little incongruous carrying her staff and wearing an over-sized men’s shirt, and she was barefoot, as she walked confidently across the black, stone floor.
She led the way down a corridor which came out in another black room without windows, though this one had a lot of red drapes hung around it and…
John was just about to ask about the big, black, skull-carved throne when his attention was drawn to the room’s doors bursting open and the woman rushing in. She was speaking gibberish in a runaway manner which suggested she was entirely unprepared for their arrival.
And she was blue.
John’s jaw dropped open.
~~~
‘Overlord! We didn’t know you were coming! Oh, the place is a mess and there’s nothing in the larders and I wasn’t here to greet you and…’
Reaching out, Ceri put her index finger to Hiffy’s lips. ‘Do I honestly look like this is an official, “I’m the Overlord of All Demons, bow before me,” visit?’ Hiffy shook her head, lips still pursed against Ceri’s finger. ‘No. I brought some friends over from Earth because… Well, I need to tell some of them about this place and it was easier to show them. Oh, and that young man standing protectively beside the older woman? That is Michael.’
Hiffy’s eyes shifted to where Michael was, indeed, standing beside Alexandra in a rather tense attitude. Then she looked down at Ceri’s finger. Ceri moved her finger. ‘The Overlord has good taste in males. The lady beside him and two of the others seem…’ She gave a slight shiver. ‘They seem very powerful, and that other one, the tall, beautiful one, she’s…’
‘A long story, and I’ll brief you on it later. I’m going to take them up to the watchtower, then… I don’t believe the stores are empty, Hiffy. Could we get something brought to my rooms? Nothing heavy. Meat, cheese, bread?’
‘Of course, Mistress. I just meant we hadn’t restocked for a banquet.’
Ceri gave her a nod. ‘Get Ruffa to organise that, would you? I’m here to sort out a conference. Did Ophelia come back?’
‘Yes, Mistress.’
‘Okay. Ask her to meet us downstairs.’ Giving the demon-girl a smile, Ceri turned back to her guests.
‘Not everyone speaks Devotik, dear,’ Gwyn pointed out.
‘I know,’ Ceri said, switching to English. ‘I think, given we’re doing the tour, and Hiffy might have been a giveaway, but I don’t think you’ll really believe it until you see it… It’s a bit of a climb, but it’s worth it.’ She turned again and marched off through the doors and onto the landing beyond.
‘Holy…’ John’s voice echoed around the vast room as they followed.
‘You do seem to have a very large extension,’ Gwyn commented.
‘Did you get planning permission?’ Alexandra asked. ‘I understand the local council can be a little officious about that kind of thing.’
‘Ha ha,’ Ceri said as she started up the spiral stairs on the far side of the room.
It was a fairly long way up. Michael was being solicitous to Alexandra by about half way up, until she told him to stop being silly after another dozen steps. They kept climbing until they emerged through the floor of the watchtower, a tall, slim spire jutting up from the front edge of the huge, black castle.
Both Lorna and Kate let out a gasp. John just stared in wonder. For as far as the eye could see to the north, the land stretched out in a series of mountains toward a sky which had a reddish hue with no obviously visible sun. On either side and behind them, the mountains were a harsh, black, snow-capped backdrop. Directly in front was a vast bowl filled in the middle by a perfectly circular lake which seemed to reflect no light. There was not a ripple on it.
‘Welcome,’ Ceri said, ‘to the Castle of Bones, atop Mount Khed in the Khedra Range, in the Demon Realm.’
~~~
‘Just so I’m straight on this,’ John said as he buttered some of the bread Hiffy had brought in, ‘you came to the Demon Realm to rescue Lily, got stuck here, made something of a name for yourself, discovered that the ancient overlord of the demons was actually a relative, put his hat on, and now you’re the new demon overlord?’
Ceri considered for a second and then said, ‘Sounds about right.’
‘And Mei and Gwyn are dragons?’
‘Were dragons,’ Gwyn corrected. ‘We’re no more dragons now than Ceri is.’
‘And Ceri is so powerful,’ Kate took over from John, ‘because she’s a sorceress, and sorcerers are people with a little dragon in their bloodline.’
‘Uh-huh,’ Ceri said. ‘I have two, Gwyn on one side and her mate on the other, and he was from the second child of Gorefguhadget, who used to be the owner of this place.’
‘I’m not sure how you’re having so much trouble with this,’ Ophelia commented. ‘It’s been a known fact in Otherworld since she emerged, and there were hints that she was coming long before that. Most of the older vampires know.’
‘The packs don’t really care,’ Alexandra put in. ‘Ceri is Luperca’s favourite. She could be a singing fish or a demi-god. Actually, some of the stories I hear… Maybe they do think you’re a demi-god, dear.’
‘From what I remember from school,’ John said, ‘she might as well be. Sorcerers were supposed to be…’
‘Beings of incredible power,’ Kate said, her voice hushed, ‘for good or ill.’
‘I’ve been both already,’ Ceri told them. ‘I stopped Remus, and Barnes, and Gadriel. Raynor’s a mixed bag: if the dragons hadn’t be
en setting things up and decided to make it worse, he’d never have managed to cause the trouble he did, but I got him. And then there’s the whole Dragonfall thing. I brought an army of dragons to London…’
‘Ahead of schedule and without the Chinese Army,’ Mei said. Ceri blinked at her. ‘Huanglong planned to bring people he felt were loyal over a few at a time. It would have taken years, but he would have eventually had all his people with him in China. Then the Dragon Empire would have marched across the globe. When you were found, he chose the quick option and, thanks to Molech’s machinations and Lily, that choice destroyed our universe.’
Gwyn was nodding. ‘The fall was terrible, lives were lost, but it prevented a far more terrible war from happening later.’
‘Okay,’ John said, ‘so if you two survived, are there others?’
‘We know of one,’ Gwyn replied.
‘Edward Perry,’ Kate said, ‘the “expert” you brought in to decrypt that cube.’
‘He was my sorcery teacher,’ Ceri said. ‘He’s brilliant. If anyone can figure out how to move the thing, he can.’
‘The obvious conclusion though,’ John said, ‘is that it was another surviving dragon who planted the thing.’
‘I admit that that seems likely,’ Gwyn agreed. ‘I just cannot see why they would want to.’
‘How did you avoid the backlash when the bridge collapsed?’ Ceri asked. ‘I mean, I know what you did, you became human, but you’re not the same human you were before the fall.’
‘We had to shed our… dragon-ness,’ Gwyn replied, grimacing. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t come up with a better way of saying that. There were aspects of our nature which we had to destroy, or let be destroyed. Brenhines explained it to those he thought deserved to live.’
‘Oh yeah,’ Kate said, ‘and the comet we saw last year was actually the soul of your dead mate returning to try to stop the invasion. That’s another of the things I’m glad I don’t have to write a report about.’
Ceri saw Gwyn’s features shift slightly, the pain flickering across them for a fraction of a second. Thirty thousand years and the woman still grieved for her lost mate. Ceri glanced at Lily and Michael, wondering whether she had the same thing in store for her.
‘Actually,’ Ceri said, ‘I want your opinion on that. Not a report, as such, but… This is all going to come out, probably sooner rather than later. I think some bits of the government suspect, assuming they don’t know. If you think the Chief can handle this, I’d like you to tell him, or bring him to me so I can. I don’t want him finding out in some briefing. He’s earned more trust than that.’
‘It has to have been hard,’ Lorna said into the small silence which followed. ‘You’ve had this huge secret, and so much has happened, and I bet you wished you didn’t have to keep it.’
Ceri gave a small shrug. ‘When it does come out, I’m going to have a big bullseye painted on my back, but… I’ve got a world to run here, and I’ve got all the generator work at home. I opened relations between here and Otherworld…’
‘And that’s in the early, rushing about, stages,’ Ophelia said, grimacing. ‘I need an assistant. Anyway, the Court is using “Lady Ayasha” on all official documents, and that’s the name a lot of the fae know you as over there, but some know who you really are, and it just takes someone to say something in the wrong place.’
Ceri gave a nod. ‘I’m almost starting to think I should book an appointment with Malcolm Charles and tell him everything.’ She looked at a few shocked faces around her and added, ‘Almost. The tension’s getting to me, though. If I knew when it was all going to blow up in my face it would be nice.’
‘Give us a few days,’ John suggested. ‘We’ll think on telling the Chief. Meanwhile, he would like you and Lily to come with us on Monday to talk to Simon Ziel.’
‘If we’re on the subject of requests,’ Alexandra put in, ‘the pack leaders are having a meeting tomorrow, in Battersea, and Dolf has asked if you would attend.’
Ceri blinked. ‘Uh… If the Chief wants us to go see Ziel, then yeah, but… Dolf asked for me?!’
‘Both of you,’ Alexandra replied. ‘I believe the world must be about to end. Again.’
Soho, London.
Cheryl was back at the bar in a short, golden dress. Ceri was getting a little worried about her boss. Gwyn and Faran had managed to take a lot of load off her, but she was still clearly stressed and drinking more than she usually did. If it was just on Saturday nights… Well, Ceri was hoping it was just on Saturday nights.
‘I got things started on the meeting,’ Ceri said, her eyes on her tables rather than Cheryl.
‘Good,’ Cheryl replied. ‘Any idea of a date?’
Ceri glanced at Ophelia as she returned from a drinks run and began sorting cash. ‘When did we decide on?’
‘Uh… it’ll be the twenty-first,’ the Sidhe replied, her brain on two things at once. ‘That’s a Sunday. One overnight stay, back here on the twenty-fourth, early.’
‘Will two days be enough?’ Cheryl asked.
‘Two thirty-eight-hour days,’ Ceri supplied. ‘By then the difficult bit should be comparing notations and working out the differences. It should do.’
Cheryl nodded, sank back against the bar, and took a slug from her wine glass. ‘That’s a weight off my mind. And it’ll be a break from doing this interminable planning.’
‘You okay, boss?’ Ceri asked, failing to keep the worry out of her voice.
‘Next year, they are employing a proper conference organiser. I told the Dean I’d resign if I had to go through this again. I’m drinking too much. If it wasn’t for you, Gwyn, and Faran I’d be a lush by now.’
‘At least you know you’re drinking too much.’
‘And I know it’ll be hard to stop. Carter has told me he’s putting me on a detox regimen when the conference is over.’
Ceri grinned. ‘How are you explaining being away for the meeting over there?’
‘I said I would be attending a small conference on aquatic thaumatology to help with the Australian project.’
Ceri’s grin shifted to a giggle. ‘The Aquatic Thaumatology Conference? Okay. Ophelia, it’s got a name.’
Ophelia tucked tip money into her dress and handed the rest of the cash across to Alec. ‘I’ll get it put on the invitations.’
Battersea Park, April 7th.
Ceri spotted Jenny Li sitting with a small group of wolves as she walked around the edge of the lake with Lily and Michael. She had not seen much of the half-Chinese girl recently and crossed the grass to talk to her. They were early for the meeting anyway.
‘Ceri! Hey, how’s things?’ Jenny asked as they approached. There was also a yip from the brown-fur sitting beside her: Lee, her mate in the pack, her boyfriend out of it.
‘Busy, stressful, but I’m still alive, so that’s a plus. You?’
‘Still unemployed,’ Jenny replied, slumping. ‘The new Ambassador is a bit of an arse. I got dumped and I haven’t found a new job yet.’ Ceri’s eyes narrowed and stayed that way until Jenny said, ‘What?! I’m looking!’
‘How many languages do you know, Jen?’ Ceri asked.
‘Uh…’ The ex-translator began ticking them off on her fingers. ‘English and Mandarin are the main ones, Dutch, French, Low Fae, Devotik, and Werewolf, of course.’
‘You know Devotik and Low Fae?’
‘I’m not that great. Studied them out of curiosity, really. From textbooks. I’m actually better at reading Devotik than speaking it, I think. Not a lot of people to practise with.’
‘Would you come back to High Towers with us after the meeting? I might have something for you.’
‘Uh… sure?’
Ceri grinned at her and set off again toward the boats.
‘Assistant for Ophelia?’ Lily asked as they walked.
‘Jenny’s good with people as well as languages,’ Ceri replied.
‘Have you considered starting an employment agency?’ Michael suggest
ed.
‘Sounds like a lot of paperwork. This way, I get to hand out gold coins and they get to deal with the tax issues.’
Donal and Sharon, Alphas of the Marshwallers, were getting ready to cross when the trio arrived and there was a boat just about big enough for everyone, including Grant, their Captain, so they went across together. Ceri did not know the Marshwallers well. In fact she knew Dolf and Freya of the Dog Boys better, and that was not saying a lot. They seemed to know her though, giving her smiles as their Captain rowed across the short distance between the boathouse and the island.
They were the last to arrive, and Alexandra smiled warmly at them while pouring tea. Dolf, a thuggish sort of man who had mellowed a lot in the last year, was sitting beside his mate, Freya, and looking a little impatient. Whatever was on the Dog Boys’ Alpha’s mind, it seemed like he was in a hurry to get it out, but Alexandra had seniority and she was going to make sure things started with the niceties.
‘I hope no one has any objections to Ceri and Lily being here,’ Alexandra said. ‘Dolf asked for them to come, but it is a slight deviation from usual decorum.’ Catherine, the Royals’ Alpha and sister to both Freya and Anita, just smiled. Donal and Sharon voiced their pleasure at having the guests; Sharon, Ceri decided, was an import from Essex. ‘Excellent,’ Alexandra went on. ‘It’s a beautiful day and I’d like to get on to more pleasant discussions, so… Dolf?’
The big man gave a grunt. ‘And I’m sorry to have to drag the mood down, and drag you two over from Kennington, but this came up and we thought you should know.’ He produced a small, plastic bag from his leather jacket and tossed it across to Ceri.
There were two dull, pale-brown pellets inside it, obviously manufactured. They looked like a type of alchemical preparation meant to be burned. Ceri popped the zip-lock and used a hand to waft the scent at her nose. There was a faint, generic chemical scent. She handed the bag to Michael.
‘It’s got the same sort of odd chemical smell that Oblivion has,’ Michael growled.
‘It’s alchemical,’ Alexandra agreed, ‘but it’s not Oblivion, or a derivative I think.’
Thaumatology 12: Vengeance Page 9
