Thaumatology 10 - The Other Side of Hell

by Teasdale, Niall

  Beyond the corridor was another room, buried deep within the mountain. It had only one feature and her father… Gorefguhadget was standing beside it. It had been carved into the rock wall, a huge circle of sigils and lines, like a containment circle turned on its edge. It was already glowing, burning with light and swirls of sparks like fireflies. This was the portal.

  ‘Quickly,’ Gorefguhadget said. ‘You need to get through. They’ve already breached the gates.’

  ‘Daddy!’ Ceri heard her own voice again and this time she was almost certain she was hearing a female child. Brenin clearly had not been Gorefguhadget’s second child then, and Brenhines was too young.

  She found herself scooped up into strong arms and held close against a scaly, black chest which was surprisingly comfortable. ‘Go with your mother, Dena. Remember I love you.’ His not-lips touched her cheek and then he was swinging her back onto her feet. She felt Lenadenora’s hand grip hers and she was pulled toward the portal. The last thing she saw before the swirling magic took her was her father transforming into the huge, black scaled form of a dragon.

  There were tears in her eyes and the fog of sleep still in her mind, but there was noise. Someone was shouting, but the emotion of the dream was still hanging heavy on her, she was confused and unsure she was not still in the dream. But one of the voices was Lily’s.

  Ceri tried to struggle upward and found herself held down. She heard someone yell, ‘She’s waking up!’ Light and pain exploded across her skull, and then there was nothing.

  ~~~

  The pain was still there, but at least the confusion was gone. Ceri opened her eyes and groaned; the light was way too bright for her delicate head. If she did not know better she would have thought she had been drinking heavily. As the light subsided and her vision cleared, she realised that she had woken once before in a position like this and it had not been good the last time.

  She was in the containment circle in the magic room and someone had raised a circle around it. The last time she had woken up with a sore head inside a circle was when Matthew Barnes had tried to kill her in one. This time was different, of course; there were no thaumic accelerators outside this circle, she had not been naked then, and Lily had not been there.

  Lily was lying just across the circle, heavy ropes wrapped around her shins and forearms. Her arms were behind her back and her ankles had been pulled up to tie to her wrists. Someone had stuffed her mouth with cloth and tied another cloth over the top to gag her. Well that was going to have to end.

  Looking around, Ceri noticed the three Devos outside the circle. They were ignoring her. Each was kneeling, hands on their knees. Their heads were raised and their lips were moving. She could not hear the words, but she imagined that they were maintaining the circle. Ceri slid across the smooth floor of the circle and began untying Lily.

  ‘I’m not sure how they got in,’ Lily said, keeping her voice low, once the gag was removed. ‘I don’t think they used the front door.’

  ‘No,’ Ceri replied, ‘there’s an alarm if the doors are forced.’

  ‘I woke up and they were all around the bed. You… just weren’t coming too. There were six of them on you before I could do anything.’

  ‘I was dreaming. The day they breached the castle. Gorefguhadget’s second child was a girl. I am on her line.’ Whoever had tied the knots on Lily’s bonds was good. Ceri gave up after a few seconds and summoned her power. The ropes suddenly loosened and Lily struggled out of them. ‘Well, I can still work magic in here.’

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘My head hurts, but I’m basically okay. You?’

  ‘Bruises, nothing too bad. I handed out a few bruises as well, so I guess it’s fair. They could have just killed us.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Ceri looked out at the demons surrounding them. ‘So why didn’t they?’

  ‘He… wants us for something?’

  ‘That doesn’t exactly make me feel better.’

  ~~~

  Molech was just as Ceri remembered him; an over-sized Devos with a flaming crown suspended above his head between his majestically sweeping horns. He strode into the laboratory as though he owned the place and, Ceri thought, he once had. When the crown had been his, so had the castle. As he walked up to the edge of the containment circle he smiled.

  ‘Ceridwyn Brent, or should I be calling you Lady Ayasha? I must say that I have been following your exploits with some amusement. Lady Ayasha has stormed the Grey Castle in Shilfaris to her free her beloved pet, Lilith. Together they fought an army of Cheldeg and saved a village. She fights bandits and brigands. She raises the dead to fight for her. Your story is becoming as legendary as Gorefguhadget’s.’

  Ceri, sat within the circle, shrugged. ‘I get around.’

  ‘Indeed. I’d imagine you have questions. Let me see if I can answer a few of them.’ He turned, starting to pace slowly across the room. ‘When you opened the gates, you woke the castle. That includes the portal I have no doubt you were intending to use to get Lilith to Earth. Using my own portal, I was able to walk right in without triggering the, very effective, defences of this building. You are alive because I need you, or more precisely I need your power. Combining my power with yours, I will once again wear the Iron Crown. The circle you are in is part of a spell which will feed your power to me at dawn tomorrow. However, the process will not be as effective if you resist. I require your compliance.’

  Ceri let out a laugh. ‘And what makes you think that I’d want to help you?’

  ‘And so we come to the question of why Lilith is still with us… Tell me, Ceridwyn Brent, do you have something to lose now?’

  Threatening him was pointless. He was on the outside of a cylinder of magic which would stop anything she could throw at it. Maybe without it she could have done something to him, but as it was he was safe and he knew it. ‘You’ve been planning this as long as the dragons have, haven’t you?’ Ceri asked instead.

  ‘Longer. I discovered you before they did. I recognised the bloodline of Brenin and Brenhines as soon as I saw you. The resonance is unmistakeable. I knew they would find you and accelerate their plans. Do you know they were hoping to move people over into China a few at a time? You just gave them a chance to do the job all at once, and you gave me the chance to do so much more.’ The smile on his face had grown to a huge, malicious grin.

  ‘Like taking the crown again.’

  ‘Oh no, like revenge against the monsters who enslaved all demons. When that bridge collapsed it took all the power there was in the Earth and pushed it through into their world like a ram. Whatever time they had left, it’s gone. Their universe will have collapsed. There are no more dragons.’

  Well, Ceri was certainly not going to tell him about the ones who had survived. ‘I seem to have spent my entire life being manipulated by one bunch of megalomaniac bastards or another.’

  Molech smiled and turned, heading for the door. ‘Yes, you have, but that will end soon when I’ve taken your power and there’s nothing left of you but a mindless husk.’

  ~~~

  ‘You have to resist him,’ Lily said. They were lying as comfortably as they could on the stone floor, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  ‘He’ll kill you,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘Or he sucks your mind out of your head and I become his slave like every other demon in the world.’

  ‘You’ll be alive.’

  ‘That’s not living, and you know it. He didn’t say you’d be dead. He’ll use the pair of us as pleasure slaves until we’re too worn out to keep going. There’s no choice. If you resist, he may not be able to take the crown.’

  Ceri grunted non-committally and looked up at the flow of magic around the circle. This one was invisible, just as the one Barnes had used was until he powered up the accelerators. She could see it because it diverted the flow of magic around it. ‘Do you think Barnes getting killed was collateral damage?’

  ‘Personally I think Molech knew you’d kill him a
nd wanted him dead.’

  Ceri chuckled. ‘The man was a pain in the arse even to his demon overlord.’

  ‘Huh. So that means Molech was probably the one who told Barnes how to sabotage your circle. God, he must have guessed it would overload your enchantment and let your power out.’

  Ceri gave a little gasp and Lily shifted to look at her. Ceri’s lips curled into a smile. ‘I am so stupid. I just found door number three.’

  ‘Mistress has clearly lost it.’

  Moving her head upward, Ceri gave Lily a quick kiss on the lips. ‘We’re getting out of here when it gets dark. Molech taught Barnes how to sabotage the circle, he told Shane, and I learned it from him.’

  Lily developed a malicious grin. ‘When?’

  ‘Tonight. Molech will want his rest before his big day tomorrow.’

  ‘Cool, I think we should have sex. It’ll piss off the three chanting dicks.’

  Ceri gave a slightly exasperated sigh. On the other hand, what else did they have to do.

  ~~~

  There were no windows in the room, but Ceri suspected night was falling when Molech returned wearing his best superior smirk. This was a man who knew he had won; Ceri had to suppress the smile she wanted to show.

  ‘In around eight of your hours it will be over,’ he said, his voice resonating off the stone walls. ‘Have you decided to work with me on this, Ceridwyn Brent?’

  ‘I won’t resist you,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘Good, very good. I won’t see you in the morning, but you’ll feel me. Briefly.’

  ‘One thing,’ Ceri said. ‘When it’s done, I want you to send Lily back to Earth. Call it a last wish.’

  He looked at her for a second and then nodded, smiling just the same way as ever. ‘Of course.’ He turned and marched back out of the room.

  Ceri waited for the door to close. ‘Lying scumbag. We’ll give it an hour.’

  ~~~

  Ceri looked around at the three demons still holding up the circle. She was quite amazed at their stamina really. Sure, she could have held a circle that big in place for this long, but she was a sorceress. They were just ordinary Devos, as far as she could tell. Well, they were very busy concentrating on preparing her to have her soul sucked out, so they deserved worse than they were about to get.

  ‘Ready?’ she asked Lily.

  ‘More than ready.’ Lily’s pupils flared a brilliant red and Ceri felt the wave of heat wash over her skin as Lily’s aura expanded out to fill the interior of the circle.

  ‘Right.’ Lifting her hand, Ceri drew on her power and marked out a symbol on the wall of the circle. It shone as she inscribed it; Blotherian, the Ctholnaraeic rune of betrayal, assassination, and the opening of secret ways. Placing it under the salt in the first experimental circle Ceri had attended had caused the rupture which had brought her powers to the surface. When Barnes had trapped her in the same circle intending to expose her to a huge magical field, she had used the rune to break out, and in so doing had blasted Barnes into the demon realm. Now…

  Something like the crack you see when a stone hits a car windshield formed behind the rune. Ceri balled her fists and focussed, pushing power into the symbol. The cracks spread, slowly at first and then more rapidly. There was an instant where the entire cylinder of energy was a crazed pattern of broken nothing hanging in the air, and then it shattered. Three demons looked down sharply as their spell broke. Lily’s aura washed over them as she raised her arms, attracting their attention, and then they were lost in sudden unimaginable pleasure.

  Ceri found the heaviest lump of metal she could in the room and used it to bash the demons unconscious. It was possible that Molech knew the spell had been shattered, but he was very likely to know if three of his Devos suddenly died.

  ‘Now what?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Now we get the hell out of here. We go upstairs to the throne room, go through to the portal room, I do clever shit with magic, we go home, Molech has a really bad morning.’

  ‘Right… “clever shit with magic…” Want clothes to do it in?’ She pointed toward a corner of the room where their packs had been dumped.

  ‘Oh…’ Ceri was a little torn between arriving at a potentially unknown location on Earth stark naked, and being in a hurry. She rushed toward the bags. Lily did likewise, but after a few seconds it was apparent that she was not hunting for clothes. ‘What are you doing?’ Ceri asked as she pulled on her trousers.

  ‘Getting my stuff together while you dress. We don’t need the food or the rope, but I am so taking my cuffs and collar, and your dress. I don’t care about arriving nude.’

  Ceri shook her head, grinning, and concentrated on dressing. Okay, they were not out of the woods yet, but it felt close. They were both feeling happier than they had for a while. Ceri could feel the burgeoning relief Lily was feeling. Strapping her shoulder pads and hood into place, Ceri got to her feet, grabbing her staff as she went. ‘Got what you need?’

  Lily grinned as she snapped her last cuff around her ankle, and then she picked up one of the bags, slung it over her shoulder, and got to her feet. ‘Lead the way, Mistress. Your pet is ready for action.’

  Ceri turned and started for the door. ‘Maybe some deprogramming when we get home.’ She pulled the door open as smoothly as she could. There was a Dakag on guard on the landing, but only one which made it easy enough to put him to sleep. Together they slipped out of the magic room and started up the slope to the next floor. Sure enough there was another guard there, but Ceri spotted him before he spotted them.

  ‘You think Molech’s in our bed?’ Lily whispered as they started upward.

  ‘It’s not exactly our bed.’

  ‘Yes it is. Who else is around to inherit it except you?’

  ‘Huh…’ Ceri flexed her will and laid out the guard on the top floor. They had not been up here yet, but there was only the one set of doors, big and black, and already open. Ceri knew where she was going anyway; she had seen it in her dream. They moved as quickly and as quietly as possible into the throne room.

  It was empty, but both of them could feel the presence there. The walls seemed to resonate with it and your eyes were drawn to it as soon as you walked in. It sat there on the seat of the throne; the Iron Crown. It was not quite what Ceri had expected; a simple circlet about an inch thick with a triangular front piece which pointed down toward the wearer’s nose.

  ‘That’s it?’ Lily said, her voice soft and rather awed.

  ‘Looks like it. Feels like it.’ Ceri shook her head and started toward the door at the back of the room. ‘We didn’t come for that.’

  ‘But… Can’t you feel the power?’

  Ceri stopped and turned on her heel. ‘Yes,’ she hissed. ‘I can feel it. I can feel it pulling at me. It wants me to put it on, and that’s the last thing I’m going to do. Now come on.’

  The door behind the throne room was exactly where she expected it to be and Ceri was half way down the corridor to the portal chamber before she noticed all the light and movement up ahead. She slowed down and they crept the last twenty yards, stopping just inside the shadow of the corridor. There had to be twenty guards in the room. They were facing the portal itself, but that could change quickly enough.

  ‘He must be worried about other Lords learning the portal here is open,’ Lily whispered. ‘Can you take them?’

  Ceri frowned. ‘That many? And I’m not even sure what some of them are. They might be resistant to magic… Move back to the throne room.’ She turned and moved off as quickly as stealth allowed. ‘We need some sort of distraction. Maybe we can get them to leave and we can get past.’

  ‘How are you going to make a distraction?’ Lily asked as they emerged into the throne room.

  ‘Don’t worry, Lilith, there will be no need for that.’ They both froze at the sound of Molech’s voice. ‘Please, come out from behind the throne. You know I won’t hurt you. I need you to take the crown.’

  Slowly, Ceri stepped up onto the plinth th
e throne was mounted on and moved around toward the front. She kept Lily behind her. He needed her, Lilith was an expendable tactical advantage.

  Molech stood in the doorway with a dozen guards in front of him; two Devos and ten Therim. Ceri recalled that he used Therim as his personal guard. They all looked like they would jump in front of a projectile spell for him.

  ‘Very clever of you,’ Molech said. ‘Escaping my circle like that. Blotherian?’

  Ceri nodded slowly. ‘Thanks for teaching me that.’

  ‘A foolish mistake on my part, but no matter. One day’s delay will mean little.’

  Behind Ceri, Lily stretched up to whisper in her ear. ‘The crown!’ Ceri frowned, glancing down at the iron circlet which was barely a foot away from her.

  ‘Take them,’ Molech went on. ‘Make sure they are both tied and gagged.’

  ‘Put the crown on!’ Lily hissed in Ceri’s ear. Ceri’s heart began to pound in her chest.

  ‘I don’t want to take any chances that the Lorril may know how to draw the rune,’ Molech added. ‘Go on, I want them back in that circle!’

  The demons stepped forward as one and Ceri lunged for the crown. She felt something like a static shock rush through her hand as her fingers touched it; she ignored that, grabbing the metal and lifting it up.

  ‘No!’ Molech screamed. ‘You’ll destroy yourself, girl. The crown will take your mind and rip it apart, and then reduce your body to ash.’

  Ceri stopped and looked at him. ‘I’ll take my chances.’ She jammed the crown down onto her head and everything went black.

  Around her, there was nothing but darkness, but she knew that something was there. She could feel it. A presence, out there in the black. A mind which was watching her.

  ‘Hello?’ she said, hoping to provoke some response.

  ‘You carry my blood in your veins.’

  His blood? ‘Gorefguhadget?’

  ‘A fraction of his mind. Enough to empower the crown. How is it that you carry my blood?’