Lyriasharin released her hands and looked at Bane again. "Your task awaits. We shall do it together. Mirra will return to the temple, to await you there." She turned to the healer. "My child, go and tell the good healers that they may rejoice. I shall restore the land."
Bane glanced down at the grass that spread from Lyriasharin's feet, and now furred the entire hill upon which they stood. It lapped at the distant forest's roots, and trees at its edge sprouted green shoots. She gave life back to the land with her mere presence, and her power filled the air and soil for miles around.
The goddess gestured, and Mirra vanished. The Lady turned to him. "Come, My Lord, let us begin."
Chapter Sixteen
Atonement
The Lady clasped her hands, and the landscape changed. They stood upon the plain beside the fallen seventh ward. The wind hissed through the brown remnants of the long golden grass that poked through the hard grey ash that covered the land. The wind had scoured stretches of ground bare, which yielded a bounty of dust for it to play with. The stone colossus lay cracked and broken, its crystal cap scattered about it in a million shards, sparkling in the sunlight like a bed of diamonds. The goddess gazed at it.
"You did a good job on this one, did you not?"
"Yes."
"Your powers are impressive."
He glanced down at the greenness that spread from her feet. "As are yours."
She laughed. "Indeed, My Lord, such is the lot of gods and goddesses."
"Do you fear me?"
Her amusement faded. "If I did not know you as well as I do, I would not be standing beside you. But I could escape you easily. Now, it is time to restore the seventh ward and complete your side of the bargain. The Overworld is not safe until Arkonen is sealed below forever."
He gazed at the monolith. "Will my power affect you?"
"No, My Lord. I have no mortal body for it to sicken. If you wish to know if you could harm me with it, the answer is yes, if I could not escape you. My power could also kill you, if you could not escape it, since you possess a mortal body still. But, if you were clad in a dark form, like Arkonen, I would be powerless against you, since the light is not meant for destruction. That is why I needed you to cast him down, for you have the ability to wield it as you did, and I have not."
"So Arkonen could have conquered your realm if he had been able to corrupt Mirra."
"Yes, unfortunately. The demons did not dupe him as they tried to do to you, and they did not know you have no wish to conquer my domain. Do not think that that is the reason I protected Mirra from his transformation, however. It would not have given him the power to corrupt her. To do that, he had to seduce her, which he could not. It was her love for you that foiled him in that respect. I protected her for your sake, for had he transformed her, she would have been driven mad by it, and the only escape for her then would have been death."
"I could have undone it."
She shook her head. "It would have been too late. Her sanity would have been lost forever."
"I thought she was immune to the dark power."
"She is, in so much as it cannot kill her, but she was powerless, and therefore vulnerable to transformation. You could have done it to her, had you wished. But you never tried, did you?"
"No." Bane frowned down at the greenness around his boots. "He did not seduce her?"
A look of intense compassion came over the Lady's visage. "You thought he had?"
He rubbed his brow. "I feared... I was unsure."
"Why did you not ask her?"
"I could not."
"I understand. No, My Lord, be at ease, he did not. I watched over her while she was his prisoner. I gave her strength."
Bane turned away to hide his expression as intense relief swept through him, washing away the burden of guilt and despair that had weighed upon him since Arkonen had taken Mirra. For several minutes he gazed across the blighted grassland, lost in thought, then he faced the monolith again. The battle with the Black Lord had ended his need for rune cutting and potions. It had opened the channels of power permanently, and the shadows flowed into him when he summoned them. Now that the dark power had been banished from the Overworld, it would be a little more difficult to summon, however, since it was not so readily available.
This meant he had to perform a Gather before he could raise the ward. A minor inconvenience. He spread his arms, and the seven runes flared under his shirt. Shadows rushed to answer his call, and he focussed it upon the fallen ward. The black fire flowed over the stone colossus, sparkling with red, a sign of the strength he now possessed. It had only taken six runes to destroy the ward, and that had almost killed him. For the first time since the dark magic had been banished from the Overworld, he wielded his full power.
The earth rumbled, trembling under their feet. The stone creaked, and rocks rolled towards the greater mass of the ward. Bane increased the power, drawing it from the thrumming earth. Shadows streamed into him from all around, a faint banshee wailing accompanying it. Rocks and boulders rolled, bounced and slid towards the ward, leaping back into the cracks and crannies whence they had come. Like time running backwards, the ward reformed, the cracks closed and melded, the chips and shards rushed back to their niches. Dust rose from the plains and flew to the monolith, and it lay once more whole.
Bracing himself, Bane leant back, his hands outstretched towards the fallen ward, the black power flowing through him. With a soft creaking and grating, the massive pentagram rose. Its weight dragged at him as thousands of tonnes of stone lifted from its grassy grave. The black fire sang as it raised the ward, following the gradual upward movement of Bane's hands. The colossus towered upright, tottering as it settled once more into its foundations. The snaking crevasses closed, and a deep rumble shuddered the ground. He gestured with a lash of power, and the crumbled runes reformed upon its five sides.
The ward loomed over him, its jagged crystal crown glittering. Bane squinted, turning his power on the sea of crystal that surrounded them. It tinkled and chimed as his will touched it, then rose like upward-falling rain, sparkling in the sun. He gestured, and, with a chiming of sweet notes, the shards flew to the monolith's top like a flock of shining birds. Diamond bright, the restored crystal stabbed his eyes with rainbow rays.
Bane ascended on a column of dark fire, drifting up to the top of the colossus. Standing on the air, he described a shadow pentagram and flicked it into the crystal, where it shattered into a million images. A pure, sweet chime rang out as lines of power hissed from the base of the ward, forming a web just under the ground, a barrier through which no spirit god could pass. The seventh ward was restored, the Black Lord trapped below once more. He floated down to land beside the Goddess, who gazed up at the ward with a smile.
"The Black Lord will be tearing his hair out, about now. Or at least he would, if he had any."
Bane nodded. "He can burn down there for eternity."
"Such uncharitable thoughts, Bane, although I echo them."
"He deserves no better."
The Lady sighed, her glowing, translucent form, at once real and illusion, brightening. "My husband was once a great man."
"Your husband?"
"Yes. The Black Lord is my husband."
Bane stared at her vivid face, incredulous. The Goddess sank down cross-legged on the warm, grassy ground and patted the earth beside her.
"Sit, Bane. Let us talk for a little while. It has been a long time since I had someone to talk to." Bane settled beside her, and she smiled at him. "You should know how this monster who tortured you came to be. Perhaps it will help you to come to terms with what he did to you." She paused, her gentle smile sorrowful.
"Aeons ago, when the universe was still young, my father, the great Grey God Kayos, created the first domain in the God Realm that exists beyond this domain. First he created a light realm much like Eternity, for himself to live in, for the God Realm is a dark and dangerous place. When it was done, he found that evil lurked withi
n it, for all things must have balance.
"He disliked its presence, so he created an Underworld in which the evil might dwell, and the demons that the dark power birthed populated it. But again there was imbalance, for the two realms were uneasy together, so he created an Overworld between them, where the two powers might mix, becoming the blue neutral power. This worked well, and he was pleased, but although the Overworld was beautiful, it was empty, so he filled it with all manner of beasts.
"Again, he grew unhappy with it, for the beasts did nothing but what they were meant to do. They followed the laws he set within them without question, and he thought to create something more interesting to entertain him. So he brought forth men upon the land, and watched over them with loving eyes. He enjoyed his new creations, and thought them fine, but he could not speak to them as equals, for they worshipped him, and he was lonely.
"So he created a child, to have someone with whom to share his triumph, and was content. But aeons ago his first domain was destroyed by a dark god who rose from the Underworld much like Arkonen did here. His child was killed, and he fled back into the God Realm, where he created another domain. This he did many times, until, several aeons ago, he created this domain, and me. I loved him dearly, and we watched and discussed the doings of men, which were good back then. They multiplied and became numerous, steadfast in their worship of my father, and no evil tainted them.
"I used to come down amongst them, clothed in a far more solid form than this, since I had more power then. I enjoyed walking amongst men, talking to them, learning about them. Then one day I met a young man of surpassing beauty and intelligence. Though he was a common peasant, he was a prince amongst men, honest, forthright, gentle, loving and clever. His hair was spun gold, his eyes as blue as the sky, his visage handsome beyond imagining. My father had bestowed his power upon me, making me a goddess, but he had made me as he had created all women, and I fell in love with this wonderful man. His name was Arkonen, and he loved me just as I did him.
"My father was not pleased, but indulged me, although he warned me that men were not the same as us. Still, I was besotted with Arkonen, and I raised him up, bestowed half of my power upon him, and made him a god. We were happy for millennia. We laughed and dallied together in my father's kingdom. I bore a daughter, Ashynaria, and she was the sunshine in our lives, as golden as her father. She grew into a beautiful woman, and that is when it went awry. Arkonen had been raised up to be a god, but he had not been created one.
"Unknown to me, my husband began to look lustfully upon our daughter. He pursued her, made his intentions known to her, and she, in her despair, opened the Realm Gate and fled into the God Realm, where dangers lurk that even we cannot always overcome."
The Lady's eyes shimmered with tears. "She became lost to us, swallowed up by time and space, untraceable. Even if she wished to, she could never find her way back to Eternity. I was enraged when I found out. My father, in his despair and sorrow, went after her, even knowing that it was hopeless. My fury was such that I cast Arkonen down, stripped him of the power I had bestowed, and made him a mortal man again.
"I expected him to repent, to regret his heinous deed, but he did not. Instead, his love for me turned into a terrible hatred, the likes of which I had not thought him capable. He became a powerful man, and spread the seeds of dissent amongst the people. He filled their minds with evil words, and led them to commit terrible deeds. It was he who used his followers to chase the good people from the Old Kingdom, raising an army of rabble and criminals, stained by his corruption.
"You see, his time as a god had twisted his mind. He had thought himself omnipotent, and longed to have his power again. So when he reached the great river that now divides the two kingdoms, I knew I had to stop him, or he would overrun the whole world."
Bane said, "But surely, if he was mortal, he would grow old and die, ending the scourge."
"Ah, but he was a young man still, as young as when I had met him. He had fifty years to go, at least. I could not let him murder and terrorise the good people for so long. Their prayers for help clamoured in my mind. That was when I made my third mistake. I came down and faced him, pleaded with him, but he laughed and told me to make him a god again, or he would continue.
"He had no remorse for what he had done to our daughter. He said some terrible things, and I grew angry again. I struck him down, killed him, and in doing so, forfeited half my power. His blackened soul fled to the Underworld, and I thought that was the end of it."
She sighed again, plucking a blade of grass. "For centuries there was peace. The people of the Old Kingdom did not cross the river, and Arkonen stayed in the Land of the Dead."
Lyriasharin shook her head. "I do not know how he did it, but he gathered the power to rule the demons and made himself a dark god, rising again as the Black Lord. He struck out across the land with terrible savagery, wreaking havoc, murder and atrocities beyond belief. Once again, I was forced to intervene, but I could not fight him. Instead, I enrolled the aid of the seven great blue mages who worshipped me. I instructed them to create the wards, and, when Arkonen returned to the Underworld, they trapped him below.
"The disease and mutilation he had visited upon the people remained, and I had to remedy it. So I chose certain gifted women, and gave them the power to heal. Their abbeys became my churches, and my power burnt within them. Once more, all was well for a long time. But I was concerned, and I looked ahead to see what the future held. That is when I saw you, and that you could, and would, break the seven wards, unleashing Arkonen upon the world again."
She smiled at him. "That was not your fault. But I was afraid, so I instructed the mages to strengthen the wards, and set traps within them. Five of the seven gave their lives in this endeavour, one died two hundred years later, and the last lived on the Isle of Lume, cut off from the world. In their absence, the use of the blue magic died out. Few powerful blue mages exist today. I looked ahead again and saw that you would still break all the wards, only perishing at the seventh. The healers were the only ones who could help, but they could do little. Their power is only for healing. I spoke to Larris, and told her to create Mirra."
The Lady tossed aside the blade of grass. "The rest, you know."
Bane frowned. "She was created to stop me."
"She was born to save you. That was what Tellgar, the mage on Lume, tried to tell you. Only the healer can save you."
A brief silence fell, then he nodded at the stone colossus before them. "So, the mage who created this ward died doing it."
"Yes. Shalsahar, Master of Stone." Her expression softened at a fond memory. "He was the most powerful of all the mages, so I gave him the seventh ward. It took him seven days to create it, and it almost killed him the first time, since he also had to fight off the attacks of the demons the Black Lord sent to kill him on the day he raised it. At first it did not have the crystal with all its traps. That he added later. That was what killed him.
"He was very old, and died of exhaustion four days after he had completed it. When I looked ahead and saw that you would still break all the wards, despite the traps the mages had died setting, I was afraid. I pondered the problem for many decades, and finally came to the solution. I instructed Larris, but I should have chosen the seeress Ellese. Larris doubted the vision, and kept quiet for too long. When I looked ahead again, I saw chaos. So many futures, I could hardly unravel them.
"In one, Mirra was born before you, and stopped you at the third ward, where you gave up your task. In another, she stopped you at the fifth, another at the sixth. In many, she failed utterly, and so I knew that she was a wild card, unpredictable. It did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but she saved you in the end."
Bane stared at the ground. "I should have listened to her. I was a fool."
The Lady put a hand on his arm, and blue fire sparkled between them. "No, My Lord. I am the fool who raised up a mortal man. That was the mistake that begot all the others. I should have asked my fathe
r to create a husband for me, instead of falling in love with a man. I have paid dearly for that mistake, but, unfortunately, so have many others. Once you have restored all the wards, cast aside the dark power before it corrupts you. You will remain a god."
"A powerless one."
She smiled, patting his arm. Strangely, her form seemed solid, despite her lack of visual substance. "You will have power. Use the blue, if you need it, but your words will still command the elements and your gestures will move mountains. You, unlike Arkonen, were born a god. He changed you in your mother's womb. He had to, so you could wield enough power to break the wards, and, fearing you, he ensured your death. You are now more powerful than he will ever be. In fact, I would even go as far as to say that you are an extremely powerful young god."
He pondered this. "I will consider it."
"But that is not what you are really worried about, is it? You have spent your whole life in the Underworld, learning how to use the dark power, tormented and corrupted by droges and demons. Now you love a girl, and you have no idea what to do about it."
Bane raised his head and gazed at her with piercing eyes. "How could I inflict myself upon her, after all I have done to her?"
"Ah, Bane, if only you could see yourself. You are a god. More than that, you are a dark god, whose allure is without peer. They use it for evil, of course, but you... You are the epitome of perfection, unrivalled amongst men. Even Arkonen's former mortal form pales beside you. This, of course, was not his intention when he stole you, but the dark power loathes ugliness, oddly enough. You would have been a handsome man even without it, but with it..." She sighed, shaking her head. "She is a lucky girl."
"It is not that." He frowned. "I care nothing for being a god. I have no wish to be one. I do not understand how she can love me after what I did to her."
The Goddess giggled. "Mirra loves you more than anything in the world."
His eyes narrowed. "Because she was created for me? Is that her sole purpose in life? Has she no will of her own?"
Dark God Page 30
