Citadel of Demons Read online

  “There is so much power in him now,” said Rhiana. “He is like that monster we fought back in the keep.”

  “A blasphemy in this holy place,” said Zamara.

  “Ah, Admiral, have you not realised that this is far from a holy place? It is the citadel of an ancient race that possessed great knowledge, but they were no more angels than you, or, alas, I.”

  Kormak wondered why Balthazar was talking so much. Was he so confident in his powers? Or was he trying to distract them from their mission. Surely, he knew why they were here. Where were the Old Ones that had accompanied him earlier?

  “You are going to try and destroy this Furnace,” Anders said. Kormak cursed. The mercenary was giving away their objective.

  Balthazar laughed. “No. That is why you are here. Strange as it may sound, I am here to prevent you.”

  “And why would that be?” Zamara asked. Kormak glanced around, seeking the hidden threat that he knew must be there.

  “Because I have struck a deal with the new owner. It will provide me with an army and in return, I am going to help it survive. Think how it will look when the army of the angels returns only to overthrow the Kingdoms of the Sun.”

  So Zhamriel had been telling the truth. It appeared that there was another like him, and that it was prepared to contemplate the unthinkable. It was going to throw in its lot with the Powers of Shadow. It seemed like the Eldrim’s long ago plot was going to work after all. The spell on the mind of the Aurathean had subverted it.

  “Where is this so-called army now?”

  “My ally fights for control of it with what you would call his better self. I do not doubt that he will win, and be here momentarily.”

  Kormak moved towards the Furnace. The only certain way to make sure that Balthazar could not fulfil his plan was to destroy the citadel. It was what he had come here to do and he was determined to see the task through. If anything, the sorcerer’s presence only made him more so.

  Any doubts he had were subdued by the prospect of Balthazar gaining control of the resources of the Auratheans. There was power here that would allow the forces of Shadow to conquer the world.

  “You have changed,” Kormak said, to distract the mage from what he was doing. He slowly backed towards the Furnace, following the line of runic menhirs.

  “I have gained the power of an Old One and much more,” said Balthazar. He stepped forward further than Kormak had retreated. He clearly understood what was going on and was happy to play cat and mouse with his victims. Either that or he was waiting for something else. He sounded confident, a man witnessing the fulfilment of some long-held dream. “I am the chosen of Xothak on this tiny world, and I will rule it in his name.”

  Kormak’s companions moved alongside him. They were reluctant to face the sorcerer when he would not. Rhiana fell into step beside Kormak on his right. Zamara on his left. Anders was with them and Ahexotl and the remaining sandfolk flanked them.

  Kormak saw what he was looking for. A faint rippling on the floor, as if a thin film of water overlaid it. He knew it could not be water. There was no evidence of any leaks and the thing he was looking at had not been there moments ago.

  “And how did you do that?” Kormak asked. He was curious and this might be his last chance to find out.

  “I devoured an Old One. There were many kept prisoner here. Among other things, the Auratheans used this place to study their foes. They hoped to rehabilitate them, to cleanse them of the Shadow.”

  “They failed.”

  “Yes. The Shadow in them infected the Auratheans. But then you already know that. It is why you are here. You intend to destroy this place.”

  “I will destroy this place,” Kormak said.

  “I have always envied your self-confidence, Sir Kormak, but, in this case, you are wrong. You do not have the power to do that. Surrender and I will allow you to live. It’s a generous offer, and a far better one than you would make me if our positions were reversed. Put down that blade.”

  “Do I frighten you so much that you refuse to fight me?”

  “I am sincere. It would gratify me to have you witness my conquests. You might even come to see the error of your ways once Shadowfall comes. Believe me, you have been deceived in your faith.”

  The oddest thing was that Kormak believed him. He just did not care. Men like Balthazar needed to be opposed whatever the truth of the precepts of the church of the Holy Sun. The rippling on the floor continued. It had almost reached them now.

  “You have allies, don’t you?” Kormak said.

  “I can see that there is no fooling you,” said Balthazar. “Yes. I have allies and any one of them is more than capable of dealing with you.”

  Kormak struck down with his blade. It contacted the flowing translucent substance. A whiff of smoke rose from the floor, the taint of blight filled the air. The translucent stuff rippled and congealed and became a human form. Kormak leaned forward and drove his blade into the being’s heart. It screamed, and writhed through a hundred shapes before decomposing into a puddle of black sludge on the floor. “Are they?”

  “Yes,” said Balthazar, although Kormak noticed he was coming no closer.

  The ground around them erupted and more demonic shapes emerged. Something monstrous engulfed one of the sand people. Its shape flowed from one form to another as it raised the warrior on a fountain of protoplasm, smashed him into the ground and then snipped off his head with a limb transformed into a massive claw. It flowed over the warrior and seemed to absorb him. Another lashed out at Rhiana who only just managed to leap back out of the way of its blow.

  Something huge and draconic twisted in the air above them. It was scaly and bat-winged. Balthazar’s said, “I regret you could not see reason. Kill them!”

  The things that might have been Old Ones leapt forward. One of them enveloped Ahexotl and began to absorb him. Kormak could see the chieftain’s armoured form writhing within it.

  A second assumed the form of a squat four-armed being that reminded him of the Taker of Skulls. It advanced on Zamara slashing at the Admiral with swords of bone. Zamara tried to defend himself but was soon bleeding from a dozen cuts. A thing that looked like a woman but wearing similar armour to Balthazar sprang towards Anders chopping him in two with one blow. Surprise etched the mercenary’s face then his eyes glazed in death.

  Rage at the death of a comrade filled Kormak. He leapt at her and slashed. She recoiled with eye-blurring speed and eluded his blow. He had taken the first one by surprise. He was not going to be so lucky this time.

  A frown passed over the demon woman’s lovely face.

  “Yes,” Balthazar said, almost as if the woman had spoken to him. “He is formidable. And so is his blade. I told you so. But nonetheless, he dies here.”

  Kormak feared that the sorcerer was right. The maddened Old Ones were as strong as anything he had ever fought and there were too many of them. Even as that thought occurred to him, an aura of magical energy crackled around Balthazar. A bolt of shadow smashed down towards Zamara. It limned the Admiral in darkness. He screamed. The elder sign on his chest blazed bright as he reeled backwards. Kormak knew how strong that bolt must have been to overcome the protection of the Admiral’s amulet.

  He was going to die here. His opponents were just too strong. Perhaps he should have taken Balthazar up on his offer. The thought repulsed him. His lips twisted into a mirthless grin.

  He threw himself at the monster attacking Rhiana. It slithered and swooped out of his way, leaping into the air, transforming itself and soaring away, laughing with mockery. As it did so, another hybrid attacked Kormak from behind. He sensed its approach and threw himself forward. Its claws tore his armour and drew blood. He stabbed at it, and almost caught it, but it blurred away too fast to be hit. His friends were being herded away from him. Their foes toying with them like great predators.

  Desperately, he glared around. He could perhaps kill one of them by throwing his blade at it, but that would leave hi
m exposed and defenceless before the others. A sunflare might have helped him but he did not have any.

  Then it occurred to him there was something he could do. The power of the Holy Sun was trapped by the Furnace. If he could unleash it, it would hurt these foul beings. At very least, by triggering the meltdown of the Furnace, he would ensure that they died too in the ensuing blast.

  He leapt at the Old One and it eluded him once more. It retreated, giggling as if his struggles amused it. Behind him, Kormak heard Rhiana scream. He could not risk a glance to see what was happening. Instead, he focused on the weak point in the Furnace, lunging at the Old One. It eluded him and Kormak’s blade passed it by and lodged in the runes protecting the Furnace.

  * * *

  It was almost over, Balthazar thought. He finally had the damnable Guardian where he wanted him. His minions were about to slay Kormak and his companions.

  It would have given Balthazar greater pleasure to kill the man with his own talons but even at this stage he was unwilling to put himself within striking distance of that ominous blade. The Guardian was as deadly as a dying serpent. Even unto the last he would try and drag his killers down into death with him. Balthazar did not care if Kormak took one or two of the Old Ones with him. He did care about his own skin.

  Nexali took her cue from him. She held back now as well, standing by his side. Perhaps she intended to protect him from any threat, but he thought it more likely that she thought as he did. If he was unwilling to risk hand-to-hand combat with Kormak, she was too. He could hardly blame her for that. Her companions were doing a fine job. Two of them were attacking the Guardian, one from either side, like wolves pulling down a stag, taking turns at attacking from his vulnerable side.

  The Old Ones looked capable of making short work of the rest of their foes. The Emerald Swarm chieftain had almost been absorbed. The woman Rhiana had her back to the wall and was slashing at her attacker. The mercenary Anders had been repaid for all the trouble he caused. The remaining Eldrim took turns at pouncing on Zamara. Balthazar was tempted to tell them to finish it. But he had waited too long to turn the tables on his foes. He intended to savour the moment.

  There was something odd going on with the Guardian though. Some sixth sense warned Balthazar of that. Kormak was chasing down one of his foes, concentrating all his efforts on it, seemingly determined to slay it. He pursued it relentlessly across the rune-inscribed floor, getting ever closer to the Furnace.

  Getting ever closer to the Furnace. He could not be…

  “Kill them now!” Balthazar ordered his minions, diving towards the exit. Nexali followed.

  * * *

  Kormak stabbed at the point on the Furnace’s side Rhiana had indicated. The metal pierced the panel, runes blazing along its side. This time, they glowed like trapped sunlight. Perhaps it was a final blessing of the Holy Sun.

  Light flared, brilliant, dazzling. Kormak shook his head, blinded and aware of exactly how vulnerable he was. From behind him came screams and roars of pain, as if trapped devils shrieked in torment. The air around him became scalding hot. He dived backwards and rolled away, expecting to feel the talons of his attackers strike him.

  * * *

  Light blazed, brighter than the Sun. Agony tore through Balthazar. His form twisted, trying to find a shape that would allow him to escape from the pain.

  One of the Old Ones, mad with rage, tried to hurl itself back through the doorway. Balthazar heard an anguished roar and then the dying Eldrim warlord lurched back out of the archway, skin charred black.

  The light. It was the light. The Furnace transformed mystical energy into the raw essence of light. It burned the Old Ones and anything tainted with blight. It was if the distilled deadly energy of the Holy Sun itself were being released within the Furnace chamber.

  The Guardian had unleashed it and doomed them all.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  No blow fell. When his watering eyes cleared, Kormak saw why. The searing light had burned the Old Ones like meat charred on a bonfire. They were frozen in the form they held the moment the light had hit them. They writhed and rolled on the floor, emitting a terrible stench. Kormak moved over to the nearest one and put it out of its misery with a stroke of his blade. Swiftly he dispatched the others.

  His eyes sought out Rhiana. The merwoman looked appalled and astonished at still being alive.

  Zamara looked as if he had been almost as burned as the monsters but Kormak guessed that was a side effect of Balthazar’s spell. None of the sand people had survived.

  Kormak swiftly counted the number of their foes. Balthazar was not there, nor was the one who had hung back beside him. Slippery as ever he had managed to elude the fate of his companions.

  Kormak glanced at the others. They needed to get out of here. “Let’s go!” he bellowed.

  He led them swiftly out of the Furnace chamber and out into another corridor. It curved up and around. Waves of heat flowed all around him. It was as hot as in his father’s forge when he was a boy. It was only going to get hotter and they needed to get out before that happened.

  “Well, we did it,” said Zamara. His normally booming voice was weak. Perhaps he had suffered more harm than it looked. Magic could do that. “It looks like you’ve done for the Furnace.”

  “We need to get out,” Kormak said.

  “Uncharacteristically optimistic,” said Zamara. “You go on. I need a little rest.”

  “We’re all going,” said Kormak. “I’ve dragged your sorry carcass too far across this benighted continent to leave you behind now.”

  “Well, since you put it so charmingly,” said Zamara, “I suppose I can endure your company for a few minutes more.”

  Kormak extended his hand. Supported by Rhiana and the Guardian, Zamara began to stumble up the ramp.

  “He’s still out there,” Rhiana said. “Balthazar. I can sense him. He’s so powerful now. Worse than Vorkhul ever was.”

  “We will worry about him, if we get out of this place,” said Kormak. “Otherwise we shall need to take solace in the fact that we took him with us into the Kingdoms of Dust.”

  “You really think we have a chance of getting out of here,” said Zamara.

  The heat within the Furnace was building. The light grew brighter. The orichalcum emitted a strange screaming sound, as steam and foul vapours escaped. Kormak was sweating profusely. They all were. It had not been exactly cool before but the temperature was rising alarmingly.

  “The angel said this would be like the heart of the Sun,” Zamara said. “We shall have the best funeral pyre anyone ever had.”

  “I am not planning on dying just yet,” said Kormak.

  Rhiana shook her head and tut-tutted. “When the day is lovely and the birds are singing, you can’t get a happy word out of him. Times like now he is cheery as a costermonger trying to sell you new fabric.”

  Kormak looked up. They were about half way to the roof now. He had no idea why he was forcing them to go up. Maybe he just wanted to meet his end under the sky with the real sun shining down on him. Or maybe he hoped the angel would find some way of helping them. If it intended to keep its part of the deal.

  The walls vibrated. An eerie low-pitched hum echoed through the Furnace chamber. Beneath them, the runes on the menhirs glowed so bright they were dazzling. One by one, they exploded. Shrapnel and hot metal erupted upwards like a fountain. Kormak moved away from the edge of the ramp to keep from being hit. Zamara staggered. They all did. Kormak realised it was not their wounds that had made them do so. The blast had rocked the entire tower.

  “Well, if ever I doubted the angel’s words,” said Zamara. “I don’t now. This place is going to be blown sky high. Whatever is coming from those stones down there, it is hotter than alchemical fire.”

  “At least that bastard Balthazar can’t follow us,” said Rhiana “Not unless he wants to get himself blown straight to the Shadow.”

  “I don’t think he could follow us anyway,” said Kormak. �
�Something about the Light leaking from the Furnace destroyed his companions. It would most likely have got him too if he had not fled.”

  “Always the coward,” said Zamara.

  “It has kept him alive,” said Kormak. “I would not underestimate the effectiveness of his cowardice.”

  “Who was the woman with him?” Zamara asked.

  “I don’t think she was your type, Admiral,” said Rhiana.

  “I doubt she was anybody’s type now,” said Zamara. “That armour she was wearing was like Balthazar’s though, like the sand demon’s but oddly altered.”

  “There’s your answer,” said Kormak. “She was most likely a Blighted One. Maybe even Nexali, the Blighted One shaman that Ahexotl talked of.”

  “And then was transformed into the same thing as he was,” said Rhiana. “She was scarcely less powerful than Balthazar.”

  “It seems like the Powers of Shadow are seeking to unleash some new evil into the world,” said Kormak. He thought about what Balthazar had said about Shadowfall coming. He had sounded so convinced. And why should he not? He had acquired the power he had sought all his life. If Rhiana was correct, he was as powerful as one of the strongest Old Ones who had ever lived, if not more so.

  “I think our angelic friends made a mistake keeping the Old Ones here,” said Rhiana. “They have provided Balthazar and his master with the raw materials they needed to create something new and terrible. Those two were abominations.”

  It sounded as if she had sensed more than she had let on, Kormak thought. They needed to talk about that. If they got out of this place.

  Another wave of explosions boomed below them. The backwash of heat dried his eyes. The floor shuddered like a terrified beast. The building lurched. Looking down over the side of the ramp, Kormak saw huge firepits glowing in the floor, like the mouths of hell opening to swallow the world. Molten metal and other stuff flowed across the floor obscuring the runes. As it did so, the light grew brighter. The runes were obviously responsible for containing the Furnace’s power and with them broken, it was running wild. Kormak wondered how much longer they had left.