Slowly, taking care to make no sudden moves that might precipitate attack, he drew his dagger and very cautiously slipped into sevaisin, sevaisin, reaching out with the lightest of all possible senses to find out more about what was lurking just out of sight. reaching out with the lightest of all possible senses to find out more about what was lurking just out of sight.
He felt the creatures shift and stir uneasily, sensed something coming to life, sipped of the foul force that sustained them, and felt it reach out to him in response.
Shuddering, Caelan pulled back. He was all too aware of the temptation to strengthen the link, to join and share himself with the demons.
They moved closer, edging away from the rocks and moving between him and the mouth of the pa.s.sageway.
He resisted the urge to step back. The river of black water ran behind him, cutting him off. There was no escape, no retreat. He would have to fight, and suddenly his heart beat too fast and his throat burned.
But he refused to panic. He gripped his dagger more tightly, then took a cautious step toward his sword. It stood propped up against his breastplate. His best protection, useless. He took another step.
The demons moved closer. He could almost see them now, crouched there in the shadows, waiting, watching. When would they attack?
His heart pounded like a drum. He could feel his pulse throbbing in his temples and throat. Subconsciously he a.s.sumed a fighter"s stance, feet well braced, standing lightly on his toes, shifting his weight slightly from side to side, ready to explode into action.
I have fought demon-sp.a.w.n before and lived, he tried to rea.s.sure himself. he tried to rea.s.sure himself.
Caelan"s knuckles ached from gripping his dagger so hard. After a moment he realized he was throttling the weapon as he might an enemy"s throat. Easing out a breath, he forced his fingers to loosen.
Caelan took one more step toward his sword. Still too far, although now he thought he could fling himself bodily at it and perhaps reach the tip of the scabbard. Not good, but better than before.
He was supremely aware of the water at his back, aware that anything could rise up from its depths and come at his exposed back. His eyes flickered back and forth, measuring, gauging, watching. He listened to his own breathing. It sounded harsh and unsteady.
The demons came at him.
Caelan flung himself at his sword. His outstretched hand clamped onto the scabbard. He could hear them coming, claws skittering and sc.r.a.ping over stone. He whirled to face them, drawing the sword as he did so and flinging the scabbard aside.
Panting, he stopped only because they had. Now out in the open where he could see them clearly in the pale, ghostly light, they crouched in a semicircle and stared at him.
The demons were short, no taller than Caelan"s hipbone, and entirely hairless. Their leathery skin was black and crisscrossed with wrinkles. They had arms and legs like a man, with long, prehensile fingers and toes, all ending in long, sharp talons. Their tails were long and ratlike, and flicked back and forth nervously.
Caelan brought up his sword in smooth readiness. He thought about attacking, but some instinct bade him wait.
Just when his taut nerves could be stretched no farther, one of the creatures crept toward him. Caelan swallowed hard and let it come.
Fanged and snouted, the creature stared up at him with red eyes that were entirely too intelligent. Its long tail flicked restlessly back and forth.
When its tongue flickered out between its fangs, Caelan nearly jumped out of his skin. It was a serpent"s tongue, long and forked, quivering in the air as though measuring Caelan in some way. Then it flicked back out of sight. The creature opened its mouth in a toothy grin.
"Welcome, creature of shadow," it said in a hoa.r.s.e, gravelly whisper. "Art thou Beloth, our master?"
Astonished and horrified at being so grossly misidentified, Caelan stared back at it. "No, I am not!" he said with force.
The demon rocked back on its haunches, while the others scuttled away into the shadows, hissing with palpable disappointment.
"Servant of Beloth, our master?" the demon asked hopefully.
This time Caelan was wise enough to curb his denial. Tipping his head to one side, he asked, "Why do you ask me this?"
"Thou art aware, not asleep in the spell of protection," the demon said.
"And that makes me a servant of-of your master?" Caelan stumbled over the words, finding himself unable to utter Beloth"s dire name aloud.
"Thou looks like man-sp.a.w.n, yet cannot be," the demon said. "Thou has no fear of the shadows, walking without spell of protection."
If it only knew, Caelan thought wryly to himself. Caelan thought wryly to himself.
"Thou has bathed in the waters of Aithe and come unto us.
We will serve thee, servant of Beloth, until our dire lord and master walks free once again."
Caelan opened his mouth to repudiate everything, but the other demons came scuttling forward in an uneven, almost ratlike gait. They surrounded him. He tensed, wanting to back away, but their clawed fingers were already clutching at his clothing, stroking and petting him in reverence.
"Don"t worship me!" he cried in disgust. "Get back, all of you!"
They moved a short distance from him, but not far enough, and sat on their haunches with their tails coiled about their ankles. Their fangs gleamed in the strange light; their red eyes shifted to his face and down again. They smelled of death and something worse. The very sight of them turned his stomach, yet he knew he must keep his wits now, must take the advantage they had mistakenly given him and utilize it wisely.
But, Gault"s mercy, what did they mean he had bathed in the waters of Aithe? That was the mythological river of death, the black waters formed from dead men"s souls. During the most ancient and turbulent days following creation itself, when Beloth had strode the earth and destroyed all that he touched, the shadow G.o.d had killed so many men that their destroyed souls had flowed and comingled into a river that encircled the world. Later, when the top of Sidraigh-hal Sidraigh-hal had been smote with the combined powers of the G.o.ds of light, allowing lava and smoke to spill forth, when on the mountain"s scarred slopes the black city of Beloth and Mael had been broken asunder and all the stones scattered and the ground itself salted and burned, then had Aithe sunk into the earth, flowing below ground. had been smote with the combined powers of the G.o.ds of light, allowing lava and smoke to spill forth, when on the mountain"s scarred slopes the black city of Beloth and Mael had been broken asunder and all the stones scattered and the ground itself salted and burned, then had Aithe sunk into the earth, flowing below ground.
Caelan realized he had swum through the souls of d.a.m.ned men. Dear Gault, small wonder the water had burned his flesh and rendered him so cold now. He felt tainted to the core. Shivering, Caelan looked down at himself, wondering if he could see any stains left by the touch of those icy waters.
"Thou art one of us. Thou art welcome in the place of shadows," the demon said while the others chorused hisses and grunts of acclamation. "Not for a thousand years has one of warm blood come to walk among us. We give to thee all that is ours."
Caelan"s eyes narrowed. "You lie," he said sharply, forgetting the need for caution. "What of the riders who pa.s.sed through here not long ago? What of the Vindicants, the priests who have used this pa.s.sageway often?"
The demons whispered among themselves long enough for Caelan to regret his hasty questions. Then the spokesman gazed up at him and bared its fangs. "Man-sp.a.w.n have no interest for us. Under the spell of protection, they pa.s.s by on the other side of the river. They are not our meat. Kostimon has gone past many times in his span of years."
"You know Kostimon by name?" Caelan asked in fresh astonishment.
The demons" laughter was a harsh, raspy cacophony.
"Kostimon the Doomed!" one cried.
"He is doomed!" echoed another.
"Doomed!"
They all laughed again.
The spokesman edged even closer to Caelan and tugged at the sodden hem of his cloak. "Kostimon," it said, its tongue flickering out, "will be our meat when his time ends. Soon, he will be ours. We will be permitted to go for him. We will feed. Soon!"
"Soon! Soon! Soon!" the others echoed in chorus.
Caelan felt colder than ever. He stared at these creatures and understood how the emperor would finally die.
"When we have taken his soul from his flesh," the demon said, rubbing its snout affectionately against Caelan"s leg, "wilt thou accept the honor of pouring his soul into Aithe"s waters of the d.a.m.ned?"
Caelan gazed down into the demon"s red eyes, feeling almost mesmerized. Eagerly the others crowded closer around him, and Caelan found himself without an answer.
The silence stretched out too long, and they hissed suspiciously.
"If I am here," Caelan said quickly, "then I will accept the honor extended to me." He met their hostile eyes and tried to show no fear. "I have many duties. My master gives me many tasks."
"Let us help thee, favored one," the demon said eagerly, its tongue flickering in and out. "Let us make thy work easier."
Swallowing hard, Caelan pointed at Elandra. "I must take the woman beyond this realm of shadow, back into the world that is her own."
The demons hissed in fury. "Not permitted!" the spokesman said. "No man-sp.a.w.n goes this way. We guard the pa.s.sage to the Gate of Sorrows."
Hope quickened in Caelan. He stared at the pa.s.sageway, and knew it had to be the way out. "If Kostimon has gone through here, then-"
"No! No! No!" they chorused. "No man-sp.a.w.n crosses Aithe. Only thou, servant of Beloth."
Caelan frowned. "Then let me pa.s.s," he said carefully.
They shifted aside, red eyes glowing with new hostility. "Thou may go to the Guardian, if thou has been sent by thy master. But not her."
"She must come with me," Caelan said sharply.
"No!"
"You have called me master, yet now you disobey me."
They did not seem impressed by his rebuke.
"Let us wage war for thee," the spokesman said at last. "Let us tear souls from man-sp.a.w.n and bring them for thy supper. Unleash us, and we will go swift, swift under the dark cloud that mighty Beloth brings to shroud the earth."
Caelan hesitated, trying to be careful. "Are you leashed?"
They hissed loudly, crowding him again.
The spokesman spat eloquently, and its spittle flamed and sizzled briefly upon the stony ground. "We guard this pa.s.sage, but others can guard. We can swarm," the spokesman a.s.sured Caelan, gripping his cloak with talons that snagged the cloth. "We are many. We swarm and attack. We are good to tear out souls. We are good against man-sp.a.w.n, not so good against G.o.ds of light. Protect us, favored one, and we will swarm weak man-sp.a.w.n and destroy for thee."
Caelan"s frown deepened. There had to be a way to get past these creatures. He was convinced now that before him lay their exit. He had to use whatever means of persuasion were available.
"What is your name?" he asked the demons. "What are you called, that I may know you again?"
Their eyes glowed even brighter. "He commands us," murmured one. Others hissed eagerly. "We serve! We serve!"
"Tell me!" Caelan said sharply, letting his voice crack across theirs with authority.
The spokesman crouched low before him and placed its snout reverently on Caelan"s foot. "We are called Legion, lord. We are thine."
"And if I release you from your captivity, you will serve me?" he asked.
"Yes!"
"You will do whatever I ask, without question?"
"Yes!"
"You will serve only me. No other?"
The demons hesitated, glancing at each other. "We serve Beloth, and no other. Thou art the servant of Beloth. If we serve thee, do we not serve our dire lord and master?"
Caelan frowned and dodged this clarification. "I swear I will not call you to attack your master. I will ask only for your attack against men."
They laughed and grunted in glee. "Kill! Kill! Kill!" they chanted.
"But only men I specify," he said sharply, cutting them off. "This you will swear and promise, or no freedom. Only will you attack men when I call you, and only those men I point out."
Again they hesitated. Finally the spokesman said, "But why not let us attack all man-sp.a.w.n? We can do many. We are many. We are swift."
"No," Caelan said, trying to keep his voice sharp and strong. Inside he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of trying to strike any kind of bargain with these creatures. They knew no mercy, understood no honor. But he had no intention of keeping his word. All he wanted was access to that pa.s.sageway.
He glared at them, showing anger to impress them. "No," he said again. "Not all men. Only those I specify. If you cannot, will not, do this, then I will not free you."
"We hunger to kill," the spokesman said. "Unleash us, master."
"Let me and this woman pa.s.s, and I will agree."
"Caelan, stop!" Elandra"s voice called out to him suddenly.
Startled, he whirled in her direction, scattering several demons who jumped back from him with hisses of alarm. He saw her leaning forward in the saddle, staring at him. Her eyes were wide and fearful. She shook her head and lifted one hand to her face.
Alarmed and dismayed at what she was doing, Caelan started to go to her, but the demons were clinging to his legs and cloak. More were coming. He was surrounded by the creatures, and he did not want them close to Elandra.
"Don"t!" he called urgently to her. "You must stay within the spell. Don"t break it."
"I.. . must." Her face turned pink with effort. He saw the cords in her neck strain, then she slumped and her head tipped forward so that the long sweep of her hair concealed her face.
"You are safe within the spell," he reminded her. "Don"t leave it."
She lifted her face, and the slackness in her features was gone. Her intelligent eyes stared at him, aware and cognizant again.
Caelan"s spirits sank. He could only stare at her, worried more than he could articulate. She was no longer safe, no longer protected. What in Gault"s name had possessed her to break free now, when they were surrounded by demons? Was she mad, or simply a fool?
Suddenly he was furious with her for risking herself this way, and for making his responsibilities that much harder.
Tightening his lips against harsh words he did not dare utter, he turned away and looked once again at the spokesman of the demons.
"Legion," he said, "I will-"
"Stop!" Elandra cried. She kicked the horse and rode closer until the trembling animal balked. Imperiously, her eyes flashing "with anger, she glared at Caelan. "You mad fool, what are you doing? Have you lost all conscience? You cannot bargain with darkness and-"
"Silence!" he yelled back at her. "This has nothing to do with you."
"I command you-"