Darkness Rising: Disciples of the Horned One Volume One (Soul Force Saga Book 1) (10 page)

“I agree,” Talon said.

“I don’t know.” Alec chewed his lip. “If there’s a demon…”

Rhys remained silent, his gaze on Jen. Whatever the others thought, it was her call. Damien watched the muscles of her jaw work as she thought. “Edward’s right,” she said at last. “We need to deal with them before anyone else gets hurt. We can’t fight them in their lair. Damien, can you flush them out so we can fight in the open?”

“Sure, I can blast them out easy enough. What are you going to do about those other exits?”

She turned to Edward. “Take Alec and cover the left side. Talon, you and Rhys take the right. We’ll cover the main entrance. Kill anything that comes out then fall back here to reinforce us.”

“How are we supposed to find them?” Talon asked.

Damien conjured two glowing spheres. “Follow the lights. When you’re in position crush them and I’ll sense it. My blast will follow a minute later. Be careful. Their aura of corruption will make your iron skin vulnerable. Don’t count on it to protect you.”

“How about you let us worry about the fighting?” Talon said.

Damien sent the orbs out toward the small tunnels. It would take a couple minutes for them to get in place. He wished Jen had let him get help. During his studies he’d read a lot about demons. Even a weak one would be a huge challenge. If he had to fight the sorcerer at the same time he didn’t know what might happen.

“We can do this, right?” Jen sounded like she needed some encouragement. In truth he didn’t know if they could do it and he didn’t want to lie to his sister.

“It’s not too late. You can call them back, we can retreat, and return with more help. There’s no guarantee they’ll attack again tonight.”

“But there’s no guarantee they won’t. Edward was right about that much. We’ve been hunting these monsters for a week. The people rely on us to protect them and we’ve done a poor job of it. We’ll take them down together. I can count on you, right?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

They shared a smile. A few seconds later the first then the second orb shattered. The others were in place. Damien conjured a ball of energy and hurled it at the entrance.

A
golden ball
of energy raced toward the entrance to the goblins’ lair. It flew out of sight down the tunnel and Damien detonated it. The explosion shook the clearing and sent bits of wood flying out. Dust and debris marked the openings of the secondary exits. Jen drew her sword and he increased the power to his shield.

Damien focused on the entrance. When the demon came he’d have no trouble detecting it. Beside him Jen held her long sword in a two-handed grip, soul force surging through her body, strengthening her muscles and bones to many times the power of a normal person.

He grabbed Jen’s arm and yanked her behind him.

A golden shield appeared before them an instant ahead of a blast of dark fire. Raging black flames swept by on either side of them. They didn’t feel hot so much as wrong, an abomination that didn’t belong in this world.

When the flames subsided he absorbed the minimal energy remaining in his shield. From within the lair three small energy sources raced ahead of two bigger ones.

Sounds of battle from deeper in the forest indicated the others had engaged their opponents.

“Here they come.”

Three goblins, their eyes filled with corruption, the tips of their crude spears burning with the same black flames that had shot out of the tunnel, came screaming out of the exit.

Quick as thought, golden swords fell from the sky and pierced them through the head and chest. Damien reclaimed his power the instant the goblins died.

“Aren’t you going to leave any for me?”

“You’ll get your chance. You have to keep the demon busy while I deal with the sorcerer.”

As if summoned by his call the goblin sorcerer flew out of the mouth of the tunnel. A beam of darkness streaked toward Damien. He raised a shield to deflect it and leapt into the air after the goblin.

Streaks of golden energy shot from his fingers, detonating around the monster, but never making a solid hit. They chased each other through the late afternoon sky, golden energy hammering dark barriers.

The little bitch was fast, Damien had to give her credit.

Damien conjured a wall in her path. If he could slow her down and get in a clean hit he’d be able to end this fight.

The goblin surrounded herself with an aura of dark power and smashed right through his wall.

So much for that.

At the edge of his awareness the seething power of the demon raged. He hoped Jen could keep it busy. A dark beam streaked past his head, missing by inches.

He didn’t dare worry about his sister now. If he did his opponent might get lucky and hurt him and then they would all be in serious trouble.

The goblin dodged another of his blasts. The thing was too fast to hit that way.

He conjured a pair of golden angels and sent them after the goblin. He didn’t worry about them getting hit, instead focusing on getting them close to the enemy sorcerer.

Lances of dark energy punched holes through his constructs, but they didn’t falter. Damien poured more power into them, closing the holes and increasing their speed.

One of them got a hand on the goblin’s ankle. She turned to blast it. The moment the goblin stopped, the second angel grabbed her arms.

Damien released the power in both constructs. The double explosions tore the little goblin to bits.

J
en stood
, trembling, watching her brother exchange blasts with the wrinkled goblin. When the blast of dark fire shot out of the tunnel and she took cover behind Damien’s shield, she had feared they’d be incinerated. That his power blocked it amazed her.

Jen knew her brother was powerful, his demonstration in the hall that morning made it clear enough, but the ease with which he blocked those flames then killed the goblins without batting an eye amazed her. It had always been her job to protect Damien, but now it seemed she was the one who needed protection.

A roar sounded from the tunnel, drawing her back to the matter at hand. The demon lumbered into view. Its head brushed the top of the tunnel as it stepped out into the clearing, yellowish-green saliva dripping from its tusks. The sight of an enemy she could fight jolted Jen out of her stupor.

She was a warlord and she had a job to do.

She pushed soul force into her legs and sprinted toward the monster. Her sword sliced across its chest then she was past, its claws missing her by inches. The demon spun to face her, the wound on its chest closing as she watched.

Jen shook her head. Her father didn’t even heal that fast.

She lunged toward it and sliced its knee. A taloned hand swooped down to tear her apart.

Too slow.

She leapt back and before it recovered darted in again, cutting its arm.

It went like that for half a minute, her darting in to cut it and the demon healing the shallow wounds an instant later. She put some distance between them and took a deep breath. She could keep this up for hours, but it didn’t seem like she was accomplishing anything.

Jen blinked and the demon was before her, its clawed hand rushing toward her stomach.

So fast!

She got her sword between her and the monster’s talons an instant before it sent her flying halfway across the clearing. The rough ground tore her clothes, ripping the left sleeve of her tunic off as she skidded through the dirt.

She sprang to her feet in time to meet the brute’s next charge.

Claws met steel.

Jen poured more soul force into her muscles to hold the demon back.

How could it be so strong? She’d hoped to save some power in case she needed it later, but if she held back the demon would kill her.

Power flooded her body as she let all her soul force go. She shoved the demon back and hacked a chunk out of its side.

Her sword blurred and thick black ichor flew as she hacked at her opponent.

The demon took a step back and roared.

Got you now, you ugly monster.

Dark power rushed from the demon, its wounds closed in an instant, flames burst from around its hands and the ground under its feet blackened.

Her body trembled as corruption poured from the beast. It had just been playing with her.

Standing face to face with the demon, its full power revealed, Jen saw her death.

Why hadn’t she listened to Damien?

This creature was so far beyond anything she’d ever imagined. She felt like a little girl. A terrified little girl, facing a hungry bear.

She would be devoured and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.

A
surge
of dark power drew Damien’s attention back to the ground. Jen stood a few feet away from the demon, staring at it and not moving.

Its power had overwhelmed her.

Damien had read about that in his studies, but never imagined it happening to his sister, strong as she was.

The demon raised a claw.

Damien drew out half his remaining power and conjured a golden serpent. His construct wrapped around the demon, binding it in place.

He let out a breath. He’d made it in time.

The demon’s corruption was rotting his construct by the second. He needed to finish it, but didn’t want his sister to feel like he’d saved her. She needed to be part of its defeat to regain some of her confidence.

“Jen!”

She shook herself and looked up at him. Damien dragged his finger across his throat and pointed at the demon. Jen looked at the bound monster and nodded.

She leapt.

All her power flowed into her arms and back as she swung her sword at the demon’s neck. Its head shot up into the air and Jen rolled clear.

The serpent snapped the head out of the air and Damien detonated it, sending the power into the sky instead of outwards into the clearing. A great pillar of golden light consumed the demon so nothing of it remained.

Damien sighed. He sensed no other sources of corruption outside the lair.

It looked like they’d won.

Thank heaven for that. He only had a third of his power left.

Jen knelt a little ways away from the shallow crater that marked the demon’s grave. He landed beside her, taking a moment to shift the flow of his soul force so half went to replenishing his core rather than the usual trickle. “You okay?”

She stood, sheathed her sword, and nodded. “It didn’t hit me. Damn, that thing was strong. I know Dad’s killed a demon or two, but I can’t see how he managed it. I couldn’t do much more than scratch the thing.”

“For one thing, Dad’s got more soul force than you. Not a lot.” He raised his hands when she glared at him. “He’s also got Lizzy, which doubles his strength. She can also send her power through the blade so it cuts better than normal steel. Those are huge advantages.”

She didn’t seem convinced, but screams, growing closer by the second, ended the conversation. Rhys burst into the clearing, Talon slung over his shoulder. The younger man was clutching his leg and screaming with each breath.

“What happened?” Jen rushed over to check on her subordinate.

Rhys lowered Talon to the ground. “One of the goblins got through his guard and jabbed him in the leg. Didn’t look like much of a blow, but the spear pierced him deep. He fell screaming on the spot. I killed the little bugger, but I couldn’t do anything for Talon.”

Jen tore the cloth away from the wound. The goblin had stabbed Talon in the lower thigh, six inches above his left knee. Black lines ran out from a raw, red wound. Talon gritted his teeth, trying to hold in the screams.

He managed it for a couple of seconds.

Jen put a hand on his forehead. “Talon, you have to focus on healing.”

He thrashed and gasped. “Can’t. Hurts, so much pain.”

Edward and Alec emerged from the woods and rushed over. While Rhys filled them in Jen led Damien off to the side. “Can you heal him?”

Damien shook his head. Despite his considerable skills, healing was the one thing he couldn’t do. His soul force was too dense for such fine work. “I’d be more likely to blow his leg off than cure him. There’s one thing I can try, but I make no promises. The corruption’s deep in his flesh.”

“He’s dying. Do whatever you can.”

Damien nodded and knelt beside the thrashing Talon. He put his hand above Talon’s wound and sent his soul force into the injured man’s body, blocking the flow of pain from his injury to his brain. Talon went still and lay back. He sighed. “The pain’s gone.”

“It’s not gone,” Damien said. “I blocked it so you can concentrate. Now focus on healing. The corruption is still spreading. Purge the darkness first, don’t worry about the wound.”

Talon closed his eyes. Soul force flowed from his core down to his leg. His muscles shrank as he pulled every drop of power and sent it to battle the corruption in his leg. The dark lines drew back ever so slowly.

Over the course of three minutes Talon purged the corruption and partly closed his wound. He fell back, covered in sweat, every speck of excess soul force used up.

“You’ve cleansed the wound. I’m going to restore the link between your leg and brain. Brace yourself.”

Damien removed his barrier and Talon winced, but didn’t thrash or scream. A little blood oozed out of the remaining gash, clean and red, with no sign of infection. Rhys dug a healer’s kit out of his satchel and set to work binding the injury.

Damien started to get up, but Talon grabbed his sleeve. “Thanks. You saved my life. You were right. That goblin’s spear went through my iron skin like it was nothing. I’ve never felt such pain.”

“Save your strength.” He patted Talon’s hand. “You’ve still got healing to do.”

Jen turned to Edward and Alec. “Get a stretcher built. He won’t be walking anywhere for a while.”

Damien left them to their work and walked through the late afternoon shadows toward the goblin’s lair. That demon hadn’t appeared from nowhere. He needed to search the lair for a clue as to its origin.

He hadn’t taken three steps when Jen grabbed his wrist. “Where are you going?”

“To have a look around.” He nodded toward the lair entrance.

“I’ll come with you. The guys have things under control out here.”

They continued on together. At the mouth of the tunnel Damien conjured a globe of light without breaking stride. He winced at the stench of rot and corruption. He hadn’t expected a goblin lair to smell of perfume, but this was nasty.

They turned down the short branch to the sleeping chamber. It looked the same as they’d seen through his bug’s eyes.

“Thanks for helping Talon. He might be a jerk, but he’s a good soldier.”

Damien turned back toward the main corridor. “I’m glad I could do something. If John were here he’d have purged that wound and had Talon sealed up in ten minutes.”

“Could he have handled the demon too?”

Damien headed toward the central chamber. “Probably not. The best healers rarely have dense soul force. It lets them refine their power enough to affect a body on the cellular level, but that sort of control doesn’t help much in a fight.”

“If we stumbled on this place alone, could my squad have beaten that demon?”

“Maybe.”

She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. “Tell me the truth.”

Damien looked into his sister’s eyes and saw something he never thought he’d see, doubt and fear. The battle with the demon had shaken her more than he realized. “No, I don’t think so. The sorcerer would have cut you to pieces while you tried not to get killed by the demon. The goblins, even corrupted as they were, you could have managed. But the demon and sorcerer, with their ability to use external soul force, no.”

Her lips trembled and he thought she might cry. “My decision to attack might have gotten them all killed, might have gotten me killed.”

Damien covered her hand with his. “We’re all okay. The goblins are dead and no longer a threat to the people. You held your own against a demon. Things could have been much worse.”

“Thanks, little brother.”

The central chamber, like every other chamber in the place, was a mess. Damien’s explosion hadn’t helped any. Bits of broken wood mixed with rotted flesh and strips of skin. Damien ignored most of that and went right up to the throne.

It was a crude thing, roughly built from scraps of wood and bound with leather thongs. It was a wonder it supported the demon’s weight. At its base was a stone slab.

Damien leaned in for a closer look. On the edge of the slab it looked like someone had engraved runes. He conjured a blast of energy to smash the throne off the slab. On the top of the altar was a carving of a horned skull.

“What is that?” Jen asked.

“A sacrificial altar. A cult of the Horned One must have operated here at one time. The goblins built their lair around the altar. The question is, did the cult summon the demon or did it enter the area on its own?”

“How would you know?”

“I wouldn’t, but there are sorcerers who specialize in this sort of thing. I’ll report what we found and they’ll send someone out to investigate. But first I have to ward this place so no one wanders in.”

Damien conjured a ball of energy and left it floating in the central chamber. As they walked back out, he put a similar ball in each chamber they passed, linking them together with strands of energy. When they reached the exit he put up a barrier so no one could enter.

“There. Can you guys make it back to The Citadel on your own?”

Rhys had Talon bandaged up and Edward and Alec were putting the finishing touches on a stretcher. Jen nodded. “We’ll make camp and head back in the morning. Will you return for the festival tomorrow?”

“Depends what the masters have to say, but I’ll try.” Damien leapt into the sky and flew back towards the tower to report.

The sun had set when Damien landed in the empty yard outside the tower. He hoped the headmaster would still be in his office as he had no way to get in touch with the high sorcerers on the top floor. The doors opened at his approach; he’d gotten in the habit of opening them unconsciously using his power.

He turned down the left-hand corridor and found the headmaster’s door closed. He knocked and when there was no response tried the handle and found it locked.

Damn it! Where could he be?

He left the administrative area and headed upstairs to the dining room. Perhaps the old man was getting something to eat. He pushed through the double doors and looked around the room. Nothing but students.

He ground his teeth in frustration. Where else? Ann would know, if he could find her.

Damien made his way up to the third floor but when he reached her training room found it empty. Cursing the universe in general and teachers in particular, Damien went up to the sixth floor to try her apartment. He knocked on the closed door and after a few seconds, to his immense relief, it opened.

“Damien?” Ann stood in the doorway, dark hair dripping, wearing a short robe that left her legs bare. “I thought you went to see your family.”

“I did. I helped Jen and her squad track down some goblins. Turns out they were led by a demon. We killed it, but inside their lair I found an altar to the Horned One. I couldn’t tell if the demon was summoned there or not, so I came back to report after I warded the lair against intruders.”

“Slow down. You killed a demon? By yourself?”

“Jen helped.”

“Really?”

“A little.”

Ann stepped away from the door. “Come in. I need to get dressed then we have to go talk to Thomas.”

Half an hour later found Damien and Ann seated at the headmaster’s coffee table, warm cups of tea in their hands, and Damien repeating his story for the second time. When he finished the headmaster said, “This is troubling news. We’ve seen nothing from the Horned One’s cult in years. I’ll send a team to investigate first thing in the morning.”