Demon Lord V - God Realm by T C Southwell

recoiled, making Kayos stagger back. The
being writhed on the ground for a moment, hurt by the power in his
shield, then crawled away. There was not much that could challenge
a light god of his stature, but shadow beasts of great power were
inclined to try. When he was certain that the being had retreated,
he reabsorbed the shield and walked on, glancing back at the tired
trio that rode after him, pale and hollow eyed, within the
protection of his power. None of them had asked him to stop and
rest, although they were clearly at the end of their strength,
their concern for Bane forced them to continue. The real danger was
somewhere behind him, but as yet he could not sense the dark god
who pursued him.
     
    Bane woke with
a jerk, his cheek stinging. Ethra drew back, lowering her hand, and
Sarrin leant closer as if to distract him. For several moments he
was utterly disorientated, and struggled to sit up as a host of
unpleasant memories assailed him. He discovered that he was too
weak to achieve this simple goal, and Sarrin had to help him.
Raising a shaking hand to his brow, he gazed around in confusion as
wave of dizzying darkness, sparkling with bright lights, washed
over him. Sarrin pressed a cup to his lips, and water sloshed out
of it as he recoiled in surprise.
    "Drink, Bane,
you need to replace the blood you lost."
    Bane shook his
head, gazing bemusedly at the rest of the group, who sat close by,
watching him. He tried to speak, but only a whisper issued from his
dry throat, and he coughed. Sarrin pressed the cup to his lips
again, and this time he sipped from it, his stomach knotting.
    "What are you
doing here?" he croaked. "How did you get here?"
    "Ethra
insisted that we find you, so we climbed down after you."
    Bane frowned
at his bandaged wrists. "You climbed down?"
    "There was a
staircase."
    "Why?"
    Sarrin smiled.
"We believe that you are what you claim to be."
    Bane bowed his
head, taking stock of himself. The dark power sulked malignantly in
his bones and gnawed at his flesh, making his stomach knot. His
heart laboured and his head pounded, his limbs shook with as if
with palsy.
    "I am no use
to you now. I will only burden you."
    "You said you
could find another domain where we would be safe."
    "I can no
longer walk."
    "Then we will
carry you." Sarrin glanced at the four men who sat around the fire,
and they grimaced, but nodded.
    "Domains are
few and far between. And even if we find one we may not be able to
get in."
    "It is our
only hope."
    Bane gazed at
their gaunt, dirty faces, their eyes filled with despair. "A slim
one."
    "But better
than none."
    He closed his
eyes and lay back with a sigh. "The choice is yours, but I may not
live long enough to help you."
    "How long do
you have?"
    "A few days at
most, probably less."
    "Then we
should set off at once."
    The group
broke camp, shouldering their meagre supplies, then used strips of
cloth like the ones that bound his wrists to make slings. These
they threaded under his arms and tied to his ankles. The four men
lifted him, and they set off across the stone landscape. Ethra led
them back to the staircase, and then struck off along the cliff
face.
     
    Kayos stepped
through a thin barrier of noxious gas into a world of grey stone
that a seething red sky lighted. He paused, sniffing the stale air,
which was filled with the stench of a dromon. Such semi sentient
areas of the God Realm were exceedingly dangerous, and he searched
for its brooding presence. Failing to find it, he examined the
ground more closely. Fire had recently swept through it, and he
guessed that someone had destroyed the dromon that had dwelt
here.
    Only a dark
god had the power to do that, but he could find no trace of shadows
lingering in the stone, which meant that the person who had
destroyed it had used true fire. The ability to summon true fire
was confined to mortal gods and fire demons, but fire demons could
not command the elements like a god, which made him hope that the
dromon slayer