Dark God by T C Southwell Read Free Book Online Page B

altar, white and pure. Mirra walked past it, but Bane
approached it, his expression curious.
    Ellese glanced back and shouted,
"No!"
    Bane stopped as the white flame
lashed out, striking the runes on his chest. The sacred fire
crawled over him, and he collapsed with a choked cry. Mirra ran to
him, skidding on her knees to his side. He writhed, struggling to
draw breath that was denied him. The altar flame was out. Ellese
rushed to him and also dropped to her knees, her hands fluttering
above his writhing form. Bane's head was thrown back, his mouth
open as he fought to breathe, but the white fire held him. His skin
took on a bluish tinge. Ellese rose to approach the altar, holding
her hands out, palms up, in a gesture of supplication.
    Her voice shook as she cried,
"Great Lady, spare him, I beg you. He is the receptacle of evil,
not evil itself. Spare him! We need him!"
    The altar flame lighted, and
Bane drew a harsh gasp. The white fire had released him, and he lay
panting. Ellese returned to kneel beside him, but he sat up before
she could touch him. Mirra knew better than to try, and merely
smiled at him.
    Ellese said, "I am sorry. You
went too near the flame. You must not approach it so close."
    A sudden realisation struck
Mirra. "That is why you abandoned the abbey. It would have killed
him."
    Bane looked from one to the
other, scowling.
    Ellese nodded. "It would, which
is why, in every abbey he attacked, the holy fire was snuffed out
before he entered the chapel, on my orders."
    Bane said, "You could have
killed me then, and the Black Lord would not have risen."
    "No. We would have merely
delayed it for twenty years while he prepared another boy. The next
one he would have warned not to enter an abbey. Once he had solved
the problem of how to break the wards, he would not have stopped
until he succeeded. We needed you alive, up here, able to match the
Black Lord's power. And besides, we do not kill."
    Bane rose to his feet. "I have
not agreed to anything other than to come here with the
healer."
     
    Ellese nodded, and they gave the
flame a wide berth as they continued through the chapel. She led
him down one of the long, pillared walkways that bordered the inner
garden. The Demon Lord's dark aura looked out of place against the
backdrop of flowers and twinkling fountains. The healers favoured
only the palest blooms, and strived to recreate the mythical cloud
gardens of the light realm in their humble dwellings. Soft grey and
sacred white permeated every aspect of the temple and its denizens,
signifying their devotion to peace, love and life. Through this
crucible of goodness and salvation stalked Bane, death-bringer and
darkness-wielder, whose shadowy presence, clad in crimson and jet,
the colours of blood and death, sullied the hushed serenity of the
Goddess' sanctum.
    Tallis appeared, and gave a
shout of joy when she spotted Mirra, running towards them. Mirra
dashed to meet her, and they hugged, jumping with happiness.
Tallis' soft brown eyes sparkled with joy, and a huge grin wreathed
her square, staid countenance framed by bouncing brown curls that
fought to be free of an untidy plait.
    Ellese looked at the Demon Lord,
who watched them with a slight frown. His clear, intelligent eyes
gleamed with curiosity, and something else, which she could not
fathom. It might have been resentment, bitterness or jealousy, she
could not tell. Ellese walked on, and he followed, glancing back
often at the girls, who happily chatted, their arms around each
other's waists. Again she caught a flash of some strange emotion in
his eyes.
    "They are friends," she
explained.
    "Friends? One owes the other a
favour?"
    "Is that what they told you
friendship was? Nothing could be further from the truth, but you
will learn. Here is your room."
    Ellese opened the door of a
cramped cell with a dim window, narrow bed, well-worn table, an
elderly chair and a painting of a sunny landscape on its pale grey
wall.
    "I am afraid it is not much, we
are