Demon Lord by T C Southwell Read Free Book Online Page A

for their wounded, and the healers could
deny none, not even their enemies. He was filled with anger and
bitterness, and his pain was so deep it touched his very soul. She
longed to free him from the darkness that hung about him, to find
the reason for his suffering and cure it.
    That night, two more men came to
be healed, bringing food and water. One, a little bolder than the
others, spoke to her for a while, and she learnt how this army had
formed, gathering around the dark man. When she asked about him,
the soldier could tell her little. He seemed reluctant to talk
about him, even afraid to mention his name. He claimed that he had
joined the army to gain riches, and she pitied him. All the while,
he kept glancing at the big tent, and Mirra sensed his fear.
    "Why are you so afraid of him?"
she asked.
    "Why?" The man grunted. "Because
of who he is, of course!"
    "Who is he?"
    The soldier leant closer, giving
her the benefit of his foetid breath. "He's Bane, the Demon
Lord!"
    "He is not a demon."
    "Perhaps not, but he is evil. He
comes from the Underworld. He's the Black Lord's son, I've
heard."
    While Mirra pondered this
startling information, the man slipped away. Once again, she had
not asked him to release her, but by now she sensed that these men
were too scared to defy their leader. She had been told about the
Underworld and its ruler, the Black Lord, but her teachers had not
mentioned that he had a son.
    Mirra did not see Bane for two
days, and each night two men came to be healed, bringing food and
water. When she found herself healing an ingrown toenail, she
realised she had won their pity. The nights were too cold for her
to sleep. Her shivering kept her awake, and the drizzle that
usually fell before dawn added to her misery. During the day she
dozed, hanging in her bonds, and woke with a stiff neck and a nasty
sensation that she was becoming part of the tree to which she was
bound. The unanswered questions about Bane and her uncertain future
plagued her, but her mind only ran in circles when she thought
about that. Instead, she concentrated on keeping warm at night and
sleeping as much as she could during the day.
    On the third day, Bane came to
inspect her, and scowled at her good health.
    "Why are you not half dead from
thirst, witch?" Before she could answer, he swung around and
roared, "Traitors!"
    Across the meadow, men leapt up
from their campfires and sprinted for the woods. The Demon Lord
snarled, and his eyes filled with blackness. He lashed her with the
fire, and she writhed as her stomach churned. With a flick of his
hand, he sent a bolt across the valley to gouge a chunk out of the
ground behind the fleeing men. Bane shouted for Mord, and the troll
scuttled up and abased himself, his face screwed up with
terror.
    He gestured at Mirra. "Cut her
down. Wash the stink from her, and bring her to my tent. Those
bastards will not feed her again."
    Bane stalked back to his tent,
the jet cloak swirling about him as if his rage had fuelled it to
animation. Mord ran to find help, and returned with two reluctant
gnomes. When they cut her bonds, Mirra's rubbery legs would not
obey her. They carried her to a stream in the forest and washed her
with coarse soap, scrubbing her ragged hair. Mord hacked off the
remaining tresses that hung from her scalp in tangled clumps with
his knife. When she was clean, they wrapped her in an old,
threadbare green robe and carried her to Bane's tent.
    The Black Lord's son sat on the
bed, clutching his head. When Mord entered, he yelled, "What took
you so long? Fetch my medicine!"
    Mord darted out, and the gnomes
dumped Mirra and fled. Bane glared at her, his eyes bloodshot and
his skin sheened with sweat. "Now you smell like a damned
harlot."
    Mirra sat up and reached out to
him, sensing his pain in palpable waves. "Let me help you."
    He smacked her hands away. "I do
not need your damned help!"
    "You suffer."
    "Leave me alone, witch!"
    Mord dashed in, cowering, and
placed a cup on the