Allan Cole - The Gods Awaken

He grinned hugely, then shrugged, as if to say, Life has its strange little twists, doesn't it, dear?

Safar saw Leiria's hurt through Iraj's eyes and struggled madly to regain control of his own body. But Iraj was beginning to learn the ways and weapons of his new position and shot a searing inward blast at his prisoner.

Safar jolted as if he'd been struck by lightning. When he recovered, he tried once again to free himself.

And the answer was another hot bolt of punishment.

He withdrew into the nest Iraj had once occupied. Nursing his wounds, while his mind ran wild with hate and half-formed thoughts of revenge.

An hour later the castle gates clanked open and Yorlain escorted the Kyranians across the bridge through the cheering crowds of her subjects.

And they all shouted, "The king has come! May the Gods save us and the king!"

Then she took them to the castle keep and Safar had recovered enough to marvel as the huge, iron-bound doors yawned wide to admit them. These were the very same doors, he thought, that Asper had said he'd knocked on without reply.

The old demon wizard's words echoed in his mind: "… Know that Asper knocked at the Castle Keep,But the gates were barred, the Gods asleep."

The first thing he saw when the doors swung open was a wide courtyard. Straddling that courtyard was an enormous stone turtle. Flames exploded from its horny mouth. There was a great open grate in its belly and heavily muscled slaves were shoveling whole cartloads of fuel into the furnace within.

Safar noticed that the fuel was similar to the magical stuff the airship's engines used. But just then wild magic suddenly blasted through and he was forced to quickly repair, then strengthen the shield.

One part of his brain noted that he could act without Iraj's cooperation-perhaps even without his knowledge. But the other, larger part focused on a hellish emanation from the Keep itself.

Yorlain whispered orders to her aides, who rushed to open the final barrier-an enormous iron gate with bars as thick as a man's thighs, armed with sharp, spear-like points.

And as they were cranked up, heavy chains rattling against unseen gears, Safar saw a long dark tunnel. A blaze of light, no larger than his palm, winked at the other end.

Yorlain waved them through, getting out of her chariot and walking beside Khysmet.

As they moved into the darkness, both Iraj and Safar heard Yorlain say, "There are those who claim this was once the mightiest fortress in all the world. A thousand years ago, when the last kings ruled, it survived a legendary siege that lasted twenty years or more.

"Ten thousand demons hammered at these gates, but to no avail. If I recall correctly, Lord Asper himself led the last charge and was turned back with terrible casualties."

"What war was this?" Iraj asked. And Safar listened closely for Yorlain's answer.

"My scholars tell me it was an ethnic war of sorts," the queen replied. "Hadin was once populated by people of many races. Also, there was a large colony of demons who lived peacefully among us for centuries. Some say the demons were once so plentiful that one of the ruling pair of kings was a demon.

"I don't know if that's true, since it was so long ago that only the tales survived. There are no records.

Regardless, when the slaughter reared its head everyone who was not exactly like…" She hesitated, trying to put genocide into passable words. Then: "Well, people without dark hair and dark eyes were condemned and executed as enemies of the state. Of course, the demon king had long since been executed, so that was no bother to these barbarians.

"Then it came time to cleanse ourselves of the demons. It was about then that Asper came to our shores, warning of a cleansing of the entire world. Not just of demons … or of people like us … but of all living things.

"Naturally, no one listened. We all believed the gods were on our side, just as the demons claimed the gods were with them. Asper, of course, said the gods were asleep and we were all doomed.

"But the words of an old wizard don't amount to much when beings want blood, so everyone turned against him. And they drove him away during the long siege that the demons mounted against the humans.

"In the end, the defenders of the castle keep not only prevailed, but sallied forth to engage the demons in several decisive battles."

Sighing, Yorlain shook her head. "If you traveled throughout Hadinland you wouldn't have to ponder long on the result of those battles. For you would not find a single demon on any island throughout the continent. We killed them all and praised ourselves as saints for the killing."

During Yorlain's history lesson, Iraj's military brain drove him to inspect the tunnel's defenses. Here and there were patches of diffused light coming from above and he looked up to treat himself-and Safar-to a view of heavy grates with enormous iron pots set on swivels hanging over them.

Safar needed no explanation from Iraj that in wartime these pots would be filled with boiling oil or molten lead that could be tipped over to scald and kill anyone daring this passage.

Along with Iraj, he also took careful note of the series of gates spread along the tunnel. Smaller than those barring the entryway, but not by much, these gates were cranked up as they approached. Just beyond each gate were other windows of diffused light, with hot pots guarding them.

It took little imagination to see their purpose. Invaders would be tricked into sending troops into the tunnel. Gates would be slammed shut on each side, trapping them for the boiling oil or molten lead.

Finally, they came out of the tunnel into pure high-mountain light. Yorlain led them around a deep pit that had been constructed only a few yards away from the entrance to the fortress.

Iraj glanced inside the pit and both he Safar saw its purpose. A nest of pointed iron spikes was set in cement in the bottom. Gray, frosted demon skeletons were impaled on many of those spikes. Safar didn't have to hear all of Yorlain's words to know that the ancient bones dated back to the great siege.

At last they came to the keep proper. Iraj dismounted and led Khysmet inside, hooves echoing in the vast interior.

It was then that Safar experienced the strongest blast of machine magic. There was a rumble and a whirl that tore him from his center.

Yorlain said something, but he couldn't make out her words. And the magical storm was so intense that even Iraj was shaken. Eyes moving toward the source, carrying Safar's vision with them. Then fixing on a huge pentagram made of golden tiles.

Like Claire's table, Safar thought. And then that thought was ripped from his mind.

For the magic emanating from the pentagram was so powerful that all his senses were confounded. It was as if a thick fog had descended. A painful fog containing many barbs and poisoned hooks like a deep-sea devil fish.

Once again, he strengthened the shield spell. Putting all his energies into it. Wishing he had Palimak, or even Jooli or Eeda to help. But buried within Iraj he was barred from all contact with them.

Then he got the shield up, took scant notice of the fact that Iraj had also been injured by the spellblast, and concentrated on the colorful work painted within the pentagram.

It was an eight-pointed wind-rose. And on each directional spear was painted the form of one the major gods. Safar sent mental commands for Iraj to investigate.

To his surprise, Iraj caught his sense of urgency and let his eyes sweep from familiar figures such as the Goddess Felakia and the rest. Eyes moving onward, from one god or goddess to the other, until they came to rest on a wide red spear that was turned inward, pointing to the center.

And painted on that spear blade was the exotic, six-faced form of the lady from the hells.