David Gemmell - Dark Prince

'You fear me? That is wise,' the man said. 'But you stand against me, and that is foolish. I know all your actions, I know your thoughts. Your plans lie before me. Why then do you persist in this meaningless struggle?'

'What do you want here?' countered Parmenion.

'There is a child with golden hair. Have him brought to me and I will spare you and your city. He means nothing to you; he is not even of this world. He is a demon, and carries within him a seed of evil that must be destroyed.'

'A demon, you say? Then surely he should be a friend to you, Philippos?'

'I am a man, Parmenion,' answered Philippos, his voice smooth and friendly, his golden eye gleaming in the pale light. 'My deeds are my own. You should understand that. You are a warrior, and a fine general; you came the closest to defeating me. But that is all I am, Parmenion, a warrior king building an empire. Thus has it been since the dawn of time. Great men will always seek power. Look at me! Do you see a demon?'

'I see a man who butchered his own children to try to become a god. I see a man possessed. Do not seek to sway me, Philippos. I am not to be bought.'

'One child for a whole city? And that child not even Spartan! Are you insane or merely stupid?'

'Your insults mean nothing to me,' said Parmenion. 'And you are wrong, I do not fear you. I learnt much during the battle at Man tinea. I learnt that you are a poor general, with no strategic skills. You rely always on your sorcerous eye to feed you victory, but without it you would be nothing. Within a few days you will face the might of Sparta.

And you will know defeat and death. For I know how to kill you, Philippos.'

'Now I know that you are insane. I am invulnerable and invincible. No blade, no poison known to man can kill me.

Bring on your five thousand, and your army of slaves and old men. We shall see how they fare against the power of Makedon! And no false goddess will save you this time. I will order you taken alive, and I will see the skin flayed from your body.'

Parmenion laughed then. 'Do I see fear, demon? How does it taste?'

The King shimmered, his form expanding, features twisting and stretching until his eyes were crimson slits in a mottled grey face, his mouth a huge, lipless gash rimmed by fangs. Curved ram's horns of black pushed through the dark hair, curling to rest against the misshapen skull. The beast advanced, but Parmenion held his ground with sword extended.

'Fear, Human?' came a chilling voice. 'You ask me if I know fear?' Parmenion's mouth was dry, but his sword was steady. The beast halted before him, towering over the slender swordsman.

'I am the Lord of this World. It is mine. It has always been mine, for all that exists is born of Chaos. Everything.

From the smallest seed to the largest star. Before there were men I walked upon this world, when the ground below my feet boiled and the air was fire. I will walk upon it when it is barren and there are no mewling sounds of humans upon the face of it. For it will be ash and dust, dark and cold. I will be here when the stars burn out. And you think to teach me fear?'

'Not you,' admitted Parmenion. 'But he felt fear, else you would not have shown yourself.'

'You are clever, Human. And do not think that I do not know you are an imposter. I watched you in the forest, and in the sea when the death Ship sank. You will fail, even as your twin failed. You cannot prevail. What is more, you know it.'

'What I know is that you must be opposed. And you can be beaten. For your power is finite, it depends upon the men who serve you. They can die — and you can lose.'

'As I said, you are a clever man, Parmenion. But you are doomed. The Spartan army will avail you nothing, and the slaves will scatter and flee at the first charge. Your Spartans will be surrounded and destroyed. What purpose then will your defiance serve?'

Parmenion did not answer, could not answer, but he gazed into the demon's eyes and raised his sword. The demon shimmered and faded, but his voice whispered one last time: 'I will see that you live to watch every man, woman and child in this city put to death. You will be the last to die. Think on it, mortal, for that is your future!'

Parmenion sank back to the bed, letting the sword drop from his hand. Despair washed over him, choking his emotions and clouding his judgement. How could he have dreamt of defeating such a creature? 'I am with you,' said a voice in his mind.

'Thena?'

'Yes.'

'Did you see?'

'I did, and I am proud of the way you stood against him. Alexander is safe; we are at the Gateway, and there are many creatures here with great powers. Philippos would need his army to capture Alexander now.'

Relief swept through the Spartan. 'That at least is good news. Did you give Brontes my message?'

'I did. But he could not convince them to come to your aid: they are fearful of the ways of Man — and rightly so. For centuries they have been hunted and slain, betrayed and deceived. All they want now is for the Enchantment to be restored. But Brontes, Helm and Attalus are riding to join you. No others.'

'I half expected that, but even so it is more than a disappointment.'

'Consider something else for a moment,' she advised. 'Philippos could not read your mind, so at least your plans are safe from him.'

He smiled then. 'I have only one plan, lady. One giant gamble. If it fails, we fail.'

'Only one?'

'There is no time for great subtlety, Thena. One throw of the dice is all we have.'

'Then you must make it work. . and you can. For you are the strategos and the hope of the world.'

Parmenion took a deep, calming breath. Thilippos may not be able to read my thoughts, but others will know of my plan on the day of battle. I will need help then. The Demon King must be distracted. If he should learn of my strategy then all will truly be lost. Is there anything you can do?'

For a moment there was silence. 'I will think on it,' she promised at last.

'It is good to hear you again,' he told her suddenly.

'May the Source of All Life be with you, my. . friend.'

'I would sooner have five thousand cavalry, lady.'

The day was long, hot and endlessly frustrating. The slaves, in their new breastplates and leather kilts, drove the officers training them to distraction. Scores were dismissed from service, many were injured in combat training -

spraining limbs, sustaining cuts.

Parmenion moved among the toiling groups, offering words of encouragement to the officers and men, suggesting small changes in the training methods, urging the officers to have patience with their recruits. And so the day ground on.

By the afternoon Parmenion was helping the barracks youngsters to block the streets — carrying furniture from homes, filling sacks with earth and stones and hoisting them to the barricades.

'I want javelins left on every roof along Leaving Street and the Avenue of Kings,' he told Cleander. 'And men with strong arms to hurl them. I want several hundred bowmen stationed at the agora, behind barricades.'

'It will be done, sire,' the dying man promised.

Returning to the palace at dusk, Parmenion spent two hours with Leonidas, Timasion, Cleander and a group of officers, listening to their reports on the progress of the training.

'Within two days we will have a core of men with potential,' said Leonidas. 'But no more than five thousand. The rest would be useless in any major combat. I would suggest leaving them with Cleander to defend the city.'

'Agreed,' said Parmenion. 'But the men not selected must not be made to feel useless. Split them into groups of twenty, each with their own leader; then have the leaders report to Cleander. In this battle morale must take the place of discipline — let us all understand that. Do not criticize a man for lack of ability with a sword, or for clumsiness.