Demon Lord V - God Realm by T C Southwell

head?"
    Artan smiled.
"No. I don't think we'll find any more surprises amongst this
group."
    "That will be
a mercy."
    "What's that?"
Artan jerked his chin at the cup.
    "God
food."
    "May I?"
    Bane held out
the cup, and the warrior took it, glancing inside. "It's
empty."
    "Like I said,
it is god food. Forbidden to mortals."
    "But not
mortal gods."
    "Indeed."
    Artan handed
back the goblet. "Do you think we should have killed Rinath?"
    Bane glanced
at the demigoddess. "Probably. She may prove to be more trouble
than she is worth."
    "She can help
to fight off the dark beasts."
    "And it will
be hard for me to sleep with her around."
    Artan nodded.
"But she must sleep too."
    "Which means I
cannot until she does. If anything happens to me, you will be at
her mercy."
    "Then we'll
just have to make sure nothing happens to you, won't we? What would
you do if we took off the shackles?"
    Bane eyed the
stocky warrior. "Anything I say, you will discount as a lie."
    "Humour
me."
    The Demon Lord
gazed at the pearly fluid in the cup. "I would help you to escape
this trap and try to find a domain where you could live."
    "Why?"
    Bane shrugged,
and winced. "Because I am tar'merin. If you do not believe that,
then believe this: the shackles will eventually kill me. That is
what they are designed to do."
    "Even if
you're tar'merin?"
    "They bind the
dark power to me, so I cannot unleash it, and in time it will
consume me. Your god created them to defeat his enemy, and I doubt
that he considered the possibility that they might be used on a
tar'merin. We are, by all accounts, rare."
    Artan studied
him, looking thoughtful. "You're a contradiction in terms. Dark
gods are, by definition, evil."
    "I was not
born a dark god. I was forced to take up the power by the dark god
who made me what I am. It has always disagreed with me." Bane
sighed and sipped the ambrosia. "It is complicated."
    "I see. Did
you know what Rinath was before she revealed her power?"
    "No. Mortal
gods are hard to spot, demigods even harder. She knew what I was,
which is why she used Ethra to try and make you kill me, but I did
not notice her, she kept away from me and was unobtrusive."
    Artan gazed at
the unconscious woman again. "How powerful is she?"
    "Far more
powerful than a black mage. They do not have the ability to store
the dark power, only a god can do that. A black mage must Gather
while he wields, so his ability is limited by the shadows available
to him, and what his flesh can stand." He sipped the ambrosia. "Of
course, even normal mortals like you can be invaded by tiny amounts
of darkness, which corrupts their souls."
    The warrior
rose and went to tend the fire, returning with a piece of charred
meat when it was blazing again. He settled down a little further
from Bane than before. "So, you could corrupt us."
    Bane nodded.
"Yes, if I was not wearing the shackles. But people have a natural
barrier that keeps evil at bay, and of course, their faith in their
god."
    "My god is
dead."
    "You still
have your belief in what is right and wrong. That will protect you
to a certain extent."
    "But not
completely."
    Bane looked at
Rinath. "No. She was probably trying to corrupt you before, and she
will try harder now."
    "Can you
protect us?"
    "No. I can do
nothing to prevent it, apart from killing her."
    "Even without
the shackles?"
    "Without them
I could draw the darkness from you, but if you were susceptible it
would invade you again." Bane waved the cup of ambrosia out of
existence, and Artan blinked.
    "Doesn't that
require you to use your magic?"
    "Not the
darkness."
    Artan tore off
a chunk of meat and chewed it, frowning. He seemed to have run out
of questions for the moment, and Bane nodded at Rinath. "Those
chains will not hold her."
    "What
will?"
    "Nothing,
except these." Bane indicated the shackles. "She will melt the
chains off in a few moments."
    "Can you stop
her?"
    "No."
    Artan looked
suspicious. "But I expect you could if you weren't wearing the
shackles."
    Bane