Demonstorm

'Two things,' he said. 'One, we need to know when the density of mana in this dimension will give the demons the strength to overwhelm our defences. Second, we need a four-college strategy to see they never get there. And we need it fast.'

Arabelle ducked a killing blow and backhanded her sword across the demon's chest. It howled and tumbled back. Four of her men closed in.

'Hold it, this time, hold it!'

Two were already dead, victims of the demon's soul-touch. Two others stood with her, one a mage, ready to cast if capture became an impossibility. They'd cornered the beast after days of surveillance from the upper windows of the tower, had identified a pattern in its behaviour. They knew what it was doing: searching for their tunnel entrances, but it had become obsessed with a blind alley close to the northern wall of the college. This night, they were waiting for it.

The plan had been simple but they'd miscalculated its strength. Their first volley of blows hadn't weakened it enough and it had

snatched its two victims too easily. Arabelle wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

'Makkan, Terol, club it!'

The blows rained in on its body and head. The other two pounced on its arms, pinning them to the ground. The demon's fingers grasped and clutched, looking for a death touch, but it couldn't angle its wrist enough. It was a tall demon, better than six feet in height. Its hairless body was a livid sky blue and the veins and muscles writhed below its skin. Underneath its back, its gossamer, mana-based wings beat uselessly at the ground. It howled and screamed, its toothless mouth snapping. They would not be alone for long.    -

Arabelle and her remaining two men closed in. They pinioned its legs, she moved to its head.

'Struggle all you like, you are coming with us. Now I can have my mage cast to subdue you or you can do it yourself.'

The demon's small black eyes regarded her from a heavy brow, tongue licked the edges of its lipless mouth. It relaxed and quietened, holding her gaze.

'Don't ease your grip even one degree,' she warned, not flinching from its stare. 'That is exactly what it's waiting for.'

The demon snarled. A sibilant hiss escaped its mouth. 'You will still all be ours,' it said.

'Maybe, but not yours, eh?' She turned to her team. 'Right, on the double. Let's get inside.'

The demon started to struggle again when they lifted it from the ground, contorting its body, shaking its limbs and arching its neck. But these were strong and determined men Arabelle had selected and they moved with purpose.

Pounding through the streets back towards the northern tunnel entrance they could hear the calls of demons to which their captive responded with a series of hoots and screeches. In the quiet of the night in Lystern, when the cries died to echoes, they were replaced by the swoosh of hundreds of wings. Arabelle was washed with a brief sense of futility. Here, they had captured one. Elsewhere in the city, there were thousands, and more arrived every day. She had to remind herself why it was she was out here.

Inside the tunnel, the passage was wide. Mages at its end laid trap wards before running after the kidnappers. They had to assume the

demons would find this tunnel now. It had served its purpose. At least the wards would take some more of the beasts down with them.

In the centre of the ColdRoom constructs was a clear area measuring around fifty feet on a side. It was where the mages came to rest and replenish their mana stamina. The demon gasped as it was dragged into the ColdRoom lattice, exhaling only when they reached the centre of the great hall where the mana coursed freely. Arabelle ordered her team to set the demon down. Others ran from all parts of the hall, relieving the kidnap party and pinning the creature to the ground so tight it could barely move.

There was a pause for breath. The demon rotated its head, trying to take in whatever it could. Arabelle looked down on it, a smile creeping across her face.

'Got you,' she said.

The demon hissed, its pointed tongue flicking out of its mouth. Abruptly, it settled, looking over her shoulder. Arabelle could hear footsteps. She turned round, her smile widening.

'Well done,' said Heryst. 'Well done indeed.'

'We lost two,' she said, deflating a little.

T know, I know.' Heryst squeezed her shoulder. 'It was always a risk.'

He turned his attention to the creature and knelt by its head. It tried to back away, sensing his aura, but only succeeded in writhing feebly under the weight of those pressing it down.

'You are aware who I am.'

'Heryst,' it said, almost spitting the name out.

'Good. Then you understand that whatever I say carries complete truth. You are caught and will answer our questions.'

'No answers,' it hissed.

'You will notice that at the moment, we are being very generous,' continued Heryst, ignoring the creature. 'You are lying in a place where the mana still flows. Do not mistake this as a sign of weakness. Where mana still flows, we can still cast and so we can hurt you very badly. Or, if we choose, we can take you into our ColdRooms to watch you die slowly. Do you believe me?'

The demon regarded him silently, breath rasping through its taut jaws. It nodded fractionally. 'Then also believe that if you answer our questions and we judge you to be truthful, we will let yon go.'

The demon sputtered its contempt at the statement. Heryst cocked his head.

'It remains the truth. To take your life would be pointless. How many thousands of others are there to take your place? Nevertheless, it is your choice. But you will answer us.'

'Nothing I tell you will help you, mage.'

'Then there can be no harm in telling us the truth, can there?'

The demon smiled, bone ridges inside its mouth shining with saliva. 'You will not know.'

Heryst leaned in further and his tone surprised even Arabelle. 'Oh yes, we will. Believe that also.'

A hush fell in the great hall. Around the edges of the clear area, people crowded, not wishing to come too close to one of those that had caused such devastation and pain. Nearer, swordsmen kept watch for any incursion and mages stood ready to cast, should they be needed. Heryst circled the captured demon, Kayvel by his side.

'Now,' he said. 'This is where it begins. I will give you a choice. You can either answer my first question truthfully or I can ask my colleague here to demonstrate the pain that a tiny spell can wreak upon your body. Which is it to be?'

The demon hesitated a moment. 'Ask.'

'We know why you are here, we want to know why you have left the colleges alone.'

'Not all colleges. Dordover is ours.'

If Heryst was shaken, he didn't show it. 'But we are still here. As are Julatsa and Xetesk. Why do you not press us?'

'We have no need. You are no threat.'

'But surely one day you must move to attack us.'

'When we are strong and you cannot repel us. We have time, you do not.'

'Ah but do you, I wonder?' Heryst walked a slow circle around the demon which watched him every step of the way, face betraying its suspicion. 'We have had some interesting intelligence from friends and it is backed up by knowledge we have uncovered here. We think you have miscalculated. We think your home is dying and you are forced here. We think you will never be able to overwhelm us because you cannot force enough mana here before your home is lost to you. We think you are fearful.'

'Lies. We fear no one. Balaia will be ours.'

'Will it, my enemy?' Heryst stood tall over the demon. 'Is it not true that to complete your conquest you should have controlled our Hearts by now and you are not strong enough?'