Raymond E. Feist - Serpentwar 3 - Rage of a Demon King

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BOOK III

The Mad God's Tale

We are the music makers,

We are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;World-

losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

We are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy

Ode, st. 1

PROLOGUE

Breakthrough

The wall shimmered.

In what had once been the throne room of Jarwa, last

Sha-shahan of the Seven Nations of the Saaur, the thirty-foot-

high wall of stones opposite the empty seat of power

seemed to waver, then vanish as a black void appeared.

Nightmare creatures gathered. things of terrible fangs and

~nous claws. Some wore the faces of dead animals,

while others were humanlike in aspect. Some bore proud

wings, antlers, or bull's horns. All were beings of massive

muscle and evil intent, dark magic and murderous, nature.

Yet all in the hall remained motionless, terrified of that

which was appearing on the other side of the newly created

gateway. Demons who stood as tall as trees crouched low

eying not to be seen.

Immense energy was required to open a gate, and for

years the demons had been thwarted by the accursed

priests of the distant city of Ahsart. Only when the mad

High Priest unsealed the portal admitting the first demon

to deny his city to the conquering host of the Saaur, was

the barrier breached.

Now the world of Shila lay in tatters, the remaining life

reduced to lowly creatures at the sea bottom, lichen clinging

to rocks in crevices upon distant mountain peaks, and

tiny creatures that scuttled under rocks to avoid detection.

Anything larger than the smallest insect had been

devoured. Hunger now gripped the demon host, and again

they returned to their ancient habit of feeding upon one

4 RAYMOND E. FEIST

another. But internecine conflict was put aside among the

elite of the host as a new gate from the Fifth Circle to Shila

was completed, opening the way for the supreme ruler of

the demon realm to communicate.

The demon without a name stood at the edge of those

summoned to "s once-grand hall. He peeked out from

behind a stone column, lest he call attention to himself.

He had captured a unique soul and had been harboring it,

using it, becoming cunning and dangerous. For unlike

most of his brethren, he had discovered guile worked better

than confrontation in gaining valuable life force and intelligence.

He still showed the proper mix of fear and danger

to those directly above him, enough fear so they judged

him under their sway, yet dangerous enough for them to

avoid attempting to consume him. It was a perilous pose,

and had he made one misstep, calling attention to his

uniqueness, those captains nearby would have destroyed

him utterly, for his mind was turning alien and was now

self -aware enough to be a threat to all of them.

This demon knew he could easily defeat at least four of

the demons who presumed superiority and stood before

him, but to rise too quickly among the host was to call

unwanted attention to oneself. He had, during his short

life, seen no fewer than a half-dozen others rise too

quickly, only to be destroyed by one of the great captains,

either against that day they might themselves be challenged,

or to protect a favored servant.

Mightiest of these captains was Tugor, First Servant of

Great Maarg, who was now making his will known. Tugor

fell to his knees, placing his forehead to the floor, and

others followed his lead.

The demon without a name heard a faint voice and

knew it came from the soul he had captured, and he tried

to ignore it, but it always said something he knew to be

important. 'Observe,' he heard in his mind, as if it were a

faint whisper in his ear, or a thought of his own. i

RAGE OF A DEMON KING

A great rush of energies bathed the room as the shimmering

wall seemed to ripple outward, then vanish as a

gate to the home realm opened. A wind filled the chamber,

from air sucked through the gap between worlds, as if

everything in this hall were being urged to return to its

home realm. By their nature, demons instinctively felt an

awareness of those far mightier than themselves, and being

close to Tugor caused the nameless demon to nearly faint

in terror. But the presence that emanated through the

rent in the fabric of space nearly reduced him to babbling

incoherence.

All those present stayed on their knees, keeping foreheads

to the stones, save the nameless demon still hidden

behind the column. He watched as Tugor stood to face the

void. From within the gap in the wall came a voice that

was filled with the echoes of rage and dread. 'Have you

found the way?'

Tugor said, 'We have, most mighty! We have sent two

of our captains through the rift to Midkemia.'

'What do they report?'demanded the voice from beyond,

and in it the nameless demon detected a note of something

besides anger and power, a hint of desperation, perhaps.

'Dogku and Jakan do not report,' responded Tugor. 'We

know nothing. We believe they are unable to hold the

portal.'

'Then send another.' ordered Maarg, Ruler of the Fifth

Circle. 'I will not cross until that way is clear; you've left

nothing upon this world that I may consume. Next time I

open the way, I will cross, and if there is naught for me

to devour. I will eat your heart, Tugor!' The sound of air

being sucked from the room ceased as the rift between

the worlds closed. Maarg's voice hung in the air as the

shimmering vanished and the wall was as it had been

before.

Tugor rose up and shouted in rage, venting his frustration.

The others stood slowly, for now would not be a

6 RAYMOND E. FEIST

good time to draw the attention of the second most

powerful among their race. Tugor had been known to snap

the heads from the shoulders of those who appeared to

be growing too powerful so that no rival would appear

who might contest his position. It was even rumored

that Tugor harbored his strength against the day when

he might challenge Maarg for supremacy among the

race.

Tugor turned and said, 'Who goes next?'

Without quite knowing why, the nameless demon rose

and came forward. 'I will go, lord.'

Tugor's visage, a horse skull with great horns, was nearly

expressionless, but what expression it was capable of

reflected puzzlement. 'Who are you, little fool?'

'I have no name yet Master,' said the nameless one.

Tugor took two large strides, pushing aside several of

his captains, to stand towering over the small demon. 'I

have sent captains, who have failed to return. Why should

you succeed where they did not?'

'Because I am meek and will hide and observe, Master,'

the nameless one said quietly. 'I will gather intelligence,

and I will hide, harboring my strength, until I can reopen

the portal from the other side.'

Tugor paused a moment, as if considering, then drew

back his hand and struck the smaller demon driving him

across the room into the wall. The demon had small wings,

not yet sufficient to fly with, and they felt as if they had

been broken by the impact of the stone wall.

'That is for being presumptuous,' said Tugor, his rage

just below the killing level.

'I shall send you,' he said to his next more powerful

captain. Then he spun and grabbed another, ripping.out

the hapless demon's throat as he screamed, 'And this is

for the rest of you for not showing as much courage.'

Some of the demons at the edge of the group turned

and fled the hall, while others fell to the stones, throwing

RAGE OF A DEMON KING

themselves on the mercy of Tugor's whim. He was satisfied

with killing one of his brethren, and drank blood and life

energy for a moment, before tossing aside the now-empty

husk of flesh.

'Go, said Tugor to the captain. 'The rift is in the distant

hills, to the cast. Those who guard it will tell you what

you must know to return ... if you are able. Return, and

I will reward you.'

The captain hurried from the hall. The small demon

hesitated, then followed, ignoring the fiery pain in his back.

with food and rest, the wings would heal. As he left the

palace he was challenged twice by other demons driven by

hunger. He quickly killed them. Drinking their fife energies

caused the pain in his wings to fade, and as before, new

thoughts and ideas manifested themselves. He suddenly

]mew why he was following the captain sent to reopen

the rift.

The voice that had once come from the vial he wore

around his neck, but that was now inside his head, said,

'We shall endure, then thrive, then we shall do what must

be done.'

The little demon hurried to the rift site, the location of

the fissure between worlds where the last of the Saaur

horde had fled. The little demon had learned things and

knew that somehow an ally had betrayed the demons, that

this gate was to have remained open, but instead had been

closed. Twice it had been forced open, but closed again

quickly, for those on the other side used counterspells to

keep the portal sealed. At least a dozen powerful demons

had died at Tugor's hands because of the host's inability

to cross.

The captain reached the portal site as a dozen other

demons surrounded him. Unnoticed, the little demon followed

the larger as if accompanying him.

The rift site was unremarkable, a large patch of muddy

earth, the grass crushed by the passing of thousands of

RAYMOND E. FEIST

Saaur horses and riders, their wives and children accompanying

them. Most of the grass surrounding the rift was

withered and blackened by the tread of demons, but tiny

patches of green could be seen here and there. Should the

rift remain closed much longer, even those tiny sources of

life energy would be sought out and devoured. Squinting

his eyes, the tiny demon saw the strange twist in the energy

that hung in the air, difficult to notice unless one specifically

looked for it.

What the Saaur and other mortal races called magic was

but a shifting of life energies to the demons, and some of

these might die in opening the rift. Until the wards on the

other side were removed, it would be impossible to keep

the rift open for more than a few seconds at a time, and

many demons would die to achieve even two or three such

passages. No demon gave his life willingly - it was not in

their nature - but all feared Tugor and Maarg, and

harbored the hope it would be the others in their company

who paid the ultimate price, while they survived to gain

reward.

The captain commanded, 'Open the way!'

The demons given the task glanced at one another,

knowing that some would die in the attempt, but at last

they opened their minds and let the energies flow. The

little demon studied the air and saw the shimmering as

the opening appeared, and the captain crouched, timing

his jump to the brief opening.

As he launched himself, while demons around the site

screamed and fell, the little demon leaped upon his back.

Taken totally by surprise, the captain bellowed his shock

and outrage as they fell into the rift. The urgency of the

little demon's purpose helped him ignore the disorientation,

while it only added to the captain's surprise.

As they emerged into a dark and vast hall, the little

demon bit as hard as he could into the base of the captain's

skull, where it met the neck, the weakest point on his body

insttantly an electric pulse flowed into the little demon as

the captain's outrage turned to terror and pain. He flailed

about in the darkness, desperately seeking to dislodge the

assassin. The little demon clung viciously to his victim's

back. Then the captain flung himself back, attempting to

crush the smaller demon against the rock face of the cavern,

but his own powerful wings conspired to prevent that.

Then the captain collapsed to his knees, and at that

moment the smaller demon knew he was victorious.,

Energy flowed into him until he felt as if he might literally

explode from it; he had feasted to insensibility before on

those he had taken, but never in one feast had he consumed

so much energy. He was now more powerful than

the one he fed upon. His legs, longer and more muscular

than they had been only a moment before, stood upon

hard stone as he lifted his diminishing victim, who now

could only mew weakly as his life force was drained.

Soon it was over and the newly victorious demon stood

in the hall, almost drunk from the infusion of power. No

food of flesh or fruit, no drink of ale or wine could bring

one of his kind to this state. He wished for a Saaur looking

glass, for he knew he was now at least a head taller than

a moment before. And upon his back he felt the wings

that would carry him through the sky one day begin to

grow again.

But something distracted him, and he again felt alien

thoughts entering his mind. 'Observe and beware!'

He turned and altered his perceptions to pierce the

darkness.

The vast hall was littered with the bodies of mortal creatures.

He saw both Saaur and those called Pantathians,

and a third type of creature, one unknown to him, smaller

than the Saaur and larger than the Pantathians. There was

nothing left of their life energies and so he quickly dismissed

them.

The wards were still in place, the barriers that caused

I0 RAYMOND E. FEIST

the death of those demons who attempted to pass through

unaided. He inspected them and saw that they should have

been easily removed by those demons sent before him.

Again regarding the carnage in the room he realized

that great magic had been brought to bear to prevent the

demons who came before from destroying the wards. Then

he wondered what had happened to his brethren, for if

they had been destroyed in this battle, there would have

been a lingering energy, but there was none.

Fatigued from his battle yet intoxicated with his new

life force, the demon reached to remove the first ward, but

the alien voice said, 'Wait!'

The demon hesitated, then reached down to the vial he

wore about his neck. Without considering the consequences,

the newly empowered demon opened the vial

and the soul trapped within was loosed. But rather than

fly to join that great soul of his ancestors, the soul in the

vial passed into the demon.

The demon shuddered, closing his eyes as a new mind

took control. Had the demon not been caught up in the

change after the victory, he would not have succumbed

so easily to the demand to free the soul in the vial, and

had he not been so disoriented, that other intelligence

would not have been able to achieve dominance. The mind

now in charge of the demon reserved some essence in the

vial and replaced the stopper. Some of his essence must

remain apart from the demon, an anchor of sorts against

the demands of demon lust and appetite. Even with that

anchor, withstanding the demon's nature would be a continuous

struggle.

Seeing through nonhuman eyes, the newly formed creature

inspected the wards again, and, rather than destroy

them, he chanted an ancient Saaur summoning of magic

and strengthened them. The creature could only imagine

the rage of Tugor when the next messenger exploded into

flaming agony upon attempting to pass into this realm.

RAGE OF A DEMON KING

The setback would not keep the demons from entering

this realm forever, but it did gain this new creature valuable

time.

Flexing talons, and then arms that seemed suddenly too

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