Chapter 32. Demon Lord

aster Tan turned his head away in disgust as the demon slurped and gnawed on the raw bones of its feast.  Xenarach was much reduced from its former glory, barely more than a beast now and its hunger was immense.  Human flesh was its preference and Master Tan was in a unique position to provide it.  No one missed executed criminals and if Tan was able to order their deaths by garrote, he could often ensure they lived through the ordeal so that Xenarach could grow strong from the terror of their final moments.  There were also the prisoners of political expedience, often foreigners accused of spying.  He was allowed to torture them and no one questioned his need to hide their location or make them disappear.  Children, however, were Xenarach’s true delight.  Their fear was so vibrant and uncontrolled it sustained him for days.

Obtaining children was difficult at the best of times.  Shiro’s romp through the city and his gift of affliction had produced an excellent crop of orphans.  No one missed them if they were quietly removed.  In a way he was doing the city a favor clearing them off the streets.  Until his death, Master Feng had used his natural talent and penchant for cruelty to procure the requisite prey on Tan’s behalf.  Now Tan had two pressing concerns, not least of which was having to train a new summoner and binder to replace the one Master Bei had undoubtedly destroyed.  The second was finding a host worthy of the demon lord when the time was right.  Tan had been grooming Feng for that fateful day and now he had to renew the search. 

The damp chewing had stopped and he dared a glance at the shimmering cage forged of chaotic energies.  All the marrow and flesh of the small body was gone and the remnants were no longer distinguishable as human bones.  Xenarach sat on its coarse haunches and swept its serpentine tail like a hunting cat.  A wet gurgling snuffle issued from its malformed throat and its six hooded eyes with their lava glow gazed malevolently at Tan.  Obsidian claws grated loudly on the stone floor as it clenched its fists, a veiled threat.  Its hatred was palpable, but it needed him.  The demon was gradually regaining memories of its former majesty and puissance.  As it did so, its ability to reshape its projection on the material plane improved.  Soon it would be able to wear the flesh of mortals once more.

Tan was a vengeful man and he made no secret of that.  His underlings in the ministry obeyed him without question if they valued their career.  Master Bei had destroyed Tan’s adept, and in retaliation Tan had every intention of destroying Bei’s apprentice.  Finding a trumped up charge to take Master Kai into custody had been relatively simple.  He would have executed the barbarian, as well, but he had not counted on the man having a powerful protector.

“Who was she?” Tan asked, his voice clipped and commanding.  Soon Xenarach would not be so pliable.

“A corrupted guardian, the spirit of the Jade Sea,” the demon replied with a voice like metal breaking under stress.

“How do I destroy her?”

“Restore me and I will devour her.”

Tan had hoped for a true name, some means of binding the meddling creature so that he could claim Bei’s apprentice.  She had appeared to him in a dream, threatening to destroy two of the most lucrative docks in the city if he did not release Master Kai at dawn.  Of course he had disregarded the warning.  Prophetic dreams did not come to him unbidden and he naturally assumed it meant nothing.  Then, that morning he received news that those very structures had been dashed to pieces by a freak wave.

It was not something Master Bei would do.  In his prime, while he was still Master Tan’s tool and Xenarach’s host, perhaps, but not now.  The destruction of the docks told him the creature had a form, and if it had form, it could also be destroyed.  Tan had prepared Master Kai for torture, hoping to draw it into the open so that he could do battle with it.  Instead, the strange tolling music he had heard in his dream had rung within his waking mind.  Without words, she made it known that if a single drop of Pendaran’s blood was shed, she would strike again and he would find no safety upon the open sea.  She would hunt him forever after.

 “I cannot restore you while Master Bei lives.  Master Kai wards him, this sea spirit wards Kai.  If I am to make progress, I need her out of the way.”

“Master Bei will fall.  I see it.”

The demon turned its slavering jaws skyward, its ashen form bathed in eldritch shadows as it focused.  It had predicted the Searing and Cataclysm and spoke of Tan’s imminent rise to power.  He did not doubt its ability to detect the approaching death of the man whose very existence made Xenarach’s recovery impossible.  Bei had given a piece of his own spirit to the ensnaring of the demon.  Until Bei went to his judgment, Xenarach would always be but a sniveling shadow dependent upon an enchanted cage and human flesh to grant it a physical form.

“What else do you see?” he demanded.  The demon snarled, its long gruesome face roiled with rage.  As it whirled its massive head around to gaze upon Tan, its horns sparked and sizzled upon the enchanted bars.

“You will not kill Master Kai.  Corruption has already opened a place in him and he shall carry me.  You will soon have an apprentice once more.”

“But what of the water demon?  She has already laid claim to him.”

“She is of no consequence,” the demon roared, impatient, “Let her make a ruin of your filthy city, it will matter not when night fall comes.  Once I don human flesh, I shall strike her down.  Now leave me, cowardly worm, and do not return until you have procured another child.”

Master Tan opened his mouth to speak but the cage flared with a deadly actinic light as the demon thrashed against the bars.

“Remember your place,” Xenarach roared, “When Bei Zhou Li is fallen, bring me his apprentice and I will renew you.”