18. A Sad State of Affairs

Chapter 18

A Sad State of Affairs

R emir, Jonas's best friend and a trusted Sarqua leader, waited until Jonas and the others left the hillside. He trailed the Storm Lords a short distance, then watched for his contact to appear. While Tanselm absorbed the dead bodies of Dark into her earth, a figure strode out of the wood line. In a hooded robe made of black fabric, the small figure might well have been a fictional Reaper from the Next.

If only, Remir thought tiredly. He was so ready to move on. Any more nights with Sin Garu and he'd start losing his mind. The blood Sin Garu took from him was no longer enough. Besides savaging his body, the Dark Lord had become the conduit for the demons ravaging Remir's soul.

The hooded figure paused when he reached Remir, his innocence a surprising change from the zealots Remir had seen in the northern territory. The young man, having captured Remir's attention, turned and walked back into the woods. The trees seemed to welcome the figure, a notable difference from the way nature greeted most of the Church members — with an open hostility Remir's Darkness sensed.

"My master wants a word." The churchman sounded shaky. He didn't seem as comfortable around Darkness as his holy brothers. Strangely pleased that his partner in crime feared him, Remir played on his Dark energy. Willing himself to burn in truth, he chuckled at the young man's fear.

With a gasp, the churchman pointed in an opposite direction before running back into the forest.

Snorting with contempt, Remir put out a psychic feeler and located the person he'd been sent to find. He walked through the forest, feeling more alive in his natural state, and wondered if an influx in his energy might burn off the demon touch lingering over his skin.

His cock ached as he recalled the baser acts Sin Garu had perpetrated, and he hastened to deal with his contact and get back to his master before the Dark Lord decided on more of the same.

"Here." The deep voice was filled with arrogance.

Remir stopped and flowed back into a man's flesh, not wanting his true self exposed to the evil seething in the Light Bringer traitor. Remir's skin crawled in the churchman's presence. Unlike the many people he'd met in the northern territory, this man stank of corruption. Here, in Tanselm's heart, this misrepresentation of everything the Church of Illumination was supposed to be, stood a creature filled with malevolence.

Yet strength was there in the dark brown eyes that glittered with scorn. "Tell your master everything is going according to plan."

Remir nodded, not trusting himself not to tear the man's throat out. He'd been forced to turn against his people and Tanselm, but this holy leader, Ordinary Nohjen, had offered his services to Sin Garu.

"My spies are in place. The time is ripe for insurrection. The Light Bringers doubt their leaders. And with the Storm Lords away from the west this night, there's no better time to bring down the throne. A minor obstacle, really, but once the overqueen is gone, the heart of the people's resistance will fade as surely as Tanselm's Light has been fading since the Dark stepped onto our lands."

Remir stared in shock. He hadn't known anything about a plot to kill Queen Ravyn. With her dead, he feared the Storm Lords would never rid their world of Sin Garu. There would be too much pain and chaos to wade through, obviously what Sin Garu expected.

His heart sank at the thought of allowing the twisted Dark Lord to win.

For months, he'd been forced to do Sin Garu's bidding. Yet he'd always harbored a secret hope the Storm Lords would prevail, or at the very least, expose him for his part in Sin Garu's work. Would that the Sarqua Djinn or Light Bringers kill him before he could do any permanent damage to the Storm Lords. If only the spell around him didn't keep him so distant and quiet when around Jonas…

Remir stared hard at Nohjen, wondering how firm the zealot was in his convictions. Sin Garu's spell prevented Remir from turning to his trusted comrades. Perhaps he could plant the seed of doubt in this man's mind. He had to at least try.

"If you're so revolted by Dark presence, why have anything to do with a Dark Lord? They don't come much Darker than that."

Nohjen shrugged. "Sacrifice is a constant in the world we live in. For Tanselm, we'll do anything to preserve her constructs. The fact is that the land needs more energy — Dark energy. What we don't need is so much filth staining the populace."

"So you're saying you're taking the lesser of two evils? One Dark Lord instead of the many Djinn and Aellei ‘corrupting' your world?" Was the man completely crazy?

The churchman sneered. "Exactly. Your kind pollutes the air we Light Bringers breathe. If we must deal with the Dark, at least we choose to deal with one being, and one of power, at that." He gave Remir a disgusted look. "I hadn't realized you Djinn possessed anything resembling intelligence under that black flame. But I'm not surprised it now burns blue. You creatures are always fucking anything that moves. Dark Lords too, hmm?"

Remir peered closer at the churchman, surprised the man could see through his flesh to the Djinn that burned in truth beneath, or that a Light Bringer knew how to read signs of Dark Lord taint.

He experienced another unfortunate surprise. Latent power blazed under a deliberately misleading guise. The man before him was no ordinary Light Bringer turned traitor, but a sorcerer who'd done a remarkable job of hiding his power. The knowledge was just another piece of bad news for this world needing more help than Remir could manage.

If Nohjen knew of such Dark magic, who knew what else the Church of Illumination understood? How vast was their knowledge? Remir had a feeling the Church's deception went beyond one or two individuals to extend throughout their entire organization.

The Church of Illumination really was the threat Jonas thought it to be.

Thoughts of Jonas made Remir hurt worse. His friend needed this information, but Remir was helpless to share it. With each visit to the Dark Lord, Remir's will to resist grew weaker. As easy as it should have been for Remir to leave this monstrous churchman and teleport to Jonas, sadly, every fiber in Remir's body vibrated with the need to feel Dark Lord flesh under his palms. The need to hurt, to feel the pain only Sin Garu could bestow, shook him with an addict's compulsion. And self-loathing.

Nohjen flicked several blades of grass clinging to the robe covering his sturdy body. "Tell Sin Garu we move tonight. By tomorrow, the Storm Lords will be without an overqueen. Then we'll begin eradicating the rest of your kind from our land."

The magic binding Remir to Sin Garu's will blasted through him. Excruciating pain throbbed behind his temples as he forced out the words, "You're not at all concerned Sin Garu will kill you and your kind? He has no fondness for Light."

"But he respects power. The Church knows how to protect itself." Nohjen shook his head. "I've no liking for Sin Garu, but he and others like him exist. So we sacrifice some of Tanselm's power to soothe a hungry Dark Lord and help our world overcome its shortcomings. In the end, Tanselm's will remain ours."

"You trust him to keep his word?" The words felt like shards of glass ripping through his throat, but Remir did his best to instill doubt.

Unfortunately, Nohjen stood firm. "No. But he knows what we'll do to him if he tries to break our agreement."

What could the Church do? Curiosity blazed, driving Remir to pursue his questioning.

Nohjen waited, studying Remir with reluctant interest.

"And what of the other worlds Sin Garu will conquer with Tanselm's power in his hands?" Remir was sweating, a burning pervading his limbs as he tried in vain to warn this man away from the course the Church had set.

"What of them?" Chilly brown eyes stared back at him with dismissal. "As long as Tanselm remains safe, the Church and I have done our duty. But I will make sure to share your concern with my fellow Light Bringer." Nohjen chuckled, his voice like daggers slicing Remir's last hopes to shreds. "Now give me what you're supposed to… fhel-sa Efan melea. " Unworthy Dark Lord whore.

Remir wanted nothing more than to take the head from this man's body. Instead, he watched himself hand the bastard a small black bag that appeared from out of nowhere. Dread overwhelmed him. "Four strikes to the chest. No more, and no less," he said in a toneless voice, his body a puppet controlled by Dark lord strings.

For your disobedience, Darkling, we'll spend quality time together this eve . Sin Garu's laughter resounded in Remir's mind, the promise of retribution swift and deadly.

Nohjen took the proffered bag and disappeared into the forest without another word. Despite Sin Garu's threats, or perhaps because of them, Remir struggled to go after the churchman, to take back what would amount to a crushing blow at the Storm Lords.

Lexa, he mentally shouted. Dark Mistress, please. I need you.

Like the dozen other pleas he'd sent, this one, too, went unanswered.

Desperate to find the Storm Lords, to do anything he could to warn them, Remir focused on Cadmus, the Storm Lord he knew best, trying to get a lock on the man even as he fought the encroaching Darkness of Sin Garu's command to return home.

A sudden blast of Dark energy gave him much needed respite from the sorcerer's mental tampering.

"Not you, Remir. Please, tell me I'm wrong." Jonas tugged him into a small clearing, strapping down his arms and his magic.

Unable to free himself, Remir could only wait.

Jonas circled to stand in front of him. His gaze had darkened to a deep black. The fury snapping from his aura was enough to make Remir wince with shame. But at least he could function through the pain hampering his magic. Jonas's Dark energy sapped some of the strength of Sin Garu's binding spell.

"I —" Blue flame shot from Remir's mouth, a monstrous wave of pain taking him to his knees.

" Shit ." Jonas muttered under his breath and turned the power ensnaring Remir into a boost of energy, helping him to further block Sin Garu's Dark magic.

"Hurry," Remir rasped, fighting the coldness freezing his vocal cords. "Church… kill… the qu —"

A demon's shriek echoed. Remir writhed in agony as a creeping evil wound through his blood.

"I didn't want to believe it when Lexa told me she suspected you. I told her she had to be wrong. Not you." Jonas leaned toward him, speaking through a tightly clenched jaw. Worry mingled with the blame in his gaze, and he increased the surge of energy he lent Remir.

Remir tried again to do the right thing. "Help." He coughed, pulling at his throat, his chest, needing Jonas's strength to make sense of the misery that had become his life.

"I'm trying to help, damn it."

"Warn…queen."

Jonas stilled. "Ravyn?"

"K-k-kill her." He took a deep breath. "To-night."

Jonas scowled, and suddenly a Djinn appeared next to them.

Alor, another of Remir's battle brothers, stared down at him in shock. "Remir? By Dark's breast, now they're attacking us one by one?"

Jonas cut him off. "Hurry back to the keep. Tell the Storm Lords that Queen Ravyn is in danger. Don't stop for anyone or anything. Go."

Alor's face darkened, but before he could disappear, a half dozen enemy Djinn surrounded them. A burst of energy shielded them from teleporting anywhere.

"So…sorry." Tears spilled down Remir's face. "Sor…cer…y." He coughed again, blood pushing over his lips as he blindly reached for Jonas's hand. "Bro…ther."

Before his vision completely glazed over, Remir swore he saw forgiveness flash in Jonas's face. The sound of battle tore him from the haze invading his mind and body, and unbearable pain struck him as his own personal hell became real.

He heard a bloodcurdling scream, felt the burn of his soul as it was ripped away by the demons crawling all over him, and belatedly realized the cries came from his own throat.

" Mother of Night ," someone prayed before Remir lost all feelings but those of abject terror.

Sin Garu's punishment had not been the worst thing he'd ever felt. It didn't come close to what the demons were doing to him as they carted him through the Between into their world.

One piece at a time.