Read Online When Angels Fall (Demon Lord) by T C Southwell - Free Book Online

solidifies?”
    “It cannot until it reaches somewhere it can spread out. Otherwise it would not continue to flow. And even if it does solidify, that is not too disastrous. I can walk through rock for a while.”
    “How long?”
    “That depends on how much power I have to begin with. Perhaps half an hour or so; but the chances of us having to do that are non-existent, I am sure.”
    “Us? I cannot walk through rock.”
    Bane looked back at him. “You will, with me, of course.”
    “Perhaps the cavern is filling up because the drain is becoming blocked.”
    “No, I think the flow into it has increased.”
    “You do not know that. You have nothing to compare the current flow to.”
    Bane shrugged. “Well, if it is becoming blocked, the sooner we get down it the better.”
    “Are you sure you can shield both of us in that?”
    “Would you rather stay here?”
    “I suppose I am dead either way.”
    “An excellent supposition.” The tar’merin crouched, and the shields rose around them once more. As the dark sphere closed overhead, Bane asked, “Are you ready?”
    The archangel nodded, fighting a strong urge to demand egress as the walls seemed to press in on him. Being in such a confined space with a dark god made his stomach clench and his heart thud, even if Bane was tar’merin. Bane clenched his hands as if he took hold of the air and pulled it, and the sphere slid downwards, then bobbed sluggishly. Majelin wanted to climb up the walls at the thought of the magma beneath him. Bane motioned towards the floor, and the sphere sank, bumping against rocky walls. Majelin sensed their speed increase as they were sucked into the magma river, grinding and lurching along an apparently winding course. Bane sat down and spread his hands on the floor, his eyes unfocussed. To Majelin, it seemed insane to be going down when they needed to go up. What if this route led somewhere even worse than the cavern?
    The sphere bumped and veered for some time, while Majelin’s nerves frayed, then he floated into the air with a yelp.
    Bane tensed and muttered, “Uh-oh.”
    “What is happening?”
    “We are falling.”
    “How far?”
    The tar’merin’s eyes grew distant again, and he shook his head. “Too far. Come here.”
    “Why?”
    Bane lunged at him and seized his arms in a steely grip. “Because otherwise you will die.”
    The black sphere vanished, and Majelin’s breath caught. They plummeted towards a green expanse that looked like forest, and, at the speed they were falling, they would surely be splattered when they landed. He wished he still had his wings as he cringed and closed his eyes. Bane’s grip on his wrists grew painful, and, realising that he hung from the dark god’s hands, Majelin opened his eyes. A column of black fire slowed their descent towards the forest far below, almost singeing his toes. He tucked up his feet to remove them from harm’s way, while Bane held him at arms’ length. Several moments later, they passed between branches whose leaves the black fire crisped and landed on soft humus. Majelin’s knees almost buckled as Bane released him, and he reeled a little.
    A forest of broad-leafed trees, some festooned with vines, surrounded them, and the archangel wondered where they were now. Certainly it was not the mid realm. They had been travelling in the wrong direction, unless down had become up in the trap. There were also no Channels, which disquieted him and confirmed that they were in a strange place indeed, more akin to an underworld than a mid realm. A pale orange sky with a hazy yellow glow at its centre was visible through the canopy.
    Bane surveyed the surroundings. “Where the hell are we now?”
    “You do not know?”
    “No idea. How would I know something like that?”
    The angel shook his head. “I do not know. You are a god?”
    Bane snorted and looked up. Majelin followed his gaze. High above, almost lost in the haze, a river of lava plummeted from a cliff face, becoming