Devil's Night Dawning: The First Book of the Broken Stone Series Read online

  DEVIL’S NIGHT DAWNING

  Book One of the Broken Stone Series

  DAMIEN BLACK

  Copyright @ 2016 Damien Black

  Damien Black has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without prior permission of the author.

  All characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Typesetting and e-book conversion by BookCoverCafe.com

  ISBN:

  978-0-9954928-0-6 (print)

  978-0-9954928-1-3 (epub)

  978-0-9954928-2-0 (kindle)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Damien Black…

  … grew up in north-west London, and is of mixed French and Scottish ancestry…

  … is a professional writer, editor and musician with more than fifteen years’ experience…

  … has lived and worked in the UK, France, Thailand, Spain and Australia…

  … played lead guitar in an originals rock band for six years on the London ‘toilet circuit’…

  … can be contacted at www.damienblackwords.com

  To Cris, for his intelligent beta reading

  CONTENTS

  PART ONE

  CHAPTER I: A Duel With A Devil

  CHAPTER II: Of Humble Beginnings

  CHAPTER III: The Quixotic Knight

  CHAPTER IV: A Reunion With Old Friends

  CHAPTER V: An Unwelcome Revelation

  CHAPTER VI: The Dreaming Damsel

  CHAPTER VII: For King And Country

  CHAPTER VIII: An Ancient Curse

  CHAPTER IX: A Run Of Bad Luck

  CHAPTER X: The Hunter In The Dark

  CHAPTER XI: A Refuge In The Wild

  CHAPTER XII: A Celebration Soured

  CHAPTER XIII: A Turn for the Worse

  CHAPTER XIV: An Ambush in the Night

  CHAPTER XV: From One Danger To Another

  PART TWO

  CHAPTER I: Of Fathers And Sons

  CHAPTER II: A War Against Water

  CHAPTER III: In the Footsteps of Vanished Heroes

  CHAPTER IV: Riding the Nightmare

  CHAPTER V: A Theft And A Betrayal

  CHAPTER VI: The Faerie Kings Speak

  CHAPTER VII: All At Sea

  CHAPTER VIII: Storm Clouds Gather

  CHAPTER IX: The White Raven Flies

  CHAPTER X: A Marriage Contested

  CHAPTER XI: A Shadow On High Walls

  CHAPTER XII: The Road To Sanctuary

  CHAPTER XIII: Salt In The Wounds

  CHAPTER XIV: In The City Of Kings

  PART THREE

  CHAPTER I: The Priest And The Pretender

  CHAPTER II: A Clandestine Trip To The Market

  CHAPTER III: The Harpist On The Roof

  CHAPTER IV: A Realm Divided

  CHAPTER V: A Tryst For Old Lovers

  CHAPTER VI: A Secret Council

  CHAPTER VII: A Muster at Dawn

  CHAPTER VIII: The Net Tightens

  CHAPTER IX: Battle Is Joined

  CHAPTER X: A Brief Respite

  CHAPTER XI: The Blade and the Noose

  CHAPTER XII: A Forced Detour

  CHAPTER XIII: Bloodshed And Sorcery

  CHAPTER XIV: A Villain Unmasked

  CHAPTER XV: A Farewell Feast

  GLOSSARY OF NAMES

  PART ONE

  CHAPTER I

  A Duel With A Devil

  The hut’s interior was exactly as they had left it: the same stench defiled the air, and again Adelko found himself gagging on the foul atmosphere. The walls were daubed with dried faeces and blood; the young monk shuddered at the memory of the girl gouging strips of flesh off her body in a frenzy.

  That had been three nights ago, when her condition was at its worst. He could not recall how many of the Redeemer’s psalms it had taken to compel her back into bed on that occasion.

  In the faint morning light peering through the single covered window Adelko could see her lying in bed, only her head discernible above the soiled blanket. In the half gloom it looked as though she were sleeping, though the novice knew that Gizel had not done that for a tenday now.

  Only when his mentor lit the first tallow candle on the makeshift table near the entrance did the thing inside her show any sign of life. Hissing resentfully it forced the girl’s head to look up at the two monks without moving the rest of her body.

  The eyelids flicked open. Soulless orbs scrutinised the pair balefully. Her pupils were horribly dilated, the bloodshot whites flecked with an unnatural yellowish tinge. The suppurating skin on the girl’s face began to twitch spasmodically, as though a thousand nervous tics suddenly consumed her morbid flesh.

  Unperturbed, Adelko’s mentor lit the second candle on the other side of the entrance. Turning to face the possessed girl, the adept brandished his circifix. It was a simple silver rood, depicting the Redeemer being broken on the Wheel – but there was power in such a thing, if wielded by a true initiate.

  As it had done on previous occasions, the thing that was and was not Gizel flinched back, pulling up the dirty blanket to abjure the hated symbol.

  With a deft movement of his other hand Adelko’s mentor reached into the folds of his grey habit and produced a silver phial, flicking several drops at her green-tinged hand. A piteous cry escaped the girl as the drops burned her fingers, causing her to let go of the blanket. To Adelko’s ears it sounded like an infant in pain, but he knew better than to fall for the deception.

  Moving in swiftly, he presented his own circifix and before long the two monks had Gizel backed up against the wall, crouching feebly on the far end of the bed.

  In a sonorous voice the adept began to recite the Psalm of Banishing: ‘O Reus Almighty, in thy heavenly kingdom, we implore thee: grant thy humble servants the power to cast out this denizen of the Other Side! Palomedes, sacred Prophet and Redeemer, broken on the Wheel in mortal form for our salvation, grant us now the strength of mind to resist this chimera of wickedness! In thy name, and by the grace of the Unseen, let the servants of the Fallen One be driven from the mortal vale!’

  The thing that was and was not Gizel squealed louder, writhing around on the filthy cot and trying in vain to block out the hated words. Flicking more drops at her, Adelko’s mentor began to address the spirit directly.

  ‘No more shall you torment this innocent creature of the earth! Release that which is not yours to own! The works of Abaddon shall melt before the burning zeal of the righteous, as tallow melts beneath the flame! The deceits of Sha’amiel shall be blown asunder as mist before a keen wind! Look on the Wheel, the unbroken circle of our faith, devil-spawn, and despair!’

  Recognising his cue, Adelko stammered the appropriate response from his copy of The Holy Book Of Psalms And Scriptures.

  ‘It is the power of the Redeemer that compels thee! His body was broken but through his death the Creed was born! The aegis of our faith shall turn aside the sword of Azazel!’

  His young voice sounded reedy in his ears. Adelko hoped he had mustered the necessary conviction, as he had done yesterday. For the first three days he had struggled to channel the Redeemer’s words properly; exorcisms were a lot harder to conduct than he’d previously reckoned.

 
His mentor picked up the counter-response, again reciting scripture flawlessly from memory: ‘It is the power of the Redeemer that commands thee! The fleshless horsemen of Abaddon shall turn and flee before the bright wings of the Archangels! The honest man shall not fear, though the stings of Ma’alfeccnu’ur assail him! Tell us your name, foul spirit, that we may encircle it with words of holy prayer, and send thee back to Gehenna!’

  Over and over they repeated the litany, and the fifth morning of their clash with demonkind grew old. As the candles burned down, Adelko felt his strength waning too. Despite the brisk weather the hut grew steadily warmer until it was stiflingly hot; the sweat poured from his body, soaking through his brown novice’s habit.

  Throughout the ordeal the thing that was and was not Gizel continued to toss and turn frantically while screaming piteously in a thin high voice that was not her own. It sounded to Adelko like the noise a burning child would make.

  He felt an unseen presence fighting him with unearthly weapons; a thousand doubts and worries that had never entered his mind before the exorcism gnawed at his soul. Were it not for the Redeemer’s words he knew he might well have succumbed to the spirit’s power and been driven mad.

  But today he noticed a difference: that power was growing weaker, the unclean voices in his head fainter.

  It was shortly before noon when they finally broke the spirit’s will. Brandishing his circifix, the older monk bellowed for the umpteenth time: ‘By the Seven Seraphim and the blood of the Redeemer, through his agency as the Lord Almighty’s right hand, I command thee, demon, TELL US YOUR NAME!!!’

  Suddenly sitting bolt upright, the thing that was and was not Gizel stared at them again, face and limbs contorting horribly, her skin undulating across her flesh with a sick life of its own. From deep inside her young throat an awful and ancient voice spat out a handful of words: ‘My... name... is... BELAACH!’

  The older monk’s eyes widened in horror. For one brief but crucial second he was robbed of his composure. His grip on the circifix loosened slightly, his psychic hold on the fiend inside the headman’s daughter doing likewise.

  Seizing its opportunity, the demon called Belaach propelled Gizel’s body forwards. Even at the best of times, she was only a slight thing, but the strength of ten bears was in her now. With a malignant hiss, she struck the rood from the older monk’s hand, breaking its chain and sending it skittering against the wall.

  With her other hand she grasped the adept’s that clutched the phial, whilst raking at his face with a savage strength. The two fell to the ground grappling, the monk desperately repeating the Psalm he had so calamitously broken off from uttering. The holy words instantly weakened the demon’s grip on the girl, but even so it had recovered a temporary advantage not easily dispelled.

  Letting go of his own circifix, which hung by its chain around his neck, Adelko fumbled for his holy water.

  He had to risk not being able to keep the thing at bay with his own rood, because he couldn’t abandon the scripture book – he still didn’t know every word by heart. Though they had recited little else for the past four days, the Psalms of Banishing and Abjuration were lengthy and complex passages – they had caught many a journeyman out before, his mentor had said. Never mind a mere novice like him.

  He had to hope the thing would keep attacking his mentor long enough to give him a chance to help him...

  Producing the phial while continuing to read aloud, Adelko rained drops down on Gizel’s back. The thing inside her howled, causing her to shrink away as her body responded to its tormentor’s diabolical instincts. Seizing his chance, the older monk broke her weakened grip and scrambled frantically across the rubbish-strewn floor towards his circifix.

  With an ugly hiss the possessed girl turned to face Adelko. Instinctively, he dropped his scripture book and reached for his circifix, giving the possessed girl another splash of holy water as he did.

  Faced with the hallowed drops and the holy rood, the thing that was not Gizel screeched and flinched back again towards the cot. Even so, the loss of one recital might have allowed Belaach to regain enough strength for another lunge.

  But to his elation, Adelko had not dropped a syllable. The words he’d once feared he might never learn now came to him flawlessly – correctly pronounced and spoken with perfect conviction. He did know them after all!

  By now the older monk had recovered his own circifix – and his composure – and working fluently together again they forced the possessed girl back on to the cot.

  Now for the endgame.

  Adelko’s mentor uttered the final verse of the Psalm of Banishing, inserting the demon’s name in the appropriate places: ‘Belaach, denizen of the Third Tier of the City of Burning Brass, by the power of the Seven Seraphim, the Redeemer and the spirit-father Reus Almighty, I compel thee to return to thy tower!

  ‘Belaach, let the hellfires there engulf thee, let darkness enshroud thee! Return now to languish in the prison to which thy black betrayal condemned thee aeons ago!

  ‘Belaach, pollute this mortal vale no more! The Third Tier awaits thee! Go now and seek thy infernal master, crawl to his feet like the serpent thou art, and trouble mortalkind no longer! It is the heavenly powers that compel thee!’

  ‘It is the heavenly powers that compel thee!’ chimed Adelko. At least this part of the exorcism wasn’t hard to remember.

  The demon gave vent to a horrid shriek as it reluctantly exited Gizel’s body, which convulsed frightfully before collapsing in a still heap on the bed.

  As the spirit left her the shriek did not diminish, but seemed to hang in the air, disembodied.

  And then Adelko heard it speak one last time, pronouncing voiceless words that echoed in his mind: So ye have cast me out of this wretch’s body, and won a skirmish! Well done, wise monks, well done! Ye have earned yourselves a prophecy, so mark this:

  Hell’s Prophet shall reawaken/the Five and Seven and One shall lead the hosts of Gehenna to victory

  Silver shall be tarnished black as night/the fires will rise and consume all in their path/the righteous shall moan beneath the scourge

  Those who oppose us shall scream for eternity/the flesh shall be broiled from their bones/their souls shall be bound in burning brass

  For the war of worlds is coming…

  Which side will you be on, my clever friars? I bid thee a fond farewell, until we meet again…!

  A gust of rank air suddenly swept through the room; the low-burning candles went out and the hut was plunged into gloom. Gradually, light from outside began to penetrate again. All was silent now but for the sound of Adelko’s master intoning a blessing over Gizel, the customary closing ritual for a successful exorcism.

  At his bidding Adelko went over to the window and pulled back the curtain. More light spilled into the room; weak and grey though it was, he felt glad of it. Looking back he saw his mentor drawing the blanket over Gizel, who appeared to be in a deep exhausted sleep.

  Her face was deathly pale and bore the marks of her self-mutilation, ugly red grooves caked over with encrusted blood. But it had at least lost its ghastly hue and looked like mortal flesh again, albeit torn flesh.

  Adelko’s mentor walked over to the entrance and pulled the hide flap aside. Two timorous peasants were standing outside guarding the hut – village folk had been known to take matters into their own hands where the possessed were concerned. Ignoring their startled expressions, the adept addressed them in a flat weary voice.

  ‘Summon the elders. Our work is done.’

  An anxious crowd of village folk was soon gathered around the hut to hear Adelko’s mentor break the good news. It being Rest-day, no one had gone to graze their flocks in the highland valleys below, and most of the four score inhabitants of Rykken had chosen to stay indoors and add their prayers to the friars’ pious exhortations.

  Foremost among them was their headman Lubo, beside himself with relief and desperate to look upon his daughter, now free of the dreadful spirit tha
t had possessed her so cruelly. Adelko’s master gently but firmly insisted that rest was best for Gizel, to which Lubo reluctantly assented before inviting the pair back to his hut to break their fast.

  At the mention of food Adelko’s ears pricked up. It had been a long and challenging morning, and he was rightly famished – even the prospect of poor peasant fare sounded like a feast fit for the great banqueting halls of the Free Kingdoms.

  Presently the two friars were taking their much-needed meal in Lubo’s hut as Adelko’s mentor gave him a full account of Gizel’s condition. The headman’s watery grey eyes held a mixture of relief and gratitude at his daughter’s salvation, mingled with sorrow for her suffering. He was a short rustic fellow in late middle age with skin like the gnarled bark of an old tree.

  His rotund, flaxen-haired wife Lara had managed to stop weeping tears of joy long enough to busy herself with putting a fire on and feeding her child’s saviours. The adept had had to stop her throwing herself on the ground and kissing the hem of his grey habit as though he were the Prophet himself.

  Adelko was too busy with his second bowl of gruel to pay much heed to his mentor’s post-exorcism counsel. It wasn’t aimed at him, although strictly speaking he was obliged to listen as the adept might test him at any time on his knowledge of the Argolian Order and its ways. Thus far he had proved an able student, or at least he hoped he had. But few novices at Ulfang Monastery were lucky enough to be seconded to its most celebrated adept, and true to his reputation Horskram of Vilno could be a stern taskmaster.

  ‘Master Horskram, may the Redeemer be praised!’ exclaimed Lubo. ‘A poor mountain peasant like me can never hope to repay you, except with humble prayers that the Almighty grants you a long and blessed life! But tell me truly, will my poor Gizel ever be... right again?’

  The adept met the peasants’ anxious stares with a reassuring smile.