CHAPTER TWELVE

King Solaris paced his private sanctuary. He had not yet heard any word of his daughter's progress and it had been three days. He trusted Sir Fellis to keep her safe. Eleanor was all that he had left in his life. The elven king stopped pacing and took a deep breath. He chanted a powerful divine spell in hopes of communing with one of the creator gods.

"Brothers of creation, is my daughter safe?" King Solaris asked.

"No," a mystical voice replied. King Solaris looked around in panic.

"What do you mean no? Where is she? Who threatens her?" The king called out to the gods but heard no response. A royal guard burst into the private sanctuary at the ready.

"Is everything alright my king?" The guard asked.

"No," was all that King Solaris could say as he thought to himself if he had made the right decision in letting Eleanor go?

"What do you mean no?" The royal guard asked looking around for any threats.

"I am fine. Return to your post. I am in deep thought is all." King Solaris barked. The royal guard bowed and then left the private sanctuary closing the door. The gods barely answered his question. He felt that he deserved a court with his gods after all the years of his service. Legends stated that the brothers were opposites. One was of positive energy and the other was of negative energy. If the legends were true ten traveling to either plane where they might reside would be fatal for any unprotected mortal. King Solaris had no way to speaking with either god even if he knew where they resided. The hostile planes on which the gods were rumored to dwell could destroy mortals in an instant and with great pain. King Solaris recalled his studies and developed a plan to find one of the brothers. He had the right magic that should protect him from the negative effects of the hazardous plane of negative life-stealing energy. He did not know about how travel worked there once he got there. Would his magic function there? It was a high risk with no promise of success.

"Some other time perhaps," King Solaris decided. If he could not get aid from any of his gods, he thought he could summon something else that could help. Another idea formed in his head. It would violate all that he practiced and believed. Ethics would go out the window. No diabolic figure had ever set foot on Athyx in all its history, at least none from another plane. King Solaris knew that he could control whatever he summoned. He did not trust anything from the Abyss. The denizens of Hell were at least lawful. A celestial would be more promising however but hardly ever offered aid.

"I call out to the celestial powers, hear me. I am in need." King Solaris tried to commune with any celestial that would hear him. He heard no response. Historically, elves had called on the aid of celestials but they had aided less and less over the centuries. King Solaris heard no response at all. He chanted another powerful spell and opened a gateway to a celestial plane. Screams of anguish echoed through the gateway. Sounds of intense battle and heat roiled through. King Solaris saw smoke billowing and then massive tendrils whipping towards him. He clapped his hands suddenly and the gateway closed.

"What was that?" He asked himself. He wondered if no celestial could help him would a devilish fiend? He cast another communing spell calling out to any devil that would hear him.

"What is a good elf communing with fiends for?" A voice asked.

"I'm seeking aid. I found none from my gods or celestials." King Solaris confessed. The fiend laughed sinisterly.

"The celestials are being slaughtered. They will never be able to help anyone again." The voice claimed.

"By what?" King Solaris asked.

"It is better that you do not know. Your mortal mind would explode at such knowledge. What aid do you require?" The voice asked.

When I communed with my gods I asked if my daughter was safe and they replied no. I need her brought back home safe." King Solaris stated.

"Is that all?��� The voice asked with surprise.

"Yes," King Solaris replied.

"Open a gate so that I can cross over." The voice beckoned.

"If I do, you will help me?" King Solaris asked.

"I will bring you your daughter safe with no hidden strings attached if you open a gate now." The voice insisted. King Solaris chanted his gate spell focusing on the voice.

"I do not know your exact location," King Solaris said before finishing his spell.

"Calegorn," the voice said. King Solaris finished his spell and the gateway opened. A shackled devil walked through with chains holding him to a wall on the other side of the gateway.

"Open my shackles and close the gateway fast," the devil pleaded while looking over his shoulder. King Solaris chanted a powerful spell that nullified the magic of the shackles. The devil felt the magic that bound him fade and he broke the bonds. The chains fell to his feet. Flames spewed on the other side of the gate and a flaming whip cracked at the devil's back knocking him to the floor.

"Quick, close the gate." The devil shouted. A massive figure came into view and reached towards the gate. King Solaris clapped his hands closed and the gateway was gone.

"What was that?" King Solaris asked with dismay.

"A prison guard. Calegorn is a prison on Hell where the already prisoners of Hell are imprisoned for not obeying the masters of Hell. It's a prison within a prison." The devil answered honestly.

"You tell the truth!" King Solaris gasped having the ability to tell if one was lying to him.

"I see no reason in deceiving my rescuer. I am Armco, arch devil and former duke of Hell." The devil said as he stood back to his massive clawed feet. He was a red-skinned muscular humanoid with leathery dragon-like wings. He wore nothing but a loincloth and his horns had been cut off at their base.

"Why were you in prison if you are a duke of Hell?" King Solaris asked curiously.

"I was overthrown. But that does not matter. Hell will always belong to me. That which destroys the celestials is also at Hell's gates. You saved me from it. For that I am thankful. Ask anything and it is yours." Armco offered.

"I want my daughter safe." King Solaris said.

"Is that all?" Armco teased.

"You offer more?" King Solaris asked in disbelief.

"You freed me not only from Hell but from my prison in Hell and certain annihilation. I think I am willing to offer a few things." Armco said honestly.

"I want my daughter home safe," King Solaris repeated.

"We will come back to that. What else? Magic? A lost loved one perhaps?" Armco taunted. It was as if Armco could see into his heart.

"Can you bring back my wife?" King Solaris finally asked. Armco smiled.

"Apparently, you have never heard of me." Armco scoffed.

"I do not usually deal in devils or demons," King Solaris admitted.

"If you do one more thing for me there is nothing I couldn't or wouldn't do for you in return." Armco taunted with more temptation.

"What else would you ask of me to bring back my wife? I thought you said I already deserved more than I asked for." King Solaris saw the ploy for what it was.

"You will get your wife and you daughter and one other thing for that matter. I am merely offering you more beyond that." Armco explained.

"We can discus other things later. First, I would like my daughter home." King Solaris said firmly. Armco eyed him and peered into his mind.

"Is that what she would want? Would this not drive her to leave you or hate you?" Armco asked curiously.

"The gods say she is in danger!" The king said with great concern.

"I can send a minion to watch her and keep her safe. Would that be better?" Armco asked.

"I already have someone with her and her friends. Apparently, that is not enough to keep her safe." King Solaris spat. Armco understood the scenario.

"Let me assure you that she is fine where she is now. We can even use magic to check if you like." Armco offered.

"Show me," King Solaris ordered. Armco waved one of his clawed hands and a translucent image appeared between them like a window showing Eleanor and her friends around a morning campfire talking. King Solaris was curious. Why did the gods say that she was not safe? He wondered. He did not trust this devil.

"I know that you do not trust me because you are confused on the lack of information provided to you by your gods. I assure you that I am being honest. You said that you can tell when someone is lying to you." Armco reminded the elven king.

"You are right! I am confused. I do not trust you because you are a devil and devils deceive." King Solaris admitted.

"I understand. Allow me to try and convince you with this." Armco said and then waved his hands and chanted a powerful spell. There was a puff of black smoke and flames. When it cleared his wife stood in front of him. King Solaris looked into the eyes of his once lost wife. Was it really her? Tears of joy filled his eyes.

"Solaris," the female elf gasped in confusion. "What happened?"

"That does not matter. You are back with me now." King Solaris said embracing his wife in a passionate hug. She was confused but returned the hug. She looked around her and saw the tall red-skinned devil in the room and pulled away abruptly.

"What is this Solaris?" She gasped as she stepped backwards.

"This is Armco. He brought you back to me." King Solaris told her. Armco did not say anything. He just stared at her intently.

"A devil brought me back? From where? Was I dead?" She asked.

"You were lost to me and Eleanor." King Solaris said.

"Lost? You mean I died. Why did you not let me rest? Now I am tainted by the touch of fiendish magic." She shouted. The royal guard entered the sanctuary again to see what the ruckus was and saw the devil and an elven female. The royal guard charged Armco with his spear poised at the devil's chest. Armco lifted his hand and the royal guard turned into ashes before he came within ten feet. The queen screamed in panic.

"What?" King Solaris scoffed in disbelief.

"Great. Now that I have your attention. Queen—your husband desired you returned to him. I granted this. You are not tainted. I promised him that and kept my word. I still owe him for his deeds but I see you both have a lot to discuss so I will take my leave and when you are ready, just call on me." Armco said and vanished in a puff of black smoke and flames.

"Where did he go?" The queen asked.

"I don't know, but he won't harm us." King Solaris assured his wife.

"Oh Solaris!" She gasped as she embraced her husband once more. He felt her grab something from his belt and then step back from him abruptly. She had taken his dagger and held it to her own throat.

"Elineth, please!' King Solaris pleaded. Queen Elineth cut her throat deep from ear to ear. Her blood poured out and she fell to the floor dead.

"No!" King Solaris gasped as he dove in to hold his dead wife once more. "Why? Is it not meant to be?" The king sobbed. His wife had a pure elven heart. She could not live knowing how she had been brought back. King Solaris would have brought her back himself had he known where her body rested. He knew even if he brought her back that she would only sacrifice herself again to cleanse her soul of the so-called taint of evil magic that had revived her. He had another idea. If she was undead then her soul would not return. Only her mind would dwell in her body. Her soul would not crave its rest. They were dark arts he would need to use but he knew that he could perform the magic without the aid of the devil. King Solaris gently laid his wife back down and walked over to close the door once more so no one else would hear him. He returned to the body of his wife and looked at her lovingly. King Solaris began chanting the forbidden spell. The body of Queen Elineth was filled with the negative energies of the dark god creator's home plane. Her eyes opened but they were not full of life as they had once been. They were an icy blue and already pale complexion turned even paler.

"Elineth," King Solaris called. She looked at her husband once more.

"What have you done now?" She gasped.

"I need you," King Solaris cried. Queen Elineth stood up. He wound was healed but a scar remained.

"What have you done?" She asked again as she looked at King Solaris.

"I am desperate to be with you," He claimed.

"Then you should have killed yourself! This is a curse that you have bestowed upon me." Queen Elineth said coldly.

"No. Your soul is still at rest and safe." King Solaris said.

"My soul is missing and that is why I feel so cold. You brought me back as an undead creature of the night." Queen Elineth hissed.

"I need you Elineth!" King Solaris pleaded.

"You should have found another to make your wife. This relationship is forbidden." She replied.

"Don't you love me? Don't you love Eleanor?��� King Solaris asked.

"I do. I am just—HUNGRY!" Queen Elineth said as she sprung upon her husband and sunk her vampire fangs into his neck. She sucked his blood from his warm body and fed. She felt no remorse for what she was doing and continued to feed on her husband. King Solaris felt his life force draining. He could have stopped her. He could have destroyed her with a single holy word and turned her vampiric body into ashes. He did not resist. He let the darkness take him. He embraced his death.

*****

Armco was free from his prison and free to roam the world he now walked on. He was not fond of forests. He took to the sky and began flying high to see his surroundings more clearly. The northern and southern poles of a world were empowering. His devilish nature turned him towards the southern pole. Armco chanted a spell that let him view the South Pole regions of the world. After studying the area, he teleported to the location he just viewed with his magical spells. Winds blew and howled over treacherous ice mountains. Armco had difficulty remaining in flight and landed before he was blown to the ground.

"I like this!" Armco said. He looked around to see nothing but white. No one could see through this without magical aid. It would be so easy to get lost or fall to your doom through some crevice that you could not even see because of the blowing snow and ice. With a wave of his hand he could see in the storm.

"I need a place to call home until I can reclaim Hell. This should do just fine." Armco decided. He erected a palace of ice where he stood like a god within its divine realm.

"My power is slowly returning now that my bonds have been removed." Armco felt his strength returning. The former ruler of Hell entered his new palace.

"I need some minions," Armco decided. He knew that the devils of Hell were probably all destroyed by now. He would have to recruit mortals for now until he could begin obtaining souls to transform into new devils. He began scrying with his magic for any local life. All were beasts and he didn't want beasts right now. Maybe later, he thought. He remembered seeing some mountains off in the distance just north of the elven city. Armco began scrying that area with his magic.

"Orcs," he gasped. He saw orcs by the thousands. They were different clans all united under one banner. Who could unite so many orcs without them fighting amongst themselves? Armco wondered. He concentrated harder and then he saw him. A mighty warlord, orc sat upon a throne of dwarven bones. Armco teleported inside the chamber where the mighty orc sat. Orcs dove to the floor in awe from the presence of the fiendish god. The orc upon the throne tried to resist the aura of the god that now stood in his presence.

"What god dares show itself in my throne room?" The orc balked as he resisted the power of the fiendish god. Armco smiled.

"You are indeed a mighty orc!" Armco said. "I am Armco. I am here to offer you a proposal."

"Is that a gift?" The orc asked.

"Not exactly," Armco replied with a friendly smile.

"Then be gone with you," the orc ruler commanded.

"You do realize that I am a god and I could destroy you with a snap of my fingers?" Armco warned.

"God shmod," the orc ruler said defiantly. "I am Bolnarg, King of the orcs." Armco saw the pride of the orc and knew what to say next.

"Awe, but how would you like to be their god?" Armco toyed. Bolnarg looked the fiend in its eyes skeptically.

"Go on," Bolnarg insisted.

"I can teach you the secrets of ascension," Armco offered.

"You can't give me the power of a god? You are worthless!" Bolnarg scoffed. Armco glared at the arrogant orc.

"I could make you a demi-god but the rest would fall on you," Armco finally admitted.

"DO IT!" Bolnarg demanded.

"I think not. First things first. I need followers to serve me at my palace." Armco said sternly.

"I serve no god!" Bolnarg balked. Armco laughed.

"I would not expect you to serve me. I want some of your faithful warriors to become mine." Armco explained.

"How many orcs?" Armco asked.

"What's divinity worth to you?" Armco teased. Bolnarg smiled wryly.

"I want more power than a demi-god." Bolnarg growled. Armco smiled.

"Fine. Then if you give me an entire clan to defend my palace I will make you a powerful god." Armco said.

"Take clan Big Tusks," Bolnarg said.

"Clan Big Tusks, rise." Armco instructed. The orcs of that clan could stand. Armco saw them all and teleported them to his palace.

"Now make me a god," Bolnarg demanded.

"It takes a lot of power to do that," Armco admitted.

"So, you lied to me?" Bolnarg protested. He stood from his skeletal throne and held aloft a short spear.

"I did not lie to you. I would not threaten me if I were you." Armco warned. "I am trying to be hospitable." Bolnarg charged Armco with his spear leading the way. Armco grabbed the spear as it came within his reach and flung the orc against the wall. The spear snapped and Bolnarg struggled to catch his breath that was knocked from his lungs form the impact.

"All I was trying to get at is that you need to have human sacrifices that willingly offer up their souls to you. They have to be willing!" Armco aid firmly. Bolnarg stood to his feet.

"If they refuse I will kill them all!" Bolnarg claimed.

"That might work but promises of an afterlife are preferred simply because their souls are your responsibility after they die and you will need a place to house them." Armco informed the mighty orc.

"I can make no such promises and keep them!" Bolnarg barked.

"You can because once you become a god you will have the power to forge your own plane where you command the weather, the climate and rule over the inhabitants." Armco spoke dramatically as though form experience.

"You are only a demi-god, aren't you?" Bolnarg suddenly realized.

"My power was stripped from me but I know how to rise. I can teach you. You just have to be willing to sacrifice your people for the both of us." Armco finally explained the hidden agenda.

"I will allow this," Bolnarg decided. Armco turned to those within the chamber with them.

"Who among you would willingly serve a god? We can promise you eternal life after death and glory of war." Armco shouted as he removed his aura of influence. The orcs looked up. They had never served a god, only their kings and chiefs throughout history. Bolnarg was the first orc to ever unite all the tribes and lead them to an uncountable number of victories. It began! Orcs rose and pounded their chests.

"Call to your kin. Bring more who are willing!" Armco beckoned and the orcs went to retrieve every orc in their kingdom. Soon the chamber was empty.

"When they return tell them that they have to willingly end their lives in your name. Tell them it is for the glory of the afterlife and they will receive bountiful rewards." Armco instructed.

"Will I be lying?" Bolnarg asked.

"That will be up to you as their god when you ascend." Armco said evenly. "However, many sacrifice themselves for you need to sacrifice themselves for me as well. Make sure you divide them between us evenly."

"I will do this just this once. Know that once I am a god that we will be mortal enemies and I will do my best to end your existence." Bolnarg threatened.

"I love your arrogance!" Armco laughed. In minutes, the orcs began flooding into the chamber. All of them held some sort of dagger.

"This is an honor to become your god! Some of you will be sacrificing yourselves in my name. Others will serve Armco. In either case you will all receive your rewards and promised afterlife instead of eternal darkness. Devote yourselves to us willingly and you will live forever." Bolnarg declared. The orcs each began shouting out the name of "Bolnarg" or "Armco" before they sliced their own throats and bled to death. Blood ran over the edges of cliffs and crevices from the thousands of orcs that killed themselves in the name of their new gods. Bolnarg did not feel any different. Armco felt the souls entering his vessel and empowering it. He laughed sinisterly.

"You tricked me!" Bolnarg balked after all orcs that willingly killed themselves were dead. Armco turned to look at the foolish mortal.

"Not at all! Just wait a moment. It will hit you soon enough." Armco said. A pulse of great power flooded into Bolnarg's body suddenly. His mind reached out across the planes. His body was altered and became divine rather than mortal. It was overwhelming at first and Bolnarg fell to his hands and knees.

"You are welcome!" Armco said before teleporting away. Bolnarg roared in pain as he transformed and ascended to godhood. The sacrifices of his own people saddened him. Why did he allow that to happen? Why did he allow them to sacrifice their selves to a fiend as well as him? He was not this kind of evil. He abided a law.

"Your sacrifices are not in vain," Bolnarg roared as he struggled to stand. He looked around his throne room and absorbed the final image of his kingdom. Then he felt the power he had and took control of the kingdom. He forged it within a demi-plane of the prime material plane. Bolnarg resurrected all of those who had sacrificed themselves in his name.

"Your lives are restored. Go out and conquer the world in my name." Bolnarg barked to the orc tribes.