The Calling of Time

Demon's Game

I sagged against the marble floor, still holding him up as much as I could. Tears were blurring my eyes now. So this is what they had referred to when they’d spoken of the fallout. I had saved Jai and sacrificed Horace. Shock made my body feel numb, a welcome relief from the pain.

This was my fault.

“Horace…” my voice was no more than a raspy whisper, and I tugged his body up until it was in my lap. “Horace?”

The way his head moved when I tried to lift him sent a spike of horror through my heart. His neck was broken. Horace was really dead.

I killed him.

In spite of my shock the room was starting to come into focus, and I became aware of the figure standing over me at the same time I heard the silky smooth voice from my dream. That same soft chuckle.

“A stirring performance, my lady.”

He looked the way I knew he would. Pale and sharp and all dressed in black. Repulsion rose up in me and I swore silently to myself that I wasn’t going to show any fear to this monster. Fear was what he wanted. Power over everything.

My grip tightened on Horace’s shoulders, and I blinked away the stinging tears. He’d killed my guardian. He was going to pay for that.

“Thanatos.” My voice was raspy, but it didn’t shake, and I was incredibly proud of myself for it. “I thought you’d be better looking.”

His pale brows shot up, and for a second he actually looked taken aback. Then he turned his face towards the soldiers lined up against the far wall. “Do you hear that, boys? She’s disappointed I’m not better looking.”

There was a rumble of laughter from around the room. For the first time since my vision had cleared I looked around. Horace and I had fallen into what looked like a ballroom. Little wonder the fall had killed him. The rotting hole in the ceiling was probably fifty feet above us. There was a chandelier to the right of that, and it was still swinging back and forth, making  faint chiming sounds as the crystals struck one another. If this was a fairy tale, or a Disney movie, the handsome prince would bust in here just as the chandelier fell on the bad guy.

But it didn’t. It stayed where it was, and Thanatos walked towards me, footsteps light on the marble floor.

“Really, Kali dear. I don’t know how that body survived the fall. I see you broke its leg,” He smiled, a predatory expression on his narrow face. “I see your guardian didn’t survive it. Poor fellow.”

My lips peeled back in a snarl. “You knew we were here all along.”

“Of course I did, darling. You think I haven’t been keeping tabs on you this entire time?”

So Manda had been right. Someone was following us the entire way. It was obvious how foolish we’d been. I should be angry with the guardians maybe, and maybe the old me would have been. But when I looked down at Horace all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry my eyes out.

I gasped as Thanatos suddenly reached down and grabbed my shoulders. He loomed over me, and being so close to him made goosebumps run down both arms. There was something unnerving about him, about his face. It was somehow wrong. As if he knew what humans looked like, but he hadn’t gotten it quite right. It was too smooth. There were no flaws. No texture to his skin. No pores.

I couldn’t repress a shudder, and he laughed. “Where are your guardians?” He nudged Horace roughly with his foot. “I mean, aside from this one of course.”

“Don’t touch him!”

Thanatos hauled me to my feet, and my bad leg gave out immediately, sending hot pain knifing through me. I gave a sharp cry and then stifled myself, determined not to give him the satisfaction.

“Oh my,” Thanatos said. He continued to hold me up, both arms locked straight in front of him. It was a position that no human could have held for long, but apparently it wasn’t even a strain for him. “You are too much fun, Kali dear.” He tilted his head to one side and gave a heavy mock sigh. “I wish you could have seen yourself before. How proud and ill tempered you were.” He laughed, projecting his voice over the room. He was clearly enjoying his theatrics. “I could tell you some stories about yourself, my girl. You were a real…how do the humans say it?” He leaned closer and hissed, “Bitch.”

I did my best to keep my expression blank. “We’re going to kill you.”

He laughed again. “No. No I don’t think so.”

Thanatos turned suddenly, still keeping his grip on my shoulders. “Guards, go find the other two and bring them back here. And they don’t have to be in one piece, if you know what I mean.” He winked and then watched half his guards run from the room, a broad smile on his face as he turned back to me. “See? Problem solved.”

“If they touch Jai and Manda…”

“Oh you’re on first name terms now,” Thanatos cried. “How sweet! My you have changed an awful lot. I like the new you better.” He showed me his teeth again. “Hm, I might just keep you around, Kali dear. Once you’ve been stripped of those dreadful instruments, you’d make a very interesting little pet.”

Rage coursed through me, and I longed to throw myself at him. To strike out at his smug face. He was obviously holding me at arms length for that very reason, and I refused to show him how angry he was making me. Where were Jai and Manda? Had the guards got them? Hot and cold panic kept flashing through me, adding to the pain and shock. “You know as well as I do that you can’t keep the instruments away from me.”

“They told you that, did they?” Thanatos shrugged. “We can always keep them locked in the treasury, same way as the clock…oh, what did you do to my clock?” He turned, searching the room for it. “Ah, it’s there in the corner. I hope you haven’t broken it, Kali. I’d be very cross with you. David, pick up the clock and put it on my chair please.”

The chair Thanatos was referring to was an over stuffed red armchair at the highest point of the curling staircase opposite us. Thanatos saw me looking and chuckled. “I know, not a very fitting throne. I was thinking of having one made of the skulls of my enemies, but it’s terribly uncomfortable.”

I stared at him blankly. “The demon of death and destruction is a bad comedian. Great.”

He laughed again, infuriating me further. “Oh! You are amusing.” He turned to the soldier who was setting the clock down on his armchair. “Is it damaged? Okay, great. Now take our miss Kali with you to the women’s room. Give her a silver collar, David. I can tell she’s going to be my favourite…”

The guard approached, and I lashed out at Thanatos, desperation making the blow sloppy. I managed to clip his elbow, and he flinched slightly and handed me off to the guard. “Damnit, she’s flailing. Take her to Sandra. That woman can sort her out.”

“Sandra,” I spat as the guard dragged me towards the door. “She could hardly sort herself out after Manda got through with her.”

Thanatos ignored me. The guard turned us away from him, jostling my leg. White spots danced in front of my eyes, obscuring the tall silhouette of a newcomer in the doorway. Panic made me struggle against my captor. Was it another soldier come to report the capture of the other guardians?

A low voice cried, “Kali!”

My vision cleared on time to see something hurtling through the air at me. My captor flinched back and I reacted automatically, flinging my arms up as the object hit me in the chest full force. I stumbled and stepped on my broken leg, crashing to the tiles with a scream. Something cold and metallic was in my hands. I could feel glass under my fingers, even though the room was blurry again and my leg was agony.

The hourglass.

I could hear guards moving, the stampeding of feet. I flipped the hourglass around and slammed it onto the tile floor, visualizing the sands trickling down. The footsteps stopped.

There was only silence.