Ruler of the Realm

One hundred

There was so much pressure in her skull that Blue’s head began to ache. The background sound in the chamber of brass had become a howling, like the cries of lost souls trapped in agony. The glow of the pentagram increased, reflecting in the ceiling and the walls. The immense porphyry altar began to shake.

‘ Od commemahe do pereje salabarotza kynutzire fabaonu, od zodumebi pereji od salabarotza…’ Blue read aloud from the book, her voice rising clear and true above the din. Although the language was unknown to her, it seemed she understood it: And I bind thee in the fire of sulphur mingled with poison and the seas of fire and sulphur…

The words were a blasphemy, drawn from the time of the Old Gods, but she did not care any more than she cared about her pain. What she was doing was important, vital for the welfare of the Realm. Nothing was more important than that.

‘ Niisa, eca, dorebesa na-e-el od zodameranu asapeta vaunesa komesalohe!’ she intoned. Come forth, therefore, obey my power and appear before this circle!

The howling rose to a crescendo and the brass plates of the chamber took up the resonance in a hideous vibration. The pain in Blue’s head was so intense now that she could scarcely focus on the words that writhed and crawled across the pages of the book.

‘ Niisa!’ she called again. Come forth! Come forth!

The brass plates in the ceiling shifted and a trickle of dust poured down. The whole chamber was shaking now, as if caught up in a violent earthquake. Her lantern flickered, then went out, but the chamber remained illuminated by its own reflections. Behind the howling there arose a deep subsonic drumbeat, then, incongruously, the music of a distant orchestra. The cacophony gripped body and brain, drawing her towards the point of madness, but she did not hesitate for an instant.

‘ Niisa! Niisa! Niisa!’ Come forth! Come forth! Come forth! she shrieked.

All noise and vibration stopped. There was an instant of deep silence. Then the massive altar cracked and shattered into rubble.

From its depths stepped Beleth, Prince of Darkness.