Rise of the Beast (42 page)

Cordon paused, apparently absorbing Abaddon’s proposal. “And how do you know that these people will accept this proposal?”

“Because I spoke to their leader,” replied Abaddon. “I knew that this day would inevitably come. I proposed such an agreement as this to him. I will tell you this; he does not have a great deal of trust for your people, but given certain assurances, he would agree.”

Bedillia looked at Abaddon in amazement. Abaddon returned her gaze.

“I contacted them by telesphere two days ago and gated into their realm to discuss terms. After some hours, I was able to convince Tim and Megan to open a dialog with the demons if the opportunity presented itself. I said I would only do this if I felt there was a good chance for success. We would hold the negotiations on neutral grounds, here in Refuge.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Kurt.

Abaddon smiled, though slightly. “We all have our secrets.”

“I take it that you care for these people,” deduced Cordon.

“I care for all humanity,” confirmed Abaddon, “I am, after all, an angel.”

Cordon smiled, though slightly. “Of course,” he replied. He paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. “Do you feel that these people, this Tim and Megan, are worthy of your trust?”

Abaddon didn’t hesitate in his response. “Yes, I do. I talked to them at length. They are true prisoners of destiny. They hardly deserve the fate they have met here. It was but an error in judgment, an error of their youth.”

Once again there was silence. Cordon scanned the faces around the table. “Very well. I will take this issue to General Krell. I do not know what his response will be, but I will speak on their behalf. I will advise the general that I think it would be in our best interest to pursue negotiations with them, with you as the arbitrator. I can be rather persuasive when I need to be.”

For the next four hours, the group hammered out the exact terms and a timetable that they would propose. By the time that Cordon departed, they had a well laid out plan on paper. They were cautiously optimistic. Only time would prove if that optimism was founded in reality.

Cordon had been gone for less than half an hour when Abaddon, Bedillia, and Kurt stepped through the ring on their way to Tim’s quarters in his subterranean fortress. They were met by Megan.

Kurt couldn’t help but smile at discovering that Megan wore the nice print dress that his wife had made specifically for her. She looked so much better in it than she did in that somewhat oversized black cloak.

“Sir,” said Megan, “please tell your wife that I just love the dress she made for me. It fits perfectly. It makes me feel, well, like a woman again.”

Kurt’s smile only broadened. “I’ll be sure and do that. Debbie has a real gift when it comes to the matter manipulator.”

“Oh, yes,” said Megan, “that machine makes almost anything you can think about. I saw it on my trip to Refuge. It’s blooming magic is what it is.” Megan hesitated. “But you wanted to talk with Tim. I’ll take you to him. He’s teaching his class.”

“His class?” asked Kurt.

Megan smiled. “You’ll see. Be prepared to be amazed.”

Megan led the group down a rocky corridor in which the regular walls and floor were glassy smooth. And within the glassy surface were a myriad of small glowing crystals that added to its luster. Abaddon and Kurt looked around in amazement. Never had they seen a subterranean passageway quite like this. It looked unnatural.

Megan took note of their wandering eyes. “Tim’s small creatures carved this tunnel, and then Tim melted the walls to make them smooth.”

“With his sword?” asked Abaddon, gazing about in wonder.

“You’ll see,” replied Megan, a twinkle in her eye.

Somewhere ahead of them they heard voices, many voices. They shouted in unison again and again. As the group grew closer to the sound, they heard and felt the rhythm of pounding feet.

They stepped into a great, nearly circular cavern room that was well lit by hundreds of small crystals. Along the walls, a large number of ACs watched the proceedings carefully. Tim stood before about 50 men and women, sword in hand. All of them wore black cloaks, and all danced about with swords in their hands, following Tim’s lead.

“You must anticipate your opponent’s move,” said Tim, looking out upon his followers. “Demons are strong, stronger than you, but they’re not faster. Keep on the move, confuse them; it’s your greatest advantage. They have thousands of years of experience with the sword, but they don’t practice much. They’ve gotten sloppy. I can tell you that from experience. Look for that moment when they are most off balance, right after they swing. Let them make the first move then go after them. That is when they are the most vulnerable. A short quick thrust works best. Don’t draw back to swing, don’t give them time to react.” Tim turned to see his guests. “Pair off. Practice with your partner. Don’t be afraid of getting hurt; you’ll heal quickly enough. Pain will focus your determination. But don’t take stupid chances, either. Let’s go.”

The group paired off and continued the exercise even as Tim sheathed his sword and approached his visitors. An AC that Abaddon recognized as the alpha male, Goliath, swooped over to sit on Tim’s right shoulder.

“Very nice,” said Abaddon, looking at Tim. “I’ve never seen a human with such experience when it came to the sword.”

Tim smiled. “I’m mostly self-taught, though Goliath has given me lots of advice, too. Actually, I had some lessons on swordsmanship back on Earth too; that helped. In time, I will have an army of my own, an army that can defend my people. You see, we won’t have to depend only on Goliath and his family.”

“I can see that,” said Abaddon. “That is sound thinking.”

“But I suspect that you haven’t come just to inspect my training methods,” deduced Tim.

“You are correct,” said Abaddon. “The thing that we talked about two days ago is coming to pass.”

Tim seemed truly surprised by that revelation. “So soon?”

“Yes,” confirmed Abaddon. “I am very encouraged. Things are going better than I’d almost dared hope. You will need to become involved in the negotiating process.”

“Tell me more,” said Tim, drawing closer.

Abaddon and the others spoke of the recent meeting with Cordon and the new treaty. Through it all, Tim remained unusually quiet.

The story told, Tim turned once more to his students. “Now, before we break for the day, let’s show our visitors our best trick. Take your positions.”

The entire group moved in Tim’s direction, then turned to the far wall, about a hundred feet or so away. They raised their swords, then directed them to the wall.

“Take aim!” barked Tim. “Fire!”

Almost immediately, several dozen fiery beams erupted from the swords and struck the far wall. There was a great flash of light and a loud report. A few seconds later portions of the wall were glowing bright red.

“Better,” said Tim, “better than yesterday. Now, my dear friends, stand aside.”

Tim pulled his own sword and directed it toward the wall, even as his students stepped out of the way. His sword glowed with blue electricity as one fiery beam after another hit the wall. When he was finished, the temperature of the room had risen to well over a 100 degrees.”

“In time, all of you shall be able to do that,” announced Tim, sheathing his sword once more. “Just stay focused; you can do it. Then you will be ready. Class is dismissed until tomorrow.”

The group headed quickly down a side passage. As they did, the ACs took flight. Many took up positions upon the shoulders of the students. Others flew around the group as they left. Soon, only Tim, Megan and his visitors stood in the room.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Tim. “It’s only going to get hotter.”

“I have never seen a human summon the power of a demonic sword,” said Abaddon, true amazement in his voice. “Nor have I seen a demonic fireball look quite as that one.”

“It’s not a demonic fireball,” said Tim. “I like to call it Timothy’s fire. Goliath said it was unique. All of my students can do it to some degree. With time, they’ll get better.”

“Incredible,” said Kurt. “That is some weapon.”

“Very nice, Tim,” said Bedillia.

Tim smiled. “Thank you all. We can talk in my chambers.”

As they walked back, Abaddon realized how the walls of the cavern around them had been transformed into glass so easily. “A demon, in good form, might be able to shoot two or three fireballs before his strength is exhausted. Then he would need to rest for at least an hour. I just saw you shoot at least eight.”

“Oh, I can shoot a lot more than that,” said Tim, a sense of pride in his response. “But I didn’t want to melt the wall. Goliath tells me that my fireballs are not as powerful as a demon’s fireball, but I can more than make up for that in the number I can project. I think my students will be just as good, as long as they practice. Our problem is that we only have 84 swords here. I need more, a lot more. Goliath tells me that they need to be made out of a
stuff called angelic metal.”

“Yes, that is correct,” confirmed Abaddon. “It is very rare in Hell.”

“Not here it isn’t,” replied Tim. “There are lots of angelic metal deposits in the lower cavern. The walls are full of the stuff. At least that’s what Goliath has told me. A little angelic metal in his diet makes his coat glisten. I have some samples of it in my chambers. I just need to know how to turn it into swords.”

“I think I could help you there,” noted Abaddon. “We could help you set up a forge right here in the cave.”

“Yes,” replied Tim. “I’d really appreciate that. Thank you.”

Upon their return to Tim’s chambers, he showed Abaddon samples of the metal. It was indeed angelic metal. It appeared to be of high quality. It was an incredible find.

“If the demons knew this was here, they might fight you over it,” cautioned Abaddon. “For a long time they have scoured Hell in search of it, and here it has been, right under their feet all of this time. This is truly ironic.”

For several hours the group discussed the treaty. It took some time to convince Tim to agree to give up his demonic captives, should the terms of the treaty be ratified. Tim didn’t like the idea of his creatures being relegated to feeding on other humans, even if their hearts were filled with evil, but inevitably he agreed. In the end, they had hammered out an agreement. Now all that remained was to hope that General Krell would agree to it.

The negotiations began three days later. Cordon seemed amazed to discover that the person behind the release of so many humans and the capture of dozens of seasoned demons was little more than a boy. Yet Tim was sharp when it came to negotiating. He seemed to have a maturity well beyond his years. He was a natural born leader; there were no two ways about it.

Two weeks later, Tim and Megan sat at the great table in Abaddon’s audience chamber with members of the governing council of Refuge and with Cordon. The parties involved placed their signatures on the final version of the treaty. Before the day was out, Tim would release his hostages. In exchange, he got a promise of peace and about 12 square miles of the valley as a sort of homeland, though he had no intentions of moving back to the surface just yet.

It had all gone better than Abaddon had suspected, perhaps too well. Abaddon had come to trust Cordon, at least to a degree, but he remained suspicious of General Krell’s intentions. What did he stand to gain from all of these concessions? He suspected that, in time, he would find out.

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