The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2) (35 page)

“Impossible!” Trisfelt muttered, looking positively ill.

“What is?” Hilda asked.

“There is a boy—or was a boy, a rather odd boy, about ten years old. An orphan who came to the school with lots of talent and was accepted on scholarship. He was a very nice boy, very kind, gentle, even shy. He was also something of a loner and introverted. His name was also Rupert.”

“And this so-called child demon”—Hilda gestured to the scene before them—“came into the Rod’s camp in human form, calling itself Rupert?”

Trisfelt looked to Danyel.

Danyel was on edge now, having come close to slipping up. “Well, that’s what I gather from my questioning of people…”

“And Talarius recognized him as this demon, and it also appears the child demon recognized Talarius.” Hilda paused to think. “Surely it must be coincidence. Surely, Lenamare would have detected that he was a demon?”

Trisfelt spread his hands palm up on his knees. “One would surely think so. We go through a large battery of tests during the entrance exams. I cannot see how something like that could possibly have been missed. Every master in the school interviewed him!”

Trisfelt shook his head, staring at the small demon’s image before him. He blinked suddenly. “On the road to Freehold, before Exador’s people attacked…” Trisfelt thought for a few moments. “I asked Rupert to help with the horses as we set up camp. He did not want to; he was quite panicked, in fact. Jenn and I brushed it off as childish fear, but he proved to have good reason. The horses were scared to death of him and went into a panic when he approached. I never thought much about it until now, but…”

“The horses must have sensed he was a demon,” Hilda added.

Danyel was shaking his head. “So this smaller demon had infiltrated your school years before?”

Trisfelt shrugged. “So it now appears. But the boy was such a good kid! He was very sweet and shy; I can’t possibly see how the boy I knew could be a demon!”

Hilda sighed. “From what I have heard and read, you would not be the first to be so fooled.”

“But if the Rupert demon truly is a child, how could it play such a tricky game for several years? Hiding among two of the greatest conjurors alive today?” Trisfelt asked in befuddlement.

“Well, I’d have to assume it is as Talarius said—the big demon is lying. The Rupert demon is not a child; it is simply pretending to be,” Danyel stated.

“To what end? Simple infiltration?” Trisfelt asked. “We really are not that interesting of a school. Despite Lenamare’s claims.”

Hilda thought for a moment. “As I understand it, Exador and Lenamare were at war over a book in Lenamare’s possession.” Trisfelt shrugged and nodded. “Is it possible this Rupert demon was searching for the book? On behalf of this larger demon?”

Trisfelt shrugged, shaking his head. “At this point, anything is possible. So then, is this larger demon in league with Exador? Is that how Exador knew he had it?” Trisfelt shook his head in exasperation.

“I’m not sure we can answer anything on this now; let’s move on,” Hilda said.

They moved on to the part where Verigas started ranting. Hilda motioned for Trisfelt to pause it at the point where Talarius stopped the argument between Tom and Verigas. “Well that certainly confirms what Jenn and Gastropé said,” she stated.

“From that perspective, it does seem like the Rod sort of overreacted,” Trisfelt said.

“Be that as it may, the ends were justified!” Danyel stated confidently.

Trisfelt shook his head again. “So if the big demon and Rupert were in collusion with Exador, why would they bring the Rod right to the gates of the city and the huge horde of demons? And it seems very sloppy to select a priest of Tiernon as your gateway in such a case.”

“To say the least.” Hilda was shaking her head. “Let’s table this as well and move on.”

They continued the balling, getting into the fight. Hilda gestured at Trisfelt to pause shortly after the demon had started shooting those electric ice bolts and blasts at Tiernon. “That circle around the demon, it appeared a bit ago. We have no Sight with this recording, but I’m reasonably certain the priests have encircled the demon with a draining ritual of some form,” Hilda said to Trisfelt and Danyel.

“Yes, that’s correct. The priests worked in full support of Talarius, using both animus and mana draining rituals; they also used mana-funneling rituals to Talarius.  Then, as you’ll see shortly, archers began shooting Arrows of Quôlume at him with very nasty payloads,” Danyel replied enthusiastically as Hilda made faces at him trying to get him to be quiet.

Trisfelt glanced curiously at Danyel, his suspicions reawakened. “That’s very specific knowledge you seem to have.”

Danyel blanched suddenly. Hilda intervened, waving her hands as if it were nothing. “I sent Danyel out to make inquiries among the Rod, particularly during the time you and I first met. And then a few more times since we’ve been back in the city. Over the years, he’s proven an able assistant in ferreting out useful information on my behalf.”

She needed to distract Trisfelt. “However, what I find odd is that these rituals that Danyel mentioned, are they not dark rituals? It was my understanding that priests of Tiernon were proscribed from using dark rituals.”

Trisfelt looked surprised. “Now that you mention it, I seem to recall hearing that as well. Very odd that they should do so.” Hilda looked back to Danyel, who was looking even more uncomfortable, if that were possible.

“I am sure it must have been approved by the Arch-Diocate,” Danyel said nervously.

Hilda smiled gently. “Well, then, I am sure he’ll be more than prepared to answer for and explain his actions, should this Host of Tiernon or what not, ever show up.” She chuckled lightly, as did Trisfelt.

“You are right as ever, my dear!” Trisfelt clapped his hands, putting Danyel’s apparent in-depth knowledge behind them. “I would not want to be in his shoes!” He laughed and Hilda joined in, flashing Danyel a seemingly good-natured glance which appeared to make him even more nervous.

“Anyway, let us continue.” Hilda waved at the scene and then reached for the bottle to refill their glasses.

As the giant demon fell to the ground and the priests rushed in to heal Talarius, Hilda had Trisfelt pause the balling. She was looking quite annoyed. “Am I misremembering? Wasn’t the agreement between the demon and the knight that it was to be a one-on-one duel?”

“It was indeed,” Trisfelt said. “The Rod was not particularly good about keeping its word.”

Hilda was shaking her head, most annoyed. “Demon or no demon, this is not honorable; nor is using dark rituals. While we have no Sight with this, I am sure those clouds are seriously dark magic.”

She stood up abruptly. “I need to get more wine. I find it very troubling that I should be feeling any sympathy for a demon!” She marched over and opened a bottle of red wine, paying little attention to which one. She was feeling extremely vexed.

She came back as Trisfelt and Danyel both gulped down the remainders in their glasses. Hilda poured out large glasses of the red wine, emptying the bottle between the three of them. She sat down and placed the empty bottle on the floor beside the sofa. She sighed. “Let us continue.”

The battle proceeded with the possession and defeat of Talarius, his surrender followed by his treachery. Hilda was feeling a deep-seated anger at this point. It was then that the god mana started flowing. This was what she had noticed; this was the high-powered miracle that came through the back door and was thus inadvertently allowed. She wished she could See what was going on. It was very impressive to say the least. Then came the turning of Excrathadorus Mortis.

As the hole closed and the balling ending, Hilda could not help herself from feeling that some sort of justice had been done, despite the fact that it was her own team that was on the receiving end. That Talarius had cheated was undeniable; that he had broken nearly every rule of honor in Tiernon’s book, undisputable. And did the Arch-Diocate and Vicar General seem okay with this? Apparently. Hilda let out a sigh.

“You know what I can’t figure out?” Trisfelt said.

Hilda opened her eyes and shook her head. “There is an immense amount here that I cannot figure out.”

“We all know what demons are like,” Trisfelt said, the other two nodded. “Yes, they lie. We cannot trust what the demon said at the end about simply wanting to protect his own and live in peace. It is, by every known account of demons, complete nonsense.” Everyone nodded his or her head. “So then, why did he stop? Why did he just leave? With the level of power he used to turn that artifact, the dagger—”

“Excrathadorus Mortis?” Hilda asked.

“You know of it?”

Hilda chuckled, suddenly feeling exhausted. She was emotionally drained. “By legend only; obviously, I’ve never set eyes on it. It’s extremely famous.”

“Really? I guess I assumed so,” Trisfelt nodded.

Hilda shrugged, too tired to prevaricate. “Talarius was awarded with being its keeper nearly a decade ago. This extremely sacred blade was used in Etterdam by Sentir Fallon to slay the demon prince Orcus.”

Trisfelt sucked in his breath. “It was used to kill a demon prince?” the wizard asked, agape.

“Permanently, forever and ever, amen,” Hilda said, nodding.

Trisfelt slowly shook his head and sat in silence. “So, more to my point,” he eventually continued, “with that much power at his command, with the power of multiple high priests, why did he not turn that magic against the Rod? If he could reverse an artifact of that magnitude, then surely he could have used it against the Rod and priests of Tiernon?”

Hilda froze as Trisfelt pointed this out. She had not thought of that. No one had. Clearly, the demon could have done serious damage to the Rod and its priests. He could have decimated them. A ten percent casualty rate would be minimal under the circumstances. He could have conceivably taken out half or more of them. Particularly given the chaos of the possessed soldiers, the people in shock, distracted—he might have wiped out the entire Rod and the priests! It made no damn sense at all.

~

DOF +4

Predawn 16-01-440

The avatars sat in stunned silence, staring at the end of the balling Hilda had just brought them. This was Hilda’s fourth time watching it. She had asked Trisfelt if he could leave it so she could review it again once she was completely sober, promising to return it to him on the morrow. They had set an appointment for brunch and planned to discuss the balling in more detail. In the meantime, she had watched it twice more while Danyel slept and had then taken it with her to the predawn meeting with Moradel and the others.

Having seen it and begun to formulate her own thoughts, Hilda simply sat back and waited for the three avatars to discuss. They all sat silently for some time before Sentir Fallon finally spoke up. “This is disturbing on so many levels, I don’t know where to begin.”

“I have had reports that the Church in Astlan had gotten a bit morally relaxed, and to be fair, I may have even tolerated it,” Moradel began.

“You are not the only one. As I recall, we have discussed this before, and it’s been discussed at higher levels as well. It’s the eternal question of whether the end justifies the means, and it’s never an easy question,” Beragamos said.

“At the least, we can ignore the child-demon malarkey,” Sentir Fallon stated. “At first I found that troubling, but it makes too little sense.”

Moradel looked to the elder avatar. “Are there not half demons?”

Sentir Fallon shrugged. “Of course; that is canonically known. However, such children are either lesser demons or mortals with a few demonic traits. If this child demon is able to change form, it must be a greater demon in its own right. For that to be the case, the sire would, at the least, have to be a demon prince.”

“At the least? What more is there?” Hilda asked, shocked.

Beragamos chuckled. “I think Sentir’s point is that there is no more beyond that, and even then such a thing would be extremely rare; thus, the demon must be lying. The only child demons are half demons, and no half demon can be that powerful.”

“Do demons not breed with each other?” Hilda asked; she was not particularly familiar with demons.

Beragamos shook his head. “Not that I am aware of. For demons and in fact, any immortal being to reproduce, both parents have to sacrifice a bit of their own essence beyond sperm and egg. Which most do not, in fact, have.” He shook his head. “This requires a level of unselfishness that demons do not possess, and it requires a level of love and commitment they cannot meet.”

“Do they not have to do the same with a mortal?” Hilda pursued the question.

“Yes, but not as much is required because a fertile mortal woman needs very little to provide the seeds of life. It is a much smaller sacrifice for the male demon. A female demon would only conceive with a mortal male as part of a grander scheme or reason. Not for love or mere dalliance; it would require a lot of her own resources, particularly for a powerful child,” Beragamos said.

Moradel looked at him closely. “So again, highly unlikely to be a greater demon.”

“Unless maybe the mother is Lilith,” Sentir Fallon chuckled.

Beragamos smiled. “That would be the most likely bet, but seriously doubtful. As would Sammael fathering a child on a mortal woman. As I see it, those are the two most likely possibilities to achieve a greater demon. Remotely, the father could, I suppose, be one of the Triumvirate who literally got lucky. Again, I did say at least a demon prince. Theoretically, it could be any demon prince that somehow managed to get things just right. Perhaps some sort of giant nursery full of mortal broodmares, each one trying to get it right.”