The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2) (76 page)

“Well, it is Mount Doom, which is in the Abyss,” Antefalken said. “It’s actually a very pleasant place compared to most of the Abyss.”

“Really?” Vaselle asked rather nervously, looking around.

“It’s a lot cooler and significantly more humid,” Antefalken noted. “Tom has cooled the majority of the Doomplex, as we’ve started calling it, down to the equivalent of a very hot summer day, so that your amulets won’t be taxed as much.”

Antefalken gestured around them. “And, as you can tell by the fact that there are furnishings that somehow survived four thousand years of very dry and excessive heat, the acidity level is not toxic.” Antefalken grinned. “That is considered a major selling point.”

“So how hot is it normally?” Vaselle asked. “I hear that water boils here.”

“That is true on the plains. We are at a higher altitude here and so when the volcano was dormant, the temperature was probably only about three-fourths the temperature of boiling water.”

“So the volcano starting made it hotter?” Damien asked.

“I guess. For a while, we didn’t really notice, since it did not get any hotter than the rest of the Abyss. However, once the storm clouds formed and it started raining, the temperature quickly cooled. And then Tom started the cooling runes.”

“Cooling runes—you’ve mentioned those before,” Damien said.

“Yes, there are runes throughout this complex that do a wide variety of things; some of them are cooling runes that basically produce a cooling spell upon the air. They are actually very popular in the Courts of Chaos,” Antefalken said.

“Why do they want cooling at the Courts if they are all demons?” Vaselle asked.

“Because they have furniture, paper, clothing and food and drink that doesn’t fare well at the ambient temperature. Therefore, the higher-ups tend to use various forms of arcane cooling in their homes and palaces.”

“Is that why most demons are naked? Because clothes wouldn’t hold up well in the Abyss?” Vaselle asked.

Antefalken shrugged. “Well, it’s more like most don’t care about nudity, and don’t bother acquiring clothes. Particularly since tailoring them to fit an odd shape gets expensive for most demons, and then, as you say, the temperature would not be good for many materials over time. If they have the money, most prefer to spend it on something else.”

“But you wear clothes,” Vaselle pointed out.

“Yes, but I’m a professional entertainer; I need to wear clothes or all the women in my audience would swoon!” Antefalken grinned.

“I thought you said demons don’t care about nudity?” Damien asked his bard snidely.

“Well, generally speaking, but when one has a particularly outstanding physique…” Antefalken said.

“So you have to spend quite a bit of money on clothing?” Vaselle asked.

Antefalken looked at the wizard, slightly perplexed by the question. “Well, something like that. I didn’t always wear clothes.”

“You know it’s very odd, now that I think of it. You wear the exact same clothes probably ninety percent of the time and yet they are always impeccably clean and pressed,” Damien said, furrowing his brow.

Antefalken coughed. “As I said, I’m a professional; I need to look my best at all times. It is also about branding; people need to be able to recognize you. Ask any celebrity!”

“So are you taking us on a tour?” Vaselle asked.

“We will be doing a tour, but I’m showing you to what I’m calling the mortal suite.” Antefalken said.

“The mortal suite?” Damien repeated dubiously.

Antefalken grinned at the wizard. “It’s a suite of rooms overlooking the volcano and stadium, with a balcony. There are quite a few suites like that, but this one was apparently designed with mortal guests in mind as opposed to immortal guests.”

“And what are the differences?” Vaselle asked.

“Well, the number one difference is a room for number one and number two.” Antefalken smiled brightly at the humans, who did not seem to get the reference. He sighed. “A toilet. Bathrooms with toilets and running water. Running water
now
, I should say. The water did not work after the reservoirs went dry, but they work now.” He waved his hands reassuringly. “Also, the beds and furniture are more human sized, although this varies, as demons come in extremely different sizes. And the rooms have much finer temperature controls. You won’t need your amulets in them.”

Antefalken opened the double doors to a large suite with very nice furniture and some rather odd paintings of demons and other creatures. There were six doors to other rooms, plus French doors leading out to a balcony. The lighting in this room was considerably better, with multiple lamps lit throughout the room.

“Seems like a lot of rooms for two people,” Damien observed.

“Well, on that matter,” Antefalken began, “we have some other mortal guests coming. Tal Gor, Ragala-nargoloth, Beya Fei Geist and Farsooth Gore Tusk. Unfortunately, Trig Bioblast had watch and so was unable to come.”

“Those are very odd names,” Vaselle stated suspiciously.

“Well, they are orcs,” Antefalken admitted.

“Orcs?” Damien asked, surprised.

“Tom is being sworn in as king of the D’Orcs, which are based on orcs. These four, or rather five with Trig, are his shamans. Tal Gor is from Astlan, down near Jotungard and Murgandy.”

“So I take it they had longstanding ties to Mount Doom?” Damien asked.

Antefalken shook his head. “Not at all. Tom had to seek them out to get supplies for this party. Not a lot of stores or merchants nearby.”

~

“Welcome, Beya!” Tom greeted the final shaman as she came through the portal.

“Lord Tommus, it is my honor to be at this glorious occasion!” She bowed her head.

“We have a suite of rooms for our mortal guests; each of you will have your own room off a common living area. We think we’ve got everything covered, including water and reliable cooling,” Tom said as he closed the portal. “There is a balcony that will provide a great view of the ceremony; however, you are also welcome to attend on the main floor of the arena. It will be a very long ceremony, as I have mentioned, so come and go as you please. I, of course, will be busy most of the time, but I will have someone available to assist all of you.”

“You are most gracious, My Lord.” Beya nodded again.

“I shall take you to the suites. My demon bard, Antefalken, will be giving a tour prior to the ceremony,” Tom told her as they walked along. “The others are already there.”

“Antefalken?” Beya said.

“Yes, have you heard of him?” Tom asked.

“There is a famous orc bard from about three hundred years ago by the same very unusual name,” Beya said thoughtfully.

“Well, given all the demons I’ve been uncovering pretending to be mortals lately, I suppose it could be the same. However, my Antefalken doesn’t look anything like an orc. He’s way too small, and as far as I know, he can’t shape-change.”

“Ahh, speaking of that. It would be good if we could speak at some point regarding your son and his friend, Fer-Rog,” Beya said.

“Did they cause problems for you?” Tom asked, suddenly concerned.

Beya smiled and bowed slightly. “Not in the manner you fear. But they might cause you some issues,” she said with a chuckle.

“Rupert does have a tendency to get in over his head,” Tom admitted.

“I think both boys have great shamanistic potential, and that is what I would like to discuss,” Beya told Tom.

“Really? That is great news! We need more shamans here in Mount Doom if we are to resume interactions with Midgard. I can’t open every portal myself, and we need end points in both locations.”

“Exactly.” Beya smiled as they approached the suite. “Which brings me to the question I am most interested in.”

“Which is?” Tom asked, smiling back.

“Well, you’ve brought your shamans and wizards through to Mount Doom and closed the gateways behind us. How exactly are we going to get back with no one on the other side?” Beya asked curiously.

Tom stopped in his tracks. “Shit. How did I not think of that?” He felt his stomach sink to his knees.

Randolf, Exador, Gandros, Lenamare, Jehenna, Tureledor and Davron had just finished a conclave to discuss the conditions for the tests to confirm the humanity of Exador and his colleagues. They had filed down from the small Atrium of Archos, where the meeting had been held, and had just entered the grand foyer of the palace, which was the closest crossway to each councilor’s respective regions of the palace, when Randolf noted Ruiden approaching them.

Randolf blinked. While there was a fair amount of fierdlight coming through the large windows of the grand foyer, Ruiden seemed to be reflecting an ever-increasing amount of light as he approached. It had to be some sort of magical effect, which swords were, in fact, known to have under various conditions. Ruiden had not been glowing when Randolf had spoken with the sword, and none of his colleagues had reported this either. He was not sure what to make of this, but it did not bode well.

“Councilors!” Ruiden came up in front of the small group before they could split off to go their own directions.

“Ruiden.” Gandros, Lenamare and Tureledor all nodded and greeted the sword. All the councilors with the exception of Exador and Trevin had been interviewed by the sword at this point. Randolf had to suppress a small chuckle at remembering how Gandros had expressed the wish that the rest of the Rod were as pleasant to deal with as the sword.

“Councilor Exador,” Ruiden addressed the mage.

Exador, of course, had no idea who Ruiden was; he had not been present at any of the council meetings where the sword and its investigation had been discussed.

“What are you?” Exador said rather tersely. He was looking at the now very obviously glowing sword.

“I am Ruiden, Sword of Talarius.”

“You are a sword?” Exador asked, frowning at the odd statement.

“Yes. I am the sword Ruiden, currently in the service of the Knight Rampant of Tiernon, Talarius.” Ruiden nodded politely. “I am investigating the abduction of Sir Talarius and have been interviewing all relevant parties.”

“Nice to meet you. I will leave you to interview whichever colleague of mine you wish.” Exador gave the sword a small smile and nod and attempted to pass.

“I am sorry, Councilor; I was imprecise,” Ruiden said.

Exador had moved towards the sword’s left, but turned his head to respond. “Not a problem. It was interesting to meet you.”

“Councilor,” Ruiden said, turning to face Exador. “I have already interviewed your colleagues here and would now like to interview you.  I realize you have been quite busy, but I have been trying to reach you for an interview and this is the first moment I have been able to make contact with you.”

Exador stopped again and stared for a moment. “As you say, I am very busy, and am under a number of time constraints. I fear I don’t have time to be interviewed at the moment.”

“Quite understandable,” Ruiden said politely. “May we please set a time and place that we may talk?”

Exador sighed, annoyed. “Why do you need to interview me? I was not a participant in the battle and have no knowledge of anything useful to you.”

“I am sorry, but I respectfully disagree,” Ruiden said. “Other than Councilor Lenamare, you are perhaps the most relevant person for me to interview in this case.”

Exador shook his head, not understanding. “Why do you say that?” His temper was starting to rise'.

Randolf was more than familiar with the mage’s tone. He quickly got a sick feeling in his stomach as his adrenaline levels started to rise.
“Crispin,”
he called to the djinn over their master-djinn link.
“I think the situation with Exador may be about to go critical. Start breaking out the gear. Get down to the lab and start prepping it to move to the Grand Foyer if I should need it.”

“Seriously?”
Crispin responded over the link.

“Afraid so. Hurry!”
Randolf ordered.

“Well, first and foremost, you were the closest wizard to the battle between Talarius and Lenamare’s demon,” Ruiden stated.

Exador interrupted, “How do you determine that?”

“Councilor, we have all seen the balling with you, Ramses the Damned and another demoness watching the battle.”

“What are you talking about? I did observe the battle from a carpet, but I was not on any carpet with Ramses the Damned and a demoness,” Exador said. “Those were my human associates.”

Ruiden tilted his head to the left slightly. “Unfortunately, the balling does not allow me to verify that the woman was a demoness; however, the garb of your male colleague was unmistakably that of a Time Warrior. I am personally familiar with the outfit. He also looked the same as I remember Ramses the Damned looking from a similar distance.”

Exador shook his head in disbelief. “Are you saying you’ve seen any one of the Anilords named Ramses? And that you have personally seen Time Warriors?”

“Councilor, I have slain Time Warriors, and I have seen several of the Ramses on the field of battle, although I have not engaged them,” Ruiden stated without emotion.

“You’ve slain Time Warriors?” Jehenna asked incredulously.

Ruiden looked at her and nodded. “I have, several; albeit with different wielders. They are, or were, very difficult to kill.”

“Well, that’s all interesting, but have you stopped to think that my compatriot might just be a history buff?” Exador asked, clearly not amused by this line of questioning.

“If Ramses the Damned were a demon lord, it would explain his multiple incarnations and his ability to be here now,” Ruiden stated.

“Yes, but you have no proof that he was or is a demon. We have, in fact, just come from a meeting to discuss how to prove his humanity,” Exador said.

Ruiden nodded in acknowledgement. “True, but given that your colleague was on the carpet with you, it seems highly likely that he is also a very powerful demon.”

Exador squinted slightly and said very coldly to Ruiden, “What exactly do you mean by that? I have just stated that I am working with the Council to establish categorically that my colleagues and I are not archdemons!”

Ruiden seemed to shrug, which was a very odd motion for a metal golem, Randolf thought to himself.

“I do not know if you are an archdemon.” Ruiden stated in his dry voice. Exador smiled grimly in triumph. “But you are very clearly a demon of considerable power.” 

Several nearby people, perhaps some of the other councilors, gasped at this very provocative statement. Randolf had to suppress a grin. He was nervous as the Abyss, but the sword was going to force the issue once and for all.

“Ruiden,” Gandros interjected, trying to calm the situation, Randolf suspected. “That is a very serious allegation that the council is working to verify. It seems to me that additional accusations are not needed at this stage.”

“Thank you, Chairman,” Exador said coldly.

Ruiden glanced at the chairman of the Council. “It is not an accusation. It is a statement of proven fact.”

Gandros gave his head a small shake. “What do you mean, ‘proven fact’?”

“You note,” Ruiden said, “that I am glowing brightly at this moment?”

“Yes.” Several councilors nodded in agreement.

“You all note that I did not glow in any of your presences?” Ruiden asked. The councilors all nodded.

“This is because none of you are demons. I am glowing like this because I am in the presence of a demon—a very powerful demon,” Ruiden said.

“Enough! This is ridiculous!” Exador shouted. “Talarius could turn you on and off at will!”

“I am not sure how you would know that, Councilor,” the sword stated. “However, Talarius is not here. That is why I am conducting this investigation.”

“Why should we believe you? How do we know you are not glowing in order to accuse Exador?” Randolf asked, playing devil’s advocate —about as literally as possible, Randolf thought, chuckling to himself.

Exador nodded in appreciation at him. “Because I was forged as a demon-slaying sword. Identifying and slaying demons is my principal purpose,” Ruiden stated. Several people gasped and more than a few councilors stepped back.

“In short, I know a demon when it is in my presence. Even as I recognize the other extra-planar beings running around the city.”

Exador snorted. “Other extra-planar beings?” He turned to the other councilors. “This is nonsense. I will not stand here and listen to these lies.” He was very angry at this point. “We have agreed on a system; we will stick to it.”

“At this point, I have not verified that you are responsible for the demon that kidnapped Talarius; therefore, I have no need to prove you are a demon. I simply need to ask you some questions as to your involvement with that demon and the incidents leading up to Talarius’s abduction,” Ruiden said. “However, if it would help to clarify things, I can have Arch-Diocate Iskerus bring the Holy Mirror of Erastimus to us.” Ruiden looked to the other councilors. “It is the mirror that Talarius used to detect the demon infestation; I trust that its credibility and accuracy have been satisfactorily proven?”

Exador threw up his hands. “This is complete nonsense. We cannot trust Tiernon’s priest’s magical artifacts!”

“The mirror did prove to be remarkably accurate,” Jehenna said.

“Perhaps we should have Iskerus just bring it and be done with this issue here and now,” Tureledor said.

“I agree,” Davron seconded.

“I am a Councilor of Wizardry; I do not need to stand for this treatment!” Exador said, spinning to march away.

Ruiden was suddenly in front of the mage; he had moved there faster than Randolf’s eyes could follow. “Councilor, given your recalcitrance in answering my questions, I fear I must insist on obtaining your word for scheduling an interview, or engage in one now. We can go somewhere more private.”

“I refuse to be intimidated by a stupid artifact!” Exador waved his left arm and suddenly Ruiden was flying through the air, crashing hard into one of the columns lining the foyer.

“Exador, there is no need for violence!” Gandros shouted, even as the sound of some sort of air vortex started to drown the archimage out.

As if in slow motion, Randolf saw what appeared to be an insanely large, four-pronged glaive, spinning clockwise through the air, fly across the room from the column into which Ruiden had been thrown. The glaive, moving at whirlwind speed, cleaved Exador in two at the waist and continued on to crash into the top of an archway on the opposite side of the room.

Randolf had not even been able to process it in real time; it was only after the loud crashing that he had been able to understand what had happened. People began screaming and running for cover even as the roar of a loud fire rising from where Exador’s two halves had fallen drowned out the screams.

There was a huge blaze where Exador had fallen; out from that blaze stepped a re-formed Exador. The wizard was now fully clad in his infamous war regalia: his highly ornate and archaic blackish-purple armor, horned great helm and large black sword.

“You have chosen the wrong battle, sword!” Exador shouted in rage.

“Crispin, get your ass and the gear up here now!”
Randolf shouted through his link to the djinn.

“Lenamare! Get the wards up!” Tureledor shouted.

Gandros spun to the guards, who were scrambling to figure out what to do. “Sound the alert, evacuate the palace immediately! Get everyone out and away from the palace! Clear the surrounding areas of the city!”

Randolf cast the djinn-taught spell to summon his staff; whirling dust from all over the room rose and moved towards him, coalescing into the form of his staff. As he did this, he noted Jehenna leading Lenamare to the edge of the foyer, Lenamare obviously distracted trying to reach out to the members of the warding team.

Tureledor was quickly surrounded by a shimmering globe; most likely a kinetic bubble to protect him from flying objects. Davron was shouting into a mirror, clearly shouting orders to his people.

Ruiden crashed to the floor below the archway and quickly stood to face the oncoming Exador. “Well, I hope that surviving a cleaving should be sufficient proof for everyone of your demonic nature?” Ruiden said.

“I am going to take great pleasure in disenchanting you, artifact!” Exador hissed, bringing his giant black sword around to strike at the sword golem. Ruiden raised his right arm and countered the giant blade.

Randolf shook his head. Exador was going into combat against four swords: two arm and two leg swords. This would be interesting, but he had work to do. His staff was now present and he began using its magical end tip to begin inscribing runes around himself in the stone floor. If he was about to go toe-to-toe with an archdemon, a good pentagram would be very useful.

~

An extremely loud klaxon caused Trisfelt to jump up in shock from the chair in which he was seated at a table, reading over a large scroll. “What the hell is that?” he asked no one in particular, being alone in his suite. He quickly ran to the door.

The klaxon seemed even louder in the hallway. A page came rushing down the hall.

“What is that noise?” Trisfelt yelled at the page.