The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2) (86 page)

As they switched oath takers, Tom followed the previously sworn links to the command center to get a vibe from up there. He could sense vigilance, but also calm. It was completely non-verbal, but he could sense the military efficiency of the D’Orcs on duty and their calm scrutiny of the grid and the radar screens in the TCC. So far, so good.

He had been super-paranoid about something going wrong during the ceremony. Well, not the ceremony itself; they could be interrupted at any point during it and scramble. What still worried him was the party. Having so many of his troops drunk and incapacitated. It just seemed like a perfect opportunity for Lilith to attack.

Yes, they had made plans to have sober people on duty at all times, but he still felt a bit paranoid. It was silly, really; how could she possibly know when they were at their weakest? As far as he knew, and as far as Zelda and his commanders knew, there was no way anyone here could, or more importantly,
would
be in contact with Lilith’s agents.

Tom had to shake his head at his own paranoia. While hiding in his cave, he had had no strong fear of Lilith and friends attacking. Of course, at that time he had not yet seized control of a giant military fortress that she had spent considerable effort decommissioning. He had to believe that restarting Mount Doom would almost force her to act.

He was certain it would, in fact. He had no idea how he could be so certain; was it some sort of joint paranoia of the D’Orcs? The other edge of the two-edged emotional sword he was riding high on right now? He could not know. All he could do was to pay attention to the next oath takers and ride the spirit of the moment.

~

DOF +10

Mid Fourth Period 16-07-440

The shamans stood around the mud golem, contemplating it. Farsooth had summoned a couple of were-lights to light the region better. The D’Orcs were obviously more than able to see easily in low light or no light. Not so much the orcs.

Damien and Vaselle stood watching the shamans analyze the mud golem. “So do you know much about golems?” Damien asked Vaselle.

“I’ve studied them. I think everyone who wants to create arcane devices does, but they always seemed like too much effort to me. It is a very complicated art, requiring numerous engineering skills, at least for stone or iron golems. I have no idea how you keep a mud golem together; it seems completely different than an articulated and animated statue,” Vaselle replied.

“I would have to agree. I’ve never actually seen one before,” Damien said. “Quite fascinating.”

“It appears to be made out of the mud in that chamber; they are of the same type,” Tal Gor said. The young shaman was standing back, letting the more experienced shamans have the best access.

“That would mean someone built it here,” Vaselle said. “That seems rather odd. We are not that far off the beaten path. You would think that someone would have noticed a wizard creating a golem down here for a few weeks.

“The golem has been here no more than a day,” Farsooth said, looking back towards them.

“So if it came here, then it was not made from the same mud,” Damien stated.

“No, it was created from this mud, but it was done within the last day,” Farsooth said. Beya and Ragala-nargoloth both nodded in agreement.

“I don’t see how that’s possible. That would be pushing the bounds of wizardry. Can shamans do something so quickly?” Damien asked.

Farsooth shrugged. “I have not met one who could, but it is conceivable with enough power.”

“No, I think this is djinn-based,” Beya said. “I can think of no one else with the skills to do this.”

“You are saying that it was created by a djinn?” Damien blinked. He had heard of djinn, but they were beings of legend. They had few interactions with the mortal realms. They were beings of the demi-elemental planes and according to legend, were highly constrained in their ability to enter the material planes.

“Or multiple djinns. I believe the spirit in this golem is a djinn. I cannot say that it is the same djinn or djinns that created this golem,” Beya said.

“So djinns can access the Abyss?” Damien asked.

“Why here and now?” Vaselle asked.

“The rain,” Völund said suddenly, startling everyone. He had come down with them, but as was his fashion, had remained completely silent.

“The rain.” Phaestus nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Not to me,” Damien said.

“How much do you know of how Mount Doom works?” Phaestus asked.

“I know it’s covered in runes and it combines the elements with spirit to generate mana,” Damien said.

“Close enough,” Phaestus said.

“Not really,” Völund said.

“Enough for the purposes of explaining this.” Phaestus shook his head.

“I take it the two of you are very familiar with Mount Doom’s operations?” Vaselle asked.

Völund shrugged. Phaestus rolled his eyebrows. “Yes, the two of us provided the core engineering skills and created many of the mechanisms in the complex.”

Vaselle’s eyes got bigger. “That was a long time ago, yes?”

Phaestus nodded and looked at Völund. “What year is this?”

“Fifty four seven sixty.” Völund said matter-of-factly.

Damien blinked. “You mean 54,760 years ago? That’s when this place was built?” He sounded rather incredulous.

“Foundation,” Völund stated tersely.

“What you see today took thousands and thousands of years to build, but Orcus laid the foundation stone 54,760 years ago,” Phaestus said.

“Wow,” Tal Gor breathed. Vaselle nodded in agreement.

“In any event,” Phaestus continued, “the interaction of the five planes creates what djinn call para-elements. In sufficient quantities these para-elements, or demi-elements, become malleable to the djinn. Once Mount Doom restarted, the para-elements began to pile up and malleables became available.”

Damien was nodding, putting things together. “Water and Earth become mud. Fire, Air and a bit of Earth are smoke; Water and Fire are steam; Water, Fire and Earth are soot, and so on.”

“A mud golem is a para-elemental golem of Water and Earth,” Beya added, voicing her agreement.

“Okay, that is the what and how, I guess. But that leaves the why,” Vaselle said.

“To re-establish relations with Mount Doom,” Phaestus said as if it were obvious.

“Re-establish?” Damien asked. Phaestus nodded, as did Völund. “Orcus had a long history of working with the djinn.”

“Really? Why?” Reggie asked.

“Many reasons mutually advantageous to each. The djinn have no other reliable way to access the Abyss, and Mount Doom contains numerous minerals of interest to the djinn. In return, the djinn have knowledge of other realms and can relay information to Mount Doom,” Phaestus said.

“So how do we talk to it?” Vaselle asked.

“Someone has to link with the spirit and let it talk through them,” Tal Gor answered. The three older shamans looked back and forth between themselves.

Finally, Beya spoke up. “I have done something similar once before.”

Ragala-nargoloth nodded her head in respect to Beya. “I have not. Ancestors, Kachinas and similar spirits, but nothing elemental.”

“Nor I,” Farsooth admitted.

“Very well, then.” Beya began rummaging in her pouch and pulled out some stones, which she began placing around the mud golem. “For stability,” she said.

The mud golem watched impassively, saying nothing.

Beya began sketching symbols or runes around the mud golem. Finally, she scooped up some mud near the golem’s left foot and rubbed it on her eyelids, ears, nose and around her mouth.

With that complete, she began chanting softly and closed her eyes. Damien could neither understand nor even clearly hear what she was chanting. The mud golem closed its eyes, or eye sockets he guessed.

A moment later, Beya began shaking and her chanting stopped. She drew in a large breath and opened her eyes. Damien noticed the other shamans blinking at Beya in surprise. Damien shifted to get a better look at the shaman’s face and had to blink too. Her eyes were like crystalline pools of liquid. That description made absolutely no sense and was, in fact, contradictory; however, that was the only thing Damien could think of to describe her eyes.

Clearly, Beya was now possessed by the djinn of the mud golem. The Beya-golem began turning around, slowly looking at each of the people in the corridor. She smiled as her gaze came upon Reggie.

“A sex demon? You might make a very enjoyable anchor.” The Beya-golem chuckled. Her voice sounded quite different from Beya’s. Much smoother, softer.

Actually rather disconcerting, if truth be told,
thought Damien.

As she continued to turn, her eyes came upon Völund. “You are Völund the smith. I have shared visions and experiences of you with our previous military adjutants. It is good to know you are still here.”

As her eyes moved to Phaestus, they widened. “Vulcan. You have returned to your creation. Not in Memphis, nor Olympus… but here. It is an honor to encounter you.”

It was odd that she clearly recognized Hephaestus, but odd she should call him by a different name, Damien thought.

She continued on, noting but not saying anything to the other shamans. Her eyes crossed Damien’s and she stopped and stared at him disconcertingly.

“Inquisitor Damien. You are, perhaps, one of the last people I would have expected to see here.” Her head tilted. “With the possible exception of Lenamare or Jehenna.” She smiled. Everyone else was now staring at Damien.

“I’m sorry, how do you know me? Or them? I don’t believe I have ever met a djinn,” Damien said nervously.

The djinn made an amused half-chuckle. “No, we have not met. However, as with Völund, I have shared visons and experiences of you with another of my kind.”

“Are you saying that the djinn are monitoring the Council of Wizardry?” Damien asked worriedly. Would they need to put up Lenamare’s wards permanently?

She smiled again. “Not directly. We are observing someone else who is of concern to us, and who frequently interacts with the Council.”

“Who might that be?” Damien asked. This was making him very uncomfortable. The world was quickly becoming far more complicated than he expected.

She gave him a slight frown. “I’m sorry, but I am afraid I am not at liberty to reveal that information.” She looked truly contrite. Or at least as contrite as an orc face could look.

“Can you at least tell me if this person puts the Council in danger with his or her interactions?” Damien asked.

The djinn shook her head slowly. “I think you are discovering the answer to that through your inquisition.”

She then started turning again to complete her circle. She nodded, having observed everyone. She paused thoughtfully, and then spoke again. “I have been asked to inquire if Tisdale is here?”

Damien shook his head. “Is there anyone that demon does not know?”

The djinn looked at him. “Yes, you know him. He was in Freehold before the wards went up. He was with the demon that captured the knight. Am I correct in assuming that the new Master of Mount Doom is the same demon that stole mana from Tiernon?”

“Stole mana from Tiernon?” Phaestus stared at Völund. “I think there may be a few things you neglected to mention…”

“He is!” Vaselle spoke up.

The djinn looked to Vaselle. “You are a warlock, yes?”

“I am,” Vaselle said proudly.

“To the Master of Mount Doom?”

“Yes.”

“I would like to speak with the new Master of Mount Doom when it is convenient,” the djinn said.

Vaselle sighed. “Well, he’s a bit tied up at the moment. He’s trying to finish taking oaths from all the D’Orcs, and then we will have a feast.”

“Hmm,” the djinn said and then nodded. “I can wait until he is finished with the oath-taking ceremony. I will be in this corridor. Have Beya repeat this exercise to reengage dialogue.”

Suddenly Beya’s eyes closed and she started slumping to the ground. Farsooth moved quickly to catch her.

“Okay, then,” Phaestus said.

DOF +10

Shortly After Lunch (Oorstemoth) 16-07-440

~

Barabus thanked Tiernon that the final meeting of the day was over as he and the others marched down the long corridor. Finally, they would get to the point of this long-winded expedition. There had been so many non-informative speeches that he no longer had any idea of what they were going to see.

Following this morning’s meetings and speeches, all of the Rod and Church members had to personally sign various legal documents to acknowledge various dangers, liabilities and other nonsense. They also had to sign something called a “non-disclosure agreement,” saying that they would never reveal what they saw here today with anyone not designated as being so authorized themselves.

He and Heron were marching side by side behind Chancellors Alighieri, Ain and Sagramn; the three chancellors who, as Barabus understood it, were the principal backers of the project they were about to see. Behind him were his three knights and his top generals. They were walking side by side with Heron’s top generals.