The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2)
Page 41
“In any event, you are going to be healed,” Hilda told the one-eyed man with the dagger. “You don’t have to like it, but it’s going to happen. We can do this the easy way or the painful way. Your choice.”
“Screw you, bitch!” The man lunged at her with his giant dagger, clearly mistaking a large target for an easy target. Hilda shook her head and stepped to her right, twisting sideways as he lunged forward and then away from where she’d stepped, deflected by her protection ritual. As he skittered by, trying to reorient after what must have seemed like a mystifying miss, Hilda brought her left palm around and slapped him hard on the eye patch, at the same time channeling a rapid ocular regeneration ritual into his head. He was about to have one nasty migraine.
The beggar dropped his dagger and grabbed his head and started screaming. Hilda quickly started chanting and extended a silence spell over the section of the alley they were in. There had already been a lot of screaming; with luck, the city guards in Freehold were as lax as they were in most cities.
The man started to stagger away; Hilda could not allow that. She quickly ran after him and grasped him by the waist while chanting a ritual to rapidly clear and clean his skin. Of course, that meant getting rid of some nasty bacterial infections and a few viruses. This was really going to hurt.
The beggar dropped to his knees, frantically scratching at his itching skin. This was not going to help skin regeneration. Hilda quickly performed a mild paralysis ritual to slow him down. It would not completely paralyze him, but he would not be able to scratch at himself effectively and disturb the healing.
Thinking better of her previous actions, she did the same for the other beggars, who were also writhing, the exception being mister hacking lung, who needed to continue to clear out his lungs. After they were stabilized, she cast a Ritual of Unnoticement on their area to keep prying eyes from seeing too much. It was time to roll up her sleeves and get to work properly healing her new patients.
When she was done, they would all have fresh, youthful complexions, perfect health, no deformities and no disease. Now it would be too cruel to do the Geis of manual labor, but she was not above a Geis of not allowing themselves to be willingly harmed. She had done no such thing to Rathbart, but he had not tried to harm her. These thugs needed more punishment. Thus, she would Geis them to stay clean and well-presented and to avoid allowing themselves to be willingly maimed or hurt. They would still be able to get hurt defending themselves or someone else; they just wouldn’t be able to sit still and allow themselves or someone else to wound or maim them for the sake of employment as a beggar.
It would be exhausting—she would really need that bubble bath at home, and then maybe even a short nap before her planned morning rooftop adventure—but it was fun. It was a great opportunity to do Tiernon’s work and unofficially take a bit of revenge on those who had sought to harm her. She felt she was allowed some small sin of satisfaction in this. She grinned and got down to the work at hand.
~
DOF +4/DOF +5
Late Period 6/Early Period 1 16-02-440
Tom closed the giant double doors behind them and waited to hear the two D’Orcs who had escorted them to the Master’s Suite, as they had called it, leave. Unfortunately, from the sound of their giant axes thumping to the right and left of the door, he assumed they had taken up guard.
He looked around the giant entryway to the suite. It was huge and quite opulent, if a bit heavy on the gold and silver for his taste. He spotted the double doors leading to the bedroom and gestured everyone to follow him through. He then shut the door behind them.
The place was rather dusty. Zelda had apologized profusely, but they had not known he was coming. He had assured her it would be fine. He just needed somewhere to rest and contemplate, even as he was sure they did. That contemplate line did not seem to sit well with her though.
“Okay, how the hell did that just happen?” Tom asked raising his hands above his head as he paced nervously in the room. “This has got to be the most insane thing yet! I am in so far over my head!”
“Demon, your ruses are getting tiresome. Why do you insist on this charade? Clearly this was all part of your plan to regain your powers!” Talarius stated.
Tom spun and stared at the knight. “Are you serious? You have been with me this entire time, heard everything I have said, seen everything I have done, and participated in the process. You chose many of the passages we followed!”
“You are cunning, I give you that,” Talarius said.
“Seriously? Seriously! You think I got enslaved by Lenamare, trapped in Freehold and was then forced out only to have you shoot down Rupert and need to come rescue him and then end up battling you?” Tom waved his hand.
“Next, I would have had to know that you would cheat! You recall my shock at your methods? So I knew that the virtuous Knight Rampant of Tiernon would be outside the city ready to trap Rupert as bait for me, we would end up dueling and you would cheat to almost defeat me, and then I would have to pull a rabbit out of a hat! I had to do something no one even conceived of as possible—intercept a god’s mana stream and possess a bunch of priests—then defeat you and reverse the dagger and store up a ton of extra god mana for later use?”
Tom was pacing in circles around the knight, clearly frustrated. He tossed his mace on the very large bed and watched a cloud of dust rise up and then settle before resuming his pacing. “I then wait for you to rest up and get healed, and somehow get Boggy to take us all to a spa for massages and heated lava, as well as some lich-slaying on the side for some of us. Then I somehow get us to ALL agree to a long hike through the Abyss to the Crystal Caverns, without saying much of anything. I then convince you to stock up on gems and arrange it so we all start on an underground trip to get more gold.”
If Tom had hair, he would have been pulling it out. “I then manage to get us lost and have us all nearly eaten by hydra hounds as we randomly run around corridors. I knew that by random chance we would wander into a lair of D’Orcs who would think we were invaders and chase us along the passageway you chose that led to a dead end.”
Tom pointed a claw at the knight. “As I recall, it was you and your armor that allowed us to see the runes. Runes put there by Etonians. Runes that no demon should have been able to open. So I just reused some tricks I’d learned fighting you, along with mana I stole from your god, to activate the runes and open a magical doorway that let us escape.
“When we then found the vault, we all agreed to see what was inside, even though we were under time pressure.” Tom started pulling on his horns. “We got into a room no one in the Abyss could have gotten into, using mana that no demon should have been able to steal, but that I had been able to, thanks to your cheating! I then use it to free a rod or staff thing, which when I charge it up, starts a volcano. We then march out into an auditorium, through a portcullis that again, no one in the Abyss can open. Where all the D’Orcs are kneeling with the belief that the guy who stole the rod and relit the volcano is their messiah returned!”
Tom let out a loud breath and collapsed into a very nice renaissance-era French chair of his size. “And you seriously think I planned all this?” He stared at the knight.
Talarius was silent for some time; they were all silent. The others were probably surprised by Tom’s outburst, but also reflecting on the improbabilities of the current insanity. Finally, Talarius sighed.
“Well… when you put it like that, it does seem to be outside the range of what a greater demon could do. It’s a bit too devious for a fourth-order, I admit.”
“Thank you!” Tom raised his arms in the air as a sign of victory.
“However, clearly the D’Orcs’ god must be a demon prince, and certainly such a series of events is not outside the range of the devious machinations of a demon prince. And since you’ve now revealed yourself to be their long-lost master, you have therefore admitted to being a demon prince!” Talarius said with a note of triumph in his own voice.
“Have you ever thought of going into politics, Talarius?” Tom asked wearily.
The knight seemed puzzled. “No, why?”
“Because you would make an excellent politician. You can twist any absurd set of facts around until they fit your idea of how the universe should be, without so much as batting an eyelash,” Tom said. “Look, you know that Rupert and I were in the city; you saw us come out over the wall. You scanned the city; did you see any demon princes in your mirror?”
Talarius was quiet for a moment. “No, but you could have been in disguise, hiding your power.”
Tom looked at him. “So you are saying that your mirror, powered by your god, was not infallible? That it could or can make mistakes?”
Talarius was silent and finally cursed. “You demon princes are truly masters of confusion.”
“For the last time, I am not a demon prince. I am a greater demon who really hasn’t been around that long compared to say, Tizzy, Antefalken or Boggy.” If Rupert were not in the room, he would have gladly told Talarius the truth—not that he would have believed it.
“So, the rest of you? What do we do?” Tom asked.
Boggy was the first to pipe up. “Well, we need to work with Zelda’s lot to arrange the party. Out here in the middle of nowhere, that could get challenging. However, Tizzy and I should be able to figure something out.” Tizzy nodded in agreement. “Bard? You know how to throw a good party; you need to be on the committee as well.” Boggy started rubbing his chin in thought. “Got any idea how to get hold of some Denubian traders?”
“Out here?” Antefalken slowly shook his head, thinking. “It’s going to be rough.”
Tom was staring at the three of them in shock. “Are you three serious?”
Boggy looked at him in surprise. “Of course. This is the hinterlands; you expect them to have good food and drink clear the way out here? No, they are going to need professional assistance.”
“You do know that planning the feast was just a way to buy time before they all try and swear eternal allegiance to me?”
Boggy looked puzzled. “Buy time? Why would you want to buy time? I mean the celebration, and having some prep time for such a big event makes sense. But otherwise, why try and put it off?”
“Because that makes me their leader? I end up taking over a giant demonic horde?” Tom asked rhetorically.
“And the problem with that is…?” Estrebrius asked.
“Yeah, I agree. Sounds like a great gig,” Reggie added. “Why would you pass such a sweet gig up?” Reggie’s hands started to drift towards his crotch. “Think of all the big D’Orc booty you could get! Dark lords always get the hottest groupies!”
Tom twisted his head back and forth, trying to stare incredulously at all of them. He finally turned back to Talarius. “You do understand what I’m saying? I can’t go through with this, right?”
Talarius shrugged. “Why do you ask me? This was your plan, right? You led us here, why would you back out now? Are you still trying to convince me that you did not intend this? Obviously, as a spokesman for the Forces of Good, I cannot recommend you form a new evil horde, or for that matter, re-form an evil horde.”
Tom put his head in his claws. “I am surrounded by crazy people!” He lifted his head and looked around at everyone. “You do all realize that I am not a demon prince, Talarius’s paranoia aside. If I pretend to be their reborn dark lord, and take their allegiance, then everyone in the Abyss and beyond is going to think I’m a demon prince and will therefore come after me and my horde!”
They were silent for a moment. “Well, technically they already are,” Rupert said. Tom looked at him askance.
“The boy’s right,” Antefalken said. “We are hiding down here in the Abyss, worrying about a Heavenly Host descending on Freehold in pursuit of us out of vengeance for your actions. In addition, we were just talking about hiding in the Crystal Caverns because Lilith is on the lookout for us. She really wants to know your secret so she can do it herself. You can bet all the other demon princes will be thinking the same thing.”
“Really not seeing a downside, my lad,” Boggy said, shaking his head. “You were already in over your head; a horde of D’Orcs might be able to keep you afloat. It will certainly give people pause before they attack you.”
“Not to mention there’s a crapload of money downstairs in the caverns,” Rupert said.
Tom looked around, feeling completely beaten down by this crazed reality. “I need some rest; I am going to lie down. There are other rooms in the suite; if you want to rest and heal from the hounds, that would probably be a good idea.” He looked at Boggy. “If you want to go help plan the party, go ahead. Just don’t make any major commitments for me beyond the party.”
Antefalken nodded. “Good point. As Tom’s closest advisors, people will come to us trying to get an ‘in’ with Tom. Be very careful.”
“Hmm, there were quite a few hot warrior babes out there in the crowd. Might go see if any of them want to party now, so to speak,” Reggie said, making a lascivious face. Tom just shook his head.
“I’m going to explore the suite and then take a nap. I’m beat, and still have dog bites I need to heal,” Rupert said.
“I’ll go with you guys,” Estrebrius said to Boggy.
Talarius simply marched out of the room, presumably to find a place to rest.
Tom stood and went over to the giant bed, grabbed his mace and lay down on his side, curling up as tightly as he could. He had used a lot of mana on the various runes and charging the mace, but it was not just that; it was this whole sudden crush of responsibility coming down on him.
He had somehow blundered into agreeing to take on responsibility for a few thousand down-on-their-luck D’Orcs looking for a savior. He was teenager, for God’s sake. Suddenly becoming Rupert’s fake dad had seemed like too much responsibility; now he was going to take on responsibility for a giant horde of demonic orc warriors out for vengeance? Agghh. He just wanted the world to go away for a while!
Chapter 98
DOF +5
Period 1 16-02-440
Bess surveyed the gardens as Usiris climbed the steps to the villa’s terrace. She smiled and gestured to the pitcher of fruit juice and glasses on the table beside her.
“Greetings. It’s been some time,” Usiris said, sitting down in the other chair.
“Too long, my dearest.” Bess smiled back at him as he poured himself some juice.
“May we live in interesting times.” Usiris raised his glass in their traditional toast, to which Bess joined with her glass.
“Indeed, we are.” Bess laughed lightly. “I can feel the electric tension in the air. The Wheel of Life has the entirety of New Nyjyr practically jumping out of its skin.”
Usiris gave her a quick grin. “Well, we have a lot of souls needing bodies to incarnate into, so every fertile adult needs to get busy! We shall have a bumper crop of babies in a few months!”
“Unless you are planning on a lot of multiple births, I’m not sure we have enough people,” Bess replied, looking worriedly across the valley below.
Usiris smiled again, more broadly. “True. However, our faithful agent Merit-Ptah in Natoor”—he pointed vaguely upward in the direction of the continent of Natoor on the giant planet that provided the light over the valley this evening—“has been hard at work.”
“Really? Do tell,” Bess said.
“She has summoned, or rather created, a brand-new incubus,” Usiris said.
“An incubus? If she wanted to get laid, she should have just come here.” Bess shook her head and gestured at the recently extra-fertile valley around them.
“No.” Usiris laughed. “Although I am sure she is enjoying this young incubus’s services. No, we shall load the incubus with a serum I am deriving from the Wheel of Life’s
energies.”
“You are planning on using an incubus to seed followers in Natoor?” Bess asked curiously. “How will we shepherd them in the faith? We have not been able to keep a priest alive down there for a very long time. And we don’t have that many followers left there for secretly home schooling that many.”
“I have some ideas that I’m working on,” Usiris said.
“Go on…” Bess purred.
“The key is that we need someone to run interference with the Etonians to keep our priests alive while we get them established in communities. Our problem has been that just having an experienced priest, pretending to be of any profession, suddenly move into these communities gets suspicious. Etonian church officials notice and arrest our priests,” Usiris said, pausing to take a drink. “So we need to keep the Etonian hierarchy occupied and allow our priests to slip in more gradually during a period of confusion.”
“I assume you have a plan for distracting them?” Bess asked.
Usiris chuckled. “I am counting on a cloud to obscure the Etonians’ view of what’s happening.”
“A cloud?” Bess was completely puzzled.
“From the Grove.” Usiris grinned wickedly.
“Ahh,” Bess said. “But they turned down our priests’ request for help last time.”
“This time, we are not asking . Their own nosiness, this insanity in Freehold with the Rod being spanked by that demon, sprinkled with some visions I have been seeding to various parties for the last half a year or so, shall position them where we need them to be.”