The Dungeon Con: One Foot in the Grave ( Hank Grave Book 1): One Foot in the Grave (Hank Grave series)

by Marty Myers

  Francis was disturbed by the direction the conversation had went. She said, “ is all this true Apostaphus.” “ I can not say if everything she has just said is true. Her last claim about the Darkness sister for instance. I do know he had a sister long ago and that she did disappear about the time the Lords came to this realm. Some among the host have speculated he himself might have had something to do with it. But I can not truly say what happened to her. Most of the rest is accurate enough to be counted as the truth although she has portrayed it to you in the worst possible light,” Apostaphus advised her.”

  Francis said, “ well, so you want to talk to me Llywelyn. And you claim to wish to talk of the truth. Okay then lets trade then, a question for a question and answer for answer truthfully spoken in return.” “ First I will have your name since I already asked it earlier, then we can begin trading answers, ”Llywelyn replied. Apotaphus spoke up, “ don’t give her your full name, names have power here. She did not give you her full and true name earlier.” “ That seems fair enough, I am called Francis,” she said.

  “ Llywelyn why were you scouting in the area we encountered you in. That is a wasted question, as I have already told you why I was there. I was looking around to find if there were any of the forces of Light nearby that could threaten the Dark’s forces and found your most unusual gathering of angels when one of the golden rays from your cloud came close to my efforts at scrying. I approached and the rest you yourself witnessed.”

  Llywelyn said. “My turn now. Tell me of your origins and of the reasons for you becoming a saint.” “ That is more like two questions,” Francis said while thinking about it. She could feel Apostaphus reluctance for her to answer through their bond and decided to be very careful with what she said to their adversary. For despite her words Francis could feel malice coming off of the Dark Lady before them. It felt like being suddenly thrust into the presence of a wild predator who might attack at any moment.

  “ Pick one for me to answer,” she said and I will.” “ Very well,” Llywelyn said, “I chose to hear of the why and wherefore of your being sainted by this angel.” “ I did it to save her life,” Apostaphus said quickly. “Through no fault of her own she was caught up in the celestial choirs summons home of all the lesser host with included me. The amount of essence of the Light involved in such a casting was too much for her mortal self to bear and it was going to overfill her core and burn her up during the journey home. I tried to save her and it triggered the beginnings of the bond. I chose to complete it and she became sainted as you see.”

  To Llywelyn, this answer brought up more questions than it answered. Nonetheless talking with them was remarkably fruitful thus far so she motioned for the exchange to continue. Francis jumped in quickly to get the next question in the exchange. “ We are searching for an imp in the area you were in. Have you seen this imp.” Francis pulled out the Mark of the imp they had been tracking. Llywelyn carefully stepped a bit closer and looked at the drawing as she thought about how to answer. “ No I have never seen this mark,” she said to them. He is not one of mine.” Francis was disappointed she had hoped that Apostaphus hunch had been right. Now they were back to square one in their search and were much farther away from their search area than they had been since they came to this world.

  “ Now it is my turn I believe,” Llywelyn said. “ As much as I would still like to hear the circumstances that somehow led to you two being summoned together since that takes very very close contact between individuals. I am instead going to ask how did the other angels react to your return with a newly made saint in hand?” Apostaphus had been dreading this question since they exchange began. “ Some of them did not take it well. There are circumstances involved which make it unclear whether the second ban was broken by my choice. I believe it was done fully outside of the bounds of the ban and so not a breach of them. But the council disagrees and has chosen to cast me out of the lesser host as punishment for my actions.”

  “ Many do not agree with this and I have vowed not to give in and fall. I will continue to uphold the Light no matter what the council rules in this matter,” he said with conviction. Llywelyn said. “ That is a tough break for you. You may not believe me, but I am sorry to hear it. I think recognizing another woman saint into the Light would have been a marked improvement for your side.”

  “ They did recognize her,” he said “ they just repudiate my claim that making her a saint outside the bounds of the bans excuses my actions since we then came within the realm where they apply when the summons brought us into the heavens. I maintain that since the original saints and their angels that were still living when the ban was first created were allowed to continue without being cast out while the ban existed that our situation is akin to theirs. They were not penalized for it and lived out their lives under the ban without being penalized and I believe so should we.”

  Llywelyn really thought about what the angel had proposed. “ I think your right. I won’t even insult you by offering you the traditional greetings of welcome to the Dark side comments. As I can tell your still devoted to the Light. Those ancient imbeciles sitting upon the council are deaf, dumb and blind if they think you have truly fallen. They should not have chosen that punishment for you. Its frustrating to see they have learned nothing in all these years. Even if it does bring me an advantage to my own side.”

  “ I now have so many more questions,” she said with a gleam in her eye. “ It is our turn to ask one,” Francis said. “ So it is,” Llywelyn said. She truly wasn’t sure how long she could answer them without giving away Hanks whereabouts and so she decided now was the time to break this off even though she dearly wanted to hear more. So instead she spoke quickly. “ I have truly enjoyed getting to meet you Francis and I hope we can do this again sometime, but I am afraid that events are about to interrupt us. I must report of my successful scouting to the Darkness and you two will most likely want to help out your floundering foolish comrades. Although with you being cast out from the hosts I am surprised I found you all together earlier. Oh well that, I guess is a question to save for next time.”

  As she had been speaking the mountain behind her had begun to rumble louder and then all at once it erupted spewing out tons of smoke and lava as well as ejecting several burnt and glowing forms who were swept out of the mountain and down the slopes in the rivers of lava. Lywelyn had taken this opportunity to disappear deep into the rock and race back to her dungeon’s heart to take stock of the damage the angels had done before she managed to lure them each into the lava flow traps and shoot them out of her volcano.

  Most of the fools had charged in headlong into her traps and then flailed about trying to escape her numerous fire elementals and enchantments embedded within the lava. She had been tempted to go all out and try to finish them off, but the Darkness was currently playing for time in which to resurrect the Dark Prince and she didn’t think killing off these angels would have helped him do that. Instead, she had roughed them up, humiliated them a bit and then thrown them out of and down off her mountain. Maybe it would humble them to think she considered them to be not much of a serious threat that she needed to finish them.

  But truthfully it was incredibly difficult to kill an angel. So she had long devised traps to hinder and humble them instead. She hoped they wouldn’t wise up to her tactics before their next encounter. Now to go report to the Darkness what she had learned. The angel Apostaphus was smarter than his brethren she thought. But he too had made mistakes in revealing more to her than he should have. He however unlike his fellows would learn from his mistakes if given a chance. Perhaps the Darkness would allow her to make sure that he didn’t get that chance soon. Llywelyn needed to remember to be very careful not to get caught doing something that would alienate Hank from her. Destroying Apostaphus would almost certainly also get rid of Francis as it took a remarkable will and spirit to survive your bonded’s demise. Llywelyn knew this from bitter experience. She would think about how she could go a
bout setting it up so that it didn’t appear to tie back to her.

  Chapter 25

  Meanwhile, Apostaphus and Francis ran over to the struggling forms fighting their way out of the lava flows. The angels were all in various ruffled states with some being a bit burnt around the edges of their lava covered wings. Their white robes were also somewhat worse for the ordeal as well being covered in soot and ashes but they themselves seemed mainly intact.

  Their struggling was due to the elementals and spells still grappling their limbs and trying to restrain them from breaking free of the lava’s grasp. Francis sang a spell of cleaning trying to wipe the lava off before it cooled and hardened while Apostaphus concentrated upon dispelling the enchantments and driving off the elementals encumbering his brethren. After a few minutes of concerted efforts, they had all freed themselves from the stifling lava flow and shrugged off the last of the magical traps they had sprung.

  They all took to the skies and flew off to another mountain to discuss all that had just occurred. One particularly annoyed angel Eremiel complained why is it you two are still out here whilst we struggled with the enemy within? Apostaphus spoke. “ We failed to catch up with you due to being slowed by carrying Francis here. When we arrived we did not even have a chance to find where you had entered the mountain before Llywelyn challenged us out here. As she did before, she was more interested in speaking than fighting with Francis and since it was just the two of us and because keeping her attention out here should have given the rest of you an advantage inside we did converse.”

  “ As some of you know from her past, she is obsessed with equality among the sexes and did make her pitch to Francis. I waited and bided my time while awaiting to see or hear how you were doing. Instead, it was not long before we saw you ejected from the mountain and came to help you whilst our ungracious hostess has fled took the opportunity to flee our company.”

  His account settled many of the angels. One angel, Bezaideous spoke up and said. “Yes, I have heard her speak repeatedly about the failings of the church when we have met before. I can not say I do completely disagree with a few of her points. Some portions of the church do need reform or censure. I do not see where allowing it to run wild and make mistakes helps to engender true faith in the populace nor benefits anyone other than a few misguided souls who have managed to rise to the top among them.” “ Indeed,” another angel said, “ I think it just fuels the rumors the Darkness whispers and spreads about our inequities.” “ The council’s hands-off approach to the church is most frustrating,” Bezaideous said.

  At this pronouncement, a Light shot down from the heavens and illuminated a particular figure standing amongst them. “ I have heard enough,” the angel Eremiel said “ by your own words and actions have you have all colluded with the great enemy and by the authority of the council are you all cast out from the Host.” The other angels were aghast at this pronouncement. But Gaderel who was next to Eremiel spoke up, “ no council session has met to start any such proceedings against us brother. None other than a Lord of the Light may cast an angel from the host without a holding a hearing. Furthermore, I have stood witness in each and every session of the council of the lesser host for centuries as part of my duties and have never seen you invested with any such authority as you claim to hold. Let alone one which the council itself does not possess in the first place.” Eremiel swelled up with fury at being rebuked so. “ Who are you to question me? I am a deputy of the council sworn to my duty in a special session just for this occasion and I call upon the Light to attest to the truth of my words.” The Light swelled brighter and a voice spoke saying “ Truth” confirming his appointment to such a post.

  Gaderel spoke again, maintaining his calm “ and who has changed the very powers the council has to cast us out without a hearing amongst our peers as is the Law of Heaven.” Eremiel grew ever angrier and spat. “ I answer not to the likes of you fallen one.” Another of the angels, Tamiel spoke then. “ I am not fallen, but if I believed that Gaderel and the rest of us truly were then I would be very careful were I you Eremiel for who amongst the lesser host has ever bested Gaderel let alone him and a half dozen of his fellows.” Apostaphus quickly spoke up. “ Everyone please calm down. We can not let this bring us to fall upon one another.” “ This is all your fault Apostaphus,” Eremiel interrupted, “ you couldn’t just accept the council’s decision and go away, you had to get other angels involved and now look at what has happened.” “ Just what exactly has happened Eremiel,” Apostaphus asked? “ Why is the council acting so strangely?”

  “ You will notice,” Gaderel said to everyone, “ that Eremiel has not been able to answer with the Light of Truth upon him who has given the council this supposed ability to cast any of us out without our being heard.” At this, the beam of Light over Eremiel pulsed and went out as he was summoned back into the heavens and in his place was left the hunched form of Malakai.

  The angel fell to his knees amongst the group and wept bitterly. The other angels gathered around him, alarmed at his state. He gasped out, “ I have been cast down with the rest of you. I was held in a private session with the council watching these events unfold until just now. We have all been betrayed by Bahramel. He has somehow usurped the council’s position and powers as the rest do nothing whatsoever but sit there stone-faced and let him rule as he pleases. They just sat there mutely looking down as he pronounces his judgments upon us. I fear he may have even gone over to the side of the Darkness himself.”

  “ He has managed to cast out any who have questioned him or the council now and continues to empty the heavens of the other angels by sending them down to scour the world to find the Darkness plan or to check on or try to strengthen the bans or off on other such tasks. I swear I did not have any idea what was truly going on when I was sent down earlier to confront you Apostaphus. I would never knowingly betray my brethren. The orders of the council have always been right before. I did not question them.” The other angels drew even closer and Claronides helped him to his feet as Apostaphus said. “ I forgive you Malakia. No one could have predicted this turn of events. I know I had no idea before my own banishment that something was wrong in the heavens. But right now we need to go somewhere else where we can talk away from any prying eyes or ears.” And with that Apostaphus gathered up Francis and the angels flew off far away from the Dark Citadel and its blasted landscape.

  Chapter 26

  The Darkness looked over the charred smoking remains to see Llywelyn his dungeon mistress bowing before him. The demon had lasted a while as he had slowly cooked it from the inside despite its tolerance for heat and flame. Too bad her collaborating report had come in a bit too late for the sake of this first messenger who had come to him talking of a saint and two angels destroying one of his raiding bands while defending a small village close to the Gallows Plains. It had just seemed far too unlikely that the Light had chosen another saint at this time. It wasn’t like the Lords of Light to bend much less break the spirit or the letter of the Laws and the Second Ban did forbid creating new saints on either side. This would seemingly hasten bans collapse which worked in his favor. It made no sense for the Light to have done this intentionally but then the story Llywelyn arrived with her news.

  The story this angel had related to Llywelyn, that saints could be made far outside of the realm and then brought back into the realm was a clever one and actually might not break the letter of the laws which had not been worded to consider the possibility of a saint coming from outside the realm. It was all the loophole the Darkness really cared about. Sadly the only demon directly in his service he knew of to have ever reached that far off, away from the realm was now irrevocably tied to his current dungeon scheme which he needed to remain intact and firmly bound to Hank to get his Dark Prince back.

  Even a handful of dark saints could not equal the power of his favorite. Plus it seemed like Llywelyn was once more taking a much more active approach to helping him achieve his conquest of the realm
since he had allowed her and Hank to meet and mingle. The Darkness you see understood base emotions like desire as well as other self-centered motivations very well indeed. He knew she had never been drawn to him solely for his inner Darkness no matter her demonic heritage. No, it was the combination of his willingness to empower her to help accomplish her revenge along with the family he was able to grant her.

  Family was very important to her. When she was young her mother was originally everything to her and then later on, the wellbeing of her husband and her own children motivated her to fight hard for The Darkness. When they were mostly used up and destroyed or warped beyond recognition in his conflicts, her efforts on his behalf had diminished accordingly and her spirit had dimmed.