Into The Abyss (Demons of Astlan)

by Langland, J.

  With the aid of the Sortielli's Cube of Observing Places Everywhere, he was easily able to see the forces lining up against the wards. Apparently Exador was attacking the castle directly using demons and wizards. Lenamare hadn't said so, but it was what Hortwell had been expecting, and what his cube showed him.

  Lenamare's code had simply said, "aid, demon 4 and more." It was in a code Lenamare had designed long ago, and had given to all the masters of the school. His message clear, " Summon the fourth order demon and as many others as possible for backup.”

  Hortwell didn't like the idea of summoning that big thing. Actually, he didn't like summoning any demons unless there was good cause. Of course, saving the school was definitely such a cause. He had, however, been prepared for this. He walked over to a nearby area that he'd cleared, and in which he'd inscribed a double pentacle for summoning demons. Surrounding it were the necessary braziers, already ignited, needing only to have the correct ingredients added to summon a demon. Naturally, there were also a subsidiary set of protection pentacles for himself.

  True, the extra pentacles may not be necessary for a known demon whose name he knew, especially since he also had several amulets, including a fourth order one, and he would use them; but Hortwell felt that when dealing with demons, it was always best to be doubly safe. One could never take enough precautions. He could easily summon and control the demon with less paraphernalia, but he preferred to leave nothing to chance.

  In point of fact, he would truly have liked to have the ring, but for some reason Lenamare had insisted it stay with Jehenna. Hortwell, had to admit there was logic in her having it. As the school’s Master Demonologist, she had studied demonology more than anyone at the school except perhaps Lenamare, and at times he was pretty sure Lenamare didn't know as much as he thought he did. Hortwell was a strong advocate of the traditional methods of demon binding, something he and Lenamare disagreed on, Lenamare felt that a good wizard should be able to command demons with essentially the strength of his own will and magic alone, Hortwell believed that a sane wizard used everything at his disposal to help himself in conjuring demons. Thus it was that his method was slower, but, he felt, much safer.

  Moving as quickly as possible, Hortwell went around to each of the braziers, adding sulfur along with the necessary rare woods that helped in controlling high order demons to the flames. Standing back and focusing on the large ring on his left ring finger, he began to conjure the demon.

  ~

  Tom felt his cave dissolve around him. He sighed, expecting to see the stone conjuring room appear around him. Instead, he was surprised to see that he was in the middle of a small clearing among some trees. What's more, Lenamare wasn't the one conjuring him. It was the old man he'd seen earlier. He wasn't sure what this meant, but at least it was interesting, something to take his mind off the brooding he'd been doing the last few days.

  "Demon...knowst that I am Hortwell, and that I have summoned thee by the power of will and warding, and by the power of thy name which binds thy soul. Knowst that thy spirit and body are mine to command. Dost thou acknowledge my right to command thee?"

  This guy was like all the rest, however, rather than fight it, Tom figured he'd just go along with it. He didn't know for sure how far this man's power to command him went; but he didn't want to test it by ripping the guy's guts out as had been suggested to him as a test. "Very well, mortal what do you want?" This time he didn't use his Darth Vader voice, instead he answered simply impatiently. To his surprise, his voice still came out extremely deep and sinister, not quite so booming, but impressive nonetheless.

  "The school of Lenamare is under attack by the wizard Exador and his minions. Currently, Exador has sent demons and wizards to try and break the wall of force around the castle. You are to go and destroy all the demons attacking the school. You will in no manner aid Exador, or cause him to be aided. You will in no manner harm the force wall or those inside it. Is this clear?"

  "You want me to destroy the attacking demons?" Tom was excited about dealing with other demons; but he wasn't thrilled with killing them. They certainly didn't deserve to die, and he had no reason to want them dead. Besides, remembering the dragon, he didn't know that he could kill the demons. He knew what he was capable of, and how fast he recovered, and Hortwell had implied that there were more than one. "That might be a bit difficult."

  This caused Hortwell to pause and think for a moment. "They are all weaker than you, and I will be summoning up lesser backup demons for you. But you are right in suggesting that their actual destruction will be tricky. Very well, simply see to it that they are damaged enough that they have to return to the Abyss, and can no longer harm the school, or myself."

  "Very well, " Tom said. This still wasn't going to be fun; but Tom remembered the other day when he'd been lax in following orders. He had better do as much as he could rationally to get rid of the other demons before the compulsion made him act irrational. If he managed to stay rational he might be able to come up with a way of following these orders without anyone really getting hurt.

  "Now, I am going to release you from the pentacle. You shall not harm me in any manner, nor cause harm to come to me or mine. You shall go directly to carry out your assignment, and when finished return here. Is this understood?"

  "Yes." This fellow was getting annoying. Tom had already said he would do as asked. What more did the guy want?

  Hortwell stepped back and waved his hands in a few peculiar gestures down at the pentacle. As he did this, he whispered some words that Tom did not catch. Just as when Lenamare had done it in the tower room, Tom felt the invisible restraining walls part before him as he stepped from the pentacle.

  "Now go." Hortwell pointed to the castle. Tom looked in that direction, and then took to the air, heading to battle.

  This definitely was not a good idea, thought Tom as he neared the battle. Before him he could see Lenamare's castle. It was enshrouded in a hemispherical white mist that was difficult to see through. This, Tom realized, must be the barrier he'd ran into when he'd been trying desperately to complete his last mission. He remembered the dome and he vaguely recalled seeing the army encamped outside of it. At the time though, he had paid no attention to it, he'd been too out of his mind.

  Now however, he was in full control and could observe the situation calmly. The castle was protected by the dome of force. Camped about the castle, surrounding it, was what Tom supposed was a typical medieval army. It consisted of about two thousand men, mainly infantry with perhaps a few hundred cavalry. There were also seven wooden towers and five catapults. Essentially it was just what one would expect from a besieging army, which this apparently was. The only difference from the history books was the force wall, and from his own experience he would have to say it was a major difference. Actually it seemed to Tom that it would be extremely difficult to break, but apparently Lenamare feared that that was exactly what might happen.

  The major question, of course, was, why were these people laying siege to the castle? The only thing Tom could think of was Lenamare's great personality. It was certainly enough to make Tom want to do violence to it. The other major thought was where had it come from? When he had left here only a week ago, there had been no army, but this camp seemed very well settled. It had also been there when he'd gotten back. It had basically come out of nowhere in about two days.

  Thinking back on it, Tom remembered all the building and work going on about the school when he'd left. He'd simply assumed that it was the routine. Obviously they had been preparing for the siege. This siege also explained why Lenamare might risk a demon as a messenger, he was probably asking for some sort of help. Hopefully, Tom thought, he wouldn't get it. Especially since Tom would rather be down helping the besiegers than the besieged.

  All of which brought him back to his dilemma. How to get rid of the demons? He could see them now; they were placed at strategic locations around the dome, along with some humans. All together there were about four
demons and three wizards. Both humans and demons seemed to be concentrating on the dome. The wizards were periodically sending fire and lightning at the dome while the demons seemed to be alternating between pounding with their fists and sending out little beams of energy themselves.

  These little energy blasts being shot by the demons were interesting. Tom hadn't realized that demons could do that. He vaguely recalled a lot of red light that seemed to surround him when he was pounding on the wall, but no real energy beams. He assumed that he could do the same as these demons, though he wasn't sure how. He might have done it unconsciously when angered, maybe or maybe not, he didn't know; but regardless, it would be much more difficult to consciously do it. All of which, again brought him back to his problem, how to get rid of these demons.

  Of course The easiest thing would be to walk up and ask them to leave; unfortunately, he doubted that even if they were so inclined (which was also doubtful) that they could. They were probably being ordered to attack the dome by their accursed master. So if they didn't leave, what would he do then? He guessed he'd just have to see what happened, he'd probably be forced to mayhem. He didn't like that idea, especially considering the previous results he'd attained.

  The only consolation this time however, was the fact that it was unlikely that he could actually kill them. Of course There was one other problem, Tom wasn't at all sure he could hurt them enough to make them leave. He didn't know how much damage any one of them might need, let alone trying to get them all. Things might get especially tight if they all ganged up on him. Although the old man had promised reinforcements, he didn't see any behind him. Tom sighed and shook his head, the time for speculation was gone, as he was rapidly approaching the demons.

  ~

  In the woods, Hortwell turned from watching the demon dwindle in the sky. As he turned around, he was brought up short. Standing not two horse lengths from him was a soldier, and he wasn't one of Lenamare's. The soldier grinned mercilessly at him, pointing a broadsword at his middle. Hortwell, stopped cold; all thought of conjuring more demons died in his head. He gazed coolly down his nose at the soldier and waited for the man to speak. He needed time to think.

  "So, old man, going to rain demons upon my buddies, is you? I think not." The soldier said as he stepped forward bringing his sword closer to Hortwell's chest. "I think I is going to have to put a stop to your black magic, gramps."

  This was not good, reflected Hortwell, most any protection spell would require movement of his hands, which would surely cause the soldier to stab him. "I think it’s time that there be one less magic bagger in the world, don't you?" As the man spoke, Hortwell noticed a movement out of the side of his eye, behind the soldier.

  The soldier lunged. Without thinking, Hortwell dove to his own right and yelled "Zargoffelstan, kill him!" The shout slightly distracted the soldier, so combined with Hortwell's dive to the soldier's left, the blade in the man's right hand and lunging forward, only stabbed Hortwell in the shoulder. Hortwell fell, gasping in pain, his shoulder a bloody mess of cut muscle and tendons.

  ~

  The soldier spun, but not in time. Zargoffelstan was a minor demon, nothing like the powerful lord that had just left. But he had been Hortwell's slave for sixty years, and from his experience, there wasn't a better master in the world.

  He saw Hortwell go down, even as the order came. He moved on the soldier with the speed only a demon could muster. True he was weak by the standards of the great demons, but he was still stronger than any man, and he had razor sharp claws. If Tom had been watching, it would have appeared that the man had just been inserted into a food processor. Blood flew everywhere. Arms, legs, entrails, all were spread evenly about the clearing. The man didn't even have a chance to scream before his guts lined the trees like shiny red ornaments. It took only moments before the little demon was done.

  As soon as he finished, Zargoffelstan rushed to his master's side. As he kneeled down, Hortwell opened his eyes on him. "Zargoffelstan, aid, protect now," was all he could manage before darkness began to drag him down. He felt so weak, tired, he didn't even really care how the little demon had managed to get out of the warding it had been trapped in.

  ~

  As he neared the edge of the dome, Tom scanned the dome's attackers with his acute vision, looking for the biggest demon. He figured he’d better take out the biggest one while he was at his strongest. He soon spotted the biggest demon. As he settled in behind it, it didn't even turn or seem to notice his existence. The nearby soldiers did; they were clearing a large area. They hadn't seen Exador conjure this one, and it was definitely a big nasty looking demon.

  Tom walked up quietly to within two arms lengths of the demon who was madly pounding on the force wall. It was shorter than him, only about man height, maybe slightly taller. Its entire body was red, like most demons, it had shaggy goat legs with thick purplish red fur. Small bat-like wings, a thatch of dark hair on its head, and of course, pointy ears and horns.

  "Excuse me," Tom said.

  The demon ignored him. Perhaps it didn't hear me, Tom thought, maybe I'd better speak up. "Excuse me," Tom said, about as loudly as a man could yell. Still the demon continued. This is annoying, he was trying to be polite... "STOP THAT, DAMN IT!" Tom yelled at the top of his voice.

  "What the ferg do you want?" the demon snarled nastily as it spun around, obviously bent on trying to intimidate what it thought was an annoying lesser demon. When it turned to face Tom however, its attitude lost a little of its nastiness. This was partly because its eyes were directed at its own height, and all it saw was solid stomach muscle. Slowly it raised its head to look Tom in his face. As his head came up, his eyes narrowed in calculation. "Uhm, what did you want?"

  "I said," Tom replied dryly, "please stop pounding on that dome."

  "Oh, and why should I?" asked the smaller demon, snidely, but not too snidely.

  "Because...I have been instructed to stop you. The easiest way for me to do that is for you to just quit and leave."

  "And if I don't?"

  "I hope, it won't come to that."

  The demon stared up into Tom's staring eyes. "You do realize of course," the demon said, as if sizing Tom up, "that I am under orders, and can't just stop."

  "I was afraid of that." Even as he said this, Tom came up with what sounded like a logical ploy. "However, think of this. If you disobey your master's order, he may punish you with a few hours of torment, but if you force me to stop you, I'll ensure that you have a few months of agony. You see, I'll have to forcibly disassemble you to make you go home, and that won't be fun."

  The demon seemed slightly taken aback by this. "Is that a threat?" he said angrily, his pride asserting itself.

  "No," Tom said, realizing he may have said the wrong thing, "simply a fact." He decided that for better or worse, if any of this was going to work, he'd better stick to his guns.

  "I...don't think so," and with that he slugged Tom in the stomach with all his strength.

  Tom's breath, which he'd been talking with, left his body in a rush, as he doubled over in pain and fell backwards. His falling was more in reaction to the surprise than the strength of the blow. Still, it was as painful as any blow he'd received from the bullies at home. Annoyed, but still wary, Tom leapt to his feet. He would have assumed a defensive position from his katas, but his legs just weren't built for it. So he stood there, hands raised into blocking position. "That wasn't a good idea."

  The little demon said nothing, but suddenly its eyes narrowed and its hand shot out. Tom raised his arm to block the fist, but instead was surprised again. The fist never came close, instead flame engulfed him. It burned.

  Without thinking he dove upwards, much like he'd done when trapped on the color plane. Up he went, sixty, a hundred and more feet. He then paused, and stared down at the demon. It was looking for him, unsure of where he'd gone. The flames had so covered him and obscured the other's sight that for the moment and he wasn't sure where Tom was. Before the
other demon could get a bearing, Tom came down. He came down hooves first, just like when he'd fallen in the Abyss. This time, however, instead of using his wings to slow himself, he used them to speed up and direct his path. He came down, hooves first, directly onto the smaller demon.

  As Tom came in for his kamikaze collision, the smaller demon saw him. His eyes widened in surprise, just as Tom's hooves connected with his face at a forty five degree angle. The little demon's head went crack, backwards in a severe case of whiplash. His body was plowed backward by the force of the collision. Tom stumbled a little as he landed, but regained his balance. He looked toward the little demon.

  He'd expected a knockout, but unfortunately, he didn't get it. The little demon was about ten feet away. It was standing up, shaking it head, slightly dazed. Connecting him and Tom was a foot deep gouge in the ground where the little demon had tilled the ground with its body. Deciding to take advantage of every possible opening, Tom leapt over to where the demon was, and delivered a double punch to the stomach, using both hands and all his strength.

  As always, he was suitably impressed by his strength. His fists didn't go through the demon, but they did send it flying. It was hurled backwards and upwards twenty feet, bowling into a crowd of onlooking soldiers. The soldiers were knocked down forcefully; none would have been hurt more than some bruises and cracked bones, except that the little demon was now annoyed. Angrily it clawed its way out of the pile of soldiers, shredding uniforms and human flesh in equal proportion. Tom was rather nauseated by the sight, but he didn't have time to fully realize the situation before the demon was on him.

  It flew at him. Literally. It came at him with both fists extended before it, in a Superman pose. As it came at him, Tom who was in the air, flew slightly to the side, but the demon veered. Both of its fists connected in Tom's middle. The momentum of the demon carried them both backwards. Tom's backside rammed painfully into the force wall. As they slid down the few feet to the ground, Tom grabbed each of the demon's wrists, which were still pressed against his stomach. He drew them apart and twisted them with all his strength. He twisted them inward and downward, so that the backs of the demon's hands would be inside. He twisted and pulled. A human's arms would have been broken and his shoulders thrown out of joint; the demon, however, only howled in pain. Thinking quick, Tom brought up his right hoof and slammed it between the demon's legs. Because of his leg's structure, the kick wasn't as effective as a human kick, but his excessive strength more than made up for it. The little demon truly howled in pain now.