The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2) (42 page)

The demons were also very large around, and many of them extremely muscular. They had bat-like wings, as did most demons, but they had no horns.  At least, most didn’t seem to; rather, they had huge mouths with large bottom tusks growing upwards, sometimes to eye height or higher. The other odd thing was that most of them were wearing some form of clothing; at the very least, loin cloths and bands of different colored cloth. They were also all heavily armed.

The demons were basically milling about talking, some resting on beds. Some were standing around a giant firepit in the center of the room. That seemed to be where the light was coming from. It was clearly magical fire, as there were no logs or anything else to burn in the Abyss. The chamber looked like army barracks or something similar, although there were both men and women in the barracks. Tom had no idea what to make of it. He looked to the others.

“They look like really big ugly orcs with hooves and wings,” Talarius said.

“D’Orcs.” Tizzy nodded in agreement.

“Dorks?” Tom asked.

Tizzy shook his head no. “D’Orcs, like Demon Orcs or Damned Orcs or Dangerous Orcs or Doomed Orcs or Dark Orcs or Death Orcs or—”

“I think we get the idea,” Tom cut him off. “So they are orc demons?” He was not sure if he had seen any orcs in Astlan, but if it was a fantasy world, it probably had them. Tizzy nodded. Tom looked to the others, who seemed about as puzzled as he was. Antefalken looked as if he was searching his memory for something.

“So are you saying there are distant planes with orcs on them that get summoned by orc wizards?” Tom asked.

“I’ve never heard of an orc wizard,” Talarius said firmly. “Orc shaman, yes; wizard, no. Doesn’t seem in their nature.” The knight looked at Tom more intently. “However, I am not sure I follow you.”

“We can go over that later; it’s part of why I brought you to the Abyss. However, at the moment, it’s most likely not useful to our current situation,” Tom said. “Tizzy?”

Tizzy shrugged. “Sort of, but not really. There used to be a cult of orcs that worshipped an orc god who would reward the greatest, nastiest, meanest warriors by transforming them into D’Orcs upon death. I suppose it was sort of like sainthood, but rather than being saints, the orcs ended up being demons in the Abyss.”

Tom shook his head. “So one deity’s idea of punishment is another’s idea of reward?”

Boggy snorted and said, “And neither is accurate.”

“So what was the point of this? Why would the orcs want to end up in the Abyss?” Tom asked Tizzy.

Tizzy frowned as if it were obvious. “Orcs love battle, and their god promised them the right to fight for him for all of eternity. Why would they not jump at that? That’s a promise so-called ‘good’ gods make all the time.” Tizzy glanced over at Talarius, who said nothing.

“Uhm, so where is this god of theirs?” Rupert asked, looking around nervously.

Tizzy shrugged, “He called down the final battle and lost. Bummer when that happens. He died, as did all those with him. These guys must have been left doing rear guard or something. Huge disgrace to not die in battle with your god.” Tizzy was shaking his head. “You really have to feel for the poor saps.”

Boggy shook his head, staring at Tizzy. “You really are daft, mate.”

Talarius sighed. “No, the octopod makes a lot of sense. The sense of failure must be crushing for them.”

Tom shook his head. “So what are they doing here?”

Tizzy shrugged. “Where else would they go? They wouldn’t have been welcome in the Courts, so it would make sense to get far away and hole up in a defensible location.” He gestured to their surroundings. “Seems like this place would do nicely.”

Antefalken chuckled. “Well,
we
were thinking about holing up in the Crystal Caverns to avoid Lilith, so yes.”

“By the way, I’ve changed my mind. I want to go back to Tom’s cave,” Boggy said. The others nodded in agreement.

“Okay, well, we don’t want to go that way”—Tom pointed back to the lit area they’d just left—“so let’s go back to the last T and take the other direction .”

They returned to the T and continued on straight. This corridor went along for about four hundred feet before it made a turn to the right. Antefalken went ahead and looked around the corner carefully before gesturing them forward. This passage seemed to be going downward at an angle; that was not a particularly good thing, Tom felt. Down was further from the surface and closer to the floor of the barracks room.

The passageway eventually led to a landing with a large iron door that opened onto it.

“Hmm, not so good,” Antefalken said softly. “I’ll try listening at the door to see if I hear anything, but it appears rather thick and soundproof.” The demon put his head up to the door, twisting it awkwardly to get his ears as close as possible despite his protruding horns. Everyone remained silent while the bard listened.

Tom examined the seals around the door. They seemed pretty tight. He had been thinking that if there had been space below the door, he could have turned to flame and gone through; unfortunately, that did not appear to be the case.

Antefalken pulled his head back, shaking it. “I don’t hear anything. Whether that’s because there is nothing, or because the door is thick, I don’t know.” The short demon shrugged.

Talarius sighed. “That seems to be the norm. I had hoped perhaps your demon hearing would be better than human or alfar, but the same thing always happens when I find an iron door in a dungeon.” He flexed his hands. “We need to be ready for whatever is there, and be prepared to fight or flee as the case warrants.”

“You do this often?” Boggy asked, rather surprised.

The knight made an exaggerated nodding motion in his armor so they could see it. “Yes. In the quest to rout out evil, one often has to march through underground warrens, mazes and dungeons.” He shook his helmeted head back and forth. “For some odd reason, evil seems to prefer the underground, away from the light of day.”

Antefalken rolled his eyes. “Okay, so everyone get ready.” They braced themselves as the bard moved to the handle, slowly placing his hand on it and then twisting and pulling. Tom was not sure the demon was strong enough to open the giant door. However, the door moved. Demons were very strong for their size. But then the door stopped moving with a soft clank. Antefalken shook his head. “It’s locked.”

“I don’t suppose you know how to pick a lock?” Boggy asked.

Antefalken gave him a withering look. “I’m a bard! Of course I can pick a stupid lock. You don’t need to be rude.” He shook his head and reached into his belt pouch to pull out some lock-picking tools. “One nice thing about D’Orc-sized doors: the keyholes are good sized. Hearthean locks are quite the pain. And due to both size and complexity, they are quite complex. They are excellent locksmiths and lock picks!”

The bard fiddled around in the keyhole for a short time before there was a clicking noise. He put his tools back in his belt and nodded to everyone to be on guard. He twisted the handle and pulled. Surprisingly, the door did not make anywhere near the screech Tom had expected. It was not silent but relatively quiet. Antefalken looked through the door, and then stuck his head through the door. He pulled back and opened the door wider, gesturing for the others to go through.

On the other side of the door was a corridor running perpendicular to the corridor they had just come down. This corridor went some distance to the left and right, with various openings and doors every so often.

“So now we enter a more fortress-like environment,” Antefalken observed softly.

“Are we sure we want to go this way?” Estrebrius asked. “It seems way too populated.”

“Well, the hydra hounds are the other way, and if this area is more populated, there must be an exit somewhere,” Boggy noted.

“I believe the barracks we saw are that way.” Talarius pointed to their right.

“So let’s go the other way,” Tom suggested. The knight nodded.

They began moving carefully down the hall away from where they thought the barracks were. They continued down the corridor for several deminutes, ignoring doors and side passages. Eventually the corridor ended in another T intersection.

Tom gestured right and the party turned the corner.

“
Aaagghhhh!
” A rather high-pitched scream erupted in front of them, followed by a clatter of what appeared to be a stone sword falling to the floor. Standing there was a rather short, thin D’Orc, mouth agape and screeching. The D’Orc immediately turned tail and began running madly in the opposite direction, shrieking, “ACHTUNG—INVADERS! WE UNDER ATTACK! PREPARE FOR BATTLE! INVADERS! INVADERS!”

“Okay, not quite what I was expecting,” Tizzy observed, pulling out his pipe and puffing away. There was a commotion distantly echoing from the direction they had just come.

Talarius pointed his sword in the third direction. “That way, fast!”

They all charged into that corridor. Suddenly gongs were ringing from multiple directions, although none seemd to be coming from the direction they were going, which was good.

Tizzy was scrambling along on his four legs and came up beside Tom. The hallway was rather wide at this point. “I always hate it when a home invasion goes wrong!”

Tom glanced over at the demon, troubled by his statement. He guessed that technically this was a home invasion. Sort of like when he invaded the dragon’s lair. His stomach sank with a bad feeling. “That D’Orc seemed a lot smaller than the ones we saw in the barracks; you suppose they have children here?” Tom asked the group.

“Looks like it!” Rupert said.

“Anything is possible. We saw both men and women and if you’re spending thousands of years locked under a mountain, sex is probably a popular pastime,” Antefalken called back.

“I wish you hadn’t said that! Now that you put the idea of them making babies in my head, something has come up that’s making it harder for me to run!” Reggie yelled.

“Demons don’t have families,” Talarius retorted to Antefalken’s claim, ignoring Reggie.

“Tell my dad that!” Rupert pointed to Tom.

“If your god is dead set on not making any more of your kind, babies are the only way to maintain or grow your population,” Tizzy noted.

“Why would they be doing that?” Boggy asked Tizzy.

“More soldiers for a war of vengeance?” Tizzy noted.

“Damn it, octopod, you’re starting to make too much sense,” Talarius harrumphed.

“Do you hear barking?” Estrebrius asked while flying down the corridor.

“Crap.” Now that he tried, Tom could hear barks and howls that sounded like hydra hounds, as well as the clamoring of what sounded like shields and spears, mixed with shouts and commands.

“It sounds like hounds and a small war party,” Talarius commented.

“That could be a problem. Adult D’Orcs are the best of the best when it comes to orc combat. Most of them are major demons and their leaders are greater demons,” Tizzy said.

“Are you saying that our current plan of retreat is better than standing and fighting?” Talarius asked.

“Pretty much,” Tizzy said.

“Very well then,” the knight said matter-of-factly.

They rounded another corner.

“Should we branch off at some point to try and elude them?” Tom asked.

“There are various theories of castle design and dungeon design, but long hallways often lead to exits. Unless the builders are particularly crafty, dwarves and drow being very good examples of such. Orcs are not crafty. Sneaky, untrustworthy and ruthless, but not crafty. I am thinking the best bet is to try and get to an exit. They know these halls far better than we,” Talarius said.

The point might be moot, Tom realized, as they had not seen any side corridors or even doors since they had turned that last corner.

“Crap!” Antefalken exclaimed as they emerged into a larger room. The group stopped, as there did not appear to be any place else to go.

The corridors for some time had been mostly masonry. The front half of this room was the same; however, the back wall was rough brown stone leading all the way to the top of a forty-foot-high ceiling. There were no doors or other exits.

“This is not good; we will have to backtrack,” Talarius said as he moved around the room, apparently searching for secret doors or who knew what. He shook his head and walked back to the center of the room near the back wall, staring down the corridor through which they’d entered.

Tom blinked at the wall behind the knight. He thought he could see what looked like a drawing on the wall. The knight’s armor light was off, so the room was completely dark, but the drawing on the wall seemed to be softly glowing. It had not been doing that when they’d entered.

“Does anyone else see that?” Tom pointed to the wall behind the knight.

“Yes,” Antefalken said.

The others looked and nodded. Talarius turned and clearly saw it as well.

“What the…?” The knight walked up to the wall. As he did so, the writing grew brighter. There was what looked like a door drawn on the rock wall, covered with all sorts of runes and designs both on the door and on the door’s drawn frame.

“Do you recognize the writing?” Tom asked.