The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2) (64 page)

“Okay…” Fer-Rog said, trying to figure it out.

“Fierd and Uropia traverse the sky from east to west; Anuropia moves from either north to south or south to north, depending on the time of year.”

“Seems complicated.” Fer-Rog shook his head.

“Yeah, it is, but you gotta know all about this stuff if you’re a wizard because where the moons are affects the astrological signs and can have a major influence on spell casting. Most spells are associated with the five elements, and the moons determine the season and thus the current elemental affiliations,” Rupert said.

“And that makes a difference?” Fer-Rog asked.

“Spells of the opposite sign are harder to cast and are less effective; spells that are of the same sign are easier to cast and are more powerful. So yes, it can. Unless you are someone like Lenamare, who can toss enough mana into a spell to counteract the astrological effects on the elements. Most normal wizards can’t,” Rupert said.

“Lenamare is that crazy wizard you studied under?” Fer-Rog asked, trying to remember what Rupert had told him about life in Astlan.

“Yep, that’s him. He’s one of the most powerful wizards in the world,” Rupert said.

“He would have to be in order to summon a demon prince.” Fer-Rog said.

“Yeah, well, I think and have always figured that my dad wanted Lenamare to summon him so he could be reunited with me. So as I figure it, father just used Lenamare and his summons as a focal point. Sort of like the calling stones he is using to locate the shamans.”

“So why did he take so long to come find you?” Fer-Rog asked.

Rupert frowned. “I’m not really clear on that. He does not want to talk about it for some reason. Maybe he didn’t know my mom had died? Or maybe he was busy on other planes doing things and that was as soon as he could get to Astlan. Or, who knows—maybe it is part of the prophecy, and I was meant to experience life as a human for several years.”

Fer-Rog frowned. “I’ve never met a human, unless that knight of your dad’s is a human; can’t tell inside his armor. I’ve heard stories about them, though; while physically weak, they are shifty and untrustworthy, only slightly better than the evil alvar, who no one can trust.”

Rupert shrugged. “Many of them are nice enough, but it is true that a number of them are petty and mean and lacking in honor. Talarius is a human; he killed me once here in Astlan and tried to kill all of us permanently about a week ago. That’s when my dad kicked his butt and took him prisoner.”

“Why did he try to kill you? I mean, I know that is what followers of Tiernon do, just like the demons that follow Lilith, but I’m not sure why,” Fer-Rog asked.

Rupert shook his head. “He’s convinced that all demons are evil and out to overthrow humanity and all goodness in the world. He has therefore made it his job to kill all demons he encounters.”

“Seems rather racist if you ask me,” Fer-Rog observed.

“Tell me about it, but it’s a pretty common belief among humans,” Rupert said.

“So why didn’t anyone try to kill you previously?” Fer-Rog gestured up and down at Rupert. “You’re pretty obviously a demon.”

Rupert chuckled. “I don’t always look like a demon, see?” He suddenly shifted into his human form.

Fer-Rog splashed backward in the stream in shock and surprise. “What did you do?” His eyes were wide.

“I changed my form!” Rupert grinned. “This is how I managed not to get killed among the humans. I was disguised as one.” Rupert was not ready to admit he was only half demon.

“You can do that?” Fer-Rog was staring at him intensely. “That’s a pretty sickly-looking form, very puny and weak, even compared to an orc!” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine wanting to look like that.”

Rupert grinned. “I know, it’s not that pleasant, and now it feels very cramped and confining, but that’s how I survived for my entire life up until my father showed up.”

“Wow! I’m so sorry, I thought we had it bad at Mount Doom, but I can’t imagine being trapped like that and knowing that if you turned into yourself you’d be killed.” He looked up and down at human Rupert and grimaced in distaste.

“Yeah, but I’m good now. Actually, I have had a lot of fun pretending to be human since my dad arrived. It’s a great way to infiltrate humans and sneak among them and get information,” Rupert said. “At least, up until a knight kills you.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that before. If Talarius killed you, why aren’t you dead?” Fer-Rog asked quite reasonably.

Rupert laughed. “That’s the best part of Astlan. Short of really spectacular efforts, demons can’t die here. If you get killed, you just rematerialize in the Abyss. It hurts, and you have to regenerate, get your energy back, but you aren’t dead.”

Fer-Rog pondered this. “So you could go into battle, kill your foes, and if they somehow killed you, you’d just end up in the Abyss and could return to fight some more?”

“Once you’ve rested.” Rupert nodded.

“Great Orcus’s balls!” Fer-Rog cursed in amazement. “That’s like being in heaven!”

Rupert chuckled. “I think that was the point. As I understand it from Tizzy, Orcus turned the greatest of the great orc warriors into D’Orcs upon death so they could serve in his army. They could travel the multiverse fighting battles and if they died, they were simply penalized by having to stay in the Abyss for a while.”

“Yeah, that makes sense now. That is sort of what I’ve been told, but differently. It never really sank in before. But I get it now,” Fer-Rog said.

“Wow, that would be so cool!” he added after a moment. “I wish I could change form; I’d change into an orc and just travel around Astlan looking for fun and adventure, and if I got in over my head, I’d still be safe and could regenerate at Mount Doom.”

Rupert nodded. “Exactly, because if you are in disguise as a non-demon, anyone trying to kill you wouldn’t know to take the extra precautions to kill you permanently.”

“Oh, they can do that?” Fer-Rog asked nervously.

“Some people can, but it is very hard to do. Only a few wizards, and of course the priests of Tiernon, know how to do it. And even the priests, they need a big ritual to do it, so if you’ve got time to escape if you need to,” Rupert explained. “Of course, when I learned that, we were all trapped in a magical net, so we couldn’t fade to the Abyss, which was scary.”

Fer-Rog shook his head. “I wish I could change my form. That would be so cool!”

Rupert shrugged. “How do you know you can’t? D’Orcs are demons, and all the more powerful demons can do it.”

Fer-Rog frowned. “Well, I’ve never heard of a D’Orc doing that.”

Rupert frowned and thought for a minute. “But then, why would they need to? None of the D’Orcs have been able to get out of the Abyss since Orcus was killed; and before that they were all busy making war! Plus, given what I’ve seen at Mount Doom, how many D’Orcs would want to shrink down into a little orc without good reason?”

Fer-Rog nodded. “That would be cool! If only someone could teach me!”

Rupert grinned and gave what he hoped was an evil chuckle. “Well, I have taught someone before… and I’ve been practicing link spells, so now it should be even easier to show you how to do it!”

“Excellent!” Fer-Rog clapped his hands in the water, splashing Rupert.

~

Ragala-nargoloth flopped down in her four-poled hammock bed and lit one of the cigars from her hidden stash. She was sparing in her use of tobacco since it was expensive, but this was certainly an occasion. Normally, she would have shared it with her partner, but they had only barely finished their ninth session of the night when Lord Tommus had called on her to open a portal to collect the D’Orcs and D’Wargs.

As she exhaled a large plume of smoke, she idly reflected on her rather spectacular evening. As shaman, she was naturally aware of all the taboos and customs of her people in regards to marriage and fooling around. And while sex between direct descendants was against custom, did it count if the other party was an ancestor from over four thousand years ago, and now technically a different species?

Hmm. Clearly something to ponder —but not too hard. She chuckled and then coughed on the smoke in her throat. Arg-nargoloth was clearly the hero of legends. His stamina was unorcish. Well, she supposed it was D’Orcish. He could take his time and please her, and then immediately reset and continue.

“Once you get a D’Orc in the sack, you’ll never go back!” Ragal-nargoloth chortled to herself. From the sounds she had heard last night from around the camp, she was pretty sure she would find lots of agreement in the tribe.

~

DOF +8

Start of Third Period 16-05-440

“Good morning!” Antefalken called to Tom as the bard walked into Tom’s quarters. “I like my new bedroom. There are some decent-looking D’Orcettes here; I think the bed should be most useful!”

Tom chuckled. “You could also sleep in it. The competition for mana with the complex tends to make demons sleepy. We are all going to be taking up Rupert’s bad habits soon enough, I fear.”

“Well, if I’m going to need to sleep, I’ll want a companion or two, that’s for sure.” The bard grinned. “Is Rupert in there sleeping now?” He pointed to Rupert’s bedroom.

Tom shook his head. “He and Fer-Rog stayed the night in Astlan with the Crooked Sticks. Later today they are going to help me create a gateway to the Crooked Stick camp, so we can return the orcs who went to Murgatroy for glargh.”

Antefalken nodded. “Very nice shortcut. Might be handy if you could teach Rupert how to make those gateways. It’s going to be a pain if you have to play gatekeeper all the time.”

“True. We really need to find some others who can do this stuff. Maybe some training sessions.”

“That’s a very undemonic way of doing things. At least in the Courts, it is. There, it is everyone for themselves,” Antefalken observed.

“Yes, but like orcs, D’Orcs are very tribal and band together for the common good. I’m pretty sure it’s one reason they have been able to resist Lilith’s periodic purges.” Tom shrugged. “I want to do some rebuilding and help the D’Orcs get back their standing.”

“Admirable,” Antefalken commented.

“Not so much admirable as something to occupy my time,” Tom admitted. “Something to give me a purpose. Sitting bored in a cave, waiting for others to make a move that I would then need to react to is not a lot of fun. This makes me feel more in control of something.” Tom tilted his head. “I know that Tiernon’s folks are going to come looking for me; you said it yourself. I know my helping the D’Orcs is going to make Lilith mad. So, might as well do what I can to deal with these threats in advance.”

“I did,” Antefalken said, smiling, “and I agree.” The bard hopped up on the back of a chair. “The only thing that gives me pause is how others will react to your actions.”

Tom shrugged. “We are out here in the middle of nowhere. It will be some time before people notice that Mount Doom is active.”

“I bet Lilith knows. She has that fortress watching the place. Or she will know before long,” Antefalken reminded him.

“I am sure, and therefore, we need to be ready. But she still doesn’t know much about me, and I would think that might slow her down, although I could be wrong,” Tom said.

“One would hope it would give her pause. She’s very hard to read on such things,” Antefalken answered. “However, that will happen one way or the other. I might be more concerned about D’Orcs showing up in Murgatroy.”

“It’s an orc trading city; you think the D’Orcs will freak out the orcs?” Tom asked.

“Well, it’s not so much an orc trading city, as a city to which orcs and a lot of others come to trade. It is the others that concern me.”

“Meaning the humans in Murgatroy?” Tom asked.

“A little, but really, the alvar are a bigger concern. There are quite a few alvar there, living tenuously with the orcs, but there. Alvar live for thousands of years; they are bound to know what D’Orcs are. Pretty sure it will freak them out.”

“Great! This would probably have been good to consider before I agreed with their plan.” Tom shook his head and chuckled wryly. “You never stop by with happy news or thoughts!”

“Oh, I don’t know. That actually reminds me, I was working on the music for the feast. We have several musical bands that want to play.”

“Excellent!” Tom said.

“And to that point, they wanted me to ask you if you could make sure the sound system is active and that the lightning cables are working.”

“Sound system and lightning cables?” Tom asked, puzzled.

“Yes; they have arcane devices to amplify and even modify the sound. Then they have some instruments they haven’t been able to play in over four thousand years that use these special cables that provide the instruments with lightning.”

“You mean electricity?” Tom asked.

Antefalken thought for a moment. “Exactly!”

“So they have electrical instruments?” Tom asked.

“That is my understanding; they’ve had to make do with more traditional instruments in the interim. Unfortunately those instruments don’t produce the same effect for the type of music most D’Orcs like.”

“What type of music is that?” Tom had a feeling about where this was going.