The Heavenly Host (Demons of Astlan Book 2) Page 34

  Tom paused, looking at one of the stalactites. How did stalactites and stalagmites form in the Abyss where there was no moisture? He rubbed his fingers together. Yes, the cave was cooler than outside, but it was still quite dry. You needed moisture for this sort of cavern structure to form, pretty much by definition. Tom furrowed his brow and then shook his head. He supposed it was getting a bit too late to start questioning the landscape features of the Abyss. There was no way those crazy pillars could have formed either.

  If he started questioning things like these rocks, he would have to start questioning all of his current reality. Tom was pretty sure nothing in his current reality could handle too much scrutiny, so better stop while he was ahead. Or at least, stop before he started drowning.

  [Time of Day]

  Tizzy eventually led them out the leftmost of three exits, relative to the one through which they had entered the cavern. This was a fairly narrow slit passage at an angle. Tom’s companions, being sufficiently smaller, had no serious problem, but it was tricky for Tom, as the angle of floor and ceiling were such that he could not stand upright and had to hunch over, his wings scraping on the roof.

  The slit passage led to another large cavern, this one strewn with large boulders and sharp protrusions here and there. As they crossed the cavern, Talarius’s light lit up a deep chasm about ten feet across that spanned the cavern.

  “We’ll need to hop over,” Tizzy said as he came up behind Talarius to lift him and fly him over. Talarius gave the chasm what Tom could only surmise was a sour look, thanks to the knight’s helmet hiding his face. He assumed the knight did not like having to cross a chasm he could not return across on his own power.

  Leaving the other side of the cave through the only exit, the group made their way about a hundred feet to the entrance of another large room.

  Tizzy stopped and turned to face them. “Okay, magic lamp,” he said, pointing to Talarius, “time to turn up the light as we enter the first room of what I call the Corundum Corridor.”

  Talarius’s armor started glowing brighter and brighter until the demons were all blinking as their eyes adapted to the light. The first thing they noted was blue. Lots and lots of blue in the room behind Tizzy. Tizzy turned and entered everyone else followed.

  “Holy shite,” Boggy muttered.

  “Good lord almighty and then some… is this all sapphire?” Antefalken asked softly.

  “I don’t believe this,” Tom said. “I don’t think this can be natural.” The room was irregularly shaped, about thirty or forty feet per side with an irregular ceiling about twenty to thirty feet high. Embedded in the walls were ribbons of blue crystal. Clear, crystalline sapphire and a milkier stone like sapphire with white streaks. Where the previous caves had stone stalactites and stalagmites, this room had sapphire stalactites and stalagmites.

  “This can’t be real…” Talarius whispered, rotating in the center of the room as he tried to take it in. His steel boots clinked as they knocked loose sapphire stones around.

  “Now I know I’m dreaming for sure,” Reggie whispered.

  “ Do not get too greedy; we have got several more corundum rooms before we even get to the diamond room. The gold and silver caverns are going to be pretty boring after all of these,” Tizzy observed.

  “We are freaking rich!” Rupert shouted.

  “Welcome to the Land of Bling!” Reggie shouted in agreement.

  “I guess I get the point about gems and gold not being so valuable in the Abyss,” Tom said.

  “Fargelsworth… I had no idea they were this common!” Antefalken breathed as they sifted through loose gemstones. “I should have brought a lot more bags…”

  ~

  “Good news!” Damien told the Council once everyone had taken their seats. “The Rod has certified that we are demon-free and Oorstemoth has signed off on it!”

  “Excellent news,” Alexandros Mien said, nodding to Damien with a tight smile.

  “In front of each of you is the current status report of the palace and the city, including reserves and our current active forces,” Gandros said. “We are doing remarkably well.”

  “Do we have estimates on cleanup and repair of the damage?” Sier Barvon asked.

  “Not yet; it depends on how soon we can “lift the siege,” so to speak. We need craftsmen and materials from surrounding cities, such as your own city of Yorkton,” Damien said.

  Sier chuckled. “You see through me.”

  “I know that your sister is married to Burgomaster Falron and that you both come from a long line of woodworkers and masons.” Damien grinned back.

  “You can’t take the merchant out of the Archimage,” Sier said, chuckling.

  “To that point, Oorstemoth and the Rod are both willing to step down and reduce their forces, and have agreed not to invade the city unless the demon horde comes back.” Damien told the Council.

  “And that means exactly what?” Zilquar asked.

  “It means that Wing Arms Master Heron and a few of his ships will be returning to Keeper’s City to work on the pursuit of the demons; but they will be leaving about two thirds of their fleet here in case the demons return.” Several councilors frowned at this. “The Rod is also reducing its forces by about half. They claim to be going to a maintenance mode and are simply going to be here to assist in case the archdemons return, and maintain a staging point if they have to ramp up again.”

  “So, in short, they aren’t going anywhere soon,” Jehenna said.

  “So it would seem, but they are reducing their military footprint and they have said they would like to operate on more cooperative terms,” Damien said.

  “What exactly are cooperative terms?” Randolf asked whiningly.

  “It means they would like to allow small groups of their people into the city for leave and to purchase supplies, and that they would like to work with the two Councils to coordinate a defense in case demons return.”

  “And how do they determine if demons return?” Davron asked.

  Damien made a small grimace. “Sir Sorel, another Knight Rampant of Tiernon, will be using Sir Talarius’s Mirror of Demon Detection and flying over the city periodically to inspect the number of demons. I have told him that once the wards are down, we would expect some demons to return, as they are vital to the work of many of our residents. They are okay with a handful of demons in the city. Just no archdemons, greater demons or demon hordes.”

  “I’m okay with that myself,” Tureledor said. “I don’t like having any of those in the city. I am still embarrassed that we allowed it to happen.”

  “I will be asking the Committee on Demonology to come up with some method of regularly monitoring demon activity and overall presence within the city,” Gandros said. “It is something we should have thought of long ago.”

  “So what do they have, a stable of flying horses? Or is this Sorel also going to use Talarius’s horse?” Davron asked. “My understanding is that such horses are quite intelligent, and it is probably wanting to charge the gates of the Abyss as it is.”

  Damien had an amused expression on his face. “Apparently, Sir Sorel’s steed is a griffin.”

  “A griffin?” Sier repeated incredulously. “These knights aren’t much for subtlety, are they?”

  “Not at all. Sir Gadius is also outside our walls. You don’t want to know what he rides.”

  “Okay, Damien, what does he ride?” Davron asked.

  “A unicorn.” Damien smiled at the two councilors.

  “The man’s a virgin?” Jehenna asked.

  “Don’t most religious types take vows of celibacy? It’s part of the same psychopathy that leads them to take up religion in the first place,” Tureledor observed, shaking his head.

  “Well, I have to say, it does make those otherwise boring goody-two-shoes far more interesting,” Davron admitted.

  “Are we getting off track here?” Alexandros asked.

  “Probably,” Damien admitted with a smile. “To get b
ack on it, we need to talk about lowering the wards.”

  “Yes,” Lenamare said, “and to that point, I am working to hand back full control of the wards to the normal team.” Lenamare nodded to Gandros. “My recommendation is to take them down to a minimal level, which I will detail to the team, so that they can be brought back up very quickly if needed.”

  “So then are you pulling yourself out?” Sier asked.

  “I am,” Lenamare stated. “I am concerned that if Exador actually is an archdemon, he may come looking for me to continue our battle. In such a case, it might be best for me to leave the city quickly. I can’t easily do that if I am in the wards.”

  “So you are leaving?” Tureledor asked.

  “Not at this time. I have my students to worry about and my obligation to them. Now that Exador has destroyed my school, I think this is the best place for them, along with what is left of my staff.”

  “Didn’t you blow up your school?” Randolf asked.

  Lenamare glared at the Archimage. “He invaded my lands, laid siege to my castle, killed a number of my people including students, and was on the verge of ransacking it and slaughtering everyone. We had to escape, and I needed a diversion. He forced my hand; I had no other choice. I therefore consider his actions the reason my students and faculty no longer have a home.”

  “Ahh, I see…” Randolf said, steepling his hands before him and gazing at them intently. “So you knocked over the blocks and left?”

  Lenamare glared at the archimage, who pointedly ignored him.

  “Okay, let us let this point go,” Gandros said. “I do think we need to get the wards down; they are extremely expensive to operate.”

  “We may need to bring in additional components from outside,” Sier noted, and Damien nodded. “Most of the extremely expensive components are non-consumables, but there are enough moderately expensive consumables that it adds up, and we have limited supplies of such on hand in the city.”

  “Given current supplies, how long could we continue at the current level?” Tureledor asked.

  “At least another quarter month. With some more scavenging of the city, perhaps thirty days,” Lenamare said.

  “Hmm. Then we really should see about turning them down and restocking,” Gandros stated.

  Damien was heading back to his rooms after the meeting when a figure stepped suddenly from a doorway along the corridor.

  “You are Councilor Damien? The Inquisitor of the Council of Wizardry?” A rather odd-sounding voice asked him.

  Damien had to blink to take in the extremely armored man accosting him in the relatively dark corridor. He immediately shifted to a more defensive position. “I am; and who are you?”

  “I am Ruiden, Sword of Talarius, and I am investigating his abduction. I wish to consult with you on your investigation into the offending demon.”

  “Okay…” Damien said, rather befuddled. Did the man just claim to be a sword?

  ~

  “I suppose we could always come back with more sacks,” Antefalken sighed as they sat and rested, sorting through their treasure. It was simply too much: the blue sapphire room followed by the pink, orange and yellow sapphire rooms, the emerald room. The ruby room had been, Tom thought, both beautiful and insane. However, that was nothing compared to the diamond cavern. It could have been the crystalline Fortress of Solitude from the Superman movies. Tom’s jaw had been wide open the entire time. How could any of this be? The caverns were the sort of place that only King Midas could have imagined.

  “I think we will have to,” Boggy agreed. “Tizzy, I am so sorry about doubting you during the long, long journey here. It was worth every league and more.”

  “I have to admit, the discomfort of being demon handled for that distance is drowned out by the sights of this cave system,” Talarius said, shaking his head. “The level of temptation here is incredible. It is an excellent opportunity to test myself versus the sin of greed. Truly a worthy challenge.”

  “I see you are packing gems into those small bags you pulled out of your armor,” Boggy commented.

  “As the octodemon pointed out, I’m going to need to make some significant donations as part of my penance,” Talarius said.

  “So you’re donating it all to the Church and the Rod?” Rupert asked.

  Talarius fidgeted. “Directly and indirectly,” he finally said.

  “Indirectly?” Estrebrius asked.

  “Well, the church has numerous expenses supporting my efforts. If I can relieve those expenses with some small personal wealth in pursuit of my mission, well, that is indirectly.”

  “What expenses does a Knight Rampant have?” Antefalken asked rather incredulously. “If you are in Eton or anywhere your pantheon is, you get free room and board.”

  Talarius coughed. “Do you have any idea how many bales of hay it takes to feed a flying horse? They eat twice as much as a normal horse!”

  “It’s such a long haul back and forth; it’s a shame to have to make multiple trips,” Rupert complained. He was fastening his one bag to his rope belt.

  Before leaving, Antefalken had gone to his home and returned with rope and some sacks. Those without belts had created rope belts to fasten one or two sacks to. Antefalken had only four sacks that could hold about a gallon each, three smaller bags and a few small pouches of his own. Boggy, Reggie, Rupert and Tizzy had each taken a large sack. Estrebrius had taken two small sacks; the large sacks were simply too large and ungainly for his frame. Talarius had a few bags of his own somehow secreted in his armor, and also took the third smaller bag. Antefalken made do with his small bags, and both he and Tom had belt pouches.

  “Hmm… you know, one hole in the ground is about as good as any other,” Tom mused. “I’ve got my only possessions from the cave in my belt pouches. I suppose we could set up shop here.”

  “Interesting.” Antefalken frowned, thinking. “From the point of view of back and forth to Astlan, it doesn’t make any difference, but I have to imagine, given how far out we are, getting back and forth to the Courts could be a pain. Your current cave is only a single boom tunnel away from the Courts.”

  “True. But if Lilith is looking for Tom, I’m thinking this might be a better location,” Boggy mused.

  “I cannot disagree with that,” Antefalken admitted.

  “Well, you haven’t even seen most of your planned new home yet,” Tizzy stated. “We really should move on and see more.”

  “Hmm, well, we could just carry what’s easy and leave the other piles here for now,” Antefalken said.

  “Yeah, I like that idea. It’s not going anywhere, and we know where this room is relative to the diamond room,” Estrebrius said.

  “It was a straight path,” Boggy agreed.

  “What’s down the other paths we didn’t take, Tizzy?” Rupert asked.

  Tizzy scratched his chin. “Well, that depends on the path. Some will take you to the other rooms on alternate paths. Some are dead ends and some… are just cave rooms not that different from Tom’s cave.”

  “So you’ve explored this entire cave system?” Antefalken asked.

  “A lot of it. There are some deeper regions I haven’t ventured to. It’s a very big system,” Tizzy answered.

  “So what’s next? You said there were gold and silver rooms?” Rupert asked.

  “Yes… they are a ways away though; they are on another side of the mountains. So it will be a long trek,” Tizzy answered. “Back in the day, though, streams of silver and gold were quite a sight to behold.”

  “Streams? You mean molten gold and silver?” Tom asked with a furrowed brow, trying to understand how that could be.

  Tizzy shrugged. “Probably not flowing now. A long time ago, there was a very large and active volcano at the heart of the mountain range. It’s been cold for several thousand years now, so I suppose the molten metals will have stopped flowing and solidified.”

  Antefalken shrugged. “Well we have nothing else to do, and if we are thinki
ng about hanging out here anyway, we might as well go take a look.”

  “Cool! Lead on, Tizzy!” Rupert shouted.

  Tizzy made a gesture indicating where he was going. Everyone who had been seated stood and straightened their leftover piles of gems and then lined up behind Tizzy as he started off down a corridor.

  Tizzy had not been lying. The journey was pretty long and meandered through a number of twisted tunnels with lots of branches. They were definitely relying on Tizzy to find their way out. It would have been quite easy to get lost in here. Finally they came to a cavern with six exits in addition to the one they had entered.

  Tizzy stopped and rubbed his chin. “I think we want that one there.” He pointed to one of the tunnels.

  “What do you mean you think?” Boggy asked rather shrilly.

  “Well, it’s been several hundred years since I’ve been to the crystal caves, and probably almost four thousand since I regularly wandered these tunnels,” Tizzy replied.

  “Nargh! We are relying on four-thousand-year-old memories of Tizzy’s?” Antefalken complained.

  Tizzy twisted a bit to give Antefalken a grin. “Aaah, not that bad. I’ve been down most of them at some point.” Tizzy paused and closed one eye and tilted his head to the left. “I think.” He shook his head. “Let’s go this way.” He took off.

  Tom quickly gouged a mark in the tunnel they had just exited, and another near the entrance of the one they were now going down. He should have been doing this all along. It really was pretty stupid to trust Tizzy on this. The demon had just been behaving so reasonably lately; he had forgotten exactly how unreliable he really was.

  The group proceeded for another two hundred feet before they took a right at a three-way intersection. Tom marked the one they had come through and the one they were taking with new symbols to distinguish them. He was done relying too much on Tizzy. After another five hundred feet, they came to a large metal portcullis.