Chapter 11
As the saying goes, no time like the present. I had memorized a host of spells designed to fight demons, had my ring and staff charged to capacity. My sword would also act as a focus, as I had recently discovered. My cloak was bespelled as never before.
I felt as if I fairly hummed with power. Mirwanna had a wizard who was familiar with Fenoris. He opened a gateway, and just as I was going to step through it, it collapsed! But not before we had seen a human form, a darkly cowled form that held a glowing... darkness in his right hand.
The backlash from his spelled gate being collapsed, caused the wizard to collapse, himself. While he would be all right eventually, he was numb and unable to perform any further magics until he recovered.
After the wizard had been removed to the infirmary, Mirwanna and I held a brief conference about what we had seen. The darkness in the demons hand had been more like a scepter, than a staff or sword.
We both agreed it glowed with a blackness that was disturbing. Even though we had beheld it only briefly, we both felt the evil that had been oozing from it. It had been unsettling to say the least.
"This is a disaster. That gate was to open in the royal palace. If the demons are there already, then the royal family is already compromised. We will have to rethink our strategy," Mirwanna told me.
I nodded. She told me to hold myself available for a council meeting, later this day. I nodded again, and was dismissed. I returned to my quarters. Mariel had already gone to the city, thinking I would have left for Fenoris.
I smiled as I thought of how she was so frightened to sit in judgment at first, and how she was now eager to go on a daily basis. I still sat once a month, myself. But with Mariel dispensing justice, the job had gotten much easier.
I set my staff in the corner, placed my sword on the desk, and sat. I looked at the blade, and one of the runes grabbed my attention. I seemed to sink into the sword itself! This was new.
<I am lonely, now. I never knew aloneness until you separated the owners from me, > a voice told me in a petulant tone.
"You were not supposed to have your owners souls within you. That was an error." I told it. I knew it was the sword. It had brought me into it.
We talked for some time. It was like talking to a child. But a very powerful child, with no idea of its power. It was sulky. It recognized me as its owner, but was sad over the absence of the previous owners whom it had housed for so long.
I finally told it I would visit it again, but I had to return to the outer world. It was reluctant to let me go, but finally did so. I found myself back at my desk. I sighed explosively. It had been a near thing. I would really have hated being stuck in my sword for all eternity!
I immediately concentrated on contacting Vostich. When I got him, I informed him what had just happened. He seemed a little worried about the sword pro-actively bringing me into itself.
We discussed the ramifications, but came to no clear determination of what we should do about it. He again said he was trying to contact Shabasonti, but had not been successful, as of this time.
Two days later, with a new plan, I was on my way to Fenoris. This time I was being led by a dragon, and I was in my dragon form. Still, it would take the greater part of a days flying to bring us to the border. We dared not teleport, or give the enemy any indication we were coming.
I was not the only one going. Fithian was going by a different route. After hearing about the demon with the scepter, it was decided I would need help. Fithian had a 10-dragon wing of dragon riders, with all their equipment.
They would attack and provide the distraction I needed to sneak into the royal palace. Timing was critical. We could not afford to do telepathy, or magical communications of any type. My dragon guide would stay handy in case I needed reinforcements.
As we flew south, we picked up several more dragons. By the time we got to our position on the border, I had an escort of 15 dragons, all of whom were ready to back me up if I needed it. I figured with 25 dragons, 10 dragon riders, Fithian and I should be able to handle a couple of demons. We set up camp just before reaching the border. We wanted to be rested for tomorrow's battle.
I yawned and stretched. I really was beginning to hate sleeping on the ground. I rolled up my bedroll and put my boots on, after making sure nothing had crawled into them during the night.
I ate a dry meal. The dragons had already eaten, last night. They would be good to go for a couple days. I turned back into a dragon, and we flew into Fenoris proper. I had looked at a map, and knew what landmarks to look for. I finally found the road, and turned east.
We followed the road. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, I saw the city with the royal palace ahead. As my group was flying in, we saw Fithian and his dragon riders coming in on a more direct route.
That's when all hell broke loose, literally. A reddish haze snapped into being everywhere. I faltered, and had to angle down for a landing, as did all the other dragons. As soon as I hit the ground, I transformed to human form.
All the dragons were now on the ground. For some reason, some how, the reddish haze stopped our ability to fly. The air became very hot, and it was hard to breath. We all started walking the rest of the way to the palace.
Even before we got to the city, I could see troops forming up on the city wall. This was going to be more difficult than I'd thought. The city was much smaller than Landkur. It was a walled city, and the wall appeared to be old.
(Fithian? Can you hear me?) I asked mentally.
(Aye. I know, Paul. This was something none of us took into consideration, ) Fithian answered me.
(What do we do? All my dragons are grounded. They can't fly, ) I told him worriedly.
(I have already informed Vostich. Keep advancing to just outside arrow range. Give Vostich a chance to work something, ) Fithian told me.
Great. I felt like I was smothering. The air had a sulfur smell, and the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. It was like a description of hell I had read about when I was a child.
The dragons were angry. They had spread out, and were walking in a very angry stiff manner. I tried to calm them, but it was hard to reach them. I finally managed to get a few of the dragon's attention, and I cast several spells, trying to protect them. Unfortunately, being dragons, the spells didn't work. That damned immunity to magic.
I considered. If they were immune to most magic, why was this affecting them? It had to be the air that was magicked, not the dragons.
I finally came to a halt. I raised my staff, and aimed it at the gates. I pronounced a spell of breaking, and a beam of light appeared 5 feet in front of me, and sped to the gate. It hit the gate. A reddish light flared briefly into being, then went out. The gate unchanged.
I frowned. This was definitely going to be harder than I thought. I moved my staff to my left hand, and drew my sword. As soon as it was in my hand, I felt a lessening of the pressure that surrounded me. The sword was protecting me!
I quickly found the spell the sword was using, and increased the area it worked in. Soon I had a very large area that included most of the dragons. I could feel the reddish haze beating at my newly formed shield.
My shield was holding! I breathed and felt better. So did my dragons, who were now crowded around me. I informed Fithian of what I'd done, and shortly he had copied the spell. He told me to put some pressure on the enemy as he was going to try a summoning.
Ok. He wanted pressure? I would give them something to think about. I raised the sword, and spoke a phrase that occurred to me. A beam of white light sprang from the tip of my sword, and I aimed it at the soldiers on the wall. They were mowed down as if the beam were a laser. For all I knew, it was. I re-aimed the beam at the gate, and the gate started smoking!
Unfortunately, the spell stopped. I frowned. It should have kept going until I stopped it. I pointed my sword at the gate and spoke the words of the spell again. The beam reappeared, and then flickered out.
I also felt a renewed attack on my shield by the hellish haze. I shuddered, but kept the shield intact. Arrows started raining down around me, but none were dangerous to me. The dragons could not be hurt by mere arrows, and my cloak was spelled against my being hurt by that weapon.
I leaned on my staff and pondered. As I looked at the gate, it opened, and a single dark figure stepped through it.
Even at this distance, I could feel the evil coming off it in waves. I shuddered and resolved not to fail. I raised my staff, and thought of a spell, powered it, and sent it through my staff at the demon.
The demon blocked it easily. Damn, this demon was going to be difficult to take down. I sent a silent mental hurry up to Fithian. He didn't answer me, but I could feel power starting to build from his location. So did the demon.
I saw it stop and look back towards the city. I used this opportunity to launch a spell I had learned in Pejoru's library. It slammed into the demon, and it stumbled, but recovered quickly.
Another of the spells I learned in the library suggested itself to me. I worked it up, powering it with everything I had in my ring, and most of what was in my staff. I launched it at the demon, and it parried it with his scepter.
As soon as its scepter hit the spell, there was an explosion of light, and I heard a scream! By the time my eyes had recovered from the flash of light, the demon was slowly climbing back to its feet.
Its scepter, while still in its hand, was smoking. The scepter didn't look so deep dark black any longer, either. It leveled the scepter at me. A beam of black light slammed through my shield, and it was only my cloak that saved my life.
That, and when it had launched the spell, its scepter crackled loudly! I had damaged it more than the demon had realized, and its spell had stressed it! I could have cheered! I wished that Fithian would hurry with whatever he was doing. The demon was now walking towards me, and I had already used up all the stored power I had brought with me.
My sword arm raised itself, and the sword snarled and emitted a beam of silvery light, which slammed into the demon. While the robe the demon wore seemed to absorb the light, it stopped.
I was slowly pulling in more power. I chanted a small spell that might cause it some concern. When I had it powered, I cast it at the demon, and a net of spider silk spun itself out of the air, and wrapped itself around the demon. It worked! I silently sent thanks to Svedra, as it was a spell that strange spider demi-God had taught me so long ago.
I felt the spell that Fithian was chanting, change. So did the demon. It turned away from me, but it was to late. I now knew what Fithian was doing! He was performing a 'GREAT SUMMONING'!
The demon vanished, and at the same time, there was a bright flash. The Goddess Ishla was floating in the air over the city! A green wave of light rolled off the Goddess. The red haze slowly faded out, and was replaced by the soothing green from Ishla.
I sighed in relief, and my dragons roared in approval. They took to the air. My connections to the magic field, which had been weakened, now strengthened again. I felt a rush of new energy going through me.
I felt the Goddess DO something. I heard a long fading scream, a demonic scream, which faded and was gone. I then felt a summoning.
(Fithian. Paul. Come to me at this cities center! Now!) Ishla said imperiously. There was no way I was going to delay answering this call! I hurried through the now open gate. It took me only a few minutes to run to the source of the Goddess.
There she was, in all her splendor. Power radiated from her like the sun, but a healthy sun. She also had that PRESENCE which I had come to associate with the divine, here.
There was a demon kneeling before her. The scepter that had been in its hand was broken. While evil still rolled off it, I no longer felt concerned about it. That had to be Ishla's doing. She protected even as she judged.
"I have destroyed the other demons that were here. This is the leader. A mid level demon of some power. You did well fighting it, Paul. I am now going to send it back, with a warning, and seal this gate," Ishla told us.
Send it back? Hell! She should kill it, and destroy it, as she was going to destroy its gate!
(I know that which I do, Paul. When you have lived as long as I, you may judge my actions, ) Ishla said, chiding me gently.
I watched as she communicated with the demon. It rose to its feet, and assumed a posture that told me it was listening, but I heard nothing of the conversation. Then with a gesture, the demon's gate was there, and it went through. The Goddess then closed her left hand, and as she did so, the gate slowly collapsed in on itself.
"That was well done, my children. The people of Fenoris are free from the demon taint, and one of the two gates the demons control is destroyed. The next gate will not be destroyed so easily," she said, and was gone.
Easy? Who was she kidding! It had taken everything I had, and some of what the sword had, just to keep this demon from killing me!
Edited By TeNderLoin