The Heavenly Host

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.

“Why is there a portcullis in the middle of a cave passage?” Estrebrius asked.

“Were these caves once inhabited?” Antefalken asked.

“Are they still inhabited?” Rupert asked nervously.

“I hope not.” Reggie said nervously.

Tizzy shook his head. “There used to be some miners and others here, thousands of years ago. However, the entire region has been abandoned for at least thirty-five hundred years, if not more. Like I said, when I used to come here regularly, when I had people to visit, it was over four thousand years ago.”

“So why did they abandon it?” Boggy asked curiously.

“War — sort of a rout, you might say,” Tizzy said while examining the portcullis, shaking it for weakness.

“War?” Tom asked.

Tizzy shrugged. “War used to be pretty common in the Abyss. The demon princes, occasional dark demigods, Knights of Chaos and such enjoyed battling it out. Much like human princes. This place was abandoned about the time of the last major shakeup among the princes. Since that time, most of the squabbles have stayed at the archdemon level or lower.”

Tizzy turned to Tom. “Can you try and lift this? I do not think it is locked down, just very rusty and heavy. Demons would have been fleeing out rather than in, so I doubt they locked the thing behind them.”

“Demon wars?” Rupert was looking very curious. “But if demons fight in the Abyss, and they die, they die permanently, right?”

Tizzy grinned and nodded. “If you kill them bad enough! If you chop up a demon or a knight” — he glanced pointedly at Talarius — “beyond what they can regenerate and they die here; there is nowhere else to go.”

“So what happens to their animus and mana?” Tom asked as he tested the portcullis to see if he could lift it.

Tizzy shrugged. “Well, if you’re lucky, you just sort of dissipate or evaporate and it’s like going to sleep, I’m told. Less fortunately, something powerful nearby eats your soul and consumes your mana.”

“Eats your soul?” Reggie asked with a tremor in his voice.

“Like Lilith or Sammael,” Antefalken stated.

“Or any demon prince, and some archdemons,” Boggy added.

“Ick,” Rupert said.

“Yeah, from the screams of the consumed souls, I’d have to say it isn’t pleasant,” Tizzy remarked as Tom grunted and lifted with his legs. There was a huge and painful screech and the portcullis lifted.

“Don’t let him freak you out, Rupert,” Boggy interjected. “That is a worst case scenario. Remember, we regenerate quickly and efficiently. In order to kill someone permanently, you have to halt the regeneration process somehow.”

“How do you do that?” Rupert asked.

“Well, there are several ways,” Boggy said.

“The simplest is to make regeneration so difficult and time consuming that they just give up and stop trying,” Tizzy said rather somberly all of a sudden.

“Okay, everyone through.” They all scurried through and Tom gently lowered the portcullis back down. “I have no idea how to keep it up.”

Tizzy pointed to a nearby alcove. “That was, or is, the wheelhouse for it. There would be a hook for the chains, but it’s not important.” He motioned and they continued down the corridor.

At this point, Tom was able to note that the corridors were a bit more even, as if the tighter spots had been carved out to be wider and more uniform.

“So did a lot of demons die permanently in these wars?” Rupert called up to Tizzy.

“Often. That is why so many demons you meet today are not that old, generally not much more than three thousand years, give or take. While many did die, an equal number of battle-scarred demons tired of the demon princes’ games and high-tailed it out to places unknown in the Abyss. Off to the Hinterlands.”

“So there are other demon societies? Ones not tied to the Courts?” Tom asked.

Tizzy shrugged. “I suppose. I’m sure some of them set up other demon villages or cities. At the time, it was mainly greater demons and below who left, a few archdemons as well. Obviously almost no princes.”

Antefalken shook his head. “I really should be taking notes. Lilith and friends never mention any of this.”

“Why?” Reggie asked.

Antefalken shrugged. “I am sure they want everyone to believe that they are the only option. Either submit to them or you are on your own versus everyone else in the Abyss. Standard power consolidation. Start with us versus them, and then make sure everyone believes the ‘them’ are solitary hermits with no resources, luxuries or hope.”