The Heavenly Host

“How can we be lost if we know where each of us are? I do not need to find any of you. You are here. If you were lost, we would have to search for you. Like when I misplace my pipe. It’s then lost and I have to look for it.”

Tom rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay. We all need to remember we are talking to Tizzy.”

Tizzy gave him a strange look. “I’m standing right here; how would you forget you are talking to me?”

“I mean you operate on a higher plane of consciousness then most of us,” Tom said. It was the politest way he could think of to tell the demon he was crazy.

Tizzy gave a nod of thoughtful agreement, put his pipe in his mouth, and lit it with his left thumb.

Tom pointed in the opposite direction from the markings and the group proceeded down that passage. This part of the cavern system was a bit different. There were large swatches of demon-built masonry interspersed with dark rock. It was a very different sort of rock than previously. Before, the rock had been whiter and smoother. This rock was much craggier and far darker.

They came to another T intersection. “Right or left? Tom asked the group.

“Since we have no idea, let’s just pick one. Right?” Antefalken proposed.

Tom nodded and they headed right. He made a mark to indicate they had passed this way. They had followed the passage for several deminutes when Tom suddenly said, “Is it just me, or is it getting lighter?”

They all stopped and looked around. Antefalken nodded. “It does seem brighter, but it’s not as consistent as Abyss light.”

“I’m thinking we should move cautiously and quietly,” Talarius proposed softly. Tom nodded, as did the others. They proceeded along and soon they could see that the slowly flickering light was coming from up ahead. They could also now detect what sounded like conversation; however, it was not normal demonese as far as Tom could tell. It was more guttural.

Soon they got to a point where the corridor turned and they could clearly tell that the light and sound were coming from around the corner. Antefalken put a finger to his lips and crept quietly up and peered around the corner. He frowned slightly and then crouched and moved around the corner. Tom heard a small gulping sound, and then Antefalken snuck back around the corner.

He gestured them all to a huddle. “We are at the mouth of a ledge overlooking a large chamber. There is only room for a few of us at a time, and we need to keep low and peer over the edge to the floor about sixty feet below. I suggest we go two by two and take a look.”

The rest nodded. Tom motioned Talarius and Boggy to go next. When they came back, Boggy had a puzzled expression, but Tom could not see what the knight was thinking due to the helmet. Estrebrius, Rupert and Reggie went next, and then finally Tom and Tisdale. As the two looked over the edge, Tom noticed Tizzy’s eyes get wider and then he made a tsah noise with his teeth and tongue.

They scurried back to the group and Tom gestured for them to head back down the tunnel so they could talk with more confidence of not being heard. After a few deminutes, Tom gestured for them to stop. “I think Tizzy recognized what we saw. Anyone else?” Tom asked.

What Tom had seen was basically a large living chamber or barracks, perhaps for a tribe. He was not sure what to call it. In the chamber were a number of very oddly uniform-looking demons. They seemed to be of a specific type or form, not the usual hodgepodge. They were all different, but they shared the same core characteristics. All were eight to ten feet tall, most were red and pretty ugly. However, they had something of what Tom would call a porcine look. They had hooves, but their legs were much shorter than those of most hooved demons, and further apart. More like pigs’ legs, if pigs could stand on their hind legs.

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 — ”