The Heavenly Host

“I suspect they know we are here, as we aren’t that quiet, so if they’re going to shoot us out of the sky as we leave, or pursue us, going up to the dais probably won’t make a huge difference.” Antefalken shrugged.

Tom looked back to Talarius.

The knight sighed. “ This is your world, demon. I am a stranger here and don’t know the protocols of war on this plane.”

“I guess we follow Tizzy. However, when we get up there, I should probably take the first look. If they charge or start shooting stuff, I can probably fend them off long enough to give you guys time to flee.” Tom pointed straight upward.

He started down the bridge to the dais. He caught up with Tizzy at the foot of the stairs; the demon had not been walking that fast. Tizzy grinned at him. “Good, I was hoping you’d come. I’d much prefer you to go out there first in case they start shooting.”

“Thanks,” Tom said. That was what he had offered, but Tizzy made it sound worse.

“No problem!” Tizzy took a puff of his pipe.

Tom headed up the stairs, the others following. The stairs were sized a bit large for most of the other demons, but a bit small for him. Maybe they were D’Orc sized. Tom came to the top of the stairs behind the throne. It was a very large throne; it would be good sized even for Tom. He adjusted his grip on his mace, the Rod of Tommus, and confidently stepped out around the edge of the dais, ready for pandemonium.

The throne was raised a few feet above the dais, which appeared to be actually part of the throne. As Tom came around the right side of the throne, there appeared to be a holder for a rod about the height of Tom’s rod. Apparently, the previous owner of the rod had owned the throne as well. That would make sense.

As he came around the dais, he could see a large crowd of D’Orcs, perhaps two thousand as Estrebrius had said. They were all well ordered in sections of about 100 each, and all were on their knees, staring at the dais. There were a few still coming in from rear bridges and quietly kneeling in formation. He noticed they had been whispering, but they fell silent as Tom came around and stood before the throne.

Silence ruled. Tom had no idea what to do. For the moment he stood reviewing the mass of D’Orcs. They were rather ragtag and worn. There were men, women, and now more obviously children. All kneeling before the throne silently; a very unexpected turn of events. There was a loud rumbling from below them and another large burp. He watched for a reaction from the D’Orcs to see if they were frightened or concerned. Surprisingly, while most acted as if nothing had happened, some of the younger D’Orcs seemed excited or happy about the lava burp, as if it was hard to contain their glee.

He supposed he should say something. But what? Maybe he should start with something simple. He had no clue what to say that would not get him attacked. He had no idea what was going on. Maybe it was the rod they respected; raising that for them to see might be a good idea.

“Greetings. I am Tommus!” He raised the Rod of Tommus above his head for all to see. He had no real idea where this Tommus vs. Thomas pronunciation came from; it had just popped up and sounded a lot cooler. More demon-like.

A loud cheer rose from the D’Orc horde and they all suddenly started shouting. “Tommus! Tommus! Tommus!” Tom felt his stomach drop a bit. Okay, not expecting that. Really. This was getting stranger and stranger. They were chanting his name loudly and enthusiastically. He needed to initiate some real dialog, figure out what was going on. He gestured them to be quiet so he could speak.

“Who speaks for you?” Tom asked when they had quieted down.

There was a second or so of a pause and then a relatively well dressed, extremely large female D’Orc in the front row center stood up and bowed deeply before marching forward to the foot of the dais. She then knelt and bowed, her head touching the floor.

“Oh Great Master, Lord of Lords, Demon of Demons, I am Zelda, daughter of Trogthor, son of Mythgar, son of your faithful steward Grognar, who gave his last breath to defend this fortress from the clutches of Lilith the Eternally Damned. I am the last adult of my line and the leader of the Faithful. We have longed for this day when you would return to us reborn, oh mighty one! Long have we waited, bearing our shame and the shame of our forebears, and today we are overjoyed at your prophesied return!”

Still bowing and not looking at him, Zelda rose and gestured to the crowd behind her. “We beg your forgiveness for our sorry state, but rest assured we are ready for your commands, ready to strike your vengeance against those who have so gravely wronged you!”

Oh, shit, was the only thing Tom could think.

Chapter 97

^{DOF +4}

^{Night 16-01-440}