The Heavenly Host

Tom put his head in his claws. “I am surrounded by crazy people!” He lifted his head and looked around at everyone. “You do all realize that I am not a demon prince, Talarius’s paranoia aside. If I pretend to be their reborn dark lord, and take their allegiance, then everyone in the Abyss and beyond is going to think I’m a demon prince and will therefore come after me and my horde!”

They were silent for a moment. “Well, technically they already are,” Rupert said. Tom looked at him askance.

“The boy’s right,” Antefalken said. “We are hiding down here in the Abyss, worrying about a Heavenly Host descending on Freehold in pursuit of us out of vengeance for your actions. In addition, we were just talking about hiding in the Crystal Caverns because Lilith is on the lookout for us. She really wants to know your secret so she can do it herself. You can bet all the other demon princes will be thinking the same thing.”

“Really not seeing a downside, my lad,” Boggy said, shaking his head. “You were already in over your head; a horde of D’Orcs might be able to keep you afloat. It will certainly give people pause before they attack you.”

“Not to mention there’s a crapload of money downstairs in the caverns,” Rupert said.

Tom looked around, feeling completely beaten down by this crazed reality. “I need some rest; I am going to lie down. There are other rooms in the suite; if you want to rest and heal from the hounds, that would probably be a good idea.” He looked at Boggy. “If you want to go help plan the party, go ahead. Just don’t make any major commitments for me beyond the party.”

Antefalken nodded. “Good point. As Tom’s closest advisors, people will come to us trying to get an ‘in’ with Tom. Be very careful.”

“Hmm, there were quite a few hot warrior babes out there in the crowd. Might go see if any of them want to party now, so to speak,” Reggie said, making a lascivious face. Tom just shook his head.

“I’m going to explore the suite and then take a nap. I’m beat, and still have dog bites I need to heal,” Rupert said.

“I’ll go with you guys,” Estrebrius said to Boggy.

Talarius simply marched out of the room, presumably to find a place to rest.

Tom stood and went over to the giant bed, grabbed his mace and lay down on his side, curling up as tightly as he could. He had used a lot of mana on the various runes and charging the mace, but it was not just that; it was this whole sudden crush of responsibility coming down on him.

He had somehow blundered into agreeing to take on responsibility for a few thousand down-on-their-luck D’Orcs looking for a savior. He was teenager, for God’s sake. Suddenly becoming Rupert’s fake dad had seemed like too much responsibility; now he was going to take on responsibility for a giant horde of demonic orc warriors out for vengeance? Agghh. He just wanted the world to go away for a while!

Chapter 98

^{DOF +5}

^{Period 1 16-02-440}

Bess surveyed the gardens as Usiris climbed the steps to the villa’s terrace. She smiled and gestured to the pitcher of fruit juice and glasses on the table beside her.

“Greetings. It’s been some time,” Usiris said, sitting down in the other chair.

“Too long, my dearest.” Bess smiled back at him as he poured himself some juice.

“May we live in interesting times.” Usiris raised his glass in their traditional toast, to which Bess joined with her glass.

“Indeed, we are.” Bess laughed lightly. “I can feel the electric tension in the air. The Wheel of Life has the entirety of New Nyjyr practically jumping out of its skin.”

Usiris gave her a quick grin. “Well, we have a lot of souls needing bodies to incarnate into, so every fertile adult needs to get busy! We shall have a bumper crop of babies in a few months!”

“Unless you are planning on a lot of multiple births, I’m not sure we have enough people,” Bess replied, looking worriedly across the valley below.

Usiris smiled again, more broadly. “True. However, our faithful agent Merit-Ptah in Natoor” — he pointed vaguely upward in the direction of the continent of Natoor on the giant planet that provided the light over the valley this evening — “has been hard at work.”

“Really? Do tell,” Bess said.

“She has summoned, or rather created, a brand-new incubus,” Usiris said.

“An incubus? If she wanted to get laid, she should have just come here.” Bess shook her head and gestured at the recently extra-fertile valley around them.

“No.” Usiris laughed. “Although I am sure she is enjoying this young incubus’s services. No, we shall load the incubus with a serum I am deriving from the Wheel of Life’s energies.”

“You are planning on using an incubus to seed followers in Natoor?” Bess asked curiously. “How will we shepherd them in the faith? We have not been able to keep a priest alive down there for a very long time. And we don’t have that many followers left there for secretly home schooling that many.”

“I have some ideas that I’m working on,” Usiris said.

“Go on...” Bess purred.