The Heavenly Host

He climbed the stairs to the next floor and stepped off quickly, nearly colliding with a short D’Orc. “Ack!” The D’Orc made a surprised noise, but then recognized Rupert. Rupert blinked and recognized the short D’Orc as well. It was the one they had surprised in the hallway that had set off the alarm.

“Hey!” Rupert said. “We meet again.”

“Yeah.” The D’Orc suddenly looked very nervous and uncomfortable. “I’m sorry for running like that. I have shamed myself and my lineage.”

“Don’t worry about that!” Rupert said, making a waving motion. “Given how things worked out, your running and alerting everyone was the best option. If you’d stood and fought, well...”

“I’d be dead,” the D’Orc said morosely.

“Well, I’d hope not. You’re a kid like me, right?” Rupert asked.

The D’Orc nodded somberly. “I’m Fer-Rog, son of Zelda, and I have ten Abyssal years.”

“Cool!” Rupert said, sticking out his hand. “I’m Rupert, you know my dad too, and I’m, well... I don’t know, about twelve Astlanian years, roughly. I don’t know what that is in Abyssal years.”

Fer-Rog stared suspiciously at the hand for a moment and then awkwardly shook it.

“Your mom is the Steward of the Mount?” Rupert asked; Fer-Rog nodded his head. “Then we should definitely hang out, as I’m sure your mom and my dad will be working together a lot.” Rupert paused for a moment. “Who is your dad?”

Fer-Rog frowned. “My sire was Ser-Rog of the Bear Clan of Verasai.”

“Was?” Rupert asked, concerned.

Fer-Rog nodded. “He fell in combat during the last raid of the Lilith Spawn, a few days before my birth. He died trying save the life of my grandfather, Trogthor, the Steward of the Mountain. Neither regenerated, and my mother became steward that day.”

“I’m sorry,” Rupert said, and then frowned. “Wait, you said they didn’t regenerate? Why not?” Even the hydra hounds regenerated.

Fer-Rog sighed. “There are multiple reasons. In some cases, the individual’s body requires so much repair that the individual cannot summon the mana to bring everything back together, or at least do so in a reasonable number of years; they then give up and let themselves go. In other cases, the demons do have a few weapons capable of ending a demon or D’Orc permanently.”

“That’s horrible.” Rupert shook his head in horror at the thought.

Fer-Rog nodded. “I am told that the frequency of such happenings has increased in the last thousand years or so.” He shrugged. “That should end now with your father’s return.”

“I hope so,” Rupert said. “But unfortunately, that won’t bring your father back. Again, I am sorry. I lost my mother a few years ago, so I know what it feels like.” Fer-Rog looked at him again and sort of nodded in acknowledgement of the pain. “So, where were you going?”

“I have combat training with the others in my age cohort,” Fer-Rog said.

“That’s a coincidence! I was just thinking how much I needed some combat training. May I come and watch?” Rupert asked.

Fer-Rog shrugged. “I do not believe Xaroth can say no. However, even if he could I would seriously doubt he would. He is a firm believer in everyone being at his or her best. So, I am sure if you ask, he will evaluate you and place you in an appropriate class.”

∼

^{DOF +5}

^{Late Afternoon 16-02-440}

“Greetings, master and fellow servant of Tommus!” Estrebrius shouted excitedly as he appeared in his summoning pentagram in Vaselle’s lab.

“Greetings, Estrebrius. They’ve taken down the city’s wards against demons and pretty much everything else,” Vaselle said. “I’ve summoned you because I’m going to need help hauling all of these supplies back here so we can send them to Lord Tommus.”

“I think he said you could call him Tom. He really seems to prefer that for some reason,” Estrebrius said.

“It just seems a bit too familiar,” Vaselle said, frowning.

“Well, you did cast a ‘familiar’ spell on yourself.” Estrebrius grinned. “Besides, as demon princes go, he’s really extremely nice.”

Vaselle’s eyes widened. “So he is a demon prince? Official rumor was greater demon, but everyone figured he was one of the archdemons. No one suspected a demon prince in the city!”

Estrebrius rocked his head from side to side. “Well, Tom denies he’s a demon prince. In fact, he says he’s only a greater demon.” Vaselle looked at him, not understanding what Estrebrius meant. The little demon continued, “But, while you were working on your spell, we all went treasure hunting in these caverns that turned out to be under Mount Doom. After a few battles with hydra hounds and fleeing a bunch of D’Orcs, Tom managed to destroy a bunch of Etonian runes and then seized control of the Wand of Orcus and renamed it the Rod of Tommus. He then restarted Mount Doom and is now considered to be the reincarnation of Orcus by something like 2,000 plus D’Orcs!”

Estrebrius stopped for a moment to catch his breath. “And that would make him a demon prince and according to the D’Orcs, the archrival of Lilith, the Empress of the Abyss!”