The Heavenly Host

Edwyrd reflected on his conversation about maps with Vaselle as they made their way to the palace and Damien’s suite. He had mentioned all the work he had to do to bring Mount Doom up to date, and that was very true, but the real insight was that it was something to do. Up until he had freed the Rod of Tommus, he had not really had anything to do. He had had no goal other than getting by day-to-day. Now he had something worth doing, something constructive to actually do with his time. That was exciting. It was surprising how much better he felt having something to do, something to plan for and look forward to. He had been feeling pretty depressed in his old day-to-day rut, bouncing from disaster to disaster and contemplating doing that for thousands of years. However, rebuilding Mount Doom and the D’Orcs and their networks — that was something to keep him occupied for centuries, if not longer. There were infinite worlds to explore. Things to do, places to go. Really, this could be a lot of fun!

Of course, there was the small detail of the Church and Rod of Tiernon, and presumably this Lilith woman who hated D’Orcs for some reason. However, he should be able to reach an accommodation with them. He had no desire for conquest, just for ensuring good lives for his people. It would take some effort, but he was sure he could work out deals. He hoped so, at least. He had seen how difficult Talarius could be; Tiernon and the rest were probably worse.

They were just starting up the stairs to Damien’s suite’s floor when he realized that he was thinking about negotiating a treaty with a god. Okay, somebody’s ego was getting out of check! Edwyrd grinned to himself. The two walked down the hallway to Damien’s suite and Vaselle knocked on the door.

One of Damien’s valets opened the door and let them in. Damien came into the sitting room from the dining room.

“Welcome back, Edwyrd, Vaselle,” Damien said, reaching his hand out in greeting to Edwyrd and then Vaselle. “I think the later time worked out better because we can have dinner.”

“Definitely. I’ve been looking forward to catching up and getting your advice on various issues,” Edwyrd said. “Plus it’s a great opportunity to talk to both of you about making an arcane device that I think would be quite useful.”

∼

“So you have no idea what was behind those Etonian wards?” Damien asked after Edwyrd had finished relating his story. He had gone back to the major turning point in the story. Obviously a rather hard-to-believe incident.

Edwyrd shook his head. “Not a clue.” He gestured to Antefalken and said, “We were just out for sightseeing and picking up some treasure. We then got lost and in over our heads. It was purely random chance; a case of being in the right place at the right time.”

Antefalken nodded. “I admit, if I had not been there every single step of the way, I would never have believed this story.”

Damien closed his eyes and shook his head. “But how does one accidentally stumble upon the Wand of Orcus?” He opened his eyes. “Lost, hidden and shielded by Etonian runes for thousands of years, right in the old seat of this demon prince’s lair?”

Edwyrd chuckled. “And not only that. These were not just Etonian runes; this stuff was pure Tiernon magic. I could easily see that, and the trick I learned in battle, how to decode their mana streams — I used the same trick on these runes and then used the excess mana I’d stolen to meld with and subvert the wards. I was basically masquerading as an avatar of Tiernon.” Edwyrd blinked as he said this, having not really thought of that angle before.

“How do you plan something like that?” Antefalken asked.

Damien shook his head and shrugged. “I have no idea; I could not have foreseen the results of your battle with Talarius, let alone the way in which the battle came about thanks to Lenamare.”

“Exactly, it was completely random that we went treasure hunting at Mount Doom,” Antefalken said.

Edwyrd frowned. “Well — I’m not so sure on that point.”

The others looked at Edwyrd. “It may simply be his insanity, but when I freed the Rod of Tommus from the stones, Tizzy was looking happier, more ecstatic than I’ve ever seen him. He was literally dancing, or at least I think that was what he was doing. It could have been a seizure.”

Antefalken squinted. “Well, it was his idea to go there.”

“And he knew a lot of the D’Orcs,” Edwyrd pointed out. “And they didn’t seem to like him.”

“Which proves they probably did know him,” Antefalken pointed out.

“But the idea that Tizzy planned all this doesn’t make much sense, given that it is Tizzy we are talking about. You’ve known him much longer than I have; have you ever known him to be able to carry out anything that required planning?”