The Heavenly Host

“Orcs?” Damien asked, surprised.

“Tom is being sworn in as king of the D’Orcs, which are based on orcs. These four, or rather five with Trig, are his shamans. Tal Gor is from Astlan, down near Jotungard and Murgandy.”

“So I take it they had longstanding ties to Mount Doom?” Damien asked.

Antefalken shook his head. “Not at all. Tom had to seek them out to get supplies for this party. Not a lot of stores or merchants nearby.”

∼

“Welcome, Beya!” Tom greeted the final shaman as she came through the portal.

“Lord Tommus, it is my honor to be at this glorious occasion!” She bowed her head.

“We have a suite of rooms for our mortal guests; each of you will have your own room off a common living area. We think we’ve got everything covered, including water and reliable cooling,” Tom said as he closed the portal. “There is a balcony that will provide a great view of the ceremony; however, you are also welcome to attend on the main floor of the arena. It will be a very long ceremony, as I have mentioned, so come and go as you please. I, of course, will be busy most of the time, but I will have someone available to assist all of you.”

“You are most gracious, My Lord.” Beya nodded again.

“I shall take you to the suites. My demon bard, Antefalken, will be giving a tour prior to the ceremony,” Tom told her as they walked along. “The others are already there.”

“Antefalken?” Beya said.

“Yes, have you heard of him?” Tom asked.

“There is a famous orc bard from about three hundred years ago by the same very unusual name,” Beya said thoughtfully.

“Well, given all the demons I’ve been uncovering pretending to be mortals lately, I suppose it could be the same. However, my Antefalken doesn’t look anything like an orc. He’s way too small, and as far as I know, he can’t shape-change.”

“Ahh, speaking of that. It would be good if we could speak at some point regarding your son and his friend, Fer-Rog,” Beya said.

“Did they cause problems for you?” Tom asked, suddenly concerned.

Beya smiled and bowed slightly. “Not in the manner you fear. But they might cause you some issues,” she said with a chuckle.

“Rupert does have a tendency to get in over his head,” Tom admitted.

“I think both boys have great shamanistic potential, and that is what I would like to discuss,” Beya told Tom.

“Really? That is great news! We need more shamans here in Mount Doom if we are to resume interactions with Midgard. I can’t open every portal myself, and we need end points in both locations.”

“Exactly.” Beya smiled as they approached the suite. “Which brings me to the question I am most interested in.”

“Which is?” Tom asked, smiling back.

“Well, you’ve brought your shamans and wizards through to Mount Doom and closed the gateways behind us. How exactly are we going to get back with no one on the other side?” Beya asked curiously.

Tom stopped in his tracks. “Shit. How did I not think of that?” He felt his stomach sink to his knees.

Chapter 108

Randolf, Exador, Gandros, Lenamare, Jehenna, Tureledor and Davron had just finished a conclave to discuss the conditions for the tests to confirm the humanity of Exador and his colleagues. They had filed down from the small Atrium of Archos, where the meeting had been held, and had just entered the grand foyer of the palace, which was the closest crossway to each councilor’s respective regions of the palace, when Randolf noted Ruiden approaching them.

Randolf blinked. While there was a fair amount of fierdlight coming through the large windows of the grand foyer, Ruiden seemed to be reflecting an ever-increasing amount of light as he approached. It had to be some sort of magical effect, which swords were, in fact, known to have under various conditions. Ruiden had not been glowing when Randolf had spoken with the sword, and none of his colleagues had reported this either. He was not sure what to make of this, but it did not bode well.

“Councilors!” Ruiden came up in front of the small group before they could split off to go their own directions.

“Ruiden.” Gandros, Lenamare and Tureledor all nodded and greeted the sword. All the councilors with the exception of Exador and Trevin had been interviewed by the sword at this point. Randolf had to suppress a small chuckle at remembering how Gandros had expressed the wish that the rest of the Rod were as pleasant to deal with as the sword.

“Councilor Exador,” Ruiden addressed the mage.

Exador, of course, had no idea who Ruiden was; he had not been present at any of the council meetings where the sword and its investigation had been discussed.

“What are you?” Exador said rather tersely. He was looking at the now very obviously glowing sword.

“I am Ruiden, Sword of Talarius.”

“You are a sword?” Exador asked, frowning at the odd statement.

“Yes. I am the sword Ruiden, currently in the service of the Knight Rampant of Tiernon, Talarius.” Ruiden nodded politely. “I am investigating the abduction of Sir Talarius and have been interviewing all relevant parties.”