The Heavenly Host

“Nice to meet you. I will leave you to interview whichever colleague of mine you wish.” Exador gave the sword a small smile and nod and attempted to pass.

“I am sorry, Councilor; I was imprecise,” Ruiden said.

Exador had moved towards the sword’s left, but turned his head to respond. “Not a problem. It was interesting to meet you.”

“Councilor,” Ruiden said, turning to face Exador. “I have already interviewed your colleagues here and would now like to interview you. I realize you have been quite busy, but I have been trying to reach you for an interview and this is the first moment I have been able to make contact with you.”

Exador stopped again and stared for a moment. “As you say, I am very busy, and am under a number of time constraints. I fear I don’t have time to be interviewed at the moment.”

“Quite understandable,” Ruiden said politely. “May we please set a time and place that we may talk?”

Exador sighed, annoyed. “Why do you need to interview me? I was not a participant in the battle and have no knowledge of anything useful to you.”

“I am sorry, but I respectfully disagree,” Ruiden said. “Other than Councilor Lenamare, you are perhaps the most relevant person for me to interview in this case.”

Exador shook his head, not understanding. “Why do you say that?” His temper was starting to rise'.

Randolf was more than familiar with the mage’s tone. He quickly got a sick feeling in his stomach as his adrenaline levels started to rise. “Crispin,” he called to the djinn over their master-djinn link. “I think the situation with Exador may be about to go critical. Start breaking out the gear. Get down to the lab and start prepping it to move to the Grand Foyer if I should need it.”

“Seriously?” Crispin responded over the link.

“Afraid so. Hurry!” Randolf ordered.

“Well, first and foremost, you were the closest wizard to the battle between Talarius and Lenamare’s demon,” Ruiden stated.

Exador interrupted, “How do you determine that?”

“Councilor, we have all seen the balling with you, Ramses the Damned and another demoness watching the battle.”

“What are you talking about? I did observe the battle from a carpet, but I was not on any carpet with Ramses the Damned and a demoness,” Exador said. “Those were my human associates.”

Ruiden tilted his head to the left slightly. “Unfortunately, the balling does not allow me to verify that the woman was a demoness; however, the garb of your male colleague was unmistakably that of a Time Warrior. I am personally familiar with the outfit. He also looked the same as I remember Ramses the Damned looking from a similar distance.”

Exador shook his head in disbelief. “Are you saying you’ve seen any one of the Anilords named Ramses? And that you have personally seen Time Warriors?”

“Councilor, I have slain Time Warriors, and I have seen several of the Ramses on the field of battle, although I have not engaged them,” Ruiden stated without emotion.

“You’ve slain Time Warriors?” Jehenna asked incredulously.

Ruiden looked at her and nodded. “I have, several; albeit with different wielders. They are, or were, very difficult to kill.”

“Well, that’s all interesting, but have you stopped to think that my compatriot might just be a history buff?” Exador asked, clearly not amused by this line of questioning.

“If Ramses the Damned were a demon lord, it would explain his multiple incarnations and his ability to be here now,” Ruiden stated.

“Yes, but you have no proof that he was or is a demon. We have, in fact, just come from a meeting to discuss how to prove his humanity,” Exador said.

Ruiden nodded in acknowledgement. “True, but given that your colleague was on the carpet with you, it seems highly likely that he is also a very powerful demon.”

Exador squinted slightly and said very coldly to Ruiden, “What exactly do you mean by that? I have just stated that I am working with the Council to establish categorically that my colleagues and I are not archdemons!”

Ruiden seemed to shrug, which was a very odd motion for a metal golem, Randolf thought to himself.

“I do not know if you are an archdemon.” Ruiden stated in his dry voice. Exador smiled grimly in triumph. “But you are very clearly a demon of considerable power.”

Several nearby people, perhaps some of the other councilors, gasped at this very provocative statement. Randolf had to suppress a grin. He was nervous as the Abyss, but the sword was going to force the issue once and for all.

“Ruiden,” Gandros interjected, trying to calm the situation, Randolf suspected. “That is a very serious allegation that the council is working to verify. It seems to me that additional accusations are not needed at this stage.”

“Thank you, Chairman,” Exador said coldly.