The Heavenly Host

He turned his attention back to the ground at his feet. His pentagram had successfully stopped a crevice at its borders. Small cracks began appearing all around the pentagram, but not inside. It could block these because the pentagram had been tuned to Exador specifically and it was his magic causing the crevice. He had not been sure whether that level of indirectness would work without a true name, but it was.

Randolf glanced at Davron even as he kept on scourging Exador. Davron’s pentagram would not be tuned; fortunately, no large crevices were splitting off near his position. Red tendrils were now twisting out of Davron’s staff and were heading towards Exador.

CRACK!

A cracking noise far worse than the windows breaking, came from above. Randolf glanced up to see the ceiling cracking open. He mentally cursed; between wooden beams that were rapidly charring, the tie rods now most likely burnt from the flaming wall curtains, and the shifting of the columns, the stone roof was about to give way.

Exador cursed loudly as Davron’s red tendrils began raking him with a new level of pain, added to what Randolf was inflicting. Randolf looked at the demon to see his right fist swing out towards the columns on the other side of the room. As if in slow motion, his giant fist struck through first one column, and then another. There was a large groaning and creaking noise as the archways above the two struck columns began to give way under the weight above them. The archways lurched and suddenly there was a terrific cracking sound from above as the ceiling stones gave way.

“Gandros! If you can keep the side wall from collapsing, I’ll take care of the roof tiles!” Jehenna shouted over the links.

“Will do!” Gandros replied, even as the ceiling stones began falling down into the foyer. Jehenna gestured and flung the largest stone away from the area of the fight into an empty part of the room. The ceiling was rapidly fragmenting in a chain reaction. She was going to be busy.

Randolf whipped at Exador with renewed emphasis.

Exador screamed and stared directly at him again. “Okay, you lying deviant! I have had it with you and playing in your world! Time to come play in mine!” he screamed in pain and rage. He twisted his left hand in what almost looked like a rude gesture, and suddenly a circle of flame appeared on the floor halfway between the two of them.

Randolf blinked to see a portal exactly like the one the greater demon had used to kidnap Talarius. He glanced over to see that Ruiden was still stuck under a great mound of ice.

“Let us see how your pentagram works when there is no floor under it!” Exador shouted.

Randolf suddenly realized that the circle of flame was expanding to move under his pentagram. It was an extra-dimensional space. Dung droppings! It was highly unlikely that the pentagram would notice it. It was not an attack targeting him or the pentagram; it was just a void that would happen to come between him and the floor onto which the pentacles were inscribed. However, Randolf’s body would still fall right through it, as would all of his gear.

Before he could even begin to try a spell to reverse the hole, the circle passed through his pentagram and he was falling! He was in free fall in a very, very hot place. He looked up to see a twenty-foot-diameter hole in the red sky, with Exador peering over the edge in glee.

“Crispin! I wish to be transported to a safe location in the foyer!” Randolf screamed vocally and over their master-djinn link.

Randolf slammed into the floor at the back of the foyer as his djinn did a line-of-sight teleport through the hole between worlds. Dung beetles, that hurt! Randolf thought to himself as shooting pain raced up his legs from the impact. He heard Exador scream once more in rage and fury. Randolf’s spell had been broken when his components had fallen into the Abyss, but Davron’s was still affecting the archdemon. However, Randolf suspected it was not pain but the fury of being thwarted that had spawned Exador’s outburst.

“Enough of this!” boomed an incredibly loud voice from above, startling everyone. Randolf looked up to see Alexandros Mien floating through the very open skeletal remains of the ceiling. The still-violent winds were only moderately ruffling his robes, although his thin hair was standing on end and fluttering rapidly.

“Exador, you are no longer welcome in Freehold!” The ancient mage raised his staff as if pointing to something in the sky and swept it quickly down at Exador. As he did, there was an ear-splitting whistling or roaring noise, completely unlike that of the chimneys.