The Heavenly Host

Arch-Diocate Iskerus, on the other hand, was staring at a point a few feet away, where a holy, albeit very dark, artifact of his god had been, apparently, repurposed. He reached down to hold his hand over it, feeling its aura. He had only ever examined the dagger once before and even though he had sensed his god’s presence in it, the darkness in it had terrified him. Now that darkness was gone, and in fact, he felt the normal radiance of a healing artifact of Tiernon. It was as if the blade had been reversed.

Reversed by a demon. A demon! Iskerus shuddered all the way down to the roots of his soul. How could this be? It was not possible. His mind boggled at the very idea! He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder; a priest. He could not remember the man’s name.

“Arch-Diocate, what should we do with the high priests who have collapsed, and Verigas?” someone asked.

“Take them to a quarantine tent; give them all the healing we safely can, but ensure every precaution is taken. Apply to them every purification you can find or imagine. I’ll provide more instructions later.”

“And the Rod members who were also possessed?” the same someone asked Iskerus.

“The same, different tent; disarm them, remove their armor and station guards,” Arch-Vicar General Barabus said, walking over. He extended his hand to Iskerus and the man took it, getting up slowly, suddenly feeling far older than his current age.

“Any thoughts?” Barabus asked as he led the Arch-Diocate back to his tent.

Iskarus gestured for a nearby high priest to secure the dagger. “Not yet. I’m numb.” That was the only word he could come up with.

“As am I, but I’m slowly waking. We need to put on a very brave face for the troops and the junior priests. A lot of faith has been shaken today; we must work to restore it.” Iskerus nodded in agreement. “For now, we must put aside our own doubts, fears, insecurities and not think too deeply upon our own questions. We must think of the souls in our care.”

“Agreed. So which of us gets to report this to the Supreme Temple?” Iskerus asked.

Barabus chuckled. “I hope that’s as far as this goes — I pray — but I am not convinced.”

∼

“What an Abyssal disaster!” Jenn exclaimed as she walked around the palace with Maelen and Gastropé. “Did no one think through the consequences of this?” Jenn waved her hands angrily towards a pile of rubble. “You’ve got hundreds of demons trapped in a palace, many with no way out, and then on short notice, with no real planning, you cast the most powerful banishment spell anyone has ever used?” She shook her head in exasperation. “How could these supposedly brilliant master wizards not even think to open the doors and windows?”

The palace looked like a war zone; windows were smashed everywhere, and the walls had holes in them, surrounded by rubble where demons had blasted through to escape the city.

“Seems like another detail beneath the bother of your friends Lenamare and Jehenna,” Maelen observed in his humorously sardonic manner. Jenn just shook her head.

Gastropé was scanning the area as they walked. “No demons, none. They are all gone. Amazing; I can’t believe it.”

“You would think they would tell people first, though,” Maelen said, noting more than a few people reclining near fountains, having previously fainted or soiled themselves when hundreds and hundreds of invisible demons had started popping up and desperately trying to flee via any means possible.

“This is so like men!” Jenn exclaimed. “Were there any women involved in this crazy scheme?”

“Jehenna,” Gastropé replied.

Jenn glared at him. “You know that icicle doesn’t count. She needs a bigger codpiece than most of the men I know.” Gastropé glared at her. “Yes, that includes you.” Jenn snapped and then suddenly realized what she was saying and softened. “I’m sorry, I’m just frustrated.” She grabbed his forearm and gave it a squeeze before releasing it.

“Where are Edwyrd and Rupert? I went to check on them, but they apparently didn’t return to their room after breakfast,” Jenn asked. Maelen shrugged and Gastropé went pale, which actually was not that unusual for him.

“Uhm,” Gastropé hedged, “they’re probably running around with Damien trying to clean things up. My understanding is that he didn’t know about this until this morning when they dragged him down to the wards.”

Jenn nodded. “He was with me all day yesterday. I am sure he was beat and went straight to bed last night.”

∼

Damien shook his head as he gazed downward at the mess in the palace from his balcony. Seriously, he had to wonder at his fellow council members. Abyss, he had to wonder about himself. He had allowed himself to be dragged into this undertaking at the last minute and then had been so overwhelmed by the complexity and ingenuity of the spell that he’d just gone along with it.