The Heavenly Host

“So who is she?” Reggie interrupted.

Tizzy shook his head. “She’s the Empress of the Damned, of course.”

“The Empress of the Damned?” Tom asked.

“She is about as close to being a ruler as the Abyss gets.” Boggy shrugged.

Antefalken continued, “She is one of the two Co-Factors, she and her consort, Sammael. They are the two most powerful demons in the Abyss, after the Concordenax.”

Reggie asked, “The Concordenax?”

“The Demon Father, the creator of all demons,” Estrebrius chimed in.

Tizzy suddenly started coughing loudly, pulling the pipe from his mouth and billowing out clouds of smoke. He looked up, realizing everyone was staring at him. “Sorry, inhaled the wrong way!”

“And where is he in all this?” Tom asked. “I read about him in a treatise, but it says he’s been missing for some time.”

Antefalken shrugged. “No one knows. Other than Lilith and Sammael, I do not know anyone who has ever claimed to have met him, or so much as seen him. And Lilith has no idea where he went, but he’s been gone for an extremely long time, even by demon standards.”

“This is all getting much more complicated than I’d expected.” Tom sighed.

Tizzy made a harrumphing sound.

“You think this is complicated, wait until Tiernon’s folks show up on your ledge with an arrest warrant!” Talarius chuckled, apparently with glee.

“I don’t think they’re going to come down into the Abyss.” Antefalken shook his head.

“That would be considered a broach of détente.” Boggy was nodding.

“But it would be kinda interesting,” Tizzy whined.

Estrebrius was shaking his head, clearly wanting no part of such an invasion.

“Yes, but more important, I’m not sure if they’d have access to all their resources here,” Antefalken said.

“What do you mean?” Tom asked.

“Well, look at our friend over there.” He pointed to Talarius. “You can’t feel your deity right now, can you?” Antefalken asked.

The knight simply glared at the bard. Antefalken continued after a moment of the knight’s silence. “I mentioned this earlier; clerics tend to get disconnected from their gods here, and no souls can escape without being intentionally released somehow. From what I have seen, and what Lilith has said, clerics can only do minor rituals here that draw on their own mana, or the mana from any followers in their immediate party. Those links they have to the higher planes don’t work here.”

“So his agents would be cut off from him?” Tom asked.

Antefalken shrugged. “That’s what I’m thinking.”

“And that’s why it would be interesting!” Tizzy exclaimed, pounding one of his fists into its opposing palm. “We could capture them, torture them, eat them!” He got a slightly wild look in his eye. “All that super-sweet angel mana!” He closed his eyes. “I bet their souls are really tasty!”

“You foul beast!” Talarius spat at Tizzy.

Tizzy turned and grinned at him. “I bet they’re even tastier than Paladins!”

The knight shrugged. “I’m not a Paladin, I’m a Knight Rampant, and so your ignorant point is wasted.”

“Enough!” Tom said. “No one is eating anyone, and we aren’t going to worry yet about Tiernon’s people coming for a visit. We take this one day at a time!” Tom was really starting to stress out. He was definitely in over his head. He sighed. “I think we need to consider this Lilith thing a bit more. How about Estrebrius’s accursed master? Do I take this meeting?”

Estrebrius grinned rather oddly and wrung his hands. “Great One, do as you please. I’m just so grateful you are considering it. I swear, my master is no threat to you. He does not have that much power, and as humans go, he is a good man. He’s never tried to screw me over; he’s really the best master I’ve ever had!”

Tom nodded. “Boggy?”

“Estrebrius has talked about this master with me before, and he sounds pretty reasonable. Moreover, I am pretty sure he can’t hurt you in any way. You’ve been dealing with far greater wizards than Vaselle.”

“Antefalken?” Tom turned his head to the bard.

Antefalken shrugged. “I don’t know the man, but my guess is that he’s an average wizard, certainly not on par with any of the Council members. Lenamare and his crew are far more dangerous and you have taken their measure. He’ll be stronger than Gastropé, I’d bet, but probably not that much stronger.”

“And you don’t think it’s a trap?” Tom asked.

Estrebrius shook his head from side to side, vehemently indicating it was not.

Antefalken responded, “Not this soon. Given what everyone in Freehold has probably heard or seen, anyone thinking of setting a trap would want more time for preparation. Quite a bit more time.”

“Did you hear something?” Reggie suddenly asked, turning around in circles as if looking for the source of something he had just heard.