The Heavenly Host

She needed to remind herself what a very productive day this had been. The Grove was a thaumaturge’s paradise. There were plants here, in this single location, from all over Astlan, and apparently several other planes because there were quite a large number she did not recognize. Moreover, they were almost all in season. It was very odd, actually. However, she was not one to turn down the opportunity to stock up on esoteric and nearly impossible-to-find spell components. She had ended up having to ask Danfaêr if he could find her some spare sacks she could use, as her backpack was getting too full. He cheerfully complied and she now had an extremely large sack filled with smaller sacks of precious ingredients for spells and some potions and remedies. Today had literally been a field day!

She had to admit, this place could be mistaken for heaven. Clearly, Gastropé was mistaking it for such. She glanced over at him as the nymphs were taking turns kissing him. Jenn shook her head, disgusted, yet feeling oddly disconnected and removed. She poured herself some more alvaren ice wine. It was so incredible!

Even the normally staid Elrose was enjoying himself out there dancing. He really was an incredible dancer. Maelen looked a bit shaky in comparison, although Jenn doubted she could have done any better, and Maelen was an old man. Not as old as Trevin, of course — and where was she? Jenn glanced around. Oh, there she was. The enchantress was giving this insanely huge satyr a lap dance, her fleshy, full, yet firm thighs undulating obscenely in the satyr’s lap. Her taut back with its supple skin was exposed by her too-tight, revealing outfit. She arched her back, bending over backward in his lap, revealing her large, firm breasts to the clearing. Her youthful cheeks were glowing red with warmth, her full, pouting lips smiling with lascivious delight.

Jenn fuzzily wondered why she had ever thought this young enchantress was old. The woman more than held her own against the nymphs and dryads. She had pitied Maelen and Elrose for being locked up in that underground meeting room with the enchantress and other elders of the Grove, but seeing her now, Jenn realized the two men might have enjoyed the close confines with the enchantress.

∼

Tom and Antefalken sat on a boulder outside Tom’s cave. Reggie, Rupert and Talarius had all wanted to sleep. Talarius was still healing, Reggie was new and, Tom was sure, exhausted. Rupert just had bad habits; hopefully he would grow out of them. Although to be fair, Tom reflected, just going unconscious and letting the world go by without him sometimes seemed appealing.

Tizzy, Estrebrius and Boggy were about a thousand feet away, arguing about where to take Rupert sightseeing tomorrow. They were all going a bit stir crazy, stuck in the cave endlessly rehashing things, so they had decided to take Rupert and Talarius sightseeing. It would also be good for Reggie and Tom.

“So you think I should take this crazy wizard up on his offer?” Tom asked Antefalken.

The bard sighed. “I am conflicted, but I think it could be useful. You may need to get out of the Abyss in a hurry at some point, and having a warlock that you can directly contact via link and have summon you could be extremely useful. It is also a lot more reliable than hijacking random summoning spells.”

Tom gave a short laugh. “Yes, and it’s far less likely to scare the crap out of someone and get another army after me.”

“Exactly,” Antefalken agreed.

“However, why do you think I might need to get out of the Abyss in a hurry?”

Antefalken grimaced. “Well, it may be nothing, but Lilith was pretty insistent on your coming to stay with her. If she were to somehow locate you, fleeing to Astlan would be one of the best ways to avoid her.” He shrugged. “Of course, by that logic, you would probably want to find warlocks in multiple planes, make yourself even harder to find.”

“If that’s such a good idea, why don’t more demons have hidden warlocks?” Tom asked.

Antefalken shrugged again. “I don’t know that they don’t; not if they are hidden as you say. However, my suspicion is that the princes and archdemons have more reliable ways to get where they want to go on the Planes of Men than depending on warlocks.”

“I don’t suppose you have any idea how one links to a wizard to make them a warlock?” Tom asked.

Antefalken shook his head and laughed. “You are our resident expert on possession and such things.”

“Argh. I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“If it helps,” Antefalken said, “from what I’ve read and heard, a warlock is to a demon not unlike a familiar is to a wizard. So that might be one route.”

“A familiar — you mean a black cat or something?” Tom asked.

Antefalken nodded. “That is a common one, but a familiar can be any animal, and sometimes even an imp or other small demon.”

“But I’m guessing you don’t know the familiar spell?” Tom asked.