At the Gates of Darkness Part 21

'He ruled in the outer ring, as best I can tell,' said Gulamendis. 'It is an every-demon-for-himself sort of place, and he literally clawed and bullied his way to the top. Amirantha and I feel that what we had discerned about demons before all of this began was mainly true; demons hold a loose organization of alliances and services. They either destroy their rivals, absorbing their power, or take service. The weaker ones find a stronger demon to serve in exchange for protection, and the stronger demon then has a retinue ready to aid him in conflicts with his rivals. Much of rising and falling among the demons of the outer circle was the result of betrayal, ambush, and treachery. And it always raised the question in my mind how could anything remotely like a society arise from this chaos? How could they evolve beyond animal states, to have a language and magic?

'But here,' he said, indicating the inner circle, 'is the answer. Each canton has its own society, apparently an army, and a ruler. Demons who somehow evolve enough to escape the outer circle but who don't contest for domination, they find their way to one of these cantons and...' He shrugged. 'I'm not certain. Service? Slavery? Freedom?'

'We struggle to apply mortal concepts to a race more alien to us than any other we've encountered, even trolls and goblins.'

'Certainly true,' said Amirantha. 'The author of this work labelled these cantons with a variety of colourful names, "Pandamonia", "Discordia", "Despair", "The Miasma" and "The Fallen". We have no way of knowing much about them, what the demons called them, or even if the number is correct.

'He writes a great deal about experiences here on Midkemia, and the rest is inference.' Gulamendis sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. 'Putting aside the colourful embellishment, at the heart of this work stands this truth: another realm threatens our own, at the heart of which stands a society, or societies, we know almost nothing about, one that we were completely ignorant of until recently.' With no vanity, he pointed to Amirantha and said, 'And it is most likely that we are more expert on the subject than any other being in this world.'

'Speaking of the heart,' said Sandreena pointing to a dark spot in the middle of the map. 'What is that?'

Gulamendis shrugged. 'Another, tiny realm perhaps? It is only marked with a single word, "Void," and there is nothing written about it anywhere in the book.'

Laromendis arrived at the door and said, 'Ah, there you are. Time to gather below. We are leaving.'

Sandreena, Amirantha, and Gulamendis all looked through the window and saw the sun hanging low in the western sky. They hurried down to the marshalling yard without further discussion.

HAPTER SIXTEEN - Reconnaissance KASPAR SIGNALLED.

They had ventured down the first trail to the rim of the valley, where they would begin the tedious descent down the switchback trails unless Pug decided he and Magnus needed to get everyone down in a hurry. All the magic users had been cautioned to not use their art in any form, active or pa.s.sive, unless they were attacked, as the defenders might have placed wards to detect it. Looking at the long downward trail, and out beyond the distant rim, Amirantha turned to Gulamendis and said, 'We should have a quicker exit, at least. I'd hate to have to run back up those trails.'

The elf nodded. 'Some of my people are able to trek like this for days; sadly I am not one of them.'

They had discussed the plan in detail, but the sight when they arrived at the valley's edge, caused them all to stop. 'My G.o.ds,' said Kaspar. 'What is it?'

The construction looked finished. The four large arching towers now stretched towards a central point above the vast open area at the heart of the structure.

Pug said, 'It looks something like the portal used by the Dasati when they invaded Kelewan, though they didn't have all this fortification around it. They used a magic shield that was very difficult to breech, and it expanded as they sent more and more of their Death Knights through.'

Sandreena said, 'Where are all the labourers?' She pointed and said, 'There were hundreds of them working...And the demon overseers patrolling the walls?'

Pug said, 'We need to get closer. I can see some movement in the distance, but it's too far away to make out who it is.'

Kaspar said, 'Sandreena lead us to that gully, please.'

His band had worked their way down the switchback trails cautiously, until they reached the gully Sandreena had used to circ.u.mvent the guard post at the bottom of the slope. In single file they followed her to the rim of the dry river basin, and after motioning for the others to wait, Kaspar and Sandreena crawled on their bellies up to the rim and looked over.

'It's quiet,' whispered Kaspar.

'On the wall,' said Sandreena.

Sentries could be seen walking the battlements, but between the basin and the wall was only empty ground. 'It's going to be difficult to get close,' said Kaspar.

'We should approach from the back,' said Sandreena. 'There's a dry river bed that runs near to the wall.' She pointed off to their left.

Kaspar motioned for Pug to join them and when he did, Kaspar said, 'Are you going to be safe using magic?'

Pug said, 'Magnus and I have been testing as gently as possible, and we don't sense anything unexpected.' He looked at the ma.s.sive construction ahead of them and said, 'Something in there is very powerful, but it's dormant for the moment. There are a few wards to detect scrying, but they're basic, nothing we can't avoid.' He looked at the five crouching figures around him and said, 'I think we stick to the original plan.'

Kaspar nodded. 'Wait until we have worked our way around to the back of this fortress and then do what you think is best. If we hear any sounds of alarm from your group, we will have Magnus take us back to the plateau.

'If you hear any trouble on our part, do what you think best.'

Pug and Magnus and Amirantha provided a formidable magic force, and one that might make the difference between the others getting back alive or not. After a long argument, Kaspar had relented as Pug insisted that he should be the one to decide if he should come to Kaspar's aid or not. Kaspar was secretly relieved.

Sandreena, like Kaspar, Laromendis, Magnus and Jim dashed up the dry river bed, while Pug rejoined Brandos, Amirantha and Gulamendis. They slowly counted for ten minutes, then Pug said, 'Laromendis, be ready to make us look like a pile of rubble.'

The elf smiled slightly and said, 'That should be no problem, a.s.suming that no one is looking very hard at our pile of rubble and we don't have to be rubble for too long.'

Brandos chuckled, then turned to listen. 'Someone's coming,' he whispered. The group quickly moved near the edge of the basin, and looked upward.

A demon sentry walked above their position, and it glanced downward, blinking for a moment. It had a bovine head with ma.s.sive red eyes, and a prodigious pair of horns that swept up and out. Grunting once, it blinked, then moved on.

When it was away, Pug turned and asked the elf, 'Rubble?'

'Rubble,' answered Laromendis. 'Next time, try to give me a little more warning.'

'Those cattle heads tend to be fairly stupid,' said Amirantha.

'It also helps that they're nearsighted,' said Brandos. 'That fact alone has saved my head more than once.'

Pug shook his head. 'A nearsighted sentry?'

Brandos whispered. 'It makes them nervous. They jump at any motion they detect. If we stay in the dark and don't move, they'll probably miss us even without the illusion our brother elf just cast.'

Pug said, 'Let's go that way,' indicating the direction from which the sentry had walked. They crouched and moved up out of the basin, keeping low along the edge of the depression.

They reached the road that led to the switchbacks up the hill and found that the sentry post Sandreena had described was gone. Pug a.s.sumed they had removed everything from the perimeter once the gates and wall were finished, clearing the area around the walls free of any possible concealment.

They crept into the darkness on the opposite side of the road, finding another depression to crouch behind. Slowly they moved away from Kaspar's group.

Sandreena held up a balled fist, indicating that they should stop. Kaspar gently put his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was behind her. She signalled there were sentries ahead, indicating two of them. He slowly rose to peer over the edge of the dried river bank and saw two demons walking a patrol before a small gate.

The small group had traversed half of the structure's perimeter and had yet to see a safe approach. The fortification looked as if it were built to withstand a short, not a long siege. There was no structure beyond the walls, so any storage and quarters lay in small buildings nestling just inside the walls, or were nonexistent.

Kaspar indicated they should move away and when they were at a safe distance from the gate, he whispered, 'I don't know what this place is; it's like nothing I've ever encountered. But it's easily defensible with a hundred soldiers, and near impregnable with twice that number, but I'll be d.a.m.ned if I can see much sense to it beyond that.'

'My best guess,' said Sandreena, 'is they built it as a temporary defence, in case someone stumbled onto what they were doing and tried to stop it. I see no water source, no decent supply route, and no barracks for a garrison. It's as if they are planning to abandon this place once they've accomplished whatever it is they are doing here.'

'My thoughts as well,' said Kaspar. He turned and motioned for Magnus to come close. Still whispering, he said, 'Do you have any sense of what this place is for?'

Magnus's expression was grave. 'There is some very dark magic occurring within those walls. It's...muted, waiting for something to be unleashed, but it's there.'

Suddenly, a fine silver net appeared out the darkness and landed upon the white-haired magician. Magnus stiffened, then his eyes rolled up into his head, as if he had been struck from behind. Kaspar and Sandreena crouched low and drew weapons as figures rose out the soil of the plateau before them. Sandreena turned towards Laromendis and Jim Dasher, but couldn't see them, so she raised her mace as Kaspar drew his sword, and a pair of finely woven nets descended upon them.

Sandreena felt a shock course through her body and her mind become a tumbling cascade of thoughts and images. Part of her knew she was under attack, but years of training, both martial and magic, wilted under the effect of that silver net. Her defensive spells refused to coalesce in her thoughts; moves as basic as raising her shield or hefting her mace, ingrained in her body's memory as much as her mind, became jerking attempts to control herself.

Kaspar was likewise overcome; he spasmed and twisted as he sought to command his body to meet the coming attack. But like Sandreena and Magnus, he quickly fell to the ground.

Looking up, they could see three figures covered from head to toe in suits of fine cloth, with only the smallest slits for eyes. The cloth was the same colour as the earth that had hidden them, and they must have been lying in ambush for quite some time, perhaps hours, waiting for the intruders to get close enough to render them powerless.

Another figure appeared a moment later, a grinning bearded man who looked down at the three p.r.o.ne bodies and said, 'Bring them!'

As he turned away, Sandreena managed to whisper, 'Belasco!' She didn't know if Magnus or Kaspar could hear her.

Pain coursed through her body when she tried to move, but if she remained motionless, the pain faded. Her thoughts were still chaotic but she witnessed enough and remembered enough to have a sense of time pa.s.sing as they were lifted and carried towards a small rear gate in the wall.

Then her thoughts fled and darkness arrived.

Jim crouched motionless behind the smallest of rocks, his cloak pulled over him. He expected to be discovered any moment, but he had an instinct for when to flee and when to remain still. Right now his 'b.u.mp of trouble' was telling him to get as close to the ground as humanly possible. He could hear m.u.f.fled voices and sensed some movement ten yards ahead.

He had felt rather than seen the ambush, and his first reaction had been to leap backwards, away from the fight. It was not cowardice but caution that motivated him; he wanted to be sure no one was coming at them from behind. Those three steps backwards, as their attackers had jumped down the side of the dry riverbank, saved him from detection. Something had happened to Laromendis, but he couldn't be certain. One moment the elven magic user had been there, the next he wasn't.

Jim had his dagger ready, but kept still. He waited until he could hear no sound, then risked a peak from under his cloak.

The river bed was empty.

He had heard the brief struggle and knew they were overmatched the instant Magnus went down without a sound. Whoever waited for them had expected a powerful magician; he a.s.sumed the same magic trap prevented Sandreena from using her abilities, and the nets had quickly rendered both her and Kaspar unconscious.

Pug and Kaspar had been clear in their instructions to him; he was the last link to the outside world if all else failed. Given the level of power and talent in this reconnaissance team, he considered himself a desperate choice.

He crouched low, not willing to risk moving just yet. Where was that elf?

Then suddenly the elf was standing before him. He turned, looked down at Jim and whispered, 'They're gone.'

Jim stood up and Laromendis reached out to touch his cloak. 'That is impressive.'

'I'm good,' whispered the n.o.ble-turned-thief, 'but I'm not that good. This didn't come cheaply. The artificer who wove it for me called it his "cloak of blending", and I suspect it uses magic similar to your own.' He looked around for any sign of lingering danger. 'What just happened?'

'Your guess is as good as mine,' whispered the elf. 'They waited for us; they knew we had magic users with us, and they were ready.'

'They knew we were coming.'

'Apparently. What troubles me is how the ambush was executed.'

Jim's brow furrowed. 'Explain.'

'We were not moving quickly, in fact we were very cautious. For our three ambushers to have secreted themselves in that location, in antic.i.p.ation of our arrival, they had to be lying in those shallow depressions for quite some time, perhaps an hour or more.'

'How did they breathe?'

Laromendis nodded emphatically. 'I don't think they did breathe.'

Jim's face became a mask of concern. 'Necromancy?'

'Pug mentioned that one of his concerns was trying to understand how death magic and demon magic were linked.' The elf paused, then looked at Jim. 'There may be a more prosaic explanation, but if those were...reanimated dead?'

Jim was, for the first time in years, uncertain what to do next. 'We need to send word to Pug, and we need to follow those captors.'

Laromendis said, 'I'll find Pug. I can hide better than you can, but I cannot track or skulk, and that cloak gives you more flexibility than my magic does.' He asked, 'What should I tell Pug?'

'Tell him what you saw, nothing more. Don't speculate unless he asks, and tell him that if I don't find you within one hour he's to a.s.sume I've been taken as well.' Jim glanced over the verge and said, 'Good luck,' then he wrapped his cloak around him and almost vanished.

'Good luck,' returned Laromendis, fascinated by Jim's subtle bit of magic. He could see him moving along the verge of the dried river, but only if he looked closely and concentrated. He knew that if he took his eyes off the human, he'd vanish from sight. The cloak did not render him invisible, but rather let him blend in with the surrounding terrain.

Laromendis decided he'd ask more about that cloak if they ever got out of here. He glanced around to ensure he wasn't being watched, then started back the way he had come, hoping to overtake Pug before they ran into trouble.

Pug motioned for the others to halt. They'd been making very slow progress, frustrated by the need to loop far to the northwest and then return towards the wall in tangents. There was simply no cover until they reached a point further to the west, and from there they could hardly see anything. Kneeling behind an overhang that sheltered them from all but the keenest observation, he whispered, 'This is getting us nowhere.'

Gulamendis also spoke quietly, 'Amirantha and I sense demons, but there are not that many, and they are scattered.'

'Where?' asked Pug.

'All over,' answered Amirantha. 'There's a heavy concen tration of them near that big gate where we first crossed over the road, but after that...' He shrugged.

'How about here?' asked Brandos.

'Few,' answered the elf.

Looking at Pug, he said, 'Perhaps the direct approach?'

'What do you propose?' asked the magician.

Glancing around at the night sky and shrouded landscape, he said, 'Unless they have night vision like our elf friend here, I can get closer and take a look. It won't be the first time I've crawled on my stomach to get a look at an enemy position.'

Pug thought for a moment and said, 'I'm loath to use magic that might be detected until I know what we face. Get as close as you can, then get back here, but secrecy is paramount.'

'Understood.'

Brandos crawled over the edge and on to the beam at a surprisingly efficient rate. Amirantha said, 'Enemy position?' He chuckled softly. 'He means spying upon the local sheriff or city watch waiting for us.'

'As long as it works,' whispered Pug.

Time dragged slowly until they heard Brandos returning. He snaked down on his stomach to where they crouched, rolled over and sat up. 'There's a small gate about a hundred yards southwest. It looks like it's the one part of the wall that's not quite finished. They have to move a wooden barrier to bring wagons in or out, and there's only one guard. A demon,' he said to Amirantha with a grin.

'What manner of demon?' asked the Warlock.

'Big battle demon, ram's head, all decked out in black armour and carrying a huge double bladed axe.'

'A Ram's head?' said Amirantha, looking at Gulamendis.

The elf said, 'They tend to be tractable if you can subdue them.'

'If you can subdue them,' echoed Amirantha.