Apostles of Doom

Heron and the others also looked curiously at Sir Samwell.

The knight shrugged. “That’s what I assume it was; I have never actually been on the receiving end of one before. Although I suppose that is obvious, given that I am still three-dimensional and not a singularity.” His face had a bit of an ironic expression at this point. “I’ve only ever seen them used on others from a distance.”

“Where have you seen them?” Captain Cranshall demanded.

“Well, here in the Abyss, obviously. Where else?” Sir Samwell asked, seemingly annoyed that anyone could assume he would have seen them anywhere else.

“But what is it?” Barabus asked.

“If I understand what Dante has built, it is a weaponized version of his geomantic drives. Even as this ship’s drives repel the force of gravity to move, these cannons cause a gravitational collapse at their target site. In essence, they crush the target with overwhelming gravity from all sides,” Sir Samwell said. “I have no idea how it is done; I only know what I’ve seen.”

Dante was shaking his head in amazement. “I do not see how that would be possible! It is incredible!”

Barabus was getting a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. If the Oorstemothians now knew that such a weapon was possible, how long would it be before they developed one? Tiernon protect us.

Nysegard: Mid Fifth Period

Tom breathed a sigh of relaxation as they finished up the current ceremony. They were going to take a break for dinner and a celebration for the most recent groups, and then there would be one more ceremony this evening, followed, of course, by a celebration for that group. This was definitely more productive; they were getting multiple villages covered at each ceremony.

Hearing the sound of hooves behind him, Tom turned in his chair to see Arg-nargoloth approaching.

Darg-Krallnom, sitting to Tom’s right and a bit behind him, nodded in greeting. “Come to visit now that your watch is up?” he asked Arg-nargoloth.

Arg-nargoloth frowned. “Not exactly. We’ve had some unwanted visitors and I’ve been dealing with them. Roth Tar Gorefest is continuing to monitor their retreat.”

Tom and Darg-Krallnom both stood to face Arg-nargoloth. “What happened?” Darg-Krallnom asked.

“An interesting assortment of characters are searching for you and your hostage,” Arg-nargoloth said, nodding towards Tom.

“Lilith’s people?” Tom asked, puzzled. Who else would know where they were?

Arg-nargoloth shook his head no. “Definitely not her. No, it was a bunch of military types, who I suspect were also lawyers. They used lots of big words and titles. They said they were from someplace called Oorstemoth.”

“Oorstemoth?” Tom exclaimed loudly in surprise. How in hell had they followed him here? “You’ve got to be kidding me! How are they even alive in the Abyss?”

“They are in a giant metal ship. Looks sort of like a weird nuclear submarine, except that it flies. It’s pretty good-sized, too,” Arg-nargoloth said.

Darg-Krallnom looked at Tom in amazement. “How could they have tracked Lord Tommus to Mount Doom? The Abyss is infinitely large; you don’t just find someone in a few weeks!”

Arg-nargoloth nodded. “Ah, but that was only one group. There were others in the ship with them. Barabus, a general in Tiernon’s Astlanian army, was there.”

“Barabus? From the Rod?” Tom asked. “He was here? With the Oorstemothians?” Is hell freezing over? Tom wondered. Oh shit! It has! And I’ve done it! Tom laughed to himself. He had to laugh because otherwise, these bozos showing up on his doorstep would have him weeping with frustration.

“Who was the other?” Darg-Krallnom asked.

“Sammael,” Arg-nargoloth replied.

Now it was Darg-Krallnom’s turn to looked stunned. “Sammael? With Tiernon’s army and priests? Has the multiverse lost its mind?”

“Wait — you mean Sammael, as in the Co-Factor?” Tom asked.

“Yep,” Arg-nargoloth replied.

“Those two groups were both bat-shit crazy about me being a demon. They hate demons! Why on Earth — I mean Astlan or Nysegard, would they be standing next to the biggest demon in the Abyss?” Tom asked.

Arg-nargoloth shrugged. “Well, I assume they didn’t realize it was him. He was in his default human form, which is how I recognized him over a mirror cast. He was wearing some sort of knightly armor and told me his name was Sir Samwell something or other, a knight of Oorstemoth who had been trapped in the Abyss for a thousand years or so, but had now been rescued by them.”

“Hmm. He must have spotted them and decided to infiltrate them to find out what they were up to,” Darg-Krallnom said.

“That’s pretty standard for him. I think Tizzy’s the only nosier demon in the Abyss,” Arg-nargoloth agreed.

“Wait, so we’ve got this flying submarine crammed full of nut-job lawyers, a holy army and the Emperor of the Abyss, and they somehow magically just appear on our doorstep? Where are they now?” Tom asked gesturing broadly with his hands. He was near freaking out again.