Apostles of Doom

Bastet sighed. “Indeed. We thought that by not choosing sides, we could remain neutral and be left alone. We therefore attended our other business elsewhere, not realizing that other combatants would take advantage of our inattention to try and steal our resources.”

“What specifically did they do?” Tom asked.

“Several things. For example, on Earth, Ragnarök presented a huge opening for the Demi-Urge; he used the distraction to establish critical resources near our own operations. In the years following Ragnarök, his followers increased their power at our people’s expense.”

“Particularly, your idiot friend Ramses’ expense,” Usiris griped.

Tom looked at him curiously.

Usiris shook his head. “I consider that failure the start of our demise on Earth. Our previously very successful Pharaoh, Ramses the Great, totally embarrassed himself and us with his handling of the Demi-Urge’s followers. In his pursuit to preserve his ego and force the Demi-Urge’s people to bow to him, he lost half his army in the Red Sea.”

“This is old history,” Astet glared at Usiris. “There is no point in rehashing it.”

Tom was looking extremely puzzled. “Are you talking about Ramses pursuing Moses and the Israelites into the Red Sea?”

“Ahh, so you know the story.” Phaestus nodded sagely. “Not surprising; it’s one of the greatest humiliations a pantheon has ever faced.”

“I think we are getting distracted from the topic at hand,” Bastet interjected.

“Are we?” Usiris asked. “You’ve engaged that imbecile’s services once more. The man is so stupid, he doesn’t even have a clue that you are a goddess from his mortal life!”

“Wait!” Tom interrupted. “Are you talking about Ramses the Damned? The archdemon working with Exador in Freehold?”

“She is.” Usiris nodded. “Which is one reason I don’t visit here that often. I think this entire business in the Abyss is simply too risky.”

Bastet closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She placed a calming hand on Usiris’s. “Let me explain in more detail.” She opened her eyes and locked them on Usiris, who simply grunted and sat back, obviously not pleased.

“Exactly,” Bess explained. Our endeavor here was for me to blend in and appear as an archdemon that had been living in the wilderness of the Abyss for several thousand years, but now returned. My goal was to infiltrate the courts and seek an alliance with Exador, and as things worked out, Ramses.”

“Why would you want to ally with Exador?” Antefalken asked. “He seems to be a bit reckless.”

Usiris pointed to Antefalken and nodded his head as if to say, See, he agrees with me.

Bastet nodded in agreement. “He is a handful, but he is also quite brilliant, as is Ramses.” She glanced to Usiris to silence his objection. “Regardless of what some may think of them, they rose from newly summoned demons to archdemons in only a few thousand years, possibly less. Something which is nearly unprecedented.”

Antefalken made a choking noise around his metal straw. He gestured apologetically. “However, that is beside the point. Exador knew about and was on the trail of a very powerful arcane object that would be of great assistance to us in righting the wrongs that our enemies inflicted upon us.”

“Such as Tiernon and Torean in Astlan.” Reggie gestured towards Sekhmekt. “Lady Sekhmekt shared some of her experience of their treachery.”

Sekhmekt bowed her head, still feeling somewhat guilty about her oversharing. “Precisely. We had believed the Five Siblings to be at the least neutral towards us, if not amicably disposed. We had no inkling of their enmity, let alone their planned treachery.”

Reggie shuddered.

Tom nodded in sympathy. He had heard of the oversharing from several who had been there. “The Five Siblings have much to account for,” he said, “towards yourself and towards Doom. However, I am not sure how this artifact — by which I assume you mean Lenamare’s book — can be of assistance against the Five Siblings.”

“How powerful a spell could there be, contained within a physical book?” Tamarin asked. “Something that powerful would require very powerful protections to even hide it, let alone keep it from imploding.”

Bastet sighed and looked thoughtful for several silent moments. “Well, to be honest, we are not sure what exactly is in it, other than very valuable information about the workings of not only gods, but avatars and demons. Information that is not generally privy to even the vast majority of gods.”

Astet leaned inward. “Information that might allow us to defeat and at the least, capture and bind the Five Siblings for eternity, or close to it.”

Tom shook his head. “Really? The book did not seem that impressive to me.”

All of the gods except Bastet were staring at him in shock.

“You have seen the book?” Astet asked.

Bastet nodded. “Jehenna lost it, and you and your mortal friends recovered it. Exador confided this to me.”

Usiris stared at her in shock. “And you did not think to inform the rest of us?”