Apostles of Doom

That thought frightened the, well, he wasn’t really clear what, out of him; he did not seem to have bowel movements, so it was quite literally impossible to have the shit scared out of him. He had to be mad, insane, to consider it. He was a seventeen-year-old human, out of his world, out of his depth, and possibly out of his mind, given these Orcus visions.

They had discussed it lightly on the ride home. Sekhmekt, of course, was fairly enthusiastic about working more closely together; she had really enjoyed the Knights of Chaos. Phaestus had been surprisingly non-committal and a bit reserved, concentrating on driving the horses. He had not been against it, simply reserved; Tom suspected he might have more to say in private.

Phaestus and Sekhmekt had returned to Anuropia when they got back to Doom. The rest of them had retired to his study to discuss the dinner. Reggie was quite enthusiastic, as it tied out with his work for his apparently not-so-accursed mistress. The incubus seemed seriously smitten by her; Tom shook his head.

Tamarin thought it was an interesting offer, worthy of exploration and discussion; a very reasoned response, as he expected. Antefalken was all for it. The thought of having a ringside seat for a battle between pantheons was something that no bard could resist. Tom was pretty sure the bard was already counting coins in his head from the additional ballads he would be able to write.

Vargg Agnoth had been mostly silent and dour; no real surprise there. However, he finally admitted that an arms-length agreement for now as the two sides got to know each other might be useful. He did not trust the Nyjyr Ennead, except of course for Phaestus and Sekhmekt, but he was more than aware of their urgent need for allies in the coming battles. Their current enemies, Lilith and Tiernon, had beat them four thousand years ago at the height of their power; given that they were nowhere near that level of readiness now, they would need allies.

Tom sighed, shaking his head as he approached the case that held the fancy animage robes. He needed to do something to clear his mind of this evening and these concerns. He really would go insane if he continued to focus on his own insecurities and the precariousness of his situation.

Perhaps trying to figure out how to change his form with clothes might be useful. Other demons, including Antefalken, were able to do it. It should be no problem, right? Tom grinned ruefully at that thought. He shifted to Edwyrd and opened the glass case. He figured the first step would be to touch, handle and wear the robe. He imagined he would need to sort of go all Zen and “grok” the robe, to make it one with himself. Or some other such mental machination.

He might have laughed about such things a few months back, however, that sort of stuff really did work for animages, and apparently for demons. Shape-changing really was mind over matter; substance shaping form, or something like that. He had no idea, simply instinct and feelings to go on.

Actually, that was a good description of his entire state — this entire game he found himself playing. There was no logical set of guidelines for someone in his position. In so many ways it was so preposterous, so out of the ordinary, so utterly unbelievable that there could be no real playbook for what to do. Winging it, so to speak, was the only conceivable option, was it not?

Tom, for one, hoped so.

Chapter 133

Freehold: DOA + 10, Shortly After Dawn

Vaselle, lugging his pack of carefully wrapped portable portal links, made his way to the portal link he had hidden outside of Freehold. He was delivering his first batch of portal links to his master, and he was feeling quite pleased and excited.

When he reached the portal, he activated the linking and then traced it back to his master and on to the Temple of Doom, where another solid link point existed. It was tied to a brazier they now kept burning. The theory, which they were testing now, was that he could follow the links to that brazier and tie the flames there to the flame generated by the portal links and open a gateway on his own, either with his own mana or with Lord Tommus’s.