Apostles of Doom

“I need all available wizards and animages at their stations on the walls!” Grob yelled.

“If the Outer Planes are unreachable, then I’d assume so is the Abyss,” Elden said to Grob, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “Our conjurors are going to be every bit as out of actions as our priests.”

Hilda, Stevos and Teragdor all looked at the Lord Ranger in shock. “You use demons to fight your battles?”

Rassnon shrugged. “They are not our first choice, but against the Unlife, they are the lesser of two evils.”

Stevos looked to Dashgar in surprise. The archon simply shrugged; he apparently knew and approved of the use of demons to fight the Unlife.

Teragdor whispered ruefully to Rasmeth, “We aren’t in Murgandy anymore.”

“No, we are not,” Rasmeth said, equally in shock that the Citadel would even think of using demons.

Behind them, having moved to fill in the space where Leighton had been standing before being called to duty, Iskerus heard them and added “Sir Talarius’s helmet would literally blow off at the thought of fighting side by side with demons. It’s a good thing he isn’t here right now.”

Chapter 144

Citadel Command Center: Mid Second Period, Dawn

“Enough,” Beragamos told the guard blocking his way to the Command Center. It had taken him more time that he would have liked to find his way here. With Tierhallon offline, he had only his links to Hilda and the others here. Links were straight lines; they did not account for walls, ceilings and floors, nor did they come with any mapping assistance. Thus, he’d encountered a great number of dead-ends as he’d made his way to the Command Center.

“I’m sorry, Brother, but we are on total lockdown. The fight has begun; only essential people are allowed in the Command Center,” the guard said.

Beragamos shook his head. This was the problem with incarnated bodies, at least for him. He was wearing real clothes and so could not change them on a whim. They also didn’t come with built-in halos or auras. Beragamos pulled back the hood of his robe.

“Tell me, Shield member. Have you never seen a statue of me?” Beragamos asked.

“When did they start making statues out of Brothers of Tiernon?” The guard asked.

“I’m not a Brother of Tiernon. I am Beragamos Antidellas.”

The guard shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve reviewed the list. There is no Beragamos Antides on the list.”

“Antidellas. Hello?” Beragamos said incredulously, shaking his head in exasperation. Seriously, if young Danyel could recognize him and go into awe, what was this man’s problem?

The guard simply shrugged.

“Stand aside and let me pass,” Beragamos said, using Sancto Mandato.

The guard stepped aside, as expected, and Beragamos opened the door and entered the room to see people scrambling around and having very heated conversations, many of them with people in mirrors.

Beragamos looked around, following his links. His people were all gathered at a smaller table, poring over some documents. He headed over there.

“What do we know?” Beragamos asked, coming up behind them as they were hunched over the table. Hilda, whom he was directly behind, jumped a few inches off the ground in surprise, then spun around to stare at him in shock. All of them — Hilda, Stevos, Timbly, Teragdor and Rasmeth, were staring at him.

“Beragamos!” Hilda exclaimed in surprise. “How did you get here? We have been unable to get off-plane by any means.”

“I was sleeping down in the refugee quarters when the links broke. I’ve been winding my way through this giant maze, following my links to all of you,” Beragamos said shaking his head.

Timbly blinked in shock. “You mean you’ve been here all along?”

Beragamos gave them a mea culpa expression. “Our lord god, Tiernon, asked me to come in secret and quietly observe the battle with the Storm Lords, and in the event you were able to go after Talarius, provide backup against his abductor.” He shrugged. “I was ordered not to reveal myself except in an emergency. I think this qualifies.”

Stevos sighed. “Well, thank Tiernon for that. This is a completely unprecedented situation.”

Beragamos nodded. “It appears all links to the Outer Planes have been severed.”

“Nor can we shift to Tierhallon, or anywhere off this plane,” Hilda said. “The gateway to Fort Murgatroid has been closed, and can’t be reopened.”

“Beragamos!” a voice shouted from the large mapping table in the center of the room. Dashgar and Inethya had spotted him and were heading over.

“Thank Tiernon! You have come to fix this!” Inethya said as she reached them.

Beragamos shook his head sadly. “No. I’ve been here, incarnated, for a few days now. Lying low in case of problems. However, this is not at all what I had anticipated.”

“I doubt anyone would have.” Dashgar shook his head. “I have never seen anything like this.”