Into the Abyss

Without saying a word, Tom climbed into the air and flew over the castle walls to the south. This was really going to be hard to get used to, thought Tom as he flew from the keep.

∼

Back in the courtyard, the tension eased from the men as the demon flew out of sight behind the wall. Slowly men began to speak again, but not too loudly, since Lenamare and Jehenna were still there. As the work began again, Jehenna turned to Lenamare.

“Are you truly sure it was wise to send that demon to Zilquar? Wouldn’t a smaller one have worked, or a man, or a Telemirror?”

“No, we must bargain for aid from a position of strength. Having a fourth order demon deliver my request will reassure Zilquar that we have a chance of winning. If I had sent anything less, he might have felt that we were a lost cause, and not bothered to help, no matter how good a deal I might make. This will show him my strength.”

“Was it wise to parade it through all these people, what if Exador hears?”

“Did I have much choice? What sort of reaction would we have gotten if the demon burst through the tower wall? That would have been great for morale; it would have appeared that we couldn’t even handle our own demons. That surely would have gotten to Exador. No, this way they see the demon, and know fear, as well as hope. If we are lucky, everyone will be too scared to talk for a while. We don’t need much time. Exador may even be here before our messenger returns.”

“Impossible, armies only move so fast,” Jehenna assured him.

Chapter 16

Jenn stood, silently shaking in the doorway. Goddess, that had scared her. Who would expect to find a demon, let alone that demon, following Lenamare around the school? When she had been coming up the stairs and saw Lenamare coming down, she had started to respectfully bow, but then she had seen it. Her heart had nearly jumped up her throat. This was the first time she’d seen a demon that wasn’t in a pentagram. She’d dashed to first doorway she could find.

As it passed, it had looked straight at her. Jenn had feared then that she might break down crying in fear, but luckily, she’d managed to hold her own. The thing had been so huge, so horrible, and it had passed within one of its own claw lengths from her. If it had wanted to, it could have reached out and ripped her heart right out of her chest. She hadn’t realized when they’d conjured it, that it was so big. Then it had only been there for a short while, and on its knees. She’d known it was powerful by the way it had fought them, but that had been in a remote, abstract sort of way. This, this was real, and present in the stairway. Those huge claws, the horns and fangs, the creature were surely out of her worst nightmare.

The whole thing was incredibly huge and powerful, she just couldn’t get it out of her mind. She desperately prayed that those stories about women raped by demons and being forced to bear demonic children were false, and even more so, she hoped she’d never have a chance to find out. How Lenamare could let it roam the keep, even with himself and Jehenna, Jenn just simply couldn’t understand. If it escaped their control... Jenn would rather face Exador and his entire army.

She tried consciously to slow her breathing. Looking down at her feet, trying to get her terror under control, she noticed her hands clenched on her breast. Forcefully she put her hands to her sides and unclenched them. She ordered her body to relax. She was after all, a student of the magical arts. Someday soon, she would be a full wizard in her own right, how could she ever expect to conjure and control demons, if she feared them so. That was easy, another part of her mind answered, she didn’t. Jenn wanted nothing to do with the magic of conjuring demons. They were better left alone, anyone foolish enough to mess with them deserved whatever they got. There were plenty of other types of magic around; she could work with natural magics, healing and plants, the elements, things like that.

Jenn gathered her wits together, soon it would be the talk of the school and she would have to able to describe it to others. She mustn’t let anyone else know of her fear. Sudden dread grabbed at her. What if Jehenna had seen her fear... if she knew of Jenn’s fear, she would exploit it. Use it to goad her, use it as a weapon to demand even more from her. She would use it until either Jenn broke or her fear did. At the moment, Jenn wasn’t at all sure which would go first.

∼

The news of the demon spread rapidly throughout the school. Finally, everyone knew of Lenamare’s secret weapon. Most had realized that demons would be used, but few had ever actually seen one. None who had seen one previously had seen one this powerful. Excitement rang through those who hadn’t seen it, tinged with only a little anxiety in most. Here was hope, a chance against Exador, surely he could not summon anything so powerful in the middle of battle.